(2019-08-23). Ruth Bader Ginsburg Treated for Tumor on Pancreas. truthdig.com 
WASHINGTON — Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has completed radiation therapy for a cancerous tumor on her pancreas and there is no evidence of the disease remaining, the Supreme Court said Friday. | The court said in a statement that a biopsy performed July 31 confirmed a localized malignant tumor. Ginsburg, 86, underwent a three-week course of radiation therapy and as part of her treatment had a bile duct stent placed, it said. The court said Ginsburg "tolerated treatment well" and does not need any additional treatment but will continue to have periodic blood tests and scans. | The tumor was "treated definiti…
(2019-08-23). David Koch, billionaire conservative & one of the world's richest people, dies at 79. rt.com 
US billionaire businessman and key Republican Party donor David Koch has died at the age of 79. | Koch stepped down from the family business, Koch Industries, last year amid health problems. His death has been confirmed by his older brother Charles. | "It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of my brother David," says Charles Koch in statement.— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) August 23, 2019 | David was listed by Forbes…
(2019-08-23). Notes on Inauthenticity in a Creeping Fascist Nuthouse. counterpunch.org 
The reigning corporate Democrats would rather lose to the right, even to a proto-fascistic white nationalist and eco-exterminist right, than lose to the left, even to a mildly progressive social democratic and environmentalist left within their own party. How else explain their insistence on promoting the ridiculous, right-wing arch-corporatist, imperialist, and dementia-plagued right-wing gaffe machine Joke Biden in the long march to the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries? More
(2019-08-23). Severely Mentally Ill Patients Given Eviction Notices at ZSFGH. indybay.org Rally and protest to stop the eviction of the severely mentally Ill at the Behavior Health Center's Adult Residential Facility on ZSFGH's Campus in San Francisco!
(2019-08-23). Is Genetic Medicine Making the World Less Fair? thenation.com Is Genetic Medicine Making the World Less Fair?
(2019-08-23). Donald Trump Is Coming for Medicare and Social Security. truthdig.com After busting the deficit with tax cuts for the rich, the president reportedly plans to slash welfare spending if elected to a second term.
(2019-08-23). Risks to Health and Well-Being from Radio-Frequency Radiation (RFR) Emitted by Cell Phones and Other Wireless Devices. globalresearch.ca We bring to the attention of our readers this important scientific report on the health impacts of cellphone radio frequency radiation. | Below are relevant excerpts. To access the full report click here. | emphasis added | *** | Radiation exposure has long been …
(2019-08-23). Routing the two-tier system: Part IV — Healthcare. nationofchange.org The healthcare system in the U.S. is clearly a two-tier (or multi-tier) system. Some parts of it (the Veterans Administration, for example) are partially a single-tier system. All active soldiers, airmen and sailors can get their health care covered under Tricare Prime and are treated alike. Active soldiers, airmen and sailors get complete coverage for …
(2019-08-23). Sen. Merkley Condemns Trump's Decision to Indefinitely Jail Migrant Kids. truthout.org | | The Trump administration is moving to indefinitely detain migrant children and their families, reversing decades of U.S. policy. The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services is expected to issue a new rule today to withdraw from a 1997 federal court settlement known as the Flores agreement, which put a 20-day limit on migrant family detentions. We speak with Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley, who made headlines last year when he was barred from entering an o…
(2019-08-23). SFGH Rally To Stop the DPH from displacing the mentally ill from Behavioral Health Center. indybay.org SFGH Behavioral Health Center at 887 Potrero St. between 21st. & Potrero at 12: 30 PM.
(2019-08-23). Cuba Relying on Bacteria To End Dengue Epidemic. telesurenglish.net Cuban experts are relying on containing the the dengue epidemic that is currently spreading in Latin America with new weapons: the Wolbachia bacterium and the sterilization of male mosquitoes. | RELATED: | Cuba Gets Over 4 Million Tourists Since January | "They are two tools that are being used in several countries on an experimental basis," Guadalupe Guzman, the resea…
(2019-08-23). Sen. Merkley Condemns Trump's War Against Migrant Families as U.S. Moves to Indefinitely Jail Kids. democracynow.org 
The Trump administration is moving to indefinitely detain migrant children and their families, reversing decades of U.S. policy. The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services is expected to issue a new rule today to withdraw from a 1997 federal court settlement known as the Flores agreement, which put a 20-day limit on migrant family detentions. We speak with Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley, who made headlines last year when he was barred from entering an old Walmart where the government was detaining about 1,500 immigrant children in Brownsville, Texas.
