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Tuesday, October 22, 2013

5 Questions Kathleen Sebelius Must Answer

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is likely to have a very long day when she testifies before Congress about the Affordable Care Act website problems.

Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is likely to have a very long day when she testifies before Congress about the Affordable Care Act website problems.

Mark Wilson/Getty Images

The hottest hot seat in Washington is the one occupied by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, whose office confirmed Monday she'll testify about the Internet disaster that is HealthCare.gov, the Affordable Care Act website.

It's not yet clear when she'll go before Congress, but it won't be soon enough for the Republicans who are calling for her resignation. Sebelius originally declined to appear before the House Energy and Commerce Committee Thursday, saying she had a scheduling conflict.

Many Democrats are also fuming at the shambolic roll out of the federal health exchange website, which isn't just an embarrassment to the administration but a threat to President Obama's legacy.

When she does testify, here are five questions Sebelius will almost certainly get:

What did she know and when did she know it?

This is a Washington classic, a staple of any investigatory effort. Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., chairman of the House committee holding Thursday's hearing, has signaled that he wants to know why Sebelius and others told lawmakers the federal government would be ready to go on Oct. 1 when that was far from true.

"Top administration officials repeatedly testified everything was on track, but the broad technological failures reveal that was not the case," Upton said in a news release. "Either the administration was not ready for launch, or it was not up to the job."

How many people have actually "enrolled" in health insurance through the health exchanges?

HHS on Sunday said there were "nearly a half million applications for coverage." But that's a vague number, as is the definition of enrollment. To some, it means submitting an application; to others, it means actually paying for insurance. The administration has been notably reticent about providing details. Which is why the Republican National Committee is trying to pry them out through a Freedom of Information Act request. Expect plenty of questions from House Republicans seeking hard numbers.

How can anyone trust that the problems will be fixed in time when past Obama administration assurances proved so wrong?

The Affordable Care Act's open enrollment period is scheduled to end Dec. 15. In a speech Monday that defended the law while also expressing frustration with the website, Obama said: "We are doing everything we can possibly do to get the websites working better, faster, sooner. We got people working overtime, 24/7, to boost capacity and address the problems."

Still, experts question whether the website can be made to function as well as it needs to in the remaining time. Expect much skepticism about any assurances Sebelius gives.

Do the problems with Obamacare support delaying the individual mandate for a year?

This is likely to be a major line of questioning for Sebelius from Republicans. Obama previewed her likely response when he said that Obamacare is "not just a website" — his point being that the law itself is working just fine, and the flaws of one component aren't enough to delay it. Sebelius is likely to be forced to repeatedly push back against this line of questioning.

Given the scope of the problem, shouldn't she resign?

This is also likely to be a recurring theme during the hearing. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., a longtime acquaintance, has called for her resignation, as have Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and several House members.

Sebelius has shown no signs that she is considering stepping down and was prominently seated in the front row for Obama's Monday speech. If Sebelius, a holdover from the first term, did step down, it would not only give Obamacare's Republican opponents their biggest trophy yet but would also create more turbulence at a critical moment for the law. So it's unlikely to happen. But that won't stop Republicans from repeatedly posing the question.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2013/10/21/239269074/5-questions-kathleen-sebelius-must-answer?ft=1&f=1019
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Monday, October 21, 2013

How Encouraging People to Walk Can Help Strengthen Our Cities

I live in L.A., a land of 20-lane interchanges, parking lots the size of football stadiums, and mind-bending, soul-crushing, life-altering traffic. Every day, I meet people who don't even know we have a public transit system and see places in my neighborhood without any sidewalks. This is because, a half-century ago, my city decided to redesign itself for cars, not humans.

In Kansas, Farmers Commit To Take Less Water From The Ground

The long arms of pivot irrigation rigs deliver water from the Ogallala Aquifer to circular fields of corn in northwestern Kansas.

Dan Charles/NPR

The long arms of pivot irrigation rigs deliver water from the Ogallala Aquifer to circular fields of corn in northwestern Kansas.

