Chocolate, oysters, grapes, chilies, coffee and basil….what do they have in common?  Throughout history, each of them has been considered to be an aphrodisiac.  Royalty and common folk alike have sought to captivate the persons of their desire through feeding them aphrodisiacs, or consuming aphrodisiacs in order to appease those they loved. Is there any basis to such claims?  Martha Hopkins, co-author of “The New InterCourses: an aphrodisiac cookbook” says: “Historically, the qualifying factors for aphrodisiacs were relatively simple:  The rare an ingredient (caviar), the more likely it held aphrodisiacal qualities.  Likewise, the more an ingredient resembled a sexual organ, the stronger its power over the libido (asparagus).” In some cases, it’s more anecdotal such as black beans and pinenuts which have been considered to be symbols and sources of fertility.   Black beans for instance begin to grow in a pod, eventually becoming plump and emerging ready to create yet another life.   The idea that black beans produced fertility has been so strong in the past that it even led one early Latin church father to forbid consumption of black beans by the nuns! Yet in other cases modern science has shed some light on why figures such as Casanova is said to have consumed dozens and dozens of oysters in a given sitting (they are low in fat and high in zinc which is key to sexual performance for both men and women) or why Aztec emperor Montezuma consumed as many as 50 goblets of a cold bitter chocolate beverage flavored with chilies and vanilla (the caffeine of chocolate provides a surge of energy while it delivers a dose of PEA and serotonin, chilies get the heart pumpking and cause the face to go flush while making us sweat, and the scent of vanilla has been shown to produce a feeling of well-being).  In both cases, they relied on these storied foodstuffs to maintain their libido. Regardless of ingredient be they rare or abundant, and putting folklore and science aside, simply taking the time and effort to prepare a delicious meal for someone special could be considered to be an aphrodisiac.

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Aphrodisiacs – Love at First Bite?

Freelancers Union continues to work to increase more eligible industries. … That’s the Enterprising Thought feature presented by Jim Lehrer on PBS News Hour tonight….That’s the Enterprising Belief feature presented by Jim Lehrer on PBS News Hour tonight.

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Freelancers Union Could Provide Insurance Coverage for Self-Employed

Todays news that a mental health charity has been fined 30,000, plus 20,000 costs, for failing to protect the health and safety of their employee serves as a timely reminder of the importance of conducting regular robust risk assessments.

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The high cost of failure to conduct health & safety risk assessments

I have screened plenty of calls from the recently terminated , and by far the most common inquiry involves a separated employees’ right to accrued vacation pay. My answer – it depends. If your employer has a monthly vacation accrual policy, you are entitled to a prorated share of your annual entitlement based on the number of months worked prior to your termination

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The Law on Accured Vacation Time

At the end of the 1978 movie “Animal House,” before the credits role, the fate of the degenerate frat boys at the heart of the story is revealed in short clips. John “Bluto” Blutarsky, played by John Bulushi, becomes a U.S. Senator, and others become doctors and diplomats, the joke being that drunken depravity is not a liability in some supposedly respectable professions

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Sexual Harassment And Professional Offices

On my way in to work this morning, I was listening to NPR’s Morning Edition , and caught an interview with Lewis Maltby , president of the National Workrights Institute . The interview was ostensibly to promote Mr. Maltby’s new book, “ Can They Do That?

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Despite Assertions to Contrary, Employment Laws Do Exist

There was something intriguing, even a little perplexing, about President Obama’s State of the Union address Wednesday night. It’s the same intriguing note to be found in many of Obama’s most important speeches. And before you ask, it isn’t ideology or rhetoric or even oratory, but something deeper and more complex: It is the clear evidence of a way of thinking not often seen in the Oval Office, or indeed in the corner office.

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Barack Obama’s Integrative Brain

In his State of the Union address, President Obama did a bit of Wall Street bashing (although less than I would have expected). I don’t really have a problem with Wall Street bashing. The financial sector came to represent an abnormally large share of the U.S

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Fixing the Financial System by Reinventing Debt

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has clarified its proposals to give Employment Tribunals the power to pass on whistleblowing ( Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 ) allegations arising during claims to a prescribed regulator. According to the proposals the tribunal claim form (ET1) is to be amended so that claimants will be invited to tick a box, indicating whether their claim includes allegations of a protected disclosure and, if so, that they wish the tribunal to refer the allegations on. Where this box is ticked and the tribunal identifies a protected disclosure, will the information be passed on to one or more relevant authorities on a prescribed list.

