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But try­ing to ex­plain the web­site’s back-end func­tion­ing takes the ad­min­is­tra­tion in­to sticky ter­rit­ory, as of­fi­cials try to draw a line between the Af­ford­able Care Act and private in­surers — a task made par­tic­u­larly dif­fi­cult after years of crit­ics claim­ing the law is a “gov­ern­ment takeover” of health care.
The ex­changes, after all, are not in­sur­ance pro­viders. In­stead, they are portals through which private cit­izens can — and, un­less they want to pay a fine, must — buy in­sur­ance from private in­sur­ance com­pan­ies.
After en­rolling in the web­site, in­di­vidu­als are in­sured once they have se­lec­ted their plan and paid their premi­um to the in­sur­ance com­pany. In­surers will then re­ceive a tax cred­it and cost-shar­ing re­im­burse­ment for eli­gible con­sumers start­ing in mid-Janu­ary, ac­cord­ing to Se­beli­us.
That dis­tinc­tion caused no short­age of con­fu­sion and con­ten­tion at the sec­ret­ary’s Hill ap­pear­ance Wed­nes­day.
But even as the ad­min­is­tra­tion struggles to draw the line, their own meth­od of meas­ur­ing par­ti­cip­a­tion in the ex­changes fur­ther mud­dies the wa­ters.
When HHS re­ports the ex­change en­roll­ment num­bers, it in­cludes those in­di­vidu­als who have se­lec­ted a plan but not yet paid as en­rolled. HHS main­tains that this is be­cause the gov­ern­ment’s role in the pro­cess ends once the con­sumer chooses a plan, at which point they work dir­ectly with the in­sur­ance com­pany.
But it is also a polit­ic­al ex­pedi­ency, as a nar­row defin­i­tion would fur­ther lower en­roll­ment num­bers at a time when the ad­min­is­tra­tion is already lag­ging far be­hind its goals.
A suspect has been arrested and is in police custody in connection with a gun-violence threat against the University of Chicago. That threat, identified by FBI counterterror officials, had led the university to cancel classes and other on-campus activities Monday. The suspect is a student at a separate Chicago institution, the University of Illinois at Chicago, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The Sun-Times reported that the FBI had described charges against the suspect as pending.
My niece Ana, a 17-year girl who studies at Oxford was thinking on her way back home during Easter holidays, what should she do with the money that she saved during the term from her pocket money. When she arrived at Dhaka airport, she told her mother that she wanted to donate that money for the poor. She knew that her uncle was engaged in Bangladesh with a determination to make arsenic free water available to the poor and affected people.
After some thinking she chose that her savings of 280 English Pounds should be of some help towards providing arsenic free safe water for the poor.
Millions of school children (5-17 years old) in Bangladesh are drinking arsenic contaminated water. Almost 80 per cent of rural population is analphabetic. Arsenic mitigation can be highly successful, if school students and teachers are educated and transfer their knowledge to their parents and neighbours. Bangladesh is facing the largest mass poisoning in history because of arsenic contamination in the drinking water supplies. Previously Bangladesh used to be proud that 60-70 per cent its population have access to tube well. Most of the tube wells are now contaminated.
The research by Allan H Smith, professor of epidemiology at the University of California at Berkeley said that between 33 and 77 millions of Bangladesh's 125 million population was at risk. Smith predicted a bigger increase over the coming years in the number of cases of diseases caused by arsenic.
These ranged from skin lesions to cancers of the bladder, kidney, lung and cardiovascular problems. The scale of this environmental disaster is greater than any seen before.
Cardma decided to take up the challenge and has come forward to solving the problem by identification of facies-change within contaminated area and located and construct arsenic free wells. A few wells show ground water arsenic concentration is far below Bangladesh standard. Based on an understanding of the geological origins of contamination, it may be possible to identify areas or strata that are at relatively low risk of arsenic contamination. In some areas arsenic contamination is confined to highly localised sedimentary deposits.
