On Medicare's 54 Birthday
Kevin Zeese, Margaret Flowers | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-07
In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Medicare Act. Within a year, and without the aid of computers, the United States provided more than 19 million seniors with health coverage. Before the law existed, over half of the elderly in the United States did not have health insurance. Medicare, which now includes people with disabilities,…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/07/on-medicares…
Can the Progressive-"Conspiracy" Divide be Bridged?
John Kirby | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-07
People from a variety of advocacy communities who tackle issues ranging from the assassinations of the 1960's to vaccine safety are rightly upset by a recent NBC News.com op-ed authored by Lynn Parramore, a progressive journalist known for her …
globalresearch.ca/can-progressive-conspiracy-divide-bridged/5685749
There Is No 'Nursing Shortage.' There's Just a Good Nursing Job Shortage
Michelle Chen | thenation.com | 2019-08-07
There Is No 'Nursing Shortage.' There's Just a Good Nursing Job Shortage.
thenation.com/article/health-care-medica…
Who Doesn't Love Private Health Insurance?
Tom Tomorrow | thenation.com | 2019-08-07
Who Doesn't Love Private Health Insurance?
thenation.com/article/who-doesnt-love-pr…
Opponents Delay $1.25 Billion Plastic Complex in Louisiana
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-08-07
| "Look at what is coming into the Parish, instead of saying 'Yeah, yeah, yeah'– it is time to say 'No,'" Pastor Harry Joseph told the St. James Parish Council on July 24. He implored councilmembers to consider freshly unveiled public health and economic concerns before they reaffirmed a permit allowing yet another petrochemical plant in a southern Louisiana community fed up with its already rapid industrialization. | Joseph, pastor of Mount Triumph Baptist Church in St. James, is one of the plaintif…
truthout.org/articles/opponents-delay-1-…
Eating Away at Workers' Wages, Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Costs Soared by 121% Since 1999: Analysis
Jake Johnson, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-08-07
"As healthcare costs escalate, wages remain stagnant. Winning Medicare for All means abolishing the parasitic private insurers that generate unprecedented inequality in our society." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/news/2019/08/07/eating-…
'A Great Equalizer': Warren Unveils Plan for $110 Billion Investment in Public Broadband Access and Healthcare for Rural America
Julia Conley, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-08-07
As she traveled to Iowa on the campaign trail on Wednesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren outlined how a number of the proposals she's released during her 2020 presidential campaign would support rural communities across the country—as well as releasing a brand-new plan to greatly expand healthcare and broadband access in places she says have gone without it for too long. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/news/2019/08/07/great-e…
Demonizing Immigrants and Mental Health Conditions is Not a Solution to Gun Violence
Amnesty International | indybay.org | 2019-08-07
Responding to President Donald Trump's speech following a spate of mass shootings over the weekend, Ernest Coverson, Amnesty International USA's End Gun Violence campaign manager said: "Gun violence reform cannot come at the expense of the human rights of any community. When President Trump links background checks for guns with immigration reform, he is once again demonizing immigrants and communities of color. The Trump administration will stop at nothing to shut down the border and limit safety to those who most need it. It is outrageous to denounce bigotry in one breath and terrorize the community that was tar…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/05/1882522…
RNs of National Nurses United Say Racism, Xenophobia Combined With Lax Gun Control Laws At Root of Mass Shooting Epidemic
National Nurses United | indybay.org | 2019-08-07
August 04, 2019 – The 150,000 registered nurses of National Nurses United (NNU) are sickened and angered as we bear witness to the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas; Dayton, Ohio; and Gilroy, Calif. Horrifically, these three mass shootings have claimed the lives of at least 32 people, and left dozens of others injured. NNU represent nurses in all three locations.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/05/1882522…
Here is Exactly Why Congress Won't Act on Gun Violence, Climate Change, Impeaching Trump or Anything Else
Ted Rall | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-06
I'm from Dayton so I'm thinking about this today: Why hasn't Congress done anything to address our national epidemic of mass shootings, namely reviving the assault weapons ban? People–Democrats and not a few Republicans–ask me that all the time. I bet all left-leaning pundits get that question. The answer is simple. But it's not something most people want to…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/06/here-is-exac…
The Ongoing Call for Nuclear Abolition at Los Alamos
Rev. John Dear | commondreams.org | 2019-08-06
The sickness of our widespread gun violence epidemic is connected to the sickness of the nuclear weapons industry, and the numbness and despair among us allow these lethal epidemics to threaten us all. (Photo: John Dear) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/views/2019/08/06/ongoin…
$10bn enough? US giant drug distributors bargain in opioid epidemic settlement
rt.com | 2019-08-06
Three major drug distributors have proposed paying $10 billion to settle claims that they played a role in fuelling the US' opioid epidemic by downplaying risks and flooding the market with pills — but plaintiffs want much more. | …
rt.com/usa/465927-opioid-epidemic-distri…
"We Can't Wait for McConnell": Advocates Call for Bold Action to Curb Gun Violence Epidemic
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-08-06
The death toll in Saturday's anti-immigrant shooting rampage at a Walmart in El Paso has risen to 22, after two more injured victims died Monday. Just before the shooting, the gunman published a manifesto claiming his actions were being done in response to what he described as a "Hispanic invasion of Texas." Most of the dead in El Paso were Latino, including eight Mexican nationals. Thirteen hours after the massacre in El Paso, a gunman in Dayton, Ohio, killed nine people, including his own sister, after opening fire outside a bar. We speak with Kris Brown, president of Brady, formerly the Brady Campaign to Preve…
