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It's All Politics
Thursday Political Mix: Obamacare's Data Dump Fallout
Originally published on Thu November 14, 2013 10:25 am
Good morning, fellow political junkies.
Well, the Obama administration warned us that the enrollment numbers for the Affordable Care Act would be low and (surprise!) they were.
Still, it's one thing to get an abstract, data-free warning, another to see actual numbers, 27,000 people enrolling for private insurance through the federal portal, 106,185 overall if you throw in the states.
And those numbers are reverberating in the Obamacare debate as congressional Democrats grow increasingly anxious about the political damage they may incur as they head into a re-election year.
So we start the morning with a look at some of the more interesting pieces of news and analysis touching on politics with a straight-ahead examination of what some health care analysts think the HHS data dump portends for Obamacare.
- Promising isn't the word that immediately comes to mind, after reading a q&a by Kaiser Health News' Jay Hancock and Phil Galewitz. Experts doubt the administration can meet its Nov. 30 deadline for having the Healthcare.gov website problems largely fixed, they report. Even Jan. 1 looks optimistic, according to one. The worry is that millions of people who analysts thought would be insured won't be, particularly the young and healthy individuals insurers need to make Obamacare viable.
- Jonathan Cohn at the New Republic gives context to the HHS numbers. He quotes MIT economist Jonathan Gruber, one of the brains behind Massachusetts' health care law, as saying it's too early to make a judgment. Next March, when the individual mandate is scheduled to go into effect, will be a better gauge.
- Meanwhile, it increasingly appears the Obama administration is going to open Pandora's Box, i.e., go to Congress to fix the problem of cancelled insurance policies, reports Bloomberg News' Mike Dorning. The administration has been reluctant to do that because it could open to law to what it views as all kinds of GOP mischief. But it appears it may not have any choice.
- Who doesn't like a good peek inside a White House operation? Glenn Thrush, who writes for the new Politico magazine, pulls back the curtain on the relationship between President Obama and much of his cabinet to reveal there really isn't much of one — a relationship, that is. Despite their high status as members of such an exclusive club, it's White House insiders who drive policymaking in Obama's highly centralized operation and find numerous ways to deflate cabinet secretary egos.
- In the wake of his disproven "You can keep it" pledge, Obama may have fewer worries on the credibility front than many observers think, writes National Journal's George Condon. How much his fellow citizens believe a president doesn't necessarily equate with how effective they think he is. Condon cites Jimmy Carter ("I will never lie to you.") and Bill Clinton ("I did not have sexual relations...) as contrasting examples to prove his point.
- Then again, maybe the sharp drop in the percentage of Americans who say they find Obama less credible means that he is not only officially a lame duck with little hope of getting any substantial part of his second-term agenda passed, but whose legacy will be tarnished, writes Scott Wilson of the Washington Post.


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FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a case showing our new design;
FIG. 2 is an isometric view thereof;
FIG. 3 is a front view thereof;
FIG. 4 is a rear view thereof;
FIG. 5 is a left view thereof;
FIG. 6 is a right view thereof;
FIG. 7 is a top view thereof; and,
FIG. 8 is a bottom view thereof.
The broken line perimeter of the large unshaded rectangular region on the front of the case in FIGS. 1 and 3 represents a boundary of the claimed design. All other broken lines depict unclaimed environment. The broken lines and unshaded regions bounded by broken lines form no part of the claimed design.

subset: commoncrawl


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March 15, 2007
Google Updates the Corner Links
Google seems to be undecided about the purpose of the navigation links (also known as "corner bookmarks") from Gmail, Google Calendar and other applications. While the only change I see is the replacement of Groups with Google Checkout, other people saw links to Google Reader, Google Maps, Blogger and other services. Maybe users should select their favorite services and the navigation links should be displayed consistently and extensively. It's weird that Google tested a page that let you customize those links but decided not to use it.
This blog is not affiliated with Google.


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This update to the 1140V series, the GEL-1150V comes equipped with a Ventilated Sole Unit for improved comfort and enhanced breathability. Featuring a SpEVA® Midsole and Rearfoot GEL® Cushioning System for excellent cushioning on the court. The new upper offers a combination of synthetic leather and air mesh for improved performance and breathability. The addition of the toe guard improves durability of the shoe. ASICS' number one selling team shoe, the new GEL-1150V stays true to the fit and performance this series is known for.
* Ventilated sole unit for improved comfort and enhanced breathability
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Ralph B. Davis
Managing Editor
COAL RUN — A recent spate of robberies continued Monday, when a Pike County convenience store was robbed.
Kentucky State Police report that a white male walked into the Cowpen Double Kwik around 11 p.m., Monday, brandishing a firearm and demanding money. He was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, camoflauge mask, white tennis shoes, blue jeans and gloves.
After receiving an undisclosed amount of money, the man fled the store in an unknown direction.
KSP Det. Jason Merlo is investigating the crime.
The robbery is just the latest in a string that began with a pair of bank robberies last week. A masked man robbed the Allen branch of Citizens National Bank on Aug. 20, and two men robbed the South Williamson branch of U.S. Bank the following day.
Police are puzzled over what is behind the recent surge in crime.
"You can put it on the economy or whatever, but there's no way of really knowing," said KSP Public Information Officer Shaun Little.
Police are asking anyone with information on any of the heists to report it to KSP Post 9, in Pikeville, at (606) 433-7711 or (800) 222-5555.


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The sweet and spicy marinade is also used as the glaze to make this mouth watering smoky salmon on your grill.
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Danny Kristo
Eden Prairie Minnesota
Eligible for draft:
Trade with Montreal, 2013
188 lbs.
Prospect Talent Score
Probability of Success
2005-06: Playing for Eden Prairie High School, Danny Kristo recorded 39 points (15 goals, 24 assists) in just 27 games.
2006-07: Kristo was one of the top players for the US U-17 team, finishing amongst the team leaders in points (28), goals (12), and assists (16) in 59 games played.
2007-08: The US National U18 Team (NAHL) winger scored eight goals and 18 points through 39 games. Kristo also excelled in international play with the U-18 team. He competed with the US National U-18 squad at the WJC-18, netting three goals and six points in seven games; USA took home the Bronze Medal. Kristo also excelled in international play with the U-18 team. He helped team USA walk away with a first place finish at the 2008 U-18 Five Nations tournament by compiling four points on four games (two goals, two assists). Kristo was chosen in the second round, 56th overall, of the 2008 NHL Draft by the Montreal Canadiens.
2008-09: The Omaha Lancers (USHL) winger netted 22 goals in his rookie season, finishing with 58 points in 50 games. He skated again with the US National Team, netting one goal in six games at the WJC.
2009-10: The highly anticipated rookie season came with success for Kristo, yielding a 15 goal, 36 point season in 41 games with North Dakota. He would add a World Junior Gold Medal, NCAA Championship and NCAA (WCHA) Rookie of the Year award to the mantle, as well.
2010-11: Kristo had an eventful sophomore season with WCHA regular season and playoff champion North Dakota. After a steady first part of the season he missed ten games due to a severe case of frostbite in his foot that threatened his career. Kristo returned from his injury during the post-season and had points in all but one game – the Fighting Sioux's 2-0 loss to Michigan in the Frozen Four semifinals. He finished the season with 8 goals and 20 assists and was +6 in 34 games for the Fighting Sioux.
2011-12: After a difficult and under-achieving sophomore year, Kristo enjoyed the best season of his collegiate career in 2011-12. The speedy winger set career highs, scoring 19 goals (three GWG) along with 26 assists (team-leading) and a solid plus 16 rating in 37 NCAA games. The offensively talented winger was forced to play in unfamiliar situations all season long due to the numerous injuries the Fighting Sioux suffered this year.
2012-13: Kristo signed a two-year entry-level contract with Montreal in April and made his pro hockey debut with the AHL's Hamilton Bulldogs following his senior season. He capped the year playing for the USA in the 2013 IIHF World Championship. Kristo had 3 assists and was -1 with 2 penalty minutes in nine AHL games for the Bulldogs. Kristo capped his college career by finishing second in the WCHA and leading North Dakota in scoring; finishing with 26 goals and 26 assists in 40 games with a +17 plus/minus and 24 penalty minutes. North Dakota was third in the WCHA and received an at-large NCAA bid after an overtime loss to Colorado College in the WCHA semifinals. The Fighting Sioux defeated Niagara in the NCAA West Regional semifinals before falling to national champion Yale, 4-1. In ten games with the bronze medal-winning USA squad Kristo scored 1 goal with 2 assists and was -1 with 2 penalty minutes. He was acquired by the Rangers in exchange for Christian Thomas in a trade with the Canadiens in July 2013.
Talent Analysis
At times, Kristo lacks the consistency and the work ethic needed to play at the NHL level but definitely not the skills. He has quick acceleration, a powerful stride and uses his explosive speed to help make space for him offensively. The talented winger is equally fast with or without the puck and has developed the ability to shoot the puck while in full stride toward the net with a quick, accurate release.
Kristo has been dealt from the Montreal Canadiens to the New York Rangers in the deal that sent Christian Thomas to the Canadiens.


