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Sunday the 12th Permatour (gardne tour) and Bees Wax workshop.
Permatour 10-11am
Beeswax workshop 11am-12:30pm
An exciting combination starting with a beautiful native garden complete with 5 honey bee hives at Elanora Heights, followed by a hands on workshop involving the uses of bees wax. Attendees will learn how to make candles, food wraps, and even furniture polish. One not to be missed.
For further information please contact: firstname.lastname@example.com
$25 for guests and $20 for permaculture members.


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ARCs! Fresh hot ARCs!
Good evening folks. It's been a while since I've blogged here, I know. There were some technical difficulties that have recently been overcome (read: I bought a new computer) that should make posting here a more regular occurrence. In the next few weeks expect some thoughts on what I'm looking forward to reading in 2016, more on my writing music, possibly some scattered thoughts on the Orioles, perhaps some pictures of toys, and maybe a post introducing the editor cats.
However, tonight's post is very simple; I still have Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) of Ordination: Book I of the Paladin Trilogy looking for good homes. If you're a blogger, review, podcaster, or general internet/literary gadabout who is interested in fantasy and would like one and is willing to review it/help spread the word, please let me know! Contact me via this website or get at me on Twitter (@soundingline).

subset: commoncrawl


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11 Healing Mantras For Natural Weight Loss
When I first began my weight loss journey, I wanted to feel better about myself and my body. I noticed how bad I felt whenever I believed negative thoughts about myself, so I challenged myself to only pay attention to the thoughts that made me feel good.
And then one day, this sentence popped into my head: I'm a lean, mean, fat-fighting machine. As silly as this phrase is, I liked how it sounded and it made me laugh out loud.
Understand how powerful your thoughts are and use them to your advantage.
I began to use the phrase whenever I felt weak or wanted to go back to my outdated thought patterns. At the time, I didn't even know what an affirmation was, but I knew that thinking and saying I'm a lean, mean, fat-fighting machine made me feel better.
With every step I took, I repeated it over and over until it was ingrained in my consciousness. With time, my affirmation became a part of my new way of thinking and ultimately shifted the way I saw myself forever.
Now it's time for you to create your own healing affirmations. They should be personal, inspiring and uplifting, and work best when stated in the present tense and repeated regularly. As you begin using your own healing affirmations, it might seem awkward to say them aloud. But I promise that with repetition, they'll help you create a new reality.
Your personal healing affirmation will interrupt old, outdated thought patterns as you shift into a new mindset. When you use your affirmation with confidence and sincerity, you'll begin to attract whatever it is you need to meet your goals and manifest your desires.
To help you on your way, I've created a list of 11 healing affirmations that can serve as a guide:
- I am learning how to love my body.
- I feel healthy, focused and determined.
- Making small changes to the way I live is effortless.
- I feel healthier with each day that passes.
- It's possible to live at my desired weight.
- I am strong, fit and beautiful.
- My health and weight are constantly improving.
- I meet each new day with a positive attitude.
- I am confident in my weight loss goals and proud of how far I've come.
- Everything I eat heals and nourishes my mind, body and soul.
- I'm a lean, mean, fat-fighting machine. (Ha.)
Understand how powerful your thoughts are and begin to use them to your advantage. Let go of the critical thoughts and replace them with your own kinder ones.
Your mind is extremely powerful and when you use your thoughts to help heal, your weight loss will get easier and you'll be able to create your dream life.
To download the first chapter of Katrina's book for FREE click here now.
And are you ready to learn more about how to unlock the power of food to heal your body, prevent disease & achieve optimal health? Register now for our FREE web class with nutrition expert Kelly LeVeque.


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We are Customer Centric.
Being Customer Centric is an attitude, a way of life, and our business philosophy. We are guided by our customers – thinking through the eyes of our customers at all times. For us, customers are at the center of it all, deciding what priorities we focus on and driving the change as we adapt and evolve.
The root of being Customer Centric is really about putting the customer at the forefront of your daily thoughts. The original Placers did anything and everything it could to make service the #1 priority for customers. That has carried over to our Outside-In® Companies today. We all have so much to do each day, but it is with intention towards the one who pays the bills – the customer.
I like the idea of being competitive around service. Imagine if we all try to "one up" each other in our efforts to blow a customer's mind. That kind of service is contagious. When you see others smile and practice it, Customer Centric thinking just becomes second nature. Service becomes easier, not harder. Imagine a world where every day you can make your company better. Imagine right now that you are 100% empowered to fix things around you. We want to really hone in on the fixes and hassles that can make us more and more Customer Centric.
I am always asked about the big stories of Customer Centric thinking, and I have one in mind to share. Many years ago, I was attending a sporting event that ended very late into the evening. In fact, as I was making the ride home some time after midnight my phone rang. It was a new customer who admitted to me that they had chosen to go with a competitor of ours. That competitor had promised them a recruiter to start that day (since it was after midnight) and they had just received an email that the company was unable to fulfill their initial promise.
You might think that I was being Customer Centric to even pick up, but all I did was answer the phone. The Customer Centric stuff comes next. I started calling all of my leaders to ask if they might be able to help me help our prospect. Then it happened–Jamie O'Neill offered to go in that day. Now this was no small feat! She had a team, a business plan, a full day, week, month of stuff to do. But we knew this really mattered, and we did it.
My memories around being Customer Centric involve the really big things in our companies' history. But the best examples are the day-to-day ones. Seeing staff offer a cup of coffee to a candidate. Watching a team member grab a phone call when someone is not available. Customer Centric is really about executing the little things well. Customer Centric is our recruiters driving candidates around on the weekends to show them schools, and nice neighborhoods and where the shopping mall is located. Customer Centric is when folks step forward to do volunteer work (recruitment or not) on their own time because they know it is the right thing to do and full of good karma!
I sure would love to gather more and different Customer Centric stories all of the time, get some new ones, and commit to getting this sort of thing in orientation and training for others. We all want to know how to fit in!
Imagine a world where each one of us wakes up and plans to be Customer Centric. That is how we will get better all of the time!


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In today's world, people want things fast and easy. Even the act of opening up an app takes too long to some.
Amazon recognized this, and boom, entered the Amazon Dash. For those of you who don't know, Amazon Dash is a Wi-Fi connected device that reorders your favorite product with the press of a button. Each Dash button is paired with a product of your choice, and when you're running low on that product, you simply just press the Dash button. The button is easily set up and managed through the Amazon app on your smartphone so a notification (if enabled) is sent to your phone every time an order is placed. Essentially, it is an extremely quick and easy way for customers to ensure they never run out of their daily essentials and products they love.
For example, say you notice you're running out of toilet paper. As a full-time college student working two jobs, I know this is not a pretty sight for me to see – the last thing I want to do is make a stop to the grocery store to get toilet paper when I have a million other things on my plate. With the Charmin or Angel Soft Dash button set up next to my toilet paper, all I would have to do is push it when I notice I'm running low and, voila, Toilet paper arrives at my door 2 days later.
Amazon just added 100 new Dash buttons, tripling the number of available brands to consumers. Brawny, Clorox, Peet's Coffee, Doritos, Playtex, Red Bull and Starbucks are just a few of the names Amazon listed among the new brands attached to its Dash program. With the additional brands, several new retail categories are now represented, including snacks, vitamins, office products, pet supplies, feminine care and batteries, as well as new beverage options.
The Dash button is automating consumerism, which enables brands to further permeate the homes of consumers and has the potential to forever change the way goods are bought and sold.
At first glance, I couldn't want a product more. $4.99 per button for much needed convenience? I was all in – until I started doing further research. It turns out, these Dash buttons have some cons, and severe ones at that.
First, it encourages customers to thoughtlessly purchase items. Pushing the replenishment button becomes a mindless process that could easily lead to excessive spending. I know, for me, when I'm not actually using cash or swiping my debit card to make purchases (i.e., having my card on file at my favorite online shops), it doesn't feel like I'm really spending money. I feel like the Dash buttons would have the same effect.
Second (and worse, IMO), Amazon only offers a handful of brands. It's great that they have just introduced 100 new Dash buttons, but certain products have extremely limited brands – you can, for example, get a button to buy Glad trash bags but not Hefty, or Charmin toilet paper but not Cottonelle. If you look at it, Amazon can control exactly what people buy with these buttons. This also forces consumers into brand loyalty, and many, especially the younger generation, aren't ready to commit to one brand. They enjoy shopping around, comparing prices and try new products. The Dash buttons do not allow consumers to do this.
Going off on how Amazon can control exactly what we buy with the Dash buttons, I read an article about a person who always uses Gillette Mach3 razors, but the Dash buttons available only offered Gillette Fusion and Mach3 TURBO razors, aka the more expensive Gillette razors. Amazon slyly forces consumers to choose a more expensive razor if they want a Dash button. If that person buys their Mach3s through Amazon's actual website, not only can they spend less money on more razors, they can choose from several pages worth of other Gillette razor options, full of different sized packs, disposables, bundles, coupons, and more. Amazon's Dash button interface leaves these money-saving details behind along with Add-on Items and Subscribe & Save.
With that being said, I think it's important for people to be aware of these cons before purchasing any Amazon Dash buttons. If you're aware and still willing to pay the extra price for them, that's great! But for me, I'm going to pass – the convenience isn't worth it to me. Maybe if Amazon offered the option to program a Dash button with any product I want I'd reconsider…


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Click here to download. Welcome to Matt's first attempt at a minisode. A little rough, I know, but bear with me as I get my ten minute legs under me.
In this minisode I continue the discussion started in epidsode 10 surrounding the goals and rational behind vaccine design in the case of Staphylococcus Aureus. I touch on a paper which proceeded the paper discussed in episode 10, and talk about the data in that paper may cause questions for the potential efficacy of S. aureus humoral vaccination.


