#but i keep thinking how that’s not fair to LTC | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

muninnhuginn · 8 months

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Thinking about "the rhythm of the interrogation" again.

When Cheng Xiaoshi goes in to interrogate "Li Tianxi" Xiao Li reminds him that he who controls the rhythm controls the initiative. Cheng Xiaoshi needs to be the one controlling what's going on and only then can he obtain the information they need.

And if you look at what Li Tianchen does here? He's following Xiao Li's tips to a tee. I would not be surprised if Qian Jin gave him the same advice as Xiao Li at some point tbh.

Li Tianchen's whole plan here has multiple layers. First, to Qian Jin, he's setting the police looking for Tianxi and grabbing Cheng Xiaoshi at the same time. But he also goes in there with his own agenda, trying to figure out if Cheng Xiaoshi has been able to do anything with the photo he's provided. This is the information he himself wants to obtain.

So! First thing. The "informant" went to the police themselves, offering information on the old case. They dance around the topic such that the police begin to get frustrated then offer to talk, if, and only if, there are a number of conditions agreed. The police have very little information on the case as Qian Jin ensured the files were modified which just adds to the their desperation here. So they give in. Or at least they pretend to and bug Cheng Xiaoshi. Tianchen keeps even his pretend identity ambiguous at this point. He's set the conditions of the discussion before it even begins and nets himself the home turf advantage.

Cheng Xiaoshi enters, introduces himself and asks for the informant's name. This is his attempt at controlling the conversation by dictating the questions. Unfortunately, Tianchen immediately undermines this by introducing himself as "Li Tianxi". Cheng Xiaoshi's reaction is telling and he is pushed onto the back foot.

Li Tianchen now in control of the conversation offers a handshake. Cheng Xiaoshi reaches to return it but, before he can, Tianchen switches tracks again, keeping CXS off-kilter, and asks him to hand over anything hidden on his person. Tianchen could so easily puppet CXS now, but he refuses. A puppeted Cheng Xiasho can't provide anything but puppeted words and that's not what LTC wants here. Besides, he can win his possession fair and square.

Cheng Xiaoshi offers up his phone and says that's all he has. Tianchen is doubtful and "searches" Cheng Xiaoshi. Honestly, with his touch possession power, I don't think he even really cares about potential bugs at this point? It's purely to keep Cheng Xiaoshi off guard. LTC hovers over the collar, an obvious place to put a bug... and then he pulls back. Actually *finding* a bug at this stage would derail the conversation.

Tianchen then says how the "foundation of cooperation is mutual trust" and that he "hopes they'll have a better start this time". If Cheng Xiaoshi were anything but relieved at the bug not being found he would have picked up on "Li Tianxi" being the possessor at this point and been thrown off his rhythm yet again. Alas, he entirely misses it. This actually helps CXS recover his pace a bit and when he steps back into the room he's back into questioning mode, ready to take control. Tianchen has another go at making CXS realise he's talking to the "possessor" and this time succeeds. Advantage returns to Tianchen.

And now he can start to dig at what he actually wants to ask about and confirm his suspicions. He asks how CXS knew "her" name and why he had no need to ask "her" background. CXS valiantly tries to rally, but the knowledge that he's speaking to the possessor forces him to be cautious and give an honest answer. Also, Tianchen asking why he was taking so long to answer pressures him to answer quickly rather than trying to think it through any further. CXS reveals that he learnt Tianxi's past through a photo. Tianchen's gotten his answer so it's time to make his escape.

Tianchen asks for a Coke. Forcing Cheng Xiaoshi to cater to his whims one last time whilst also giving him as excuse to "go to the bathroom" later on.

Finally, the sob story. I won't make any comment to how "true" any of it is, but it does its job here. Cheng Xiaoshi offers his sympathy by reaching out to "Tianxi".

Checkmate.

#the og version of this post used the term 'gain the tempo' which honestly does fit but like. why did I do that.#also. tbh. I think the thing with the tianchen-as-tianxi act is that the police in s2 are already bending a load of rules #they've got cxs and ql's stabbing suspect status put on hold but xl has gotten one officer dead by this point and is feeling guilty #going in on that desperation and the fact they're already bending the rules means they're starting on the back foot #link click #link click spoilers #shiguang daili ren spoilers #this is kinda just a play-by-play but like. I do think a load of this interrogation was ltc deliberately making cxs off guard #and it's so neat that cxs goes in aiming to control the rhythm but it's ltc who ends up completely outplaying him in that aspect

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doberbutts · 3 years

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eclectus-mom @eclectus-mom

@/vet-and-wild has been doing a lot of talking about exotic ownership regarding stuff like this. There's been a chart circulating that has so really good classification for tiers of exotics, and what kind of regulation might be practical for them.

Thank you! It wasn’t that exact post but something similar to it from another blog that got me all grumbly. @vet-and-wild has several other posts acknowledging the same points that I grump about whenever I see things like that, and especially how it’s a very subjective line to draw and will inevitably include “acceptable” exotics and domesticated animals in the “unacceptable” categories if a hard line is drawn, making it very difficult to really do anything besides try to educate and make things better for the animals.

I don’t personally think it’s okay to have certain animals in captivity at all. Animals with near-human, human-level, or even potentially above-human intelligence should not be kept in cages imo. This ranges from most primates and elephants, which most sensible people will agree with, to even things like large parrots and corvids and octupi, which most people will not agree with. Again, the line of “acceptable” vs “unacceptable” will always include something “harmless” or “unproblematic” within the parameters of “dangerous” and “cruel”.

I personally don’t think that a properly contained and cared for animal that poses no risk to others outside of the household/enclosure should be judged on danger factor. This is because large dogs kill and maim a lot of people and the majority of them are within the household and I don’t think dog ownership should be judged on a danger factor because usually something was wrong with the containment or care of said dog for it to kill someone. On the other hand, that means someone’s pet tiger or bear or giant snake, all species that have also killed people as pets, which also bares a huge danger risk would need proper containment or care in order to keep the danger level low.

I personally don’t think that a species potential damage to the environment in case of release- which btw is also illegal in most areas and literally never enforced- should be a factor in acceptability levels until we acknowledge the feral and outdoor cat problem as a country and start actually doing something about it besides fruitless TNR campaigns.

I personally don’t think species where it is nearly impossible to keep them well in captivity or not well studied should continue to remain in captivity in pet owner hands. This is why, despite my yearning to have a pet bat, I don’t have one and have made no move to get one. I love bats, but they frequently cannot be kept easily in captivity and it’s not fair to them to subject them to bad husbandry and improper care all because I’m not a zoo or a wildlife rehabber, so I don’t have a bat. I love paradise flying tree snakes and they are the species that got me interested in keeping snakes, but they commonly cannot be kept alive for very long by professional facilities and do not breed in captivity, so I do not have a paradise flying tree snake. I love monitor lizards and desperately want one and the easiest monitor to buy is a savannah monitor but we only just started getting CBB savs and many people still cannot agree on diet and enclosure and husbandry so I do not have savs.

I personally don’t have a problem with wild-caught animals existing in the trade, provided they are acquired as breeding stock to introduce new blood to existing captive bred populations, they have been caught/imported legally, and they are not from endangered species. My first choice will always be CBB, but I do not discount a WC animal especially in a species that does not have a lot of genetic variety as CBB just yet. I don’t think I’d ever buy a WC leo or ball python, and while I personally could consider a WC dwarf boa I would not currently buy one because they are not legal to import anymore due to threatened species status, but I have no problem having my LTC WC amazon sent to me. I want to breed amazons and a LTC is a good way to ensure good genetic variety (because reptile keepers rarely keep pedigrees) while circumventing things like parasites and disease from nature.

Where does that put me on the “for exotics” or “against exotics” scale? These lines are so subjective and I’m sure things I’m personally against are things others are personally in support of, and visa versa.

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effectcod3 · 2 years

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kevindurkiin · 4 years

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Louis The Child Under Fire for Comments On Hitler In Response To Alison Wonderland

Some things are better left unsaid. In the “wtf moment of the day,” Louis The Child popped in to a discussion on Twitter between photographer DonsLens and Alison Wonderland. The photographer, who has often worked with Alison, began, “It’s ok to not like people. But no reason to hate anyone.”

Fair enough, a take that many might not agree with but a personal philosophical belief nonetheless.

Alison responds, “Unless racists or rapists.” Again, some might feel that everyone deserves a second chance or a chance at self-betterment, but Alison’s sentiment still is a personal one and one that bears weight.

Then Louis The Child chimes in and things begin to unravel. “I think you can still love people you hate,” the Chicago duo says. Nothing wrong yet. You can hate your parents in the moment but still love them. Alison responds succinctly, “I hate hitler.”

And here’s where things begin to go a bit awry… “Hating hitler does nothing for you,” LTC responded in a since-deleted tweet, among many others. “Hold onto hatred if you want. Keeping people safe right now is different than hating a dead person.”

Somehow they’ve both made a social faux pas and provided a logical fallacy in the same thought.