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Product Description
The Awards module for Pligg CMS dynamically generates awards for users depending on their participation within your site and displays them in the users profile.
The 6 awards users can earn are:
- Power User
- Power Voter
- Sixth Sense
- Power Submitter
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Default Award Values
- A member must have more than a 500 point Karma score to earn the Power User Award.
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Find other Pligg Modules and Templates designed by ChuckRoast
For all things Pligg visit ChuckRoast.net


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STANVILLE — Charles Ramsey, the Cleveland dishwasher who rose to national prominence for assisting in the escape of three women who had been kidnapped and imprisoned for nearly a decade, says he does not find it the least bit unusual that he was asked to make an appearance Friday at the office of an Eastern Kentucky attorney over 350 miles away.
"He's a friend of mine," Ramsey said, referring to attorney Eric C. Conn.
Ramsey said he has known Conn for five years and once got advice from him. He said Friday's visit was him simply returning a favor.
"We get the question a lot, 'Why Floyd County, but least of all, why Stanville?'" Conn said. "Well, it's part of the United States, last time I checked. You know, we're kind of funny about it."
Conn said he was inspired by Ramsey's actions, to the point that he felt compelled to bring him to Floyd County to meet with local residents.
"I like statues, I like heroes, and this is one that's still alive," Conn said. "So I really wanted to give him some credit and let him just say hi and let our area know him a little bit."
Ramsey gained national notoriety when, after hearing screams from neighbor Ariel Castro's house, he kicked in a door that allowed Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, Michelle Knight and a 6-year-old girl escape. The women had been abducted and held captive in Castro's house for years, under the noses of neighbors and despite an extensive search.
Ramsey said he had lived next to Castro for about a year and saw nothing that would have led him to believe anything out of the ordinary was taking place next door.
"There was no raised eyebrow with him, know what I mean?" Ramsey said. "Dude, for what he did, naturally, you're a monster. How you did it and how you pulled it off and kept it is a secret, you're a genius …
"That's the type of person. You don't know what to do with this dude. You can't label him. He's a regular person."
Despite living next-door to a "monster" for about a year, Ramsey said he hasn't changed his opinion of humanity in general, but he does question his neighbors.
"I'm the new kid on the block," Ramsey said. "Everybody else has raised families and the children have gotten older and married and gone on with their life. The mother and the father who started that generation is still right there. And you don't see nothing? It's like my friend say, it's not about they didn't see nothing. They aren't going to say nothing."
He said that unwillingness to do anything extended to the day the women were rescued.
"The whole neighborhood heard screams," Ramsey said. "That girl was loud, she stopped me from eating my Big Mac … Did anybody else help? No."


