2019-11-18: News Headlines

David Penner (2019-11-18). The Killing Fields of American Health Care. dissidentvoice.org Hell is empty. And all the devils are here. — The Tempest (I.ii.) American health care is being crushed under the iron heel of a cabal of ruthless and merciless robber barons. Indeed, this primitive and backward system continues to be a source of horrendous suffering, as the health insurance companies, hospital executives, and pharmaceutical …

WSWS (2019-11-18). Google's Project Nightingale: The largest transfer to date of private medical data to the tech giant. wsws.org More than 50 million not de-identified health records spanning 21 states are being shared with Google through a secret partnership with Ascension Healthcare.

Do No Harm (2019-11-18). UCSF Healthcare Workers Rally For People Of Chile The people of Chile are rising up! indybay.org UCSF | Parnassus campus (513 Parnassus Ave) | San Francisco…

Environmental Health Trust (2019-11-18). Ramazzini Study on Radiofrequency Cell Phone Radiation: The World's Largest Animal Study on Cell Tower Radiation Confirms Cancer Link. globalresearch.ca Scientists call on the World Health Organization International Agency for Research on Cancer to re-evaluate the carcinogenicity of cell phone radiation after the Ramazzini Institute and US government studies report finding the same unusual cancers. | Watch Dr. Belpoggi describe the …

United Nations (2019-11-18). UN, African Union make significant joint commitment to global health. un.org In the drive towards universal health coverage, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the African Union (AU) Commission cemented their mutual commitment to global health by signing on Monday an historic agreement.

Staff (2019-11-18). Medicaid Tweak Might Offer Means to Improve US Reproductive Health. truthout.org When Madavia Johnson gave birth to Donald Ray Dowless III last year, she was hit by a case of severe postpartum anxiety. | She was scared to carry her son downstairs or drive him in a car. She couldn't manage to continue law school — and could hardly leave the house — because she didn't trust anyone to watch him. Her weight dropped from 140 to 115 pounds. | "It was very stressful for me mentally," said Johnson, now 29, who lives in Clayton, N.C. And she found it hard to secure medical assis…

Colin Todhunter (2019-11-18). Lab Rats for Corporate Profit: Pesticide Industry's Poisoned Platter. dissidentvoice.org Newly released pesticide usage statistics for 2018 confirm that the British people are being used as lab rats. That's the message environmentalist Dr Rosemary Mason has sent to Dave Bench, senior scientist at the UK Chemicals, Health and Safety Executive and director of the agency's EU exit plan. In her open letter to Bench, Mason …

Ryan Grim (2019-11-18). If You Care About Medicare for All or a Green New Deal, Here's the Senate Primary That Matters. theintercept.com Coons, a devotee of bipartisanship, is being challenged by Jess Scarane, who was inspired by progressive Kerri Harris's 2018 Senate campaign.

Eoin Higgins, staff writer (2019-11-18). 'Just Not a Serious Opinion in 2019': Critics Pan Joe Biden Claim That Marijuana Is a Gateway Drug. commondreams.org "Perpetuating unsubstantiated theories like this hurts people." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Staff (2019-11-18). Headlines for November 18, 2019. democracynow.org Bolivian Military Massacres 9 People at Indigenous Pro-Morales March, Leak of Secret Iranian Documents Reveals Iranian Influence in Iraq, Former Ambassador Yovanovitch Testifies in Impeachment Hearings, Trump Ally Roger Stone Found Guilty of 7 Charges, Trump Pardons 3 Soldiers Accused or Convicted of War Crimes, Trump's Unplanned Medical Visit Sparks Questions About His Health, Tens of Thousands Mark 1-Month Anniversary of Protests in Lebanon, Police Besiege Student Protesters at Hong Kong University, Fears Mount About Possible Disappearance of Nigerian Journalist Omoyele Sowore, Prince Andrew Grilled on Friendsh…

United Nations (2019-11-17). WHO supports measles campaign targeting millions of children in northern Nigeria. un.org More than 28 million children in northern Nigeria will be protected against measles and meningitis through an immunization campaign carried out by the authorities alongside international partners, including the World Health Organization (WHO).

