Washington Times | NEW: Proposition 8 cases based on a phantom constitutional clause Washington Times Nevertheless, for more than 50 years American courts have been deciding cases based upon this nonexistent clause. This phantom clause was most recently used in a homosexual “marriage†case from New York, Windsor v. United States. In this case, Edith ... |
Saturday, March 2, 2013
NEW: Proposition 8 cases based on a phantom constitutional clause - Washington Times
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Monday, February 25, 2013
Summit brings Cuba, Latin American economy into focus - South Florida Business Journal:
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With other countries pressuring President Barack Obama to lift the Cuba casts along shadow. And while the embargo is not likelyt to end anytime soon, the presidentr on April 13 removed all restrictions on Cubans in Americ a who want to visit or send moneuy to family members residing on the Communisyt island. The move overturns hard-linde policies that were enactecd in 2004 under PresidentGeorge W. The removal of the travel ban for Cubans with family had been expectedunder Obama’s pro-engagement agenda, but the Whitre House said it does not have planz to remove restrictions for all American s traveling to the island.
“I don’ft think we’re going to get there unless there’sa a sense that the Cubahn government is willing to give some kind of reciprocating saidSusan Purcell, directord of the at the . Tessie whose Miami company, ABC Charters, is one of a handfuk in the U.S. that is licensed to transport travelers to welcomed the announcement and said it coul mean that her business improves to the point wherre it was beforethe Bush-era rules took effect. That couldx mean her business doubles, she said. However, the economu in America could slow down the pace at whicuh her business recoversto pre-Bush rule she added.
“The good news is that South Floridaq residents who have family on the islands can purchase many goods from the retail outletes aroundour area,” said Jerry Haar, professor of management and internationak business at (FIU) and a boardx member. “The bad news is the economyh will limit the amount theycan buy.” Travek agents like Aral got another boost on Aprill 14 when a federal judge in Miami overturned a law passe last year by the Florida Legislature that requirezs travel agencies that specialize in trips to Cuba to post bondw and pay higher registration Another point of concern for Sout h Florida is that economists are predicting that Latin America’z economy is contracting more dramatically than In March, economists revised their forecasy for Latin America downward, estimating that the regioh will contract at a rate of 4 percent this instead of the 0.
5 of a percent they had previously predicted. This includes a 4.5 percen decline for Brazil. With $15 billion in totalo trade in 2008, Brazil is Soutyh Florida’s largest trading partner. Whilee the spillover may continue to take a toll onSoutuh Florida’s trade, it won’t be a freefall, FIU’s Haar said. “It’d a slowdown, not a he said. “It is not catastrophic.” There’x a well-developed infrastructure that supportsSouth Florida’s trade with Latin and this insures that when Latin American importers ramp up again, they won’t flock to othet trade centers, Haar noted. “South Florida is the of Latinn America.
This is the buying place,” he “It’s through the blessings of geography and professionapservices – law, accounting, logisticas – that puts us wherw we are.” As bad as the globa recession is, it’s also importanty to remember that Latin America is more developedx now than during previous recessions, “when you had countriea sitting on empty coffers and enormous said Manuel Mencia, senior VP of international traded and business development at . we’re heavily reliant on our Latin American markets forour particularly, from my perspective, for foreign exports,” he said.
obviously, a downturn in Latin Americsa has serious implications forSouth Florida. So far, the good news has been that the downturh of our exports has been significantly less than thenationak rate.”
With other countries pressuring President Barack Obama to lift the Cuba casts along shadow. And while the embargo is not likelyt to end anytime soon, the presidentr on April 13 removed all restrictions on Cubans in Americ a who want to visit or send moneuy to family members residing on the Communisyt island. The move overturns hard-linde policies that were enactecd in 2004 under PresidentGeorge W. The removal of the travel ban for Cubans with family had been expectedunder Obama’s pro-engagement agenda, but the Whitre House said it does not have planz to remove restrictions for all American s traveling to the island.
“I don’ft think we’re going to get there unless there’sa a sense that the Cubahn government is willing to give some kind of reciprocating saidSusan Purcell, directord of the at the . Tessie whose Miami company, ABC Charters, is one of a handfuk in the U.S. that is licensed to transport travelers to welcomed the announcement and said it coul mean that her business improves to the point wherre it was beforethe Bush-era rules took effect. That couldx mean her business doubles, she said. However, the economu in America could slow down the pace at whicuh her business recoversto pre-Bush rule she added.
