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(AP) — The risk of flu infection has been climbing rapidly in Illinois and in most of the rest of the nation.
Illinois Department of Public Health spokeswoman Melaney Arnold said Tuesday that almost 150 people in the state have been admitted to hospital intensive care units with the flu this season and six have died.
Eight Chicago-area hospitals turned away ambulances Monday night as they dealt with a surge of patients with flu-like symptoms such as cough, fever, muscle aches and runny nose.
U.S. health officials have reported that the strain of influenza virus going around this year has been linked to more hospital admissions and deaths. In contrast, last year's flu season hit later and illnesses were milder.
"This season is a reminder of how serious flu can be," said Dr. Julie Morita of the Chicago Department of Public Health. The most recent reports from Chicago labs that test for influenza showed 17 percent of specimens tested positive. Last year by this time, fewer than 1 percent of the tests were positive.
Statewide, the flu-related deaths have been in Cook, Will and Coles counties. People who've died have been in their 50s, 60s and elderly, according to the state health department.
It isn't too late to get a flu shot, and there's no shortage of flu vaccine. This year's vaccine is a good match for the viruses circulating this year, one indication of how well the vaccine should work.
The state health department's website has a map with lists of local health departments that provide flu shots. People should first contact their doctors or other health care providers. Many drug stores also provide flu vaccine.
Morita said Chicago residents can call 311 to find out where to get a free flu shot.
Illinois is among 29 states reporting high flu activity, and 41 states were reporting widespread geographic flu activity for the week ending Dec. 29, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC recommends antiviral medications for certain patients who are sick, including those hospitalized and seriously ill. Antiviral treatment also is recommended for people who may have the flu and are at high risk for flu-related complications. That includes young children, people 65 and older, people with certain underlying medical conditions and pregnant women.


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Summary Meeting Notes: May 16, 2013 Neighborhood Centers PEG Meeting
Meeting #12 Summary Notes
Neighborhood Centers Policy Expert Group
Meeting Date: May 16, 2013
Time: 8:00 to 10:00 a.m.
PEG Attendees: Kate Allen, Ivy Dunlap, Kristin Cooper,Allen Field, Denver Igarta, Bob Granger, Brett Horner, Carol Mayer-Reed, Jennifer Moore, Dora Perry, Mark Raggett, Nick Sauvie
Key Points and Outcomes
- The Neighborhood Centers PEG Memo is headed in the right direction, but needs stronger language about prioritizing investment in centers with deficiencies, engaging and empowering communities through center planning and implementation, and broadening language about employment in centers to include business incubation and living-wage jobs.
- The Gentrification and Displacement Report highlights that displacement risk varies across the city and that different situations will require different approaches and responses.
- A key goal of a range of Comprehensive Plan policies should be to create places where people want to live and have the choice to stay.
Welcome, Introductions and Updates (8:00 a.m.)
Presenter: Steve Faust, Facilitator and Bill Cunningham, BPS
Summary: Steve Faust welcomed participants and guests and gave a brief overview of the meeting agenda. Steve invited PEG members to comment on the North Portland centers site visits which included St. Johns, Mid-Lombard/Portsmouth, Kenton-Lombard and East Hayden Island. PEG members' observations included:
- St. Johns Town Center has benefited from a lot of community support and energy. New, energetic residents have connected with longer-term residents. The St. Johns Town Center serves as a focus of activity for the surrounding area, has a strong sense of identity and a diversity of shops and housing. The community center has seen some demographic changes and different needs from the population they serve, such as increasing numbers of alternative families and single parents.
- The Lombard corridor has been evolving, with increased commercial vitality extending along Lombard from Interstate, and with a revitalized Kenton main street to the north.
- The St. Johns and Lombard areas have many aspects that reflect Comp Plan themes, such as civic amenities (library, community center, parks) in the St. Johns town center, the expanding North Portland greenway system, and community partnerships that made possible a green grocer in New Columbia providing access to healthy foods.
- In light of complications with the Columbia River Crossing project,Hayden Island should be seen as a place of great possibilities. More could be done to cultivate it as a mixed-use center with a major housing component and as a prominent gateway to the city.
Review of Draft Neighborhood Centers PEG Recommendations Memo (8:15 a.m.)
Presenters: Bill Cunningham
Summary: Bill explained that the draft PEG recommendations memorandum was prepared using content from the February through April meeting summaries, based on those suggestions that were identified as having broad PEG support. The recommendations are divided into "major recommendations" that are more substantive in nature, and a listing of other recommendations for relatively minor edits. PEG members had the following comments about the recommendations:
Suggestions with broad PEG support:
- #1 – Policies related to public investments in centers should encourage community involvement, partnerships, and community benefit agreements.
- #1a – Clarify to convey that the priority with limited resources is to invest in areas of need where there are infrastructure and other deficiencies, such asEast Portland.
- #1 – Include consideration of zoning as part of efforts to improve areas with deficiencies. This should include consideration of zone changes to match current uses, where appropriate, to address non-conforming uses that may contribute to neighborhood vitality.
- #2 – Encourage a broad range of employment uses in centers, rather than just offices. Add language about encouraging business incubation and empowering the community through providing living wage jobs in centers.
- #3 –Area-specific planning should be identified as an opportunity to target infrastructure improvements and to be strategic with investments. Area-specific planning should also be considered an opportunity for community engagement and refinement at a local scale.
- #3 – Add language about the need to respond to the distinctive character of each area, but not at the cost of excluding historically marginalized populations.
- #8 – Policies should address geographically-concentrated poverty, but remove the statement "there will always be areas with concentrated poverty."
- #8 – Make sure that policies reflect that "opportunities" is more than about affordability, but also includes livability factors such as services, quality of life, schools, and public safety.
- Following from the gentrification discussion, a key policy priority should be to create places where people want to live and have the choice to stay. It is critical that everyone should benefit from the improvement of centers and not be displaced as areas become more desirable.
Other suggestions:
- #3 – Caution urged about creating specific regulations for each center, as regulations need a broader context and there are costs to regulatory complexity.
- Add language about the need for future implementation efforts to provide incentives, such as height and density bonuses, for developers who provide community benefits such as affordable housing, accessible units, and open space.
- Bring equity language to greater prominence in the policies.
- Need policy support for creating better tools for understanding health and equity impacts. Having these tools will be essential for carrying out other polices that call for considering such impacts. Policy 6.16 is a good model.
- The memo needs pre-amble language emphasizing that centers need to be desirable places that support community livability.
- Growth scenarios research shows that arrangement of growth by itself will not realize Portland's objectives, and that investments are needed in deficient areas to achieve objectives such as complete neighborhoods. This may be an appropriate topic to discuss with the Infrastructure Equity PEG: Centers such as Gateway or 122nd and Division would be logical places to start with improvements.
Meeting Handouts and Presentations
Gentrification and Displacement Report (9:00 a.m.)
Presenters: Tom Armstrong, BPS
Summary: Tom provided the PEG with an update on the Gentrification and Displacement study being conducted by Dr. Lisa Bates of Portland State University. The report is currently undergoing final refinements. The two parts of the study are: (1) a risk assessment analysis of Portland's neighborhoods and (2) a policy toolkit to address at-risk areas. The findings from the study are the starting point for addressing the key question of, "What can we (as the City) do to address gentrification/displacement and how does gentrification relate to other City goals?"
Risk indicators in the analysis include:
- Vulnerable Populations – concentrations of:
- Renters
- Low education attainment
- Household income
- People of color
- Changing Demographics – increasing rates of:
- Homeownership
- College-educated
- Household income
- White populations
- Housing Market Appreciation – areas of:
- Low or moderate value
- High rates of appreciation
- Adjacent to high value areas
Tom stated that in addition to this discussion about areas where gentrification/displacement is happening or are at risk of displacement, another conversation is needed about places where vulnerable populations are increasing concentrated and where risk of displacement is less, such as East Portland. Different situations call for different approaches and responses. A question to consider is what should be addressed first? Limiting displacement in inner neighborhoods, or investing in services and other improvements in East Portland?
Selected recommendations from the study:
- As a response to the risk of gentrification, the City should monitor the risk assessment map and identify projects in areas at risk of displacement. In these areas, the City should align housing and other resources in partnership with other government agencies and community partners.
- The study identifies other potential policies and programs, such as community impact reports, community benefits agreements, inclusionary zoning or other new incentives, and education and technical assistance.
- Additional, effective initiatives are needed, such as inclusionary zoning. The study identifies inclusionary zoning as an important tool and the City may want to play a role in advocating for in the 2014 state legislative session, or could develop incentives-based approaches to encourage affordable housing through voluntary inclusionary zoning.
Feedback from PEG members:
- The analysis of vulnerable populations lacks consideration of age or disability.
- How do we integrate the concepts of the report, such as the importance of anticipating risks and taking appropriate action, into the policy framework?
- Greater depth in the analysis should include people who are driven out of their homes due to factors beyond just housing costs, such as loss of social structures and supports, isolation, and loss of community voice due to community displacement.
- Also need to think about how poorly-performing schools, unsafe environments and crime can drive people to leave their neighborhoods when they have the means to move elsewhere.
- The problem is complex because there is risk if you invest in a blighted community and risk if you do not.
- An ideal outcome is to create places where people want to live, and have the choice to stay.
- Need to address systems that disempower and create "vulnerable" populations. "Vulnerable" is not a desirable term to use for people – the emphasis should be on empowerment. Both the community and institutions need to be part of the conversation.
- Tools need to be developed and applied early in order to minimize displacement.
- More collaboration and policy alignment is needed among City agencies. There should be an inter-agency workgroup to work on gentrification.
- Decisions about growth and capacity are another nuance to this issue.
- Tools #15 (neighborhood planning process) and #25 (support community building initiative) require local, area-specific approaches.
- Cultural and generational considerations also must be taken into account.
Meeting Handouts and Presentations
Public Comment (9:45 a.m.)
- Policies should protect the historical and cultural resources of a community. There should be no zoning or incentives that encourage tearing down these important resources.
Next Steps (9:55 a.m.)
The next Neighborhood Centers PEG meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 20. Topics will include a Working Draft Part 2 overview and refinements to the Urban Design Framework. Centers PEG members also are invited to the June meeting of the Networks PEG on Wednesday, June 26, from 2 to 3pm, where they will be discussing parking policies.
Adjourn (10:00 a.m.)
For more information, please contact Bill Cunningham, Bureau of Planning and Sustainability at 503-823-4203 or firstname.lastname@example.com orSteve Faust, Facilitator at 503-278-3456 email@example.com.


