Amazon's boosting the minimum order eligible for free shipping to $35, a $10 increase. That's the first time in more than ten years the price has gone up. [Amazon via Lifehacker
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From left, Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini, Humana CEO Bruce Broussard, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida CEO Patrick Geraghty, and other health care chief executive officers arrive at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013, to meet with White House officials regarding President Barack Obama's health care law. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
From left, Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini, Humana CEO Bruce Broussard, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida CEO Patrick Geraghty, and other health care chief executive officers arrive at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013, to meet with White House officials regarding President Barack Obama's health care law. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio speaks during a new conference following a meeting at the Republican National Committee offices on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, left, and House Majority Leader Eric Canton of Va., right, walk away from the microphones following a news conference after a meeting at the Republican National Committee offices on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
From left, Tufts Health Plan President and CEO James Roosevelt, Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini, Humana CEO Bruce Broussard, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida CEO Patrick Geraghty, Kaiser Permanente CEO Bernard Tyson, and other health care chief executive officers arrive at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013, to meet with White House officials regarding President Barack Obama's health care law. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The principal contractors responsible for the federal government's trouble-plagued health insurance website say the Obama administration shares responsibility for the snags that have crippled the system.
Executives of CGI Federal, which built the federal HealthCare.gov website serving 36 states, and QSSI, which designed the part that verifies applicants' income and other personal details, are testifying Thursday before the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
The hearing comes as President Barack Obama's allies are starting to fret about the political fallout. Democrats had hoped to run for re-election next year on the benefits of the health care law for millions of uninsured Americans. Instead, computer problems are keeping many consumers from signing up through new online markets.
One House Democrat says the president needs to "man up" and fire somebody, while others are calling for signup deadlines to be extended and a reconsideration of the penalties individuals will face next year if they remain uninsured.
On that point, a change in the timeline for signing up for coverage is underway, the White House said. Consumers have until Dec. 15 to apply for coverage that's effective Jan. 1. Even though open enrollment lasts until March 31, people would face a penalty if they postpone buying coverage beyond mid-February. Calling that a "disconnect," the White House said officials will soon issue policy guidance allowing consumers to sign up by the end of March without penalty.
The focus on the contractors is a first step for GOP investigators. After the failure of their drive to defund "Obamacare" by shutting down the government, they've been suddenly handed a new line of attack by the administration itself. Administration officials, including Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, are to testify next week.
Cheryl Campbell, senior vice president of CGI, suggested in prepared testimony that Congress should look beyond the contractors. HHS "serves the important role of systems integrator or 'quarterback' on this project and is the ultimate responsible party for the end-to-end performance," she said.
Overwhelming interest from consumers triggered the website problems, she said. "No amount of testing within reasonable time limits can adequately replicate a live environment of this nature," she said.
Andy Slavitt, representing QSSI's parent company, said the operation's virtual back room, known as the federal data hub, is working well despite some bugs. But his company was also involved with another part of the system, a component for registering individual consumer accounts that became an online bottleneck.
Slavitt blamed the administration, saying that a late decision to require consumers to create accounts before they could browse health plans contributed to the overload. "This may have driven higher simultaneous usage of the registration system that wouldn't have occurred if consumers could window-shop anonymously," he said.
Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Pa., chairman of the panel's health subcommittee, said he wants to focus on the administration's decision not to allow browsing, or window-shopping. That's a standard feature of e-commerce sites, including Medicare.gov for seniors. Lack of a browsing capability forced all users to first go through the laborious process of creating accounts, overloading that part of the site.
"Who made that decision? When was it made? Why was it made?" Pitts asked.
Acknowledging what's been obvious to many outside experts, the administration said Wednesday that the system didn't get enough testing, especially at a high user volume, before going live. It blamed a compressed time frame for meeting the Oct. 1 deadline to open the insurance markets. Basic "alpha and user testing" are now completed, but that's supposed to happen before a launch, not after.
The administration provided no timetable to fix extensive computer snags but said technicians are deep into the job. Its explanation, posted online in an HHS blog and accompanying graphic, identified six broad areas of problems and outlined fixes underway but in most cases incomplete.
The HHS explanation identified some bugs that have gotten little outside attention. Technical problems have surfaced that are making the application and plan-shopping functions difficult to complete. That's a concern because those stages are farther along in the signup process than the initial registration, where many consumers have been getting tripped up. The problems are being analyzed and fixes are planned.
Meanwhile, House Democrats are starting to worry aloud about persistent problems with the rollout.
Rep. Richard Nolan, D-Minn., told The Associated Press the computer fiasco has "damaged the brand" of the health care law.
"The president needs to man up, find out who was responsible, and fire them," Nolan said. He did not name anyone.
Obama says he's as frustrated as anyone and has promised a "tech surge" to fix the balky website. White House spokesman Jay Carney said the administration will be more transparent about the problems. After more than 20 days without briefing the media, HHS will start regular sessions on Thursday, he said.
In light of the computer problems, some Democrats are saying Obama should consider extending open enrollment season beyond March 31 and revisit the penalties for individuals who don't sign up and remain uninsured. Under the law, virtually all Americans must carry health insurance starting next year or face fines.
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Associated Press writers Josh Lederman and Laurie Kellman contributed to this report.
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-10-24-US-Health-Overhaul-Problems/id-21435afd57d44a9c96e56b0737ecc0f4Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
Source: http://images.infoworld.com/slideshow/125074/the-10-best-new-features-in-os-x-mavericks-229256?source=rss_infoworld_top_stories_NEW YORK (AP) — Tom Hardy will play Elton John in a biopic titled "Rocketman."
Focus Features announced Hardy's casting as the iconic piano man on Wednesday. The film is planned to begin shooting late next year.