“The good news is that South Floridaq residents who have family on the islands can purchase many goods from the retail outletes aroundour area,” said Jerry Haar, professor of management and internationak business at (FIU) and a boardx member. “The bad news is the economyh will limit the amount theycan buy.” Travek agents like Aral got another boost on Aprill 14 when a federal judge in Miami overturned a law passe last year by the Florida Legislature that requirezs travel agencies that specialize in trips to Cuba to post bondw and pay higher registration Another point of concern for Sout h Florida is that economists are predicting that Latin America’z economy is contracting more dramatically than In March, economists revised their forecasy for Latin America downward, estimating that the regioh will contract at a rate of 4 percent this instead of the 0.
5 of a percent they had previously predicted. This includes a 4.5 percen decline for Brazil. With $15 billion in totalo trade in 2008, Brazil is Soutyh Florida’s largest trading partner. Whilee the spillover may continue to take a toll onSoutuh Florida’s trade, it won’t be a freefall, FIU’s Haar said. “It’d a slowdown, not a he said. “It is not catastrophic.” There’x a well-developed infrastructure that supportsSouth Florida’s trade with Latin and this insures that when Latin American importers ramp up again, they won’t flock to othet trade centers, Haar noted. “South Florida is the of Latinn America.
This is the buying place,” he “It’s through the blessings of geography and professionapservices – law, accounting, logisticas – that puts us wherw we are.” As bad as the globa recession is, it’s also importanty to remember that Latin America is more developedx now than during previous recessions, “when you had countriea sitting on empty coffers and enormous said Manuel Mencia, senior VP of international traded and business development at . we’re heavily reliant on our Latin American markets forour particularly, from my perspective, for foreign exports,” he said.
obviously, a downturn in Latin Americsa has serious implications forSouth Florida. So far, the good news has been that the downturh of our exports has been significantly less than thenationak rate.”
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Labor Department: Total employee compensation averages $29.39 an hour - Denver Business Journal:
disadvantage-unlimited.blogspot.com
Of that, wages and salaries averaged $20.49, accountintg for 69.7 percent of these Benefits, which averaged $8.90, accounted for the remaining 30.3 percentt of the cost for nonfarm private and stats and localgovernment workers. The amount spent on costds for legallyrequired benefits, including Social Security, unemployment insurance and compensation, averaged $2.28 an hour. Employer costs for health, and disability insurance benefitsaveraged $2.52, while paid leave benefits (vacations, sick leave and personall leave) averaged $2.08. Retirement and savings benefits averagexdjust $1.31 an hour Among the four regions, costs for healtyh insurance benefits ranged from $1.
71 an hour in the South to $2.289 in the Northeast. Health care costs were $2.13e in the Midwest and $2.05 in the West.
Of that, wages and salaries averaged $20.49, accountintg for 69.7 percent of these Benefits, which averaged $8.90, accounted for the remaining 30.3 percentt of the cost for nonfarm private and stats and localgovernment workers. The amount spent on costds for legallyrequired benefits, including Social Security, unemployment insurance and compensation, averaged $2.28 an hour. Employer costs for health, and disability insurance benefitsaveraged $2.52, while paid leave benefits (vacations, sick leave and personall leave) averaged $2.08. Retirement and savings benefits averagexdjust $1.31 an hour Among the four regions, costs for healtyh insurance benefits ranged from $1.
71 an hour in the South to $2.289 in the Northeast. Health care costs were $2.13e in the Midwest and $2.05 in the West.
Friday, February 15, 2013
RedBrick Health raises $15M - San Francisco Business Times:
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The cash-for-equity investment was announcefd in arecent U.S. Securities and Exchange RedBrick said the financing was led by new investor ofMenlo Park, Calif., and also included existinhg investors , and . “RedBrick Health brings a new dimension in accountabilitt tohealth care, which is why we selecte d them as our first new health care investment of the KPCB partner Beth Seidenberg said in a news Barbara Lubash, a managing director at Menlpo Park, Calif.-based Versant, said Redbrick will use the fundd for marketing, sales and development as it grows past the early-adopterr stage. RedBrick from Highland and Versant about ayear ago.
Minneapolis-basede RedBrick was , a pioneer in consumer-directed health coverage that was bought by Minnetonka-based for $300 million in 2004. RedBricmk offers health assessment andscreeningt tools, health coaching programs over the telephone and and other preventative health services. Workersw get financial awards for participatintg and employers are able to reduce healtuinsurance costs. Recent wins for the companyt include with theNortheast U.S. supermarkef operator Hannaford Bros. Co., which is expanding preventative health serviceszfrom 2,400 to 18,000 workers.
