text:
Q: How to make AsyncTask is static and Separate from activity? I'm doing a list with the download from AsyncTask.
All is well, only when i'm exit from the application and re-launch it, list increases by 2 times = AsyncTask works twice when i'm start Activity.
Can I somehow run it 1 time and generally make it static so that it is not attached to Activity?
public class SpecialtyListActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
private static final String URL = "URL..";
public static ArrayList<Specialty> specialtyList = new ArrayList<>();
public static ArrayList<Worker> workerList = new ArrayList<>();
ListView listView;
EmployeesListFragment employeesListFragment;

@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.specialty_list);
listView = findViewById(R.id.spec_list);
employeesListFragment = new EmployeesListFragment();
if (Utils.isNetworkAvailable(this)) {
    new DataLoader(this).execute(URL);
} else {
    Toast.makeText(this, "No Network Connection", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
}
}

@SuppressLint("StaticFieldLeak")
class DataLoader extends AsyncTask<String, Void, Void> {

@SuppressLint("StaticFieldLeak")
private Context mContext;
private ProgressDialog pdialog;
private final String TAG = getClass().getSimpleName();

DataLoader(Context context) {
    mContext = context;
}

@Override
protected void onPreExecute() {
    super.onPreExecute();
    pdialog = ProgressDialog.show(mContext, "__", "___");
}

@Override
protected void onPostExecute(Void result) {
    super.onPostExecute(result);
    if (mContext != null) {
        SpecialtyListAdapter adapter = new SpecialtyListAdapter(this.mContext, R.layout.specialty_list, specialtyList);
        listView.setAdapter(adapter);
        adapter.notifyDataSetChanged();
        pdialog.dismiss();
        listView.setOnItemClickListener(new AdapterView.OnItemClickListener() {
            public void onItemClick(AdapterView<?> parent, View view, int position, long id) {

            }
        });
    }
}

@Override
protected Void doInBackground(String... params) {
    try {
        HttpHandler sh = new HttpHandler();
        String jsonStr = sh.makeServiceCall(params[0]);
        try {
            JSONObject reader = new JSONObject(jsonStr);
            JSONArray response = reader.getJSONArray("response");

            for (int i = 0; i < response.length(); i++) {
                String workerFName = response.getJSONObject(i).getString("f_name");
                String workerLName = response.getJSONObject(i).getString("l_name");
                String workerBithday = response.getJSONObject(i).getString("birthday");
                String workerAvatarUrl = response.getJSONObject(i).getString("avatr_url");
                int workerSpecialtyId = response.getJSONObject(i)
                        .getJSONArray("specialty")
                        .getJSONObject(0)
                        .getInt("specialty_id");
                String specialtyName = response.getJSONObject(i)
                        .getJSONArray("specialty")
                        .getJSONObject(0)
                        .getString("name");
                Specialty specialty = new Specialty(workerSpecialtyId, specialtyName);
                if (!specialtyList.contains(specialty)) {
                    specialtyList.add(specialty);
                }
                Worker worker = new Worker(workerFName, workerLName);
                worker.setBithday(workerBithday);
                worker.setAvatarLink(workerAvatarUrl);
                worker.setSpecialty(workerSpecialtyId);
                workerList.add(worker);
            }
        } catch (final JSONException e) {
            Log.e(TAG, "Json parsing error: " + e.getMessage());
        }
    } catch (Exception e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
    return null;
}
}

I also read that AsyncTask should be static, how to do that?

A:
I also read that AsyncTask should be static, how to do that?

Nowhere does it say that AsyncTask should be static. But it is true that since you have made your DataLoader class an inner class of SpecialtyListActivity, you can have a slight performance edge by making your inner DataLoader class a static class. Simply add the static modifier:
static class DataLoader extends AsyncTask<String, Void, Void>
like so to the class definition to make it static.
You seem to be under the impression that the reason the DataLoader AsyncTask fires twice is because it's somehow "attached" to your activity. You can refer the Activity lifecycle for more information about that.

Can I somehow run it 1 time and generally make it static so that it is not attached to Activity?

