Liberal_in_LA
Liberal_in_LA's JournalFlorida Tries to Defund Planned Parenthood, Quickly Learns That Doing So Is Ilegal
In March, Florida’s overwhelmingly Republican legislature passed a tricky new abortion law whose practical purpose was to defund Planned Parenthood. The measure prohibits state funding for reproductive health clinics where abortions are performed—and for clinics that are associated with abortion providers. (Public funding of elective abortion is already illegal.) In effect, the law would shutter women’s health clinics where abortions aren’t even performed, simply because they are owned and operated by Planned Parenthood.
For many of these clinics, Medicaid provides a major source of income, since the program typically covers non-abortion services like birth control and cervical cancer screenings. The Florida law is designed to starve clinics of cash by blocking Medicaid reimbursements. On Tuesday, however, the federal government gently reminded Florida that it definitely can’t do that. Vikki Wachino, director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), explained to the state that its abortion measure clearly violates federal law. Specifically, the funding ban defies the Social Security Act’s “free choice provider” provision, which allows Medicaid beneficiaries to see any qualified provider. As Wachino explained:
This provision limits a state's authority to establish qualification standards, or take certain actions against a provider, unless those standards or actions are related to the fitness of the provider to perform covered medical services—i.e., its capability to perform the required services in a professionally competent, safe, legal, and ethical manner—or the ability of the provider to appropriately bill for those services. Such reasons may not include a desire to target a provider or set of providers for reasons unrelated to their fitness to perform covered services or the adequacy of their billing practices.
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In addition to Florida, nine other states have recently passed laws attempting to deprive reproductive health clinics of Medicaid funding. CMS reminded each of them that their abortion extortion plan is illegal. States can still put financial pressure on clinics by cutting other forms of state funding. But with the Medicaid lifeline preserved by federal law, it seems likely that the primary goal of these laws—to destroy Planned Parenthood’s finances, then drive it out of the state altogether—is destined to fail.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2016/04/22/florida_planned_parenthood_bill_violates_federal_law.html
Trust fall challenge - teens throwing themselves backwards at strangers to see if they will catch th
Trust fall challenge sees teenagers throwing themselves backwards at strangers to see if they will catch them - with painful results
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3554305/Ridiculous-teenage-trust-fall-challenge-sweeps-web.html#ixzz46c3UK4so
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3554305/Ridiculous-teenage-trust-fall-challenge-sweeps-web.html
http://www.someecards.com/news/so-that-happened/trust-fall-challenge/
Poll: Trump Poised to Get Lowest Vote Ever Among Latinos
Source: Nbcnews
Donald Trump is poised to get the lowest vote ever among Latinos if he becomes the Republican candidate for president, says a recent poll commissioned by America's Voice, a group that advocates for immigration reform.
The poll shows that either Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton would beat Donald Trump among Latinos by a wide margin, with Trump garnering 11 percent of the likely vote. This would be the lowest vote for a Republican candidate for president among Latinos since polls began measuring Latino voters.
Latino Decisions interviewed a total of 2,200 Latino registered voters conducted in English or Spanish, according to the respondent's choice. The national sample carries a margin of error of +/-2.1 percentage points.
Donald Trump's decisive primary victory in New York on Tuesday brings him closer to the nomination, but his main contender, Ted Cruz, predicted that the GOP nomination will hinge on a contested convention. "Nobody's getting 1,237," Cruz told NBC News while campaigning in Pennsylvania. Republicans running to represent the party in the presidential election need 1,237 delegates in order to secure the nomination.
According to the poll, Donald Trump also garners the most unfavorable view among Latinos, with 87 percent of Latinos saying they see him as unfavorable.
Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/poll-trump-poised-get-lowest-vote-ever-among-latinos-n559741
Michigan police officer ends up buying car seat for man's daughter after traffic stop
WESTLAND, Michigan — A police officer took action this week when noticed a 3-year-old girl was not in a car seat while riding with her father.
But it didn't involve handing out a ticket.
Instead, Westland police officer Joshua Scaglione had the girl's father, LaVonte Dell of Inkster, Mich., follow him to a nearby Walmart, where he purchased Dell a new child's car seat.
"He asked me do you need a car seat,' and I just looked at him," Dell tells fox2detroit.com. "With hesitation I said yeah and he asked me where I was going and I said to Westland Mall. He looked around and said 'Can you follow me to Walmart."
Scaglione had pulled Dell over because of tinted windows on the vehicle. When he noticed Dell's daughter, Lauren, was not in a car seat, he asked why.
According to the Detroit News, Dell told he officer he was struggling financially. He said Lauren had outgrown her previous car seat and he could not afford to purchase a new one.
http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2016/04/michigan_police_officer_ends_u.html
Worth it': FBI admits it paid $1.3m to hack into San Bernardino iPhone
The FBI paid about $1.3m for software to hack into the iPhone of San Bernardino gunman Syed Farook, director James Comey told a London audience on Thursday.
The staggering price illustrates the growth of the so-called “exploit market” for digital spy tools and cyber weapons as governments increasingly use hacker tricks for law enforcement and war. Prices for such software are rarely disclosed, although anything in the seven-figure range is extremely expensive.
Comey made the comments Thursday during an on-stage interview at the Aspen Security Forum in London.
The FBI has previously disclosed it paid a third party outside the US government for a hacking tool to get inside Farook’s locked iPhone 5c. Apple declined to help the bureau because it said it would require weakening the security of one, and potentially many more, of its popular smartphones. The high-stakes court fight was called off when the FBI found its own way into the phone that apparently exploited an unknown Apple security flaw.
When asked Thursday how much the FBI paid for the exploit, Comey replied: “A lot.”
