This is Halloween? and Change Management : HRVoice.org

HRVoice.org | October 30, 2012 | no comments

By Beth Harris, CHRP

?Our man Jack is King of the Pumpkin patch
Everyone hail to the Pumpkin King now!

This is Halloween. This is Halloween.
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!?

?????????????? ? ?This Is Halloween? by Danny Elfman

In the nearly 10 years since it?s release, ?The Nightmare Before Christmas? has become a stop-motion classic of a duo-holiday cannon.? It tells the tale of Jack Skellington, Pumpkin?King of Halloween Town, who grows bored of his Halloween ways. Happening upon a portal to Christmas Town, he is struck by the existence of a whole new reality.? Grasped by the vision to make Christmas his own, Jack leads his followers into the unknown with great spirit, but little knowledge. Musical mishaps and misaligned festive mingling ensues: a great film for the family and just plain fun.

However, Tim Burton?s The Nightmare Before Christmas is much more than an imaginative ode of the season and an entertaining movie; it also provides an illuminating case study of unorthodox change.? Through a different lens, the story of Jack?s journey, and the impact of his ?vision? on others, tells a timeless business tale?one which illustrates different features of leadership and change which can be analyzed and applied to business practice.

Jack?s Perspective
The story begins with a leader who has grown bored with a role that has become personally redundant and unfulfilling; the King of Pumpkin Town is bored. Jack? craves inspiration, creativity, and reconnection to his main purpose in life. Recognizing the need for change, and happening upon a portal to a previously unknown dimension of opportunity, in this case Christmas Town, Jack jumps?and takes his followers along for a disastrous ride.? So thrilled by the opportunity to venture into a new industry and so focused on his need to have something new, Jack assumed all of the people would benefit from this change and his personal problems would be fixed.? Unfortunately, Jack did not possess any knowledge of this new industry; his attempts to ?deconstruct? Christmas into its core physical components are woefully misguided.?

Jack the Leader and the Four ?Ps?
Though a well-liked and highly-animated leader, Jack?s initiative was doomed to fail from the start because he did not have proper conditions to support his plan for change. According to Larry Stout, in order to initiate change, the proper conditions must exist to serve as catalyst and foundation alike; these are the four ?Ps?: People, Place, Position, and Period (Stout, 2001, p. 42-46).

People, Place, Position, and Period
Jack had the people. The people of Halloween Town revered him as their leader. Jack had the position. In Halloween Town, he could make things happen.??

However, in the context of place, Jack gets stuck when he decides to lead his people well outside his field of expertise.? In short, Halloween Town and Christmas Town are as different as, well, as different as Halloween and Christmas. Though well-versed in all things Halloween, Jack?s lack of alternative festive knowledge leads to inevitable disaster.? Master of the autumnally macabre, the period (Christmas) Jack led was misaligned with his venture from its wintery start.?

As a result, the people?s view of Jack?s leadership changed; they were unable to follow him simply anywhere.? Warned by at least one member of his community who saw the misfortune waiting in the wings, Jack did not listen. Lacking an inner team with whom to explore, support and transition the change Jack desired, what transpired is not unexpected.

Leadership & Jack
Leaders and managers exist in all organizations and are essential to the development and advancement of a company?especially during change. Employees of all levels need guidance and support to adapt with the changing work environment and rely on a well-planned strategy for the company. While a leader and manager within a business environment play different roles, both are essential to the success of the organization. (Kotter, 2001)

Jack?s followers did not lack for enthusiasm, but sorely lacked the perspective, skills and knowledge critical to the business of Christmas; while processes evolved, as Jack matched people by their closest related skill set, a working structure did not stand a chance. Moreover, worsening matters in translation, Jack did not monitor the change process which resulted in compounded misunderstandings and a conflicted definition of the holidays.

Perhaps the greatest failing of Jack as a leader was his lack of prior failure.? A natural leader within his area of expertise, Jack did not have to work at developing his followers, nor listen to any of their ideas.? After all, everyone looked to Jack to lead. In this way, his leadership appeared more of a cult following rather than inspiration and motivation.? Even venturing into such new territory as Christmas, he failed to address the team for input; when input was offered in the form of offering, Jack simply pushed forward: a key failure in communications.? As with any change, clarity of communications from management and leadership is key for success.

Change: Influence and Implementation
1.? Influencing people to change:
Jack was followed unconditionally by devoted ?ready to where? followers, who he had no problem convincing to do as he asked.? Leaders require ?ready to where? followers to help motivate and move the change plans forward.? However, the people of Halloween Land were devoted to a fault, not paying attention to their own ideas, needs for clarification or need for change. The one resistor in the story, Sally, attempted to warn Jack of the potential of disaster, but Jack did not listen. The disaster of Jack?s plan showed the importance of resistors in change and the vital role has in developing a solid plan for change.? Jack?s personal need for change created the underlying urgency, but because of poor communication, his followers could not understand how to achieve that change.

The people followed Jack because that is what they always did, not because he created a sense of urgency with clear guidelines and meanings for the change. (Jellison, 2007, p. 48-50)? Jack?s plan was severely underdeveloped, which created an unclear vision and resultant miscommunication. The elements of an effective vision include the use of a mission statement, along with a description of the purpose, values and direction of the change (Yukl, 2009, p. 123). The lack of this led to Jack?s inability to monitor the progress of the plans.? Although Jack delegated, the people didn?t understand the purpose of their tasks. With so much focus on the end product (a Halloween-esque version of Christmas), Jack spared none on the process of getting there: motivating, monitoring and adapting to the needs of the process.