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HIV in the Land of Baseball and Bachata
In the Dominican Republic, two nongovernmental organizations offer comprehensive, integrated HIV and other health services that serve the special needs of high-risk and vulnerable populations: sex workers, migrant workers, young people, and people with disabilities.
Download the HIV in the Land of Baseball and Bachata Case Study (PDF, 654 KB).
Traducción en español (Spanish Translation) (PDF, 470 KB).
Visit our Case Study Series page to see other recent publications.
HIV in the Land of Baseball and Bachata
By Edward Scholl
Dominican NGOs Provide Comprehensive Services to Those Most at Risk
Rosa parks her motorbike outside the El Mamey bar in downtown La Romana, on the southeast coast of the Dominican Republic. Lively Bachata music blares from the speakers as men on the sidewalk in front of the bar play dominoes. Inside the bar, 20 women seated on bar stools and benches smile and greet Rosa as she enters. She is well known to the women, and she hugs them before unpacking her backpack.... (continued on the next tab)
Video Gallery
Video Transcripts (PDF, 265 KB)
Disclaimer: The authors' views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government.
Outreach worker from La Romana Family Clinic demonstrates the correct use of a female condom to sex workers in La Romana.
(continued from the first tab)
These women serve drinks to customers at El Mamey, occasionally dance with them for tips, and leave with those willing to pay to take them to nearby motels that rent rooms by the hour. This is one form of commercial sex work in La Romana. Other sex workers work in brothels, nightclubs, or even car wash businesses. Rosa knows them all, and regularly visits about 60 establishments where sex is sold in La Romana. Today, Rosa gives a talk about HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) to the women at El Mamey, demonstrating the correct use of condoms and reminding the women to come for their monthly medical checkups at the Clínica de Familia La Romana (La Romana Family Clinic). At the end of her talk she answers questions, addresses common misunderstandings about HIV, and hands out educational materials and condoms.
Rosa is one of many outreach workers that La Romana Family Clinic uses to reach sex workers, youth, Haitian immigrants, and other populations at higher risk of HIV. But the clinic does far more than HIV prevention work. It also provides comprehensive HIV prevention, care, and treatment to the population of La Romana Province and has the highest number of HIV patients on treatment in the eastern part of country. Besides being a comprehensive program modeled on high-quality, family-centered care, it has achieved great success in HIV treatment adherence and has a close, symbiotic relationship with a large public sector hospital in La Romana, a model of a public-private partnership.
Another Dominican nongovernmental organization (NGO) working with a vulnerable population considered to be at special risk of HIV, sexual abuse, and unintended pregnancies is PROBIEN, a private foundation working with people with disabilities. The United Nations estimates that some 1 billion individuals—about 15 percent of the world's population—live with one or more disabling conditions (World Health Organization [WHO] and the World Bank 2011). In the Dominican Republic, as in most developing countries, people living with disabilities are a forgotten segment of society, stigmatized and largely excluded from educational and employment opportunities. They also lack access to health care information and services, especially in the areas of reproductive and sexual health and HIV. PROBIEN is one organization working to change this, both through education and advocacy.
Both La Romana Family Clinic and PROBIEN receive financial and technical support from the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)/Dominican Republic, under grants provided by the AIDSTAROne Project. Both organizations are examples of how to provide HIV services to vulnerable populations using a family- and community-centered model. Both recruit volunteers from the vulnerable populations that they work with, and both partner with other community and government organizations to have regional and national impact. Although they serve different populations, both implement innovative approaches to HIV prevention, care, and treatment that can provide valuable lessons for other programs addressing similar needs.
HIV in the Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic has the second highest number of people living with HIV in the Caribbean after Haiti (Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS [UNAIDS] 2010). For many years, its HIV epidemic was described as generalized, with prevalence fluctuating between 1 and 2 percent of the adult population. It now stands at 0.9 percent (UNAIDS estimate for 2009) and is classified as a concentrated epidemic, with the highest prevalence found among sex workers and men who have sex with men.
A worker in the sugar cane fields of La Romana awaits weighing and transfer of the cane to railroad cars. Haitian immigrants who cut sugar cane are one group at high risk of HIV.
La Romana Province, a major sugar, manufacturing, and tourism industry center in the eastern part of the country, is the region with the highest HIV prevalence. A recent study among women giving birth in La Romana found HIV prevalence to be 2.6 percent (Roman-Poueriet et al. 2009). In addition to the sex workers in La Romana, another group considered to be at high risk of HIV is the large population of Haitian immigrants who live in bateyes (sugar cane plantation communities). The aforementioned study found sex workers in La Romana to be eight times as likely to be HIV-positive as the general population of childbearing women, while Haitian immigrants were 1.6 times as likely to be infected with HIV.
To address the HIV prevention needs of both sex workers and Haitian immigrants living in the bateyes, La Romana Family Clinic began HIV prevention as well as testing and counseling programs for both of these target populations, anchored by their clinic in the middle of the city of La Romana. Other programs include a teen clinic and school-based sex education program, and a program for prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health hospital in La Romana. Together these programs make up the comprehensive HIV services offered by the La Romana Family Clinic.
La Romana Family Clinic
La Romana Family Clinic is an NGO established in 1999 as a collaboration between the International Family AIDS Program of Columbia University, the Hermanas Adoratrices of the Complejo Micaleano (a Spanish order of nuns), and the MIR Foundation (a Dominican foundation based in La Romana). Its purpose was to improve the quality of life of people living with HIV and marginalized populations, particularly sex workers.
The clinic began the first PMTCT program in La Romana and, in 2004, began offering antiretroviral treatment to people living with HIV, one of the first clinics in the country to do so.
La Romana Family Clinic prides itself on being part of an extended family. "We are family" is its slogan, and, as Executive Director Mina Halpern explains, all of the patients and staff are considered to be part of a family. Clinic staff do not view HIV as just another disease to be treated, but rather try to provide holistic care that goes beyond the medical care they offer.
Although it is known as one of the largest HIV facilities in the country and for pioneering triple antiretroviral therapy (ART) for pregnant women, the clinic is also known for what it does outside its clinic walls: HIV prevention with most-at-risk and vulnerable populations, community-based testing and counseling, a satellite clinic for teens, a summer camp for young people living with HIV, and a cadre of home visitors that ensure treatment adherence and provide care and support to those living with HIV and their families. Indeed, given the breadth and scope of its services, La Romana Family Clinic can be described as a comprehensive HIV prevention, care, and treatment program.
Adult care and treatment: At the end of 2011, the clinic had 1,581 adults enrolled in its HIV care and treatment program, of which 1,247 were receiving ART. This is an increase of 12 percent over the number of clients receiving treatment in 2010, and of 37 percent over the number on treatment in 2009. Ninety percent of patients on ART are on first-line therapy. The clinic carefully monitors patient outcomes in its treatment program and reported 48 deaths in 2011, representing 3 percent of all enrolled patients. About 12 percent of patients—188 total—were lost to follow-up in 2011. For comparison purposes, a study of patients on ART in lower-income countries found that, on average, 21 percent were lost to follow-up in the first six months after starting ART (Brinkhof et al. 2008).
Although the clinic's record of treatment adherence compares favorably to programs in lower-income countries, staff began several new interventions in the second half of 2011 to improve treatment adherence and reduce loss to follow-up. In August 2011 they began a new program of treatment adherence counseling adapted from a similar program used at New York Presbyterian Hospital. This structured program includes regularly scheduled counseling sessions, initially once per week, and later once per month, followed by once every six months. In September 2011 they also began a "Rescue Plan" that deploys additional home visitors to enroll people living with HIV in the treatment program, encourage them to come to their clinic appointments, find out how they are doing with their medications, provide palliative care, and bring medications to them if they cannot get to the clinic. With support from AIDSTAR-One, the number of home visitors increased in 2011, and a total of 2,167 home visits were conducted during the year. The clinic credits the Rescue Plan with locating 28 HIV-positive patients in 2011 who had stopped taking their antiretroviral (ARV) medications and getting them to resume treatment.
Yet another intervention begun in the second half of 2011 was a quality improvement plan modeled on the "client-oriented, provider-efficient" (COPE) methodology. COPE is a process that helps health care staff continuously improve the quality and efficiency of services provided at their facility, and make services more responsive to clients' needs (EngenderHealth 2003). Clinic staff completed self-assessments, undertook a survey of client satisfaction, and conducted a patient flow analysis to analyze patient waiting times and time spent with providers. After making changes based on the client survey and patient flow analysis, patient waiting times were reduced from an average of 127 minutes to 89 minutes, and time spent with providers increased from 19 minutes to 31 minutes.
Pediatric care and treatment: A total of 132 children were enrolled in the clinic's HIV care and treatment program in 2011, with all but two receiving ART. This represents a 12 percent increase over the number of children receiving treatment in 2010. Four children on treatment died during 2011 (three percent of the total on treatment at the beginning of the year), and five were lost to follow-up (four percent).
PMTCT program: The clinic's PMTCT program began in 1999 and was the first facility in the country to offer ART to pregnant women. In 2006, the clinic began offering triple therapy during pregnancy. The positive results from the clinic in reducing the transmission of HIV from mother to baby, coupled with cost-effectiveness data collected with the help of Columbia University, helped persuade the Ministry of Health to change its national protocols from single-dose nevirapine during labor to triple therapy throughout the pregnancy. In 2011, the clinic's PMTCT program reported only one baby born HIV-positive out of 92 births, a transmission rate of only one percent (down from five percent the year before). Similar to the adult treatment program that uses home visitors to increase treatment adherence, the PMTCT program also has home visitors who provide in-home education, counseling, support, and reminders for upcoming clinic appointments.
The clinic also has a long-standing PMTCT collaboration with Hospital Francisco Gonzalvo, the largest public hospital in La Romana Province. This collaboration takes many forms, including referrals to the clinic for prenatal care and ART during pregnancy for pregnant women at the hospital who test positive for HIV, followed by counterreferral from the clinic to the hospital for cesarean delivery, followed by a referral back to the clinic for postpartum follow-up and pediatric care for the baby. To strengthen the hospital's own PMTCT capabilities, the clinic currently covers the salaries of HIV counselors at the hospital who provide HIV testing and counseling for pregnant women, and is providing technical assistance to strengthen prenatal care that the hospital can provide to HIV-positive expectant mothers. The clinic and hospital also share some staff. For example, the head of the HIV/AIDS program at the hospital also works at the clinic two days per week.
Residents of batey Agua Blanca register and give consent for HIV testing.
Other clinical services: Another HIV service offered at the clinic is testing and counseling using rapid testing. In 2011, the clinic provided HIV testing and counseling to 3,128 individuals. It also has one of three CD4 machines being used by government or nonprofit laboratories in the country to assess treatment eligibility and monitor progress for those who are HIV-positive. Another service available to the general public at the clinic is family planning, which provides oral contraceptives, intrauterine devices, injectables, and condoms. The clinic also provides general outpatient medical care, as well as gynecological, prenatal, and pediatric care, and it operates a laboratory and pharmacy.
All HIV-related services are free, and all other clinical services are free for those who are HIV-positive and their families. Other patients pay a small fee for non-HIV services. The clinic covers about 10 percent of its budget through these user fees, especially fees for laboratory services and ultrasound.
Sex worker program: Commercial sex work in La Romana is widespread, in part due to the large number of migrants in the area who work in the sugar cane fields and refineries, free trade zone manufacturing plants in the region, and the tourist industry in and around La Romana. The clinic's sex worker program is its oldest program, founded in 1989 by a group of Catholic nuns. The clinic eventually took over the program in 2006, though the nuns continue to work closely with the clinic and have a program in a building next door that offers sex workers occupational training.
The sex worker program includes a combination of prevention and clinical services. The latter include gynecological exams at the clinic every month (mandated by the government), along with HIV and syphilis screening every three months, and a Pap test every six months. In 2011, the clinic provided 2,320 exams to sex workers, identified 200 cases of STIs (in nine percent of all exams), and provided treatment to each using the syndromic management protocol of the WHO.
The prevention component of the program includes education on HIV, STIs, and family planning and counseling on condom use, as well as distribution of condoms and family planning methods. This education and counseling takes place at the clinic, but also in the negocios (places where sex workers work, including brothels, bars, and nightclubs). The clinic has an educator who regularly visits the negocios in La Romana (about 60 in total) and coordinates with owners to give educational talks during the day to the women who work there, and sometimes to men who happen to be there (negocios are typically open for business day and night). At one such talk at El Mamey bar, the educator began by giving 20 sex workers a pre-test of their knowledge about HIV and STIs, followed by a post-test after the talk. This is one way that the educator can focus her message on topics about which the sex workers are least informed and document the increase in knowledge as a result of the talk. In 2011, this educator gave 166 talks in various negocios, reaching 1,202 sex workers and clients.
Bateyes program: Another population at higher risk of HIV is the immigrant Haitian population residing in the many bateyes in La Romana. These residents, including seasonal migrants, permanent migrants, and second-generation immigrants from Haiti, live in company-owned homes, typically one- or two-room cinder block dwellings without electricity or indoor plumbing. Besides poor housing and limited schooling for the children (if schools exist in the batey, they go only through the fifth grade, with few exceptions), residents of bateyes also have to contend with chronic underemployment when the cutting season ends, or migrate elsewhere in search of jobs.
The clinic began a program in 2007 to reach the many bateyes in La Romana Province with HIV testing and counseling, prevention education, and access to the clinic's services. The program uses a group of Creole-speaking promoters from the clinic (many from Haiti themselves) who regularly make home visits in the bateyes and schedule testing and counseling days. On these days, a team from the clinic will drive through the community and announce via loudspeaker that testing and counseling will soon begin in a designated community location, such as a church or school. Batey residents will then gather at the site for a group talk about HIV and STIs, followed by HIV rapid testing, and then individual posttest counseling. After the post-test counseling, clients receive a package of basic foodstuffs as an incentive to get tested and stay for the results. Anyone testing positive is enrolled in the clinic's HIV treatment program. In 2011, the program conducted 4,117 HIV tests in 59 different bateyes, with 77 testing positive (a rate of 1.9 percent, over twice as high as the adult prevalence in the general population).
A client at the teen clinic is counseled about oral contraceptives.
Adolescent program: The clinic's adolescent program began in 2008 as a collaboration with the Hospital Francisco Gonzalvo in La Romana. The program grew out of the desire to prevent unintended pregnancies among teens (30 percent of all births occurring at the hospital are to adolescent mothers) and to improve their access to gynecological/prenatal care and HIV and STI testing and counseling. The program also sought to reach adolescents in school before they become sexually active and at risk of unintended pregnancies or HIV and other STIs.
The program opened a teen clinic next to the hospital that offers gynecological and prenatal care to adolescents, as well as psychological consultations. HIV and STI testing and counseling are provided as well, with enrollment in the clinic's ART program for anyone testing positive for HIV. Family planning counseling and methods are also offered.
The teen clinic is implementing several innovative approaches to prenatal care. One of these is a modified version of the centering-pregnancy model, where groups of adolescents meet together once a month for their prenatal care and attend educational sessions together. The goal of the model is to create friendships and trust among the teens and the teen clinic staff, and make them feel more comfortable at the clinic. Another innovative approach is the Five Star Program that the teen clinic introduced last year where pregnant teens receive a star for each goal they reach during their pregnancy and postpartum periods. For example, one star is given for obtaining the required immunizations and ultrasound, another star for getting two HIV tests during pregnancy, another for attending five prenatal visits, another for attending all of the educational sessions, and a fifth star for attending a family planning consultation after birth. Upon receiving the fifth star, the teen mother receives a gift and a certificate.
Besides the services and counseling given in the teen clinic, the adolescent program seeks to raise awareness and understanding of sexuality, reproductive health, pregnancy, HIV, and STIs through a school-based education program in secondary schools in La Romana Province, including schools in the bateyes. The program has two full-time educators and several groups of volunteer peer educators. The educators visit a school for an entire week, which allows them to take a much more intensive approach than most school-based sex education/HIV awareness programs. For several hours each day a different topic is introduced, including the physiology of puberty and pregnancy, pregnancy prevention and contraception, STIs, and HIV. For the year ending May 2012, a total of 4,300 students received this five-day curriculum.
The educators feel that their efforts make a difference in promoting healthy behaviors among students, pointing out that the number of teens accessing contraceptives at the teen clinic doubled in the last year, which they feel is a result of their educational efforts. They also give credit to the growing number of youth they have trained as peer educators, as well as to promotion of the teen clinic through Facebook.
PROBIEN Foundation
A growing body of literature indicates that individuals with disabilities are at equal or increased risk of exposure to HIV as people without disabilities (World Bank 2004). A United Nations Policy Brief (UNAIDS, WHO, and OHCHR 2009) notes the following reasons for this:
- Many persons with disabilities engage in behaviors that place them at risk of HIV infection.
- A large percentage of persons with disabilities will experience sexual assault or abuse during their lifetime, with women and girls, persons with intellectual impairments, and those in specialized institutions at particularly high risk.
- Persons with disabilities often have limited access to HIV education, information, and prevention services. They may not be invited to HIV education forums, or be visited by outreach workers, who may assume that persons with disabilities are not sexually active or do not engage in other high-risk behaviors.
- Services offered at health facilities may be physically inaccessible or fail to provide information in alternative formats such as Braille or audio.
People with disabilities are a hidden population in most countries. They tend to go uncounted in census and survey data, have limited physical and social mobility, and are less likely to attend school or find employment. In health care programs, they are too often hidden as well, both as clients and as co-participants in program design and implementation. The PROBIEN Foundation is a Dominican NGO formed in 1994 to promote the rights of people with disabilities in the Dominican Republic. PROBIEN seeks to change the old paradigm, still prevalent in the country, of a paternalistic, charity-focused approach to supporting people with disabilities, and replace it with a new paradigm based on social inclusion and respect for the human rights of people with disabilities. This approach mirrors international efforts to gain greater recognition of the rights of people with disabilities to adequate health care, education, and social participation (Stein et al. 2009), which culminated in the 2008 UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Wheelchair basketball players in the Dominican Republic are among the HIV promoters trained by PROBIEN Foundation.
In the Dominican Republic, PROBIEN works with other organizations to advocate on behalf of people with disabilities and to ensure better access to educational, health, and employment opportunities. One of its significant lobbying successes was to convince the government to include people with disabilities as beneficiaries of the national health insurance program (Seguro Nacional de Salud). As a result, since 2008, people with disabilities have been able to obtain free medical care and subsidized prescription drugs.
PROBIEN has a special concern for the sexual and reproductive health of people with disabilities and recognizes their vulnerability to sexual abuse, unintended pregnancies, HIV, and STIs. PROBIEN has a cadre of 30 peer educator promoters—people with disabilities who have been trained to give talks to their peers about sexual and reproductive health, including HIV and STI prevention. Rather than segregate these promoters by type of disability, PROBIEN has preferred to integrate teams of promoters to give talks to persons with disabilities and their families. Recently, for example, a group of promoters giving a talk on HIV to students at the National School for the Deaf in Santo Domingo consisted of three men: one blind from birth, another who is deaf, and a third who has only one leg and uses a wheelchair. PROBIEN feels that this approach helps people with disabilities learn from each other and builds solidarity and understanding.
PROBIEN's educational efforts are not only directed to people with disabilities, but to their families as well. As PROBIEN Director Magino Corporan explains, the problem of lack of education and access to services often begins in the family. Many parents are ashamed of their child with a disability and may not register the birth, obtain a national identification card, or send them to school. They feel that the disability makes their child less of a person, and less worthy, and that feeling becomes internalized by the child as he or she grows up. For this reason, PROBIEN invites family members to participate in the educational workshops and talks they provide to people with disabilities. PROBIEN also offers education to health care staff at maternity hospitals and in other health facilities so that they do not discriminate against people with disabilities and so they can provide better counseling and support (e.g., to parents of babies with Down Syndrome).
PROBIEN promoter hosting a weekly radio program in Villa Altagracia.
From December 2011 (when PROBIEN's HIV education outreach began in earnest with support from AIDSTAR-One) through April 2012, PROBIEN has conducted 15 workshops on sexual/reproductive health, STIs, and HIV that have reached 350 people with disabilities and family members. These workshops were led by PROBIEN's peer educator promoters. PROBIEN expects to reach 1,200 people through these workshops before the end of 2012.
In addition to these direct educational interventions, PROBIEN promoters also use innovative approaches to extend the reach of their messages. For example, one promoter, Maximo (with two amputated legs following a vehicle accident in 2000), hosts a weekly radio program on a community radio station that reaches the residents of Villa Altagracia (population 100,000). His talk show, combined with musical interludes and listener call-in, discusses topics of interest to people with disabilities and frequently focuses on HIV and reproductive health. In a recent program, Maximo made the point that others often mistakenly assume that people with disabilities have no sex life, "But we know we do!" he said, and told his listeners about the importance of using condoms and getting tested for HIV.
What Has Worked Well
Students at the National School for the Deaf in the Dominican Republic respond to questions about HIV.
Linkages with government, universities, and other programs: Both La Romana Family Clinic and PROBIEN have created many linkages with government and with other programs. In the case of the clinic, the close collaboration with Hospital Francisco Gonzalvo in La Romana enables effective referrals and counter-referrals, especially for PMTCT services and even joint ownership of programs, such as the teen clinic located a block from the hospital. The director of the hospital, Dr. Leonardo Feliz, describes the relationship between La Romana Family Clinic and the hospital as a "marriage" and proudly refers to the teen clinic as their "child." The clinic also has linkages with the Ministry of Health that provides donated commodities to the clinic (e.g., HIV test kits, ARVs, drugs for opportunistic infections, and contraceptive methods), as well as some staff salaries for Ministry of Health employees who work at the clinic. Another effective partnership is with Columbia University, whose International Family AIDS Program helped establish the clinic in 1999 and conducted an influential cost-effectiveness study on triple ARV therapy that helped convince the government to provide it to pregnant women with HIV. The clinic also has partnerships with other universities in the United States, including the University of Illinois, with whom it is about to conduct a study on male circumcision for HIV prevention.
PROBIEN also has many linkages with government ministries and agencies, including the National Disability Council, the government agency responsible for coordinating government assistance and policies related to people with disabilities. PROBIEN is an active member of the National Federation of the Disabled and the National Network for the Rights of People with Disabilities. This network was instrumental in the government's passage of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. PROBIEN also has a good relationship with La Romana Family Clinic and later this year will provide orientation to clinic staff and volunteers on engaging and working with the disabled population of La Romana.
Monitoring and evaluation: To improve quality and effectiveness, La Romana Family Clinic maintains good service delivery data that show the volume of clinical services over time and allow staff to conduct periodic evaluations. For example, the clinic has carefully monitored the outcomes of its HIV treatment program and adherence to treatment. The clinic uses the data it collects to guide decision making and, as described earlier, instituted its Rescue Program so that fewer patients are lost to follow-up. It also undertook an evaluation of its clinical services and incorporated client feedback to reduce the waiting time of patients in the clinic and increase their time with providers.
Comprehensive and family-centered services: "Family-centered, comprehensive care" is the way La Romana Family Clinic describes itself. There is probably no other facility in the country, public or private, that provides HIV care as comprehensively while also providing general medical care to the public. Its HIV services include the full spectrum of HIV prevention, care, and treatment, with a special focus on reaching mostat- risk and vulnerable populations. HIV care is provided free of charge, and clients with HIV and their families can also receive free medical care at the clinic, including pediatric care. The clinic also recently began a program to help HIV clients and their families with their non-health needs, recognizing that about 80 percent live in extreme poverty. Social workers at the clinic work with each client to assess needs and help where they can, whether with food assistance, school fees, or help in getting a child's birth certificate. They also help link families up with other government programs that can assist them. This comprehensive, familycentered approach means people living with HIV and their families can have multiple health and non-health needs met in one visit to the clinic.
PROBIEN also takes a family-centered approach in its work. The organization recognizes that respect for the value of individuals with disabilities and recognition of their potential must start with the family, so family members are invited to PROBIEN's many educational and social activities. PROBIEN staff also help parents provide sex education and HIV prevention information to their children with disabilities.
Peer-driven interventions: Both organizations rely on peer educators for many of their educational interventions. For example, La Romana Family Clinic uses promoters who are HIV-positive or personally affected by HIV in its home visitation program and as counselors for HIV-positive mothers in its PMTCT program. The clinic also uses adolescent peer educators to help provide sex education and HIV information in its school-based adolescent program. Peer educators complement the work of clinic staff in providing education and counseling throughout its various programs. Most of PROBIEN's HIV education outreach is done by its 30 peer educators, all of whom have a disability of one kind or another.
Linking community- and clinic-based services: La Romana Family Clinic is an excellent model for linking community- and clinic-based services, which allows the clinic to have broader impact and achieve greater adherence in its HIV treatment and PMTCT programs. Though the clinic has used home visitors for a number of years, it increased the number of home visitors last year to reduce the number of HIV patients lost to followup. It also uses home visitors to make sure HIV-positive women come to their clinic appointments and receive ARVs during pregnancy. These home visitors are typically HIV-positive themselves.
The bateyes program described earlier is another example of how the clinic links services in the sugar cane plantation communities with its facilities in the city of La Romana. Community-based HIV testing and counseling takes place in the bateyes, and anyone testing HIV-positive is enrolled in the clinic's treatment program. The clinic's sex worker program is yet another example of community-clinic linkages, whereby education and outreach in the brothels and negocios are linked to gynecological exams and HIV/STI testing at the clinic.
Commitment of staff and solidarity with vulnerable populations: One of the strongest impressions that a visitor to La Romana Family Clinic or PROBIEN leaves with is that these organizations are committed to their work and have a strong sense of solidarity with the vulnerable populations they serve. At the clinic, this can be seen in the waiting room, where patients now spend less time waiting and more time with providers; in the way bathrooms are kept clean for patients; in client-provider interactions, such as the large number of Creole-speaking staff and volunteers who can better communicate with their Haitian clientele; and in the respectful way staff treat sex workers who come to the clinic for their monthly medical exams.
PROBIEN's commitment and solidarity are visible throughout the organization, from its director, who is himself living with a disability, to its peer educators, all of whom have a disability and volunteer their time to help others, regardless of type of disability.
Sustainability: A common challenge for most NGOs in developing countries is financial sustainability, and this is certainly the case for La Romana Family Clinic and PROBIEN. PROBIEN, in particular, operates on a very small budget with mostly volunteer staff. For many years it has received a government grant (subvención) that provides funding for its educational and advocacy work. This grant is renewed every year and appears to be semi-permanent, providing PROBIEN with a reliable, albeit very modest source of revenue. Most of the HIV prevention work described in this case study is funded through the AIDSTAR-One grant that will be ending in late 2012. Therefore, PROBIEN must look for additional sources of funding to sustain its HIV prevention work, or find ways of incorporating this work into the activities supported by their government grant.
La Romana Family Clinic's financial sustainability outlook is stronger, though still a challenge. The clinic has many sources of funding, including grants from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria through the Dominican government's National Council of HIV/AIDS (CONAVIHSIDA), the Ministry of Health, and several United States foundations. It also receives support from USAID/Dominican Republic (through the AIDSTAR-One Project) that has allowed the clinic to expand its outreach work for prevention and follow-up on care and treatment for people with HIV. The clinic also receives many donations, including in-kind donations of contraceptives, ARVs, and drugs for opportunistic infections. The clinic receives frequent volunteers from universities and medical schools in the United States. As noted earlier, the clinic covers about 10 percent of its budget through clinic user fees for non-HIV services, especially fees for laboratory services and ultrasound, and hopes to increase this percentage in the future. Though the clinic has a diverse and growing base of support, it hopes to increase its fundraising from private United States and Dominican sources. Its five-year strategic plan details goals in this regard.
AIDSTAR-One has provided technical assistance and support to both PROBIEN and the La Romana Family Clinic in the area of sustainability. The project has helped facilitate connections between PROBIEN, La Romana Family Clinic, and other organizations and potential allies, so as to be able to advocate together on important issues such as inclusion of people with HIV and people with disabilities in the national health insurance system. AIDSTAR-One has also helped organize PROBIEN, the clinic, and other stakeholders to advocate on issues such as the distribution of key commodities like HIV rapid test kits and condoms. Finally, AIDSTAR-One has provided technical assistance to PROBIEN to strengthen its management and administrative practices.
Structural challenges: The Dominican Republic presents several structural challenges that affect both of these organizations as they seek to address HIV among most-at-risk and vulnerable populations. One is the economy of the country and of the eastern part of the country in particular, which is based on tourism, free trade zones, and sugar production. While the region has long depended on sugar cane production for its livelihood, the growth of free trade zones (especially after the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement launched in 2007) and tourism during the past decade accelerated migration to the area, especially of young people. Then, the earthquake in Haiti in 2010 increased the traditional migration of Haitians to the region to cut sugar cane. The influx of many young, single migrants, coupled with a growing tourist industry, much of it sexual in nature, has inevitably given way to risky sexual behaviors and commercial sex. Further fueling the commercial sex industry is the high unemployment rate in the country, significantly higher than the Latin American average (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean 2011). Despite the best efforts of programs like La Romana Family Clinic and PROBIEN to educate most-atrisk and vulnerable populations about HIV and STIs and implement other prevention activities, these structural factors will continue to make their work very challenging.
Recommendations and Future Programming
Build public-private partnerships: One of the most important lessons learned from the experiences of La Romana Family Clinic and PROBIEN is the importance of public-private partnerships to increase coverage, improve quality, and ensure greater long-term sustainability. The mutually beneficial relationship between La Romana Family Clinic and the large public hospital is a case in point. The clinic and hospital receive referrals from each other, collaborate on joint projects, and share some staff. A common shortcoming of innovative pilot programs implemented by NGOs with international support is that they are not scaled up for wider impact, nor are they financially sustainable. The partnership between La Romana Family Clinic and Francisco Gonzalvo Hospital demonstrates how a public-private partnership can expand access to high-quality care in the areas of PMTCT, HIV services, and adolescent reproductive health, while increasing long-term financial sustainability.
Integrate programs: Increasing impact through strategic coordination and integration is one of the principles of the U.S. Global Health Initiative, recently reorganized as the Office of Global Health Diplomacy in the Department of State. The integration of HIV, family planning, and maternal, newborn, and child health programs is an especially important strategy for addressing high infant and maternal mortality and the unmet need for family planning services. La Romana Family Clinic provides a good model for integrating these services because it offers pediatric, gynecological, obstetric, and HIV-related care through its clinic and community-based services. For example, a client coming to the clinic for HIV testing or treatment is able to access pediatric services or prenatal care as well as family planning services. Likewise, all patients attending the clinic for whatever reason are offered HIV testing.
Include people with disabilities: HIV programs, like all public health programs, should explicitly take the needs of people with disabilities into account when designing programs or offering services. This should include ensuring physical access to health facilities and providing communication materials that are accessible to those with sensory disabilities. Thanks to the Section 508 Amendment of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, federal agencies such as USAID (and projects supported by USAID) must make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities. For example, this case study, available on the AIDSTAR-One website, is accessible for those with hearing or visual impairment. Yet much more needs to be done by PEPFAR implementing organizations to ensure that people with disabilities have equal access to HIV prevention, care, and treatment services. PROBIEN also provides a good example of how people with disabilities can direct and implement HIV prevention programs for others with disabilities, while also advocating for greater social inclusion and respect for the human rights of people with disabilities.
Monitoring adherence: One of the most daunting challenges of HIV treatment programs is getting individuals who test positive for HIV to enroll in treatment programs and return periodically for clinical checkups and CD4 monitoring, and then, for those who begin receiving treatment, to stay on treatment for the remainder of their lives. Treatment adherence is vitally important, not only for the health and survival of the patient, but also to prevent the spread of drug-resistant virus requiring treatment with more costly second- or third-line ARV drugs. Monitoring treatment adherence, therefore, is a very important undertaking for HIV treatment programs. Even more important is taking action to improve treatment adherence, as La Romana Family Clinic did by recruiting Rescue Plan home visitors and improving service quality and waiting time in the clinic.
Brinkhof, M. W., F. Dabis, L. Myer, D. R. Bangsberg, et al. 2008. Early Loss of HIV-Infected Patients on Potent Antiretroviral Therapy Programmes in Lower-Income Countries. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 86(7):559-67.
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. 2011. Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean. Economic Development Division of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. (PDF, 6.3 MB) (accessed July 2012).
EngenderHealth. 2003. COPE® Handbook: A Process for Improving Quality in Health Services. New York, NY: EngenderHealth. (accessed June 2012).
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. 2010. UNAIDS Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic 2010. Geneva, Switzerland: UNAIDS. (accessed June 2012).
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, World Health Organization, and UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). 2009. Disability and HIV Policy Brief. (PDF, 216 KB) (accessed July 2012).
Roman-Poueriet, J., A. D. Fernandez, C. M. Beck- Sague, R. G. Szabo, F. Mercedes, W. Duke, A. Martinez, and S. Nicholas. 2009. HIV Infection and Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission in Childbearing Women: La Romana, Dominican Republic, 2002-2006. Revista panamericana de salud pública 26(4):315-323.
Stein, M., P. Stein, D. Weiss, and R. Lang. 2009. Health Care and the UN Disability Rights Convention. The Lancet 374(9704):1796-1798.
World Bank. 2004. HIV/AIDS and Disability: Capturing Hidden Voices: The World Bank/Yale University Global Survey on HIV/AIDS and Disability. Washington, DC: World Bank.
World Health Organization, and the World Bank. 2011. World Report on Disability. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO. (accessed June 2012).
AIDSTAR-One would like to thank the staff of La Romana Family Clinic and PROBIEN who generously provided their time and insights in the development of this case study, especially Mina Halpern and Magino Corporan. Special thanks to Derek Sedlacek and Michele Russell of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)/ Dominican Republic for their support, guidance, and review of the case study, and to Kristin Bork of USAID/Washington for her review of the study.
Recommended Citation
Scholl, Edward. 2012. HIV in the Land of Baseball and Bachata: Dominican NGOs Provide Comprehensive Services to Those Most at Risk. Case Study Series. Arlington, VA: USAID's AIDS Support and Technical Assistance Resources, AIDSTAR-One, Task Order 1.


