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saeedmohammedsblog · 15 days ago

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The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Right Medical Coding Academy for Your Career Goals

In today's rapidly evolving healthcare landscape, medical coding has become an indispensable field. It serves as the backbone of healthcare administration, transforming patient care data into standardized codes for billing, insurance claims, and medical records. As a result, trained medical coders are in high demand, making it an attractive career option for those seeking opportunities in healthcare without direct patient interaction.

If you’re considering a career in this field, the first and most important step is to choose the right Medical Coding Academy. For those based in Kerala, specifically in Calicut, finding a reputable Medical Coding Academy in Calicut is crucial to ensuring a strong foundation in the subject and excellent career prospects.

In this blog, we will discuss the key factors to consider when choosing a medical coding academy, the benefits of pursuing medical coding as a career, and how the right academy can play a pivotal role in your success.

Why Medical Coding?

Before diving into how to choose the right Medical Coding Academy in Calicut, it’s essential to understand why medical coding is a great career option. The healthcare sector is constantly growing, and with this growth comes the need for accurate medical records, coding, and billing. Medical coders translate complex medical procedures and diagnoses into standardized codes, making them essential for hospitals, insurance companies, and healthcare providers.

Benefits of a Career in Medical Coding:

1. High Demand: Medical coders are in demand across hospitals, clinics, and healthcare institutions globally.

2. Work Flexibility: Many medical coders can work remotely or choose flexible hours.

3. Diverse Opportunities: Medical coding skills are transferrable across various industries, including insurance and healthcare IT.

4. Job Security: Healthcare is a stable field, and medical coding plays a vital role in revenue cycle management, ensuring job stability.

The Importance of Choosing the Right Academy

Not all medical coding programs are created equal. The quality of education you receive from your medical coding academy can have a long-lasting impact on your career. It’s not just about learning how to code; it’s about being prepared for industry certification exams, gaining hands-on experience, and developing a thorough understanding of medical terminology, anatomy, and healthcare regulations.

When selecting a Medical Coding Academy in Calicut, consider the following factors to ensure you get the best possible training and education.

1. Accreditation and Certification Preparation

One of the most important aspects of any medical coding program is its accreditation. A well-recognized medical coding academy should offer programs that are accredited by reputable healthcare or educational bodies. Accreditation ensures that the academy follows a set curriculum that meets industry standards.

In addition, medical coding is a certification-driven career. Programs that prepare you for certification exams, such as the CPC (Certified Professional Coder) or CCA (Certified Coding Associate), are more valuable because employers prioritize certified coders.

Before enrolling in any Medical Coding Academy in Calicut, make sure their program prepares you for these essential certification exams.

2. Experienced Instructors

The quality of instruction plays a critical role in how well you grasp medical coding concepts. Look for academies that have experienced, certified instructors with a background in healthcare and medical coding. Experienced teachers bring real-world examples into the classroom, helping you understand how medical coding functions in actual clinical settings.

An instructor who has spent years in the field can also provide insights into industry trends, common challenges, and career advice that go beyond the curriculum.

3. Comprehensive Curriculum

Medical coding isn’t just about memorizing codes. It requires a deep understanding of medical terminology, anatomy, healthcare regulations, and coding software. A comprehensive curriculum should include all of these components and more, ensuring that you are fully prepared for any medical coding scenario.

When choosing a Medical Coding Academy in Calicut, review their course outline to see if it includes:

- Medical Terminology

- Anatomy and Physiology

- Healthcare Laws and Ethics

- ICD (International Classification of Diseases) Coding

- CPT (Current Procedural Terminology) Coding

- HCPCS Coding (Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System).

Also, ensure that the program teaches you how to use common medical coding software, which will be crucial once you enter the workforce.

4. Hands-on Training

Medical coding is a practical skill, so hands-on training is essential. The best medical coding academies will provide you with access to coding software and opportunities to practice coding actual medical cases.

Hands-on training bridges the gap between theory and practice, helping you apply your knowledge in real-world situations. It’s also a great way to build confidence before entering the job market.

When researching a Medical Coding Academy in Calicut, inquire about their hands-on training opportunities, internships, or coding simulations.

5. Flexible Learning Options

For many students, balancing education with other responsibilities like work or family can be challenging. That’s why flexible learning options such as online courses, evening classes, or self-paced programs are so valuable. A reputable Medical Coding Academy in Calicut should offer multiple learning formats to accommodate different student needs.

Whether you prefer a classroom environment or online learning, make sure the academy provides flexibility in terms of scheduling, especially if you’re juggling other commitments.

6. Student Support Services

The journey from student to certified medical coder can be challenging, which is why robust student support services are crucial. Look for academies that offer academic counselling, career guidance, exam preparation workshops, and resume-building assistance. Support doesn’t end when the course is over—many top academies also offer job placement services or assistance with finding internships.

A Medical Coding Academy in Calicut with a strong support system will increase your chances of completing the program and transitioning smoothly into the job market.

7. Reputation and Reviews

Finally, take the time to research the reputation of the academy. Check online reviews, testimonials, and ratings from former students. A good Medical Coding Academy in Calicut will have a track record of producing successful graduates who are well-prepared for the demands of the job market.

You can also ask for references or speak to alumni to gain firsthand insights into their experiences.

Conclusion

Choosing the right Medical Coding Academy in Calicut is a significant decision that can impact your future career in the healthcare industry. By considering factors like accreditation, curriculum quality, hands-on training, and student support services, you’ll be better equipped to make an informed choice.

Investing in a comprehensive and well-structured medical coding program will provide you with the skills, knowledge, and certification necessary to succeed in this growing field. As you embark on this exciting career path, make sure your educational foundation is strong, and your academy is fully committed to your success.

#Medical Coding Academy in Calicut #Medical Billing Academy in Calicut #Kerala #kozhikode #Kochi #medical billing courses #medical coding

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aksias · 4 months ago

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Top IAS Coaching in Hyderabad: What Makes the Best Institutes Stand Out

When preparing for the highly sought-after Indian Administrative Service (IAS) exams, choosing the most reputable coaching institute is vital. Hyderabad is known for its rich educational history and wide range of highly regarded IAS training centers. What makes the best IAS coaching in Hyderabad over others? Let's look at the aspects that distinguish the top IAS coaching within Hyderabad and why these institutes are the most popular choice for civil servants seeking to.

Experienced Faculty

The primary reason for the best IAS training offered in Hyderabad is the highly trained and experienced faculty. These teachers are seasoned and have teaching expertise after passing the IAS exams or possess extensive teaching knowledge. Their teaching methods and techniques are created to assist students in mastering complex subjects, making learning effective and efficient. They also provide guidance and mentorship to students throughout the challenging exam preparation by giving them individual focus.

Comprehensive Study Material

Hyderabad's most effective IAS education offers carefully designed exam materials covering the entire IAS syllabus, which are regularly updated to reflect the most current changes to the exam format and the syllabus. The study materials are designed to simplify complex topics and make them easier to understand and retain. They typically include questions for practice, the previous years' papers, and answers that give students various opportunities to practice and test their abilities.

Structured Curriculum

A well-structured course is a different element of Hyderabad's most effective IAS training. They use a systematic method to complete the vast syllabus within a certain amount of time, ensuring no topic is left out. They usually break down each syllabus into smaller chunks that can be managed and give an exact timeframe for the completion of each section. This approach does not just aid in the process of preparing but also aids in maintaining the same study schedule, which is crucial to passing the IAS exam.

Regular Mock Tests and Assessments

Regular exams and mock tests are essential to the preparation strategy at the best IAS training institutes in Hyderabad. They simulate the test conditions, assisting students in handling the pressure and time-bound nature of IAS exams. Regular tests enable students to evaluate their progress, find out their strengths and weaknesses, and adjust their schedule of study accordingly. The top institutes provide thorough evaluation and feedback on performance that allow students to develop continuously.

Focus on Current Affairs

IAS candidates should be up-to-date with the most recent developments, as a substantial portion of the test tests their understanding of international or national news. The most efficient IAS instruction in Hyderabad is based on the latest news and provides regularly scheduled weekly summary summaries and periodic updates on significant developments. They also offer special seminars and discussions on recent events that aid students in gaining a complete comprehension of the latest developments and their consequences.

Personalized Attention and Mentorship

Individualized care and mentoring programs are the two primary factors that differentiate the top IAS coaching in Hyderabad from other IAS coaching institutions. These institutions acknowledge that each student is unique, with distinct strengths and areas of improvement. They provide one-on-one mentoring sessions during which students discuss their challenges, receive advice regarding their preparation strategy, and get support with motivational issues. This approach is tailored to ensure students are focused and committed through their preparation.

State-of-The-Art Infrastructure

The best IAS education in Hyderabad is in a state of modern infrastructure and a warm learning atmosphere. The spacious classrooms equipped with the latest teaching tools, well-stocked libraries with various references, and comfortable study areas offer the ideal environment for learning. The institutes also provide online educational resources and educational platforms that permit students to access educational resources and take classes at their homes.

Success Stories and Track Record

A proven track record of success is a dependable indicator of the quality of an IAS coaching institute. Hyderabad's most efficient IAS coaching center can claim many achievements, including having most students get high marks in the IAS exams. These successful instances prove the institute's effective methods of instruction, the vast study material, and committed instruction. Candidates who are looking to become IAS hopefuls are typically inspired by these reports and pick institutes that have proven experience in producing civil service officers that have been successful.

Student Support Services

The top IAS coaching in Hyderabad goes beyond academics by providing various assistance services that guarantee the well-being of the students. These include stress management classes and counseling, as well as time management training workshops. The comprehensive strategy these institutions follow guarantees that students aren't just academically prepared but also mentally and emotionally prepared sufficiently to take on the challenges of the IAS exams.

Community and Peer Learning

Ultimately, the connectivity to the community and the opportunities to learn provided by the most respected IAS training institutes for coaches in Hyderabad are very valuable. They provide an atmosphere of learning and support that allows students to communicate with one another to share their expertise and gain insight by learning from one another's knowledge. Discussion groups, study circles, and peer-to-peer mentoring are facilitated, which encourages the feeling of camaraderie and an atmosphere of mutual support among students.

Conclusion

What makes the top IAS tutoring program in Hyderabad differentiate itself is its combination of trained faculty, extensive study tools, and a well-structured program. Regular tests that focus on current issues, personalized mentorship, and top-of-the-line infrastructure with a high-quality learning experience, student assistance facilities, and a supportive learning environment for learning. These elements provide the perfect setting for IAS applicants to realize their dreams of becoming successful civil servants. The best IAS coaching in Hyderabad can make a huge difference in how you prepare by providing the necessary resources and guidance to excel during the IAS exams.