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Farfan first RBI alum drafted; has high hopes
Onas Farfan has the fastball. He's got the confidence. And last Saturday, he got a roster spot when the Twins made him their 21st-round pick. In so many words, Farfan is living the dream.
But something is still missing.
Onas Farfan has the fastball. He's got the confidence. And last Saturday, he got a roster spot when the Twins made him their 21st-round pick. In so many words, Farfan is living the dream.
But something is still missing.
"It's still tough," he said. 'I'm shaking right now, you know? Every day, just thinking about them … I would love to give my mom a hug and tell her I made it, but she's not here with me."
Farfan's family is in Venezuela, where they took him when he was seven years old. He returned nine years later to live with relatives in Minnesota, but his mother, father and younger sister did not come with. Farfan has not seen them since his parents saved up enough money for him to visit as a senior in high school.
Four years later, Farfan is the first-ever alum of Minnesota's RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) Program to be drafted by a Major League club.
"When I told my mom I got drafted, she was in tears," Farfan said.
Saturday was the culmination of years of hard work. The 20-year-old was so excited when he heard he got drafted that he began jumping up and down. When the Twins called to speak with him, he couldn't even remember how to spell his first or last name.
"They wanted my information," Farfan said. "But I couldn't talk."
RBI Coordinator Frank White remembers the last time Farfan was lost for words.
In 2010, the young Venezuelan had only been back in America for five days when he heard about the RBI tryout. Unable to speak any English, someone directed him to White, the self-described "face of the program."
He watched Farfan throw one pitch and then marked a single note down on his tryout form: "Made the team."
"I didn't understand what he was saying to me," Farfan said. "But baseball is a universal language. Like soccer. You know what I mean? Different countries understand the same things. Same with baseball. Once we were on the field, I knew what he was talking about."
The two made an instant connection. With Farfan's family thousands of miles away, White guided him through three years of RBI -- a league-wide program sponsored by MLB clubs to get urban youths into the game -- and then eased his transition from Robbinsdale Cooper High School to Ridgewater College in Willmar.
But despite a stellar high school career and a 91-mph fastball, Farfan didn't draw any significant college offers. One thing that didn't help: an elbow injury junior year that kept him out almost the entire season.
"He slipped through the cracks," White said. "He got missed."
The Twins, however, kept an eye on their most prized RBI alum.
"Our scouting folks have been aware of Onas for a couple years," team president Dave St. Peter said. "This isn't a public relations move. We drafted Onas because we think he's got a chance to be a successful professional player. Ultimately, we hope he can find his way to Minnesota as a Major Leaguer."
Thanks to several weather cancellations and generally low exposure, Ridgewater was not the best place for Farfan to get his stuff noticed. White helped out by purchasing a cell phone for the new college student and often drove him back and forth between campus and home.
"The stability of being there for him and believing in him was way more important than the few dollars I might have spent," White said.
Farfan caught a break in 2013, when he signed on with the La Crosse (Wisc.) Loggers -- a Northwoods League team which once boasted AL Cy Young winner Max Scherzer and All-Star Chris Sale -- and earned some extra innings there on a bigger stage.
"Man, that league was competitive," Farfan said. "It was the second-best summer league in the country. A lot of the best D-1 and D-2 athletes play there. So I was really excited."
He made an instant impact, striking out the side in his first inning of work, and then compiling a 0.90 ERA in 10 innings of work. He only gave up one hit in that span.
However, that success didn't convince him that he would be selected this year, and he kept his hopes low.
"I never thought I was going to get drafted," Farfan said. "I was hoping, I mean, I knew I was good enough. But they never said anything like, 'We're going to take you.' It was unexpected."
After a couple productive big league tryouts this spring, Minnesota made him the No. 620 overall pick of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft.
"I think he's gonna surprise a lot of people," White said. "As a left-handed pitcher, man, he can be nasty. You can look at the Draft board: He got picked before a lot of Division I guys."
Minnesota's RBI program -- originally a 1993 initiative by Kirby Puckett and Dave Winfield called "Rookie League" -- is designed to help urban youth get into baseball.
But 21 years after the program's inception, Farfan is the first-ever alum to be drafted.
"No one's really gotten close to getting drafted," Twins program coordinator Josh Ortiz said. "So we're really excited that he broke through."
Ortiz remembers when Farfan first broke into the RBI Program and recalls an air of excitement about the step up in play.
"That was kind of the first time that we thought, 'Hey, this could be something. This could be our guy,'" he said.
White insists that if the Twins did not draft Farfan, another MLB team was waiting to snatch him up in the 22nd round. And Twins brass feels they pulled the trigger at an opportune moment.
"We think he's the right guy at the right time," St. Peter said.
Even if Farfan is not able to succeed in professional ball, he marks an important landmark for the RBI Program and inner-city baseball in the Minneapolis and St. Paul area. Some, like White, feel redeemed by Farfan's development.
"When we began, people would say, 'Oh, RBI, that's those poor kids. They're not very good,'" White said. "But we've grown. We've got some of the best baseball teachers in the state. So with Onas coming out and being signed, people know he came out of our program. That's going to be a plus."
St. Peter estimates that roughly 6,000 Twin Cities kids participated in the baseball and softball programs last year.
More of them are getting college looks, including Nehwon Norkeh, a freshman pitcher at Angelo State in San Angelo, Texas.
"I think it's important that you have that credibility with youngsters," St. Peter said. "Hopefully it demonstrates a path that will help us leverage the program to attract additional athletes into the program going forward."
Farfan sees his drafting as a sign of things to come.
"I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be the only one," he said.
White is driving Farfan to a radio interview. The phone is on "speaker" mode, and Farfan is giddy about heading to Fort Myers, Fla., on Thursday and beginning his professional career.
He'll be without White -- whom he calls his "other grandpa" -- and basically any Minnesota connection he's made in the past six years.
"All I have to do is just listen and learn," Farfan said. "Everything else takes care of itself. I'll struggle. That's part of life. Nothing is going to be easy. I'm ready to play. I'm ready to get better every day."
But with the giant goal of playing professional baseball under his belt, Farfan has another one on his mind.
"My dream is to move my mom and my dad and my sister here," he said. "I miss them so much, and I love them so much. It's unbelievable. The last four years, I've had a hole in my heart. The day that I graduated high school, they weren't there. That really hurt my feelings a lot.
"Thanks to them, I'm here. They gave me the life. They taught me to be a good person, you know? They taught me a lot of good values. How to respect people, how to treat people. I owe my mom and dad a lot. It's been really hard and really difficult the last four years, but Coach Frank and my other coaches have been helping out a lot."
The pressure is on to earn another contract, but important men such as St. Peter don't call Farfan "supremely confident" for nothing. It's obvious the 20-year-old believes that his 91-mph fastball of his is a means to an end.
"I can't wait," Farfan said. "I just can't wait. I'm so anxious right now. I just can't wait to see my mom and dad."
Alex M. Smith is an associate reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @asmiff.


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Dems' 2014 plan: Own Obamacare
Scarred by years of Republican attacks over Obamacare, with more in store next year, Democrats have settled on an unlikely strategy for the 2014 midterms: Bring it on.
Party strategists believe that embracing the polarizing law — especially its more popular elements — is smarter politics than fleeing from it in the House elections. The new tack is a marked shift from 2010, when Republicans pointed to Obamacare as Exhibit A of Big Government run amok on their way to seizing the House from Democrats.
Story Continued Below
But the Democratic bear hug, reflecting a calculation it's probably impossible to shed their association with the law even if they wanted to, is still a high-wire public relations act. The White House has consistently struggled with messaging on Obamacare, hoping the public would gain an appreciation for the health care makeover as its benefits became apparent. That never really happened, but Democrats seem to be banking that it finally will.
( POLITICO Junkies: Obamacare's huge implementation problem)
The strategy will be put to the test as the law kicks in next year and is implemented in the months leading up to the election — with the inevitable snafus and critical media coverage as the public gets its first up-close view of the massive undertaking.
California Rep. Scott Peters, a freshman Democrat who narrowly won election last year, said he doesn't agree with every part of the law. But he said he's not afraid of addressing health care — far from it.
"I don't have any problem talking about it," Peters, who hails from a San Diego-area swing district, said in an interview. "I think it's a big issue. I think it's going to be talked about more than immigration or guns."
( PHOTOS: 10 alarmist quotes on health law ruling)
One early sign of the shift: After House Republicans brought a health care repeal measure to the floor last month — the 37th time they've tried — Peters joined a cast of other Democratic incumbents from competitive districts to criticize the GOP for the maneuver.
In 2010, Democratic congressional candidates in tough races actively promoted their opposition to the just-passed law, in some cases running ads blasting it. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee privately instructed members and candidates to change the subject if they were asked about the health care law in town hall meetings or on the campaign trail.
Look for that to change in 2014, say party strategists.
"In 2010, the benefits of ACA were theoretical and Democratic candidates ran away from it. If you were in a tough race and asked about health care," a senior Democratic official told POLITICO, "you changed the topic. In 2014, Democrats can talk about the positives, position themselves as consumer advocates to make it work and go on offense against Republicans for wanting to take the benefits away."
( PHOTOS: Supreme Court upholds health care law)
That doesn't mean every Democrat in the country will be singing from the mountaintops about how much they love the overhaul or running TV ads praising it – there's still plenty in it that turns off voters in conservative-leaning districts where the battle for the House will be waged.
But Democratic strategists are convinced there's plenty to like in the law — such as coverage for pre-existing conditions, eliminating lifetime caps on coverage and allowing children to stay on their parents' health care plans until they are 26 — and are coaching lawmakers and candidates girding for tough races next year to hammer home those benefits.


