Lake Erie Islands
Stilson Video Services Aerial Photography and Videography
By: stilsonvideo
See the rest here:
6.3 earthquake hits Santa Cruz Islands
by Rappler.com Posted on 02/02/2013 7:47 AM |Updated 02/02/2013 11:24 AM
Screenshot of Santa Cruz Islands from Google Maps
MANILA, Philippines (Updated) A magnitude 6.3 earthquake rocked Santa Cruz Islands in the Pacific Ocean Saturday, February 2, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported.
The epicenter of the 19 km-deep tremor, which occurred at 6:16 a.m. (9:16 a.m. -- Santa Cruz Islands time), was 388 km from Kira Kira, Solomon Islands.
USGS's initial bulletin recorded the earthquake as magnitude 6.7 and 34 km deep. Meanwhile, Geoscience Australia measured the tremor at magnitude 6.6.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not issue a tsunami alert after the earthquake.
Geoscience Australia seismologist Jonathan Bathgate said the latest tremors follow two 6.1-magnitude quakes and one 6.4-magnitude in the same area over the past few days.
"There's been four quakes over 6 [magnitude] in the last three days in that area. It doesn't necessarily indicate that there's anything bigger to come. There could be some more to come or there could be nothing. We just don't know," Bathgate said.
The Santa Cruz Islands is part of the Temotu Province of the Solomon Islands, which is located in the "Pacific Ring of Fire" -- an area around the Pacific Ocean that is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
In 2007, a tsunami following an 8.1-magnitude earthquake killed at least 52 people in the Solomons and left thousands homeless. - Rappler.com/with reports from Agence France Presse and Angela Casauay
See the rest here:
Japan PM vows to defend islands
Japan's prime minister has vowed to defend disputed remote islands from threats by China after a series of confrontations that have raised the risk of an armed clash.
"The security environment surrounding our country is increasingly becoming more severe as we face provocation to our territorial rights," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said. "I will take the lead to stand up against the present danger and protect the people's lives and asset, as well as our land, the seas and the air at all costs."
His comments, made in a speech to Japan's Self-Defence Forces in the country's south, apparently referred to China's growing presence near the disputed islands, called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.
The uninhabited islands are controlled by Japan but also claimed by China. Japan's nationalisation of the islands in September triggered violent protests across China, hurting Japanese companies there and the economy.
China has sent surveillance ships regularly to waters near the islands, and aircraft from the two sides have trailed each other, raising the risk of missteps that could trigger a clash.
Japan has recently launched diplomatic efforts to ease tensions, with China-friendly officials visiting Beijing for talks.
Mr Abe's government last week endorsed a budget bill for this year that included 4.75 trillion yen (32 billion) in proposed defence spending partly aimed at beefing up Japan's coastal and marine surveillance around islands also claimed by China and Taiwan. The government also plans to beef up coastguard deployment in the area.
Later Saturday, Mr Abe was to visit the regional coastguard office on the southern island of Okinawa, which is in charge of patrolling in the waters around the disputed islands, to meet the officers.
During his Okinawa visit, Mr Abe also met governor Hirokazu Nakaima and promised his effort to speed up the relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, which Japan and the United States had decided to close more than a decade ago.
The base, located in a heavily populated area of Okinawa, is still in operation because a replacement site has not been readied. The Futenma issue is expected to be among the main topics Mr Abe plans to discuss with President Barack Obama during his planned US trip in February.
Read more:
Strong quake hits off Solomon Islands
A 6.6-magnitude quake hit off the Solomon Islands on Saturday, Australian seismologists said, but there were no reports of damage and a tsunami threat was also ruled out.
The quake struck near the Santa Cruz islands about 623 kilometres (387 miles) from the capital Honiara and was followed by a series of smaller aftershocks, according to Geoscience Australia.
The US Geological Survey initially measured the quake at 6.7-magnitude but later revised it down to 6.3 at a depth of 19 kilometres.
"We've got it at 6.6," Geoscience Australia seismologist Jonathan Bathgate said, adding that the quake was "very unlikely" to have generated a tsunami.
A separate bulletin from the the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center also ruled out the threat of a Pacific-wide destructive tsunami.
