Business :Q&A on Payroll Management Systems


By Kranti Gaurav

What is the payroll?

A payroll is a company's list of its employees, but the term is commonly used to refer to: the total amount of money that a company pays to its employees. A company's records of its employees' salaries and wages, bonuses, and withheld taxes. the company's department that calculates and pays these.

What is payroll management in HR?

Payroll refers to the process by which employees receive their salary. Functions involve balancing and reconciling payroll data and depositing and reporting taxes. The payroll department takes care of wage deductions, record keeping and verifying the reliability of pay data.

What is the process of payroll?

Payroll involves performing many tasks to ensure accurate and timely paychecks and payroll tax and record-keeping compliance. Process the payroll ahead of time. Devise a payroll-processing schedule that allows you ample time to process the payroll and to correct detected errors before employees receive their paychecks.

How does the payroll work?

A payroll system involves everything that has to do with the payment of employees and the filing of employment taxes. This includes keeping track of hours, calculating wages, withholding taxes and other deductions, printing and delivering checks and paying employment taxes to the government.

How do you audit payroll?

A good time frame for scheduling a payroll audit is at the end of each quarter of business.
Verify Active Employees
Verify Pay Rate
Review Hours Paid
Compare Payroll Reports to General Ledger
Review Payroll Tax Submissions
Bank Reconciliation Review

What is the role of payroll?

The Payroll function is one of the fundamental functions of any organisation. At the basic level, it ensures that all employees receive their wages. In practice, the payroll function extends to a fairly wide range of administrative and labour issues.

Why payroll is so important?

The importance of payroll in an organisation. Payroll is an integral part of all organisations. The payroll department is not only responsible for employees' salary compensation, but it also plays a vital role in protecting the company's reputation by ensuring compliance with various legislations.

What are the uses of a payroll management system?

The Payroll Management System deals with the financial aspects of employee's salary, allowances, deductions, gross pay, net pay etc. and generation of pay-slips for a specific period. The outstanding benefit of Payroll Management System is its easy implementation.

What is a payroll administrator?

Payroll administration is defined as any of the tasks necessary to organize the compensation of employees for the hours that have been worked. This may include keeping totals for hours worked by employees, rates of pay and managing payments to employees.

What is a payroll management system?

A payroll management system is the system by which employers can pay the employees for the work they have completed. Although payroll seems like a mundane task, it involves many aspects including the withholding of taxes from each paycheck and making sure accurate funds are paid to the correct government agency.

What is payroll management software?

Payroll software is technology that aims to streamline and automate the process of paying a company's employees. Payroll software can be purchased from a human resources technology vendor or included as a module within a larger enterprise resource planning (ERP) package.

What is payroll accounting?

On the income statement, payroll expenses are part of labor costs. They include employee salaries, employer payments for health insurance or similar benefits, payroll taxes paid by the employer, bonuses, commissions and similar expenses.

Components of a Payroll System

To make sure that they comply with Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations and state and local government laws, companies must include crucial employee and company information in their payroll systems. Setting up and running the different components that comprise a payroll system requires due diligence and adequate knowledge of tax legislation.

Employee information

During the new hire process, companies must collect information such as medical insurance and W-4 forms to determine what should be deducted from an employee's paycheck. These forms also provide employers with crucial information, such as the employee's Social Security number and their withholding amount for federal and state tax purposes. The system must also track and process changes made to the employee's tax exemption status, pensions, insurance plans or retirement funds.

Salary information

As part of the new hire process, payroll systems include a component that designates which employees are full time, part time and contractors. Classifying workers in a payroll system is important since the government levies high penalties on companies that categorize employees incorrectly.

Timesheets

Without knowledge of the number of hours an employee has worked, employers cannot determine what to pay an employee. While some workers are paid a salary, others are compensated hourly or designated as nonexempt employees. Payroll systems include timesheet information or areas where hourly and nonexempt employee hours are recorded and reviewed for accuracy. Information can be collected through a computerized time clock, punch card stamp clock or paper timesheet.

Applicable taxes and deductions

Although the IRS provides companies with tax tables to calculate employee tax withholdings, vendors and payroll computer systems can also supply this information. Employers must consider year-to-date annual earnings, wage levels and tax allowances when summarizing applicable taxes. In addition, payroll systems must calculate deductions made through pension plans, 401(k)s, insurance plans, union dues and garnishments. The payroll department also monitors loans and other deductions that have cap amounts and ceases paycheck deductions when the total amount has been repaid.

Payroll register

The payroll register summarizes employee earnings and deduction information in a journal entry that is inserted into the general ledger for accounting and general research purposes. Payroll registers are also used to create tax reports. These documents are prepared by payroll staff or generated using payroll computer systems.

Manual payments

Occasionally, companies issue manual paychecks to employees between pay periods because of termination or a payroll error. Payroll systems must account for the check amount in the payroll register for tax and reporting purposes. This ensures that the employer's tax withholding amount is reconciled with employee deductions.

Payroll refers to the administration of employees' salaries, wages, bonuses, net pay, and deductions. It consist of the employee ID, employee name, date of joining, daily attendance record, basic salary, allowances, overtime pay, bonus, commissions, incentives, pay for holidays, vacations and sickness, value of meals and lodging etc. There are some deductions such as PF, taxes, loan instalments or advances taken by employee. While administrating the monthly payroll basic salary, HRA, conveyance, and other special allowances such mobile, etc are considered. There are some deductions which are provident fund (12%) of the salary, taxes and other deductions.

Deductions such as tax and loan/advances taken by the employee from organizations are deducted only where applicable. Dearness Allowance and House rent allowance is provided at a fixed rate stated by the employment law. Provident fund is deducted from the gross salary of employee on the monthly basis as per the employment law, which is provided later to the employee. Organizations also contribute the same amount to the provident fund of the employee.

Annual payroll consists of leave travel allowances, incentives, annual bonuses, meal vouchers/reimbursements, and medical reimbursements. Allowances, incentives, bonuses and reimbursements are based on organizational policies. Some organizations provided the allowances on a fixed rate say 10% or 12% of the basic salary. Some organizations go for performance based incentives.

Significance Of Payroll Outsourcing

The outsourcing industry is growing at a higher rate. HR outsourcing helps the HR professionals free themselves from the daily routine work and take part in the strategic level processes. Organizations really do not take HR as a strategic function; it is merely treated as paper work division. Therefore they want to reduce the cost being spent on HR activities.

In India payroll outsourcing is one of the HR processes and is being outsourced since 1997. Payroll outsourcing involves an external organization performing all the activities related to payroll management.

HR Consultancies such as Ma Foi and many other firms have come up with payroll outsourcing.Outsourcing organizations strive for providing cost saving benefits to their clients. The organizations use its marketing division thoroughly to acquire more number of clients and retain them. Payroll outsourcing does not provide much cost reduction but it yield in high quality. Since compensation outsourcing requires lot of market survey and industry knowledge, it is not easy for an organization to carry the tasks with its operational business activities.

Outsourcing has benefited not only the service providers but also organizations and economy of the country. It enables the management to focus on the core competencies and strategic planning. It maintains the confidentiality of the pay package offered to employees as it is an external body administrating. Organizations do not have to keep the track of law related to salaries and compensation; it is the outsourcing firm which has to look after it. It offers qualitative results. It is very much time saving and cost effective. It also offers legal protection as the outsourcing firm is responsible for all the legal matters.

Outsourcing firms enjoys the revenue benefits as the services are being offered to MNCs. Service exports have caused the economic system to develop more and contribute to GDP growth.

K. Gaurav

XLRI Jamshedpur

Health :Type 2 Diabetes - Changing Blood Sugar Levels Could Lead To Painful Peripheral Neuropathy


By Beverleigh H Piepers

In Type 2 diabetes control, the aim is to keep fasting blood sugar levels within a reasonable range and at a steady level throughout the day. Scientists at Taichung Veterans General Hospital and various other research facilities in Taiwan have found too big a change in the blood sugar reading could lead to a higher risk of developing painful peripheral neuropathy.

Their study was reported on in February 2018 in the journal Diabetes and Metabolism. A total of one hundred participants with painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy were compared with...

175 participants who had been diagnosed with non-painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy, and

351 Type 2 diabetic participants without diabetic neuropathy.

The participants who had the highest number of changes in blood sugar levels had more than four times the risk of developing painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy as those who had stable levels.

Painful and non-painful peripheral diabetic neuropathy is caused by high blood sugar levels damaging the nerves. Preventing this complication of diabetes is one of the reasons to keep your levels under control with diet, exercise, and medications when needed.

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy is diagnosed in people with Type 2 diabetic according to signs and symptoms and physical examination. When the diabetic complains of having...

pins and needles or

painful sensations or

numbness in limbs,

they are examined for muscle tone, tendon reflexes, and their ability to feel touch, temperature, and vibration. The condition can be treated with...

pregabalin (Lyrica - also used for treating other nerve disorders, such as seizures, fibromyalgia, and postherpetic neuralgia (shingles).

gabapentin (Neurontin) - also used for anxiety, seizure disorders, headaches, hot flashes, shingles, and restless leg syndrome.

amitriptyline - also used to treat depression, migraine headaches, pain caused by multiple sclerosis, and insomnia.

duloxetine (Cymbalta) - also used to treat depression, anxiety disorder, and fibromyalgia.

