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Established 1973 — Last updated: Tuesday, September 7, 2010, 1:40 PM
Citizens alert (Posted on 12/10/09): though it improves coverage protections, new US health care legislation continues our spending double per capita compared to dozens of better healthcare systems in Europe and Asia. We over-spend by at least $4,000/person/yr to insurance/drug/hospital cartels ($100 Billion/mo.). Thus, a potential FREE $1.2 Trillion annual stimulus to our economy can be realized if we just become as efficient in healthcare as peer nations. If our health care is not made as efficient and good, it will stand as proof our government is corrupt from excessive corporate influence.

Also according to OECD, US broadband fees are two times higher for slower speeds as compared to Europe and Asia. Telecom and cable/satellite TV fees are also much higher in the US. [See chart.] Ask your corporate-funded representatives, "Why?"

Excessive "Defense" spending equals the rest of the world, combined. Homeland Defense and Intelligence agencies are similarly over funded. Combined, their budget excess far exceeds SSA and Medicare underfunding. But no one listening to TV—where most citizens get news—will ever hear this frankly admitted.

This notice will remain until systemic corporate price-fixing and bribery of government is stopped. Until it is stopped, citizens should demand that efficient services from other countries be allowed to compete.

It's as if we lived in North Korea! The U.S. government & news media won't discuss that US healthcare spending in 2008 was DOUBLE per capita spending in advanced countries with better health care. We've been spending double for many years: 2007, 2003, 1998 Here We Go Again: Another Rig Explosion
Many believe only a total ban of offshore drilling can work, shifting America's fossil fuel addiction to alternative, clean sources. The choice is simple - either a healthy, safe environment or one contaminated and destroyed. There may be little time left to decide.
by Stephen Lendman | 09.04.10
Legislation for Greater Agribusiness Empowerment
More corporate friendly legislation masquerading as pro-consumer, the way Congress always works.
Passing S. 510 and reconciling it with HR 2749 will jeopardize food safety and make it harder to buy products consumers want from sources they prefer. Defeating S. 510 is thus crucial, now at risk by the egg salmonella scare, a large hurtle essential to overcome.
by Stephen Lendman | 08.31.10
America's Gulf: Updating the Greatest Ever Environmental Crime
US media reported what BP and government said, that most of the oil was dissolved. But in fact, it will remain a lethal cocktail combined with dispersants, killing wildlife and poisoning anyone eating it, assuring a coming epidemic of cancers and other diseases.
by Stephen Lendman | 08.25.10
Obama's Gulf Swim Was Fake
The Gulf is poisoned and will remain potentially lethal for decades. Millions in the region are at risk. No one should swim in coastal waters or eat any Gulf seafood. Responsible officials should ban it. Instead the all-clear's been given.
by Stephen Lendman | 08.16.10
America's Gulf: A Toxic Crime Scene
Nearly 80,000 square miles of ocean are contaminated, more than Florida and Massachusetts combined, the health hazard immense, the waters and fumes causing "internal bleeding and hemorrhaging in workers and dolphins alike."
by Stephen Lendman | 08.11.10
Health Care Reform Reality Check
Handy reference.
SOURCE: The White House | TIMELESS?
Health Care Reform: An Online Guide
Handy reference.
SOURCE: Slate Mag. | TIMELESS?
OECD Health Data 2009
[Subscribe to get detailed data.]
SOURCE: OECD | TIMELESS?
International Healthcare Systems Primer
[PDF] Handy reference.
SOURCE: The American Medical Student Association | TIMELESS?
Videos of National Health Care Systems In Other Countries
SOURCE: Public Broadcasting System & ABC News | TIMELESS?