You can make your AsyncTask a separate class and not an inner class or the activity. (But this will not solve your problem of it firing twice because the reason it's firing twice is not because it's "attached to the activity"). Use the following pattern to make your AsyncTask loosely coupled from your activity.
Make the third generic type of the DataLoader of the type you want as a result from your AsyncTask, in your case that would be ArrayList<Worker>
//Third generic type is ArrayList<Worker>, this is what you want
//to return to your activity once your AsyncTask completes.
class DataLoader extends AsyncTask<String, Void, ArrayList<Worker>> {

    private DataLoadListener mListener;

    DataLoader(Context context, DataLoadListener listener) {
        mContext = context;
        mListener = listener;
    }

    @Override
    protected ArrayList<Worker> doInBackground(String... params) {

         //download data...

         ArrayList<Worker> workersToReturn = new ArrayList<>();

         for (int i = 0; i < response.length(); i++) {
             //build worker object...
             workersToReturn.add(worker);
         }

         return workersToReturn;
    }

    @Override
    protected void onPostExecute(ArrayList<Worker> result) {
        listener.onDataLoaded(billItem);
    }

    //Your activity should implement this interface and override onDataLoaded() to
    //to receive the result when this AsyncTask completes.
    public interface DataLoadListener {
        void onDataLoaded(ArrayList<Worker> workers);
    }
}

public class SpecialtyListActivity extends AppCompatActivity implements DataLoader.DataLoadListener{

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        //Pass both context and DataLoadListener to the constructor
        new DataLoader(this, this).execute(URL);
    }

    @Override
    public void onDataLoaded(ArrayList<Worker> workers) {
         listView.setAdapter(new SpecialtyListAdapter(context, layout, specialtyList));
         listView.setAdapter(adapter);
         adapter.notifyDataSetChanged();
         //Do other stuff
    }

}

Also see How to get the result of OnPostExecute() to main activity because AsyncTask is a separate class?
As for your AsyncTask firing twice, you could add a breakpoint to doInBackground method and debug the application. Look at the call stack to figure out why it's being called twice.

A: You should cancel the AsyncTask when exiting the application when activity is going in onDestroy(). Inside asynctask's doInBackground() you should check isCancelled() and in case is true stop it. In this way you will always have just 1 asyncTask running.


Five Top Tips For A Prosperous 2004!
According to many market forecasts, 2004 is likely to be a buoyant year online. These are my top tips for making the most of it, and ensuring a happy, healthy and prosperous 2004.
1. Seek out new markets and niches, and make them work for you.
This is a simple technique to find profitable niches for your business. Download the free Good Keywords software from goodkeywords.com - this is a virtual crystal ball into what you should be selling online. Find keywords that have a high number of searches, and a low number of pages for those keywords on the most popular search engine, Google. The ratio between the number of searches, and the number of results found for that keyword or phrase, determines the potential profitability of the keyword.
Another method is to use the free trial service at wordtracker.com.
Create a product or service around the profitable keyword, and you'll be onto a potential goldmine online.
If you find you are doing something repetitively, is it something you can automate? Automating a repetitive task is something that could save you hours, if not days or weeks of time, in 2004, all of which you could be spending doing something more worthwhile and profitable.
Automate almost everything you can, wherever possible. An Internet business allows for a great deal of automation, from list management to product fulfillment, so take advantage of it wherever you can.
With spam filters, overloaded email folders, and increasing legislation proving ever-more troublesome to legitimate opt-in email marketers, it's wise to develop branches of your business that do not solely rely on email for profitability.
That's not to say email marketing is no longer relevant or important, it quite clearly is both of these when used effectively - but my tip for 2004 is to try to find other supplementary routes to profitability.
For example, a niche area in the search engines (as outlined in tip 1 above) will bring you a lot of traffic, without over-relying on email as a traffic and sales generation tool - and even if you don't have a specific product, if you combine great content with effective use of Google Adsense, that's another great income stream for your business.
Success online is all about not putting all your eggs into one basket, and developing 'multiple streams of income'. If you lost your email list(s) overnight, would you still be profitable?
Well, more than you think. For one, sitting in front of a computer for 12 hours a day can be detrimental to your health - and if you don't have your health, you won't have much of a business.
- Increase your energy levels, so you can get a lot more done in less time.
- Help you to relax and come up with some great ideas for your business (my best and most profitable ideas come to me when I'm on vacation, or otherwise relaxed and 'switched off').
- Boost your confidence and self-esteem, the absence of which is often at the route of many business failures. When you're confident, you take more risks, and risk-taking is closely linked to profitability. If you stay the same, and take no risks, you're unlikely to move forward in your business.
And don't forget, while you are exercising, you can listen to educational tapes and CDs that will help you grow and learn, all of which can boost your business long-term.
Close your eyes, and picture yourself at the end of 2004. Where would you like to be?
If you continue doing what you are doing now, where will you be, realistically?
Set some goals that will get you from where you are currently heading, to where you would like to be. Break those goals down into specific steps that know you can achieve, and will ensure you reach your goals by the end of 2004.
Refer to your goals regularly, don't be afraid to adjust them if necessary during the year, and take one step at a time.