The 36-year-old British actor is well respected for his wide-ranging talent, but his brawny, tattooed frame makes him an unconventional choice. Hardy is most famous for playing the terrorist Bane in "The Dark Knight Rises." He has showcased a muscled masculinity in films like "Warrior," ''Lawless" and "Bronson."
"Rocketman" is being made with the cooperation of the 66-year-old John, who's an executive producer on the film.
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The decommissioned aircraft carrier Ex-USS Forrestal (CV 59) departs Naval Station Newport for a three-day cruise to Philadelphia in June, 2010.
The decommissioned aircraft carrier Ex-USS Forrestal (CV 59) departs Naval Station Newport for a three-day cruise to Philadelphia in June, 2010.
The U.S. Navy's first "supercarrier" is being sold for just 1 cent to a ship breaker.
The ex-USS Forrestal, launched in 1954 and decommissioned in 1993, is the first of three conventional (non-nuclear) carriers due to be scrapped in the coming years. The Forrestal is best known for a devastating fire in 1967 that engulfed the ship's flight deck, killing 134 sailors and wounding 161 others.
Navy crewmen try to put out a fire aboard the USS Forrestal in the Tonkin Gulf off the coast of Vietnam, July 29, 1967.
Navy crewmen try to put out a fire aboard the USS Forrestal in the Tonkin Gulf off the coast of Vietnam, July 29, 1967.
In a statement, the U.S. Navy says All Star Metals, which was awarded the contract for the ship, is developing a final tow plan to get the ship "from its current berth at the Navy's inactive ship facility in Philadelphia to All Star Metals' facility in Brownsville. The ship is expected to depart Philadelphia before the end of the year."
The minimal payment reflects the net price proposed by All Star Metals, "which considered the estimated proceeds from the sale of the scrap metal to be generated from dismantling," the statement said.
Stars and Stripes says of the ship's famous fire:
"[The] Forrestal was in the Gulf of Tonkin the morning of July 29, 1967, for the Vietnam War effort when stray voltage triggered a rocket to launch from an F-4 Phantom on the flight deck.
The rocket struck an armed A-4 Skyhawk — piloted by a young Lt. Cmdr. John S. McCain III — rupturing the fuel tanks and sparking a chain reaction of fires and explosions on the deck, which was parked full of planes.
The crew fought the flight deck fire for an hour, but other fires blazed into the next day."
The Navy says it made the Forrestal available for donation in June 1999 as a museum or memorial, but didn't get any viable offers.
FILE - This file photo released Friday, April 19, 2013 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings. Lawyers for Tsarnaev will ask a judge to address the death penalty protocol during a status conference in federal court Monday, Sept. 23, 2013, in Boston. Tsarnaev is accused in two bombings that killed three people and injured more than 260 others near the finish line of the April 15 marathon. (AP Photo/Federal Bureau of Investigation, File)
FILE - This file photo released Friday, April 19, 2013 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings. Lawyers for Tsarnaev will ask a judge to address the death penalty protocol during a status conference in federal court Monday, Sept. 23, 2013, in Boston. Tsarnaev is accused in two bombings that killed three people and injured more than 260 others near the finish line of the April 15 marathon. (AP Photo/Federal Bureau of Investigation, File)
This May 4, 2013 police mugshot provided by the Orange County Corrections Department in Orlando, Fla., shows Ibragim Todashev after his arrest for aggravated battery in Orlando. Todashev, who was being questioned in Orlando by authorities in the Boston bombing probe, was fatally shot Wednesday, May 22, 2013 when he initiated a violent confrontation, FBI officials said. According to a filing made Monday, Oct. 23, 2013, Ibragim Todashev told investigators that Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the slain Boston Marathon bombing suspect, participated in a triple killing in Waltham, Mass. on Sept. 11, 2011. (AP Photo/Orange County Corrections Department)
BOSTON (AP) — Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's lawyers may try to save him from the death penalty in the Boston Marathon bombing by arguing he fell under the murderous influence of his older brother, legal experts say.
The outlines of a possible defense came into focus this week when it was learned that Tsarnaev's attorneys are trying to get access to investigative records implicating the now-dead brother in a grisly triple slaying committed in 2011.
In court papers Monday, federal prosecutors acknowledged publicly for the first time that a friend of Tamerlan Tsarnaev told investigators that Tamerlan participated in the unsolved killings of three men who were found in a Waltham apartment with their throats slit, marijuana sprinkled over their bodies.
The younger Tsarnaev's lawyers argued in court papers that any evidence of Tamerlan's involvement is "mitigating information" that is critical as they prepare Dzhokhar's defense. They asked a judge to force prosecutors to turn over the records.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 20, faces 30 federal charges, including using a weapon of mass destruction, in the twin bombings April 15 that killed three people and injured more than 260. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died in a gunbattle with police days later.
The government is still deciding whether to pursue the death penalty for the attack, which investigators say was retaliation for the U.S. wars in Muslim lands.
Miriam Conrad, Tsarnaev's public defender, had no comment.
Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said the defense may be trying to show that the older brother was the guiding force.
"If I was a defense attorney and was seeking perhaps to draw attention to the influence the older brother had in planning the bombing, I would use his involvement in other crimes to show that he was likely the main perpetrator in the Boston bombing," Dieter said.
"I would take the position that my client, the younger brother, was strongly influenced by his older brother, and even if he is culpable, the death penalty is too extreme in this case."
Similarly, Aitan D. Goelman, who was part of the legal team that prosecuted Oklahoma City bombing figures Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, said the defense may be looking to minimize the younger brother's role in the bombing.
"I think the mostly likely reason is that if they are arguing some kind of mitigation theory that the older brother was a monster and the younger brother was under his sway or intimidated or dominated by him," he said.
Investigators have given no motive for the 2011 slayings. One victim was a boxer and friend of Tamerlan Tsarnaev's.