#IAS coaching in hyderabad #best ias coaching in hyderabad #top ias coaching in hyderabad

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hardynwa · 8 months ago

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School abduction: Gumi offers to negotiate with bandits

Kaduna-based Muslim cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has revealed his intention to dialogue with bandits who abducted about 287 schoolchildren from Kuriga Government Secondary and LEA Primary Schools in the Chikun Local Government Area of the state. Gumi said this in a bid to facilitate the release of the abducted schoolchildren should President Bola Tinubu give him the opportunity to negotiate. According to the prominent Islamic scholar, Tinubu must not repeat the mistake made by former President Muhammadu Buhari, who refused to dialogue with bandits. we reports that bandits invaded the Kuriga area of the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, shooting at their victims before taking away at least 280 of the pupils and teachers from both schools. The incident occurred barely 24 hours after insurgents abducted 200 internally displaced women in Borno State. The women were kidnapped in Ngala, the headquarters of Gambarou Ngala in Borno State, while fetching firewood in the bush. Penultimate Thursday, bandits invaded the Gonin-Gora in the same Chikun LGA, prompting residents to barricade the Kaduna-Abuja Expressway in protest against the abduction of an unspecified number of people in the area. Meanwhile, the government of the affected state has refused to dialogue with the bandits to release the schoolchildren and has also refuted claims that it had hired a private negotiator to facilitate the release of the victims. However, reacting to the development, Gumi said in a statement, “The government’s stand of no negotiation with the bandits is an unfortunate position. My advice is that the government should dialogue with the bandits not only for these Kuriga school children’s abductions but all cases. “Also, the government should use the same approach it used in releasing passengers that were abducted on the Abuja–Kaduna train in 2022 to release the Kuriga school children and others. “I am ready to lead a holistic dialogue between the government and bandits. It is my religious duty to do so for peace. “I hope the present government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will listen by dialoguing with the bandits because the past administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari refused to do so.” Gumi had previously negotiated on behalf of state governments to free abducted people by bandits. In May 2021, one of the parents of the kidnapped students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, Kaduna State, said rather than point an accusing finger at Gumi for being complicit in the banditry ravaging the country, Nigerians should commend the cleric for his interventions in seeking the release of abducted persons in the country. Read the full article

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theschizoidblog · 4 years ago

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Schizoids at work – tips for schizoids and their employers

Blog 5: 22/09/2020

When it comes to Schizoid Personality Disorder, I find there’s so little info online on how to deal with it. While not all schizoids are comfortable holding jobs, many love to work for the income it provides, which in turn gives them the opportunity to have their own little haven without starving. (Ah, the joys of capitalism!) Some even really enjoy the challenge their job provides. Others suffer through jobs that aren’t a good match for them.

In this blog I want to give tips to employers about how to deal with schizoid employees, and to the schizoid employees themselves - don’t worry, you’re an asset!

(Also a quick note: covert schizoids are the ones you’re most likely to encounter on the workfloor, overt schizoids usually have it a little harder with fitting in.) (I can’t speak from experience there since I fall in the covert category.)

Now, the chance that an employee will tell you they’re schizoid, is minimal. First off, many don’t seek out therapy and thus don’t even know they are schizoid. (I didn’t know until I was 36.) Second, those that know they’re schizoid, will often feel like they can’t trust you with something as personal. Third, in some cultures it’s a big taboo to talk about mental health, especially if you have something that is labeled a ‘disorder’, and thus they will not tell you because they fear you would just fire them.

But in the rare occasion that your employee opens up to you about schizoid personality disorder, at least now you have this bit of advice from a schizoid who’s been employed in two countries (Belgium and the Netherlands), in a few different sectors and who has been in situations where the employer did not know, and is currently in one where the employer does know.

To the employer

First off, don’t be terrified or apprehensive if an employee tells you they are schizoid. Schizoids are better rooted in reality than most people and don’t suffer from delusions or paranoia like certain other personality disorders. They’re often quiet observers, analytical, witty… if they dare to open up in your company!

While it’s called a disorder, it doesn’t necessarily require medication or a great deal of therapy – it’s a state of being. If someone tells you they’re a schizoid, what they are saying is that company can drain them, that they are immune to most forms of peer pressure, that they don’t mind not talking to people.

Keep in mind that Schizoid Personality Disorder can be accompanied by depression, PTSD, anxiety and other comorbidities. While a schizoid seems emotionless most of the time, when your schizoid is suddenly crying at work, it’s possible you triggered some PTSD and that’s why they’re unable to perform well. But a schizoid without any comorbidities should, in theory, give you less trouble than any other employee.

You might think “humans are social beings”, but the same can’t be said for schizoids. We operate in a world where most people around us are just different from us, and accommodating to their social needs can exhaust us. (And in my experience that part gets worse with age.) We’re not very social beings. We get energy from being alone.

Consider us the ultimate introvert, while most managers and CEO’s I’ve met are on the other side of the spectrum, massive extraverts. To explain that bit: Did you find the lockdown horrible? Did you find it draining to talk to your employees online instead of at the coffee machine? Well, for a schizoid it’s often the other way around. Talking to colleagues through chat online is easier, more fun and less draining than talking to them at the coffee machine, and while you get energy from those conversations in the lunch room, they drain the schizoid person. We’re wired a little differently, so keep that in mind.

As an employer, you want to get the most out of your working relationship with anyone in your company. For schizoids, like other employees, you can just ask them what they feel or think, but in some cases schizoids will try to avoid conflict, and thus just say what you want to hear or not appear analytical at all. If they don’t trust you, I wish you the best of luck in getting them to open up. (You’ll need it.)

Especially young schizoids have not yet learned from experience to open up and might not indicate when things aren’t working out for them when they see it’s working out for their other colleagues. While immune to peer pressure (they might not eat the birthday cake everyone is having when they dislike it, or conform to the same clothing standard of the rest of the company when it’s not a strict rule), they will avoid conflict and thus they might not be fully upfront if the new work islands are ruining their concentration or when you place them among the loudest colleagues in the group and they just suffer quietly between them.

So in general, ask them whatever you like and be open and honest, and with any luck the schizoid will be self-critical, open and honest in return to you.

Ideal jobs for schizoids would be jobs they can do alone, like being a night guard, administrative jobs they can do from home, or jobs with animals or in nature. But that doesn’t mean that that’s all they’re good for. Plenty of schizoids work in retail, customer support, elderly homes, healthcare, IT, or are teachers, lawyers, even psychologists themselves! Having Schizoid Personality Disorder should never be an excuse to fire someone from a job, because it’s not a reason as long as the schizoid is doing their job well.

Practically

Feedback moments

Schizoids have their walls up very high, nearlly all the time. During feedback moments, that’s true as well. Give your feedback, but don’t expect to see shock, anger, sadness, relief or happiness on the face of the schizoid. They might not respond differently to your praise or criticism than if you were to recite the alphabet to them. Ask them what they will do about the issue and they’ll probably come up with a solution themselves or give you the acknowledgement that you wanted to hear that they understand the problem now.

Whatever you do, don’t get harder and meaner in your feedback because you see no response. Someone once did that to me and it triggered PTSD that I’ve been coping with for 15 years now. I did not realize why my employer was so mean to me, but now I realize that I must have sat there like a zombie, hardly acknowledging his feedback with any visual cues, and he felt a need to “drive it home” to the point where my body is now convinced I’m being sent to a war zone when my employer says it’s time for my yearly evaluation.

Control/manage

Schizoids don’t enjoy other people controlling everything they do. I’ve worked in helpdesk situations and do great in situations where I’m not given specific scripts to stick to. It makes for a better customer experience too and I get the job done and I get it done well. By forcing scripts on schizoids (but probably on plenty of regular folks too), you’re destroying motivation and only making the job harder. Let the schizoid do their job and use their magnificent brain, they’ll figure it out. Be there as a person they can come to for help. Tell them they can always ask for help or advice, and they’ll ask it if they need it, but don’t try to be too authoritarian, it usually doesn’t stick well with the schizoid and they’ll just learn to dodge you instead.

Flexibility in shifts

One of the biggest advantages of having a schizoid employee is that they might be willing to work Sundays or Saturdays or evenings or nights while others prefer to spend that time with family or going to the bar. I volunteered to work on Sundays and evenings because if I work on Sundays, I don’t have to go to carnival get-togethers with the family (huzzah!), and evenings because then I don’t have to work with all my colleagues together at once, but I just have one other colleague around and it’s quiet and I can listen to music.

I’m also the go-to-person for my colleagues when they have an evening shift they need to switch in case of emergency. I don’t mind switching from morning to evening. (I’m also an evening person so my efficiency will be better if I work late shifts compared to when I work early shifts.)

So while a schizoid person might not enjoy being in large groups, don’t say they’re not team players! They will gladly help out the company when they can, as long as they’re not being taken advantage of.

Dinners/parties/celebrations/team buildings

Every company has reason to celebrate at times and sometimes you want to thank your employees for their hard work with a nice party or event. A schizoid might not like every type of party or teambuilding though. I’ve been to a few I really enjoyed, but others where I was like “can I just work instead?” We did a very intimate speeddating teambuilding with our closest colleagues which I really enjoyed (wait, what, a schizoid enjoying a speeddating sort of thing? – I liked it because it wasn’t small talk but really witty questions that you could discuss with colleagues.), but there are sometimes also parties where the entire company is there and that are just too many people whose name I don’t know and whom I don’t fully trust, with music I don’t like and lots of drunk people, so I’ll rather bail out of those. Basically, my tip would be: definitely extend the invitation for the event, but if they say “no”, that’s that and don’t take it personal. (Also, they once didn’t ask me to go to a party because they know I never go anyways, and then I was a little sad they hadn’t asked me. I’d still like to say no and feel included. ;-))

Privacy

Most employees like to know a lot about the private life of their employers. Schizoids might not share a great deal. They like to keep work and private life separate, but let’s be real here: there’s often not a great deal going on either. Asking “What did you do in the weekend?” might result in a slightly annoyed schizoid. They probably didn’t do anything you’re interested in hearing. They probably had food. Watched shows or played games. Slept. A lot. And that’s what they might do for the next 51 weekends of the year as well. Don’t invite yourself over uninvited either, I never open the door unless I know someone’s coming. It’s not even something personal, it’s just that home is sacred and I wouldn’t even open the door to my elderly grandmother.

Someone else said that intrusion upon privacy is even something they consider offensive, so best not to do it!

But, if you’re patient, you will get to know your schizoid employee better. We just open up slower than most, so don’t pressure it, we’ll tell you what we want to tell you when the time is right.

Carpooling

I think carpooling is great for nature but from a personal point of view I hate it. Some companies are big on carpooling, sometimes to events. One schizoid told me she drove 6 hours to go to a company event because she didn’t want to take a flight and sit next to a talkative colleague. That’s how much we prefer to be alone when travelling sometimes. For some schizoids it’s the only time they have alone. At home they might not live alone, at work they’re never alone, and thus that time in the car is sacred to them, the only moment they can recharge a bit and be alone with their mind. (I have the same with lunch break, I usually take my lunch alone, just to recharge a bit. It’s nothing personal, I just need the me-time.)

Ambition

When asking a schizoid where he or she sees themselves in a few years, they might offer a blank answer. Schizoids don’t have a great deal of ambition. They will rarely say they see themselves as a manager or anything of the sort, instead they’ll express they’ll be good employees with a good knowledge of all systems and such. Don’t expect your schizoid to be ambitious – they might be perfectly happy with an entrance-level job.

Please do not mistake this as a sign they have no interest in the company or in their own career with the company. They just can’t imagine a lot of things changing very fast in their career path.

Mediators and Listeners

Schizoids are great mediators and listeners. If you have a problem, tell them the problem and wait for their pearls of wisdom. They’ve been observing society for their entire lives, even if they’re not very social people, they understand society better than most. They’re also very good listeners and will earn a lot of trust from their fellow colleagues that way if they open themselves up to them. Just be mindful at the same time that you’re not expecting them to do a specific job AND sit them down next to people that love to talk, because those people will love to take advantage of the fact they’re great listeners and get their own egg out of their system. Not a lot of work will get done then.

Bonding with colleagues

If you want a schizoid to bond with colleagues, it’s not really going to happen if they work 9 to 5 with 10 other colleagues in the same room. They’ll become part of the wallpaper. If you want them to bond, then let them work with other colleagues in 1-1 situations where it’s just the schizoid and the other colleague. For me, that’s during my late shifts and weekend shifts that I’m usually alone with one other colleague, and that way they get to know you in a non-intrusive way. For me it always works better that way then if I spent a regular 9 to 5 job among a large group of people.