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ZZZZiiinnnngggggg! Awesome. "think slightly different" <- win
Conan pokes fun at Samsung copying Apple
The Apple vs Samsung trial is apparently mainstream enough now that even Team Coco's own Conan O'Brien is lampooning it on his late night talk show -- or at least lampooning Samsung's attempts to claim they're not a copyist.
Samsung might actually be better off at this point just admitting to the copying and arguing that it's not illegal or infringing...
Here's the video:
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Reader comments
Conan pokes fun at Samsung copying Apple
Great video. Hopefully Android Central will post this over at their site. LOL
Here you go. http://www.androidcentral.com/apple-v-samsung-trial-makes-it-conan-comedic-fashion
I thought it was funny.
Sorry we were slow on that. We don't put quite as much importance on copying and pasting video embeds as some people do. :p
Just phones and tablets... :p
Pretty funny. I would agree that Samsung's design is a little too spot-on, right down to the dots indicating what launcher page you're on. Still seems a bit frivolous that Apple is claiming a patent on what basically amounts to "a rectangle with rounded corners, displaying a grid of app icons". Such a design is not new, and was not new when the first iPhone launched.
I'm guessing Apple is more focused on sales then the tech (Captain Obvious, I know), as this whole lawsuit is over visual aspects only the customer would use to distingish Apple from other competitors. I just honestly don't get why Samsung would make it so blantently obvious... even if the patents Apple is going for overly generic, I don't see how people don't see Samsung following Apple closer then any of the other android phones out there.
Sooo funny and sooo true. Come on...you just don't change a color or a corner and BOOM, new and different product! Samsung knew what they were doing and took a calculated risk. I'm sure their lawyers were in the discussion from day one. Now some of the millions made from the copy of Apple's product goes out in legal fees. I suppose Samsung will be alright. They'll change a couple more colors and come back with something else.
Let me guess.... your phone is Samsung.
funny skit but just shows how uninformed the public and media are concerning these cases. i love my iphone but even im embarrassed with the amounts of illogical drones which follow rather apple says without research and retarded claims apple makes when they have done the same in other instances.


