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[brn1029]

Get those tin foil hats ready to go!

The 10 greatest conspiracy theories in rock

By Emma Johnston

In a world where fake news runs rampant, rock'n'roll is not immune to the lure of the conspiracy theory. These are 10 of the most ludicrous

Conspiracy theories, myths and legends have existed in rock’n’roll for as long as the music has existed, stretching all the way back to bluesman Robert Johnson selling his soul to the devil at the crossroads in exchange for superhuman guitar skills, fame and fortune.

There are those who believe Elvis Presley and Jim Morrison live on, others who think the Illuminati control the world through symbolism in popular culture, and plenty of evangelical types with their own agendas trawling rock and metal songs for secret messages luring the innocent to the dark side.

Let us take a look, then, at rock’n’roll conspiracy theories ranging from the intriguing to the ludicrous, as we try to separate the truth from the codswallop.

Lemmy was in league with the Illuminati

Few men have ever been earthier than Lemmy, but one conspiracy theorist claims that the Motorhead legend didn’t really die in December 2015, instead “ascending into the heavenly realm” after making a “blood sacrifice pact” with the Illuminati.

A “watcher” of the mythical secret society some believe are running the world – despite evidence that is at best flimsy, at worst straight from The Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown’s discarded notebooks – told the Daily Star: “Lemmy signed up for the ultimate pact – he signed his soul to the devil in order to achieve fame and fortune.”

While we can only imagine what the great man would have to say on the matter, there’s one word, in husky, JD-soaked tones, that we can just about make out coming across from the other side: “Bollocks.”

Paul McCartney died in 1966

As you might expect from the most famous band that has ever existed, there are enough crackpot theories about The Beatles to fill the Albert Hall. From John Lennon’s murder being ordered by the US government, who, led by Richard Nixon, suspected him of communism (the FBI actually did have a file on Lennon, but the story is spiced up by the man behind murderlennontruth.com, who apparently believes author Steven King was involved due to, uh, looking a bit like Mark Chapman) to Canadian prog outfit Klaatu being the Fab Four in disguise, there are plenty of tall tales more colourful than a Ringo B-side.

The most enduring, though, is the notion dreamt up by some US radio DJs that Paul McCartney died in a car crash in 1966 and was replaced by a lookalike. They came to this conclusion having studied the cover of Abbey Road – McCartney’s bare feet on the zebra crossing apparently symbolising death, while others found “evidence” in the album’s opaque lyrics. There were a lot of drugs in the 60s.

Gene Simmons has a cow’s tongue

It’s easy to see why all kinds of far-fetched stories sprung up when Kiss first took off in the 1970s. The fake-blood-spitting, the fire, the demon-superhero personas – middle America clutched its pearls and word spread that these otherworldly weirdos’ moniker stood for Knights In Satan’s Service. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t.

It was Gene Simmons’ preposterous mouth that got the nation’s less voluminous tongues wagging though. So long and pointy is his appendage, and so often waggled at his audiences (whether they asked for it or not), that eventually the rumour spread around the world’s playgrounds was that he’d had a cow’s tongue grafted onto his own. The bovine baloney is, of course, bullshit, but Simmons has admitted it's one of his favourite Kiss urban myths.

Supertramp predicted 9/11

The Logical Song may be Supertramp’s calling card, but one man in the US stretches common sense to the limit having come to the conclusion that the artwork for their 1979 album Breakfast In America gave prior warning of the terrorist attacks on New York on September 11, 2001.

Look at the album cover – painted from the perspective of a window on a flight into the city – in a mirror, and the ‘u’ and ‘p’ band’s name appears to become a 911 floating above the twin towers, while a logo on the back features a plane flying towards the World Trade Center.

So far, so coincidental, but when our intrepid investigator falls down a rabbit hole of Masonic interference, strained Old Testament connections (“The Great Whore of Babylon – Super Tramp”), and the title Breakfast In America reflecting the fact that the planes crashed early in the morning, things get really tenuous.

It’s fair to say it’s unlikely a British prog-pop band had prior knowledge of the terrorist attacks 22 years before they happened. But maybe Al Qaida were really big fans.

Stevie Wonder can see

Stevie Wonder is a genius. That fact is not up for dispute. The soul/jazz/funk/rock/pop legend was born six weeks prematurely in 1950, and the oxygen used in the hospital incubator to stabilise him caused him to go blind shortly afterwards. But his love of front-row seats at basketball games, the evocative imagery in his songs, and the fact that he once effortlessly caught a falling mic stand knocked over by Paul McCartney (who, let us reiterate, did not die in 1966) has caused basement Jessica Fletchers to muse that he’s faking his blindness as part of the act.

Wonder himself, a known prankster, has great fun with his status as one of the world’s most famous vision-impaired musicians. In 1973, he told Rolling Stone: “I’ve flown a plane before. A Cessna or something, from Chicago to New York. Scared the hell out of everybody.”

Dave Grohl invented Andrew W.K.

When Andrew W.K. first broke through in the early 2000s, dressed in white and covered in blood, his mission was serious in its simplicity: the party is everything. He took his message of having a good time, all the time, to levels of political fervour. But rumours of his authenticity have been doing the rounds from the start.

Reviewing WK’s first UK show at The Garage in London, The Guardian’s Alexis Petridis wrote: “One music-biz conspiracy theory currently circulating suggests that Andrew W.K. is an elaborate hoax devised by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl.”

As time went on, the theory gained traction – Grohl was believed to be the mysterious Steev Mike credited on the debut album I Get Wet. And as W.K.’s style changed over subsequent records, and his own admission that there were legal arguments over who owns his name, whispers began that he wasn’t even a real person – he was a character, played by several different actors, an attempt to create the ultimate Frankenstein’s frontman.

"I'm not the same guy that you may have seen from the I Get Wet album," W.K. said in 2008. “I don't just mean that in a philosophical or conceptual way, it's not the same person at all. Do I look the same as that person?" The jury is out, but if this is a great white elephant concocted just for the sheer hell of it, we kind of want this one to be true.

Jimi Hendrix was murdered by his manager

An early victim of the 27 club, the death of Jimi Hendrix was depressingly cliched for a man so wildly creative: a bellyful of barbiturates led to him asphyxiating on his own vomit, according to the post-mortem. But in the years following the grim discovery at the Samarkand Hotel in London on 19 September 1970, a different theory was offered by the guitarist’s former roadie, James “Tappy” Wright.

In his book Rock Roadie, Wright claims Hendrix was murdered by his manager, Michael Jeffery, who he says force-fed his charge red wine and pills. The motive? He feared he was about to be fired and was keen to cash in on the star’s life insurance. One thing we do know for certain is Jeffery won’t be able to give his version of events, as he was killed in a plane crash over France in 1973.

The 50th anniversary of Hendrix's tragic passing was "celebrated" with the release of Hendrix and the Spook, a documentary that "explored" his death further and was described by The Guardian as "a cheaply made mix of interviews and dumbshow dramatic recreations by actors scuttling about flimsy sets in gloomy lighting." Sounds good.

Courtney killed Kurt

Courtney Love is no stranger to demonisation from Nirvana fans. When Hole’s second album, the searing, catchy, feminist, witty, aggressive, vulnerable and unflinchingly honest Live Through This was released, days after Kurt Cobain’s death, rumours almost immediately started up that Love’s late husband wrote the songs. That was insulting and sexist enough, but nowhere near as damaging as the conspiracy theory that Love hired a hitman to kill Cobain amid rumours they were about to divorce.

After Cobain’s first attempt to take his own life in Rome, the Nirvana frontman was eventually convinced to go to rehab following an intervention by his wife and friends. He ran away from the facility, and the private investigator hired by Love to find him, Tom Grant, eventually became the source of the idea that Love and the couple’s live-in nanny Michael Dewitt were responsible for Cobain’s death shortly afterwards.

His claims, made in the Soaked In Bleach documentary, include the notion that Cobain had too much heroin in his system to pull the trigger of the shotgun, and that he believed the suicide note was forged.

People close to Cobain (and the Seattle Police Department) have refuted the theory, including Nirvana manager Danny Goldberg: “It’s ridiculous. He killed himself. I saw him the week beforehand, he was depressed. He tried to kill himself six weeks earlier, he’d talked and written about suicide a lot, he was on drugs, he got a gun. Why do people speculate about it? The tragedy of the loss is so great people look for other explanations. I don’t think there’s any truth at all to it."

The CIA wrote The Scorpions’ biggest hit

Previously synonymous with leather, hard rock anthems and some very questionable album artwork, West Germany’s Scorpions scored big with Wind Of Change, a power ballad heralding the oncoming fall of the USSR, the end of the Cold War, and a new sense of hope in the Eastern Bloc.

In a podcast named after the 1990 song, though, Orwell Prize-winning US journalist Patrick Radden Keefe follows rumours from within the intelligence community that the song was actually written by the CIA, as propaganda to hasten the fall of the ailing Soviet Union via popular culture.

“Soviet officials had long been nervous over the free expression that rock stood for, and how it might affect the Soviet youth,” Keefe is quoted as saying. “The CIA saw rock music as a cultural weapon in the cold war. Wind of Change was released a year after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and became this anthem for the end of communism and reunification of Germany. It had this soft-power message that the intelligence service wanted to promote.”

It's a convincing theory, but one that is disputed by Scorpions frontman Klaus Meine: “I thought it was very amusing and I just cracked up laughing. It’s a very entertaining and really crazy story but like I said, it’s not true at all. Like you American guys would say, it’s fake news."

There are satanic messages in Stairway To Heaven

The great comedian Bill Hicks had something to say about people searching for evidence of devilry in rock’n’roll: “Remember this shit, if you play certain rock albums backwards there'd be satanic messages? Let me tell you something, if you're sitting round your house playing your albums backwards, you are Satan. You needn't look any further. And don't go ruining my stereo to prove a point either.”

The memo didn’t get through to televangelist and stylus ruiner Paul Crouch, who in 1982 attempted to scare the Christian right into believing Led Zeppelin’s Stairway To Heaven was stuffed with demonic meaning, and that played backwards it revealed the following message: “Here’s to my sweet Satan/The one whose little path would make me sad, whose power is Satan/He will give those with him 666/There was a little toolshed where he made us suffer, sad Satan.”

Guitarist Jimmy Page, of course, is no stranger to the esoteric, making no secret of his interest in occultist Aleister Crowley and the attendant magick, and there were even rumours the band made a Faustian pact to achieve fame and fortune. But hiding messa

[garym23-blog]

Sharing my experience of Prostatitis- I hope it helps somebody..