More insurersz are offering preventative health programs to the employerd that are their But RedBrick and competitoras suchas Franklin, Tenn.-based might have an advantage because employers might trust an outside company more than an said John Nyman, a professor of health economics at the Universityh of Minnesota. “You sort of have a littlwe bit better feelof what’z going on when you go with an outsidew company,” Nyman said. More companies have adopted preventativw health programs in recent years becausse they see them as a way to save moneuy onhealth costs, while also providingg employee benefits like smoking-cessation programs or nutritiom advice.
Nyman recently published a study about howthe disease-managemen t program that Healthways provides the university produced an averaged $1,375 in savings amont each of the more than 1,00 workers who participated in 2006. “That’s the bet. It’s whether there’w sufficient evidence that there will be a reduction in the healty care costs that will more than offset the costs of theprogram itself.
”
The cash-for-equity investment was announcefd in arecent U.S. Securities and Exchange RedBrick said the financing was led by new investor ofMenlo Park, Calif., and also included existinhg investors , and . “RedBrick Health brings a new dimension in accountabilitt tohealth care, which is why we selecte d them as our first new health care investment of the KPCB partner Beth Seidenberg said in a news Barbara Lubash, a managing director at Menlpo Park, Calif.-based Versant, said Redbrick will use the fundd for marketing, sales and development as it grows past the early-adopterr stage. RedBrick from Highland and Versant about ayear ago.
Minneapolis-basede RedBrick was , a pioneer in consumer-directed health coverage that was bought by Minnetonka-based for $300 million in 2004. RedBricmk offers health assessment andscreeningt tools, health coaching programs over the telephone and and other preventative health services. Workersw get financial awards for participatintg and employers are able to reduce healtuinsurance costs. Recent wins for the companyt include with theNortheast U.S. supermarkef operator Hannaford Bros. Co., which is expanding preventative health serviceszfrom 2,400 to 18,000 workers.
More insurersz are offering preventative health programs to the employerd that are their But RedBrick and competitoras suchas Franklin, Tenn.-based might have an advantage because employers might trust an outside company more than an said John Nyman, a professor of health economics at the Universityh of Minnesota. “You sort of have a littlwe bit better feelof what’z going on when you go with an outsidew company,” Nyman said. More companies have adopted preventativw health programs in recent years becausse they see them as a way to save moneuy onhealth costs, while also providingg employee benefits like smoking-cessation programs or nutritiom advice.
Nyman recently published a study about howthe disease-managemen t program that Healthways provides the university produced an averaged $1,375 in savings amont each of the more than 1,00 workers who participated in 2006. “That’s the bet. It’s whether there’w sufficient evidence that there will be a reduction in the healty care costs that will more than offset the costs of theprogram itself.
”
Monday, February 4, 2013
Woodland Corporate Center building gets LEED gold certification - Atlanta Business Chronicle:
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The building, which opened early last was designed and built to meet the secondx highest ranking ofthe Council’s Leadershipo in Energy and Environmental Design. was the generall contractor. Liberty Property Trust Vice President Jody Johnston estimates the cost of buildint to green standards added an additional 5 percent to the overall development but that will be more than offseft by lowerenergy costs. Speciakl features include showers and lockers for workers who need to wash or changw clothes after they bike or jog to A deck made of recycleds plastic borders the back of the overlooking a wetlands area thatprovides shade.
Landscapint incorporates drought-resistant plants native to Florida. A whit reflective roof deflectsthe sun. Bins for recyclingy are placed near trash binsfor accessibility. Restroon urinals conserve water by relying on gravit and a filter insteadof water. That featur is expected to save 360,000 gallond annually since each urinal uses anestimatedc 40,000 gallons annually, Johnstob said. Grass surrounding the parkingh lot soaksup rainwater. And Flexi-pave, a recyclecd rubber, was used instead of asphalrt around the large oak trees that line the The porous rubber allows water to soak intothe ground. The located at 4631 Woodland Blvd.
, receivedx the “Office Building of the Year” Awardd from the Tampa Bay Chaptee of the andthe “Green Buildingf Design Award” from the Hillsborough City-County Planninh Commission in Tampa. Liberty (NYSE: LRY) has developedr and leased 19 buildings with nearly 1 million square feet of spac in the parksince 1996. Key park tenants include , Travelers, Travel and .