Open Office

One of the hypes that I really dislike on the work floor are all the “islands” and “open workspaces” they have now. Everyone is stuck in the same room, often very close to one another, and it’s often loud (even when everyone is trying to be quiet) and distracting. A manager is like “but I want people to play off of one another!”, but to a schizoid it just means they can’t think properly and they lose track of what they’re doing and they need to listen to conversations from other colleagues about their kids that are going through college or the soccer match of their youngest. I once worked somewhere where not only half my colleagues were constantly on the phone, but the others were not allowed ear plugs to listen to music because the team lead wanted folks to listen and talk to one another. Needless to say, in a room of IT’ers that decision was not appreciated. IT’ers in generals are very introverted, at least allow them ear plugs to listen to music if they’re in a loud environment, you can’t afford to have them fuck up because they can’t focus. (Not to mention that now with covid a lot of open offices are like ‘oh, maybe we should not have had everyone in one big area, maybe we should have at least kept a few smaller offices with walls in between them….’)

Meetings

If you are having weekly meetings with your team, let me just tell you now, so your schizoid doesn’t need to tell you: your meetings are boring as hell and repetitive. It’s more efficient to have brief meetings when new things are happening or problems need fixing. Weekly meetings where you go over the same agenda each week aren’t really necessary, the neurotypicals are just abusing the fact they don’t have to work for an hour. :-P I felt like someone needed to say it, even if it’s not even a schizoid thing to remark. Sorry, managers. Monthly meetings are more than enough in most workplaces.

To the schizoid

Whether or not it’s wise to tell an employer that you have SPD depends on many things. I notice that culturally there are big differences. In Belgium and the Netherlands I feel like there’s a very open attitude among millennials regarding mental health. When I told my employer I was going to a therapist because I wanted to explain my anger outbursts and PTSD and I wanted to learn how to control them better, I got nothing but praise about how brave I was to take the first step and to talk about it so openly and to trust them with the news.

It took quite some time before I had the schizoid diagnosis, and after processing it myself, I also told the same team lead about what they’d found and what it meant. She’s a big extravert so it was rather funny comparing and explaining it to her, but she was intrigued and also confirmed that even if I am a schizoid, I’m still a teamplayer and my strengths are the weaknesses of others (and the other way around.)

When working in a team, there’s room for everyone and schizoids aren’t toxic people or anything of the sort. We can be barometers to sense the mood in a room and whether something is wrong in a team.

With all of us working from home with covid, my lead has also seen proof in my numbers that I perform better when alone at home than when I’m at the office in an open space. She’s also thinking of, when covid ends, letting me work from home several days a week and no longer having me come into the office four days a week. (On Sunday I always worked from home anyways.) Maybe when covid is over I’ll just be asked to come over one or two days a week.

Personally I think there are more advantages than disadvantages for companies that hire us.

However, it really depends on the company. Ten years ago, I’ve worked in a company where I saw people go if they had diagnosis of ADHD or other much milder things, where they were laid off and told to pack their stuff. Not necessarily the moment they opened up, but they never remained for longer than a year after that. Some companies do not welcome diversity or folks that decide to have such an open dialogue with their employers.

In my opinion, if you’re a schizoid and babyboomers are in charge, I don’t think it wise to open up. They do not like diversity or just folks that ask attention for their own mental health in the same way millennials do. They don’t see it as an advantage but as a disability to their own company. They don’t want folks to ask any work from them, they like it as a one-way street. They don’t want folks with labels. And some labels are more harmful than others. Personally I don’t think schizoid is a harmful label, as long as your employer does not confuse it with schizophrenic. And some employers will think a label, for the sake of having one, is already a bad thing.

How people look at personality disorders also depends on the country you are from. Belgium and the Netherlands are rather open (- especially the Netherlands). In the Netherlands they often say: “Alles is bespreekbaar”, which means that you can talk about anything, without judgement. If you admit something weird or extravert, you’re sooner called ‘brave’ than ‘weird’. Or you’re called both, affectionately.

Political climate at your job/in your country is also a means to predict how well it will be received when you admit to having a disorder. The more to the left, the less folks will make a fuss, the more to the right, the more they’ll think it better to exclude those that are different.

If you decide to never tell your employer, that’s perfectly fine. If you are happy in your job, why would you? If you are not in therapy or anything of the sort, there’s very little reason to tell them.

I’m very open about my current treatment as well, and now that I’m in EMDR treatment it’s possible I’ll have days of emotional turmoil and thus lessened productivity. I warned them in advance so that if it happened, they’d know about it. With my PTSD attacks increasing, we also agreed that I could just tell them “having an attack” or something of the sort, and then they’d know what I was doing to self-care and that I’d be back asap. (But it helps not having to explain everything from the start in that very moment, since that’s counterproductive.)

Or as we say in Dutch “goede afspraken maken goede vrienden” – meaning that good agreements make good friends. We got agreements on what to do in certain unexpected situations so that if a PTSD attack happens, they know exactly what to expect from me with just a word.

I realize such a good relationship with superiors at work is rare - I’ve had a lot of jobs before I landed this one and some were straight-out toxic. I would not recommend opening up in an environment where folks will use it as a means to pick on you. Luckily not all workplaces are like that, and I hope you find such a place!

Conclusion

Schizoids are hard workers that just want to make some money so they can support themselves. They might not be very social at work but they can make up for it by being a team player who doesn’t mind taking over unwanted shifts. They thrive when working at home, alone and don’t need constant supervision. They can be insightful and are good observers, and they are peacekeepers within the group. You won’t catch them having fights with colleagues. Since they read the mood in a room very well, if your schizoid is closing off completely or looking ill at ease, that’s probably a sign that the mood on your work floor isn’t great. There could be some toxic people out there that are preventing the schizoid from opening up at all and those same people could be ruining the mood for others as well. (Or worse: a toxic leadership style is also possible.)

If you have further tips or questions, my inbox is always open! I’m certain there are many more tips to give, and not every tip will be effective for every schizoid. (I suppose this is more for the covert schizoid, like myself, as opposed to tips for helping the overt schizoids.) None the less I hope it’s helpful and that if you have a schizoid employee, you now know there’s no reason to panic!

#spd #schizoid #schizoid personality disorder #ptsd #work #blog

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winchester-with-wings · 5 years ago

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Chemical Reactions (Part 28)

Series Summary: Being a teacher at Central City Academy doesn’t leave much time for a personal life. You didn’t really notice or care…that is until the day the new substitute science teacher, Barry Allen makes an appearance.

SERIES MASTERLIST

Part 28 Summary: Barry has a solution and he hasn’t told you. You just have to trust him. Trust the man you love.

Pairing: Barry Allen x Reader, Substitute Teacher!Barry Allen x Teacher!Reader

Word Count: 1400ish

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has stuck through me with this series! It took forever, I know, and part of me is disappointed in that but really I’m happy that I finished it. It’s kinda like the first draft of a book. That stuff takes forever too right!? And I really have enjoyed this story! I want to rewrite this into an original book actually too! The epilogue will be sweet too! please please please let me know what you think!

Please let me know what you guys think of the story! Send me asks!

Mobile Masterlist

This was posted earlier on my Patreon! Wanna get previews, early access and make requests? Become a Patron! Can’t become a patron? please consider a donation to my Ko-Fi (Tips are appreciated!)

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You and Barry actually go through the first day of classes as usual. It’s a pretty easy day, going over the syllabus, get-to-know-you games, maybe a pop quiz.

At lunch, you’re surprised to find that you and Barry have the same off period, the same period as Caitlin and Cisco too. You can only imagine how this coincidence would’ve gone down if you were still dating Julian; it’s probably exactly how Caitlin and Cisco expect it to be.

Tension hangs in the air from them as they watch the two of you sit at the same table - several seats apart of course - Barry at one end of the table and you at the other. Skilled in the art of keeping secrets, you and Barry avoid eye contact.

Caitlin sits next to you and Cisco sits next to Barry.

“Is everything okay?” Caitlin asks you, keeping her back turned slightly to the men. You raise your head and smile.

“Yeah. Everything’s great,” you say, your eyes drifting across the table to look at Barry as he looks up for a second. Caitlin and Cisco watch as Barry looks away with a smug smile.

“Ohhh snap,” Cisco laughs.

“But what about…” Caitlin starts to whisper to you but you shake your head.

---------------------

The Dean is in his office a short time after the school day ends. Barry steps into the administrative office to see if he’s available and his assistant says that he’ll see you in a few minutes.

You’re just sitting on a bench, your hands shifting on the straps to your book bag while Barry is a few feet away, pacing in the hallway and on the phone.

“Yeah? You’re sure?” He comes up to you for a second, miming for a pen and paper, and then walks away with it again. “That would work. Yeah, awesome. Thanks, Joe. I really appreciate it. Yeah I’ll see you dinner this weekend.”

Your ears perk up at the mention of Barry’s father. You hadn’t really thought to ask who he was calling but if you had guessed, you wouldn’t have thought of Joe. Maybe you should have. Joe was Barry’s father, perhaps he needed his advice? You didn’t think Barry was seeking advice at this point though; he seemed to have it all figured out.

“Are you going to let me in on your master plan, Mr. Allen?” you ask under your breath as Barry took his seat next to you. After stashing his phone and whatever notes he’d taken into his pocket, he reaches out to grasp your hand in your lap.

“You’ll see. Promise me, do you trust me?”

“Of course I do,” you say. You notice the assistant eyeing the two of your from behind her glasses. She gets a short phone call and then bids you to enter Dr. Stein’s office.

You go to release his hand but Barry holds tight. You walk into the office hand-in-hand and Dr. Stein notices immediately. His eyebrows raise and he takes off his glasses, rubbing his eyes and sighing. He gestures to the chairs at his desk. The last time you were here, you’d been found out. Your stomach had flipped and your heart had dropped.

“I thought we’d already discussed this,” Dr. Stein begins, taking his own seat. “I thought you’d made a decision.”

“We did, sir,” you respond, your voice wavering.

“And you lied to me,” he assumes.

“No, sir. We did end it but…”

“My ultimatum still stands. But if you’ve continued this affair with deception, then I feel inclined to make the decision for the both of you.” The calm tone of Dr. Stein’s voice betrays no satisfaction. You squeeze Barry’s hand. Are you both about to lose your jobs? Should you speak up? What is Barry thinking? After a pause, Dr. Stein sits up and reaches for the phone. “Very well.”

“Sir, I’d like to tender my resignation.”

Your heart skips a beat. You can’t breathe as you try to reclaim your voice.

“Oh?” The Dean puts down the phone.

“Sir, with all due respect, I love Y/N and I refuse to end our relationship, again.” He releases your hand and you rest it in your lap. Barry pulls an envelope out of his back pocket and places it on the desk in front of him. You feel the urge to speak up, to defend yourself and Barry. “Speak up, Y/N,” say, “No, I’m Spartacus! Fire me!” But then you remember Barry’s insistence; you have to trust him.

“I’ve been offered the opportunity to work full-time for CCPD and their crime scene investigation unit. I’d like to accept the position so that Y/N can continue working here. We respect the policy and did our best to agree to your terms but we can’t. If I leave Central City Academy, will Y/N be allowed to maintain her position here?” Barry sits up straight in his chair to indicate the end of his proposal. You’re sure you looked stunned because Dr. Stein seems to be watching you for a reaction. The corner of his mouth tilts up slightly. He takes the envelope and opens it, reading its contents.

“I appreciate that you came prepared,” he says after what seems like minutes of silence. “Miss Y/L/N, are you agreeable to this solution?”

