Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Pema Chodron. Cherish Ordinary moments


In our most ordinary days we have moments of happiness, moments of comfort and enjoyment, moments of seeing something that pleased us, something that touched us, moments of contacting the tenderness of our hearts. We can take joy in that. I find that it’s essential during the day to actually note when I feel happiness or when something positive happens, and to begin to cherish those moments as precious. Gradually we can begin to cherish the preciousness of our whole life just as it is, with its ups and downs, its failures and successes, its roughness and smoothness.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Pema Chodron. Natural warmth

The natural warmth that emerges when we experience pain includes all the heart qualities: love, compassion, gratitude, tenderness in any form. It also includes loneliness, sorrow, and the shakiness of fear. Before these vulnerable feelings harden, before the storylines kick in, these generally unwanted feelings are pregnant with kindness, with openness and caring. These feelings that we’ve become so accomplished at avoiding can soften us, can transform us. The openheartedness of natural warmth is sometimes pleasant, sometimes unplesant. The practice is to train in not automatically fleeing from uncomfortable tenderness when it arises.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Pema Chodron. The inbetween state

Life is a good teacher and a good friend. Things are always in transition, if we could only realize it. Nothing ever sums itself up in the way that we like to dream about. The off-center, in-between state is an ideal situation, a situation in which we don’t get caught and we can open our hearts and minds beyond limit. It’s a very tender, nonaggressive, open-ended state of affairs.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Why are you so far away?

-Why are you so far? She asked.

-Why you never want to know that I am in love with you... that I am in love with you? The Cure. Just like Heaven.


       Where to?


I never said that I would stay until the end... I never promised you chimeras, dreams... not even appetizing utopias...
Because since always,- and now I realize-, I was made of awareness, pain and holy sorrow.
Yes... all of that helps me look up and go on, running away from frequency, daring anyone brave enough to assault me with false promises, futile caresses, vane ideas to share lies...
No! This ending towards which you go is not mine! I never chose it! Rather, I prefer to continue my path, because next to you, sincerity would always hurt and we would misinterpret affection as Love... and I am afraid... I would not have any strength to put up with so much effort not to get asleep...
For that reason I am going away... from you and all the rest just like you... in search of others different from you and me, from your world and mine but able to appreciate how the last season is from the beginning of times...
Please, keep the decoration, the pictures... portraits of daily fake... keep your cravings for locking winds in beautiful bottles... your trodden carpets by vulgar soles...
Stay if that's your will... melt into mirages and ridicule melodies lacking of any truth... hollow like the hit against the emptiness... with no passion like that one who lowered his arms even before starting....
Stay then... if that's your wish. But don't expect me to do the same, because my track and yours, and the majority’s around, are as different as day and night, as appearance and Eternity...
Now I begin to know how the last breeze smells like... so happy... truly and completely... far... so far... at last...

Tina Cousins - Mysterious Times

Pema Chodron. This brief lifetime

How are we going to spend this brief lifetime? Are we going to strengthen our well-perfected ability to struggle against uncertainty, or are we going to train in letting go? Are we going to hold on stubbornly to “I’m like this and you’re like that”? Or are we going to move beyond that narrow mind? Could we start to train as a warrior, aspiring to reconnect with the natural flexibility of our being and to help others do the same? If we start to move in this direction, limitless possibilities will begin to open up.

Fishers

Sunlake
The Woods of Britton

Saturday, July 2, 2011

US Heath insurance

What is a deductible and how does it work?


Typically, a deductible is the amount of money you must pay each year before your health insurance plan starts to pay for covered medical expenses. For example, with a $100,000 heart surgery bill, you would be responsible for paying the first $1,000. After this $1,000 deductible is met, the insurance company will pay a percentage of the bill in what is called the coinsurance.

What is coinsurance?

Coinsurance is a cost-sharing requirement where you are responsible for paying a certain percentage and the insurance company will pay the remaining percentage of the covered medical expenses after your deductible is met. For a health insurance plan with 20% coinsurance, once the deductible is met, the insurance company will pay 80% of the covered expenses while you pay the remaining 20% until your out-of-pocket limit is reached for the year. Typically, the out-of-pocket limit is the maximum amount you will pay out of your own pocket for covered medical expenses in a given year. For a plan with a $2,000 out-of-pocket limit, you will pay a $1,000 deductible and $1,000 coinsurance while the insurance company covers the remaining $98,000 of the heart surgery bill. Even if you are hospitalized again in the same year, the insurance company will pay 100% of your covered expenses within the limit of the lifetime maximum.

What are co-pays?

A co-payment or co-pay is a specific flat fee you pay for each medical service, such as $30 for an office visit, after which the insurance company often pays the remainder of the covered medical charges. Let's say you are not feeling well and went to see your doctor who charges $200 for the office visit. If your insurance plan has an office visit co-payment of $30, then you will only be responsible for the $30 and the insurance company will cover the remaining $170.

