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Every age has its fight between the cynics and the true believers, the pessimists and the optimists, the naysayers and the cheerleaders. In its latest incarnation, thanks to a witty Gawker post on the virtues of the no-bullshit approach of calling things as you see them, we begin the year with a war between "snark" and "smarm"—and the deck would seem to be pretty heavily stacked in favor of the snarkers.
Who wants to be Thumper, Bambi's ever-optimistic bunny pal and the mascot of the smarmers, when you could be Gawker's cool creator, Nick Denton or, if your tastes skew a little more Beltway and feminine, Maureen Dowd? This is particularly true if you have ever been a writer, wanted to be one or even enjoyed great writing.
Story Continued Below
I plead guilty on all three counts, but I am also a native of Canada, a country inhabited—at least in the American imagination and before the apotheosis of our boorish, crack-smoking Toronto Mayor Rob Ford—entirely by Thumpers. Moreover, after more than 20 years as a reporter and writer, I am, as of Nov. 25, also an elected politician. I've moved from the trade that invented snark, and the city, New York, that prides itself on its snarkiness, to the land of smarm and the ranks of professional smarmers as a member of the Canadian federal parliament. Our national motto up here is peace, order and good government—a phrase no snarker could utter with a straight face, but one I couldn't be prouder to stand for. So I guess I am playing true to type in coming out in defense of smarm.
First, let me try for a little smarmy conciliation. Part of the debate is false, because it rests on category confusion. If you are a professional critic—a prosecutor, an investigative reporter, a short-only investor, an opposition politician doing battle in Question Period—you need to be a snarker. Your tone is a matter of personal style; you may choose to dress your iron fist in a velvet glove. But your central purpose is negative, critical, to find fault and to deliver judgment—in short, to snark.
If your job is to build something, however—if you are an entrepreneur, a mayor, an architect—you need to be a cheerleader, a believer, a seeker of consensus, rather than a finder of fault. Personal style aside, your guiding imperative is to be creative, constructive, to find a way to make things work, rather than to look for reasons they can't—in short, to smarm. No wonder the snarkers and the smarmers are naturally at odds.
At least that's my Canadian-politician-consensus-seeking effort at finding some middle ground in the snark vs. smarm debate. But I recognize it's not the whole story. Even though snark and smarm each have their necessary place, the debate about which is better has attracted so much comment because there really is a cultural, social, political and even moral choice we need to make together about what kind of public arena we want to have.
And on this one, I'm with the smarmers. A society whose dominant tone is snark is ultimately one that is politically disengaged. A culture that is mostly about pointing out how vile, venal, stupid and hypocritical political leaders are, and how ineffective if not downright harmful government is, is a culture in which people will conclude that there is no point in being politically involved, even with as slight a commitment as voting.
I learned what low regard we have for our elected representatives partly through the shocked reaction of some of my friends when I made the leap from journalism to politics. My 8-year-old daughter was the gentlest, waiting until after I had been elected to tell me that she and her older sister had been worried about my decision because "we thought all politicians were bad people—until you became one, of course!" One of the New York editors I admire most was horrified, warning me that if I entered politics I would never again be able to tell the truth—and that even if I tried, people wouldn't listen to me, on the grounds that I was a politician, and therefore a liar.
My daughters are certainly in tune with the zeitgeist. Late last month, a Guardian /ICM poll looking for the causes of the voter disconnect in Britain found that 47 percent were "angry" with their politicians, and just 16 percent respected them. The Guardian mostly attributed this to the politicians' failings—64 percent of voters surveyed complained politicians don't keep their promises, and 46 percent complained they are on the take. Commenting on the results, Guardian assistant editor Michael White declared that "politics is a mug's game for addictive masochists," a sentiment whose echoes I heard in the remarks of many of my Canadian friends, who have been thanking me, in funereal tones, for my "sacrifice."
But is it that our politicians have become worse, or that our attitude toward them has become more dyspeptic? It isn't hard to imagine what our era of snark would have made of past heroes like John F. Kennedy or Winston Churchill. Elected politicians in Western democracies are subject to more scrutiny and tighter ethical restrictions than ever before. They are certainly a lot less corrupt than a century ago—think Tammany Hall or Britain's rotten boroughs. Yet we have less respect for their ethics and their efficacy than ever.


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It's no secret that Betty Crocker's Cooky Book is like, my favorite cookbook ever.But one of the most interesting sections? The one called "Heritage Cookies", which is introduced thusly:
Recipes we know and use today came from 'round the wrold to the thirteen isolated colonies of America. Plain and hearty cookies were the gustatory pleasure of our pioneers...though our tastes may now be trained...to select a fancy frosted cooky...these cookies of our forefathers have won an enduring place in our hearts.
The recipe for the Banana Jumbo comes from this section of the book. And though these humble cookies are flavorful on their own, I had happened to receive a sample of Sassy Sauces in the mail around the same time I made these, and I learned that they are even better with a thick dollop of milk chocolate caramel sauce. And I totally don't consider this disrespecting the original recipe, 'cos you know what? Bet our forefathers would have used the chocolate sauce too, had it been at their disposal.
Banana Jumbos
Adapted from Betty Crocker's Cooky Book
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 eggs
- 2 large, or 3 small, mashed very ripe bananas
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 cups flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Make the cookies. Mix butter, sugar, and eggs thoroughly.
- Stir in the bananas, milk, and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, soda, and salt; stir in, bit by bit, until the mixture is fully combined.
- Let the dough chill for 1-2 hours in the refrigerator.
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Using an ice cream scoop, drop rounds of dough onto a lightly greased baking sheet, leaving at least 2 inches between cookies as they will spread a bit.
- Bake for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned on the edges. Let cool completely on a wire sheet. Now, they are delicious as-is, but as I found out, they're even better when drizzled with some sort of glaze or frosting.


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Contemporary Culture Collections
Established in 1969, the Contemporary Culture Collection (CCC) is a source of primary research materials documenting North America social, political, economic and cultural history as it pertains to minority groups, the counterculture, and the fringe dating from the 1960s to the present. The CCC includes small press journals, newsletters, and newspapers, books, and pamphlets as well as microfilm, sound recordings, posters, broadsides, and related ephemera.
One of the strengths of this collection lies in the organizational records of underground or alternative press publications that provide alternate source of information and perspectives on contemporary issues. These include the Liberation News Service (LNS), an alternative news agency active in the 1960s and 1970s that documented Third World politics and the American social and political protest movements of the time period; the Committee of Small Magazine Editors and Publishers, a small press clearinghouse; G.I. Papers, underground antiwar newspapers produced by and for enlisted members of the U.S. Armed Forces; and Seven Days and the Socialist Review, both of which published social and political focused periodicals with commentaries on issues ranging from civil rights and abortion to migrant labor, gay rights and nuclear disarmament.


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Muller mira muller/woman look at woman
Oct 25, 2005 - ongoing
Provincail Museum of Lugo
Plaza da Soidade s/n
Lugo, Spain
|Phone Number:
|0034 982242112
|Encarnacion Lago Gonzalez
The function of a Museum is to attend to the whole society that the whole society feels represented in its funds, and in its exhibitions. If only a part of that community has the possibility of belonging, in one way or another, to the museum, to be reflected in it, then the speech, the narration will go univocally in an only sense. For a long time women were not part of museums; In fact, the famous performance of the Gorilla girls talked us about this subject: women only could enter if they were naked to MoMa, for example. Because women were seen as models or muses. A Museum of the XXI century has the duty to incorporate an inclusive project, a project proportioned to society and to the times.
We began to elaborate that discourse in the year 2000, to propose a shared history, understanding that a programming that includes the genre is not only a programming that contemplates the expositions of women artists. It is, for us, a programming that takes into account the whole framework behind and contributes to the fact that differences and inequalities are increasingly shortened. It is a speech that puts on the table the difficulties of women artists, curators, critics, guides, directives, to carry out their work competing in unequal conditions with men. It is talk of adapting the facilities to be inhabited by women, with all that implies, is to contribute to the media know and recognize the work of women, is, finally, to deal the cards of the deck in a way more equitable. In that we are and in that we will follow. Here is a synthesis of the work done in these years and the challenges we have faced in order to be able to live up to the times. Encarnacion Lago González Manager of Lugo provincial network museum.
|Event Type:
|On-going Project


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Beta Wetenschappen, University Utrecht
Floors of light
An extraordinary architecture of glass and concrete creates floors of light in this academy for chemistry and chemical biology in the Netherlands.
This extraordinary building of glass and concrete is created by one of Netherlands most famous architect, Herman Hertzberger. In March 2011 students moved into the 20 000 m2 academy. Half of the building holds laboratories and the rest are areas for classes and meetings.
Fagerhult embraced the architect's vision of the building's light together with the well-known installer Kuijpers. The buildings unique architecture, with big areas and several overlapping floors and ceilings, gave an interesting lighting challenge.
Focus in this project was to customise the light after the architectural design. Due to the buildings interesting interior elements the lighting should not disturb the inner lines of the building. The overlapping floors and ceilings also gave a challenge to create the right lux level.
Numerous calculations
Several DIAlux calculations and impressions were made in this project and we delivered test luminaires so that the owner and architect could approve of the solutions before installation.
Adjusted solutions for laboratories
The laboratories closed chemical cabinets abled the use of open luminaires in the environment. Since it is a science building the ceilings is full of equipment and the lines of the luminaire Notor was therefore a good choice.
The luminaires was equipped with a special connection, completely delivered with mounted light sources and steer wires, that were wrapped. Focus during the whole building process was to deliver as much prefabricated products as possible.
Daylight controlled luminaires
Two lecture halls where also delivered with DALI and also several dimmable Recessos. To use as much of the natural daylight as possible, individual daylight controlled luminaires where installed, which is a great way to save energy.


