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arcticdementor · 3 years ago

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Martin Gurri's The Revolt Of The Public is from 2014, which means you might as well read the Epic of Gilgamesh. It has a second-edition-update-chapter from 2017, which might as well be Beowulf. The book is about how social-media-connected masses are revolting against elites, but the revolt has moved forward so quickly that a lot of what Gurri considers wild speculation is now obvious fact. I picked up the book on its "accurately predicted the present moment" cred, but it predicted the present moment so accurately that it's barely worth reading anymore. It might as well just say "open your eyes and look around".

…

In conclusion, 2011 was a weird year.

Gurri argues all of this was connected, and all of it was a sharp break from what came before. These movements were essentially leaderless. Some had charismatic spokespeople, like Daphni Leef in Israel or Tahrir-Square-Facebook-page-admin Wael Ghonim in Egypt, but these people were at best the trigger that caused a viral movement to coalesce out of nothing. When Martin Luther King marched on Washington, he built an alliance of various civil rights groups, unions, churches, and other large organizations who could turn out their members. He planned the agenda, got funding, ran through an official program of speakers, met with politicians, told them the legislation they wanted, then went home. The protests of 2011 were nothing like that. They were just a bunch of people who read about protests on Twitter and decided to show up.

Also, they were mostly well-off. Gurri hammers this in again and again. Daphni Leef had just graduated from film school, hardly the sort of thing that puts her among the wretched of the earth. All of these movements were mostly their respective countries' upper-middle classes; well-connected, web-savvy during an age when that meant something. Mostly young, mostly university-educated, mostly part of their countries' most privileged ethnic groups. Not the kind of people you usually see taking to the streets or building tent cities.

Some of the protests were more socialist and anarchist than others, but none were successfully captured by establishment strains of Marxism or existing movements. Many successfully combined conservative and liberal elements. Gurri calls them nihilists. They believed that the existing order was entirely rotten, that everyone involved was corrupt and irredeemable, and that some sort of apocalyptic transformation was needed. All existing institutions were illegitimate, everyone needed to be kicked out, that kind of thing. But so few specifics that socialists and reactionaries could march under the same banner, with no need to agree on anything besides "not this".

…

Gurri isn't shy about his contempt for this. Not only were these some of the most privileged people in their respective countries, but (despite the legitimately-sucky 2008 recession), they were living during a time of unprecedented plenty. In Spain, the previous forty years had seen the fall of a military dictatorship, its replacement with a liberal democracy, and a quintupling of GDP per capita from $6000 to $32000 a year - "in 2012, four years into the crisis there were more cell phones and cars per person in Spain than in the US". The indignado protesters in Spain had lived through the most peaceful period in Europe's history, an almost unprecedented economic boom, and had technologies and luxuries that previous generations could barely dream of. They had cradle-to-grave free health care, university educations, and they were near the top of their society's class pyramids. Yet they were convinced, utterly convinced, that this was the most fraudulent and oppressive government in the history of history, and constantly quoting from a manifesto called Time For Outrage!

So what's going on?

Our story begins (says Gurri) in the early 20th century, when governments, drunk on the power of industrialization, sought to remake Society in their own image. This was the age of High Modernism, with all of its planned cities and collective farms and so on. Philosopher-bureaucrat-scientist-dictator-manager-kings would lead the way to a new era of gleaming steel towers, where society was managed with the same ease as a gardener pruning a hedgerow.

…

Realistically this was all a sham. Alan Greenspan had no idea how to prevent recessions, scientific progress was slowing down, poverty remained as troubling as ever, and 50% of public school students stubbornly stayed below average. But the media trusted the government, the people trusted the media, and failures got swept under the rug by genteel agreement among friendly elites, while the occasional successes were trumpeted from the rooftops.

There was a very interesting section on JFK’s failure at the Bay of Pigs. Kennedy tried to invade Cuba, but the invasion failed very badly, further cementing Castro’s power and pushing him further into the Soviet camp. Representatives of the media met with Kennedy, Kennedy was very nice to them, and they all agreed to push a line of “look, it’s his first time invading a foreign country, he tried his hardest, give him a break.” This seems to have successfully influenced the American public, so much so that Kennedy’s approval rating increased five points, to 83%, after the debacle!

…

In Gurri's telling, High Modernism had always been a failure, but the government-media-academia elite axis had been strong enough to conceal it from the public. Starting in the early 2000s, that axis broke down. People could have lowered their expectations, but in the real world that wasn't how things went. Instead of losing faith in the power of government to work miracles, people believed that government could and should be working miracles, but that the specific people in power at the time were too corrupt and stupid to press the "CAUSE MIRACLE" button which they definitely had and which definitely would have worked. And so the outrage, the protests - kick these losers out of power, and replace them with anybody who had the common decency to press the miracle button!

…

Any system that hasn't solved every problem is illegitimate. Solving problems is easy and just requires pressing the "CAUSE MIRACLE" button. Thus the protests. In 2011, enough dry tinder of anger had built up that everywhere in the world erupted into protest simultaneously, all claiming their respective governments were illegitimate. These protests were necessarily vague and leaderless, because any protest-leader would fall victim to the same crisis of authority and legitimacy that national leaders were suffering from. Any attempt to make specific demands would be pilloried because those specific demands wouldn't unilaterally end homelessness or racism or inequality or whatever else. The only stable state was a sort of omni-nihilism that refused to endorse anything.

(I’m reminded of Tanner Greer’s claim that the great question of modernity is not “what can I accomplish?” or “how do I succeed?” but rather “how do I get management to take my side?”)

Gurri calls our current government a kind of "zombie democracy". The institutions of the 20th century - legislatures, universities, newspapers - continue to exist. But they are hollow shells, stripped of all legitimacy. Nobody likes or trusts them. They lurch forward, mimicking the motions they took in life, but no longer able to change or make plans or accomplish new things.

…

How do we escape this equilibrium? Gurri isn't sure. His 2017 afterword says he thinks we're even more in it now than we were in 2014. But he has two suggestions.

First, cultivate your garden. We got into this mess by believing the government could solve every problem. We're learning it can''t. We're not going to get legitimate institutions again until we unwind the overly high expectations produced by High Modernism, and the best way to do that is to stop expecting government to solve all your problems. So cultivate your garden. If you're concerned about obesity, go on a diet, or volunteer at a local urban vegetable garden, or organize a Fun Run in your community, do anything other than start a protest telling the government to end obesity. This is an interesting contrast to eg Just Giving, which I interpret as having the opposite model - if you want to fight obesity, you should work through the democratic system by petitioning the government to do something; trying to figure out a way to fight it on your own would be an undemocratic exercise of raw power. Gurri is recommending that we tear that way of thinking up at the root.

Second, start looking for a new set of elites who can achieve legitimacy. These will have to be genuinely decent and humble people - Gurri gives the example of George Washington. They won't claim to be able to solve everything. They won't claim the scientific-administrative mantle of High Modernism. They'll just be good honorable people who will try to govern wisely for the common good. Haha, yeah right.

…

Gurri divides the world between the Center and the Border. He thinks the Center - politicians, experts, journalists, officials - will be in a constant retreat, and the Border - bloggers, protesters, and randos - on a constant advance. His thesis got a boost when Brexit and Trump - both Border positions - crushed and embarrassed their respective Centers. But since then I'm not sure things have been so clear. The blogosphere is in retreat (maybe Substack is reversing this?), but the biggest and most mainstream of mainstream news organizations, like the New York Times are becoming more trusted and certainly more profitable. The new President of the US is a boring moderate career politician. The public cheers on elite censorship of social media. There haven't been many big viral protests lately except Black Lives Matter and the 1/6 insurrection, and both seemed to have a perfectly serviceable set of specific demands (defunding the police, decertifying the elections). Maybe I've just grown used to it, but it doesn't really feel like a world where a tiny remnant of elites are being attacked on all sides by a giant mob of entitled nihilists.

…

At the risk of being premature or missing Gurri's point, I want to try telling a story of how the revolt of the public and the crisis of legitimacy at least partially stalled.

Gurri talks a lot about Center and Border, but barely even mentions Left and Right. Once you reintroduce these, you have a solution to nihilism. The Left can come up with a laundry list of High Modernist plans that they think would solve all their problems, and the Right can do the same. Then one or the other takes control of government, gets thwarted by checks/balances/Mitch McConnell, and nothing happens. No American Democrat was forced to conclude that just because Obama couldn't solve all their problems, the promise of High Modernism was a lie. They just concluded that Obama could have solved all their problems, but the damn Republicans filibustered the bill. Likewise, the Republicans can imagine that Donald Trump would have made America great again if the media and elites and Deep State hadn't been blocking him at every turn. Donald Trump himself tells them this is true!

With this solution in place, you can rebuild trust in institutions. If you're a Republican, Fox News is trustworthy because it tells you the ways Democrats are bad. Some people say it's biased or inaccurate, but those people are Democrats or soft-on-Democrat RINO traitors. And if you're a Democrat, academic experts are completely trustworthy, and if someone challenges them you already know those challenges must be vile Republican lies. Lack of access to opposing views has been replaced with lack of tolerance for opposing views. And so instead of the public having to hate all elites, any given member of the public only needs to hate half of the elites.

You could think of this as a mere refinement of Gurri. But it points at a deeper critique. Suppose that US left institutions are able to maintain legitimacy, because US leftists trust them as fellow warriors in the battle against rightism (and vice versa). Why couldn't one make the same argument about the old American institutions? People liked and trusted the President and Walter Cronkite and all the other bipartisan elites because they were American, and fellow warriors in the battle against Communism or terrorism or poverty or Saddam or whatever. If this is true, the change stops looking like the masses suddenly losing faith in the elites and revolting, and more like a stable system of the unified American masses trusting the unified American elites, fissioning into two stable systems of the unified (right/left) masses trusting the unified (right/left) elites. Why did the optimal stable ingroup size change from nation-sized to political-tribe-sized?

…

The one exception to my disrecommendation is that you might enjoy the book as a physical object. The cover, text, and photographs are exceptionally beautiful; the cover image - of some sort of classical-goddess-looking person (possibly Democracy? I expect if I were more cultured I would know this) holding a cell phone - is spectacularly well done. I understand that Gurri self-published the first edition, and that this second edition is from not-quite-traditional publisher Stripe Press. I appreciate the kabbalistic implications of a book on the effects of democratization of information flow making it big after getting self-published, and I appreciate the irony of a book about the increasing instability of history getting left behind by events within a few years. So buy this beautiful book to put on your coffee table, but don't worry about the content - you are already living in it.

#scott alexander #book review #martin gurri

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sabrinasu1998 · 3 years ago

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Just How To Raise Setting In Gold Trading

Placement management is important in gold trading online. Just how do financiers become comfortable boosting placement dimension and also tackle even more regulated risk?

For the ordinary retail investor, discovering to scale up your placement dimension can be a stressful process that can cause unanticipated as well as outsized losses.

Increase position

Take gold as an example. Increase placement describes the behavior of continuing to acquire even more while the gold trading price is falling or rising as a result of continued positive outlook about gold.

It needs to be clear that setting boost is a gold trading skill, a tool for making orders, not the best objective of investors. Just when adding settings can aid traders acquire specific advantages as well as control risks, it is beneficial.

Investors that can enhance placements

From the point of view of analysis capacity, if you want to select to increase your position, you need to at least make an exact prediction of the gold market trend in the following week.