Global Warming Links
SOURCE: Readers | TIMELESS
Ripping Off Dead War Vets' Beneficiaries
Given Washington's complicity with banksterism, insurance fraud, and numerous other corporate scams, imagine how many others haven't come to light.
Three firms, including Prudential and Metropolitan Life, handle retained-asset [fake] accounts for about 130 life insurers. No public records show how much, but at least $28 billion is involved.
by Stephen Lendman | 09.05.10
Continuity of Government: Coup d'Etat Authority in America
Much of what George W. Bush and Dick Cheney did remains in effect. Draw your own conclusions.
The Continuity Of Government Plan is open-ended, in violation of the Constitution's Separation of Powers—the document George Bush called "just a goddamn piece of paper," and governed accordingly throughout his tenure—a practice Obama continues.
by Stephen Lendman | 09.01.10
Lawsuit Challenges Obama Administration's Targeted Assassination Policy
On behalf of his father, Dr. Nasser al-Aulaqi, CCR and ACLU filed suit against Barack Obama, CIA Director Leon Panetta, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, challenging their right to kill his son, in violation of US and international law.
by Stephen Lendman | 08.31.10
Ramsey Muniz - Guilty of Being Latino and Activist in America
Right-wing fear of change is dominant along our Mexican border, its intent to preserve social stratification and uphold traditional social orders and values.
Muniz was entrapped after agreeing to return a prospective client's car (in fact, a government agent) to a rental company. It was a sting, cocaine was planted in the trunk.
by Stephen Lendman | 08.28.10
Gender-Based Violence in Haiti
Some survivors mentioned widespread transactional sex for food aid cards. When coerced, it's rape. When rape crimes aren't investigated or prosecuted, violence is implicitly condoned, making illegal acts normal and justice denied. Most victims are girls under 18.
by Stephen Lendman | 08.17.10
The Scott Sisters: Victimized by American Injustice
America is plagued by prosecutorial and judicial discrimination.
The outrage - America's racist/prosecutorial injustice tradition, colluding with state and federal courts stacked with right-wing hacks, serving the privileged, damning others, putting a lie to democratic freedoms, endangering the powerless for any reason or none at all.
by Stephen Lendman | 08.16.10
Universal Jurisdiction to Hold Israel Accountable
Under Universal Jurisdiction, nations may investigate and prosecute foreign nationals when their country of residence or origin won't, can't, or hasn't for any reason. Israel used it to convict and execute Adolph Eichmann.
by Stephen Lendman | 08.15.10
From Goldstone to Uribe
It's the UN Human Rights Council's report v. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's hand-picked committee report.
Former Iraq UN Humanitarian Coordinator Denis Halliday and former UN chief weapons inspector Scott Ritter accused UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon—and the committee handpicked by him—of being a Security Council (SC) instrument, meaning, of course, a US imperial tool.
by Stephen Lendman | 08.13.10
 Maryland's 2010 Gubernatorial  Elections

Primary - September 14, 2010

General - November 2, 2010

 
Casinos and Today’s Scam Artists
Both Ehrlich and O'Malley agree and condone that the State of Maryland should assume the role of scam artists. The easy prey will be their own citizens.
by Alexander E. Hooke | 08.30.10

