herding cats
herding cats's JournalWikipedia blocks 'disruptive' page edits from US Congress
The 10-day block comes after anonymous changes were made to entries on politicians and businesses, as well as events like the Kennedy assassination.
The biography of former US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld was edited to say that he was an "alien lizard".
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But he said that the @congressedits Twitter feed may have been counter-productive.
"There is a belief from some of the [Wikipedia] community that it only provoked someone - some prankster there in the office - to have an audience now for the pranks, and actually encouraged them rather than discouraged them."
He added: "Maybe someone at the House of Representatives better think about their IT staff - they might be hunting them down this very moment."
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-28481876
Rumsfeld = Alien lizard made laugh!
Scalia And Company May Have Already Shown Their Hand On Obamacare Subsidies
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Gluck referenced three sections of the 2012 conservative dissent.
Congress provided a backup scheme; if a State declines to participate in the operation of an exchange, the Federal Government will step in and operate an exchange in that State.
Obamacare advocates and drafters have indeed argued that the federal exchange was intended as a back-up plan, rather than the punitive measure that those bringing the most recent lawsuit have alleged.
In the absence of federal subsidies to purchasers, insurance companies will have little incentive to sell insurance on the exchanges. … That system of incentives collapses if the federal subsidies are invalidated.
The federal judges who invalidated tax credits through HealthCare.gov said the law could continue operating even without the subsidies. The justices appear to disagree here.
By 2019, 20 million of the 24 million people who will obtain insurance through an exchange are expected to receive an average federal subsidy of $6,460 per person.
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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/scalia-supreme-court-obamacare-halbig
Of course this is nothing but educated speculation. I still thought it was interesting enough warrant reading.
Check out this fun photobomb!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/commonwealthgames/10988380/Commonwealth-Games-The-Queen-photobombs-Australia-hockeys-Jayde-Taylors-selfie.html
Quite a day for those girls all around.
Separate U.S. appeals court upholds subsidies under Obama health law
Source: Reuters
Contrary to the D.C. Circuit decision today, the 4th Circuit upholds the Obamacare federal exchange subsidy. Maybe the Obama admin knew about the opinion, which would explain why it was so confident subsidies would flow pending court cases.
This all but guarantees the Supreme Court will take the case since there is a split in the Circuits.
From the opinion intro (emphasis added):
The plaintiffs-appellants bring this suit challenging the validity of an Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) final rule implementing the premium tax credit provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “ACA” or “Act”). The final rule interprets the ACA as authorizing the IRS to grant tax credits to individuals who purchase health insurance on both state-run insurance “Exchanges” and federally-facilitated “Exchanges” created and operated by the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”). The plaintiffs contend that the IRS’s interpretation is contrary to the language of the statute, which, they assert, authorizes tax credits only for individuals who purchase insurance on state-run Exchanges. For reasons explained below, we find that the applicable statutory language is ambiguous and subject to multiple interpretations. Applying deference to the IRS’s determination, however, we uphold the rule as a permissible exercise of the agency’s discretion. We thus affirm the judgment of the district court.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/22/usa-court-obamacare-fourthcircuit-idUSL2N0PX1CS20140722
It looks like the next stop is the SC.
I'll update with more shortly. The full opinion is at the above link.
In a dramatic split decision, two federal appeals court panels on Tuesday disagreed on whether billions of dollars of government subsidies that helped 4.7 million people buy insurance on HealthCare.gov are lega,
A panel of federal appeals court that covers Washington. D.C., ruled in a 2-1 decision that the subsidies are illegal. But about two hours later, the federal Fourth Circuit appeals court's own panel hearing a similar challenge in a 3-0 ruling said the subsidies are legal.
The split could lead to the US Supreme Court taking up the issue soon.
Earlier Tuesday, in the DC circuit , the judicial panel said such subsidies can be granted only to people who bought insurance in an Obamacare exchange run by an individual state or the District of Columbia—not on the federally run exchange HealthCare.gov.
The ruling relied on a close reading of language in the Affordable Care Act.