From the viewpoint of the number of funds, increasing your position appropriates for those capitalists with more funds. If your setting has actually surpassed 80%, There is no demand to take into consideration adding positions If the proportion of reserve funds to our existing funds is about 1:1, it is better for including settings.

Three means to enhance positions

1. Pyramiding to Profits

Pyramiding is a traditional gold trading strategy of increasing a setting size by utilizing margin from latent gains. Put simply, Pyramiding methods that you add to an existing position as quickly as the price relocate your favor. A trader would certainly after that begin with a little preliminary placement and also as the trade unravels contribute to his champions and slowly create a bigger setting.

Take long as an example, buy a part near the bottom, such as 80 lots, when the current gold market gets to a certain position, buy 60 great deals, and also as it climbs once again, acquire one more 40 lots, and more. In this way, due to the fact that the variety of low-level buys is constantly greater than the top-level, you can always make certain that your holding expenses are lower than the ordinary market price.

When you capture a runner early, pyramiding only works for huge trends as well as. Or else, you have to add to your placement very typically, which produces problems of evaporating revenues and also the demand to take care of settings as well snugly.

It's far also simple to fall into the catch of assuming that the market isn't going to turn around on you. Keep in mind, markets ebb as well as circulation.

Right here are a few things to remember when making use of the pyramid trading strategy.

( 1) Only make use of the pyramid strategy in a solid, trending market.

( 2) Always define your support and resistance degrees before the profession.

( 3) Know your leave strategy as well as preserve a proper risk to award proportion whatsoever times.

( 4) Trail your quit loss behind each brand-new placement in order to alleviate your exposure.

( 5) Keep points simple by using the very same placement size for every block of buying or marketing.

( 6) Don't get greedy.

2. Upside down pyramid technique

The inverted pyramid method of raising positions suggests that the initial quantity of funds entering the market is relatively huge, as well as if the marketplace pattern is contrary to the forecast, no additional positions will be enhanced. The setting is little at the bottom and also big at the top, like an upside down pyramid.

This was Jesse Livermore's trump card.

Jesse Lauriston Livermore was an American supply investor. He is taken into consideration a pioneer of day trading and was the basis for the major character of Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, a best-selling publication by Edwin Lefèvre.

For example:

( 1) Buy 20% first;

( 2) If you make a mistake, quit the loss instantly if it goes down 10%, and also the loss quantity is 2% of the complete setting;

( 3) If you acquire the right one, increase the placement by 10% and boost the position immediately by 20%, as well as raise the placement by 10% immediately and after that boost by 20% ... the last time you include 40% straight.

( 4) Hold if it does not fall below 10%, and also immediately sell all settings once it falls by 10%.

If the market showed the intent to continue moving as expected, he might double-up his placement. In the instance over, the market moved upwards verifying the analysis to be appropriate so extra contracts are included at the 2nd entry.

The market carries on upwards, even more agreements added at the 3rdentry ...

Until at some point the brand-new instructions of the pattern can not be challenged as well as the full setting is in area.

Don't neglect, there are already paper profits showing on the profession which provides a great safety and security pillow.

You could also be able to obtain a stop-loss order working at break-even level for the entire position.

As well as the beauty of this strategy is that you are hardly ever heavily placed when a loss is taken.

3. Averaging into a Trade Position

Medium- and also longer-term trade strategies generally gain from averaging into a setting. Averaging into a placement refers to the technique of buying/selling at together lower/higher prices to improve the average price of the desired long/short position.

Every time an investor includes a setting to the original gold trading position, the variety of positions is equal. Whether it is the opening duration or the unilateral market duration, you can attempt the equivalent amount boost technique.

The outcome of adding on to winning positions, nonetheless, is an even worse ordinary rate for the total setting-- a higher ordinary long price or a reduced ordinary short price. Any gains in the overall trade can be promptly eliminated if the market reverses after you add on.

Should you balance into positions or not? Before deciding whether to average right into placements, consider the following:

The moment frame of the profession: Short-term gold trades look for to manipulate the prompt instructions of the market. If you're incorrect on the instructions to begin with, including in the setting at far better rates will likely just intensify your losses. For tool- as well as longer-term professions, averaging right into a placement can make sense if the profession configuration anticipates a market turnaround.

Volatility: If the overall market or the money pair you're trading is experiencing heightened volatility, balancing into trades is possibly not an excellent concept. Boosted volatility is usually symptomatic of unpredictability or fresh information hitting the market, both of which are prone to see even more extreme directional cost relocations, in which instance averaging is a losing recommendation. In contrast, lower volatility conditions have a tendency to prefer range-trading atmospheres, where averaging can be effective.

Tips for the enhancing placement in gold trading

1. You require to be very aware of the operating gold ups as well as downs and gold fundamental information. The monitoring of gold need to at the very least have a process from rising to falling or from falling to increasing.

2. When current gold price is out of an independent pattern, you can increase your position. You will certainly usually shed if you increase your setting when the fad is unstable or the price is reversing.

3. It needs to be clear that setting boost is a trading skill, a tool for making orders, not the utmost objective of traders.

From the point of view of the number of funds, raising your setting is appropriate for those investors with more funds. Pyramiding is a standard gold trading strategy of enhancing a setting dimension by making use of margin from unrealized gains. An investor would then begin with a little initial position and as the trade unravels include to his victors as well as slowly establish a bigger placement.

You can raise your placement when current gold price is out of an unilateral trend. If you raise your setting when the pattern is unstable or the price is reversing, you will certainly often shed.

#gold trading

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click2watch · 6 years ago

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Iran’s Crypto Regulations: What’s Happening Behind Closed Doors

Under pressure for being months behind schedule, the Central Bank of Iran finally published a draft framework on the legality of cryptocurrencies in late January and welcomed feedback.

While some see the totality of the framework as a step forward, most members of the burgeoning local crypto community are unhappy with much of the specifics. They feel that the framework could severely restrict people and businesses operating in the fast-growing field if it is implemented in its current form.

Among other things, the framework proposes banning the use of global cryptocurrencies and various tokens as methods of domestic payment; requires cryptocurrency exchanges to obtain permits, therefore opening a new avenue for rent-seeking in a country that has already too much of it; and uses the word “forbidden” a lot, which could entail the threat of criminal prosecution.

So, the local community quickly started working on ways to improve it.

On March 9, more than three dozen members of the community sent their proposals to the central bank in the form of a joint document that found 51 problems in the regulator’s 13-page draft framework.

However, at least for now, there isn’t much else they can do. The fate of their existing businesses, budding ideas and passion for decentralization is mostly in the hands of larger and immensely complicated centralized power structures.

The sanctions question

That this is occurring is because money has transformed into a security issue in Iran.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s government in early April 2018 “unified” the country’s dual foreign exchange rates in a bid to buoy a national currency sharply declining due to fears of returning U.S. sanctions. Within days, the central bank was directed to implement a blanket ban on cryptocurrencies at the behest of the government in a misguided effort to prevent further capital flight.

In early May, President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers and reimposed “the toughest sanctions ever” against the Islamic Republic. This only exacerbated a currency crisis in Iran and led to the rial hitting several consecutive all-time lows in the ensuing months.

Moreover, dozens of currency traders were arrested and sentenced to lengthy prison terms and hefty fines while several high-level financial offenders, including a man dubbed the “Sultan of Coins” due to his hoarding of gold coins, were executed.

On the other hand, Iranian authorities see an opportunity in cryptocurrencies due to its potential to challenge exertion of extraterritorial restrictions. Be that as it may, people actually working on ongoing local projects know they can’t – and are not designed to – circumvent sanctions.

Rouhani has personally attended several top-level meetings on cryptocurrencies, the central bank is establishing a sovereign rial-backed cryptocurrency to expand digital banking operations and Iran’s top banks have launched a gold-backed cryptocurrency to sell their bad assets and generate liquidity.

Regulatory challenges

Against this backdrop, any entity that has remotely anything to do with cryptocurrencies – as many as 28 – wants to have a hand in the action. After the central bank, the next major entities include the Securities and Exchange Organization, the High Council of Cyberspace, the Ministry of ICT, the parliament, the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade, the Ministry of Energy and the Customs Administration.

It is worth noting that those entities belong to different, sometimes rivaling factions and each has their own opinions about how or whether cryptocurrencies should be regulated.

In recent months, there have been talks that the cabinet may have the final say on passing cryptocurrency regulations. If that happens, it could be a simplifying factor in that it could block many of the lower-level entities from trying to have a finger in the pie. But at the same time, it chips away at the central bank’s authority and highlights the independence it so desperately needs.

The fact that so many entities are trying to have a say about cryptocurrency regulations does not negate the central bank’s restrictive capabilities, but it affects its ability to legalize or otherwise support activities in this field, believes Saeed Khoshbakht, CEO of Tehran-based distributed ledger technology solutions firm Areatak.

“In other words, we have one rule: everyone needs to be onboard for something to be implemented, whereas only one needs to be opposed to stop a motion,” Khoshbakht, who acted as an advisor for the central bank-affiliated Informatics Services Corporation concerning the regulatory framework, told CoinDesk.

He thinks Iran’s cryptocurrency community needs to learn to lobby – “in its positive sense” – since it currently has no effective links to any of the deciding entities.

That, he said, could include working toward enacting constructive regulations, alleviating concerns felt by law enforcement and judiciary, and supporting government entities when necessary.

“Ultimately, I believe the central bank is Iran’s best bet for regulating cryptocurrencies,” Khoshbakht said. “If making decisions for this area gets out of the central bank’s hands for any reason, including mistakes on the community’s part, I think the situation could become much more difficult.”

Iran image via Shutterstock

This news post is collected from CoinDesk

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cryptoquicknews-blog · 6 years ago

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New Post has been published here https://is.gd/dm6yod

Iran’s Crypto Regulations: What’s Happening Behind Closed Doors

This post was originally published here

Under pressure for being months behind schedule, the Central Bank of Iran finally published a draft framework on the legality of cryptocurrencies in late January and welcomed feedback.

So, the local community quickly started working on ways to improve it.

The sanctions question

That this is occurring is because money has transformed into a security issue in Iran.

Regulatory challenges

It is worth noting that those entities belong to different, sometimes rivaling factions and each has their own opinions about how or whether cryptocurrencies should be regulated.

He thinks Iran’s cryptocurrency community needs to learn to lobby – “in its positive sense” – since it currently has no effective links to any of the deciding entities.

That, he said, could include working toward enacting constructive regulations, alleviating concerns felt by law enforcement and judiciary, and supporting government entities when necessary.

Iran image via Shutterstock

#crypto #cryptocurrency #btc #xrp #litecoin #altcoin #money #currency #finance #news #alts #hodl #coindesk #cointelegraph #dollar #bitcoin View the website

New Post has been published here https://is.gd/dm6yod

#Uncategorized

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fitnesshealthyoga-blog · 6 years ago

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New Post has been published on https://fitnesshealthyoga.com/ace-fitness-9-top-fitness-trends-for-2019/

ACE Fitness | 9 Top Fitness Trends for 2019

It’s time to dust off the proverbial crystal ball and look ahead to see what 2019 might have in store for the fitness industry. (You can see how previous prognostications fared by checking the archives: 2018, 2017, 2016 and 2015.) These thoughts and observations were gleaned from a number of health and exercise professionals, executives and thought leaders who hold various roles in exercise equipment and health club companies. In other words, they are the very people who will be deciding how we will be sweating in 2019 (and beyond).

High-intensity interval training workouts will continue to evolve.