Careful diet, exercise, and meal planning, along with blood monitoring and medication compliance, are crucial to keeping blood sugar levels from fluctuating too much. The American Diabetes Association has several books with instructions on meal planning and eating out in restaurants...

dietitians, physicians, and specially trained diabetes nurses can answer individual questions.

physicians and trainers can help with physical activity plans.

Blood sugar should be monitored four times a day and before and after exercise or as directed. New types of blood sugar monitors without the need for finger pricks or costly materials are now available. Type 2 diabetes can sound overwhelming when you are first diagnosed but think of it as similar to learning to read. All those words dealing with blood sugar and the disease itself, look a little like learning a foreign language, but taken in short doses is much less complicated to master.

Although managing your disease can be very challenging, Type 2 diabetes is not a condition you must just live with. You can make simple changes to your daily routine and lower both your weight and your blood sugar levels. Hang in there, the longer you do it, the easier it gets.

For nearly 25 years Beverleigh Piepers has searched for and found a number of secrets to help you build a healthy body. Go to http://DrugFreeType2Diabetes.com to learn about some of those secrets.

The answer isn't in the endless volumes of    available information but in yourself.

Health :Type 2 Diabetes - Can Diabetes Be Prevented Indefinitely?


By Beverleigh H Piepers

The first question you may have is: "can Type 2 diabetes be prevented?" You may have more to add before you have the answer...

"What if Type 2 diabetes runs in my family?"

"What if my background makes me vulnerable to diabetes?"

"What if I've been overweight most of my life?"

"What about my situation?"

The answer is a resounding yes, as you might have guessed. But you may wonder if the answer is the same if we are talking about an indefinite amount of time. Can diabetes be prevented forever? The answer to this one is not so simple.

Firstly, a set of conditions for Type 2 diabetes to be prevented must be in place. It requires more than just executing a couple of goals, like eating better or exercising on a regular basis. We can all do these things, but how many of us can follow through with these preventative measures week in, and week out?

If preventing the disease is on your mind, you must be ready to commit to a better lifestyle. Not just now, but tomorrow, and the next day, the next week and month, and so on. One thing is sure: you cannot passively prevent Type 2 diabetes. Prevention requires an active commitment. This does not mean you have to labor every day. If you can even consider it work all the time: is it that challenging for you to eat better? There are more difficult things you could do, with fewer payoffs.

If you can sustain a healthy lifestyle - the number one tool for preventing Type 2 diabetes - you can avoid developing the disease even if it runs in your family. You can...

lower your blood sugar levels,

keep your weight within a reasonable range,

and then shift your focus to something else.

Once your habits are in place, all you will need to do is maintain your efforts, which requires less willpower than it does to get started once you find you have out of control blood sugar levels and weight gain.

With that covered, the question becomes how to keep Type 2 diabetes at bay indefinitely. Unfortunately, the odds are stacked against you, and it is because we all share a harsh reality of life, depending on how you look at it - aging. With aging comes more health problems and fewer solutions. The older you get, the fewer guarantees you can count on.

Provided you maintain a healthy lifestyle and your health is the best it can be, there is an excellent chance you will avoid developing Type 2 diabetes and its many complications - even if you were predisposed to its development.

But can you be sure about its prevention? With time, the only thing you can be sure of is death. But does that not give you the motivation to make the most of your life? Your time is short, so do what you can to not spend it as a victim of Type 2 diabetes or any other preventable health issue.

Although managing your disease can be very challenging, Type 2 diabetes is not a condition you must just live with. You can make simple changes to your daily routine and lower both your weight and your blood sugar levels. Hang in there, the longer you do it, the easier it gets.

For nearly 25 years Beverleigh Piepers has searched for and found a number of secrets to help you build a healthy body. Go to http://DrugFreeType2Diabetes.com to learn about some of those secrets.

The answer isn't in the endless volumes of    available information but in yourself.

Travel :Bizarre Indian Traditions That Will Keep You Awestruck


By John Smith

India has always been a mysterious place that has been luring people from all parts of the world to explore this unfathomable wonderland. There is so much hidden and occult that is practiced in India and is hard to believe. Some traditions are so bizarre that it will give you goose bumps. So, if you are up for some adventure and thrill packed experience on your holidays to India there are some offbeat destinations that you would have to explore. So, book your tickets to India and get going.

Tossing Baby

The Solapur region in Maharashtra, India has this awkward custom to give long and healthy life to their children. Parents throw their babies off the top of a tower, around 50 feet tall. The falling babies are caught in a sheet by the people standing below. It is a common belief that such a practice will cure their children of ailments if any today and in future too. This is mostly done by Muslims and few of Hindu families too. The security services are also provided by the local authorities of the area during the performance of this weird practice.

The Aghori Sadhu Sect

The Aghoris are members of Hindu sect that have always been of great interest and suspicion in people. These Aghoris worship Lord Shiva, remain naked, reside on the cremation grounds, drink alcohol and eat flesh from dead bodies. They often coat themselves in ash and do strange rituals and meditation using dead bodies.

Shoe Stealing Ritual (Juta Churai Rasam)

This is a fun filled ritual in Hindus, which is often shown in Bollywood movies too. It is indeed an amusing activity that allows the sisters of the bride to steal the shoes of the bridegroom while he is involved in performing the traditional rituals of marriage. The cousins and friends of the groom try to protect the shoes from the robbery but if the girls succeed in their mission then they give the custody of the shoes when they are given a desired amount of ransom.

Dhinga Gavar Festival

It is a festival celebrated in Jodhpur, in Rajasthan state of India. Dhinga in literal form means fetching fun from deception. Dhingar Gavar is a folk deity. The legend goes that once Lord Shiva dressed up as a cobbler and came to tease his consort Parvati. Parvati too disguised a 'bhil', tribal women and came before Shiva to engage in that fun. The function of Dhinga gawar starts in the evening on the next day of Holi, every year. The statues of Dhinga gawar are put at 11 vital locations. The statues are decorated in tradition Rajasthani attire and decorated with gold jewellery weighing 5 to 30 kg.

Mourning of Muharram

To honour the death of Husayn ibn Ali(grandson of Muhammad), certain groups of Shiya sect of Muslims saunter on streets in groups and whip themselves with chains having knives and razors attached. Some of them even slit their heads open with knives. This peculiar ritual is called 'matam' and even children are encouraged to do so by certain families. Not all Muslims endorse this practice. Some condemn it too.

Human-Animal Marriage

It is believed in some parts of India that ghosts capture the bodies of some people. The girls who are born with a tooth already erupted or girls with facial deformities are believed to have been possessed by the ghosts. The exorcism of the victims is done by getting them married to an animal like a goat or a dog. The wedding takes place with full pomp and show, though the good part is that copulation is exempted and the girl is allowed to remarry after the ghost relieves her. I wonder on which parameter they make that analysis.

Lath mar Holi

Holi is the second largest festival of India after Diwali. Lath Mar Holi is a local celebration that takes place before actual Holi in Barsana, a town near Mathura, which is a birth place of Lord Krishna. As the local legend goes, Krishna visited the village Barsana of her beloved Radha where he and his friends teased her and her friends. To retaliate, the ladies invited Krishna and his friends to Barsana on Holi and hit them with sticks explaining that it is a ritual that is mandatory. Since then, the ritual is carried on in the same places and Lath Mar Holi is played by the people in Mathura and Vrindavan shouting Jai Shree Radha and jai Shree Krishna.

Weapon Worship in Navratri

Navratri is a famous festival dedicated to the worship of the Hindu deity, Durga. Navratri literally means nine nights which symbolize nine forms of Shakti/Devi/Goddess which are worshipped with great reverence and rituals in various parts of India and in some parts the weapons and tools are worshipped.

Varuna Yajna (Hindu God of rain)

Agriculture is the major sector in India on which the economy of India depends and agriculture directly depends on the monsoon rains. If monsoon fails the farmers and the economy of the country suffers to a great extent. Sometimes scanty or no rainfall is the reason of farmers committing suicide. Such is the importance of rains for India. As we know India has 330 million Gods and Goddesses, there is also a God of rains, Lord Varuna. Whenever the monsoon fails or falls weak, Varun Yajna is performed to please the God of rains. During the performance of such Yajna, the Hindu priests sit inside the barrels filled with water and perform special prayers in order to gratify the rain God.

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HomeBusiness :What Is Low Hanging Fruit And How To Find It


By Peter Mangini

Many internet entrepreneurs have trouble with their page rankings on Google and don't realize that there are a few things that they can do to help themselves in this area.

Some are working hard on their businesses and don't understand that they can not only find their page ranking but also get on the first or second page of the search engine result pages (or serp's). This can even be done using an unlimited number of low competition keywords.

Here's how you can use low competition keywords and create content that will get great search engine rankings and also will draw traffic to your site.

Seek Low Hanging Fruit Keywords

The most searched for, or high traffic, keywords are much more difficult to rank for on the first pages of the search engine results because of their high competition.