Dan Charles/NPR

If you've flown across Nebraska, Kansas or western Texas on a clear day, you've seen them: geometrically arranged circles of green and brown on the landscape, typically half a mile in diameter. They're the result of pivot irrigation, in which long pipes-on-wheels rotate slowly around a central point, spreading water across corn fields.

Yet most of those fields are doomed. The water that nourishes them eventually will run low.

That water comes from a huge pool of underground water known as the Ogallala Aquifer, part of a larger system called the High Plains Aquifer. Scientists calculate that farmers are pulling water out of the aquifer about six times faster than rain or rivers can recharge it.

That can't go on forever. In some areas, wells have already gone dry. Yet families and entire towns depend on that flow of water for their survival.

In one small section of northwestern Kansas, farmers now have agreed to do something unprecedented. For the next five years, all the farmers in this area, covering 99 square miles, will pump 20 percent less water out of the ground.

It's a remarkable agreement, but it's also fragile. Whether it survives will depend, in large part, on whether other farmers follow their lead.

Hoxie, the small town where farmers have taken this bold step, is the kind of place where people keep track of how many children go to the town's school. It's a barometer of the town's health.

"When I was in high school, we had 36 to 42 in every class," says farmer Mitchell Baalman. "Now, these classes are down to 15. Ten to 15 in every class."

Mitchell Baalman, who farms 12,000 acres near Hoxie, Kan., pushed hard to get the farmers in his community to agree to pump less water from the aquifer.

Dan Charles/NPR

Mitchell Baalman, who farms 12,000 acres near Hoxie, Kan., pushed hard to get the farmers in his community to agree to pump less water from the aquifer.

Dan Charles/NPR

But things have been turning around lately, Baalman says. There are more kids in the younger grades. There are a few more jobs in Hoxie, keeping families around.

Some of those jobs are on Baalman's own farm. It's a huge operation of some 12,000 acres. And as I interview him, he's driving down Highway 24 with a semi-trailer loaded with 25 tons of corn. "We're taking it to Hoxie Feedyard over here, to feed 60,000 head of cattle," Baalman shouts above the roar of the motor.

Corn and cattle are what bring money into Hoxie. And those businesses are built on water. "Rain makes grain! I mean, we are in an arid climate. We've been averaging, I think, 18 inches of rain a year," Baalman says.

That rainfall is enough to grow a modest corn crop, but not a big one. And sometimes the rains don't come at all. So the most productive fields around here have those pivot irrigation rigs.

"We always used to take it for granted that the water was just going to be here," Baalman says. Increasingly, though, farmers in this area are realizing that the days of plentiful water are numbered.

A few years ago, officials from the state of Kansas who monitor the groundwater situation came to the farmers of Hoxie and told them that the water table here was falling fast. They drew a line around an area covering 99 square miles, west of the town, and called together the farmers in that area for a series of meetings.

They told the farmers that the water was like gasoline in the tank. If every one agreed to use it more sparingly, it would last longer.

Proposals to cut back water for irrigation have not been popular in parts like these, to say the least. In the past, farmers across the American west have treated them like declarations of war. Raymond Luhman, who works for the groundwater management district that includes Hoxie, says that's understandable: "Many of them feel like the right to use that water is ..." he says, pausing, "it's their lifeblood!"

Corn and cattle bring money into Hoxie, Kan., and they're both built on water. When there's not enough rainfall, farmers must rely on groundwater.

Dan Charles/NPR

Corn and cattle bring money into Hoxie, Kan., and they're both built on water. When there's not enough rainfall, farmers must rely on groundwater.

Dan Charles/NPR

It's also their property. Under the law, it's not clear that any government can take it away from them, or order them to use less of it.

But in Hoxie, the conversation took a different turn.

Some influential farmers, including Mitchell Baalman, pushed for everybody to pump less water. Baalman talked about his four children, how he wanted to preserve water for them.

He also talked about the town, and how it depended on irrigated agriculture. He argued that it would be better for the town to manage that water, to keep it flowing in the future.

"We are want to keep people moving back. We want to keep our businesses going, and our downtowns, in these little towns," he says.

