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The Memory Scrub About Why Ft. Hood Happened Is Almost Complete ... If It Weren't for Archives

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

AlterNet - By Mark Ames - Nov. 24 (News Analysis) - Reading through these credible accounts now, you can see how everyone from the PR flaks in the military to the rightwing machine would want somehow distract people from all the accounts of their pigheaded refusal to exempt or discharge Maj. Hasan, and you can then start to imagine how a lot of editors and viewers wouldn't put up much of a fuss if the story changed to something more palatable to the American public. So with no one interested in protecting Maj. Hasan's motives, and everyone interested in protecting the Army's behavior, the story gets changed from one of "it could have been prevented if Army bureaucrats/officers weren't such raging assholes to Maj. Hasan" to a barrage of leaks from unnamed Army officials, who argued that Maj. Hasan never said peep to anyone about wanting out of the service

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Study Suggest Black Women's Relative Invisibility in Society

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Miller-McCune - By Tom Jacobs - Nov. 24 (News Report) - New research finds black women are more likely to go unnoticed and unappreciated than black men or whites of either gender.

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Single Payer Activists to Congress: Defeat Democratic Health Bill

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Common Dreams - By Russell Mokhiber - Nov. 23 (News Report) - The Democratic health care bill is a massive bailout of the private health insurance industry. It is convoluted and complicated. And it should be defeated.That's the take of a number of leading single payer activists.They will hold a press conference the day before Thanksgiving. And call on Congress to defeat the more than 2,000 page bill. Start from scratch. And pass single payer, Medicare for all, national health insurance.

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Should We Laugh? Cry? Both?

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

New Republic - By Jonathan Cohn - Nov. 23 (News Analysis) - The ritual is becoming familiar. Health care reform passes a major political hurdle. And progressives don?t know whether to laugh or cry. Last time, the occasion was a vote in the House of Representatives. Health care reform passed by the slimmest of margins, but not before conservative Democrats had extracted a major concession on abortion rights. This time, it was a vote in the Senate--not on whether to pass a bill, but whether to begin debating one. This measure, too, passed by the slimmest of margins, but not before conservative Democrats and one notorious independent made clear they were prepared to shut things down later if legislation includes a public insurance option. It?s no fun to watch this unfold. And yet this is the exactly the sort of drama you should expect for the next few weeks, as the Senate deliberations play out. The bill Majority Leader Harry Reid introduced last week is not everything it could be--not by a long shot. And progressives will try their ...

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Is It Time for Malpractice Reform?

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

American Prospect - By Joanne Kenen - Nov. 20 (News Analysis) - Year after year, Republicans try to pass legislation that would limit medical malpractice awards. Fix the tort system, they argue, and we fix rising health-care costs. And year after year, Democrats resist placing arbitrary caps on awards to people who may have suffered from an egregious medical error. The fight plays out like a predictable old Western -- good guys versus bad guys. Depending on your politics, the villain is either the greedy doctor or the greedy trial lawyer.

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On 20th Anniversary of Killings of 6 Jesuit Priests by US-Backed Salvadoran Forces, Thousands to Protest "School of the Assassins" at Ft. Benning

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Democracy Now - By Blasé Bonpane, Amy Goodman - Nov. 20 (Special Report) - This year’s protest will mark the twentieth anniversary of the murder of six Jesuit priests in El Salvador by the US-backed Salvadoran military. It comes days after the priests were posthumously bestowed El Salvador’s highest civilian award, marking the first time the Salvadoran government has honored the priests since their deaths. To talk about the priests and the overall state of Latin American affairs, we’re joined by Blase Bonpane, director of the Office of the Americas. A former Maryknoll priest, he has worked for more than four decades to promote human rights in Latin America.

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Army Suicides Hit Record and Will Likely Continue to Rise

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

TruthOut - By Yana Kunichoff - Nov. 19 (News Report) - Suicides among veterans and soldiers have reached a record high this year and are set to continue rising, Pentagon officials said.

