newspaper logo
Established 1973 — Last updated: Friday, February 10, 2012, 1:55 PM
We waste $1.3 Trillion/yr on inefficient healthcare! The U.S. government, both major political parties, and our corporate news media won't discuss why per capita US health care spending is DOUBLE that of advanced countries in Europe and Asia (2009) getting better results! (Ref. 2007, selected 2007 with avg. doctor visits showing we're least cared for for the money, and 2003 and 1998.)

US over-spending is systemic, caused by inexcusable lack of price controls and excessive complexity from states acting like nations. Each state having different insurance companies and coverage and procedures, thus states are allowed to be inefficient which invites–if not requires–bribes/kick-backs & price fixing.

This EXTRA PRICE GOUGING OF $4,000/PERSON/YR is trending ever higher, making US-made products higher priced which invites off-shoring jobs.

Lastly, and importantly, health workers' pay is NOT a significant cause of the problem.

Patenting seeds has led to a farming and food crisis – and huge profits for US biotechnology corporations.
by DR VANDANA SHIVA in Aljazeera | 12.02.08
Other wealthy individuals have also funded a series of reports into the future use of technologies to geoengineer the climate
by JOHN VIDAL in the UK Guardian | 12.02.07
New proposals on pollution levels at beaches from the Environmental Protection Agency would allow one in every 28 visitors to get sick.
The Atlantic | 12.02.04
So far, Obama and his campaign have been running from climate change. But soon enough, they'll have to embrace it.
by KATE SHEPPARD for Mother Jones | 12.02.03
The current practice has serious and widespread environmental consequences for countries fishing on the high-seas, the international community, and ocean ecosystems. And time in running out.
Pew Environment | 12.02.03
In a reversal of policy after a nationwide uproar over its decision to cut funding to Planned Parenthood, Susan G. Komen for the Cure will amend its new funding rules and allow continued funding of breast health programs operated by the clinic, news outlets reported Friday morning.
by ERYN BROWN in the LA Times | 12.02.03
The breast cancer charity's withdrawal of support for Planned Parenthood will sacrifice women's health to anti-choice dogma
by LIZZ WINSTEAD in the UK Guardian | 12.02.02
Democracy Now! | 12.02.02
The millions of gallons of chemical- laced wastewater that fracking produces must flow somewhere, and Ohio is trying not to be that place.
by MARK NIQUETTE in BusinessWeek | 12.02.02
The aviation fuel known as "avgas" accounts for less than 1 percent of the nation's liquid fuel use, but enough piston engine planes use it to belch out half of all the lead going into the nation's air.
The letter featured in ads in the New York Times and Politico (PDF), calls for a precautionary, science-based approach to offshore planning that better assesses the consequences of energy development in a rapidly changing marine ecosystem.
by MARY ENGEL for Pew Environment Group | 12.01.30
No Republicans voted for the bill.
The apparent defeat of SB 810, which faces a Tuesday deadline for passing the Senate, was the latest setback for supporters of the single-payer movement, who have pushed the proposal multiple times in recent years. The last version to win legislative approval was vetoed by then-GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
by TOREY VAN OOT and JIM SANDERS in McClatchy | 12.01.28
Apple demands that its suppliers come into compliance or risk losing their contracts with the company.
A Chinese environmental group released its own study claiming that Apple’s suppliers often discharge pollutants and hazardous chemical into surrounding communities, threatening public health.