Federal prosecutors said in court papers that Ibragim Todashev, another friend of Tamerlan's, told authorities that Tamerlan took part in the killings. Todashev was shot to death in Florida in May by authorities while being questioned.
Prosecutors argued that turning over the records would damage the investigation into the killings.
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Smith reported from Providence, R.I. Associated Press writer Pete Yost in Washington contributed to this report.
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-10-23-Boston%20Marathon%20Bombing/id-56a08c9416df4f2b83f7ab0c21020bf9Oh, Hai Amabella!
Yesterday we learned some shocking/well, not that shocking news about Jersey Shore star Pauly D. While DJing in Las Vegas, Pauly D apparently started hooking up with a young woman there, and is now the proud father of a bouncing baby girl. I have to admit, my jaw totally dropped when I saw the headline, but– as Trent mentioned– Pauly definitely lived the DTF lifestyle for some time, so it’s not all that surprising that someone got pregs. Still, he always came off like a sweetheart on the show and based on his first statement following the paternity test, it sounds like he’s excited about being a new Dad. Today we get our first look at baby girl via TMZ, so click inside to meet Amabella!
Five Months And Fist-Pumping:
Meet the new princess of Jersey … Pauly D’s 5-month-old baby girl, Amabella.
We broke the story … Pauly D hooked up with a chick he met in Vegas in the Fall, 2012 … and this is what happened.
Pauly has already taken a DNA test which pretty much conclusively proved he’s the daddy … so Maury, stand down.
As for the name … we’re told Amabella means lovable in French.
Honestly? I don’t know what they even needed the paternity test for– that is so clearly Pauly‘s baby, LOL.
Pauly is now the second Jersey Shore cast member to enter parenthood, and I think many of us have enjoyed watching Snooki become a mom to little Lorenzo. Here’s hoping Pauly takes to fatherhood as well.
And now… I can’t help but wonder which Shore star will be next to get pregs, lol. JWOWW‘s about to get married, but something tells me she’ll hold off on motherhood for a while. Dear gods… please don’t let it be Sammi and Ronnie. That is all.
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Despite countless electronic alternatives, board games have remained incredibly popular because you can immediately interact with your opponents sitting at the same table. The same can't be said for a computer player, so after developing software that's able to play complex board games like Risk, André Pereira designed and built a sass-talking robot head that gives a face to the AI opponent.
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In this Sept. 30, 2013 photo, Maria Julia Deguis, 10, looks out from her home in Los Jovillos village, known as a batey, in the Monte Plata province of the Dominican Republic. Maria, like with her mother and brother, is of Haitian descent and was born in the D.R., but she may lose her citizenship, and the rights that go along with it, because of a recent Constitutional Court decision. (AP Photo/Manuel Diaz)
In this Sept. 30, 2013 photo, Maria Julia Deguis, 10, looks out from her home in Los Jovillos village, known as a batey, in the Monte Plata province of the Dominican Republic. Maria, like with her mother and brother, is of Haitian descent and was born in the D.R., but she may lose her citizenship, and the rights that go along with it, because of a recent Constitutional Court decision. (AP Photo/Manuel Diaz)
In this Sept. 30, 2013 photo, an elderly woman walks between homes in the village of Los Jovillos, known as a batey, in the Monte Plata province of the Dominican Republic. The country's Constitutional Court ruled that people who were born in the D.R. after 1929 but whose parents were not either citizens or legal residents, are not automatically entitled to citizenship under a new constitution adopted in 2010. The government is under fire from human rights advocates for the ruling they see as racist. (AP Photo/Manuel Diaz)
In this Sept. 30, 2013 photo, Abelinda Yisten Debel pauses while doing her high school homework at her home in the Los Jovillos village, known as a batey in the Monte Plata province of Dominican Republic. Yisten, 19, was born in the Dominican Republic but now may lose her citizenship, and the rights that go along with it, because of a recent Constitutional Court decision that ruled that people who were born in the D.R. after 1929 but whose parents were not either citizens or legal residents, are not automatically entitled to citizenship. “It’s sad because I’m not a foreigner. I’m from here,” she said. (AP Photo/Manuel Diaz)
In this Oct. 1, 2013 photo, Manuel de Jesus Dandre, a lawyer and activist for Haitian migrants rights who was born in the D.R. and is of Haitian descent, shows his Dominican ID card and bar license during a news conference in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The Constitutional Court ruled that people who were born in the Dominican Republic but whose parents were not either citizens or legal residents, are not automatically entitled to citizenship, and ordered the government and the Electoral Council to compile a list of people who should be stripped of their Dominican birth certificate and identification card. (AP Photo/Manuel Diaz)
In this Sept. 30, 2013 photo, Juliana Deguis Pierre, behind left, a Dominican woman of Haitian descent, stands inside the kitchen of her home with her daughter Mairobi and mother Maria in the Los Jovillos village, known as a batey, in the Monte Plata province of the Dominican Republic. Juliana and her daughter Maria are two of many who were born in the Dominican Republic but may now lose their citizenship, and the rights that go along with it, because of a recent Constitutional Court decision. (AP Photo/Manuel Diaz)
LOS JOVILLOS, Dominican Republic (AP) — In a house with no running water surrounded by vast stretches of sugar cane, Abelinda Yisten Debel studies for a high school graduation exam she might not be allowed to take.
It's not just her diploma that's uncertain. The 19-year-old Yisten also faces the prospect of not being able to marry, get a formal job, or go to a public hospital if she gets sick.
She is one of an estimated 200,000 people who were born in the Dominican Republic and now may lose their citizenship, and the rights that go along with it, because of a recent Constitutional Court decision.