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Legislation to Limit Use of State Secrets Privilege an Uphill Battle

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

TruthOut - By William Fisher - Nov. 19 (Special Report) - The problems President Obama will likely face in this area may stem from his pledges - both during the campaign and currently - that he would make open government and transparency the hallmarks of his administration. But, in court cases, his lawyers have followed paths identical to those used by George W. Bush's Justice Department. This approach to secrecy, manifested in his use of the state secrets doctrine, has triggered widespread disappointment among the progressive wing of his supporters. These supporters are pushing hard for passage of legislation winding its way through Congress that would impose stricter limits on use of the privilege.

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Economists Opposing Fed Audit Have Undisclosed Fed Ties

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By Ryan Grim - Nov. 18 (Investigative Report) - As the debate over an audit of the Federal Reserve intensifies in the House, one camp is trotting out eight academics that it calls a "political cross section of prominent economists." A review of their backgrounds shows they are anything but.

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Docudrama

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

New Republic - By Jonathan Cohn - Nov. 18 (Special Report) - Sometime in August, McKinsey & Company created a PowerPoint document called “Health Care Reform and Implications for Key Stakeholders: What this Could Mean for Client X.” Over the course of 44 slides full of charts and graphs, the firm examines the potential impact of reform on insurers, doctors, hospitals, and the drug industry. McKinsey tells Client X that the presentation’s purpose is to “help inform your understanding of the broader healthcare system impact and what this might mean for your key customers and Client X going forward.” After a source supplied me with the document--which is marked “confidential”--I contacted McKinsey. A spokesperson told me that “Client X” is not a particular company. Instead, he explained, the document is a broad overview of how McKinsey expects health care reform to play out. (It also appears to be a presentation that McKinsey consultants could adapt based on a client’s particular situation.)

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GOP Blocks Freeze On Credit Card Interest Rate Hikes

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By Ryan Grim - Nov. 18 (News) - Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic effort Wednesday to immediately freeze increases in credit card interest rates, fees and finance charges. Shortly after Democrats passed credit card reform legislation in May, the card companies began jacking up rates in advance of its implementation. Major parts of the act won't take effect until February and August of 2010. Earlier this month, to combat the rate hikes, the House passed legislation to move the effective date up to December 1st. The Senate moves much more slowly

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The Dirt on Worms

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

agweb.com - By Pam Smith - Nov. 18 (News Report) - The earthworm has long been considered the farmer’s friend. Their burrowing has always been thought to aerate the soil while their droppings provide fertilizer. No-till farmers count on these tireless workers to improve soil tilth. And on their worst day, earthworms sacrifice everything to land us a lunch from our favorite fishing hole

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Tell Congress to Go To Hell With their Current Health Reform

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Boston Phoenix - By Rob Kall - Nov. 17 (News Analysis) - For OpEdNews: Rob Kall - Writer "I know some of my words are not nice-- crude, vulgar-- but if you're not thinking something like them, you don't get it. And if you have been thinking them, but don't want to say them, send your legislator my article."

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Missing the Gain But Joining the Pain

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Miller-McCune - By Sam Kornell - Nov. 15 (News Analysis) - Since the industrial revolution, profits from the exploitation of fossil energy — coal, oil and natural gas — have not been equally distributed. America, Europe and Japan got rich off of oil and coal; now China, India and much of the rest of the developing world are attempting to do the same thing. If they succeed, climate scientists say, it will mean environmental catastrophe. This progression has created a situation in which any solution to climate change is, to a greater or lesser extent, going to be unfair — a fact many negotiators openly acknowledge. The Danish environmental minister hosting the Copenhagen conference, Connie Hedegaard, has reportedly been "extraordinarily blunt" in insisting that China, India and the rest of the developing world shoulder a large share of the climate load.

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I’d Like the Same Plan Better If It Was Bill Clinton’s

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Miller-McCune - By Tom Jacobs - Nov. 13 (Special Report) - Even among the most extreme opponents of President Obama's push for health care reform — those who equate his proposals to Nazi death camps or Soviet gulags — there's little overtly expressed racism. Aside from the occasional slip by Republican officials in South Carolina,...But implicit racism — prejudice unacknowledged in public and, in many cases, hidden from conscious awareness — is a factor in opposition to Obama's health policies

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Obama China Trip: Human Rights Activists Face Detention, Warnings

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

TruthOut - By Peter Ford - Nov. 13 (News) - While President Obama meets Chinese leaders and converses with handpicked groups of youths on his visit to China next week, another group of citizens expect to be staring at the walls of their apartments.