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Wow sweeeeet!!!!!
How To: Setup AT&T Free Wi-Fi on Your iPhone
So, I am sitting at my local Starbucks and decided to give the new AT&T free Wi-Fi a spin on my iPhone 3G. The process was painless. After turning on Wi-Fi, you are presented with a screen to enter you phone number. Afterwards, it tells you that you are receiving a link via text (for free) with a link to access AT&T's free Wi-Fi.
I have to admit, at first I was thinking that this seems a little complicated and a lot of steps to just connect via Wi-Fi... but wait, it is all-goooooood.
So, I get my text message and it tells me that I now have access and that it is renewable every 24 hours. Cool. Now, why is this exciting and post-worthy? Well, If you have tried to connect to an AT&T Wi-Fi access point before, say, via Starbucks, you connect, but as soon as your iPhone goes into sleep mode, you loose the Wi-Fi connection and you have to reconfigure it all over again!
With this process, this does not happen! I can only assume it adds your MAC address to AT&T's service. So everytime your iPhone goes into sleep mode, you don't have to worry about turning it back on! It automatically connects (well, for 24 hours anyway). How great is that! I say kudos to AT&T in taking the extra time to ensure that the free Wi-Fi experience on your iPhone is flawless. Good job.
Check out the gallery below!
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Reader comments
How To: Setup AT&T Free Wi-Fi on Your iPhone
My roommate tried this last night and his text message never arrived. Neither did his second attempt. I didn't bother trying as we were only there for a moment. I have actually been having a LOT of problems with missing text messages lately, so they either need to fix that or figure out a way to do this that doesn't involve sending messages.
I vistied a Starbucks yesterday and tried it. I got the flash screen and logged in my phone number and waited. Nothing! Then I tried again. Nothing! I finally got the txt messages about an hour later. I was long gone by then. Why can't my username and password be the same as my AT&T account on the web? I just log in and no waiting for txt messages.
Not me, I'm here near the University of Denver. Upon trying to sign on I did not get the screen asking a phone number. I got the normal scree one would get when logging on. I called AT&T to ask about the username and password and was told that I need to ask the employees at Starbucks. The Barista did not have one so I gave up:(
I tried it this weekend as well and got a message that the service wasn't working and to try again later. I got the right screen because it asked for my phone number. I tried it a couple of time to make sure I was enter the information correctly but to no avail. Maybe not all Starbucks are up to date or something. I'll try again some other time.
I had a problem connecting, too. After entering my phone number, I got a screen saying "unable to complete your connection. Please try again later." This happened to me at 3 different Statbucks on several different days. So I called AT&T Internet services ( not wireless) and they fixed it for me. It now works with no problem. 888-888-7520
What if you have SMS turned off on your AT&T plan? I hate texting, and I wasn't going to pay extra for a service I don't use. I had AT&T turn off texting completely on my account so I wouldn't have to pay $.20 for every unsolicited text message sent to me. Does this mean I have no way of getting to use the Wifi at Fivebucks?
I'm confused about the use of the term wifi: if its wifi, like the wifi in every coffee shop in the northern hemisphere, and my phone can read those wifi signals and theoretically connect to it like my lap top can, why must i use the AT&T hot spots like starbucks, why cant i connect to my own wifi signal at home?