Hello, my name is Gary Mehmet. I am a 43 year old man who has over the past two years, been suffering with prostatitis. I am now in a position where I feel much better than since this illness began- about 85-90% better. I still have the odd relapse, which can cause pain for a few days, but I can see huge signs of progress and so in the spirit of wanting to pass something on that might help somebody else looking for help in this area, maybe somebody who does not have any idea how this may have come about or where to go for help or what to ask, I wanted to type something about my experience. I am just an ordinary man, average intelligence and definitely no writer, So I cannot promise you an exciting or super witty read, but if you can get through what I have written in one piece, then I hope you find something helpful in getting the help you need. so here goes, I am going to try and share something of my experience..1,2,3.

How I believe this started:

It was early March 2017. We were away for a few days on the Isle of Wight with our newborn son, Jamie. The first I knew, was overnight, waking to go to the toilet and physically being unable to. I sat and waited and waited and I pushed as far as I could but nothing. I could not pee. That was really the only sign.

There was a lot of stress in my life at this time, not really too interesting; usual things really, divorce in 2014 after 16 years together, an unhappy career in hotel corporate sales lasting 15 years on and off, an altercation with a bully in 2013, which sent my life into a spiral that I am still trying to recover from. That's not normal, you say? Really? Well, there you go. We are all different. I have faced some challenges and made my decisions, some of which I regret but none of which I can change. And I have experienced my share of pain, like anybody else. I am doing my best to move on and to grow as a Man. But looking back on where Prostatitis fits into all of this, it seems to me that this particular illness followed this period of time, so stress may have brought this condition on..

My experience with the NHS

I have been to see a few doctors in the UK. initially, we rushed from the Isle of Wight to visit a drop in 24 hour emergency centre in Hastings. I was seen by a nurse who asked for a sample. I was amazed that I was able to produce this, but I did manage to pee a little and it hurt to do so. The feeling was a like a burning sensation. The sample was screened under something like an ultra violet coloured lamp and the nurse said, this was definitely a Urinary Tract Infection (UTI). I was soon after seen by a doctor, who said that this type of infection was very uncommon for a man because of the length of our ……. Apparently this doctor did not believe in bedside manner. He got straight to the point and I will be honest, I did worry.

I was sent off from this appointment with my urine sample and asked to bring it to a local hospital for further testing. I handed my sample to a member of staff at the department of the hospital, as advised. And that was that. I was told the results would be with my local GP in about a few days time.

I went to see my local GP, in Ashford, Kent and my sample had been lost... But a message later came back saying everything was clear..(which seemed strange to me because no further explanation was given as to the connection between the sample being lost and everything now being okay) So, not sure what to make of that, but that was that.

The doctor prescribed antibiotics and I took antibiotics for a good few weeks. I think I went through 2-3 courses of  antibiotics. When I ran out, I would make a new appointment and ask a doctor for another. Each doctor said something a little different, like it might be in my mind, ‘you need to stop worrying..’ ‘this is an aftershock in the body after a UTI and it will settle on its own..’ and ‘your prostate feels a little enlarged, we can arrange for you to see a urologist..’ a process, I discovered would take around 12-16 weeks. The NHS is not the best system, but I experienced care by a variety of doctors who were all doing their best to help me.

I cannot remember exactly how long antibiotics seemed to help me for.. I remember feeling better taking them than not, otherwise I would not have asked for more, but it never took the pain away and when the course ran out, the pain would return fully. For me, this mostly meant pain at night, in the centre of my groin (I cannot describe it better than that) just a deep and low- medium level pain that I imagine like a storm brewing... I was unable to lie on either side and would wake several times at night sometimes 2-4 times an hour and I remember having a very difficult time trying to go. In the day time, I would feel the need to go, try to go and then be sitting for up to 45 minutes trying to..you know..go... I could not sleep well, I could not wake up and slowly, I started losing all energy and becoming anxious and tense.

Before, I got the chance to see the Urologist via the NHS referral system, My wife and I had decided to move to Germany for a few years, a bit of space from the pain of the past few years and a transfer opportunity that had come up for my wife, meaning we could go immediately. My wife had friends and family near Munich.. So, we decided we would rent our home and go… And that was July 2017.

It is now March 6th 2019, we are still here. I am having a challenge learning German, but I have learnt a lot and continue to learn as the weeks go by. I have been approached by companies out here for work, which is great, but mostly sales roles and I am trying not to do this. I have spent a period looking after my son, until we could get him into a local Kita (early stage nursery) and a period sorting my health out, because up until the last 2 months, I have not been able to get through a single day consistently well. (Oh and top of prostatitis, I have developed a new chronic allergy to Birch Pollen and as luck would have it, we have a huge collection of said trees right outside our apartment.. I wheeze at night and cannot sleep; either because of wheezing or prostate problems... It has been a strange and uncomfortable experience. I am not saying it is worse than anybody else's only that for me, I have found this very difficult to manage my health day to day, steaming every surface my wife and son touch as they come home, tablets to lessen allergic reactions, asthma inhalers, nasal sprays, (in the past few months, I have also been through a course of injections (‘desensibilisierung’) to help my body), humidifiers to help clean the air and various air purifiers We have recently found a good one and it is really helping, but it is early days. Hell broke loose when the birch pollen exploded mid-late last march.. It is only the 6th March..

Anyway, sorry back on track.. What next?

‘Urologists and Doctors a plenty’ in Germany

It is easy to see doctors out here, in Wolfratshausen and Munich. Everything is private but affordable. I have seen several doctors and the experience has been mixed. in this time, I have seen urologists both old school and an homeopathic urologist. I have had the cystoscopy, which actually really hurt.. Sorry if you don't know what that is-- well..It involved a tube with a camera on the end of it and that is inserted into the tip of your urethra and pushed on and on and on (it seemed) until they (the doctor and nurse) could see what was going on in the bladder and prostate areas.  A numbing jelly is applied to the tip of your penis and then comes the tube. It should not be painful and foremost I dont think it is. Why was it  painful for me then? I’ll come back to that in a minute. Anyway, this examination revealed nothing. I was then sent to a local General Doctor, who also could not think how to help me. No signs of cancer, my prostate did not seem ‘interesting’ to the Urologist anyway, normal for my age not big, not small, but fine.. And as I said, the doctor had little help to offer, at all, in fact. My wife and i came out of the appointment both shaking our heads in disbelief.

But, I think it is worth noting that I was not offered more antibiotics by this urologist or any other doctor, which actually, I appreciated. At the urologist, the first thing you do other than show your health insurance card and say I have an appointment.. Is go and pee in a cup and leave it for a nurse or other professional to check for signs of infection.. This happens before you walk into your actual appointment..

Online Learning..

My wife and I were doing a lot of research on the type of Urologist, we thought could help us. Normally, I understand that we should not as untrained professionals do our own research and self-diagnose.. My experience so far, was that this was not a simple matter and I needed to try and educate myself a little- I found a book, which I will come to, a little later and that helped me to learn some things but otherwise the research was to really find a doctor we believe could help us.

From the doctors, we had seen until now, it seemed to us, like we needed a certain sort of doctor to do that. It had felt for a while like we were being talked to but not listened to. I would prepare my notes on what I was experiencing, thinking this might provide clues that would help the doctor in identifying meaningful signs that would lead to a clear diagnosis. But nobody seemed to listen to us, until this point.. So we started searching through the websites of any urologists we could find until we found somebody we thought looked or sounded like they might be interested in listening to us.

Through this research, we found a nice female Urologist in Munich and we went to see her a few times. She did ask us questions, not to me, of course, (Deutsch ist sehr Schwierig..) but to my wife. And to her credit, she listened. Every doctor tests the urine sample but this lady asked for a semen sample.. She said I could go home to do this but I offered to assist, for the sake of expediency of course, after excusing myself for a short break to the toilet. This seemed to make her nervous as her face flushed, so my wife offered to bring a sample in the next day.

This test result was again clear. So no luck there. But after explaining my symptoms, this doctor prescribed a course of three tablets:

Tamulosin

Trospiumcholrid

Diclofenac

This combination seemed to create a whole new set of problems. I seemed to develop severe symptoms, which I did not understand. It feels really strange to admit that I could not at this time make the connection, in my mind, between these new symptoms and the new medication. I thought my illness had just taken a turn. It took several weeks before I started to question the medication being perhaps harmful and not helpful. 

In this time, I had become highly sensitive to eating almost anything- of course foods like Sauerkraut were off limits (far too acidic) but so seemed most meats, vegetables (Peppers for example), fruit (no more apples or strawberries) and even, can you believe it, beer!!!! (my weekend treat, was gone!), jam, sugar, apfelsaft/Juice even tea.

After nearly two months, I felt likei was on my knees and I asked my wife, sorry, will refer to her by name (veronika or Vroni for short), Vroni set up the appointment and we went back to see her a few days later. I brought my notes and the doctor seemed keen to hear but after listening to me, encouraged me to stay on the medication..

I was not comfortable doing this, so off we went again in search of a new doctor, to help.

Back to Wolfrathausen..

We went to a Urologist in Wolfratshausen (a different man within the same clinic as my first appointment here). This man was part English and had spent time living in England and it was for these reasons, where I knew I stood a better chance of communicating directly with the doctor and not through my wife, that we chose to see him). He was a straight talking old man, who spoke very directly and told me that I should not expect a full examination on seeing him(we had called and made an appointment to see a urologist and had explained our symptoms..) and that were other patients waiting.. In the short time, we were with him though,  the usual tests were conducted ie on my urine, a manual prostate exam (don't ask... okay, you lie on your side and the man wears a very thin plastic glove, applies some lubricant and.... Yep, you guessed it :) ) and he asked about the medication I had been taking. On hearing of the mecication I mentioned earlier, he very quickly told me that this sort of medication was only given to elderly men who are too old to be operated on and that this was far too heavy for me and strongly advised me to come off them immediately. He also told me that he did not believe diet had anything to do with my condition and that was just voodoo nonsense..

Great off the tablets then... but I still think diet is part of the problem..

Up until now, i had been trying to approach every doctor with an open mind and willing to try whatever was asked of me. But over time, I was starting to realise that I had to listen to my body and sometimes challenge advice given and because I was doing this and because there are more than one urologist available here in Bavaria, Germany, I eventually found my way to the doctor I have just mentioned and I felt confident now to come off the tablets. And it helped me. A lot. The food sensitivities eased within a few days and I was now back to where I was before with just a ‘straightforward’ set of prostate related problems.. taking too long to pee in the day, unable to sleep at night and waking to go between 2-11 times per night, trying to go, pushing, only able to go standing not sitting, never feeling emptied.

Looking into Homeopathy..

I had been reading as much as i could. I had come across the idea of an alkaline diet possibly helping- the concept of helping reduce the body’s acidity level being helpful for inflammation, so I thought there might be something in that.. After reading very briefly, I decided it was definitely not for me- the diet seemed so restrictive, like I would not be able to eat anything again- okay bit of an overstatement- but my meaning- it was not for me to be so restrictive with my eating ie no milk, no sugar, no meat, no bread, no pasta, no alcohol.. So I said no to that and we moved on. There had to be another way..

