Monday, November 27, 2017

Medicare for All

  1.  Nov 22
    This should not be happening in the richest country in the history of the world. We need to stand up to the greed of Big Pharma, rein in the cost of prescription drugs and implement Medicare for All.
    Alec Raeshawn Smith, age 26, was found dead in his apartment on June 27. He was rationing his insulin after he aged out of his parent’s insurance coverage.
    235 replies5,026 retweets11,081 likes
     
     


The Democrats in Congress could have so much support if they'd only get behind Medicare For All as a party.

Instead, it is still just a few brave souls like Keith Ellison and Bernie Sanders.

The story about Alec Raeshawn Smith is what happens in a for-profit medical system.

Healthcare is a right and we need Medicare for All.




This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for Monday:


Monday, November 27, 2017.  Corruption, crime and abuse grips Iraq.

ALSUMARIA reports that the Iraqi Parliament voted today to abolish the office of public inspectors.  Those would be the ones over corruption investigations..


 THE BAGHDAD POST reported yesterday:



Up to 45 officials of the former Iraqi government, headed by Nouri al-Maliki, have been arrested in corruption probes, a well-informed source said on Thursday. 
He added that Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi exposed suspicious deals that these officials had made.


Coincidence?

Once upon a time, the US Congress was interested in corruption in Iraq.  It was right after the Democrats won control of both houses in the 2006 mid-term elections.  Grasping that the US taxpayers were footing the bill for everything -- not just the war -- in Iraq, Congress was concerned about corruption and held hearings on the subject.

Now the money gets shipped over but there's not even the pretense of oversight.

Just like weapons get supplied by the US that Baghdad uses to attack the Kurds and the Sunnis.

They kill and create even more refugees.



  1.  2 hours ago

: We did not expect Iraqi forces to be the reason why 180,000 people from were displaced, says.


1 reply8 retweets11 likes






Various laws and treaties demand that the US halt all supplies to Iraq but the US government looks the other way.


 19 hours ago
Replying to 


PMF militants and the Iraqi army are involved in acts of persecution, forced displacement and Arabization of the occupied territories of Kurdistan, including Kirkuk. Those responsible MUST be brought to justice


3 replies40 retweets28 likes





As the civilians are attacked, the US looks the other way.

Ghaith Abdul-Ahad reported for THE GUARDIAN on how the Iraqi forces have attacked the Iraqi civilians in Mosul.  Over the weekend, Amnesty International's UK director wrote to the editorial board of THE GUARDIAN:

 Ghaith Abdul-Ahad’s extremely disturbing report on Iraqi government soldiers torturing and cold-bloodedly killing captives after this year’s battle for Mosul should be urgently acted on (After the liberation of Mosul, an orgy of killing, 22 November). The authorities in Baghdad should establish an independent, impartial inquiry into all aspects of the conduct of its troops and allied forces – including United States and United Kingdom ones – during this cataclysmically bloody assault.
Deliberately killing fighters who have surrendered or who have been captured is absolutely prohibited under international law. Needless to say, killing civilians in these circumstances is also utterly unlawful – a war crime.
Kate Allen
Director, Amnesty International UK



It gets worse.  RT reports:

The Americans have finished with the Kurds, now they can pack up and go. This is what happened in Iraqi Kurdistan, and in Syrian Kurdistan the same situation will be repeated, says award-winning Iraqi Kurdish journalist Hiwa Osman.
US President Donald Trump has apparently promised he will “not provide weapons to the YPG [People’s Protection Units],” according to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, who was present during the phone call between the US president and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.


The US government has a long history of betraying the Kurds.

They also have a history of looking the other way as tyrants they install abuse the people.

Hayder al-Abadi's abuse includes abuse of journalists.  Saturday CPJ issued the following:







CPJ calls on Iraqi authorities to release journalist Samir Obeid

6:45 PM - 25 Nov 2017

20 retweets14 likes







October 22nd, the Iraqi military descended upon Samir's home and dragged him off.  His crime?  Hayder al-Abadi didn't like Samir's reporting.

In other news, Captain Ahmad Jarah was killed in Baghdad today in a motorcycle drive by.  In Baghdad.  In broad daylight.  Grasp what that says and foretells.


New content at THIRD:






And we'll close with this from the ACLU:







Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Pai is pushing to reverse net neutrality protections – important rules for protecting the free flow of information on the internet. Pai’s proposal allows the companies that provide our internet connection new measures of control over what we do online. This would be a devastating blow to the free and open internet we rely on for streaming videos, communicating with our networks – and yes, reading critical news stories about the state of our democracy.
A world without net neutrality means a world where internet companies like Verizon and Comcast would have the power to interfere with our decisions about which news outlets – and therefore, what news – we should consume.
In 2015 we fought for net neutrality protections and against enormous odds, we won. Now we’re up against great odds again and need to fight back just as hard. Chairman Pai is planning to announce a vote to slash critical net neutrality rules on Wednesday, November 22. Once he announces a vote, it will be difficult to reverse course. But if he hears from enough members of Congress who oppose his plan, we may be able to persuade him to stall his plan.
The ACLU is partnering with Fight for the Future and The Harry Potter Alliance to save net neutrality.



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