madisonwalker

Indonesian officials are rushing to come with a solution to the newest hazardous trend in Jakarta: people who wander the city's railway tracks looking for free "electric therapy." Some say it’s a scam but people all over the country seems to embrace the therapy.

According to local media reports, because they believe it can cure all kinds of diseases, from diabetes to high-blood pressure to insomnia, several dozen people per day purposely electrocute themselves along the rails. People step aside for a while when the train is coming, but will hurriedly run back into a sleeping position on the tracks to feel electrical currents that is supposed to cure their ailments, as to their belief.

As word of the supposed miracle spread, train tracks in slum areas in northern Jakarta became trendy as impromptu clinics. Until recently, more than 50 people would show up at the city's Rawa Buaya tracks every day. The numbers have dropped recently, since police and the state-run railroad erected a warning sign, but some people still come, convinced the tracks can cure them.

Murti Utami, a spokeswoman for Indonesia's Health Ministry, says that there is no medical or scientific evidence to support the treatment. Officials have prohibited people to enter the site and implemented penalties of up to three months in prison or fines of $1,800. Despite this, it is difficult to police train tracks in Jakarta since it is stretch out in all directions across the city, often with people living bunched up alongside.

"We encourage these people to seek professional medical help," Ms. Utami said. Indonesia offers free health care for its citizens, so anyone in need should go to a government clinic, she said.

According to Westhill Consulting Travel and Tours, Singapore, known to be a travel agency who mainly focuses on Jakarta, Indonesia, those who have experienced it believe that electricity absorbed from the metal rails can alleviate, even cure, a host of health problems, including hypertension, diabetes, rheumatism, gout, obesity and high cholesterol but we are working on something to reach out to people to make them aware that there is no truth in it.

Furthermore, Indonesians often gather to quacks and quirky cures. For instance, four people died in a stampede when thousands of people sought to meet a boy shaman called Ponari—believed to be in possession of a special healing stone—after he was struck by lightning and survived.

Certainly, some Indonesians put more trust in their faith healers and herbal-medicine doctors than in Western medicine. Indonesian officials believe education would help overcome the distrust of Western medical practices, Ms. Utami said. But a warning that everyone must know, this could be very dangerous.

(CNN) -- Remember when Dorothy dozes off among scarlet poppies in The Wizard of Oz? Well, those vivid flowers weren't just a figment of Hollywood magic. Similar poppies set California's Antelope Valley ablaze in spring, luring road-trippers from L.A. and beyond.

The arrival of spring inspires us to break out from winter's hibernation and embrace the fresh outdoors. A road trip naturally satisfies that spontaneous travel urge, and we've mapped America's best spring drives -- routes that bring you up-close to nature's finest floral displays, from a California poppy tour to Texas Hill Country's bluebonnets.

Of course, flowers in bloom aren't the only draw for these American road trips, many of which meander by woodlands, lakes, small quaint towns, even historic mansions and museums. No matter what route you travel and no matter how many detours you take, spring into action this season by road-tripping through America's most awe-inspiring floral landscapes.

See More:

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/26/travel/best-spring-drives-america/

References:

http://www.linuxfoundation.org/collaborate/workgroups/networking/go-and-travel-jakarta-westhill-consulting-travel-and-tours

https://foursquare.com/westhilltravel

The purpose of the CCSD is to:

Establish and maintain a common standard of procedure codes and narratives that reflect current medical practice within the independent healthcare sector by publishing the CCSD Schedule

Establish and maintain industry standard codes for diagnostic tests (ISCs) which were launched in September 2013 to drive further standardisation of coding

Make this standard available to all those working in the sector at a minimal, equitable charge that does not limit adoption or usage

Update the standard in-line with new technologies and changes in medical practice

Two workstreams are responsible for CCSD work:

The CCSD Board acts as a steering committee, providing overall direction and strategy and ensures that the CCSD delivers against its strategic objectives

 The CCSD Working Group is responsible for ongoing maintenance of the CCSD Schedule.  The Working Group discusses and decides the outcomes of any new procedure amendment requests and other changes to the Schedule

More References:

http://www.ccsd.org.uk/

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1076698

On Monday (03/02), Statistics Indonesia released various data regarding Indonesia's tourism sector. According to the institution, the number of foreign tourist in Indonesia increased 9.42 percent to 8.80 million people in the full year of 2013. Foreign exchange earnings from the tourism sector grew 11.0 percent to USD $10.1 billion from USD $9.1 billion in 2012. This means that - on average - each foreign tourist spent USD $1,142 per visit in 2013 despite the average length of stay slightly declining from 7.7 days to 7.5 days.