The court ruled that people who were born in the Dominican Republic to parents who were neither citizens nor legal residents are not automatically entitled to citizenship under a new constitution adopted in 2010. The effects of the decision are retroactive, and come as a particular shock to people like Yisten, who has rarely ventured beyond the dirt streets of her village and never traveled farther than the capital.
"It's sad because I'm not a foreigner. I'm from here," she said at her home — two rooms in a concrete barracks-like structure, built by the government for sugar workers, where 10 families share a bathroom.
Many in her central Dominican village, Los Jovillos, and across the country are waiting to learn their fate, some afraid to leave the house for fear they may be deported by immigration authorities — most likely to Haiti since most are of Haitian descent — because they have no papers. Some have lived in the Dominican Republic for generations.
"If they grab me, I'll be in trouble because I don't know where I would go. I've never even been to Haiti," said Juliana Deguis Pierre, the woman whose legal challenge resulted in the Constitutional Court ruling Sept. 23.
The court ordered the government and the Electoral Council to compile a list within two years of people who should be stripped of their Dominican birth certificate and identification card, known as a cedula, a document issued at age 18 that is required to participate in any public activity, from holding a job to casting a ballot.
Now, fear and uncertainty grip many in the country of 10 million. The government has said it will come up with a path to legal residency, but no details have been released. It may not come in time to help those whose papers have already been confiscated. President Danilo Medina has expressed sympathy for those affected but not said how, or if, he will help them.
The government meanwhile is under fire from human rights advocates at home and abroad for a ruling seen as racist. Ralph Gonsalves, prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and soon-to-be chairman of the Caribbean Community, urged Medina to find a solution.
"Surely, this ruling by the court is unacceptable in any civilized community," Gonsalves said in a letter to Medina. "It is an affront to all established international norms and elemental humanity, and threatens to make the Dominican Republic a pariah regionally and globally."
Nadine Perrault, a senior regional child protection adviser for UNICEF, said she remains hopeful the government will find a way to avoid what would equate to rendering thousands of people stateless, depriving them of basic social protections.
Perrault also thinks it will be extremely difficult not just to enforce the court order but to determine whose citizenship must be revoked since the ruling applies to anyone born after 1929. "This is going to be impossible to implement," she said.
Already, though, many people have essentially been cut off from society.
The Dominican Republic and Haiti have always been uneasy neighbors and many Dominicans resent the presence of so many Haitians in their country, still poor but better off in relative terms.
For many years, the Dominican Republic granted citizenship to anyone born in its territory. But starting around the 1990s, the government began denying birth certificates and the cedula to the children of people who had entered the country without papers. In 2007, the Electoral Council official ordered the denial of citizenship documents to all children born to illegal immigrants and local officials began confiscating the papers of people who already had their documents.
That's what happened to Yisten. When she turned 18, she went to an Electoral Council office with her birth certificate to obtain her cedula. They took her birth certificate, leaving her only with a photocopy as proof that she was born in the Dominican Republic. "I felt so bad, I almost cried," she says. With no cedula, she can't take the exam and graduate. She keeps studying, but doesn't know if she will be able to get her diploma.
She and her neighbors, most in similar straits, wait to see what happens next. Some in the Dominican Republic say they should just go to Haiti, but it's not clear they will be able to obtain citizenship there and the impoverished country holds little allure.
"I don't know Haiti," said Noelie Cocok, who runs a little store in Los Jovillos. "This is my country
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Associated Press writer Ezequiel Abiu Lopez reported this story in Los Jovillos and Ben Fox reported from Miami.
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Ben Fox on Twitter: https://twitter.com/benfoxatap
Ezequiel Abiu Lopez on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ezequiel_abiu
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-10-23-Dominican%20Republic-Stripping%20Citizenship/id-47b528b408554a6183baf65512429715Protesters fill the Miami office of Florida state Rep. Manny Diaz Jr. on Sept. 20 to protest his stance against expansion of health coverage in the state.
President Obama Tuesday appointed one of his top management gurus, Jeffrey Zeints, to head the team working to fix what ails Healthcare.gov, the troubled website that's supposed to allow residents of 36 states enroll in coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
But even if the team gets the website working as it should, millions of Americans may still log on to discover that they aren't eligible for any health coverage at all. And that won't be due to any technical glitch. It's because their state has decided not to expand its Medicaid program.
This is not the way the health law was designed and enacted, says Bruce Siegel.
"Originally the idea was that millions and millions of Americans would get health insurance," says Siegel, president and CEO of America's Essential Hospitals, a group that represents safety net institutions around the country. "They'd get coverage through Medicaid or through private insurance on the exchanges."
Currently in most states you have to be a child, be pregnant or disabled to get Medicaid. The health law was supposed to change all that — expanding the program to include nearly everyone with incomes up to about 133 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $15,000 a year for an individual.
But in the summer of 2012, when the Supreme Court upheld the health law as constitutional, it did something unexpected, Siegel says. "They said states had the option of expanding their Medicaid program or not expanding it. And that led to a very, very different landscape than what we expected."
Even with Ohio's decision earlier this week to opt in, still only half the states have said they will expand their Medicaid programs, even though the federal government is paying the entire cost of the additional people for the first three years, and 90 percent going forward.
As a result, according to the Urban Institute, between 6 and 7 million low-income uninsured adults live in states that are so far not expanding their programs.
And some of those states have among the largest populations of low income uninsured people.
"Over 3 million of them live in just four states," says Genevieve Kenney, senior fellow and co-director of the Urban Institute's Health Policy Center. Those states are Florida, Texas, Georgia and North Carolina.
The problem, says Kenney, is that for many of those people the law offers them nothing. Because they were supposed to get Medicaid, they're not eligible to buy private insurance at the exchanges unless their incomes are above the poverty line. That's about $11,000 a year for an individual.