2. Change implementation:
The success of change implementation is dependent on the leader?s behaviours. Jack?s actions during the change implementation lacked effective communication of a clear vision, lack of urgency for the need of change, and neglected to monitor the process of change (Yukl, 2009, p.130).? Quite simply, Jack did not fully understand the true meaning of Christmas. In his process of attempted understanding, he kept to himself and learned the only way he knew how: scientific method and logic. He didn?t look into other areas of skill development to become fully competent. This lack of competency created the initial miscommunication, as the townspeople could not possibly fully understand a concept that escaped even their leader.? In the end, Jack proved that you can?t lead what you don?t know.

How Jack?s role can be applied to the business world:
When leading change in a business environment, it is important to have clear vision and purpose for the change. The leader must be driven by more than personal need for change and conditions that support change need to exist. Influencing people to change requires an assortment of different followers, all of which need to be listened to for further development of change. Leaders need to be efficient in listening and communication. This applies to the employees and all of the stakeholders that have invested interest in the organization. Customer, employees, general public and investors need to be heard to comply with any modifications of the organization. Managers and leaders play equally essential roles in leading change. Jack?s leadership crisis shows what can happen if these components are not implemented in the change process. These are lessons we as emerging leaders can take to heart.

Beth Harris is the Communications Portfolio lead for BC HRMA?s Vancouver Island Advisory Council. She works with the Vancouver Island Health Authority as a Disability Management Administrator.

Work Cited
Jellison, J.M. (2007). Managing the Dynamics of Change. Chapter 3: Influencing People to Change. McGraw-Hill. Retrieved from Pearson Custom Business Resources Coursepack: Bus 322 ? Leading Organizational Change
Kotter, John P. (1990). What Leaders Really Do.? Harvard Business Review, December 2001, 3-12.? Retrieved from Pearson Custom Business Resources Coursepack: Bus 322 ? Leading Organizational Change
Stout, L.W. (2006). Time For A Change. Ideal Leadership Series. USA: Destiny Image.
Yukl, G. (2009a). Leadership in Organization. Chaper10: Leading Change in Organizations, p.298-331. Prentice Hall/Pearson Education (Upper Saddle River), NJ. Retrieved from Pearson Custom Business Resources Coursepack: Bus 322 ? Leading Organizational Change

Related posts:

1. Preparing Your Workforce for Change: A Strategy for Success
2. Guiding Change: How HR Adds Value
3. Lessons Learned: Mergers, People and Change
4. Change Happens: The Quest for Leaders
5. Intuition ? Your Edge in Managing Change

Tags: Beth Harris, change management, featured, halloween, Jack Skellington, Leadership, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Tim Burton

Category: Professional Practice

Source: http://www.hrvoice.org/this-is-halloween-and-change-management/

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Board Games: Family Fun for Everyone : KamloopsParents

I watch too much TV!!? There is no doubt about it.? But one thing that will always get me to turn the television off is the chance of playing a board game with friends and family.? Board games bring the family together.? They create a positive environment for conversation, learning (yes, your kids will learn and they won?t even realize it!) and most importantly FUN!

Board games have seen a recent increase in popularity due partly to marketing ? think the Hasbro Game Night campaign ? but more so due to the increased availability of designer games.

What are designer games you may ask.? Well, they are board games or card games that give recognition to the designer.? Much like a book has an author more and more games have the designer?s name on the box.? Creativity is being recognized.? These games originated in Europe but are now being published in North America.? The popularity of these ?Euro? games has grown so much that now many of these new designer games are being designed and published in North America.

These new games open up new worlds of discovery.? A family can gather around a table and build railway routes across North America (or just about any other part of the world), become explorers, discover new lands, build settlements, become an archaeologist racing through a temple full of dangers, colonize Mars, try to save rats from a sinking ship, race NASCAR or Formula 1 cars and even become bean farmers.? The themes are endless!

Games are no longer about rolling dice and moving with no end of the game in sight.? They are so much more!? Many of these ?new? games require planning ahead, strategic thinking, cooperation, and collaboration while having a set time limit!? Your kids will have to think and it won?t even hurt!

Over the coming months, I will be introducing new games that are ideal for family game play.? I hope these games will inspire you to sit down with your family, open a box and explore the adventures within.

Clive Lovett is a husband, father, board game hobbyist, an organizer of BIGCON (Kamloops Games Convention), and facilitator of Family Games Nights that are have been held in Elementary Schools in the Kamloops area.? He has a collection of nearly 300 board and card games that he is willing to play at any given opportunity.? For more information contact Clive at clovett65@shaw.ca

Our first game? Kids of Carcassonne

2 ? 4 players

15 minutes

Age 4+

$23.95 online, $30.00+ through local stores

It is the 14^th July and the people of Carcassonne are celebrating Bastille Day.? To keep the kids busy and to let them celebrate the people of Carcassonne release all the dogs, sheep and cows into the park for the children to chase and capture.? Players take on the role of a group of children trying to find the animals in the park.

Each player has a group of meeples (wooden tokens in the shape of people) of the same colour that represent their group of children.? In turn players draw and reveal a landscape tile, creating the park as each tile is placed.? The tiles reveal pathways that connect and show children, in the players? colours, playing on these pathways.? Once a pathway has been closed off, each player places meeples on the children of their corresponding colour on the pathway.? The first player to get all their children (meeples) on the board is the winner!