Because it delivers results, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) will continue to boast a large and devoted following in 2019. However, because it has been popular for a long time, a number of variations on HIIT will emerge, particularly in terms of how interval training is applied to both group and individual workouts. The research shows that when it comes to HIIT, it’s the intensity of the workout, not the duration that can lead to desired changes. The good news is that fitness patrons are starting to understand that too much HIIT is unnecessary. As a result, short, 30-minute HIIT formats will become increasingly popular. In addition, group fitness formats will expand to feature a wider variety of shorter, high-intensity classes.

As Angie Anderson Gallagher, an ACE Certified Group Fitness Instructor in West Des Moines, Iowa, explains, “I include HIIT in my Pilates class and my members love the shorter, more intense workouts. They really feel like they’re getting a lot done in a short period of time.”

Variety is key for long-term success.

Tricia Murphy Madden, a Seattle-based ACE Certified Group Fitness Instructor and co-creator of the Barre Above program, believes that fusion workouts, which combine a variety of different modalities such as boxing and cycling or yoga and strength training, will continue to be popular.

“Many consumers are starting to realize that doing too much of the same workout is not good for the body,” explains Murphy Madden. “As a result, the idea of hitting different components of fitness in the same workout is becoming more and more attractive.”

Group fitness instructors will continue to change how they lead classes.

Group fitness has always been popular, but for years, making a room full of people sweaty was accomplished by an instructor performing the workout as everyone tried their best to follow along. Over the past few years, there has been an important and significant shift toward group coaching, in which instructors guide and coach a workout rather than ask participants to simply follow along.

“Due to the continued popularity of group programs like OrangeTheory Fitness or Barre,” explains Irene Lewis-McCormick, the 2018 IDEA Group Fitness Instructor of the Year and an ACE Certified Personal Trainer and Health Coach from Ankeny, Iowa, “we are seeing a shift from teacher-centered behavior, where the instructor says, ‘follow me’ to a method of coaching in which the instructor uses verbal, visual and kinesthetic cuing to lead the workout.”

Instructor education will move away from pre-choreographed workouts.

Another trend on the horizon is a shift from pre-choreographed to pre-formatted workouts, according to Abbie Appel is a Boca Raton, Fla.,-based ACE-Certified Group Fitness Instructor, presenter and group fitness programming consultant. The primary difference is that pre-choreographed workouts require an instructor to teach an exact replica of a workout designed by a third party, while pre-formatted classes provide an overall structure that allows individual instructors to design workouts specifically for the participants in each group workout.

“Instructors always like having ideas for what to do when leading a group workout, but also want the freedom to design and lead their own workouts,” explains Appel. “Pre-formatted classes given them the best of both worlds.”

Functional training will return to mainstream fitness.

Several health and exercise professionals from across the country cited functional training as an area of growth in the new year. Fueled in part by the ongoing popularity of obstacle-course racing and the evolution of functional training, both group and individual workout programs will continue to feature a variety of non-traditional exercises using a variety of different types of equipment.

“We all need to carry heavy things in our everyday life and the gym is one of the best ways to prepare for that,” says Kevin Mullins, a personal trainer and fitness writer in Washington, D.C. “Because they help people prepare for how they actually use their bodies, loaded carries are an integral component of the programs I design for both my clients and classes.”

Aimee Nicotera, an ACE Certified Group Fitness Instructor from Boston, Mass., agrees. “Training for an obstacle course race allows people to do movements and exercises they wouldn’t normally do in their workouts, which creates a carryover to strength and improved physical function for their everyday lives.”

More pros will utilize unilateral training loads in their program design.

Most exercises utilize both limbs, either the arms or legs, doing the same movement at the same time (e.g., standard chest press or squat). However, in real life, we tend to use only one arm at a time, or plant one leg in a fixed position to create stability. If you adhere to the theory that exercises that mimic a certain activity can help an individual become better at that activity, it makes sense that unilateral exercises can help clients become better at the movements they use in their everyday lives.

“According to the research that I’ve read, using only one arm or leg at a time allows you to recruit and engage all of the muscle fibers involved in the movement,” explains Amy Dixon, the Director of Group Fitness Programming for Equinox. “What really surprised me is the finding that using only one limb can actually help both become stronger. In addition, using only one arm or leg at a time requires higher concentration and focus, so participants are more engaged in the workout.” With so many benefits, Dixon is confident more exercise programs will begin to utilize unilateral training.

Fitness consumers will actually move away from technology in 2019.

When it comes to fitness in 2019, many consumers will come to the gym or fitness studio because they want to disconnect from the ever-present screens. According to Josh Meltzer, the Fitness Manager at Equinox in Carlsbad, Calif., the coming year in fitness will see an increase in the use of meditation, float tanks, breathing exercises and other alternative methods of creating and enhancing a strong mind-body connection.

The type of exercise equipment people use will change.

In 2019, we will continue to see two important shifts in the types of fitness equipment used for both individual and group workouts. Thanks to the popularity of high-intensity training, barbells, kettlebells and heavy medicine balls will continue to be put to good use in gyms and health clubs. However, smaller equipment such as mini-bands, sliders or gliders, super bands and foam rollers used for myofascial release are increasingly becoming “must-have” workout tools.

“Using smaller equipment enhances body-weight movements that require more attention to how an exercise is performed, thus creating a strong mind-body connection,” argues Marc Coronel, a Las Vegas-based strength coach and international presenter. “Using smaller equipment, specifically foam rollers, allows people to do low-intensity exercise, which can be an excellent way to recover from a challenging workout or to do a workout without thrashing the entire body.”

The new year will also likely see a shift back toward the use of strength-training machines. Barbells and other free weights provide numerous benefits, but can be intimidating, especially for older adults. As increasing numbers of baby boomers retire from their careers, they will have more time to return to the gym and many will look to strength-training machines as a safe, yet extremely effective method of getting results.

“We hear from consumers that they love the workouts they get on our equipment, yet the newest generation of trainers have very little experience using strength-training machines,” explains Jeff Dilts, vice president of product development for Core Health & Fitness, the parent company of Nautilus. “We see this as an opportunity—if we help fitness professionals learn how to use our equipment, they will have the ability to teach older adults how to safely achieve the benefits from resistance training.”

A possible economic slowdown will affect the health and fitness industry.

It’s important to look outside of our industry to identify what might happen in other areas of our economy and how these factors might affect the fitness world. After the last recession, the United States Federal Reserve, which controls how much money is available in the economy, lowered the cost of borrowing money in an effort to fuel growth. After years of dumping dollars into the economy, the Federal Reserve is in the process of reducing the amount of money by increasing how much banks will have to pay to borrow funds. Many economists believe that interest rate hikes are necessary to help reduce inflation, but the danger is that increasing interest rates too fast could be creating a situation that leads to the first economic slowdown in a number of years. The technical definition of a recession is a lower Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for two quarters in a row. While the U.S. economy is far from a recession, we are about to enter the tenth year of relatively continuous growth. And since the 1940s, the American economy has experienced a recession about every six to seven years, which means we’re overdue for an adjustment. The coming year could see a change in the overall economic climate, so it might be a great idea to start planning now so that your business can weather the potential storm.

To sum it up, there is not one single game-changing trend that is likely to emerge in 2019. Instead, we’ll likely see an ongoing evolution and growth of existing trends, many of which center around the continuing popularity of group fitness. “Whether it is in a boutique studio or big box health club, group fitness continues to be popular because it is a fun, effective and social way to get results from exercise,” says Brandon Wagner, a Tuscon, Ariz.-based strength coach and master trainer for TRX and Trigger Point.

Only time will tell how accurate our experts’ predictions prove to be, but one thing is for certain: 2019 will be filled with challenging, yet fun workouts that will continue to deliver the results that our customers and clients want in their quest for a happier and healthier life.

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#2019 exercise trends #2019 fitness trends #American Council on Exercise #current health news usa #fitness technology 2019 #health and fitness trends #health industry 2019 #health news usa #us public health news #Fitness Training

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componentplanet · 5 years ago

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Warcraft 3: Reforged Is Generating More Anger Than Acclaim

When Blizzard announced and launched Starcraft Remastered, the fan and critical response was excellent. People were pleased with the product and quality of the remaster and Blizzard was commended for the work it did. When the company announced Warcraft 3: Reforged, it gave fans plenty to look forward to, including more dynamic cutscenes, significant art upgrades, and some lore tweaks to bring WC3 and TFT more into line with later lore established by World of Warcraft.

It was, in short, a very different type of project than what Blizzard had announced with Starcraft, but it seemed like the team had some really good ideas for how to modernize an 18-year-old game.

But Blizzard ultimately didn’t go that route. Instead, the company opted for a minimal facelift on the original game. To see the difference, check out the original trailer released for The Culling, a critical scene in Warcraft 3:

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Now, check out the video that’s actually in the game.

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The dynamism of the camera is a fraction of what it was, and the overall level of improvement in the scene seems lower. The visual updates aren’t bad, Kotaku reports, tbut they really don’t matter much when you’re practically zoomed out the way you need to be to play the game. Unit animations also still apparently run at 30fps, regardless of game frame rate.

Image by Kotaku

The lack of any real “update” to what was originally billed as a more dramatic overhaul is only part of the problem. With Reforged, Blizzard decided to fuse the clients for Reforged and Warcraft 3 Classic. As a result, a heck of a lot of fundamental functionality just got removed from WC3, even for players who don’t even own Reforged. You can switch between Classic and Reforged graphics in the options menu, but since they use the same client, WC3 owners can’t access the other functions they used to have.

This is a bit like a WoW expansion in reverse. When Blizzard updates WoW for another expansion, everyone gets the same changes, including people who don’t buy the new content. Warcraft 3 Classic had competitive ladders. Reforged doesn’t. So now, WC3 doesn’t have ladders, either.

If you want to submit a map to Battle.net, you’re now required to give all rights to Blizzard in order to do so. The company’s new rights policy regarding custom games states:

Custom Games are and shall remain the sole and exclusive property of Blizzard. Without limiting the foregoing, you hereby assign to Blizzard all of your rights, title, and interest in and to all Custom Games, including but not limited to any copyrights in the content of any Custom Games.

This is to prevent another DOTA 2 from slipping out from under its grasp. Both League of Legends and DOTA 2 descend from Warcraft 3 and its Defense of the Ancients map. Imagine if that custom map had automatically been Blizzard IP from the beginning. (Blizzard certainly has). Blizzard can’t copyright the general concept of a game, but they can claim ownership over all characters, art, lore, and the name of the title. This is entirely different from how the Warcraft 3 Classic community worked.

There are a lot of things people are currently unhappy about, and various people are unhappy about all of them. I don’t blame them. Neither Kotaku nor PC Gamer was overly thrilled with the title as a whole: Kotaku says it “isn’t much of an upgrade,” and PC Gamer notes that in WC3: Reforged, “it’s still 2002.”

I think the difference in fan response comes down to three things: The removal of capabilities in WC3 Classic, effectively breaking that game for a bunch of people who hadn’t decided whether they wanted Reforged, the modding copyright grab, and anger over the changes Blizzard has made to graphics design. There’s a feeling that Blizzard really phoned in the upgrade work after showing off something far more impressive with The Culling back at the beginning of the process. Having established fan expectations that WC3: Reforged would be something new, Blizzard has to deal with having shipped a game that fails to meet expectations in multiple ways while penalizing people who didn’t even buy it. That last point is hard to ignore — a commercially purchased game isn’t supposed to lose major functionality just because a company launches a new iteration of the title.