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Afghan election panel relaxed fraud rules to avoid runoff
KABUL, Afghanistan — After it determined that excluding questionable ballots in Afghanistan's August presidential election would force President Hamid Karzai into a runoff, the country's Independent Election Commission voted to allow to them be counted, commission and Western officials told McClatchy.
The vote last Monday, which was detailed in commission documents reviewed by McClatchy, abandoned the tough standards to detect fraud that the panel had approved unanimously only 10 days earlier. This allowed hundreds of thousands of questionable ballots to be included in the results, according to a commission official.
The day after the vote, the commission announced a new tally that boosted Karzai's count from about 47 percent to 54 percent of the vote — enough for him to avoid a runoff and claim a second five-year term if the margin receives a final certification.
The decision to change the rules after the voting for Karzai's benefit has further strained relations between the United States and Karzai, who did not yield to pressure from the Obama administration to get the commission to reconsider the decision. The pressure included a call from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton the day after the vote, said a knowledgeable Western official.
Like other Westerners and Afghans who spoke to McClatchy, the official requested anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly.
The effort to rig the election for Karzai comes atop evidence of widespread fraud at polling places and in the vote counting. This compounds the difficulties that President Barack Obama faces in defining America's goals and strategy in Afghanistan amid rising casualties and declining public and political support for the U.S.-led war there.
The United States and its European allies had hoped that the election, which the U.S. administration initially hailed as a success, would produce a stable government as part of a new U.S.-led strategy aimed at sapping support for the Taliban-led insurgency.
Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, is expected to ask later this month for between 5,000 and 45,000 additional U.S. troops, but a focal point of his counterinsurgency plan has been training more Afghan troops — who serve a president whose re-election campaign is enmeshed in fraud allegations.
Karzai's closest challenger and the former foreign minister, Abdullah Abdullah, has repeatedly charged that the commission has colluded in "state-engineered fraud" to rig the election for Karzai.
In some polling stations, more people voted than were thought to have been registered. In others, 100 percent of the votes went to Karzai, and the tallies were in rounded numbers, such as 500, a statistical improbability.
The Sept. 7 decision raises questions about the autonomy of the Independent Election Commission, whose seven members were appointed by Karzai. Five commissioners voted to relax the anti-fraud standards, one dissented and one was absent, according to the commission documents reviewed by McClatchy.
As fraud allegations mounted, the election commission on Aug. 29 unanimously adopted six standards by which votes could be judged for fraud.
These standards included an examination of all voting sites that registered unusually high turnouts of 600 people or more. They also called for excluding votes when more than 90 percent from one site went to a single candidate, according to the commission documents obtained by McClatchy.
During the first week of September, an analysis of the results indicated that applying the standards would prevent Karzai from getting the more than 50 percent margin required to avoid a runoff against Abdullah, according to Western officials and a commission official.
"On those days, they (the commissioners) were in a panic, a hurry," said the commission official. "They realized if those votes were not included, it would go to a runoff."
Two Western officials confirmed that account.
Then, on Sept. 7, the vote was taken to relax the standards.
The commission's decision has intensified a tug-of-war with a separate election complaints panel, three of whose members are Westerners appointed by the United Nations.
A day after the vote, the Election Complaints Commission cited "clear and convincing evidence of fraud" and ordered the Independent Election Commission to conduct a wide-ranging audit and recount of polling stations.
The complaints commission also annulled some votes. In coming weeks, the panel will review hundreds of fraud allegations with its own investigative team. At the same time, it will be monitoring the Independent Election Commission's audit and recount.
More than 20 percent of the votes cast on Aug. 20 could be subject to investigation, according to Western officials.
Abdullah still hopes to win and has said he will not recognize the results until all the fraudulent votes are investigated.
A Karzai campaign adviser, Moen Maraystal, said that he expects the final tally will be above 50 percent, and there will be no runoff. If the count falls below 50 percent, he said that would likely reflect Western interference, which the Afghan people wouldn't accept.
It now appears that the final vote count won't be certified for weeks, and that the fraud allegations may weaken the legitimacy of the next president.
(Bernton reports for The Seattle Times.)
Democrats in Congress growing antsy over Afghanistan
Cousin had to retrieve Afghan reporter's body after raid
'We're pinned down:' 4 U.S. Marines die in Afghan ambush
U.N. Afghan panel cites fraud in vote as Karzai pulls ahead
Follow the latest politics news at McClatchy's Planet Washington


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Latest News
Army vet who opposed Bush detainee policies takes key job
The Obama administration has chosen a lawyer and Iraq war veteran who has denounced U.S. detention policy to direct detainee affairs at the Department of Defense.
Until starting at the Pentagon this week, Phillip E. Carter, 33, was an associate at New York's Park Avenue law firm McKenna Long & Aldridge. He specialized in government contracting and national security regulation.
A former Army captain, he also blogged on national security issues at a Washington Post website, Intel Dump.
In 2005-06, he served in Iraq with the Army's 101st Airborne Division as an advisor to the Iraqi police.
On his return, he shared some lessons he learned in a radio interview aired on National Public Radio.
One tip: "Diplomacy is more important than force," he said. "Force creates more enemies than it removes. For every one insurgent you kill you create maybe 10 or 20 Iraqis with blood debts against the U.S."
Carter since left the Army after nine years in both active duty and as a reservist with military police and civil affairs units.
In October 2004, when the Pentagon said intelligence indicated that some former Guantanamo detainees had "returned to the battlefield," Carter blamed policy "blowback" from a White House decision to "shred the Geneva Conventions."
"It hardly takes an expert to say that the way to win the war on terrorism is not to create more of it," he wrote in a commentary published on Slate.com. "But the haphazard, extralegal, credulous policies at Guantanamo have done just that."
His Defense Department job — whose formal title is deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs — is a post that was created by the Bush administration to oversee and develop detention policies after the public saw leaked photos of guards brutalizing detainees at Abu Ghraib, Iraq.
Three appointees held the job during the Bush administration: Matthew Waxman, Charles "Cully" Stimson and Sandra Hodgkinson. It's a civilian post, approximate in rank to a two-star general.
Carter becomes the Pentagon's first detainee affairs executive since President Barack Obama put Attorney General Eric Holder in charge of emptying the prison camps in southeast Cuba by Jan. 22.
Carter got his law degree in 2004 from the UCLA School of Law. Two years ago, he told an alumni magazine in an article called "Renaissance Soldier" that he was ending his Army career.
"Once you've gone to combat," he said, "there is nothing left to prove to yourself or anyone else."
He also said in the 2007 article that he criticized U.S. policy because "I felt that an honest dialogue about our means and ends in the war on terrorism was incredibly important. With respect to some of the things happening at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, I saw the very soul of our military and our country at stake."


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DUBAI (Reuters) - The leader of Al Qaeda's wing in Yemen has vowed to attack the United States, in a video apparently showing a gathering of the group celebrating a mass jailbreak of fighters.
In February, attackers mounted a bomb, grenade and gun assault on the main prison in Sanaa in which 29 inmates, including 19 jailed for terrorism-related crimes, escaped.
The 15-minute video, dated March 2014 and posted on a website used by Islamists, shows masked men waving al Qaeda's black flag and celebrating the arrival of the freed prisoners.
Its authenticity could not be independently verified.
"The Crusader enemy, dear brothers, still possesses cards which he moves around. We have to remember that we are always fighting the biggest enemy," says a man speaking in the open in a mountainous area, whom the video identifies as its leader Nasser al-Wuhaishi.
"We have to remove the cross, (and) the bearer of the cross, America," said Wuhaishi, who appeared with his face uncovered, wearing a T-shirt and sporting the dagger common among Yemeni men.
The video, entitled "Images from the reception of the freed prisoners from Sanaa's central prison", included testimony from fighters involved in the jailbreak.
"We planned that we would need 10 hand grenades," said a man identified as Munir al-Bouni.
Another man said: "Once you got out, you turned right and the guys were waiting."
The video showed men arriving in white pickup trucks and others greeting Wuhaishi. Others carried rifles, and some sat on the ground drinking juice. Some spoke or sang through microphones and loudspeakers.
Abdulrazzaq al-Jamal, a journalist who has interviewed members of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), said it was the largest known gathering of al Qaeda in Yemen.
"It included about 400 people, and these are not all the members of the group. This gathering is a confirmation that al Qaeda is gaining strength and influence," he told Reuters.
Formed in 2009, AQAP has attacked military targets, tourists and diplomats in Yemen and taken over territory for long periods.
U.S. drone attacks have killed several suspected AQAP figures, including Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born Islamist cleric accused of links to a plot to bomb a Detroit-bound airliner in 2009 and U.S. cargo planes in 2010.
"Al Qaeda will gain strength as there continues to be division and weakness in security performance," said Ali al-Sarari, political adviser to Prime Minister Mohammed Salem Basindwa.
"The last appearance (the video) shows that Yemen is confronting a dangerous challenge. And if the security performance continues in this manner, then Yemen will face an even bigger failure than what it has faced in the past."
(Writing by Yara Bayoumy; editing by Sami Aboudi and Andrew Roche)