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Actor In Law Film Music Launch (Photos)
The soundtrack of Fahad Mustafa, Mehwish Hayat & Om Puri starrer Actor in Law was officially unveiled today by Urdu1 Pictures and Filmwala Pictures at an exclusive music launch, which also featured Atif Aslam.
The event was hosted by Ahmed Ali Butt and attended by celebrities, socialites, cast and crew of Actor in Law, including Javed Sheikh, Fahad Mustafa, Mehwish Hayat, Sajal Ali, Aijaz Aslam, Saboor Ali, Laila, Satish Anand, T.U.Dawood, Nigah Hussain, Nina Kashif and others.
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In April, Rick Perry traveled to North Texas for a taping of televangelist James Robison's TV show, Life Today. For six months, starting as soon as he was re-elected Texas governor in November 2010, Perry had been crisscrossing the country to promote his second book, Fed Up!, while testing the presidential waters with potential donors and conservative activists. His visit with Robison, a hellfire-breathing pastor known as "God's hit man" (for "giving 'em so much hell nobody will ever want to go there"), had the potential to pay serious dividends. Robison had led the Christian-right campaign that helped lift Ronald Reagan to the White House in 1980, and he was re-emerging as the chief instigator of a national effort to mobilize evangelicals to defeat Barack Obama in 2012. With former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee—who left divinity school in 1976 to work for Robison—having forgone the race, the pastor was searching for a candidate the resurgent evangelical right could anoint.
Perry, who has spent more time evangelizing about his faith than any governor in the history of Texas, was ready for his audition. Beaming, he gazed up into the studio lights. "I think we're in a time of great revivalness in this world," he declared.
"I think it's an awakening," Robison agreed.
"I know there's a lot of concern," Perry said. "I think in America, that from time to time, we have to go through some difficult times, and I think we're going through those difficult economic times for a purpose—and that's to bring us back to those biblical principles … not spending all of our money, not asking for Pharaoh to give everything to everybody and to take care of folks, because at the end of the day, it's slavery. And we become slaves to government."
The idea that the recession was a blessed opportunity to turn Americans against government and toward "biblical principles" was already a familiar one for Robison's followers. It was a message that Perry was poised to carry into the mainstream. Robison had been looking for a prominent public official to convene a large-scale prayer and fasting rally to spread the word. Perry took up the call. He would soon be inviting Christians and political leaders to a Houston stadium rally, The Response, explaining that while the country was facing grim economic times, "There is hope for America. It lies in heaven, and we will find it on our knees."
Only God, not government, could heal the broken economy. It was a theme that knit together all three of Perry's core constituencies: right-wing evangelicals, who had mobilized behind Perry's 2006 re-election; anti-tax Tea Partiers, who had helped him to a third term as governor in 2010; and corporate conservatives, who have bankrolled his rise from the beginning. Perry's message was a natural outgrowth of the resurgence in recent years of "biblical capitalism," an idea that first sprung up in the early 20th century as a counterweight to the social gospel, which used scripture to support labor reforms and progressive taxation. In recent years, the tenets of biblical capitalism have been spread most famously by David Barton, former vice chairman of the Texas GOP and the religious right's favorite historian. Barton, a longtime Perry ally whom Glenn Beck calls "the most important man in America," has been touring the country for years, not only preaching that the United States was founded by and for Christians but also cherry-picking scripture to assert that the Bible opposes capital--gains and estate taxes, unions and minimum-wage laws.
For Robison and Barton, the recession offered the ideal opportunity to spread that word and argue that big government had caused the economic calamity because it was "against God." "Depending on the federal government is idolatry," as Robison put it in June. "We must control it, or it will control us. Stop the madness! Hitler believed that Germany needed a government over the people, not of the people. God deliver us from that kind of insanity." Getting more specific, Robison inveighed against "intrusive regulation," while calling for the tax code to be revised "so we can rejoice together because it would stimulate economic growth."
In May, meeting with Robison, Barton, and a large group of evangelical leaders to organize The Response, Perry echoed the message. Americans' "pursuit of happiness" was "in jeopardy," he said. "It's in jeopardy because of taxes. It's in jeopardy because of regulation. It's in jeopardy because of a legal system that's run amok. And I think it's time for us to just hand it over to God and say, 'God, you're going to have to fix this.'"
While Perry insisted that The Response was an "apolitical" event, its organizers were dozens of evangelical heavyweights whom Robison brought together, in the spring and summer, for a series of meetings to mobilize for 2012. Publicly, they claimed to be strategizing to defeat Obama—to use the political moment to "help inspire … a restoration of freedom's foundation," as Robison explained. "I don't think we're ever going to solve the economic crisis without having a kingdom mentality."
As Perry moved toward announcing his candidacy, the evangelical leaders decided that he had the "kingdom mentality" they were looking for—and, unlike Michele Bachmann, a chance to win. It wasn't just that Perry was the only major politician in America audacious and faithful enough to convene his own mega-prayer rally. It wasn't just that he claimed to be "called" by God to run. It wasn't just that he slashed budgets and stripped regulations. It wasn't just that he had promoted abstinence-only sex education, campaigned successfully for a gay-marriage ban, defunded Planned Parenthood, and signed some of the country's most restrictive abortion laws. It was that he did all this while he called for "restoring America to its Christian principles."
The Response drew 30,000 people to Houston's Reliant Stadium on the first Saturday in August. Perry sermonized along with John Hagee, the Christian Zionist megapastor who blamed gays for Hurricane Katrina and once called Catholicism a "godless theology." While Perry's message mostly consisted of long passages of scripture, his closing prayer reinforced the idea that only God, not government, could solve the nation's woes: "Lord, you are the source of every good thing. You are our only hope. … Father, our heart breaks for America. We see discord at home. We see fear in the marketplace. We see anger in the halls of government. As a nation, we have forgotten who made us, who protects us, who blesses us. And for that, we cry out for your forgiveness."
Ten days later, Perry announced his presidential bid in South Carolina, promising to "make Washington, D.C., as inconsequential in your life as I can." Almost overnight, he emerged as the Republican right's leading alternative to former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Just as quickly, he became the most misunderstood contender for the White House.
In late September, as delegates streamed out of the Orlando Convention Center following the Florida straw poll, an elderly Republican spotted a Perry for President sign and cried out: "You guys are the problem! That RINO stuff is killing us."
Rick Perry, Republican in Name Only? The notion seemed laughable. Here was the governor who manufactured a budget crisis by lowering property taxes—then used the opportunity to gut state programs with massive cuts. Here was the governor who led the nation in "tort reform," making lawsuits against corporations a nearly impossible proposition for most Texans. Here was the nation's loudest opponent of "socialist" stimulus spending and bailouts and health-care reform. Here was the governor who calls climate change "a contrived phony mess." Here was the governor who suggested that his state might secede from the union if Washington didn't end its "assault" on states' rights.
Now, as his early momentum began to fade, here was that same governor being viewed as a traitor to the conservative cause—and, perhaps even worse, as just another political opportunist who believes in nothing but winning.
In early debates—including his disastrous performance in Orlando that led to a second-place finish well behind Herman Cain in the straw poll—Perry's opponents took aim at his few conservative heresies, most notably signing a bill to allow in-state college tuition for some undocumented students. Perry's fumbling retort—accusing those who disagreed with his position of not having "a heart"—made matters worse. As national reporters rushed to knock out profiles of the meteor rising on the Republican right, a narrative was emerging: Perry was painted as a say-anything sort who had shifted with the political winds to win eight elections in Texas without suffering a defeat. The new meme was summed up by a Politico headline: "Rick Perry's non-ideology."
It is an easy but misleading story to tell. Perry was first elected to the Texas House in 1984 as a Democrat. He switched parties in 1989, as Republicans began to chip away at Democrats' century-old domination of Texas politics, in order to run against liberal populist Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower. Handpicked by Karl Rove, Perry rode Governor George W. Bush's coattails to become lieutenant governor in 1998, succeeding to the governor's office when Bush left for Washington in December 2000. When Bush and Rove manufactured a revival of evangelical politics, Perry became a "faith-based" politician when he ran for governor in 2002 and 2006. Then, facing a tough re-election challenge in 2010 from Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, he embraced the Tea Party.
This narrative makes a good yarn—yet another story of yet another politician who pretends to stand for something but only cares about winning elections. But it misses the heart, and the threat, of Perry's politics. While it's true that he has calibrated his campaigns to fit the moment, Perry is an ideologue. Indeed, he is the boldest champion of a new conservatism that draws its power from blending the most radical wings of the GOP: those who believe that Christians are America's chosen leaders, that corporations should be unfettered, and that the federal government should shrink and cede power back to the states. His politics have indeed evolved—in concert with that of the Republican right, as it's hardened from a movement that saw government as "the problem," in Reagan's words, to one that views government as the enemy. Perry, far from being a follower in that shift to the hard right, has long been one of its prime instigators.
When Perry first materialized in Austin in the mid-'80s, he immediately established what kind of politician he was. The swaggering, glad-handing tenant farmer's son from West Texas became part of a budget-cutting gang on the Appropriations Committee, deemed the "Pit Bulls" because they sat on the lower dais in the hearing room as they pushed for austerity in Texas's state government. "Then and there," says longtime Democratic state Senator Eliot Shapleigh, "he and his band of Pit Bulls put Texas on a path toward his legacy project of cutting taxes for the wealthy and making government work only for a select few."
It's often noted that Perry endorsed Al Gore for president in 1988 but less often remembered that the future vice president was running that year as the moderate, hawkish Southern alternative to liberals Michael Dukakis and Jesse Jackson. (Asked about Gore in later years, Perry said, "I think he's gone to hell.") Perry's party switch in 1989 enabled him to run against Hightower, the state's most prominent liberal. "I intend to vote the same convictions," Perry said as he announced his new affiliation. "The only difference is there will be an 'R' beside my name."
As agriculture commissioner, Perry's main accomplishment was in line with Reagan Republicanism—fighting and gutting regulations on farms and agribusiness. In the months after he became governor, Perry behaved in some respects like his predecessor, who was known for working cordially with Texas Democrats and for courting the state's rising Latino vote. Perry signed the now-controversial tuition bill. But at the end of the 2001 legislative session, he threw down a gauntlet; in one day in June, in what became known as "the Father's Day Massacre," he vetoed 78 bills, including a ban on executing the mentally retarded and a number of noncontroversial appropriations. It was a loud and startling rebuke, and it set a pattern. Perry's goal as governor would be to do what he now says he'd do as president: make government "inconsequential."
In late August, two weeks after he launched his presidential campaign, Perry was back in Texas, 70 miles west of Austin on a ranch owned by San Antonio tycoon James Leininger. Known in Texas as Perry's Svengali, Leininger made a fortune selling hospital beds. Their relationship dates back at least to the 1990s, when Leininger helped Perry buy his first campaign plane. In 1998, Perry ran for lieutenant governor against popular Democratic state comptroller John Sharp; Perry looked like a likely loser in a tight race—until Leininger stepped up and helped guarantee a $1.1 million loan that funded a last-minute media blitz for the campaign. "I congratulate Leininger," Sharp said after Perry edged him out with 50.04 percent of the vote. "He wanted to buy the reins of state government, and by God, he got them."
An evangelical Christian, Leininger was then the largest single donor to conservative Republicans in Texas and a major contributor to the national party. He embodied a new kind of Republican establishment figure. Like Domino's Pizza founder Tom Monaghan and Home Depot founder Bernie Marcus, Leininger gives huge sums to candidates not just in exchange for favors but also to advance right-wing social and economic policies. Leininger was the Koch brothers before the Koch brothers. In Perry's three gubernatorial races, Leininger has donated nearly $250,000. In 2004, he subsidized a trip to the Bahamas that brought Perry together with his other great political influence, anti-government crusader Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform.
In a pattern that has characterized his political career, Perry has more than repaid Leininger's generosity. Two "economic development" funds controlled by Perry have given nearly $6 million to two biotechnology firms in which Leininger holds a significant share. Perry has successfully pushed one of Leininger's pet projects, tort reform—an interest spurred by a spate of lawsuits brought against his company, which has been repeatedly accused of manufacturing hospital beds that dropped and injured nurses and patients. Earlier this year, Perry capped off a series of tort-reform measures with a "loser pays" bill that forces litigants who lose a lawsuit to pay the legal expenses of the companies they've sued.
That kind of give-and-take between Perry and big-money Republicans has not been limited to Leininger. Nearly half of the corporations Perry has rewarded from his economic development funds have been owned by major donors to his campaigns. Perry's two largest contributors—Bob Perry (no relation to the governor) and Harold Simmons—have seen their generosity repaid. In 2006, when Perry ran for re--election, Bob Perry, a homebuilding magnate whose pet issue is deregulation, gave the governor $275,000; he also donated $2 million to the Republican Governors Association—which, in turn, gave Perry $1 million in the closing weeks of the campaign. During his tenure, Perry has stripped numerous environmental, financial, and workplace rules from the books. The governor's second-largest benefactor is Simmons, known in Texas as the "buyout king" and best known nationally for helping fund the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth campaign against Senator John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election (Bob Perry was the other major funder). He has contributed $1.2 million to the governor over the years. Simmons stands to make millions by building a massive waste dump in West Texas to house the country's radioactive trash—a project approved by Perry-appointed regulators, though state scientists have determined the site is unsafe.
Perry's relationship with Leininger is of a different order. The governor has lent his full weight to the San Antonian's social crusades. Leininger chipped in the bulk of funds for a campaign to enact an anti-gay-marriage amendment in Texas, backed by Perry. But Leininger's overwhelming interest has been in fighting "secular" public education, pouring millions into primary challenges to Republicans who oppose school vouchers and putting millions more behind state school-board candidates who support the teaching of creationism, abstinence-only sex education, and a version of American history that promotes Christian nationalism. Perry has appointed three state education-board chairs backed by Leininger.
Now, as Perry seeks the presidency, Leininger is doing his part again. On the weekend of August 27, he brought together some 200 evangelical leaders and pastors for a private retreat—and another major audition for Perry. According to the Los Angeles Times, the attendees included David Barton, James Robison, Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, and James Dobson of Focus on the Family. "The Texas governor … was grilled about his beliefs and his record in extraordinarily frank sessions," the Times reported. "He responded by describing his relationship with Jesus and pledging to pursue the anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage agenda championed by the evangelical right."
An effort to mobilize the nation's pastors behind Perry was already under way, modeled on a Leininger-funded project that helped the governor win re-election in 2006. That year in the general election, Perry faced a difficult four-way field that included Democratic Congressman Chris Bell, cigar-chomping satirist Kinky Friedman, and Carolyn Keeton Strayhorn, the Republican state comptroller who ran as an independent. With both Friedman and Strayhorn appealing to independents and moderate Republicans, the campaign was sure to be a tough one—Perry's closest since 1998. But Leininger had the answer. Along with several other wealthy conservatives, he helped create the Texas Restoration Project.
The Restoration Project invited thousands of Texas ministers to six "Pastors' Policy Briefings," closed-door events funded by the Niemoller Foundation, a Houston nonprofit bankrolled by Leininger and friends. The pastors and their spouses were urged to organize their churches behind Perry; later, as the campaign revved up, they were called upon to get out the vote. "The mission is the mobilization of pastors and pews as a way to restore Texas and America to our Judeo-Christian heritage," said David Lane, chief organizer of the events and one of Perry's most ardent allies on the evangelical right. At the end of each briefing, Perry offered a sermon. "This I know," he told attendees at one gathering. "He who counts every hair on our heads and every drop in the oceans; He who knows the number of our days and every thought before it enters our heads; this all-knowing, all-powerful Creator loves us so much that there is not a matter so trivial or so small that we can't surrender it to Him and say, 'Father, your will be done!' I certainly know this to be the heartfelt prayer of a governor."
"For us, it seemed like classic machine politics," says Dan Quinn of the Texas Freedom Network, a nonprofit that supports church-state separation. "Some of Perry's biggest donors gave money to a nonprofit that then funneled it into these events around the state where pastors attended for free and heard one speaker after another speak in praise of the governor—and then the governor comes out at the end. It seemed nakedly partisan and political." An Internal Revenue Service complaint filed by Quinn's group went nowhere, with the agency saying it did not have sufficient evidence that the money was being channeled directly into Perry's campaign.
Perry's campaign sent Christmas cards to the pastors who'd attended the Texas "briefings," using the Restoration Project's list. A week before the 2006 election, David Barton and others made calls to the thousands who'd attended, encouraging them to marshal their flocks behind Perry. It worked. Perry narrowly won re-election with 39 percent of the vote.
In 2008, Lane, with financial backing from Leininger and the anti-gay evangelical group American Family Association, began to expand the Restoration Project into politically important states around the country. Nearly 10,000 pastors have attended all-expenses-paid two-day "briefings" in Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, South Carolina, Colorado, Tennessee, California, Florida, and Iowa. Speakers have included several potential presidential contenders and candidates such as Michele Bachmann, Haley Barbour, Newt Gingrich, and Mike Huckabee. This year in Florida, Perry was the featured speaker.
"Perry and Lane have truly mastered the tactic that Rove used for W. in Ohio in 2004," Quinn says. "They've taken that strategy and really honed it in Texas, more so than I've seen anywhere else, and now they've exported that model to most of the presidential battleground states."
On April 15, 2009, the typically dapper governor of Texas strode onto a makeshift stage outside Austin City Hall wearing an unfamiliar costume—hunting jacket, jeans, boots, and baseball cap—and delivered the most important speech of his life. "I gotta say it gives me that thrill up my leg when I see all these people standing out here," he told the 1,000 placard-waving citizens who'd come out on a blustery morning to rail at Obama and stimulus spending and to witness Rick Perry's Tea Party debut. He'd been viewed with suspicion by some small-government purists in Texas, not only for his executive order to mandate HPV vaccines but also for his ambitious (and unsuccessful) proposal to launch a massive infrastructure project called the Trans-Texas Corridor. One Tea Partier carried a sign that read "Big Government Perry," handing out leaflets on the theme.
But as the governor blasted Obama's "socialism" and railed at the mainstream media's derogatory coverage of "tea baggers," his reception went from warm to hot. "I'm just not sure you're a bunch of right-wing extremists," he hollered. "But if you are, I'm with you! 'Cause you are a true patriot today in this country. And I might add, you're surrounded by fellow patriots—individuals who embrace the concepts like lower taxes and smaller government and freedom for every individual. I'm talking about states' rights! States' rights! States' rights!"
"Secede!" one hoarse voice called out over the clamor of whoops and cheers. "Seceeeeede!" Perry never used the word himself but did say: "Since the U.S. Constitution was first ratified, the federal government has slowly, steadily, and successfully eroded the notion of states' rights. … I happen to agree with the seventh governor of this great state, Sam Houston. He once said, 'Texas has yet to learn submission to any oppression, come from what source it may!'"
As Perry left the stage, basking in his foot-stomping reception, rally organizer Jason Moore, a local talk-radio host, hallooed, "Maybe it's Perry for president now!"
As the first major American politician to embrace the nascent Tea Party, Perry had found a way to overcome a dangerous challenger, three-term Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, in the 2010 Republican primary—and simultaneously to launch himself into the national spotlight. Soon he was writing op-eds in The Wall Street Journal, getting glowing reviews from Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, and touring the country nonstop to preach about the virtues of the "Texas model": low taxes, light regulations, and a frontier mentality of self-dependence. "There is still a land of opportunity, friends—it's called Texas," Perry said. "We're creating more jobs than any other state in the nation." He then provided one more reason for Texas's success: "Would you rather live in a state like this or in a state where a man can marry a man?"
Railing at Washington was nothing new for him; the governor had built his career on opposing government spending. In 2003, when Texas faced a $10 billion shortfall, he seized the moment. With help from Grover Norquist, who came to Texas to persuade waffling Republicans to balance the budget with cuts alone, Perry held the line on taxes—even though it meant dropping more than 200,000 children from the Children's Health Insurance Program and another 500,000 from Medicaid. He also pushed the nation's most aggressive round of deregulation and tort reform. "Texas is open for business," he proclaimed.
Early this year, perfectly timed to suit his presidential ambitions, came another opportunity to show small-government conservatives he was the real deal. In January, the state comptroller announced that Texas had a $27 billion budget hole for the next two years—representing nearly one-quarter of the state's already-lean spending. The deficit was the direct result of a massive property-tax cut Perry championed in 2006. It was Norquist's favorite strategy: Cut taxes, and spending reductions will have to follow.
"Now is not the time to get wobbly," Norquist said as he toured the state with Perry in March, urging the governor and legislators to stand firm against growing anxieties about huge cuts to schools and social programs. "Do more tort reform, more tax reduction, more spending restraint." Invoking "political philosopher Rahm Emanuel," Norquist told an audience that included Perry, "Sometimes the only way to get the bureaucracy to rethink what it's doing is to tell them there's a crisis."
Perry insisted that the legislature close the budget gap with no new revenues—and without touching the state's $9 billion Rainy Day Fund. He supported a budget that cut $4 billion from public schools and $2 billion from Medicaid. "I don't think there is anything that is so important that [it] cannot be cut," he said.
The only large program that did not fall victim to the budgetary bloodletting was Perry's most cherished initiative: the Texas Enterprise Fund and the Emerging Technology Fund, which have doled out more than $600 million in taxpayer money to corporations of his choosing. "He takes from us so that he can play with his corporate slush fund and award his friends' businesses," Debra Medina, Perry's libertarian challenger in the 2010 Republican primary, said in a debate.
When asked about his governing principles in an interview last year, Perry responded: "I'm a big believer in wealth first. You cannot have expanded education programs, you cannot take care of health and human service needs of those who can't take care of themselves, you cannot have the infrastructure in your state that will drive your economy, unless you have wealth to pay for it."
Perry's economic approach is the purest version of trickle-down that the United States has ever seen. That's made Texas a case study of what happens when wealth is first. Despite the nation's highest rate of job creation, more than one-quarter of Texans have no health insurance, a higher percentage than in any state. Homeowners' insurance premiums are the nation's highest. Texas ties with Mississippi for the top percentage of minimum-wage jobs. Under Perry, Texas school funding and achievement have plummeted to near the bottom of national rankings; the state has the country's highest percentage of citizens without high-school diplomas. Texas's Medicaid reimbursements are the second lowest in the country. Child poverty and hunger, along with incarceration rates, are among the highest.
While his Tea Party rhetoric made Perry famous, his leadership of an often overlooked organization—the Republican Governors Association (RGA)—made him a major player in national Republican circles. He has been both its finance chair and chair. The RGA's stated purpose is to elect Republican governors. But under Perry and Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, the group has become a powerful force tugging Republicans toward the far right. Its ideological mission is reflected in the agendas of its most generous donors: Koch Industries, which gave $1.1 million in 2010; Bob Perry, who gave $6 million; and Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation subsidiary News America, which donated $1.25 million.
In the 2010 election cycle, with Perry as chair, the Republican Governors, operating with little scrutiny, raised $117 million to the Democratic Governors Association's $55 million. In the months immediately before the election, the RGA brought in some $60 million—more than the Democrats' total for the previous two years. After November, partly thanks to its efforts, the GOP had won back a majority of governorships. But it wasn't just the winning record that mattered—it was who won.
Many of the new governors who benefited from the RGA are Perry disciples: Scott Walker in Wisconsin, Rick Scott in Florida, John Kasich in Ohio, and Bob McDonnell in Virginia. Each cites the Texas model as inspiration for their severe budget cuts, frontal assaults on workers' organizing rights, and pushes for deregulation and tort reform. "All I think about every day is how I'm going to beat Rick Perry at job creation," Scott told Florida Republican National Committee members in August. Walker, after his election, joked with a group of dairy-business leaders that he'd told Perry, "Look out, we're coming after you."
The Republican right has been a fickle beast in 2011, first swooning over Michele Bachmann before discarding her, daydreaming in vain of Paul Ryan and Marco Rubio, and—when the early debates kept Perry from cementing his position as Mitt Romney's only viable foe—taking up with Herman Cain and chanting "9-9-9." But no presidential candidate is better suited to the current Republican moment than Rick Perry. He has always specialized in anger and outrage. He exemplifies a movement that sees no gray areas. Almost everywhere he goes, Perry quotes Ronald Reagan: "We need bold colors, not pale pastels." At a stop in New Hampshire, Perry made sure the point wasn't missed: "I am that bright color."
If he can regain his footing and hammer home the considerable gray areas in Romney's record, Perry may yet prove the Barry Goldwater of 2012. After all, as he told a packed house of 10,000 at Liberty University in mid-September, God "doesn't require perfect people to execute his perfect plan. Moses was this hotheaded murderer who was afraid to speak in public. God used him to lead the Israelites to freedom. ... Paul was a persecutor of Christians; God used him to spread the gospel to the ends of the universe."
Now, Perry implied, God was using him to bring his message to early-21st-century America. The stakes, he said, were clear: "America is going to be guided by some set of values. The question is gonna be, whose values?"
During the fall, as Perry floundered, it was easy to forget how many times he has risen from the grave. He was given little chance of winning his first statewide race, against the beloved cowboy populist Jim Hightower; in 1998, running for lieutenant governor, Perry was tied in the polls up to Election Day; a year before his re-election as governor in 2010, Republicans preferred Kay Bailey Hutchison by a seemingly insurmountable margin, 56 percent to 31 percent. He won them all. One reason: his pugilistic campaign style, which Perry introduced to the country in the late-October Las Vegas debate and which left Romney's aides calling him a "bully." Perry does not defeat his opponents; he obliterates them.
Perry also wins because of his fundraising abilities and connections to ideologically driven big donors, which he developed at the Republican Governors Association. His evangelical network has been instrumental in his victories, and clearly Perry hopes the organizing efforts of James Robison and David Lane will boost his chances in the primaries. While he has infused his campaign message with biblical capitalism, he has also avoided alienating the Christian right by rejecting calls to disassociate himself from Texas pastor Robert Jeffress, who called Mormonism a "cult" at the Values Voters Summit in October. Although his debating skills have never been sharp—he's avoided debates in Texas as much as possible—Perry is a retail politician of the first order. As Iowans and New Hampshirites are discovering, he small-talks, back-slaps, and baby-kisses his way through a crowd with relish—a quality that will help in the small early-primary states, including South Carolina and Nevada.
Then there's Dave Carney, the wily and reclusive campaign strategist from New Hampshire who's teamed with Perry since 1997. As Karl Rove was to George W. Bush—his "brain" and a master of brass-knuckles politics—Carney is to Perry. In 2010, when Perry was universally expected to lose to Hutchison, Carney engineered one of the nation's most innovative campaigns, modeled to some extent on Barack Obama's social-media push in 2008. Carney assembled a team of political scientists, challenging them to throw out the old political playbook. Perry ended up running a "virtual" campaign: no yard signs, no direct mail, no general-election debates, no interviews with newspaper editorial boards (Carney and his team had determined that their endorsements carried negative weight with voters). The governor targeted medium-sized towns, where his campaign appearances would receive fawning press and where studies show voters respond to seeing candidates in person. He used the Internet to create a grassroots campaign in which volunteers promised to sign up more volunteers and pledged to make sure specific numbers of Perry supporters showed up at the polls.
Perhaps most important, Carney unleashed—and his candidate single-mindedly executed—a relentless campaign to transform Hutchison, a beloved figure in Texas, into a wishy-washy Washington insider. She became Kay "Bailout" Hutchison, defined no longer by a quarter-century of deep conservatism but by her vote to bail out the banks. Shortly after she lost to Perry by 21 percentage points—a 46 percentage-point reversal from polls the previous year—Hutchison announced that she would not seek re-election to the Senate in 2012.
Perry and Carney's next target is Romney. The Texan left Romney red-faced and fuming in Las Vegas and had more money in the bank than any other candidate. The barrage was about to begin in earnest. If the former Massachusetts governor prevails, he'll be the first politician who's survived the brutal experience of running against Perry.
The debate in Orlando was Perry's lowest moment—the national press was soon writing him off—but earlier that same day, he displayed all the qualities that make him a formidable campaigner. He bounded onto the stage at a rally for Ralph Reed's Faith & Freedom Coalition, wearing an open gingham shirt and jacket, wife Anita on his arm. Perry has long been lampooned back home for an antic, arm-flapping style of televangelistic speechifying, but he's calmed down his style considerably. Standing still at the podium, Perry clinched his hands prayerfully. As always, his words had the old evangelical fervor.
"I'm campaigning the only way I know how," he said. "That's as a true believer." The crowd whooped and cheered and surrounded the stage six deep, as Perry moved seamlessly into his message, mixing small-government and Christian-right orthodoxy. "Our founders didn't need a nanny state to carve out the greatest civilization known to man. We didn't need a nanny state to win the Second World War and then the Cold War. And we didn't need a nanny state to revive our economy, to create jobs, and to renew our nation's promise." In closing, to wild cheers and amens, Perry invoked Abraham Lincoln: "My concern is not whether God is on my side. My greatest concern is to be on God's side." ª


