The Obama administration on Monday pulled back from possible changes to the popular Medicare Part D prescription drug program, saying it would not finalize proposals that have spawned fierce opposition from a broad coalition of interests.
Marilyn Tavenner, administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), said in a letter to members of Congress that her agency had decided not to move forward at present. She said it would instead seek further input from stakeholders with the prospect of revisiting changes "in future years."
U.S. administration pulls back on Medicare drug benefit proposals
Alex Baer: Death: No Longer a Passing Fancy
The cost of paying attention keeps going up: Increasing cases of thyroid growths near Fukushima. Tar sands. Poisoned water supplies. Drones. North Korea. Corporate welfare. Tainted and questionable food supplies. Chemical weapons. Gun violence. Man-made gases eating the ozone shield.
There's even a recent report of a dormant virus coming back to life after a nap of 30,000 years. After a run through the headlines, I'm feeling very much like I could use a nap of a few thousand years myself.
BPA-free plastics may be less safe than those with chemical
In 2008, the news burst on the media everywhere: common plastics contained potentially dangerous levels of bisphenol a (BPA) an additive that could be hazardous to consumer health. It leached into food and drinks, especially when plastics were warmed, posing a risk in baby bottles, water bottles, plastic storage containers and more. The plastics industry was reluctant to face the truth on BPA, but under pressure, it gave in — now, many plastic products are proudly labeled BPA-free.
So that means you’re safe, right? Your plastics have been guaranteed free of the nasty chemical everyone was so worried about, and you can go back to business as usual.
Kentucky Southern Baptists Draw Crowds With Gun Giveaways
It's an hour before suppertime, and the line outside Lone Oak First Baptist Church in Paducah, Ky., is wrapped around the building. The people are waiting for more than a Bible sermon; there's a raffle tonight. Twenty-five guns are up for grabs.
There's nothing new about gun raffles in Kentucky, even at a church. Last year, there were 50 events like this one in the state. The Kentucky Baptist Convention says it's a surefire way to get new people through church doors.
Fukushima operator may have to dump contaminated water into Pacific
A senior adviser to the operator of the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has told the firm that it may have no choice but to eventually dump hundreds of thousands of tonnes of contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean.
Speaking to reporters who were on a rare visit to the plant on the eve of the third anniversary of the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster, Dale Klein said Tokyo Electric Power [Tepco] had yet to reassure the public over the handling of water leaks that continue to frustrate efforts to clean up the site.
Snowden calls for 'accountability' in surveillance chat
Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden says the NSA is "setting fire to the future of the Internet" with surveillance practices he first revealed last year.
During a chat at the SXSW festival Monday, Snowden addressed the NSA's tactics, discussed in an investigative series by The Guardian last summer.
Oregon GOP vote backs gay marriage
Young Republican activists implored their party to support gay marriage Saturday, saying the GOP is destined to continue losing elections in Oregon if it doesn’t get behind an issue that’s gaining traction around the country.
Hoping to claw their way back to relevance, Republican activists and elected officials gathered at their annual three-day Dorchester Conference in Seaside to debate issues that divide the party. Gay marriage took center stage Saturday afternoon.
George Zimmerman signs autographs at Orlando gun show
George Zimmerman was shaking hands, smiling and signing autographs at a central Florida gun show Saturday.
Zimmerman greeted people and autographed photos of him posing with his dog. He appeared at a scaled-down version of the New Orlando Gun Show at the Arms Room store on East Colonial Drive.
The show was originally set to be held at the Majestic on John Young Parkway, but organizers said the venue canceled late Thursday after getting negative feedback about Zimmerman's planned appearance.
Weak trial witnesses hinder a more aggressive SEC
As the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission seeks to become a more formidable force in the courtroom, a string of trial defeats in the past six months has exposed a weak spot: witness testimony.
In four of the five trials that the securities regulator recently lost, the jury or judge were not convinced by the witnesses brought in by SEC litigators, according to court transcripts, rulings and interviews with defense lawyers.
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