More People Than Ever Before Are Staying Single—And That’s a Good Thing

The 21st century is the age of living single.

Today, the number of single adults in the U.S.—and many other nations around the world—is unprecedented. And the numbers don’t just say people are staying single longer before settling down. More are staying single for life. A 2014 Pew Report estimates that by the time today’s young adults reach the age of 50, about 1 in 4 of them will have never married.

The ascendancy of single living has left some in a panic. US News & World Report, for example, cautioned that Americans think the country’s moral values are bad and getting worse, and one of the top reasons for their concern is the large number of people remaining single.

But instead of fretting, maybe we should celebrate.

I’m a social scientist, and I’ve spent the past two decades researching and writing about single people. I’ve found that the rise of single living is a boon to our cities and towns and communities, our relatives and friends and neighbors. This trend has the chance to redefine the traditional meaning—and confines—of home, family, and community.

Ties that bind

For years, communities across the country have been organized by clusters of nuclear families living in suburban homes. But there are some signs that this arrangement isn’t working out so well.

These houses are often too isolating—too far from work and from one another. According to a national survey ongoing since 1974, Americans have never been less likely to be friends with their neighbors than they are now, with neighborliness lowest in the suburbs.

But studies have also shown that single people are bucking those trends. For example, they are more likely than married people to encourage, help, and socialize with their friends and neighbors. They are also more likely to visit, support, advise, and stay in touch with their siblings and parents.

In fact, people who live alone are often the life of their cities and towns. They tend to participate in more civic groups and public events, enroll in more art and music classes, and go out to dinner more often than people who live with others. Single people, regardless of whether they live alone or with others, also volunteer more for social service organizations, educational groups, hospitals and organizations devoted to the arts than people who are married.

In contrast, when couples move in together or get married, they tend to become more insular, even if they don’t have children.

Building strength and resilience

Unfortunately, single life continues to be stigmatized, with single people routinely stereotyped as less secure and more self-centered than married people. They’re said to die sooner, alone and sad.

Yet studies of people who live alone typically find that most are doing just fine; they don’t feel isolated, nor are they sad and lonely.

Reports of the early death of single people have also been greatly exaggerated, as have claims that marriage transforms miserable, sickly single people into happy and healthy spouses.

In some significant ways, it’s the single people who are doing particularly well.

For example, people with more diversified relationship portfolios tend to be more satisfied with their lives. In contrast, the insularity of couples who move in together or get married can leave them vulnerable to poorer mental health.

Studies have shown that people who stay single develop more confidence in their own opinions and undergo more personal growth and development than people who marry. For example, they value meaningful work more than married people do. They may also have more opportunities to enjoy the solitude that many of them savor.

Redefining the family and home

Married people often put their spouses (and, for some, kids) at the center of their lives. That’s what they’re expected to do, and often it’s also what they want to do.

But single people are expanding the traditional boundaries of family. The people they care about the most might include family in the traditional sense. But they’ll also loop in friends, ex-partners, and mentors. It’s a bigger, more inclusive family of people who matter.

For many single people, single-family suburban homes aren’t going to offer them the balance between sociability and solitude that they crave. They are instead finding or creating a variety of different life spaces.

*All over the planet!

Complete article > http://tinyurl.com/y92x29w9

*My experience will undoubtedly differ from yours yet I find that most aren't looking for relationships, they're looking to be "rescued'.

What is the difference between tangible and intangible assets?

*The one thing that the author of this post failed to address was when a person, such as myself, has all tangible assets, they will undoubtedly lose a bit of profit within insurance, storage, maintenance, security and all the rest that goes with having "physical" items.

Interactive > http://tinyurl.com/zb68pxv

A:
Tangible Assets
Tangible assets are physical assets such as land, vehicles, equipment, machinery, furniture, inventory, stock, bonds and cash. These assets are the backbone of a company but are not available to customers. Tangible assets are at risk of damage either from naturally occurring incidents, theft or accidents.

The two types of tangible assets are current and fixed. Current assets are inventory, or items a company turns into cash usually by the end of the year. These assets can be used as liquidation to save a company from short-term debt problems or as financial aid. Fixed assets are physical items that will not be sold at any point in the business. These assets include machinery, equipment, vehicles or land, and they are needed to run the business continually.

Intangible Assets
Intangible assets are nonphysical, such as patents, trademarks, franchises, goodwill, and copyrights. Depending on the type of business, intangible assets may include Internet domain names, performance events, licensing agreements, service contracts, computer software, blueprints, manuscripts, joint ventures, medical records, permits, and trade secrets. Intangible assets add to a company's possible future worth and can be much more valuable than its tangible assets.

For more information see What is the difference between goodwill and tangible assets?