(2019-08-23). After Handing Rich $1.5 Trillion Tax Cut, Trump Reportedly Considering Slashing Medicare and Social Security as 'Second-Term Project'. commondreams.org "Mr. Trump, you are not going to have a second term," tweeted Sen. Bernie Sanders in response to the president's reported plan | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2019-08-23). Trump Mulling 'Uniquely Dystopian' Proposal to Use AI to Identify Mental Health Issues as Risk Factors for Gun Violence. commondreams.org In keeping with his insistence that people with mental illnesses, and not the wide availability of guns, are to blame for the epidemic of gun violence and mass shootings in the U.S., President Donald Trump is reportedly considering a new project aimed at detecting mental health issues, suggesting that doing so could stop a shooting before it happens. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2019-08-22). Planned Parenthood Feels Squeeze After Quitting Federal Program. truthdig.com 
SALT LAKE CITY—Planned Parenthood clinics in several states are charging new fees, tapping financial reserves, intensifying fundraising and warning of more unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases after its decision to quit a $260 million federal family planning program in an abortion dispute with the Trump administration. | The fallout is especially intense in Utah, where Planned Parenthood has been the only provider participating in the nearly 50-year-old Title X family planning program and will now lose about $2 million yearly in federal funds that helped 39,000 mostly low-income, uninsur…
(2019-08-22). Los Angeles County Votes to Stop Construction of New Jail-Like Facility, Adding Momentum to National Abolition Movement. theintercept.com 
"A jail is a jail is a jail. It is not enough to change the name of the facility," said LA Board of Supervisors member Heidi Solis.
(2019-08-22). Back to thoughts and prayers: Donald Trump abandons support for enhanced background checks. nationofchange.org Just two weeks after the three mass shootings that left over 30 people dead, President Trump is already going back on his initial support for laws that could help strengthen gun control. | Although on August 5th Trump seemed to suggest his support for the implementation of "red flag laws" — laws that allow law enforcement to take guns from individuals that have used threatening language — when speaking to the press this week, Trump change course to say that he is concerned about "mental health issue" in regards to gun violence. | "It's the people that pull the trigger, it's not the gun that pulls the…
(2019-08-22). Why the LGBTQ Community Should Be Worried About Trump's Gag Rule. truthout.org | | The Trump administration is coming after your local family planning clinic. You might have been there recently — maybe it was a Planned Parenthood health center, your local health department or an independent clinic. It's a place that teens and others can go to get affordable birth control and other kinds of health care services, like screenings for cancer or sexually transmitted infections (STIs). | One reason those places can afford to provide free or low-cost care is a federal program call…
(2019-08-22). Water Rights Group Calls on Newark Officials to Resist Privatization of City's Water Supply Amid Lead Crisis. commondreams.org Pointing to the public health crisis that ensued in Flint, Michigan after the city turned over control of its water to the state, water rights advocates called on leaders in Newark, New Jersey to retain their authority over the city's water as they confront their own lead crisis. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2019-08-21). Utah Is Spending Extra on Health Care So More People Can Suffer. thenation.com Utah Is Spending Extra on Health Care So More People Can Suffer…
(2019-08-21). Microplastic pollution is everywhere, but not necessarily a risk to human health. un.org Tiny plastic particles known as microplastics are "everywhere — including in our drinking-water", but they are not necessarily a risk to human health, UN experts said on Thursday.
(2019-08-21). Trump's Labor Pick Kept Workers in Pain. progressive.org The President has had poor luck with labor secretaries, and now he is poised to nominate Eugene Scalia, whose anti-regulatory advocacy two decades ago helped fuel today's opioid epidemic. That's not the best credential for a future labor secretary.
(2019-08-20). Negotiating legally-binding agreement to provide future generations with a 'healthy, resilient and productive ocean'. un.org While the world's oceans contain some 200,000 identified living species, the actual numbers could reach the millions ≠ ≠— all exposed to the dangers of climate change, pollution and over-exploitation. To stem these threats, the United Nations is meeting to negotiate a treaty that would protect three-quarters of the earth's surface by 2030.
(2019-08-20). Brussels rejects Boris Johnson's call for Irish backstop to be scrapped. thecanary.co Boris Johnson has been rebuffed by Brussels after demanding major changes in a new Brexit deal. | The prime minister set out his call for the backstop — the contingency plan to avoid a hard border with Ireland — to be scrapped from the divorce deal ahead of the October 31 Brexit deadline. | But European Council president Donald Tusk defended the measure and warned that those seeking to replace it would risk a return to a hard border on the island of Ireland. | The backstop is an insurance to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland unless and until an alternative is found. Those against the backst…
(2019-08-19). SPLC, allies sue ICE for ignoring medical, mental health and disability needs of detained immigrants. splcenter.org Faour Abdallah Fraihat, who ran a successful construction business for years in California, is currently in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
(2019-08-19). Health Care Imperialism: Looting the World's Doctors. dissidentvoice.org To poach and rely on highly skilled foreign workers from poor countries in the public sector is akin to the crime of theft. — "Migration of Health Workers: An Unmanaged Crisis," The Lancet, May 28, 2005 What is striking about the tyranny of the medical industrial complex is not only its unconscionable oppression of the …
(2019-08-18). How The Mainstream Media Fuels America's Income Inequality Machine. therealnews.com 
From medicare for all to neoliberal tax subsidies for major corporations the mainstream media often bolsters the notion that a more fair and equitable society is not possible…
(2019-08-17). Milwaukee VA workers fight union busting. fightbacknews.org Milwaukee, WI – Fifty Veterans Affairs workers and supporters rallied outside the Zablocki VA hospital August 12 to protest union-busting, attacks on high-quality public veteran healthcare, and bad faith bargaining by the VA administration. | The rally was organized by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 3 and supported by the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, Milwaukee Area Labor Council, Veterans for Peace and elected leaders including Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, U.S. Congresswoman Gwen Moore and U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin. | AFGE members and representatives detailed shocking accounts of the ex…
(2019-08-16). Trauma Counselors Were Pressured to Divulge Confidential Information About Facebook Moderators, Internal Letter Claims. theintercept.com Nearly 1,500 miles from the Menlo Park headquarters of Facebook, at a company outpost in Austin, Texas, moderators toil around the clock to screen and scrub some the most gruesome, hateful, and heinous posts that make their way onto the social network and its photo-sharing subsidiary, Instagram. They are required to view as many as 800 pieces of disturbing content in a single shift, and routinely turn to on-site counselors to help cope with the procession of stomach-turning images, videos, and text. But some members of this invisible army have complained, in a statement widely circulated within Facebook, that the…
(2019-08-15). The Challenges of Breastfeeding as a Black Person. aclu.org How our workplaces and healthcare system create barriers to breastfeeding. | The fight to protect individual choices about reproductive care, including breastfeeding, is an ongoing battle. The central lesson of the reproductive justice movement is that choice means little without access. That lesson applies equally to breastfeeding. | Though laws, in the workplace and other contexts, are in place to protect the right to breastfeed, many low-income women and w…
(2019-08-13). Expanding Involuntary Confinement is Not the Answer to Solve Gun Violence. aclu.org Institutionalizing people against their will is usually a mistake. | In the wake of last weekend's tragic shootings, President Trump did what he does best: stoked fear and cast blame. He proclaimed that "we must reform our mental health laws to better identify mentally disturbed individuals who may commit acts of violence and make sure those people, not only get treatment, but when necessary, involuntary confinement." | There are two things wrong with the idea of involuntary commitment as a solution to gun violence. First, focusing on people with identifiable mental disabilities won't help. The data is clear: men…
(2019-08-09). Over 132,400 Opposed Trump's Anti-Trans Health Care Plan. aclu.org A proposed rule would undermine protections for transgender people and others facing discriminatory denials of health care and insurance coverage. | The Trump Administration has shown it will stop at nothing to undermine access to health care for marginalized communities. Most recently, the Administration has proposed to undermine critical protections against sex discrimination in Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, the Health Care Rights Law. Instead of combatting discrimination in accessing health care a…
(2019-08-09). Blood money: How big pharma created the opioid crisis. liberationnews.org 
The opioid epidemic could only have occurred in a society where profit is king.
(2019-08-07). A Modest Proposal: Taking Aim at Firearm Violence with Gun Insurance. progressive.org It's no panacea, but it can help heal our wounded nation.
(2019-07-30). Venezuela: Six Chavista Militants Killed in Fresh Rural Violence. venezuelanalysis.com Landowner violence continues to plague the Venezuelan countryside.
(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 …