2010 Chautauqua Schedule for "Beyond Boundaries"
SOURCE: The Maryland Humanities Council | TIMELESS


Letters to the Editor
by Readers | Ongoing
Open Letters:
Global BDS Against Israel Is Working
The Flotilla was "a first-of-its-kind collaboration" between Hamas and the Resistance and Delegitimization Networks. Turkey's involvement was the "difference that made the difference."
by Stephen Lendman | 09.07.10
Reflections on Jack Kennedy
Where freedom is endangered, he said, politicians and intellectuals "should be natural allies, working more closely together for the common cause against the common enemy."
As president, he underwent a spiritual transformation from cold warrior to peacemaker, knowing it put him at odds with the Pentagon, CIA, most members of Congress, and nearly all of his advisors. As a result, he understood his vulnerability, perhaps by coup or assassination.
by Stephen Lendman | 09.03.10
Katrina's Destructive Aftermath
New Orleans is now two cities, one for the white and rich that has largely recovered, the other for far fewer poor and Blacks.
Post-Katrina, New Orleans bears testimony to a callous, uncaring nation. "America the beautiful" is for the privileged alone - no one else, especially people of color, the poor and disadvantaged, "The Big Easy" their ground zero.
by Stephen Lendman | 09.02.10
The Dishonor of Militarism
The U.S. government has committed the greatest imaginable betrayal of American values as professed in the Declaration of Independence: Born in rebellion against an empire, America now is the empire against which others rebel.
by Sheldon Richman | 09.02.10
Persecuting a Conciliator
Just when one thinks that politics can't sink any deeper into the sewage, conservatives and Republicans come along to prove one wrong.
by Sheldon Richman | 08.30.10
Yale University's Pro-Israeli, Anti-Islamic Conference
"Skull & Bones" seems normal within the larger context
Badly needed are efforts to expose and denounce anti-Islamic rhetoric, actions and persecutions of people for their religion and/or ethnicity, but don't expect Yale to hold it or discuss it in classrooms.
by Stephen Lendman | 08.29.10
Hawks Box in Obama on Afghan War
President Obama tried to outmaneuver the Afghan War hawks, but now appears to be the one boxed in.
by Ray McGovern | 08.27.10
Iraq Pullout: Mission Accomplished or Strategic Retreat?
Trillions of dollars and national energy wasted on militarism and unwarranted wars have worsened the biggest recession in eighty years, making debt & deficits too high--and national energy too weak--for effective solutions for middle-class jobs renewal.
by Stephen Lendman | 08.24.10
America Knows How to Do Xenophobia
Bigotry can still get candidates elected in America.
Loyalty to a state based upon commitment to ideals demands more from people than claiming membership in a nation that is defined by exclusive identity markers like language, religion and race.
by John Hickman | 08.23.10
Thinking About Lying
As a kid I was instructed in honesty, in telling the truth, and in being a “good” person. It was all in black and white with no shades of grey. Times have changed.
by Fred Cederholm | 08.23.10
Spinning the US Failure in Iraq
The withdrawal of the last US combat battalions from Iraq marks a historic failure -- despite Washington's spin.
by Robert Parry | 08.20.10
Part Tinker Bell, Part Predator Drone: The Fantasy of the Presidency as Deus ex Machina
For Presidents of modest means the only way to rise to power would be to serve the ruling class. In contrast, FDR came from the ruling class; he knew their ways, could never lose its advantages, and it held no novelty for him.
by Phil Rockstroh | 08.19.10
In Dreams Begin Responsibilities
We find it almost impossible to imagine ourselves as just another nation (even perhaps, a more modest and better one), making our way on this disturbed planet of ours as best we can. We can’t imagine ourselves “safe” without being dominant, or being dominant without killing others in distant lands.
by Chris Floyd | 08.16.10
Thinking About Rainbows
Rainbows are the truly beautiful things. They are symbolic of conclusions, of hope, of promise, and of better things to come. We need rainbow(s) now. We need a lot of rainbows.
by Fred Cederholm | 08.16.10
A Neocon Preps US for War with Iran
Neocon(-man) writer Jeffrey Goldberg lays out Israel's case for why the US should join a new war with Iran.
by Ray McGovern| 08.12.10
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America's Holy Crusade against the Muslim World
The demonization of Muslims sustains a global military agenda. Under the American inquisition, Washington has a self-proclaimed holy mandate to extirpate Islam and "spread democracy" throughout the world.
by Michel Chossudovsky | 08.31.10
The Laureate and the Leaker: Swedish Warrant a Salvo in Team Obama's War on Wikileaks