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March 8, 2012, 8:48 am
Senate Democrats employ business heavy hitters to look at session's first half
Kudos to the Colorado Senate Democrats for coming up with a fresh way to summarize the first half of the legislative session.
The caucus created a video to highlight the jobs bills members passed, and it stars some high-profile business hitters, including Tom Clark, CEO of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation, and John Brackney, CEO of the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce.
Democrats control the Senate with a 20-15 majority. Republicans control the House 33-32, so the fate of the Senate jobs bill once they get to the House is unclear.
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I Hate Hamlet
by Paul Rudnick
Directed by Eric Thibodeaux-Thompson
- October 28-30, and November 3-5, 2011
- 7:30PM, Sunday at 2PM
- The Studio Theatre, Public Affairs Center (PAC) Level 1, UIS Campus
- Photo Gallery
Play Description
Full Length Play
3 men, 3 women: 6 total
A young and successful television actor relocates to New York, where he rents a marvelous, gothic apartment. With his television career in limbo, the actor is offered the opportunity to play Hamlet onstage, but there's one problem: He hates Hamlet. His dilemma deepens with the entrance of John Barrymore's ghost, who arrives intoxicated and in full costume to the apartment that once was his. The contrast between the two actors, the towering, dissipated Barrymore whose Hamlet was the greatest of his time, and Andrew Rally, hot young television star, leads to a wildly funny duel over women , art, success, duty, television, and yes, the apartment. "…fast-mouthed and funny…It has the old-fashioned Broadway virtues of brightness without pretensions and sentimentality without morals."–Village Voice. "…unapologetically silly and at times hilarious…affectionately amusing about the theatre…"–NY Times. (from Dramatists.com)


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MLB Player Profile: Phillies CF Ben Revere
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Wednesday January 16th, 2013
Bernie Olshansky (Baseball Writer): Follow @BernieOlshansky
The 28th pick of the first round in the 2007 Amateur Draft, Ben Revere was regarded as one of the Minnesota Twins' top prospects. He made his Major League debut in 2010 at age 22 and played in 13 games for the Twins that season. The next year, Revere spent most of his time in the Majors playing in 117 games and hitting .267. With Revere, the Twins had some speed at the top of the lineup. On December 6th, 2012, Revere was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for Pitchers Vance Worley and Trevor May. After trading Shane Victorino to the Dodgers and Hunter Pence to the Giants, the Phillies had some gaps to fill in their outfield, and Revere was just the right guy.
Ben Revere 2012 Highlights: Mature Lyrics – Parental Guidance is advised
On the Twins, Revere spent most of his time in the Lead-off spot or as the #2 hitter. The Outfielder is a prototypical #2 hitter, as his high Batting Avg in 2012 (.297) suggests. Revere had 34 SB in 2011 and 40 in 2012. Revere has absolutely no power as he is yet to hit his first Major League HR through 989 AB. In his Twins career, Revere also drove in 64 runs. I would not dwell on the lack of HRs and RBI because this is not the mans game anyway. You would think that is only a matter of time before Revere should be able to finally notch his first HR in the hitter friendly Citizens Bank Park.
In Minnesota, Revere played alongside Denard Span and Josh Willingham in the outfield. Span played Center-Field whenever he played, which was most of the time, so Revere was confined mostly to Right Field. Upon seeing Revere and his stats, one would not necessarily conclude that he was meant to play Right Field. The guy will be the primary CF for the Phils.
As a replacement for the departed Shane Victorino in CF – Revere has some pretty big shoes to fill. He will most likely be at the top of the order right after Jimmy Rollins in the 2 slot. This is also like the former Phillies CF was for most of his stint there. Victorino was an extremely consistent player, who hit for high averages year in and out, (he only hit below .260 in 2 years out 8 played). It seems like Revere will be about the same average wise – in just looking at the very small sample size over the parts of two seasons he spent with the Twins.
If he continues to develop, the Phillies could be looking at a Michael Bourn-type player. Defense will not be a problem for Revere, as he has tremendous speed and should have no problem patrolling the outfield. Last year, the franchise went with John Mayberry Jr. as their #1 option at CF after the Victorino trade went down. He was less than stellar in the position defensively, so Revere will be a definite upgrade on the defensive side.
There was some speculation of Victorino returning to the Phillies after his contract with the Dodgers expired, but he looked to be signing elsewhere (he ended up with the Red Sox), so the Phillies were pressed to acquire another outfielder. With the surplus of Phillies pitching, the club did not have a problem with letting go of Vance Worley.
This season, I see Ben Revere making his mark on the National League. He has had two years to get acclimated, so this year could be his breakout. I see him stealing 40-50 bases and hitting in the .280-.300 range. Revere is promising as he is only 24 Years Old and already has a couple years of experience. I think the Philadelphia Phillies acquired a consistent player for the years to come. The only thing holding Revere from being regarded as a rising superstar is his lack of power. If he could put up 15-20 HRs a year, he would be likened to Shane Victorino or Carl Crawford.
There is still hope for Revere to develop and gain some power, but if not, the Phillies still have added a nice piece to their lineup.
(*The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com*)
Today's feature was prepared by our Baseball Writer Bernie Olshansky. We highly encourage you to leave your comments and feedback at the bottom of the page and share in the discussion with our readers. You can also follow Bernie on Twitter. Follow @BernieOlshansky
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Posted on January 16, 2013, in MLB Player Profiles and tagged @bernieolshansky on twitter, al central, baseball, ben revere, bernie olshansky, carl crawford, Citizens Bank Ball Park, denard span, hunter pence, jimmy rollins, josh willingham, la dodgers, michael bourn, minnesota twins, mlb, NL east, philadelphia phillies, red sox, target field, Trevor May, vance worley. Bookmark the permalink. 1 Comment.
It will be interesting to see who got the better player, the Nationals in Span or the Phillies in Revere. Span has more power but doesn't run the bases as well. I think Revere is a little better defender but has a bad arm.


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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Acidification of the Arctic Ocean is occurring faster than projected according to new findings published in the journal PLOS ONE. The increase in rate is being blamed on rapidly melting sea ice, a process that may have important consequences for health of the Arctic ecosystem.
Ocean acidification is the process by which pH levels of seawater decrease due to greater amounts of carbon dioxide being absorbed by the oceans from the atmosphere. Currently oceans absorb about one-fourth of the greenhouse gas. Lower pH levels make water more acidic and lab studies have shown that more acidic water decrease calcification rates in many calcifying organisms, reducing their ability to build shells or skeletons. These changes, in species ranging from corals to shrimp, have the potential to impact species up and down the food web.
The team of federal and university researchers found that the decline of sea ice in the Arctic summer has important consequences for the surface layer of the Arctic Ocean. As sea ice cover recedes to record lows, as it did late in the summer of 2012, the seawater beneath is exposed to carbon dioxide, which is the main driver of ocean acidification.
In addition, the freshwater melted from sea ice dilutes the seawater, lowering pH levels and reducing the concentrations of calcium and carbonate, which are the constituents, or building blocks, of the mineral aragonite. Aragonite and other carbonate minerals make up the hard part of many marine micro-organisms' skeletons and shells. The lowering of calcium and carbonate concentrations may impact the growth of organisms that many species rely on for food.
The new research shows that acidification in surface waters of the Arctic Ocean is rapidly expanding into areas that were previously isolated from contact with the atmosphere due to the former widespread ice cover.
"A remarkable 20 percent of the Canadian Basin has become more corrosive to carbonate minerals in an unprecedented short period of time. Nowhere on Earth have we documented such large scale, rapid ocean acidification" according to lead researcher and ocean acidification project chief, U.S. Geological Survey oceanographer Lisa Robbins.
Globally, Earth's ocean surface is becoming acidified due to absorption of man-made carbon dioxide. Ocean acidification models show that with increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide, the Arctic Ocean will have crucially low concentrations of dissolved carbonate minerals, such as aragonite, in the next decade.
"In the Arctic, where multi-year sea ice has been receding, we see that the dilution of seawater with melted sea ice adds fuel to the fire of ocean acidification" according to co-author, and co-project chief, Jonathan Wynn, a geologist from the University of the South Florida. "Not only is the ice cover removed leaving the surface water exposed to man-made carbon dioxide, the surface layer of frigid waters is now fresher, and this means less calcium and carbonate ions are available for organisms."
Researchers were able to investigate seawater chemistry at high spatial resolution during three years of research cruises in the Arctic, alongside joint U.S.-Canada research efforts aimed at mapping the seafloor as part of the U.S. Extended Continental Shelf program. In addition to the NOAA supported ECS ship time, the ocean acidification researchers were funded by the USGS, National Science Foundation, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Compared to other oceans, the Arctic Ocean has been rather lightly sampled. "It's a beautiful but challenging place to work," said Robert Byrne, a USF marine chemist. Using new automated instruments, the scientists were able to make 34,000 water-chemistry measurements from the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker. "This unusually large data set, in combination with earlier studies, not only documents remarkable changes in Arctic seawater chemistry but also provides a much-needed baseline against which future measurements can be compared." Byrne credits scientists and engineers at the USF college of Marine Science with developing much of the new technology.
Information on the most recent Arctic research cruise is available on online, and you can follow the research on Twitter @USGS Arctic.
USGS provides science for a changing world. Visit USGS.gov, and follow us on Twitter @USGS and our other social media channels.
Subscribe to our news releases via e-mail, RSS or Twitter.
Links and contacts within this release are valid at the time of publication.


