Seedersandleechers
Seedersandleechers's JournalIn emotional testimony, providers and patient criticize KanCare system
This is Brownbeck's doing. Those poor people. 
TOPEKA — A committee of Kansas legislators heard Monday from health-care executives who said claim denials and slow payments by the state’s KanCare managed care system threatens their businesses — and emotional testimony from a Johnson County man with muscular dystrophy who said KanCare cuts were threatening to destroy his family and his life.
At the first meeting of the Joint Committee on Home and Community Based Services and KanCare Oversight, representatives of hospitals and other health-care and disability service providers said the new system — proposed and promised to reduce bureaucracy — has substantially increased it by adding a layer of administration between them and the state.
But their testimony was emotionally overshadowed by Finn Bullers of Prairie Village, an unannounced witness who came to the hearing in an electric wheelchair with his respirator attached to the back.
Bullers said he is facing a planned reduction from 168 service hours a week to 40, “which my wife says will force her to file for divorce.”
Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/10/07/4538580/kancare-system-criticized-in-topeka.html#storylink=cpy
Elephant poachers to be killed "on spot" in Tanzania
Arusha — STERNER punishment awaits poachers following government's finalisation of a Bill to check rising wave of poaching incidents in the country.
The Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Amb. Khamis Kagasheki told this paper on Friday that the Bill is scheduled for tabling in the National Assembly next month.
Amb. Kagasheki admitted that the current law was lenient and had loopholes that culprits took advantage of."Poachers must be harshly punished because they are merciless people who wantonly kill our wildlife and sometimes game wardens, he said. He said due to the rising crime level, he could not help thinking that shooting on the spot of the culprits, could go a long way towards checking the killings. "I am very aware that some alleged human rights activists will make an uproar, claiming that poachers have as much rights to be tried in courts as the next person, but let's face it, poachers not only kill wildlife but also usually never hesitate to shoot dead any innocent person standing in their way," stated Amb. Kagasheki.
The minister was speaking at the climax of the global 'Elephant March' held in 15 countries worldwide and in Tanzania, about 3 kilometres mass walk was held in Arusha, which is the country's capital for tourism. The march started in Majengo area and wound up at the AICC Club grounds in Kijenge area.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201310070124.html
Poachers are killing 30 to 70 large elephants per day. Interesting article.
Neb. high court nixes teen's request for abortion
Source: Associated Press
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — In a split decision released Friday, the Nebraska Supreme Court rejected a 16-year-old ward of the state's request to waive parental consent to get an abortion, saying the girl had not shown she is sufficiently mature and well-informed enough to decide on her own whether to have an abortion.
The girl, who is not named in the opinion, was living with foster parents this year when a juvenile court terminated the parental rights of her biological parents, who had physically abused and neglected her. In a closed hearing this summer, she told Douglas County District Judge Peter Bataillon she was 10 weeks pregnant and asked for a court order allowing an abortion. She said she would not be able to financially support a child and feared she might lose her foster placement if her foster parents, whom she described as having strong religious beliefs, learned of her pregnancy.
Her attorney, Catherine Mahern of Omaha, argued that the girl didn't need anyone's consent for an abortion under the regulations of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, which states that "if a ward decides to have an abortion, the consent of the parent(s) or Department is not required," although notification of the parents of the abortion might be required.
Nebraska law was changed in 2011 from requiring minors to inform parents of an abortion to requiring them to get the written, notarized consent of a parent or guardian. Exceptions are limited to cases of abuse by the parent or guardian, medical emergencies and instances in which the minor is sufficiently mature and well-informed to decide whether to have an abortion.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/article/Neb-high-court-nixes-teen-s-request-for-abortion-4869315.php
Australia had a government shutdown once. In the end, the queen fired everyone in Parliament.
The United States' self-imposed federal government shutdown has a way of making people around the world shake their heads in bewilderment. As Georgetown professor Erik Voeten wrote for The Washington Post's new Monkey Cage political science blog, "I cannot think of a single foreign analogy to what is happening in the U.S. today."
But there actually is one foreign precedent: Australia did this once. In 1975, the Australian government shut down because the legislature had failed to fund it, deadlocked by a budgetary squabble. It looked a lot like the U.S. shutdown of today, or the 17 previous U.S. shutdowns.
Australia's 1975 shutdown ended pretty differently, though, than they do here in America. Queen Elizabeth II's official representative in Australia, Governor General Sir John Kerr, simply dismissed the prime minister. He appointed a replacement, who immediately passed the spending bill to fund the government. Three hours later, Kerr dismissed the rest of Parliament. Then Australia held elections to restart from scratch. And they haven't had another shutdown since.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/10/01/australia-had-a-government-shutdown-once-it-ended-with-the-queen-firing-everyone-in-parliament/
Free Joints To Be Given Out For Boulder Flood Relief
Source: Huffington Post
After devastating floods shut down the state and claimed the lives of ten people, residents in this college mountain town are trying to get back to business as usual, which includes smoking some ganja.