Both tangible and intangible assets are recorded on a balance sheet. A balance sheet outlines a company's balance of income and spending over time to determine its debt to equity (D/E) ratio. The balance sheet allows a company to consider future expansion and gives banks, investors, and vendors the ability to decide a company's worth for possible loans or credits. For the quarterly period ended April 1, 2017, Apple, Inc. (AAPL) recorded total goodwill and acquired intangible to be worth $8.09 billion and Net Property, Plant and Equipment (PP&E) worth $27.16 billion.

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How to Invest in Foreign Currency

By Justin Kuepper
Updated December 26, 2016
Investing in foreign currency sounds like an exotic and risky venture. In fact, the foreign exchange (or "forex") market used to be largely dominated by banks and institutional investors. But now, online brokerages and readily-available margin trading accounts have changed all of that by enabling investors to access capital and make trades with the click of a mouse.

In this article, we'll take a look at the benefits, risks, and most effective ways to invest in foreign currency.


Benefits and Risks of Investing in Foreign Currency
There are many benefits and risks to consider before deciding to invest in foreign currency. While it's the largest and most liquid market in the world, investors should be cognizant of the many risks that set it apart from traditional equity and bond markets. Notably, the high leverage used when investing in foreign currency can result in high volatility greater risk of loss.

The key benefits of investing in foreign currency include:

Large & Liquid Market. The foreign exchange market is the largest and most liquid market in the world with average daily volume in excess of US$4 trillion.
Diversification. The foreign exchange market offers investors a way to diversify away from potential risks associated with the U.S. dollar as an asset class.
The key risks of investing in foreign currency include:

High Leverage. The foreign exchange market moves in very small increments, which makes high leverage (via margin) a necessity and risk for those directly investing.
High Volatility. The foreign exchange market is known for high levels of volatility due to economic reports, central bank interventions, and other factors.
Investors should carefully consider risk management techniques to help mitigate these risks and improve their long-term returns.

Easily Invest in Foreign Currency with ETFs
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) represent one of the easiest ways to invest in foreign currency.

https://www.fidelity.com/

These funds purchase and manage a portfolio of currencies on behalf of investors using tools like swaps and futures contracts. The benefits are that investors do not have as much leverage-related risk and the purchase itself can usually be done through a traditional stock broker rather than a foreign exchange broker.

CurrencyShares and WisdomTree are the two largest providers of ETFs designed to help people invest in foreign currency. Meanwhile, companies like ProShares offer ways to make leveraged bets for and against a number of popular currencies. Investors should carefully read the ETFs' prospectus before investing in order to quantify any fees charged and learn about other important information.

Common long ETFs to invest in foreign currency include:

CurrencyShares Canadian Dollar Trust (NYSE: FXC)
CurrencyShares Swiss Franc Trust (NYSE: FXF)
CurrencyShares Australian Dollar Trust (NYSE: FXA)
WisdomTree Dreyfus Emerging Currency Fund (NYSE: CEW)
WisdomTree Dreyfus Chinese Yuan Fund (NYSE: CYB)
WisdomTree Dreyfus Brazilian Real Fund (NYSE: BZF)
Common short ETFs to bet against foreign currency include:

ProShares UltraShort Euro (NYSE: EUO)
ProShares UltraShort Yen (NYSE: YCS)
How to Invest in Foreign Currency Directly
Investors can also directly buy and sell individual currencies on margin through a foreign exchange brokerage.


With an initial deposit as low as $300 to $500, investors can purchase currency with margin levels that range from 50:1 to more than 10,000:1. Of course, greater leverage obtained through margin also translates to increased volatility and risk of loss.

Here are a few resources to get started:

What is Forex Trading?
How to Choose a Forex Broker
Trading on Margin
How to Manage Risk
Investors should also take the time to review and select a high-quality forex broker since the market is not as tightly regulated as the U.S. equity markets. In particular, it's generally a good idea to avoid foreign brokers that may not be regulated by international authorities.

The Bottom Line
Investors looking for an easy way to invest in foreign currency should consider ETFs. These funds are easier to trade with traditional stock brokers and have fewer leverage-related risks.

However, those seeking more direct exposure to foreign currency can also open a foreign exchange brokerage account and purchase the currencies directly using margin. There are risks and rewards associated with either approach and investors should carefully look at these factors before making a decision.

Linked article > https://www.thebalance.com/how-to-invest-in-foreign-currency-1978918

If there were ten commandments in cooking, what would they be?

1. "Dull Knife Dull Chef" - ALWAYS keep your knives sharp

2. Control the heat - Do not let the heat control you

3. Use all 5 senses. Know the difference between the smell of beautifully reducing balsamic vinegar & balsamic vinegar starting to burn on the edge of the pot.  Know what a cooked shrimp looks like vs. a shrimp not cooked through.  Feel how well a steak is cooked over and over until with one poke of the finger you can say "medium rare - take it off".  Different foods sound differently when heat is applied to them.  Become familiar with the sounds.  Learn to differentiate the sounds.  Know which are music to the ears of us cooks and the ones that are "uh oh get it off the heat" sounds. Lastly, develop your palate every single day.  Try everything.  Taste EVERY single sauce, stock, mix, ect. that you create for seasoning.  