"Section 36B plainly makes subsidies available in the Exchanges established by states," wrote Senior Circuit Judge Raymond Randolph, who was joined by Judge Thomas Griffith in the majority decision on the case known as Halbig v. Burwell.
"We reach this conclusion, frankly, with reluctance. At least until states that wish to can set up their own Exchanges, our ruling will likely have significant consequences both for millions of individuals receiving tax credits through federal Exchanges and for health insurance markets more broadly."
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101819065
A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington ruled Tuesday that subsidies may not be offered in the federal health exchange. The decision overturned a lower court ruling. Hours later the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals offered its own decision, which upholds the Obama administration's arguments that subsidies can be applied in the federal exchange.
You can read the U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia's decision here, and the decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit here.
Check back as we continue to update our summary of the day's coverage.
http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Daily-Reports/2014/July/22/halbig-decision.aspx
Melbourne-bound AIDS 2014 delegates among those on MH17 flight
Source: Star Observer
REPORTS have emerged that among the passengers aboard the downed Malaysian Airlines MH17 flight in Ukraine were delegates, researchers and advocates bound for the AIDS 2014 conference in Melbourne.
Flight MH17 was shot down in separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine this morning, claiming the lives of 298 passengers and crew. Authorities have said 27 Australians were on board.
Since the news broke, there has been a flurry of conflicting reports — mostly on social media — that up to 108 of those on board the flight were bound for Melbourne, via Kuala Lumpur, for the 20th International AIDS Conference which begins on Sunday.
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has confirmed that a number of people on board the flight were travelling to Melbourne for the conference, but an exact figure has not yet been confirmed at the time of writing.
Read more: http://www.starobserver.com.au/news/local-news/melbourne-bound-aids-2014-delegates-among-those-on-mh17-flight/125312
This is very sad news, Joep Lange was an amazing man who will be dearly missed. We lost one of our good ones today.
Several of the passengers aboard the Malaysian Airlines flight that crashed in eastern Ukraine on Thursday were World Health Organization staffers heading to a conference on AIDS research in Australia, the Guardian reported.
Glenn Thomas, a spokesperson for WHO's Global TB Program, was among the victims, according to a fellow staffer. Global TB Program Coordinator Haileyesus Getahun shared the news via Twitter.
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The International AIDS Conference is taking place in Melbourne this weekend. The International AIDS Society, which organized the event, released a statement following the tragic news:
The International AIDS Society (IAS) today expresses its sincere sadness at receiving news that a number of colleagues and friends en route to attend the 20th International AIDS Conference taking place in Melbourne, Australia, were on board the Malaysian Airlines MH17 flight that has crashed over Ukraine earlier today.
At this incredibly sad and sensitive time the IAS stands with our international family and sends condolences to the loved ones of those who have been lost to this tragedy.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/17/who-malaysia-plane-crash-victims-aids-_n_5597547.html
As many as 108 on board were AIDS activist colleagues and family members.
It is believed that delegates to the 20th International AIDS Conference, due to begin on Sunday, will be informed today that 108 of their colleagues and family members died on MH17.
Among those thought to have been killed was prominent Dutch researcher Joep Lange, a former president of the International Aids Society.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/delegates-to-melbourne-aids-summit-on-doomed-flight-mh17/story-e6frg6nf-1226993197572?nk=1e1ce3abedbe9c88eaa5d21a3bdfeb5e
The European head of Malaysia Airlines has announced nationalities of some of the passengers
Among the other nationalities on board were 154 Dutch, 27 Australians, 23 Malaysians, 11 Indonesians, six Britons, four Germans, four Belgians, three from the Philippines and one Canadian.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/17/malaysia-airlines-plane-crashes-ukraine-live#block-53c83451e4b01dcef5b4b592
No mention of Americans yet.
May they all RIP. 
Ariz. Protestors Mistakenly Blockade YMCA Bus Instead Of Migrants
It reads like satire but it really happened.
ORACLE, Ariz. (AP) — Protesters waved "Return to Sender" signs, shoved a group of mariachi musicians and waited for a bus of immigrant children that the local sheriff told them would arrive. At one point, they briefly halted a bus before realizing it was carrying children from a YMCA.