"I think it's going to be confusing for individuals who are applying for coverage," says Kenney. "It certainly makes the message about the new affordable coverage that's available a lot more complicated to target."
Among the people who could get left behind is Ellen Wall. She's a nanny and sometime music teacher from Atlanta. She says her income fluctuates, but most years it's right around the poverty line. She says as long as she can pay her bills, she doesn't mind earning that amount.
"I love doing what I do because I'm very good at what I do, that's why I've chosen this profession," she says. "But there are those years when it's quite lean and then I'm just barely making it. And what am I gonna do if something comes up and I'm really sick and I need some help?"
Wall doesn't have and hasn't had health insurance. She says that was a real problem a few years back when she was in the hospital after an asthma attack.
"It was kind of a very embarrassing situation to be in, not to have the health insurance that could have covered that few days that I was in the hospital," she said.
If Wall lived in a state expanding Medicaid she would clearly qualify. But so far, Georgia isn't. And her income may or may not be high enough to let her qualify for help buying private coverage on the state's exchange. So she'll likely remain working, poor and uninsured.
Most advocates say people like Wall should turn to community clinics and public hospitals if they can't get insurance. But there's a problem there, too, says public hospital advocate Siegel. The health law cut funding for public hospitals because it assumed so many more people would have insurance. But in those states that aren't expanding Medicaid, the need for free care is likely to go up instead of down.
"Many of these hospitals will be overwhelmed," Siegel says. "Some of them are already overwhelmed; many of them are already losing money, providing a high level of service to people in need. And this will simply not be a tenable position."
Public and other hospitals are among those lobbying hard for Medicaid expansion in the states that so far have opted not to expand their Medicaid programs. Some states are still considering opting in. But in others, patients left behind may have to scramble even harder to find care if they get sick.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government is going into uncharted waters. It is deep-sixing the giant paper nautical charts that they've been printing for mariners for more than 150 years.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Tuesday that the traditional paper charts won't be printed after next April.
NOAA's Capt. Shep Smith said the agency will still chart the water for rocks, shipwrecks and dangers, but mariners will have to see the information using private on-demand printing, PDFs and electronic maps.
The 4-by-3 foot roadmaps of the oceans won't be printed because of the Federal Aviation Administration. Smith said the FAA took over federal chart-making in the 1990s and recently told NOAA it will stop making the charts to save money.
An ATM sits next to a rack of marijuana clone plants that are used to grow medical marijuana on Wednesday at The Joint, a medical marijuana cooperative in Seattle. Last week Washington became the second U.S. state to adopt rules for the recreational sale of marijuana.
An ATM sits next to a rack of marijuana clone plants that are used to grow medical marijuana on Wednesday at The Joint, a medical marijuana cooperative in Seattle. Last week Washington became the second U.S. state to adopt rules for the recreational sale of marijuana.
A record number of Americans are in favor of legalizing marijuana, according to a new Gallup poll released Tuesday.
The poll, which was conducted Oct. 3-6, reports that 58 percent of the public support the legalization of marijuana, while 39 percent oppose it.
The tide of public opinion appears to be rapidly turning in favor of legalization. In November 2012, Gallup found that 48 percent of Americans favored marijuana legalization compared to 50 percent who did not. Just over a decade earlier, in 2001, only 31 percent supported legalization while 64 percent opposed it.
The first time Gallup recorded a majority of Americans in favor of legalization came in 2011, when 50 percent said they supported it and 46 percent said they opposed it.
The issue remains a fairly partisan one: 65 percent of Democrats support legalizing marijuana, compared to 35 percent of Republicans. Meanwhile, 62 percent of independents say they are pro-legalization, up from 50 percent last year.
Every age group Gallup tested was in favor of marijuana legalization except for those 65 and older. Fifty-three percent of respondents in that group said they were against legalization, while 45 percent were in support.
Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 are still the most likely to back legalizing marijuana. Of that age group, two-thirds — 67 percent — favor legalization while 31 percent would like to see the drug remain illegal.
The results follow some major victories for pro-legalization forces. Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize the recreational use of marijuana last year, and the Justice Department announced in August it would not challenge the laws.
Advocates are also moving forward with efforts to put a marijuana legalization referendum on the ballot in 10 other states over the next four years.