He killed half my family

— ALISON WONDERLAND (@awonderland) May 5, 2020

The statement seemed so out of character, one of our staff members crafted a tweet about the situation on Twitter and said, “i know quarantine has everyone a little crazy but @LouisTheChild saying not to hate Hitler is wayyyyy too far.”

Louis The Child again chimed in in an attempt to clarify what they meant, in another since-deleted tweet: “Not what I said. I said it’s pointless cause he’s not doing anything in the world right now. He’s dead. In concept I hate him too, I just forget about him and follow love instead of hating the past.”

2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the infamous Nazi extermination camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, the end of the Second World War, and the end of the Holocaust. It’s an event that reshaped the history of the world and one to which Jews have ascribed the mottos “We Remember” and “Never Forget.”

Telling the families of Holocaust survivors to just forget about Hitler is one of the most immature and dismissive ideas I’ve heard. The lack of empathy is really something. The literal motto of the Jewish Community after the Holocaust is “Never Forget”.

— Daniel Cousens (@DanCuzns) May 5, 2020

No one is denying the fact that LTC, in these series of tweets, is attempting to shed light on the positive aspects of life and say that holding onto hate does no one any good. Which in a lot of cases might be true, but certainly not this one with respect to the over ten million people killed in genocide.

Others on Twitter have also shared their own thoughts on LTC’s ultimately positive but misguided beliefs.

Laughing at how fast Louis the Child deleted those problematic tweets.

— Broke (@b_harmony98) May 5, 2020

Louis the Child: tweeting about Hitler

Their management: pic.twitter.com/NkFFe7LHXm

— XT

temporarily postponed (@lifeofxt) May 5, 2020

this thread is one big YIKES for louis the child.

*removes from playlists*

—

neeko

(@jennlioness) May 5, 2020

not Louis the child trynna justify not hating rapist,racists, and hitler LMAOO

— ᵉʳᶦᶜ (11%) (@flvwrboy) May 5, 2020

Since they deleted it pic.twitter.com/oljpnAql8r

— colossal A$$ (@TessPais) May 5, 2020

Lmaoooo Louis The Child out here trying to ruin his name in the name of hitler

— Tristan Yondura (@TYondura) May 5, 2020

hey remember when @LouisTheChild went so fake-woke that they tacitly excused genocide

twitter remembers pic.twitter.com/rlycUpHT8g

— Grant Kviltner (@kviltner) May 5, 2020

Your EDM has reached out to Louis The Child’s management for comment but have not heard back yet at time of publishing.

Photo by Galen Oakes / ESPN Images

This article was first published on Your EDM. Source: Louis The Child Under Fire for Comments On Hitler In Response To Alison Wonderland

Louis The Child Under Fire for Comments On Hitler In Response To Alison Wonderland published first on https://soundwizreview.tumblr.com/

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bestdjkit · 4 years

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Louis The Child Under Fire for Comments On Hitler In Response To Alison Wonderland

Fair enough, a take that many might not agree with but a personal philosophical belief nonetheless.

Somehow they’ve both made a social faux pas and provided a logical fallacy in the same thought.

He killed half my family

— ALISON WONDERLAND (@awonderland) May 5, 2020

The statement seemed so out of character, one of our staff members crafted a tweet about the situation on Twitter and said, “i know quarantine has everyone a little crazy but@LouisTheChild saying not to hate Hitler is wayyyyy too far.â

Louis The Child again chimed in in an attempt to clarify what they meant, in another since-deleted tweet: âNot what I said. I said itâs pointless cause heâs not doing anything in the world right now. Heâs dead. In concept I hate him too, I just forget about him and follow love instead of hating the past.â

2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the infamous Nazi extermination camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, the end of the Second World War, and the end of the Holocaust. Itâs an event that reshaped the history of the world and one to which Jews have ascribed the mottos âWe Rememberâ and âNever Forget.â

Telling the families of Holocaust survivors to just forget about Hitler is one of the most immature and dismissive ideas Iâve heard. The lack of empathy is really something. The literal motto of the Jewish Community after the Holocaust is âNever Forgetâ.

â Daniel Cousens (@DanCuzns) May 5, 2020

Others on Twitter have also shared their own thoughts on LTCâs ultimately positive but misguided beliefs.

Laughing at how fast Louis the Child deleted those problematic tweets.

â Broke (@b_harmony98) May 5, 2020

Louis the Child: tweeting about Hitler

Their management: pic.twitter.com/NkFFe7LHXm

â XT

temporarily postponed (@lifeofxt) May 5, 2020

this thread is one big YIKES for louis the child.

*removes from playlists*

neeko

(@jennlioness) May 5, 2020

not Louis the child trynna justify not hating rapist,racists, and hitler LMAOO

â áµÊ³á¶¦á¶ (11%) (@flvwrboy) May 5, 2020

Since they deleted it pic.twitter.com/oljpnAql8r

â colossal A$$ (@TessPais) May 5, 2020

Lmaoooo Louis The Child out here trying to ruin his name in the name of hitler

â Tristan Yondura (@TYondura) May 5, 2020

Your EDM has reached out to Louis The Childâs management for comment but have not heard back yet at time of publishing.

Photo by Galen Oakes / ESPN Images

This article was first published on Your EDM. Source: Louis The Child Under Fire for Comments On Hitler In Response To Alison Wonderland

from Best DJ Kit https://www.youredm.com/2020/05/05/louis-the-child-under-fire-for-comments-on-hitler-in-response-to-alison-wonderland/

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bluebuzzmusic · 4 years

Text

Louis The Child Under Fire for Comments On Hitler In Response To Alison Wonderland

Fair enough, a take that many might not agree with but a personal philosophical belief nonetheless.

And here’s where things begin to go a bit awry… “Hating hitler does nothing for you,” LTC responded in a since-deleted tweet, among many others. “Hold onto hatret if you want. Keeping people safe right now is different than hating a dead person.”

Somehow they’ve both made a social faux pas and provided a logical fallacy in the same thought.

He killed half my family

— ALISON WONDERLAND (@awonderland) May 5, 2020

— Daniel Cousens (@DanCuzns) May 5, 2020

Others on Twitter have also shared their own thoughts on LTC’s ultimately positive but misguided beliefs.

Laughing at how fast Louis the Child deleted those problematic tweets.

— Broke (@b_harmony98) May 5, 2020

Louis the Child: tweeting about Hitler

Their management: pic.twitter.com/NkFFe7LHXm

— XT

temporarily postponed (@lifeofxt) May 5, 2020

this thread is one big YIKES for louis the child.

*removes from playlists*

—

neeko

(@jennlioness) May 5, 2020

not Louis the child trynna justify not hating rapist,racists, and hitler LMAOO

— ᵉʳᶦᶜ (11%) (@flvwrboy) May 5, 2020

Since they deleted it pic.twitter.com/oljpnAql8r

— colossal A$$ (@TessPais) May 5, 2020

Lmaoooo Louis The Child out here trying to ruin his name in the name of hitler

— Tristan Yondura (@TYondura) May 5, 2020

Your EDM has reached out to Louis The Child’s management for comment but have not heard back yet at time of publishing.

Photo by Galen Oakes / ESPN Images

This article was first published on Your EDM. Source: Louis The Child Under Fire for Comments On Hitler In Response To Alison Wonderland

source https://www.youredm.com/2020/05/05/louis-the-child-under-fire-for-comments-on-hitler-in-response-to-alison-wonderland/

#edm #music #music production #music news #edm news

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sending-the-message · 6 years

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My Work Is Haunted by amcma10

For as long as I can remember I've always wanted to be a nurse. When I was a little girl I would transform my room into a make shift infirmary. All my dolls would be bandaged up and I would even construct IV poles complete with ziplock baggies full of water and straws connecting to my "patients".

Fast forward to present day. I now work in a long term care facility and contrary to popular belief they aren't all depressing places where families drop off once loved relatives and then forget about them. We have a terrific Activities Director who makes sure there is something special planned for our residents every day. I know this not because I actually get to witness it, but because the calendar of events is prominently displayed at the entrance and throughout the halls.

By the time I get to work, which is roughly 5 minutes before my 7p-7a shift most of the residents are finishing up with supper and after their meds are dispensed they retire to their rooms for the night.

What I have neglected to mention about my place of employment is that it actually consists of two buildings. The main building or A building is a large brick structure that sits right up against the main road and the back building aka B building is much smaller and is connected to the larger building by a long covered breezeway.

I work in the B building which is the newest part of our facility that was constructed during the late 80's. The main building is much older, originally constructed in 1952 and was once the only hospital in the small rural town where I live. It was run by Catholic nuns and saw it's fair share of tragedy and unimaginable heartache. Some of the "lifers", a term of endearment we give our long time employees who transitioned over to the LTC facility after the hospital shut down used to regale us with stories that were both hysterical and soul numbing. While those tales were often embellished I could reference some of the facts from our "death book".

I remember the first time I had to access this book, I had only been on the job for a week when one of our geriatric residents passed away. All deaths must be recorded with the following: name, date, age of deceased, time of death, next of kin, address, followed by our signature.

