Dave Baker

The reason for the deletion of the cache -- only the checkbox marked "cache" in your Tools->Clear Private Data dialogue box (on Firefox), not the cookies, saved passwords or any other kind of private data -- is that the corrupted javascript files that were causing trouble have very possibly been cached on your machine and need to replaced with the corrected ones (which would happen the next time you use the message boards, if the cache has been emptied). That was an optimization technique to reduce load on the database server; I should have checked with the community before deleting it. I've restored it. Thanks very much for asking. Dave

Got ta bea t the sp am ro bots fr om scrap ing em ail addre ss in mess age Wond er wha t ever happ ened to ole Wal t

My fault! I have fixed that problem; could you please try again and let me know if you have any trouble (dave bak er @ ben efit slink . co m)? Thank you very much.

Mike, would you try hitting the "refresh" or "reload" button for your browser, and then see if the links start to work? If that doesn't work, could you empty your browser's "cached" files, and then see if the links start to work?

Surely! I now more than I ever thought I needed to know about the difference between ASCII and binary mode transfers of javascript files using the SSH2 and SFTP file transfer protocol. The problem also affected the ability to click on the "tabs" that appear after one clicks on his or her name (after "Logged in as:"); that's fixed, too.

This seems to be a bug in the upgraded software... sigh... I will report it to the vendor and see if I can get it cleared up quickly! My browser is reporting 11 javascript errors just in this reply page. :-( Dave Baker

(see attachment)

Tell it, brother. Information overload. How can I make it easier to digest, in the BenefitsLink retirement and health & welfare newsletters? Narrow the focus even further somehow, by topic or audience? One strategy I use is to create folders in my bookmarks, in the Steven Covey way (I think): I, II, III and IV. If I see something in a newsletter that I want to read and it's both urgent and important, I click on the item and then bookmark the resulting web page in the "I" folder. I need to go through it by the end of the day. (I haven't figured out a way to bookmark a "favorites" folder in Firefox, though. I'd like to stick a bookmark on my desk.) If it's important but not urgent (i.e., would increase business or be a valuable contribution to the community, but it doesn't have a short deadline), it goes in the II folder. I try to schedule time to go through the II folder. Stuff in "III" is urgent but not important... e.g., I can get a new piece of interesting software if I use the coupon by Monday (the software would be nice to have, but not really important to have). Maybe I'll get to it if I get through I and II, but I won't feel like I've missed an important opportunity if I don't get to it. And IV is stuff that's neither urgent nor important. Maybe it's something that caught my eye because one of these days I might find it to be important (if my business takes a different direction, etc.). I basically never get to stuff in III or IV, but it makes me feel good to have stuck it somewhere Of course, it's not necessary to click on every item. Skimming is perfectly OK; click on only a couple that look like candidates for the I folder. Don't get stressed out because you can't analyze every item. You can always use the search engine (http://benefitslink.com/search) if you want to circle back about some issue. (Though I need to improve it further, I know.) Another tip is to try to "handle" something only once. Putting stuff in a "look at this eventually" folder means you end up handling it twice.

Here is a link to the press release (PDF document) issued today by the ERISA Industry Committee about its proposal for a 'New Benefit Platform for Life Security,' which would include creation of firms called Benefit Administrators: (click here) Excerpt: "The New Benefit Platform recognizes that a secure retirement must include health care coverage and provides an opportunity for post employment coverage. It proposes a new structure for providing benefits through independent Benefit Administrators who would compete with each other based on quality, use of information technology, plan design and cost. Each Benefit Administrator would be required to offer plans for a core set of “lifetime security” benefits—health, retirement and short-term savings." The full proposal is online also, as a PDF document (62 pages): (click here)