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The Source
Faculty Profile Q&A: Sepideh Bajracharya
July 31, 2012
The following Q&A is part of a series created by the college dean's office to introduce new faculty. Get to know Assistant Professor in Sociology & Anthropology Sepideh Bajracharya, who joins the faculty this fall, in the interview below.
Education: Ph.D. 2008 Harvard University; B.A. 1999, Phi Beta Kappa, Wesleyan University
Research & Teaching Interests: Political culture of violence, communal politics, memory, narrative, urban ethnography, anthropology of space, South Asia.
What excites me about joining the L&C community?
The curiosity and conscientiousness that I felt among L&C students during my visit to the campus a few months ago; similarly, the rigor and vibrancy of intellectual exchange that I encountered in my interactions with colleagues across a range of disciplines. I am looking forward to working and collaborating on projects, and teaching courses that lie at the intersection of social anthropology and South Asian/postcolonial studies.
Describe the current trajectory of your scholarly research.
I just finished a book-length manuscript on the public and political culture of neighborhood vigilantism in urban Nepal, as well as a research project about how money circulates and affects notions of social capital and wealth—particularly in terms of gender, class, and caste identity, and concepts of trust, risk, investment—in an untouchable-caste neighborhood indigenous to Kathmandu city, Nepal. The project examines how development, and the conditions of what I call, "economies of need," intersect with consumer cultures, or what I refer to as, "economies of pleasure." I have also started a new project that looks into the historical and social ecology of waste, settlement, business, and activism surrounding the two main river systems that run through the Kathmandu Valley.
What kind of hobbies or special activities do you enjoy outside of work?
Writing and reading "outside work;" traveling; walking and hiking; cooking and gardening.
What were your childhood goals/aspirations?
To live in an orchard filled with walnut, pistachio, pomegranate, fig, apple, mulberry, and olive trees such as my grandmother's generation used to own in Iran (called"baque" in Persian).
What are you listening to in your car right now?
A shuffle of classical and contemporary English, Persian, Hindi, and Nepali songs.
What was your favorite childhood story?
I grew up reading the beautifully illustrated and written English translated tales of the Chinese folk hero "Monkey King Sun Wukong," Pippi Longstocking, Paddington Bear, and Hindi comic strips.


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We just received the official copies of my father-in-law's death certificate. AND, his father's name is WRONG!!!! Being the family record keeper, I provided the information. BUT, I have a copy of what I gave the mortuary (and the form is filled out correctly) and someone there, or in the county recorder's office, put the middle name as the last name. So it says that Glenn Chester Blackmore's father's name is Clifford Franklin instead of Clifford Franklin Blackmore. Now what????!!!
Now a minor problem is that we reported that Glenn had been in California for 93 years, but only in the county for 27. The death certificate says he's been in the county for 93 years.
Just another problem for us to solve, but a remember to all of us researchers to question even original, official documents.
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Those Places Thursday - TRICE and Little River County, Arkansas
The following is from page 54 of a book (9" x 12") which seems to be about counties in Arkansas. Page 53 is Lincoln County. I only have this one page. Because C.Y. Trice died in Ashdown, Little River County, Arkansas in 1915 and I believe he moved to Ashdown about 1912, the book must have been published around that time.
I am looking for more information about the book. Also, if you have an interest in either Lincoln County or Little River County about this time I would be happy to send you the complete transcription.
I am looking for more information about the book. Also, if you have an interest in either Lincoln County or Little River County about this time I would be happy to send you the complete transcription.
"The writer thought he was familiar with Little River, having made numerous trips there. However, in gathering figures for this book he made another trip there, and while in Ashdown, the county seat, had the pleasure of meeting one Col. C. Y. Trice, a "land advocate," as he describes himself. Colonel Trice knows as much of Little River County as possibly any one man in Arkansas, because he has made a profound study of conditions there. He is a likable distinguished gentleman, the soul of honor, and came to Arkansas from Clarksville, Texas, although originally from Lamar, Mo. When he left Clarksville the citizens of that city, over 100 of them, officials, lawyers, merchants, physicians and business men generally, signed an expression of appreciation of his efforts to build that section up. He is a booster of the first magnitude, and the following is a statement of conditions as he sees them in Little River County, prepared for this publication. It is with pleasure the Director of Publicity submits it to the world, and suggests that, if you are interested further you write him direct:
"Little River County is located in the extreme southwest corner of the State of Arkansas, the first county south of the foothills of the Boston Mountains; wedged in, you might say, between the two beautiful streams, Little River and Red River. Little River on the north and east, is a small stream coming down out of the mountains of Eastern Oklahoma, being fed on the way by numerous small streams and springs. Red River, on the south and west, is the boundary line between this county and the States of Texas, and Little River County, being between these two streams, is composed mostly of rich, fertile valley lands.
"Ashdown, the county seat and largest town in the county, is located in the central portion of the county. Public roads from all parts of the county lead to Ashdown. It is a town of about 3,000 people, and has three trunk-line railroads (the Kansas City Southern, the Frisco and the Memphis, Dallas & Gulf), which afford very fine shipping facilities to the North, East, South and West. It also has a stave mill, cotton oil mill, flour mill, two wholesale grocery houses, two banks, two good hardware, furniture and implement stores, several good dry goods and grocery stores, a $40,000 courthouse, a $20,000 school building, four nice churches, a $40,000 brick hotel and numerous other buildings. Ashdown is a comparatively new place but is growing very fast, there being at least six modern dwelling houses together with a brick store building going up each month.
"While we have the above enterprises, we have the resources for more, and want them. Ashdown and Little River County afford resources for a large saw and planing [sic] mill, box factory, furniture factory, spoke and handle factory, brick factory, ice plant, truck gardeners and dairymen."
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5 free alternatives to Photoshop
5 alternatives to Photoshop for designers on a budget
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Professional design software like Photoshop is terrific, but it's also expensive. What do you do if you're a designer on a tight budget? Photoshop is truly the best program for what it does, but that doesn't mean there aren't some very good alternatives that cost exactly nothing. There are quite of few free or open source alternatives, so it would be helpful to know a bit about them and compare them to what your specific needs are. In many cases, there are online tutorials for these free programs that can help you master them quickly.
Five open source or no cost tools for graphic designers
These free tools will ease the financial concerns of designers still operating on a college budget.
(open source, no cost)
The most well-known alternative to Photoshop is the GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP). It is also the most feature-rich free program, allowing you flexibility that is closer to the more expensive options. Photoshop, of course, sets the standard for cutting-edge photo-editing features, but fortunately almost everything that can be done in Photoshop can be done in the GIMP. The GIMP is also a cross-platform program supported by a huge online community. It can also be easily installed with Windows installers.
(open source, no cost)
GIMPshop is GIMP for those who want to feel like they're still using Adobe Photoshop. It has all the functionality of the GIMP, including a lengthy list of features and customizability, but it also answers some of the complaints regarding GIMP's interface. The GIMPshop menu structure more closely resembles that of Photoshop. It also has adjusted terminology so that it falls in line with the way Photoshop refers to tools and processes. It doesn't, however, support Photoshop plugins, nor does it support GIMP's plugins, filters, brushes, etc. But, when it comes to finding a really close alternative to Photoshop, GIMPshop is the program to get.
(open source, no cost)
Krita is great for those who want to sketch or paint. It is based on technology originally used for Linux. If you are creating cartoons, textures, concept art, or paintings, Krita supports almost all graphics tablets from the moment of installation. It also comes with a fair number of useful features, though not quite to the level of GIMP.
Pixlr Editor
(web-based, no cost)
Pixlr Editor is a web-based photo editor. Its layout looks somewhat like Photoshop CS. Its interface is good and it comes with quite a few features--for a free web application. It includes layers, magic wand, texting, filters, styling, editing, and a large number of effects. It also does not require you to sign up. You can simply go to the site and begin editing your file.
(web-based, no cost)
Aviary has a suite ideal for editing vectors and images. Phoenix is the photo editor designed for Aviary, including compositing and layers. Phoenix is integrated into Facebook, Picasa, and Flickr, meaning you can import images from these services. Once again, Phoenix is a powerful free tool to consider before investing in an expensive package like Photoshop.


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Curious about improv? Want to give it a try? Join the Bad Dog Academy Tuesdays at 7pm!
Who is it for? Our Tuesday drop-in is perfect for anyone with little-to-no experience who wants to work out their improv muscle - or give it a shot for the first time! Ideal for Foundation Series students looking to gain more experience outside of class. Cost: five dollars!