4. Work Clean - Nobody enjoys cooking with a dirty cook – but more importantly, when your workspace is a mess, it severely limits your efficacy. Work from the left side of your cutting board to the right while disposing waste continuously.    

 
5. Master the Technical Side of Cooking -Having impeccable knife skills will make your food more aesthetically pleasing, decrease waste, and decrease time spent on any given task. Plus, nobody will come out and admit it, but it makes you look like a badass.   If you've ever seen Morimoto take a cucumber and turn it into paper, you know what I am talking about. 

6. Eat and Cook Locally Grown Produce - - I can go on for days about this.  Instead, I will let this infographic speak for me.

7. Utilize Every Part of Every Animal That Died for us to Survive Not once have I ever considered becoming a vegan or a vegetarian, but I do respect their point of view.  The entity that created this remarkable world we’re so fortunate to live in created the food chain.  Energy from the sun is absorbed by plants. Plants are eaten by herbivores. Herbivores are eaten by carnivores. Carnivores are eaten by larger, faster, and/or smarter carnivores or omnivores.  This is life, and it is a beautiful cycle.  Respect the fact that the animal in which you are preparing gave its life to feed us and is now in your hands.  This was a living creature that deserves the utmost respect as we prepare them for cuisine.

8. Use Recipes as Inspiration - Not as Marching Orders -
If you are baking and a recipe calls for exact amounts of certain baking elements, then by all means follow the recipe exactly as it’s presented.  Other than baking, though, do not google a recipe and “finely chop 2 cups of carrots, 2 stalks of celery, and 1 whole yellow onion”.  This is not cooking.  This is carrying out a set of direct orders.  Have some faith in yourself and give yourself the permission to sway from a recipe or combine ideas from multiple recipes.  That is what cooking is about.  In his book, Think Like a Chef, Tom Colicchio (Bald Top-Chef Judge, Chef/Owner of many notable restaurants including his flagship restaurant "Craft") speaks of cooking being a craft.  I challenge you to shift your paradigm of cooking from simply preparing food to a engaging in a craft.   Your outlook on cooking will forever be changed and your cooking abilities will drastically increase.  Although his books are nowhere near on my list of top 25 cookbooks, Think Like a Chef is the one book of Colicchio’s I would recommend. 

9. Learn From Other Cooks -. It is impossible for any of us to read every single cookbook ever written, travel to all of the most exotic culinary Meccas of the world, work in all of the best kitchens worldwide, or learn from every grandmother that has ever lived. No matter the skill level, every cook has something that you can learn from them. Much more likely though, the people you cook with will become your portal to their grandmother's secret recipes, techniques they learned while cooking overseas, their knowledge of a book you have not yet read, and every other life experience they have had along their path that has led them to the present moment there, cooking with you.  I sincerely hope everyone who reads this will be fortunate enough to play the reverse role and have the priceless opportunity to share your life's experience cooking with another chef.      

10. LOVE - PASSION - LIFE - FAMILY 
Commandments 1-9 are all very important.  If you practice 6 out of 9 or 8 out of 9, some might view you as a respectful cook. (I wouldn't)  Commandment #10 is non-negotiable, absolute must, 100%-universal law. If you do not have the inner passion for food, people, and life then you will never craft great food. You can be the most technically skilled cook out there.  You could have worked in all of New York City's 3-Michelin Starred Restaurants.  This doesn’t matter.  You will be a good cook, without a doubt.  But you will never be a greatcook with the ability to spread love through this amazing craft.  I love quotes.  I used to keep a dry erase whiteboard on my station at a restaurant I worked at to proudly display my quote of the day, ranging from Aristotle to Dr. Seuss.   Surprisingly though, my favorite quote does not come from one of history's greats.  It comes from a fellow cook I used to work with who had a passion for cooking that had the ability to fire up a kitchen staff whenever present.  We would often get into deep talks about many subjects (often food/cooking related).  One Saturday night after another fully booked service conquered, we were discussing the connection between love and cooking – how great it is to have the ability to make the world a better place by doing the craft we love to do.  I'll never forget him saying this: “Cooking for another person is the most intimate connection one human being can have with another human being.  I would challenge anybody to provide me with another type of engagement where one has the ability to take the living organisms placed in this world around us, craft these "ingredients” with passion and love, present them for another person to consume into their body where all 5 senses are electrified, and that beautiful meal get converted to nourishment and energy for that person to live another day.”  If you thought cooking was boiling some pasta and whipping up a sauce - you will never understand a real cook.  Keep cooking with a deep passion, and every day you will have the power to emit positive energy, love, culture, life experiences, and great-tasting food to the world.

