Ryan & Friends / Liberty Quartet (Where Could I Go) 11-07-14 PGMA – Video

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Ryan Friends / Liberty Quartet (Where Could I Go) 11-07-14 PGMA
Ryan Friends, along with Liberty Quartet, were a couple of the guest acts at the 2014 PGMA (Pacific Gospel Music Association) festival at the Hilton in Eugene, Oregon. This performance was...

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Ryan & Friends / Liberty Quartet (Where Could I Go) 11-07-14 PGMA - Video

Rotenberg 17: 51 shades of gray

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The fallout from the ill-conceived, poorly construed and seemingly never-ending war on terror has been decisive. Americans now hold an aversion to large-scale ground troop intervention, especially in the Middle East. According to a recent CNN poll, less than 40 percent of Americans favor sending ground troops back into Iraq to battle the Islamic State. However, 75 percent think it is likely or somewhat likely that combat troops are going to be sent into Iraq or Syria.

I have conflicting views on what policy action the U.S. government should seek. The libertarian ideologue within me does not believe in this form of formal, governmental intervention. However, I will endeavor to explain three beliefs. First, not all interventions are created equal. Second, the Islamic States systemic human rights violations and commitment to ideological repression are a travesty that is impossible to ignore. Third, I think intervention might be justified, based on limited-government principles.

As demonstrated by the Vietnam and Iraq wars, intervention can do more harm than good. The fervent anti-Communism that shrouded President Lyndon Johnsons geopolitical decision-making created conditions where Johnson felt that intervention was not only inevitable, but required.

Furthermore, President George W. Bushs assertion regarding the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq proved to be largely false. In fact, Saddam Hussein did not have modern large stockpiles, as the Bush administration contended. U.S. troops did find these weapons, but they were remnants of long-abandoned programs, built in close collaboration with the West, the New York Times reported. It appears that in these two interventions, data was misconstrued and the decision to intervene was ill-conceived.

According to the Huffington Post, a video has emerged that has a suspected Islamic State fighter describing how he sold Yazidi girls, belonging to an Iraqi minority group, into the slave trade. According to representatives of the Yazidi community, 7,000 Yazidi girls have been kidnapped. On Mount Sinjar, where the Islamic State has surrounded more than 10,000 Yazidis, ISIS forces are taking over Yazidi villages near the mountain one after another, killing the men and selling the women and children into the slave trade, the Daily Beast reported. The Yazidis have also been forced to convert or be killed, Mona Siddiqui wrote in an opinions column for the Guardian this summer.

The Islamic States intentions are expansionary and oppressive and go further than other regimes to violate basic human liberties. In Jason Brennans book Libertarianism: What Everyone Needs to Know, he describes libertarianism as an ideology that promotes radical tolerance. The Islamic State promotes radical intolerance. According to an Australian government report that cited Islamic State public statements, the Islamic State promotes sectarian violence and targets those who do not agree with its interpretations as infidels and apostates.

Therefore, I believe one can justify a more forceful intervention on some form of libertarian grounds. Libertarians, or classical liberals, share a strong belief in the right to enter into consensual contracts and the right to live free from coercion. Libertarian economist Milton Friedman describes the role of government in his book Capitalism and Freedom as a forum for determining the rules of the game and as an umpire to interpret and enforce the rules decided on.

Iraqs constitution affirms individual rights. For instance, Article 23 of the Iraqi constitution affirms that personal property is protected and no property may be taken away except for the purposes of public benefit. Furthermore, Article 7 states that no entity or program, under any name, may adopt racism, terrorism (and) the calling of others infidels in Iraq.

Under the Islamic States rule, Iraq will be unable to act as an arbiter of these fundamental freedoms and aggressions that are clearly being committed. Though former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki took sectarian positions, the aspirations of the Iraqi government in the 2000s were based on liberal values of liberty and freedom. Therefore, if the Iraqi government needs assistance to facilitate its primary function as an arbiter and protector of rights, why cant external governments help it restore its duty? Is there not a moral duty to enter into a contract with the Iraqi government to help it try to restore some commitment to liberal values?

The answers to both of these questions are incredibly unclear. One could argue that an unequivocal ground troop invasion could lead to a restoration of a government founded on liberal principles and restore the nature of government as an umpire through the vehicle of a contract between the Iraqi and American governments. But if the recent history of American intervention is any indication (think Somalia and Iraq), a lack of consequential understanding of the region married with lack of substantial support within Iraq could lead to a futile enterprise that actually does more harm than good. Thus, based on this libertarian framework there is a justification for intervening to fight the Islamic State.

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Rotenberg 17: 51 shades of gray

SenateSHJ recognises excellence with prize

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SenateSHJ recognises excellence with prize

A Victoria University student Sophie Speakman, who is studying both human genetics and communications has been awarded the SenateSHJ Prize and internship for 2014.