Like all villages in Bangladesh, Kazurdia is a small beautiful village in Tanbul Kana, Faridpur but one of the worst arsenic affected areas of Bangladesh. There were several deaths in the village. The entire village population was affected by arsenic contamination. We selected this village for using Ana's small donation for obtaining arsenic free water on the basis of geological information.
After digging we found an arsenic free layer (aquifer) but not continuous. We set seven arsenic free wells within one and a half month.
Today about 100-2000 villagers are drinking arsenic free water. This is a cheap method. A sound knowledge of ground water hydrology can be applied to many worst affected areas of Bangladesh. It is not explainable why many NGOs and different organisations are depending on advice of expensive foreign consultants and experts, spending taxpayer's money for deep tube wells and expensive unworkable filters.
Thanks to Ana, a great donation and a big impact!
Dr Jamal Anwar is Vice President of CARDMA.
It was with great sadness that the news of the death of Moosup resident Michael A. Saad came across the sports desk. He died unexpectedly last Thursday at the age of 47.
Saad was best known in the greater Northeastern Connecticut community as a man who was dedicated to improving life in the region. He was involved in the Plainfield area as a community activist and in political circles.
His real love, however, was sports where he devoted much energy and time to officiating football and baseball.
According to McDonald, Eastern Board officials will wear a black arm band on their sleeve in memory of Saad.
Saad, who graduated from Plainfield High School in 1978, was a former selectman and member of the Board of Education in Plainfield. He also served the community as its Economic Development Director for a number of years.
It was following his days as Economic Development director that Saad became involved in officiating high school sports. As a football referee, he quickly moved up the ranks from a junior varsity official to the varsity. In recent years, he could be found refereeing many of the important high school games in Eastern Connecticut.
At the time of his death, he was serving as the First Vice President of the Eastern Connecticut Board of Approved Football Officials.
Saad’s last game as an official was on Friday, Oct. 19 between Ledyard and Windham in the driving rain. He served as the umpire on a crew that included Mauer as the referee and another Plainfield resident and good friend of Saad’s, Rick Bogert.
Saad was also a baseball official, where he was an active member of the Eastern Connecticut Board of Approved Baseball Umpires.
He leaves his wife Elissa and mother Ann and two children, a son Craig and a daughter Sabra, both of Moosup.
His death shocked not only family and friends, but members and former members of the officiating community. His presence on the athletic fields will be sadly noted.
Contributions in his memory may be made to the Michael A. Saad Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o Jewett City Savings Bank, P.O. Box 248, Central Village, CT 06332-0248.
n The Top 10 rushers in Eastern Connecticut: 1. Taylor Lewis (Montville) 1,097; 2. Christian Mulcahy (St. Bernard) 697; 3. Desmond Harris (Waterford) 651; 4. Zach Wheeler (Stonington) 645; 5. Marquise Ruffin (St. Bernard) 603; 6. Jeff Corey (Woodstock) 587; 7. Bobby Johnson (Fitch) 566; 8. Corey Dilweg (Plainfield) 541; 9. Addison Fleming (Windham) 508; 10. Jordan Rando (East Lyme) 504.
n Stonington High School rolled through its six ECC Small Division opponents by a 191-57 score — an average of 31.9 per game. The only single-digit margins came against Woodstock in the rain (13-7) and against St. Bernard/Norwich Tech (21-12). The biggest wins for the Bears came against Tourtellotte/Ellis Tech (57-13), Putnam (41-6) and Killingly (41-13).
n The Centaurs have been able to move the ball this season. But the ability to finish off long drives with touchdowns has been a thorn in their side. Witness Saturday, when Woodstock had drives of 11 and eight plays and came away with no points.
n The New London defense allowed only 171 yards of offense and just eight first downs in its 49-7 victory over Plainfield Friday night. They forced a turnover and added three quarterback sacks for 20 yards in losses.
What New London coach Jack Cochran liked was the play of junior quarterback Jordan Reed in the first half.