It is easy to sit on the sidelines and pontificate. The people at Wikileaks are putting their liberties -- and their lives -- on the line, to take practical action to try to bring some of the horrors of the Terror War to an end.
by Chris Floyd | 08.23.10
Impact of Israeli Military Order No. 1650
Potentially, all West Bank and East Jerusalemites risk dispossession and expulsion, part of Israel's longstanding policy to seize all parts of Palestine it wishes, removing indigenous Arabs from their homeland illegally, controlling those remaining under an oppressive apartheid system critics call worse than South Africa's.
by Stephen Lendman | 08.18.10
Gaza's Poisoned Water
Why does Israel embargo fuel, electricity and materials necessary for Gazans to build, repair and operate waste water and sewage treatment facilities?
The Gaza Strip is, quite literally, being poisoned from partially treated or untreated sewage dumped in the Mediterranean Sea, polluting about 90% of its coastal aquifer, the essential water source for residents. The water is now hazardous and undrinkable.
by Stephen Lendman | 08.14.10
Timebends: The Further Fruits of Wikileaks' Revelation
As Bretigne Shaffer notes, there is a close parallel between our catalyzing the Taliban's rise in Afghanistan to our catalyzing the Khmer Rouge's rise in Cambodia, when we destroyed that country with illegal excessive bombing.
The horrifically mutilated Afghan girl on the cover of Time has everything to do with our presence in Afghanistan -- a presence which is greatly exacerbating the societal breakdown and empowering the kind of retrograde extremism that together lead to the perpetuation of such practices.
by Chris Floyd | 08.13.10
Don't Try These GOP Alibis at Home
If you're a Republican celebrity you therefore can't possibly have committed Treason; but if you're an Army PFC and let the public know the censored truth, you can kiss your ass goodbye.
When powerful Republicans are in a pinch, they can use crazy alibis that would make anyone else look guiltier.
by Robert Parry| 08.12.10
The Charade Begins: Netanyahu's Flotilla Massacre Probe Testimony
Planned weeks in advance, commandos had names and photos of activists to assassinate. Even IDF video was faked, filmed in advance on a look-alike ship, staged to comply with Israel's version of events, the real ones entirely different, showing intent to commit premeditated murder.
by Stephen Lendman | 08.10.10
How the Right Still Frames Iraq
Thanking Bush for killing a million and wasting 3 $trillion.
The Right framed the debate over President Obama's Iraq War speech as the need to thank George W. Bush.
by Robert Parry | 09.02.10
The Israeli Lobby: Declassified Documents Expose Its Influence
Who else now employs these effective influence techniques?
Project Censored warns about a "truth emergency," the urgency for media reform, and need for a cadre to do what all responsible journalists should – their job, what's sorely absent in America, especially in reports about Israel.
by Stephen Lendman | 08.26.10
Tell NBC: Sunday Morning Needs a Real War Debate
Meet the Press features a parade of Afghanistan hawks
Why has NBC been so intent on promoting the war? It is hard to overlook the fact that NBC's parent company General Electric is heavily involved in weapons-related contracts with the U.S. military, and has also benefited from reconstruction contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
SOURCE: Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) | 08.18.10
Net Neutrality Threatened
Verizon and Google proposed some rules and now Corporate Giants will lobby (bribe) Congress to get their way.
Corporate giants have lobbied fiercely for control. Broadband companies want maximum customer revenue. Internet ones have long opposed prioritized traffic because it will cost more, especially for popular sites like YouTube.
by Stephen Lendman | 08.12.10
Who Gets to Review and Be Reviewed?
Authors, book critics drawn from narrow pool
Book discussions that depend so heavily on white male authors, reviewers and commentators do more than deny a full voice in the discussion to women and people of color; they also deprive all readers and viewers of exposure to the variety of experiences and sensibilities that women and people of color would bring to the discussion.
by Steve Rendall and Zachary Tomanelli for FAIR | 08.12.10
Situation Room Scaremongering
CNN's Social Security crisis
If CNN's Situation Room program is serious about covering Social Security fairly, they need experts instead of pundits.
SOURCE: FAIR | 08.11.10
Bob Somerby's Daily Howler
Somerby is undoubtedly America's best mainstream media critic, holding both "conservatives" and "liberals" to account for unprofessional journalism. Usually updated by noon.