When the hospital was in operation the "manner of death" was also listed. So many young lives taken too soon by accidental drownings, gun shot wounds, stabbings, MVA. I hate that damn book and have been vocal about our need for a new one. Unfortunately this is the way things are done in my county and for now the death book stays.

If any of you have ever worked in LTC then you are well aware that if anything can go wrong it does go wrong after midnight. Confused residents fall out of the bed, scream out due to hallucinations, attempt to leave AMA etc. Anyone who thinks "night shift nurses" have it easy need to be throat punched.

In any case, when we have someone in need of a safety alarm such as a bed alarm or chair alarm there is only one place at my work that houses the spare equipment.

The old ER, or dungeon as we call it. It is in the basement portion of the main building that also houses the kitchen, custodial offices, employee break room, an old chapel and several conference rooms. I hate going down there and usually I enlist the help of one of the CNA's to accompany me. This was mainly just for safety reasons. Once, a drunk man was able to gain access to the back door where the time clock was located and was found passed out against a drink machine near the employee break room. He was completely oblivious to where he was when the cops showed up and took him off in handcuffs.

In order to get to where the spare equipment room is located you must go through the swinging metal doors leading to the old ER. Past the doors there are several round metal speaker systems that hang out from the top of the walls and an assortment of old signage directing patients to the front desk, bathrooms, exam rooms and the radiology department. It truly looks like you stepped into an old episode of the Twilight Zone. Trust me when I say that walking down these halls by yourself is extremely unsettling.

Any way, about the dungeon. One night last November I needed a bed alarm for one of our newer residents who had fallen out of bed twice within 3 hours. Its our policy after the 2nd documented fall then we institute soft restraint measures to prevent injury. Being short a CNA that particular night I was forced to retrieve the alarm myself since there had to always be one employee on the floor at all times and Grace, one of my "lifer's" was elbow deep in shit at that moment.

It was a little past midnight when I grabbed my coat exited out into the frigid night walking the breezeway leading into the main building. The door to the main building from the breezeway opened up to a dimly lit hallway where directly in front of the doors stood a single elevator. I observed that the elevator door leading upstairs to the main floors was open. Odd. Unless someone is entering the elevator or exiting it the door remain closed. As if reading my thoughts the elevator door slowly closed and I watched as the "up arrow" glowed brightly.

I'm one of those people who can generally get freaked out by the slightest thing so already I was dreading my trek down the hall to the equipment room. As I walked along the corridor leading to the swinging metal doors it felt like the heating system was on the brinks. I could almost see my breath that's how drastically the temperature change was. In that moment I remembered every horror/scary movie I had ever seen where a sudden drop in ambient temperature meant that ghosts were present. I tried humming the Pharrell Williams song "Happy" to keep my mind from going to those terrifying thoughts.

After pushing through the metal doors I thought I saw a glimpse of movement off to my right. Perhaps one of the other nurses or CNA's from the two upper floors were down here getting equipment as well and I chastised myself for being such a scaredy-cat.

I quickened my steps and made it to the door marked "Radiology" which was where all our extra equipment was stored. During the time the hospital was in operation this was where all the x-rays were performed and it still held some of the ancient machines. I could hear movement as if someone were pushing a wheelchair or stretcher out of the way and again relief washed over me.

I opened the door and was immediately struck with fear. There was no one else in the room! Despite its size I would have been able to see someone even if they were crouched down looking through one of the storage bins. The air again was even more frigid in the room, so cold in fact that I actually could see my breath in front of me.

It felt downright silly but I uttered a shrill "Hello?" as I took a few steps inside. The door slammed shut behind me. Panic was now reaching every cell of my body and I could hear and feel my heart as it bounded in my chest. My mind raced as I turned behind me and tried the door knob. It was locked! I was way past terrified at this point and started banging on the door shouting at the top of my lungs. My voice bounced off the sickening green cement blocks that made up the walls. "Help!" I continued to scream to no avail. Then it happened.

A voice, so soft and faint came from the other side of the door. "Is it time?"

I moved back from the door and detected movement from the other side however even with the dim fluorescent light fixtures in the hall there should have been a shadow.

I swallowed hard even though my mouth was dry and my throat burned from my screaming. I listened again, waiting and the voice a little louder asked "I'm ready to go, is it time?" After those words were again uttered the soft sniffles of a child crying echoed through the room I was in. I remained motionless, frozen by fear when I heard another voice, much older say "Come on Lily, this way." I could hear the sound of footsteps leading away from the door.

Not even a minute later the door opened behind me and I screamed when I heard my name. "Janie?" He looked bewildered. It was Steve, one of the new CNA's from the 2nd floor coming to get a wheelchair. I must have looked like a ghost myself as I'm sure all the color had drained from my face. "Jesus they need to get the heat fixed down here" he said as he moved past me to grab the chair.

"Could you wait, just a minute while I grab a chair alarm?" I asked. Steve looked at me funny before breaking into a grin. "Why? You scared?" he snickered. Asshole.

Nevertheless he waited while I grabbed the alarm and I hauled ass down the hall and then broke into a jog after exiting the building before punching the code to get into my own building.

I made it back to my nurse's station and handed the alarm to Grace, the older CNA who had been keeping a watch on the halls and told her to take it to room 301. When she rounded the hall I opened my desk drawer and pulled out the death book. I don't know why I was compelled to do so but after flipping through and skimming several names I saw what made my heart drop to my stomach. NAME: Lily Robertson DATE: October 5th 1958, AGE: 5 CAUSE OF DEATH: Blunt force trauma to the head. I now know without a doubt that my work is haunted and sadly it was not an isolated incident.

#reddit #nosleep #scary #story

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bmgmw · 7 years

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did you see they abandoned ahca?

Yep! Thank God. The AHCA (American Healthcare Act) was a bunch of baloney. To think that the GOP has been bitching about “repeal and replace Obamacare/ACA!!!!!” for 6-7 years and this shit was the best they could come up with? Talk about embarrassing.

I’m not saying the ACA was perfect. It wasn’t even close. It had a lot of flaws, but I think it needed to be edited more than repealed and replaced. For the most part, the ACA (aka Obamacare) has been a net positive thing for healthcare coverage (so many people who weren’t even eligible for insurance now are).

The AHCA literally just keeps some of the ACA (staying on parents’ insurance until age 26, people with pre-existing conditions can’t be denied coverage, etc) but takes the rest and sets it in a dumpster fire. Like under Obamacare/ACA, insurers could not charge the elderly more than 3 times what they charge younger adults, but under AHCA, insurers could charge the elderly up to 5x the amount they charge younger adults!! (I literally cannot fathom even one way someone could spin this as a good thing). Or the GOP’s weird obsession with the Health Savings Accounts, as if increasing the amount of families eligible and the amount a family can put in one (from $6750 now to $13100 w/ AHCA) is gonna be some magical fix. HSAs are a nice tax-free bonus, but doubling what I can put in one doesn’t help make medical expenses or insurance more affordable. And I’m on the higher end of the middle class who could probably afford to put some money in one (I don’t have one, since with the ACA, only some people with exchange based insurers are eligible to have HSAs, and my insurance isn’t through the ACA exchange). So if you’re a lower middle class family struggling to pay for insurance and everything else in life, where exactly does the GOP think these families are going to find the extra funds to put into an HSA? Like if comes down to paying rent/food or putting money in an HSA, obviously the former comes first.

The AHCA just makes it so clear that the GOP has no fucking clue what the average American is like (to be fair, I don’t think a lot of Dems do either, but at least they make some attempts to). Or healthcare costs or how Americans use healthcare or what their constituents want. Think about that revision they had added to AHCA about how able bodied Medicaid patients should have to show they’re employed in order to get covered by Medicaid. That is such a slippery slope. Exactly how does one define able bodied? Would my Medicaid patient with some cognitive impairments and generalized weakness be considered able bodied because she can walk (even though said impairments making employment not possible/very difficult)? And what about the mentally ill? My mother was able bodied but mentally ill for most of my childhood, to the severity that she couldn’t work. Would someone like her get rejected from Medicaid coverage because she was technically able bodied but not working?

AHCA is just poorly thought out. I am all for healthcare reform. I think Obamacare has major flaws, yes. One example: while the mandating of employers w/ more than 50+ employees to provide coverage seems like a good thing (more people should get covered, right?), there’s loopholes employers will use to avoid it. I.E. reduce hours of employees so they’re working just below FT hours. Since they’re not technically FT, they aren’t eligible for benefits, and these people get effed over (like yes, they can get insurance through the marketplace instead, but their dependents can’t….but insurance via employers will cover dependents). Another healthcare flaw (not necessarily ACA specific, but the healthcare system in general)? Inefficiency and waste. We have pharmaceutical companies who jack up the costs of drugs that they have already recouped the cost of (and then some), over billing practices in hospitals, inefficient insurance claim processing, etc etc. In my own corner of the health care world (therapy/rehab in in patient rehab and long term care), I can think of plenty of things that are inefficient and not helping to keep costs down. A big one is discharge planning. I’ve had too many people cut from therapy early by their insurance (and therefore requiring additional assistance for safe discharge home, which leads to them spending more $$). And the crazy thing is, the people who read the therapy updates we send the insurance companies, aren’t clinicians or even healthcare professionals. So if on paper, to this non-clinical personnel, it looks like the patient is plateauing (even if in actuality they’re not) or if it looks like on paper they’re doing *too* well (even if they still need more therapy in actuality), they’ll get cut from therapy. It drives me bonkers. And inefficient d/c planning leads to higher prevalence of people being re-admitted to hospitals and rehab (aka more costs that could’ve been avoided….)