114.8k Views · 662 Upvotes

How Trump Will Change America

*I'm not a Trump supporter and I wouldn't have supported Hillary either! She didn't know her husband cheated on her 4 or 5 times, she didn't know that guns were being shipped through Benghazi
(Click Me) and she didn't know that her being elected wasn't going to be a slam dunk. &^%$#

t happened—Donald Trump is now the president of the United States. How will life change under his administration? While every presidency starts off with a hefty dose of uncertainty, this is the first time a populist demagogue with zero government experience has been in charge. So, we don’t know. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth hazarding a guess.

Predicting the future is a fool’s errand—when the primary goal is to be proved right. That’s not the case with the predictions we’ve collected below, from both experts and staffers, on ways our lives will be directly or indirectly affected by the new world order. We asked folks for their best guesses at what will happen not to provide worst-case scenarios or to foment a sense of chaos, but to set clear, realistic markers by which to track changes and norms in the months and years to come. We plan to revisit them at a later date; even a wrong prediction will be instructive in gauging the progress—if that’s the word for it—of Trump’s America.

We’ve calibrated the thermometer. We’ll have to wait to see how hot the water gets.

ENVIRONMENT

Polar Bears: The Trump administration’s refusal to accept the role human-caused emissions play in climate change will stall meaningful action. The U.S.’s withdrawal from collective action plans including the Paris Agreement will destabilize progress toward emission reduction around the world. As a result, the polar bear, which the Fish and Wildlife Service recently reported as being existentially threatened thanks to diminishing sea ice, will go extinct.
—Susan Matthews, Slate science editor
Illustration by Natalie Matthews-Ramo.
Natalie Matthews-Ramo

Carbon Emissions: Trump’s administration will abandon the Clean Power Plan, Obama’s signature climate policy designed to shift away from coal power. Trump will also implement various policies designed to expand the use of fossil fuels—in fact, plans released on WhiteHouse.gov within hours of his inauguration already promised to do that. As a result of these actions, U.S. emissions will reverse their decadelong downward trend and start to rise again, forcing other countries to instate a carbon tax on American-made goods.
— Eric Holthaus, meteorologist and Slate contributor

Drinking Water: Despite big talk about improving infrastructure, Trump’s pick for the Environmental Protection Agency has a penchant for suing the very agency he will lead and a worldview that the states should really be responsible for ensuring that our pipes deliver clean water. With Scott Pruitt in charge, we’ll see one or more public health disasters like the one in Flint, Michigan.
—Ben Mathis-Lilley, chief news blogger

MONEY

Government Spending: Trump wants to be loved, and he will do in office what he did in the private sector: exploit revenue and dump costs on others. So Republicans will not get the entitlement cuts they wanted, and Democrats will get plenty of spending. Trump will screw the future. The deficit and debt will explode.
—William Saletan, Slate national correspondent

Bailouts: The GOP will repeal the mandate requiring individuals to buy health insurance while maintaining the popular and more expensive components of the Affordable Care Act (such as coverage for people with pre-existing conditions). This will cause the private health insurance industry to approach complete and total financial collapse, requiring an emergency government bailout approximately double in size to the auto bailout of 2008.
—Jeremy Faust, emergency room physician

Illustration by Natalie Matthews-Ramo.
Natalie Matthews-Ramo

Tourism: Because Americans will feel less welcome in other parts of the world, the total amount spent on international tourism by Americans will plateau at $150 billion per year after steadily climbing for a decade.*
—Leon Neyfakh, Slate staff writer

Hospitality: Amid onerous travel restrictions and rising xenophobia under Trump, the United States’ hospitality industry—where more money is spent by international travelers than anywhere else in the world—will sharply contract.
—Cara Parks, editor in chief of Roads and Kingdoms

Charity: Whether the revised tax code hews closer to the vision of Donald Trump or Paul Ryan, several provisions—a lower cap on itemized deductions and a lower top tax rate, for example—will reduce incentives for charitable giving. As a result, charities and nonprofits will struggle as contributions fall.
—Henry Grabar, Slate staff writer

Illustration by Natalie Matthews-Ramo.
Natalie Matthews-Ramo

Silicon Valley: Trump will publicly feud with Apple over taxes, gay rights, and/or surveillance and privacy. The spat will make Apple products “cool” again, if only briefly, and sales of its devices will spike.
—Will Oremus, Slate senior technology writer

Income Inequality: Once the Republicans pass large, upper-income tax cuts, not only will the top 1 percent take home more of the country’s income, but affluent Americans will grow even more focused on acquiring wealth. Low income taxes on the wealthiest encourage executives and professionals to spend more energy bargaining for higher pay, because they get to keep more of it. (A theory proposed by Thomas Piketty and others.) We are likely to see CEO wages increase beyond their already atmospheric levels.
—Jordan Weissmann, Slate senior business correspondent

ART

Celebrity Candidates: We are going to see a swift incursion of left-leaning pop-culture celebrities entering electoral politics. The Democrats are in horrific shape, and while their political bench can’t match the GOP’s, their celebrity bench absolutely dwarfs the right’s. This past election proves there’s no reason for the famous and the opinionated not to run. Maybe Bernie would have beaten Trump; I think Oprah or Tom Hanks absolutely would have. This development will probably be bad for America but still better than anything else that’s happened since November.
—Jack Hamilton, Slate pop critic