Last fall, the farmers of Hoxie agreed to the cutbacks in irrigation. The state government then made it a formal requirement. State officials will check the water meters on each pump to make sure it happens.

Scott Foote, who runs Hoxie Feedyard, the biggest business in town, says the key to what happened in Hoxie was the community. "It was a lot of neighbors got together, that know each other personally, go to church with each other, kids go to school with each other. Honestly, it's just a tight-knit community," he says.

But the ending of this story hasn't yet been written. This agreement is just for five years. There are a lot of questions about whether it will continue beyond this trial period.

Mitchell Baalman certainly wants them to. "I'm going to fight hard that we renew it," he says. "It's my name at stake. And I don't want to sound selfish, but I don't want to let my kids down. We've got a great corps of youth in Sheridan County, Thomas County, and I don't want to let them down!"

On the other hand, there are farmers who are not so sure about this water-saving idea.

Kevin Wark, in fact, is dead set against it. He's not part of the core community of Hoxie; he lives half an hour down the road. But one of his fields lies just inside the border of the "high-priority area" where pumping is now restricted.

During harvest time, trailer loads of corn arrive at Hoxie Feedyard late into the night. The feedyard will buy more than $20 million worth of corn this year.

Dan Charles/NPR

During harvest time, trailer loads of corn arrive at Hoxie Feedyard late into the night. The feedyard will buy more than $20 million worth of corn this year.

Dan Charles/NPR

"I resent being in this territory," he says, and there's anger in every word. "We've had 50 percent of the crops we can grow taken away from us. So how's that fair to me, when the guy across the road can just keep doing what's he's been doing?"

Wark says he considered going to court to fight the restrictions, but decided against it. Nobody in Hoxie seemed willing to join him.

Another farmer, Gary Moss, says he supports the agreement, but he's really waiting to see if farmers in other parts of western Kansas will do anything similar. The farmers of Hoxie don't want to stand alone in this, he says. It wouldn't be fair.

"If nobody else is jumping on board, I think there's a lot of people who will say, 'We're not doing any good. We're just hurting ourselves,'" he says.

It's a paradox. This agreement to pump less water only happened because it was small: A deal among neighbors who cared about their town. But it may not survive unless it gets much bigger, including farmers all across the high plains aquifer.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/10/21/230702453/in-kansas-farmers-commit-to-take-less-water-from-the-ground?ft=1&f=1003
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AG: Number of mass shootings tripled

WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Eric Holder said Monday the average number of mass shooting incidents has tripled in recent years.

Between 2000 and 2008, the U.S. experienced an average of five mass shootings every year. Since then the annual average has tripled, Holder said. So far in 2013, there have been at least 12, he said.

According to Justice Department figures on mass shootings, 404 people were shot and 207 people were killed from 2009 to 2012. From 2000 to 2008, 324 people were shot and 145 were killed.

In remarks to the annual conference of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the attorney general said that in the past decade, the Justice Department has helped train 50,000 front-line officers, more than 7,000 on-scene commanders and over 3,000 local, state and federal agency heads on how to respond to active shooters.

To disrupt planned shootings and other attacks, the FBI's Behavioral Threat Assessment Center works every day with local police and other levels law enforcement to assess people who may be contemplating violence. Since 2011, the center has reported hundreds of successful disruptions, including an anticipated 150 this year alone, Holder said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ag-number-mass-shootings-tripled-181739567--politics.html
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Italian unions to strike over coalition budget compromise

By Roberto Landucci

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's three main trade union confederations will hold strikes and protests against the government's 2014 budget plan, they said on Monday, piling more pressure on Enrico Letta's fragile coalition government.

Unions, employers and politicians from among the ruling parties have complained the budget does too little to reduce taxes, reverse years of austerity or reform an economy which has been in recession for two years.

The fiscal law, which aims to lower Italy's budget deficit to 2.5 percent of output in 2014 from a targeted 3.0 percent this year, has become a focal point of discontent against the unpopular left-right coalition government.