The Quoted Search Results

When starting a new website it's a good idea to focus on the lower hanging fruit keywords. QSR is an abbreviation for Quoted Search Results. These are the competing sites for that keyword phrase in Google that are counted when someone types in a phrase or "keyword". Any good keyword tool, Jaaxy.dotcom, will reveal the QSR of whatever word or phrase is entered in the search.

It's much easier to get on the first search results page with these keywords than to go for those at the top of the "tree" or the most used search terms. The more established sites will usually fill the first pages of the SERP's with their article content and videos.

Understanding the QSR of a keyword is very beneficial to your research of keywords because it gives you a great idea of how many competition pages there are on the Google search pages.

Once the new website is up and growing with increasing traffic and is rising within the search engines and is getting top page rankings using the lower competition keywords, it can then be a great time to start going after the first page rankings for the higher competition keywords or search engine terms.

How To Find The Low Hanging Fruit

The Alphabet Soup Technique

One of my favorite ways to find great keywords and the low hanging fruit is to use the alphabet soup technique on the products being considered. I can use Google's free keyword tool and come up with a lot of ideas as I research my product related keywords.

Example: let's say that we're researching "headphone" products. Into the Google search browser Enter:

headphone

headphones

headphone a

headphone b

headphones a

headphones b

c, d, e, f, g, etc.

Notice the keywords that are revealed in the browser drop down as you type. These are the most popular search terms used by those using that search engine to find a headphone product. You can see just what people are searching for and also get some great ideas for products.

Another example: When I enter into the Google search browser the word - headphone - in the drop down below the word appear these keywords: headphone jack, headphones wireless, headphone splitter, and headphone brands.

When I enter into the browser the word - headphones - these keywords appear in the drop-down browser: headphones wireless, headphones with microphone, headphones for kids, headphones for TV, and headphones Bluetooth.

When I start entering the alphabet soup technique it looks like this: I enter headphones a - and in the drop-down, I see these keywords: headphones amazon, headphones apple, headphones at Wal-mart, headphones adapter, and headphones at Target.

So you can clearly see the potential variety of used keywords within a niche or product using this technique.

I entered - headphones adults - and see these drop-down keywords: headphones for adults with autism, headphones for adults with small ears, headphones for older adults, and headphones for younger adults.

These are all low competition niches and keywords and each one gets its share of monthly searches.

You can choose as well just who your potential customers are and who the targeted audiences might be, kids, adults, tv, Bluetooth, brands, wireless, and many more as you go from a-z in your search entries to promote the product.

Create quality targeted content from low competition keywords

When you're writing an article focusing on your keyword and audience, ex. Headphones for adults with autism, your article should be focused on this group and serve them with its quality content every time. As your audience grows by targeting various groups, forums, and communities, your range continuously grows as your Google ranking rises quickly and you become an expert in your particular niche.

Every article needs to be focused on a certain group of like-minded individuals and should serve that group.

Another thing to consider is to extend the article title to make the title more attractive, ex. Instead of naming the article "The Best Headphones for adults" which might be a bit plain and used, focus on a type of adult, ex. "The Best Headphones For Adults With Small Ears". Now there's a niche group, or "Adults With Autism", etc.

It's much better to get first search engine result page rankings in a lower competitive group than tenth page ranking with a more competitive keyword.

Use sub-titles and short paragraphs for your readers

The average reader will skim over an article in about 15 seconds, catching the sub-titles and whatever else they find interesting. Most viewers don't want to spend their day on a website and smaller paragraphs are easier to read through than a huge ten sentence block of text.

Use relevant visuals such as images, banners, or charts.

It's best to add an image somewhere at the beginning of the article so that when the reader first sees the post, they also see a nice relevant image. Keep in mind that you want the viewer to read the article and too many images, banners, and pop-ups can be a real turn-off. Too many, and large images will also make the pages slower to load. Just a couple of medium size images will usually be enough to improve the visual appearance and article content.

Use a conversational writing style as if you're talking to the readers.

This comes naturally to some and not so for most. The great news is that everyone can improve quickly with regular practice. Try reading the article aloud and imagine being on the receiving end, does it sound natural, does it flow like it should? Ask yourself questions like that and your readers will keep coming back for more.

Here's a secret, but not really: When an article is first written it should be edited at least three times before publishing and then reviewed and improved every so often and re-submitted to the Google search engine @ Google dot com/addurl. Many times, instead of creating new articles, the best thing to do is recreate older ones and improving others.

Proper spelling and grammar with no foul language

This is also really important as an article with misspelled words and overly repeated or improper phrases, and foul language will turn away many viewers. How do, or would, you feel? I recently read a certain authors article and was really disappointed and stopped reading after three F-bombs, I don't want to see or hear that as I read an article.

The Quoted Search Results

As stated earlier, understanding the QSR of a keyword is very important for your research of keywords because it tells you how many competition pages there are on the Google search pages.

More often than not if you are targeting a low competition keyword under 100 QSR you will start getting those first page rankings in Google that will attract to your site or product the targeted audience that you're writing to.

If you would like to watch a tutorial video on this subject showing all of the above, including the use of a keyword tool, please come visit Pete and see this and many other relevant articles.
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Health :Keeping Fit As We Age - Mentally


By Eby M

As we age, many of us will be concerned about the risk of deterioration in our mental faculties. In many cases, this process is by no means inevitable and something we must accept passively.

At the outset, it should be stated that this article is written based on a collation of general views and IS NOT qualified medical advice. If you have any concerns about the state of your mental capabilities, you should contact a qualified medical professional for further advice and at the earliest opportunity.

What happens as we age?

Before getting into this complicated subject, it's worth clarifying that we are not discussing here clearly identifiable medical conditions. Specific conditions such as Alzheimer's or the effects of a stroke are outside the scope of what's being discussed.

This is instead about a process that for centuries people have accepted was "gently inevitable". That is a slow deterioration in people's ability to perform dynamic and moderately complicated thought-related tasks as they age. This sometimes involves symptoms such as, a deterioration in the coherency and fluidity of conversational ability, short term memory problems and so on.

It's probably safe to assume that many of us have seen these processes at work in some older people. As we ourselves age, it's perfectly natural to start to wonder whether or not we will experience the same and if it's possible to do something to avoid such.

It is not inevitable

To begin with, it's important to remember that this process is by no means universal.

While we might all have seen older people whose mental faculties are perhaps not as sharp as they once were, we probably also know very large numbers who appear to be as mentally focused at 90 as they were at 30.

To cut directly to the chase, medical science at the moment continues to investigate the reasons why some of us appear to experience a decline in our capabilities as we age, whilst others do not.

In some cases, there is speculation that the differences may be attributable to genetics. In others, there is increasing evidence that lifestyle choices may play a very significant role in determining how functional our mental capabilities remain as we age.

There is now increasing emphasis in medical and lifestyle sciences, on trying to tap into those good practices as a way of delaying or avoiding a weakening of our mental prowess as we age.

What can be done?

Many authorities agree that there are a number of things we can do to try and keep mentally fit and active for much longer in our lives:

maintain an occupation or hobby that requires us to perform demanding cognitive tasks on a daily basis. That doesn't necessarily mean higher mathematics! For example, tasks involving repairing mechanical objects or maintaining them, can demand a lot of mental dexterity;

avoid emotional stress. Some authorities believe that constant psychological stresses, which continue into older age, can be extremely damaging to our mental wellbeing. Worrying excessively about things such as your retirement accommodation and our families, needs to be avoided where humanly possible;

it's now also widely accepted that there are links between our mental faculties and our overall physical fitness levels. If you take whatever steps are required to keep as fit as possible as you age, that may have knock-on benefit effects for your mental state too;

although disputed, there is considerable opinion that eating healthily can play a role as well;

engaging with the outside world is also massively important. This means getting out to see people, talking to them and playing a role in face-to-face interaction. Spending many hours each day alone watching television is now widely accepted as being unhealthy for our mental capabilities overall.

Summary

There is now a wide body of opinion that suggests that for many of us, maintaining sharp metal capabilities into older age isn't just a question of good or bad luck.

Regarding our mind as an invisible muscle which needs to be both fed and exercised for its good health, might be as important as having the same approach for our heart.

If you'd like to know more about some of the things you might be able to do in this area, it will be worth consulting your physician for further advice.

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BusinessOnline :Mastering the Art of Responding to Different Types of Customer Reviews


By Tanuj Rastogi

Customer feedback is an inevitable aspect of online brand reputation management. If you run a business online, you would definitely get reviews from customers about your products and services.

It is important to note that customer reviews wouldn't always be in favour of your business. At some point, almost every retailer would receive negative feedback.

The good news is both positive and negative reviews serve as opportunities to improve your brand reputation and strengthen the sense of business integrity and credibility.

To help you leverage those opportunities to the fullest, we have put together common types of reviews retailers can expect to receive and how you should deal with them.

TYPE 1: "YOU ARE AWESOME"

This is the category of reviews that come from customers who are actually your fans. They love your products and services and keep coming back for more while leaving positive reviews on your website.

So here, you don't need to do anything except feeling good about yourself and basking in the glory of positive customer vibes around your brand, right?

Wrong.