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Arkansas 10-Year-Old Won't Pledge Allegiance Until Gays Gain Equality

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

edgesanfrancisco.com - By Kilian Melloy - Nov. 13 (News Report) - A 10-year-old Arkansas boy name Will Phillips has decided that he cannot in good conscience pledge allegiance to the flag as long as the country for which it stands refuses legal equality to its GLBT citizens.

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Priest Attack in Florida Worries Muslim Leaders | Not in Our Town

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Not In Our Town - By Suefish - Nov. 13 (News Report) - Muslim leaders in Tampa, Fla., are concerned they might be seeing a backlash from last week’s attacks at Fort Hood. On Nov. 9, a Marine reservist attacked a Greek Orthodox priest who was visiting Tampa from Crete because he thought the clergyman was a Muslim “terrorist.” According to the police report, the priest followed the reservist into a parking garage to ask for directions. The reservist hit the priest with a tire iron, and called 911 to report a “terrorist” had attacked him after shouting “Allahu Akhbar,” "God is great" in Arabic. The priest does not speak Arabic. The reservist’s attorney countered that the priest had followed his client into the garage to sexually assault him. Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy disputed that, telling reporters that Bruce did not mention a sexual attack when he called 911, and later changed his story several times.

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How the US Funds the Taliban

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The Nation - By Aram Roston - Nov. 12 (Special Report) - With Pentagon cash, contractors bribe insurgents not to attack supply lines for US troops

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Virginia Tech Study Contains Lessons for Fort Hood

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Miller-McCune - By Tom Jacobs - Nov. 12 (News Analysis) - The 2007 Virginia Tech massacre resulted in widespread psychological distress among the university's students — whether or not they witnessed the incident firsthand.

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Endless Obstacles Delay Veteran Benefits

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Miller-McCune - By Aaron Glantz - Nov. 12 (Special Report) - The Department of Veterans Affairs routinely delays disability claims by wounded soldiers for months and years, often shunting them into homelessness. But there’s a simple way for the government to get disabled veterans the help they deserve. It can trust them.

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God, the Army, and PTSD

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Boston Review - By Tara McKelvey - Nov. 11 (Special Report) - During the Iraq war, however, the great difficulty veterans experienced in getting psychiatric care—greater than before—was not a product of cost-cutting, but of conviction: many Bush administration officials believed that soldiers who supported the war would not face psychological problems, and if they did, they would find comfort in faith. In a resigned tone, one prominent researcher who worked for the VA, and asked that he not be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the press, explained that high-ranking officials believed that “Jesus fixes everything.” Benimoff and the others who returned with devastating psychological injuries found a faith-based bureau within the VA. At veterans’ hospitals, chaplains were conducting spirituality assessments of patients.

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Marine reservist attacked Greek priest he mistook for terrorist

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

St. Petersburg Times - By Alexandra Zayas, Demorris A. Lee - Nov. 11 (News Report) - Bruce ended up in jail, accused of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He was released Tuesday on $7,500 bail. Marakis ended up at the hospital with stitches. He told the police he didn't want to press charges, espousing biblical forgiveness.

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Anti-Statism In America

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

New Republic - By John B. Judis - Nov. 11 (News Analysis) - Liberals and progressives have fared poorly in the face of this staunch anti-statist tradition, but there have still been periods when they have broken through and enacted major reforms--during Woodrow Wilson’s first term, Franklin Roosevelt’s first term, Lyndon Johnson’s first two years, and Richard Nixon’s first term. They succeeded for different reasons at different times, but several conditions recur.

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The Price of Health Reform: Abortion Rights?

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Mother Jones - By Rachel Morris - Nov. 10 (News Report) - Will health care reform come at the cost of abortion rights? The Democrats? historic health care bill squeaked through the House on Saturday only after pro-life forces scored a major victory. Despite months of wrangling over the public option and the price tag, in the end the legislation's fate turned on an eleventh-hour push by conservative Democrats to broaden the bill's existing limits on government funding of abortion, in the form of an amendment authored by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.). Here?s what happened and what it means:

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