Global
Gaza’s troubles have somehow been relegated, if not completely dropped from the mainstream media’s radar, and subsequently the world’s conscience and consciousness. Weaning the public from the sadness there conveys the false impression that things are improving and that people are starting to move on and rebuild their lives.
But nothing could be further from the truth. Since the conclusion of Israel’s war last year, the Palestinian Ministry of Health declared that 344 Gaza patients have reportedly been added to the swelling number of casualties.
Khaled Abed Rabbu, once a young father of four is a precise living example, such an eloquent paradigm of what no human being ought to endure in this world laden with international human rights organizations, mediators, advocates and diplomats.
His house was completely destroyed, as were two of his little girls. He buried 7 year old Soad and Amal, just two, soon after burying any hope that Samar his 4 year old daughter’s future would be any less bleak.
But nothing could be further from the truth. Since the conclusion of Israel’s war last year, the Palestinian Ministry of Health declared that 344 Gaza patients have reportedly been added to the swelling number of casualties.
Khaled Abed Rabbu, once a young father of four is a precise living example, such an eloquent paradigm of what no human being ought to endure in this world laden with international human rights organizations, mediators, advocates and diplomats.
His house was completely destroyed, as were two of his little girls. He buried 7 year old Soad and Amal, just two, soon after burying any hope that Samar his 4 year old daughter’s future would be any less bleak.
"I first met Senator Kennedy on May 4, 1971, when he visited me at St. Alexis Hospital in Cleveland. I was then a Cleveland City Councilman recovering from an injury and, somehow, he discovered I was in the hospital and paid a surprise visit to my room. He was visiting hospitals as part of his national effort to raise awareness of the need for reform of our health care system. I was elated to meet him. The visit began a friendship which has spanned four decades, during which time I had the privilege of serving with Senator Kennedy in the United States Congress.
His compassion and caring was always personal and always real. When my brother Perry died unexpectedly in December of 2007, Ted Kennedy was one of the first to call with condolences, sharing his sympathetic understanding of what it means to lose a sibling.
His compassion and caring was always personal and always real. When my brother Perry died unexpectedly in December of 2007, Ted Kennedy was one of the first to call with condolences, sharing his sympathetic understanding of what it means to lose a sibling.
The Samaritan’s Dilemma: Should Government Help Your Neighbor?
by Deborah Stone
Nation Books, 2008
292 pages
Notes & Appendix
In her 1993 speech on health care, Hillary Clinton argued that America needed a new a “politics of meaning,” and was roundly criticized as being some kind of left wing, new-age kook. While then First Lady Clinton backed away from the phrase, almost twenty years later Deborah Stone is calling for the same thing.
by Deborah Stone
Nation Books, 2008
292 pages
Notes & Appendix
In her 1993 speech on health care, Hillary Clinton argued that America needed a new a “politics of meaning,” and was roundly criticized as being some kind of left wing, new-age kook. While then First Lady Clinton backed away from the phrase, almost twenty years later Deborah Stone is calling for the same thing.
Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney sent an Email around on Sunday in which she wrote:
"[I]t has just now come to my attention that a 'journalist' who suggested that I be lynched was actually being paid by our own government to say that. Now, when I reported it to the FBI, how in the world was I to know that he was at that time on the FBI's payroll?"
"Hate blogger" Hal Turner's lawyer said last week, and prosecutors agreed, that Turner was "trained by the FBI on how to be deliberately provocative" and "worked for the FBI from 2002 to 2007 as an 'agent provocateur' and was taught by the agency 'what he could say that wouldn't be crossing the line'."
Turner is being charged with making death threats against Connecticut legislators and Illinois judges and is apparently going to claim that his actions were legal because he did the same sort of thing when employed by the FBI:
This story has been written up by Wired and by The Southern Poverty Law Center, but without the McKinney angle.
"[I]t has just now come to my attention that a 'journalist' who suggested that I be lynched was actually being paid by our own government to say that. Now, when I reported it to the FBI, how in the world was I to know that he was at that time on the FBI's payroll?"