This is a great game for kids 4+.? The artwork is very attractive and the meeples are just plain cool!? After a couple of plays your kids will develop basic strategies by developing connections that allow them to get their meeples on the board faster than their opponents.

Family Thoughts

Dad #1: Probably one of the best starter games for young kids!? A great game that children can play without the assistance of an adult.? Creating a different landscape every time the game is played is one of my favourite aspects of the game.

Mom #1: ?I love watching my daughter think and strategize.? It is a game that is great for kids but also keeps my attention ? and it plays quickly.

Sophie, Age 8: ?It is fun and I have to think and I like beating my parents!

Mom #2: I love watching my kids get into the game, and look out for one another. ?It?s a chance for us to work together and still ?against? one another, also. ?It?s simple and I enjoy watching the littles get excited when they close a road!

Dad #2: Adults and kids can play this game because there is a little bit of strategy involved but there is also a lot of luck.

Hunter, Age 7: ? I like that type of game. ?It?s fun and I like playing with my little brother and sister.

?

About your Author | Guest

As always, you and your ideas are wonderfully welcomed. If you are interested in getting involved with KamloopsParents.com simply email elizabeth@kamloopsparents.com and we can chat! Your stories and images are fabulous!

Source: http://kamloopsparents.com/2012/10/25/board-games-family-fun-for-everyone/

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The benefits of running an internet business | Future of the web -

An internet business can be defined as any type of business that is run on the internet instead of, or in addition to a tradition brick and mortar storefront. E-business owners use the web to buy and sell numerous sorts of products and services. These kinds of business vendors frequently use different types of internet security to protect sensitive information, and they may communicate with purchasers through email, chat or by telephone.

Today, nearly all physical businesses now also have an online presence, and that is mostly due to the volume of individuals surfing the web via a computer or other web enabled device each day. The benefits of running such a business include convenience and availability. Most e-stores tend to stay up and running for commerce all day, so individuals can buy and sell on their own time.

An e-store is usually well organized with up to date pictures, complete description, the return policy if any and price of all products or service. Depending on location, the buyer has the option to have their purchase shipped to them or pick it up in person. The ever growing technology and impressive list of benefits associated with conducting business online only means that this trend is here to stay.

Source: http://foftw.org/2012/10/24/the-benefits-of-running-an-internet-business/

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Obama, Romney in final sprint to Election Day

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) ? The endgame at hand, President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney plunged into the final two weeks of an excruciatingly close race for the White House Tuesday with TV advertising nearing an astronomical $1 billion and millions of Americans casting early ballots in all regions of the country.

Increasingly, Ohio looms as ground zero in a campaign waged in tough economic times. The state's unemployment rate of 7 percent is well below the national average of 7.8 percent, Obama has campaigned here more than in any other state and Romney has booked a heavy schedule of appearances in hopes of a breakthrough.

The economy was the theme Tuesday as the two rivals put their final, foreign policy-focused debate behind.

Obama brandished a new 20-page summary of his second-term agenda and told a campaign crowd in Florida his rival's blueprint "doesn't really create jobs. His deficit plan doesn't reduce the deficit; it adds to it."

More than that, he said Romney changes his positions so often that he can't be trusted.

In Dayton, Obama said of his rival: "In the closing weeks of the campaign, he's doing everything he can to hide his true positions. He is terrific at making presentations about stuff he thinks is wrong with America, but he sure can't give you an answer about what will make it right. And that's not leadership you can trust."

Before flying to Ohio for his 17th trip of the election year, Obama also said with a hint of humility: "It doesn't mean that every candidate is going to get everything done all at once perfectly, but you want somebody to be able to look you in the eye and say, here's what I believe."

Romney countered in an appearance before a large, cheering crowd in Henderson, Nev. He said Obama wants a new term for the same policies that have produced slow economic growth and high unemployment for four long years. "He is a status quo candidate. ... That's why his campaign is slipping and ours is gaining so much steam," he said.

Romney's aides dismissed Obama's 20-page booklet as nothing new, and the former Massachusetts governor said of the president: "His vision for the future is a repeat of the past."

There seemed to be no end to the television advertising in a season when voters report they are heartily sick of it.

If anything, it was expanding in the race's final days. Restore Our Future, which supports Romney, launched ads aimed at one of the two congressional districts in Maine in an attempt to peel one electoral vote away from Obama.

Material collected by ad trackers showed the two candidates and allied groups have spent or reserved nearly $950 million so far on television commercials, much of it negative, some of it harshly so. Romney and GOP groups had a $100 million advantage over Obama and his supporters, although variations in the purchase price made it difficult to compare the number of ads each side had run.

Increasingly, the two campaigns were focused on turning out their supporters in early balloting under way in more than half the states.

"Every single day right now is Election Day," Obama's campaign manager, Jim Messina, told reporters. On that, at least, Republicans offered no rebuttal.

About 5 million voters have already cast ballots according to data collected by the United States Elections Project at George Mason University, and about 35 million are expected to do so before Nov. 6.

While no votes will be counted until Election Day, the group said Democrats have cast more ballots than Republicans in the battleground states of North Carolina and Iowa by about 20 percentage points, while in Nevada, about 121,000 people have voted ? 49 percent Democrats and 35 percent Republicans.

Republicans have an early edge in Colorado, where Republicans have cast 43 percent of the 25,000 ballots to date, to 34 percent for Democrats.

Romney's camp projected confidence as the race entered its final phase, still riding an October surge in the polls that began after the challenger's dominant performance in the first presidential debate on Oct. 3 in Denver.