Dear users of the VEBA message board, I am the BenefitsLink.com, Inc. employee who acts as the "administrator" of these message boards. I want to keep the boards running as a valuable, free tool for employee benefits practitioners. I have taken an administrative action that some of you will not like, but which I believe to be in the best interests of every user of the message boards. I decided to remove a topic (a message thread) about a particular, named VEBA service-provider whose business practices were roundly criticized in messages in the thread. The service-provider contacted me by email and by phone this week and we discussed the message thread in some detail. Until then I had not read the message thread. The service-provider says that some of the statements posted in the message thread are false, and that they are damaging his reputation. I do not know whether the statements are true or false. If a statement is proven to be false and it harms the reputation of an individual, the individual has a legal cause of action for defamation against the person making the statement. Per the ground rules that are displayed when a new user registers, a message can be taken down if a person complains that it is "objectionable" to him. (Also, users agree not to post defamatory statements.) As the administrator of the message boards it falls to me to determine in my discretion what's "objectionable" when a party complains. If you or some other user say to me as administrator that a statement about you in a message is defamatory, I believe you've pointed out a message that's objectionable to you, and that the message should be taken down. My reasoning is that you wouldn't want to have to defend yourself by rebutting such statements via a public "point-counterpoint" exchange in a thread on the message boards. Among other reasons, it would be hard and time-consuming to put down into text all of the things you would want to say in response, especially responses to claims made by anonymous posters. Damage to your reputation could be catastrophic and perhaps irreparable, because a Google search on your name by a potential client might easily include a link to the message thread. Naturally, when one believes that people are being harmed by a service-provider, he wants to be helpful by warning others. I can appreciate how very strongly you could feel about another service-provider's business practices, especially if based on your first-hand experience or on other information that you believe to be certainly and provably true. The question, though, is whether these public message boards ought to be available to do that. You would have other opportunities to share your opinion, such as conversations in person, via private email, or via some other medium that is not publicly viewable. You also could write and publish an article on a web site that you own or operate, if you wish to publish your opinion on the Web. I would like to emphasize that BenefitsLink.com, Inc. has not made any investigation into whether various statements that were made in the message thread are true or false. That's not a role the company has taken on. BenefitsLink.com, Inc. is not the "publisher" of messages posted to this public message board, pursuant to interpretations of defamation law made by several courts, and we do not monitor messages to determine whether or not they might be considered defamatory. But we have agreed to take down messages that a party finds to be objectionable if the party complains. I know this action might offend you, especially if you put time and thought into making one or more posts in the message thread. I can see how you would feel offended and disappointed by this action affecting your already-posted messages, and for that I sincerely apologize. I am not questioning the good faith of any of the folks who posted messages in the thread. Also, I do not mean to imply that posts made anonymously are unwelcome. Thank you very much for all the great help you provide to practitioners and plan participants through your posts on these message boards. I hope you continue to find them to be valuable in your practice. Dave Baker Email: davebaker at benefitslink.com

Success! All 5,147 of the circle-Cs in the 144,628 posts have been converted to the intended ©.

Ah, I found the problem in the software and fixed it ... for messages that are posted in the future (after about 3:35 p.m. Eastern time, June 4, 2007). I am sorry for this annoyance. I must admit that I have known about it for a while, but I had not yet obtained any round tuits ... Now I will get under the hood again and see if I can fix the copyright symbols that are showing in already-posted messages. Film at 11.

Testing, one, two, three... A tax-exempt organization that is eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions is one that qualifies under section 501©(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Call (800) GOOG-411 and it will look up any business number for you, purely by voice recognition, and connect you, for free. No ads. No buttons to punch. We'll all be working for Google eventually, it seems.

Can you reinstall IE6?