Television Tropes: As we witness more and more antisocial behavior at the highest levels of government, the antihero trope will lose traction in popular culture. The spectacle of strong men transgressing norms in service of their own moral codes will be less and less appealing, and television and movies will pull back from pro-machismo stories with fascist undertones.
—Rebecca Onion, Slate staff writer

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Music: After Trump’s election, some started saying, “Well, at least the music will get good.” But there’s no direct link between “political” music and good music. As in the ’60s, what’s most distinguished the engaged sound of the late Obama era, from Hamilton’s Broadway to Kendrick Lamar’s L.A. and Maren Morris’ Nashville, isn’t literal protest, but a radical sense of possibility. Now, instead of the vitality of anti-Thatcher/Reagan punk, we could as easily get the defeated blandness of the Nixon years. (Witness the stunted aesthetic of Trump’s inaugural concerts.) Artists’ role isn’t to lead but to reflect our energies back transformed, the better for us to feel them. Unless the rest of us create cultures of support and resistance, today’s angry beats could be drowned out by escapist lullabies.
—Carl Wilson, Slate music critic

Preservation: If the National Endowment for the Humanities is eradicated by the new administration, we’ll see the shuttering of museums and archives—many of them small and local—whose preservation projects are dedicated to everything from film and architecture to railroads and the American Revolution. Analog recordings will degrade; handwritten diaries will never be digitized. Our grasp of our own history will start to slip away from us.
—Laura Miller, Slate columnist

WELL-BEING

Homelessness: As secretary of housing and urban development, Ben Carson will drastically reduce HUD programs as part of a larger crusade against “dependency” on the federal government. As programs for public housing and rental assistance for low-income Americans are slashed, the homeless rate for military veterans—slashed by a third over Obama’s presidency—will begin to rise once again.
—Kevin M. Kruse, professor of history at Princeton University

Opioids: We’re already not great at treating heroin addicts with the best evidence-based medicine, but provisions of Obamacare tried to address those problems. Its repeal will end this progress—and not only will fewer people have insurance, insurance companies will no longer have to pay for drug treatment. Under Trump, more people will overdose in the short run and there will be a still larger epidemic in the long run.
—Mark A.R. Kleiman, professor of public policy at NYU Marron Institute of Urban Management

Stress Eating: Thanks to a combination of lower protections for fast-food workers and general stress among the entire population, fast-food profits will rise.
—L.V. Anderson, Slate associate editor

Disabilities: The Americans With Disabilities Act will become harder to enforce due to GOP-led “ADA Notifications” bills; more disabled people will end up institutionalized (prisons, psych wards, nursing homes); and with a GOP repeal of the ACA, even greater numbers of disabled Americans will die or fall below the poverty line.
—David M. Perry, disability rights journalist and professor of history at Dominican University

Anxiety: The fearmongering and pending dissolution of so many bedrocks of our society is injecting a potent dose of anxiety into people’s lives. In response, there will be a rise in prescriptions for antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications. I also worry that patients will start hoarding these medications, preparing to ration them out to themselves during the upcoming lean times.
—Danielle Ofri, physician and medical writer

JUSTICE

Voting Rights: The Department of Justice under new attorney general Jeff Sessions will reverse his department’s challenges to the legality of Texas’ voter ID law and North Carolina’s law making it harder to register and to vote, leading more Republican states to adopt similar restrictive laws even before the Supreme Court may weigh in on these issues.
—Richard L. Hasen, professor of law and political science at the University of California–Irvine School of Law

Abortion: A bitter stew of anti-woman laws and policies cooked up by anti-abortion forces—blacklisting Planned Parenthood, excluding contraception from health insurance, cutting Title X family planning, further restricting and stigmatizing abortion services—will increase unintended pregnancies and abortions and push abortions later in pregnancy, out of state, and outside medical supervision, with ever-growing inequality in harms across states and wealth. That said, the American people will resist through lobbying, litigation, politics, and protest at levels unseen since the Reagan administration, though concrete success will be scarce until the 2018 elections, when Congress and the statehouses will become more pro-woman, pro-choice, and Democratic.
—Dawn Johnsen, Walter W. Foskett Professor of Law at Indiana University Maurer School of Law

Mass Incarceration: Despite the election of Trump and his rhetoric about high crime, and because most sentencing and corrections occurs at a nonfederal level and the support for criminal justice reform is broad and deep, we will continue to see—unabated—a reduction of the country’s incarcerated population and the number of people held in solitary confinement.
—Nick Turner, president of the Vera Institute of Justice