Organizers are set to hand out free joints today on Boulder's bustling Pearl Street Mall, the Daily Camera reported.
While much of the city is focused on rebuilding, the giveaway is an effort to help “stressed out recreational users” who may have lost their stashes to flooding. It's also supposed to serve as a protest a marijuana sales tax ballot that will ask voters in November to approve a 15-percent excise tax.
“Boulder has been victimized by floods,” said Rob Corry, who helped organize the event and hopes to defeat the tax ballot. “We want to bring some flood relief to folks.”
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/23/free-marijuana-flood_n_3975491.html?ncid=txtlnkushpmg00000023
Tony Abbott shuts down Climate Commission
Source: Illawarra Mercury
The Abbott government has abolished the Climate Commission, which had been established to provide public information on the impacts and potential solutions to global warming.
Environment Minister Greg Hunt rang chief climate commissioner Tim Flannery at 10am on Thursday to tell him the body had been shut down.
Plans to shut down the Climate Commission, along with a range of other climate-change related institutions, had been flagged by the Coalition heading into the 2013 election.
Professor Flannery, who has been Australia's chief climate commissioner since 2011, is due to hold a press conference at 1.30pm in Melbourne.
Read more: http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/1787926/tony-abbott-shuts-down-climate-commission/?cs=298
I was so surprised when Australia elected this man.
Obama faces backlash for his decision to attack Republicans while federal workers were being gunned
Source: Mail Online
President Obama is facing widespread backlash for his decision to deliver a speech touting his fiscal policies on Monday while three miles away, Navy Yard was under siege by a gunman who slaughtered 12 people in Washington's deadliest day since September 11, 2001.
The move was baffling to Obama's critics and supporters alike. In the midst of the confusion and bloodshed that unfolded Monday, TV networks cut away from the drama to hear Obama address the massacre only briefly before quickly pivoting to an attack on Republicans in Congress.
New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd blasted Obama's decision in a piece published Wednesday.
In this photo taken Monday, September 16, 2013, President Barack Obama pauses as he speaks in the South Court Auditorium on the White House complex in Washington
'He could have posted his original remarks on the White House Web site and replaced them with a cri de coeur on gun control, or comfort for the shaken city,' she wrote. 'The 12 who died were, after all, under his aegis as workers in a federal building.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2424459/Obama-faces-backlash-decision-attack-Republicans-federal-workers-gunned-just-miles-White-House.html
Okay I know - the dailymail is a rag.
French lawmakers ban child beauty contests
Source: The Local
Judging children under the age of 16 on their physical appearance in so-called “beauty contests” is now a criminal offence in France, the French Senate ruled on Tuesday night.
The new law forms part of the new “equality bill” presented to the French Senate on Monday by France’s Minister for Women’s Rights, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, which also included legislation to tackle unequal pay, domestic violence and to encourage fathers to take parental leave.
One of the less publicized clauses in the bill however touched on beauty contests, which have a proud tradition in France but are not to everyone's liking, especially these involving young teenage girls, known as "mini miss" competitions.
Centrist Senator Chantal Jouanno, author of a report "Against Hyper-Sexualisation: A New Fight For Equality" proposed an ammendment, banning the underage contests, which was backed by 196 senators, with 146 voting against it.
Read more: http://www.thelocal.fr/20130918/french-senate-bans-child-beauty-contests
‘The Bomber’: Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev makes cover of Rolling Stone
Source: NY Daily News
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has made the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.
Boldly labeled "The Bomber," the teenaged Boston Marathon bombing
suspect's portrait is splashed across the upcoming August issue’s cover — usually reserved for rock stars and celebrities.
"How a popular, promising student was failed by his family, fell into radical Islam and became a monster," the cover’s caption reads while showing him shaggy haired and unshaven in sepia-toned shading.
Tens of thousands of people and at least four retail chains have since vowed to boycott the magazine since it unveiled the controversial cover with many calling its decision "shameful," “sickening” and "glorifying" of an accused killer and terrorist.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/boston-bombing-suspect-rolling-stone-article-1.1401041
Before He Was ‘Dirty Harry,’ Now He’s A ‘Big, Fat Wimp?’ Thomas Roberts Blasts Zimmerman’s MMA Defen
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/before-he-was-dirty-harry-now-hes-a-big-fat-wimp-thomas-roberts-blasts-zimmerman’s-mma-defense/Love Thomas Roberts
If anyone knows how to embed these medialite videos please advise.
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