On the long term care (nursing home) side of things, there are patients who get put on therapy who don’t really need it (so more waste of $$). As an evaluating clinician, I put my foot down (it’s my professional license on the line after all, I’m not putting someone on therapy unjustified) and prevent this. But I know there’s plenty of Medicare fraud out there in the LTC world….

Anyway, I could go on and on about the issues of the healthcare system and how we do need reform in both the system itself and in insurance, but then I’ll *really* be on my soapbox lol.

But regardless, the AHCA was not the “reform” we needed. So thank heavens they’re not voting it through.

Sorry for this soapbox-y rant, but healthcare is an important topic for me (as both an individual consumer and an employee in the industry).

#non gmw

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blockchainxtech · 4 years

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What is an ICO: Analyzing the concept of "Initial Coin Offering"

What is an ICO : Introduction

Lately, the world of finance has undergone great changes. One of the biggest changes in the last two years has been the introduction of Initial Coin Offering (ICOs). It is no wonder that one of the most popular questions in the cryptocurrency world has been What is an ICO ?

Although you may be familiar with some popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, you may not be as familiar with ICOs.

However, before going into details of the ICOs, I need to make sure you have a fair understanding of the technology behind the ICOs, chain blocks and intelligent contracts . If you already have confidence in your understanding of these two technologies, feel free to jump into the "Concept of an ICO".

So, let's get started!

What is an ICO : Blockchain

A blockchain is not Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency. No. It is just that cryptocurrencies use the blockchain . Simply put, a block is a group of transactions. The chain is a group of blocks that are connected to each other. Put those two words together, and there you have it, a blockchain .

All these blocks joined in the chain form a public database. This database is public because it is shared with hundreds or even thousands of computers. We can think of these computers as the blockchain / database servers .

Source: steemit

(These teams are called nodes .)

Any changes made to the database must be verified by more than 51% of the nodes. If they are not verified, the change cannot be made. This makes it very difficult to hack the database because you would need to hack more than 51% of the nodes and the nodes are normally owned by many different people and companies.

This effect is called decentralization , which means that the database is not stored in one place, but in many different places.

When we talk about “changes” in the database, it is about data transactions. In the case of Bitcoin, for example, these are Bitcoin transactions, people who transfer Bitcoin to other people.

(For more information on blockchain technology , read our Explanation of Blockchains guide .)

Now, let's move on to the next piece of technology that ICOs use.

What is an ICO : Tokens and smart contracts

The transactions that occur in the database are not limited to financial transactions like those of the Bitcoin block. Instead, they can be anything of value.

For example, the value of the transaction could be a house or part of a business. Of course, you can't physically place a house or share a company on the blockchain . Instead, you need something that represents the value of the house or part of the company.

Tokens

I welcome you to the world of tokens . A token is created to represent the value of something. For example, a house, electricity, store credit, or part of a business.

These tokens can not be applied directly to the chain block , as usually can only process their own transactions cryptocurrency as Ether in the block chain ethereum Bitcoin and the block chain Bitcoin.

Instead, tokens must use an app.

Smart contracts

Applications that use tokens are called smart contracts . However, they seem like a lot of code. Therefore, developers create dApps (decentralized applications) for use by regular users.

You can think of dApps as the interface you see when you use Instagram or Twitter, but behind Instagram and Twitter there are a number of encrypted applications. These encrypted applications are smart contracts .

These smart contracts are unique for many reasons. These reasons include the following:

They can automatically process transactions.

Operations are triggered by certain conditions that are recorded in the smart contract.

Imagine it like this: " When Pedro pays 100 ether in the smart contract, Juan's house token is sent to Pedro."

They use blockchain technology, so the terms of the smart contract cannot be changed.

For more information on smart contracts , see our What is a Smart Contract Guide .

So now that you know the two pieces of technology that have made ICOs the success they are today. Let's talk about what an ICO is !

What is an ICO : The ICO concept

ICOs can be compared to IPOs. An IPO is an Initial Public Offering, this is a term used when a company first launches its shares on the stock market. Before that, the company's shares were private and its shares were not available to the public. For this same reason, it is called a Public Offer of Sale. It is important to understand the differences between the IPO and what is an ICO .

When companies are publicly traded, interested individuals and companies can buy their shares at a specified price.

The shares can be used to vote on specific shares that the company is taking, as it has actually become a partial owner! If the company does well, the value of its shares increases similarly and you can sell them at a later stage for profit.

ICOs are not as clean as IPOs. The Initial Offering Coin can be considered as a means of collective funding.

With an Initial Coin Offering , you get a token. These tokens do not give you any authority or long-term ownership of the project; they are simply a means for the project to raise funds.

However, once again, if the project is successful, the value of your token could increase. Therefore, you could sell the token for more than you bought it (if you want, that's it).

What is an ICO : How do ICOs work?

To simplify the basic concept of an Initial Coin Offering or better explain what an ICO is :

How ICOs work | Source: cleveroad

If you want to start your own cryptocurrency or dApp, you will need a lot of money. To get this money, you can run an ICO. If people are interested in your ICO and think the project is good, they can buy your token for a certain price.

These prices are normally set in Ether (ETH), however some projects accept more than one cryptocurrency, typically Bitcoin (BTC) and Litecoin (LTC).

When you invest in an Initial Coin Offering , you send your ETH, BTC, LTC, or whatever currency you want to pay, to the ICO smart contract. This smart contract sends you the amount of token you have paid.

There are normally two main reasons to buy token from ICOs:

Sell the token in the future at a higher price.

To use the token for your purpose.

Tokens typically provide token holders with benefits such as discount fees, a share of the benefits, or premium features.

Some tokens can be used to buy things in the project app when it is created, these types of tokens are known as utility tokens.

What is an ICO How do investors know which ICOs to invest in?

Just because the idea is good does not mean that the project will be good!

An idea may seem very good, but then it fails completely once you raise the funds. It is true, unfortunately. There have even been cases where ICOs have turned out to be a complete scam! So now that you understand what an ICO is , make sure that when researching an ICO you are careful.

Investors often pay close attention to the following things:

The competition.

Does the project have a competitor? If so, what do they do differently from their competitors?

The team.

Who is the team working on the project? Do they have good and relevant backgrounds? Have you worked on similar projects before?

The use of funds.

How will they use the money they collect from their ICO?

The road map.

What do you plan to do and how long will it take?

Tokens

How many tokens will there be? What is the price of each token? How many tokens will be sold in the ICO and how many will be saved for other things?

Another alternative could be the use of an Initial Coin Offering monitoring application . There are separate companies that are being formed that spend their time researching, reviewing, categorizing, and following market news around different ICOs. One of these applications is Coinview , which allows its users to track the performance of different ICOs and monitor their performance in cryptocurrencies.

There are many questions, I know. The good news is that you can usually find most of the answers on their white paper! Feedback on the project and reviews are important. But, you should always make sure to do your own research to form your opinion. A large amount of information on the Internet may be inaccurate or based on emotion!

What is an ICO What is a White Paper?

Knowing what an ICO is is almost as important as understanding what a white paper is. A white paper is a document that presents the idea for which the ICO is raising funds. It contains much more detail than the descriptions you will find on the Initial Coin Offering website .

You'll find things like system architecture, the need for his idea (the problem he's solving, etc.), token uses, market data, and growth projections.

You'll also often see a list of team members, investors, and advisors. Although, this is normally displayed on the website itself.

For an ICO to be successful, you need a good solid white paper. If you ever find a live ICO but it doesn't have a white paper, I recommend that you don't buy any tokens from it.

Very few people will want to invest in a project that does not have a white paper.

A good white paper will also provide information on what the funds will be used for. The focus should be on the funds used to grow the business and not on personal gain. This is important!

How to launch an ICO

If you are creating an ICO and you are not investing in one, you need to understand how investors research ICOs. You need to understand that they need to see all the things we have mentioned, otherwise they will not trust your ICO.

You need to keep your community up-to-date, treat it with respect, and make sure your project can do what it says it will. Always make sure you can deliver your project on time, and never tell lies.

So this is my guide to ICOs, thanks for reading! Now that you know what an ICO is , what do you think of this new way of raising funds for ideas? Do you want to invest in an ICO? Do you want to create an ICO? Let me know!

Also, if you have any questions, I will gladly answer them!