LGBTQ Rights: As the federal government all but abandons working toward transgender equality, there will be an uptick in hostile state and local legislative actions, akin to North Carolina’s HB2. But in a small but heartening response we’ll also see more gender-neutral bathrooms popping up (both official and adapted/commandeered), as local businesses and individuals take showing support into their own hands.
—J. Bryan Lowder, Slate associate editor

Police Reform: Under Jeff Sessions, the Department of Justice will sharply cut back its involvement in police reform, reducing the number of investigations and consent decrees to a level at or below that of the Clinton and second Bush presidencies. That will lead to an increase in state-level legislative reform efforts, such as funding body-camera programs, establishing independent investigative procedures, putting limits on how local agencies can work with federal agencies (in the immigration or civil asset forfeiture context, for example), and establishing state procedures for police agencies to follow to participate in the 1033 Program.
—Seth W. Stoughton, assistant professor of law at University of South Carolina and former police officer

Unions: A conservative justice will be confirmed to the Supreme Court, conservatives will bring forward another suit to gut public-sector unions, and public-sector union membership will significantly decrease.
—Jim Newell, Slate staff writer

Cybersecurity: Despite much talk of “the cyber” from the new administration, there will be no actual decrease in the number of successful cyberattacks on companies and government organizations.
—Peter W. Singer, security expert and senior fellow at New America

Full article > http://tinyurl.com/zyfmp8u

The Exploding Business of Bartering

*I'm happy that many don't get this way of living, the government and central banks want to push this to tax it as it is now. 

https://www.systemsnicaragua.com/overview

What do Honda, Haymarket Exhibitions, and your plumber have in common? Bartering. Business bartering is big, and it’s happening at every level. The International Reciprocal Trade Association reports that in 2011 over 400,000 companies worldwide used bartering to earn an estimated $12 billion on unwanted or underused assets.

Our Global Trends research, along with discussions with senior executives around the world, show that in response to tighter credit and budgets companies are exploring new ways to create and capture value. In this context, they see bartering as a way to steer around the restrictions imposed by cash and credit, to extract value from perishable or underperforming assets, and to expand channels to market and find new customers.

Business bartering has been around for a while (Pepsi conquered the USSR by exchanging the soft drink for vodka in 1990), but the pace is rapidly increasing. In 2010, for example, the North Carolina Bar Association approved the participation of attorneys in organized barter exchanges allowing them, for example, to swap legal services for credits to “spend” on a vast range of services from computing to web design, auto repairs and advertising. Now, at barter exchanges across the world, professionals from doctors to electricians are trading their services for goods, services or “trade credits” which can then be used to pay for business expenses whether printing, advertising or travel. Meanwhile, corporate barter firms, the intermediaries in barter transactions, have flourished, helping companies to create value from assets which may no longer fit their strategy, may not be working at capacity or are no longer needed. Client firms swap what they don’t want or need for something they do — frequently media services. In addition to swapping goods and services for media, companies can use the trade credits they receive from the bartering intermediary to exchange for freight, travel, waste management and equipment. Honda, Kia and Subaru have bartered cars for media trade credits. Haymarket Exhibitions made part payment for advertising using tickets to their exhibitions. Leading electronics firms have bartered discontinued stock, placing it in leading hotels in exchange for media and trade credits — gaining a potential new client in the hotel group in the process. Food manufacturers have bartered excess inventory in exchange for media credits or trade certificates allowing them to purchase other services such as hospitality and cleaning. Lufthansa has bartered real estate for media credits and aviation fuel.

Companies considering bartering should consider three questions:

• Are there services for which you could barter to improve your cost base or capacity utilization? For example, if you are in the travel industry, can you trade “perishable” excess capacity — whether rooms or golf tee times — for flat screen TVs or refitting your fitness center, as Magnolia Hotels based in Denver has done?
• What underperforming or non-strategic assets do you have that could generate value through creative bartering? For example, food processor Hormel Foods Corporation sold a frozen food brand which no longer fit its strategic goals to corporate barter firm ICON in return for putting part of its media spending through ICON.
• What other assets could you benefit from bartering? For example, could a barter deal quickly expand reach, credibility or brand recognition in the market for new products poised to launch? One start-up microbrewery in the US funded its launch and purchase of essential services by bartering for its stock via a barter exchange — building its brand in the process.

Look around your organization. How can you use barter to reduce costs, enhance revenues, build awareness or otherwise expand the pie? What linkages do you need to build in your organization, for example between purchasing, finance and the business units to make these deals work?

Full article > https://hbr.org/2012/09/the-exploding-business-of-bart

*I'll share a bit about, "Time banking" soon.

Welcome to National Preparedness / *Free Accredited eLearning

*There are so many conspiracy theories concerning FEMA that I can't even begin to address. While living in VA, I believe that I built a FEMA prison. I was building Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren for a telecommunications company when my checks became different. Add to this, I wasn't allowed to drive my vehicle to this new project / we were loaded up in transports where the windows were blacked out. I caught a glance at a truck that had, "KBR" on its side only later to search and find that KBR was a subsidiary of, Halliburton. You tell me.