The Electoral College math made clear neither man had sealed a victory.

Wins in Ohio and in Wisconsin ? a state that Democrats have carried in the past six presidential elections ? would leave Obama only five electoral votes short of the 270 needed for victory.

That placed a premium on Ohio ? readily apparent from the candidates' campaign schedules and the millions in television advertising flooding the state.

Romney arrives in Cincinnati on Wednesday night after a Western swing, and is expected to spend all day Thursday and part of Friday campaigning across the state.

His running mate, Paul Ryan, is to deliver a speech on the economy Wednesday at Cleveland State University, something of an unusual event in a campaign with only two weeks to run.

Obama intends to fly into the state Thursday at the end of a two-day, cross-country trip into a half-dozen battlegrounds.

Vice President Joe Biden was in Toledo during the day before heading to Dayton to join Obama for a rally, mid-way through Biden's three-day tour of the state.

Barring a last-minute change, Obama appears on course to win states and the District of Columbia that account for 237 of the 270 electoral votes needed for victory. Romney has a firm hold on states with 191 electoral votes.

The battlegrounds account for the remaining 110 electoral votes: Florida (29), North Carolina (15), Virginia (13), New Hampshire (4), Iowa (6), Colorado (9), Nevada (6), Ohio (18) and Wisconsin (10).

____

Espo reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Kasie Hunt in Nevada and Stephen Ohlemacher, Beth Fouhy and Josh Lederman in Washington contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-romney-final-sprint-election-day-220333030--election.html

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Can I get a cash out refinance for home improvements if I have less ...

My husband and I?want to refinance soon.? We bought our home in 2008 for $311,000 and have made several improvements.? Based on similar local sales, I believe it will appraise for around $320,000 now.??We currently owe about $278,000, so?we do not have 20% equity.??We would also like to finish?the basement, which I am estimating will cost about $20-$25k, or possibly less, because we?are willing to?do some of the simpler work ourselves (painting, etc.).??What are?the options?? Can?we do a cash out refinance???We are?already paying PMI, so what are the pros/cons of?cashing out on?a first?mortgage, if we are eligible?? Do any lenders look at the estimated value after improvements for the refinance?? Would we be better off?refinancing the first, then getting a second for the improvements, or would we even qualify for?a loan like this?? (Our credit scores are in the 750 range,?debt ratio is less than 20% with mortgage, and we have 4 and 18 years with current employers.)

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Source: http://www.zillow.com/advice-thread/Can-I-get-a-cash-out-refinance-for-home-improvements-if-I-have-less-than-20-equity/465648/

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ST Electronics embarks on R&D of Smart Utilities Solutions | Eco ...

Singapore Technologies Electronics Limited (ST Electronics), will be embarking on more in-depth Research and Development (R&D) activities in Smart Utilities solutions and technologies with the support of the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB).? ST Electronics has over the past few years, offered its innovative Smart Utilities products, solutions and services to large cities to help them address urbanisation, sustainability and environmental challenges. This announcement is made in conjunction with the Singapore International Energy Week 2012.

Through this R&D initiative, ST Electronics will enhance its Smart Utilities solutions and applications to benefit the development of large sustainable cities.? ST Electronics will tap EDB?s broad network of related industry knowledge, and extend its existing competencies in Smart Utilities to offer a more comprehensive suite of integrated smart utilities solutions to help build more efficient, clean and safe cities.

The Smart Utilities R&D will focus on enhancing smart resource management, distribution and consumption management of utilities (electricity, water and gas). This includes the provision of robust and converged multi-utility network infrastructure to facilitate integrated electricity, water and gas management.? This solution capitalises on ST Electronics? advanced communications technologies, comprehensive security suite and a highly flexible and scalable network management system to address different deployment scenarios.

Apart from supply and demand management, the ST Electronics? Smart Utilities suite will support timely and reliable information collection and facilitate a higher level of competition in the utility retail market that will eventually lead to increased operational efficiency, utility resource optimisation and cost savings for utilities service providers/retailers.

No stranger in the Smart Utilities arena, ST Electronics participated in Singapore?s Energy Market Authority?s Intelligent Energy System (IES) pilot project. ST Electronics is designing and implementing the critical infrastructure to enable smart grid applications for Phase 1 of the IES pilot project.? The company is also developing and implementing important segments of an Intelligent Water Management System (IWMS) in Singapore. The IWMS will visually display critical information including the location of water incidents such as damaged or leaking pipes. Response teams can quickly be despatched and provided with accurate information and route guidance.

ST Electronics has also delivered more than four million automatic meter readers in North America, Europe and India.? It has recently been awarded a major contract by Arad Technologies Ltd, a world leading supplier of smart water meters, to supply Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) radio transceivers to be deployed with Arad?s AMR solutions in China, Europe, India and the US markets.

?We are pleased that ST Electronics is making a strategic move into Smart Utilities as a new growth frontier. This fast-growing sector will help further diversify Singapore?s clean technology industry into smart grids and energy management. Through the close partnership with our government agencies, this R&D centre is aligned with Singapore?s position as a ?Living Laboratory? where companies can develop, test, prove and commercialise innovative green solutions for global and Asian markets.?

~ YEOH Keat Chuan,

Managing Director, Singapore Economic Development Board

?Large cities will be a joy to live in provided they are safe, clean and efficient.? Our Smart Utilities systems will allow city planners to improve operational efficiencies through better management of water, electricity and gas distribution.? We are excited by what technology could offer and we look forward to close partnership with EDB and research institutions to enhance our value proposition.?