by Bob Somerby | TIMELESS
America Facing Depression and Bankruptcy
Responsible solutions proposed to put our country on a sound fiscal course.
Bad policy begets bad results, and bad solutions makes it worse. For sure, America is "broke and can no longer afford no-pain, all-gain 'solutions.' " It needs responsible solutions implemented now.
by Stephen Lendman | 08.27.10
Homeowners' Rebellion: Could 62 Million Homes be Foreclosure-proof?
While courts are not likely to let 62 million homeowners off scot free, the defect in title created by the Mortgage Electronic Registration System could give them significant new leverage at the bargaining table.
by Ellen Hodgson Brown, J.D. | 08.19.10
Israel Threatens War with Lebanon
If Israel attempts to siphon oil & natural gas from Lebanese waters, conflict could result.
Other sites include Rut and Alon, also off Lebanese shores or in areas far from Israel. The situation bears watching given the possibility that Israel may attack Lebanon and Hezbollah to avoid sharing the profits, needing or inventing a pretext to do it, an old trick it may use again.
by Stephen Lendman | 08.30.10
Israel will not choose to attack Iran: Harun Yahya
There can be no question of Israel attacking Iran, or Iran attacking Israel. Any attack against innocent people with no true justification is unlawful according to the Torah. Every Jew who obeys the rulings of the Torah is also obliged to abide by Allah's commandment, “Thou shall not murder.”
by Kourosh Ziabari | 08.30.10
Thinking About Fear
Real solutions come from THINKING. They are NOT driven by fear. Like in the Mad Hatter fairy tale, the US public is loudly crying: “Where is OUR rabbit?” Meanwhile, our leadership and political parties are quietly asking behind closed doors “Where is the hat?”
by Fred Cederholm | 08.30.10
Notes from Besieged Gaza
Raw materials, essential equipment, and non-military goods are still denied; preventing critical repair of water, sewage and healthcare facilities. In addition, no policy change eased people movement into and out of Gaza, those inside are still effectively imprisoned.
by Stephen Lendman | 08.24.10
Political Killings in Colombia
It's as if narcotics mafias controlled foreign policy
Under Uribe and Santos, there are virulent security and paramilitary forces "carr(ying) out a significant number of premeditated civilian murders," fraudulently called "combat" deaths. Killings rage "around the country," military commanders under pressure to show results by "kill counts."
by Stephen Lendman | 08.23.10
Washington Orders Shahbaz Airbase Saved, not Pakistan's Flood Victims
Compare today's Pakistan to Haiti post-quake. America militarized Haiti, stressed security, and took over the Port-au-Prince airport, obstructing relief supplies. That same scenario affects Pakistani victims now.
by Stephen Lendman | 08.23.10
A united Iran against a collapsing Israel
These accounts attest to the fact that Israel is being reprimanded by people from around the world who object to the inhuman policies and actions of Tel Aviv.
by Kourosh Ziabari | 08.23.10
The Charade Announced: Latest Israeli No-Peace Peace Talks for September
“Yes, Massa! Anything you say , Massa!” says Mahmoud Abbas, the unelected sole representative of all Palestinians.
by Stephen Lendman | 08.22.10
Israeli Academic Freedom at Risk
McCarthyism taking hold in Right-wing Israel
A hostile environment is threatening Israeli academics who oppose policies they don't accept, nor should anyone respecting the rule of law, democratic freedoms, and equal justice.
by Stephen Lendman | 08.21.10
Israel's Bogus Construction Moratorium
Jews are stealing Palestinian property with impunity.
Despite announcing "a suspension of new permits and new construction in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) for a period of ten months," construction never stopped.
by Stephen Lendman | 08.20.10
We hear "Israel will attack Iran!" and "America will Israel attack Iran!" over and over
Crying "Attack" too often is no longer believed in Iran, it is like Aesop's fable of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf too often"
by Kourosh Ziabari | 08.19.10
Palestine: Occupied, Divided, Isolated, Oppressed and Unaided
Israel treats Palestinians worse than the Nazis treated Jews before 1939—are Concentration Camps the next step?
Gazan men and women with West Bank spouses can't reunite to be together, yet Israel lets West Bank and East Jerusalem residents move to Gaza, but not return. See the pattern?
by Stephen Lendman | 08.19.10
Iran, Tajikistan and Afghanistan: Diplomacy of Brotherhood
Iran, Tajikistan and Afghanistan have the capability to form a beneficial political coalition. They share the same language, religion and cultural background.
by Kourosh Ziabari | 08.15.10
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