Online Course Catalog

The National Preparedness online Course Catalog provides searchable, integrated information on courses provided or managed by FEMA’s Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP), Emergency Management Institute (EMI), and National Training and Education Division (NTED). If you have any questions or comments please contact EMI at trainwebmaster@fema.dhs.gov.




Center For Domestic Preparedness - ImageCenter for Domestic Preparedness (CDP)
Train at the nation's premier all-hazards training center! FEMA’s Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP), located in Anniston, Alabama, is the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS)'s only federally chartered Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) training center.



Emergency Management Institute N-Building - ImageEmergency Management Institute (EMI)
Through its courses and integrated programs, EMI serves as the national focal point for the development and delivery of emergency management training to enhance the capabilities of State, local, and Tribal government officials; volunteer organizations; FEMA’s disaster workforce; other Federal agencies; and the public and private sectors to minimize the impact of disasters and emergencies on the American public. EMI curricula are structured to meet the needs of this diverse audience with an emphasis on separate organizations working together in all-hazards emergencies to save lives and protect property. Particular emphasis is placed on governing doctrine such as the National Response Framework, National Incident Management System, and the National Preparedness Guidelines.



National Training and Education Division - ImageNational Training and Education Division (NTED)
NTED serves the nation's first responder community, offering more than 150 courses to help build critical skills that responders need to function effectively in mass consequence events. NTED primarily serves state, local, and tribal entities in 10 professional disciplines, but has expanded to serve private sector and citizens in recognition of their significant role in domestic preparedness.

NAVIGATION
CDP Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP)
Emergency Management Institute (EMI)
National Training and Education Division (NTED)
COURSE ANNOUNCEMENTS
EMI Higher Education Program
Center For Homeland Defense and Security
ADDITIONAL TRAINING RESOURCES
National Fire Academy
DHS Office for Bombing Prevention

Emergency Management Institute
16825 S. Seton Ave., Emmitsburg, MD 21727Switchboard: (301) 447-1000
Admissions Fax: (301) 447-1658

Independent Study Program

Office: (301) 447-1200 Fax: (301) 447-1201

Full article > https://training.fema.gov/

7 Ways Facebook Is Bad for Your Mental Health / Dedicated to Buddy Love

Facebook’s meteoric rise in popularity suggests that it offers us something we’ve always wanted. It allows us to simultaneously keep in touch with long-lost cousin Annabelle in Baton Rouge, best friend Percival from the first grade at St. Mary’s School, as well as 491 other assorted friends, relatives, and acquaintances—all at once, instantaneously, no trips to the post office necessary. With the click of a button we can see what Percival’s cute little daughter had for breakfast this morning, or what Annabelle’s pet dog wore to last year’s Halloween party.

But like all benefits in life, Facebook comes with its psychological costs—many of them invisible. Indeed, a recent study found that heavy Facebook users experience decreases in subjective well-being over time (Kross et al., 2013). Below we review some research suggesting 7 ways that Facebook may be hurting you.

LOL

1. It can make you feel like your life isn’t as cool as everyone else’s. Social psychologist Leon Festinger observed that people are naturally inclined to engage in social comparison. To answer a question like “Am I doing better or worse than average?” you need to check out other people like you. Facebook is a quick, effortless way to engage in social comparison, but with even one glance through your News Feed you might see pictures of your friends enjoying a mouth-watering dinner at Chez Panisse, or perhaps winning the Professor of the Year award at Yale University. Indeed, a study by Chou and Edge (2012) found that chronic Facebook users tend to think that other people lead happier lives than their own, leading them to feel that life is less fair.
2. It can lead you to envy your friends’ successes. Did cousin Annabelle announce a nice new promotion last month, a new car last week, and send a photo from her cruise vacation to Aruba this morning?  Not only can Facebook make you feel like you aren’t sharing in your friends’ happiness, but it can also make you feel envious of their happy lives. Buxmann and Krasnova (2013) have found that seeing others’ highlights on your News Feed can make you envious of friends’ travels, successes, and appearances. Additional findings suggest that the negative psychological impact of passively following others on Facebook is driven by the feelings of envy that stem from passively skimming your News Feed.