Thus saith the Lord God of the Host of Heaven and of the Heaven of Heavens even the redeemer and Messiah the only true Eternal Passover Lamb whose blood cleanses from all sins transgressions and the crimes of Breaking My Holy Laws and Commandments for as afore said without the shedding of blood there is no remission for sin transgressions and the crimes of Breaking My Holy Laws and Commandments especially the breaking of My Morals Laws of which many Empires have fallen by the breaking of the Most Holy of My Moral Laws of which I have in the past commanded mankind especially the Empires of mankind to obey upon pain of death and destruction all of My Holy Laws and commandments even more so My Most Holy Moral Laws as is so set down in My Word and have had to Judge them and execute that Judgment unto perfection upon them thus causing those Empires so struck to cease to exist from off the face of the Earth forever of which some in Europe have attempted to resurrect one Empire and have failed to do so and thus have reaped the whirlwind of death and destruction as that suffered by the Empire they wished to resurrect; as so shall any attempt fail to resurrect any past Empire brought down by My Wrath and Anger poured forth and shall suffer the same consequences thereof ; even that which is described in My Word as the forth Kingdom in Nebuchadnezzar dream of which Daniel My servant by My Hand revealed and interpreted for him even the Iron Empire which did break in pieces all the known world when it arose and subdued it and great was its fall when it fell by My Hand when it became a cesspit of debauchery corruption immorality and great wickedness so great was its fall that to this day it is not remembered for its rise but for its fall so say I that indeed I do command all of Kingdoms and Mighty Nations of the Earth to take heed of the fall of this one and learn not to follow in the footsteps of that Empire least also with the same death and destruction I strike thee down in the same way and manner I did strike that Iron Empire of mankind and do cause the Mighty Nations of the Earth who are indeed sowing to the wind of disobedience to and the breaking of My Holy Laws and Commandments even My Holy Moral Laws and shall reap the same whirlwind of death and destruction as struck that Empire even the full fury of the all consuming fires of My Wrath and anger. But which; indeed is asked by all; is the Last Empire to rise and fall whose passing hath herald in the last days and the day at the end thereof shall bring about the dawn of Judgement day in which all of mankind shall be Judged and that Judgment executed upon all of the Nations of Mankind unto perfection as by Me hath been ordained from the beginning. But still it is that I have indeed Judged the whole of the Islands of the Aegean both Turkish and Greek and have not found one righteous Island no not one but have found all guilty of the breaking My Holy Laws and Commandments of great wickedness immorality and corruption the neglecting of the poor the needy the outcast and elderly and the orphan the destruction and pollution of their environment by some of these Islands using the sea as their own personal rubbish bin thus say I as said to other kingdoms and Nations and Island no longer shall I tolerate the breaking of My Holy Laws and commandment but also I shall not tolerate the pollution of the seas and oceans and the environment of any Nation upon the face of the Earth thus it is that any found doing so especially cruelly treating the creatures of My Creation of land seas oceans and air that punishment for doing so they will find fly on swift wings to punish the wicked the corrupt and the immoral and all of those guilt of so destroying and polluting their environment and disobedience of My Holy Laws and Commandments also cruelly treat any and all of the creatures of My creation throughout the whole Earth. If mankind ceases not to destroy the and pollute the environment and cruel treatment of the creatures of land sea and air doth not cease and the breaking of all and any of MY HOLY LAWS AND COMMANDMENTS the neglecting of the needy of their Nations Kingdoms or Islands THEN IT IS THAT I SHALL ALSO NOT CEASE TO POUR OUT FULL MEASURE THE FULL FURY OF THE ALL CONSUMING FIRES OF MY WRATH AND ANGER UPON ALL THE WICKED CORRUPT AND IMMORAL BREAKERS OF MY HOLY LAWS AND COMMANDMENTS ESPECIALLY MY MORAL LAWS.