#ICO #icodevelopment #icomarketingagency #ICO Development #icomarketing

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vertcoinreddit · 5 years

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Excuse me for my grammar and poor structure writing.Today, as a casual Fan and lost a lot of money on Alt-coins.First Alt-coin that screwed me was the FOMO on BCH on Coinbase, I traded all my LTC for BCH and coinbase froze and lost about 1k in profit If I just sold LTC. Small history getting into crypto.Than got Cardano,Stellar,Zclassic,Bitcoin private, and VTC. All for the intentions of getting Rich.Few months go and I learn more and more about Crypto but moreover satoshi nakamoto white paper. It took me a long time till I traded all my Crypto for BTC and VTC. I'd like to say a few things before we continue. I'm no casual Fan on the Federal Reverse and how money cannot be created from nothing however the problem with making contracts aka The Dollar is Trusting people in a centralized power. The reason we need banks is it is convenient to use as a medium of exchange. However, we know through history no matter the titles and promises any centralized power is 100% guarantee corrupt so much so it even corrupted the Church. Kinda what happen to BTC when Asic/mining pool shows up and it was no longer a democracy as satoshi nakamoto white paper says 1CPU/1Vote.I'm also very interested in philosophy, especially Immanuel Kant and John Locke but not so much on politics, politics has become so centralized that people cannot tell the difference between Object and Subject they invent new words to complicate everything so the mass never encouraged to employ their own intelligence . I'm really tired of all these word gymnastics with endless contradictions especially on what Satoshi white paper meant. In our world it really is as George Carlin said "If you're born into the world you're born into a circus but if you're born in America than you have front role sits."Now, I'm really confused about crypto so, is BCH the real bitcoin? or is Bitcoin the real Bitcoin? Bitcoin has some real contradictions with satoshi nakamoto white paper and now I'm waiting for my Amazon books Mastering Bitcoin and The internet of Money by Andreas Antonopoulos. I should really consider reading this before even talking but I want to talk as a casual fan for now to maybe reach out to people who are thinking just like me.I think BCH will overtake BTC because capitalism, yes that simple and you can do all the word gymnastics you want on security and blah blah, doesn't matter people only understand money. BTC transations are too HIGH and BCH App is convenient and fees are half of a penny. However we all know that capitalism works but people can be sold to sell out, it is an ugly thing but it is a reality. This is why BTC is so important because it should be like a gun - a gun doesn't care who is pulling the trigger, BTC is to Make Trust obsolete.This isn't the case with BCH direction and they could usurp Bitcoin position and destroy the confidence of Crypto or Grow it idk I cannot see the future nobody can however we can follow history and see how we repeat ourselves, right? Anyways, I think VTC is the only real Satoshi Vision because they'reMaking One-Click-Miner which encourage people to run their own nodes and mine for a 1CPU/1VoteVTC isn't against Asic they're against Centralization, they will allow Asic if it was fair but it is not.VTC foresaw all of this and even LTC foresaw this but Money blinds people and do not believe just because BTC has the best developers that they will not sell out.I believe BTC won't die exactly but BCH could take over or another centralized coin like SHIT COIN Ripple/XRP.Anyways, I think VTC is really something else.They actually care and they keep going even if they're not landing a profit. They're not perfect yes but they're better than BCH for sure! however VTC as a long way to go in a greedy world.I think VTC maybe the only Hope we have left because even if BCH is the real BTC it has already destroyed so much trust.Honestly, I'm only interested in VTC and BTC but because I want a True Republic ruled by law and the only way we can do this is to make sure our Money is truly fair and decentralized. Without a decentralized money than remember The Federal Reserve Act was passed by the 63rd United States Congress and signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on December 23, 1913. The law created the Federal Reserve System, the CENTRAL or CENTRALIZED banking system of the United States. Give back the power of money to the people.Conclusion: VTC is the only Heavy/Longest Chain that still fits the Criteria of what BTC was before all this. via /r/vertcoin

#vertcoin #cryptocurrency

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cryptnus-blog · 5 years

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Bitcoin Rolls Below $4,000, Top-20 in Red, But Many Altcoins Going North

New Post has been published on https://cryptnus.com/2018/12/bitcoin-rolls-below-4000-top-20-in-red-but-many-altcoins-going-north/

Bitcoin Rolls Below $4,000, Top-20 in Red, But Many Altcoins Going North

U.Today tries to get rid of the prefix pseudo- while naming the best anonymous BTC wallet. Is your favorite anonymous Bitcoin wallet on our list?

Bitcoin is generally considered to be a completely anonymous cryptocurrency. Many believe that the king of crypto rose to prominence because of its privacy-oriented features – it saw the very first signs of adoption on the dark web, where people would buy illicit goods (drugs, guns and so on) without the fear of getting caught. However, is anonymous Bitcoin just a myth? How are Bitcoin transactions anonymous? Yes, Bitcoin transactions can be conducted without providing any personal details. However, the term ‘pseudonymous’ is often used in order to describe Bitcoin-related payments. Remember that there is still a wallet address, and all payments linked to this address will be forever recorded on an immutable Blockchain.

NB! Steven Goldfeder (Princeton University) states that it is possible to link the transaction to its owner in 60 percent of all cases.

The truth is, the lion’s share of Bitcoin holders see an anonymous wallet as a safeguard measure that wouldn’t allow third parties to steal their funds.

In order to tackle this issue, those who value their identity can use some so-called ‘anonymous’ crypto wallets that integrate VPN in order to use different remote servers. It is worth mentioning that all Bitcoin wallets are inherently anonymous, but there are only a number of ones that specifically place an emphasis on hiding your identity while conducting a transaction. Our list includes some of the best anonymous crypto wallets.

Samourai

Samourai wallet is your first option if your priority is to keep all your transactions anonymous. It is widely regarded as of the most privacy-conscious wallets on the market. There is nothing outstanding when it comes to its security, but the wallet includes plenty of unique privacy features that allow it to stand out among other online Bitcoin wallets:

Apart from these anonymity-related perks, it includes a bunch of other fancy features, such as ‘Ricochet Send’. Your transaction will be bounced multiple types off to various BTC addresses before another user eventually receives it. With four additional hops, it is supposed to solve the problem of blacklisting by a third party such as Coinbase. The Trusted Node feature, as the name suggests, allows connecting to any given node. On top of that, you can also set up SMS remote commands (you can either restore or wipe your wallet with the help of one simple command).

Darkwallet

The development of this legendary wallet is currently off, but we decided to put it in the limelight since it was one of the first wallets of that kind. Today, some prominent crypto pundits are calling for more regulations in order to get crypto out of a legal grey zone and reach new heights. Back in 2013, in sharp contrast to this, a group of anarchists launched a crowdfunding campaign in order to develop a completely anonymous Bitcoin wallet, dubbed ‘Dark Wallet’. According to their website, they are still in the alpha stage of the development process.

“If Bitcoin represents anything to us, it’s the ability to forbid the government,” says Cody Wilson, one of the key figures behind the project.

Complete privacy is achieved by means of coin mixing, and one shouldn’t forget that this is also a Tor wallet. The multisig feature also appears to be a huge plus. However, use this wallet at your own risk since some users report bugs and transaction delays. Is this the price to pay for getting back to Bitcoin’s anarchistic roots?

NB! Darkwallet can only be downloaded in the form of a Google Chrome extension.

Bitlox

Bitlox is the only hardware wallet that offers extreme privacy with a bevy of safety-related solutions. You can achieve a high level of anonymity with the help of Tails OS (a free Debian-based OS). Their tool also works fine with the Tor browser. Bitlox lets you create up to 100 wallets that can generate a plethora of different addresses that never repeat.

There are three versions of this wallet which differ in the level of security and their price tag:

Advanced

This version allows keeping about 100 wallets (which should be more than enough for a run-of-the-mill user).

Ultimate

A hardware wallet made of titanium will set you back $299 dollars. It also comes with an additional privacy perk – you are able to hide half of your created wallets for further enhancing your privacy.

Extreme

The monstrous wallet with a military-level of security comes at an eye-popping price of $399. This is a safe bet if you are looking for the most anonymous Bitcoin wallet.

Electrum

Electrum is yet another old-timer that appeared on the horizon back in 2011 when hardly anyone knew about Bitcoin’s existence. Thomas Voegtlin, a German computer scientist, is the brains behind the project. The fact that this wallet has been operating for so many years in the ever-changing industry speaks volumes about its reliability. However, its interface doesn’t look beginner-friendly (in all fairness, the majority of privacy-oriented wallets are wont to have this feature). Similarly to Bitlox, it is based on the Tails OS that was specifically designed to conserve the privacy of its users. Unfortunately, this Tails Bitcoin wallet cannot be installed on your mobile phone since its client-based version is the only available one. Still, Electrum is compatible with Ledger Nano S and a slew of other hardware wallets (Trezor, KeepKey, etc.).

Jaxx

U.Today has already included Jaxx on our list of the best altcoin wallets. Right now, Jaxx can be rightfully named one of the most popular wallets on the market, and partially achieved because of its multi-coin support.