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Welcome to Hugh Laurie Fan, an unofficial website exclusively dedicated to supporting and promoting the career of British actor Hugh Laurie. You will find the latest news, pictures and media. Your input and contributions are always Welcome! ~ The Staff
Hugh Laurie's 2013 concert aboard the Queen Mary is planned for Blu-ray in two weeks.
In an early announcement to retailers, Eagle Rock Entertainment is prepping 'Hugh Laurie: Live on the Queen Mary' for a high-definition release on October 22.
On March 26th of this year a dream came true for Hugh Laurie when he took to the stage in the magnificent Art Deco surroundings of the famous liner Queen Mary, now moored permanently at Long Beach, California. The show combines tracks from both of his hugely successful blues albums, 'Let Them Talk' from 2011 (UK #2) and the recently released Didn't It Rain (UK #3), along with other musical gems. Hugh Laurie leads on vocals, piano and guitar and is supported by the Copper Bottom Blues Band, a fantastic group of musicians and singers. His engaging personality and skillful playing make for a perfect evening of sublime blues in a wonderfully intimate setting.
Track Listing: 1) Hamp's Hump 2) Junco Partner 3) Evenin' 4) Kiss of Fire 5) Staggerlee 6) Day And Night 7) The Weed Smoker's Dream 8) Didn't It Rain 9) Winin Boy Blues 10) Louisiana Blues 11) Send Me To The 'Lectric Chair 12) Wild Honey 13) Careless Love 14) Swanee River 15) I Hate A Man Like You 16) Tipitina 17) Go to the Mardi Gras 18) Changes
Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $19.98.
Unlike Dr. Gregory House, the brash and brainy character he portrayed on the hit TV medical drama "House," British actor and musician Hugh Laurie wants to make sure he won't ruffle any feathers when he comes to play his first-ever Nashville concert at Schermerhorn Symphony Center on Sunday, October 13.
"An Englishman coming to Nashville and singing 'The Tennessee Waltz' – do people reach for rotten fruit and firearms, or do they take that in the proper spirit?" he asks The Tennessean.
Laurie talks of his impending Nashville visit with the utmost respect ("It's a holy city for music"), but it was his reverence for another musical town – New Orleans – that fueled this year's "Didn't It Rain," his second collection of classic blues covers. It's a sound that's spoken to Laurie all his life, ever since "around age 7 or 8" when he first heard bluesman Willie Dixon.
Calling from Vancouver – where's he's filming the buzzed-about Disney film "Tomorrowland" – Laurie told us about that lifelong love of blues and classic country, and how his musical chops have found their way into his roles over the years.
We were thrilled to hear a couple of months back that you were coming to town – and making your Nashville debut.
It'll be more of a thrill for me. Not that that's the point of it. I mean, I realize the point of this exercise is not to give me a thrill, it's to give the audience a thrill, but nonetheless, I can't deny I'm very, very excited about the prospect.
The prospect of playing in Nashville, Tennessee, specifically?
It's a holy city for music, and I've never been there. This will be my first time, and I can't wait. I'm treading on holy ground.
You take a lot of inspiration from another musical city – New Orleans – and traditional blues and jazz. When did you first hear that music, from any era, and how did it connect with you?
I was very young. I don't remember exactly – that's how young I was. It was an age before one cared about one's age. But I'm guessing at about age 7 or 8, and I heard a record on the radio, and I had this idea, I don't know why. I think it was (blues musician) Willie Dixon. From that moment on, I was just sold.
"Sold," that doesn't really cover it. I've got to be careful, because I know I'm heading for a very religious part of the world. I'd better not call it a divine revelation. It was like a thunder bolt, and I'm still shuddering from it even now, 50-odd years later, and will for the rest of my life. I'm not suddenly going to get into hip-hop, I can pretty much guarantee that.
While we're talking about Nashville: any classic country sounds that found their way to you, and did they inspire you at all?
Oh, yeah. Well, actually, I need to ask your advice. An Englishman coming to Nashville and singing "The Tennessee Waltz" – do people reach for rotten fruit and firearms, or do they take that in the proper spirit?
I think they'll love it – it's one of our state songs.
It's one of the most beautiful songs ever written. Well, that's good to know, because that has been a favorite of mine, ever since I was a child. I know a million people have done it, but we actually recorded it for the album, and then I sort of slightly lost my nerve, because again, that's a holy song, and I had a slight feeling of maybe trespassing. I know I'm trespassing anyway. But we did record it, and I absolutely love that tune.
You know, Hank Williams was always a hero of mine. There's something about what appears to be the simplicity of what he does. It's so deceptive, because anyone else tries to do it, and suddenly, they realize it isn't that simple. Or at least, simple isn't the same as easy. Robert Johnson, I think, is similar, in that people think, 'Oh yeah, I know what he's doing there.' Well, no. It just so happens that nobody else can do it. Nobody can do Robert Johnson, and nobody can do Hank Williams. There's something about guys like that. It's unique, and all one can do, I suppose, is pay a kind of service to the songs themselves, rather than the artist.
You've mentioned two guitar players, so I wonder what made you gravitate towards the piano, versus other instruments?
It's a good point. I suppose, well, besides the obvious thing of – I like sitting down – although a lot of Nashville players play guitar sitting down…
Yeah, some of them have a pretty sweet deal here.
Exactly. I never saw myself as the guy up in front. I never saw myself as a guitar hero when all of my friends were either playing real guitars or air guitar. That wasn't how I saw myself. I saw myself more at the back, just noodling along on the piano. I suppose there was a strange thing that happened. When I was listening to Muddy Waters, the more I listened to his records, the more I found myself picking out what (Waters' piano player) Otis Spann was doing. Brilliant piano player though he was, he was very often deep in the mix, so it was quite hard to hear what he was doing. I just found my ear going to that, and trying to figure out why what he did sounded so great and touched me so deeply. I don't really know why it is, but the piano just caught my ear. Maybe I just felt like there are enough guitarists in the world.
And if you play the piano and can sing, you're a one-man show. But you'll be bringing a band with you to Nashville?
Boy, I'm coming mob handed. I'm coming with the great Copper Bottom Band, who I sort of half-ironically refer to on stage as "The Greatest Band in the World," but it's only half-ironic because they are unbelievably great. I know you hear unbelievably great musicians every night of the week in Nashville, but I put these guys up without any doubt, I have every confidence that they'll prove equal to the task. I'm the shaky guy in the outfit. I'm the big faker who's trying to get away with it, but they are unbelievably great. There are seven of them, so we're eight on stage. We make a good, fat sound.
You've shown your musical side on "House," "Saturday Night Live," and well before that on British television. I wondered if throughout your acting career, you've tried to find ways to work music in.
You know, I'm not conscious of that. Maybe I did. Maybe there was a little voice, sort of saying, "Why don't you suggest a piano…" but I don't think I did that. I remember, particularly with "House," there was a very conscious effort in the beginning, the character was very deliberately, consciously modeled on Sherlock Holmes, who had that obsession with the violin. I always thought that a musical expression of the character was an interesting element. As with Sherlock Holmes, you have this brain that appears to be ruthlessly logical and rational, and yet it also has this sort of romantic side to it. There is some part of that brain that needs to express itself or converse with itself through music.
I couldn't play the violin, and even if I could, that might have been too direct an allusion to Sherlock Holmes. But I did think that music was an interesting element to "House," partially because music conforms in some ways to the rational side of that character. It's a mathematical, physical thing, but also it's improvisational and it's creative and it expressed a sort of longing in the character of "House" that maybe he didn't dare express in words.
And if it wasn't voice inside your head telling you to suggest music, surely there were people around you saying, "Hey Hugh, here's a piano – how about a song?"
I think it did appeal to the writers a little bit. I remember years and years before, with my friend Stephen Fry, we'd done these P.G. Wodehouse stories (the "Jeeves and Wooster" British television series). And the guy who produced that show had done the "Hercule Poirot" series, which was set in the same period. He had decided that to fill an hour, the script needed to be 61-and-a-half pages long. It so happened, we discovered in the first week that we were going about 10 percent faster than they were, and so the first show we did, he realized that we were short by about four minutes. They were scratching their heads thinking, "We don't have a show. How can we fill four minutes? I know, we'll get the guy to sit at the piano and sing a song." So I wound up singing on the series, basically because I talk too fast. That was the price I paid for talking fast. I had to sing a song every week – which I loved, by the way. And it went on from there.
You've been a musician all your life, but perhaps being a touring musician is a new development. Does that life suit you – being on the road, seeing the world?
I absolutely love it. I'm like a kid on the bus. I've got eyes like saucers, and I can't believe it. We do a show, we get on the bus, we drink some whiskey, we wake up the next morning and we're in a different city, a different part of the world. It's all of my dreams coming true. For the rest of the guys, the band I'm playing with, they're a very, very experienced band, and some of them have been doing it 30, 40 years. So maybe the romance has slightly worn off for them, and they're just thinking about laundry. That's the big issue. But for me, it's the biggest and best adventure there is.
You'll be in Nashville soon, but worlds have already found a way of colliding. One of our residents, Tim McGraw, is in the upcoming Disney film "Tomorrowland," which I hear you're also a part of. I'm not sure what you can say, but are you looking forward to the experience?
They have a gun to my head, and I'm not allowed to say a damn word about. I'm actually in Vancouver now, shooting for that movie. I heard that he was going to be in this, I heard yesterday. I haven't met him yet, but I hope I will. All I will dare say is that it is a very, very exciting project, and so far, we're about a third of the way through now, I think. I am cautiously optimistic. Things are going well. That's no guarantee of anything, but it's a very clever, and interesting bunch of people working on this movie – of whom I am not one, by the way, I'm not sure I qualify. But they're a very interesting bunch, and the movie's going very well, and I'm really looking forward to meeting him. It's going to be really interesting.
British actor Hugh Laurie, who starred on the hit Fox series House for eight years, once nearly acted out in a way that would have made his former character, the curmudgeonly troublemaker Dr. Gregory House, very proud.
After releasing a blues album called Let Them Talk through Warner Bros. Records, Laurie went on tour, and his very first live show was at the Café Keese in Hamburg in April 2011.
"That was was one of the most nerve-wracking experiences of my life," he tells The Hollywood Reporter.
In a hallway behind the stage, there was a fire alarm that looked more and more tempting as the show neared.
"I seriously considered just busting the fire alarm to call the whole thing off, just to bail out," he says. "It was that scary of a prospect. It's like a bungee jump and a sky dive all combined into one."
Luckily, Laurie made it onto the stage that night, and has performed more than 100 shows around the world since. His first album went on to sell millions of copies, and Laurie and his Copper Bottom Band spent six months on the road in the U.S., Europe, South America and Russia.
"I am now a fully fledged addict. I can't get enough — to play with these musicians is a real thrill," the 54-year-old says.
Laurie, who has played piano since he was six years old and has loved the blues since about that age, released his second album, Didn't It Rain, in the U.S. on August 6.
The jazz/blues album includes songs dating back to early pioneers W.C. Handy ("St. Louis Blues") and Jelly Roll Morton ("I Hate a Man Like You") to more recent artists such as Dr. John ("Wild Honey") and Alan Price of The Animals ("Changes").
"If I had my way, there would be 160 songs on the record because I find it incredibly hard to say no to any song," he says, adding that there are so many undiscovered treasures he wants to share with the world.
"Some of the songs that I've been singing are very well known, and some are not. Some haven't been recorded since the '20s or '30s," he adds.
Laurie and the Copper Bottom Band will be embarking on a North American tour beginning in October, with 16 stops throughout the U.S. and Canada.
As for his future music plans, Laurie says the sky's the limit.
"I have rather crazy ambitions because I feel the show sort of growing and getting bigger and better and I want to keep going with it because I feel like I can see distant mountaintops where we might actually come to rest," he says.
Two Canadian shows have been added to Hugh's upcoming tour, stopping in Toronto, ON on October 20th and Montreal, QC on October 21st. Unfortunately due to scheduling difficulties, there will no longer be an Ann Arbor show.
Attention to all US fans of Hugh, here you have Hugh's tour dates in your country:
Oct 13th: Nashville, TN - Schermerhorn Symphony Center
Oct 15th: Minneapolis, MN - Pantages Theatre
Oct 16th: Chicago, IL - The Vic Theatre
Oct 17th: Homestead, PA - Carnegie Music Hall of Homestead
Oct 19th: Kent, OH - Kent Stage Kent
Oct 20th: Ann Arbor, MI - Michigan Theatre
Oct 23rd: Alexandria, VA – The Birchmere
Oct 25th: New York, NY - Town Hall Theatre
Oct 26th: Tonawanda, NY – Riviera Theater
Oct 27th: Northampton, MA - Calvin Theatre & Performing Arts Centre
Oct 29th: Boston, MA – Wilbur Theatre
Oct 30th: Glenside, PA – Keswick Theatre
Nov 1st: Durham, NC – Carolina Theatre
Nov 2nd: Jacksonville, FL – Florida Theatre
Nov 3rd: Atlanta, GA - Buckhead Theatre
Oct 15th: Minneapolis, MN - Pantages Theatre
Oct 16th: Chicago, IL - The Vic Theatre
Oct 17th: Homestead, PA - Carnegie Music Hall of Homestead
Oct 19th: Kent, OH - Kent Stage Kent
Oct 20th: Toronto, ON - Danforth Music Hall
Oct 21st: Montreal, QC - Maison Symphonique
Oct 22nd: Blu-Ray Release - Hugh Laurie: Live on the Queen Mary
Oct 23rd: Alexandria, VA - The Birchmere
Oct 25th: New York, NY - Town Hall Theatre
Oct 26th: Tonawanda, NY - Riviera Theater
Oct 27th: Northampton, MA - Calvin Theatre & Performing Arts Centre
Oct 29th: Boston, MA - Wilbur Theatre
Oct 30th: Glenside, PA - Keswick Theatre
Nov 1st: Durham, NC - Carolina Theatre
Nov 2nd: Jacksonville, FL - Florida Theatre
Nov 3rd: Atlanta, GA - Buckhead Theatre
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Lee Young Ae fights an uphill battle everyday in her quest for respect, dignity and true love. She is, by Korean standards, fat and unattractive, and as a result gets pushed around and overworked at her job by her coworkers and boss. But the spirited and gutsy Young Ae tries to push back, and tries to prove that big girls deserve respect and love just as much as everyone else. You'll laugh with her, cry with her and cheer for Young Ae in this hilarious and heart-warming comedy series.
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The 90 freshmen given the opportunity to see the high school's Career Technology and Agriculture Education classes Dec. 7 are agriculture students at the ninth-grade campus and they were greeted by Dr. Tiffany Walker, who supervises the program.
The first item on the day's agenda was lunch. The students dined on grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and had a few minutes to enjoy the warm fall day before beginning their tour.
Walker said CTAE is divided into three different pathways, Horticulture-Plant Science, Forestry-Natural Resources, and Agriculture Mechanics. She said the purpose of the tour was to give students a chance to see the opportunities each pathway provides and get a feel for each one of them.
For the full story, pick up a copy of this week's newspaper or subscribe to our e-Edition at http://ee.jcnews.com.