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Micāne-Zālīte, Dace (USA/Latvia)
Dace Micāne-Zālīte has had more than 20 years of experience as a theater director and playwright. She is a globally thinking theater director with a unique signature - innovative, with a strong passion for humanity, ecologically thinking and with a highly artistic approach to Children's Musicals. Dace's directing vibrantly relates life stories, folklore and brings to the audience a certain excitement in her staged productions. She is an Instructor in Acting as well as Drama.
Dace's roots are in the Baltic region of Northern Europe, Latvia, where she trained in theater schools based on Stanislavsky's method. She received her Theater Director's degree in 1989 from the Latvia State Conservatory. Dace is a professionally trained playwright at University os Latvia (Riga) and has had extensive experience in working with children and adolescents in Theater Arts instruction. In the Latvian TV industry Dace was the director for several adapted BBC TV productions.
In the 2007-2008 academic year Dace was selected as a mid career professional stage director to study as a Special Research Fellow at the Yale School of Drama in the Directing Department. Her artistic experience with Children's Musical Theatre was a green light for her studies at Yale. While at Yale her mentors were nationally known theatre directors – Professors Elizabeth Diamond, James Bundy and Robert Woodruf.
Dace is also a columnist for the American Latvian newspaper Laiks where she publishes her articles on Latvian children's education, Latvian culture and folklore. In her poetry, Dace focuses on the vision for the World as it is fulfilled with metaphors of Nature's and the human soul's beauty. In her works she integrates Latvian as well as Indo-European traditions and folklore in her directed plays reflecting humanity's bonds with Nature.
In 2010 Dace was invited as a lecturer at several American Latvian Association conferences in several Latvian Cultural Centers regarding Latvian mythology - Denver Colorado, and at the Embassy of the Republic of Latvia in Washington DC.
Dace resides in Guilford CT, with her son Krišjānis who attends 7th grade at the Elisabeth C. Adams Middle School, and her husband , Dr. Edward Zalitis, who is a practicing pediatrician in North Haven and on staff at the Yale New Haven Children's Hospital.
Recently Dace received a grant from the Latvian American Association and published her first poetry book Vāveru gane (Shepardess of the Squirrels), poetry written in the past 6 years while residing in the United States. Currently Dace teaches Theater Arts at a local Elemantary schools Drama club and writes plays for the Drama Club educational programs. In 2010-2011 she wrote the plays Aurora Borealis and Finding Monet.
Read Aurora Borealis.
Read Finding Monet.


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Christmas doesn't fall on a Sunday very often so we would like to invite you to join us on this special day to hear our Christmas message. Mince pies will be served after the service so be sure to stick around.
Please remember that public transport will be affected so please plan your journey beforehand to make it on time!


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If you're like us, and haven't managed to slip out of vacay mode quite yet, you're in luck. Just when you thought you'd seen all the S.F.-themed time-sucking sites there were, another one has popped up and while it may not be brand new to the scene, it definitely has piqued our interests. The site started in May, and we're not sure how we glossed over it, but we're way obsessed now. Seriously, we just spent 30 minutes on it before we got around to writing this post. San Fran Livin' (we'll overlook the cringe-worthy, touristy title), delivers a belly-load of laughs in the form of oh-so-San Francisco scenarios like ... getting lost in Golden Gate Park, landing a cool Lyft driver, stalking Bi-Rite's new Divis location, and many, many more. And they're all illustrated via GIFs, naturally, which somehow accurately pinpoint our emotions electronically without ever getting played out! In the mood for some AM chuckles? Head on over, just don't lose track of time — be warned, it's pretty addicting!
Photo: Via San Fran Livin'


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Toyota unveiled a sleeker new Camry sedan today at the New York auto show that offers better styling, a more refined interior and improved handling.
Though the Camry remains the best-selling mid-size sedan in the U.S., more stylish competitors throughout the segment – such as the Hyundai Sonata, Kia Optima, Ford Fusion and Nissan Altima – have stolen sales.
In fact, the current somewhat stodgy-looking Camry has sometimes relied on generous incentives to maintain its sales momentum.
"Customers today love the durability, quality and value that the Camry represents, but they are looking for a little more style, comfort and performance, and this 2015 Camry has all of the above," said Bob Carter, senior vice president of automotive operations at Toyota Motor Sales USA.
Toyota freshened the Camry just three years ago.
Every exterior panel but the roof was redesigned in the 2015 model. In addition, the car is slightly longer and wider.
It looks smoother and more athletic than the current thick and somewhat square Camry.
Inside, the 2015 Camry offers more premium materials and better electronics.
Moreover,Toyota will even provide some mild performance in a new model of the Camry called the XSE.
All Camrys will get additional body welds to improve their rigidity. But XSE models also will be equipped with firmer bushings and coil springs, 18-inch wheels and unique shock absorbers.
Also,Toyota says, all Camrys should be quieter thanks to better window and door seals and more insulation.
The engine lineup will remain unchanged, with a 2.5-liter four-cylinder as the standard engine and a 3.5-liter V-6 optional. Both engines are mated to six-speed automatics.
2015 Camrys also will be available with Toyota's Hybrid Synergy powertrain.
The new sedans will arrive at Toyota dealers this fall. No pricing was disclosed.


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Now you can sing-a-long to Virgin Radio on Freeview
Posted July 13, 2006 - Press Releases
Virgin Radio, the UK's leading commercial pop and rock music station, is set to launch on Freeview, providing viewers with yet more digital radio choice and entertainment.
When it launches on 18th July, Virgin Radio will be available to over seven million Freeview homes in the UK (see note 1 below). To get Freeview and its fantastic line-up of digital services, all you need to do is make a one-off payment from around £40 for a digital box then plug it into their TV and rooftop aerial (see note 2) . Alternatively, you can buy a digital TV (idTV) or Digital TV Recorders which have a digital tuner built-in.
"Freeview makes Virgin Radio accessible to even more homes right across the UK." Says Virgin Radio Breakfast Show DJ Christian O'Connell, "Tune in to my breakfast show every morning for the best music and a great wake up call!"
Sophie Alexander, Head of Consumer Marketing at Freeview said: "As digital radio services continue to increase in popularity, we are delighted to announce that Virgin Radio, the UK's biggest commercial radio station, will now be available to Freeview consumers."
- Ofcom Q1 2006 report
- Consumers are advised to check that coverage is available in their area first. They can check the postcode checker on the Freeview website or text their post code to 83331 (standard network charges apply) or contact their local Freeview retailer.


text: October 9, 2015 Hot vintage, retro, and industrial lights from ParrotUncle Let's dim the lights and get a little up-close and personal with these sexy vintage retro industrial lights from our sponsor ParrotUncle. ParrotUncle offers a huge and creative selection of home lightings. I'm talking from vintage Tiffany-style lightings to contemporary styles like these bad boys… Read More 2.3k 25 Comments December 18, 2013 How can I gussy up my kitchen table? This is my kitchen table. It was given to my husband by his parents when he bought his first bachelor's pad (now our family home), and it is a good one that performs all of its table-related duties. I am grateful for it, especially considering it is the only one we have. But sometimes I wish it was more … special. Besides a tablecloth, what are some ways I could gussy up this table and make it more uniquely ours? Read More October 29, 2013 Steal this fabulous Halloween table setting idea Thanks to Tatum Witter (who's no stranger to awesome gothic home decor) for uploading this fabulous table setting to our Flickr pool. Let's analyze and break it down for your next dinner party designs, shall we?… Read More 1.3k April 29, 2013 Reader Round-up: Puppies, tentacles, home decor, and LA picnics Remember Offbeat Home's reader round-ups? I'm bringing it back y'all! We finally have enough Homies submitting enough pics to our Offbeat Home Flickr pool to do more round-ups now and then. Included in this round-up we have a good idea to help change your eating habits, a kitchen moment that makes me particularly happy, more bathroom tentacles, and a peak into how I spent this past weekend… Read More 1234 Copyright © 2003 - 2019 Offbeat Empire. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction in part or in whole is prohibited. Contact us Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Monetized by SkimLinks