If utilised mindfully, positive reviews can help you further enhance your reputation and attract more prospects and drive conversions.

How to respond;

Thank the customer. Respond to each and every review in a personalised way to show customers gratitude and let them know you care about their business.

Mention your brand name in your reply. This will help your business rank higher in SERPs.

Promote your products/services in the comment. Many of your prospects would be reading your responses to assess your accountability and responsibility. Give them a reason to try your offerings by stating something interesting about the product or mentioning your upcoming range in response to your existing customer reviews.

TYPE 2: "I ORDERED SOMETHING AND GOT SOMETHING ELSE"

This is where you (the seller) messed up. You shipped the wrong item or the wrong size. Maybe, the item got damaged on the transit. The product got delivered late.

Slip-ups like these can happen when you are selling online and there's nothing wrong in it. What's wrong is not taking responsibility of your mistakes and not responding to such reviews and addressing the issue, which frustrates the customer even more.

How to respond:

Admit it. You know it's you who messed up, so own up to your mistake and apologise. Sometimes, even a simple apology does most of the reputation repair work.

Do not shift the blame on to others (the shipping company or the bad weather) even if technically it wasn't your fault. This will make you look even more irresponsible and will hurt your business accountability and integrity.

Emphasise that this isn't usual. Your prospects must be reading those not-so-good reviews. So, do let the concerned customer and potential customers know in your reply that this isn't how things generally work in your business.

Offer a quick fix. Address the issue promptly and offer a favourable solution to let the customer know that you care.

TYPE 3: HEY THERE, I AM HERE TO DESTROY YOUR REPUTATION

These are illegitimate reviews that crop up with the sole objective of attacking your business reputation. Fake, dishonest reviews may come from unethical competitors, disgruntled customers or from individuals having personal grudges against the business owner or anyone at the company.

How to respond:

Do not delete the comment or review. This will make it look like you are concealing something while making people more suspicious of your business and offerings.

Submit a removal request. Provide the review platform the evidence to prove that the review is not genuine and legitimate in order to have it deleted safely by the platform itself.

Don't be a victim of online reviews, take control of your reputation

Even if you deliver the best product in the market and are the preferred choice for most local buyers, negative reviews can occur to your business. They may be based on an outright lie resulting from the frustration of one of your competitors or may be the result of a misunderstanding.

Whatever the source of review or underlying reason, a negative review is going to do the damage it is supposed to, anyway. Instead of sitting back and wondering why this just happened to you when you were only selling the best quality, take action to control your falling reputation.

Besides following the recommendations above, you can consider hiring a professional reputation management company to deal with customer reviews efficiently while maintaining a positive presence online.

Tanuj Rastogi is the founder of Reputation Circle, a leading reputation management firm in Australia. He combines his expertise in online brand reputation management with a passion for helping entrepreneurs and businesspersons alike to build a strong online presence. When not working on his client's reputation projects, he loves to share industry knowledge with his blog readers through informative articles and how-to guides.

BusinessOnline :10 Tell-Tale Signs Of A Quality Website


By Renuka Sharma

Websites are launched by a gazillion website development companies every second. However, you visit only those that appeal to you functionally and aesthetically. Now, this preference is a function of several parameters, of which 10 are listed below.

1. The website resonates with you - the target audience

A quality website speaks to you in your language. The most successful websites stay away from corporate gobbledygook, and eliminate the fluff like it was plague.

2. It communicates a compelling value proposition

When you arrive on a website, its homepage should compel you to stick around. It's the best place that a business can make an impression on you with its value proposition so that you don't ditch it for its competitor's website. All web design companies should take note of this.

3. Optimised for mobile devices

User centered design is not just a buzzword. It is meant to be practiced. And if you are someone from a web application development agency reading this article, make it a point to constantly remind your team members from here on that almost every Internet user accesses the web from a mobile phone. (there are currently close to 730 million mobile phone users). Moreover, there shouldn't be 'flashy' objects like flash banners, animations, pop-ups or overly complicated elements that obtrude browsing. Less or no dependency on flash objects is a sign of good design thinking.

4. It has clearly defined calls-to-action

The purpose of each page in a website is to get you to navigate through the website and move you further down the funnel. The most usable websites use primary and secondary calls-to-action to direct you to the next logical step. CTAs tell you what to do next so that you don't get overwhelmed or lost. Which is why writers in    UX/UI agencies spend time in crafting the most effective CTAs.

5. Answers 'Who I am', 'What I do', 'What can you (the visitor) do here'

A well-known brand or company can get away with not having to describe who it is and what it does. This is solid branding identification. But the reality is that most businesses need to answer these questions so that visitors know that they are in the right place. In his book, Don't Make Me Think, author Steve Krugg clearly states that if visitors can't identify what a business does within seconds, they won't stick around long.

6. Comes with a clear identity

Pay close attention the next time you're surfing the Internet. Watch for sites with logos or titles that are obscure, or a design so cluttered with ads and banners that the pertinent information gets lost. A good website always keeps its identity visible. And it's also brief and concise with its text.

7. Has good navigation

What is GPS to mobile phones, navigation is to a website. Just as homes are easier to find with a good map, web content is easier to find with good navigation. If a website doesn't have it, its competition likely will.

8. Hosts only good content

Good not only means interesting, but also accurate, fresh and well-communicated. Remember, you like everyone else have a short attention span. Hence, a quality website will keep its content clear and succinct, use proper grammar, spell words correctly, will be accurate, relevant, and up-to-date. A good website will also have an up-to-date blog and social media handles - a good go to market strategy.

9. Is secure

A robust website will urge you to use strong passwords for your accounts. Also, if the site is built on a platform like WordPress or Magento, timely updates will help it function better. These periodic updates often address security issues found by other users and developers.

10. It has testimonials

A sincere website will always establish its credibility with the help of testimonials. In today's social world, shoppers increasingly rely on the feedback of others, even if they've never met them. Testimonials from a client or customer feel more genuine than sales copy written by the website owner.

Website development is the most important and the best way to uplift your business on Google thereby creating awareness among your target audiences. Therefore you need not look further dy is there for uplifting your business.

BusinessOnline :Make Money Online With Your Own Internet Business


By Eugene Barber

The Make Money Farce
You have seen them and probably received thousands of them since you have begun internet marketing. They come out the wood works, don't they? Opportunities promising that you too can make money online with little to no effort. You then invest your money into the opportunity only to find out there aren't any pies in the sky... only the cold hard reality that you just spent some of your rent money on someone's new car.

Yes, this is the reality many internet marketers face. I have been there. I started in this business with my father and let me tell you... we have seen every scam under the sun. Why? Because we were those people who had a dream and wanted to help other people through success only to find out there ain't no free lunch in business. The cold hard truth is that "business is business". Period. There are a million work from home opportunities contrived each year. There are many more gullible individuals who buy into the dream. In the end, they are left like me and my dad... a few thousand dollars shorter.

But, It's Online And It Has To Be TRUE
Here is a revelation. People who scam lie. They don't just lie a little, its more like lie a lot. They want you to trust them, and to believe their story. But when it comes to delivering... well. You know. You've been there a thousand and one times. You've spent your money on the magic potions of the internet only to realize that you are out of money and now have a rash (the legendary rash of discouragement).

I'm not here to sell you a pie in the sky. I am here to be your jolt of reality. Sleeper, it's time to wake up! The internet is not some new invention that defies the laws of business. It is business on steroids. Imagine the business rules you know and then multiply them by the sheer volume of variables now introduced by the online component. The internet can allow you to become very wealthy or very broke.

So... Can I Make Money Online Or Not?!
You can young Jedi. I know some of the things I've said may be a little cheeky but I am serious. There is no money like "internet business" online money. The thing is you have to see it for what it is. Your internet business is just that... a business. Do not enter the online business field with any other mindset than "I am going to run MY business".

There is nothing more rewarding and satisfying professionally then running your own business. And if ran right, your internet business can feed you and your family. You may be looking for quick ways to make money. Once you setup your business depending upon the model you use the money can come quick. It all comes down to you and your imagination. Add hustle, grind, and grit and you got something.

Nowhere to start? If you would like to skip the line click here for the proven method to get your internet business up and running quickly (which means more money).

I am serious about home business, and thankful for the time you have taken to read this article. If you are serious about beginning an online business then I recommend my Internet Business Quick Start Guide. Get your kit here now.

BusinessOnline :Online Jobs Versus Online Businesses


By Eugene Barber

It's Your Online Business, Not Your Online Hobby
An online business versus an online job has a different mentality for the individual. A job is something you do for someone else. It's something that dominates your day and your time with a prearranged schedule.

The job is your master, not the other way around. You work for someone else. Even if this is online the truth remains the same... you are still an employee. You have heard that you can make money online through working online for a company or a third party (this is not as an affiliate or a salesperson). You do jobs for someone else and complete a W4.

This to me is literally the lifestyle I intended to avoid when I got into online business. This model could not and would not do.

I know you see the ads. "We are looking to give stay at home mom jobs", but you may find that some of these places not only do not offer you a good job but will stick you with a horrible schedule. Not all of them are like this, though some are.

