(2019-09-02). Don't Subsidize Companies That Silence Workers. truthout.org | | On Labor Day, a critical question arises: Will America finally grant its workers First Amendment rights? | The Constitution guarantees "freedom of speech," the right to "peaceably assemble," and the right to petition for "a redress of grievances." Yet these civil rights are commonly denied to workers. | Sure, we can say what we want, but we pay a high price to speak — often losing our jobs, health care, and benefits for our families. But we pay an even higher price for not speaking. | In 2016, Kyaw Kyaw, 50, <...
(2019-09-02). The fight against climate change can bring us together. nationofchange.org For the last week or so, I have been pondering about what is the most important issue in the 2020 election. My thought has been that if we can agree on the most important issue, and if we can agree on what is needed to resolve it, we may not only resolve that issue but bring America back towards learning once again how to agree on things. | I thought first about Medicare for All. All of the Democratic candidates seemed to agree at their first debate in July that this was a very important issue. But since the crisis of the Arctic and the Amazon fires, Climate Change has become clearly the leading issue. And it…
(2019-09-02). Hospitals among seven health centres attacked in Syria's north-east. un.org Seven health centres in Syria's north-west have been reportedly attacked in recent days and two of them have been destroyed, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.
(2019-09-02). How Animal Researchers Stay Out of the News. counterpunch.org 
If you are like most people, you know a lot more about how farm animals are treated on factory farms than dogs, primates and other animals are treated in US labs. It is no coincidence. Exposure of what occurs behind the Plexiglass Curtain would be so damaging to National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded university research contracts that millions are spent to prevent transparency. More
(2019-09-01). Kennewick teachers' strike shows power of the union in Washington state. liberationnews.org 
Teachers win gains on important issues including pay and insurance.
(2019-08-31). Cuba: U.S. government earmarks millions to hinder Cuban medical cooperation. liberationnews.org 
Access to health is a human right and the United States commits a crime by denying it or obstructing it with political motives or aggression.
(2019-08-31). UN chief and senior officials show solidarity with DR Congo during three-day visit. un.org United Nations chief António Guterres and senior members of the UN, have embarked on a three-day visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where civilians are facing insecurity and ongoing health crises, including a year-long Ebola epidemic which has claimed more than 2,000 lives.
(2019-08-31). Standing ovation for sister of Lyra McKee as she delivers speech at Stormont. thecanary.co 
The sister of murdered journalist Lyra McKee received a standing ovation as she followed in her footsteps to deliver a powerful talk at Stormont.The author's Ted talk about religious education and its impact on the mental health of young LGBT people was viewed thousands of time around the world following her death at the hands of dissident republicans in April.On Saturday, four and a half months after Ms McKee's murder, her sister Nichola Corner delivered her own talk at the TedXStormont event at Parliament Buildings in Belfast.Lyra McKee was shot dead by the New IRA as she observed rioting in Derry (Family hando…
(2019-08-30). Let's Make the Next Debates Good for Something. counterpunch.org 
Do we really need three-ring circus "debates" to figure out that the only two candidates in the running for president who should be taken seriously are Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren? Perhaps with Joe Biden still leading the pack; the sooner he is put back out to pasture, the better. Perhaps with Kamala Harris running More
(2019-08-30). Democrats Need Litmus Tests on Health Care. thenation.com Democrats Need Litmus Tests on Health Care…
(2019-08-30). Alarming number of Ebola deaths in DRC a 'rallying cry' to scale up treatment. un.org Since the Ebola epidemic struck in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) one year ago, almost 600 of around 850 children who have caught the virus have now died, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported on Friday.
(2019-08-30). Ady Barkan Refuses to Stop Fighting for Health Care for All. thenation.com Ady Barkan Refuses to Stop Fighting for Health Care for All…
(2019-08-30). Justice for José Antonio: Family Demands Accountability for Mexican Teen Killed by U.S. Border Agent. democracynow.org 
Nearly seven years ago, 16-year-old José Antonio Elena Rodríguez was killed in Nogales, Mexico, by U.S. Border Patrol agent Lonnie Swartz, who fired his gun from the U.S. side of the border. The teenager — who was unarmed — died face-down on the sidewalk just a couple of blocks from his home. Border Patrol has for years been plagued with hundreds of allegations of abuse and unnecessary use of deadly force, including the cross-border killings of at least six people on Mexican soil. Most cases are not investigated, and border agents are rarely criminally charged for using violent force. After nearly fiv…
(2019-08-30). "All-Out Attack": Trump's Anti-Immigrant Policies Target Children, Cancer Patients & Servicemembers. democracynow.org 
On Tuesday, the Trump administration reportedly ended its "medical deferred action" program, which allows immigrants with serious health problems to stay in the U.S. for up to two years beyond the terms of their visas to receive critical treatment. Just one day later, it announced that some children born to U.S. servicemembers and government employees stationed overseas will no longer automatically receive citizenship. The policy changes come days after the Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to allow the Trump administration to implement its rule banning almost all migrants from seeking asylum in the Unit…
(2019-08-29). How Solitary Confinement Kills: Torture and Stunning Neglect End in Suicide at Privately Run ICE Prison. theintercept.com 
Guards at an ICE jail put Efraín Romero de la Rosa in solitary confinement despite a diagnosis of schizophrenia. He killed himself after 21 days.
(2019-08-29). UN health experts warn 'dramatic resurgence' of measles continues to threaten the European region. un.org Europe has lost ground in eliminating measles, as the number of countries having achieved or sustained elimination of the disease has declined, the European Regional Verification Commission for Measles and Rubella Elimination (RVC) warned on Thursday.
(2019-08-27). "This Ruling Is Huge": Johnson & Johnson Ordered to Pay $572 Million for Fueling Opioid Epidemic. democracynow.org 
In a landmark ruling, an Oklahoma judge has ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $572 million for contributing to the state's opioid crisis. It marks the first time a drug company has been held responsible for the opioid crisis, though it fell far short of the $17 billion judgment sought by the state. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost 400,000 people died from an overdose involving opioids from 1999 to 2017, including from prescription and illicit opioids. Court documents say more than 6,000 people have died of painkiller overdoses in Oklahoma alone. The Oklahoma ruling sets the stage…
(2019-08-26). No Coal, No Gas: Climate activists remove coal from Merrimack generating station. liberationnews.org 
"…it is now a necessity to take matters into our own hands…"
(2019-08-26). Before Kamala Harris Soured on Bernie Sanders's Medicare for All Bill, She Grew Her Email List From It. theintercept.com Kamala Harris distanced herself from Bernie Sanders's Medicare for All bill at an event with large-dollar donors two weeks after her campaign ran those ads.
(2019-08-26). St. Paul Teachers Union Picks the Health Care Battle. progressive.org Skyrocketing insurance costs generated a national wave of teacher strikes last year. Now, Minnesota educators head into a new school year ready to fight for affordable health care.
(2019-08-24). National Democrats Endorse John Hickenlooper, a Proponent of Fracking, in Competitive Colorado Primary. theintercept.com In Colorado, nearly a dozen Democrats are vying for the opportunity to take on Republican Sen. Cory Gardner in 2020 — a race widely seen as the party's most promising pick-up in the Senate. One of the leading contenders, former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, is running on a platform that includes Medicare for All and an aggressive plan to combat the climate crisis — and his campaign has already topped $1 million in fundraising. | But the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has thrown its weight behind former Gov. John Hickenlooper, a pro-fracking moderate. After months of rejecting calls…
(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.
(2019-08-21). 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.
(2019-08-19). 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).
(2019-08-15). 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…
(2019-07-30). 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 …