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A year later…providence or pfftttzz…
So in a random turn of events I just decided to check this blog…today is July 15, 2013. My last entry was July 16, 2012. Coincidence?
I find it humorous that this blog has taken the form of most of my journals (diaries) where I have fits where I write everyday and periods of no activity until one day I randomly decide to write again. I don't particularly advertise this blog aside from the facebook linking for family and friends that might be interested and I think you can find it via google searching. But this white screen that I type into is more for reflection than anything else, if others derive benefit from that, great.
Perhaps it's providence that I've decided to check my blog. My last entry was about 'dreams' and where I was at. Since then life has been eventful but I still struggle with what will make me happy in my work…similar musings as to my last entry. Since then, I've gotten married, been quite productive if not incredibly frustrated at work, been back to Thailand to teach a workshop, been to Europe to attend a workshop, started a teaching blog for things I learn at workshops, started online newsletters for my field so others can tap into what I find on the internet, finished up a teaching fellowship, explored DC during free time… Life is clipping along as it should…
Somethings I've figured out in the past year:
- Some of us are West-Coasters, Some of us are East-Coasters…Some of us can coast any Coast…I am a West-Coaster and will seek to move back eventually.
- Bat viruses are cool.
- Analyzing influenza makes me fall asleep…I seriously don't know what it is with that virus but my mental capacity looks at the data and just wants to take a vacation immediately.
- I am not as awesome a multi-tasker as I once thought.
- I'm a pretty good teacher.
- Perhaps I should go into teaching.
- Blogging/writing about science is frightening…and…I can't pinpoint why. I envy Carl Zimmer's ablilities!
- I still want a sabbatical.
- DC can rival Bangkok in the summer.
- …
One thing I've learned this year is how few people there are available out there who do what I do. My field now combines, virology, biology, microbiology, molecular biology, programming, software development, Linux environments, mathematics and statistics…The field of bioinformatics is growing so rapidly as we've produced way more data than we can ever analyze and we don't have enough people trained to analyze it. So I'm in a high demand field…that I'm decent at…that I only sort of like–doh! Why is that?
The last thing I've learned is that I need to stop being a vain little b*tch and stop wondering if 'I matter'. It really is a petty thing to wonder. So many of us value our lives based on some sort of metric. In my case, if I don't feel like what I do matters, then by proxy I don't 'matter'…and I want to matter. I've struggled for years with what I do because I can't see the tangible difference it makes, if any. I'm the lab rat…I'm the girl behind the computer (or pipette) generating pictures from data…I may never see the benefits if any of the things I produce in my field. Doctors, nurses, humanitarian relief personnel, freakin party planners! etc…they see everyday how their work matters. They see how it affects/helps people. Ok, so I have no desire to be a party planner.
I've been at my job now for a year, it has taught me one thing…how to prove to yourself you matter. We are constantly having to justify why we get paid on grants and reports. I get paid to conduct surveillance on infectious diseases (mostly dengue and flu at the moment) that circulate globally. I get paid to study viruses from a genetic perspective in order to inform vaccine development efforts for dengue virus. In truth, I like only 30% of my job (what I just mentioned above + my opportunities to teach others). The other 70% is stress, paperwork, red tape, more red tape, more paperwork, being saddled with more than I feel I can handle and yet still being expected to get it all done, more stress, having to deal with areas I am not an expert or qualified to deal with, having to do other peoples jobs that they won't do themselves, feeling like more of a 'pet' with a needed skill set than a researcher (though this is lessening which is good)…
That's up from 20⁄80 this time last year so that's progress at least.
Overall though, I get to do some pretty cool stuff–so while I cannot guarantee staying where I am at long term, I am here for now and I will make the most of it. First step? Stop my whining…because it's starting to f*ckin annoy me. ha.
I used to console myself with Emerson's quote when I was unhappy about the trajectory of my life:
"The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well."
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
It's a good view, although a bit of a let down for those of us who'd also like to actually 'be happy'….I think perhaps Eleanor Roosevelt's view is a little more up my alley now.
"The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience."
― Eleanor Roosevelt


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We have found 21650 companies
house cleaning
PO Box 301386
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Let us do the cleaning and sanitizing so you can have more time for other stuff.
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Arcpoint labs of portland provides drug testing, paternity testing, alcohol testing and a full range of dna testing & dot drug testing for individuals and...
Animal Removal
Pest Control/Exterminating
4110 SE Hawthorne Blvd #645
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Specializes in nuisance wildlife control in greater portland, or. Assist home owners, businesses, and renters with issues regarding squirrels in the attic,...
Resume Services
9900 SW Greenburg Road Suite 150A
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As an hr consultant, help businesses hire and manage their people through recruiting, hiring, employee handbooks, position descriptions, performance...
Mortgage Companies
209 SW Oak St Ste 200
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I am dedicated to helping clients make smart real-estate investments. I'm not not just your average mortgage broker. I'm a mortgage advisor you can count on...
Professional Organizations
Po Box 17110
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Respaced is a sole-proprietorship professional organizing business that serves families, individuals and small businesses. As a professional organizer, i...
818 sw 3rd ave # 417
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Pioneer roofers serving the portland area with the highest quality roofing services since 1993! we do everything from residential to commercial and...
729 Southwest 15th Avenue
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8900 sw burnham st ste f 11
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Plumbing - Drain Cleaning
3809 ne 137th place
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Portland's #1 drain cleaning service. Serving all of portland and surrounding areas.
Auto Sales
Auction Services
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Speed's towing auction has been throwing the best auto auctions portland has ever seen. Call us today for the best deals on used cars portland has to offer.
400 Southwest Broadway
97205, Portland (Oregon)
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97213, Portland (Oregon)
Burfitt plumbing has been serving the portland area with the highest quality plumbing services since 1903. since we opened our doors over a hundred years...
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14015 se stark
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Auto Service
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120 se clay st
97214, Portland (Oregon)
Speed's auto service has been serving the portland area with the highest quality auto repair services since 1958. Our services include wheel alignments and...
Plumbing Contractor
16321 Southeast Hillside Lane
97222, Portland (Oregon)
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97086, Portland (Oregon)
Mr. Tree, inc. Has proudly been serving the tree service and tree pruning needs of the portland oregon area for more than 13 years. We have an expert staff...
Plumbing - Drain Cleaning
1521 n jantzen ave ste 134
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Pacific drain services has been serving the portland area with the highest quality drain cleaning and plumbing services for years. we handle both...
Garage Doors
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A-1 garage doors has been serving the portland or area with the highest quality garage door installation and services for years. we are licensed in both...
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2965 ne sandy blvd
97232, Portland (Oregon)
Townhouse pet care center is the go to dog and cat boarding facility in the portland area. we also handle grooming and obedience training. in 2008 we were...
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Alternative Medicine & Health Practitioners
1340 sw bertha blvd, suite 200
97219, Portland (Oregon)
Dr travis elliott naturopathic physician has been serving the portland area with the highest quality naturopathic services available. i earned my...
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14811 ne airport way suite 300
97230, Portland (Oregon)
Since 1997 carefree pool & spa supply, inc. Has been serving the portland area with the highest quality pool services. Come see us today for all your pool...
Furniture - Custom Made
3720 sw baird st
97219, Portland (Oregon)
We have a passion for modern architecture!
Piano Tuning
Music Instruction
600 SE Stark Street
97214, Portland (Oregon)
We offer quality european and japanese pianos such as bechstein, hoffman, estonia, kawai, roland digital pianos and pianodis player system. We are a full...
Real Estate Agents
4804 NW Bethany Blvd., Ste I2-244
97229, Portland (Oregon)
Dennis and andi's real estate buying and selling system
let us help you find everything you need to know about buying or selling a home! as...
Lawn Fertilization & Treatment
Lawn Irrigation
15601 SE 90th Ave.
97015, Portland (Oregon)
Landscape east & west is a full service landscape contractors offering design, build, and maintenance services to residential customers and maintenance and...
Massage Therapy
Fitness & Wellness
1308 NW 20th Ave, Ste 1
97209, Portland (Oregon)
Therapeutic massage therapy
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Pediatrics - Dentistry
9370 sw Greenburg Road Suite T
97223, Portland (Oregon)
We are committed to providing our patients with the highest standard of dental care in a comfortable and child-centered environment. We believe in the...
Gutter Repair & Replacement
Chimney Caps
10432 s. w. 52
97219, Portland (Oregon)
Specializing in residential gutter and downspout replacement with rust free parts since 1993 under ccb# 92250. We also have more affordable no-cog options...
Painting - Exterior
Painting - Interior
2116 se grant st
97214, Portland (Oregon)
Painting contractor
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Pressure Washing
Deck Maintenance
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Cookie Corner: Treats for those with dietary demands
If you're not on a specialized diet yourself, you know someone who is. Just within my circle, there are vegetarians and vegans, folks who've gone gluten-free both by necessity and by choice, a few diabetics and one pre-diabetic.
It's impossible to bake something that works for everyone, but I do try to satisfy several at a time. The cookies here are the result of that.
The almond-coconut cookies are both vegan and gluten-free. They started with a recipe I found online, but they weren't dressy enough for a celebratory time of year. My first tester (my husband) said "they need something." I came up with the various chocolate toppings and that indeed was the "something" lacking.
The raspberry pastry twists are not sweet, so they work for people watching their sugar intake. (They also work for breakfast.) They're a different kind of filled cookie than you often see on holiday cookie plates.
And of course, you can make them sweeter with a sprinkle of sugar or – oh my – a dunk in that same chocolate topping I created for the almond cookies.
Chocolate-drizzled coconut almond cookies
Prep time: 20 minutes, plus 20 minutes chill time
Cook time: 12 to 15 minutes per batch
Makes about 30
Recipe adapted by Kathy Morrison for The Bee.
Note: To toast almonds, spread them on an ungreased baking sheet and toast in a 350-degree oven for about 8 minutes. (Don't let them burn.) Allow to cool.
For cookies:
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup almond meal or ground almonds
1 1/4 cups gluten-free oat flour or ground gluten-free oats
1/4 cup coconut flour (or another 1/4 cup oat flour)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup agave nectar or maple syrup
1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk or coconut milk
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Chocolate topping (1st topping alternative):
1 generous tablespoon coconut oil, melted
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 tablespoons agave nectar
1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder (unsweetened, such as Hershey's)
1 cup whole almonds, optional, toasted
Cocoa sprinkling (2nd topping alternative):
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 tablespoon organic granulated sugar
In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut, almond flour, oat flour, coconut flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
In a separate bowl, combine the agave nectar or maple syrup, almond or coconut milk, coconut oil and almond extract.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix.
Put the batter in the refrigerator to chill for 20 to 30 minutes.
Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Using a 1 1/4-inch scoop or two spoons, form the cookies and arrange them on the baking sheet at least 1 inch apart. (These don't spread or flatten, so flatten them slightly if desired.)
Bake the cookies for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from the oven and cool completely.
For chocolate topping: Combine the coconut oil, vanilla and agave nectar in a small bowl. Using a sieve or sifter, add the cocoa powder. Stir together and keep stirring, with a fork or a small whisk, until the topping thickens and turns glossy. Drizzle the topping over the cooled cookies with a fork or bamboo skewer, or cap the cookies with topping using a spatula, and add one toasted almond to the topping before it hardens.
This makes enough topping to drizzle all the cookies or "cap" about two-thirds of them.
For cocoa sprinkling: Combine cocoa and granulated sugar and sprinkle over the cookies either before or after baking.
Testing and tasting
These gluten-free and vegan cookies are moist and coconuty. You can skip the chocolate topping if you want, but why would you?
▪ I had coconut flour, so substituted it for some of the oat flour. It ups the coconut flavor a little. That's personal preference, as is the agave vs. the maple syrup and almond milk vs. coconut milk. They all seem to work fine.
▪ When I flattened some of the cookies, they seemed a little drier, so take a minute off the baking time if you do that.
▪ The chocolate topping is magical stuff: Keep stirring until an emulsion forms as the coconut oil stars to cool. The topping eventually will harden, but not quickly, so it's easy to work with.
▪ The cookies keep well in a tin at room temperature, but you also can refrigerate them.
▪ Tasters liked all the variations, and most said the cookies didn't taste vegan or gluten-free. One taster noted that she expected to prefer the drizzled ones, but liked the cocoa topping one the best: "The intensity of the powder does it for me."
Kathy Morrison
Raspberry pastry twists
Prep time: 1 hour plus overnight chill time and dough relax time
Cook time: 13 minutes per batch
Makes 4 dozen cookies
Solo brand's raspberry filling can be found in supermarkets alongside the canned pie fillings. (Apricot also would be good.)
Recipe adapted by Kathy Morrison for The Bee from Taste of Home Cookies magazine (2011).
One 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 egg yolks
2 1/2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
6 tablespoons raspberry pastry filling, such as Solo brand
Sugar for sprinkling, optional
In a small bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add the salt and the egg yolks. Gradually add the flour. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Remove dough from the refrigerator 1 hour before rolling.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Divide the dough in half. Roll one portion into an 8-inch-by-12-inch rectangle. Spread 3 tablespoons raspberry filling over one half of the rectangle longways. Fold the plain portion of the dough over the filling.
Using a sharp knife, cut the rectangle into 24 pieces, each 1/2-inch wide. Twist each piece three times, pinching the ends, and place on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet. Repeat with the other rectangle.
Note: If desired, before baking, brush cookies lightly with water and sprinkle on granulated sugar.
Bake for 13 minutes or until light golden brown. Immediately remove cookies from the pan to wire racks to cool.
Testing and tasting
▪ This is stretchy dough. But make sure it's smooth before adding the filling – twisting exposes any cracks in the dough.
▪ Don't add more than the suggested amount of filling because it squeezes out the sides when you twist it.
▪ I found it useful to have a damp paper towel nearby to clean my hands off between cookies.
▪ The original recipe said to use ungreased baking sheets, but the resulting cooked-on filling was too messy for me. When I switched to parchment paper, the cookies came off easier and the pan was much easier to clean.
▪ The taste is similar to pie dough. I found my cookies browning quicker than I expected, given the photo in the magazine (their cookies show hardly any brown at all). So be prepared to take them out sooner if you want the look of candy canes. I think browning the twists a bit more would make them crisper. Try a test pan to see which you prefer.
▪ These cookies went over well at dinner as well as among newsroom tasters. They are excellent with tea.
Kathy Morrison