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Taking Perceptual Positions with NLP
Perceptual positions help you imagine what difficult situations look like when viewed with others' eyes. The term refers to the ability to imagine what others perceive by imagining that you are that other person. In NLP this links with the assumption that 'the map is not the territory' and offers a way to enrich an individual's map of the world.
First position is your natural perspective, where you're fully aware of what you think and feel regardless of those around you. This is the place that clients find most familiar. They've come to coaching because they already have an awareness of their own perspective and the problems they face.
Second position is about imagining what it's like to be another person. Some people are very good at considering others' needs and concerns; for a more self-focused client, imagining second position is a completely alien notion.
Third position is an independent position where you act as a detached observer noticing what's happening in the relationship between two other people. Good coaches naturally step into this impartial role. In coaching, encourage the client to take this position in order to gain an impartial insight into a situation, particularly to view a relationship the client has with another person.
You can introduce perceptual positions to clients by having them physically move to different chairs or places in a room as you describe and discuss the three positions, asking them to notice what they experience while standing or sitting in each position. The real learning comes by stepping out of first position to explore second and third positions and see what light it sheds on a situation.
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Morgan Stanley is teaming up with its largest investor, Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, to form a mega-investment bank that could rival Citigroup and JP Morgan Chase. The Financial Times broke the news that the deal will likely be announced later today.
The venture has been under discussion since October, when MUFG bought $9 billion of convertible preferred shares in Morgan Stanely, which amount a 20% stake in the Wall Street institution. The venture would be able to draw upon MUFG's existing US loan boase of $70 billion plus Morgan Stanley's $30 billion.
The idea behind it is to improve Morgan Stanley's competitiveness in investment banking by coupling it with a big lending business. Big lenders often argue that long term relationships they've developed through lending help them win investment banking business. US law prohibits banks from formally tying lending to investment banking business, but these things are usually done with an understanding that a bank providing a large credit facility will get the first bid at underwriting bond issuances or advising on acquisitions.
People close to the situation said the joint venture between Morgan Stanley and MUFG will divide profits on a deal-by-deal basis, the Financial Times reports.