www.democracynow.org/2019/8/6/mass_shoot…
Irish government accused of breaking EU law by housing asylum seekers in 'inhumane' conditions
Bryan Wall | thecanary.co | 2019-08-06
An NGO has called out the Irish government for its treatment of asylum seekers. The Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland ( MASI) said the government is housing asylum seekers in "inhumane" conditions. And it argued that they lack food, proper healthcare, an…
thecanary.co/global/world-analysis/2019/08/07/irish-government-accused-of-breaking-eu-law-by-housing-asylum-seekers-in-inhumane-conditions/
Richest 10% in US Will Own 100% of the Wealth by 2052: Study
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-06
If wealth inequalities between rich and poor continue to widen at the current rate in the United States, the richest ten percent will own 100 percent of the wealth by 2052, according to an analysis published Sunday by Dallas Morning News finance columnist Scott Burns. | RELATED: | Rich and Poor Health Gap Widens in US | "The wealthiest people in the U.S. will truly 'have it all' just 33 years from now," the columnist wrote. | The finance expert reached this conclusion by analyzing the changes in shar…
telesurenglish.net/news/Richest-10-in-US…
Prenatal Estrogen Levels Linked to Autism: Study
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-06
Scientist from the University of Cambridge and the State Serum Institute in Denmark say they have conducted a study that finds that the higher the level of estrogen in a mother's womb, the higher the likelihood her child will develop autism. | RELATED: | Chinese Scientists Will Test Long-Lasting HIV Vaccine in Humans | The researchers from both university say they have identified a link between exposure to estrogen sex hormones in the womb and the likelihood of developing aut…
telesurenglish.net/news/Prenatal-Estroge…
NSW MPs urged to decriminalise abortion
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2019-08-06
Chants of "Free, safe, legal!" rang out in Macquarie Street on August 6 at 9am as hundreds of people gathered in front of NSW Parliament House to urge MPs to vote to decriminalise abortion today. | NSW MPs will start debating the Reproductive Health Reform Bill 2019 bill, moved by independent MP Alex Greenwich and co-sponsored by 15 others. If passed, it would remove abortion from the Crimes Act 1900 and treat the procedure under medical guidelines. | A small, but noisy, group of people who oppose women's…
greenleft.org.au/content/nsw-mps-urged-decriminalise-abortion
Is the Rise in Lyme Disease Due to Weaponized Ticks?
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-08-05
Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases affects 400,000 Americans each year, and the reported cases are rising. Did the pentagon weaponized ticks and unleash them on an unsuspecting public? We discuss the possibility with science writer Kris Newby…
therealnews.com/stories/is-the-rise-in-l…
Take Away My Employer-Based Health Insurance. Please
Bill Lueders | progressive.org | 2019-08-05
Centrist Democrats like Joe Biden still aim to gin up mass fear over the prospect of leaving behind predatory insurers and the dizzying array of deductibles, co-pays, exclusions, humiliations, and rationing of care that characterizes our current syst…
progressive.org/dispatches/take-away-my-…
On Medicare's 54th Birthday, Another Year Closer To Winning Medicare For All
Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-08-04
In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Medicare Act. Within a year, and without the aid of computers, the United States provided more than 19 million seniors with health coverage. Before the law existed, over half of the elderly in the United States did not have health insurance. Medicare, which now includes people with disabilities, …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/08/on-medicares-…
Protest against police violence at Inland Port sit in
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-08-03
Salt Lake City, UT — "Protect and serve, that's a lie! Speaking up is not a crime!" chanted protesters, outside the SLCPD Public Health and Safety Building, July 23. More than 60 people had gathered for a Utah Against Police Brutality (UAPB) rally held in response to the excessive police violence used against the peaceful protesters occupying the Chamber of Commerce in downtown SLC on July 9, in response to the proposed Inland Port development. | At the Inland Port protest, police responded to protesters with violence, pushing and shoving community members, including those in the designated ADA section, inj…
fightbacknews.org/2019/8/3/protest-again…
Over 100 Killed in Another Mediterannean Shipwreck as Europe Watches
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-08-02
Frédéric Penard discusses the efforts of small NGOs to rescue refugees crossing the Mediterranean, against the efforts of European governments to block the entry of people fleeing war and famine…
therealnews.com/stories/over-100-killed-…
Ex-Health Insurance Exec: Industry Is Using Decades-Old Scare Tactics to Fight Medicare for All
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-08-02
The Democratic presidential candidates remain deeply divided on how to expand healthcare to the tens of millions of Americans who are uninsured or underinsured. Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have both pushed for abolishing private health insurance and establishing a Medicare for All system. Their rivals have pushed a number of different, more incremental approaches. During the first night of the latest debates, Sanders pointed out that the country has taken sweeping action before to expand health coverage to millions of Americans, referring to the 50th anniversary of the creation of Medicare and Me…
www.democracynow.org/2019/8/2/u_s_health…
Security Council gravely concerned by Ebola outbreak in DR Congo, demands immediate end to violence hampering response
United Nations | un.org | 2019-08-02
The UN Security Council on Friday expressed grave concern about the current Ebola virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and stressed the urgency of broad cooperation in the response, as "the disease could spread rapidly, including to neighbouring countries, possibly having serious humanitarian consequences and impacting regional stability."