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Guest writing for Pozible
Recently, I've been doing some freelance writing and content strategy for the awesome team at Pozible.
Pozible is the 3rd largest crowd funding platform in the world, and is based in my home town of Melbourne, Australia.
I just arrived to say hi to everyone and was greeted with the news that a piece I wrote titled '10 ways to screw up your crowd funding campaign' is by far the most successful Facebook post they've ever had, inspiring tons of people to sign up to Pozible and even start their own projects.
I honestly can't think of a better way to start the day.


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|Community Radio - Real Transformation / Puff of Smoke
Sydney's Community Radio peaked some interest around here with their 2012 album Serious Magic but it wound up a bit soft around the edges in the end. Since then the band has had some time to bubble and within a few singles
| they've come 'round to what was just simmering on that first album. Their latest double shot, "Real Transformation" seems just the thing they've been looking for and in fact the A side smacks of some Brit DIY, complete with tousled bass and a backward guitar solo that tosses this just ever so into psych-pop territory. Tags and bags aside the track is a winner and their b-side only goes to support the theory that the band are worthy of perked ears for any new full length on the way this year.
Support the artist. Buy it HERE


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Medical questionnaires and medical examinations often make up a large part of an employer's wellness program. However, the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") places significant limits on an employer's ability to make disability-related inquiries or to require medical examinations. Employers and benefits practitioners have eagerly awaited anticipated guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on how employer wellness programs can be designed in compliance with the ADA. Guidance has also been needed to understand how the ADA's requirements interact with the final wellness regulations issued under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act by the Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services ("Final HIPAA Wellness Program Regulations").[1] That guidance finally came in the form of a proposed regulation on April 20, 2015 ("EEOC Proposed Rule").[2] This article traces the tortured history of the enforcement of the ADA against wellness programs and concludes with a discussion of the new EEOC Proposed Rule which provides employers and benefits practitioners with some highly anticipated guidance on how wellness programs might be structured to escape EEOC scrutiny.
After employment begins, an employer may generally only make disability-related inquiries and require medical examinations if they are "job-related and consistent with business necessity."[3] While wellness programs may be beneficial to both the employer and its employees, they have never been interpreted in any official guidance or in case law as satisfying the "job-related and consistent with business necessity" requirement under the ADA. Therefore, a wellness program that makes disability-related inquiries or requires medical examinations will violate the ADA unless it meets an exception under the ADA.
The ADA includes an exception for "voluntary wellness programs," under which an employer does not have to show that the disability-related inquiries or medical examinations are job-related and consistent with business necessity if the wellness program is "voluntary" and records under the program are kept confidential and separate from personnel records.[4] Voluntary wellness programs can include such medical examinations as blood pressure screening, cholesterol testing, glaucoma testing, and cancer detection screening.[5] The preamble to the Final HIPAA Wellness Program Regulations states, however, that compliance with the HIPAA nondiscrimination rules and the final wellness regulations does not mean that the wellness program is "voluntary" within the meaning of this exception under the ADA.[6] The ADA also provides an insurance safe harbor that may apply to wellness programs if the program is a "bona fide benefit plan." This safe harbor states that the ADA is not to be construed to prohibit or restrict "a person or organization covered by this chapter from establishing, sponsoring, observing, or administering the terms of a bona fide benefit plan that are based on underwriting risks, classifying risks, or administering such risks that are based on or not inconsistent with State law. . . ." [7]
A. Disability-Related Inquiries and Medical Examinations Defined
The ADA only applies to wellness programs if such programs make disability-related inquiries or conduct or request medical examinations.
- Disability-Related Inquiry. The EEOC defines a "disability-related inquiry" to mean a question (or series of questions) that is likely to elicit information about a disability. A disability-related inquiry includes obvious questions, such as asking an employee whether he or she has (or ever had) a disability or how he or she became disabled. However, a disability-related inquiry also includes asking questions relating to an employee's genetic information (including the employee's family medical history), asking whether the employee is currently taking any prescription drugs or medications, and asking broadly worded questions about an employee's impairments that are likely to elicit information about a disability.[8] On the other hand, general questions regarding an employee's well-being, whether the employee has been drinking, the employee's current illegal use of drugs, or a request for contact information for the employee in the case of a medical emergency are not disability-related inquiries.[9]
- Medical Examination. The EEOC defines a "medical examination" as a procedure or test that seeks information about an individual's physical or mental impairments or health. Whether a particular test or procedure is a medical examination will be determined based on several factors,[10] but the EEOC has determined that certain tests, including blood pressure screenings and cholesterol tests, are medical examinations for purposes of the ADA.
The broad range of questions and tests covered under the EEOC's definitions of "disability-related inquiry" and "medical examinations" makes it very unlikely that a health risk assessment (provided as part of a wellness program) would not be subject to the ADA's requirements concerning these restrictions. An example of a program that would not be considered to ask any disability-related questions or conduct any medical examinations is a smoking cessation program that is available to any employee who smokes and only asks employees to disclose how much they smoke.[11]
B. The EEOC Informal Discussion Letters' Interpretation of a "Voluntary Wellness Program" Under the ADA
The ADA states that an employer "may conduct voluntary medical examinations, including voluntary medical histories, which are part of an employee health program available to employees at that work site" even though such examinations are not job-related and consistent with business necessity.[12] The regulations repeat this provision almost verbatim, without providing any further interpretation of what it means to conduct a "voluntary" medical examination.[13] However, in guidance issued prior to the EEOC Proposed Rule, the EEOC has stated that a "wellness program is 'voluntary' as long as an employer neither requires participation nor penalizes employees who do not participate."[14] On March 6, 2009, and again on August 10, 2009, the EEOC addressed the issue more directly, although informally, by stating its view that if an employee's eligibility in an employer's health care plan is conditioned upon completion of a health risk assessment that makes disability-related inquiries and requires medical examinations, such health risk assessment does not qualify as a "voluntary wellness program," and therefore violates the ADA.[15]
C. Support for Wellness Programs: Seff v. Broward County
On April 11, 2011, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida provided employers with some additional support for their wellness programs under the ADA. In Seff v. Broward County,[16] the plaintiff, Bradley Seff, and a class of individuals who were similarly situated, alleged that Broward County, Florida violated the ADA because it charged $20 on a bi-weekly basis to employees who declined to participate in a health questionnaire and biometric screening as a part of a wellness program. Broward County, like many employers, instituted this wellness program because of rapidly escalating health care costs. The wellness program was designed to encourage employees to become active in managing their own health care. Employees who did not wish to incur the $20 surcharge completed an online health risk assessment and a biometric screening to test glucose and cholesterol levels. Personal information related to the program was held by a third-party wellness vendor and was not released to the County.
U.S. Federal District Court Judge K. Michael Moore granted summary judgment in favor of Broward County, thus denying any relief to the class of employees complaining in the lawsuit. Judge Moore did not analyze Broward County's program under the voluntary wellness program provisions of the ADA (as the EEOC had done in its informal letters discussed above). Instead, Judge Moore upheld the program under the ADA's insurance safe harbor provisions. This safe harbor states that the ADA is not to be construed to prohibit or restrict:
a person or organization covered by this chapter from establishing, sponsoring, observing, or administering the terms of a bona fide benefit plan that are based on underwriting risks, classifying risks, or administering such risks that are based on or not inconsistent with State law; . . .
The safe harbor further provides that it is not to be used as subterfuge to evade the overall purposes of the ADA.[17] Judge Moore found that the wellness program was a part of Broward County's group health plan structure and, using the bona fide benefit plan safe harbor of the ADA, he upheld the wellness program because it was designed to develop and administer present and future benefits using accepted principles of risk assessment. Broward County used the aggregate data it received from the health risk assessments and biometric screenings to classify risks and to assist it in developing future benefit plan designs. Judge Moore further found that the program was designed as an initiative to mitigate future risks in the benefit plans because it encourages employees to get involved in their own health care, thus leading to a healthier employee population and less future costs to the benefit plan. Thus, the program was held to fall within the safe harbor because it was a part of a bona fide benefit plan and was designed to assist in the underwriting, classifying, and administration of risks related to the plan.
Judge Moore's decision was affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on August 20, 2012.[18] This decision gives an additional potential defense to an employer sponsoring a wellness program that is part of its group health plan, and that is intended to help reduce costs under that health plan. The EEOC has made clear, however, that it does not agree with the outcome in the Broward County case.[19]
D. EEOC Litigation
The EEOC initiated lawsuits in late 2014 against three separate employers, alleging that their employer wellness programs violated the ADA.
1. EEOC v. Orion Energy Systems
The EEOC filed its first complaint against Orion Energy Systems on August 20, 2014, alleging that Orion's wellness program violated the ADA, and that Orion's employment practices also violated the ADA.[20] Orion's wellness program required employees to complete a health risk assessment which included a fitness component, disclosure of medical history, and a blood draw. Orion paid the entire premium for employee-only coverage under the health plan. However, if an employee failed to participate in the wellness program, the employee was required to pay the entire premium for self-only coverage, plus a $50 per month penalty for failure to participate in the fitness component. According to the EEOC's complaint, Orion fired the only employee who complained about, and refused to participate in, the wellness program.[21] Although not stated in the court documents, it appears that the wellness program did not comply with the HIPAA Final Wellness Program Regulations.
The EEOC's complaint alleged that the blood draw is a medical exam and that it and the disability related inquiries were not job-related or consistent with business necessity, and were not voluntary because there was a significant financial penalty imposed for not participating (100% of self-only premium surcharge plus $50 per month penalty), and at least one employee was fired for not participating.[22]
2. EEOC v. Flambeau
The EEOC filed its second complaint alleging that a wellness program violated the ADA against Flambeau, Inc. on September 30, 2014.[23] Flambeau's wellness program required biometric testing and a health risk assessment that included disability related inquiries. Employees completing the wellness program had 75% of their self-only premium subsidized. Employees who failed to complete the wellness program had their coverage terminated and had to pay the entire premium for self-only coverage under COBRA to reinstate coverage. Although not stated in the court documents, it appears that the wellness program did not comply with the HIPAA Final Wellness Program regulations. An employee was unable to complete the wellness program on the day the company designated due to the employee's medical leave. When the employee returned to employment, he tried to complete the wellness program, but his request for additional time was denied and his health insurance was terminated.[24]
The EEOC's complaint alleges that the wellness program was not voluntary due to the penalty of termination of coverage and having to pay the entire premium cost under COBRA to reinstate that coverage.[25]
3. EEOC v. Honeywell International
The third lawsuit filed by the EEOC was a petition for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against Honeywell on October 27, 2014.[26] Honeywell's wellness program consisted of a free biometric screening (including a blood draw) that employees and spouses (if covered under the health plan) were required to take for the 2015 plan year. The biometric screening tested for blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, BMI, and nicotine. If an employee did not do the biometric screening:
- the employee would not receive Honeywell's health savings account ("HSA") seed dollars (up to $1,500) (a reward for the employee's participation);
- an annual $500 surcharge was added to the employee's health premiums (a penalty for the employee's failure to participate); and
- an annual $1,000 tobacco surcharge was added to the employee's health premiums (a penalty for the employee's failure to participate).
Additionally, if the employee's spouse did not do the biometric screening, the employee was charged another $1,000 tobacco surcharge for his or her spouse (if covered by the plan) (a penalty for failure of the spouse to participate). However, the tobacco surcharge did not apply if the employee and/or spouse enrolled in a tobacco cessation program, submitted a biomedical screening report from their physician that showed that they do not use tobacco, or worked with a health advocate to establish that they were nicotine free. Additionally, there were waivers from participation for employees with illnesses or pregnancy that precluded participation, and employees and spouses could submit a form from their personal physician if they had already had an annual exam in 2014 that included a biometric screening.[27]
This case has received significantly more attention than the prior two cases because it involves a fairly common wellness program design – even if slightly more aggressive in the size of the rewards and penalties than many – that satisfies the HIPAA Final Wellness Program Regulations.