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We have a plan to cover you at every age and each step of your health journey.
Customize a plan to fit your needs and your employees' needs. Just tell us what you're looking for, and we'll design a plan for you.
Insurance can be complicated – but we're here to help. Here are some of the topics people ask us about most often.
We've put all your most important plan details right at your fingertips.
Use tools and resources to help you manage your plan your way.
Find a pharmacy and see which medications your plan covers.
Save money on your care by choosing providers in your network.
Helping you get the care you need is only part of what we do. We're also here to help you stay well every day.
Small decisions can pay off big. Learn what you can do every day to stay healthy.
Your benefits include extras that help you manage your long-term health conditions.
Looking for ideas on ways to stay well and save money? We can help with that.
Tennessee is our home, and we're committed to improving the health of our members.
Get a closer look at the many ways we're giving back.
Learn about our culture and see how working for us can help you build a fulfilling career that matters.
Get our updates, press releases, expert insights and more, all in one place.
Allowed Amount
Maximum amount on which payment is based for covered health care services. This may be called "eligible expense," "payment allowance" or "negotiated rate." If your provider charges more than the allowed amount, you may have to pay the difference. (See Balance Billing.)
A request for your health insurer or plan to review a decision or a grievance again.
Balance Billing
When a provider bills you for the difference between the provider's charge and the allowed amount. For example, if the provider's charge is $100 and the allowed amount is $70, the provider may bill you for the remaining $30. A preferred provider may not balance bill you for covered services.
A financial payment made by your health plan for covered services or drugs.
The percentage of health care costs you are responsible for paying – usually after your plan's deductible is met.
Complications of Pregnancy
Conditions due to pregnancy, labor and delivery that require medical care to prevent serious harm to the health of the mother or the fetus. Morning sickness and a non-emergency caesarean section aren't complications of pregnancy.
Copayment (Copay)
A fixed dollar amount you must pay with your own money for medical services, such as office visits, or prescription drugs.
Cost Sharing
The health care costs that are your responsibility to pay, including deductibles, copays, coinsurance, and other costs not covered by your health plan.
The costs your health plan pays for your medical services or prescription drugs.
The amount you must pay each year – with your own money – before your health plan begins paying benefits.
Durable Medical Equipment (DME)
Equipment and supplies ordered by a health care provider for everyday or extended use. Coverage for DME may include: oxygen equipment, wheelchairs, crutches or blood testing strips for diabetics.
Emergency Medical Condition
An illness, injury, symptom or condition so serious that a reasonable person would seek care right away to avoid severe harm.
Emergency Medical Transportation
Ambulance services for an emergency medical condition. Emergency Room Care Emergency services you get in an emergency room. Emergency Services Evaluation of an emergency medical condition and treatment to keep the condition from getting worse.
Excluded Services
Health care services that your health insurance or plan doesn't pay for or cover.
Items not covered by a health plan, such as certain prescription drugs or medical services.
Explanation of Benefits (EOB)
A statement from your health plan that shows the amounts it paid for medical services on your behalf and the amount you owe your health care provider. For health plans that include prescription drug coverage, a separate EOB lists drug purchases for the month. EOBs can help you know when you have met your plan's deductible (if applicable), Initial Coverage Limit, and Catastrophic Coverage Threshold.
Formulary drug list
A list of brand-name and generic prescription drugs covered by your health plan.
Generic Drugs
Prescription drugs that either have the same active ingredient formula as brand-name drugs (generic equivalents) or that have the same therapeutic effect (generic alternatives). Generics usually cost less than brand-name drugs. They are also regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be as safe and effective as their brand-name counterparts.
A complaint that you communicate to your health insurer or plan.
Habilitation Services
Health care services that help a person keep, learn or improve skills and functioning for daily living. Examples include therapy for a child who isn't walking or talking at the expected age. These services may include physical and occupational therapy, speech-language pathology and other services for people with disabilities in a variety of inpatient and/or outpatient settings.
Health Insurance
A contract that requires your health insurer to pay some or all of your health care costs in exchange for a premium.
High-Deductible Health Plan (HDHP)
A health plan that usually pairs a lower premium with a higher deductible than a traditional health plan.
Home Health Care
Health care services a person receives at home.
Hospice Services
Services to provide comfort and support for persons in the last stages of a terminal illness and their families.
Care in a hospital that requires admission as an inpatient and usually requires an overnight stay. An overnight stay for observation could be outpatient care.
Hospital Outpatient Care
Care in a hospital that usually doesn't require an overnight stay.
In-network Co-insurance
The percent (for example, 20%) you pay of the allowed amount for covered health care services to providers who contract with your health insurance or plan. In-network co-insurance usually costs you less than out-of-network co-insurance.
In-network Co-payment
A fixed amount (for example, $15) you pay for covered health care services to providers who contract with your health insurance or plan. In-network co-payments usually are less than out-of-network co-payments.
Maximum Allowable Charge (MAC)
The maximum dollar amount your health plan will pay a doctor, hospital or other health care provider for a covered medical service.
Medically Necessary
Health care services or supplies needed to prevent, diagnose or treat an illness, injury, condition, disease or its symptoms and that meet accepted standards of medicine.
A group of doctors, hospitals and other health care providers contracted to provide services to health plan members at a rate that is less than their usual fees.
Non-Preferred Brand Drugs
A brand-name drug covered by your health plan that may have a higher cost share than similar preferred brand drugs.
Non-Preferred Provider
A provider who doesn't have a contract with your health insurer or plan to provide services to you. You'll pay more to see a non-preferred provider. Check your policy to see if you can go to all providers who have contracted with your health insurance or plan, or if your health insurance or plan has a "tiered" network and you must pay extra to see some providers.
Out-of-network Co-insurance
The percent (for example, 40%) you pay of the allowed amount for covered health care services to providers who do not contract with your health insurance or plan. Out-of-network co-insurance usually costs you more than in-network co-insurance.
Out-of-network Co-payment
A fixed amount (for example, $30) you pay for covered health care services from providers who do not contract with your health insurance or plan. Out-of-network copayments usually are more than in-network co-payments.
Out-of-Network Doctor
A doctor with whom your health plan does not have a contract. If your plan allows you to receive covered services from a doctor or other provider outside your network, you may pay a higher share of the costs.
Out-of-Network Pharmacy
A pharmacy with which your health plan does not have a contract. Most medications you get from out-of-network pharmacies are not covered by your plan unless certain requirements are met.
Out-of-Pocket Costs
The amount you must pay out of your own pocket for your medical or prescription drug expenses. These costs include things like deductibles, coinsurance or copays.
Out-of-Pocket Maximum
The most you will pay with your own money – or out of your own pocket – in a year.
Physician Services
Health care services a licensed medical physician (M.D. – Medical Doctor or D.O. – Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine) provides or coordinates.
A benefit your employer, union or other group sponsor provides to you to pay for your health care services.
(Sometimes called prior authorization, prior approval or pre-certification)
A decision by your health insurer or plan that a health care service, treatment plan, prescription drug or durable medical equipment is medically necessary. Your health insurance or plan may require preauthorization for certain services before you receive them, except in an emergency. Pre-authorization isn't a promise your health insurance or plan will cover the cost.
Pre-Existing Condition
A condition for which medical advice was given or treatment recommended by or received from a physician prior to enrolling in a health plan.
Preferred Provider
A health care provider who has a contract with your health insurer or plan to provide services to you at a discount. Check your policy to see if you can see all preferred providers or if your health insurance or plan has a "tiered" network and you must pay extra to see some providers. Your health insurance or plan may have preferred providers who are also "participating" providers. Participating providers also contract with your health insurer or plan, but the discount may not be as great, and you may have to pay more.
Preferred Provider Organization (PPO)
A network of doctors, caregivers and medical facilities that agree to provide health care services to our members at a lower cost; members get the most from their PPO plan when network providers are used.
Preferred Brand Drugs
Brand-name drugs that are medically sound, cost-effective alternatives to higher-priced drugs.
The monthly payment made for an insurance policy.
Prescription Drug Benefits
Health insurance or plan that helps pay for prescription drugs and medications.
Prescription Drugs
The type of benefits provided for the purchase of drugs prescribed by a physician that are not available over the counter.
Preventive Service
A service such as a cancer screening or a flu vaccine that is given to prevent or detect a condition at an early stage.
Primary Care Physician
A physician (M.D. – Medical Doctor or D.O. – Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine) who directly provides or coordinates a range of health care services for a patient.
Primary Care Practitioner
A health care provider specializing in family practice, internal medicine, general practice, pediatrics, obstetrics or gynecology, or a physician assistant or nurse practitioner.
Prior authorization
Getting approval for certain medical procedures before you are treated.
Any doctor, health care practitioner (nurse, physician assistant, etc.), hospital, facility or pharmacy that provides you with medical services or prescription drugs.
Qualifying event
A change in circumstances (like marriage, divorce, losing employer-sponsored health coverage) that would allow a member to change plans or add optional maternity coverage.
Quantity Limits
A pharmacy management tool designed to make sure certain drugs, such as those that are often taken inappropriately, are not used in amounts that exceed recommendations for dosage or length of treatment. Quantity Limits are based on recommendations from the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the drug's manufacturer.
Reconstructive Surgery
Surgery and follow-up treatment needed to correct or improve a part of the body because of birth defects, accidents, injuries or medical conditions.
Rehabilitation Services
Health care services that help a person keep, get back or improve skills and functioning for daily living that have been lost or impaired because a person was sick, hurt or disabled. These services may include physical and occupational therapy, speech-language pathology and psychiatric rehabilitation services in a variety of inpatient and/or outpatient settings.
An amendment to your health plan that either adds coverage (such as a maternity benefits rider) or specifies a particular condition that will not be covered (a benefit exclusion rider).
Schedule of Benefit or Summary of Benefits and Coverage
A complete overview of the covered benefits provided by your health plan.
Skilled Nursing Care
Services from licensed nurses in your own home or in a nursing home. Skilled care services are from technicians and therapists in your own home or in a nursing home.
Skilled Nursing Facility
A facility that provides inpatient nursing care, rehabilitation services or other related health services. "Skilled nursing" does not include a convalescent home or custodial care.
A physician specialist focuses on a specific area of medicine or a group of patients to diagnose, manage, prevent or treat certain types of symptoms and conditions. A non-physician specialist is a provider who has more training in a specific area of health care.
Specialty Drugs
Certain highly specialized drugs used to treat complex, chronic conditions that require special handling and administering by the patient or provider.
Step Therapy
A pharmacy management tool that requires you to try a less expensive drug (usually a generic) to see if it is effective before you take a more expensive (usually brand-name) drug.
A copay or coinsurance level that applies to drugs on a health plan's formulary.
UCR (Usual, Customary and Reasonable)
The amount paid for a medical service in a geographic area based on what providers in the area usually charge for the same or similar medical service. The UCR amount sometimes is used to determine the allowed amount.
Urgent Care
Care for an illness, injury or condition serious enough that a reasonable person would seek care right away, but not as severe as to require emergency room care.
Wellness benefit
Coverage for routine services and preventive visits, like cancer screenings, mammograms and physicals.