While Jaxx deals with some technical issues, it’s definitely a perfect choice for those who want to go for an already established wallet. Jaxx doesn’t keep your private keys on its servers, which means you will presiding over your coins even if the wallet stops operating.

Jaxx is not marketed as an ‘anonymous’ wallet. As we’ve mentioned above, all Bitcoin wallets are inherently anonymous (unless we talk about fiat-to-crypto exchanges), but Jaxx doesn’t even require your email address for registration.

Rahakott

The Rahakott wallet is one more example of a wallet that is designed for conducting transactions in a hard-to-trace manner, despite the project being much younger compared to its competitors. On its website, they emphasize the fact that they do not require their users to provide personal data. The wallet offers a specific set of features that help provide an additional layer of privacy:

Speaking of its safety-related peculiarities, it is worth mentioning that the Rahakott wallet is basically unhackable. Even the developers aren’t able to get access to the user’s info. You are only able to open your wallet after entering a mnemonic phrase. Lastly, one should point out that this anonymous Bitcoin wallet supports BTC along with some popular altcoins, including Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). This is definitely one of the most private multi-coin Bitcoin wallets.

Other ways of buying Bitcoin completely anonymously include:

LocalBitcoins (you have to meet the seller in person without providing him any documents);

Bitcoin ATM (a good option for those who have plenty of cash on their hands; high fees could be a big turn-off); NB! Some ATMs do require your ID before you can purchase crypto.

Few C2C exchanges.

The bottom line

If you stick to web wallets, there are a few things that you can do in order to increase your privacy on the Internet. However, this is not a 100 percent guarantee that your transaction will remain anonymous.

After all, preserving your identity is not necessarily a good thing for Bitcoin. Last year, SocGen CEO Frederic Oudea stated that Bitcoin’s emphasis on privacy remains the main hindrance to its growth. There is too much risk involved when it comes to dealing with crypto.

‘The anonymity of the transaction is a problem I think which would put pressure on bitcoin’.

However, Bitcoin is only the tip of the iceberg since there are numerous privacy coins that grant their owners complete anonymity. Not surprisingly, these coins have become the darlings of the dark web in no time.

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omcik-blog · 7 years

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New Post has been published on OmCik

New Post has been published on http://omcik.com/10-great-opening-lines-from-top-producers/

10 Great Opening Lines From Top Producers

(Photo: iStock)

Here’s another installment in our effort to bring time-tested sales and marketing articles to the eyes of new readers.

The original version of this article ran on April 5, 2013. In this one, Brad Anderson shares veteran producers’ favorite starting gambits.

The middle of a sales conversation is usually great. And ending one?

No sweat.

The problem lies in getting the ball rolling in the first place.

How do you get a prospect to not only start listening to you but also take what you’re saying seriously?

We’ve asked a wide-ranging group of expert producers to share their best opening lines — for life insurance, annuity, exit planning and disability insurance prospects — with us.

Here’s how they’ve been successfully starting conversations for years — and why each believes their approach works.

For the life insurance prospect:

“Mr. Prospect, if it is this difficult for you to deal with these issues, with all the experience and ability you have, what would it be like for your family if you weren’t able to help them? What if you didn’t come home tonight because of a fatal car accident? Or you bumped your head and suffered a stroke? What then?”

Guy E. Baker, MSFS, CLU: The best approach is to acknowledge these are tough times and maintaining a fiscally sound budget is of the highest priority. “However,” I might say, and then ask the series of questions. [Then I would add], “For just a few dollars a month, you can guarantee your family would be able to survive these tough times, whether you were able to provide for them or not.”

Death and disability are a reality. Stuff happens. We did not cause the problems. But we can sure solve them. We have to remember why we do what we do. We may be their last advocate. No one can guarantee they will be able to bring home a paycheck next week. But we can guarantee that if they can’t, because of illness or death, we will deliver on the promises.

For the annuity prospect:

“Do you want to run out of money before you run out of time, or do you want to create a plan that will provide income to you for as long as you live?”

Gregory B. Gagne, ChFC: The message we bring is one of prospect self-reflection. Allow the prospect to pick the answer. We think the answer is obvious, but the prospect may have never given the idea any thought before you bring it to their attention.

“When does your next CD come due?”

Bobb A. Meckenstock, CLU, M.B.A.: I began asking this question in the 1980s, and still, to this day, it is a great opening question.

For the exit planning prospect:

“Out of curiosity, do you have an exit plan for your business? One day, because of death, disability or retirement, you will exit your business. Do you have a plan to take your money out of the business on a favorable basis?”

Tom Fowler, CLU, LUTCF:There are numerous ways to penetrate the business market. I use lifestyle prospecting. I listen to conversations with an open ear for business owners. When the time is appropriate in the conversation, I ask [the question]. If you ask this question, you are showing interest in them and their business. Most people like to talk about their businesses, and you’ll probably be the first person who ever asked this question.

For the disability insurance prospect:

“How long can you afford to go without a paycheck?”

Sherry K. Barton, CLU: Agents are not being trained to ask [this question]. This simple phrase opens the discussion for disability income. I tell agents to remind clients that nothing works if you can’t! This refers to a disability, an illness or an injury that is preventing you from working. This policy will be there with money to feed your family, make your house payment and keep your lifestyle going. Talking about disability to our income earners is simply talking to them about what this product can do. New agents in the business need to be exposed to the product and find the company that issues disability. I have told new agents to write a plan on themselves, which teaches them how to run the illustration, the benefits that can be included and what the cost will be.

“I wanted to reach out to give you the opportunity to say ‘no’ to me, in case you are not comfortable moving forward.”

Ann Baker Ronn: One of my biggest challenges is clients procrastinating. They see no sense of urgency to take care of protecting their largest asset, which is their ability to earn an income! I am working on handling this type of situation. I started using a very forward approach, emailing and asking the client or prospect if they want to move forward or not. It has worked in some cases. The email is worded like this: “I wanted to reach out to give you the opportunity to say ‘no’ to me, in case you are not comfortable moving forward.” This is an excellent way to determine the seriousness of a client or prospect.

For the disability insurance prospect:

“Would it make a big difference in your lifestyle if you didn’t have $200 a month for your expenses?” (Reply from prospect: “No.”) “Would it make a big difference in your lifestyle if you didn’t have $4,000 a month for your expenses?”

Brian H. Ashe, CLU: One of my favorite presentations goes like this. Question: “Would it make a big difference in your lifestyle if you didn’t have $200 a month for your expenses?” Answer: “No.” Q: “Would it make a big difference in your lifestyle if you didn’t have $4,000 a month for your expenses?” A: “You bet — that would be huge!” Reply from the advisor: “Well, if you give me $200 per month (disability premium), I’ll make sure you get $4,000 a month if you’re sick or hurt and can’t work. Does that sound like a fair deal?

“Do you have half a health insurance plan? Who pays you if you are sick or hurt?”

Thomas E. Heinecke, CLU, RHU: I want to try to help the client meet other needs, such as the need for an income if they do get sick or hurt and are unable to work. Illinois Mutual, for example, has some promotional pieces that ask the question, “Do you have half a health insurance plan?” They then go on to state that health insurance makes sure that the doctors get paid, the hospitals get paid and the pharmacists get paid. The question, then, is who pays you if you are sick or hurt? This approach has at least opened some doors to a discussion about disability insurance.

For the LTCI prospect:

“Have you ever had a parent in a long-term care facility, and if so, how was it paid for?”

Stephen N. Mathieu, CLU, ChFC, RHU: We ask every prospect and client who is 50 years old or older to tell us about their plans as to how they would handle an LTC situation. We ask if they’ve ever had a parent in an LTC facility, and if so, how they were able to pay for the care. This question can be uncomfortable to answer, but it forces clients to face up to the facts.

“How’s your current health, and are your parents still alive? Have you had any personal experience with the costs associated with long-term care? Are you aware if you eventually need any type of long-term care, there are only three funding choices for you to consider?”

Mark S. Jones, LUTCF: We ask these three very simple questions and follow with appropriate responses. “How’s your current health, and are your parents still alive?” Healthy people in their 50s and 60s often live into their 80s and 90s, and genetics can play a key role. “Have you had any personal experience with the costs associated with long-term care?” Their true knowledge base is exposed fairly quickly. “Are you aware if you eventually need any type of long-term care, there are only three funding choices for you to consider?” First, some sort of government-funded plan, such as Medicaid, or your family members. How reliable is that option? Second, a personally owned LTC-type insurance policy — which places the owner/insured in control. Third, self-insure — the use of your personal assets. If self-insurance is the preferred choice, the follow-up question then becomes, “Which assets will you liquidate first?”

—-Read 24 Great Sales Jokes on ThinkAdvisor.

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cryptnus-blog · 6 years

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What is Litecoin Cash (LCC)?

New Post has been published on https://cryptnus.com/2018/07/what-is-litecoin-cash-lcc/

What is Litecoin Cash (LCC)?