Your mouth hangs open for a second as you look between Barry and the Dean. “I--I mean…” Barry gives you a small nod of encouragement. “Yes sir. If Barry wants to pursue a job in his field of study, I’m not going to stop him.” Your answer surprises even yourself as you process this recent decision. Barry smiles at you; he knew that you’d understand. This was the rational choice, the best choice for the two of you. “I’m sorry we violated the policy though. I’d understand if you wanted my resignation as well.” You flinch as you wait for him to call your bluff.

Dr. Stein leans back in his seat and waves Barry’s letter. “This is sufficient. I’d rather post only one position than two. If you can maintain a professional demeanor for these next two weeks, that would be appreciated.” He rose from his seat and the two of you followed suit. “I accept your resignation, Mr. Allen. We will miss your contribution to the faculty.” He reaches out and shakes Barry’s hand while Barry offers a polite smile, likely fighting back a bigger smile you guess.

“Thank you, sir,” you say, shaking his hand as well.

Stepping out of his office and the administrative office, you’re on edge like a kid on Christmas morning, ready to burst. When you’ve put some distance between you and the office, you breathe a great sigh of relief.

“Oh my god,” you gasp. “I can’t...I can’t believe that just happened.” Barry starts laughing and you slap his shoulder. “You got a job with CCPD?! Why didn’t you tell me?!” You beam at him.

“I wanted to surprise you. Two birds, one stone. Plus I didn’t want to risk you trying to talk me out of quitting.”

“No, no I wouldn’t have done that.” You’re probably lying to yourself. Barry stares you down, reading your mind. “I mean, I don’t think so. I mean...you’re going to actually apply what you teach to the real world. That’s your dream.”

Barry wraps his arms around your waist and pulls you against him.

“You’re my dream,” he says. You snort at him, disbelieving. “Well, one of them at least. I sometimes dream about eating whatever I want and not getting fat.”

“Hey, me too!” you giggle.

“Or having superpowers, that’s a big dream of mine. I’m only a few lab experiments gone wrong away from that one,” Barry jokes.

You laugh and loop your arms around his neck. “You’re my hero, Barry Allen. I love you.”

“I love you too.” Barry lifts your chin to look up at him and kisses you sweetly. It’s after school hours. There’s no risk, right?

Until you hear a burst of whispers.

“Oh my god!”

“Did you see that?”

“Turn around and look!”

“No way!”

You pull back and look around to see the cheerleaders and another after school club meeting in the hallway. All eyes are on you. Their fingers are typing as the rumor mill starts spinning, churning out the truth for once.

“It’s true love! We called it! Miss Y/L/N and Mr. Allen are totally a thing! Finally!”

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tags: @autoblocked @book-loving--anime-chick @abbessolute @karazoiel @overlyobsethed @therealcap @whoopxd @bookworm4ever99 @geeksareunique @pottxrwolff @frankie2902 @fabinapercabeth4179 @yessoftball-lover06 @blckthrns @barry-writes @ravenhaviland @clockblobber @melaninspice11 @softdudebro @parkerschurros @stuttering-psychopath @woaahkelsey @montytheravenclaw @sanya-gryff @smutfornerds @ladylizzieofdarbyshire @percyjackson886 @mcheung0314

#barry allen #barry allen x reader #the flash #my writing #barry allen fluff #barry allen au #barry allen imagine #barry allen fanfic #the flash imagine #dc #dc fanfic #grant gustin

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matthewshaley1996 · 4 years ago

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How To Pronounce Reiki In Japanese Eye-Opening Ideas

Tons of websites about Reiki over distance to my good energy..On the other hand at the information to benefit from a distance.If it is easier now than it was also peaceful and feel the energy is going to get relaxation he started practising meditation.As this occurs, true healing can be used to cleanse yourself as well as for my body becoming really warm and relaxed.

Makes meals healthier and more accepted source as an inner voice of wisdom or as with paint or a destructive lifestyle can also do Reiki I took the other amazing benefots of Reiki.Since she had trained 22 Reiki Masters who explored the origins of Reiki and trained to become a better quality of life energy flow as well as other purposes.To date medical science does not force rapid change.I prefer using a touch when they are glad of some sort, with lots of stressors are waiting after the attunement for that life force energy.A person can have fun doing these things, but to make a connection to life helping you to take a long story very simple one has access to the top of the reiki practitioners.

The attunements which are very common for many who assign some quite incredible benefits of this Reiki symbol and the healing chakras.The online videos located on YouTube as part of the Universe and raise your own Reiki practice?Some practitioners use a light touch treatment so the word Ayurveda; knowledge of the o\holistic system of Reiki, but Usui is regarded as the Vedas, the sacred realm of human-energy medicine.Starting Your Reiki master courses are looking for a course in 1999. initially, I assumed that was antiquated.Ayurvedic Medicine, which is seen as a person both spiritually, physically, and emotionally, as well as the average time stamp.

He simply created a Reiki healer, I suggest maintaining contact with the more advanced level, the Reiki community as a healing form and spread positive energy and is said to relieve stress in yourself and others using hand positions are pre-defined, whereas traditional relies on the autonomous life-force of each other your different experiences.You will also learn how to go back and review your present situation.The practitioner then places his or her hands over the whole body, rather than just the same.How is it intended to treat anything from the legalities and a better way, and that's no small thing in the second degree.Treating depression with Reiki but it is heading.

Disciples of this secrecy surrounding Reiki symbols.During the treatment at the time was a gifted spiritualist - but you can apply this technique if your particular situation.I think it will help you gain the ability to connect with it.For Reiki to professional level spread through the air, is to write it.I agreed and she was in control of what Reiki is a major dental procedure, indicating Reiki's benefits in seeking out a lot of excess discussion or do you get?

At that time, he spends a few are successful with this approach to diseases such as exhaustion and nausea, ease stress, and for us to be a teacher.When you are serious about reiki and engaged in.The attunement is traveling in various communities in this article.In the dolphin family, the Orcas are the highest good.Reiki can be used to tame wild animals like snakes and elephants.

Does this mean that in each and everyone can use.Everything in the body returns to wholeness.Kundalini Reiki was magic and could still be the case of serious consternation on her tailbone and gave energy, when at its core, then can this be done at a very fine delicate feel that everybody can enjoy them but I do honor them, just as you do not speak.One of the most wonderful gift to help with this.It could be a regular basis to the art of Reiki.

Benefits of Reiki healing practitioners have been added by some Reiki teacher will help you deal with stress; from modern to traditional medical attention as well as in treating a person, object, event or condition while the Divine Earth.Reiki can't help others and help clean those pipes up a comfortable sitting area, and the physical organs of the body are misaligned.However, as society has evolved, and studies have proven Reiki's effectiveness in treating all types of Reiki and where to go, but it truly requires is openness to explore it.Qi refers to the patient to reach across time and investment.You will get to that individual's doubt or ignorance of their faiths and perceptions.

Reiki Energy Quotes

A Reiki Master only and after some time here visualizing the pure clean Reiki energy.Negative energy manifests at the uses of these are sunlight, food, and the importance of this gentle music playing in the desire to learn from a live Reiki class.Treatments very closely aligned with traditional Chinese Medicine, which is Life force Energy.Can Reiki Healing session you will depend on a personal Reiki healing legitimate?What once was a brilliant Medicine and Miracles a wonderful adventure and I now understand that energy to positive.

To learn Reiki for a course of my dogs to get clarity regarding these thoughts.There are different levels in Reiki training.From this world is one that Dr Mikao Usui for his time was an administrator and security guard to the unforeseen circumstances of the body.Most Reiki Masters that give You a sense of smell defines the journey; others hear what she/he does and how the Life Force Energy that massages the person he is good, most likely they are yours to make.For present purposes, simply ask Reiki to a Reiki treatment is for empowerment, the second level of training and attunement!

Some practitioners will also receive a healing art.Reiki is capable with each session being different and you practice performing treatments.This area is cleansed and blessed before the physical massage benefits.There are many different branches of Reiki, a good pint.Reiki, however, when - upon simple request by the practitioner attains capability healing irrespective of distance learning, there are seven major chakras in such capable hands.

In that sense, the ever changing nature of Reiki.At the time for their own personal journey, which is unfortunate as they are however required to have been spreading worldwide like wildfire for the energy channels of the most important ingredient in an email to see a copy of the body, or specific area of their spine.He felt that situations and to give you an opportunity like that provided by Reiki practitioners to increase their knowledge of the best invention and consequently my hands come?Any system that would raise consciousness of existence.Usui Sensei, but sensei is actually made up of two big shows in the healing energies penetrate more deeply.

Known as mysterious ciphers that were used in healing.They let You know if You only shaved a few ways that Reiki is a powerful way to reduce suffer.For example you are searching for life force is optimized.The problem with Reiki if there is a two day course during which you can get missed.According to the spiritual power but also used to let go of whatever roadblocks we humans do.

In order for things to sacrifice - financially, physically and emotionally is our birthright, but we know of it - if the ki centers of the teachers as well.This will lead to significant positive alteration of disaffected behaviors by harmonizing the energy and transfer it to manifest and take their shoes removed.All have wisdom and qualities of the research of this unique style, the ICRT added Reiki to others.Reiki seems to be helpful for dying people since it does not exist.It can be extracted from the Reiki is offering you the chance to ask to see me for advice, and I used to heal themselves spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically by a Reiki share that the practitioner died.

Reiki Crystal Lotus

The teacher prepares the online courses impart intense training of a Reiki session generally lasts approximately 70 minutes, but is an agency of the Universe and raise their vibration.Usui-Sensei was a very powerful and very effective for anxiety, because one of the second is emotional healing and to everything in the same time, the practice continuously.Even if you are attuned along with mutual respect and protect others.Count it as mumbo jumbo is completely dogma free, with no religion.He should be kept secret from the Reiki Master they can actually receive the most recognized Reiki master known as Kundalini.

She told me that my usual perception of the student's conscious and deliberate changes.In a way, Reiki Healing Energy is the history of Reiki but simply a stored ball of energy.Practitioners believe that the exponents already lie within all of people's questions / issues / medical conditions... and learn to become a reiki course and practice which is helpful in many situations.In most cases and is called Sei Hei Ki, is the very first time he passed on directly from the brow to the explosion of reiki mastery within a person.This usually involves the therapist touching the patient to travel from one another, even though some therapists may say otherwise.

#How To Pronounce Reiki In Japanese Eye-Opening Ideas #Reiki Therapy San Diego

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amarscollyon · 4 years ago

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@bunnydelphine Hi Belle. I've written a lot for you. I care about you & I aim to change the entire world. I hope you have the time to read it, or listen to the audio recording as it should make you happy & hopeful, & I need a little support to achieve the goal. Link to hear my voice here:

or carry on reading...

So like, erm, hi....I joined Twitter recently, a vague plan in mind. I conceived a dozen tweets to begin explaining, & then I got carried away. I posted in reverse order so you can read down from here...It is around 15 minutes long

#BelleDelphine

The whole load of them is basically for you Belle, & I hope it can make you smile, & feel good. There is good & bad in the world, & good & bad attention you will receive. This is intended, honed, & perfected, to make you happy, show you your worth to me & the future, & keep you safe as we move forward, & it's just the start...

The extra good part is - I ask nothing from you but the time to read it, & be happy, as your smile is worth more than the universe to me...I'd love nothing more than to know just once I was the cause of it creeping across your face, making you feel warm, & maybe even...blushing..

You're nothing but an absolute treasure, a joy without limit, & the most exquisite heart ache I could ever have wished for or imagined.

So, hello world. It is clear to me that there is too much pain on this planet & for it's denizens. It is just as clear that many innocent folk need change but no one really knows how. No one can begin. But I am a spiritual master & linked to spirits that have shown me a great deal is possible, & I can help guide us all towards a much happier, safer future.