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Beaufort County is conducting preliminary designs for a road connecting Island West to Hampton Parkway and providing another access point to U.S. 278, but officials say they aren't sure when the project will be shovel-ready.
Beaufort County Council declared the project eligible for one-cent sales tax money with an allocation of $800,000 in April and that intent hasn't changed, said engineering chief Rob McFee, but he added he's not sure how much it will cost.
"At this point, any number would be a guess," McFee said.
The county hasn't yet secured permits and is still acquiring some easements from utilities, McFee said.
The road would stretch westward from around Sea Island Drive to an addition of Hampton Parkway jutting out from the current parkway. McFee said the development agreement with the property owner provides a right-of-way donation for the entire length of the Hampton Parkway addition, but the county is securing the first 300 feet up to the Island West connector so it can continue with permitting.
The Island West frontage road would eventually reach the old Hampton Parkway under proposed plans.
After the closure of two left-turn medians along U.S. 278 established with the widening project, a future traffic signal planned for the intersection of the future Hampton Parkway at U.S. 278 eases the connection onto the highway, said James Ayers, Bluffton's director of engineering.
"Although the value of frontage roads has been well-documented from an engineering perspective, I think you really need to look at this issue from the driver's standpoint," he said. "If you were a motorist trying to turn left onto Highway 278, wouldn't you prefer to do so at a signalized intersection?"
Some residents off Hampton Parkway said they welcome the Island West connection, especially after it appeared earlier this year the state would be eliminating an eastbound deceleration lane onto the parkway from U.S. 278, adding further access difficulties.
With the announcement that the S.C. Department of Transportation would construct the lane after all, the new frontage road with a proposed traffic signal goes a long way toward addressing safety and convenience for area residents, said Carol Morse of Hampton Lake.
"The deceleration lanes at the proposed extension and access roads seem to deal very well with the safety issues," she said.