by DAVID BARBOZA in NYT Green blog | 12.01.27
India joins pockets of Italy, Spain and Hawaii where rising fuel costs and lower panel prices make solar pay for itself without state subsidies.
by NATALIE OBIKO PEARSON in Bloomberg | 12.01.25
Breathing outdoor air is dangerous! “We’re finding out that many more species are in harm’s way from mercury than we thought.”
...contaminated birds had trouble sitting on their eggs long enough for them to hatch. They seemed easily distracted, and the impact on the rates of reproduction was alarming.
by ANTHONY DEPALMA in NYT Green blog | 12.01.24
At 8% efficiency the entire world could obtain all the electricity it needs from solar cells covering land equivalent to the size of Colorado (~ 100,000 square miles). Some of the most recent, and experimental, PV cells have surpassed 40% efficiency.
by AARON SAENZ in the Singularity Hub | 12.01.24
Why does an appendectomy in Germany cost roughly a quarter what it costs in the United States? Or an M.R.I. scan cost less than a third as much, on average, in Canada?
EDITORIAL in the New York Times | 12.01.22
Q. What ingredients used in Twinkies most surprised you?
A. Vitamins. I found they were...made from petroleum and fermented in enormous industrial plants mostly in China. To find out that a lot of my vitamins, and in particular the B vitamins in enriched flour...were made from Chinese petroleum just blew my mind.
by TARA PARKER-POPE in NYT Well blog | 12.01.22
How Industry Money Reaches (bribes?) Physicians
Special Report in Pro Publica | Ref.
OECD Indicators
Report by OECD | Ref.
Why is Healthcare Absurdly Expensive in USA: Graphics (Part 2) (Part 1 is here) Videos of Health Care Systems in Less Corrupt Countries
SOURCE: Public Broadcasting System & ABC News | Ref.
Health Care Reform Reality Check
SOURCE: The White House | Ref.
Health Care Reform: An Online Guide
SOURCE: Slate Mag. | Ref.
OECD Health Data [Updated 11.08.07]
SOURCE: OECD | Ref.
International Healthcare Systems Primer
SOURCE: The American Medical Student Association | Ref.
Global Warming Links
SOURCE: Readers | Ref.
A foreclosure settlement between five major banks guilty of “robo-signing” and the attorneys general of the 50 states is pending for Monday, February 6th; but it is still not clear if all the AGs will sign.
by ELLEN BROWN in Web of Debt | 12.02.05
Why do we lock up so many people?
...there are now more people under “correctional supervision” in America—more than six million—than were in the Gulag Archipelago under Stalin at its height.
by ADAM GOPNIK in the New Yorker | 12.02.04
“...what Congress really wants is... to trick those outside of the Beltway into believing they are doing something about this corruption,” wrote Yale law professor Jonathan Macey in the Wall Street Journal.
by SAHIL KAPUR in Talking Points Memo - DC | 12.02.03
Amazing! How many decades did this take?
The legislation would require disclosure of new stock transactions on the Internet within 30 days and explicitly prohibit members of Congress from initiating trades based on non-public information they acquired in their official capacity.
by LARRY MARGASAK in the AP | 12.01.31
A U.S. Marine's guilty plea to dereliction of duty closes the books on the slayings of 24 Iraqis. But it also underscores what Iraqis see as American impunity.
by RAHEEM SALMAN and PATRICK J. MCDONNELL in Los Angeles Times | 12.01.25
The question that needs to be investigated is why robo-signing was being done. The alleged justification—that the bankers were so busy that they cut corners—hardly seems credible given the extent of the practice.
by ELLEN BROWN in Web of Debt | 12.01.25
by MELISSA FACH in Search Engine Journal | 12.01.22
Civic Events:
11/30: Sustainable Energy Forum