But looking into diet and connection with prostatitis got me thinking about other natural ways to help the body recover rather than the harsh chemicals/tablets I had been exposing myself to, so far. As luck would have it, we found an homeopathic urologist (again a lady) in Wolfratshausen.

This doctor did an ultrasound (like for a pregnant lady) of my bladder/prostate area and this was the first time, something more specific about my problem was shared with us.. She told us that the lining to my urethra looks damaged and that this was part of the problem.. Not quite sure how it happened, though... I came to thinking about a period in summer 2016, I had worn the same (yes, I am ashamed to admit this, but in the spirit of disclosure and trying to help somebody else, here it is..), the same pair of sports shorts for a few days without underwear. To ride my bicycle to the gym, have a workout, take a quick dip in the pool and a few minutes in the sauna and then even showering with my shorts on before riding home… I know, yuck!

I still don't know why I did this. The shorts were very comfortable and with a quick drying material.. I might not have the best personal habits but when I go out, I am quite serious about hygiene. This episode was an unusual one for me and perhaps in this time, an infection found its way into my urethra. When I really do think back to that time, my penis did seem to itch a little after a few days, I just did not think anything of it at the time so… I guess there it is… maybe that is where it started..

Natural treatments… From this point, we just trusted this doctor implicitly and did everything she said. She did not seem to want to ask me any questions, only tell me what to do, don't eat apples, no apple cider vinegar, drink lots of water, Fresh espresso is fine (phew!!), pineapples warm- are good, lemon water is especially good- to alkalise the body and so on.

We went home with a list of foods that were good or not good for me and we started making some changes. I don't remember them all, but a few habits that stuck-

Out

Apples

Strawberries

Kiwis

Wine

Weiss bier

Fruit juice

Fruit teas

Instant coffee

Vinegar (ie balsamic)

In

Lemon water

Espresso (mild)

Pineapple (warm)

Monitoring my water intake and especially the colour of my urine- looking for a nice bright yellow or clear colour- this actually really helped. I had much more comfortable days when my urine was light yellow/clear- that for me was from drinking 2-2.5L water per day.

Several weeks went by and it definitely felt like we were seeing progress I was getting more sleep and though still having difficulties when I did wake, in the day time, going to the toilet was starting to ease. I still could not go comfortably sitting down, but I was going easier than I had for a long time and that was great.

But things got worse. Again.. After several weeks, things seemed to get worse again. Not sure why. I was following the guidelines.. I was not happy being home alone and often deeply upset over not being able to see my children in England and other things but otherwise, not sure- though perhaps there is exactly the problem- stress/depression..?

We returned to the Urologist, again with a set of notes on how we were experiencing things. The doctor listened for a short time then interrupted us and gave us a new set of guidelines including a homeopathic - suppository (another thing to stick up the …. I think you know.. But if not, look it up.. )

I was advised when I awoke at night, in pain, to come away from bed and drink a cup of lemon water (hot/cold are both fine- I like mine hot- 1 whole lemon freshly squeezed with some chopped fresh ginger and honey- delicious!!) and if that did not help, then I should take the suppository.

I tried this a few times and I have promised myself to never, ever do it again. I am not going to describe anything further about it only to say, no. never again. Discomfort not worth it.

At this point, we felt we had again reached a limit with a doctor because again this doctor, as nice as she was, wanted to talk to us more than listen and when we did, we were often interrupted and we were just given a random list of new things to try when she saw us back at her door. I truly appreciate and respect this particular doctor. She helped us see that diet was a key in all of this, to limiting symptoms (not curing them) and that natural treatments could help us.

We wanted to keep following this line of enquiry and see if we could still make further progress because I was still living in pain and not ready to accept that this is how it will be, indefinitely.

The help we needed was right under our noses, so to speak..

As it turned out, my father in law had been also suffering with problems in the bladder/prostate area. He had been experiencing ‘spotting’ (blood) in his urine. This was tested and it was found that he had signs of cancer. He is a former teacher and has a very extensive health cover policy, far greater than the basic one I have. Teachers out here are all very well looked after out here. My father in law had been in and out of a well known private hospital (Klinikum Grosshadern) in Munich, where he had been treated and operated on. After several months, he has had the tumours/growths cut out and is reported to be completely cancer free, which is great news. After so much time when we were both seeing doctors about the same area of the body, finally, we talked about the doctor he was seeing. A specialist called Dr.Magestro.

Ordinarily, I would not have been able to see him because of our policy not covering his services. But, there was an opporutnity to go along to an open ‘surgery’ style session where I could share my experiences with an admin lady who would see if I fit some sort of criteria to be seen by this doctor. I did go along and was given an appointment and that was the start of a breakthrough, for me.

A breakthrough. Finally.. I remember seeing Dr.Magestro, very nervous and scared he would not waste much time with me. Of course, I took a lot of notes with me. I had also recently come across a book entitled- ‘A headache in the pelvis’ by David Wise and Rodney Anderson Which was very, very interesting to me- it is a massive book though at over 600 pages and as motivated as i am, I am also regrettably quite lazy when it comes to reading (okay, Vroni I admit it, yes I like buying books and lining them all up to read but, am very slow in getting round to reading them.. Conscious clear.). Anyway, I had been reading for a few weeks as much as I could before arranging to meet this doctor, in order to try and appear a little more knowledgeable because I thought that would make me less of a time waster and perhaps more of an interesting patient.. (I did not know any better at the time. I only knew this was an opportunity and I did not want to waste ie)

In a short time, I read about how doctors conventionally trained in Urology do not get much, if at all modern training on Prostatitis. It has long been suffered by people and there are different types ie:

Bacterial Prostatitis

Non bacterial prostatitis

Chronic Prostatitis

Pelvic pain syndrome

(Sometimes the problem is even NOT THE PROSTATE!)

I saw through what I read that the ideal situation for a doctor in this area is that they find an infection and throw some antibiotics at it- which wil help clear the infection, mostly. But the problem is where there is no sign of infection.. Doctors have limited time and resources at their disposal to try and investigate this matter further. It is complicated. (The book talks about a meeting point between mind and body often being in the Pelvis region.)

I have read anecdotes about doctors who will tell patients they are fine, to go home and make love to their wife because they are okay, as a placebo technique that can in itself create a reduction of symptoms- showing the power of the mind. But I read that this is also a limited strategy that only removes the symptoms for a short period- maybe a few weeks or months.  I also read about doctors who, as part of a study, deliberately told patients during examinations that they had the signs of cancer, to then note how the body of that patient would start to show signs of stress and an increase in certain symptoms, to then tell the patient they had made a mistake.. Sneaky, eh?! But also reinforcing the power of the mind to heal or hurt itself.

I learnt that prostatitis is often but not always connected with a UTI. I learnt that pharmaceutical companies and health insurance companies do not invest much in prostatitis and that this has a knock on effect on the priority that Urologists may give to patients with this condition. I read how people whose analogy includes the remains of a tailbone, in the same way as a dog will tuck in its tail when stressed, people can clench this area and over time this can give way to prostatitis like symptoms. Stress seems to be definitely involved.

Pain leads to anxiety, which leads to tension and this becomes a cycle.. Treatment has to focus on breaking that cycle and only in the past 30 or so years have a few specialised doctors at Stanford University been at the centre of pioneering treatments focused on a sort of three way treatment system involving a urologists care, physiotherapy to help loosen the tightened areas of the pelvis and psychologist/counselling to help with stress and other underlying issues. That is mostly what I recall from my reading. But please see the book yourself and do not take my word for it. I am just an ordinary guy with average intelligence..

But I hope you get some idea here, that I really tried to educate myself on this area, at least as much as I could.

Back to the appointment..

Okay, after the introductions, Dr. Magestro patiently invited me to explain my symptoms and he really listened- finally!! And more importantly, he asked questions back to me and made notes… He went through the usual examinations on my urine, manually checking my prostate and then asking for a further sample after the prostate examination, to get this time a sample from the actual prostate (sorry, cannot explain better than that) which would, he said shed some more light on what had been going on the past several months. The doctor was going to carry out some extensive tests to find the problem.

I remember at this point, feeling quite tearful, that we were finally in front of a doctor who really wanted to listen and help. The doctor was going to see me, as continued research into this area that he was involved in. We were invited back in 2 weeks time for the results..

The results..

We were nervous and for some reason a little excited to go in and find out what was wrong and how to put it right.. So you can imagine how we felt when the Doctor said he found… nothing…. I remember him asking questions at the beginning of the appointment about what we thought might be wrong, listening and nodding as I tried to explain my thoughts and memories only to then say, that he found nothing..

Keep calm and keep moving forwards..

We discussed this revelation and we brought up many memories of other doctors who had said the same thing but that we were still suffering and we needed help. The doctor assured us and told us that this was actually not uncommon and that he treated many people of all ages in all walks of life including politicians, sports stars, pilots and that he was going to put together a plan to help find a cure involving (and it was so good to hear him say this..) his care to oversee things, a physiotherapist and maybe a psychologist.  I knew I had found somebody special in this doctor, who listened and wanted to keep going to find a solution. He also labelled my condition as non bacterial prostatitis.

Because I did not have health cover for access to this doctor, we agreed on a flexible 6 weekly appointment. Dr. Magistro offered to try different treatments with me and to see after a period of 6 weeks how things were going and then review and change as necessary. He said he would do as much as he could to help and if necessary, pass me on to other colleagues to focus on other areas of care that might help. He also said that he was sure within 6 months, we can fix this problem (that was such beautiful music to my ears)..

And...?

We were initially prescribe a Verikur and Quercetin. One of these medications was supposed to relax the bladder, the other to reduce the urgency or frequency I felt, to go..After a few weeks, I made a decision to cut out the Verikur because I felt I was having a hard time with it. I stayed with just the Quercetin and I cut that down from 2 tablets x2 per day (after breakfast and dinner) to just one dose a day, I chose that to be in the evening after my main meal and a few hours before bedtime.- when my problems start to kick in.

From the start the feeling was great. I got a good night sleep and mostly only woke only once. That for me, was the biggest sign I have seen, since this whole thing began, that allowed me to believe that I could get better...

How are things going now? It has been about 3-4 months now since our first appointment with Dr.Magestro. I have found that Quercetin, has really helped me. I still have a few occasional nights where I wake 3-4 times they tend to be when I am stressed - I am working on that- but otherwise, I might wake 1 or 2 times and… get this… I am able to sit down and pee.. Should I admit that?! Too late.. And I can go while seated.. And in the middle of the night when I can hardly keep my eyes open, this is really helpful (I can remember swaying on my feet in times gone by, eyes closed because I was so tired and pushing myself to go)

So early days, but this simple supplement has made a positive difference. I just wanted to share this with you- so you can discuss with your urologist or doctor.