Litecoin Cash (LCC) is a Litecoin fork that has a higher max supply, runs the SHA256 mining algorithm, and has better difficulty adjustment.

Forks, forks everywhere. 2017 was a record year for cryptocurrency forks. There were probably more forks in 2017 in crypto than you would find in a department store’s cutlery inventory. Initial Fork Offerings or IFO‘s are the new buzzwords among many in the community. It appears that the Litecoin Cash crew are well… trying to ‘cash in’ on this alternative way of raising capital.

Litecoin Cash is a breakaway or fork, as it’s more commonly known, from the original Litecoin project.

Fork it

A fork happens when developers with a different ideology take a snapshot of the existing code from an established cryptocurrency (Litecoin in this case). They then continue development based on their different views to take this newly established cryptocurrency in another direction.

Litecoin Cash sharing their views in the official whitepaper:

With a wide and ready pool of mining power to tap, state-of-the-art difficulty adjustment to react to network hash dynamics, a mature and fair distribution, and a modern feature set, tuned to everyday use with fast transactions and low fees we are confident that the legitimacy of our ideas, will be borne out by success in the wider market.

An initial fork offering is a kind of alternative ICO. Instead of sending funds to the project, you simply need to hold the original coin at the time of the snapshot. You will then receive the new coin at a specific exchange rate set by the developers. In this case, for every 1 of the original cryptocurrency you hold (Litecoin), you get 10 of the new cryptocurrency, Litecoin Cash.

How Does it Work?

The decision behind the 10 for 1 swap was to simplify the mathematics when working with the coin. For eg. in the case of Bitcoin, you often need to work in fractions of a bitcoin when transacting. This is not so much of a problem for the crypto nerd amongst us, but the common man needs a currency which is easy to work with. Trying to work in fractions of a bitcoin (satoshis) is not always practical.

Litecoin cash (known by the symbol LCC) runs on its own blockchain and LCC combines features from several well-established coins:

Lower transaction fees, better difficulty adjustment and mined with SHA256 (compared to Litecoin)

Faster, cheaper, more bandwidth and better difficulty retargeting (compared to Bitcoin)

Supports Segwit and has much faster block times (compared to Bitcoin Cash)

Here is a comparison grid outlining these potential benefits versus established coins and other forks:

Litecoin Cash key comparisons

2 Key differences we’d like to point out are the mining algorithm and difficulty adjustment:

Let’s Get Technical

The Litecoin Cash mining algorithm has switched from Litecoin’s Scrypt system to Bitcoin‘s SHA256. The Litecoin Cash team claim that this will create a kind of recycling of old bitcoin mining hardware which can be used to secure the LCC network.

The difficulty adjustment is a setting in a proof of work network aimed at miners. As hardware speeds increase the difficulty goes up. This ensures the stability of the network over time and keeps block times at a steady rate. A history of Bitcoin’s difficulty adjustment can be found here.

LCC have borrowed the DarkGravity difficulty adjustment which was pioneered by Dash. This claims to make a network more secure as block times are much more consistent regardless of large swings in mining power as the network grows.

About LCC

History

Litecoin Cash was forked at block 1371111 of the Litecoin blockchain. The creators claim that one of the major benefits of forking from an existing coin includes an even distribution of new coins. Since Litecoin is a well-established brand in the cryptocurrency space, the creators cannot be accused of hoarding coins since new coins are distributed to existing Litecoin holders at the time of the fork.

Key Benefits

10:1 Claim Ratio: For every 1 LTC you held at the fork block, you can claim 10 LCC.

SHA256 Mining: After the fork block, Litecoin Cash switched to SHA256 proof-of-work hashes. This enables a new use for previously obsolete Bitcoin mining hardware.

Network Resilience: Mining difficulty is recalculated every block, using Evan Duffield’s proven DarkGravity V3 algorithm from Dash. This provides more predictable block times as well as network protection from multipool hopping.

Optimised for the Real World: Target block time of 2.5 minutes gives 4 times the transaction bandwidth of Bitcoin, while transactions are 90% cheaper than Litecoin.

Slow-Start Control: To prevent dominant early miners having an unfair advantage, block rewards will start at 0.25 LCC and grow to 250 LCC over the first 2000 blocks after the fork. The first 24 blocks after the fork will be mined at minimum difficulty. After this, DarkGravity will adjust the difficulty based on observed block generation time. The 250 LCC block reward (equivalent to 25 LTC) will be halved at the same chain heights as Litecoin.

Small Premine: An equivalent amount to less than 1% of circulating money supply (less than 0.65% of total money supply) at fork time was paid to a development fund.

Controversy

As news of the fork was made public, Litecoin creator Charlie Lee swiftly dismissed the project and had the following to say:

PSA: The Litecoin team and I are not forking Litecoin. Any forks that you hear about is a scam trying to confuse you to think it’s related to Litecoin. Don’t fall for it and definitely don’t enter your private keys or seed into their website or client. Be careful out there! https://t.co/qXbiIxp5Al

— Charlie Lee [LTC⚡] (@SatoshiLite) February 4, 2018

Charlie’s comments most likely relate to the Bitcoin Cash hard fork that took place last year (2017) and the drama that followed between both the BTC and BCH communities. Charlie’s point is a little ironic though considering that Litecoin itself is a hard fork of bitcoin.

The LCC project, on the other hand, have stated in interviews that re-use of an original coin’s name in a forked coin is simply an industry convention. The point of open-source is, after all, designed for the copy and change of existing code to experiment and improve on the original design.

It would appear that hard fork coins love using the original coin’s name in their own as a way to create credibility for their brand.

Meet the Team

Core Team

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to find much information on the core or associate team via LinkedIn. Providing additional background information to the public via a platform like LinkedIn would add credibility to the LCC project. For now, we’ll provide some info based off of their website.

Iain Craig (Tanner) is the lead developer on the project with 20 years commercial experience. Tanner has been active in the crypto scene since 2013 with development in multiple altcoins and several blockchain-based services.

The unicorn you see below is known only as Roger. As the public relations guy, Roger has appeared on several youtube videos to address concerns to the community. Roger is an experienced project manager for a major online foreign exchange platform. He’s been involved in cryptocurrency for over 5 years.

Litecoin Cash core team

The LCC crew have provided several videos and chat interviews to the crypto community via social media. We recommend the reader do a search of these to learn more about the team. This should at least answer some questions for potential users and investors of the LCC network.

Associates

Litecoin Cash associates

Coin Supply & Sustainability

Litecoin Cash coin supply

One of the fundamental problems right now in the cryptocurrency space is tracking the use of funds allocated for development and marketing teams. Nobody knows whether a team will just dump all their coins on the market in exchange for a more valuable coin like Bitcoin. Until strong governance systems are developed for cryptocurrencies overall, it’s pretty difficult to figure out the long-term sustainability of the Litecoin Cash network.

Mining Sustainability

As we mentioned previously, Litecoin Cash wants to tap into the outdated bitcoin mining hardware market. Bitcoin miners continue to compete at very high levels by bringing out better hardware on a regular basis.

This puts some serious questions out there on the environmental impact of Bitcoin. Both, from an electricity standpoint but also from a hardware waste point of view. If LCC can use this old hardware in a productive way this might be a huge plus for their network in the long run.

Trading History

Litecoin Cash began trading on Feb 20, 2018, around the $5 mark. The price, however, has plummeted since then, trading at around $0.04 at time of publication.

2017 Was a year of feverish speculation and the 2018 bear market to date has not helped with the overall price. Nevertheless, if LCC wants to see the adoption of their coin then we probably need to see renewed buying interest from investors to inspire confidence in their vision.

baseUrl = “https://widgets.cryptocompare.com/”; var scripts = document.getElementsByTagName(“script”); var embedder = scripts[ scripts.length – 1 ]; var cccTheme = “General”:“showExport”:true; (function () var appName = encodeURIComponent(window.location.hostname); if(appName==””)appName=”local”; var s = document.createElement(“script”); s.type = “text/javascript”; s.async = true; var theUrl = baseUrl+’serve/v3/coin/chart?fsym=LCC&tsyms=USD,EUR,GBP,CNY’; s.src = theUrl + ( theUrl.indexOf(“?”) >= 0 ? “&” : “?”) + “app=” + appName; embedder.parentNode.appendChild(s); )();

Where Can You Buy Litecoin Cash?

You can purchase Litecoin Cash at the following exchanges:

Some other exchanges also trade this coin, however, volume overall for LCC is quite low and you’ll probably want to stick with an exchange where it’s easier to get in and out of a position.

According to their site, the LCC team have also applied for a listing on Binance which, if successful, should boost Litecoin Cash trading volumes. They are also looking into adding the coin on decentralized exchanges such as the Komodo BarterDEX.

Where Can You Store it?

The development team has provided both a light and full wallet for storing your coins. The light Electrum wallet doesn’t require the full blockchain to run, however, only a desktop version for Windows and Mac is currently available. Coinomi provides a more practical mobile wallet for those on the go.