The Big Picture | 12.01.24
How will what universities teach be different? Here are some guesses and hopes.
by LAWRENCE H. SUMMERS in the New York Times | 12.01.23
Arts & Education Events:
empty...


Letters to the Editor
by Readers | Ongoing
Open Letters:
Sugar cane has vanished as a Hawaiian crop; Dole owns the only remaining pineapple plantation. More profitable coffee is grown instead.
by LOUISE ROBERTS SHELDON in a Baltimore Chronicle exclusive | 12.01.13
 

Our certification is built on a simple idea: in order to do better, you have to know better.
The GOP seems to understand a psychological phenomenon that researchers are studying: conservatives appear to be motivated by fear in a way that liberals are not.
by EMILY BADGER in AlterNet | 12.02.06
Federal income tax is progressive but not as progressive as it used to be. Payroll taxes aren't progressive. In fact, they're actively regressive, with the poor and middle classes paying higher rates than the rich. And then there are state taxes....
by KEVIN DRUM for Mother Jones | 12.02.04
Reddit and the forces of the Internet virtually killed proposed anti-piracy bills SOPA and PIPA....
Forbes | 12.02.04
I’ve been thinking about the “event of all events,” the players, the audience, the food, the commercials, and the impact.
by FRED CEDERHOLM in his blog | 12.02.03
by NICHOLAS CONFESSORE and MICHAEL LUO in the New York Times | 12.02.02
Rule by and for the Super-rich: Leading Republican groups raised more than four times as much money as their Democratic counterparts
by NICHOLAS CONFESSORE and MICHAEL LUO in the New York Times | 12.02.01
All together, Gingrich’s emphasis on partisan warfare über alles sped the demise of the comity that is essential to the functioning of Congress. If the parties refuse to work together, little can be achieved without super-majorities. Earlier this month, James Lardner laid out in this magazine a proposal to roll back much of Gingrich’s work and fix Congress.
by ALEX SEITZ-WALD in The Nation | 12.01.31
7 signs the corporatocracy is losing its legitimacy ... and 7 populist tools to help shut it down.
In the same way as boycotts and protests ended apartheid's grip in South Africa, the legitimacy of rule by giant corporations and Wall Street banks is crumbling.
Police once again ratcheted up the tension by using force against an entire crowd of protesters.
OPD's large-scale use of force against the mostly peaceful crowd visibly escalated the tension. “There are fucking kids here!” one activist could be heard shouting on Mark Mason's livestream. “What's wrong with you fucking people?”
by JOSHUA HOLLAND in AlterNet | 12.01.30
Conservatism is a reaction to democratic movements, like OWS, that challenge the authority of elites.
Excerpt from COREY ROBIN's "The Reactionary Mind" in AlterNet | 12.01.30
I get angry because betrayal by the “good guys” for whom I have ended up voting has become the norm.
by ROBERT SCHEER in truthdig | 12.01.29
by LENA GROEGER in Pro Publica | 12.01.25
The making of a post-post-partisan Presidency.
Obama’s rhetoric about a nation of common purpose and values no longer fits this country: there really is a red America and a blue America.
by RYAN LIZZA in The New Yorker | 12.01.24
Other animals play nice together, what about red and blue programmed humans in the U.S.?
Romney has refused to sign on to the Obama administration’s “Buffett rule,” which aims to ensure that millionaires can’t dodge taxes to the extent that they’re paying less than teachers.
by PAT GAROFALO in Think Progress | 12.01.24
The debates have actually been fun to watch. (OK, I admit to having a somewhat perverse sense of humor.)
by FRED CEDERHOLM in his blog | 12.01.24
Newt Gingrich won by about 12 points & the brief takeaways are...
by SEAN TRENDE in Real Clear Politics | 12.01.22
In an unusually religion-soaked primary season, faith has been front and center for months. What's next?
[Wake up America!]
by ROB BOSTON in the AlterNet | 12.01.21
These great documentary films have a simple lesson: effective political protest needs good organisation and smart messaging
by NAOMI WOLF in the UK Guardian | 12.02.03
by Reuters via The Express Tribune | 12.02.02
This is a rare period of diplomatic momentum made possible by leveraging international unity regarding Iran. “A peaceful resolution . . . is still possible, and far better,” the President said in the State of the Union. An attack now by either Israel or the United States would shatter diplomacy’s achievements.
by STEVE COLL in the New Yorker | 12.01.31
As technology allows machines to make their own decisions, warfare will be become bloodier – and less accountable
by GEORGE MONBIOT in the UK Guardian | 12.01.30
Growing inequality, environmental decline and "teetering" economies mean the world must change the way it does business, a UN report concludes.
by RICHARD BLACK in BBC News | 12.01.30
Iran is ready to revive talks with the U.S. and other world powers, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday, but suggested that Tehran's foes will have to make compromises to prevent negotiations from again collapsing in stalemate.
by BRIAN MURPHY in AP via Atlanta Journal-Constitution | 12.01.26
by ROBERT PARRY in Consortium News | 12.01.24
[The public only hears repetition of lies from Republican politicians–esp. on Fox News–because mainstream media is reluctant to clarify economic issues and rebut lying reporters and politicians.]
by MARK MURRAY in MSNBC's First Read | 12.02.07
Alarmist reporting on 'terrorist' threat
Diane Sawyer set up the report with an assertion that Iran is "more determined than ever to launch an attack on U.S. soil."
FAIR | 12.02.02
Flagrant unprofessional bias in reporting
Ever since what once was the best paper in the US was purchased by Rupert Murdoch, its value as a source of business news been continuously degraded.
by BARRY RITHOLTZ in The Big Picture | 12.02.02
Over the weekend, two amazingly bad articles were published about climate change. Both were loaded with mistakes, misinterpretations, and outright misinformation, and are simply so factually wrong that they almost read like parodies. Trying to turn a lifetime of personal moral failings into reasons why a person would make a stronger leader—in spite of an actual political record that can be studied, in order to determine pre-publication whether your premise is utter and complete bullshit—that takes some doing.
by HUNTER in Daily Kos | 12.01.29
Somerby is undoubtedly America's best mainstream media critic, holding both "conservatives" and "liberals" to account for unprofessional journalism.
BOB SOMERBY in The Daily Howler | EVERY WEEKDAY
In recognition of the dangers inherent in the consolidation of mainstream corporate media The Baltimore Chronicle & Sentinel (formerly a newspaper) advances awareness of important suppressed news and opinion.
The kindness of your donation would be appreciated
Subscribe for only $2.00/mo. Set low on purpose—we know we're not your main news source.
You can also mail a check to:
Baltimore News Network, Inc.
P.O. Box 42581
Baltimore, MD 21284-2581