The EEOC alleged that Honeywell's wellness program violated the ADA and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 ("GINA"), and requested that the court enjoin Honeywell from penalizing employees and spouses who do not participate in the wellness program. First, the EEOC's petition alleged that the biometric testing is a medical examination within the meaning of ADA that was not job-related or consistent with business necessity. The EEOC further stated that the substantial financial inducement imposed upon employees to make them participate in the biometric testing was a penalty that made the testing involuntary, and it was, therefore, an unlawful medical examination under the ADA. Second, the EEOC's petition alleged that the imposition of penalties on employees if spouses fail to undergo biometric testing is an unlawful inducement to acquire family medical history (genetic information) that is a violation of Title II of GINA.[28]
Honeywell responded that encouraging participation in its wellness program through surcharges does not make it involuntary, particularly in that the surcharges complied with the HIPAA Final Wellness Program Regulations. Honeywell argued that the EEOC's Enforcement Guidance is not entitled to any deference in light of Congress's express approval of rewards and penalties in connection with wellness programs, as expressed in these rules and regulations. Honeywell alternatively argued that its wellness program was a bona fide benefit plan that qualified for the ADA insurance safe harbor for covered entities "establishing, sponsoring, observing or administering the terms of a bona fide benefit plan that are based on underwriting risks, classifying risks, or administering such risks that are based on or not inconsistent with state law."[29] With respect to the GINA allegation, Honeywell argued that its wellness program did not request genetic information within the meaning of that term as defined under GINA. Even if it did request genetic information, Honeywell argued that Title I of GINA, which applies to group health plans, controlled, and that the EEOC has no jurisdiction over Title I claims. Finally, Honeywell argued that even if Title II of GINA applies, Title II contains an exception for voluntary wellness programs.
In short, the issue in Honeywell was whether a wellness program that fully complies with the HIPAA Final Wellness Program Regulations could nonetheless violate the ADA and GINA. The Court in Honeywell issued an order on November 6, 2014, denying the EEOC's petition for a temporary restraining order on the grounds that there was no threat of irreparable harm since employees could be made whole through monetary damages if the EEOC were to ultimately prevail. The court also noted that it could not determine the likelihood of success on the merits given the great uncertainty in how the ACA, ADA and GINA are intended to interact, and the need for clarity under the laws.
E. EEOC Proposed Rule
On April 20, 2015, the EEOC released much anticipated proposed regulations to provide group health plan sponsors with guidance on designing wellness programs that would comply with the ADA. [30] The EEOC Proposed Rule is not yet effective. However, the EEOC has stated that, "[i]t is unlikely that a court or the EEOC would find that an employer violated the ADA if the employer complied with the [proposed rule] until a final rule is issued."[31] Importantly, the EEOC Proposed Rule tracks the HIPAA Final Wellness Program Regulations (with some notable exceptions). Therefore, employers with wellness programs that already comply with the HIPAA Final Wellness Program Regulations may, in some cases, only need to make minor modifications to their programs. However, the EEOC Proposed Rule is quite clear that an employer's ADA obligations and HIPAA obligations are distinct and compliance with one of the rules does not constitute compliance with the other rule. Specifically, the EEOC Proposed Rule states:
Compliance with the requirements of paragraph (d) of this section, including the limit on incentives under the ADA, does not relieve a covered entity from the obligation to comply in all respects with the nondiscrimination provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq., the Equal Pay Act of 1963, 29 U.S.C. 206(d), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, 29 U.S.C. 621 et seq., Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, 42 U.S.C. 2000ff, et seq., or other sections of Title I of the ADA.[32]
The EEOC Proposed Rule has five essential elements.
First, an employee health program, including any disability-related inquiries or medical examinations that are part of such programs, must be reasonably designed to promote health or prevent disease. This is similar to the requirement under the HIPAA Final Wellness Program Regulations that a wellness program be "reasonably designed." To comply with this element, a wellness program must have a reasonable chance of improving the health of, or preventing disease in, participating employees and must not be overly burdensome. In addition, the program must not be a subterfuge for violating the ADA or other laws preventing employment discrimination, or highly suspect in the method chosen to promote health or prevent disease. The EEOC provided examples of wellness programs that would meet this standard and some that would not:
Acceptable: Conducting a health risk assessment and/or a biometric screening of employees for the purpose of alerting them to health risks of which they may have been unaware would meet this standard.
Acceptable: Use of aggregate information from employee health risk assessments by an employer to design and offer health programs aimed at specific conditions that are prevalent in the workplace would meet this standard.
Not Acceptable: Collecting medical information on a health questionnaire without providing employees follow-up information or advice, such as providing feedback about risk factors or using aggregate information to design programs or treat any specific conditions would not be reasonably designed to promote health.
Not Acceptable: A program is not reasonably designed to promote health or prevent disease if it imposes, as a condition to obtaining a reward, an overly burdensome amount of time for participation, requires unreasonably intrusive procedures, or places significant costs related to medical examinations on employees. It is also not acceptable if the program exists mainly to shift costs from the covered entity to targeted employees based on their health.
The second element of the EEOC Proposed Rule is that the wellness program must be voluntary. Consistent with past guidance from the EEOC on this topic, the EEOC Proposed Rule states that a wellness program is not voluntary if an employee is required to participate. Furthermore, an employee cannot be denied coverage under any group health plan or particular benefit packages within a group health plan for non-participation, nor can benefits be limited for employees who do not participate. This requirement would clearly make programs that condition eligibility on whether an employee completes a health risk assessment or undergoes biometric screenings impermissible. It would also appear to prohibit programs that prevent employees from enrolling in particular plan options if they do not undergo a medical examination or a disability-related inquiry (e.g., employee can enroll in the employer's high deductible health plan without completing a health risk assessment, but would be prohibited from enrolling in the health maintenance organization option without completing a health risk assessment). Finally, an employer cannot take any adverse employment action or retaliate against, interfere with, coerce, intimidate, or threaten employees for not participating. Note that the kinds of programs that would now be prohibited under this element would have likely been allowed under the HIPAA Final Wellness Program Regulations as a "participatory" wellness program. In this way, the EEOC Proposed Rule goes further to regulate wellness programs than the HIPAA Final Wellness Program Regulations.
The foregoing requirements of the "voluntariness" element of the EEOC Proposed Rule are consistent with the EEOC's prior informal guidance and litigation positions. However, the EEOC Proposed Rule goes further and requires an employer to provide employees a written notice that: (a) is written so that the employee from whom medical information is being obtained is reasonably likely to understand it; (b) describes the type of medical information that will be obtained and the specific purposes for which the medical information will be used; and (c) describes the restrictions on the disclosure of the employee's medical information, the employer representatives or other parties with whom the information will be shared, and the methods that the covered entity will use to ensure that medical information is not improperly disclosed (including whether it complies with the HIPAA Privacy Rule). This new notice requirement adds to the various notices that employers must provide in connection with their group health plans. It is not yet clear whether this notice can be provided in connection with the HIPAA Final Wellness Program Regulations' required disclosure about the availability of a reasonable alternative standard and/or whether this notice might be integrated in a group health plan's HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices.
The third element of the EEOC Proposed Rule requires that incentives (financial or in-kind) connected with the wellness program must not exceed a 30 percent limit of the total cost of employee-only coverage. An incentive can be in the form of a reward or a penalty, but all rewards for all wellness programs connected with the group health plan must be combined and may not exceed the 30 percent limit. This element roughly aligns with the HIPAA Final Wellness Program Regulations' limits; however, HIPAA's allowance to extend the limit to 30 percent of the cost of family coverage if family members are eligible to participate is conspicuously absent from the EEOC Proposed Rule. It is not yet clear why the EEOC did not extend the limit to dependent coverage if dependents participate in the program; however, the EEOC may be reserving on this point until is provides further guidance with regard to whether the collection of a spouse's health information is considered to be the collection of "family history" under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (the position that the EEOC took in Honeywell, discussed above).
The EEOC limit also diverges from the HIPAA Final Wellness Program Regulations' limit because it can apply to both participatory and health-contingent programs, or any combination of the two. The HIPAA Final Wellness Program Regulations do not impose a limit on rewards connected with a participatory wellness program because such programs do not implicate a "health status factor" under HIPAA. However, the EEOC's concern is whether a wellness program requires medical examinations or makes disability-related inquiries. Although completing a health risk assessment or undergoing a biometric screening, alone, is a participatory program under the HIPAA Final Wellness Program Regulations, these activities often involve disability-related inquiries and medical examinations and thus are subject to the EEOC's reward limit. This could require some wellness programs to adjust their reward limits. Many wellness programs take advantage of the full 30 percent limit on their health-contingent components because that is all the HIPAA Final Wellness Program Regulations require. However, if those wellness programs provide an additional incentive for completion of a participatory component involving a health risk assessment or a biometric screening, the EEOC Proposed Rule would require that the amount of that incentive be included in the 30 percent limit.
The EEOC Proposed Rule notes that not all participatory wellness programs require disability-related inquiries or medical examinations such as attending nutrition, weight loss, or smoking cessation classes. These kinds of participatory wellness programs would not be subject to the EEOC's limit on incentives, nor would they be subject to the HIPAA Final Wellness Program Regulations' limit. It should also be noted that the EEOC Proposed Rule would not prevent employers from taking advantage of the HIPAA Final Wellness Program Regulations' allowance of a 50 percent incentive for tobacco-related wellness programs as long as the program did not involve disability-related inquiries or medical examinations. For example, a wellness program that merely asks employees whether or not they use tobacco (or whether or not they ceased using tobacco upon completion of the program) is not an employee health program that includes disability-related inquiries or a medical examination. Thus, this program could still utilize the HIPAA rules' allowance of an incentive up to 50 percent of the cost of the coverage. However, a program that requires employees to undergo a blood test or other medical examination to conclusively demonstrate the absence of tobacco use would involve a medical examination and would have to confine the reward to the 30 percent limit (even though the HIPAA Final Wellness Program Regulations might have otherwise allowed an incentive of up to 50 percent).
Under the fourth element of the EEOC Proposed Rule, reasonable accommodations must be provided, absent undue hardship, to enable employees with disabilities to earn whatever financial incentive an employer offers (regardless of whether a wellness program includes disability-related inquiries or a medical examination). This element is similar to the HIPAA Final Wellness Program Regulations' requirement to provide a reasonable alternative. Compliance with one will likely constitute compliance with the other. However, note that the ADA would require a reasonable accommodation under a participatory wellness program, even though the HIPAA Final Wellness Program Regulations do not require reasonable alternatives for participatory wellness programs. For example, an employer that offers a financial incentive to attend a nutrition class, regardless of whether the employee reaches a healthy weight as a result, would have to provide a sign language interpreter so that an employee who is deaf and who needs an interpreter to understand the information could earn the incentive, as long as providing the interpreter would not result in an undue hardship to the employer. Furthermore, an employer would, absent undue hardship, have to provide written materials that are part of a wellness program in alternate format, such as in large print or on computer disk, for someone with a vision impairment. Moreover, an employer that offers a reward for completing a biometric screening that includes a blood draw would have to provide an alternative test so that an employee with a disability that makes drawing blood dangerous can participate and earn the incentive.
The final element of the EEOC Proposed Rule requires that confidentiality be observed with regard to the medical information collected in connection with the wellness program. In general, information obtained from disability-related inquiries and medical examinations may only be provided to an employer in aggregate terms that do not disclose, or are not reasonably likely to disclose, the identity of an employee. An exception exists for the administration of a health plan, in which case the group health plan administrator must comply with the HIPAA Privacy Rule (discussed in more detail in Section V). F. Conclusion
The EEOC has faced a considerable amount of negative press and Congressional reaction in bringing the Honeywell case, particularly given the fact that it delayed issuing a rule on wellness programs before bringing lawsuits enforcing standards that were not clear. However, with the issuance of the EEOC Proposed Rule, sponsors of wellness programs have much more concrete guidance when designing their wellness programs. Employers should begin to evaluate their wellness programs in light of the EEOC Proposed Rule and monitor the issuance of a final rule.