On Friday strikes against the budget by smaller left-wing unions hit transport, education and services and on Saturday demonstrators clashed with police as tens of thousands protested in Rome against austerity.

Luigi Angeletti, head of the moderate UIL union, said that to preserve his government's stability Letta had bowed to political vetoes from coalition partners which had blocked the bold spending cuts and tax reductions that had been promised.

"Everything stays the same, Letta shouldn't have done a budget to stabilize the government, he should have done one to stabilize the country," he told reporters after a meeting with the chiefs of the larger CISL and CGIL.

The unions called for major changes to the fiscal law during its passage through parliament, where it must be approved by the end of the year, but they stopped short of calling a nationwide general strike.

Instead they will hold half-day strikes among various categories of workers up to mid-November, when they will meet again to assess whether the government has responded to their demands and decide on future action.

Ruling parties on both sides of Letta's coalition of former rivals have promised to change the budget, prompting a warning from head of state Giorgio Napolitano that amendments must not flout Italy's public finance commitments to the European Union.

While Angeletti and CISL head Raffaele Bonanni demanded more cuts to wasteful public spending, leader of the left-wing CGIL Susanna Camusso called on Letta to raise levies on income from financial investment and cut taxes for workers and pensioners.

The small right-wing UGL union also announced its members would hold four-hour strikes like the larger unions.

Former Prime Minister Mario Monti joined the chorus of criticism over the weekend, accusing Letta of undoing the good work of his government and being "on its knees" before the policy diktats of Silvio Berlusconi's center-right.

(Writing by Gavin Jones; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/italian-unions-strike-over-coalition-budget-compromise-152341574--business.html
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Unleashed On Halloween, Monsters Cereal Haunts Hoarders

This Halloween season, the three big Monsters cereals will be joined by Frute Broot and Fruity Yummy Mummy, which haven't been on the market in decades.

Dan Pashman

This Halloween season, the three big Monsters cereals will be joined by Frute Broot and Fruity Yummy Mummy, which haven't been on the market in decades.

Dan Pashman

This Halloween season, the cereal monsters are on the loose. Count Chocula, Boo Berry and Franken Berry have consumers in their grasp — for a limited time only.

The General Mills cereals came out on the market in the early '70s, but the company decided in 2010 they would only be available during the Halloween season.

"That was bad news for some people," says Dan Pashman, host of The Sporkful food podcast.

One of his podcast listeners turned her sister in Tuscan, Ariz., into a "Boo Berry mule" by making her cross the border into Mexico to get the cereal.

YouTube

A General Mills Monsters cereal commercial from the 1970s.

"This artificial scarcity has kind of galvanized a cult following around this time of year for these cereals," Pashman tells Weekend Edition host Rachel Martin.

This year, Frute Broot and Fruity Yummy Mummy are also making a comeback. Frute Broot (formerly "Fruit Broot") went off the market in 1982; Yummy Mummy was pulled in '92.

The boxes aren't collectors' items — consumers do actually eat them.

"But not all at once," Pashman says. "In fact, a big deal as people hoard them is they always are checking the expiration dates because they want to see how long it's gonna last."

Pashman himself recently purchased a Boo Berry that's doesn't expire until September 2014: "I'm gonna hang on to that 'til supplies are low, and then that's my nest egg right there."

Sweetness aside, the Monsters cereals seem to have made a powerful imprint on parents.

"There really is something about these particular artificial flavors that tap into a very specific sense memory," Pashman says. Sporkful podcast listener Rachel Gonzalez told him:

"It still reminds me of that Saturday morning special treat that you could only eat every once in a while, and it's something now that I get to share with my own daughter ... It's really kind nostalgic and exciting to me."