Matt Bruenig (2019-11-17). Warren's Head Tax Is Not More Popular Than A Payroll Tax. peoplespolicyproject.org As we know by now, Elizabeth Warren's Medicare head tax proposal is a regressive mess ( I, II, III, IV). Warren's team knows this. The goal of the proposal i…

Jon Queally, staff writer (2019-11-17). 'Too Clever for Its Own Good': Progressives Concerned Over Warren's New Medicare for All Strategy. commondreams.org "The idea that the next Democratic president could pass a major public option bill and then, perhaps after the 2022 midterm elections, be in a position to pass actual Medicare for All is just not tenable. It's just not." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Matt Bruenig (2019-11-17). CAP's Topher Spiro Is Trying to Deceive Journalists By Lying. peoplespolicyproject.org It's been fun to see how the Center for American Progress (CAP) navigates this year's presidential election. For insider political reasons, they can't support Biden or Sanders. But for a long time, it was unclear who the alternative candidate they could support would be. | When Kamala Harris was rising, CAP's staff was doing overtime boosting her on Twitter and in the press, including boosting Harris's absurd health care proposal. But Harris's collapse put an end to that strategy. Recently Warren has risen as the alternative and so CAP has been working to promote her campaign, which puts CAP in the comical positi…

Fight Back (2019-11-15). LA rally marks 25 years since racist California Prop 187. fightbacknews.org Los Angeles, CA – On November 9, hundreds rallied in downtown Los Angeles at Los Angeles State Historic Park to mark 25 years after the defeat of the racist California Proposition 187. California Proposition 187 which was commonly referred to as the Save Our State (SOS) initiative, was a 1994 ballot initiative initiated by the Republican Party with then Republican Governor Pete Wilson attacking mostly Mexican immigrants. Prop 187 called for a state-run citizenship screening system and prohibited the undocumented from using non-emergency health care, public education and other services in the State of California.

United Nations (2019-11-15). Over 1 million health consultations provided in Yemen in 2019: UN migration agency. un.org Since the beginning of the year, the UN Migration Agency has carried out over one million health consultations for displaced and conflict-affected Yemenis and migrants struggling to reach the help they need, the organization announced on Friday.

United Nations (2019-11-14). Thursday's Daily Brief: Envoy heads for Bolivia, ICC on Myanmar, dignity for sanitation workers, sterilizing mosquitoes. un.org A recap of Thursday's main stories: UN chief on Bolivian crisis; International Criminal Court to hear Myanmar genocide case; health risks for sanitation workers; farmers' guidelines to conserve crops; and sterilizing mosquitoes to battle diseases.

United Nations (2019-11-14). Zero new confirmed cholera cases in Haiti for nine months: UN envoy. un.org Although Haiti is in the "homestretch" of defeating a cholera outbreak first declared nine years ago, the battle is far from over before the country is free of the deadly disease.

United Nations (2019-11-14). UN mosquito sterilization technology set for global testing, in battle against malaria, dengue. un.org With more than half the world now at risk from mosquito-transmitted dengue fever, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN has taken the lead on a global effort to eradicate the disease — and many others — by measuring the impact of releasing millions of sterilized pests across several continents, it announced on Thursday.

United Nations (2019-11-13). Revealed: danger and squalor for cleaners who remove human waste by hand. un.org The plight of sanitation workers in the developing world should be addressed urgently, the UN said on Thursday, warning that their rights, health and dignity are at risk.

Staff (2019-11-13). Headlines for November 13, 2019. democracynow.org Televised Impeachment Hearings Begin Today, Right-Wing Senator Declares Herself President of Bolivia, Turkish President Erdogan Visiting Trump at White House, Supreme Court Heard Oral Arguments over DACA Program, Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Case of Mexican Teen Killed by U.S. Border Agent, Supreme Court Clears Way for Sandy Hook Families to Sue Gun Manufacturer, Federal Court Rules Warrantless Searches of Phones at Airport Are Unconstitutional, HHS Probes Google's Program to Collect Healthcare Data of Americans, U.S. Government Detained Record Number of Migrant Children in 2019, SPLC: Stephen Miller Sought t…