~ LEE Fook Sun,

President, ST Electronics

ST Electronics (Singapore Technologies Electronics Limited), the electronics arm of public listed? ST Engineering, delivers innovative system solutions to government, commercial, defence, and industrial customers worldwide. With a presence in more than 20 countries, ST Electronics markets its solutions to more than 100 countries internationally. It specialises in the design, development and integration of advanced electronics and communications systems, such as broadband radio frequency and satellite communication, e-Government solutions, information communications technologies and IT, rail and traffic management, real-time command and control, modelling and simulation, interactive digital media, intelligent building management and information security. Please visit www.stee.stengg.com.

Media Contacts:

Magdalen Loh
AVP/Head, Corporate Communications
ST Electronics
Email: magloh@stee.stengg.com

Source: http://www.eco-business.com/press-releases/st-electronics-embarks-on-rd-of-smart-utilities-solutions/

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A Take On Health Care Reform | Bankrate.com

insurance

"Health care reform is among the most significant -- and controversial -- pieces of federal legislation in the last several decades. People continue to debate whether reform will cure much of what ails the American health insurance system or simply trigger new headaches.

Thomas Buchmueller had a front-row seat as reform was being implemented. From 2011 to 2012, he was the senior health economist in the Executive Office of the President's Council of Economic Advisers.

Buchmueller -- who is now the Waldo O. Hildebrand professor of risk management and insurance at the University of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross School of Business in Ann Arbor, Mich. -- believes health reform will be a boon to millions of Americans. He maps out where the American health care system is today and where it likely is going.

How does health care reform affect the average American's finances?

A primary function of health insurance is to provide protection against the financial risk of catastrophic medical expenses. So the 30 million or more people who gain health insurance coverage as a result of the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, will see not only a reduction in what they have to spend on medical care in an average year, but also a reduction in the possibility that they will be bankrupted by a major health event.

For Americans who are currently insured, the changes will be more subtle. The vast majority of people with private health insurance are covered through the workplace. That will continue to be the case, and workers who remain in the same job should see little or no change in their insurance coverage.

However, for people who don't have access to health benefits at work or who are changing jobs, the Affordable Care Act creates a new set of affordable insurance options. Many people who are currently purchasing individual insurance coverage will face lower costs, particularly if they qualify for a premium tax credit.

Some people contend that high-risk pools will help many people with pre-existing conditions. Others say the high-risk pools will be too expensive and that they may not have enough government money to stay in business until they are replaced with something better in 2014. What are your thoughts?

The high-risk pools are a temporary fix designed to provide people with costly pre-existing conditions better access to insurance coverage until 2014, when the ACA's full set of consumer protections go into effect. The premiums for the high-risk pools are subsidized relative to their full actuarial cost, but they are still expensive relative to what most families can afford.

Coverage options for high-cost individuals will improve substantially starting in 2014. They will no longer face higher premiums because of their health status, and if their income is below 400 percent of the federal poverty level, they will qualify for tax credits that will reduce the cost of insurance purchased through an exchange.

Which segments of the population will qualify for subsidies to make health care insurance more affordable?

Individuals and families with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level will qualify for Medicaid coverage. Since current income eligibility limits for children are already higher than this, the majority of new Medicaid enrollees will be adults. Individuals and families with incomes up to 400 percent of poverty -- about $88,000 for a family of four -- will qualify for tax credits that can be used to purchase private insurance through a health insurance exchange.

Do you have a suggestion about how to get all states signed on to the health insurance exchange program? What consequences do states face if they do not implement the health care reform law?

States have two main decisions: whether or not to operate their own exchange and whether or not to implement the Medicaid expansion.

For consumers, the first decision won't matter that much. In states that do not establish their own exchange, consumers will still have access to a federally facilitated exchange offering a choice of health plans.

The Medicaid decision, on the other hand, will have a significant effect on health insurance coverage. Medicaid is a joint federal/state program in which the funding split varies across states depending on state average income. The ACA Medicaid expansion comes with a much more generous "match rate" than states currently receive.

In the first few years, the federal government will pay the entire cost of the expansion. Eventually, states will have to contribute some, but their share will be capped at 10 percent of the cost.

In most states, the people who will gain Medicaid coverage are currently receiving some health care services from state-funded programs. Once the Medicaid expansion goes into effect, the need for these programs will either be eliminated or greatly reduced.

Obviously, the biggest losers in states that choose not to implement the Medicaid expansion are low-income adults who will remain uninsured. In addition, the pain will extend to hospitals and other health care providers. The Affordable Care Act reduces "disproportionate share" payments to hospitals intended to offset some of the costs of uncompensated care. The logic is that when insurance coverage increases, uncompensated care should be less of a problem.

However, in states that do not implement the expansion, uncompensated care costs will not fall as much as anticipated and hospitals will be significantly worse off.

Many thanks to Thomas Buchmueller, Ph.D., Waldo O. Hildebrand professor of risk management and insurance, business economics and public policy as well as the chair of business economics of Stephan M. Ross school of business at the University of Michigan, for his analysis on health care reform.

Source: http://www.bankrate.com/finance/insurance/take-on-health-care-reform.aspx

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Common speech disorders | Speech Therapy

October 24, 2012 in Photos & Videos

Stuttering

Stuttering

Stuttering is a common speech disorder characterized by? repetition of speech. The speaker may keep on repeating just the first part of the word or they may elongate their words.