I am still going through my recovery process and of the three pillars of therapy, I have only looked at one, so this is really early stage but of course, I still hope one day to be completely free of prostatitis. I cannot pretend to be an expert in any of this, but I know more than I did when I first developed this problem and I know how difficult it was back then to find helpful information and that is why I wanted to try and share something of my experience. I hope it may help somebody to have a better idea where to look (with the help of a good doctor/urologist) for their own answers. But, if you have got this far, I am sorry to take such a long time to make my point. Conciseness and me do not seem to go together. My wife and last wife, do have an ability to switch off and on, while I talk so.. there is that..

You may feel like nobody understands you suffering in this way, especially if you are younger than 45 years old. Just please know that you are not alone and that lots of people have had and will have this condition but that urologists (and definitely not GP’s) are not all very well trained in this area. There are however very good doctors and urologists out there. Your mission is to find that doctor, for you; someody who

has experience in the area

wants to help you- Of course all doctors want to help- but in my experience, I have to say some more than others..

will listen as well as talk with you

you feel comfortable with. 

But I would stress the first three points- beggars cant be choosers, afterall! 

I hope one day prostatitis is a better understood and more easily treated condition. Until then, all we can do is try to help each other.

Wishing you health and happiness

All my best

Gary Mehmet

[jayanthitbrc]

Financial Institutions Can Effectively Evaluate Investment Opportunities Using The Global Market Model

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[ukimmigrationmatters]

Exclusive free training for my Money Tips Podcast followers!

 Welcome To The Course, Mastering Money The S.M.A.R.T Way Without Working Any Harder!

 Lesson #6

 TRACK YOUR INCOME AND EXPENDITURE

Welcome to the final module and congratulations on sticking with it. Winners are finishers!

If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.

Peter Drucker

 In this module, we are going to put it all together starting with monitoring your income and outgoings.

Tracking your income and expenditure is the foundation of gaining control of your finances and accumulating wealth. Unless you know where your money is going you cannot make savings or accumulate cash, which is why I keep repeating this.

Keep a spreadsheet, or an app and you’ll be amazed at the results.

 Good businesses and governments keep accurate records, and produce monthly management accounts. They use cashflow forecasts to project forward to anticipate peaks and troughs and nasty surprises.

 When working as a financial adviser, I found that the average person had no idea. A regular annual spike in expenditure, such as Christmas or a service on the car, seemed to come as a big surprise to them.

 People in this position were invariably broke or living close to the edge. They constantly worried and argued about money because money controlled them rather than the other way around.

 Any large bill would send them deeper into debt.

 Things always seemed to go wrong for them, or that’s how they perceived a car breakdown or the boiler packing up over the Christmas holidays.

 One family I met actually felt that the whole world was against them. The husband, despite being a skilled and intelligent design engineer, was the main problem. He was at odds with everyone and always going to court to dispute late payment fines or parking tickets. He would say things like, “it’s just our luck” or “the system’s a con”.

 The wife said to me, “we just want to be normal”. I could see that the negativity and poverty mindset of the parents was being passed on to their six children who all looked slightly downtrodden and worried.

 In reality, their “disasters” were no different to the things that happened to everyone else. Things go wrong and break down, especially when they are old or not serviced.  

 When you are in control of your finances you will still have problems. However, the difference is that you will be able to deal with them quickly without borrowing. You will have a contingency fund and insurance cover for breakdown and repairs or things that happen unexpectedly in our lives, like the death or injury to a breadwinner. That’s what wealthy people have!

 You will know you exactly where your money goes and where you can make savings.

 Additional income when economising is not enough.

 Mastering money is not just about saving money or cutting back. You obviously need to earn well and keep earning, learning and improving.

 You can only reduce your expenditure so far. If you want to improve your lifestyle you will have to increase your income. Struggling businesses cannot just cut costs and staff in order to survive. They need sales and revenue.

 You can increase your revenue in a number of ways. For instance:

 ·        Change your job or business

 ·        Upskill to become more valuable to the marketplace

 ·        Take a part-time job or start a part-time home-based business.

 How many hours do you work each week?

 The majority of people in developed countries work between 35 and 40 hours a week, unless you live in France where some work closer to 30 hours! This is not the case in Asian tiger economies.

 Take the example of immigrants who usually progress rapidly in a country like the UK or US. Migrants I know don’t just work a 40-hour week. They take all the overtime offered or have part-time jobs in the evenings and weekends. While others are watching all the ‘bad news’ about the economy on TV, they are out earning money for their own u’conomy!

 I know many migrants who came to the UK with “nothing to declare” and no contacts, but quickly prospered.

 I meet migrants at seminars. Some have learned how to make money in property using none of their own money, which is handy, because they didn’t have much to start with!

 Others have started online businesses in their spare time or leaned how to trade stocks and FOREX.

 If you don’t think you have the time, take a look at how much time you spend watching TV or on social media. Instead of wasting time on social media, I now make money on social media.

 The future is HERE NOW, watch out!

 AI, automation and self-driving vehicles are no longer science fiction. Millions of jobs in the west will disappear over the next ten to twenty years, and some predict even sooner. There has never been a more pressing time to learn new skills and upgrade your knowledge.

 Jobs no longer last for 40 years and governments around the world have already talked about how to reskill millions of workers who will become redundant when the machines take over, or someone in The Philippines or India can do the job faster and cheaper.

 Only 10% of people keep learning after leaving school or college and many never read another book. Where do you think they are in the earnings league?

 You don’t need to go back to years of formal education to reskill. There are thousands of inexpensive vocational courses available at evening colleges and increasingly online. Universities offer part-time courses, from short diploma to master’s degree, specifically aimed at mature and working students. I know, because in 2017 I gained a degree in leadership and management from my local university. All the lectures and tutorials were held at the weekend to suit working students who wanted to improve their prospects and expand their mind.

 Summary Lesson 6

 Tracking your income and expenditure is the foundation of gaining control of your finances and accumulating wealth.  Wealthy people know exactly what’s coming in and where their money is going.

Action Steps

·        Start your money tracker spreadsheet now

·        Record all money coming in and going out of your household

·        Look ahead and anticipate peaks and troughs in income or expenditure

·        Look for ways to earn extra money

·        Think about your job in the future

·        Never stop learning and upskilling.

 Congratulations on reaching the end of this course!

You have learned how to Master Your Money and become a S.M.A.R.T Money Manager. Using this simple management system will help you to:

 ·        Spend wisely and avoid debt

·        Manage and respect your money

·        Accumulate wealth over time

·        Review your finances on a regular basis

·        Track your income and expenditure

 Finally, take responsibility for where you are today. Your current bank balance reflects your lifetime decisions, habits and actions. Don’t blame the government, the taxman or your parents.

 As one of my mentors, Jim Rohn once said, “If you’re forty, in good health, living in America and broke, something is wrong”.

 We all have the opportunity to educate ourselves, learn from leaders in our field, get a better job or start a business, save and invest and build a better life.

 Yes, some lucky people born into wealth have a leg up in life, but that doesn’t exclude you from the millionaire’s club. Membership to the club is still open and every year millions more join it!

 Someone else becoming rich doesn’t deprive you or mean there’s not enough to go around – that’s a ‘scarcity’ mentality. Quite the opposite in fact. Wealth is expanding, wealthy people employ more people, successful business people employ people and help make others rich too.

 I repeat. There are more opportunities today to become financially free than there has ever been in 7000 years of recorded history.

 Thank you for joining me on your journey to becoming a S.M.A.R.T Money Manager. Remember to follow the action steps. TAKE ACTION!

There are more examples and practical steps to getting rich and being happy in my book, Yes, money can buy happiness, which you can find on Amazon.

 Thank you for listening to this course! I hope you enjoyed it and are following the action steps.

 Would you like to take the next step towards becoming financially free?

 Bonus Lesson

 You have now learned how to manage you money the S.M.A.R.T way. I have created a special bonus lesson to take you to the next level by showing you how you can create more income!

 I will send you the bonus lesson if you follow the steps below and watch my free video training. Just email once you have registered.

 Millionaires and millionaire habits have been studied and documented at academic levels for the last hundred years. We know exactly what the millionaire habits and traits are, as success leaves tracks. All you have to do is follow their tracks to become wealthy and financially free!

 If you would like to learn more about investing and managing your money, become a professional property investor, or would like to be financially free without working any harder, watch this free on demand training.

 I will give a special free gift which can help you to immediately transform your finances when you attend the online training.

Click on this link to watch the free training now https://bit.ly/3wLWqx2

[orbemnews]

Aventum Group CEO shares thought process behind global restructure and rebrand “It’s been fun, though it’s not been easy,” he said. “It’s been 25 years of building the business from effectively nothing. We started with the Yellow Pages at a boardroom table, as Direct Insurance Agency in 1996, bringing in the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker, if we could place it… We’re proud of what we’ve achieved. We’ve got fantastic colleagues in the business and a brilliant culture. And I think after 25 years of work, it’s time to take the sheet off and unveil that to the world.” The restructuring will bring together the group’s UK and international teams into one combined global insurance group formed of two distinct businesses – its international specialty wholesale (re)insurance broker, Consilium, and its international specialty wholesale (re)insurance MGA, Rokstone. In the UK, Direct Insurance London Market will change its name to Consilium, operating as the international broker’s UK operation. Meanwhile, Aura Underwriting, iSure, iFarm, Rokstone Construction Risk Underwriters and Novus Underwriting, will all become part of Rokstone. “From a day-to-day perspective, our clients are still going to be dealing with the same great bunch of people, the same culture and the same ‘can-do’ attitude,” he said. “But by bringing the business together under one brand, we’re creating a real presence in the market that can leverage our existing system efficiencies and innovation, and enhance the experience of all our customers.” Quarter of a century of growth has allowed the group to sprawl out into a variety of niche MGA businesses, he said, and the idea to bring them all together under the ‘Aventum family’ made sense as it allows the advancements each business had made individually to come together. Whether it was with regards to tech or innovation or talent, the rich vein of opportunity within each business needed to be tapped into, for the creation of increased brand equity as well as cross-selling capabilities. “As the business got some considerable scale, we knew that to go to the next level – of which the vision of a billion-dollar MGA business and a billion-dollar broking business is only a milestone – we needed to create better efficiencies, more leverage and more weight in the market,” he explained. “There’s probably a lot of people who didn’t realize until [now] that Novus is connected to Rokstone which is connected to Aura [and so on]. The fact is, we’ve already arrived, we just did so under cover of darkness.” There’s always a method in the madness behind how the Aventum team chooses names, Bearman said, and this latest was no exception. The team brainstormed many ideas, looking to emphasize the culture of the business and when Aventum was chosen, the Latin root of which means to do things with sincerity, there was a strong consensus that the name hit the right note. Selecting the name is the easy part, of course, and the Aventum team has no shortage of ambitious strategic growth plans that they are looking forward to kicking up a gear. With 25 years of acquiring talent and market innovation to build on, Bearman said, the focus is on maintaining that upwards trajectory. This will include robust M&A plans, for which the group has a multi-million-pound “war chest” waiting for the right opportunities, as well as continuing its commitment to being “fiercely independent”, culture-driven and people-focused. Looking to its M&A strategy, where an existing pipeline of deals is already in progress, he noted that Aventum has no intention of becoming another consolidator and is not looking for scale, simply for scale’s sake. “We are looking to target carefully and continue to build out the niche platform and environment that we operate within. We have a number of targets that we’re in discussion with that tick that specialty box for us,” he said. “This is about the long-term horizon for us, we’re an owner-managed business so it’s about continuing what we’ve done in the last 25 years, but also accelerating it now that we’ve got that momentum.” Culture is an integral part of what has allowed Aventum to survive and thrive since its early days, he said, and while many businesses talk a good culture game, the group goes one step further by enforcing a democratic environment that welcomes the voice and the opinions of all. Having that familial culture means everybody looks after each other because there’s a shared goal and everyone is heading in the same direction. And who better to become the partner brand ambassador of a group looking to undertake an “epic journey” than the celebrated explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes (pictured directly above)? Sir Fiennes was the obvious choice, according to Bearman as he mirrored the team’s adventurous ethic and its desire to explore the unknown. “As for me,” said Bearman, “I’m 25 years in and I’m excited. I get up every morning with even more excitement than I ever did before for the next day. And, whether it’s the coffee or not, I don’t know, but I’m genuinely excited for the next 25 years. I think, the future is extremely bright for the business, and that this is a very positive step towards becoming that ‘best in the industry’ business. So, it’s exciting times ahead for us.” Source link Orbem News #Aventum #CEO #Global #group #process #rebrand #restructure #shares #thought