FILE - In this Friday, Sept. 14, 2012, a Libyan follower of Ansar al-Shariah Brigades carries the Brigades' flag with Arabic writing that reads, "There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger, Ansar al-Shariah," during a protest in front of the Tibesti Hotel in Benghazi, Libya, as part of widespread anger across the Muslim world about a film ridiculing Islam's Prophet Muhammad. Libya marks two years of “liberation” from the dictatorship of Moammar Gadhafi on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013, but instead of the greater freedoms and development Libyans had hoped for, they find themselves falling deeper into anarchy as rival Islamist and Western-backed political factions increasingly meld with the country’s dizzying array of militias, turning political feuds into armed conflict. (AP Photo/Mohammad Hannon, File)
FILE - In this Friday, Sept. 14, 2012, a Libyan follower of Ansar al-Shariah Brigades carries the Brigades' flag with Arabic writing that reads, "There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger, Ansar al-Shariah," during a protest in front of the Tibesti Hotel in Benghazi, Libya, as part of widespread anger across the Muslim world about a film ridiculing Islam's Prophet Muhammad. Libya marks two years of “liberation” from the dictatorship of Moammar Gadhafi on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013, but instead of the greater freedoms and development Libyans had hoped for, they find themselves falling deeper into anarchy as rival Islamist and Western-backed political factions increasingly meld with the country’s dizzying array of militias, turning political feuds into armed conflict. (AP Photo/Mohammad Hannon, File)
FILE - In this Friday, Sept. 21, 2012 file photo, Libyan followers of Ansar al-Shariah Brigades and other Islamic militias, hold a demonstration against a film and a cartoon denigrating the Prophet Muhammad in Benghazi, Libya. Libya marks two years of “liberation” from the dictatorship of Moammar Gadhafi on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013, but instead of the greater freedoms and development Libyans had hoped for, they find themselves falling deeper into anarchy as rival Islamist and Western-backed political factions increasingly meld with the country’s dizzying array of militias, turning political feuds into armed conflict. (AP Photo/Mohammad Hannon, File)
FILE - In this Tuesday Feb. 14, 2012 file photo, Libyan militias from towns throughout the country's west parade through Tripoli, Libya. Libya marks two years of “liberation” from the dictatorship of Moammar Gadhafi on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013, but instead of the greater freedoms and development Libyans had hoped for, they find themselves falling deeper into anarchy as rival Islamist and Western-backed political factions increasingly meld with the country’s dizzying array of militias, turning political feuds into armed conflict. (AP Photo/Abdel Magid Al Fergany, File)
FILE - In this Friday, Sept. 14, 2012 file photo, Libyan followers of the Ansar al-Shariah Brigades chant anti-U.S. slogans during a protest in front of the Tibesti Hotel in Benghazi, Libya, as part of widespread anger across the Muslim world about a film that they claimed is ridiculing Islam's Prophet Muhammad. Libya marks two years of “liberation” from the dictatorship of Moammar Gadhafi on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013, but instead of the greater freedoms and development Libyans had hoped for, they find themselves falling deeper into anarchy as rival Islamist and Western-backed political factions increasingly meld with the country’s dizzying array of militias, turning political feuds into armed conflict. (AP Photo/Mohammad Hannon, File)
FILE - In this Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011 file photo, Libyans gesture during the celebration of Libya's liberation at Martyrs Square in Tripoli, Libya. Libya marks two years of “liberation” from the dictatorship of Moammar Gadhafi on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013, but instead of the greater freedoms and development Libyans had hoped for, they find themselves falling deeper into anarchy as rival Islamist and Western-backed political factions increasingly meld with the country’s dizzying array of militias, turning political feuds into armed conflict. (AP Photo/Abdel Magid al-Fergany, File)
TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Libya marks two years since the fall of Moammar Gadhafi on Wednesday, but instead of the freedom and development Libyans had hoped for, the country has fallen deeper into anarchy. Rival Islamist and Western-backed factions are melding with the country's dizzying array of militias, turning political feuds into armed conflict.
Militias that include Islamic extremists are lining up with Islamist politicians in parliament, who have been trying to remove Western-backed Prime Minister Ali Zidan and bring stricter Islamic rule. Other armed groups support Zidan's non-Islamist allies. The result is a fractured system where political rivalries have the potential to erupt into civil war.
In recent months, the militia chaos has only escalated.
Zidan was briefly kidnapped by militiamen this month. Over the summer, eastern militias seized control of oil exporting terminals, sending production plunging from 1.4 million barrels a day to around 600,000, robbing the country of its main revenue source. Other militias in the south cut off water supplies to the capital for days.
Zidan's office manager, the defense minister's son and several judges have been kidnapped. Activists and clerics who speak out against militias have been gunned down, as have at least 100 security or military officers.
At the same time, al-Qaida-inspired militias are spreading. The group Ansar al-Shariah, which is believed to be behind last year's attack on a U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi that killed the ambassador and three other Americans, is increasing its strength not only in Benghazi, but in cities further west like Sirte and Ajdabiya.
"We are not a state by the normal definition of the word," Zidan acknowledged to reporters in Tripoli on Sunday. "The government is rowing against the current, and this is very hard."
Since Gadhafi's fall, hundreds of militias have run rampant. They originated in the rebel bands that fought against the longtime dictator in the 8-month war that toppled him. Originally locally based, drawing their loyalties from a particular city, neighborhood or tribe, they have since mushroomed in size.
Too weak to disarm the militias, the military, police and government have tried to co-opt them, paying them to play security roles like guarding districts, facilities, even polling stations during elections. But the policy has backfired, empowering the militias without controlling them.
"This is a disaster," said Husni Bey, a prominent businessman. Investors are fleeing the country, he said, blaming the government for "stuffing the mouths of militias."
The tight interweaving of militias and politics has escalated since Libya held its first post-Gadhafi elections just over a year ago. A non-Islamist bloc won a plurality in parliament, a defeat for hard-liners who have ridden elections to power in other Arab countries since the Arab Spring revolts of 2011.
Since the election, the democratic transition has gone nowhere. Efforts by parliament to create a body to draw up a new constitution have foundered. The non-Islamist bloc in parliament has fragmented and Islamist lawmakers have grown more aggressive in trying to unseat Zidan — even as both sides collect militia allies.
"In Libya now, there is an armed wing for each politician," said Abdel-Hakim al-Balazi, spokesman for the Anti-Crime Department, a militia umbrella group that includes Islamic radicals. Al-Balazi himself has been accused by Zidan of involvement in his abduction and was placed at one point under house arrest.
"I am afraid that if there is no wisdom, the war will be unstoppable," al-Balazi said.
Nothing illustrates the mingling of militias and politics better than Zidan's Oct. 10 abduction, following a U.S. special forces raid that snatched an al-Qaida suspect from Tripoli, enflaming divisions between Islamists and Zidan, who was accused of allowing the operation.
Dozens of gunmen swarmed into the Tripoli hotel where Zidan lives and dragged him off to a detention facility for seven hours until he was rescued by other militias. Zidan has depicted the abduction as the work of his Islamist opponents in parliament, accusing two ultraconservative lawmakers of plotting it. The two denied any role.
The group implicated in the abduction is the Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room, a collection of militias headed by hard-line Islamist commanders — and tied closely to Islamists in parliament. It was created by parliament president Nouri Abu Sahmein, an ultraconservative, and given the official task of keeping security in Tripoli.