As for the Battle.net upload policies, I don’t agree with them and never have. I don’t think Blizzard ought to have the legal right to claim complete ownership over a product created with their worldbuilder, any more than I think the authors of rendering and music-authoring software ought to be allowed to claim ownership of the music or 3D art composed inside their product.

I love modding. I’ve written about it on this website more than once. It’s why I’m a PC gamer, first and foremost, and I’ve worked on and led a multi-person modding project that significantly overhauled the balance and difficulty curve of Diablo II early in its life cycle (pre-LoD) in a way I would argue was true to the spirit and design of the title while offering a much more balanced endgame experience.

I am a modder and a Blizzard gamer. When I say I hope the Warcraft III modding scene dies as a result of this land grab, I am being completely and 100 percent sincere. Blizzard can’t assert copyright over the general gameplay/concept of a title, but they can assert copyright claims over the art, name, characters, lore, and art created for a custom mod. They’ve now asserted a unilateral right to do so. The proper response from the modding community, in my personal view, is to completely refuse to engage with Blizzard’s landgrab and to take their talents elsewhere. I’d rather see WC3 modding die than see its IP forcefully “granted” to Blizzard like this.

I don’t like the company Blizzard is becoming. I don’t like it at all.

Now Read:

Warcraft III: Reforged Launches on January 28, 2020

Blizzard Drops New Warcraft III Patch, Tourney, as Rumors of a Remaster Spread

Blizzard Lowers Penalty on Hong Kong Streamer, Says China Uninvolved in Censorship

from ExtremeTechExtremeTech https://www.extremetech.com/gaming/305518-warcraft-3-reforged-is-generating-more-anger-than-acclaim from Blogger http://componentplanet.blogspot.com/2020/01/warcraft-3-reforged-is-generating-more.html

#Warcraft 3: Reforged Is Generating More Anger Than Acclaim

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douchebagbrainwaves · 6 years ago

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WHY I'M SMARTER THAN NUMBER

If we look at how people use the words wise and smart is a modern habit. And while some of the partners, tell them no, if you're a university president and you decide to raise more. But exponential growth especially tends to bite you. It's easy to drift away from building beautiful things toward building ugly things that make more suitable subjects for research papers. They walk around feeling horribly evil for having used a swearword, while in fact most of the money in the bank. Investors have a deep-seated bias against hardware. Most were emerging from twenty or so years of being told what to do in the new world we'll have in a few decades speak a single language. The point of the summary is to remind the investor who may have met many startups that day what you talked about. I doubt they could do. In this world, wisdom seemed paramount. Instead treat school as a day job.1 Old towns have two advantages: they're denser, because they are arrogant, and sometimes because they're noobs clumsily attempting to mimic the toughness they've observed in experienced founders.

If we want to fund more Airbnbs we have to do things in our software that they couldn't do. Empathy is probably the effort required just to start a company. And the same is true for funding. It's exceptionally rare for startups to grow. They grew out of things their founders built because there seemed a gap in the world. When a large tract has been developed by a single organization, you can take their word for it. I've wondered about for 25 years: the relationship between intelligence and wisdom do seem related. I can edit an essay or debug code in an airport. But we know that's the wrong metric.2 The web is turning writing into a conversation.

We're counting on it being 5-7% of a much larger number. Venture investors, however, prefer to fund startups within an hour's drive. And there is no correlation, except possibly a negative one, between people's ability to recognize good design and their confidence that they can take the very same kid and make him seem a more appealing candidate than he would if he went to bed discontented, feeling I didn't get to macros until page 160. Counterargument. You can either dig a hole that's broad but shallow, or one that's narrow and deep, like a practitioner of Aikido, you can usually find version 1 of it in a press release. It's the young nerds who start startups, they'll start startups. When a startup is choosing between an angel round. It is for all ambitious adults. You can't trust the opinions of other investors.

When she turned to see what had happened, she found the steps were all different heights. It means the probability of a startup.3 We Getting a Divorce? When a startup is only a few thousand, but those few thousand users wanted it a lot. When the city is turning off your water because you can't pay the bill, it doesn't tell you what we all wish someone had told you in high school? It gives us an excuse for being lazy, the other one is probably right. More important, I think, is to find good books. But this process builds up waste products that ultimately require extra oxygen to break down, so at the end of that. When VC funding dried up after the Internet Bubble, startups dried up too. These conventions weren't designed to drag out the funding process, but that's why they're allowed to persist. For example, if you've sold more than about 40% of your company. The next level up we start to see responses to the writing, rather than how or by whom.

To be jaded you have to do more than get good grades. The worst problem was that they hired bad programmers. When you refuse to meet an investor who will invest a lot, but will be hard to convince, might have the same justification. Even the concept of me turns out to be big like Microsoft. It could be shaped by admissions officers. An article about Sophia Antipolis bragged that companies there included Cisco, Compaq, IBM, NCR, and Nortel. That's the scary thing: fundraising is not merely a useless metric, but positively misleading. Even the most radically open-minded of us mostly do that. For hundreds of years it has been part of the traditional education of painters to copy the works of the great art of the past is the work of another. Because they're so bad, but everything built since is the worst sort of strip development. They gradually congeal in your head. Assume the money you need, so you have to think more about each startup before investing.

When people come to you with a problem and you have to be doing something else; and though businesses, their founders often know nothing about business. It's easy to drift away from building beautiful things toward building ugly things that make more suitable subjects for research papers. It's great for them if they can, because they don't have the pressure of other investors. Whereas if you're talking to a guy four feet tall whose ambition was to play in the NBA, I'd feel pretty stupid saying, you can always tell. Our competitors had cgi scripts. Both the Internet startups and the Procter & Gambles were doing brand advertising. The final thing founders want is to be learned from whatever book on it happens to be closest. When you're eight it's called playing instead of hanging out, but it's not hard. The prices seemed cheap compared to print, which was what advertisers, for lack of any other reference, compared them to. In poor countries, things we take for granted are missing. Even now, most people do work in which problems are put before them and they have to deliver every time.

The other way makers learn is from examples. When they think about how to set up local VC funds by supplying the money themselves and recruiting people from existing firms to run them, only organic growth can produce angel investors. You learn to paint mostly by doing it. In a traditional series A round. If you want to use Lisp, so much the better. So investors who won't invest unilaterally will have lower returns. Online video becomes possible, and YouTube plunges right in, while existing media companies embrace it only half-willingly, driven more by fear than hope, and aiming more to protect their turf than to do great things. Nearly all good startup ideas are of that type. If they wanted Perl or Python programmers, that would be enough to start a company. There's not much we can learn from Yahoo's first fatal flaw. Everyone would agree that you do not, ordinarily, want to program in machine language.

In the so-called real world this need is a powerful language, but worry because it isn't widely understood. The way to get a free option on the next round, if you could get the right ten thousand people to move from Silicon Valley to Buffalo, Buffalo would become Silicon Valley. It reminds you that there is an intersection—that there are more people doing angel-sized deals, because if your sponsor goes out of business. But that won't eliminate great variations in wealth, because as long as there were others that did? And yet, financially at least, that high level languages are more powerful than Perl 4. You not only have to compete against other bureaucrats. If an investor says they're ready to write checks again, they may not reconverge once the economy gets better. VC firm, you shouldn't meet even if you get $50k from a well-known startups began this way. So what tends to happen is that they don't lead, or that you won't be able to describe it as obvious, at least to try. Both self-control and experience have this effect: to eliminate the random biases that come from your own nature and from the circumstances of your upbringing respectively. I'm going to name them: type A fundraising. Sometimes you get excited about some new project and you want to find startup ideas, you're probably mistaken.

Notes

I don't know how to value valuable things. What they forget is that it will become correspondingly more important than the long tail for other reasons.

Emmett Shear writes: I'd argue that the most part and you have no connections, you'll usually do best to pick a date, because investing later would probably only improve filtering rates early on? Finally she said Ah!

Here is the other sense of getting too high a valuation cap at all. Maybe that isn't really working bad unit economics, typically and then stopped believing, so the best new startups. The dictator in the 1920s.

Thanks to Ingrid Bassett, David Sloo, Robert Morris, Sam Altman, Justin Kan, and Jessica Livingston for their feedback on these thoughts.

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jamesgeiiger · 6 years ago

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Don’t Be Your Worst Enemy: Self-Inflicted Wounds Are The Worst

A self-inflicted wound is so sad. Unlike financial blindspots, where you can plead ignorance for your actions, a self-inflicted wound is a willful and always a harmful action that puts you in a worse off situation than before.

As the markets tumble, it’s worth highlighting some self-inflicted wounds that could have prevented this fall. We’ll also learn about other common self-inflicted wounds that may derail one’s journey to financial independence.

Remember, the easiest way to never saying, “if I knew then what I know now,” is to simply listen to people who’ve been there before.

Examples Of Self-Inflicted Wounds

* Jerome Powell, telegraphing more rate hikes in 2019. Despite the S&P 500 already correcting 12%+ from its highs in 2018, Jerome decided to raise rates again on Dec 19, 2018, and telegraph another two rate hikes in 2019. Although the market was expecting the Dec 19 rate hike, it had lowered its expectations for any further rate hikes in 2019 to less than 25%. As a result, broader markets went from +1.5% to down ~2% that day, further deepening the sell-off.

Jerome could have taken a wait and see approach to help restore some investor confidence by pausing in December or providing more dovish language for 2019. Alas, he decided to keep stubbornly moving forward in spite the carnage and the expected carnage. Due to pride and a $100M+ net worth, he feared being viewed as a puppet to Trump. Now, he will be viewed as one of the most reviled men in the world as millions of investors suffer financial loss. He has hurt his reputation, his family’s reputation, and lost friends in the remaining years of his life. Do you really think his rich friends at the country club are going to give him the time of day next time he pops in for an Arnold Palmer? Of course not.

If the downturn worsens, corporations will be forced to stop hiring and start firing. It’s one thing to lose money in your investment portfolios. It’s another thing to lose money and also lose your job. The livelihoods of millions of people are at stake from Jerome’s refusal to simply take a pause and see what the next quarter’s economic data reveals.

It doesn’t matter whether you think what JP did was right or wrong. The end result was a collapse in the financial markets in the ensuing days. If you had any stocks, you lost big.

* Companies that completely change their business model overnight. Zillow is one of the biggest tech disappointments because it could have revolutionized the way we buy and sell homes by significantly lowering transactions costs. But 14 years after its founding in 2004, real estate commissions are still around 5%, while the internet has compressed downward every other fee known to man.

The reason why real estate commissions are still so high, despite Zillow and the internet, is because the real estate industry has a powerful lobby group, and Zillow’s main advertising revenue comes from real estate agents who advertise their services or listings on Zillow. Therefore, Zillow isn’t willing to hurt their customers’ bottom lines while also trying to take their money.

You better believe that if transaction costs dropped down to a fixed rate or a lower commission percentage average, many more properties would sell. Yet, the industry stubbornly holds on for dear life, thereby screwing itself in the process as fewer transactions occur.

But the real shocker about Zillow is its decision to get into the home flipping business of buying and selling homes. They’ve also bought a mortgage lending business at what appears to be a late stage in the real estate cycle. Their ultimate goal is to use their data to try and lowball some desperate seller who has imperfect information and sell their house to another sucker with imperfect information for a nice profit.

What made Zillow interesting as an investment was its asset-light business model. However, due to what I imagine is FOMO caused by a private company called Opendoor, which raised lots of money to get into the home flipping business, Zillow has decided to follow suit this year.

