"Ezra Klein" - Cutting Medicaid Means Cutting Care for the Poor, Sick and Elderly

Published on Tuesday, April 5, 2011 by The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/cutting-medicaid-means-cutting-care-for-the-poor-sick-and-elderly/2011/03/28/AFXlFeiC_blog.html

by Ezra Klein

The part of Paul Ryan’s budget that’s going to get the most attention is his proposal to privatize and voucherize Medicare. But the part that worries me the most is his effort to slash Medicaid, with no real theory as to how to make up the cuts.

Ryan’s op-ed introducing his budget lists Medicaid under “welfare reform,” reflecting the widespread belief that Medicaid is a program for the poor. That belief is wrong, or at least incomplete. A full two-thirds of Medicaid’s spending goes to seniors and people with disabilities — even though seniors and the disabled are only a quarter of Medicaid’s members. Sharply cutting Medicaid means sharply cutting their benefits, as that’s where the bulk of Medicaid’s money goes. This is not just about the free health care given to some hypothetical class of undeserving and unemployed Medicaid queens.

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"Al Jazeera English" - 'No Safe Levels' of Radiation in Japan

Published on Tuesday, April 5, 2011 by Al-Jazeera-English

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/04/20114219250664111.html

Experts warn that any detectable level of radiation is "too much".

Al Jazeera English

In a nuclear crisis that is becoming increasingly serious, Japan’s Nuclear Safety Agency confirmed that radioactive iodine-131 in seawater samples taken near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex that was seriously damaged by the recent tsunami off the coast of Japan is 4,385 times the level permitted by law.

Airborne radiation near the plant has been measured at 4-times government limits.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, the company that operates the crippled plant, has begun releasing more than 11,000 tons of radioactive water that was used to cool the fuel rods into the ocean while it attempts to find the source of radioactive leaks. The water being released is about 100 times more radioactive than legal limits.

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Honeybees 'entomb' hives to protect against pesticides, say scientists

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/apr/04/honeybees-entomb-hives?&

By sealing up cells full of contaminated pollen, bees appear to be attempting to protect the rest of the hive

guardian.co.uk, Monday 4 April 2011 17.21 BST

Honeybees are taking emergency measures to protect their hives from pesticides, in an extraordinary example of the natural world adapting swiftly to our depredations, according to a prominent bee expert.

Scientists have found numerous examples of a new phenomenon – bees "entombing" or sealing up hive cells full of pollen to put them out of use, and protect the rest of the hive from their contents. The pollen stored in the sealed-up cells has been found to contain dramatically higher levels of pesticides and other potentially harmful chemicals than the pollen stored in neighbouring cells, which is used to feed growing young bees.

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“Richard A. Serrano” - Obama administration won’t pursue civilian trials for 9/11 suspects

Richard A. Serrano

April 4, 2011

http://www.progressivenewsdaily.com/?p=14208

The decision, announced Monday by Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr., marks a sharp political setback for President Obama, who had repeatedly pledged to use civilian courts to try “high-value” terrorism suspects.

The Obama administration admitted defeat in its efforts to prosecute the self-described mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks before a civilian jury in New York City, announcing that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four others would be tried by a military commission at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The decision, announced Monday by Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr., marks a sharp political setback for President Obama, who had repeatedly pledged to use civilian courts to try “high-value” terrorism suspects. It also creates fresh uncertainty about the legal road ahead for senior Al Qaeda suspects now in custody.

A federal judge in Manhattan promptly dismissed a sealed grand jury indictment from December 2009 against Mohammed and the four others pending transfer of the case to the military tribunal. The existence of the 10-count, 81-page federal indictment against the five men was not previously known.

“NPR” - How The 'Pox' Epidemic Changed Vaccination Rules

NPR.org

April 5, 2011

http://www.npr.org/2011/04/05/135121451/how-the-pox-epidemic-changed-vaccination-rules

Historian Michael Willrich was planning to write a book about civil liberties in the aftermath of Sept. 11 when he stumbled across an article from The New York Times archives. It was about a 1901 smallpox vaccination raid in New York — when 250 men arrived at a Little Italy tenement house in the middle of the night and set about vaccinating everyone they could find.

"There were scenes of policemen holding down men in their night robes while vaccinators began their work on their arms," Willrich tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. "Inspectors were going room to room looking for children with smallpox. And when they found them, they were literally tearing babes from their mothers' arms to take them to the city pest house [which housed smallpox victims.]"

The vaccination raid was not an isolated incident. As the smallpox epidemic swept across the country, New York and Boston policemen conducted several raids and health officials across the country ordered mandatory vaccinations in schools, factories and on railroads. In Pox: An American History, Willrich details how the smallpox epidemic of 1898-1904 had far-reaching implications for public health officials — as well as Americans concerned about their own civil liberties.

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“Scott Hensley” - GOP Unveils Plan To Remake Medicare And Medicaid

Scott Hensley

April 5, 2011

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/?ps=sh_hdshots

The GOP's health care cat is now fully out of the bag. And it's a big one.

All told the Republicans say their stingier federal budget would save $6.2 trillion over the one President Obama wants. The GOP roadmap, as expected, proposes big changes for Medicare and Medicaid.

Rep. Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, and his Republican colleagues were busy stumping for their plan to rein in federal spending government today.