SUBSCRIBING TO A PARTICULAR MESSAGE BOARD Problem: You are especially interested to read questions and answers posted in a particular message board. You only have time to visit that message board once a day or every couple of days, or you sometimes forget to check it. Solution: "Subscribe" to that message board so that you get an email each time a new topic is posted. For example, say you'd like to monitor the Church Plans message board; your legal practice includes many such plans. 1. Go to the home page of the message boards ( http://benefitslink.com/boards ). 2. Click on Church Plans. 3. Look for "Forum Options" at the top right corner of the box that lists the currently posted topics. Click on it. You'll get a drop-down menu of options... one is "Subscribe to this Forum." Select it by highlighting that option. (If you don't get a drop-down menu, you probably have Javascript disabled on your web browser. Javascript must be enabled to make this work.) 4. Now you get a screen showing various settings for your subscription. You can specify that you want an email every time a topic is posted (the "Immediate Email Notification" option). Or, you can specify that you want an email that contains a cumulative list of the new topics (called a "digest"), to be sent to you once a day or once a week. -- Note: An alternative to immediate notifications that is useful if you come online often to view the particular message board is to select "Delayed Email Notification." In that case the message boards software will not send you immediate email notice of each new topic. Instead it will wait to see if you visit the particular message board within a certain period of time after the new topic was posted (it's smart enough to know this). If you don't, then an email notice about the new topic is sent to you (hence the use of the word "delayed"). But if you do visit that message board within a certain period of time, you won't get an email about any new topics that are listed when you visit the message board (you don't need an email because you'll have found out about those new topics by seeing them listed on the message board). -- Another note: After you go online and read the new topic, the software is smart enough to reset itself so that it automatically emails you when someone later posts a new message (a "reply") in that topic. See also: HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM A MESSAGE BOARD TO WHICH YOU'VE SUBSCRIBED, below. ---- SUBSCRIBING TO A PARTICULAR TOPIC Problem: You find a particularly interesting topic on one of the message boards. You want to monitor the topic to see when someone posts a reply message (e.g., an answer to the question that the topic starter asked). You don't want to have to bookmark the topic and then remember to check that bookmark. Solution: "Subscribe" to that topic so that you get an email when a reply is posted. 1. To subscribe to a particular topic, open that topic by clicking on its title. 2. Click on the button that says "Options" (at the top right corner of the resulting screen showing the original post in the topic and any replies). You'll get a drop-down options list that says "Track This Topic." Select it by highlighting it. -- Note: Unfortunately, the terminology is not consistent here; it ought to say "subscribe" instead of "track" -- it's the same thing. -- Another note: You'll get a poorly-worded "error" message if you do this for a topic that's in a message board to which you've already subscribed as described earlier, because you already would be getting an email notice when a reply is posted in such a topic, as described earlier. Now you can go away from the message boards and go about your business. If you check your email frequently during the day you'll find an email notice whenever someone posts a reply message in the topic to which you've subscribed. (This presumes you have selected the "immediate" notification option.) If you wish, you can jump online (using the link you'll see in in the email notification) to read the new reply message. For example, someone might have just posted an answer to your question, if you started the topic with a question. If the person who posted the reply also has subscribed to this topic, then the two of you in effect can have an online dialog during the day. Sometimes it's remarkable how fast a question is answered, especially if several people already have subscribed to the message board in which the topic appears and have specified immediate email notices. The topic can become an accelerated three-way (or four-way, etc.) online discussion that blooms like a flower in time-lapse photography! (OK, perhaps I'm getting too enthusiastic here. ) See also: HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM A TOPIC TO WHICH YOU'VE SUBSCRIBED, below. ---- HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM A MESSAGE BOARD TO WHICH YOU'VE SUBSCRIBED; HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM A TOPIC TO WHICH YOU'VE SUBSCRIBED If you decide you've had a bellyfull of email notices about new topics in a message board or new replies in a particular topic, you're able to stop those emails by "unsubscribing." 1. Click on "My Controls," which appears towards the top right side of any page while you're visiting the message boards. It's on the same line that starts with "Logged in as [your username here]." 2. Scroll down the "Menu" at the left side of the resulting page. 3. Click on "View Topics" to see the particular topics to which you're subscribed, or click on "View Forums" to see the particular message boards to which you're subscribed. 4. Check the box next to any item to which you'd like to unsubscribe. 5. Click on the "With Selected" button you'll see at the bottom of the list of items. (It will have the word "Unsubscribe" in front of it, by default).

