Health care paperwork harms small businesses – Sun, 22 Mar 2015 PST

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Complying with the health care law is costing small businesses thousands of dollars that they didnt have to spend before the new regulations went intoeffect.

Brad Mete estimates his staffing company, Affinity Resources, will spend $100,000 this year on record-keeping and filing documents with the government. Hes hired two extra staffers and is spending more on services from its human resourcesprovider.

The Affordable Care Act, which as of next Jan. 1 applies to all companies with 50 or more workers, requires owners to track staffers hours, absences and how much they spend on health insurance

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Karen Gonzales, a recruiter with Affinity Resources, a temporary staffing company, talks with a job seeker on the phone from her Miami Lakes, Fla., office onMonday. (Full-size photo)

Complying with the health care law is costing small businesses thousands of dollars that they didnt have to spend before the new regulations went intoeffect.

Brad Mete estimates his staffing company, Affinity Resources, will spend $100,000 this year on record-keeping and filing documents with the government. Hes hired two extra staffers and is spending more on services from its human resourcesprovider.

The Affordable Care Act, which as of next Jan. 1 applies to all companies with 50 or more workers, requires owners to track staffers hours, absences and how much they spend on health insurance. Many small businesses dont have the human resources departments or computer systems that large companies have, making it harder to handle the paperwork. On average, complying with the law costs small businesses more than $15,000 a year, according to a survey released a year ago by the National Small BusinessAssociation.

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Health care paperwork harms small businesses - Sun, 22 Mar 2015 PST

Health care, wages still in dispute between city and police union

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The San Antonio Police Officers Association plans to review a counteroffer to a proposal they made Monday for a new labor contract.

The main issues that the union and the city continue to debate center on the cost of health care and salary increases.

If the police union wants to increase health care benefits beyond what the city offered Friday, the added cost would have to be absorbed by proposed wage increases, city officials said.

Ron DeLord, SAPOAs chief negotiator, told the citys team at the bargaining table that its possible the two sides could reach agreement on March 31 the last bargaining session the two sides have scheduled.

I dont see any way to reach a deal today. I think that we are closer and closer, but not close enough yet, DeLord said. We have another day on the 31st, which may be the finish or not day. Well see.

DeLord and union boss Mike Helle noted that the city has provided free health care for officers and their dependents since 1978 and giving that up is, according to DeLord, a monumental shift.

Theres value for that, he said.

Under proposals made both by the city and the union, officers would begin paying health care premiums on Jan. 1. The union has sought a plan that would include health care without premiums. Dubbed a consumer-driven health plan, such medical insurance includes high deductibles, which would be offset by city contributions to a health savings account. The two sides continue to argue over how much that contribution should be.

And just how much officers would receive in increased pay between now and fiscal year 2018 has become a point of contention in negotiations that have dragged on for more than a year. The two sides have spent most of the time negotiating over health care, which City Manager Sheryl Sculley had identified as a skyrocketing expense that needed to be reined in.

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University of Glasgow leads the way in drug treatments

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How to get the right treatment to the right patient at the right time

University of Glasgow leads the way in new global drug treatments

The University of Glasgow is launching the first ever Masters programme designed to specifically address the new paradigm in drug discovery stratified medicine which tailors drug therapies to individual patients genetic makeup.

The University of Glasgow is at the forefront of stratified medicine, which involves examining the genetic makeup of patients and their differing responses to drugs designed to treat specific diseases the right treatment to the right patient at the right time.

The course director of the new MSc in Clinical Trials and Stratified Medicine, Professor Matthew Walters, said: Stratified Medicine holds huge potential in the timely development of new treatments for human disease. It is among the most important concepts to emerge in 21stcentury clinical science and will be a crucial component of the global drive to increase the efficacy, safety and cost-effectiveness of new treatments.

He added: There has been global recognition of the need for training in this area so that we have young drug researchers in academia and the commercial environment imbued with the skills required to apply the science for the benefit of patients.

Glasgow is also home to the Stratified Medicine Scotland Innovation Centre, which combines cutting-edge genetic research with state-of-the-art health informatics and imaging technologies. It is a unique collaboration in healthcare between partners from academia, the NHS and the pharmaceutical industry.