[freenewstoday]

New Post has been published on https://freenews.today/2021/04/08/self-employed-alert-how-freelancers-contractors-may-be-able-to-avoid-ir35-tax-changes/

Self-employed alert: How freelancers & contractors may be able to avoid IR35 tax changes

IR35 tax changes were introduced on April 6 and going forward, companies will be required to treat off-payroll workers as full-time employees, mirroring a system that has been in place in the public sector since 2017. Many fear this will raise costs across the board and limit contractor usage but some self-employed workers may be able to sidestep some of this damage.

Dan Stopp, a UK Accounting Manager at Bokio, broke down what the new rules mean: “In short, IR35 is an anti-avoidance tax legislation designed to close a loophole in the tax system where workers could exploit the setup of a limited company structure to avoid paying employment taxes.

“Essentially, it was brought in to ensure contractors doing work for companies are paying the same level of Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions as normal employees, and the firms that hire them are also paying additional tax contributions to HMRC.

“Whereas from 2017, IR35 applied predominantly to contractors in the public sector, the changes that have come into effect this week have extended these rules to the private sector, affecting an estimated 170,000 additional contractors.

READ MORE: SEISS 4th grant: When will online gateway open for fourth grant?

“This means that many more self-employed workers across the UK – and the businesses that hire them – will now have to pay tax differently.”

While many experts and industries within the field worried about the new rules, Dan went on to confirm that many self-employed workers may not even be hit by them: “So, whether you are self-employed or a business owner, it’s vital you take time to understand the new IR35 rules and exactly who is affected by them because the chances are, you may not be.

“In general, if you, as self-employed, carry out work for a fixed fee, are paid at the end of a project, generally work for a number of different clients, and have control over how, when and where you work, the new IR35 changes may not apply to you.

“The best way to find out is via the HMRC website, and its CEST tool, which assesses whether you should be classed as ‘employed’ or ‘self-employed.’

DON’T MISS: State pension will increase but concern the sum ‘doesn’t meet’ needs [INSIGHT] Self-employed to be hit at ‘worst possible time’ as tax rules change [WARNING] ‘IR35 is becoming a storm in a teacup’ contractors income to be hit [EXPERT]

“If you are still uncertain about whether or not your employment status is deemed to fall within IR35, you may not have to worry about non-compliance and hefty fines just yet, as HMRC have said they will implement a ‘light touch’ approach during the first year of roll-out, meaning that no penalties will be placed on anyone with inaccuracies relating to the IR35 rules.

“Make sure you use this time to properly get your head round these new tax changes, and whether or not they affect you.”

Additionally, self-employed workers and contractors who work for relatively small firms are unlikely to be affected as Joanne Harris, a Technical Commercial Manager at SJD Accountancy, explained: “The biggest change for medium-large businesses is that the responsibility for determining the IR35 status of any contractor working for the company now sits with them.

“They will also need to issue what’s known as a Status Determination Statement to show this, until they do, they remain liable for any unpaid tax and national insurance.

“Businesses must work compliantly with the IR35 changes or else could face the prospect of paying back taxes and facing penalties, although HMRC have confirmed that clients will not have to pay penalties for inaccuracies in the first 12 months relating to the off-payroll working rules, unless there’s evidence of deliberate non-compliance.

“The new rules do not apply to small businesses, which HMRC defines in the case of IR35 as those that meet two of the following criteria – turnover of no more than £10.2 million; a balance sheet total of no more than £5.1 million, or no more than 50 employees.

“For engagements with small companies the responsibility for assessing the IR35 status of an assignment will remain with the contractor.

“There are some companies that have already announced blanket bans on working with contractors or freelancers providing their services through their own limited company.

“This is completely unnecessary and these businesses risk losing valuable contingent workers.

“The best approach is for all businesses to make sure they are prepared and are able to assess the IR35 status of assignments fairly, which will mean they can continue to engage with skilled contractors and freelancers.

“We would urge any companies considering a blanket ban to seriously think again.”

Full details on the new IR35 rules can be found on the Government’s website

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[solarpunk-gnome]

By Cat Johnson

As “death star platforms” such as Airbnb and Uber continue their pursuit of global domination, an alternative is rising in its wake.

Platform cooperatives, which share the value they create with the users they depend on, are on the rise. As Shareable co-founder Neal Gorenflo writes in How Platform Co-ops Can Beat Death Stars Like Uber to Create a Real Sharing Economy, “Platform coops combine a cooperative business structure with an online platform to deliver a real-world service.”

Gorenflo asks, “What if Uber was owned and governed by its drivers? What if Airbnb was owned and governed by its hosts?” We don’t have to wait to find out. A growing number of platform cooperatives are making their presence known on a global scale. Below are just 11 platform co-ops that are changing the way people organize, run businesses, create value, and share the wealth. There are many more.

1. Fairmondo

Fairmondo is a digital, co-operative version of eBay, where sellers on the platform are also its owners. Launched by Felix Weth in Germany in 2013, the platform is, as Chelsea Rustrum writes, “rooted in an ethos of open source, open innovation, and a commons-based society. It has funded itself through a series of successful crowdfunding campaigns that have raised hundreds of thousands of Euros in member equity.”

To scale globally, the Fairmondo team plans to create an international network of country-based co-ops feeding into the Fairmondo platform.

2. Stocksy

Stocksy is a stock photo site where contributing photographers are also owners. A “highly curated collection” of royalty-free stock photos, the platform is a cooperative that believes in creative integrity, fair profit sharing, co-ownership, and every voice being heard. It’s a new twist on traditional co-ops. As they state on the website, “Think more artist respect and support, and less patchouli.”

Contributing Stocksy photographers receive 50% of a Standard License Purchase and 75% of an Extended License Purchase. Every Stocksy contributor receives a share of the company.

3. Backfeed

Backfeed is a platform to create platform cooperatives, all powered by the blockchain. Backfeed bills itself as, “a social operating system for decentralized organizations.” It enables massive, open-source collaboration without central coordination. Using a blockchain-based operating system, the Israeli company’s infrastructure comprises decentralized management tools, equity-sharing schemes, crowdsourcing mechanisms, and instruments for the collaborative evaluation and curation of content.

With a goal to enable the bootstrapping of decentralized organizations on top of the blockchain as easily as deploying a website, Backfeed can fuel a variety of ventures, including “decentralized journalism, insurance, ride-sharing applications and any other enterprise that would benefit from the decentralized, indirect coordination of large groups of individuals.”

4. Juno

Photo: Nancy Xu (CC-BY)

A ridesharing company that is taking on Uber, Juno has reserved 50% of its equity for platform drivers. The company is being built by an experienced team of startup veterans, including founder Talmon Marco, who sold his messaging app Viber to Rakuten for $900 million, and is well-funded with backing coming from Viber founders rather than outside VCs.

The New York City-based startup, which recently launched service in the Big Apple, is reportedly only taking a 10% commission of each ride (Uber takes 20-35%), and is giving drivers the option to be contractors or employees (if they want to be exclusive to Juno).

5. Union Taxi

Union Taxi in Denver, Colorado, a driver-owned taxi cooperative, represents a growing trend. Drivers are increasingly organizing taxi cooperatives for better pay and working conditions than what traditional taxi companies and Uber can offer. They also must compete successfully. Union Taxi appears to be doing both. They offer a convenient service with e-hailing (like Uber) and driver ownership and control of the business.

CWA (Communications Workers of America) Local 7777 helped the drivers form the cooperative and plays an ongoing support role. By driving for Union, cab drivers cut their car lease rate by two-thirds. As Lisa Bolton, president of the union told Shareable, “By far, the biggest advantage was the lease rate.” This enabled drivers to work less, “which gives them more time at home. They were taking home a lot more of their money that they were making, and everybody was contributing the same amount to the business.”

PDX Yellow Cab is a similar taxi cooperative in Portland, Oregon, where Somali cab drivers broke away from traditional cab companies to form their own—the first major Somali-owned business in Portland. Union Cab Cooperative in Portland is also fairly new (pictured above), though neither cooperative offer e-hailing yet.

6. VTC Cab

After Uber cut fares across Paris, some of its drivers created a competing service, VTC Cab. Modeled after Uber, the ride-sharing platform aims to give drivers more control over their business and provide passengers an opportunity to support a French company.

As the app’s founder, Mohammed Radi, told the Verge, “We want to re-establish and regain our rights over Uber. Uber is not representative of our community… They are a technology company which has no connection with the world of transportation. So they treat human beings like a number — you know, like a figure on a computer. And being a number, as a driver, it’s a very bad feeling.”

7. Modo

Modo is a Vancouver-based consumer car sharing co-op. Launched in 1997, with just two cars and 16 members, Modo has grown to 16,000 members and a fleet of over 500 sports cars, sedans, trucks, SUVs, vans and hybrids—all available to share at $4/hour through a smartphone app and website. Member-owners are shareholding members of the co-op which means they get a vote as well as the best rates for carsharing.