A day before Zidan's abduction, a leader was appointed for the Operations Room — Shabaan Massoud Hadiya, a jihadi preacher who lived in Yemen for years until returning home in 2011 to join the fight against Gadhafi.
The drama illustrates the dangerous geographical dimension of Libya's factionalism.
The militias of Benghazi, Misrata and Zawiya, Libya's second-, third- and fifth-largest cities, back the Islamist parliament bloc. Hadiya and many members of the Operations Room hail from Zawiya.
They are counterbalanced by powerful local militias backing Zidan's camp. The most prominent are the al-Qaqaa and Saaqa militias, with commanders from the western mountain region of Zintan; others hail from neighborhoods of Tripoli.
The Saaqa and Tripoli militias converged on the building where Zidan was being held, forcing his release. Other militiamen were on standby, ready to drive to the capital to fight for his release if need be, said Hashim Bishr, commander of the Supreme Security Committee, another umbrella group of militias.
Zidan's quick release shows the rival lineups of militias have kept a balance of terror that has prevented the political situation from exploding.
Wary of sparking an outright confrontation, Zidan has blamed members of the Operations Room and the Anti-Crime Department for abducting him but has underlined that parliament president Abu Sahmein — the Operations Room's top commander — was not involved.
There are signs of an emerging coalition against Zidan made up of Islamist militia commanders, former jihadi fighters and politicians.
In parliament, the main anti-Zidan force is a grouping of Islamist lawmakers known as the "Loyalty to the Martyrs" bloc that includes Abu Sahmein, as well as Abdel-Wahhab al-Qaid, the brother of senior al-Qaida figure Abu-Yahia al-Libi, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan in 2012. The two lawmakers Zidan accused of plotting his kidnapping also belong to it.
The bloc works closely with lawmakers from the Muslim Brotherhood, together making up about half of the 200-member parliament. So far, that is not enough to vote out Zidan. Days before Zidan's abduction, lawmakers tried but failed to pass a no-confidence motion against him.
On the ground, Islamist-leaning militias have also been pressing for Zidan's removal.
Last summer, a group of militias known as the Supreme Council of Libya's Revolutionaries besieged government ministries and parliament with pickup trucks mounted with heavy machine guns demanding Zidan's resignation and the passage of sweeping legislation that would ban a broad swath of Gadhafi-era officials from politics.
The law was passed at gunpoint, forcing a number of non-Islamist lawmakers out of parliament, as well as the then-president, Mohammed el-Megarif. He was replaced by Abu Sahmein, who then repackaged the militias of the Supreme Council of Libya's Revolutionaries into the Revolutionaries' Operation Room under Hadiya.
"Libya now is passing through a complete defragmentation on the political and security level," said Hassan al-Amin, a leading rights advocate who fled abroad after receiving death threats for speaking against the militias. "The thing is, there is not a single force on the ground that can deal the decisive blow."
Al-Amin, like others in Libya, says he's even open to a new NATO intervention involving airstrikes against militias — "before we lose our country."
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-10-22-ML-Libya-Militia-Rule/id-4b8dfe8610a4462a91ff245dce53ad43
Apparently Apple still has a bit of ground to cover after last month's iPhone 5s / 5c event. With the holidays heading our way, we're expecting some news on iPads both big and small, more concrete information on that cool and compact Mac Pro and a little more light to be shed on OS X Mavericks. It's ...Getty Images
Tim Burton, "Beetlejuice"
Tim Burton is mulling a return to the world of his 1988 classic Beetlejuice.
Sources say that Burton has the offer from Warner Bros. to direct the movie, on which he is already a producer with David Geffen.
But insiders say that Burton has yet to read the latest draft of the script, which is by Seth Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg. (Grahame-Smith penned the scripts for Burton’s Dark Shadows and the Burton-produced Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, based on his own novel.)
The involvement of Michael Keaton, who played the titular ghost, is up in the air at this stage.
PHOTOS: Dark Shadows Red Carpet Premiere
And it’s by no means his next movie. That would be Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, which is set up at Fox.
That movie, an adaptation of a Ransom Riggs' YA novel, has a release date of July 15, 2014.
It was the beginning of a very very good night for Kanye West! Shortly before he proposed to Kim Kardashian in San Francisco, the rapper, 36, was hundreds of miles south in Hollywood to present the first trophy of the night at the Hollywood Film Awards. With guests like Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock, Jake Gyllenhaal, Matthew McConaughey and many others looking on, West was unusually cool, calm and serene presenting the Breakout Director Award to 12 Years a Slave helmer Steve McQueen.
PHOTOS: His most obnoxious moments
After quickly noting to the crowd that he planned to head back to San Francisco immediately after the show, the "Black Skinhead" emcee (in a black blazer and white shirt) tamely gushed about his love and respect for McQueen, whose film is one of the most acclaimed buzzed -bout of the season.
PHOTOS: Kimye's cutest moments
Afterwards, West boarded a private jet and quickly headed to AT&T Park in San Francisco, where Kim was with family and friends (including sisters Kourtney and Khloe); he projected "PLEEESE MARRY MEEE!!!" on the stadium screen. A surprised and overjoyed Kardashian, celebrating her 33rd birthday that day, quickly said yes.
PHOTOS: Who said it -- Miley or Kanye?
The pair share daughter North West, 4 months.
