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TRUMP - RUSSIA PROBE
BARR LETTER
MUELLER REPORT |
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| WHITE SUPREMACY |
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| ISIS |
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| END GUN VIOLENCE |
An ‘epidemic’ of gun-related deaths in children over the past decade
Mortality rates due to firearms are increasing at an alarming rate among teenagers and African-American children, according to a new report. Researchers looked at nearly 40,000 deaths between 1999 and 2017 and found that about 20 percent of all deaths in children ages 15-18 was due to firearms — a total of 32,000 teenagers. The study also found that nearly 41 percent of all deaths were in African-American children, 86 percent of all deaths were boys, and most were homicides. “This increasing epidemic poses increasing clinical, public health, and policy challenges,” the authors write. [STAT: Morning Rounds, March 22, 2019]
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| VOTER SUPPRESSION |
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| HEALTHCARE |
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi holds a press conference on health care today, a day after Trump decided to try to strip away every protection under the Affordable Care Act, including coverage for people with pre-existing conditions; cost savings for senior citizens on Medicare and their prescription drugs; free mammograms, cholesterol tests, and birth control; and the ability for young adults to stay on their parents' health insurance plans until they turn 26. Basically, disrupting coverage for the millions of people who get their health insurance on the exchanges or through Medicaid expansion.
If you recall, a federal district judge in Texas struck down Obamacare last December, ruling that the individual mandate -- the requirement that everybody have health insurance -- was unconstitutional, so the entire law was invalid. At the time, the Justice Department appealed, but it told the appeals court sure, it's fine with us if you get rid of protections for people with pre-existing conditions and the community rating rule, but we're going to defend the rest of the law.
No more.
Yesterday the Justice Department reversed course and told the federal appeals court where the case is now that it wasn't going to defend any part of the law. So much for Trump's promise to protect sick people!
Instead, a coalition of 21 Democratic states led by California stepped in, joined by the US House as soon as Democrats returned to power there.
What's really interesting is how Trump relies on the fact that his supporters will not do any independent research to verify the truth of his claims and promises. So he lies with abandon, knowing they'll leave their brains at the door.
Health care is a perfect example: At the same time that he was telling adoring acolytes at rallies that he would protect people with pre-existing conditions, his Justice Department was doing exactly the opposite -- with his blessing. Just incredible. [Fast Forward, March 26, 2019]
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| FROM THE PORCH |
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| READ |
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| MADAGASCAR |
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| YEMEN |
Yemen experiences a spike in cholera cases
Yemen has seen 100,000 suspected cases of cholera so far this year, according to a new UN report, with over 190 deaths as a result. One of the largest hospitals in the capital city of Sanaa reported 50 cases per day last week. Since 2016, the country has had two cholera outbreaks amid an ongoing civil war and a collapsing health care system. In a statement yesterday, the WHO’s regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean, who just visited Yemen, called for more than $600 million in aid for the response effort for “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.”
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| SYRIA |
Syria, ISIS and The Long War
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On 23 March, the Syrian Democratic Forces announced the capture of Baghouz, the last remaining ISIS stronghold in Syria.
- This may arguably mark the end of the physical caliphate, but the question of whether ISIS is defeated in Iraq and Syria remains a point of heated debate.
- Too much of the dispute, however, has posed this as a binary argument: yes (for defeat) or no (undefeated), worthy of an Oxford Union debate.
- Yet, the answer is far more nuanced, and far less important than the news would suggest. Whatever side of the argument one sits on Syria, the Long War is far from over. [The Cipher Brief, March 25, 2019]
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| DAILY SPECIALS |
NOTE: I have no official connection to any organization from which information is shared.. Occasionally, I post informational material and/or an opportunity to donate or join as a "community service" announcement. These again are shared for their varying perspectives.
Any commercial or business interest information shared is purely informational, not an endorsement. I have no connection with any such commercial or business interest.
Any books listed are random or topic-related to something else in the post. Think of these as a "library bookshelf" to browse. They are shared for informational or entertainment value only, not as being recommended.
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