There is already huge interest in stratified medicine and pharmaceutical science in Saudi Arabia, said Professor Walters.

China also has a nascent clinical trials industry and Professor Walters is keen to involve Chinese students and academics in this area.

One of the elements we need to be clear about is whether medicines have the same impact across different populations. People handle drugs differently in different parts of the globe. There will be a significant need for people in China with these skills to be running clinical trials over the next few decades, he said.

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University of Glasgow leads the way in drug treatments

New procedure for reliable gene editing

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Here's the classic, if overly simplistic, example: Children inherit sets of chromosomes from each of their parents, with each chromosome containing the genes for various traits. A blue-eyed child has to inherit the blue-eyed gene from both the mother and the father. Otherwise, the dominant brown-eyed gene trumps the recessive blue-eyed gene.

In reality, eye color is determined by more than one gene. But the same principle applies to genetic defects such as muscular dystrophy: Even if you inherit the mutated gene for muscular dystrophy from one parent, the normal gene from the other parent can compensate and keep you from getting the disease.

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The downside for genetic engineers is that the mechanism makes it harder to introduce desired mutations. Mutagenic chain reaction, or MCR, makes the job easier. The researchers behind the Science study tweaked the CRISPR genome-editing procedure in fruit flies to make a mutation that's generated on one copy of a chromosome spread automatically to the other copy. Thus, both copies of the gene carry the mutation.

"MCR is remarkably active in all cells of the body, with one result being that such mutations are transmitted to offspring via the germline with 95 percent efficiency," study lead author Valentino Gantz, a graduate student at the University of California at San Diego, said in a news release.

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Tokyo men stay one step ahead in style

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Tokyo men stay one step ahead in style

(AFP) / 22 March 2015

From sharp futurism to wool-and-denim casuals, the finale of Tokyo Fashion Week put the spotlight largely on menswear, aiming to promote the most dynamic area of Japanese clothes design.

A model displaying a creation from the "Sulvam" label by Japanese designer Teppei Fujita during Tokyo Fashion Week's 2015-16 autumn/winter collection in Tokyo. AFP

Tokyo: Feminine glamour may turn the most heads at fashion weeks in New York or Paris, but in Tokyo it is the style-conscious men who set the sartorial trends.

From sharp futurism to wool-and-denim casuals, the finale of Tokyo Fashion Week put the spotlight largely on menswear, aiming to promote the most dynamic area of Japanese clothes design.

What happens here is probably the future of mens fashion, said Antonio Cristaudo from Pitti Immagine, a collection of fashion industry events in Italy.

Theres individuality, they want to be different, he told AFP. Its important for all the fashion world to see whats happening in Japan.

Such innovation is nowhere more evident than on the streets of Tokyo, from the vintage and skater styles of Ura-Hara to the slick suits of the Marunouchi business district.

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Tokyo men stay one step ahead in style

Tokyo men stay one step ahead in style at Fashion Week

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A model displays a creation from Japanese designer Teppei Fujita's 2015-16 Autumn/Winter collection during Tokyo Fashion Week on March 21, 2015. AFP PHOTO/Toru Yamanaka

From sharp futurism to wool-and-denim casuals, the finale of Tokyo Fashion Week put the spotlight largely on menswear, aiming to promote the most dynamic area of Japanese clothes design.

"What happens here is probably the future of men's fashion," said Antonio Cristaudo from Pitti Immagine, a collection of fashion industry events in Italy.

"There's individuality, they want to be different," he told AFP. "It's important for all the fashion world to see what's happening in Japan."

Such innovation is nowhere more evident than on the streets of Tokyo, from the vintage and skater styles of Ura-Hara to the slick suits of the Marunouchi business district.

With sharp tailoring and eye-catching accessories, from hats and bags to shiny shoes, the get-up of Tokyo gents is striking to the first-time visitor.

"The menswear is just so much more exciting than womenswear here," said Misha Janette, an American fashion journalist based in Tokyo, who suggested the tendency for women to cover up meant their clothes could be "a bit shapeless."

For the men, meanwhile, "it's ok to do your hair, be into fashion, use skincare," Janette said. "They like to be proper in Japan."