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More powers to Tribunals for Whistleblowers

Plans to change paternity leave entitlement were unveiled by Gordan Brown last year and this week the government has announced proposals to increase paternity leave from two weeks to six months. The plans could come into force from April next year and will allow mothers to transfer up to half of their year-long maternity leave entitlement to their partner during the last six months. Ministers hope that the principle of sharing leave between parents will help achieve the goal of a more flexible workforce and give parents more options.   Currently fathers are entitled to 2 weeks paid leave while mothers can take up to 52 weeks, 39 of which are paid

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Plans revealed for 6 months paternity leave

The Court of Appeal has confirmed that professionals in the public (and possibly the private) sector are entitled to legal representation at disciplinary and appeal hearings if the hearing might impact upon their right to practise their profession in the future ( G v X School) .  G was a teaching assistant at X school.  He was alleged to have kissed a 15 year old boy.  The school governors conducted a disciplinary hearing and dismissed him, reporting his dismissal to the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) so that it could determine whether he should be placed on a ‘barred’ list of those unsuitable to work with children.  The Court of Appeal, following non-binding comments made in its earlier decision in Kulkarni v Milton Keynes Hospital NHS Trust , found that G was entitled to legal representation at the disciplinary and appeal hearings under Article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) because the right to practise a profession was a civil right or obligation, being listed by the ISA would fundamentally limit G’s ability to practise his profession and the school’s internal process would have a substantial influence or effect on the decision-making of the ISA. It is not yet clear which professions the principle applies to.

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Disciplinary Hearings: professionals have a right to legal representation

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has confirmed that workers must comply with their employers rules for taking annual leave (or, in an absence of such rules, the notice provisions of the Working Time Regulations).  This is the case even if the worker stands to lose any unused holiday entitlement at the end of the leave year, because they have failed to follow the rules ( Lyons v Mitie Security Ltd ).

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Annual Leave: EAT says employees must use it or lose it

In New York, employees are not entitled to be paid for holidays, sick time or vacations. Also, there is no rule requiring extra pay for working on a holiday. Some companies, however, have policies that provide employees with pay for holidays, sick time and even vacation pay.

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Are Employees Entitled to Pay for Holiday, Sicktime and Vacations?

Brand Clock , by Tanner Woodford, chronicling some of the 1,035 brand identities he encountered on October 14, 2008 Three words. Billions of dollars. If you look at Nike revenues, the big money set in consistently after 1989, the year of the great “Just do it.” Did the words define the moment, or did they then drive the machine

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10 Taglines to Help U.S. Companies Compete in a Post-American World

It’s a sign that the economy is slowly improving, but at least it’s a start: Wham-O is bringing back half of its Frisbee manufacturing to the United States from China, reports WalletPop . Kids in China may someday turn over their Frisbee and find “Made in America” on it. What a twist that would be! The toy manufacturer is bringing half of its Frisbee production to the United States — specifically Lompoc in Southern California — adding eight jobs to the economy

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Frisbee Production Returns To U.S.

What happens if you are a prevailing party entitled to attorneys’ fees under the FLSA, but the defendant company is hiding assets or otherwise avoiding a judgment? Fraudulent conveyances to avoid a judgment are not uncommon in FLSA cases. If a company is willing to violate the FLSA to lower the bottom line, they probably won’t have a problem hiding assets to avoid a subsequent judgment

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FLSA Overtime Violators May Be On The Hook For Post-Judgment Attorneys’ Fees

A welcome to West Virginia’s newest law blog, BR Employment Law Blog , by the Bowles Rice Employment Law Group . The blog plans to provide information useful for employers with an emphasize on news from the region of West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia and Maryland.

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WV Law Blog: Welcome BR Employment Law Blog

With millions of Americans out of work, some of the unemployed are taking matters into their own hands, according to a story on myFoxDC.com . Experts say the number of new inventions being pushed into the marketplace is rising

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Unemployed Developing More Inventions

The EAT has recently considered the duty of employers to conduct pregnancy risk assessments under regulation 16 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and held that, pregnant workers are not automatically entitled to a pregnancy risk assessment in the absence of evidence that the work involved a risk as to health and safety to the expectant mother.  For an employer to fall under a duty to conduct a pregnancy risk assessment, three preconditions must be met: (a)        the employee must have notified the employer of her pregnancy in writing; (b)        the work must be of a kind which could involve a risk of harm or danger to the health and safety of the expectant mother or her baby; (c)        that risk of harm/danger must arise from either processes, working conditions or physical, chemical or biological agents in the workplace.   The HSE websitecontains a list of hazards/risks which could be harmful to new or expectant mothers: http://www.hse.gov.uk/mothers/faqs.htm#a3 If the duty to carry out a pregnancy risk assessment arises, neither the Pregnant Workers Directive, nor the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, require the employer to hold a meeting with the worker. An employer must, however, provide her with comprehensive and relevant information on the identified risks to her health and safety ( O’Neill v Buckinghamshire County Council) .

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Pregnancy risk assessments: when must an employer carry one out?

On January 6, 2010, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) released data concerning charges of discrimination filed with the agency in FY2009. The EEOC resolved a record number of charges alleging harassment and violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. FY2009 saw the second highest number of charge filings nationwide, 93,277 –just about 2,000 filings less than the record high set for FY2008.

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EEOC Releases 2009 Charge Statistics