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1921 Farmers' Directory of Lincoln Township
Abbreviations: Sec., section; ac., acres; Wf., wife; ch., children; ( ), years in county; O., owner; H., renter. Ahrendsen, Herman. Wf. Annie; ch. Lawrence, Arthur, Alta. P. O. Manning, R. 1. O. 80 ac., sec. 7; O. 80 ac., sec. 8. (9.) Aikman, Geo. R. Wf. Mae; ch. Ethel M. P. O. Audubon, R. 1. O. 120 ac., sec. 26. (38.) Aikman, R. F. Wf. Jennie; ch. Vera, Floyd, Olive, Donald and Myron. P. O. Audubon, R. 1. O. 120 ac., sec. 24. (34.) Asmus, Fred. Wf. Edith; ch. Dwight, Hazel and Harry. P. O. Audubon, R. 1. R.


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In case you didn't know, tomorrow is Valentine's Day. The day set aside to recognize those who hold a special place in your heart.
It is also a good time to check the health status of your own heart. After all, February is American Heart Month. And appropriately so. What better time to focus on the most vital human organ than during the month of love?
The American Heart Association says that heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States.
If you currently subscribe or have subscribed in the past to the The Lancaster News, then simply find your account number on your mailing label and enter it below.
Click the question mark below to see where your account ID appears on your mailing label.
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mississippik9 needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 112 designs submitted by 24 freelance designers.
We would like a very detailed dog logo. There needs to be a dog in the logo and a paw print. We would like it to have a "woodsy" feel or a "campground" type feel. This logo will need to look very clean and neat. It will be on our website..T-shirts...Hats...Business cards...and much more. I think it would be really cute to have the dog sitting next to a campfire...out in the woods. There needs to be trees in the logo..maybe a lake...or campfire. Think "Campground"
Mississippi K-9's
Desired Color Scheme:
Any Colors
Desired Style:
Very Detailed!
Accepted File Formats:
Any of them!
We want a very detailed dog logo. There needs to be a cartoon dog in the logo...the dog needs to look "Happy" or "Silly." When people look at the logo we want them to think "I want my dog to go there!" or "That looks like a fun place for dogs!" I really like this font...http://www.dafont.com/porkys.font
It needs to have a "woodsy" feel or "camp ground" type feel. With warm colors like browns, tans, and greens. Please be original! NO clip art or pictures of cartoon dogs off the net.
We require that once we pick a winner they will need to sign over the rights of the logo.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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The Crimson will celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month on Friday with its annual Dig Pink event (Gil Talbot).
Story Line
Harvard returns home this weekend to continue Ivy League play against Penn and Princeton in the Malkin Athletic Center. The Crimson will first face the Quakers on Friday, Oct. 28 at 7:00 p.m. before hosting the Tigers on Saturday, Oct. 29 at 5:00 p.m. Earlier this season the Crimson defeated Penn, 3-2, on Oct. 1 after falling at Princeton, 3-2, the night before.
How to Watch
Fans can watch both matches this weekend live online through GoCriminson.com by clicking here. Fans can also follow the action via live stats by clicking here.
The Home Team (10-8, 3-5 Ivy League)
Harvard returns to the MAC after last weekend's trip to Dartmouth where the Crimson suffered a 3-1 defeat. Kristen Casey and Natalie Doyle registered double-doubles versus the Big Green while Casey, Sandra Lynne Fryhofer and Teresa Skelly each notched double-digit kills.
Taylor Docter and Casey enter the weekend ranked eighth and ninth, respectively, in the conference with 2.92 kps and 2.85 kps. Skelly, meanwhile, is ninth with a .290 hittting percentage while Christine Wu ranks second with 5.51 dps. Wu and Docter are tied for fifth in the league with 0.28 aces per set.
Dig Pink
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and today Harvard is hosting its annual Dig Pink event. The Crimson will wear pink during today's match and will be accepting donations towards breast cancer research.
Student Rewards Program
Today's match is the women's volleyball team's Student Rewards Game. The first 100 students to arrive at the MAC will receive a free CRIMSON t-shirt and all students in attendance will receive $1 of Crimson Cash and entry into the season long grand prize raffle.
Seeing Crimson
Senior libero Christine Wu has averaged 5.51 dps this season and currently ranks 12th in the NCAA. Wu is Harvard's all-time leader in digs with 1,709 and needs only 20 more to move into fifth place in Ivy League history.
Earlier this week Wu became the latest Harvard student-athlete to give fans an inside look at her sport when she was featured by GoCrimson.com in its newest series, Seeing Crimson. Click here to watch the video now.
Scouting Penn (6-12, 2-6 Ivy League)
The Quakers come into this evening having lost four consecutive matches and eight of their last 10, including a loss to the Crimson, 3-2, on Oct. 1. Penn, however, ranks second in the Ivy League in assists, digs and kills this season. Lauren Martin leads the Quakers with 3.27 kps while Dani Shepherd ranks third in the nation with 6.54 dps. Susan Stuecheli has averaged 1.12 bps, which is third in the Ancient Eight.
Scouting Princeton (14-6, 7-1 Ivy League)
The first-place Tigers come into the weekend having won seven of their last eight matches, all of which were against Ivy opponents, including a 3-2 win over Harvard on Sept. 30. Lydia Rudnick paces the Tigers with 3.72 kps while Cathryn Quinn has notched 3.58. Ginny Willis has dished out 9.91 aps and Hillary Ford has notched 5.25 dps.