Items where Author is "Tan, Hoe Kock"
Tan, Hoe Kock (2015) Financial planning for post-retirement among Urban Malaysians in Klang Valley / Tan Hoe Kock. PhD thesis, University of Malaya.
Tan, Hoe Kock (2012) Life-cycle financial planning in Malaysia: Investment planning and strategies for the post-retirement period / Tan Hoe Kock. PhD thesis, University of Malaya.
This list was generated on Sat Apr 20 21:17:20 2019 MYT.


text:
Shows & Features
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Jeff Galvin, Founder and CEO, American Gene Technologies
Jeff Galvin is the CEO and Founder of American Gene Technologies™ (AGT). He earned his BA degree in Economics from Harvard in 1981 and has more than 30 years of business and entrepreneurial experience. Past companies he has founded were taken public or sold to public companies, such as Varian, which is the leading maker of linear accelerators used in cancer therapy. Driven by his passion to solve complex problems and make a difference in people's lives, Galvin pursued an interest in gene and cell therapy.
Transitioning into scientific research, Mr. Galvin applied his expertise in critical problem solving to co-create a collaborative lentiviral vector platform for gene therapeutic development with Dr. Roscoe Brady. Dr. Brady was a research scientist at NIH-NINDS who co-discovered enzymatic defects in lysosomal storage disorders and later developed an enzyme replacement therapy to treat Gaucher disease.
Founded by Mr. Galvin with advice from Dr. Brady, AGT aims to create functional gene therapy cures to treat a broad range of genetic diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, Phenylketonuria (PKU) and Hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer). AGT anticipates becoming a clinical stage company in 2020 with a Phase I human trial for its HIV functional cure.
Dr. David Pauza, PhD, joined AGT as Chief Science Officer in 2016. Dr. Pauza has worked in the field of human virology and immunology and has received numerous honors and awards including the Chernow Foundation Award from the American Foundation for AIDS Research.
American Gene Technologies (AGT) is a gene and cell therapy company with a proprietary gene-delivery platform for rapid development of cell and gene therapies to cure infectious diseases, cancers, and inherited disorders. The Company's mission is to transform people's lives through genetic medicines that rid the body of disease. The Company expects to take its patented lead candidate for an HIV cure into the clinic in 2020. AGT has received seven patents for its unique immuno-oncology approach to stimulate gamma-delta (γδ) T cells to destroy a variety of solid tumors. The Company has developed a synthetic gene for treating Phenylketonuria (PKU), a debilitating inherited disease. AGT's treatment for PKU has been granted Orphan Drug Designation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and it is expected to reach the clinic in 2020.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: Call public void function from different activity android How can I call public void function from FirstActivity in SecondActivity?
  // FirstActivity

        public void thisFunction(){
         // do something
         // do something
        }

in Second Activity
if(x){
FirstActivity.thisFunction();
}

but returns error:
Non-static method 'thisFunction()' cannot be reference from a static context

A: Static functions are functions of class and don't depend on any objects of that class
Class.staticFunction() (no need to instantiate), you can call it everywhere
public static void thisFunction(){
     // do something
     // do something
    }