8. Timefounder

Timefounder is a “fair and elegant equity split system where you will love to wake up and work on projects you will end up owning with the rest of the team members.” The app allows founders to be fair with the people who invest time in a project and allows experts to invest time in projects and get future shares or others benefits. Based in Barcelona, the Timefounder team aims to “enable collaboration with fair equity split.”

9. Enspiral

Enspiral is a collective of social enterprises and freelancers that makes, uses, and distributes free apps for decision making and budgeting. Based in New Zealand, the platform, which is self-described as a “sort of a ‘DIY’ social enterprise support network,” has a goal to help their organization, as well as other organizations and movements, run democratically. As the website states, “If you’re an independent, entrepreneurial person with a deep commitment to service and social change and want to discover your own way to have an impact alongside like-minded people, Enspiral is fertile ground.”

10. Tapazz

Tapazz is a peer to peer carsharing co-op in Belgium. A recognized cooperative company, it enables shareholders who believe in the company’s social mission (to ensure a sustainable mobility society) to participate in its growth. Shareholders can invest, produce and create a transparent structure to ensure sustainable mobility. As an added bonus, Tapazz “offers space for co-creating and collaboration, so it really is a business of everyone.”

11. Peerby

Peerby is a Dutch neighbor-to-neighbor goods sharing platform. The company recently raised $2.2 million from users in a recent crowdfunding campaign, which makes users the majority shareholder class.

A certified B corp, Peerby plans to use the funds, which surpasses the total venture capital dollars the startup raised previously and makes it one of the most successful international crowdfunding campaigns ever, for product development and international expansion of a new business model named Peerby Go, with a specific focus on the UK and North America.

What are your favorite platform co-ops? Please share in the comments.

Cross-posted from Shareable.net and authored by Cat Johnson

[agiliuxcloudinsurance]

5 Ways Insurance Brokerage Software can Streamline your Business and Ensure IFRS Compliance

The world of insurance brokerage can be fast-paced and demanding. From managing client details to tracking policies and commissions, staying organized is crucial for success. This is where accounting software designed specifically for insurance brokers comes in.

More than just crunching numbers, this software streamlines your entire operation and ensures compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Here’s why having the right accounting software for insurance brokers is essential.

Table of Contents

•          Introduction

•          Core Features

•          Financial Strength

•          Specialized Features

•          Agiliux for Brokers

•          Conclusion

Core Features Tailored for Insurance Brokers

•          Client Management: Maintain a structured database with comprehensive client details, including contact information, purchased insurance plans, premium payments, and claim history.

•          Insurance Policy Management: Effortlessly create, renew, and manage all aspects of insurance policies, including adding coverages and maintaining detailed records.

•          Premium Management: Track premium payments, due dates, payment methods, and unpaid premiums. Generate reminders and reports for late payments.

•          Claims Management: Efficiently record, process, and track all client claims, including approvals/rejections, payout calculations, and related documentation.

Check how Agiliux Commercial Insurance Brokers can help your business.

Financial Strength: The Backbone of Your Business

Financial accounting is a core module that adheres to IFRS standards and handles your income, expenses, assets, liabilities, and equity. Here’s a breakdown of the key functionalities:

•          Bookkeeping: Record all financial transactions accurately, with automatic categorization based on IFRS.

•          General Ledger: Maintain an accurate record of all financial transactions using double-entry bookkeeping.

•          Accounts Receivable: Manage amounts owed by clients, generate invoices, send payment reminders, and provide detailed reports. Recognize revenue according to the accrual basis of accounting (as recommended by IFRS).

•          Accounts Payable: Manage amounts owed to suppliers, process invoices, make payments, and avoid late fees. Recognize expenses when incurred (as per the accrual basis).

Financial Statement Generation

This critical module automatically creates major financial statements like:

•          Balance Sheet: Provides a snapshot of your company’s financial health at a specific point in time.

•          Income Statement: Shows your company’s revenues and expenses, resulting in net profit or loss over a period.

•          Cash Flow Statement: Categorizes changes in cash and cash equivalents into operating, investing, and financing activities.

Specialized Features to Give You an Edge

On top of the core functionalities, accounting software designed for insurance brokers offers specialized features to enhance your operations

•          Commissions Management: Track commissions earned based on policies sold, maintain records of paid and pending commissions, and generate commission reports.

•          Reinsurance Management: Manage the transfer of portions of risk to reinsurers. Key sub-modules include cession management, retrocession management, claims recovery, and reinsurance contract management.

•          Risk Management: Identify, assess, and mitigate risks associated with the policies you sell. This might include features for risk identification, risk assessment, risk mitigation strategies, and risk reporting.

•          Audit & Compliance: Ensure your company adheres to IFRS and local regulations. This includes features for audit trails, compliance monitoring, and regulatory reporting.

Agiliux Solutions for Insurance Industry

How Agiliux Streamlines Insurance Broker Operations

Agiliux Broker Solution offers end-to-end automation for both direct and reinsurance brokers. Their platform streamlines everything from risk coverage requests to debit note generation, payment management, and regulatory reporting.

Here’s how Agiliux empowers brokers:

•          Increased Efficiency: Manage operations more efficiently, allowing you to focus on exceptional client service.

•          Seamless Processes: Automate workflows for a streamlined experience from quote generation to policy issuance and claims processing.

•          Compliance Ensured: Built-in features help ensure adherence to IFRS and local regulations.

Embrace Efficiency and Growth with Agiliux By leveraging Agiliux’s accounting software, insurance brokers can gain a significant advantage in today’s competitive landscape. Let’s book a free demo now to explore their comprehensive solutions and transform your insurance brokerage for the digital age.

[agiliuxcloudinsurance]

Using Agiliux to Streamline Insurance Broker Operations and Maximize Efficiency

Find out how Agiliux's state-of-the-art methods for optimizing operations are revolutionizing the London Market insurance brokerage. Everything about your brokerage process is optimized by our platform, from smooth policy management to effective customer onboarding. To find out more about how Agiliux can revolutionize your insurance brokerage business, visit our https://www.agiliux.com/markets/uk-brokers/

[aiyunyingjj]

how to tell the difference between the uk’s traffic cameras and spot the ones that can fine you

Thinking of being photographed by one of the many cameras on British roads, any driver will worry -- Even if you did nothing wrong. But not all traffic cameras are the same, and some don\'t even record your speed. According to data from more than 40 British police forces, only more than half of the fixed-speed cameras are actively used, where there is a lot of surveillance equipment to track criminals, manage traffic, or simply collect data. For the sake of your own inner peace, it\'s worth knowing what every camera has -- So, be aware of those who are not trying to catch you, and those who will see you fined. Keep reading and see the different types of speed cameras on UK roads and how they work. Gatso is the most common speed camera in the UK and has been in use since 1992- But there\'s a range of different fixed speed readers. Fixed cameras are usually present in the building area and driveway, purely to ensure that the driver complies with the speed limit. Driving through one of them is faster than you should go and there is no doubt that you will be fined. These cameras are called spec cameras that measure your speed anywhere between 200 and 10 km. Using license plate recognition, they measure how long it takes you from camera A to camera B, and then check this against the average time you should spend on speed limit driving. If your time exceeds the limit, you will be fined 100 and get three penalty points -- Even if your speed is lower than the allowed speed when passing through the camera. Last year, we broke the myth of a fixed-speed camera. There are cameras from the highway administration all over the country, but they are not used to capture dangerous drivers. Small gray cameras are used to manage traffic and help monitor accidents and incidents on major roads. They are only for observation and are not equipped with a speed radar or a license plate recognition system. The most common on highways and large highways is CCTV cameras. roads. These cameras are smaller and more hidden to capture the driver driving on the designated bus lane. They usually look similar to CCTV cameras, and they capture your registration if you\'re driving in the red lane at the wrong time. Driving on a bus lane usually receives a penalty notice of £ 90. Police use automatic license plate recognition cameras to crack down on crime But it\'s not a regular traffic violation you might think. They collect car registration data to track criminals related to local crime, organized crime or potential terrorist activities -- Related activities. If cars without MOT, taxes or insurance are used on public roads, they can also alert officials. While they may not catch you because you are speeding, they will certainly pursue offenders for a range of crimes. Either hand- The mobile police radar was detained or installed on a van purely to capture the speeding person. They can show up at any location the police think is appropriate. hours a day. Similar to police and public relations cameras, those operated by British highways are not used to pay for speeding fines. The green stationary camera is used to determine the level of traffic and travel time. While the camera does use vehicle registration to collect data, no license plate readings are stored and no images of the car or driver are taken. The traffic light camera captures the driver who runs the red light. When the lights are red, they detect cars passing through the advanced parking line. If you get caught, the camera usually flashes when you take a picture of your car and you will receive a fine of 100. Earlier this year, we reported how drivers were found if they stopped before turning off the lights. The new \"green speed\" camera is used to capture dangerous drivers who will speed up before changing to try to beat the traffic lights. On last November, police announced the largest mobile speed camera in the United States. The camera, known as a long ranger, was used by police in Gloucester County to spot speeding drivers a mile away. But privacy regulators say cameras are pushing Britain to become a \"surveillance state \".

[addictionfreedom]

Addiction Treatment Center Employment

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Arianna sampson helped launch

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Addiction threatens employment, family, health, and happiness. To fight back, it is important to devote your attention to recovery in a supportive and comfortable setting. Our job is to help you select the correct treatment center for your needs, insurance and location.

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[chesspecialrisk]

A true entrepreneur- Gary Hirst

LONDON IS a beacon for entrepreneurs like Gary Hirst. It’s the beating heart of busi-ness and finance in the UK, and it’s home to the world’s oldest insurance market-place, Lloyd’s of London. It was the hustle and bustle of the city that attracted Hirst fresh out of school and gave him the drive to walk the streets of London, knocking on door after door in an attempt to follow his father’s advice: “Go and find a job working at Lloyd’s.”

Hirst’s persistence paid off when he landed a job in 1984 at Fenchurch Group, which was the largest independent wholesale broker in the London market at the time. He started at the bottom, tasked with filing, photocopying and making the occasional run to the sandwich shop, before he was given the opportunity to shadow a senior broker and learn the craft of broking to under-writers and Lloyd’s syndicates. He started in the North American department and later joined the international department, where his experience spanned international property, construction, multinational programs, general liability and personal accident placements.

By the age of 26, Hirst had become the youngest director at Fenchurch Group, taking a leadership role in the international division. Reflecting on his early successes, Hirst says, “I think the exposure, trust and responsibility I gained during that early start has helped me to give direction and opportunity to the people I’ve worked with throughout my career.”

Coming to Canada

In 1993, Hirst left Fenchurch Group for JK Buckenham, where he spent five years building a book of facultative business for the Lloyd’s broker. After that, he became a founding director and shareholder in Ches-terfield Group, which was made up of Ches-terfield Canada, Van Wagoner Companies (based in Dallas, Texas) and a fully accredited Lloyd’s broker known as Chesterfield Insur-ance Brokers.