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How to Run Older Programs under Windows 8
Many companies design their software to run on a specific version of Windows. When a new Windows version, like Windows 8, appears a few years later, some older programs feel threatened by their new environment and refuse to work.
If an older program refuses to run under Windows 8, you still have hope because of Windows' secret Compatibility mode. This mode tricks programs into thinking that they're running under their favorite older version of Windows, letting them run in comfort.
If your old program has problems with Windows 8, follow these steps:
Right-click the program's icon and choose Properties.
When the Properties dialog box appears, click the Compatibility tab and then click the Run Compatibility Troubleshooter button.
In its robotic way, Windows 8 tries to guess what version of Windows your program needs, and then it applies the changes. If the program begins working, you're through.
If the program still has trouble, though, move to Step 3.
In the Compatibility Mode section, select the Run This Program in Compatibility Mode For check box and select the program's desired Windows version from the drop-down list.
Check your program's box or look at its manual to see what version of Windows it expects.
Click OK and then try running your program again to see whether it works better.
If your older program doesn't run, it's time to upgrade to a newer version.
For more information about Windows 8 and its features, explore Windows 8 For Dummies, available online.
Did this glimpse into how to use Windows 8 Compatibility Mode to run old programs leave you longing for more information and insight about Microsoft's personal computing operating system? You're free to test drive any of the For Dummies eLearning courses. Pick your course (you may be interested in more from Windows 8), fill out a quick registration, and then give eLearning a spin with the Try It! button. You'll be right on course for more trusted know how: The full version's also available at Windows 8.


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While building out publicly facing data repositories, government
agencies should cleanly separate the user interface layer from the data
being presented, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) advises in a draft report on maintaining open government data.
"External parties can create new and exciting interfaces that may
not be obvious to the data publishers. For that reason, do not
compromise the integrity of the data to create flashy interfaces," the
report states. "If you must create an interface, then publish the data
separate from the interface and ensure external parties have direct
access to the raw data, so they can build their own interfaces if they
The paper, titled "Publishing Open Government Data," is one of the first deliverables from the newly formed W3C eGovernment Interest Group, the mission of which is to help governments around the world share standards-based best practices.
The creation of the report was influenced, in part, from feedback provided by a meeting the group held in March
in Washington to solicit ideas from federal agencies. After sifting
through the feedback it gets in this report and other endeavors, the
group may also eventually issue government-specific standards to help
better use the Web, noted group liaison Sandro Hawke, in an interview
with GCN.
Responding to the new administration's call for greater transparency, agencies may be eager to post more of their data online.
"The quickest and easiest way to make data available on the Internet
is to publish the data in its raw form," the report states, adding that
the data format used should be machine-readable, such as by being
encoded in the Extensible Markup Language, Resource Description
Framework or laid out in a Comma Separated Values file. By structuring
data in this fashion, third-party computers can better reorganize and
reuse the data. "Formats that only allow the data to be seen, rather
than extracted (for example, pictures of the data), are not useful and
should be avoided."
The working group advises, however, that the user interface be
separate from the underlying data set. The idea is to make agency Web
sites act like "file servers," the paper states. Tools, such as the Extensible Stylesheet Language, can render data sets into forms that are easy for humans to scan on a Web page.
Agencies should take some additional steps to ensure the material
gets into the right hands, the report suggested. Data directories, such
as Data.Gov should be set up, which
will allow third-parties to peruse the contents. Documents should be
given permanent Uniform Resource Locators or Identifiers, so that they
will be able to be accessed through the years.
About the Author
Joab Jackson is the senior technology editor for Government Computer News.
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Paul Strudel
Austrian, 18th century
Emperor Charles VI, c. 1708
40 x 33.8 x 7.3 cm
Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery; Acquired with the assistance of the Women's Committee
This marble relief of Emperor Charles VI (1685–1740) was made by Paul Strudel, a well-respected sculptor in the Hapsburg court. Strudel succeeded in elevating the Hapsburg dynastic endeavours by producing a series of marble portrait reliefs of the Emperor and his family, which were presented as diplomatic gifts throughout the Spanish and Austrian kingdoms. Only 40 of these portrait medallions, including the WAG work, remain in existence. The profile relief provided Strudel with a link to ancient Greco-Roman traditions in which the faces of rulers were reproduced on coins. Strudel also incorporated stylistic elements from the dynamic sculptures of Gianlorenzo Bernini, marking the introduction of the high Baroque into Austria. At this time, Strudel was also commissioned to produce a series of life-sized marble statues of the living Hapsburgs and their ancestors. Along with his two brothers, the Strudel family also contributed technical innovations such as designs for war machinery and hydraulic engineering for Hungarian silver mines.
Gallery Hours
- Tuesday 11am-5pm
- Wednesday 11am-5pm
- Thursday 11am-5pm
- Friday 11am-9pm
- Saturday 11am-5pm
- Sunday 11am-5pm
- Closed Monday


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Denver Health offers $50 Earth, Wind & Fire concert-only tickets
Good news for Earth, Wind & Fire fans: A limited number of $50 tickets are on sale for the concert that is part of the big NightShine Gala taking place on Saturday at the National Western Events Center.
They can be purchased by visiting the Tickets West website and entering the search word Earth. The concert is scheduled to start at 9:30 p.m.


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Ombudsman - Case Assistance
The Ombudsman provides an impartial and independent perspective to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in an attempt to resolve problems with pending cases. The Ombudsman does not have the authority to make or change USCIS decisions. Before contacting the Ombudsman, you must first try to resolve your problem through USCIS customer service avenues:
Help with a Pending Application or Petition
First, check My Case Status Online processing times
Request assistance from USCIS using their e-Request tool to check on appointment accommodations, typographic errors, delayed delivery of documents, notices or cards by mail or if a case is beyond the normal processing times.
Call the USCIS Contact Center at 1-800-375-5283
Learn More
Submitting a Request for Case Assistance
If you waited 60 days past USCIS processing times and have tried the USCIS customer service options listed above but still need help resolving a problem with an application or petition, you can ask the Ombudsman's Office for help by taking the following steps:
Please submit all evidence or information regarding the efforts taken to first resolve the issue with USCIS.
Asistencia en Casos - Espanol
How to Submit
Submit an electronic Form DHS-7001 through Ombudsman Case Assistance Online which provides a direct, paperless submission of requests for assistance to the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman automatically assigns a case number once submission has been completed with an acknowledgement email sent to the e-mail address filled in on the form.
You must use Internet Explorer to successfully access the Case Assistance Online portal - other internet browsers, including Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox are not compatible at this time.
If you did not receive a confirmation page and case number when submitting an online request, please contact our office at email@example.com or send us a paper Form DHS-7001.
If you are outside the United States or seeking immigration benefits under the VAWA, T or U programs, download and complete the DSH-7001 Case Assistance Form. Please read the form instructions carefully and describe the problem in detail.
- Form DHS-7001 (electronic - fillable)
- Instructions for completing the electronically submitted Form DHS-7001
- Form DHS-7001 and Instructions (Downloadable paper version)
Make sure to include on Form DHS-7001
ALL USCIS receipt numbers related to your application or petition and include copies of important information and documentation.
Please do not send original documents.
If online submission is not an option – Email first
Include signed Form DHS-7001 and any additional information to the Ombudsman to our mailing address or fax number (202) 357-0042. Please note that due to security measures with the government mail system, cases mailed (even those sent by express mail) may be significantly delayed.
Submitting a Request as an Attorney or Accredited Representative
Attorneys and accredited representatives may submit a request using the steps noted above, but please note that the Ombudsman must ensure that we have appropriate consent for each request. Attorneys and accredited representatives must include a copy of Form G-28 previously-filed with USCIS.
A request submitted by an attorney or accredited representative that does not contain a copy of Form G-28 will be treated as an incomplete submission and may be closed. Our office understands that there are always exceptional circumstances that require special attention. We ask that you contact us if you require special assistance.


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First, I want to apologize to David Wondrich for not writing up his new book "Imbibe!: From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to "Professor" Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar" before Christmas, depriving him of whatever paltry sales a blog post here will generate. Sorry David.
In any case, the book had been covered so well by such stellar writers as Paul Clarke over at the Cocktail Chronicles, ("IMBIBE! (no, the other one)",) and Jeff Berry over at Beachbum Berry's Grog Blog, ("AN EDUCATED THIRST: PROFESSOR JERRY THOMAS, REMIXED",) that I figured anyone with even a passing interest cocktails would have purchased it before Christmas. Heck, they should have pre-ordered the thing!
Plus, I didn't want to ruin the surprise for many of my friends and family, as they were getting a copy for Christmas whether they wanted one or not.
Recently, though, it has come to my attention that some of my acquaintances (<cough>Rick<cough>) have not yet purchased a copy for themselves.
Now, I know perhaps you are thinking, "Why do I need a book about 19th Century cocktails and bar culture? I can make an Old-Fashioned as well as the next man. There's nothing else to it, is there?"
Indeed, when I heard that Mr. Wondrich was working on this book, I wondered how he would make such things interesting to those of us already familiar with the subject matter.
The beautiful thing about Mr. Wondrich's writing is that it is a joy to read. Indeed, I suspect if he applied himself to the subject of paint drying, he could, somehow, bring it to life.
He not only brings the culture of the 19th Century Saloon to vivid life, he provides seemingly endless amusing anecdotes about the cocktails themselves and the characters that created them. Boothby, Schmidt, and especially Thomas all get some time in the sun here.
Indeed, if I have any criticism of the book, it is that it spends too much time on cocktails, and not enough on the colorful characters and histories of the 19th Century. After reading the wonderful first chapter on the the life of Jerry Thomas, I have to admit I was a bit disappointed to get down to the business of cocktails, punches, and fancy drinks.
Sigh, I guess, ultimately, it is a cocktail recipe book, after all.
But, lest I also worry about that, Mr. Wondrich's research and writing about those recipes is thoroughly fascinating and well worth going through. Not to mention, every recipe I have made so far has been outstanding. They may take a bit more work than modern cocktails, but the results are well worth the effort and the instructions impeccable.
Crack open your stingy wallet, mix yourself a drink, enjoy Mr. Wondrich's prose, and smile.
Full disclosure: After I had pre-ordered a copy of "Imbibe!" the publisher sent me a copy. I didn't cancel my pre-order, instead giving it to a friend. So, I figure we're about even.