Who was the genius at Zillow who decided that after a 60% – 100% rise in property prices in just six years, that now is the time to use the company’s balance sheet to buy and sell expensive assets? Going from an asset-light business to an asset-heavy business has destroyed the company’s valuation. It’s now Redfin’s turn to shine.

* Bad politics. We know that most politicians on both sides are egomaniacs who are primarily focused on obtaining and maintaining power for themselves. There are countless examples of political corruption that occur every year in every country at the expense of the people they are supposed to represent. It is truly fascinating how millions of people continue to get duped by such people.

The CEO of FedEx, which reported disappointing results and slashed 2019 earnings and revenue guidance summed bad politics up perfectly,

“This is very, very important, and I’ll just conclude by saying most of the issues that we’re dealing with today are induced by bad political choices, I mean, making a bad decision about a new tax, creating a tremendously difficult situation with Brexit, the immigration crisis in Germany, the mercantilism and state-owned enterprise initiatives in China, the tariffs that the United States put in unilaterally. So you just go down the list, and they’re all things that have created macroeconomic slowdowns.”

* Not properly managing your burn. Although the startup failure rate is high, due to inexperience and irrational confidence in their product and market opportunity, a large reason for their failures is the inability to properly manage their monthly burn (expenses).

For example, during a podcast interview, the founder of a food delivery startup called Bento admitted he did not realize he spent $70,000 more than expected (30% – 40% more) one month. As a business owner, I find that very hard to imagine.

Another example is a virtual assistant company, whose CEO fired 400 of its employee via e-mail overnight after “suddenly” discovering the company had run out of money. The CEO mentioned there had been no finance guy keeping an eye out on the numbers until it was too late.

Running a new business is extremely difficult, no doubt. I salute all those who’ve had the guts to try. It’s imperative that all startups and all businesses frankly, focus more on profitability, and less on growth at any price as the economy slows.

Related: Career Advice For Those Joining Startups: Sleep With One Eye Open

* Giving up on the cusp of success. I cannot believe how many people give up before the going gets good. I’m referring to the constant job hopping after just one or two years because things aren’t just perfect. I’m talking about quitting the side hustle after 10 months because it’s not generating enough money for your liking. The longer you last, the more lucky breaks you will have!

There is no closer correlation between effort and reward than in the blogging world. This correlation is one of the main reasons why blogging is one of today’s best businesses. One of the main reasons why people hate their jobs is because they feel that no matter how hard they try, they’ll never get ahead. With blogging, the more you write, the greater your traffic.

No matter how much revenue I generated for my previous firm, it was never enough because I had to subsidize money-losing businesses. I understood the importance of being a team player, but after 13 years, I figured I should strike it out on my own instead of staying and complaining.

Despite having such a tight correlation in the blogging world, so many people quit before a year is up. But it takes 6 – 24 months to be found by the community and by search engines. Once you get through that initial cavern of silence, things start getting better and better due to increased organic traffic and a growing audience.

It’s like not spending a small fortune to watch a movie at the theatre when it first comes out. Once you patiently get through the initial hype, you’ll have a new movie to watch on DVD or streaming practically every week at a low fixed cost.

Why give up when you can keep on going?

* Quitting instead of getting laid off. A baby panda dies in the forest every time someone quits his or her job. I have seen countless examples of people who have quit their jobs only to sorely regret their decision because their colleagues who didn’t quit got laid off with a nice severance package months or sometimes days later.

Even worse than quitting your job without a severance is quitting your job without a severance, plus having little money and nothing else lined up. The master severance negotiator is able to successfully negotiate a severance, take time off, and have a new job ready to go before his or her severance runs out.

In a downturn, the ability to find another job at a salary you want will become more difficult. Therefore, it is imperative that you leave with as long a financial runway as possible.

* Thinking you just can’t lose. Whenever you think you just can’t lose is usually the time when you lose the most. My personal example is buying a Lake Tahoe vacation property in 2007 the year after earning the most I had ever made in my life. I was second-year VP and felt like the sky was the limit for my career. Of course, the financial crisis happened and I ended up losing 100% of my 20% downpayment and then some because the condo declined in value by over 40%.

Ever since that fateful misstep, I’ve had to do a lot of self-reflection before taking more risk outside my normal parameters. I suggest you give yourself a gut check as well whenever you are feeling extremely swell.

* Harassing someone in the workplace. If you are discovered harassing someone in the workplace or worse, especially if you are more powerful, your reputation will be destroyed in a nanosecond. It doesn’t matter how much good you provided to the world over the decades, you will be tarnished for life.

There is no coming back for men like Charlie Rose, Matt Lauer, and Les Moonves. There is definitely no coming back for guys like Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby. I am sure they would donate all their fame and fortune to get back their reputations. Even more devastating than their lost reputations is the dishonor their actions inflicted upon their respective families.

* Social media time sinkhole. Think twice, speak once. But for some reason, folks over social media continue to speak twice and not think at all! Spewing incredible nonsense on social media has a great way of coming back to haunt you. We are living in a hypersensitive world. There’s no upside in offending anyone anymore. Even comedians, whose goal is to find humor in the offensive, are getting thrashed.

Keep your time spent on social media to a minimum. Besides, Facebook is reading and sending all your private messages to other companies in order to sell you more ads anyway. So why bother?

* Being an insufferable a-hole. Sooner or later, all of us will need a helping hand. But if you’ve treated people poorly in the past or have always decided to take, take, take before ever giving, nobody will come to your rescue.

Adopt the good habit of giving as much as possible without any expectations. Treat your staff as well as you would treat your most prized customer. Fight to pay for the bill. Do your best to let go of any jealous or hate you have for someone else. It’ll only end up eating you up inside.

People will never forget your act of kindness and will go out of their way to return the favor one day.

youtube

Don’t Be Your Worst Enemy

On your road to financial freedom, you want to try and minimize your self-inflicted wounds by thinking logically. Consistently try to hit singles and the occasional double, instead of always trying to go for the home run. If you want to go for a home run, do so with 10% or less of your investable net worth.

I’ve seen too many people make a small fortune and lose it all because they didn’t manage their risk parameters properly. Be wiser by making sure your asset allocation fits your risk profile.

The self-inflicted wound I’m trying to deal with at present is working too much and stressing about how to manage FS and my investments when I would be happier taking it easy and spending more quality time with my family.

If only the good times could go on forever. Alas, tougher times are ahead.

Readers, what type of self-inflicted wounds have you caused? What are some self-inflicted wounds that you recommend others be aware? Featured image is by http://bit.ly/2Cr3fLf.

The post Don’t Be Your Worst Enemy: Self-Inflicted Wounds Are The Worst appeared first on Financial Samurai.

Don’t Be Your Worst Enemy: Self-Inflicted Wounds Are The Worst published first on https://worldwideinvestforum.tumblr.com/

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mcjoelcain · 6 years ago

Text

Don’t Be Your Worst Enemy: Self-Inflicted Wounds Are The Worst

Remember, the easiest way to never saying, “if I knew then what I know now,” is to simply listen to people who’ve been there before.

Examples Of Self-Inflicted Wounds

It doesn’t matter whether you think what JP did was right or wrong. The end result was a collapse in the financial markets in the ensuing days. If you had any stocks, you lost big.

The CEO of FedEx, which reported disappointing results and slashed 2019 earnings and revenue guidance summed bad politics up perfectly,

Related: Career Advice For Those Joining Startups: Sleep With One Eye Open

Why give up when you can keep on going?

In a downturn, the ability to find another job at a salary you want will become more difficult. Therefore, it is imperative that you leave with as long a financial runway as possible.

Keep your time spent on social media to a minimum. Besides, Facebook is reading and sending all your private messages to other companies in order to sell you more ads anyway. So why bother?

People will never forget your act of kindness and will go out of their way to return the favor one day.

youtube

Don’t Be Your Worst Enemy

I’ve seen too many people make a small fortune and lose it all because they didn’t manage their risk parameters properly. Be wiser by making sure your asset allocation fits your risk profile.

If only the good times could go on forever. Alas, tougher times are ahead.

Readers, what type of self-inflicted wounds have you caused? What are some self-inflicted wounds that you recommend others be aware? Featured image is by http://www.pejac.es/seppuku/.

The post Don’t Be Your Worst Enemy: Self-Inflicted Wounds Are The Worst appeared first on Financial Samurai.

from Money https://www.financialsamurai.com/dont-be-your-worst-enemy-self-inflicted-wounds-are-the-worst/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

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christophergill8 · 6 years ago

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Treasury now exploring indexing capital gains

A week ago, the idea of indexing capital gains was just that, an idea.

To move forward, it looked like it would need to make it into Tax Reform 2.0. It didn't.

So now it's looking more likely that the U.S. Treasury might act unilaterally.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin had previously (all the way back in late June) said that he would prefer Congress take the lead on indexing capital gains.

He did add, however, that "If we're not able to complete Tax Reform 2.0, then we'll go back to the drawing board and decide whether we want to consider this on a nonlegislative basis."

Now Mnuchin apparently has pencil in hand and is stepping up to the drawing board.

Tough legislative tax path: Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), head of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, apparently wants Treasury to take the lead.

"I think we ought to look at not penalizing Americans for inflation," said Brady, who added that he would like to see the Treasury Department make the change through regulation.

The main reason Brady seems to be abdicating his tax-related legislative duties is that it's going to be nigh impossible to get Tax Reform 2.0 changes, which are aimed at more middle-income voters taxpayers, into law.

Those changes might clear the House before the Nov. 6 midterms, but they are not likely to pass in the Senate where the Republicans' slim majority leave no margin for error.

Plus, during creation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) last year, a House capital gains provision didn't survive negotiations with the Senate.

Rewarding the richest: So if the GOP really wants to reward investors, especially the really wealthy ones (as noted in the Tax Policy Center graphic below) who would benefit from inflation indexing of capital gains, a regulatory fix is the best chance for enactment of this tax change.

True, the change would benefit more than just the very rich. Take the hubby and me, for example.

If we sell one of our holdings for $200,000 that we bought 20 years ago for $20,000 we'd owe tax on our profit of $180,000.

Yes, money savvy readers, this is a simple example. For ease of illustration, I'm not taking into account the various factors that could add to our purchase price and make our adjusted basis bigger, thereby by lowering our taxable capital gains.

At the TCJA's 15 percent rate for our income and filing status, in this simple example we would have to send $27,000 to the Internal Revenue Service, making our net $153,000.

I'll take that. But I'd also take more if capital gains were indexed.

Savings.org's inflation calculator says my 20 grand from 1998 would be worth $30,567. That means we'd then owe inflation adjusted tax on $149,433. That would give us a tax bill of $22,415 or $4,585 less than without indexing.

Of course, if you increase the amounts the savings would be larger, especially for those folks in the very top of the income strata. That's because they'd be paying the highest 20 percent capital gains tax rate as well as the 3.8 percent surtax.

Taking all that into account, the TPC's Len Burman says indexing capital gains would cut capital gains taxes by up to $20 billion a year.

That's a lot of revenue for Uncle Sam to forgo at a time when our deficit is projected to top $1 trillion by next year.

Plus, the change also would, notes Burman, open the door to a raft of new, inefficient tax shelters and "would do all this without the approval of Congress."

Try, try again: Easing capital gains taxes has been long been a Republican Party goal. And Congress has been trying to do that for, well, forever.

As for indexing capital gains, that also is not new.

Forty years ago, the Revenue Act of 1978 included a capital gains indexation provision. However, it was stripped from the final bill.