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/10/20/228193138/unleashed-on-halloween-monsters-cereal-haunts-hoarders?ft=1&f=1003
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Folk's 42-yard FG leads Jets past Pats 30-27 in OT

New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith (7) celebrates with New York Jets' Willie Colon (66) and Nick Mangold (74) after rushing for a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 20, 2013 in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Jets outside linebacker Quinton Coples (98) knocks the ball away from New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 20, 2013, in East Rutherford, N.J. Patriots player at center is unidentified. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

New York Jets kicker Nick Folk (2) kicks a field goal during the first half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots Sunday, Oct. 20, 2013, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

New York Jets free safety Antonio Allen (39) flips into the end zone for a touchdown after intercepting a pass by New England Patriots' Tom Brady during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 20, 2013, in East Rutherford, N.J. New England Patriots' Logan Mankins (70) trails the play. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Jets free safety Antonio Allen (39) and New England Patriots' Rob Gronkowski (87) fight for control of the ball during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 20, 2013 in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Nick Folk missed. And then, he didn't.

After a penalty on New England gave the New York Jets kicker another chance, Folk booted a 42-yard field goal with 5:07 left in overtime for a 30-27 victory over the Patriots on Sunday.

Folk was wide left on a 56-yarder, but the miss was negated when New England's Chris Jones was called for unsportsmanlike conduct for pushing a teammate forward to try to block the kick. It marked the first time that new penalty has been called in an NFL game.

New York, given new life, ran the ball three times to set up Folk's winner and send the towel-waving fans at MetLife Stadium into a frenzy.

Geno Smith threw a touchdown pass and ran for another as the Jets (4-3) topped Tom Brady and the Patriots (5-2), who tied it at 27 with 16 seconds left in regulation on Stephen Gostkowski's 44-yard field goal.

New England had defeated New York in six straight regular-season meetings, and saw its 12-game winning streak against AFC East opponents come to an end.

Brady opened overtime with a 16-yard pass to Rob Gronkowski, making his season debut. But the Jets stopped the Patriots on the next three plays and forced New England to punt.

Gronkowski almost made a one-handed grab late in regulation when he had a clear lane into the end zone. Gronkowski, who missed the first six games after having offseason surgery on his back and broken left forearm, had eight catches for 114 yards.

Brady threw a 17-yard TD pass to Kenbrell Thompkins with 5 seconds left to beat previously unbeaten New Orleans last week — leaving defensive coordinator Rob Ryan grimacing on the sideline. This time, Rex Ryan, Rob's twin brother, walked off the field celebrating a win.

It was the second time in three games Brady was held without a touchdown pass, both losses. Brady finished 22 of 46 for 228 yards and had an interception returned for a touchdown by Antonio Allen.

Smith, who threw three fourth-quarter interceptions in a Week 2 loss at New England, was 17 of 33 for 233 yards. He had a first-quarter interception returned 79 yards for a touchdown by rookie Logan Ryan that appeared to set the tone for an ominous afternoon for Smith.

Smith rebounded and gave the Jets a 24-21 lead in the third quarter on an 8-yard run that left the crowd chanting "GEE-NO! GEE-NO!" On third-and-14 from the 24, Smith took off left and was met by Marquice Cole, who slammed into the quarterback. But Smith reached out as he was going down and got the first down.

He again had all receivers tied up when he sprinted to his right, faked out Cole with a nice shake move and dived into the corner of the end zone.

Folk kicked a 37-yard field goal late in the third quarter for a 27-21 lead. Gostkowski's 39-yarder cut New York's advantage to 27-24.

The Jets, in a 21-10 hole, opened the second half by immediately putting pressure on Brady and getting a score out of it.

On the first play, Quinton Coples had a strip-sack of Brady, who recovered the ball. But on the next play, Brady threw for Gronkowski and Allen stepped in front. He returned the pick 23 yards, doing a diving somersault into the end zone just 33 seconds into the third quarter.

Stevan Ridley had given the Patriots a 21-10 lead with a 17-yard run on which he bounced outside right tackle and scored untouched. The drive was set up by a 38-yard punt return by Julian Edelman.

Smith got the Jets on the scoreboard on their first drive with a 12-yard toss to Jeremy Kerley. The efficient 12-play drive included three third-down conversions to Kerley.

New England tied it on its opening possession with Brandon Bolden's 1-yard touchdown.

___

AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-10-20-Patriots-Jets/id-0b8c92bea30c47519766f1800bf8dfb7
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