The Solomon Islands are part of the "Ring of Fire", a zone of tectonic activity around the Pacific Ocean that is subject to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
In 2007 a tsunami following an 8.1-magnitude earthquake killed at least 52 people in the Solomons and left thousands homeless.
Bathgate said the latest tremors follow two 6.1-magnitude quakes and one 6.4-magnitude in the same area over the past few days.
"There's been four quakes over six (magnitude) in the last three days in that area. It doesn't necessarily indicate that there's anything bigger to come. There could be some more to come or there could be nothing. We just don't know."
mfc/ac
Originally posted here:
Series of quakes hit off Solomon Islands
A series of strong earthquakes struck off the Solomon Islands in rapid succession on Sunday, seismologists said, but no damage was reported and no tsunami warnings were issued.
The strongest of the three tremors, at 5:58 am (1858 GMT Saturday) had a magnitude of 6.1, with the other two each measuring 5.1, according to the US Geological Survey.
The quakes occurred within 30 minutes of one another at depths of 10 kilometres to 36 kilometres, some 600 kilometres (370 miles) from the Solomon Islands capital Honiara.
It was the fifth time in four days that an earthquake with a magnitude of over 6.0 has struck in the region.
On Saturday, Australian seismologists recorded a tremor measuring 6.6, followed by a series of smaller aftershocks. The US Geological Survey put it at 6.3, at a depth of 19 kilometres.
Two earlier tremors clocked in at 6.1, while another measured 6.4.
The Solomon Islands are part of the "Ring of Fire", a zone of tectonic activity around the Pacific Ocean that is subject to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
In 2007 a tsunami following an 8.1-magnitude earthquake killed at least 52 people in the Solomons and left thousands homeless.
ami/gd
Original post:
Health Care in Retirement.mp4 – Video
Health Care in Retirement.mp4
By: R Gardner Sherrill
See the rest here:
RPT: Unions Upset With Health Care Law They Backed – Are Unions Looking For a Health Care Refund? – Video
RPT: Unions Upset With Health Care Law They Backed - Are Unions Looking For a Health Care Refund?
Unions Didn #39;t Read The Bill You Wanted It Now You Got It!!! RPT: Some Unions Upset With Health Care Law They Backed - Are Unions Looking For a Health Care Refund?
By: Massteaparty
Excerpt from:
Accreditation With Exemplary Standing Awarded to Preferred Health Care Services
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Feb 1, 2013) - Accreditation Canada announced this week that it had granted "Accredited with Exemplary Standing" to Preferred Health Care Services (PHCS), a division of Leisureworld Senior Care Corporation. The decision is the highest of four possible accreditation awards following a rigorous survey process conducted in 2012.
"Accreditation is one of the most effective ways for health services organizations to regularly and consistently examine and improve the quality of their services," says Tracy Jones, president of Preferred Health Care Services. "We are exceptionally proud of this recognition of our efforts and performance."
Accreditation Canada is an independent, not-for-profit organization that sets standards for quality and safety in health care and accredits health organizations in Canada and around the world.
Following a comprehensive self-assessment, external peer surveyors conducted an on-site survey during which they assessed leadership, governance, clinical programs and services against Accreditation Canada''s requirements for quality and safety. These included national standards of excellence; required safety practices to reduce potential harm; and questionnaires to assess the work environment, patient safety culture, governance functioning and client experience.
Accreditation Canada commended PHCS for
"Within their exceptional focus on the quality of care, we were very impressed with the long-standing and on-going commitment that Preferred Health Care Services has demonstrated to the community. The home support community based program was created with a focus on the needs of the clients," said Wendy Nicklin, President and CEO, Accreditation Canada. "They did their homework and this was strongly evident during the survey visit."
Preferred Health Care Services has been a trusted partner in Canada for more than 25 years in home and personal care services, as well as health care staffing and education.