Although Tokyo's dandies shine at home and start trends that travel abroad, the success of Japan's own designers has been limited overseas.

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Tokyo men stay one step ahead in style at Fashion Week

Freedom! YouTube Partnership Review (In-Depht) Grow Your Channel Easily – [HD] – 2015 – Video

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Freedom! YouTube Partnership Review (In-Depht) Grow Your Channel Easily - [HD] - 2015
Yo Guys Join Freedom:https://www.freedom.tm/via/TheOfficialBeast I proudly partnered with the Freedom! Network. I decided to make a review about the how the freedom! partnership works.And what ...

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Barbie Dreamhouse Party – One Step From Freedom | PART 3 | ScykohPlays – Video

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Barbie Dreamhouse Party - One Step From Freedom | PART 3 | ScykohPlays
It #39;s almost over, the light at the end of the tunnel (Banjo Tooie) is coming into focus. Follow my crud! Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/Scykoh Live Stream: http://www.Twitch.tv/Scykoh My...

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Freedom Rider tells of 60s push for civil rights in South – Sat, 21 Mar 2015 PST

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Max Pavesic wasnt sure what awaited him as the train rolled into the station in Jackson,Mississippi.

During the summer of 1961, Pavesic was a 21-year-old college student and one of 436 Freedom Riders activists committed to ending segregation on public transit in theSouth.

He was part of a group of 15 blacks and whites who had boarded the train together in New Orleans, in defiance of local segregation laws. They knew theyd be arrested in Jackson and possibly beaten. They expected an angry mob and police withdogs.

We were considered outside agitators, Pavesic recalled. I

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Max Pavesic, a retired Boise State University professor who shares his 1961 experience as a Freedom Rider, speaks Friday at the Human Rights Education Institute inCoeurdAlene. (Full-size photo)(All photos)

Max Pavesic will speak at 2 p.m. today at the Sandpoint Community Center, 204 S. FirstAve.

Max Pavesic wasnt sure what awaited him as the train rolled into the station in Jackson,Mississippi.

During the summer of 1961, Pavesic was a 21-year-old college student and one of 436 Freedom Riders activists committed to ending segregation on public transit in theSouth.

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Freedom Magazine: People Who Read are a Dying Breed

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(PRWEB) March 21, 2015

One in four Americans didnt read a single book last year. And more than half of U.S. teens dont read for pleasure, ever. Meanwhile, research shows that readers are better able to communicate and better equipped to deal with feelingsboth their own and other peoples. Exposure to literature also breeds empathy, spurs compassion, and fuels success, according to Freedoms March cover story.

While statistics vary, writes author Michael Brennan, virtually all studies indicate that reading in this country is on the decline. The sharpest fall is among young people and students, but across all age and economic groups, the number of people who read for enjoyment, or as a primary source of information, is dwindling.

Also in the March issue of Freedom Magazine:

High & Dry: Californias San Joaquin Valley produces 25 percent of Americas food on just one percent of the nations farmland. The region is in its fourth straight year of drought, and facing a second year of zero water allocation. But while the crops are withered and the land is fallow, the people who farm Californias Central Valley are not. They fight to survive, and for a very basic human right: access to water.

Search & Rescue: When a gas explosion reduced a Mexico City maternity hospital to rubble, the Scientology volunteer ministry rushed to help. So did one very brave 11-year-old boy.

Bitter Pill: Does Big Pharma buy trials? The slippery ethics of for-profit clinical testing in Africa, India and much closer to home.

Freedom Magazine is committed to accurate and accountable reporting. Freedom is the voice of the Church of Scientology and reflects its stance that responsible journalism and the free flow of information are the lifeblood of all great societies.

Published since 1968, Freedom addresses issues, not politics. It seeks out and illuminates solutions to societys problems. Freedom proudly serves as a media watchdog, protecting the exchange of free ideas on which democracy relies. Freedom further spotlights the Church of Scientology-sponsored human rights, social betterment, and volunteer works, thereby advancing its purpose of safeguarding and promoting the rights of all.

Full Freedom Mission Statement

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Freedom Magazine: People Who Read are a Dying Breed