The bus of Central American children never arrived, ending a day of protest in a small Arizona town that drew more than 100 people on both sides of the immigration debate.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/az-protestors-blockade-ymca-bus
Manassas police ditch plan to take X-rated photo of teen boy
Police and prosecutors faced a wave of criticism following news media reports that they had obtained a warrant to take photos of the teen's erect penis. Police wanted the pictures to compare against photos he is accused of sending to his 15-year-old girlfriend at the time.
On Thursday, Manassas Police Lt. Brian Larkin said the Police Department will not proceed with the plan to take the pictures and will let a search warrant authorizing the photos to expire.
Privacy advocates had criticized the plan as a violation of the teen's constitutional rights.
The teen's aunt, who serves as his legal guardian, said she had not heard of the police department's reversal until contacted by an Associated Press reporter Thursday afternoon. She said she would be ecstatic if police follow through on their statement that they will no longer pursue the photos. But she said she won't be fully satisfied until the case against her nephew is dropped entirely.
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The aunt felt certain that the tidal wave of criticism against authorities is the only reason police reversed course.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/police-graphic-photos-teen-evidence-24492664
Great news! Now hopefully the case will have garnered enough public attention the boy will get a fair due process.
Sorry if this was already posted and I missed seeing it.
APNewsBreak: No 'stand down' order in Benghazi
Source: Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The testimony of nine military officers undermines contentions by Republican lawmakers that a "stand-down order" held back military assets that could have saved the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans killed at a diplomatic outpost and CIA annex in Benghazi, Libya.
The "stand-down" theory centers on a Special Operations team of four — a detachment leader, a medic, a communications expert and a weapons operator with his foot in a cast — who were stopped from flying from Tripoli to Benghazi after the attacks of Sept. 11-12, 2012, had ended. Instead, they were instructed to help protect and care for those being evacuated from Benghazi and from the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli.
The senior military officer who issued the instruction to "remain in place" and the detachment leader who received it said it was the right decision and has been widely mischaracterized. The order was to remain in Tripoli and protect some three dozen embassy personnel rather than fly to Benghazi some 600 miles away after all Americans there would have been evacuated. And the medic is credited with saving the life of an evacuee from the attacks.
Transcripts of hours of closed-door interviews with the military leaders by the House Armed Services and Oversight and Government Reform committees were made public for the first time on Wednesday. The Associated Press had reviewed the material ahead of its release.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the Oversight panel, has suggested Hillary Rodham Clinton gave the order, though as secretary of state at the time, she was not in the military chain of command.
Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/apnewsbreak-no-stand-down-order-benghazi
Lawsuit: Former Georgia GOP Staffer Claims Party Officials Targeted Her With Racial Slurs
The onetime executive assistant to the state's GOP chair alleges she was fired after complaining of racist treatment.
A former staffer for the Georgia Republican Party has filed a lawsuit claiming that party officials discriminated against her because she's black and subjected her to racist slurs and comments. In one case, she alleges, a colleague called her "the house nigger."
Qiana Keith served as the executive assistant to Georgia GOP Chair John Padgett until she was fired in March, allegedly for complaining about racist treatment by fellow Republican Party staffers. Her lawsuit, which she filed July 8 in federal court, accuses the Georgia GOP and Padgett of "intentional and unlawful race discrimination" that culminated in her wrongful termination.
"Ms. Keith was terminated for consistently poor job performance," Anne Lewis, the general counsel of the Georgia Republican Party told Mother Jones in a statement. "More than two months later, she contacted the Party through a lawyer and made claims of race discrimination and retaliation. We immediately undertook a full investigation of those claims and found that there was no merit to any of them. The Party and Chairman Padgett will vigorously defend themselves in court against these completely unfounded claims."
According to Keith's lawsuit, she was hired in June 2013 and "it soon became clear that Ms. Keith's race set her apart from her co-workers, and she was treated differently throughout her employment. Keith was repeatedly…put in demeaning situations by her co-workers."
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/07/georgia-gop-lawsuit-racist-slur-john-padgett
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