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WALNUT CREEK — With three storm systems bearing down on the Bay Area, forecasters say the East Bay might see two to four inches of rain between Wednesday and Sunday.
Residents of many cities in Contra Costa County can pick up sandbags at various locations and report clogged storm drains and flooding to authorities. Note that sandbags are for residents only; proof of residency may be required. Most cities provide bags and sand, but residents will need to bring their own shovel to fill the bags.
Free, filled sandbags (up to 25) are available for City residents from the corporation yard at 1455 Gasoline Alley. Elderly and disabled residents can call 925-671-3050 to get assistance in having bags delivered. To report flooding, call 925-671-3099.
Residents can get up to 20 sandbags at the Town Service Center, 1000 Sherburn Hills Road. To report flooding, call 925-314-3450 during business hours or 925-820-2144 after hours.
Up to 20 bags are available free to residents at the city's Public Works Services facilities at the corner of Camino Diablo & Loveland Lane or at the southwest corner of Mt. Diablo Blvd. & Village Center, across from the Veteran's building. To report flooding, call 925-299-3259 during business hours or 925-284-5010 after hours.
The city has five locations for sandbag distribution:
Residents can get sandbags at two of the city's fire stations:
Contact Public Works at 253-4231 to report an obstructed storm drain.
Pleasant Hill
Sandbags and sand are available at three locations:
To report flooding, call public works at 925-671-4646 during business hours or the police nonemergency line at 925-288-4600 after hours.
San Ramon
Residents can pick up sandbags and sand at Sports Park, Central Park and Athan Downs. To report flooding, call 925-973-2800 during business hours or 925-973-2779 after hours.
Walnut Creek
Residents can get sandbags at the intersection of Lancaster Road and Orchard Lane, at the Heather Farms parking lot, and at the Larkey Park parking lot. To report flooding, call 925-943-5854.
Residents can call 925-779 6950 to get information on sandbag distribution or to report flooding
Sandbags will be available at the city's corporation yard, at 2201 Elkins Way. To report flooding during business hours, call 925-516-6000; after hours, call 925-778-2441.
The city will not be offering sandbags. To report flooding, call 925-625-7037 during business hours or 925-625-8060 after hours.
Sandbags are available at the corporation yard, at 357 East 12th Street. To report flooding, call 925-252-4936.
El Cerrito/Kensington
Up to 10 sandbags are available for those with proof of residency at 7501 Schmidt Lane, near the Recycling Center. To report flooding during business hours, residents can call 510-215-4369. For after-hours flood reports, call 510-215-3233.
Sandbags and sand will be distributed from the Old Town Parking Lot on Plum Street. To report flooding, call 510-724-9010 during business hours or 510-724-8950 after hours.
Sandbags will be available at the city's corporation yard at 6 13th Street. To report flooding, call 510-421-2001.
The Contra Costa Sheriff's Office is making sand and sandbags available at the following locations:
East County
West County
Central County
Contact Daniel M. Jimenez at email@example.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/DMJreports.


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Listen to today's episode of StarDate on the web the same day it airs in high-quality streaming audio without any extra ads or announcements. Choose a $8 one-month pass, or listen every day for a year for just $30.
You are here
Moon and Saturn
Three planets congregate to the right of the Moon this evening: Saturn, Mars, and Venus, the "evening star."
Saturn is the closest one to the Moon. It's to the upper right of the Moon, and looks like a golden star. And it's also the biggest of the three worlds. In fact, it's the second-largest planet in the solar system -- about nine times the diameter of Earth.
Saturn consists of layers of gas wrapped around a small, solid core. The layers of gas are topped by globe-encircling bands of clouds made of sulfur compounds, water, ammonia, and other chemicals.
Like the clouds here on Earth, the clouds on Saturn undergo convection -- air currents carry material in a loop from bottom to top and back down again. The convection creates static electricity. When enough electricity builds up, it discharges just as it does here on Earth: as lightning.
[SFX: Saturn lightning]
The Cassini spacecraft has heard the lightning as this crackling static in radio waves from the planet. The crackles indicate that some of the discharges can be hundreds of times stronger than lightning on Earth.
And earlier this year, Cassini saw lightning on Saturn for the first time, recording several flashes in a giant thunderstorm. The flashes were at least as strong as the most powerful lightning here on Earth -- buffeting Saturn's clouds with powerful displays of light and sound.
[SFX: Saturn lightning mixed with Earth thunder]
Script by Damond Benningfield, Copyright 2010
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Silversea Cruises - Prince Albert IIby Paul Motter
The luxury line's newest ship offers state of the art adventure cruising in a comfortable luxury setting.
Is it possible to use the words "adventure" and "luxury" in reference to the same vessel? It is if you are referring to the new Polar expedition vessel from Silversea Cruises, Prince Albert II.
Widely lauded as one of the world's finest cruise lines, a Silversea voyage is an adventure in luxury and a luxurious adventure. The line goes beyond great accommodations and service. It takes its guests to the world's most alluring destinations and gives them memories to last a lifetime. As a Silverseas guest, you are always handled with the utmost attention to detail and virtually assured that nothing will go wrong.
It is for that reason that we are so excited about Silversea's newest cruiser, the Lloyd's Register 1A ice-class vessel Prince Albert II, named after the esteemed prince of Monaco who founded the world-renowned Oceanographic Institute.
click on pictures below for larger images:
|Silversea Prince Albert II in Monaco
|Sailing under London's Tower Bridge
Following a June 12 naming ceremony in Monte Carlo. Prince Albert II has begun its inaugural year of cruises to the world's most remote north and the south Polar Regions. But first, the ship had to complete an extensive multimillion-dollar renovation at the Fincantieri shipyard in Trieste, Italy including exterior design modifications, state-of-the-art technological enhancements and a comprehensive upgrade of all guest accommodations and public spaces.
Fresh from its multimillion-dollar renovation, the Prince Albert II boasts the largest average size accommodations of any expedition ship in the world. A selection of 20 premium suites, from 350 to 675 square feet of luxurious living space, has been created especially for the discriminating traveler. Select suites have double private French balconies or large private verandas, and additional elite amenities including butler service.
Prince Albert II weighs just 6,072 gross tons and will accommodate a maximum of 132 guests in 66 ocean-view accommodations, many featuring private verandas. The staterooms and suites range from 180 to over 600 square feet, providing some of the largest accommodations of any expedition ship. With a 1:1.2 crew-to-guest ratio, All accommodations are tastefully appointed and have private marble bathrooms with bathtubs.
click on pictures below for larger images:
|Silver Suite
All suites and staterooms feature flat screen monitors offering interactive TV and video options. In the ship's lounges, the latest audio-visual equipment, complete with high-definition video screens, display live lectures hosted by the ship's world-class expedition and lecture staff as well as visiting destination experts.
Onboard Amenities
Guests enjoy many amenities also found on larger ships, such as an elegant single-seating main dining room, the library (with computers and Internet access), boutique, beauty salon, fitness center, full-service spa and two Jacuzzi pools. The ship also features several lounges for drinks, music and entertainment, including a cigar lounge like the Humidor on the line's other ships.
The Prince Albert II has state-of-the-art satellite communication systems, providing bow-to-stern wireless Internet access. Guests with Wi-Fi-enabled laptops and PDAs can surf the web and check e-mail from the comfort of their suites as well as public areas. Cellular phone service is also available.
click on pictures below for larger images:
|Observation room
|Theater & Lecture Hall
The ship is also outfitted with eight of the latest-model Zodiac boats with Yamaha four-stroke engines. These Zodiacs will take guests up-close to the wildlife and landscapes of some of the world's most remote destinations.
Prince Albert II set sail from London on its inaugural season of 10 to 21 day voyages focusing on polar adventures. Sailing first to the Arctic Circle, Svalbard, Iceland and Greenland for the summer, the ship will then reposition to South America and Antarctica for autumn and winter voyages.
From mid-August to November 2008, the Prince Albert II will journey from the east coast of North America through the Panama Canal to Los Angeles before heading south to Antarctica. Along this special repositioning route are opportunities to explore the Sea of Cortez (with an extension to Copper Canyon), Chilean fjords, Falklands and South Georgia Island.
Guests can sail for up to 48 days on back-to-back voyages without repeating a Zodiac landing site.
Special Guests Lecturers
When the ship is in the northern regions, the main onboard regional expert is Jon Vidar Sigurdsson. Born in Reykjavik, Iceland, and with a degree in geology, Jon has led 20 summer and winter expeditions to this Arctic nation. His zeal for the outdoors also fuels his mountain climbing hobby. He has reached the highest peaks on two continents including Russia's Mt. Elbrus and Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
Sigurdsson will headline the enrichment program aboard the "Svalbard and Iceland" expedition, departing July 12 for 18 days from Tromso to Reykjavik. He will also host the "Greenland Exploration," departing Reykjavik July 30 on a 16-day journey to St. John's, Newfoundland.
Jon Bowermaster is slated to host Prince Albert II's "Journey to South America," departing October 12 on a 22-day expedition from Acapulco to Santiago. He will also host the already-sold-out "Chilean Fjords Highlights" voyage, sailing November 3 from Santiago to Ushuaia.
Jon has spent more than 20 years exploring, researching and documenting regions all over the world. His Oceans 8 project, designed to explore the world by kayak, has taken him to the Aleutian Islands, Vietnam, French Polynesia, South America's Altiplano, the Antarctic Peninsula and the wild coasts of Gabon, Croatia and Tasmania. He has written of his adventures for a variety of publications, ranging from National Geographic to The New York Times.
Prince Albert II Voyage List:
|Voyage Name
|Jun 12 2008
|London to Tromso
|Grand Expedition to Svalbard
|Jun 30 2008
|Tromso to Tromso
|Jul 12 2008
|Tromso to Reykjavik
|Svalbard - Iceland
|Jul 30 2008
|Reykjavik to Newfoundland
|Iceland - Greenland
|Aug 15 2008
|Newfoundland to New York
|Newfoundland & Maritimes
|Sep 1 2008
|Fort Lauderdale to Acapulco
|Trans Panama
|Sep 17 2008
|Acapulco to Los Angeles
|Sea of Cortez/Copper Canyon
|Sep 30 2008
|Los Angeles to Acapulco
|Sea of Cortez/Copper Canyon
|Oct 12 2008
|Acapulco to Valparaiso
|Central/South America
|Nov 3 2008
|Valparaiso to Ushuaia
|Chilean Fjords
|Nov 14 2008
|Ushuaia to Ushuaia
|Falkland Islands - South Georgia - Antarctica
|Nov 30 2008
|Ushuaia to Ushuaia
|Classic Antarctica
|Dec 11 2008
|Ushuaia to Ushuaia
|Classic Antarctica
|Dec 22 2008
|Ushuaia to Ushuaia
|Holiday Antarctica
|Jan 18 2009
|Ushuaia to Ushuaia
|Classic Antarctica
|Jan 29 2009
|Ushuaia to Ushuaia
|Classic Antarctica
|Feb 9 2009
|Ushuaia to Ushuaia
|Falkland Islands - South Georgia - Antarctica
|Feb 25 2009
|Ushuaia to Valparaiso
|Chilean Fjords