1. It can lead to a sense of false consensus. Sit next to a friend while you each search for the same thing on Google. Eli Pariser, author of The Filter Bubble (2012), can promise you won’t see the same search results. Not only have your Internet searches grown more personalized, so have social networking sites. Facebook’s sorting function places posts higher in your News Feed if they’re from like-minded friends—which may distort your view of the world (Constine, 2012). This can lead you to believe that your favorite political candidate is a shoe-in for the upcoming election, even though many of your friends are saying otherwise…you just won’t hear them.
2. It can keep you in touch with people you’d really rather forget.  Want to know what your ex is up to? You can…and that might not be a good thing.Facebook stalking has made it harder to let go of past relationships. Does she seem as miserable as I am? Is that ambiguous post directed at me? Has she started datingthat guy from trivia night? These questions might better remain unanswered; indeed, Marshall (2012) found that Facebook users who reported visiting their former partner’s page experienced disrupted post-breakup emotional recovery and higher levels of distress. Even if you still run into your ex in daily life, the effects of online surveillance were significantly worse than those of offline contact.
3. It can make you jealous of your current partner.  Facebook stalking doesn’t only apply to your ex.  Who is this Stacy LaRue, and why is she constantly “liking” my husband’s Facebook posts?   Krafsky and Krafsky, authors of Facebook and Your Marriage (2010), address many common concerns in relationships that stem from Facebook use. “Checking up on” your partner’s page can often lead to jealousy and even unwarranted suspicion, particularly if your husband’s exes frequently come into the picture. Krafsky and Krafsky recommend talking with your partner about behaviors that you both consider safe and trustworthy on Facebook, and setting boundaries where you don’t feel comfortable.
4. It can reveal information you might not want to share with potential employers.  Do you really want a potential employer to know about how drunk you got at last week’s kegger…or the interesting wild night that followed with the girl in the blue bikini?  Peluchette and Karl (2010) found that 40% of users mention alcoholuse on their Facebook page, and 20% mention sexual activities. We often think these posts are safe from prying eyes, but that might not be the case. While 89% of jobseekers use social networking sites, 37% of potential employers do, as well—and are actively looking into their potential hires (Smith, 2013). If you’re on the job market, make sure to check your privacy settings and restrict any risqué content to “Friends Only”, if you don’t wish to delete it entirely.
5. It can become addictive.  Think society’s most common addictive substances are coffee, cigarettes, and alcohol? Think again. The DSM-V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) includes a new diagnosis that has stirred controversy: a series of items gauging Internet Addiction. Since then, Facebook addiction has gathered attention from both popular media and empirical journals, leading to the creation of a Facebook addiction scale (Paddock, 2012; see below for items). To explore the seriousness of this addiction, Hofmann and colleagues (2012) randomly texted participants over the course of a week to ask what they most desired at that particular moment. They found that among their participants, social media use was craved even more than tobacco and alcohol.

 Full article > http://tinyurl.com/lax67km

Are you a world traveler?

*I've been all over the world and this is the best check card ever. Reimbursement on ATM withdrawals, no transaction fees, I can transfer money to buy stocks within one platform, I'm alerted to any suspicious transactions "before" they go through and I can set up recurring payments to various vendors, plus a whole lot more. All in all, "Fidelity" is awesome and the best thus far around the world.

8 Conspiracy Theories About The Denver Airport That'll Freak You Out

An insane amount of money went into building it...and not everyone is sure how it was spent.

An aerial view of the runways at Denver International Airport shows that they resemble the shape of a swastika. This is not a typical formation for an airport's runways. However, an airport representative has said that the runways are designed that way so that they can be used simultaneously no matter the weather condition, since none of the runways overlap. She told the U.K.'s The Telegraph, "We think the shape looks like a pinwheel."

The airport's dedication stone has imagery from a secret society.

The airport was dedicated on March 19, 1994, and a capstone was placed inside the airport to memorialize it. This dedication stone displays the Masonic symbol of a compass with a capital G inside. Underneath the symbol, the "New World Airport Commission" is credited with helping fund and build the airport.

What is the "New World Airport Commission"? Airport officials have said that it was a commission for the new "world airport,' but the wording calls to mind the New World Order conspiracy. New World Order conspiracists believe that there has been a small group of powerful people working together in secret throughout history toward establishing a single all-powerful global government.

The Masonic symbol ties into this conspiracy. Freemasonry is a very real secret fraternal society that's allegedly the largest in the world and may have existed as far back as the Middle Ages. Since this secret society has had many powerful members throughout history, people have long been suspicious that the Freemasons were looking to seize power. Perhaps they are involved in trying to establish the New World Order?

Not helping things: Conspiracy theorists have pointed out that if you add up the numbers in the airport's dedication date, you get 33, which is reportedly the highest level of Freemasonry. More helpful: This only works if you leave out "March," making it kind of a stretch.

Some people think there's a mysterious network of underground bunkers beneath the airport.

Many of the conspiracies around the Denver airport revolve around what may lie beneath the airport. A former airport construction worker claimed that the reason why the airport was so far behind schedule was because five multistory buildings were built underneath the airport. This same construction worker, as well as others, also supposedly said that there was a complex network of tunnels beneath the airport.

These claims led people to theorize that there may be anything from a vast network of underground New World Order command bunkers, to post-apocalyptic fallout shelters for the global elite (such as billionaires and politicians), to a future FEMA concentration camp waiting to be used beneath Denver International Airport.

It was later determined that the "underground tunnels" had actually become home to the airport's rail system.

There are some super-creepy murals that may show the New World Order's takeover.

Full article at > http://tinyurl.com/ybsypr3w