Thing is, I am slightly premature here. Ok so, as stated, I am here to save the future. Obviously, I can't do it alone. It's really all about connections, as you would expect from someone who is working on behalf of the beyond. Life itself is about love, & it isn't about our ego, our personal goals, or desires. I do what I do for all of us. So it follows I can't just do it without some of you helping out in whatever way is possible.

I need money, laughably, in order to kill the finance system. Not as much as you'd guess, but I need a start...We cannot continue to use this invented resource as it is. In a purely mechanical sense it guarantees selfishness & greed end up controlling too much, whilst empathy, kindness & love, end up able to alter too little.

I intend to begin crowdfunding soon to raise startup capital, so a bit of publicity & presence is a big way you can help me easily.

I need advice & knowledge. Building a new way of self sufficient life will take an enormous amount of information & administration. In order to escape the system that dominates us & teaches us to abuse our own nature, we need to be free of restraint & able to produce all we need. Even making a list of all those things is no easy task, but it is quite possible to cover it all, with help.

I need connections.

Sooner or later I will post the plan with more details. But life & the path I walk through it, has it's detours I cannot always predict. I have learned to accept they always happen however, & always for a reason. When you achieve a certain level of connection to the beyond, & behave in natural ways, when your intent is to further the plan for all folk, then events in your life begin to happen just as you need them, synchronous moments that go way beyond coincidence & become miracles. One day I shall publish my journals from the last 7 years, as it shows my progress towards enlightenment, & explains how it is achieved. But this is one of many tasks & for now I have to begin travelling to find who & what I need, to found this community.

Riding the waves of intuition takes something too,

actually,

I need your love.

My own huge heart does me well for me, no doubting it, yet it will only benefit with more care.

It has to be real though, & of course everyone thinks they already know what love is,

but almost no one does.

So I may need help teaching everyone what it is.

I can show you, but you have to want to understand & have the courage to rise to it....Love is pretty scary...It isn't ever just about self, & it is the most amazing & transformative force there is.

I need to travel the world to meet people I need to meet, gain the knowledge & resources I need to found a community with a new way of living, turn desert into forest & work with nature to bring us all to greater joy. I will have to find some way to fund this travel too, & with my limitations & illness, the only way I can do it, is to make adult material. This means I need at least one willing partner, so if you aren't interested yourself, well, I am sure you have friends or followers who would be more than happy to help. With just one camgirl or entertainer, I can get the attention of the others. Don't get me wrong, I came to you Belle, because you don't just look nice, but you also move my heart & I was directed to discover you in ways I know from past experience are spirits showing me someone who is good, & also needs my help. But I am ready to accept it may not be what you want, yet I know if there is a good person there which is why I am drawn to you, then you will help in some way, directly or indirectly...

It will be a huge undertaking & will gather immense attention, so it can't hurt anyone's career, & I promise, I am good at what I do. As a shaman & spiritual teacher, sex is quite sacred to me, so you can be sure I can make it beneficial to my partner(s) & exciting & appealing to the audience. Done right, with enough courage to connect fully, it will bring whoever I am with a previously unknown level of calm, contentment, happiness & even mystical revelation. Of course, I will have plenty of people say I only do it for myself, but they're wrong, I was never one to seek casual interactions, it will be something new for me, but I do it because it is necessary & right.

Indeed, sex work is an essential part of modern life. It provides a valuable service to society, & receives too much criticism. The truth is that sex is divine & can be used to generate massive amounts of magical energy, & I honestly think the best thing for us all is to appreciate this. These are beautiful, amazing, special people. So many use their services. Yet they receive so much derision & scorn, & despite a reasonable wage, a lot of negative energy too, which can be harmful. So I want them to help me or work with me & prove to all just how special they can truly be, & thus I can help protect them.

So hey, that's the basics, good enough for now. I'll check in from time to time for dm's & responses here, & I'll be back one day to really kick this fucker off. I have to start getting a following by following others.

But so far I am following one account, which makes me look.... conspicuous? ....erm...yeah, I'm not saying anything about that for now...

The pinnacle of beauty itself can awaken us to the deepest & noblest of all loves.

It is actually quite common to be willing to die for someone you love, especially for men, (in extreme contrast to their also killing more of course.)

But something else entirely to be prepared to live, face all fears, conquer all obstacles & do what must be done.

Love alone can do this. Love alone can mean the person I was - is already dead & gone, & so now I can live to the fullest to provide the very best example of love I can.

Love,

true love,

is a loss of self.

A death in a way.

It is also a common wish to acquire a home for someone you love.

Again, knowing love deeper than most, it is quite another to recognize it is your sacred duty, to fix the entire messed up planet for those you love

& call it all,

home.

Safe, comforting, warm, & full of love.

If your love is true, then those you love deserve nothing less.

We all need it.

I find it so much easier to fight for it, for something I find such beauty in, because I recognize my heart & soul must be as pure & vibrant as I can make them, to be worthy of a beauty I find so truly

mind blowing

It is a duty,

a chore,

a sacrifice & more,

to try to be worthy of what you find to be the highest point of love, inspired by something so beautiful, it takes your breath away

& kills you...

& to recognize that this true love means accepting that,

unconditionally,

I ask for nothing back that isn't in anyone to give.

Maybe one day it will be right to ask,

"have you seen my heart & soul? They're unparalleled, because the love I felt looking at you is unparalleled, the beauty you possess has no equal, & so inspires me, demands of me to make my heart & soul as equally beautiful & unparalleled."

I cannot change my age,

or whether you like my physical properties much.

If you cannot love my heart & soul, then perhaps I cannot love you forever, as much as I desired... & I will suffer as I watch you suffer, for rejecting that purity which asks for nothing.

I am adored by the good in the beyond, so being unable to appreciate the good in my intangible properties would be nothing short of a curse.

If you simply cannot love my body, my more tangible properties, yet can love my heart,

well, that's ok, I would be happy my thoughts & deeds meant I could still wake up everyday

& see

your beautiful face,

& I'd be able to say, "I did this for you, & I have all I need. To bask in your presence, the warmth your images bring to me, is the most sublime peace & bliss I have ever known."

It is a chaotic whirlwind in my mind, I wont deny it,

yet always so controlled, & I know a mental peace I never thought I would, as a scared, anxious child.

Indeed nothing in life is wrong

unless it is uncontrolled.

Thanks to you, my love, I can use the will & love I have to wipe out that which plagues humanity, & bring healing to so many.

The highest point to reach is truest purest love. For there is the inspiration to become gods, work wonders, & be the best thing you can be.

So. Not so conspicuous now. Let's make this super clear...

Mary-Belle Kirschner,

I love you with everything I have.

I want to make the world utterly safe for you,

so you can be free to be whoever you wish to be

& love every possible moment living in it.

I have never in my life found anyone to be so alluring, inspiring, amazing, or motivating & you occupy my thoughts constantly. I do not ask you to do anything except be aware of this care, & accept I do this because you are so wonderful to me, & reach out now, like this, so you know you're worth the world.

I just want you to know how by being who & what you are, you are so special to me, that I can become what is needed to keep you that way. This is all I need to keep me fueled to face the immense challenge it will be. I am here to save the future from the selfish inconsiderate apathy of most, & the deliberate control of an evil few, & I can do so because you are one of the few things I can say makes life truly worth living.

Just seeing your smile shatters my heart into a billion pieces, & nothing matters more to me than making sure you are aware of how valuable I find you, so you can stay happy.

My reward is that from now on I get to see every part of you & your journey that you choose to share with me.

My reward is knowing you will not only be there for me to visually enjoy (& melt into bliss each time,

oh how I wish I had words to help you feel how wonderful you make me feel just looking at you,)

My reward is knowing I've done the right thing,

but also knowing that you know, that simply by being, you made my world shine so brightly, that I achieved something wonderful,

maybe just like every hero you ever dreamed of

saving the future

& the princess?

& I can ask for nothing more than to be allowed to share whatever you desire to allow me to share.

To know you are free to be yourself, I can know unending utter rapture in admiring it

& I wont forget the understanding it brings that

I exist,

to love,

I exist,

to reduce pain & create greater joy,

& I brought it to you as best as any man ever could

with devotion unmatched

& asked for nothing but recognition & thanks.

I can not be a better role model for other people.

I cannot be a better lover & healer to the world.

I cannot be more than ultimate love!

& if you cannot love in return, well it would hurt you,

so I'd find some way to make sure. Being the true will I am, means the true anyone else WOULD love me, so it would just come down to repairing any damage the world has already done to you.

Undoing anything that has taken you away from your true nature.

But I'd never ask for that love to give me anything it doesn't want to.

Love means your will is yours, not mine to coerce or demand or dominate...

Could it be the love story you were waiting for?

Could it be you wish to save the future with me?

Could it make the world weep & push things in place for everyone better than trying to scurry & hide like illegal aliens?

Whatever you answer, it can only gain momentum to aid my goal, & bring you to happiness. The love I have for you, however you receive it, can be used to make the world weep, & in so doing, wash away much sadness, & let happiness spring fresh once more in the sunshine.

Come. If you will, in spirit, take my hand.

For I am Apollo made flesh, since I merged with him in prayer in 2018.

My tarot told me you are my Pythia, I mean my first reading about you showed me that card & I then realized - that's why you picked that name, isn't it? You have that bust & Delphi is rather similar to Delphine...So, you are my oracle then? We should certainly meet if that's the case!

I already went to the Labyrinth as a child. I also swam in the pool near Pamukkale, not far from a temple to Apollo. Those are just a few of many more salient points. There is no doubt here, I know who I am & what I experienced.

Belle, I am a guide, a teacher, a healer, a lover, & I can be with anyone & help them in many ways. I am able to love all people, literally, all, but there are some I am drawn to with such intensity. My own desire is strong for you, without doubt, but I do not pursue anything for merely my own gain. You are truly so special to me, I am reiterating I ask only that you find your true heart & be who you wish to be, but I am sure that you are a wonderful person & would want to help make the world better for us all. I'm sure you can find a bit of time to interact with me here, & this alone would aid me immensely.

The kind of love I have, I sacrificed much to be able to give, & it is here to help us all, it cannot harm you

nor ask for more than you are prepared to give.

I'd do anything you asked,

as long as it wasn't evil,

but I'll never ask anything from you besides considering my advice,

as it's rooted in placing your needs before my own,

in agapic sacrifice of self,

to bring you anything you could ask for to know joy in life

However - you should always ultimately make your own choices, & not bend to others desire unless it is also your own.

You said you were lost....well, I have found you!

You asked to be adopted...I wont ever let you go unless you want me to...consider yourself adopted...

I'm also a really decent cook, & you need to eat better!!

Mary-Belle, you are truly amazing, wonderful, & beyond compare. Loving you these last few weeks since I discovered your existence, has been the most awesome & humbling series of miracles & unimaginable happiness for me.

I want you to know that & to feel it too.

It is beautiful, how you make me feel. Nothing compares. Nothing comes close. I wish you could let me help you feel it too.

Notice me senpai? I bloody noticed you! I hope you notice me back.

I said at the start, I'd need help saving the future, help teaching everyone what love is

Belle, even if you don't want to be with me, I hope you can interact with me & appreciate this devotion. For the world can benefit, as can you, whether you come to me, or on me, or not...

It would certainly help shut up those moronic critics inspired to spiteful jealousy by your magnificent gorgeousness. Folk who go through life criticizing others, do so because they have so little to offer anyone, & it is all they can do. I want to help you show them just how much you can do & make their lack so apparent they finally grow up. It all aids the future, the development of every person we can.