The SenateSHJ Prize, now in its sixth year, awards the best projects undertaken by communications and public relations students at Unitec, Victoria University, AUT and Massey University.

The top students from each institution have the opportunity to win $500 and a chance to compete for a paid internship at SenateSHJ.

Sophie won the SenateSHJ Prize for Victoria University students with her analysis of Contikis This Way to Amazing campaign. Sophie was additionally selected out of the three national winners for a one week paid internship with SenateSHJs Auckland office.

Massey Universitys Morgan Fitzgerald and Unitecs Zoe Gardner also won the SenateSHJ Prize on behalf of their universities. Their assignments on depression awareness and reputation management respectively were judged the best of four top papers submitted by each university.

Neil Green, chief executive of SenateSHJ, said the prize and internship recognise excellence in communications, and encourage deep analysis, evaluation and thought within the discipline.

It is an excellent way for us to connect with some extremely bright and promising students, who demonstrate smart thinking.

We believe they have the potential to make a mark in the profession in years to come.

We hope that the recognition that comes with winning the SenateSHJ Prize will give them a head-start in their careers once they graduate.

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SenateSHJ recognises excellence with prize

Businesses That Support Health Care Innovation Education: Walking the Talk – Video

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Businesses That Support Health Care Innovation Education: Walking the Talk
Our article, Bridging Health Care #39;s Innovation Gap, was published today at Harvard Business Review #39;s Insight Center, https://hbr.org/2014/11/bridging-health-...

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Businesses That Support Health Care Innovation Education: Walking the Talk - Video

Summer Health Care-The Disadvantages of Dried Fruit -Dr. Shehla Aggarwal(Dermatologist) – Video

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Summer Health Care-The Disadvantages of Dried Fruit -Dr. Shehla Aggarwal(Dermatologist)
http://www.pragyatv.com/ To get wellness updates and advise subscribe to PragyaWellnessTV: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=PragyaWellnessTV ...

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Summer Health Care-The Disadvantages of Dried Fruit -Dr. Shehla Aggarwal(Dermatologist) - Video

Health care insurance enrollent running smoothly at Halifax

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Published: Sunday, November 16, 2014 at 4:55 p.m. Last Modified: Monday, November 17, 2014 at 6:04 a.m.

DAYTONA BEACH Scott Stephan has been uninsured his entire life, but the 34-year-old Daytona Beach native finally changed that Sunday morning.

More than 100 other people also enrolled in health insurance plans Sunday many for the first time. A coalition of groups including the nonprofit Enroll America, Halifax Health Medical Center of Daytona Beach and the Health Planning Council of Northeast Florida held one of the first enrollment events in the area for the second year of the Affordable Care Act.

This is my first year (having insurance), said Stephan. I just needed it. Ive got cancer and Im trying to get it all taken care of. Its just skin cancer, its nothing big, but like, to get the surgery, no one will help unless you have insurance.

The second annual open enrollment window for people to get health insurance under the presidents health care law opened Saturday.

The wonderful thing is Halifax hospital has opened up its doors and were going to staff the hospital from now until the end of enrollment, said Mincy Pollock, of the First Coast Multi-Lines Agency, a Jacksonville-based insurance brokerage and one of the partners in Sundays event.

The hospital was more than happy to join the effort, said Bob Williams, executive director of business development with Halifax, especially because having more people covered reduces the amount of uncompensated care the hospital off Clyde Morris Boulevard has to provide.

Many people who dont have coverage dont get the preventative care they need, so they show up in our emergency department already having a serious illness that could have, frankly, been prevented. That becomes a burden on the community, he said. We will, this year, get about $8 million in tax money, but we will see over $43 million of uncompensated treatment having to be delivered.

The governments online health care marketplace, Healthcare.gov, is now apparently running much smoother than it did in the laws inaugural year.

Its been phenomenal. Last year, the first time I (enrolled somebody) it took about four hours, said Gabriel Timmons Sr. of Jacksonville, a navigator at the event. Now, normally ... its going to take maybe 30 to 45 minutes to process somebody.

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Health care insurance enrollent running smoothly at Halifax

Health Exchange: Why your medical bills will just keep growing

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This is the first installment in a four-part series.

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- A new era in health care is upon us, and Denise Atkinson is a little nervous about how its all going to turn out.

Going to the doctor used to be simpler for Atkinson, a resident of Williamstown, N.J., and the mother of two small children. She and her husbandboth in their 30swould see premiums taken out of their checks, and dole out an occasional copay for a doctor visit.

Those days are gone. Atkinson now has some skin in the game: The Cigna Corp. CI, +0.51% policy the family gets through her husbands job has a $3,600 annual deductible. She says thats ultimately a cheaper alternative, because the premiums are smaller, but now theres a more direct financial connection between her and her medical care.