“Previously, not a lot of people really understood Canada or thought of it as a very fertile place to come and invest — but our thriving MGA market says differently”

From the founding of Chesterfield Group in November 1998 to its eventual sale to Kaufman Financial Group in January 2012, Hirst and his fellow core shareholders grew its gross written premium from $0 to more than US$120 million, expanding from one small office in London to three offices across two continents and three time zones.

“The Canadian market turned out to be a real jewel in the crown,” says Hirst, who moved from the UK to Toronto in January 2012 to become head of Chesterfield Canada. “It was full of great people, and there was so much growth potential.”

Hirst departed Chesterfield two years later and, after a short stint as a Lloyd’s market consultant, purchased the Canadian MGA business insurance companies in canada CHES Special Risk, where he remains to this day as president and CEO.

“I was attracted to CHES because they were in the MGA space, which I have always found extremely exciting,” he says, adding that his experience with the London market enabled him to set an effective strategy for the business, built around strong partnerships at Lloyd’s and with domestic carriers and retail brokers.

“In the early years, we spent an awful lot of time and energy trying to find a good soft-ware system that would enable us to capture the best data. That’s key to being a successful MGA,” he says. “We also focused on building out our team. The mantra of this business insurance provider in canada is employing the best person for the job, regard-less of their educational background or their life experience. What we’re attempting to do is build an organization that attracts top talent, while also attracting business partners that feel we can deliver quality distribution of their products.

“Retail brokers are making [the MGA] segment of the market innovate because they’re desperate for new ideas and new capacity”

“If there are insurance companies and/or Lloyd’s syndicates that are interested in a particular class of business, we will go out and hire a team that will make that particular class of business successful for them. We’ve found that the combination of collecting data and having the best possible team to deliver the distribution has actually attracted a lot of support from Lloyd’s syndicates and domestic carriers in the Canadian marketplace.”

CHES thrives on what Hirst describes as “out-of-the-box thinking.” Often, new ideas come straight from the MGA’s retail broker partners, and the CHES team is always happy to explore them.

“They give us the business,” Hirst explains. “It’s important for retail brokers to know they’re dealing with someone that understands their local market issues and can provide unique solutions.”

The MGA advantage

In addition to running CHES Special Risk, business insurance provider in canada  Hirst is the founder, president and CEO of Hirst & Partners, a fully accredited Canadian-based Lloyd’s broker, and he also serves as president of the Canadian Association of Managing General Agents (CAMGA), a non-profit organization that advocates for the MGA industry both in Canada and worldwide.

“I think the MGA industry in Canada at this moment in time is hugely exciting because of the hard market,” Hirst says. “We’re in a market that drives innova-tion. We’re seeing a lot of carriers, both domestic and within Lloyd’s, reviewing their books of business. A lot of that remedi-ation has already taken place, so we’re now in a very stable but hard market. We know what domestic partners and Lloyd’s syndi-cates want and what they don’t want. That allows the MGA industry to develop new product offerings and bring new capacity to the market.

“We’re seeing a lot of new startups in the MGA industry, as well as new investors and a lot of mergers and acquisitions. Inter-national players are now looking at the Canadian marketplace and buying an existing distribution, which allows them to come to market far quicker. The MGA industry — not only in Canada, but elsewhere in the world — is very exciting. Retail brokers are making this segment of the market innovate because they’re desperate for new ideas and new capacity.

“I always say that Canada is one of the best-kept secrets in the world. Previously, not a lot of people really understood Canada or thought of it as a very fertile place to come and invest — but our thriving MGA market says differently.”

Source-https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/ca/people/a-true-entrepreneur-256941.aspx

[latestmarketresearch]

Covid-19 Impact on Big Data in the Insurance Market 2020

JULY 23, 2020: “Big Data” originally emerged as a term to describe datasets whose size is beyond the ability of traditional databases to capture, store, manage and analyze. However, the scope of the term has significantly expanded over the years. Big Data not only refers to the data itself but also a set of technologies that capture, store, manage and analyze large and variable collections of data, to solve complex problems.

Amid the proliferation of real-time and historical data from sources such as connected devices, web, social media, sensors, log files and transactional applications, Big Data is rapidly gaining traction from a diverse range of vertical sectors. The insurance industry is no exception to this trend, where Big Data has found a host of applications ranging from targeted marketing and personalized products to usage-based insurance, efficient claims processing, proactive fraud detection and beyond.

To Request A Sample Copy Of This Report @:   https://www.radiantinsights.com/research/big-data-in-the-insurance-industry-2018-2030/request-sample

SNS Telecom & IT estimates that Big Data investments in the insurance industry will account for more than $2.4 Billion in 2018 alone. Led by a plethora of business opportunities for insurers, reinsurers, insurance brokers, InsurTech specialists and other stakeholders, these investments are further expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 14% over the next three years.

The “Big Data in the Insurance Industry: 2018 - 2030 - Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts” report presents an in-depth assessment of Big Data in the insurance industry including key market drivers, challenges, investment potential, application areas, use cases, future roadmap, value chain, case studies, vendor profiles and strategies. The report also presents market size forecasts for Big Data hardware, software and professional services investments from 2018 through to 2030. The forecasts are segmented for 8 horizontal submarkets, 8 application areas, 9 use cases, 6 regions and 35 countries.

The report comes with an associated Excel datasheet suite covering quantitative data from all numeric forecasts presented in the report.

Topics Covered

The report covers the following topics:

- Big Data ecosystem

- Market drivers and barriers

- Enabling technologies, standardization and regulatory initiatives

- Big Data analytics and implementation models

- Business case, application areas and use cases in the insurance industry

- 20 case studies of Big Data investments by insurers, reinsurers, InsurTech specialists and other stakeholders in the insurance industry

- Future roadmap and value chain

- Profiles and strategies of over 270 leading and emerging Big Data ecosystem players

- Strategic recommendations for Big Data vendors and insurance industry stakeholders

- Market analysis and forecasts from 2018 till 2030

Forecast Segmentation

Market forecasts are provided for each of the following submarkets and their subcategories:

Hardware, Software & Professional Services

- Hardware

- Software

- Professional Services

Horizontal Submarkets

- Storage & Compute Infrastructure

- Networking Infrastructure

- Hadoop & Infrastructure Software

- SQL

- NoSQL

- Analytic Platforms & Applications

- Cloud Platforms

- Professional Services

Application Areas

- Auto Insurance

- Property & Casualty Insurance

- Life Insurance

- Health Insurance

- Multi-Line Insurance

- Other Forms of Insurance

- Reinsurance

- Insurance Broking

Use Cases

- Personalized & Targeted Marketing

- Customer Service & Experience

- Product Innovation & Development

- Risk Awareness & Control

- Policy Administration, Pricing & Underwriting

- Claims Processing & Management

- Fraud Detection & Prevention

- Usage & Analytics-Based Insurance

- Other Use Cases

To Browse Full Research Report @: https://www.radiantinsights.com/research/big-data-in-the-insurance-industry-2018-2030

Regional Markets

- Asia Pacific

- Eastern Europe

- Latin & Central America

- Middle East & Africa

- North America

- Western Europe

Country Markets

- Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, UAE, UK, USA

Key Questions Answered

The report provides answers to the following key questions:

- How big is the Big Data opportunity in the insurance industry?

- How is the market evolving by segment and region?

- What will the market size be in 2021, and at what rate will it grow?

- What trends, challenges and barriers are influencing its growth?

- Who are the key Big Data software, hardware and services vendors, and what are their strategies?

- How much are insurers, reinsurers, InsurTech specialists and other stakeholders investing in Big Data?

- What opportunities exist for Big Data analytics in the insurance industry?

- Which countries, application areas and use cases will see the highest percentage of Big Data investments in the insurance industry?

Key Findings

The report has the following key findings:

- In 2018, Big Data vendors will pocket more than $2.4 Billion from hardware, software and professional services revenues in the insurance industry. These investments are further expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 14% over the next three years, eventually accounting for nearly $3.6 Billion by the end of 2021.

- Through the use of Big Data technologies, insurers and other stakeholders are beginning to exploit their data assets in a number of innovative ways ranging from targeted marketing and personalized products to usage-based insurance, efficient claims processing, proactive fraud detection and beyond.

- The growing adoption of Big Data technologies has brought about an array of benefits for insurers and other stakeholders. Based on feedback from insurers worldwide, these include but are not limited to an increase in access to insurance services by more than 30%, a reduction in policy administration workload by up to 50%, prediction of large loss claims with an accuracy of nearly 80%, cost savings in claims processing and management by 40-70%, accelerated processing of non-emergency insurance claims by a staggering 90%; and improvements in fraud detection rates by as much as 60%.

- In addition, Big Data technologies are playing a pivotal role in facilitating the adoption of on-demand insurance models - particularly in auto, life and health insurance, as well as the insurance of new and underinsured risks such as cyber crime.

List of Companies Mentioned

• 1010data

• Absolutdata

• Accenture

• Actian Corporation

• Adaptive Insights

• Adobe Systems

• Advizor Solutions

• Aegon

• AeroSpike

• Aetna

• AFS Technologies

• Alation

• Algorithmia

• Allianz Group

• Allstate Corporation

• Alluxio

• Alphabet

• ALTEN

• Alteryx

• AMD (Advanced Micro Devices)

• Anaconda

• Apixio

• Arcadia Data

• Arimo

• Arity

• ARM

• ASF (Apache Software Foundation)

• Atidot

• AtScale

• Attivio

• Attunity

• Automated Insights

• AVORA

• AWS (Amazon Web Services)

• AXA

• Axiomatics

• Ayasdi

• BackOffice Associates

• Basho Technologies

• BCG (Boston Consulting Group)

• Bedrock Data

• BetterWorks

• Big Panda

• BigML

• Birst

• Bitam

• Blue Medora

• BlueData Software

• BlueTalon

• BMC Software

• BOARD International

• Booz Allen Hamilton

• Boxever

• CACI International

• Cambridge Semantics

• Cape Analytics

• Capgemini

• Cazena

• Centrifuge Systems

• CenturyLink

• Chartio

• China Life Insurance Company

• Cigna

• Cisco Systems

• Civis Analytics

• ClearStory Data

• Cloudability

• Cloudera

• Cloudian

• Clustrix

• CognitiveScale

• Collibra

• Concirrus

• Concurrent Technology

• Confluent

• Contexti

• Couchbase

• Crate.io

Continued…………….

To See More Reports of This Category by Radiant Insights: https://latestmarkettrends.news.blog/

About Radiant Insights: Radiant Insights is a platform for companies looking to meet their market research and business intelligence requirements. It assist and facilitate organizations and individuals procure market research reports, helping them in the decision making process. The Organization has a comprehensive collection of reports, covering over 40 key industries and a host of micro markets. In addition to over extensive database of reports, experienced research coordinators also offer a host of ancillary services such as, research partnerships/ tie-ups and customized research solutions.