Why I like the online business model
For me it's about control. I like to control my day. If I want to work in the morning, I can do this. If I want to work late into the wee hours of the night... it's my right. Why? Because I decide how successful (or unsuccessful) my business is and this is through my effort.

It can be the highest paid hard work I ever done or the easiest, lowest paid work I have ever done. This lies squarely on my shoulders. You see the problem with a lot of online companies you may work for is stability.

Many of them catch people unawares stating grandiose claims making things look easy. For example, you may read something like "Earn Money Online Today, $55-$65 hour, no experience required".

What happens is that unsuspecting folks who trust these people invest time, money, and effort into a business that might not last the rest of the year. I have seen this with my own eyes. I always advocate starting your own online business. Why you ask? Who can you trust better than you? I will tell you, if I am going to invest in anything it will be me, period.

You Won't Let You Down
When you succeed those you love succeed. Those you care about succeed. It's about grabbing your dream and never letting it go. Working for someone else is helping them promote their dream through your effort. Working for yourself helps you to bring your dreams to fruition.

I know where the difficulty comes in. It is at the point of the beginning. How do you get started? Where do you start? Can I startup my online business quickly and with a minimal amount of investment?

Well, I can help you there. I recommend checking out my Internet Business Quick Start Guide by clicking here. It will help you to launch into the deep and get started making money online quickly.

I am serious about home business, and thankful for the time you have taken to read this article. If you are serious about beginning an online business then I recommend my Internet Business Quick Start Guide.

Entrepreneurialism :Tips on Starting a New Business


By Mary Wills

You have been putting in the extended hours of time as an employee and you need to work for yourself rather or perhaps you as of now function as a self-employed entity and it is simply time to formally set up the legitimate stuff to secure and enhance what you have made. So how would you begin a business? That is a great inquiry that we need to investigate in more detail and as the primary request of business (play on words proposed) is to choose what kind of lawful structure we should use to secure ourselves.

Numerous options are accessible to the new business in regards to the authoritative document it should take. Moreover, a current business may think that it's attractive to change forms.

There are plus points and drawbacks to any business form that are excessively numerous. In any case, in looking at organizations the reader ought to have no less than a general idea of the options. The accompanying discussion isn't an intensive discourse of the tax or business parts of the business writes specified. Just the general "widely inclusive" ideas of each will be addressed.

Sole Proprietors

Sole proprietorship are the least complex business form since they are not separate tax or lawful elements yet rather, expansions of the individual taxpayer that claims them. The business has no presence separated from the proprietor. Its liabilities are the proprietor's close to personal liabilities.

Every advantage in a sole-proprietorship is dealt with separately for tax purposes, instead of as a feature of one general ownership interest. For instance, a sole proprietor offering a whole business as a going concern figures gain or loss independently on every asset.

There is no exceptional return to file for the sole proprietorship. The proprietor reports all transactions of the business all alone individual pay tax return (i.e., Schedule C, Form 1040).

A sole proprietor is viewed as independently employed. If a taxpayer is a sole proprietor, there is no tax impact if they remove cash from the business, or exchange cash to or from the business.

Advantages

The advantages of a sole proprietorship are:

(1) Organizational costs should be low;

(2) Legal, accounting, and administrative fees are lower;

(3) State and federal income taxes may be lower; and

(4) Administration is less complicated.

Disadvantages

The disadvantages of a sole proprietorship are:

(1) Personal liability,

(2) Inability to income split,

(3) Limited fringe benefits, and

(4) Self-employment tax.

Self Employment Tax

In the event that a    taxpayer is a sole proprietor, they should pay self-employment tax (�1401). The self-employed tax is the non-worker part of the Social Security tax raising system. In 2017, independent work tax takes 15.3% of pay (12.4% for social security [OASDI] and 2.9% for Medicare [HI]) from self-employment. Deductible things like home loan interest, land taxes, state wage tax, Keogh plan or IRA deductions, and so forth don't diminish self-employment tax. Nonetheless, since 1990, business deductions, in addition to a sum equivalent to the self-employed tax on half of self-employment income, are permissible in diminishing the self-employed income.

In 2017, the social security tax is forced on the main $127,200 of self work income and the Medicare tax is forced on all self-employment income.

If you want to be financially empowered, at that point finding out about how to maintain your business is super vital. When you pick your form to work together, you should pay your employees as you become bigger, or possibly simply pay yourself.

We here at   https://online-paystub.com are glad to help answer inquiries regarding your finance and furthermore about different business questions!

Business :Successful Entrepreneurship - Cracking the Code


By Victor Fong

We've heard stories of penniless immigrants who came to Canada with nothing but a dream, but within a single generation accumulate a lot of wealth. How do they do it?

This is a mystery to the typical person who graduates with a post-secondary education and goes on to work in the labour force as an employee (i.e., most people!). This is because our educational system specifically trains its students to become employees rather than entrepreneurs.

So when we hear about these rags to riches stories, we ask ourselves - "how did they do it?" As someone who grew up in an entrepreneurial household, here is my take on Cracking the Code to Successful Entrepreneurship:

1. In most cases, one will never become truly financially independent working as an employee. Whether you are an entry-level bookkeeper or the CEO of a large organization, you can be unexpectedly fired at a whim by whoever you report to. You are therefore susceptible to financial catastrophe.

2. Therefore, the only way to achieve financial independence is to build and maintain a successful business.

3. There is a "magic formula" that will allow to evaluate a businesses' odds of success:

[(Sale price of product - Variable cost of product) x Units sold] - Fixed Overhead Costs = Profit

This formula will be very familiar to accountants - it's called the Contribution Margin Ratio.

Let's demonstrate this formula using a Bubble Tea business. Wonder why there are so many Bubble Tea shops in Toronto? Because they make a heck of a lot of money with little risk:

� Price per bubble tea drink - $4.00

� Cost to make per drink (water, powder, sugar) - $0.50

� Drink sales per month assuming 100 sold per day - 3,000

� Monthly rent for shop - $3,000

� Assume no labour costs - in the early years, the owners will work the shop themselves

� [($4.00 - $0.50) x 3,000 ] = $10,500 in sales

� Profit after paying rent: $10,500 - $3,000 = $7,500

Once you apply this formula to the multinational soft drink companies to analyze their beverage businesses, you can begin to understand why soft-drinks companies have grown from humble beginnings to global companies they are today.

You can also use this formula to evaluate almost any small business you might be thinking of getting into: restaurant, nail salon, hair salon. You should quickly realize that it's best to choose businesses with a high profit margin (i.e., high selling price for produce/service and low cost of supplying the product/service) and high customer traffic (i.e., units sold, people serviced).

Seeing the Future - Cash Flow Projection

You want to know if you'll be making a profit before going any further. If you skip this step, your chances of failing increase significantly.

Investigate your costs to start up and run your business. The most common are:

� Rent - how much will it cost to rent at the location where you want to set up?

� Wages and payroll tax - will you need employees or can your run the business yourself? How much do you need to pay yourself to meet your personal living costs?

� Advertising costs - what types of advertising will you use - TV, radio, internet - and what is their cost versus their potential return on investment?

� Cost of inventory or raw materials - will these be imported? If yes, you'll need to factor in the impact of exchange rates on your profitability.

� Purchase of equipment - general office equipment like a phone system, computers and IT network, and furniture, as well as specialized equipment for your specific line of business like restaurant equipment (if you're opening up a restaurant).

� Business liability insurance - to protect yourself from liability if someone is inadvertently harmed by your product or service, or if someone is injured on your premises.

� Pricing - how much will you be able to sell your product or service so that's it's competitive with others in your line of business

Once you've figured out your monthly costs (i.e., your overhead) and pricing, you're now in the position to determine how many unit sales you need to make to breakeven - remember the Contribution Margin Ratio that we looked at. Use a spreadsheet to build a cash-flow projection model.

Protecting Yourself - Creditor Proofing

If things don't work out for your business you could be financially ruined. Therefore, consider the following techniques to protect your personal assets from your business creditors.

1. Incorporate the business. This will provide you with a level of creditor protection - most of a corporation's obligations are limited to its assets so this structure can provide protection for personal assets. This structure also has income tax benefits, which will not be discussed here.

2. Always pay statutory debt on time, specifically:

� Payroll source deductions;

� Federal and provincial sales tax collected; and

� Employee wages and vacation payable.

Corporate directors can be personally responsible for these debts, notwithstanding that the business is incorporated. In many incorporated small businesses, the shareholder (i.e., the business owner) and director are the same person.

3. If you can, avoid giving personal guarantees of your corporation's business obligations (e.g., landlord, suppliers) unless it is absolutely necessary.

You will need a financial expert on your team to deal with the issues raised in this article. Therefore, I would strongly advise that you contact a CPA who can help you further.

For all you aspiring entrepreneurs out there, I hope that I've helped take out some of the "mystery" behind successful entrepreneurship. Use this tool wisely and never stop dreaming!

About the Author

The author is a graduate of the University of Ottawa with degrees in Economics and Commerce. He is a currently a Chartered Professional Accountant and Licensed Insolvency Trustee practising in Toronto, Canada.

He specializes in consumer insolvency, specifically consumer proposals and personal bankruptcy.