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Doxycycline Hyclate Gel, Extended Release
COMMON BRAND(S): Atridox
GENERIC NAME(S): Doxycycline Hyclate
This medication is used to treat adult gum disease (periodontitis). Doxycycline belongs to a class of drugs known as tetracycline antibiotics. When applied to the infected tooth pockets, this medication works by preventing the growth of bacteria. This medication is a gel that your dental professional places into the infected tooth pocket. It becomes wax-like when it comes in contact with saliva. Doxycycline is then slowly released from the hardened gel over the next 7 days.
How to use Doxycycline Hyclate Gel, Extended Release
Read the Patient Information Leaflet provided by your pharmacist before you start using doxycycline gel. If you have any questions, talk to your dentist or pharmacist.
Dosage is based on your medical condition and response to treatment.
The dental professional will prepare each dose before placing this product into the infected tooth pocket(s).
After this medication is placed in your tooth pocket(s), do not brush or floss around the treated teeth for 7 days. Avoid using the treated teeth to chew, and do not eat hard, crunchy, or chewy foods for at least 7 days. Your dentist may prescribe a dental rinse to be used during the time you should avoid brushing and flossing. Follow your dentist's directions carefully.
Do not worry if you see bits of this product come out of the treated tooth pockets. This product is harmless if swallowed.
Your dental professional may apply a second treatment with this product after 4 months. Keep all of your dental appointments while using this medication.
Tell your dentist if your condition persists or worsens.
Side Effects
Gum discomfort/pain/soreness or toothache may occur. If any of these effects persist or worsen, tell your dentist or pharmacist promptly.
Remember that your dentist has prescribed this medication because he or she has judged that the benefit to you is greater than the risk of side effects. Many people using this medication do not have serious side effects.
Tell your dentist right away if any of these unlikely but serious side effects occur: tooth loosening, jaw pain.
A very serious allergic reaction to this drug is rare. However, seek immediate medical attention if you notice any symptoms of a serious allergic reaction, including: rash, itching/swelling (especially of the face/tongue/throat), severe dizziness, trouble breathing.
This is not a complete list of possible side effects. If you notice other effects not listed above, contact your doctor or pharmacist.
In the US -
Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or at www.fda.gov/medwatch.
In Canada - Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to Health Canada at 1-866-234-2345.
Before using doxycycline gel, tell your dentist or pharmacist if you are allergic to it; or to other tetracyclines; or if you have any other allergies. This product may contain inactive ingredients, which can cause allergic reactions or other problems. Talk to your pharmacist for more details.
Before using this medication, tell your dentist or pharmacist your medical history, especially of: past/current fungal infections of mouth/vagina (e.g., thrush, yeast infection).
This medication may make you more sensitive to the sun. Limit your time in the sun. Avoid tanning booths and sunlamps. Use sunscreen and wear protective clothing when outdoors. Tell your doctor right away if you get sunburned or have skin blisters/redness.
Children younger than 8 years may be more sensitive to the side effects of doxycycline, especially tooth discoloration. Tooth discoloration has also occurred in older children and young adults. Discuss the risks and benefits of this medication with the doctor.
This drug is not recommended for use during pregnancy. Consult your dentist before using this medication.
This medication passes into breast milk. Consult your dentist or doctor before breast-feeding.
Your dentist or pharmacist may already be aware of any possible drug interactions and may be monitoring you for them. Do not start, stop, or change the dosage of any medicine before checking with your dentist, medical doctor, or pharmacist first.
Before using this medication, tell your dentist or pharmacist of all prescription and nonprescription/herbal products you may use.
Although most antibiotics are unlikely to affect hormonal birth control such as pills, patch, or ring, a few antibiotics (such as rifampin, rifabutin) can decrease their effectiveness. This could result in pregnancy. If you use hormonal birth control, ask your doctor or pharmacist for more details.
This document does not contain all possible interactions. Therefore, before using this product, tell your doctor or pharmacist of all the products you use. Keep a list of all your medications with you, and share the list with your doctor and pharmacist.
If someone has overdosed and has serious symptoms such as passing out or trouble breathing, call 911. Otherwise, call a poison control center right away. US residents can call their local poison control center at 1-800-222-1222. Canada residents can call a provincial poison control center.
Proper dental hygiene (including tooth brushing and flossing) on a daily basis and having regular visits to your dentist may help to prevent tooth and gum problems. Discuss this with your dental professional.
Missed Dose
Not applicable.
Store at room temperature or in the refrigerator between 36-86 degrees F (2-30 degrees C) away from light and moisture. Keep this medication in the protective pouches before use. Do not store in the bathroom. Keep all medicines away from children and pets.
Do not flush medications down the toilet or pour them into a drain unless instructed to do so. Properly discard this product when it is expired or no longer needed. Consult your pharmacist or local waste disposal company for more details about how to safely discard your product.Information last revised October 2016. Copyright(c) 2016 First Databank, Inc.
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There's no doubt about it; social media has changed how we receive and process news. We're all stunned, heartbroken, angry, and saddened by the news coming out of Connecticut today, news that at this moment seems too horrific for me to even name.
With millions of people responding on Facebook, Twitter, and blogs, I think it's important to recognize that we all grieve in different ways. We find ourselves in different stages and manifestations of that grief—disbelief, anger, stunned silence, the need to do something, the need to exert some kind of control in a world that seems so desperately out of control—and so we have to be patient with one another, gracious when our grief takes different forms.
When someone very close to me died a few years ago, I remember my dad telling me that it's important to allow people to grieve in ways that don't necessarily make sense to me. It's important not to correct people whose grief takes a different form than my own, he said.
So let's grieve together. And let's give one another the space to be shocked, to be pissed, to appeal to God, to be angry with God, to find peace in God, to question God, to want to take action, to want to wait, to blame, to pray, to be afraid, to be speechless, to vent, to lament, to speak up, to be silent, to pull our families close to us, to need some time alone.
Let's not tell each other how to grieve. Let's just grieve.
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Exeter has an elegant and charming countryside, wooded hills, clear streams and lakes, plus a multitude of wildlife; making this a very desirable spot for a country home.
The real estate data on this web site comes in part from the IDX Program of the State-Wide Multiple Listing Service, Inc. The IDX information is provided exclusively for consumers' personal, non-commercial use, and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Copyright© 2019 State-Wide MLS, Inc. All rights reserved. Data last updated 11/20/19.


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Actor Donald Faison marries Cacee Cobb
Lorena Blas, USA TODAY
Actor Donald Faison married longtime girlfriend Cacee Cobb on Saturday.
The 38-year-old Faison, who appears on TVLand sitcom The Exes, married Cobb at the California home of his Scrubs co-star Zach Braff, reports Us Weekly.
Cobb, 35, is the longtime friend and former personal assistant to Jessica Simpson. Reality TV viewers might remember her from appearances on shows with Simpson.
Simpson tweeted about the wedding: "I was the maid of honor last night for my BF @caceecobb. She was the most beautiful bride I have ever seen in my life!"


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Alejandro Ingelmo is definitely one to watch! If you're a fan of statement, sexy zapatos, then this is your man.
The Cuban designer showed heels in bold, geometric shapes with metallics and soft leathers. The colors were mostly maroons, olives and blacks, and the styles were refreshingly innovative.
I saw DJ Chelsea Leyland and rapper Vinny Cha$e in the crowd, and the music was beat-heavy with tracks like "Spirals" and "Acceptance" by Synkro, "Stilhed" by Mike Sheridan and "Undercoat" by Djrum.
Want more from Laura? Follow her on Twitter.


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The UK estate is based on 7 locations: University Park Campus, Jubilee Campus, Sutton Bonington Campus, King's Meadow Campus, Nottingham Medical School, Nottingham City Hospital and the Royal Derby Hospital.
The Estates Office provides strategic and operational services support to the University infrastructure, buildings and landholdings. This web site provides access to information and details on facilities and services.
Campus Developments
Further information on the latest exciting development projects can be found here.
To provide, maintain and develop a high quality environment in a professional, efficient, cost effective and customer focused manner, to enable the University to meet its aims today and in the future.
'Greenmetric of World Universities 2018'.
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Nottingham, NG7 2RD
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SARASOTA, Fla. -- Before the Orioles' Grapefruit League game against the Yankees on Monday afternoon, left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada threw from a full mound for the first time in more than 10 months.
Wada, who is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, last threw from a mound during a rehab assignment at Triple-A Norfolk on April 19. He lasted just 2 2/3 innings that day, allowing six runs on six hits and walking four.
"I haven't thrown in a long time on the mound, so I was actually very happy and it was very fun," Wada said through translator Seob Yoon. "I have been throwing on the half-mound, so it didn't feel awkward. It wasn't much of a difference, but it was very fun."
Asked if he would throw again from a half mound, Wada quickly answered in English, "Maybe."
It's a significant step for Wada, who has spent his entire career as an Oriole dealing with shoulder issues. He signed a two-year, $8.15 million contract last offseason and a club option for 2015. His big league career is limited to a five spring training innings last year.
"I saw him 10 days ago, just on flat ground, and the ball was coming out good, and it's coming out much better," Orioles pitching coach Rick Adair said. "He's done a lot of work.[Rehab coordinator] Chris Correnti has done a tremendous job physically getting him back in shape and staying on this program. It was the first day and it was real good. Obviously, anytime you've got an injury, that first day is exciting. He probably had a little bit of adrenaline going and he's doing good."
In other news:
-- The team will hold a simulated game on the back fields of the Ed Smith Stadium complex on Tuesday morning beginning at 10:15. It will be an opportunity for pitchers who haven't thrown or aren't scheduled to throw that day to gain innings. Miguel Gonzalez, Jason Hammel, Wei-Yin Chen, Darren O'Day and Jim Johnson are slated to throw their first spring innings.
-- Chris Tillman, slated to start Tuesday's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Bradenton, is scheduled to be followed by right-hander Todd Redmond, right-hander Steve Johnson and right-hander Dylan Bundy.
-- Right-hander Jake Arrieta is scheduled to start the Orioles' afternoon split squad game Wednesday against the Yankees in Tampa, while left-hander Zach Britton will start the night game against the Boston Red Sox at Ed Smith Stadium.