Then in SecondActivity:
FirstActivity.thisFunctions();

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


NEW YORK Publicis Groupe's ZenithOptimedia has hired Andy Sims as senior vice president, director of interactive.
Sims, who starts this week, will oversee digital strategy and the agency network's growing interactive offering. Additionally, he is tasked with integrating new-media capability across all Zenith and Optimedia offices in the U.S.
Sims reports to Tim Jones, CEO of ZenithOptimedia USA. He replaces Brenda Goodman, who ZO said is leaving the company.
Sims was most recently the director of interactive marketing services at SF Interactive and a partner at agency Butler, Shine Stern & Partners, Sausalito, Calif., parent to SFI. At SFI he managed a 40-person department, overseeing Web site and online creative development and production, interactive media planning and buying, analytics and engineering.
He worked with clients such as Mini Cooper, Converse.com (the online gallery of user-generated short films created in support of the brand), VeriSign, HealthNet, Sun Microsystems and Coca-Cola's Sprite.
Prior to joining SFI, Sims was with GMO/Hill, Holliday in San Francisco, where he was a media planner on the Cisco Systems account, developing brand and business-to-business programs.


text:
Q: Floating mic indicator I have a hardware button for turning the mic on/off. It seems to work essentially as a switch between mic_volume=zero and mic_volume=default.
When I press the button, Ubuntu/Gnome momentarily displays an overlay ("Internal Microphone") showing the new state.
Is it possible to make a floating indicator that stays up permanently and shows the mic state (perhaps similar to the floating window, but I don't mind).
I would like this so that I can always see whether my mic is on or not. I.e., when using a calling app (say hangouts or skype) I can then switch away from the app, but still see whether my mic is on or not.
Any ideas?
A good start would be to know how to monitor for volume changes.
(Ubuntu 19.10 / Desktop, Gnome)


text:
require 'spec_helper'

describe "landing/signup.html.erb" do
  pending "add some examples to (or delete) #{__FILE__}"
end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Q: Excel Formula to Concatenate First/Middle name initals and Last name I have a roster of about 300 names I need help with a formula that will take the first initial of the first name and  middle name, and the entire last name from three different cells and convert it to 1 cell lowercase. If there is no middle name eliminate the space i.e. John David Smith, jdsmith. or John Smith jsmith. Also id this possible if the entire name is in a single cell
Almost there, I have got this far I need the characters to be all lower case and eliminate the space if there is not middle name.
=CONCATENATE(LEFT(A4,1),LEFT(B4,1))&C4

A: You can modify your Excel Worksheet Formula as:
=LOWER(CONCATENATE(LEFT(A4,1),IF((B4<>""),LEFT(B4,1),""),C4))

Hope this may help.

A: Probably not the most beautiful formula, but it works on your example (only 1 middle name) :
=IF((LEN(A1)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(A1," ","")))=1,LOWER(LEFT(A1,1)&RIGHT(A1,(LEN(A1)-FIND(" ",A1)))),LOWER(LEFT(A1,1)&MID(A1,FIND(" ",A1)+1,1)&RIGHT(A1,LEN(A1)-FIND(" ",A1,FIND(" ",A1)+1))))