About Leisureworld
Leisureworld Senior Care Corporation is Canada''s fifth largest operator of seniors'' housing and the third largest licensed long-term care (LTC) provider in Ontario. Leisureworld owns and operates 27 LTC homes across Ontario with 4,474 beds. The Company also owns and operates six retirement residences and one independent living residence, representing 768 suites, in Ontario and British Columbia. Leisureworld subsidiaries include: Preferred Health Care Services, an accredited provider of professional nursing and personal support services; and Ontario Long Term Care, a provider of purchasing services, and dietary, social work, and other regulated health professional services. For more information, please visit the Company''s website at http://www.leisureworld.ca.
See the original post here:
Accreditation With Exemplary Standing Awarded to Preferred Health Care Services
Health care program seeks farm families
SEYMOUR - Health professionals are touting a program aimed at bringing health care to farm families in Outagamie County.
The County has formed a partnership with the Rural Health Initiative in the hope of raising the quality of care in the region.
Those behind the program say they're trying their best to attract farm folks who face numerous barriers when it comes to health care.
Rural Seymour residents listened closely as registered nurse Amanda Hatch talked about the Rural Health Initiative.
During a mini-tour of Outagamie County, she explained the effort that brings health care workers into the homes of farm workers.
"We can do testing on them like a blood pressure, we can do a lipid panel, so the total cholesterol, the LDL, the HDL so the bad and the good cholesterol. Triglycerides," said Hatch.
Hatch said farmers work long hours, and have long commute times to their doctors offices, so they're not getting the necessary preventative health and safety screenings. Insurance coverage is also a barrier.
According to the Rural Health Initiative, more than 18 percent of Wisconsin dairy farm families have no health insurance. Another 41 percent have high deductible plans that provide only major medical coverage. And four out of five lack health insurance that covers checkups and preventative care.
"A lot of our farmers, they are either under insured or they have a really high deductible. So $5-$10 thousand deductible. So they're just not going to get that preventative care piece.
The program, which covers Outagamie, Waupaca and Shawano Counties, is funded mostly through donations. The cost each year is $183 thousand dollars. $78 thousand is funneled into Outagamie County.
Read the original:
Health care premiums sometimes taxed
Readers brought up some good comments about my Thursday column on the provision in the Affordable Care Act that requires most employers to begin reporting the cost of employer-provided health care on their W-2 forms, starting with W-2 forms issued for 2012.
The cost, reported in Box 12 with the code DD, includes both the employer and employee share of health insurance premiums for the year. It might or might not include dental and vision care premiums depending on how the employer packages benefits.
Some employers were exempt from the requirement for 2012 W-2s including those who filed fewer than 250 W-2s in 2011.
The reporting does not create any new tax liability; it's for informational purposes only (although many think Congress might attempt to tax at least some of it). The reporting requirement is supposed to help employees appreciate and understand the value of their health benefits.
In my column, I said the employee pays no income tax on the amount reported in Box 12 and that employees pay their share of premiums with pretax dollars.
While that's true in most cases, there are exceptions.
If employees cover a domestic partner or same-sex spouse, the value of the partner/spouse's coverage (less any after-tax payments made by the employee) is generally added to their income and they pay federal tax on it. The cost of the spouse/partner's coverage is included in the DD amount, but the reporting does not create any additional tax. (Taxation of partner/same-sex spouse benefits at the state level varies.)
And while many employees get to pay their share of health insurance premiums with pretax dollars, many don't.
If an employer sets up a 125 plan, employees can pay for health care premiums with pretax dollars. This plan, also called a cafeteria plan, is named after the section of the tax code that lets employees pay for a variety of benefits with pre-tax dollars if their employer sets one up. Employers can set up a premium-only 125 plan that shelters just health care premiums.
If the employer does not set up a 125 plan, employees pay their premiums with post-tax dollars.
See the original post here:
Health Care: Great for the Economy Today, Terrible Later
PITTSBURGHGerardo Sciulli was a welder from a small town in the Abruzzi region of Italy. So when he emigrated to America in 1970, he chose this place; its vibrant steel mills assured him plenty of work. He settled with his family in Oakland, a half-square-mile neighborhood east of downtown.
Today, the steel mills are gone, and Oakland is the seat of Pennsylvanias health care industry. It contains a complex of interconnected hospitals, a medical school, doctors offices, and towers of University of Pittsburgh medical labs (which bring in some $450 million in federal grants every year). UPMCthe huge local health care provider, which is expected to pull in $10 billion in revenue this yearowns 16 hospitals in the metro area and is the largest private employer in the state.