Do I have to meet my deductible before I see my doctor?

With some health insurance policies the answer is YES, but today, most health insurance plans do NOT require this. Most companies today offer plans wherein the deductible usually only applies while hospitalized or for more major procedures, such as CT scans or MRIs. Most plans today allow you to visit doctors and specialists, and fill prescriptions, with simply a co-pay.

What is "Out-of-Pocket-Maximum?"

This is the amount of money one would pay out of their own pocket towards their medical expenses in any given year. An out of pocket expense can refer to how much the co-payment, coinsurance, or deductible is. Also, when the term annual out-of-pocket maximum is used, that is referring to how much the insured would have to pay for the whole year out of their pocket, excluding premiums. Usually, your maximum out-of-pocket is never more than a couple of thousand dollars over and above your chosen deductible.

What is a network?

A network is a list of doctors, hospitals and other providers that have contracted, or agreed, with an insurance company to do business with the insurance company. The providers fees have been pre-negotiated, which means that the insurance company will not necessarily pay the doctor or hospital what your actual medical bills are, but will pay a lower amount. For example, when you have a gall bladder removed at a hospital, the hospital's charges, if you did not have health insurance, might be $10,000. But under the network pre-negotiated amount, the hospital may only receive $4,000 as payment in full. This saves you and the insurance company money. If you have a health insurance plan that utilizes a network and you use providers that are not part of the network, the amount of money that you would have to pay for those services will be considerably higher than if you had used providers that were in the network. Your insurance company will probably pay some part of those non-network bills, but you'll be paying a whole lot more. Always stay in your network if possible.

What's the difference between a Primary Care Physician (PCP) and a specialist?

A Primary Care Physician, or PCP, is the doctor you would go to on a regular basis, such as when you're simply not feeling well, or have an ear ache or the flu. A specialist is a doctor that your PCP might refer you to if the problem you have requires a doctor with more experience in a certain area. For example, if you contacted your PCP complaining about chest pains, your PCP would most probably refer you to a heart doctor (a cardiologist) who would have more advanced equipment and training to help you.

What is a pre-existing condition?

A pre-existing condition is any health condition you have or have had prior to applying for a policy. For example, if you currently have had kidney stones at any time during your life, then kidney stones would be considered a pre-existing condition. Some insurance companies want to know about your pre-existing condition going back as far as your date of birth, but most insurance companies only look back ten years.

Will it prevent me from obtaining health insurance?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. It will depend upon the condition you have or had, its severity, the cost of medications, and whether the insurance company thinks it will lose money by giving you a policy. Some pre-existing conditions will not exclude you from getting a policy; instead, the insurance company may issue a policy to you, but they might try to offer you the policy with a "rider" which is a clause in your policy that says the insurance company will cover you, but NOT give you coverage for your pre-existing condition. Some companies might offer you their policy with a rider that the company says you may ask them to remove after a certain length of time, such as two years, and other companies may make the rider permanent.

What are some common pre-existing conditions that prevent people from obtaining health insurance?

Alcoholism and drug abuse are usually two conditions that most insurance companies will turn you down for. Others include heart attack or other heart problems within the past five years or so, most companies will not take you if you are diabetic. Many companies will not accept you if you've had certain types of cancer EVER in your life, while other insurance companies won't care if the cancer was more than 20 years in the past. It's almost impossible to get health insurance if you are currently obese or pregnant. Having AIDS is always an automatic decline, as is a stroke in your recent past. Most companies won't care if you have controlled hypertension (high blood pressure) or controlled high cholesterol. But if you have BOTH at the same time, there are very few companies that will offer a policy to you.

What is a group/employer plan?


These types of plans are available to you through your place of employment if your employer offers this benefit. Most employers that offer their employees health insurance make you wait until 30 or 60 or 90 days after you've become employed before you can get on the plan. By state law (and some states may vary), benefits are a little different on group plans than they are on individual plans. For example, most individual plans do not include maternity benefits, but almost all group plans do. Mental health benefits are not usually covered very well on individual plans, but on most group plans, mental health benefits are treated like any other illness. Almost all group plans will cover your pre-existing conditions as soon as you become included on the plan, and with no waiting period. This means that if you have a heart condition and get a job that provides you with health insurance benefits, you could have a heart attack the day you become covered and those medical bills will be covered by the group insurance policy. By law, your employer is required to pay at least 50% of your monthly premium. Some employers may pay all of your premium, but they don't have to. Your employer is not required to pay any of your spouse or children's premium — most companies do not pay any of this amount, but some employers will.

What is a group/employer plan?