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THURSDAY, Feb. 16, 2012 (HealthDay News) — A sweetener used in many organic foods may be a hidden source of arsenic, new research suggests.
Researchers at Dartmouth College also note that the sweetener, organic brown rice syrup, is found in some infant formulas. Their report appears in the Feb. 16 issue of Environmental Health Perspectives.
Arsenic is a natural element that can contaminate groundwater. As the Dartmouth team explained, rice may be particularly prone to contamination because it pulls in arsenic from soil. There are no federal limits currently set for arsenic levels in food.
Study author Dr. Brian Jackson, director of the Trace Element Analysis Core Facility at Dartmouth, set out to determine the concentrations of arsenic in commercial food products containing organic brown rice syrup, including infant formula, cereal/energy bars and high-energy foods used by athletes. Jackson and his colleagues bought commercial food products containing organic brown rice syrup and compared them with similar products that did not have rice syrup in them.
In all, 17 infant formulas, 29 cereal bars and three energy shots were all purchased from local stores in the Hanover, N.H., area.
Of the 17 infant milk formulas tested, two had listed organic brown rice syrup as the primary ingredient. These two formulas, one dairy-based and one soy-based, had arsenic levels that were more than 20 times greater than the other formulas, the researchers found.
One of the infant formulas had a total arsenic concentration that was six times the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's safe drinking water limit of 10 parts per billion (ppb) for total arsenic. The amount of inorganic arsenic, the most toxic form, averaged 8.6 parts ppb for the dairy-based formula and 21.4 ppb for the soy formula, the study said.
Cereal bars and high-energy foods using organic brown rice syrup also had higher arsenic concentrations than those without the syrup, the study showed.
"The baby formula findings are concerning," Jackson said. Infants and people who eat gluten-free diets, which are largely rice-based, are most at risk for consuming too much arsenic via food, he explained, while "the risk for the occasional cereal bar eater is low."
Efforts by HealthDay to reach the Organic Trade Association for comment were unsuccessful.
This isn't the first time arsenic levels in foods have made the headlines.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, host of "The Dr. Oz Show," caused a public health stir in 2011 when he reported that roughly one-third of apple juice samples he'd tested had arsenic levels exceeding 10 parts per billion, the limit for drinking water. At first, Oz was criticized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but his findings were later confirmed by a Consumer Reports study that showed many apple and grape juice samples were tainted with arsenic.
What exactly are the health risks with arsenic?
"All we can fall back on is what we know about exposure through drinking water; risk of certain cancers or heart disease are slightly elevated in drinking water with a certain level of arsenic," Jackson said. "Moms should know that these rice-based formulas may contain arsenic and should limit exposure. Look at the ingredients when you purchase formula."
Connie Diekman, director of university nutrition at Washington University in St. Louis, said consumers shouldn't panic over the Dartmouth findings.
"As a registered dietitian, I would encourage consumers to not worry about this study, but to use it as a reminder that foods that grow in soil are growing with a wide variety of chemicals, both those found naturally in the soil and those that may be there from use of chemicals to foster growth," she said. "Whether the amount of any one chemical is enough to worry about is still a question that needs better research. Focusing on single foods as 'dangerous' or 'harmful' ignores how those foods impact the whole diet.
"Whether organic foods contain more arsenic, or other minerals, than conventional foods is hard to estimate, but this study does remind us that organic is not necessarily equal with healthier/better for you/safe from harm," she added. "Ask a registered dietitian to help decipher new studies, and how those studies translate to their individual eating goals."


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Fernand P. Jobin Sr., a Mount Kisco resident, died on Tuesday surrounded by his family and caretakers. He was 102.
Jobin was born in Quebec on Sept. 19, 1915. A longtime Mount Kisco resident, he was an active member of St. Francis of Assisi Church. Jobin was an avid walker who loved playing sports like tennis, hockey, and baseball.
He is survived by his children, He is survived by his loving children Clementine (George) Lakin, " Bud" Jobin and Thomas (Carolyn) Jobin.
He is predeceased by his wife Winifred, his daughter in law Patricia Jobin and granddaughter Patti. He also leaves behind to mourn his 10 grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, and 4 great-great-grandchildren.
A funeral was held last Friday and a burial was held Saturday in Mount Kisco. The family suggests memorial contributions be sent in his memory to St. Francis of Assisi Church.
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Obama to NBA: I'm Not Done Raising Your Taxes, Now Help Me Sell ObamaCare
President Obama has a lot of nerve asking the National Basketball Association to help him sell ObamaCare to their fans.
It's not just that President Obama is asking the NBA to lend its credibility to the least popular thing this side of Tim Donaghy. Obama has spent his political career trying to take more money from high-income earners like NBA players, executives, and owners. ObamaCare is one of his great successes in that effort. Another is the recent fiscal-cliff-avoidance deal. Yet Obama isn't satisfied; he wants to take even more of their money.
NBA players, owners, and executives are extremely talented and productive people. They create lots of jobs. They earn lots of money because they make other people happy. For this crime, they already pay more in taxes than almost anyone, and pay more than they receive from the government in benefits.
Yet President Obama seems to spend every waking moment trying to figure out how to take even more from them. And then he turns around and asks them to help him sell his train wreck of a health care law. Chutzpah.
Before the NBA casts its lot with ObamaCare, every NBA player, executive, and owner should ask their accountant exactly how much this president has cost them. I'm looking at you, Lebron.


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Can man still beat the machine? Automated vs. manual pattern recognition of 3D MRSI data of prostate cancer patients. Proceedings of the 16th ISMRM Technical Report (664.38 KB)(2006).
Estimating Kinetic Parameter Maps from Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MRI using Spatial Prior Knowledge. IEEE Transaction on Medical Imaging. 28:10 1534-1547 Technical Report (419.8 KB)(2009).


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Hurdles Obamacare still must clear
The Supreme Court gave its definitive ruling upholding the Affordable Care Act in June.
But that hasn't stopped three other legal challenges to core provisions of Obamacare — including the mandates and subsidies — that could unravel big parts of the law if they succeed.
Story Continued Below
One case challenges whether people can get subsidies for health insurance in states that don't run their own insurance exchanges. Another puts forth a new legal argument against the constitutionality of the individual and employer mandates. And the third argues that the law isn't valid because it originated in the Senate, and the Constitution says tax legislation needs to start in the House.
There's also a barrage of lawsuits against the administration's contraception coverage requirement, which wouldn't derail the overall legislation but would keep the public focused on a controversial aspect of the law.
The Supreme Court clearly made its voice heard on the health law. If the court wanted to get rid of the legislation in June, it certainly had its chance. But the suits — particularly the one about the subsidies — pose legal questions that the courts will have to resolve one way or another.
And while the lawyers fight it out, the cases continue to be political irritants and a way to keep the antagonism to the law burning hot.
One suit, brought by Oklahoma, challenges a key element of the Affordable Care Act: subsidies that will help lower- and middle-class families afford insurance in the new state-based health marketplaces known as exchanges.
The subsidies, in the form of tax credits, are available only through these exchanges. But the law was based on the assumption that most states would run the exchanges with the federal government as a backup. Yet at this point, only 13 states and Washington seem likely to run their own exchanges, although a few undecided states could tip that way. The rest will either let the feds run them or will create so-called partnership exchanges with the Department Health and Human Services and the states divvying up responsibilities.
Oklahoma — building its case on an argument made by the Cato Institute and Case Western Reserve University Law professor Jonathan Adler — argues that the subsidies can be administered only through the state exchanges, not federal ones.
The interpretation of the Internal Revenue Service is that the subsidies can flow under the law. But Oklahoma, as the Washington Times put it in a recent editorial, "is calling the taxman's bluff."
Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, says the IRS doesn't have any ground to stand on. In an email, he said HHS invented the partnership model "out of thin air" and that the law doesn't allow for the subsidies in either federal model — partnership or wholly federal.
"The Act does not authorize tax credits, or cost-sharing subsidies, or penalties against employers, in a state with a 'partnership' Exchange. In addition, a 'partnership' Exchange also makes thousands of additional state residents exempt from the individual mandate," Cannon added.
The health law exempts people from the individual mandate to have insurance if it's not affordable — with "affordability" defined by the statute. Without the subsidies, it would be unaffordable for a lot more people.


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Undine is your regular dwavin cleric, raised in a small town church all her life. Day in, day out, it's cleric duty and studies on healing spells, and she's tired of it. On a spur of the moment decision, she decides to quit, and become an adventurer. Want to be a page ahead of everyone else? Check out my Patreon, for as little as $1 a month you can see the next page before anywhere else! https://www.patreon.com/fungiidraws Speech font (KB Planet Earth) by Khrys Bosland
May 2nd, 2014, 3:48 pm
Author's Comments:
Reply Fungii, March 31st, 2014, 5:56 am
Originally, this entire scene was just going to be void-like backgrounds with the only things in shot be Undine, her friend, and the bar with the drinks
Reply Advertisement, November 18th, 2019, 10:01 am
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