Stammering

Stammering

Stammering is another speech disorder, which makes? it difficult to? express sounds. It can also affect the facial muscles. The speaker can experience? difficulty in beginning words or they may repeat words or syllables continually.

Lisping

Lisping

Lisping usually begins in childhood and can be caused if parents do not teach their child to speak properly.? Physical defects like a cleft palate can also cause lisping.

Cluttering

Cluttering

Cluttering?is a language disorder. The person may speak in bursts, and may sound jerky while talking. Often, the speaker is unaware he has this problem.

Apraxia?(dyspraxia)

Apraxia?(dyspraxia)

It is also known as oral-motor speech disorder. Apraxia is caused by problems with motor coordination or motor planning. The sufferer finds it difficult to move the muscles necessary to form speech sounds.

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Source: http://speechtherapy.ygoy.com/2012/10/24/common-speech-disorders/

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Apple unveils next-generation iMac with slimmer design and Ivy Bridge, starting at $1,299

Who said Apple's event was all about the little things? Apple just unveiled its first redesign to its iMac desktop in three years. The new all-in-one makes the widely expected leap to Intel's Ivy Bridge Core i5 and Core i7 processors, but also represents a much leaner and meaner replacement for the 2009-era template -- its edges are just 5mm thick, and it's constructed with "friction stir welding" as well as a gapless, less reflective display that's laminated together with the glass. Screen sizes remain the same and include both a 21.5-inch, 1080p model and a 27-inch, 2,560 x 1,400 model -- sorry, no Retina displays this year. They share 720p-capable front cameras with dual mics as well as NVIDIA's GeForce 600-era graphics, up to 32GB of RAM and a panoply of storage options that peak at 3TB of spinning storage, a 768GB SSD or what Apple calls a Fusion Drive that mixes both 128GB of flash with 1TB or 3TB of conventional storage (a hybrid drive, for those of us who've seen it before). There's no optical drive unless you plug in a USB option.

The 21.5-inch model ships in November, and will set you back $1,299 for a 2.7GHz Core i5, 8GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive; pony up for the 27-inch model at $1,799 and you'll get a 2.9GHz Core i5 as well as the same memory and storage. Apple's larger iMac doesn't ship until December, however, which will give some impulse buyers at least a brief respite.

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Continue reading Apple unveils next-generation iMac with slimmer design and Ivy Bridge, starting at $1,299

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Source: http://traffic-secrets.org/healthy-food-as-well-as-products-motivate-hair-growth

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Yahoo Q3 Beats Expectations In Mayer?s First Full Quarter As CEO: $1.2B Revenue, Non-GAAP EPS $0.35

Yahoo today reported its financial results for the third quarter of 2012, its first full quarter with new CEO Marissa Mayer at the helm. Mayer is back at work full-time after taking a short maternity leave following the birth of her first child, and is expected to speak about the financial results on her first conference call with Yahoo investors as CEO later this afternoon.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/6MG6ZE62d74/

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Bollywood movie mogul Yash Chopra dies at 80

FILE - In this June 12, 2007 file photo, Yash Chopra, chairman of Yash Raj Films, attends a press conference in Mumbai, India. Bollywood movie mogul Chopra died Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012 in Mumbai more than a week after he contracted dengue fever, a doctor said. He was 80. (AP Photo/Gautam Singh, File)

FILE - In this June 12, 2007 file photo, Yash Chopra, chairman of Yash Raj Films, attends a press conference in Mumbai, India. Bollywood movie mogul Chopra died Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012 in Mumbai more than a week after he contracted dengue fever, a doctor said. He was 80. (AP Photo/Gautam Singh, File)

In this photo taken Oct. 10, 2012, Bollywood producer and director Yash Chopra arrives for a party on the eve of Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan's 70th birthday in Mumbai, India. Bollywood movie mogul Yash Chopra died Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012 in Mumbai more than a week after he contracted dengue fever, a doctor said. He was 80. (AP Photo/ Rajanish Kakade)

MUMBAI, India (AP) ? Bollywood movie mogul Yash Chopra, whose classic love tales made him the Indian film industry's "King of Romance," has died after contracting dengue fever. He was 80.

Chopra's earliest major hits included the 1975 action film "Deewar" ("Wall") and the romance "Kabhi Kabhie ? Love is Life" in 1976, both of which helped establish Amitabh Bachchan as Bollywood's biggest star. The popular 1989 film "Chandni" ("Moonlight") had Chopra's signature touches: romance, music and a European setting.

He also directed "Dil To Pagal Hai" (The Heart Is Mad), "Lamhe" ("Moments") and "Veer-Zaara," which won the popular award at the International Indian Film Academy and the Golden Lotus award at India's National Film Awards. His final film, "Jab Tak Hai Jaan" ("As Long As I Am Alive"), is scheduled for release across India next month.

Chopra died Sunday in Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital. In addition to dengue, he suffered kidney ailments, according to Dr. Prakash Jiyavani.

"He passed away due to dengue and multiple organ failure," the Press Trust of India quoted a hospital spokesman, Sudhir, as saying. The spokesman uses only one name.

Chopra started his film career in the 1950s under the tutelage of his elder brother, late filmmaker B.R. Chopra. He founded his own studio Yash Raj Films and launched it with "Daag: A Poem of Love" in 1973, which won him one of his four Filmfare Awards for best director.

He is survived by his wife and two sons. Elder son Aditya Chopra is a successful film director, and Uday Chopra runs the international branch of the family's production house.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-10-21-India-Obit-Yash-Chopra/id-644b55df6f62470d9fecc533add86b68

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Poker: Artist Nate Lowman Calls Overpriced Artwork ?Poker Chips ...