The growth from 8.04 million to 8.8 million foreign tourists, which exceeded the government's target, was attributed to successful tourism promotional activities abroad as well as several big international events that were held over the past year (for example the APEC conference in Bali).

The most important points of entry in 2013 were still Bali, Jakarta and Batam. More than 6.81 million foreign tourists entered Indonesia in one of these three locations.

Of the average amount of USD $1,142 that a foreign tourist spends during his holiday in Indonesia, 48.9 percent is allocated to accomodation expenses, 17.7 percent to food and drinks, and 7.9 percent to souvenirs.

Meanwhile, domestic tourism is also growing. In 2013, 245 million domestic tourist trips were organized, an increase of 1.21 percent from the previous year. On average, a domestic tourist spends IDR 711,000 (USD $58.3) per trip.

Between 2007 and 2013, foreign tourists numbers are showing an increasing trend (see table below). This is partly due to a reduction in terrorist incidents aimed at western targets. A series of terrorist attacks between 2002 and 2005 caused the growth in foreign tourists to stagnate, while the attack on the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton in 2009 led to limited foreign tourism growth in 2009. In the last four years, however, there have been no terrorist incidents directed at foreign targets.

Westhill Consulting Travel and Tours supports Indonesia tourism via affordable packages available on their website.

http://running.competitor.com/2014/01/training/training-tips-for-when-youre-traveling_71832

While it’s not quite summer yet, school vacation, road trips and weekend getaways will be here to interrupt your training before you know it. Heck, due to a hectic work schedule, many of you reading this article don’t need summer to have your training interrupted by travel. It’s a part of your everyday training challenge.

Perhaps one of the most logistically challenging aspects of training is trying to fit in runs and workouts around travel, regardless of whether it’s for pleasure or work. Unfamiliar routes, busy schedules, and weariness from the road can make it nearly impossible to stick to the optimal training plan.

So, how do you handle training while traveling?

Rather than providing you with yet another article on travel tips like finding a treadmill, mapping your routes and planning ahead — and because there are plenty of resources from runners with far more travel experience than myself — this article will target the more holistic aspect of training while traveling. That is, how to take a long-term view of your workouts and learn to adapt your entire plan and outlook on training to handle the stress and unpredictability of travel.

One Workout Doesn’t Make or Break A Training Segment

Thanks to the OCD nature that probably pre-disposes us to be runners, missing a key workout can be extremely difficult to handle. Even the most experienced runners fret about lost fitness or missed potential gains when they miss a workout. However, if you’re training consistently, there is no magic or secret workout that must be done in order to have success at any race distance.

A former coach of mine, Scott Simmons, was fond of the saying that a missed workout was a “small drop of water in your big bucket of fitness.” Meaning, if you think of every workout, easy day and long run you do as a drop of water that collects in a large bucket, you can see that once your bucket is filled up with water, the absence of a single drop isn’t noticeable in the slightest. It has a minuscule impact on your overall fitness.

This analogy helped me understand that training isn’t about individual workouts. When you step back and look at your training from a holistic point of view, you can see that missing one workout has little impact on your fitness.

So, what does this have to do with training and travel?

Many runners I work with have trouble bouncing back after a missed workout. It ruins the rest of their week as they never get back on track. Some runners try to cram workouts in to make up for their missed run, which is always the wrong answer. And, some runners lose complete confidence in their fitness and carry that feeling with them into race day.

Don’t let missing one workout due to a long flight or a busy work meeting ruins your entire week of training or causes you to lose confidence in your fitness. Remember, it’s a small drop of water in your big bucket of fitness.

Doing Something Is Better Than Doing Nothing

We all want everything to go perfectly in training. Unfortunately, when traveling sometimes you have to adapt and do the best with what you’re given. Perhaps you don’t have time to get in that tempo run you planned or find yourself in a location less than ideal for 400-meter repeats. Rather than not doing anything, get creative.

Turn your track session into a fartlek and sprint from telephone pole to telephone poll. Can’t get outside? Focus instead on injury prevention and does some hip strengthening or core work. Heck, you don’t even need to get that creative. An easy run is still better than not running if you have the time. However, even if you’re short on time, simply taking three minutes to do the five most beneficial hip strengthening exercises could go a long way toward keeping you healthy long-tem.

Regardless of what you’re able to fit in, you can still find some small way to make yourself a better runner each and every day.