What is a group/employer plan?
These types of plans are available to you through your place of employment if your employer offers this benefit. Most employers that offer their employees health insurance make you wait until 30 or 60 or 90 days after you've become employed before you can get on the plan.
By state law (and some states may vary), benefits are a little different on group plans than they are on individual plans. For example, most individual plans do not include maternity benefits, but almost all group plans do. Mental health benefits are not usually covered very well on individual plans, but on most group plans, mental health benefits are treated like any other illness. Almost all group plans will cover your pre-existing conditions as soon as you become included on the plan, and with no waiting period. This means that if you have a heart condition and get a job that provides you with health insurance benefits, you could have a heart attack the day you become covered and those medical bills will be covered by the group insurance policy.
By law, your employer is required to pay at least 50% of your monthly premium. Some employers may pay all of your premium, but they don't have to. Your employer is not required to pay any of your spouse or children's premium — most companies do not pay any of this amount, but some employers will.

Pregnancy Discrimination Act and Health Insurance

Pregnancy Discrimination Act and Health Insurance
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 requires that any health insurance provided by an employer must cover expenses for pregnancy-related conditions on the same basis as costs for other medical conditions. An employer need not provide health insurance for expenses arising from abortion, except where the life of the mother is endangered.

Pregnancy-related expenses should be reimbursed exactly as those incurred for other medical conditions, whether payment is on a fixed basis or a percentage of reasonable-and-customary-charge basis.

The amounts payable by the insurance provider can be limited only to the same extent as amounts payable for other conditions. No additional, increased, or larger deductible can be imposed on any maternity health insurance coverage.

Employers must provide the same level of health benefits for spouses of male employees as they do for spouses of female employees.

Friday, July 1, 2011

Teddy Bautista, o el ejemplo de como hacerse rico. Ahora a disposicion judicial por apropiacion indebida

Eduardo "Teddy" Bautista es el ejemplo de los nuevos ricos. Desde su puesto de presidente del Consejo de Dirección de la Sociedad General de Autores y Editores ha sabido hacer carrera y ha sido tan famoso por su defensa del canon digital y de la Ley Sinde como por su voracidad recaudatoria.

El presidente de la SGAE inició su carrera artística siendo el líder de Los Canarios a finales de los 60, grupo musical centrado en la música soul y rock. Su mayor éxito fue sin duda su aportación a la banda sonora del exitoso musical Jesucristo Superstar, en la que además interpretaba a Judas. Más tarde actuó en musicales y en algunas españolas de la década de los 80.

Hasta aquí su actividad artística puesto que decidió centrarse en la SGAE donde entró a trabajar en 1983 y no le ha ido nada mal. Sin embargo, se ha visto envuelto en numerosas polémicas. Las más importantes fueron su defensa a ultranza del canon digital y el cobro indiscriminado de derechos de autor, que exigían el diez por ciento de las recaudación ya fuera en festivales benéficos a favor de Lorca o de niños enfermos a incluso obras populares como Fuenteovejuna. Ya en las últimas fechas ha destacado por la polémica ley antidescargas de la ministra Sinde, lo que le ha granjeado la antipatía de una mayoría abrumadora de los internautas.

Pero si por algo es también famoso Teddy Bautista es por haberse ido preparando un auténtico retiro dorado. Sin tapujos reveló a los medios de comunicación que tiene un sueldo anual de más de 300.000 euros, lo que le ha permitido vivir en una de las urbanizaciones más exclusivas de toda la Comunidad de Madrid, situada en la localidad de Boadilla del Monte. Además, en su puerta siempre le espera su chófer en el Audi A8, valorado en 78.000 euros, que le traslada hasta el también lujoso Palacio de Longoria, sede de la SGAE. Y a pesar de ello, la urbanización de Teddy Bautista fue también conocida por no pagar durante cinco años al jardinero.

Esta actividad le ha permitido poseer una mansión de 4.000 metros cuadrados en Valdepastores, un chalet de 466 metros y un terreno de casi 4.000 metros, donde comparte vecindario con artistas, empresarios y deportistas. También, posee otro piso en la ciudad de Madrid.

Si nada desdeñable es el salario que tiene menos lo es la jubilación que él mismo, junto con sus colegas de la dirección de la SGAE, se ha preparado. Una vez que Teddy Bautista decida jubilarse recibirá una paga que ascenderá a 24.511 euros mensuales, tal y como informo la consultora Watson Wyatt. Pero a esta cantidad habría que sumar los ingresos que Bautista reciba de los derechos de autor, por lo que una vez concluida su relación laboral con la Sociedad de Autores prácticamente mantendría su actual nivel adquisitivo.

Defensor a ultranza de la Ley Sinde

Eduardo Bautista ha sido desde el principio un firme defensor del Gobierno y de la Ley Sinde, a la que no ha dudado en calificar de "amable" y alabar a González Sinde por "buscar un consenso y no por beneficiar a los autores".

Sobre su asociación afirma que los ciudadanos deberían tenerles "como ejemplo de cumplidores de las leyes", aunque se trate de le "leyes que son antipáticas". Y si en lugar de esa admiración hay una evidente contestación social la culpa es de los medios: "La SGAE no tiene mala prensa, sino prensa mala".