Brian's contact info (from www.asppa.org): Brian H. Graff, Esq., APM Executive Director/CEO 703.516.9300 x110 bgraff@asppa.org

Thanks for asking, oriecat! Any spam message can be deleted by any Sitewide Administrator ... we have 21 of them now. These are people who use the board a great deal: 500 or more posts! Also, the moderator of any particular message board can delete spam messages in his or her message board. I'm looking forward to seeing if this idea works. It'll be a success if nonregistered users post helpful, interesting reply messages.

The registration process is so tedious that I think it is worth trying out the ability of nonregistered users to post a reply to an existing topic. A nonregistered user does not have the ability to start a topic, however. Nor does he or she have the ability to edit his or her message once it is posted. Let's see if this new reply feature is abused. The motivation for the experiment is that I'd like to be able to add items in the BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter or the BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter that would be links to particular topics of interest on the message boards. Many newsletter readers wouldn't be registered already but probably would want to be able to post a reply to the topic to which they'd been brought (in order to contribute to the discussion). Getting those people involved should mean some valuable contributions to the board and I hope many of them will register in order to get the benefits of being a registered user. (I need to make those benefits more clear, also. For example, the ability to "subscribe" to a particular message topic in order to be alerted to new posts in that topic, or to subscribe to entire message boards.) What do you think? Dave

Should a plan document be prepared only by lawyers? Those interested in the "unlicensed practice of law" issue, in states where bar associations seek to apply those rules to plan document preparation by non-lawyers, will want to look at this site (which I just came across) for support or in horror, depending on your position: http://www.naldp.org/

It appears Eli Lilly has found yet another application for prescription drug Prozac (yes, the anti-depressant), and is hawking it to dog owners. Somewhere out there an employer probably provides veterinary benefits for employees, and now its costs will go up. -- Dave Baker --- Apr 25, 2007 08:00 ET Eli Lilly and Company Introduces Reconcile™ for Separation Anxiety in Dogs At-Home BOND™ Behavior Modification Training Plan Complements Drug's Efficacy INDIANAPOLIS, April 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) announced today it has received approval from the FDA to market Reconcile™ (fluoxetine hydrochloride), the first selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class of antidepressants approved by the FDA for treatment of canine separation anxiety in conjunction with behavior modification training. Reconcile™ is the first Lilly product approved by the FDA for dogs and is now available to U.S. veterinarians. "Lilly research shows that 10.7 million, or up to 17 percent of U.S. dogs(1) suffer from separation anxiety," said Steve Connell, D.V.M., manager of technical, academic and consumer services for companion animal health at Lilly. "We're thrilled that our first product for dogs can help restore the human-pet bond, which can be compromised when dogs suffer from separation anxiety." Reconcile™ is a once-daily, chewable, flavored tablet that may be prescribed by a veterinarian in weight-specific doses for use in conjunction with behavior modification training to treat canine separation anxiety. The drug is proven safe for dogs and puppies 6 months or older. In field studies of approximately 600 dogs, 73 percent of dogs receiving Reconcile™ showed improvement in separation anxiety-related behavior within eight weeks when compared with dogs receiving behavior modification training alone. Within one week of starting Reconcile™ treatment and behavior modification training, 42 percent of dogs showed improvement. During trials, the most common adverse reactions to Reconcile™ were calm or lethargy, reduced appetite, vomiting, shaking, diarrhea, restlessness, excessive vocalization, aggression and -- in infrequent cases -- seizures. Reconcile™ allows dogs to be more receptive to your training to help with anxiety Canine separation anxiety is a prevalent and often misunderstood behavior problem, according to Connell. It amounts to undesirable behavior that occurs when the dog is left alone even for short periods of time. The resulting anxiety may cause the dog to engage in inappropriate behavior, such as destruction, excess vocalization and inappropriate elimination. Anorexia and depression also may be observed in some cases. "Your family veterinarian may recommend certain tests before diagnosing separation anxiety," Connell added. "Such tests are used to rule out other potential physiological causes of inappropriate behavior." For dogs affected by separation anxiety, Reconcile™ reduces inappropriate behaviors, minimizes the pet's distress and increases receptivity to a simple training plan called the BOND™ modification training plan. The BOND™ behavior modification program is an easy-to-implement, at-home training plan developed by Lilly and a team of veterinary behaviorists as well as veterinarians. The simple plan allows dog owners to take an active role in the treatment of their pet's separation anxiety to help restore the human-pet bond. Dog owners whose veterinarians have prescribed Reconcile™ receive educational materials to enable them to follow an easy four-step training plan to reinforce positive pet behavior which helps to reduce or eliminate inappropriate responses to anxiety. Components include a take-home DVD, printed materials and in-home reminders so the whole family can reinforce behavior modification training for the dog. Debra F. Horwitz, D.V.M., and a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists, was among the veterinary behaviorists involved in developing the BOND™ program. "Learning and memory are important in the formation and maintenance of anxieties," said Horwitz. "Decreasing anxiety can help pets learn and, through training, they can learn new responses to stimuli that have triggered separation anxiety in the past. The development of the BOND™ behavior modification plan is an important complement to Reconcile™ in the treatment of separation anxiety." For more information about Reconcile™ and the BOND™ behavior modification program, which are available only through veterinarians, visit http://www.reconcile.com/ . Important safety information and the product label also can be found at http://www.reconcile.com/ . Lilly, a leading innovation-driven corporation, is developing a growing portfolio of first-in-class and best-in-class pharmaceutical products by applying the latest research from its own worldwide laboratories and from collaborations with eminent scientific organizations. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Lilly provides answers -- through medicines and information -- for some of the world's most urgent medical needs. Additional information about Lilly is available at http://www.lilly.com/ . Information about Lilly products for pets is available at http://www.lillypet.com/ . ™ Reconcile and BOND are registered trademarks of Eli Lilly and Company. (1) Lilly Research 2006 Source: Eli Lilly and Company CONTACT: Joan Todd of Eli Lilly and Company, +1-317-433-0121; or John Dutcher of McCormick Co., +1-515-238-5051, for Eli Lilly and Company Web site: http://www.lilly.com/ http://www.lillypet.com/ http://www.reconcile.com/