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/08/1…
2nd Dem Debate Pt 2: To Impeach, or Not to Impeach? That Is the Question. (4/4)
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-08-02
While Democrats struggle with the question of impeachment, the healthcare debate is getting mired in minutiae and some voters are calling for a working class party. With Kimberly Moffitt, Jacqueline Luqman, and Marc Steiner as host…
therealnews.com/stories/2nd-dem-debate-p…
Venezuela: Chavista militants killed as rural violence continues
susan_p | greenleft.org.au | 2019-08-02
Six activists from the grassroots Revolutionary Bolivar and Zamora Current ( CRBZ) were assassinated in Barinas State on July 27. | The victims, one of whom was pregnant, were part of the Hugo Chavez Popular Defence Brigades organised by the CRBZ in Barinas, Tachira, and other states regularly plagued by landowner violence against campesinos. | No information is yet known about the assailants, but the CRBZ claimed in their statement that they had "military…
greenleft.org.au/content/venezuela-chavista-militants-killed-rural-violence-continues
Cornel West: Corporate Media's Superficial Coverage Helped Create "Fascist Frankenstein Trump"
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-08-01
On Tuesday night, Senator Bernie Sanders openly criticized CNN's handling of the debates. He told CNN's Jake Tapper, "Your question is a Republican talking point. And by the way, the healthcare industry will be advertising tonight on this program." We speak with Cornel West and Dolores Huerta about the media coverage and the structure of the debate.
www.democracynow.org/2019/8/1/cornel_wes…
Thanks Miranda Devine, but we will win abortion reform
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2019-08-01
Thank you Miranda Devine for your wild overreaction to the bill before NSW parliament to treat abortion as a health issue ("Vote Libs, get Greens", Daily Telegraph, July 31), as it will no doubt lose you and News.com support. | It must also surely rank as top fake news of the week. Far from being "one of the most dangerous radical abortion bills on the planet", the bill is modelled on existing Queensland and Victorian law. | Moreover, your view that Coalition MPs' support for basic health care for women is somehow a Labor-Green plot is equally bizarre. This bill is not about late-term abortions, as you suggest. I…
greenleft.org.au/content/thanks-miranda-devine-we-will-win-abortion-reform
"We Don't Want Another President Obama": Activist Urges Democrats to Reframe Immigration Debate
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-07-31
Democratic candidates also sparred on immigration policy, from decriminalizing border crossing to providing healthcare to undocumented immigrants. We hear excerpts of Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, as well as Montana Governor Steve Bullock. Plus we speak to Erika Andiola, chief advocacy officer for RAICES, the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services.
www.democracynow.org/2019/7/31/cnn_democ…
FROM THE FIELD: Turning waste into a business in the slums of Yaoundé, Cameroon
United Nations | un.org | 2019-07-31
The increasing volume and complexity of waste associated with modern economies is posing a serious risk to ecosystems and human health. Every year, an estimated 11.2 billion tons of solid waste are collected worldwide, according to the UN Environment Programme.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/07/1…
Venezuela: Six Chavista Militants Killed in Fresh Rural Violence
Ricardo Vaz | venezuelanalysis.com | 2019-07-30
Landowner violence continues to plague the Venezuelan countryside.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/14607
'We are the vaccine against unilateralism': Non-Aligned Movement gathers in Venezuela to resist dictatorship of dollar
Anya Parampil | thegrayzone.com | 2019-07-28
The Grayzone reports from the 2019 Non-Aligned Movement, where delegates from over 120 nations offered a crucial endorsement of Venezuelan…
thegrayzone.com/2019/07/28/we-are-the-va…
Hahnemann University Hospital closure planned: Profit vs. people's lives
Jacob Brooks | liberationnews.org | 2019-07-25
At the end of June, American Academic Health System corporation announced that they are closing Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia, which they have owned since January 2018.
liberationnews.org/planned-hahnemann-uni…
This County Criminalized Students for Bad Grades — Until Now
aclu.org | 2019-07-25
Today, we filed a landmark settlement that will end the relationship between the probation department and school districts in Riverside. | Since 2001, the Riverside County, California probation department has been needlessly funneling young people struggling with grades, behavior, trauma, and mental health into the criminal justice system. | This direct line to the criminal system is the product of a partnership between local school districts and the county probation department called the Youth Accountability Team (YAT). Instead of counselors or other school and community-based supports stepping in to support and…
aclu.org/blog/juvenile-justice/school-pr…