All of which made a strong impression on Marc Sciulli, Gerardos 29-year-old son. By the time Marc started college, he knew he wanted a career in health care. Now, after his first few years as a hospital pharmacist, he earns nearly double what his father did (more than $80,000 a year), owns his own home, and plans to make his life in the city. I think just living in Oaklandbeing around the hospitals and the collegespushed me in that direction, he says.
Health carewhich adds thousands of jobs in hospitals, nursing homes, and doctors offices each yearis at the center of this recovery. The sector pulls in federal Medicare dollars to serve the regions aging population and research grants from the National Institutes of Health. It offers middle-class positions to nurses, technicians, accountants, computer programmers, and other professionals. UPMC may not replace the steel industry, but it has taken over the old U.S. Steel building downtown, and its logo looms large atop the citys skyline.
Health care is the leading-edge of a nationwide trend. The number of jobs in this sector is climbing steadily, in contrast to the erosion in so many other areas of the economy. Since the Great Recession began in December 2007, health care jobs are up nationwide by 10.5 percent. Compare that with all other nonfarm jobs, which are still down 4.3 percent, even after recent gains. If the health care economy hadnt grown during that period, the national unemployment rate would be 8.8 percent, a full point higher than it is, according to calculations by the Altarum Institute, which tracks the industry. If health care jobs had plunged like those in other sectors, U.S. unemployment would be a staggering 10.8 percent. Employees like Sciulli kept the country afloat. In the short term, think of the health sector as being a stimulus program: It just keeps generating jobs and money, says Charles Roehrig, director of Altarums Center for Sustainable Health Spending.
But the long term may not be as rosyfor Pittsburgh or for the country. The growth in the health care sector also produces ever-growing costs. Health spending, nearly 18 percent of the U.S. economy, is contributing to personal bankruptcies, driving up the cost of domestic labor, and crowding out other government priorities (infrastructure, say, or education). Thats a problem in Pittsburgh, too, where the city has spent the last nine years in a form of municipal bankruptcy, after retiree pensions and employee health benefit costs crushed the budget.
Its an example, in miniature, of what could happen nationally. Federal health entitlement programs alone are projected to balloon from less than 6 percent of gross domestic product today to more than 10 percent in 2037, according to the Congressional Budget Office, when they will exceed spending on all other government functions except Social Security. About half of that increase can be blamed on our aging population and the expanded benefits under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, but the other half represents what health economists call excess cost growththe annual increases in spending for each persons care. A health system this pricey wont be able to keep adding good jobs like Sciullis without acting like ballast. Its a good thing for now, but as the economy begins to recover and we dont need those health care jobs, were going to be desperate to reduce the growth rate in health spending, Roehrig said. Because we just cant afford it. The health care boom that is propping up the American economy, could eventually come back to haunt us.
Through the mid-70s, Pittsburgh had a vibrant economy. Steel mills in and around the city offered high salaries and plum benefits to workers right out of high school. Then international competition torpedoed steel prices, and the industry collapsed. Nearly all of the regions mills closed within a five-year period. Unemployment rose to more than 18 percent, and union membership fell. Growing up, I didnt know anybody who didnt work in the steel mill, and now I dont know anybody who does, says George Fechter, 66, an entrepreneur who invests in health care start-ups. Working-age people quickly left town. In the early 1980s, they moved out using U-Hauls. Later on, they were moving out due to hearse.
Hospitals moved into the economic vacuum. Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh and many of its suburbs, now has the second-highest proportion of seniors of any county in the nation with a population over 1 million (after Floridas Palm Beach). All those Medicare beneficiaries gave local hospitals a solid base of paying customers. A few smaller community hospitals closed, but many survived. UPMC, a nonprofit affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh, began expanding rapidly, buying up hospitals in the region and building up high-revenue specialties such as organ transplantation and oncology.