example_img


text:
In 'We're Better Than This,' Rep. Elijah Cummings Offers Some Lasting Thoughts
Ericka Taylor | September 24, 2020
Afro Newspaper/Gado, Getty Images
Politician and Maryland congressional representative Elijah Cummings at his campaign headquarters, 1988.
Like the man at its center, We're Better Than This: My Fight for the Future of Our Democracy is impressive on multiple levels.
It is a compelling memoir, highlighting some of the formative experiences that shaped Elijah Cummings, a son of sharecroppers who would go on to become one of the most influential members of Congress. It is an urgent call to action, imploring us to defend our democracy as it is assailed by threats internal and external. And, perhaps above all, it is a poignant reminder of just how much the nation lost with his death.
Arguably one of the hardest working members of Congress, Cummings served for 23 years as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Maryland's 7th district. Story after story demonstrates why he was so well-known for his integrity, empathy, and generosity. His reputation for reaching across the aisle "to find common ground"— and the friendships he found there— led Speaker Nancy Pelosi to note in her foreword that "his friendships with members on the other side… were called 'unlikely' only by those that didn't know him. But those who knew him understood that it was values and patriotism that mattered to him, not party or politics."
In one example, Cummings recounts the uproar that resulted when Republican Darrell Issa refused to let Cummings speak during a hearing, adjourning the meeting and cutting off the mic while giving a "slash-across-the-neck motion." Members of both parties responded to the "gesture, calling it an ugly reminder of ugly history — the Ku Klux Klan, self-styled justice, racism, killing people by hanging them from trees." For his part, Cummings "did not add to the fire" and "only addressed the need for everyone to be heard in the democratic process." Issa subsequently apologized, but what helped secure their friendship was Cummings' attending Issa's portrait-hanging ceremony soon thereafter despite the controversy. Similarly, Cummings came to work so closely with Tea Party member Mark Meadows that people referred to the relationship between the two as an "unlikely bromance."
Of course, these friendships across the aisle didn't mean that Cummings would fail to "speak truth even when the truth isn't popular." When Democrats took control of the House following 2018's "blue wave," the congressman became chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. He immediately began preparing for "investigations into issues that are literally threatening our democracy — Trump-Russia connections, Trump's taxes and finances, the Mueller Report, immigration and border policy, family separations, and racism."
Cummings provides an insider's view on his committee's efforts to do its job of both oversight and reform — a task made more difficult by endless obstruction from the administration and GOP. He shares his perspective on an array of hearings that captured the national spotlight, from the Benghazi attack to the testimony of the president's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, to the impeachment of President Trump. Lesser-known hearings feature, as well, including one that focused on lowering drug prices. When news broke that Republican committee members Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows had urged pharmaceutical companies not to testify because Cummings might leak information "in an effort to tank their stock prices," the congressman was "outraged and appalled." He explains, "this wasn't about corporate earnings; it was about keeping people alive."
Cummings may have died before the onslaught of COVID-19, but it's easy to imagine him applying the statement he made on that occasion — that these committee members would prefer to "protect drug company stock prices than the interests of the American people" — to the administration's response to the pandemic today.
Not all of Cummings' political life took place in the halls of Congress, however, and he writes movingly about Baltimore, as "a place — not city limits or boundaries, but a place and space in my heart and soul — that I didn't just grow up in, but that I love." That love is apparent in his defense of his hometown after the president unleashed an attack by tweet on the city. It is evident in his heartache after the death of Freddie Gray, in the way he talks about and engages with everyday people in the community.
Such warmth is unsurprising in a book replete with examples of the Congressman's remarkable empathy. Whether helping an elderly woman buy an oxygen tank or holding the dying victim of a stabbing, Cummings' dedication to supporting those in need is undeniable. Given that he identified one of his "greatest strengths" as being "able to feel other people's pain," it is no surprise that he was bewildered by the Trump administration and left to wonder, during hearings about immigrant detention centers, if "the administration simply did not feel for other humans."
Woven throughout these forays into his political life are stories about the people and experiences that shaped the congressman. We learn of the values his preacher parents instilled in him and his siblings and of the words of wisdom that came from their stories and those of his grandparents. Like him, we can draw lessons from the story of why his father sat in the car for an hour every day after returning from work and from the mandate in his mother's dying words.
To read this book is to join the ranks of his admirers. His lasting imprint is clear in the words of his widow, Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, who writes the book's final chapter. It is apparent in the selected eulogy excerpts that follow from, among others, the congressman's two adult daughters, his brother, his pastor, and Presidents Obama and Clinton.
In this narrative, his final gift to the nation, Cummings reminds us that "we are not powerless." He insists that "this is a fight for the soul of our democracy," and it is a fight that we can win because, in the end, we are, indeed, better than this. It's now up to us to prove him right.
Ericka Taylor is the popular education manager for Take on Wall Street and a freelance writer. Her work has appeared in Bloom, The Millions, and Willow Springs.