by ERIC ZEMAN in Information Week | 12.02.07
[Citizen's United Ruling has forced Democrats to pander more for donations from the very rich and corporations with quid pro quo political principle implications]
by GLENN THRUSH in Politico | 12.02.07
Republican obstruction of the tax cut would cut workers' net pay and cut off unemployment benefits for tens of thousands of workers in many of the hardest-hit states.
EDITORIAL in the New York Times | 12.02.07
From schools to prisons, outsourcing government's works typically ends with cronyism, waste and unaccountability
by MIKE KONCZAL in Alternet | 12.02.06
Private equity firms have become increasingly adept at using financial gimmicks to line their pockets, deriving enormous wealth not from management or investing skills but, rather, from the way the U.S. tax system works.
by JAMES SUROWIECKI in the New Yorker | 12.02.03
[Vulture Capitalism strikes again!]
AMR Corp. wants to terminate all four of its pension plans as part of a broad bankruptcy restructuring that aims to cut costs by $2 billion a year, the company said today.
by ANDREA AHLES in McClatchy | 12.02.02
The bottom 80% is employed as service workers/debt serfs or bought off with bread-and-circus welfare to keep them quiet and passive. The system doesn't have to work for the bottom 80%, it just has to sustain them at a level that doesn't spark revolt.
OfTwoMinds.com | 12.02.02
The Emperor Has No Clothes
The consequences of a dead economy when the government is wasting trillions of dollars in wars of naked aggression and in bailouts of fraudulent financial institutions is a government budget that can only be financed by printing money.
by PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS in CounterPunch | 12.02.01
President Obama's State of the Union speech was surprisingly bullish on reviving manufacturing, prompting one very clever person on Twitter to say something along the lines of: "Democrats want the economy of the 1950s, while Republicans just want to live there."
by DEREK THOMPSON in The Atlantic | 12.01.30
The cuts are a credible down payment on his pledge to reduce projected defense spending by $487 billion in the next decade. They are not going to be enough. Here are some additional cuts that make sense:
EDITORIAL in the New York Times | 12.01.30
[Given the internationalism of economics, manufacturing and trade, what should modern Nation States focus on?]
In modern businesses, every product and many services are imagined, designed, marketed and built through global supply chains that seek to access the best quality talent at the lowest cost, wherever it exists.
by THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN in the New York Times | 12.01.29
Boycotting Apple for better Foxconn wages and conditions is like having sex for virginity. Entirely counter-productive and exactly the wrong thing to be doing.
by TIM WORSTALL in Forbes | 12.01.29
Their society’s high level of freedom and broadly-shared prosperity began when workers and farmers, along with middle class allies, waged a nonviolent struggle that empowered the people to govern for the common good.
by GEORGE LAKEY in Waging Nonviolence | 12.01.28
A lower unemployment rate isn't enough. Americans need work that pays the bills.
[Related: The Shift from Manufacturing - Graphic]
by JONATHAN TASINI in Los Angeles Times | 12.01.27
[Why are so-called advanced countries so detached from what is happening?]
by PETER MURRAY in Singularity Hub | 12.01.27
by EMMA ROSS-THOMAS in Bloomberg News | 12.01.27
The investigators will consider a variety of cases, including false statements, mail and wire fraud, and failure to comply with the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989. This law empowers investigators to examine wrongdoings going back a decade.
by LOREN BERLIN in Huffington Post | 12.01.27
by MATTHEW G. MILLER in Bloomberg | 12.01.25
Germany with its manufacturing base and export prowess is the U.S. of yesteryear, an economic power unlike any of its European neighbors. It has thrived on principles America seems to have lost.
by DON LEE in the Los Angeles Times | 12.01.24
The crisis of Western liberal capitalism has coincided with the rise of a powerful new form of state capitalism in emerging markets
The Economist | 12.01.23
It isn’t just that workers are cheaper abroad. Apple’s executives believe the vast scale of overseas factories as well as the flexibility, diligence and industrial skills of foreign workers have so outpaced their American counterparts that “Made in the U.S.A.” is no longer a viable option for most...products
[Related: spirited message board comments on Slashdot.]
by CHARLES DUHIGG and KEITH BRADSHER in the New York Times | 12.01.22
Bill Moyers talks to President Reagan's former budget director about the way Wall Street runs Washington.
by BILL MOYERS in AlterNet | 12.01.22
by ANDREW HACKER in The New York Review of Books | Ref.
Google
 
Web BaltimoreChronicle.com
We invite your comments, criticisms and suggestions.
Copyright © 2012 The Baltimore Chronicle and the SENTINEL. All rights reserved.
Republication or redistribution of Baltimore Chronicle and Sentinel content is expressly prohibited without their prior written consent.