At its Ideas Summit in New York, Google revealed Uproxy: a service that aims to change the way people around the globe use the internet. A browser extension for Chrome and Firefox, uProxy can bypass restrictive firewalls that hinder users from accessing vital (and trivial) information online by ...President Barack Obama gestures while speaking in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Monday, Oct. 21, 2013, on the initial rollout of the health care overhaul. Obama acknowledged that the widespread problems with his health care law's rollout are unacceptable, as the administration scrambles to fix the cascade of computer issues. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama gestures while speaking in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Monday, Oct. 21, 2013, on the initial rollout of the health care overhaul. Obama acknowledged that the widespread problems with his health care law's rollout are unacceptable, as the administration scrambles to fix the cascade of computer issues. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama, standing with supporters of his health care law, speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Monday, Oct. 21, 2013, on the initial rollout of the health care overhaul. Obama acknowledged that the widespread problems with his health care law's rollout are unacceptable, as the administration scrambles to fix the cascade of computer issues. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama gestures while speaking in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Monday, Oct. 21, 2013, on the initial rollout of the health care overhaul. Obama acknowledged that the widespread problems with his health care law's rollout are unacceptable, as the administration scrambles to fix the cascade of computer issues. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Crammed into conference rooms with pizza for dinner, some programmers building the Obama administration's showcase health insurance website were growing increasingly stressed. Some worked past 10 p.m., energy drinks in hand. Others rewrote computer code over and over to meet what they considered last-minute requests for changes from the government or other contractors.
As questions mount over the website's failure, insider interviews and a review of technical specifications by The Associated Press found a mind-numbingly complex system put together by harried programmers who pushed out a final product that congressional investigators said was tested by the government and not private developers with more expertise.
Project developers who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity — because they feared they would otherwise be fired — said they raised doubts among themselves whether the website could be ready in time. They complained openly to each other about what they considered tight and unrealistic deadlines. One was nearly brought to tears over the stress of finishing on time, one developer said. Website builders saw red flags for months.
A review of internal architectural diagrams obtained by the AP revealed the system's complexity. Insurance applicants have a host of personal information verified, including income and immigration status. The system connects to other federal computer networks, including ones at the Social Security Administration, IRS, Veterans Administration, Office of Personnel Management and the Peace Corps.
President Barack Obama on Monday acknowledged technical problems that he described as "kinks in the system." He also promised a "tech surge" by leading technology talent to repair the painfully slow and often unresponsive website that has frustrated Americans trying to enroll online for insurance plans at the center of Obama's health care law.
But in remarks at a Rose Garden event, Obama offered no explanation for the failure except to note that high traffic to the website caused some of the slowdowns. He said it had been visited nearly 20 million times — fewer monthly visits so far than many commercial websites, such as PayPal, AOL, Wikipedia or Pinterest.
"The problem has been that the website that's supposed to make it easy to apply for and purchase the insurance is not working the way it should for everybody," Obama said. "There's no sugarcoating it. The website has been too slow. People have been getting stuck during the application process. And I think it's fair to say that nobody is more frustrated by that than I am."
The online system was envisioned as a simple way for people without health insurance to comparison-shop among competing plans offered in their state, pick their preferred level of coverage and cost and sign up. For many, it's not worked out that way so far.
Just weeks before the launch of HealthCare.gov on Oct. 1, one programmer said, colleagues huddled in conference rooms trying to patch "bugs," or deficiencies in computer code. Unresolved problems led to visitors experiencing cryptic error messages or enduring long waits trying to sign up.
Congressional investigators have concluded that the government's Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, not private software developers, tested the exchange's computer systems during the final weeks. That task, known as integration testing, is usually handled by software companies because it ferrets out problems before the public sees the final product.
The government spent at least $394 million in contracts to build the federal health care exchange and the data hub. Those contracts included major awards to Virginia-based CGI Federal Inc., Maryland-based Quality Software Services Inc. and Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.
CGI Federal said in a statement Monday it was working with the government and other contractors "around the clock" to improve the system, which it called "complex, ambitious and unprecedented."
The schematics from late 2012 show how officials designated a "data services hub" — a traffic cop for managing information — in lieu of a design that would have allowed state exchanges to connect directly to government servers when verifying an applicant's information. On Sunday, the Health and Human Services Department said the data hub was working but not meeting public expectations: "We are committed to doing better."
Administration officials so far have refused to say how many people actually have managed to enroll in insurance during the three weeks since the new marketplaces became available. Without enrollment numbers, it's impossible to know whether the program is on track to reach projections from the Congressional Budget Office that 7 million people would gain coverage during the first year the exchanges were available.
Instead, officials have selectively cited figures that put the insurance exchanges in a positive light. They say more than 19 million people have logged on to the federal website and nearly 500,000 have filled out applications for insurance through both the federal and state-run sites.
The flood of computer problems since the website went online has been deeply embarrassing for the White House. The snags have called into question whether the administration is capable of implementing the complex policy and why senior administration officials — including the president — appear to have been unaware of the scope of the problems when the exchange sites opened.
Even as the president spoke at the Rose Garden, more problems were coming to light. The administration acknowledged that a planned upgrade to the website had been postponed indefinitely and that online Spanish-language signups would remain unavailable, despite a promise to Hispanic groups that the capability would start this week. And the government tweaked the website's home page so visitors can now view phone numbers to apply the old-fashioned way or window-shop for insurance rates without registering first.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee was expected to conduct an oversight hearing Thursday, probably without Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius testifying. She could testify on Capitol Hill on the subject as early as next week.
Uninsured Americans have until about mid-February to sign up for coverage if they are to meet the law's requirement that they be insured by the end of March. If they don't, they will face a penalty.
On Monday, the White House advised people frustrated by the online tangle that they can enroll by calling 1-800-318-2596 in a process that should take 25 minutes for an individual or 45 minutes for a family. Assistance is also available in communities from helpers who can be found at LocalHelp.HealthCare.gov.
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Associated Press writer Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar contributed to this report.
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Follow Jack Gillum on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jackgillum or Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC.
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-10-22-US-Obama-Health-Care/id-128f42ddd5df44f1a43d489002ad722c