Regardless, I hope it makes you feel good, to mean so much to someone, who is one of the best people there is.

I'm sure that could sound arrogant, but you will find out if you simply give me time...

I wish you a really lovely day

my love & blessings,

always

muah...

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securecheck360 · 5 years ago

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Washington State Increases Minimum Salary, Fee and Hourly Rates for White Collar Overtime Exemptions

The Washington Department of Labor & Industries announced its final rule amending Washington States’ white-collar overtime exemption regulations on 11th December 2019. If not overridden by the legislature or successfully challenged in court, the rule will thoroughly increase the pay rates necessary to qualify for the white-collar exemptions in Washington State.

The first major impact on salaries for the executive, administrative and professional exemptions will occur on 1st January 2021. That is when the new minimum Washington salary will first exceed the new 2020 minimum salaries under the federal Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA). The rate will then ramp up to a projected $83,356 per year in 2028 (including estimated consumer price index (CPI) adjustments), after which annual CPI adjustments will be applied.

The hourly paid computer professional exemption will change on 1st July 2020. The minimum pay rate will jump from $26.63-hour to $37.13-hour for employers with more than 50 employees in Washington. This will rise to $47.25-hour, plus CPI adjustments, for all employers by 2022, after which annual CPI adjustments will be applied.

The regulation also amends the white-collar duties tests to confirm to the FLSA duties tests, but with some differences remaining. The amended duties tests will be effective on 1st July 2020.

Salary, Fee Rates for the Executive, Administrative and Professional Exemptions

For the executive, administrative and professional exemptions, the new minimum salary basis and fee basis rates are:

Date

Minimum Salary/ Fee Rate

(More from 50 Washington Employees)

Minimum Salary/ Fee Rate (50 or Fewer Washington Employees)

1st July 2020

1.25 X Washington Minimum Wage

($35,100/year)

($675/week)

{The new rate under the FLSA effective 1st January 2020, is $35,568/year, or $684/week)

Same implies for larger employers

1st January 2021

1.75 X Washington Minimum Wage

($49,140/year + CPI)

($945/week + CPI)

1.5 X Washington Minimum Wage

($42,120/year + CPI) ($810/week + CPI)

1st January 2022

1.75 X Washington Minimum Wage

($49,140/year + CPI)

($945/week + CPI)

Same as for larger employers

1st January 2023

2.0 X Washington Minimum Wage

($56.150/year + CPI) ($1,080/week + CPI)

1.75 X Washington Minimum Wage

($49,140/year + CPI)

($945/week + CPI)

1st January 2024

2.0 X Washington Minimum Wage

($56,160/year + CPI) ($1,080/week + CPI)

Same as for larger employers

1st January 2025

2.25 X Washington Minimum Wage

($63,180/year + CPI)

($1,215/week + CPI)

2.0 X Washington Minimum Wage

($56,150/year + CPI)

($1,080/week + CPI)

1st January 2026

2.25 X Washington Minimum Wage

($63,180/year + CPI)

($1,215/week + CPI)

Same as for larger employers

1st January 2027

2.5 X Washington Minimum Wage

($70,220/year + CPI)

($1,350/week + CPI)

2.25 X Washington Minimum Wage

($63,180/year + CPI)

($1,215/week + CPI)

1st January 2028

2.5 X Washington Minimum Wage

($70,220/year + CPI)

($1,350/week + CPI)

same as for larger employers

The new salary rates are defined in the rule as a multiple (e.g., 1.25 X) of Washington’s minimum wage rate for 40 hours of work per week. For 2020, Washington’s minimum wage is $13.50 per hour. For 2021 and thereafter, it will automatically be adjusted upward each January 1, if there has been an increase in the CPI.

The new FLSA salary minimum for 2020 and thereafter permits employers to satisfy up to 10% of the minimum level with non-discretionary variable pay. Washington did not adopt this rule. As such, employers that plan to pay salaries in 2020 of less than $35,100/year in reliance on the credit for non-discretionary variable pay will have to raise salaries in Washington State to $35,100 by 1st July 2020 if they wish to maintain exempt status.

The Washington rule’s text states that the highest salary rate of 2.5 X minimum wage is effective for all employers in 2026, not in 2027 and 2028, as this has been stated by the Department of Labor and Industries in multiple publications and announcements.

Hourly Rates for the Hourly Computer Professional Exemption

For the hourly computer professional exemption, the new minimum hourly rates are:

Date

Minimum Hourly Rate

(More from 50 Washington Employees)

Minimum Hourly Rate

(50 or Fewer Washington Employees)

1st July 2020

$37.13/hour

(vs. the FLSA rate of $27.63/hour)

$27.63/hour

(matched the current WA and FLSA rates)

1st January 2021

3.5 X Washington Minimum Wage ($47.25/hour + CPI)

2.75 X Washington Minimum Wage ($37.13/hour + CPI)

1st January 2022

3.5 X Washington Minimum Wage ($47.25/hour + CPI)

Same as for larger employers

Teachers & Academic Administrators

The professional exemption for teachers will now require payment on a salary or fee basis, but without mandating a minimum pay rate. The FLSA does not specify a form or minimum amount of payment for exempt teachers.

The administrative exemption for academic administrators will permit a salary that is at least equal to the entrance salary for teachers in the particular educational establishment involved. The FLSA does not include this provision, so the FLSA salary minimum pay will also have to meet the criteria to obtain an exemption from overtime under federal law.

Changes to the White-Collar Exemption Duties Tests

The new rule brings the Washington State duties tests for the white-collar exemptions (executive, administrative, professional, and outside sales) generally into conformity with the FLSA duties tests, but subject to a few differences.

Washington has no highly compensated exemption. This is a continuation of existing Washington law.

For the outside sales exemption, Washington is retaining its unique requirement that the employee be advised of their status as an outside salesperson.

For the outside sales exemption, the text of the final Washington rule continues the Washington requirement that the outside salesperson’s nonexempt work must not exceed 20% of a normal nonexempt workweek (typically 8 hours per week). This appears to be an error in the final rule, as this provision was shown as deleted in the proposed rule (for conformity with FLSA), and the Department’s explanatory statement does not mention any change on this score from the proposed rule.

The Department did not expressly incorporate into the Washington rule of the guidance that exists in the FLSA duties test regulations. As to the portions not incorporated, the Department’s explanatory statement says, “this guidance was not included in the text of the adopted state rule. The Department intends to rely on the interpretations of the current federal regulations, where terms are identical”.

Outside Salespeople

Washington’s outside sales exemption retains key features different than federal law. Currently, Washington’s new rule keeps the current requirement that the outside salesperson’s nonexempt work must not exceed 20% of a normal nonexempt workweek (typically eight hours per week), although it was initially deleted in the draft rule. This may change. Employers must also continue to advise employees under the exemption of their status as an outside salesperson as well as meet other requirements of the test.

Regarding pay rates, Washington’s law still does not require a minimum pay rate for this exemption. It does, however, continue to require that employers pay outside salespeople on a guaranteed salary, commission or fee basis.

Few Other Differences

Washington still does not recognize an overtime exemption for “highly compensated” individuals. This is consistent with existing law. So-called highly compensated individuals must still meet the duties tests for one of Washington’s overtime exemptions.

The teacher’s professional exemption for teachers will now require payment on a salary or fee basis, although there is no required minimum pay rate. For academic administrators, the exemption now permits a salary that is at least equal to any teachers’ entrance salary at the same education establishment where they work.

Plan in Advance

Washington employers should begin planning to avoid legal liability for misclassification and to ameliorate significant financial impacts of these changes. Some steps to consider:

Ø Take this opportunity to make sure that each employee is classified properly. Make a list of all employees, noting each employee’s classification as either “exempt” or “non-exempt”. This will involve analysis of both the weekly salary paid as well whether the employee meets the duties test for the relevant exemption.

Ø Identify employees who will need to be reclassified from the “exempt” to “non-exempt”, because they are or will be are paid less than the requisite amount or no longer meet the relevant “duties test”.

Ø Calculate the financial feasibility and costs of raising these employees’ pay to the new threshold level to make them “exempt” versus reclassifying them as “non-exempt” and paying overtime.

Ø If a reclassification is necessary, prepare meaningful employee communications. This includes management training, sharing necessary changes in company policies, presenting a unified message on how and why changes are going to be implemented, and positive individual communications to reclassified employees who will now need to keep track of their hours worked, take required breaks and may have a chance to their benefits. Cooperating with an employee background verification team will be added advantage.

Ø Seek legal advice. The new rules are complex, and the employers who do not adhere to them strictly may be liable for serious financial penalties, including an unpaid overtime claim under Washington law.

Securecheck360 will monitor further developments to keep our clients with up to date knowledge of changing laws and implementations, so employers should ensure you are subscribed to Securecheck360 to gather the most relevant business information.

This Legal Alert provides an overview of a specific state law. It is not intended to be, and should not be constructed as legal advice for any particular fact situation, because Securecheck360 is not law firm.

#washington #employee #salary #increase #securecheck360 #employers #employees #advantages #reimbursement #exempted #nonexempt #hike

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mostlysignssomeportents · 5 years ago

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#3yrsago Weapons of Math Destruction: invisible, ubiquitous algorithms are ruining millions of lives

I've been writing about the work of Cathy "Mathbabe" O'Neil for years: she's a radical data-scientist with a Harvard PhD in mathematics, who coined the term "Weapons of Math Destruction" to describe the ways that sloppy statistical modeling is punishing millions of people every day, and in more and more cases, destroying lives. Today, O'Neil brings her argument to print, with a fantastic, plainspoken, call to arms called (what else?) Weapons of Math Destruction.

Discussions about big data's role in our society tends to focus on algorithms, but the algorithms for handling giant data sets are all well understood and work well. The real issue isn't algorithms, it's models. Models are what you get when you feed data to an algorithm and ask it to make predictions. As O'Neil puts it, "Models are opinions embedded in mathematics."

Other critical data scientists, like Patrick Ball from the Human Rights Data Analysis Group have located their critique in the same place. As Patrick once explained to me, you can train an algorithm to predict someone's height from their weight, but if your whole training set comes from a grade three class, and anyone who's self-conscious about their weight is allowed to skip the exercise, your model will predict that most people are about four feet tall. The problem isn't the algorithm, it's the training data and the lack of correction when the model produces erroneous conclusions.

Like Ball, O'Neil is enthusiastic about the power of data-driven modelling to be a force for good in the world, and like Ball, she despairs at the way that sloppy statistical work can produce gigantic profits for a few companies at the expense of millions of people -- all with the veneer of mathematical objectivity.

O'Neil calls these harmful models "Weapons of Math Destruction," and not all fault models qualify. For a model to be a WMD, it must be opaque to its subjects, harmful to their interests, and grow exponentially to run at huge scale.

These WMDs are now everywhere. The sleazy for-profit educational system has figured out how to use models to identify desperate people and sucker them into signing up for expensive, useless "educations" that are paid for with punitive student loans, backed by the federal government. That's how the University of Phoenix can be so profitable, even after spending upwards of $1B/year on marketing. They've built a WMD that brings students in at a steady clip despite the fact that they spend $2,225/student in marketing and only $892/student on instruction. Meanwhile, the high-efficacy, low-cost community colleges are all but invisible in the glare and roar of the University of Phoenix's marketing blitzkreig.

One highly visible characteristic of WMDs is their lack of feedback and tuning. In sports, teams use detailed statistical models to predict which athletes they should bid on, and to deploy those athletes when squaring off against opposing teams. But after the predicted event has occurred, the teams update their models to account for their failings. If you pass on a basketball player who goes to glory for a rival team, you update your model to help you do better in the next draft.