His studio in Tribeca, which doubles as an apartment, is filled with art and ephemera.

Read the rest >>

Mon, October 22nd, 2012

Related Poker News:

Casino gambling information:

• 2000: MGM Grand Inc. stages the gaming industry's largest corporate buyout with its $6 million purchase of Mirage Resorts Inc.
  2005: Las Vegas celebrates one illustrious century on May 15.
• Lotteries Have Been Prominent Throughout History. Ancient India, China, Greece, and Japan all had lotteries. The emperor Nero had lotteries for prizes at parties.
• 1946: Two famous landmarks open: Bugsy Siegel's Flamingo, and the Golden Nugget. Nevada levies its first gaming tax.
  1949: Benny Binion sets up a high-stakes poker game at his Horseshoe casino between Nick "The Greek" Dandalos and Johnny Moss. It turns into an epic five-month poker match, laying the foundations for the World Series of Poker.
• The El Rancho Casino & Hotel in Las Vegas was known for a few firsts. It was the first casino/resort on the Strip opening in 1941 with 63 guestrooms. It was also the first to offer a buffet. The cost of the buffet was only $1.00! The El Rancho burned down in 1960 and fortunately no one was hurt.

Source: http://www.gambling-news-source.com/2012/10/22/artist-nate-lowman-calls-overpriced-78660/

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Real Estate and Property Managers at UPCEA West

October 20th, 2012 by admin

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Source: http://upceawest.com/real-estate-and-property-managers-2/

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Romney ups criticism of Obama's second-term plans

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, center, talks with foreign policy adviser Dan Senor, left, and his vice presidential running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., before boarding his campaign plane at Daytona International Airport, Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, center, talks with foreign policy adviser Dan Senor, left, and his vice presidential running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., before boarding his campaign plane at Daytona International Airport, Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, left, addresses supporters as his vice presidential running mate Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., listens at the Daytona Beach Historic Bandshell during the Romney Ryan Victory Rally in Daytona Beach, Fla., Friday, Oct. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

In this photo provided by Kathy Hackshaw, President Barack Obama greets a child during a campaign rally in Fairfax, Va., Friday, Oct. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Courtesy Kathy Hackshaw) MANDATORY CREDIT

First lady Michelle Obama speaks to Friday, October 19, 2012, during a campaign event in Racine, Wis. About 2,500 people gathered to see her speak at Memorial Hall. (AP Photo/Journal Times, Gregory Shaver)

Vice president Joe Biden gestures during a campaign speech to a group of senior citizen voters, Friday, Oct. 19, 2012 , in Sun City Center, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (AP) ? Heading into the campaign's final weeks, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is upping his criticism of President Barack Obama's plans for a second term, accusing the Democrat of failing to tell Americans what he would do with four more years. The Obama campaign is aggressively disputing the notion, claiming it's Romney who hasn't provided specific details to voters.

At campaign events and in a new ad out Saturday, Romney is setting up the closing weeks as a choice between what he says is a "small" campaign that's offering little new policy and his own ambitious plan to fundamentally change America's tax code and entitlement programs.

The new Romney ad criticizes the president's policies on debt, health care, taxes, energy and Medicare, arguing that Obama is simply offering more of the same. The campaign did not say where the spot would air.

"Have you been listening to the Obama camp lately? They have no agenda for the future, no agenda for America, no agenda for the second term," Romney told a crowd of thousands who gathered in a band shell just off Daytona Beach. "They've been reduced to petty attacks and silly word games. Just watch it ? the Obama campaign has become the incredible shrinking campaign."

Obama's campaign disputes the notion that the president hasn't outlined a detailed second-term agenda, pointing to his calls for immigration reform, ending tax breaks for upper income earners, fully implementing his health care overhaul and ending the war in Afghanistan.

In a statement sent after Romney's Friday night event, Obama campaign spokesman Danny Kanner ticked through a series of policy items, calling them "just part of President Obama's agenda for a second term."

On the economy, the president has essentially called for reintroducing legislation that stalled in Congress during his first term. That includes tax credits for companies that hire new workers and funding for local municipalities to hire more teachers, police officers and firefighters.

As for why Republicans would back the same proposals they have already voted against, Obama has told supporters he expects his re-election would "break the fever" on Capitol Hill that led to gridlock during his first term.

The president's aides are particularly irked by the questions about Obama's second-term agenda, because they say it's Romney who has failed to provide voters with details. They point to his refusal to provide specifics about his tax plan or outline what he would replace the president's health care overhaul with if he makes good on his promise to repeal the federal law.

An independent group backing Obama, though, is trying to renew attention on Romney's tenure at the helm of the private equity firm Bain Capital. The group, Priorities USA Action, is redoubling its efforts against Romney, re-airing an ad about an AMPAD plant in Marion, Ind. That spot features former employee Mike Earnest recalling being told to build a stage from which officials of the office supply company later announced mass layoffs.

He says, "It was like building my own coffin." That ad first aired in battleground states in the summer.

Romney aides have said AMPAD was a struggling business to begin with, and Bain overall created many more jobs than were lost.

That ad will air in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Ohio, Nevada, Virginia and Wisconsin. The new campaign will be in addition to a $30 million effort against Romney policy proposals, the group said.

Both Obama and Romney retreated from the campaign trail Saturday to bone up on foreign policy, leaving the work of courting voters to their running mates.