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proactive, preventative, pest control
Servicing all of Southern Ontario
Servicing all of Southern Ontario
If your home or business has been infested with pests, don't put your family or customers in danger by using toxic chemicals to treat the problem. Greenleaf Pest Control offers industry-leading pest control solutions that not only effectively treat invasive pests, but do so using the safest, most environmentally-friendly methods available, including traps, enzymes, organic treatments, and baits.
Only when absolutely necessary will we use pesticides to treat a pest infestation in your home or business.
At Greenleaf Pest Control, we believe in the fundamental philosophy that when each of us makes small changes in our daily lives, we can make a positive impact on the environment, our own health, and leave a better planet for future generations. Environmentally-friendly pest control may only be a small piece of this puzzle, but it is an important piece nonetheless.
To provide the safest, most effective solutions to pest control, Greenleaf Pest Control combines Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Environmental Pest Management (EPM). Together, these treatments provide the most effective solutions to pest control while minimizing the use of pesticides during the treatment process.
No matter what pest control issues you may be having, Greenleaf Pest Control offers the safest and most effective solutions to control and eliminate the problem. Greenleaf Pest Control can assist you with any of your residential or commercial pest control needs, including:
No two infestations are the same, and what might work for one pest may be nothing more than a minor setback for another. To ensure your home or business is pest free no matter what problem you are dealing with, Greenleaf Pest Control employs Integrated Pest Management (IPM). IPM is based on our extensive knowledge of the biological life cycles of pests, as well as a fundamental understanding of the ways pests interact with their surroundings. We combine this experience with basic, common sense principles used in traditional pest control to provide the most effective treatments for infestations while minimizing or eliminating the use of pesticides.
In order to provide the most eco-friendly solutions to pest control, Greenleaf Pest Control utilizes Environmental Pest Management (EPM). EPM is used to create environments that are inhospitable to pests. By removing the things pests need to survive, and blocking access to them through the use of vacuums, traps, and organic products, Greenleaf Pest Control is able to minimize, and often eliminate, the use of pesticides in your home or business while maintaining an effective solution to your pest control problem.
At Greenleaf Pest Control, we understand that keeping your family safe is your highest priority. That is why we not only ensure your home is pest free, but utilize the safest methods possible during the treatment process. At Greenleaf Pest Control, we offer our residential customers a variety of methods to control aggregating and dangerous pests, including steam, diatomaceous earth, vacuuming, physical barriers, and more. We believe in protecting you from invasive pests while at the same time ensuring your family and home are safe during the treatment process.
Our BASIC home pest control service involves a complete inspection of the interior and exterior of your home, followed by a detailed report of
our findings combined with information regarding methods for prevention. The inspection will seek to determine any pest control problems you may be having, but will focus on wildlife, rodents, crawling insects, and bed bugs.
In addition to providing residential pest control services, Greenleaf Pest Control offers our IPM to ensure our commercial clients in Stouffville have establishments that are pest free as well. After an initial analysis of your facility is conducted, we will custom-tailor a pest control plan for you. Greenleaf Pest Control offers a variety of commercial pest control services, including:
When faced with a bed bug infestation, most people will take any means necessary to have them removed. Unfortunately, this often leads to the excessive use of pesticides. At Greenleaf Pest Control, we offer safe and environmentally-friendly solutions to bed bugs that is just as, if not more, effective than traditional pest control treatments. When you retain Greenleaf Pest Control for bed bug removal, we will not only ensure your home or business is pest free, but will give you the tools and information you need to prevent them from returning in the future.
Our specialized bed bug treatment includes:
As the first company in Canada to utilize NESDCA-certified handlers, Greenleaf Pest Control provides the assurance that if the
dog detects bed bugs, they are live bed bugs and viable eggs. Our dogs not only reliably determine whether or not you have bed bugs, but will pinpoint the location in your home or business with precision.
In addition to pest control services, Greenleaf Pest Control also offers the humane wildlife removal for our residential and commercial clients. Wildlife can present a health hazard to humans and pets while causing substantial damage to the physical structure of your building. Greenleaf Pest Control employs live traps, as well as the implementation of physical barriers at entry points, in order to protect you and your home from the devastation and disease caused by invasive wildlife.
When you want safe, effective, efficient, and ecologically friendly pest control for your residence or business, contact Greenleaf Pest Control at 416.998.9473 in order to get rid of any kind of pest, including bed bugs, wasps, ants, and cockroaches, as well as, squirrels, skunks, and birds. Greenleaf Pest Control has set the industry standard for environmentally friendly, quality pest control in Stouffville.