It would switch people under 55 to a system of private Medicare insurance that would be subsidized by the federal government. Individuals would pick a government-approved plan rather than a program run by the government. "We want to harness the power of patient choice — of competition — on behalf of future seniors in Medicare," Ryan said in a news briefing.

He said the Republican's plan would work a lot like the part of Medicare that already covers prescriptions medicines. The government would defray some of those costs, or provide what's sometimes called premium support. "We propose we support people more if they're low income, more as they get sick," Ryan said. "And wealthy seniors," he said, "don't get as much support." The change would save Medicare a lot of dough, the Republicans say.

The GOP would also change Medicaid pretty dramatically. Their plan would give states a fixed pot of money in the form of block grants to pay for Medicaid, health coverage for the poor. The approach would also have the effect of reducing Medicaid spending.

Oh, and the GOP would, if you've forgotten, also do away with the Democrats' sweeping health overhaul law.

Defenders of the current system were quick to criticize the Republican proposal. "This will do terrible damage to Medicare and Medicaid and all the people who have paid into those programs," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), ranking member of the House Budget Committee.

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“Reuters” - India bans Japan food imports, says radiation spreading

Reuters

April 5th, 2011

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/04/05/india-bans-japan-food-imports-says-radiation-spreading/

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India has imposed a three-month ban on imports of food articles from the whole of Japan on fears that radiation from an earthquake-hit nuclear plant was spreading to other parts of the country, becoming the first country to introduce a blanket ban.

The ban comes in the fourth week of unsuccessful attempts to safely secure the Fukushima nuclear power plant in central Japan crippled by an earthquake and tsunami in what could be the world's biggest nuclear disaster in a quarter of a century.

"Import of food articles coming from Japan stand suspended with immediate effect for a period of three months or till such time as credible information is available that the radiation hazard has subsided to acceptable limits," a statement from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

"After detailed discussions, it was concluded that since the radiation is spreading/expanding horizontally in other parts of Japan, it may result in further radioactive contamination in the supply chain of food exports from Japan," the statement added.

India mainly imports a small volume of processed food items, fruits and vegetable from Japan.

Japan said on Tuesday it was considering imposing radioactivity restrictions on seafood after contaminated fish were found in seas well south of the damaged nuclear reactors.

A number of countries have imposed bans on dairy products, meat, fish and other produce from areas near the crippled nuclear power plant. Many others are monitoring radiation levels in goods imported from Japan.

“Stephen C. Webster” - President Obama’s top 5 broken campaign promises

Stephen C. Webster

April 5th, 2011                 

 http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/04/05/the-top-five-campaign-promises-obama-left-behind/

President Barack Obama came to office on a tide of voters eager to see a change in more than just the White House's occupant. Two years into his presidency -- and one day after he launched his 2012 reelection campaign -- and even some of his most ardent supporters are having trouble coming to terms with the answer to Sarah Palin's 2010 question: "How's that hopey, changey stuff working out?"

Polls show that less than half the country believes President Obama deserves reelection, with disaffected liberals now a fast growing demographic.

Even though Obama clearly leads all of the likely Republican front-runners at this point, the deep dissatisfaction brewing within his core constituency could make the president, and his whole party, uniquely vulnerable in next year's elections.

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“Dr. Mercola” - Study Finds Routine Periodic Fasting is Good for Your Health, and Your Heart

Dr. Mercola

April 5, 2011

http://blogs.mercola.com/sites/vitalvotes/archive/2011/04/05/study-finds-routine-periodic-fasting-is-good-for-your-health-and-your-heart.aspx

New evidence demonstrates that routine periodic fasting is good for your health. Fasting lowers your risk of coronary artery disease and diabetes, but also can cause significant changes in your blood cholesterol levels.

The discovery expands upon previous work that showed an association between fasting and reduced risk of coronary heart disease, a leading cause of death.

According to Eurekalert:

“This recent study also confirmed earlier findings about the effects of fasting on human growth hormone (HGH), a metabolic protein. HGH works to protect lean muscle and metabolic balance, a response triggered and accelerated by fasting. During the 24-hour fasting periods, HGH increased an average of 1,300 percent in women, and nearly 2,000 percent in men.”

“Dr. Mercola” - Don’t Let Your Child Be the Next Victim of This Deadly Vaccine

Dr. Mercola

April 5, 2011

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/04/05/gardasil-vaccine-victims-and-deaths--did-you-know.aspx

The Greater Good looks behind the fear, hype and politics that have polarized the vaccine debate in America today. The film re-frames the emotionally charged issue and features many different perspectives, including the voices of families whose lives have been touched by vaccine reactions, so there is an opportunity for a compassionate, rational and scientific discussion about vaccination.

The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) has issued an alert to Washington state residents about a bill that recently passed the state legislature and is headed for the Governor’s desk. The legislation threatens your fundamental right to make informed, voluntary decisions about vaccination. It requires doctors and nurses to personally sign all religious or personal belief exemptions to vaccination filed with the state.

According to NVIC:

"If this bill becomes law, it will put doctors, nurses and other medical personnel in the legal position of acting as inquisitors of religious beliefs held by fellow citizens, which is an invasion of privacy and a de facto violation of First Amendment rights.”

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