text:
Planned Parenthood Still Receiving Medicaid Funds
Almost two months after Texas Republican leaders announced they would kick Planned Parenthood out of Medicaid, the organization is still receiving funds to provide health care for about 13,500 low-income women a year.
by Alexa Ura and Edgar Walters Dec. 12, 2015 6 AM
Tamir Kalifa
Almost two months after Texas Republican leaders announced they would kick Planned Parenthood out of Medicaid, it hasn't happened.
The organization is still receiving federal and state funds to provide health care for about 13,500 low-income women a year, and the state officials who called for a cutoff, including Gov. Greg Abbott, have fallen silent on why the funding continues.
But the state's hesitance to pull the trigger reflects a recent pattern in its dealings with an organization that is a lightning rod for any political debate that even remotely touches on abortion. Repeatedly, raising claims of fraud or wrongdoing, conservative Texas politicians have vowed to fine or punish the organization.
And repeatedly, when the smoke cleared there was no fire.
The latest chapter began when abortion foes released undercover videos of Planned Parenthood officials purportedly showing that the organization improperly harvested aborted fetal tissue for researchers. The group has vehemently denied those claims.
While the group's abortion services are separate from its health care programs, the flare-up propelled Republican leaders to call for defunding Planned Parenthood entirely, including the $3.1 million it receives through Medicaid in Texas to help low-income women access family planning and well-woman services.
On Oct. 21, Planned Parenthood affiliates in Texas received a "notice of termination" from the state Health and Human Services Commission announcing it was axing the organization's Medicaid contract, citing the videos and unspecified allegations of Medicaid fraud.
The agency's inspector general, the letter said, had "reliable information indicating a pattern of illegal billing practices" that would disqualify Planned Parenthood from participating in Medicaid.
The commission's chief fraud investigator, Stuart Bowen, gave Planned Parenthood 30 days to respond and request an "informal resolution meeting" with health commission attorneys. If it didn't, the state said it would issue a "final notice of termination" formally booting Planned Parenthood from Medicaid — an order that would go into effect 15 days after the organization received it.
Worried they would be cut from the Medicaid program as early as Dec. 8, Planned Parenthood affiliates in November filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block Texas' efforts. In it, Planned Parenthood argued that terminating its Medicaid contract would prevent low-income women, including 10 unnamed patients that signed on to the case, from obtaining services from a "qualified, willing provider" as required by law.
But when U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks considered the organization's request for a restraining order on Dec. 8, a curious fact emerged. Despite its claims that it had proof of misconduct, state health officials never delivered the final legal notice to defund the organization.
Lacking a final notice of termination, Sparks canceled the hearing.
"Planned Parenthood has not received official notice from the state for termination of our health centers' continued participation in Medicaid so our court case is delayed," said Sarah Wheat, a vice president for Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas.
The state's efforts to nix the Medicaid dollars have been "political from the start," Wheat said.
A spokesman for the health commission's inspector general declined to comment on the canceled hearing and the delayed final notice, citing the pending litigation.
"All matters related to the notices of termination are pending," said spokesman Chris Cutrone.
The governor's office did not respond to a request for comment.
The apparent hesitation is the latest in a series of instances in which the state raised hefty allegations against Planned Parenthood misconduct that have ended with a whimper.
The state has alleged fraud at Planned Parenthood's women's health clinics before. In his recent termination letter, Bowen cited $4.3 million that Planned Parenthood paid the state to settle allegations of billing fraud committed between 2003 and 2009.
But since then, the state has pursued other claims of fraud against the organization and come up empty, a Texas Tribune analysis shows.
The state health agency's inspector general has audited the women's health clinics six times over the last five years. Those investigations, obtained by the Tribune through the Texas Public Information Act, show that Texas claimed Planned Parenthood had wrongly billed the state nearly $1.7 million.
But the state never collected any of that money.
The state alleged, among other things, that Planned Parenthood had served women who were ineligible for government-subsidized services and provided services that were unnecessary. Many of the allegations were based on extrapolations, in which investigators alleged isolated incidents of improper billing and then, using a statistical model, assumed there must be others — inflating the dollar amount as much as 31 times the original.