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Jason Gray Releases "Where the Light Gets In"
Jason Gray's new album is here! You may have heard "Sparrows"or "Learning"on the radio – and if you haven't, you can check them out here. Make sure you click the links below to connect with Jason and listen to Where the Light Gets In.
Connect with Jason:


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Importance for Vienna
The Hafen Wien is already the largest port on the Danube in Eastern Austria and its diverse logistical capabilities and capacities continue to be enlarged. Although it is 2,000 km from the Black Sea and 1,500 km from the North Sea, it has the great advantage of being the largest trimodal logistics centre in Austria, bringing together road, rail and water transportation and making it the ideal place for the transportation of goods and for container storage, trade and management.
Economic hub
Apart from Wiener Hafen group, a member of the Wien Holding group, there are a further 120 private companies located in an area of 3 million square meters, including around forty transportation companies renting premises and taking advantage of the economic benefits of the site. Facilities available for rent range from small offices to storage space, car, and HGV garages or large sites for entire companies. The port of Vienna provides jobs for 5,000 people, making it an important source of employment for the entire region.
Logistics transhipment centre
The port of Vienna handles 12 million tons of freight annually, 50 per cent by road, 35 per cent by rail, and 15 per cent by river. In 2008 some 60,000 lorries were handled. Every week 85 container trains travel to the major European ports such as Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Rotterdam and Duisburg, or to the Eastern European hubs of Bratislava and Budapest. This makes the Hafen Wien a central interface for overseas container traffic, which will be further developed through additional rail connections to Cologne and Sopron.
Local supplier
Many of the goods sold or processed in Vienna are now handled by the Hafen Wien, as can be seen from the 350,000 container units that are dealt with every year. Bulk commodities and general cargo ranging from raw materials and fertilisers to construction materials, fuel, road salt and grain are handled reliably and professionally there. The importance of the Hafen Wien is also well illustrated by the fact that one in five cars passes through the Hafen Wien on its way to dealers and customers.
Climate and environmental protection
Combined transportation is now a routine logistical task and container handling continues to grow steadily. The Hafen Wien develops comprehensive logistical solutions with a view to protecting man and nature by modernising transportation. Mineral oil products, building materials and agricultural products in particular are transported by water, relieving congestion on the roads, on almost 1,200 vessels to the Hafen Wien, where around 350,000 container units per year are available. Since 2006 the container terminal has been upgraded, the warehouses enlarged, the infrastructure for rail and road improved, the crane facilities replaced and the flood protection optimised. The crane terminal was expanded in April 2013 to include a third container crane bridge.
In recent years, 30,000 sq m of harbour basin has been filled in Freudenau Harbour in order to create new transfer and storage spaces. By 2015, another 40,000 sq m were filled;
Safe haven
The year 1830 was catastrophic for Vienna. "Leopoldstadt [Vienna´s 2nd district] is a dreadful sight: broken ships and materials in the streets, ground floors flooded with all kinds of goods floating in the water." The apocalyptic report written in 1848 by the poet Franz Grillparzer became even sharper as he mentioned the spoilage and the many dead bodies on the street. The "terrible ice drift" in 1830 was in fact ice floes wedged into meter-high formations, causing the river and its tributaries to back up and the banks to overflow in a flood wave. Following the regulation of the Danube there are no longer any ice floes, but the Danube and its tributaries sometimes still freeze over to a thickness of several centimetres. The icebreaker MS Eisvogel is then in action for hours at a time keeping the navigation channels around the port free of ice. While passenger shipping is suspended, some 400 cargo vessels are handled in Vienna in the winter.
Apart from the cargo traffic on the Danube, the traditional DDSG Blue Danube passenger ships are also very popular and successful. Danube tours to the Wachau or themed attractions like the Vienna coffee house tour or children's birthday parties can be arranged from the shipping centre. Passengers in a hurry can also use the air-conditioned TWIN CITY LINER with its panoramic window and open-air deck, which takes just 75 minutes to reach Bratislava from Vienna. The shipping center, run by the subsidiary Wiener Donauraum, is close to the Reichsbrücke and provides tourists on Danube cruise ships with access to the city of Vienna. Every year the Hafen Wien handles some 340,000 passengers in this way.
With the acquisition of the Marina Wien pleasure craft marina in 2009, the Hafen Wien became even more versatile. There are plans to improve the recreational facilities in the marina: the restaurant is to be modernised and with access from the U2 underground line in November 2010 new utilisations for the area surrounding the marina are also being considered.