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The dancer who was partnered with Russell Crowe's wife on Australia's "Dancing With The Stars" has denied playing a part in the rumored breakdown of the actor's marriage.
Reports suggesting the "Gladiator" star had separated from Danielle Spencer after nine years of marriage surfaced over the weekend, but professional dancer Damian Whitewood insists he had nothing to do with the split.
Whitewood is adamant the singer showed no signs of trouble in her personal life while they competed together on the celebrity dance show earlier this year.
He tells Aussie current affairs show "Today Tonight," "When I was in the dance studio, Danielle was giving me 100 percent of that dance. She never showed one bit there was problems (sic) whatsoever.
"Once we'd wrapped and finished, she said things weren't great. And that's pretty much as far as the conversation went."
Whitewood also reveals he wanted Crowe to visit the show to help pull in more votes, and was stunned when the actor turned up, unannounced, for Spencer's semi-final.
He adds, "Obviously Russell was a separate identity. I would have loved to have him involved (as) it was a popularity contest. The more I could get him involved the bigger the word gets out there. This was about Danielle."
Whitewood, who was named the series' runner-up with Spencer, was previously dogged by romance rumors when he was paired with Pamela Anderson on the U.S. version of the TV talent show, but he maintains he has always been the consummate professional.
He says, "Maybe I'm just good at transforming them into good dancers and creating the heart behind a dance
show. That's what I'm there to do. Ballroom dancing is very suggestive – very seductive. It's two people up close and together, and personal. You couldn't get any closer."


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Race: Men
Faction: Magic Kingdom
Class: Caster (Thinkamancer)
Rank and Titles: Mastermind, Headmaster
Proposed Canon
He suspected it might be a law of Erfworld, but there was not enough evidence.
Strengths: Curiosity, Generosity, Inventiveness, Building Scientific Instruments, Stylish Jackets
Weaknesses: Loneliness, Focus, Courage of Convictions
First Appearance: TBFGK 140
Isaac is a Headmaster among the Thinkamancers. LIAB Text 40
First seen when Parson entered the Magic Kingdom after the Battle for Gobwin Knob, he summoned the Thinkamancers to unravel the Croakamancer-Dirtamancer link up, saying they'd do it for no charge.
Isaac is a rarity among the casters of the Magic Kingdom, not content with debating and arguing over theories and hypotheses on the nature of magic and Erf, but actively working to discern reliable and consistent facts. So far, this has led to the creation of a number of devices to aid thinkamancers in better accessing nodes of amplification or attuning to the frequencies of certain G-String vibrations (all of which resemble children's playground equipment from our world).
Should he ever link up with a Carnymancer, they will create devices capable of automatically switching Thinkamancers between nodes at precisely calibrated frequencies to achieve Thinkamancy that, while not as versatile, will actually rival the Arkendish in power (like a Ferris Wheel or a Roller Coaster).
Isaac may hope that he or one of the other Great Minds that Think Alike can replace Charlie as the attuned holder of the Arkendish, if Parson succeeds in defeating Charlie.
Real World References
His name coupled with his tendencies as a natural philosopher are a reference to Isaac Newton. Some of his suspicions about the laws of Erfworld include that there is "A counter-force for every force, a reaction to every action. Opposite, and perhaps equal." which one way of specifying the real world (Isaac Newton's) First Law of Physics.
His appearance is a reference to Carl Sagan.
His desire for the Arkendish as a tool of observation may also be a reference the use of radio telescopes in astronomy.
Both Carl Sagan and Isaac Newton were teachers, and one of the titles for the person in charge of a school is Headmaster.


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BENEFITING: Friendship Circle International
EVENT: NYC Half 2012
EVENT DATE: Mar 18, 2012
Today, at least 1 in 12 children has some form of special needs. It may be cerebral palsy or autism. It may be learning disabilities or ADHD.
The common thread between most disabilities is the fact that they make children seem different to their peers. It may be a wheelchair, the inability for a child to verbalize his thoughts, or simply struggling to read or write that can cause a chasm between a child and the rest of the children at school, at summer camp or at the local youth group.
Even more painful than the stares, the impatience and the difficulties in communicating is the phone that doesn't ring, the empty afternoons longing for companionship, a playmate or just someone to talk to
Team Friendship is running to raise awareness and money for Friendship Circle, which is an international organization that pairs teenager volunteers and children with special needs to help the children cultivate friendships.
Our vision is to bridge the gap between families of children with special needs and the rest of the community while providing today's teens with a productive and enjoyable focus.
This in turn causes the teens to lead their community in advocating for people with special needs.
Click Donate to support Friendship Circle International, or go even one step further if you are participating in the race by clicking "Join The Team". You'll get your own Marathon project page for Team Run 4 Friendship NYC Marathon 2011 that you can share with all of your friends and family to help fundraise.
Friendship Circle thanks you!
The Team: $9,974 TOTAL RAISED SO FAR
Donor Comments
Suzette, Mitchell and Jordan Schepps
A tribute to Ilana and to all the teen volunteers and children with special needs who enrich each others lives! 7 years ago


text: Long-Term Considerations June 29, 2012 11:31 PM You're as young as you feel—but don't forget care insurance Greg and Della Dell are part of the sandwich generation—the midlife adults wedged between aging parents and adult children and grandchildren. The Westminster, Md., farm couple cared for Della's father in their home when he fell ill. Upon his passing, an apartment was built onto their farm home for her mother, Nora Lee Armacost. Greg's parents, Donald and Leona Dell, both in their 80s, are in excellent health and live less than a mile away. Children and grandchildren pass in and out of their spacious farmhouse as if it were their own. With all their extended family to care for and worry about, it has never really crossed Greg and Della's minds to contemplate their needs for aged care. "It's hard to believe we are in a stage of life that we even have to think about it," Della admits. "I'm not sure I want to think about it." Kevin Spafford, Farm Journal succession planning expert, says it is not unusual for people to want to avoid the topic of long-term care. "However, it is a critical part of succession planning and can be an important part of protecting the farm as an asset," he says. "Farm families, because of their long history of caring for their families, often neglect the topic. But it's important to keep in mind that the social structure of farm families is changing. Children are more geographically dispersed, and two-income families can't always accommodate the responsibilities of caring for an aging parent." The Dells have been participating in a Farm Journal Legacy Project case study. The prospects of long-term care insurance were explored early in the succession process as part of the Dells' overall financial management plan. Josh Sylvester, a Certified Financial Planner and member of the Legacy Project team, explains that one of the major benefits of long-term care insurance is that assets, such as land, machinery and other investments, will not have to be liquidated to pay nursing home costs or be spent down to achieve Medicaid eligibility. "Long-term insurance is designed to take the burden off the spouse and/or children to fund the cost of care and transfers the cost of the care to the insurance carrier." Sylvester notes that the cost of insurance is the biggest stumbling block. The Dells flinched when faced with estimated premiums exceeding $6,000 per year (level pay option), based on a $200 per day benefit (the average cost of care in Maryland). That figure looks more reasonable when compared to what it would cost them to self-insure for care, Sylvester says. "To match that same benefit, they would have to invest $275,000 today and average a 6% growth rate. Or they would need to set up an annual program and invest $22,678 per year, growing at 6%, to match the benefit of long-term care insurance." The Dells have an added benefit in that they have a C corporation. "Long-term care is the only executive benefit for which the C corporation can deduct 100% of the premium and the premium will be nontaxable to the employee/owner," Sylvester says. "This significantly reduces the cost on a net after-tax basis." In the Dells' case, the approximate net cost of long-term care insurance would be slightly more than $4,000 per year, based on a level pay option. Use the Long-Term Care Assessment tool to help navigate the details of your policy. Back to news