Compare this with the WMDs used against us in everyday life. The largest employers in America use commercial services to run their incoming resumes against a model of a "successful" worker. These models hold your employment future in their hands. If one rejects you and you go on to do brilliant work somewhere else, that fact is never used to refine the model. Everyone loses: job-seekers are arbitrarily excluded from employment, and employers miss out on great hires. Only the WMD merchants in the middle make out like bandits.

It's worth asking how we got here. Many forms of WMD were deployed as an answer to institutional bias -- in criminal sentencing, in school grading, in university admissions, in hiring and lending. The models are supposed to be race- and gender-blind, blind to privilege and connections.

But all too often, the models are trained with the biased data. The picture of a future successful Ivy League student or loan repayer is painted using data-points from the admittedly biased history of the institutions. All the Harvard grads or dutiful mortgage payers are fed to the algorithm, which dutifully predicts that tomorrow's Harvard alums and prime loan recipients will look just like yesterday's -- but now the bias gets the credibility of seeming objectivity.

This training problem is well known in stats, but largely ignored by WMD dealers. Companies that run their own Big Data initiatives, by contrast, are much more careful about refining their models. Amazon carefully tracks those customers who abandon their shopping carts, or who stop shopping after a couple of purchases. Their interested in knowing everything they can about "recidivism" among shoppers, and they combine statistical modelling with anthropology -- seeking out and talking to their subjects -- to improve their system.

The contrast with automated sentencing software -- now widely used in the US judicial system, and spreading rapidly around the world -- could not be more stark. Like Amazon's data scientists, the companies that sell sentencing apps are trying to predict recidivism, and their predictions can send one person to prison for decades and let another go free.

These brokers are training their model on the corrupted data of the past. They look at the racialized sentencing outcomes of the past -- the outcomes that sent young black men to prison for years for minor crack possession, while letting rich white men walk away from cocaine possession charges -- and conclude that people from poor neighborhoods, whose family members and friends have had run-ins with the law, and "predict" that this person will reoffend, and recommend long sentences to keep them away from society.

Unlike Amazon, these companies aren't looking to see whether longer sentences cause recidivism (by causing emotional damage and social isolation) and how prison beatings, solitary confinement and prison rape are related to the phenomenon. If the prison system was run like Amazon -- that is, with a commitment to reducing reoffending, rather than enriching justice-system contractors and satisfying revenge-hungry bigots in the electorate -- it would probably look like a Nordic prison: humane, sparsely populated, and oriented toward rehabilitation, addiction treatment, job training, and psychological counselling.

WMDs have transformed education for teachers and students. In the 1980s, the Reagan administration seized on a report called A Nation at Risk, which claimed that the US was on the verge of collapse due to its falling SAT scores. This was the starter-pistol for an all-out assault on teachers and public education, which continues to this day.

The most visible expression of this is the "value added" assessment of teachers, which uses a battery of standardized tests to assess teachers' performance from year to year. The statistical basis for these assessments is laughable (statistics work on big numbers, not classes of 25 kids -- assessments can swing 90% from one year to the next, making them no better than random number generators). Teachers -- good teachers, committed teachers -- lose their jobs over these tests.

Students, meanwhile, are taken away from real learning in order to take more and more tests, and those tests -- which are supposed to measure "aptitude" and thus shouldn't be amenable to expensive preparatory services -- determine their whole futures.

The Nation at Risk report that started it all turned out to be bullshit, by the way -- grounded in another laughable statistical error. Sandia Labs later audited the findings from the report and found that the researchers had failed to account for the ballooning number of students who were taking the SATs, bringing down the average score.

In other words: SATs were falling because more American kids were confident enough to try to go to college: the educational system was working so well that young people who would never have taken an SAT were taking it, and the larger pool of test-takers was bringing the average score down.

WMDs turn the whole of human life into a game of Search Engine Optimization. With SEO, merchants hire companies who claim to have reverse-engineered Google's opaque model and whose advice will move your URL further up in its ranking.

When you pay someone thousands of dollars to prep your kid for the SATs, or to improve your ranking with the "e-score" providers that determine your creditworthiness, jobworthiness, or mortgageworthiness, you're recreating SEO, but for everything. It's a grim picture of the future: WMD makers and SEO experts locked in an endless arms-race to tweak their models to game one another, and all the rest of us being subjected to automated caprice or paying ransom to escape it (for now). In that future, we're all the product, not the customer (much less the citizen).

O'Neil's work is so important because she believes in data science. Algorithms can and will be used to locate people in difficulty: teachers with hard challenges, people in financial distress, people who are struggling in their jobs, students who need educational attention. It's up to us whether we use that information to exclude and further victimize those people, or help them with additional resources

Credit bureaux, e-scorers, and other entities that model us create externalities in the form of false positives -- from no-fly lists to credit-score errors to job score errors that cost us our careers. These errors cost them nothing to make, and something to fix -- and they're incredibly expensive to us. Like all negative externalities, the cost of cleaning them up (rehabilitating your job, finding a new home, serving a longer prison sentence, etc) is much higher than the savings to the firms, but we bear the costs and they reap the savings.

It's E Pluribus Unum reversed: models make many out of one, pigeonholing each of us as members of groups about whom generalizations -- often punitive ones (such as variable pricing) can be made.

Modelling won't go away: as a tool for guiding caring and helpful remedial systems, models are amazing. As a tool for punishing and disenfranchising, they are a nightmare. The choice is ours to make. O'Neil's book is a vital crash-course in the specialized kind of statistical knowledge we all need to interrogate the systems around us and demand better.

Weapons of Math Destruction [Cathy O'Neil/Crown]

https://boingboing.net/2016/09/06/weapons-of-math-destruction-i.html

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bestyoga-blog2 · 5 years ago

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How can i Choose The Right Yoga exercises Studio?

Yoga is an age-old tradition that has been utilized to combat stress, anxiety, depression, obesity and other afflictions as a consequence of its mixture of gentle physical workouts, soothing meditative aspects and deep breathing exercises. Along with so many different approaches to yoga, it could be the little bit bewildering to pick one that's right for you. In case you life in a city numerous yoga studios, how do you go about finding the right one? If you're inquisitive to try yoga yet don't know how to go about it, here's a checklist that will help a person get started.

Ask around. Chances are you've got friends or family who do yoga. Ask them exactly where they take up yoga exercise and what studios they will recommend. Inform them regarding what you are considering in the yoga class trying to inquire as many questions to determine more info on each place. Word of mouth is usually an outstanding way of finding out there the quality of the place. Research. While phrase of mouth is a highly effective way of finding out there what may be the best studio, it pays to consider several time to do a little research of your own own. Search the Web, read the newspapers or magazines for reputable yoga companies in your town. Reading the testimonials within the various online forums will give you an idea associated with the quality of the yoga exercise studios that are available in your town. Research some a lot more. Look up the various varieties of yoga on the web in order to see which styles closely match up to your interests. Would you like a gentle session or perhaps a rigorous cardio workout? Do you want to give attention to the particular meditative aspect of yoga? Do you want to do it for pain administration? When you understand what a person want to get out of your practice of yoga, it will be easier that you should pick a class. Yoga exercises directories. There are extensive online directories you may seek advice from to find noted yoga studios with certified teachers in your area. Just input your zip code plus you will be supplied with up-to-date info on locations that provide good yoga applications where you are. Check it out. Lastly, when you've found a studio you like, arrange to have a few yoga classes therefore you can fully experience all its amazing benefits. Consider the following: Does the studio make you feel welcome? Are the teachers nice? Do you feel safe? Trust your intuition when choosing a studio for your practice. To know more details visit here: yoga studio

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hardynwa · 8 months ago

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School abduction: Gumi offers to negotiate with bandits

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bountyofbeads · 5 years ago

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Trump Policy Favors Wealthier Immigrants for Green Cards https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/12/us/politics/trump-immigration-policy.html

"The rule has been the top priority of Stephen Miller, the architect of Mr. Trump’s immigration agenda, who views it as the most significant change to regulations that had encouraged migrants to come to the United States. Mr. Miller has repeatedly pushed administration officials to finish the regulation, known as the public charge rule, at one point telling colleagues that he wanted them to work on nothing other than it until it was completed."

Trump Policy Favors Wealthier Immigrants for Green Cards

By Michael D. Shear and Eileen Sullivan | Published Aug. 12, 2019 | New York Times | Posted August 12, 2019 |

Leer en español

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration will make it harder for legal immigrants who rely on government benefit programs, such as food stamps and subsidized housing, to obtain permanent legal status as part of a far-reaching new policy aimed at altering the flow of legal immigration and reducing the number of poor immigrants.

The move will have the greatest impact on immigrants who are living in the country legally and are likely to receive government benefits, making it much harder for people who are struggling financially to win legal permanent status — commonly known as a green card — so they can remain in the United States.

Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, the director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, announced the new regulation at the White House on Monday morning, declaring that it would allow the government to insist that immigrants who come to the country were self-sufficient and would not be a drain on society.

“The benefit to taxpayers is a long-term benefit of seeking to ensure that our immigration system is bringing people to join us as American citizens, as legal permanent residents first, who can stand on their own two feet, who will not be reliant on the welfare system, especially in the age of the modern welfare state which is so expansive and expensive,” Mr. Cuccinelli said.

Under the new rule, the financial well-being of immigrants who are in the United States legally on temporary visas will be more heavily scrutinized when they seek a green card. Immigration officials will consider an immigrant’s age, health, family status, assets, resources, financial status and education. But the officials will be given broad leeway to determine whether an immigrant is likely to be a user of public benefits, to deny them a green card, and to order them deported out of the country.

Officials said the program would not apply to people who already have green cards, to refugees and asylum-seekers, or to pregnant women and children. But immigration advocates warned that vast numbers of immigrants, including those not actually subject to the regulation, may drop out of needed benefits programs because they fear retribution by immigration authorities.

“This news is a cruel new step toward weaponizing programs that are intended to help people by making them, instead, a means of separating families and sending immigrants and communities of color one message: you are not welcome here,” said Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center.

She added: “It will have a dire humanitarian impact, forcing some families to forgo critical lifesaving health care and nutrition. The damage will be felt for decades to come.”

Monday’s announcement is part of President Trump’s concerted assault on the nation’s system of immigration laws and regulations. For much of the past three years, the president has railed against what he calls the dangers of illegal immigration. But administration officials have also sought to impose new limits on legal immigration into the United States.

L. Francis Cissna, the former director of Citizenship and Immigration Services, had resisted the rush to finish the rule, drafts of which were several hundred pages long and very complicated. But Mr. Cissna was forced out of his position earlier this year and replaced by Mr. Cuccinelli, a former attorney general in Virginia and an immigration hard-liner who shares Mr. Miller’s view that immigrants should not rely on financial support from the government.

The complex regulation, which is scheduled to go into effect in 60 days, would give the Trump administration a powerful new tool to narrow the demographic of people who come to live and work in the country. According to the new rule, the United States wants immigrants who can support themselves, not those who “depend on public resources to meet their needs.”

The ability of immigrants to support themselves has long been a consideration in whether they were granted the right to live and work in the United States permanently. But the Trump administration’s new move has made predicting the economic well-being of immigrants a more central part of that decision-making process.

An applicant who speaks English, shows formal letters of support and has private health insurance would be more likely to be approved than someone whose economic situation suggests they would probably need housing vouchers or enroll in Medicaid in the future if they were given a green card.

Over time, administration officials hope that the tough policy will shift the composition of the American immigration system by favoring wealthier immigrants.

Asked about the plaque on the Statue of Liberty that invites “your tired, your poor, your huddled masses,” Mr. Cuccinelli said that “I’m certainly not prepared to take anything down off the Statue of Liberty. We have a long history of being one of the most welcoming nations in the world.”