Dedicated Litecoin Cash users may also want to download the entire blockchain and store it locally. Links to all of the above wallets can be found on Github via the official website.

In terms of hardware wallets, the roadmap outlines a target for both Ledger & Trezor around the June/July timeframe of 2018. However, the roadmap goals seem to be lagging a bit and we could probably see these dates extended a bit.

Conclusion

The value proposition of Litecoin Cash is certainly an interesting one. One of the major advantages of cryptocurrency is the very fact that new ideas can be built on the back of established ones. As additional forks come to market they will need to innovate to bring real-world benefits to potential coin holders.

By borrowing technology from multiple cryptos, LCC aims to create a Frankenstein style crypto with all the best features patched on. This may prove to be a good strategy however cryptos like Litecoin and Bitcoin already have one major bonus, first mover advantage.

The later you launch your project in the cryptosphere the harder it (usually) becomes to build a meaningful community around it. Time will tell whether this fork can establish itself in the long run. For more information and updates about Litecoin Cash, you can stay in touch on the following channels:

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cryptnus-blog · 6 years

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Just How 'Cool' is the CoolWallet S? (Review)

New Post has been published on https://cryptnus.com/2018/06/just-how-cool-is-the-coolwallet-s-review/

Just How 'Cool' is the CoolWallet S? (Review)

The CoolWallet S by CoolBitX is a credit-card-like hardware wallet for storing Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Ripple (XRP), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and select ERC20 tokens — but just how “cool” is it? Let’s find out!

Design

First and foremost, let’s get one thing straight — you’re not going to find a ‘cooler’ looking hardware wallet anywhere on the market today.

Coming packaged in a black and gold box that looks fit to hold a luxury watch — with a personal message from CEO Michael Ou printed in gold lettering on the inside cover — the CoolWallet S offers a distinctively premium feel from the moment one unpacks it.

The package itself contains a charging dock and accompanying USB connector, a user manual, a nice-looking recovery card for handwriting your unique seed phrase, a black-on-transparent logo sticker, and — of course — the CoolWallet S, itself. And what a wallet it is!

The CoolWallet S resembles a credit card from the exterior and boasts a slick and classy-looking black and gold design which holds itself back from appearing flashy — opting instead for an understated, business-like vibe.

The back of the card has little more than a discrete serial number printed on the top, just above an appealing E-Paper display. Halfway down the right side of the card is a single button for powering on the device, changing the displayed cryptocurrency, and confirming commands. The bottom of the device features more discrete text beneath two charging pins. The button on the unit I reviewed had a response click requiring a concerted press.

The card itself is waterproof, tamper-proof, impact resistant, and heat/cold resistant — though, to be fair, I wouldn’t recommend testing these claims. The card features an acceptable amount of flex, though I would also caution against seeing how far it can fold. Still, it can easily slip into a normal pocket wallet with your IDs and credit cards, and I wouldn’t worry about it breaking any more than I’d worry about my American Express card snapping in my pocket.

All in all, the CoolWallet S’ professional appearance and durable feel are significantly cooler than any other hardware wallet on the market.

Security and Functionality

While the CoolWallet S certainly lives up to its name in terms of physical appearance, a hardware wallet is nothing without user-friendly functionality and security. Luckily, it also lives up to its name on both of those fronts.

Setting up the CoolWallet S for the first time is a simple process, but requires an iOS or Android app to function. Users simply need to download and install the application before pairing it to their device via Bluetooth with a one-time password — after which users are prompted to create a new wallet.

New wallets can be generated with 12, 18, or 24-number security seeds — meaning that amount of numeric phrases will be generated. I opted for a 24-number-phrase seed, which admittedly took a long time to write down.

After copying the numbers, users are then asked to add up the sum of all the phrases — a time-consuming task, even with a calculator. However, when it comes to security and ‘being your own bank,’ I wouldn’t dock any hardware wallet for forcing its users to take a careful and considered approach to secure their funds. If you’re not willing to dedicate time and effort to secure your wallet, you might want to question whether or not a hardware wallet is even for you.

Once your wallet is set up, funds can be easily deposited or withdrawn using the linked smartphone app — which is both intuitive and user-friendly. QR codes and wallet addresses can easily be shared across the typical social network or messaging services, and every transaction I made worked without a hitch. (Though users should note that funds will not show up on the actual card’s E-Paper screen itself until refreshed via the smartphone app, for the sake of keeping the wallet itself offline.)

Currently, only a limited selection of altcoins are available for storage — though EOS support was added recently. In terms of ERC20 tokens, only Tether (USDT), WETH (WETH), JoyToken (JOY), and JAYZ (JAYZ) are supported, though plans are currently in the works to eventually support all ERC20 tokens and every major altcoin.

Verdict

There are plenty of hardware wallets on the market to choose from, but the CoolWallet S stands out from the crowd with its slick and professional design, robust security measures, and user-friendly smartphone integration. It’s hard to find fault with the product, especially with plans to continually support more and more altcoins.

What do you think about the CoolWallet S? Let us know in the comments below!

Images courtesy of CoolBitX.

[Disclosure: The CoolWallet S unit Bitcoinist reviewed was provided free-of-charge by CoolBitX for the purpose of review.]

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cryptnus-blog · 6 years

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Litecoin [LTC] is now compatible with Blocknet Protocol

New Post has been published on https://cryptnus.com/2018/05/litecoin-ltc-is-now-compatible-with-blocknet-protocol/

Litecoin [LTC] is now compatible with Blocknet Protocol

The Founder and CEO of Input-Output Hong Kong [IOHK], Charles Hoskinson was recently interviewed by Sunny Aggarwal on Epicentre earlier this week where they spoke about the emergence and distinction between Ethereum and Cardano.

An idea that led to Ethereum’s [ETH] birth:

Cryptocurrencies come in new phases/stages/generations and every time they come, they tend to introduce a collection of new concepts. Bitcoin came without trying to be money or a payment system. It was much simpler, a collective delusion of a problem with a goal to convince people that these magic internet tokens somehow backed by math are actually worth real money, so we can buy, sell and trade them.

It took a few years to settle and the turning point was the year 2013 when people realized Bitcoin’s potential. Right after they realized that this is just a pushover system that’s really slow, really expensive and not very user-friendly. The question in every investor’s mind probably was, I want to do more with it, can I?

The current CEO and founder of IOHK, the Co-Founder of Ethereum previously, Charles Hoskinson said this is when they had a grand conversation on how to augment it as they saw color coins, master coins, etc.

At the end of the day programmability matters, so Vitalik and himself together created Ethereum with a goal to run control over these sub-protocols that run on a blockchain to the developer and give them an easy way of doing the same.

He admits on a lighter note that:

“A lot of people thought we are crazy in fact, they still think Ethereum is crazy and a lot of people also think Bitcoin is crazy and this is fair too.”

Ethereum comes out as the next big generation and they have introduced notion smart contracts with more complex computations in the transactions and all emerging structures that can be built from it. Now that the generation is done, people seem to agree it’s a good idea that there are a lot of competitors like NEO, EOS, and others that are coming out or are already in the market, says the Co-Founder.

The 2015 idea for Cardano project and another nutshell:

Charles explained:

“we are now entering a third generation where the delusion is good and we like that, computation is probably a pretty good idea.”

But, he came across two problems:

How can these be done on a scale of millions and billions of users if they are actually going to be useful for people?

There are going to be hundreds to thousands of cryptocurrencies in the long term and probably the world will not see the great Cambrian extinction where all these currencies are lost.

Charles says:

“It is difficult to agree or consolidate on one thing and something as controversial as money or financial life is probably not going to consolidate around just one universal standard.”

As a consequence, Charles believes, interoperability is necessary. It is important to be able to move data and value and preserve certain things like security and privacy as one traverses the internet of value.

He illustrates the evolution:

“we move beyond a couple of nerds who meetup and enjoy talking to each other over slack to an actual system which has millions to billions of users and has control over financial life and all the facets of that maybe, including identity and property of a user.”

He believes that a sort of democracy is needed to decide where the system is going. Whether that is meta to the system – meta consensus, or is it embedded within an existing government or built on the blockchain, there is a lot of debate about that. These are the 3 design criteria required for next generation of any cryptocurrency.

He coined it as:

“Keep what we know, keep what we love, keep the collective delusion, keep it weird, keep the computation, that’s pretty cool. But then also go ahead and move into a domain where you get faster as you get more users. You can talk to all the different cryptocurrencies. Have some way of sorting out who pays and who decides.”

He stated these were the business requirements at a super high level. They had spent the first two years carefully structuring the technologies. They started tons of different threads like better consensus algorithms, consent on voting threads, better cryptocurrency primitives, threads involving side chains and so forth.

The first version of this came out in September last year, which kind of runs like Ripple, a walk delegation version of Ouroboros. He says that it is a lot simpler than the papers recently published by them and over time they are just going to decentralize the system furthermore with add-on side chain components that can link their smart contracts layer. This will be coming in the next few months to years depending on the features, concluded the Founder.

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