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Scots urged to get on their bikes as new Action Plan announced
Transport minister Keith Brown announces £53m of investment in Scotland's cycle network.
Scots are being urged to get on their bikes more in 2013, as £53m of investment in the country's cycle network was announced.
Transport minister Keith Brown said he was looking forward to using pedal power more in the coming 12 months and called on others to do the same.
To help achieve that he vowed to do everything possible to make cycling an "attractive and viable option for more people".
Mr Brown said 2012 had been a "fantastic year for cycling in Scotland" and Olympic successes including Sir Chris Hoy winning gold in London led to a "huge surge in interest in cycling both for recreation and as a way of getting around".
In his New Year message, he said: "I am looking forward to getting on my bike more and to doing all I can in my role as Transport Minister to make this an attractive and viable option for more people throughout Scotland.
"We are already supporting projects to make the road network more cycle-friendly and in 2013 we'll launch a refreshed Cycling Action Plan. This will include a target to further reduce casualties, new commitments on education, training, improved signage, consideration of cycling in roads design and greater use of 20mph zones."
The Scottish Government has earmarked £53m to improve cycle paths in Scotland and make cycling more accessible.
"All of this will help us build on the Olympics legacy and will also go towards keeping up momentum on increasing cycling activity in Scotland ahead of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014," Mr Brown said.
"I want to see 2013 remembered as the year that Scotland really embraced pedal power and I would urge everyone to join me in getting out on their bike."
The minister's comments came after figures revealed the number of cyclists killed or seriously injured in Scotland last year rose by 12%, from 145 to 163.
Campaigners have called for cycling provision in Scotland to receive 5% of the transport budget, rather than the 1% it currently recieves.
John Lauder, director of sustainable transport body Sustrans Scotland, said: "Every death on our roads is unnecessary and tragic, and there is much more that needs to be done to ensure the safety of our most vulnerable road users."


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The residents organize these gardens in various ways and one of them did this in a very special, creative manner.
With the format of big tiles in mind, Castells made two-dimensional replicas of well known architecture in Catalonia, like the Sagrada Familia and Montserrat.
All together, in the course of the years he has constructed some hundred representations of Catalonian monuments, churches, famous buildings, and so on.
People in Barcelona would be reminded of Gaudi.
Isidre Castells
Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain


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D.C. Council Considers Overhaul of Recently-Enacted Paid Leave Law
Days after D.C.'s groundbreaking paid leave act becomes law, the D.C. Council begins considering changes to its paid leave regime.Read More
301-656-7603Paley Rothman - Attorneys at Law
Paley Rothman shares this library of resources with clients and friends of the firm to help them stay ahead of legal and business developments and trends. Here, you will find helpful tips and tools written by our attorneys.
Days after D.C.'s groundbreaking paid leave act becomes law, the D.C. Council begins considering changes to its paid leave regime.Read More
New law provides D.C. employees with 8 weeks of paid parental leave, 6 weeks of paid family leave, and 2 weeks of paid medical leave, and imposes new obligations on employers.Read More
Companies, particularly start ups, often issue stock options to incentivize and reward select employees. Properly structured stock options can be a great recruiting tool but a poorly structured stock option can have a nasty tax surprise for the employee.Read More
On October 31, 2013 in Notice 2013-71 the IRS announced a modification to the "use or lose" rule for Health Flexible Spending Arrangements (Health FSAs). Health FSAs permit employers to reimburse employees for health care expenses, such as deductibles and co-pays. In general, these plans are funded by employees through salary reduction agreements.Read More


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(Co)Work Freely
Freelancer? Self-employed? Need a new environment? The Richland Library Coworking Center, located on the third level of the Main library, offers a free, fully equipped, self-service workspace. Work in our quiet, spacious corner office with a beautiful view of downtown Columbia. Plus you'll have all of the library's resources right at your fingertips.
Richland Library's Coworking Center offers:
- Key-accessed enclosed space
- Wireless Internet
- 6 desks with power outlets
- scanner
- Storage lockers
- Lounge seating
- Online reservation system
Coworking Center's Terms of UseThe Coworking Center is a new kind of library space, and we want to be sure that you understand the terms of use. Please read the following statements carefully and click "AGREE" at the bottom to show that you agree to the terms.
Unlike the rest of Richland Library, the Coworking Center is an entirely self-service space. Library staff are not able to assist you with Adobe Creative Suite or other specialized software.
- Six desks are available and can be reserved for up to 8 hours per day.
- Reservations cannot be made more than 2 days in advance.
- One reservation is allowed per day per customer.
- Each person in the Coworking Center must have a desk reservation. Your reservation assigns you to a specific desk.
- Individuals 18 years or older can be in the Coworking Center.
- Your reservation may be cancelled if you do not arrive within 30 minutes of the start time.
- Pick up your keys at the Business, Careers and Research Center desk on the Third Level when you arrive.
- Return your keys to a staff member at the Business, Careers and Research Center desk on the Third Level when you are finished.
- A $20 fee will be added to your library record if the keys are lost or not returned.
- It may be possible to extend your reservation if no one has reserved your desk in the period following.
- Laptops can be borrowed at the Business, Careers and Research Center desk. Availability is limited.
- There is no access to a wired network in the Coworking Center, but free public Wi-Fi is available.
- Richland Library is not responsible for loss or theft of your belongings.
- Sit at the desk reserved for you, and use the corresponding locker to store your belongings.
- Everything must be removed from your locker at the end of your reservation.
- Please do not disturb your coworkers. The Coworking Center is not to be used for interviews, telemarketing, meetings or other loud or disruptive activities.
- Coworkers are expected to comply with Richland Library's Code of Conduct.
- Lack of adherence to these guidelines may result in loss of privileges.If you would like to proceed, click >AGREE<.
Your feedback is very important to us. You may receive surveys via email periodically. Your participation will help us build a better Coworking Center, and a better library.


text: I read job ads in my spare time. People send me especially ridiculous ones just to make me laugh. The other day I read one that began promisingly enough with, "If you're ready to work hard on a top-drawer team of hard-chargers, keep reading" and then went on to list twenty-two tedious, "Essential Job Qualifications" that could only serve to eliminate any actual top-drawer candidates who bothered to apply. After the hard-charger opening, that job ad fell right back into the usual territory ("are you good enough for us?") without bothering to give the reader any good reason to consider the available job worth his or her time or interest.


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7 Whole Months/
These days Asher's all about talking and laughing and smiling. Some of my favorite moments are when Judah or Addise goes over to him to "play" with him and inevitably they start giggling together. It's just the best thing a momma could ask for.
This has been a big month for Baby Asher. Here are a few highlights...
- He moved from sleeping in the bassinet in our bedroom to (kind of) sleeping overnight in his crib...in the same room as his big brother and sister. Let's just say we're still adjusting.
- He's rolling over and over and over again. Belly to back. Left and right. He's on the move!!
- He's getting up on all fours and rocking. Crawling is coming soon. I can feel it.
- The two things I hear most from others are "is he always this alert and active?" and "is he always this happy?" Yes and yes.
- He's drooling like it's his full time job, but no teeth on the horizon.
- There have been valiant attempts at eating rice cereal and many varieties baby food. He acts like we're feeding him poison. He's still just a milk baby.
- He wants to be in on the action. We've noticed that when the party moves to another room without him he gets mad. We're seeing early signs of a temper. Yikes.
- His new favorite activity: the exersaucer!!!!! The boy can spend up to a couple hours a day batting and chewing and spinning and bouncing. Proof of said activity below.
- The kid doesn't do naps. Literally, he's into 20 minute power naps a couple times a day. We're currently experimenting with a new method to get him to sleep more, but he's a poor 3rd child with no hopes of a silent house for long baby naps. (sigh)
- He's also talking ALL THE TIME! His "vocabulary" is expanding as he tries on new sounds, including screaming. It's so blasted cute I can't handle it.
This is a Getz family song. A song sung to me hundreds of times when I was little. A song now sung to my kiddos hundreds of times. Asher's now heard it enough that when I start singing it to him he smiles his big, open mouthed smile - every single time!
|Momma's boy!!!!
|He really is always this happy.
|Ready to take Disney by storm.
|On his first Thanksgiving. Dude loves this toy! Dig his baby faux hawk??
|He celebrated his 7 month birthday by taking a 3 hour nap...MIRACULOUS!
Despite what we think we needed, God knew we needed this little guy. He's bringing immeasurable joy to our family, healing to our biggies, and deep nourishment to Brian and me. We are truly blessed the God remembered our prayers all those years ago and saw fit to bring us THREE beautiful babies.
|I came into our bedroom to find our three kids had conquered Daddy.
I don't know what's cutest:
Judah placing his Dad's arm over him,
Addise as King of the Daddy, or
Asher rolling over onto Daddy's shoulder.