Media Contact:

Company Name: Radiant Insights, Inc

Contact Person: Michelle Thoras

Email:

sales@radiantinsights.com

Phone: (415) 349-0054

Address: 201 Spear St #1100, Suite #3036

City: San Francisco

State: California

Country: United States

[agiliuxcloudinsurance]

What is Insurance Broker Software and Which One Suits Your Needs the Most

An Insurance brokers act as intermediaries between the insured and the insurance company. They are responsible for filing claims, distributing premiums and any other administrative tasks required by an insurer. Brokers are often experts in their field, meaning they know everything there is to know about their product as well as being familiar with what other products have to offer.

Insurance brokers are experts in the insurance industry and can help you find the right type of insurance for you or your business. They are agents that work on behalf of an insurance company. They do not work for the customer, they work for the insurance company and their job is to find new customers. They can help customers find a policy, make sure they have everything they need, and offer advice.

What Is Insurance Broker Software System?

Insurance broker software is the backbone of the brokerage system. Inbound and outbound transactions, client data and customer service are all managed through this software. Insurance brokers systems software help the broker to automate their processes, make their work easier and save time.

An insurance broker system software is a modern set of tools for managing the day to day business process. It provides a centralized place for information to be categorized and stored for easy retrieval. It also streamlines operations by helping agents automate tasks like quoting, underwriting, billing, claim management and more.

There are many reasons why an agency should consider investing in an insurance broker systems software. Firstly, it can help them reduce staff costs by empowering their employees with automation tools. It can provide them with security against cyber security threats as well as making their business scalable. It will also have a positive impact on their client experience as they will have better reporting capabilities. Using an insurance broker system software helps saving time for agents as they don’t have to waste their time on routine tasks like updating the database or filing documents.

How to Choose the Best Insurance Broker Software?

When we think of insurance broker software, the first thing that comes to mind are the core functions – pricing, quoting, and adding of coverage. But in the 21st century with more and more tools being available for brokers, they can do much more than just this.

There are plenty of different software vendors which offer different types of broker software. One important factor to consider when choosing an insurance broker software is the type of features offered by the product. As an insurance broker, you have to make sure that the selected insurance broker software is able to help you to automate your work and make it more efficient.

You should also pay attention to the user interface of a broker software. It should be easy to use without any learning curve as most brokers are not technically savvy people and will need it to be as simple as possible. It should not be too difficult to use or require a lot of understanding as well as having all these features that are relevant for a particular broker’s needs.

There are many types of features that you should be looking for in an insurance broker software such as quota management, product management, quote generation, reporting and more. The best way to choose the best broker software for you is by trying out as many products as possible for free. That way you can identify your preferences about what features you want in a brokerage system and then narrow down your search accordingly. For more information on how to choose the right broker insurance software, do not hesitate to contact us and/or book a demo of our state-of-the-art insurance solutions at https://www.agiliux.com.

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28 February 2020

Drinks, data, discussion

We're giving Data Bites a break in March, but if you have 4 March pencilled into your diary, there's still an opportunity to discuss all things data, as we'll be going for drinks instead. If you'd like further details, drop me a line on gavin[dot]freeguard[at]instituteforgovernment[dot]org[dot]uk.

We're also on the lookout for:

Any reflections on the first octet (thanks, Giuseppe) for a short report we're publishing in April

Suggestions for future speakers, and any subject areas you'd like to see covered

Sponsors.

Please do get in touch!

Other things in brief:

A big thank you to Vuelio and an excellent panel for a fun discussion yesterday evening on the small matter of what 2020 holds in store. (No, we didn't stand up for the key change.) More on the hashtag.

A good discussion at the IfG yesterday morning on all things outsourcing transparency. Tl;dr: we need better data and more transparency. Some thoughts and links from me here.

I was quoted in a Times article on how civil servants are using Slack, revealed after a questionable deployment of an FoI exemption (more here, here and here on FoI).

And finally... another plea for help: we're looking for all sorts of frameworks about how to think about data, information, etc. Any suggestions very welcome - via Twitter or the email address above.

Have a great weekend

Gavin

Today's links:

Graphic content

You'll either love it or hate it

Marmot Review 10 Years On (UCL Institute of Health Equity)

Gains in UK life expectancy stall after decade of austerity, report says* (FT)

Austerity blamed for life expectancy stalling for first time in century (The Guardian)

UK politics, people and public services

Deprivation profiles for Welsh Local Authorities (Jamie Whyte)

School funding (Graham for IfG)

Housing (Ian Mulheirn on a BBC briefing)

Where are all the UK's new homes being built? (Centre for Cities for BBC News)

One in 10 new homes in England built on land with high flood risk (The Guardian)

Special advisers (IfG)

Migration Statistics Quarterly Report: February 2020 (ONS)

Study the biggest driver of migration to the UK, but overall levels remain stable (ONS)

Outer London most exposed to new immigration rules* (FT)

Electoral systems across the UK (IfG)

Labour partisans (strong identifiers) are now really distinctive compared with other groups (Paula Surridge)

More (Matt Singh)

GE2019: How did demographics affect the result? (House of Commons Library)

Capital Investment: why governments fail to meet their spending plans (IfG)

The trillion-pound question (Resolution Foundation)

Coronavirus

China fall in coronavirus cases undermined by questionable data* (FT)

13,000 Missing Flights: The Global Consequences of the Coronavirus* (New York Times)

Mapping the Coronavirus Outbreak Across the World* (Bloomberg)

US politics

What Defines The Sanders Coalition? (FiveThirtyEight)

Responses to our polling on the Democratic primary (G. Elliott Morris, via Ketaki)

What the Democratic Candidates Discussed During the Debates: Annotated Transcripts* (Bloomberg - and a bit behind the data, via Petr)

Sport

Alex Ovechkin is the eighth member of the NHL's 700-goal club* (Washington Post)

Liverpool have been in a winning position for... (Opta)

Uefa’s ban on Man City does not change football’s inequality* (FT)

Will Liverpool’s machine football conquer America?* (FT)

Globalisation has left lower-league football clubs behind* (The Economist)

How We Analyzed Allstate’s Car Insurance Algorithm (The Markup)

Everything else

Are there too many central bankers?* (The Economist)

The World’s Biggest Economies Get a Jolt of Government Spending* (Bloomberg)

Some lesser known visualisation techniques to show rankings when your data is just too big for a regular bar chart (Maarten Lambrechts)

Graph workflow

What is Complexity Science? (#ComplexityExplained, via David)

Meta data

Data

The Value of Data (Bennett Institute/ODI)

It’s Now or Never for National Data Strategies (Diane Coyle for Project Syndicate, via Graham)

How do we create trustworthy and sustainable data institutions? (ODI)

Data Dialogues' participatory futures projects announced (Nesta)

Three types of agreement that shape your use of data (Leigh Dodds)

Government rejects call for DCMS to audit departments’ data-sharing rules (Civil Service World)

How can data transform our health and care system? (Nesta)

AI, algorithms

The algorithm is watching you (London Review of Books)

Data Analytics and Algorithms in Policing in England and Wales: Towards A New Policy Framework (RUSI)

Rules urgently needed to oversee police use of data and AI – report (The Guardian)

Met Police chief defends facial recognition from 'ill-informed' critics (BBC News)

RUSI Annual Security Lecture

AI = “Automated Inspiration” (Cassie Kozyrkov, Towards Data Science)

Clearview AI hack is sweet irony for privacy advocates (New Statesman)

Suppose you have to choose... (Geoffrey Hinton)

Facial recognition is spreading faster than you realise (The Conversation)

Google AI will no longer use gender labels like 'woman' or 'man' on images of people to avoid bias (Business Insider)

Innovating responsibly with data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) (LOTI)

Digital government

Getting out early feels good: meet the Defra team building a new digital service for GB exporters (Defra)

A thread about UK digital government (warning: contains half finished thoughts) (Richard Pope)

UK digital government in the 2010s - what was it all about politically? (Bennett Institute)

Why Government Leaders Need to Become Digital Leaders (Governing)

Information

Inside the infodemic: Coronavirus in the age of wellness* (New Statesman)

How the Coronavirus Revealed Authoritarianism’s Fatal Flaw (The Atlantic)

Together at last – UK’s planning and housing statistics now in one place (ONS)

About the size of a London flat (ONS)

What Africa Check, Chequeado and Full Fact have learned about tackling bad information (Poynter)

Everything else

The Markup

Slouching towards dystopia: the rise of surveillance capitalism and the death of privacy (New Statesman)

Economists should learn lessons from meteorologists* (FT)

Robert Chote interview: OBR chief reflects on ten years as the nation’s top fiscal watchdog, and how he is still a reporter at heart (Civil Service World)

'I give fusion power a higher chance of succeeding than quantum computing' says the R in the RSA crypto-algorithm (The Register)

Oracle Reveals Funding of Dark Money Group Fighting Big Tech* (Bloomberg)

Katherine Johnson Dies at 101; Mathematician Broke Barriers at NASA* (New York Times)

Katherine Johnson: NASA mathematician and much-needed role model (The Conversation)

Democracy tech will be the next hot investment space (Wired)

The perils of opening the mind (Boston Globe)

Transparency

How can outsourced public services be made more transparent? (Institute for Government)

Grammar school scoring is wrong, says father – and hopes finally to prove it (The Guardian, via Nick)

Financial secrecy is the enemy in the fight against corruption (Thom Townsend)

Who uses WhatDoTheyKnow? (mySociety)

Opportunities

JOBS: NatCen

JOBS: What Works for Children's Social Care

JOB: Head of Information Rights (National Archives)

JOB: Delivery Manager (Convivio)

JOB: Artificial intelligence and algorithms reporter (Washington Post)

JOB: Partnerships and Community Manager – Understanding Patient Data (Wellcome)

JOB: Digital innovation (city) lead (Futuregov)

MoJ on the hunt for Head of Prisons Digital Services to help end reliance on ‘monolithic supplier owned systems’ (diginomica)

FELLOWSHIP: Google News Initiative (with FT, Guardian, Reach, Independent, TBIJ, Telegraph, First Draft News)

Building trust in how you handle data: a hierarchy (ODI)

EVENT: Data Trusts 2020: from theory to practice (ODI)

EVENT: Press Play: the power of data to transform physical activity (Ipsos MORI)

EVENT: FutureFest (Nesta)

And finally...

I graphed out my unaccepted Twitter DM requests (Katy Montgomerie)

The One With All The Polling (YouGov)

Duck (Terrible Maps, via Tim)

Sliding flaws: EU publishes misleading Brexit chart (Politico)

An actual chart from the 1998 Comprehensive Spending Review (via Sukh)

Civil servants discuss the politics of Love Island on Slack* (The Times)