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/apr/21/fbi-apple-iphone-hack-san-bernardino-price-paid
Secretive group of Hollywood conservatives suddenly dissolves
Secretive group of Hollywood conservatives suddenly dissolves
The announcement by the Friends of Abe fueled speculation that infighting over Donald Trump’s candidacy had drained commitment
The Friends of Abe has acted as a clandestine club for Hollywood conservatives for more than a decade, hosting secret events where they could vent rightwing views and hear speeches from visiting Tea Party luminaries.
But on Thursday the organisation – which counts Jon Voight, Jerry Bruckheimer and Kelsey Grammer among its 1,500 members – made an abrupt announcement: it was dissolving.
“Effective immediately, we are going to begin to wind down the 501 c3 organization, bring the Sustaining Membership dues to an end, and do away with the costly infrastructure and the abespal.com website,” the executive director, Jeremy Boreing, told members in an email, a copy of which the Guardian has seen.
“Today, because we have been successful in creating a community that extends far beyond our events, people just don’t feel as much of a need to show up for every speaker or bar night, and fewer people pay the dues that help us maintain that large infrastructure.”
The announcement caught members by surprise and fueled speculation that infighting over Donald Trump’s candidacy, among other factors, had drained commitment. Others said the group had been losing steam for years.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/apr/21/secretive-hollywood-conservative-group-dissolves-trump
Veteran newsman John Stossel reveals he has lung cancer, takes shot at ‘socialist’ health care syste
Veteran newsman John Stossel reveals he has lung cancer, takes shot at ‘socialist’ health care system
Longtime newsman John Stossel announced he has lung cancer in an opinion piece that took aim at the medical industry.
The 69-year-old Stossel, a television personality at Fox News Channel, revealed Wednesday that he’s had a fifth of his lung removed — but his prognosis is good.
“My doctors tell me my growth was caught early and I’ll be fine,” he wrote.
But the missive goes on to blast hospitals as “largely socialist bureaucracies” with customer service that “stinks.”
“Instead of answering to consumers, which forces businesses to be nimble, hospitals report to government, lawyers and insurance companies,” writes Stossel, a consumer reporter known for his libertarian leanings. “I'm as happy as the next guy to have government or my insurance company pay, but the result is that there's practically no free market. Markets work when buyer and seller deal directly with each other. That doesn't happen in hospitals.”
http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/veteran-newsman-john-stossel-reveals-lung-cancer-article-1.2610362
WWE Legend Chyna Dead at Age 45
Source: Eonline
World Wrestling Entertainment legend Chyna, born Joanie Laurer, has passed away at age 45, E! News has learned.
An official statement was released on her Twitter account that read: "It is with deep sadness to inform you today that we lost a true icon, a real life superhero. Joanie Laurer, AKA Chyna, the 9th Wonder of the World has passed away. She will live forever in the memories of her millions of fans and all of us that loved her."
Chyna's manager told E! News that "she was found peacefully in her home in Redondo Beach this afternoon."
As of now, the cause of her death is unknown.
Read more: http://www.eonline.com/news/758638/wwe-legend-chyna-dead-at-age-45
Drug addict conned parents out of £250k ($350k) by pretending she studied at Oxford
Deceitful Nicola Boardman, 34, told proud mum and dad Frank and Marilyn she needed the funds as part of a large research project.
But she was never offered a place at the university and wasted their money on heroin, lavish trips abroad and a secret wedding - her parents were not even invited too.
Her long trail of deceit also included telling her long-suffering family that she had a still-born child - despite terminating the baby herself several months earlier.
Mr and Mrs Boardman even gave up their jobs and sold their home, believing their daughter's assertions that she would make £3m on the strength of her academic work.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2016/04/20/95921152_Frank-Boardman-large_trans++eo_i_u9APj8RuoebjoAHt0k9u7HhRJvuo-ZLenGRumA.jpg
Boardman was jailed for 40 months at Truro Crown Court today after a judge heard she had kept up her lies for four years - and wasted every last penny of the money.
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Her 60-year-old father drove her to both Oxford and Cambridge under the belief that she was having interviews.
Boardman later told her father, who worked for trading standards, that she had won a scholarships to both but chose Oxford.
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She faked letters from fellow students and teachers - including one claiming she was the "most academic student" a lecturer had ever taught.
Prosecuting, Mr Lee added: "She invented fictitious character references, study colleagues and other false documents, one reference saying that Miss Boardman was the most academic student that a lecturer had ever had the pleasure of teaching."
The court heard that Boardman's actions had not only deprived her parents of their retirement fund, but also her siblings of their inheritance.
Boardman sat with her head in her hands sobbing for much of the proceedings.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/20/drug-addict-conned-parents-out-of-250k-by-pretending-she-studied/
Being a rape victim violates Brigham Young univ's Honor code
Brigham Young University under fire for disciplining sexual assault victim for ‘honor code’ breach
The Mormon school is the largest religious university in America, and its students must adhere to a rigid “Honor Code” that mandates living a “chaste and virtuous life,” “clean language” and abstaining from alcohol and coffee, among other things.
In other words, premarital sex is not allowed.
The honor code has long been an essential part of campus life, but some students say that disciplinary procedures surrounding the regulations can keep sexual assault victims silent.
Madi Barney, 20, told the Huffington Post and the Salt Lake Tribune that she filed a Title IX complaint against BYU with the Department of Education on Monday.
The suit alleges that BYU put Barney on academic hold after they learned that she reported an off-campus rape to the local police in September.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/04/20/brigham-young-university-under-fire-for-disciplining-a-sexual-assault-victim-for-honor-code-breach/
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