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Wind: 0 mph
November 22, 2006
By Lisa Loomis
Vermont state tax appraiser Merle Van Gieson discarded both Waitsfield's methods of determining property values as well as property owner John Dewey's method in the case of an appeal of 2005 appraised values.
John and Murilla Dewey appealed their 2005 property tax valuation to the town's board of civil authority and then to the state level. Their contention is that the ratio the town used to determine what percentage of fair market value is most appropriate for Waitsfield should be 49.9. The town argued that the correct ratio (referred to as an 'equalized ratio' or ER) should be 70.16. Van Gieson found that the correct ratio should be 47.80.
The ratio matters because it is what determines the actual property tax bill for a parcel. The Deweys and the Waitsfield listers agree that the fair market value of their parcel is $1,775,000. That number is then multiplied by an equalized ratio to determine its value for the 2005 tax year.
Van Gieson, in an October 16 ruling, discarded the methods used by both the town and the Deweys' expert to calculate the proper ER ratio.
"The most convincing and reliable evidence of a proper ER to apply to the fair market value found is a study of all valid sales, adjusted for time if appropriate, occurring in a town six months prior to six months after the April 1 appraisal date. The next most convincing and reliable evidence of a proper ER is obtained from all valid sales in a town occurring one year prior to, or if that much time has passed one year after, the April 1 appraisal date," Van Gieson wrote in his decision.
This change in the way an appropriate ER is calculated may affect other property owners who are currently appealing their 2005 appraised values. The Deweys are simultaneously involved in a separate appeal of their 2003 appraised value. That appeal involves the methodology the town uses to determine new values when properties are improved or remodeled.
The appeal is before the Vermont Supreme Court.