Reed completed 12-of-20 passes for 153 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. He later completed his last nine attempts overall, going 9-of-9 for 174 yards and three touchdown passes.
n Ledyard running back Tim McNeil peeled away the layers of his uniform following his team’s 13-7 victory Saturday over NFA, revealing a green pad on his shoulder.
After the team huddle in the north end zone, McNeil went over and gave a hug to his father.
It was a long time coming for McNeil. After missing just about every game since the opener with a shoulder injury, the senior saw significant game time and finished with 98 yards on 20 carries and scored both touchdowns.
He found out Thursday he was medically cleared to play. He tried to come back two weeks ago against East Lyme, but only took two handoffs because he felt some pain and was immediately taken out.
McNeil said he didn’t do any therapy to help his shoulder heal, other than sitting and waiting for his body to do it naturally, which stunk (not his choice of word).
With McNeil fully healed, the Colonels can be just as tough as they were last year, if not more. Ledyard is now in third place in the Class M playoff points standings following Saturday’s win.
n Brooklyn residents have the option of going to either Killingly High School or Woodstock Academy. So, there were a lot of players that knew each other on both sidelines on Saturday afternoon during the Killingly-Woodstock game.
n When the Stonington Bears last won an Eastern Connecticut Conference title, Jim Buonocore was the head coach.
It’s been only five years since, but the Bears have endured their share of misery — a pair of two-win seasons and one three-win campaign over the last three seasons. You can bet it was a load lifted off the shoulders of coach A.J. Massengale Friday night when students stormed on to the field to congratulate their classmates on a ECC Small Division title that was guaranteed by a win over Montville.
“It’s been a long road with a lot of obstacles along the way,” Massengale said after the bedlam calmed down, including a rousing rendition of the Stonington fight song by the team outside in the rain overlooking the football field.
Senior running back Zach Wheeler remembers the Stonington programs who enjoyed success and he was glad to just get a little taste of that.
Massengale said his team was back in the weight room the Monday after last Thanksgiving and were there at 6 a.m. on weekdays in the summer.
One advantage the Bears did have this season was the re-aligned ECC Small Division, as they no longer had to worry about the likes of Plainfield, Griswold or a very good St. Bernard team, such as the version of the Saints that went to the state semifinals last season.
Massengale was not in favor of the three-division format when it was first installed by the ECC this past spring, as he was one of the few who wanted to stay in the two-division alignment.
The quest for more glory may not be over yet as the Bears are ranked fourth in the Class SS standings, but likely need a win over a difficult opponent, either Windham this week or Ledyard next week, to make a state playoff game.
Marc Allard, Bob Bogert and Ron Coderre contributed to this report.
n Offense: Greg Avalone, Stonington. The junior running back provided some breathing room in the fourth quarter of the Bears’ 18-6 win over Montville by scoring his first touchdown of the season. He finished with a season-high 127 yards rushing on 11 carries; his previous high was three yards against Killingly earlier this month.
n Defense: Shawneil Thompson, Ledyard. The senior defensive tackle had two sacks in Saturday’s 13-7 win over NFA, none bigger than his 12-yard sack of Gabe Homiski with 1 minute, 41 seconds left that stopped the momentum of a potential tying score deep in Ledyard territory.
n Special Teams: Ken Capers, New London. The senior was 7-for-7 in extra points in the Whalers’ 49-7 win over Plainfield Friday night. Capers is one of the few placekickers who kicks straight ahead (a la George Blanda or Mark Moseley) in the state. He leads the area booters with 35 points.
n “We couldn’t control him at all. By far, the most dominant defensive lineman we’ve faced thus far, and we had no answers for him. We tried to double-team him, we tried to put a lineman and a running back over him, and we just couldn’t stop him. The kid played tenaciously.” — NFA coach Mark Ambruso, on Ledyard senior defensive lineman Shawneil Thompson.
n “We haven’t done too much the past couple of years, so we finally broke out of our shell and we got the team to do it. Great players, great coaches and everything’s working.” — Zach Wheeler, on Stonington winning the ECC Small Division title.