Victor Fong is a licensed trustee in bankruptcy with the firm of Fong and Partners Inc., a Licensed Insolvency Trustee. Fong and Partners Inc. offers personal bankruptcy and consumer proposal services in Toronto, Canada.

Victor can be reached at  victor@fongpartners.com. You can also visit the firm's website at http://www.startingovertoronto.com

Pain Management :How To Help With Tennis Elbow


By Keith Bender

Tennis Elbow is a common condition that can affect anyone of us at some point in our lives. Medically, it is called a Lateral Humeral Epicondylitis which to those who are not familiar with such jargon is not a blind bit of help. Even the more recognized term, Tennis Elbow means very little.

You do not have to play tennis to experience this problem, although many players of this popular sport have been disabled by it. Before there were power tools, some jobs e.g. screw-driving could cause this to happen. When using a screw driver or for that matter, a tennis racket, the very act of gripping and twisting with strength for hours on end is tantamount to what is commonly referred as a repetitive strain injury (RSI).

Having established why it can happen, the 64 million dollar question is what can be done to alleviate and ultimately cure it? In order to provide an effective non-surgical treatment, it is important to understand what physical structures have been hurt and to know precisely where exactly they are.

For most folk the medical term Lateral Humeral Epicondylitis is double-dutch but it does define the location. The elbow is the visible joint between the lower and upper parts of the arm. The long bone between the shoulder and elbow is called the Humerus and on this bone there are various lumps and bumps which have names. At the bottom end of the Humerus there are two prominent bumps which are given the name Condyle; so an epicondyle is a round point upon the condyle (epi- means upon). To define the origin further the word lateral is used which simply means to the side of the bone away from the middle of it.

So we now know the site of injury but epicondyle has had -it is added to it, which means inflammation, so words like tendonitis and neuritis means those bits of your body are that are inflamed. Hence a Lateral Humeral Epicondylitis is nothing more than an inflammation of the bony prominence at the side at the bottom end of the long bone of the arm.

This is not quite the full story because if it is simply a bit of the arm bone being inflamed, what about the soreness and sometimes quite disabling pain we feel in the forearm itself, in particular the muscles that are involved with gripping and twisting.

Having had the opportunity to treat several top professional tennis players, it is impossible not to notice how incredibly developed the muscles of the forearm are as compared with the opposite arm not being used. It reminds me of the cartoon character Popeye whose forearm muscles used to grow massive after swallowing a can of spinach. In some cases the muscles can be easily be twice as bulky.

Fundamentally, that is the clue to the cause of the inflammation. It has to do with the fact that there are five muscles that have a common tendon that anchors them to the lateral epicondyle. I often like to think of the idea of five guy ropes that are securing a structure, in this case the forearm, all attached to the ground by a single pin. Normally, this tendon which all muscles have at either end, is usually pretty happy. However, as you can imagine if you continuously use the forearm day in and day out, as tennis players do, this leads to a thickening and tightening of these five muscles.

Eventually, what can happen is that the stress put on the actual point of attachment of the tendon on the epicondyle bone becomes more irritable and vulnerable, especially if the forces involved are sudden and violent. This leads to a strain and injury at the point of attachment which in turn leads to loss of support of those associated muscles involved in supporting those gripping and twisting actions.

An obvious way of helping this injury is simply to rest it. In mild cases, the patient is often willing to wait until there is a form of spontaneous recovery but many folk are not so accepting especially if the symptoms last for two years or more! When it comes to top professional tennis players, pain and loss of function is totally unacceptable.

The one and only time that I personally became acquainted with Tennis Elbow was as a student, when a guy in the year above challenged me to an arm wrestling match. In spite of my arm being longer than his, he beat me pretty convincingly, not so much to do with strength but because of his shorter lever. It was in the final bout of three that I felt something go ping in my forearm and knew immediately from the loss of grip that I had started Tennis elbow. My victor cheerfully told me not to worry and that he would have it fixed for me within a week. So said, so done.

It is the treatment that I have used on every Tennis elbow since I qualified. What it requires is very deep penetrating soft tissue massage on the muscles of the forearm, which in the vast majority of cases are very tight and often quite nodular and lumpy. Truthfully, I would be lying to you all if I did not tell that it can be excruciatingly painful. Many a grown man have succumbed to tears and asked whether this treatment approach is necessary.

In my experience, this condition can be slow in responding. In order to speed up and facilitate the body's natural healing abilities, it is important to work on the strained tissue specifically to breakdown adhesions and nodules that can build up as a consequence of injury. In doing so, the act of massage drains the tissue getting rid of cellular breakdown products, improving the blood flow which provides all the necessary healing nutrients.

After the treatment, the muscles can feel sore, so I encourage the patient to apply ice packs for 10-15 minutes at a time which reduces the inflammation and again stimulates the blood flow. Naturally, the actions that provoked the condition in the first place need to be modified or stopped altogether until the normal status quo has returned.

The use of a strap around the forearm placed just below the elbow can be helpful in supporting the actions that we take so much for granted, which can help reduce the strain on the muscles affected.

So far I have focused on non-surgical intervention. Briefly, there is the use of hydro-cortisone injections to nullify the local inflammation. This must be delivered precisely to the sore spot. This is not easy to do and can require several injections before there is resolution. I know that many folk have little appetite for these injections. Ultimately, there is an operation that can be performed. I am not an orthopaedic surgeon so I shall not venture down that road.

Finally, prevention is much easier than the cure. Just be careful when involving that part of your body in a forceful stressful fashion, especially when gripping and twisting hard. Muscles are not machines and are not able to perform endlessly and tirelessly, even if they are well conditioned as with athletes, who are just as susceptible to injury.

Gifts :What's So Great About Pink Himalayan Salt?


By Claire Riding

What Made Me Decide To Buy A Himalayan Salt Lamp?

Over the last few years, probably since turning 34/35, I started taking notice of social media posts about natural remedies and such like. I'd never seen Himalayan salt lamps before (although I was using pink salt for cooking) and found them stunning, as well as unique, quirky even, but I was also very interested in the health benefits side of using a Himalayan salt lamp in your home. (Living room and bedroom in my home)

... And so, I first bought a large Himalayan Salt Lamp for the living room and aside from its stunning and unique look, plus a talking feature because everyone that has visited since the time I got the salt lamp, it is always noticed and they really like it.

That's even when it is not switched on! The actual benefits / health that a salt lamp is known to offer; is good for our home; is that it reduces the amount of dust, so that is a bonus for whoever is assigned household chore of dusting!

But not just that, the 'knock-on' effect is that salt lamps could; I say 'could' only because no actual scientific studies have been done. However, many believe, as do I very much so, that this wonderful looking piece from the Himalaya, does effectively 'clean the air' of what is called 'Electromagnetic Radiation', as well as reducing dust particles and any other unnoticeable 'bits' of whatever are floating about in the air, which are NOT good for us or our respiratory airways.

Therefore, if you are a sufferer of asthma or any other ailment that is affecting your breathing, then I absolutely URGE you; (I'm sorry, I just have to use capital letters for the word urge... I'm that passionate about this wonderful natural product)... so I do really recommend salt lamps to anyone and everyone that I ever meet and somehow find I'm having a relevant topic of conversation! I also always recommend using Pink Himalayan Salt in place of table salt..(Although, most of my friends / associates are pretty up on this too already!).

Pink Himalayan Salt For Cooking and Serving?

Another plus to HS is when it comes in the form of blocks. Square, round etc and it can both be heated up to high temperatures as well as put in the freezer, for use when serving up something cold like a salad.

Pulling a block of natural pink Himalayan salt, which is hot hot and presenting this at the dinner table with friends, will definitely be a talking point. You can then all sit together chatting, whilst cooking your pieces of meat or fish for example.. how cool is that?

Pink Himalayan Salt For Using As A Facial Scrub?

Only in the last couple of weeks did I decide to do my own experiment using pink Himalayan salt to exfoliate the skin on my face, instead of the usual manufactured, shop bought stuff.

Obviously there's no results yet, although it always feels fantastically smooth and lovely after having massaged it into my skin. I get a small tub and do a gentle, circular massage around my face 3 x a week, whilst in the bath and I use rapeseed carrier oil, as well as a couple of drops of essential oil (100% pure only).

I am making an educated guess or assumption, that the fact that Himalayan salt contains up to 84 trace minerals, exact to what our own bodies require, then surely it can only be beneficial to use on the skin.

There are other talking points about Himalayan salt, but I feel that's for another day. So what IS so great about Pink Himalayan Salt Lamps... I'd say plenty. Salt Lamps don't just look good! Salt lamps are a superb gift idea for that friend or family member that suffers with breathing and then sleeping is another health benefit the lamps are said to provide.

There is quite a bit more I'd love to 'discuss' about this magical natural product from Mother Earth, so I'll wrap it up now and save the rest for another article day!

To Your Health, Claire

You can see my stunning collection of Himalayan Salt Lamps, Himalayan Salt Candle Holders at   https://lovely-gifts.co.uk/himalayan-salt-lamps-c-6_379/ and Pink Salt Cooking Plates at   https://lovely-gifts.co.uk.