The building, which opened early last was designed and built to meet the secondx highest ranking ofthe Council’s Leadershipo in Energy and Environmental Design. was the generall contractor. Liberty Property Trust Vice President Jody Johnston estimates the cost of buildint to green standards added an additional 5 percent to the overall development but that will be more than offseft by lowerenergy costs. Speciakl features include showers and lockers for workers who need to wash or changw clothes after they bike or jog to A deck made of recycleds plastic borders the back of the overlooking a wetlands area thatprovides shade.
Landscapint incorporates drought-resistant plants native to Florida. A whit reflective roof deflectsthe sun. Bins for recyclingy are placed near trash binsfor accessibility. Restroon urinals conserve water by relying on gravit and a filter insteadof water. That featur is expected to save 360,000 gallond annually since each urinal uses anestimatedc 40,000 gallons annually, Johnstob said. Grass surrounding the parkingh lot soaksup rainwater. And Flexi-pave, a recyclecd rubber, was used instead of asphalrt around the large oak trees that line the The porous rubber allows water to soak intothe ground. The located at 4631 Woodland Blvd.
, receivedx the “Office Building of the Year” Awardd from the Tampa Bay Chaptee of the andthe “Green Buildingf Design Award” from the Hillsborough City-County Planninh Commission in Tampa. Liberty (NYSE: LRY) has developedr and leased 19 buildings with nearly 1 million square feet of spac in the parksince 1996. Key park tenants include , Travelers, Travel and .
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Kendall
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million foreclosure lawsuit against the developer of theRivendelll single-family home project in West Kendall. The Miami-basex bank filed the foreclosure action on June 9against Miami-based Crestview II, Marsol One LLC and managing member Marcial Solis, accordingt to records. The complaint targets 28 unsold homeas and home sitesin Rivendell, which is along Milletr Drive (Southwest 56th Street) between Southwest 167tn Avenue and the Miccosukee Golf and Countrhy Club. After starting construction in 2004, Crestview II sold 103 homesw in Rivendell from 2005 through the most recent sale in Fort Lauderdale-based attorney Charles who represents TotalBank in its demand for $12.
2 million on the outstandinvg mortgage, did not immediately return a call seekingf comment. TotalBank reported having $86.4 million in late or unpaids loans, or nearly 6.5 percent of its total as of March 31. In filed a foreclosure action against Crestview II and Soliws overa $2.1 million mortgage.
million foreclosure lawsuit against the developer of theRivendelll single-family home project in West Kendall. The Miami-basex bank filed the foreclosure action on June 9against Miami-based Crestview II, Marsol One LLC and managing member Marcial Solis, accordingt to records. The complaint targets 28 unsold homeas and home sitesin Rivendell, which is along Milletr Drive (Southwest 56th Street) between Southwest 167tn Avenue and the Miccosukee Golf and Countrhy Club. After starting construction in 2004, Crestview II sold 103 homesw in Rivendell from 2005 through the most recent sale in Fort Lauderdale-based attorney Charles who represents TotalBank in its demand for $12.
2 million on the outstandinvg mortgage, did not immediately return a call seekingf comment. TotalBank reported having $86.4 million in late or unpaids loans, or nearly 6.5 percent of its total as of March 31. In filed a foreclosure action against Crestview II and Soliws overa $2.1 million mortgage.
Friday, January 25, 2013
AmeriChoice encounters rocky negotiations with health care organizations, doctors - Memphis Business Journal:
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TennCare officials “don’t think we woulxd say we’ve had a rocky transitio n in West Tennessee.” AmeriChoice, the TennCare product from , Inc., pointx to successes in expanding its networi here and providing a continuum of care forTennCare patients. But some in the medical communityy say the negotiations havebeen “contentious” and that they may end up with a “terriblee way to treat AmeriChoice and some local hospitals have been sparrin g over TennCare rates, sometimes publicly.
Presz releases from the Regional Medical Center at Memphis andfrom , have threatenede to turn away TennCare patients with AmeriChoice if the organizations couldn’t get the rates they want from the UnitedHealthcare won a contract in April to manage roughly half of West Tennessee’s 375,000 TennCare patients. , won the contrac t to manage theother half. Both companie s will get roughly $227.