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Online Bus Reservation
Please complete the following form at least two (2) weeks before the event date. Upon clicking "Submit,"the completed form is emailed to . You will be notified by email of your bus assignment. Contact Lynn with any changes in date or time and to arrange to pick up the keys to the bus by noon the day before the travel date. Thank you.


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Give your child the best homemade food using the Mush Manual Baby Food Processor! This human-powered chopper turns fruit, veggies, and boneless meats into magnificent meals. No need for batteries or plugs, just pull the handle to make the blades spin.
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September 2013
The whole thing took about two minutes to complete: More than 1,000 students, faculty, staff and alumni lined up on the north side of the Quad and rushed -- according to the stop-and-go rules of Red Light, Green Light -- to the south edge near Smith Auditorium. Many were thrown off when President Thorsett threw in a clever decoy move -- calling "Red Light!" twice in a row. One student (pictured at right, surging and determined) crossed the line before all the others and received quite a trophy.
We're hoping that Guinness will soon tell us that we officially did it. It sure was big enough.
Read coverage of the event in the Statesman Journal
In Waller, we're thinking about Alumni Weekend, which is on pace to have quite a large turnout indeed. One way or another, we hope you'll come spend some time on campus one of these days!
Last but certainly not least, this year's Athletic Hall of Fame inductees have been announced, and the induction event itself is set for Oct. 19 at the Salem Convention Center. Stay tuned for more details and registration.
This year's inductees:
- Brian Greer '00, MAT'03 (football)
- Matt Kosderka '98 (baseball)
- Andy Petersen '33 (baseball)
- Brandi Row Lazzarini '96 (volleyball)
- Elizabeth (Heaston) Thompson '99 (women's soccer, football)
- Gayle (Roth) Cutaia '86 (women's swimming, cross country, track and field)
- Steve Prothero, posthumous (head coach, golf)
- 1974-74 Men's Basketball Team
- 1995 Volleyball Team
- Gery Ellibee '73 (meritorious service)
Congratulations to all!


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Aiken native J.B. McGee realized that, after reading a trilogy that has topped best seller lists around the world, she had a story of her own.
McGee began writing and "the words kept coming," she said from her home in the Atlanta area. "I started writing Aug. 12 and was done two weeks later."
Her first book, "Broken," is ranked in the top 50 for bestsellers in Amazon's Kindle eBooks for Contemporary Fiction. It is the first installment in a trilogy with the second book, "Mending," expected to be released later this month.
"Broken" follows the evolving relationship between Gabriella Gerhart and successful businessman Bradley Banks who, after Gabby shies away from emotions that aren't safe, forces her to feel again. But, will he be her next heartbreak?
The idea for the story came to McGee after she read E.L. James' popular "Fifty Shades of Grey" trilogy about how bookish Anastasia Steele falls in love with business magnate Christian Grey.
"I very much liked it because of the love story and how (Christian) wants to be (Anastasia's) everything," McGee said. "That led to 'Gabriel's Inferno' and I realized I had my own story in my head. I realized I could do it."
McGee's desire to write a book seemed to come at the right time in her life. Writing is something she can do from home, which helps because, as a sufferer of mitochondrial disease, she gets sick easily. Her two sons and husband also have it.
Even if she owned the only copy of "Broken" that was ever published, McGee wanted to write.
The writing turned out to be the easy part, even for a woman who is not an avid reader.
McGee cautioned that her work should not be lumped in the same genre as "Fifty Shades of Grey" or "Gabriel's Inferno." She is a contemporary romance author, not an erotic romance author.
"I really wanted to keep people wanting, wanted a page-turner. I as the author wanted to know what happened next," she said. "I can't say (Bradley Banks) is not at all influenced by Christian Grey, but Bradley is more realistic. Let's face it. No one is going to meet a Christian Grey. Bradley does have a little take-charge attitude, but he's also sweet and compassionate. In my mind, (Bradley and Gabby) are soul mates and there are bumps in the road to figuring that out."
McGee, a graduate of South Aiken High School, will be at Desserves on Dec. 22 from 2 to 4 p.m. to sign copies of "Broken."
"Broken" is available as an eBook through various vendors like Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Kobo for 99 cents. Paperbacks are also available for purchase for $9.99 at www.createspace.com/4031610.
For more information, visit www.jbmcgee.com.
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Shows you how to use the powerful slideshow tool FotoMagico and Adobe Photoshop to break the mold of simple sequenced images.
"I just wanted to thank you all for the best learning tools I've ever seen. My photography has improved by major steps—and people keep asking me how I've done it." —Frank R.
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IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka made his first visit to the Slovak Republic to attend the 5th European Nuclear Energy Forum and to meet with Lubomir Jahnátek, Slovak Minister for Economy.
25 May 2010
Mr. Tanaka's intervention outlined the role of nuclear in decarbonising the electricity sector, highlighted the potential risks related to lower shares of nuclear in the European electricity market and looked at the competitiveness of nuclear with respect to other sources of electricity.
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