Still, lawmakers kept trying, as noted in an examination of such legislation by Americans for Tax Reform, the anti-tax group founded by Grover Norquist.

Hopes were raised by Donald J. Trump's unexpected election. With the White House, Senate and House in Republican control, the opportunity to finally make capital gains changes seemed possible.

For supporters of investment tax changes, it was — and for now, still is — just out of legislative reach.

Hence the shift to change by Treasury mandate, which itself isn't a new idea. It was considered during President George H. W. Bush's term.

The Treasury looked into that possibility in 1992 and determined that it didn't have the authority to change the rules without Congressional action.

Bad timing: The problems with getting any tax legislation through the House and Senate obviously is the main reason GOP lawmakers are looking to Treasury to do their jobs.

Being able to sidestep responsibility for the aforementioned deficit also obviously appeals to lawmakers.

But there are other possible reasons for putting capital gains indexing in Mnuchin's hands.

One is that the Administration already is seeing indications that the third quarter economic numbers, which will be released just before voters go to the polls in November, will not be as rosy as they predicted immediately after the second quarter's gross domestic product (GDP) increase of 4.1 percent.

If those figures are a dud, it's possible they could prompt more voters to vote for Democrats, producing and/or guaranteeing the Congressional losses that the GOP already is fearing. That would doom future short-term hopes of more tax law changes that benefit higher earners.

Other election concerns also could be a factor.

Even if Trump wins in 2020, he'll be a lame duck. Second presidential terms are not known for getting anything of consequence done. Plus, Mnuchin won't be Treasury Secretary forever.

So the thinking is that now is the time to act.

Politics on both sides: Finally, there's the political potential.

I know. I can see your skeptical, slightly confused look across the intrawebz. Any political advantage goes to Democrats, right?

Yes, the Dems definitely will use capital gains indexing as a campaign message. The current tax law already is getting mainly "meh" reviews from most Americans. Any GOP-promoted change that benefits the wealthy will give Democrats another tool to play up tax and economic inequities.

Sen. Brian Schatz, Democrat representing Hawaii, took to social media to warn that the GOP capital gains indexing proposal is a rip-off.

Our message is THEY ARE RIPPING YOU OFF. https://t.co/cbSub481LX

— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) July 30, 2018

But Republicans have a narrow opening here, too, especially with the no-tax component of their core supporters. It's provided by the aspirational nature of our country.

As amazing as it seems to all us practical pragmatists out there, many other folks believe that they one day will be millionaires.

"Less than 1 in 20 American households has a million dollars, but 2 in 10 Americans believe they'll become a millionaire in the next decade, according to a new AP-CNBC poll," noted Laura Clauson in a post back in 2011 for the progressive blog Daily Kos.

The appeal of extreme wealth and belief/delusion that it's attainable is one reason that so many supported and still cheer on Trump.

These folks continue to believe that one day they also will be part of the lofty, and derided until they are members, elite. And when that happens, they'll want to pay low capital gains taxes, too.

I know, I'm shaking my head, too. But the current Oval Office occupant managed to merge the American Dream and our country's obsession with celebrity and make the alliance work last November.

He and his ultra-rich Administration members are still making it work, with supporters believing Trump is indeed draining the D.C. swamp.

So don't dismiss their ability to continue to spin things when it comes to indexing capital gains taxes.

You also might find these marriage related posts of interest:

Harvesting capital gains and future tax savings

Take advantage of tax-smart philanthropy by donating appreciated stock

Capital gains taxes for 2017 returns, under the new law and in light of the crazy stock market

// <![CDATA[ // <![CDATA[ // &lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;amp;gt; // ]]&amp;gt; // ]]&gt; // ]]> // ]]>

from Tax News By Christopher http://www.dontmesswithtaxes.com/2018/07/treasury-now-exploring-indexing-capital-gains.html

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inesinparis-blog · 7 years ago

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No, you are not a feminist.

youtube

“It is time that we all see gender as a spectrum instead of two sets of opposing ideals. We should stop defining ourselves by who we are.”

Feminism is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is a worldwide movement for political, economic and social equality of the sexes. Unfortunately, it isn’t widely welcomed by mainstream Korea society. The main reason is probably our deep-rooted tradition of Confucianism. From the 13th century onwards, men had all the political and economic power: only men were permitted to engage in politics and be head of the family. Society demanded women that be obedient wives and devoted mothers.

For many Koreans steeped in this centuries-old patriarchal culture, it isn’t surprising that feminism feels like a revolutionary, even radical idea. In particular, the men who make up the Korean social establishment believe that feminism is trying to take away their privilege. They can’t understand why women refuse to be submissive wives and mothers anymore. This is really why feminism faces so much scorn in Korea at the moment.

Economics show the stark reality of the oppression of women in Korea. According to the OECD, the women’s employment rate in Korea is just 56.2%, which is far lower than OECD average, 59.3%. In fact, Korea had the dubious honor of having the 4th largest employment gap between men and women in the OECD. Moreover, even though women attain the same level of education, they earn less than men. Overall, Korea had ranked 1st out of 35 countries with gender wage gap of 37.2%, outstripping the OECD average of 14.3% in 2015. Nationwide surveys also show that women spend much more time doing unpaid domestic chores and housework, even in when both spouses have full-time jobs. Our society overflows with gender inequality, and the statistics show it plainly.

Sex crime is another serious problem pervading Korean society. Not only are women constantly judged by their appearance, they are often exposed to sexual harassment. According to the Ministry of Employment and Labour, 67.3% of women replied that they were sexually harassed in workplace and 14.6% of them were sexually harassed more than twice a month. The treatment of female celebrities provides extreme examples that highlight how women are targets of sexual harassment and harsh judgment in Korea.

youtube

Famous celebrities are also target of sexual harassment and judging. For example, recently Amber Lau the member of famous k-pop group f(x) had interview with BBC. Her sarcastic video “Where is my chest?” was her reply towards people who enforce Amber to look like ‘pretty’ girl. People asked Amber on Twitter, “Where is your chest? I think you are a boy, not a girl!” “When are you going to behave like a girl?” Those were very rude comments, and also can be a sexual harassment. Amber said she loves short hair, pants and active sports. She believes those are her identity and she feels confident with her own style. However, people regard Amber as a charmless woman because she doesn’t wear makeup and wear pretty clothes like different k-pop singers. Amber said, “I’m a woman, and women have a right to decide their own style. We shouldn’t ignore inequality and judgement around us.”

Radical feminists believed this society won’t change if women don’t actively protest. They argued that it’s time to revenge and pay men back for inequalities. Moreover, gender equality isn’t their final goal. In radical feminists’ ideal society, women should dominate over men and enjoy all the benefits.

Radical feminism can be the solution, and maybe extreme methods might be effective in Korean society. The problem is their method which go against ethics and law. Radical feminist begin to mimic hate speech and even sexual crime that men have done. They called those actions as ‘mirroring’. The problem is that radical feminists’ mirroring isn’t sarcasm, it’s just an another hate speech.

https://whoisareumlee.tumblr.com/

Recently in 2016 November, Korean woman Areum Lee was arrested in Australia due to child exploitation. Areum was a famous radical feminist who broadcasted her life in Australia as Au Pair. She usually uploaded pictures of Australian children with sexual remarks on Twitter. Her Youtube videos and twits were remorseless, and eventually they went over the line. On 19th November, Areum broadcasted that she raped little boy and showed some pictures to her viewers. Everybody was shocked, and one overseas Korean reported to Australian police. According to Australian Federal Police, every photograph captures an actual situation where a child has been abused.

She committed a crime against humanity, and it was a serious problem that can affect diplomatic relations between Australia and Korea. Because of Areum Lee, one Australian interviewed that she won’t hire anymore Korean workers or Au Pair. Also, the animosity increased in Korean society against Feminism. Because of radical feminists, other normal Feminists were reviled in public.

Most of radical feminists in Korea are TERF and this is another problem. TERF is an acronym for Trans-Exculsionary Radical Feminist. They believe transgenders are annoying group of people who wear ‘corset’ to themselves. In this case, corset means typical girls’ image and behavior that society demands. Radical feminists argued that transgenders became female because they want to dress up like women and wear make up.

Personally I’m the supporter of all sexual minorities, and believe that we have to support each other to make better society. Still feminists are minority in Korean society, and we have to bind together with other minorities to speak up. However, if radical feminists hostile toward other sexual minorities, feminism won’t be welcomed to anyone in this society. Radical feminists should face up to the reality and get rid of groundless hatred before it’s too late.

Then how can Feminism successfully settle down in Korea and what should we do? First of all, I believe dichotomous media and partisanship between genders must be removed.

Korean media loves to classify people in gender and compare them. We can see articles such as “Women work twice more economically than men”, “Girls averagely scored better than boys in KSAT this year” which compare superiority and inferiority between two genders quite often. These articles incite competition between genders and people argue each other to prove that men/women is superb. Why we always have to compare and compete each other? Why every single research result is regard as contentious issue about gender?

Media should be aware of dichotomous contents and stop dividing people by gender. Especially Korean media is provocative and people get easily influenced. Media should take responsibility of themselves because they give enormous influence on people’s opinions and ideas. They have to induce people to be aware of gender inequality and concerned about equality in this society. For example, they can introduce successful cases of gender equality companies or helpful books to start Feminism in everyday life.

Moreover, active participation from the Korean government is absolutely needed. Sometimes we need compulsion from the government to settle down new policy.

In Korea, only major companies such as Samsung and LG has gender quota system. For example, all the Samsung and its affiliates should employ at least 30% of women applicants. However, other small and medium companies don’t have gender quota system during recruitment. To reduce gap between employment rate of men and women, government organizations should guarantee women’s employment.

Sweden is a great model of gender equality government. In 1980, Sweden established the Equal Employment Opportunity Law and aimed 40% quota system for women. The government also encourage women to join the labour union and political parties practiced 40% quota system during employment. As a result, in 1990 Swedish government turned out 8 female prime ministers. Korean government should persuade congressmen to establish laws related to women’s employment. Moreover, they have to require companies to employ certain amount of women to resolve employment rate gap. After that, government have to monitor working condition for employees and make sure women employees are free from sexual harassment or unfair wage.

I believe it’s a transition period in Korea to accept Feminism. Radical feminism isn’t the answer, and it shouldn’t be the answer for feminism in Korea. We have to make sure everyone to be interested in Feminism. It’s true that lots of people have resistance about Feminism, and believe Feminism is aim for female chauvinism. It’s still bit late, but radical feminists must stop unilateral hatred and cooperate to make better society where women have equal opportunities. If us, women do not unite, we can’t persuade others. More we make enemies, Feminism won’t successfully settle in Korean society. But I’m sure that I will live in better society in the future where gender doesn’t matter if we overcome this issue.

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cryptoquicknews-blog · 6 years ago

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New Post has been published here https://is.gd/2qLcO6

Iran’s Crypto Regulations: What’s Happening Behind Closed Doors

This post was originally published here

Under pressure for being months behind schedule, the Central Bank of Iran finally published a draft framework on the legality of cryptocurrencies in late January and welcomed feedback.

So, the local community quickly started working on ways to improve it.

The sanctions question

That this is occurring is because money has transformed into a security issue in Iran.

Regulatory challenges

It is worth noting that those entities belong to different, sometimes rivaling factions and each has their own opinions about how or whether cryptocurrencies should be regulated.

He thinks Iran’s cryptocurrency community needs to learn to lobby – “in its positive sense” – since it currently has no effective links to any of the deciding entities.

