(2020-01-07). 'Keep out of Libya!' Gruesome videos of Tripoli military academy strike emerge as UN envoy decries foreign meddling. rt.com 
Shocking videos have emerged online, showing what appears to be a drone strike on a Libyan military academy — instantly killing dozens of cadets and wounding just as many — as well as its bloody aftermath. | At least 30 trainees were killed and another 33 injured in the Saturday strike, health officials of the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) said, noting the total death toll could still increase. | In one video circulating online, somewhat grainy and taken from a distance, a column of trainees is briefly seen in marching formation before it is obliterated by a direct hit that come…
(2020-01-06). Australia's cricketing 'King of Spin' Shane Warne sells prized Baggy Green cap for bushfire victims. rt.com 
Australian cricket legend Shane Warne has opened the bidding on his iconic Baggy Green cap in order to raise funds for those affected by the devastating bushfires which have ravaged the continent. | The 50-year-old, known as the 'King of Spin', announced the move during day four of the third test between Australia and New Zealand. | READ MORE: 'Conditions are a health concern for players': Novak Djokovic worried about bushfires ahead of Australian Open | Warne wore the cap during his 145-match Test care…
(2020-01-06). 'It's amazing to share the court with Serena': Caroline Wozniacki and Serena Williams team up to win first doubles match. rt.com 
Former world number one players Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki have begun their 2020 seasons in style, teaming up to win their first doubles match at the ASB Classic in Auckland. | The newly emerged doubles pair, who have never played together before, cruised to a confident 6-2,6-4 victory against Japanese opponents Nao Hibino and Makoto Ninomiya. | READ MORE: 'Conditions are a health concern for players': Novak Djokovic worried about bushfires ahead of Australian Open | Williams, who has won 23…
(2020-01-06). UK High Court to rule if clinic can carry out gender reassignment on children as concerns over methods mount. rt.com 
The High Court in London is to start hearing proceedings in a case against the UK's only NHS 'gender identity development service' treating children, amid growing concerns about the clinic's methods. | This week, the court will hear a case brought by the mother of a 15-year-old patient at the Tavistock Clinic in Leeds — identified only as "Mrs. A" — and Sue Evans, who worked there as a mental health nurse between 2003 and 2007. Both accuse the state-sponsored child gender reassignment center of providing an "inaccurate and potentially misleading" picture about the risks of such life-changing treatmen…
(2020-01-06). A Measure of Societal Vitality. counterpunch.org Following is my response to Robert Hunziker's article "Kill GDP to Help Save the Planet," published in Counterpunch on 2 January 2020. [1] Robert Hunziker describes why the economic statistical measure known as GDP — Gross Domestic Product — is a deeply flawed indicator of the actual economic health and societal wellbeing of the United More
(2020-01-06). The 5G Juggernaut: Coming Soon to a Utility Pole Outside Your Home. indybay.org Telecommunications companies are planning to blanket towns throughout the U.S. with huge numbers of close-proximity "small" cell towers, in order to implement 5G, which stands for 5th generation wireless. Many people assume that 5G stands for 5Ghz, the number they see on their internet connection. This 5G is something entirely different, and will have almost unimaginably devastating impacts on our health and environment.
(2020-01-06). Samoa lifts measles state of emergency. wsws.org Despite denials by the prime minister, Samoa was warned repeatedly to improve measles vaccination rates months before the arrival of a deadly epidemic.
(2020-01-05). Activists Take on the Toxic Tampon Industry and Fight Menstruation Stigma. truthout.org Don't Let Them See You Bleed: PERIOD examines the feminist movement through the lens of period activism. We will look at aspects of women's health and social justice that are often overlooked — From period stigma to the unfair tax on feminine hygiene products and the fight to regulate and disclose ingredients in tampons and maxi pads. We'll hear from activists, researchers, and intellectuals who are challenging the attitudes and policies that negatively impact women on a daily basis. | Specia…
(2020-01-04). UK refusal to accept Scotland's supply of haemophilia drugs resulted in thousands of deaths. wsws.org Blood supplied from contaminated sources led to thousands of people being infected with diseases such as hepatitis and HIV, and the deaths of nearly 3,000 people in the UK.