n “I’m concerned, very concerned. I know we’ve got to get pressure on the passer because we know they’re going to pass. They’re not going to beat us with the run. We had pretty good pressure.” — Ledyard coach Bill Mignault, on NFA’s final drive with less than 4 minutes left in the game.
n “Yes.” — Montville coach Tanner Grove, not wanting to criticize the officials, when asked if a catch ruled out of bounds by Nick Markovitz in the back of the end zone could have changed the course of the game had it gone the other way.
n “It gives us a lot of confidence going into the rest of the games we’ve got. Our confidence dropped down after New London (a 41-8 loss three weeks ago), and then coming here and beating a tough team when they’re at home on this — great — turf that they have, it’s a big confidence boost.” — Ledyard running back Tim McNeil, following his Colonels’ 13-7 win over NFA Saturday that pushed Ledyard into first place in the ECC Large.
n Oct. 27, 1984: Lonnie Mecteau scored on a 43-yard run and Rider Jensen scored on a 12-yard pass from Pat Smith as Plainfield beat Windham Tech, 19-0, to improve to 6-1 overall. John Murphy added a one-yard touchdown run and Dave Barstow kicked an extra point.
n Stonington at Windham, 6:30 p.m., Friday: Stonington is in fourth place in the Class SS playoff standings by the slimmest of margins (105.71 to Bullard Havens-Bridgeport’s 105.00). A win here for the Bears will give them a big boost in the standings. Windham needs to keep winning as it is seventh in the Class M standings.
12:50 p.m., WINY (1350 AM and www.winyradio.
com): Griswold at Tourtellotte/Ellis Tech.
1:50 p.m., WXLM (102.3 FM and www.wxlm.fm): Woodstock at New London.
While groups gather at grocery stores to hold chicken funerals and airlift carnivorous lobsters to Maine (you know I’m not kidding, right?) population growth for humans—aka the ones with souls — has taken a nosedive.
A study on trends in every country from 1950 to 2017 was released in The Lancet medical journal, showing the world average of 4.7 children per woman dropped to 2.4 in 2017. Look here to see the rate in each country. The U.S. shows up as North America and we have dropped below replacement.
Some think it’s good to clear out the clutter. Wrong. More than two dozen European nations are now at the “lowest-low,” 1.3 births per woman. This is the rate-of-no-return number, from which, according to demographers, no human society has ever recovered. Yikes for the old folks depending on youth to support them and keep the wheels of society and their wheelchairs turning.
In Special report: The Aging, Childless Future, an interactive graph reveals disturbing projections for the rate of babies per woman from 1950 to 2100. Yet still, for some insane reason, the shrill anti-population cry rings out. How many of their scare-bubbles have to burst before they’re slapped into reality? Does The Population Bomb of 1968 sound familiar? The author, Paul Ehrlich turned out to be totally wrong, yet he got on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show twenty times warning that very soon, the earth could not sustain itself.
Who is driving the overpopulation mongers? The short answer is the devil. He hates people, loves destroying new ones through abortion, and delights in stopping souls from being created at all. If you have been influenced by any of his campaign promotions—#ShoutYourAbortion is his latest—go to confession, then pray for God to guide your future opinions.
Since the devil is not appearing as himself, who does his bidding? Some of the bankrollers are the self-styled ruling crowd: Microsoft founder Bill Gates, media mogul Ted Turner, David Rockefeller Jr., and the all-things-extreme liberal financiers George Soros and Warren Buffet, for starters. Despite their wealth and influence, their worst fear seems to be people.
The anti-people people operate under the guise of helping world poverty and the latest, stopping the climate from changing. Condoms are their calling cards and abortions their mission as if ending and preventing the creation of souls will improve the world.
While anything not human has taken on exaggerated importance, new people are no longer welcome. Some will argue that the goal is “fewer” people, not “none,” but when you get into negative numbers, “none” is a generous description.
Babies are adorable. If you are pregnant and not married, still have those babies. They are children of God and so are you. Yes, babies grow out of cuteness, but they also make you more loving and holy if you so choose.