An investment management firm has published a detailed 'fact check' of Tuesday's testimony to the House committee looking into disclosure to participants of fees charged on investments of 401(k) (basically, self-directed defined contribution) plans. Here's the text of the description and the hypertext link, from today's Benefits in the News page here on BenefitsLink.com: Opinion: 'Fact Check' Needed for Testimony Given to House Committee on 401(k) Fee Disclosure (PDF) 11 pages. Mr. Eisen provides comments on each key point presented by four witnesses at the March 6, 2007 hearing, and explains why he agrees or disagrees with each point. (Ron Eisen of Investment Management Consultants, Inc.) Comments? Note to new users of the message boards: everybody can view this discussion, but if you'd like to post a comment (called a "reply") -- and please do! -- you'll need to register (free, fast): click here to register.

[Found on the net:] A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee. When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself, adds no quality to the coffee in most cases, just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. "What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups... and then began eyeing each other's cups. "Now consider this: Life is the coffee, and the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us." God brews the coffee, not the cups... enjoy your coffee.

I am very sorry I didn't post this on the boards and get some feedback ... the damned spammers have been registering as new users at the rate of about a dozen a day, which concerns me. All one has to do to become a user is enter a working email address, even if it's Russian or a freebie kind of server (hotmail.com, etc.), so the prospective user gets a "click here to confirm" email and then is fully registered. I clean out the new users once a week or so, looking for obviously spam-like usernames or suspicious (Russian, etc.) domain names in the email addresses. My thinking re the avatars is that I didn't want a new user to be able to post something obscene as an avatar; I also disabled the posting of graphics in messages for the same reason ... unfortunately the software doesn't give me a way to make exceptions for trusted users. I thought about having a pre-approval process by which prospective users couldn't actually become users until I cleared 'em, but that technique would seem to stop a lot of legitimate wanna-be users from participating. ("Oh great, now I have to wait some indefinite period of time until I get an email from the webmaster.") You think the avatars ought to be restored, and then leave it to moderators to delete any obscene or other kind of spam messages that appear?