"Hate blogger" Hal Turner's lawyer said last week, and prosecutors agreed, that Turner was "trained by the FBI on how to be deliberately provocative" and "worked for the FBI from 2002 to 2007 as an 'agent provocateur' and was taught by the agency 'what he could say that wouldn't be crossing the line'."
Turner is being charged with making death threats against Connecticut legislators and Illinois judges and is apparently going to claim that his actions were legal because he did the same sort of thing when employed by the FBI:
This story has been written up by Wired and by The Southern Poverty Law Center, but without the McKinney angle.
The protests against health insurance reform has laid bare the war between the
oligarchy (Ruling Class) against the citizenry. Obama should have described the health insurance problem as class warfare in order to focus the debate. Now, the corporate powers have unleashed a barrage of attacks, most of which are simply false (death panels, abortion payments). The ruling class media eliminated the single payer debate at the outset, and has since limited the discussion from the necessary step of a public option. By the time you read this the public option will be a dead issue. Instead the propaganda machine (TV) is focusing on the false debate created by industry and the ruling class resulting in an apparent fight between right and left, when the fight should be against the ruling class.
Today, Congressman Dennis Kucinich sent the following email. I have removed his request for contributions as I know you can find him if you wish to lend financial support. Kucinich explains what is happening to the health insurance reform debate concisely and accurately, so Free Press wanted to reprint it for our readers.
HEALTH CARE WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE
The masquerade is over! The "public option" is ... dead.
Health care reform is now a private option: WHICH FOR PROFIT INSURANCE COMPANY DO YOU WANT? You have to choose. And you have to pay. If you have a low income, under HR3200 government will subsidize the private insurance companies and you will still have to pay premiums, co-pays and deductibles.
The Administration plan requires that everyone must have health insurance, so it is delivering tens of millions of new "customers" to the insurance companies. Health care? Not really. Insurance care! Absolutely. Cost controls? No chance.
You will next hear talk about "co-ops." The truth is that insurance company campaign contributions have co-opted the public interest.
HEALTH CARE WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE
The masquerade is over! The "public option" is ... dead.
Health care reform is now a private option: WHICH FOR PROFIT INSURANCE COMPANY DO YOU WANT? You have to choose. And you have to pay. If you have a low income, under HR3200 government will subsidize the private insurance companies and you will still have to pay premiums, co-pays and deductibles.
The Administration plan requires that everyone must have health insurance, so it is delivering tens of millions of new "customers" to the insurance companies. Health care? Not really. Insurance care! Absolutely. Cost controls? No chance.
You will next hear talk about "co-ops." The truth is that insurance company campaign contributions have co-opted the public interest.
A perfect storm is gathering to end the prohibition against marijuana in the United States . Economic, generational, and technological forces have combined with new views from the public and powerful opinion makers to create an unprecedented climate for the legalization, regulation and taxation of marijuana.
Storm clouds are brewing from all segments of society to upend the “reefer madness” fear and misconceptions that have dictated U.S. drug policy for decades. The upheaval begins with the economy, but doesn’t end there. As Bob Dylan noted long ago, "You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” Here’s a review of the pressures bearing down on the prohibitionists.
It’s the economy, stupid
With the country in an economic meltdown similar to the Great Depression, an increasing number of citizens are questioning the cost of the drug war. Billions of dollars have been spent on law enforcement and imprisonment since 1970. (1) More than 20 million citizens have been arrested for cannabis-related charges, including 90 per cent for possession. Marijuana-related arrests continue at the alarming rate of more than 900,000 a year.
Storm clouds are brewing from all segments of society to upend the “reefer madness” fear and misconceptions that have dictated U.S. drug policy for decades. The upheaval begins with the economy, but doesn’t end there. As Bob Dylan noted long ago, "You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” Here’s a review of the pressures bearing down on the prohibitionists.
It’s the economy, stupid
With the country in an economic meltdown similar to the Great Depression, an increasing number of citizens are questioning the cost of the drug war. Billions of dollars have been spent on law enforcement and imprisonment since 1970. (1) More than 20 million citizens have been arrested for cannabis-related charges, including 90 per cent for possession. Marijuana-related arrests continue at the alarming rate of more than 900,000 a year.