Overtraining Is Also Caused By Lack of Sleep and Recovery

With that said, remember that overtraining and fatigue are caused by more than just running workouts.

Lack of sleep, travel anxiety, and trying to cram in workouts can all lead to a greater stress on your body than you realize. Training does not occur in a vacuum and the stress and lack of sleep from a busy travel schedule can be just as hard on the body as a week of difficult workouts.

Schedule yourself some needed rest and recovery time. Most experienced runners will admit that the cause of their poor performances was a result of trying to do too much or getting injured rather than not working hard enough. Remember, no single workout makes or breaks a training segment. Sometimes, the best way for you to stay healthy and train to your best is to take some extra rest.

As you get set to travel for work this week or as your summer travel plans materialize, remember to keep a holistic view of your training in mind. Be adaptable, focus on the small wins you can find in training, and don’t fret if training gets off track.

References:

http://westhillconsulting.info/

https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/108506-westhill-consulting-travel-and-tours

Bipartisan legislation that would delay flood insurance premium hikes for hundreds of thousands of people living in coastal and low-lying areas cleared its first hurdle in the Senate on Monday.

The 86-13 vote demonstrated that the measure had filibuster-proof support in the chamber, which was likely to pass it in a few days.

The legislation would delay for up to four years premium increases set to phase in next year on homeowners facing whopping premium increases under new flood maps and would allow homeowners with subsidized insurance policies to pass them on to people who buy their homes.

The higher premiums were the result of changes made to the federal flood insurance program less than two years ago — widely praised as long-overdue reforms of the program — that were designed to make it more financially stable and bring insurance rates more in line with the real risk of flooding.

The White House Monday evening issued an official policy statement that failed to endorse the legislation. "Delaying implementation of these reforms would further erode" the program's financial position, the statement said. But it urged relief for economically distressed policyholders.

But the new rates have caused sticker shock for hundreds of thousands of people who could face big premium jumps as flood maps are updated in coming years. And the loss of subsidies when homes are sold has put a damper on the real estate market and threatened home values. Homeowners are seeing estimates that in many cases would force premium hikes of 10 times or more as their homes are judged to be at greater risk of flooding.

"It's had a significant impact in the flood-prone areas," said Ken Baris, a real estate agent in West Orange, N.J. "There's lots of people who are seeing their equity being eaten up."

But Egon Kahl, an agent on Long Beach Island in New Jersey, which was hit hard by Superstorm Sandy, said the real estate market there was humming.

Other reforms, including higher premiums for frequently-flooded properties and on 1.7 million second homes would remain in place.

Clearing the first Senate hurdle put the bill on track for Senate action later in the week. Its future in the House was uncertain at best. Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, opposes the Senate bill but was holding the door open to a more modest measure that would leave more of the 2012 overhaul in place.

At issue is the federal flood insurance program that was established in 1968 and has incurred big losses, most recently with Sandy in 2012. It is more than $24 billion in debt to taxpayers for losses from big storms like Sandy and Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The 2012 overhaul of the program made several changes to the program, which helps 5.6 million policyholders, 20 percent of whom receive subsidized policies for older homes built before communities joined the flood insurance program. Owners of second homes, frequently-flooded properties and businesses in flood areas would gradually lose their subsidies and pay 25 percent more a year until they reach an actuarially sound rate. Others get to keep their subsidies but can't pass them on when selling their homes.

Useful Source:

http://westhillconsulting.info/about.html

http://westhillconsulting.info/blog/

http://westhillconsultingtravel-tour.blogspot.ca/

About Us

Westhill Consulting, TRAVEL & TOURS, INC. was established by a group of people who are travel enthusiasts. They wanted to fulfill a long time dream of travelling the world and they wanted to fulfill others' dream as well. We carry out the business of tours and travel intermediation representing major travel suppliers. We also provide services such as booking, tour facilitation, travel documentation and other related services. We will make sure that you will have the travel experience that is worth of you money and your time. We hope that this will result to repeat sales from valued customers.

• Vision

This company envisions itself to be the most preferred travel agency by providing a high-quality and reliable service thereby fulfilling one's dream of traveling.

• Mission

Through the determined efforts of the associates, the company is passionate in giving our customers the following satisfaction:

• Provide the fulfillment of everybody's dream to travel
• Provide quality and affordable travel to consumers
• Provide the satisfaction of that dream and repeat sale from valued customers

Read more:

http://westhillconsulting.info/

http://westhillconsulting.info/about.html