Put God at the center of your life for a better one. Adoration does wonders in this regard.
Seek out inspiring examples. When my co-author Theresa Thomas and I were asked to write Big Hearted: Inspiring Stories from Everyday Families, the idea was to inspire hearts to be open to the blessing of family life through glimpses of what that can look like.
Don’t be overwhelmed. You can’t single-handedly populate the world. Just open your own life to God’s blessings.
Be a witness. If you are past childbearing age, express joy that you had children or share with others that you regret having fallen prey to anti-baby scares. Testimonies are powerful.
Learn about Natural Family Planning and throw out the contraception which, in some cases, leads to infertility — and ironically, a low libido. When Pope St. Paul VI wrote his encyclical Humanae Vitae on July 25, 1968, he neither claimed to be a prophet or saint. Time has proven him to be both. His predictions of what marriage and society would suffer if the use of contraception became widespread has come to pass.
Don’t let money be your guide. Read this story about a one-income family of 15 (until age 40, the father never made more than $50,000) debt-free, their house is paid off and all their kids go to college—some have masters and one is working on a doctorate.
Get informed. Here is a 90-second video and also an hour-long one explaining why there is no overpopulation problem.
Our eternal home is in heaven and it is not over-populated.
If the Earth cannot hold us, that would mean that God messed up. That can’t be.
The only thing you can take with you to heaven are your children.
Late-night talk show guests are not prophets. Get your inspiration from the Bible and news from people who love God and are prolife.
ASUNCIÓN, Oct 27 2011 (IPS) - The public media are growing in Latin America, with a new focus that puts an emphasis on independence from the state and the backlash from the private media, said journalists, academics and officials meeting in the Paraguayan capital.
“The public media and government communication have to move along separate tracks,” said Paraguay’s communication minister, Augusto dos Santos, addressing the international seminar on “Public Media and Society: The Global Experience and the Latin American Path”, held in Asunción Wednesday Oct. 26.
Autonomy, a commitment to the citizens, and “listening to all sectors” are necessary conditions for the public media, the minister said.
Paraguay, which hosted the seminar ahead of the 21st Ibero-American Summit, to be held Friday Oct. 28 and Saturday Oct. 29 in Asunción, launched its first public television network in August.
In Ecuador, the public media have undergone a major expansion, fostered by the new constitution that went into effect in 2008, which sparked a dispute with private companies that dominated the media in the country, said Orlando Pérez, assistant director of the state-owned El Telégrafo newspaper.
Among other things, the new constitution banned the possession of media outlets by bankers, who in the past owned a large portion of the media, Pérez said.
“The voices and the content in the media diversified, and the 14 indigenous nations gained access to the airwaves, started broadcasting in their own languages, and trained journalists,” he said.
The national public broadcasters and community radio stations triggered “an unprecedented reaction” by the traditional private media groups, which lost a share of the “advertising pie” as well as ratings, said Pérez.
El Telégrafo was boycotted by the private sector, and copies of the paper were even removed from newsstands.
Peru, on the other hand, is a latecomer to the movement that has been going on in Latin America over the last decade. The country’s state-owned media were “dismantled, reduced to nothing” by the administration of Alan Garcia (2006-2011), and the government of President Ollanta Humala is now attempting to rebuild them with a focus on the citizens and social inclusion, said Blanca Rosales, the president’s spokesperson.
“My staff only consisted of two administrative workers,” said Rosales, who added that the Radio Nacional station did not even reach the entire capital, and the public TV station was just barely surviving on a meagre budget.
But that should change under the left-leaning Humala – “who was not the private media’s favourite” – in office since July, she said.
In Brazil, public broadcasters already existed, such as 22 TV stations run by state governments and nine radio stations.
After a lengthy process of debate, the Brazilian communications agency EBC was created in 2007 to organise the public media system, and TV Brasil – the first federal public network – began to operate in December 2007. The NBR state-owned news station was also established, to report on government policies.