You are assured that they are ethically fair traded and the highest quality. lovely-gifts.co.UK is Owned & Managed by myself; Claire Riding and I am Committed To Ethical Fair Trading & Quality, Value For Money Gifts and Pieces.

News :A Raving Thought


By Abrar Ahmad

There is nothing that I can call my own. Nothing. All that I have is these empty words and phrases that I have gathered from somewhere else. Through trial and error they have taught me everything. Even this language in which I am jotting down is a conventional product. I am taught how to space the notes between two words and thus a language. All that is there in me is this educational, cultural, societal and religious input. At times I feel like a walking robot. That particular robot is the product of 'input' and 'output'. Whereas I am the product of 'stimulus' and 'response'. Any effort on my part to separate myself from that 'stimulus' and 'response' via meditation or by any other psychedelic means is highly artificial. All I want is what they(world around me) want me to want. I reckon I am coming to the terms that there is no definite definition and purpose of the life, we devise one. And the moment we devise one, our whole existence becomes a reflection of it. Our every action gets molded by that particular purpose, in one way or another.

This depiction of life at times makes me frightened and out of that 'fear' (which they say is the oldest emotion, a protective mechanism) a 'hope' gets created. A hope that one day the reality or the ultimate reality will dawn on me but at the very same moment I maintain that we live and die in that hope. But having said that I guess on an individual level one can spend his life independent of culture, society and traditions etc just like Christopher McCandless (Into the wild). But eventually there is no point in doing so. I think one has to realize that there is no separate entity called 'luck' or 'destiny but either only the haphazard incidents or the decisions that one makes in his or her existence, as a matter of fact only decisions.

So eventually I think I have to come to the terms that thought, evolved knowledge and conventional norms have a functional value in the society. And moreover society itself wants to be contributed to maintain its status quo. Whether it is The Communist society, The Capitalist Society, The Fascist, The Hindu, The Muhammadan all societies want to be contributed by the individuals. And if you want to live a sane and intelligent life you have to contribute within the possible framework of your contribution. You then walk with the system in harmony. Because you are supposed to walk with the system that is around you, the system will not walk with you. And when you accept the world on the basis of sheer knowledge, the evolved knowledge, you literally begin to realize the importance of everything.

Every living creature becomes priceless and comparison less for you, even a single ant. Because you realize that you can travel millions and billions of light years from this planet in any of the given directions but you won't find another match of that tiny creature. In simple words you begin to live in harmony with the nature and the system around you. And I think that is the only mutual good that we can achieve on this little blue planet called 'Earth'.

Abrar Ahmad

Student of BS International Relations

National Defense University Islamabad.

News :How Many Is Enough? Blood Is on Their Hands


By Ralphy V

For Many Years now Republicans have been catering to the Gun Lobby (NRA) while children keep massacring other children at our schools. 90% of The American People Overwhelmingly supports Bill Legislation for Background Checks as well as other measures meant to alleviate the issue of Gun Control.

But The SENATE time and again has been reluctant to say the least, "Failed" to pass Four Bills for Background Checks. SENATE REPUBLICANS have managed to DELAY, DILUTE, POSTPONE or simply IGNORED any efforts to talk about Gun Control or advance the issue.

Ask yourself this question. How is it that the Law Strictly Prohibits an under-aged teenager from buying liquor, but makes it Legal for that same under-aged Teenager to buy any kind of Gun, and as Much Ammunition, as he can buy?

We are not talking about a toy or a video game here, but a Lethal, Serious Life Threatening piece of Life Ending tool that at the end of the day, in the wrong hands will have and has shown to contribute to the lost of many a Precious Life. There is something Shamefully Wrong with this system.

Latest Mass Shooting events are a great testament to the fact that Gun Control legislation is needed and extremely necessary if we are to protect our children, or at the very least, to help reduce, control some of the more lethal weapons from ever entering into the mainstream market falling on the hands of someone with ulterior motives regardless of mental condition.

Trump and the Republican majority continue to take out of context The Second Amendment of the United State Constitution just to help The NRA, help the Gun Lobby: The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution reads: A Well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to bear arms, shall not be infringed.

That's what the National Guard in every state was created for. That's what The Second Amendment of the United State Constitution meant. Nowhere there it reads and or implies that "each individual" should have the right to bear Arms, it solely refers to "A Well regulated Militia", plural.

Trump and the majority of Republicans by supporting the NRA in their quest to flow the market with arms that do nothing to contribute to one's hunting experience (you do not need an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle to hunt, these type of weapons are better left to the Military because of their lethality, not to mention that, it takes away the fundamental reason for hunting), constitute a constant threat to all average citizen not only students, if not taken off the market.

It helps those with a grudge, mental instability or illegal enterprises easy access to a weapon meant to kill as many and in the shorter amount of time.

If the latest Mach for our Lives movement in Washington D.C. and across the Nation against the lack of Gun Legislation is not a good indication that serious measures and legislation should be taken by the Republican majority regarding Gun Control then they should brace themselves, they should expect a Democratic majority put in place by all those that feel affected and ignored, but no more.

Talk about Gun Control is over. We need Real Legislation to address a serious Problem; anyone that Do Not sees the need for such is and would just be as guilty of (God forbid), any future Mass Shooting, as the one pulling the trigger, BLOOD, will be ON THEIR HANDS.

For more heat seeking targeted Post voice of the little guy: http://www.amanamerican.com or http://www.ralphyv.blog

News :For Sale - Trump-Senate-House Republicans


By Ralphy V

Do we have a Gun Problem? Does Trump blaming Democrats and Barack Obama for gun control legislation holds water? Let's find out.

Democrats tried to enact various types of legislation, only to be filibustered or outright blocked by Republicans each time. Trump Repealed Obama-Era rule to prevent 75,000 mentally ill people from being able to purchase a gun. But it's the Narrative of choice and the one Trump and majority of Republicans use after each shooting. "Bump stocks", which helped the Las Vegas shooter hit over 500 people in 10 minutes, and turned a semi-automatic weapon into an automatic, still remain perfectly legal. Each time there is a Mass Shooting Republicans respond with: Heartfelt Condolences and... Just as fast, go back to their narrative of; it is Too Early to talk Gun Control.

Did you see a pattern? Republicans have shown No empathy let along concern for the children of your community with their blocking, delaying tactics (hoping you will forget soon after Mass Shootings occur), diluting and just simply ignoring calls for any Gun Legislation, all the while swelling their pockets and reaping Millions for their re election coffers from the Gun Lobby.

Sandy Hook: 20 Elementary School Children will never get to grow up and see the light of day. Columbine: 12 students will never experience Life. That Mass Shooting happened back in April 20 1999, too early to talk Gun Control? According to: Center for Responsive Politics

NRA, spent over $30 Millions so Trump would get elected. Trump has spoken glowingly to and about the NRA. The biggest recipients of NRA (in Millions): $7,740,521 - JOHN McCAIN - Senate $6.99M - RICHARD BURR (R-NC) Senate $4,551,146 ROY BLUNT (R-MO) Senate $4,418,012 TOM TILLIS (R-NC) Senate $3.3M - MARCO RUBIO (R-FL) Senate, an A + From NRA to Marco Rubio - friendly legislative position.

$3,124,273 - JONNI ERNST (R-IA) Senate $3,879,064 - CORY GARDNER (R-CO) Senate $3,061,941 - ROB PORTMAN (R-OH) Senate $2,896,732 - TOD YOUNG (R-IN) Senate $2,861,047 - BILL CASSIDY (R-LA) Senate $9,900 - CHUCK GRASSLEY (R-IA) Senate $9,900 - BRUCE POLIQUIN (R-ME) House $3,00 - DEVIN NUNES (R-CA) House Source: Center for Responsive Politics.

Among the top 100 House recipients of the NRA, 95 are Republican (New York Times-Opinion- Center for Responsive Politics). Dollar figures are career totals going all the way back to 1989.

In a nutshell Trump and majority of Senate and House Republicans have been bought and paid for by the NRA so they owe the NRA Big, your children... Not so Much! So next time you hear that it's too early for "Gun Control", maybe Republicans should listen to the voices of the Next Generation of Voters (in three-four years):

"They say that tougher gun laws do not decrease gun violence. We call BS!

They say a good guy with a gun stops a bad guy with a gun. We call BS!

They say guns are just tools like knives and are as dangerous as cars. We call BS!" (Emma Gonzalez)

America Has a Gun Problem, it's called Trump-Republicans, the Republican Party. Easily solved next elections, that will be, what make the difference if change is to happen!

For more heat seeking targeted Posts Voice of the little guy: http://www.amanamerican.com or http://www.ralphyv.blog

News :Elected Republicans Aiding and Abetting "Bad Seed" in the White House


By Ralphy V

Trump has accumulated a significant amount of possible Impeachable offenses, any of which would of had landed a Democrat in Hot water immediately, with soon to follow on-going investigations left and right and at the very least with calls for on the spot resignation by Republicans, yet, the Republican House and Senate has gone totally MUM, Brain Dead when it comes to Trump.

Republicans have put their self interests and that of their lobbyists front and center, never mind that they were elected, sent to both the House and Senate to represent the interests and will of the people that elected them, as well as the interests of all Americans. After all, no party or affiliation lives on a bubble, what they do for one, will affect the others.