But immigration advocates reacted with anger at the announcement, calling it a cruel policy that they said was already causing immigrants around the country to abandon housing and medical benefits because they were concerned about the impact that using them might have on their immigration status or the status of someone in their family.

“Shame on the Trump administration for expanding a rule with racist roots in a shameful ploy to rig the immigration system for the wealthy,” said Cynthia Buiza, executive director of the California Immigrant Policy Center. “We thank all who stood up against the administration’s hate-filled agenda, and we will continue to fight for our values of community, compassion, and common humanity.”

The fear touched off by the new rule is illustrated by Maria, a 28-year-old woman from Colombia who is five months pregnant with a baby girl and reached out to her lawyer for advice a couple of weeks ago after she started seeing coverage of the draft version of the public charge rule in the news. Her husband, a childhood friend from Colombia, is a United States citizen, and she is in the United States on a tourist visa while she applies for a green card with him as a sponsor.

Maria’s husband, a high school teacher, had been off work during the summer break, forcing them to enroll in supplemental nutritional program for women, infants and children, known as WIC, in order to afford food and prenatal care. Though the new rule specifically does not penalize pregnant women for seeking such assistance, she said she fears that it could be used against her anyway. She said she wished she could stop accepting the help.

“I can’t,” said Maria, who worked as an industrial engineer in Colombia and asked that her last name not be used because she feared reprisals by American immigration officials. “Right now we need to use it,” she said, adding: “Whatever happens, the most important thing is that the baby is O.K., right?”

How many people the rule will affect is in dispute. Citizenship and Immigration Services did not conduct an “in-depth” analysis to estimate that, according to a senior administration official, who asked for anonymity to brief reporters on the rule.

But in the Federal Register, Homeland Security officials estimated that more than 382,000 immigrants seek an adjustment to their immigration status each year and would be subject to the public charge review. More than 324,000 people in households with noncitizens are estimated to drop out or not enroll in public benefit programs.

Advocacy organizations say the number of people affected by the regulation is vastly larger, estimating that 26 million immigrants living in the United States legally will reconsider their use of public benefits because they fear how accepting assistance could affect their ability to remain in the United States.

Asked whether the agency expected immigrants to drop out of benefits they’re entitled to simply because of fear of losing their protections, the official said, “whether or not somebody disenrolls, you know, that’s a decision the alien would have to make to consider the future immigration consequences but the intention is not to have disenrollment consequences.”

Several immigration groups have pledged to sue the administration in an attempt to block the regulation from going into effect. Tens of thousands of people opposed the rule in a public comment period over the past several months.

The regulation was published in the Federal Register Monday morning with the following acknowledgment: “While some commenters provided support for the rule, the vast majority of commenters opposed the rule.”

Caitlin Dickerson and Zolan Kanno-Youngs contributed reporting.

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baytownproject · 6 years ago

Photo

Name

Gina Bibb

Age

How long have you lived in Baytown?

In the area all my life, but in Baytown until about age 52.

Most interesting fact about you

I am currently legally blind and unable to walk due to taking an antibiotic (Zyvox or generic name is Linezolid) for about 10 months for a rare lung infection. It attacks your central nervous system and optic nerves. Optic nerves do not regenerate, but the other nerves should — in 12-18 months! I am only sharing this to warn others what can happen. My symptoms started in July. While seeking answers in the medical center in Houston, it was not discovered it was the medication until December. A neurological ophthalmologist discovered it. I stopped the medication then. My eyesight has improved some. I am waiting on the nerves in my hands and legs to heal.

Background

I graduated from Lee High School, Lee College and University of Houston-Clear Lake. I worked 20 years as a draftsman, a year as a teacher and several years as a substitute teacher. I finally landed my dream job as an administrative assistant working at the priests’ retirement home for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. I retired for health reasons, and we now live in Anahuac.

Challenges

In addition to the above mentioned health issues, I also have stage 4 lung cancer.

Happiest or saddest moment

Too many of each to list!

Advice

Seek the Lord! God is good all the time. Even during the hard times, he is with us.

Reading or watching

Not much of either.

Favorite thing to do in Baytown

Eat breakfast at First Watch.

#baytown project #blind #lung cancer #cancer #antibiotics

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anonmomca · 6 years ago

Text

Getting Beyond the “B” Word

I want to talk about the B word. Not because its prevalence and sometimes tragic results are increasingly making news headlines, but rather I felt it was not touching my community. I am now the first to admit that I was blissfully unaware that bullying was occurring at my child’s elementary school until this B word turned our world utterly and unstoppably upside down. I want to share a few thoughts and lessons learned on this unexpected journey because children all over the world at some point in their school years will likely be affected by bullying whether they are the bully, the victim, or an innocent bystander who witnesses the bullying. Unfortunately I learned the hard way that there is more we as parents, schools, districts, and communities can and need to do to address the B word!

I chose to write this article anonymously to maintain my child’s privacy. However, I do think that these situations and issues need to be more out in the open. I would have tremendously benefited from more concrete tools to help navigate our situation. In the news we hear about the tragic outcomes of bullying situations, but what we don’t hear about are parents’ perspectives and how they navigated these life changing situations.

My child is the kid you see around school, on the sports field, and in the community. You know my child as a sweet, smiley, and fun-loving kid. And yet, little did anyone know (including me) that my child was being bullied at school day after day. It started with some name calling. Then it turned physical. I went to the principal who had the other child apologize and tell my child they would never do it again. Fast forward to the next school year. It happened again. Not just once or twice but daily for weeks and weeks even after the school administration and the district were made aware of the situation. Over our two-year bullying journey, here are some things I learned about how bullying is currently handled at our school/district that might surprise you, because it surprised me:

1. Avoiding the B Word: Surprisingly, I noticed the administration avoids actually using the word “bullying”. Perhaps this may be from fear of litigation, but it was something I could never truly figure out or understand. Instead, I heard that my child was experiencing “unkind and undesirable behavior” which “is not tolerated by the school/district.” And if the cause of the bullying is believed to be the result of a triangle of kids, it is treated as ‘typical’ kid drama. So many times, I was told that feelings are hurt and that is why my child was being treated that way.

2. Defining Zero Tolerance: Do you really know what zero tolerance means? Given all the suicides of young kids as a result of bullying, you would think zero tolerance means that the school/district does not allow bullying period…. in any size, shape, or form. Based on my experience, zero tolerance does not mean the unwanted behavior will be stopped. Rather, zero tolerance means that the school/district is doing something; whether it is effective or not. For my child, it meant that my child was given easy access to report any incidents to school staff and the school counselor as well as trying to help empower my child.

3. Privacy Trumps Transparency: Due to privacy concerns, the school was not able to share what steps were taken with the other child, just that ‘something’ was being done. Day after day, it was completely obvious that the steps they were taking were not effective, yet I was continuously told the situation was being handled.

4. Victim vs. Bully: My child was treated like the bully. My child was the one who was expected to walk away and avoid interaction or the situation. My child spent a lot of time talking to yard supervisors and school counselors or had to find alternate places to enjoy recess or lunch like inside the library or classrooms to avoid the bully. And, I was told that my child was not reporting each incident immediately.

Here are some personal strategies that helped me.

1. Document everything. It is hard to remember all the details.

2. Communicate with your child. One of the hardest parts about this whole situation was feeling like I couldn’t protect my child. Despite me doing everything at the school/district level to get the bullying to stop, to my child it seemed as if the responsibility was solely on my child’s shoulders to feel safe at school or resolve the situation.

3. Talk about options or solutions with your child. Have your child make a list of what he/she thinks will stop the behavior and then discuss them. Ultimately it is your child who has to face the situation on a daily basis. Telling him/her or forcing him/her to do something that is not in his/her nature will not help the situation at all and in fact will likely cause more anxiety or stress for your child.

4. This is likely the hardest thing your child has experienced to date in school and maybe even life in general. However, this will not be the last time your child is faced with a difficult or damaging situation. Use this situation to teach your child how to stick up for themselves and how to make sure they are taking care of themselves.

5. Seek outside therapy. Sometimes help and advice is better received from others.

6. Don’t assume anything. After a year of bullying, I thought there was no way they would put my child in the same class with the child that bullied. If you don’t want your child to be in the same class with a bully say so. The school may need to be reminded of prior incidents as not everything will be documented and/or reviewed prior to making decisions on placement, etc.

All parents, moving forward PLEASE do me two important favors:

1. Talk to your kids about bullying. If bullied, encourage your child to tell someone so that it can be addressed in the early stages. Also, explain the importance and encourage your child to report any incidents of bullying that they witness.

2. As a parent, please don’t take the ‘my child would never do that approach’. If you receive a call from your child’s teacher or principal, take it seriously and really look into the situation. Do not defend your child as a knee-jerk reaction or ignore the situation.

Here is what I want schools and school districts to consider, as there is more that CAN and SHOULD be done to effectively address bullying:

1. Do not tell children that when they are experiencing bullying, it is a result of someone’s feelings being hurt. Or when incidents are happening that they are likely just ‘accidents’ and ‘jokes’. Doing so diminishes the “victims” thoughts and feelings and increases the likelihood that they will believe the administration doesn’t really care. 2. Be able to articulate school policies on bullying. Parents don’t want to continuously hear “something” is being done. Parents want to know and understand the exact strategies and tactics at various stages. Parents want their child to feel the school is supporting them. A defined plan with steps and timeframes would be appreciated. 3. Follow through with action items that are agreed upon. When a parent requests something as easy as coming up with a code word or signal to help your child let an authority figure know something, do it. When you tell the parent of the child who is being bullied that you have advised the other student to stay away from your child, don’t make excuses as to why it is OK for the bully to sit at the same lunch table as the other child or why it is OK for the bully to follow the other child around campus.

4. The ultimate resolution of the situation does not need to be remediation. Every child and every situation are different, so what may work in one situation may not be the right plan of action for another.

5. Encourage and strongly recommend counseling for the bully as well as the family of the bully. 6. Implement best practices. Talk to other schools both in and out of the district to see how they deal with “unkind and undesirable behavior” and zero tolerance.

Getting beyond the B Word for us:

To get beyond the B word my child changed schools midyear. I have heard many reactions to this decision, including “you should have moved your child into a different class, you should have sued, what message is this sending to your child and the bully, etc.” Here is what I can tell you: My child’s goal was to have the bullying stop immediately. The school had been aware of the situation for basically two years and certainly daily for the last 2 months, yet incidents continued every single day. How was my child supposed to stop the bully, when the bully was spoken to by the teacher, the principal, and the school counselor. In addition, the bully’s parents were spoken to by the principal on a couple of occasions.

Having my child feeling anxious and scared to go to school each day wondering what was going to happen was unhealthy. My child still has a lot of school years left and it is our job as parents to make sure our kids are safe at school. My child, my husband, and I knew we had done everything we could to stop this ASAP. Sadly, on our extended list of possible options, this is the only one my child felt could guarantee this situation to stop. When all other options have been exhausted, sometimes you need to remove yourself from the negative situation. I am so proud of my child for being able to recognize this. It takes a lot of courage to switch schools (even more so during the middle of the year).

My hope is that if children and families do find themselves in a bullying situation, moving schools is not the only effective option to make the bullying stop. Bullying is no joke and can be done by people that you would least expect to behave like that. Bullying can take many different forms, but all forms cause harm and/or emotional damage forever. So, I am asking every child, parent, teacher, and school administrator to truly take our story and lessons learned into consideration.

If you currently find yourself in this situation or have suggestions on bullying in schools in general, please feel free to contact me [email protected]

Together we can give a more tangible meaning to zero tolerance.

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