Financial decision-making and planning around health care now permeates all facets of her life, even factoring into the decision of whether to have a third child. If her pregnancy should start toward the end of one year and conclude the next, for example, her pregnancy alone could cost her $7,200two years worth of the deductible. Its the kind of awareness she didnt have before.

You pay for every little thing that happens. Where it used to be that on an HMO plan, you had an [emergency room] visit, and youd kick in $100 for your ER visit and you didnt know all the behind-the-scenes costs, Atkinson said. And now, youre getting hit with all of it.

***

Your fathers health-care system is dissipating. Soaring costs are forcing an increasing number of workers throughout the U.S. to adopt a consumer mentality when it comes to medical treatment. Planning for health-care expenses in much the same vein as setting aside money for vacations is becoming more acceptable, and more necessary.

But are Americans ready to do that, and do consumers like Atkinson have the tools they need? As the country enters its second year under the Affordable Care Act, debates about the triumphs and failures of Obamacare have dominated the public discussion of health care. But growing ranks of doctors, economists and health-industry analysts agree that those debates tend to ignore a much more serious challenge: The systems inability to get medical costs under control.

In this four-part series, MarketWatch looks at the continuing strugglea losing battle so farwith the medical inflation that continues to outpace the rest of the economy and threatens to consume the lions share of U.S. spending. And well examine the ways that those spiraling costs create ever-growing challenges even for relatively affluent consumers.

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Health Exchange: Why your medical bills will just keep growing

Podcast: A health care checkup

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Transcript

(OPEN)

From Bankrate.com, this is "Your Money This Week."

I'm Mark Hamrick in Washington.

Away from the politically-charged debate about the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, is a program that's helping millions of Americans get access to health care. We know that Republicans are pledging to try to make changes to the program, and the Obama Administration has said it is open to trying to improve it.

In the meantime, a new enrollment season has begun, presenting consumers an opportunity to buy or change coverage.

Bankrate's insurance expert, Doug Whiteman, will join us for an update.

Do you have a health savings account? An increasing number of employers are offering them. We'll hear from Kevin Crane with Bank of America Merrill Lynch about this new savings vehicle, which can reduce your tax bill.

Bankrate's Amanda Rowe tells us that companies are really getting creative when it comes to offering perks to their employees.

And we'll take a look back at business history, with the introduction of a new digital gadget.

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Podcast: A health care checkup

Mediation talks between health care unions, province fail

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There will be no mediated deal between the provincial government and Nova Scotias four health care unions.

The two sides have been in talks for the last 45 days with British Columbia-based mediator James Dorsey. Dorsey, who has made multiple trips to Nova Scotia for the process, returned home on Thursday and the mediation clock will run out as of midnight, said one union source, speaking on condition on anonymity because leaders agreed to a media blackout.

The mediation process was part of parameters laid out in Bill 1, the Liberal governments centrepiece legislation of the autumn sitting, that will merge nine district health authorities into one as of April 1. To facilitate that and to reduce the number of contracts to be negotiated and ending what the health minister has called an ongoing cycle of bargaining Bill 1 included a clause that each of the four unions could only represent one classification of worker.

A proposal from the four unions to work in bargaining associations in reaching agreements was rejected by the province. Health and Wellness Minister Leo Glavine said at the time that the proposal would still have too many people at the table and wouldnt do enough to reduce the number of contracts being negotiated.

Despite protests from the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Nova Scotia Government & General Employees Union, the Nova Scotia Nurses Union and Unifor, the Grits passed the legislation with the support of the Progressive Conservatives in early October. That triggered the 45-day clock for mediation. With the clock set to expire, a 45-day arbitration period will begin as of midnight on Tuesday.

Dorsey will now be tasked with determining which union gets assigned to each of the four classifications: nurses, health care, clerical and service.

A union source characterized talks so far as extremely tough, in no small part because of how much the NSGEU stands to lose. Nova Scotias largest union will lose upwards of 9,000 members through this process, including its nurses. Bill 1 stipulates each union must have a history of representing the groups it will represent in the future. This means the nurses union must get nurses, a move that will result in a windfall of thousands of new members.

Unifor, because it only represents workers in the health care and service classifications, is a lock to get service, where it has the larger percentage of members.

The real question is what happens with the health care and clerical classifications. Based on numbers released by the Health Association of Nova Scotia, it would seem that NSGEU could get clerical, based on it representing two-thirds of the workers in that classification. If that comes to pass, CUPE would take health care and with it gain thousands of members, more than making up for the people it would lose in other categories.

Union sources on Monday had high praise for Dorseys work throughout the process hes the best in the business, said one source but the consensus was that the governments parameters removed any wiggle room for Dorsey to find an arrangement that would be palatable to everyone.

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Mediation talks between health care unions, province fail