For example, investigators claimed a Planned Parenthood clinic in Austin had wrongly billed the state for mistakes worth $842, such as recording a woman's annual exam with the wrong billing code. Investigators then asked for an "extrapolated" refund of more than $25,200.
In another case, investigators apparently claimed that the Planned Parenthood Association of Hidalgo County had given a patient more condoms than were "medically necessary." At that affiliate, in fiscal year 2011, investigators alleged a total of $6,932 in improper payments, which they extrapolated to more than $126,000.
Planned Parenthood disputed most of the state's findings in the audit reports. The Hidalgo County affiliate has since cut ties with Planned Parenthood.
The state also demanded that Planned Parenthood West Texas refund more than $627,000 — the affiliate's entire Medicaid payment in fiscal year 2011 — alleging that the women's health clinics had "inadequate separation," including a shared lobby, from the affiliate's abortion clinic. (Planned Parenthood clinics that provide abortions are barred from receiving Texas Medicaid funds for any services.)
Planned Parenthood West Texas did not respond to the allegations; its clinics had closed months before the state completed its audit in March 2014.
Cutrone, the spokesman for the Office of Inspector General, which investigates Medicaid fraud, said those cases were "pending." But Planned Parenthood says it hasn't heard from the state since appealing those findings, with some sitting idle for more than three years.
"We've had those things on appeal now for three years or more, without anything happening on them. I haven't heard a word since," said Mark Chouteau, the lawyer representing Planned Parenthood in the appeals.
"The OIG came in here, obviously, in my mind, with a mandate," he added. But without any response from the state on the appeals, Chouteau said, "it may very well be that they didn't want to defend those audits."
While those old audits languish on appeal, the state's current investigation into Planned Parenthood seems to have hit road bumps of its own as observers have raised questions about the timeline of the investigation.
State officials announced they would kick Planned Parenthood out of the Medicaid program on Oct. 19. Three days later, investigators visited Planned Parenthood facilities in San Antonio, Houston, Dallas and Brownsville to deliver extensive requests for Medicaid records, billing information and other materials that could seemingly back up their claims.
In a previous interview with the Tribune, Bowen emphasized that the "notice of termination" sent to Planned Parenthood in October was the start of a civil enforcement process — not a final determination of the organization's status as a Medicaid provider.
"We did not terminate them," he said. "We began a process ... inclusive of the development of evidence."
Bowen's explanation appeared at odds with the wording of the notice sent to Planned Parenthood and public statements made by Abbott and other top state officials indicating that Planned Parenthood would indeed be ousted from the program.
It remains unclear why Planned Parenthood has yet to receive the final notice, and the Office of Inspector General has declined to provide any details about its investigation into the organization.
The delay in the Planned Parenthood lawsuit in Texas comes more than a week after Alabama abandoned similar efforts to end the organization's Medicaid contract there. Meanwhile, Louisiana's efforts were put on hold by federal judge with the state expected to appeal.
Should Texas' final notice arrive, Planned Parenthood officials have vowed to fight back.
"When the state issues an official notice to terminate our health centers from the Medicaid program, Planned Parenthood is ready to continue to stand up for our patients in court," Wheat said.
Disclosure: Planned Parenthood was a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune in 2011. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.


New Line Cinema's The Golden Compass, starring Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, crossed the $300 million mark at the worldwide box office and now has a cumulative gross of more than $315 million. The film has earned more than $67 million in the United States since its Dec. 7 opening.
The fantasy epic has performed strongly in various foreign territories — including the United Kingdom, Spain, South Korea and Australia — where this genre continues to be popular. On March 1, The Golden Compass will open in its last major territory — Japan.
Based on author Philip Pullman's bestselling and award-winning novel, The Golden Compass tells the first story in Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. The fantasy adventure is written and directed by Chris Weitz, and features an all-star cast of Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Sam Elliott, Eva Green and Dakota Blue Richards.