Monday's debate in Boca Raton, Fla., with its focus on international affairs, is the third and final between the two rivals and comes just 15 days before the election.

Obama left Friday for Camp David, the presidential hideaway in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains. He was to remain there with advisers until Monday morning. Romney was to spend the weekend in Florida with aides preparing for the debate.

Romney running mate Paul Ryan planned campaign stops in Pennsylvania and Ohio on Saturday. Vice President Joe Biden was headed for St. Augustine, Fla.

Monday's 90-minute debate will be moderated by Bob Schieffer of CBS News. It will be similar to the first debate, with both men standing at lecterns on a stage. Schieffer has listed five subject areas, with more time devoted to the Middle East and terrorism than any other topic.

While the economy has been the dominant theme of the election, foreign policy has attracted renewed media attention in the aftermath of the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens.

Obama had ranked well with the public on his handling of international issues and in fighting terrorism, especially following the death of Osama bin Laden. But the administration's response to the Libya attack and questions over levels of security at the consulate have given Romney and his Republican allies an issue with which to raise doubts about Obama's foreign policy leadership.

Ryan accused Obama of stonewalling, telling Milwaukee radio station WTMJ on Friday that the president was refusing to answer even basic questions. "His response has been inconsistent, it's been misleading," Ryan said.

Obama stuck with domestic policy themes Friday, accusing Romney of moderating his stands and conveniently forgetting his past positions on economic and women's issues and coining a new campaign term for what he described as his opponent's condition: "Romnesia."

Romney has spent large amounts of time off the campaign trail to prepare for the upcoming foreign policy debate. Aides say the additional time preparing is well-spent even if it comes at the expense of public events.

Obama planned a lengthy tour of battleground states in the days after Monday night's debate. Obama was campaigning in Florida and Ohio on Tuesday, joining with Vice President Joe Biden at a stop in Dayton, Ohio, before heading back to the White House. On Wednesday, he was packing his schedule with events in Davenport, Iowa; Denver; Los Angeles and Las Vegas, followed by campaigning in Tampa, Fla.; Richmond, Va.; Chicago and Cleveland on Thursday.

The president planned a mix of small and large events and wasn't even settling down in a hotel for the night, choosing instead to sleep on a red-eye flight aboard Air Force One from Las Vegas to Tampa on Wednesday night. Obama planned to cast his early ballot in his hometown of Chicago on Thursday, trying to drum up interest in early voting in several swing states.

___

Kuhnhenn reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Julie Pace and Ken Thomas in Washington contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-10-20-Presidential%20Campaign/id-55cecdfd8e064b7c895123464d114cec

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First micro-structure atlas of human brain completed

ScienceDaily (Oct. 19, 2012) ? A European team of scientists has built the first atlas of white-matter microstructure in the human brain. The project's final results have the potential to change the face of neuroscience and medicine over the coming decade.

The work relied on groundbreaking MRI technology and was funded by the EU's future and emerging technologies program with a grant of 2.4 million Euros. The participants of the project, called CONNECT, were drawn from leading research centers in countries across Europe including Israel, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Denmark, Switzerland and Italy.

The project investigators met October 19 in Paris, after 3 years of research, to announce the conclusion of the project and present a report of their findings.

The new atlas combines three-dimensional images from the MRI scans of 100 brains of volunteers. To achieve this, CONNECT developed advanced MRI methods providing unprecedented detail and accuracy.

Professor Daniel Alexander, a CONNECT steering committee member from the UCL Department of Computer Science said: "The UCL team use the latest computer modelling algorithms and hardware to invent new imaging techniques. The techniques we devised were key to realising the new CONNECT brain atlas."

"The imaging techniques reveal new information about brain structure that help us understand how low-level cellular architecture relate to high-level thought processes."

Currently, biomedical research teams around the world studying brain science rely on a brain atlas produced by painstaking and destructive histological methods on the brains of a few individuals who donated their bodies to science.

The new atlas simulates the impossible process of painstakingly examining every mm² of brain tissue (of which there are around 100 million per brain) with a microscope, while leaving the brain in tact.

The key novelty in the atlas is the mapping of microscopic features (such as average cell size and packing density) within the white matter, which contains the neuronal fibers that transmit information around the living brain. The results of the project, obtained through advanced image processing techniques, provide new depth and accuracy in our understanding of the human brain in health and disease.

The atlas describes the brain's microstructure in standardized space, which enables non-expert users, such as physicians or medical researchers, to exploit the wealth of knowledge it contains. The atlas contains a variety of new images that represent different microscopic tissue characteristics, such as the fiber diameter and fiber density across the brain, all estimated using MRI. These images will serve as the reference standard of future brain studies in both medicine and basic neuroscience.

The project will dramatically facilitate and promote future research into white matter structure and function. Historically in neuroscience, the vast majority of research effort has been invested in understanding and studying gray matter and neurons, while white matter has received relatively little attention.

This owes largely to the lack of effective research tools to study white matter, even though it comprises about half the volume of the brain. The new MRI methods that were developed in CONNECT allow researchers, for the first time, to visualize the micro-structure of the living brain over the whole brain.

This opens new realms in our understanding of our most complex organ. In the future, the project members intend to use the technology they have developed to study the dynamics and time dependence of the micro-structure in white matter. For example they will search for a finger print or a trace that a cognitive task imprints on white matter microstructure encoding new experiences in the wiring of the brain.

Another future direction is to characterize and understand micro-structural changes caused by different neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's or schizophrenia, in order to develop better diagnostic procedures for these and other devastating conditions.

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