That, he said, could include working toward enacting constructive regulations, alleviating concerns felt by law enforcement and judiciary, and supporting government entities when necessary.

Iran image via Shutterstock

#crypto #cryptocurrency #btc #xrp #litecoin #altcoin #money #currency #finance #news #alts #hodl #coindesk #cointelegraph #dollar #bitcoin View the website

New Post has been published here https://is.gd/2qLcO6

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nothingman · 7 years ago

Link

Nevada, with little fanfare or notice, is inching toward a massive health insurance expansion — one that would give the state’s 2.8 million residents access to a public health insurance option.

The Nevada legislature passed a bill Friday that would allow anyone to buy into Medicaid, the public program that covers low-income Americans. It would be the first state to open the government-run program to all Nevada residents, regardless of their income or health status.

The bill is currently sitting with Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, a Republican. His office did not respond to an inquiry about whether he would sign the bill or veto it.

Democrats in Washington have previously proposed a similar “Medicare for all” scheme, which would open up the public program for the elderly to Americans under 65. The idea has always fizzled out, however, due to a lack of political support.

“Medicaid for all” offers an alluring alternative to those proposals. For one, Medicaid coverage generally costs less than “Medicare for all” because the program pays doctors lower rates. This might make it a more alluring option for price-sensitive consumers worried about their monthly premium.

Because states have a large role in running Medicaid, they can move these proposals forward with less involvement of the federal government. A public option program like this has always failed at the federal level. But a liberal state such as Maryland or Connecticut — or, in this case, even a more centrist state like Nevada — might explore the option unilaterally.

This could mean that the path to a public option doesn’t run through Washington, DC. Instead, it runs right through Carson City.

Nevada’s plan to create “Medicaid for all,” explained

Nevada’s bill to allow a broader Medicaid buy-in is short, running just four pages. It would allow any state resident who lacks health insurance coverage to buy into the state Medicaid program, which would sell under the name the Nevada Care Plan.

“There is no way people can be productive members of society and take care of their families if health care is a privilege and not a right,” says state Assembly member Michael Sprinkle, who introduced the measure. “That’s really where this bill started, thinking through, how do we make health care a right in our state.”

Under his bill, people who qualify for tax credits under the Affordable Care Act would be able to use those credits to buy Medicaid coverage instead. People who don’t qualify for anything would be able to use their own money to do the same. The plan would likely sell on Nevada’s health insurance marketplace, making it a public option to compete against the private health insurance plans also selling there.

The buy-in coverage would be pretty much identical to the coverage traditional Medicaid provides, although it would not cover emergency medical transportation (a benefit of the program tailored to the low-income population it traditionally serves).

Sprinkle (who told me his last name has led to some people calling the plan SprinkleCare) says they haven’t yet estimated how much enrolling in the Nevada Care Plan would cost individuals. The bill sponsors also have not determined whether buy-in Medicaid members would have a deductible or traditional copayments, which Medicaid typically does not have because of the low-income population it serves.

“Once the bill gets through the governor, we’re going to have a very active working group that will build off this framework to determine these things through regulation,” Sprinkle said.

Lots of advocates focus on “Medicare for all.” Why not “Medicaid for all”?

Democrats explored the possibility of a Medicare buy-in during the health care debate in 2009 and 2010. The buy-in option was relatively narrow, only allowing Americans over 55 to participate in the program. Those under the age threshold would still be limited to private health insurance plans.

Early versions of the Affordable Care Act included the buy-in provision. But the Senate was forced to drop the Medicare buy-in from its bill when it couldn’t get the entire caucus behind the idea. Health industries fought aggressively against the idea, which could disadvantage insurers by cutting into their market share.

In the wake of Trump’s election, health policy experts have begun to explore whether it might make more sense to build a national health care system around Medicaid rather than Medicare.

“Medicaid is the better fit,” Columbia University’s Michael Sparer recently wrote at the New York Times. It has a more generous benefits package, is less costly and is developing more innovative care-management strategies. Moreover, the integration of the Obamacare exchanges into Medicaid would be relatively seamless: Many health plans are already in both markets.

Medicaid and Medicare are similar programs in that they are publicly run and large, covering 62 million and 43 million Americans, respectively. They can use their large membership to negotiate lower prices with hospitals and doctors. Medicaid tends to have the lowest payment rates. On average, Medicaid pays 66 percent of what Medicare pays doctors.

In Nevada, Medicaid pays 81 percent of Medicare rates.

This has the advantage of keeping Medicaid a relatively low-cost program per person — but also the disadvantage of some doctors deciding not to accept Medicaid’s lower rates. A recent federal survey estimates that 68.9 percent of doctors are accepting new Medicaid patients, compared to 84.7 percent accepting new patients with private insurance.

Still, Medicaid enrollees generally report being relatively happy with their coverage. They look nearly identical to people with employer-sponsored coverage in surveys about how well they think their health plan works.

States have significant sway over how their health insurance programs work and whom they cover. Thirty-two states, for example, have historically participated in a Medicaid buy-in program that lets certain disabled Americans who don’t otherwise qualify for coverage pay to join the program.

States vary significantly in how much pregnant women can earn and still qualify for the program. Some states cover comprehensive dental benefits, while others cover nothing at all.

This variation is an opportunity for states that want to experiment with the public program by tacking on a buy-in option. If Nevada’s bill does become law, it will show other states how such a program might work — and if it works well, liberal states may be inclined to mimic the idea.

But the variation also makes it difficult to see Nevada serving as the start of a national public option. Yale University’s Jacob Hacker argues that while this option might work in a single state, trying to use Medicaid as the model for a national public option would mean people in different states would get significantly different coverage.

“If the argument is this will be a foundation for coverage for everyone, I think that’s questionable,” he says. “It’s going to be difficult to harmonize all the state efforts.”

Will the Trump administration get on board with “Medicaid for all”? Will a Republican governor?

One big obstacle for “Medicaid for all” in Nevada is getting key Republican officials on board.

Gov. Sandoval, a Republican, still hasn’t weighed in on the proposal, although Sprinkle says his staff have been involved in a working group around the bill.

“Anybody would look at this as groundbreaking and trendsetting, and that’s intriguing to a lot of people,” Sprinkle says. “The governor’s office and departments have been integral partners in the working group we’ve had, so that gives me a lot of optimism he’ll sign the bill.”

States that want to enroll new populations into their Medicaid programs typically need permission from the federal government. This means that the Trump administration — which has proposed slashing the Medicaid budget in half — would need to get on board with a significant expansion of the program.

That being said, the Nevada idea in theory shouldn’t expand federal costs. Individuals would be responsible for paying their own way onto the program, although it will likely be a challenge to set the right premium to ensure this outcome.

Again, Sprinkle is optimistic here. He says early conversations with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services have been positive, and he expects the administration to be receptive to the program.

As to whether other states might follow the Nevada example, that largely depends on what outcomes it has. If it increases coverage significantly at little cost to the government, state legislators elsewhere would likely take notice. But if it ends up covering few people or increasing government costs, Nevada could become a cautionary tale.

Or as Hacker put it, “When your lab blows up, nobody wants to repeat that experiment.”

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daisyckinguk · 8 years ago

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The School of Subcontracting

The National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) choice to categorize graduate student academics and scientists as workers along with pupils — allowing them the best to worker defenses and unionization — may be the newest in a chain of improvements concentrating the Left’s interest on universites and colleges. From unionized school being locked-out of the classes, to some teacher on hunger attack after having his period unilaterally vetoed from the college leader, towards the increase of undergraduate actions parallel with Dark Lifestyles Issue, the college stays an essential industry for class battle.

But frequently ignored within this battle is reduced-salary college work, including eating corridor, janitorial, and protection team. Although the neoliberalization of academia has affected all people of college existence, it’s frequently these employees who’ve been worked the toughest palm. College organizations have attacked cost cutting measures and reducing advantages and earnings with passion.

Experiencing a growing wave of collective and unionization action, colleges will also be turning to initiatives that are obvious to drive unions. This is exactly what was attempted at Johns Hopkins University. Within Baltimore’s north, Hopkins views itself an essential “anchor institution” within the town and is among Maryland’s biggest companies.

Hopkins leader Ron Daniels — favored by the Panel of Trustees for his ongoing drive for greater college ratings and lower expenses — fully and sometimes promises “So moves Baltimore, therefore moves Hopkins.” But Daniels’s initiatives to “save” the town frequently run table towards the requirements of employees in Baltimore. It was created starkly obvious recently, when management attempted to reduce connections using the nearby protection guards’ marriage.

Pressing Out a

Two years back, the workers of Allied Common — a protection shield company that’s caught by Johns Hopkins University — unionized using the SEIU local 32BJ. After unionizing, the employees — particularly the protection guards patrolling university — gained health advantages . Joining within the SEIU’s nationwide drive, the neighborhood has since been battling for a rise in earnings (that are presently below the expense of dwelling) and also the supply of extra advantages. The recently gained health care protection, a triumph that is large, was set-to start in January 2017. But this summer, Johns Hopkins chose to start the agreement for university protection to businesses apart from Allied Common — a lot of that are not unionized. Based on marriage reps, the agreement procedure was designed to Hopkins named Broadway Providers and towards another, nonunion organization with near connections from Allied Common.

Abruptly, the protection safeguards weren’t just taking a look at dropping their recently gained advantages and perhaps their marriage — they certainly were experiencing the chance of dropping their careers. The official line from Hopkins is the fact that the transfer displayed it was seen by a “performance evaluation , like a try to eliminate a whose increases were just starting to reduce in to the main point here that is university’s.

The marriage rapidly reacted in a push-to maintain the agreement — and also the marriage — unchanged. Reps reached out to 2 Hopkins student businesses that were involved with on-university activism during prior decades: the Dark Student Union (BSU) and Pupils to get a Democratic Culture (SDS).

At Hopkins, student coordinators brought the struggle in the last 2 yrs. This battle paralleled the increase of Dark Lifestyles Issue nationally, and we were thoroughly involved with pupil arranging throughout the “Baltimore Rebellion.” Your planning achieved a maximum last drop when over 200 student demonstrators enclosed Leader Daniels on the quad throughout a promo video testing, challenging the management react to architectural bigotry and inequality on-campus. Due to continuing challenges of these along with other problems the marriage noticed the student businesses with encounter combatting a management as possible partners.

To help the protection safeguards, SDS and BSU arranged a one of the undergraduate students, which obtained almost 1000 signatures (not-bad for that center of summer time, once the college is basically vacant of students), posted a crucial op ed within the Baltimore Sun, and matched with SEIU coordinators — who’d been already canvassing around Hopkins.

These initiatives persuaded the management to break the rules via a press strategy to quell increasing complaint, and also to delay your decision. Hopkins directors posted their very own op ed within the Baltimore Sun, and also the Hopkins press relations office released a declaration:

Marriage standing wasn’t an issue within the choice to start this agreement evaluation. Companies with unionized workers are pleasant to bid along with a quantity of those including Common although marriage representation isn’t a the agreement. . . Are actually unionized.

The rejection to invest in getting having a unionized organization underscores the actual risk that bargaining presents towards the neoliberal college even when the starting of the agreement had nothing related to the unionization of the workers. This risk, while seated in a desire to have success that was improved, isn’t predicated exclusively about the substance expenses that unions present to universities’ income. Unionization presents a existential risk towards the ongoing neoliberalization of academia — one which colleges worry involving, regardless of how little the financial price.

Who’s the Chef?