Staff (2019-11-12). Headlines for November 12, 2019. democracynow.org Longtime Bolivian President Evo Morales Takes Asylum in Mexico, Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments on DACA Cases, Televised Impeachment Hearings to Start Tomorrow, Former MA Gov. Deval Patrick May Jump Into 2020 Race, NY Republican Congressman Peter King Retires, Donald Trump Jr. Heckled Off Stage by His Own Supporters, EPA to Restrict Scientific Research Used to Write Public Health Regulations, Israeli Military Kills Palestinian Commander in Targeted Assassination in Gaza, Afghan Government & Taliban Agree on Prisoner Exchange, Chilean Government Bows to Protests & Agrees to Rewrite Constitution, 260 Arrested in…

Staff (2019-11-11). Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Environmental Justice, Shutting Down Pipelines, Capitalism & Billionaires. democracynow.org Six 2020 presidential candidates — Senators Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker, and Tom Steyer, Marianne Williamson, John Delaney and Joe Sestak — participated in the first-ever Presidential Forum on Environmental Justice in Orangeburg, South Carolina, on November 8. Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman and former EPA official Mustafa Santiago Ali co-moderated the event, which took place at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg. We air highlights of Warren speaking about the climate crisis, public health, shutting down pipelines, capitalism, the order of primary states and more.

Sari Beth Rosenberg (2019-11-05). How Peter Morley Turns Pain into Purpose Fighting for Health Care. progressive.org If the Trump Administration had its way, Americans would be completely unaware that the 2020 ACA enrollment period began on Friday, November 1. Enter Peter Morley.

Matt Bruenig (2019-11-03). Warren's Medicare Head Tax Would Be About $9,500. peoplespolicyproject.org On Friday, I wrote a piece arguing that Elizabeth Warren's use of an employer head tax was not a good way to fund Medicare for All and that instead the more conventional choices of income and payroll taxes would be better. The reason they are better is because income and payroll taxes are based on how much income you receive while a head tax charges the same dollar amount for every worker regardless of their income, making it much more onerous on the lower and middle classes. | This point holds…

Matt Bruenig (2019-11-02). What Is a Middle Class Tax Hike? Am I Losing My Mind? peoplespolicyproject.org I have been swimming in the Medicare for All waters for over a decade now, going back to when I worked on the Ralph Nader presidential campaign that made Medicare for All its number one issue. And during this time, I developed a specific understanding of what we might call the M4A Financing Problem. | The Problem: | The M4A Financing Problem, in simple terms, is that even if you bring in existing federal spending on health care, existing state spending on health care, and a bunch of new rich-people taxes, you still fall short of financing the program. Thus to actually complete the financing, you have to u…

Matt Bruenig (2019-11-01). Warren's Perpetual Medicare Head Tax Is Unworkable and Bad. peoplespolicyproject.org Elizabeth Warren released her Medicare for All financing plan today. The main purpose of the proposal appears to be to find a plan that you can message as "not increasing middle class taxes," which is of course a nonsensical goal insofar, as Warren herself has said, what matters is middle class health care costs, not whether you categorize those costs as premiums, taxes, or out-of-pocket expenses. | Nonetheless, bowing to the stupid media discourse on this, Warren put forward a financing pro…

Matt Bruenig (2019-10-24). New Poll Finds Voters Strongly Oppose Employer Insurance. peoplespolicyproject.org Many centrist pundits have convinced themselves that Medicare for All (M4A) is unpopular because, when you include certain details about M4A in polling questions, support levels drop significantly. But in convincing themselves of this, centrist pundits seem remarkably incurious about whether this same thing occurs for employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) when you include certain details about it in polling questions. | Earlier this week, Emerson Polling helped answer this question when it aske…

Matt Bruenig (2019-10-16). The Urban Institute Report Did Not Score Medicare for All. peoplespolicyproject.org The Urban Institute and The Commonwealth Fund put out a report today that provided cost estimates for 8 different health care reforms. One of those eight reforms, which is called "Single Payer Enhanced," describes a comprehensive, no-cost-sharing, national health plan similar to Medicare for All (M4A). However, the Urban plan uses hospital reimbursement rates that are 15 percent higher than the rates in the M4A legislation, meaning that its cost estimates are much…

Paul Kawika Martin (2019-06-19). House Casts Historic Vote to Repeal Authorization for Endless War. peaceaction.org Washington, D.C. — June 19, 2019 — In response to the House of Representatives passing H.R. 2740 (Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Legislative Branch, Defense, State, Foreign Operations, and Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act, 2020), which includes language to repeal the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) eight months after …