People in town like to credit the economic recovery to the combination of eds and meds. In addition to the big hospitals, Pittsburgh is home to two major university systemsPitt and Carnegie Mellon Universitywith grant-winning research programs, along with more than a dozen other colleges. The University of Pittsburgh, with its medical school, has been a big breadwinner for the city. It hired a former top NIH official, and Pitt now ranks fifth in the country among universities collecting NIH grantsmore than Yale, Duke, or Stanford.
Here is the original post:
Health Care is the Flathead’s ‘Engine of Growth’
Experts to speak on economic outlook at Feb. 15 seminar
A nurse begins her night shift at Kalispell Regional Medical Center. File photo by Lido Vizzutti | Flathead Beacon
Thats the message from the University of Montanas Bureau of Business and Economic Research, and will be part of the overall 38th Annual Montana Economic Outlook 2013 presentation and seminar at the Hilton Garden Inn on Feb. 15.
This years seminar is titled, The Best Medicine: How Can Montanans Take Charge of Changes in Health Care? and will include a keynote address from Larry White, director of the Western Montana Area Health Education Center at the University of Montana, about the latest developments in health care.
The Economic Outlook seminar travels to Montanas major cities, and will have city-specific information at each event. At Kalispells seminar, Gregg Davis, director of health care research for the BBER, will provide health care information about the Flathead.
Health care is an engine of growth up there, Davis said.
Davis said he compiled information from quarterly census reports, which say the wage growth in the private sector grew at an annualized rate of 2.7 percent from 2005 through 2011.
But wages in the private health care sector grew at an annualized rate of 9 percent in that same time frame, Davis said.
In terms of employment, 2005 to 2011 is a pretty flat time for the Flathead, Davis said, but health care employment grew at 4 percent a year in those years. Other research concluded that in the past decade, Flathead Countys health care growth was the second fastest in the state, behind Gallatin County.
The health care sector is really pulling the economy along, Davis said.
Excerpt from:
Defining the Cloud for Government – Opening Remarks, Keynote Address by Intel Futurist – Video
Defining the Cloud for Government - Opening Remarks, Keynote Address by Intel Futurist
Defining the Cloud for Government - a forum was held on Jan. 30 in Sacramento featuring a keynote address by Intel Futurist Brian David Johnson and opening remarks by California Technology Agency Secretary Carlos Ramos and Office of Technology Services Director Ron Hughes.
By: TechwireNet
Go here to read the rest:
Defining the Cloud for Government - Opening Remarks, Keynote Address by Intel Futurist - Video
Internet Addication and More – Mal Fletcher Social Futurist – Radio Clips 2012 – Video
Internet Addication and More - Mal Fletcher Social Futurist - Radio Clips 2012
Mal Fletcher, Social Commentator and Social Futurist, is often asked by the media for expert insight on a wide range of social, technological and ethical issues. Here are just a handful of examples of his interviews, with the BBC and other outlets, in 2012. For more, see 2020plus.net
By: Mal Fletcher
Link:
Internet Addication and More - Mal Fletcher Social Futurist - Radio Clips 2012 - Video
Swagerty Family Video: Freedom of Expression! – Video
Swagerty Family Video: Freedom of Expression!
JudahSwagerty.com This is our first time doing a YouTube video as a family. I welcome you to watch as we freely express ourselves to you and the rest of the world. I encourage you to be free where you are and learn to freely express yourself. Allow yourself to be vulnerable in such as way it propels you towards an abundant life. I welcome you to my subscribe to my YouTube channel. Thanks!
By: Judah Swagerty
Link:
Freedom Church – Video
Amanda Singing "Freedom Reigns" – Video
Amanda Singing "Freedom Reigns"
Freedom Reigns by Jesus Culture
By: latncinderella
Read the original post:
Project Freedom Trailer – Video
A Child is Born – performed by jKb Freedom Jazz – Video
A Child is Born - performed by jKb Freedom Jazz
jKb performs this standard at The Shrine in Harlem. The band consists of Jason Vitelli (alto sax), Bob Borress (drums), and Michael Feinberg (bass)
By: MusicforMultimedia
Read the original here:
Freedom of BULLSHIT – Video
Freedom of BULLSHIT
AngusDiaries Mr bullshit himself.
By: Shom909
See more here: