(2019-12-13). I Have 'Some of the Best' Health Insurance a Union Member Can Get, But I Would Trade It Today for Medicare for All. commondreams.org Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) speaks while introducing the Medicare for All Act of 2019 with Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) during a news conference on Capitol Hill, on April 9, 2019 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2019-12-13). 'Air bridge' vaccination operation begins for Ebola-hit communities in DR Congo. news.un.org The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has seen an increase in the number of reported cases of the deadly haemorrhagic virus Ebola linked to ongoing violence by armed groups targeting remote communities, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.
(2019-12-13). Blind man dies by electric chair in Tennessee, Texas inmate executed amid claims of false testimony. wsws.org The final two executions of 2019 involved cases in which juries were not told about defendants' mental health struggles and violent upbringing, and trials involving false testimony and faulty jury selection.
(2019-12-13). A Plague on Both Their Houses, Plus a Dozen Poxes on Trump's. counterpunch.org Nancy Pelosi should thank Donald Trump for helping her get over a bad case of IAS, Impeachment Aversion Syndrome. We all should. Had she not come down with that malady years ago, after the 2006 midterm election made her Speaker of the House the first time, she could now be looking forward, when the time More
(2019-12-13). The Science of Lethality. counterpunch.org While the Pentagon's preeminent mission is to increase lethality of the forces, DARPA notes that its cyborg technology is also used to "augment the loss of functionality from injury or disease," such as implants controlling the use of prosthetics. Nevertheless, it sees a great need for social research to dispel resistance to cyborgs or robots (synthetic autonomous agents) on ethical grounds. More
(2019-12-13). Boom Bust investigates how one ad could wipe out $1 billion of Peloton stock. rt.com 
Fitness firm Peloton's holiday commercial recently caused social media fury, resulting in the loss of nearly $1 billion of market value in a single day. RT's Boom Bust finds out if the firm will ever recover from the scandal. | The online advert featured a grateful owner of a Peloton bike making a video for her husband which shows how her health and fitness has changed over the course of one year, and saying: "A year ago, I didn't realise how much this would change me." | The ad labeled by some as sexist could be a catalyst for the correction of Peloton stock price after the connected-fitness company held its…
(2019-12-12). Nurses: Medicare For All means health won't depend on your wealth. peoplesworld.org 
WASHINGTON—When a baby in California named Evan became very ill 10 years ago, his single mother lacked the money to take him to the doctor and foot the bill for the needed co-pay. So she called her mother, Evan's grandmother, a registered nurse, for advice. The grandmother listened to the symptoms and told her daughter …
(2019-12-12). Russia Shows Concern for Julian Assange's Health. telesurenglish.net The health situation of Julian Assange, who is being held in London, worsens while he is awaiting extradition to the United States, warned Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zajárova. | RELATED: | Sweden Drops Decade-Long Case Against Julian Assange | Assange is seriously ill because he has no medical assistance or good nutrition, in addition to alleged psychological torture, the Russian official reported. | "The situation created around him testifies to the violation by the We…
(2019-12-12). Argentina's Moves To Guarantee Access to Abortion in Rape Cases. telesurenglish.net Women and girls in Argentina seeking to end pregnancies caused by rape will be guaranteed access to abortion under a protocol announced on Thursday aimed at reducing the latitude hospitals have in deciding whether or not to perform the procedure. | RELATED: , Macri Repealed Abortion Protocol: Rubinstein's Resigned | Argentine law allows abortion in case of rape or threat to the life or health of the mother. But abortion rights advocates say the law is not always applied across the largel…
(2019-12-12). Alberto and Cristina Star in New Oliver Stone's Documentary. telesurenglish.net The president and vice president of Argentina, Alberto and Cristina Fernandez, respectively, were interviewed by the American filmmaker Oliver Stone for the new documentary related to political persecution in Latin America, local media reported on Thursday. | RELATED: , Argentina to Declare Economic, Health, Social Emergencies | Stone, winner of three Oscars, met with both political figures to learn their stories and opinions on the subject of the audiovisual, the latest in a series of…
(2019-12-12). Glyphosate and Roundup Proven to Disrupt Gut Microbiome by Inhibiting Shikimate Pathway. globalresearch.ca Fatty liver disease and death of liver tissue were also confirmed in rats fed regulatory permitted and thus presumed safe doses of the weedkiller | The primary mechanism of how glyphosate herbicides kill plants is by inhibiting an enzyme called EPSPS, …
(2019-12-12). South Sudan famine threat: UN food security agency in 'race against time'. news.un.org The World Food Programme (WFP) is warning against potential famine in South Sudan as hunger deepens due to drought, floods and an uncertain political future.
(2019-12-11). Universal Health Coverage will 'drive progress' on 2030 Development Agenda. news.un.org Last September world leaders at the United Nations endorsed an ambitious political declaration on universal health coverage, "reaffirming that health is a human right", Secretary-General António Guterres said on Wednesday in his message for International Universal Health Coverage Day.
(2019-12-11). Detainee Zahran Continues Strike For 80th Day. imemc.org The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) has reported that Ahmad Zahran, 42, imprisoned by Israeli under repeatedly renewed arbitrary Administrative Detention orders without charges or trial, is ongoing with the hunger strike for the 80th consecutive day, despite his seriously deteriorating health condition. The PPS stated that the Israeli Prison Authority …
(2019-12-11). Here's what the Tories did with nine years in power. thecanary.co Tomorrow we vote for a new government. Here are some achingly simple, yet vitally important guides to help everyone before casting their vote. Because they show with brutal simplicity what the Tories have done over nine years.The Conservatives on health: Ahmad Barclay 'spent a day making charts to remind people of the Conservatives' awful record in government since 2010′. The results speak for themselves. | Barclay showed that, as the NHS staffing crisis continues, A&E waiting times have soared. 
Democracy Now! was broadcasting live from the United Nations climate summit in Madrid, Spain, when hundreds of climate advocates and people's movements at the U.N. climate action summit staged a protest inside the conference venue. As the demonstration unfolds, we speak with Tom Goldtooth, executive director of the Indigenous Environmental Network; Karin Nansen, chair of Friends of the Earth International; Nigerian climate activist Nnimmo Bassey with Health of Mother Earth Foundation; and indigenous climate activist Daiara Tukano from Brazil.
(2019-12-10). Privatization at the NHS? American Business Interests Seek Growing Share of U.K.'s Health System. theintercept.com The American health care industry has long had its sights on harnessing a wave of privatization and outsourcing in the U.K. system.
(2019-12-10). Samoa measles outbreak claims 70 lives, majority are children under five. news.un.org Seventy people have now died from Samoa's measles outbreak, UN humanitarians confirmed on Tuesday, as the organization released emergency funding to help the authorities step up efforts to eradicate the preventable disease.
(2019-12-09). On Human Rights Day, Let's Abolish Nuclear Weapons. progressive.org A nuclear war would create one of the worst humanitarian crises imaginable, one for which no nation would have an adequate emergency or health response.
(2019-12-09). Three Ways the "Fairness for All Act" Doesn't Protect LGBTQ People from Discrimination. aclu.org On Friday, Congressman Chris Stewart (R-Utah) and | several of his Republican colleagues in the House of Representatives introduced | the so-called "Fairness for All Act." The bill is being described by its | supporters as a compromise that protects both LGBTQ people and religious | liberty. | In reality, the bill facilitates the Trump | administration's ongoing efforts to give a greenlight to those who would turn | LGBTQ people away from jobs, health care, housing, even taxpayer-funded | programs, simply because of who they are. The bill also weakens some | longstanding protections in federal and state laws…
(2019-12-03). What the U.K. Election Tells Us About Universal Health Care. progressive.org Across the political spectrum, the British are clear: American-style health care is a terrible idea.
(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…
(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…
(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…
(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…
(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…
(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 …