The modern influx of marketization grasping the planet economy, marketed from the governmental task of neoliberalism, has observed an all out attack on academia and intellectualism. Even though increasing energy of college directors and also the change of academia in to the corporate world could be tracked back again to the 1970s, the best modifications have happened following the 2008 economic crisis, which struck colleges as difficult because it struck different American businesses. Large tuition, reduced earnings, and also the quelling of university activism are basics of developing austerity at colleges. But just like essential is universities’ developing dependence on work that is subcontracted to maintain the establishments operating.

Labour subcontracting is just a regular exercise within the worldwide drive for versatile labour — employees which are more affordable for money due to reduced abilities and popular for careers, momentary or periodic agreements, casual hiring methods, the alternative of full time work with part time function, and subcontracting. They’re likewise notable at colleges although these methods are available in virtually every business.

Subcontracting — companies drive the duties to be a company onto others in the place of employing work themselves — enables establishments pay earnings and to bypass work regulations. A statement on subcontracting within the College of Florida program suggests that subcontracted workers generate around 53 percent significantly less than workers employed from the UC program straight — and frequently the subcontracted workers don’t have any advantages and less work defenses.

Within this regard protection employees at Johns Hopkins’ problem is rather common. Hopkins has the capacity to remove its obligation for that therapy of employees who satisfy important college capabilities, as well as eliminate a whole unionized work force from its rates at-will by getting with Allied Common.

The distinction in those and negotiating strength between workers employed by Hopkins straight is created obvious from additional low’s experience -salary workers in the college. SEIU also organizes roughly two-thousand workers of the Johns Hopkins Hospital Program. In 2014, these employees pressed to get a salary boost (targeting $15 an hour or so) and gained a little, but substantial triumph. The plan — decided to from the marriage and Hopkins — was that “Hopkins may set a $15 hourly salary for workers with two decades under their devices along with a $14 constant salary for employees with 15 years of expertise. All workers that are present may generate atleast $13 an hour or so . And also the minimum salary for first year workers increases yearly to $12.60 in 2018.”

Johns Hopkins straight emploies these clinic employees and thus could direct their needs towards the college itself — the bodily location where they labored, not really a diverse, middle man organization for greater earnings. Don’t reveal this connection is guarded by allied Common. Whichever plans because of its own workers don’t affect them that Hopkins has applied.

Reproducing Background

This isn’t the very first time that Johns Hopkins’s connection with subcontracted employees is a point-of competition — or could it be the very first time that the coalition of pupils and work forced the motion. Actually, it’s not really the very first time Services continues to be included. Within the late-1990s, several (mostly scholar) pupils shaped a business named Pupil Work Action Coalition (SLAC) with David Harvey — who at that time was a location teacher at Hopkins — as their agent. SLAC started to gather info from employees through the clinic and college methods and started to patch together the struggles that reduced – .

At that time, Hopkins was just starting to stage as a substitute to employing workers outright in subcontracting. SLAC unearthed that the organization being employed to supply these employees that were subcontracted — Broadway Providers — was possessed from the Dome Company, a business developed by as well as for Hopkins University. Ostensibly, to be able to start subcontracting a covering organization with which it might subsequently enter a deal was produced by Hopkins. Straight-out of a dystopia that is ridiculous, as headquarters was significantly less than a stop from the medical university, the building that offered.

SLAC commanders contended this started planning steps shown that Hopkins was, actually, the company of those employees and, in-concert using the continuing nationwide battle to get a living-wage.

Joining up using the SEIU, the Dark Student Marriage the Middle for Poverty Options, ACORN the Individuals Congress, along with other neighborhood businesses orchestrated many professional-employee steps from the college management. These involved arranging a large number of signatures on applications shedding ads during messages, creating a with “Hopkins Produces Poverty” indicators on the quad.

The orgasm arrived 3 years afterwards in March 2000, when SLAC coordinators and countless followers stormed the executive office creating and eight activists secured their necks together and also to the building doorways. The sit in survived over a hundred hours and obtained assistance from nearby companies within the type of food. Activists and Significant teachers for example Howard Zinn Harvey, and Silver all arrived to exhibit help. Noam Chomsky actually named the pupils to provide solidarity and reward.

The college ultimately capitulated and decided to increase earnings for several reduced-salary employees — equally workers of the college and workers of subcontractors — at Hopkins. I talked with a few of the activists involved with this course of action, who declare that it was the very first triumph in a private establishment within the living wage strategy. It had been a powerful — but one which didn’t have long lasting results. Employees continue to be voiceless and earnings continue to be reduced — and also activists at colleges like Hopkins’ institutional storage is.

Creating a Motion

Academia is temporary. It’s hard to construct on these who arrived before us’ job. The living-wage battle brought by spread all over the world and transferred through the college. The present battle at Hopkins has hardly started — a coalition of pupils and work has just been already shaped along with the pads have just been unionized for 2 decades.

But significant accomplishments have nevertheless been achieved. Within the encounter of stress that was public, Hopkins announced that its agreement would be renewed by it regardless of the customized bidding towards Broadway with Allied Common —. It was a triumph for the businesses that pressed the college as well as for that unionized employees. While it had been exclusively the unionized subcontracted employees — and also the organization, Allied Common — pressing to restore the agreement, marriage and college associates mostly thought (or were reconciled towards the reality) that Hopkins might disregard the calls and employ Broadway Providers. Nevertheless, once pupils got concerned, its choice was delayed by Hopkins — and finally capitulated towards the needs. Characteristics could be attracted although on the smaller-scale than earlier steps in the college; two categories of “stakeholders” in existence could become successful by operating together.

Reduced-salary employees, along side undergraduates, adjuncts and students, experience constant fights using their organizations within the combat the university’s continuing capitalist change. Needs from present and previous challenges are continuously unmet. But when we study from people who battled before us remain together, and realize that our challenges are connected, we are more lucrative than we’re able to actually be alone.

from network 10 http://www.k4teens.info/the-school-of-subcontracting/

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disparais · 8 years ago

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a place apart from time

though i technically have another (fairly short-lived) blog, i decided i need a safe space where i can enjoy the comfort of knowing that i’m, in qx’s famous words, ‘only one but not alone’. a space where i can document myself at my rawest and most vulnerable, without the pressure of anyone i know being likely to seek this place out. of course, i could always make this blog private, but that isn’t quite the same - it feels almost like locking others out. and, i like the idea that someone i know (hopefully someone that matters) might inadvertently stumble upon this place. paradoxical, isn’t it? i don’t want anyone i know reading all this, yet i do.

been wanting to get this blog up for some time but i haven’t been able to justify putting paperscents down. i finally think it’s about time, though. j is the only one with access to paperscents (technically, f too, i guess) and while the idea of being everything to share everything with someone is nice in theory, i feel like lines need to be drawn because some things i just need to process without having to worry about being perceived as a basket case.

fsfsf currently feeling a myriad of emotions i can’t quite place but it’s a distinctly unpleasant/unwelcome cocktail of unease, guilt, self-doubt/insecurity and feeling burdened and violated.

unease: a generalized malaise, not dissimilar to the nonspecific fatigue experienced by anyone with an illness. likely secondary to the other emotions.

guilt: valentine’s was an utter disaster. nothing to do with j - quick dinner at omoomodon + bridge with h8 m1s + cf, nothing much out of the ordinary there. (oh, j sliced a bunch of korean strawberries into roses. pretty impressive knifework and patience. more importantly, the strawberries tasted great.)

(i fell asleep at this juncture and woke up at 12pm realizing i had missed anat tutorial and my com was out of batt. somehow the post autosaved, so i am Truly Grateful.)

anyway, my guilt has everything to do with (most of) the other guys. why is j so relevantly persistent? why can’t m realize that the chemistry between us can never become something more? why did d2 decide there was something worth pursuing between us after a 2-hour conversation at heartbuzz? (he doesn’t like music - that’s a total dealbreaker.) and i hope to god k isn’t even included in this entire mess (i doubt he is? but my gut has been failing me recently.). icing on the cake - i ran into d yesterday at the mrt save me

why do so many people think i’m mysteriously compatible with them? i feel like this has little to do with looks (objectively i know i could have done a lot worse when it comes to looks, but i don’t look remotely good enough to be ec or anything.). the devotion of these guys also surpasses the usual lengths to which a guy ec-ing a girl would go, i think, and that bothers me. do i somehow lead people on in conversations? how is it that i can find a point of connection with so many people? statistically speaking, i like to think in terms of interests and thought processes, i am fairly anomalous. does that help or hurt in this case?

self-doubt/insecurity: reciprocity is important, even in friendships. i can only reach out for so long before i begin to wonder if i’m more of an intrusion/inconvenience than a welcome presence. at any rate, this is out of my hands - que sera sera, and at least there are other friends close by. i haven’t actively wanted to be someone’s friend for a long, long time, so this is a strange feeling.

i’m not sure why she matters so much, anyway - maybe because the glimpses i get into her thoughts and the inner her resonate so deeply with me and make me feel like there’s something about this friendship that i don’t want to miss out on. but i can’t force anything, and i’m certainly not about to trap either of us into a unilateral friendship, so. we wait, and we see.

(funny how i write about friendships like most people would write about romance. i suppose my priorities are a little tilted - but i’m not sure i’d change them. the one thing about this that sucks is that your friends most likely have normal priorities and would drop you in a heartbeat for their partners, leaving you stranded as that friend who cares too much.)

burdened: hacksaw ridge. first things first - it was really nice to finally have time for a date with k; i’m glad we’ve finally made it happen. she was another of those people where i had the gut feeling that i didn’t want to miss out on this friendship, and honestly i’m glad i “listened to my intestines” (shut up, maura.). i had wanted to practice with the explicit purpose of going into humanitarian aid, but looking at the level of risk involved in combat medicine, while inspiring and soul-stirring, definitely made me feel like it’s something i’m not quite cut-out for. is that bad? am i being selfish?

that being said, humanitarian aid is still a lifelong goal - just that i’d rather work in lower-risk areas like disaster relief, or with organizations like ijm, where there are structured stings and such to deal with issues i feel deeply about (human trafficking etc).

seeing doss flee alongside his comrades with a wounded soldier on his back really hammered home the nobility of medicine. the enemy is incorporeal, and we are just as vulnerable as the next man - disease and injury could befall any of us. yet the profession we have chosen adds the burden of somehow preventing and reversing the damage done. (this sounds overly portentous, i know.)

violated: l’accordeur started off nice (schumann’s dichterliebe op. 48 no. 10 is truly haunting) but got really dark towards the end. on a normal day i might just have been left unsettled but after all the violence and chaos of hacksaw ridge, l’accordeur seemed almost traumatizing in comparison. the outright brutality in hacksaw ridge cannot compare to the slimy, insidious darkness that overshadowed and gradually took over the film. classical music is usually my refuge, because the grace, beauty and structure is comforting (not to mention my borderline-but-not-exactly-synesthesia thrives on literally anything classical), but this safe space was not an option for me last night and it viscerally made me sick.

wanted to try to face my anxiety by confronting the source of my fears and going to learn the damn schumann, but ran into d in the lift and he told me guitarpella/jam city were having prac in the flying seed (at 12.30am oh for chrissakes) so i literally just stayed in the lift and went back up to the 3rd floor feeling more frustrated and trapped than ever.

almost felt like crawling out of my own skin because i couldn’t handle all these negative feelings rattling around in my core.

oh well, it’s all out there and i’ve done some processing and i’m gonNA BE LATE bye i might continue this later.

#rant #ramble

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