But Republicans, Irrespective of the facts that Polls after Polls on important issues that affect the vast majority of American have been highlighted, amplified, brought forth, for they to take the necessary steps toward resolving such or at the very least start addressing those issues, things most Americans agree on, had turned a blind eye, gone "dormant" instead aiding and abating offenses that could render Trump, impeachable.

They took an Oath to Protect and uphold the Constitution of the United State, (that means you and the country you live in), most everything that affect you in a Constitutional Basis, and that may affect you currently and into the future.

They have basically thus far managed to trampled on the Oath they took upon taking office, to Protect and uphold the Constitution of the United State.

Take a look:

The Oath to Uphold the Constitution

Article VI clause 3 of the United States Constitution requires that all who hold office in the United States take an oath to uphold the United States Constitution:

"The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution... "

In compliance with this requirement, as they enter office, Members of Congress take the

Following oath of office:

"I, (name of Member), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."

Article II Section 1 of the United States Constitution defines and requires the President of the United States to take a specific oath as he assumes that office:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." (United States Constitution Article II, Section 1, emphasis added). So help me God.

*According to Scott Bradley. An oath is defined in Noah Webster's 1828 dictionary as:

"A solemn affirmation or declaration, made with an appeal to God for the truth of what is affirmed. The appeal to God in an oath, implies that the person imprecates his vengeance and renounces his favor if the declaration is false, or if the declaration is a promise, the person invokes the vengeance of God if he should fail to fulfill it. A false oath is called perjury."

*Bradley was the Constitution Party nominee for Vice President of the United States in the 2016 election, sharing the ticket with Darrell Castle. Wikipedia

So far Trump has fail to live up to his obligations to "Protect", giving the Russians a pass at every turn (only recently taking some actions against the Russians) well into his presidency while criticizing alienating those that could help him achieve his goals of "Protecting" this country, US allies.

But, you should pay particular attention to that part of the Oath "So help me God", and on the definition: "the vengeance of God if he should fail to fulfill it".

Guess these Republican are not a very religious nor God fearing lot (regardless of what they led you to believe constantly highlighted on the news praying and or invoking God), more often than not Trump and the Legislative majority much rather be dancing with the devil as they're constantly violating, trampling on the Oath they took. Do you think, Trump should be impeached?

For more heat seeking targeted Posts Voice of the little guy: http://www.amanamerican.com or http://www.ralphyv.blog

Self Improvement :Living in Disconnection


By Kenlea R Barnes

It has been thirty days, I have read three different books, discovered TED talks, filled out countless scholarship applications, developed new friendships, and many other acts that I seemed to "never have time for." While this transition was something I was hesitant about, a month without social media has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. I now take notice to the family out to eat all staring at their individual screens or the attempt to vent to a friend and she must continue to say "what did you say, I wasn't paying attention." While communication has drastically "increased" due to the rise of social media, the overall idea of communicating has morphed into one-sided conversations due to our inability to focus our attention on others.

I am not implying that I am any better because of this new found change I have decided to make. I am just as guilty. I am part of a generation that has become more consumed by the amount of "favorites" we receive on a picture compared to the people "favoring" them. We are overloaded with a constant stream of new information, new people, new posts, that we have forgotten the significance of the matters happening right in front of us. A few days ago, I was venting to my friend about how terrible of day I was having. I was driving, so I was not watching to see if she was listening. After I had finished, I looked over and she was scrolling down at her Twitter feed. I suppose that my silence had caught her attention, and she apologetically asked me to repeat what I had just said because she had not "heard" me. While my initial reaction was to get upset about the issue, I thought to myself how many times I had been just as guilty. A small study done in 2015 demonstrated how the human attention span has drastically decreased due to the rise of social media (Hays, 2015, para 3). Has our attention span decreased or is it simply the fact that we have lost the ability to listen? Our minds are now drawn to never-ending streams of post and videos, rather than the "boring" everyday people we see and social media sites are aware of this. Twitter's, "refresh" button is placed at the top of the page waiting to be pushed even when you have not finished with the information you are already reading. We have lost the ideal of connecting with people, which takes our time and our effort. We would rather click a refresh button to view what pleases us and interests us, than have to focus on others.

With our inability to pay full attention to any specific matter, a more egotistic society is developing. We no longer have to concentrate deeply in order for thoughts to spark. Instead of researching or listening to ideas, we go onto social media sites to compare ourselves to whoever has the most likes on a "selfie" or to watch the newest mannequin challenge. Anything that pertains to our specific selves is what we value above anything else. Our culture has become superficial about the ideas we choose to value ourselves on. What happened to the perfect simplicity of reading that amazing new book, and not on your phone? Where did the awe of stopping, and admiring a sunset go? Since social media, the beauty of deep thought has disappeared, our minds can no longer handle it (Ives, 2012, p. 35). Society has turned into a fast-paced place where if we do not have exactly what we need then and now we turn away and social media sites are part of the cause. For example, Twitter's character count for a post can only be a 140 character-count. Its reasoning for this is that users no longer "have the time" to read anything longer and they are exactly right. It is not that we do not have the time, it is that we choose not to. It is easier to post an insignificant picture of our dinner than to sit and talk to the person we are eating it with. Even without social media, there are times when I do not want to listen to my friend discus her scholarship applications for the 100th time because I am bored of it and I forget that all she needs is someone to talk about it with. Communication used to be about listening and empathizing with others, now it is something we passively go through as we look for ways we can mention ourselves.

A few days ago, I was talking with grandpa, and before you start to wonder what this has to do with anything, just stay with me. I started discussing with him my "social media cleanse" and how refreshing it had been. Before I even finished describing it, he went off on the usual "well back in my day" speech that our generation hears daily. While usually I smile and nod when I receive this lecture, this time I truly listened. He mentioned how he used to know everyone's phone numbers and at the dinner table he would talk to his parents about his day instead of posting about it like our generation does, but then the most interesting part was when he told me to look over at my sisters, cousins, and even my mother and aunt. All of them, in their snazzy Thanksgiving attire, were staring at their screens. Of course, there was the occasional "watch this video" or "Oh my look at their Thanksgiving meal," but for the most part it was each of them continually scrolling. He continued with the idea that we have all this "connection" and yet we are unable to even speak to one another. As this remark rambled on in my head, I realized how right he was. We can connect with millions of strangers with the click of a button, but are unable to communicate with the people right in front of us. The first thing you see on Twitter when you log in reads "share your thoughts." Why must we post our "thoughts" when there are people across or beside us that are just as willing to listen? Social media has given us a false idea of what conversation is. We post our meals, our outfits, our selfies, anything that will boost our own image, and in return we expect communication to be like the comment sections of social media sites.

Whenever my generation is attacked over the issue of face-to-face communication, we tend to relate it back to the idea that we are in an age where we are communicating more than ever before. While this concept is completely right, we are missing the one crucial element in that phrase, face-to-face. We communicate with one another, by 140-charcter sentences, 10-second snapshots, or sharing a link. Any of us can discuss what we saw on Twitter or how many followers we have, but what our society is losing is the ability to truly have conversation with one another. In the beginning, social media was designed to connect us and now we have created it into a safe-haven for our own narcissistic tendencies. On social media, we can present ourselves however we choose to. We do not have to discuss with our online friends the insecurities we have compared to our "real life friends" who can tell just by a look in our eyes how we are actually feeling.

Last summer, one of my school organizations went to Dallas, Texas right after the police shooting had taken place. For our transportation, we took the in-city train and I couldn't have been more thrilled. While my advisors were not excited about the idea, I made a goal that every day I would sit next to a complete stranger. I met the father of an up and coming boxer, the mother of a first-generation college graduate, recovering drug addicts, and plenty of "working girls" on the night train rides. I heard countless stories from people I would never see again. I saw the light in that mother's eyes when she talked about how proud she was of her son and the shame of reliving the past from a former addict. These stories could have just as easily been posted on social media, but the significance of them would have been lost. An emoji or an exclamation mark does not do justice to real human reactions. Society has thrown away our ability to listen to others and to learn. We are consumed with being perceived by others as perfect individuals with these amazing lives and have lost all vulnerability. We would rather be "interesting than be interested" because it is our norm (Russel, 2015, p.2).

We are living in an ever-changing society that is not going to slow down any time soon. While my thirty days, and counting, cleanse is something that I do recommend everyone to try, it does not solve the issues of our egotistic society. Rather you use social media or not, we are living in a world that has lost its ability to engage in true communication. We no longer want to be perceived as broken individuals because somewhere along the way we were told it was not acceptable, so we live out our lives thinking about the next thing that will benefit us. Face-to face-conversation is the last form of connectivity we have that does not require character-counts or restrictions and is our duty to take advantage of that.

Hays, B. (2015, May 15). Humans have a shorter attention span than a goldfish. Consumer Health. Retrieved from: http://upi.com

Ives, E. A. (2012, October) iGeneration: The Social Cognitive Effects of Digital Technology on Teenagers. (Master's Dissertation). 32-35. Available from:   https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED543278

Russel, J. (2015, June 25). Narcissism has killed the art of conversation. The Times.

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