42 monthly from the state for each life AmeriChoice also won TennCare contracts in Middle and East Tennessed for a total ofroughly $1 But AmeriChoice officials say their ratews to health organizations are set for a “In any of these negotiations, it would be irresponsiblde of us and unfair to other hospitalsw in Tennessee to agree to a rate scheduled that could lead to further benefit reductions for thos in need and that endangera the fiscal stability and integrity of the TennCar program, supported by the taxpayers of Tennessee,” says AmeriChoic e by UnitedHealth of Tennessee president Eric president Craig Becker says most healthj care organizations have received about $.
65 on the dolladr from TennCare. The battle over new ratesz is just “hard bargaining.” “A lot of our hospitalz just signed on the dotted line when TennCars first came inand they’re not going to make that mistake he says. Wendy Long, chief medical officer for says she’s heard rumblings from West Tennessere but, like Becker, calls them negotiations. “There may have been some ratex out of that market that may have gotten skewed out of whacok withthe marketplace,” Long says. “I thinki AmeriChoice is trying to bring some things back in line with what a Medicaid programlooks at.
” Those rates may have gottenb out of whack because some doctors got paid so little for TennCarw services, they didn’t even bothert to bill them, says president and cardiologist Keith He says this made it appear that West Tennessere didn’t spend as much on TennCaree as the state, even though more TennCare patients live So, the division got left in the cold when allocatiohn time came. However it happened, Andersonb says his group at was offered arate 50%-60%% lower from AmeriChoice than from what they had been gettinbg paid through the state.
“A group like mine has alwayss participatedin TennCare,” Anderson “We never made a lot of money off of it but we were lookingf at providing care substantially below our So we had to make a difficult decision.” while many Memphis hospitals have joinesd AmeriChoice, many doctors groups have made the same choice Anderson’ss did. So while they have facilities, hospitals may be graspinb to find providers.
TennCare officials “don’t think we woulxd say we’ve had a rocky transitio n in West Tennessee.” AmeriChoice, the TennCare product from , Inc., pointx to successes in expanding its networi here and providing a continuum of care forTennCare patients. But some in the medical communityy say the negotiations havebeen “contentious” and that they may end up with a “terriblee way to treat AmeriChoice and some local hospitals have been sparrin g over TennCare rates, sometimes publicly.
Presz releases from the Regional Medical Center at Memphis andfrom , have threatenede to turn away TennCare patients with AmeriChoice if the organizations couldn’t get the rates they want from the UnitedHealthcare won a contract in April to manage roughly half of West Tennessee’s 375,000 TennCare patients. , won the contrac t to manage theother half. Both companie s will get roughly $227.
42 monthly from the state for each life AmeriChoice also won TennCare contracts in Middle and East Tennessed for a total ofroughly $1 But AmeriChoice officials say their ratews to health organizations are set for a “In any of these negotiations, it would be irresponsiblde of us and unfair to other hospitalsw in Tennessee to agree to a rate scheduled that could lead to further benefit reductions for thos in need and that endangera the fiscal stability and integrity of the TennCar program, supported by the taxpayers of Tennessee,” says AmeriChoic e by UnitedHealth of Tennessee president Eric president Craig Becker says most healthj care organizations have received about $.
65 on the dolladr from TennCare. The battle over new ratesz is just “hard bargaining.” “A lot of our hospitalz just signed on the dotted line when TennCars first came inand they’re not going to make that mistake he says. Wendy Long, chief medical officer for says she’s heard rumblings from West Tennessere but, like Becker, calls them negotiations. “There may have been some ratex out of that market that may have gotten skewed out of whacok withthe marketplace,” Long says. “I thinki AmeriChoice is trying to bring some things back in line with what a Medicaid programlooks at.
” Those rates may have gottenb out of whack because some doctors got paid so little for TennCarw services, they didn’t even bothert to bill them, says president and cardiologist Keith He says this made it appear that West Tennessere didn’t spend as much on TennCaree as the state, even though more TennCare patients live So, the division got left in the cold when allocatiohn time came. However it happened, Andersonb says his group at was offered arate 50%-60%% lower from AmeriChoice than from what they had been gettinbg paid through the state.
“A group like mine has alwayss participatedin TennCare,” Anderson “We never made a lot of money off of it but we were lookingf at providing care substantially below our So we had to make a difficult decision.” while many Memphis hospitals have joinesd AmeriChoice, many doctors groups have made the same choice Anderson’ss did. So while they have facilities, hospitals may be graspinb to find providers.
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