(2020-01-02). Investing in health workers yields 'triple dividend', WHO chief says in New Year's message. news.un.org At the start of the new year and new decade, the head of the United Nations health agency thanked "the brave health workers" around the globe and asked that the world do better in supporting them.
(2020-01-01). Year of the Nurse and the Midwife highlights 'backbone' of health systems. news.un.org The world will need an additional nine million nurses and midwives to achieve the commitment of providing all people with access to health care by 2030, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.
(2019-12-31). 2019: The UN News year in photos. news.un.org From sustainable development to economic development, and human rights to humanitarian aid, UN News provides daily coverage across all of the Organization's key issues — health, migration, climate change and so much more.
(2019-12-29). NUHW workers strike for better mental health care for their patients. liberationnews.org 
On Dec. 16, the National Union for Healthcare Workers began a week-long strike at Kaiser Permanente's Clairemont Mesa Blvd facility in San Diego, California.
(2019-12-27). "Bedlam": Film Shows How Decades of Healthcare Underfunding Made Jails "De Facto Mental Asylums" democracynow.org 
Are prisons and jails America's "new asylums"? A new documentary looks at how a disproportionate number of underserved people facing mental health challenges have been swept into the criminal justice system, where they lack adequate treatment. Nearly 15% of men and more than 30% of women in jails have a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia, major depression or bipolar disorder. For many of them, jail is their first point of entry into mental health treatment. The documentary "Bedlam" was filmed over five years in Los Angeles County's overwhelmed and vastly under-resourced Emergency Psychiatry Services, a…
(2019-12-27). Headlines for December 27, 2019. democracynow.org In Confidential Videos, Navy SEALs Say Gallagher Was "Toxic" & "Freaking Evil", Hospitals & Health Clinics Shuttered by Heavy Bombing in Idlib, Syria, Japan to Deploy Destroyer to Middle East Amid Rising Tensions in Gulf of Oman, Nigerian-American Journalist Omoyele Sowore Released from Prison, In India, Protests Rage Against "Anti-Muslim" Citizenship Law, Netanyahu Staves Off Party Leadership Challenge Ahead of General Election, Mexico to Bring Complaint Against Bolivia's Interim Government to ICJ, Congolese Asylum Seeker Died in Border Patrol Custody on Christmas Day, Los Angeles Prosecutors Consider Filing Cri…
(2019-12-26). Michael Moore: Americans Pay More for Healthcare Than Others, But "We Don't Call It a Tax" democracynow.org 
We continue our interview with Academy Award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore about election 2020 and some of the major issues for voters. Long before Medicare for All became a rallying cry in the Democratic Party, Moore's 2007 film "Sicko" diagnosed the shortcomings of the for-profit American healthcare system and called for a system of universal healthcare. "The real question never gets asked. They always want to pin them on how much is it going to cost in taxes," Moore says of debate moderators who ask whether Democratic presidential candidates will raise taxes to pay for Medicare for All.
(2019-12-18). A Tennessee City Banned Surgical Abortion Within the City Limits. We're Taking Them to Court. aclu.org For 30 years, I have | worked in reproductive health care. In my current role as Chief Operating | Officer of carafem, a nonprofit with a national network of health centers, I | know the difference compassionate and comprehensive reproductive health care | makes in the lives of our clients. I have witnessed the personal impact when | people who have the legal right to have a child or to have an abortion are denied | those rights due to outrageous societal barriers. Abortion providers are used | to opposition, but we've never experienced the kind of explicit targeting we | received from politicians in the city…
(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…
(2019-10-24). Julian Assange's Extradition Case is a Show Trial. zcomm.org Interview on the lack of mainstream media coverage of Julian's persecution, his health and conditions in Belmarsh prison, CIA spying on Julian Assange and more…
(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 …