U.S. Government Set To Spend Millions On Pro-GMO Propaganda
"The FDA will promote the 'environmental, nutritional, food safety, economic, and humanitarian impacts' of biotech crops and food products." Continue reading →
Aetna to Obamacare: We’re outta here
"Aetna is saying goodbye to Obamacare. The insurance giant announced Wednesday that it would not offer policies in Nebraska or Delaware next year, completing its exit from the exchanges. Earlier this year, Aetna said it would pull out of Iowa and Virginia in 2018. The company said it expects to lose more than $200 million in its individual business line this year, on top of nearly $700 million in losses between 2014 and 2016. Aetna withdrew from 11 of its 15 markets for 2017. It has 255,000 Obamacare policyholders this year, down from 964,000 at the end of last year." Continue reading →
Obamacare for some: 49% price hike since 2014, premiums of $14,300
"Millions of Obamacare customers who do not qualify for financial aid to lower the cost of their health insurance — or who opt not to apply for such assistance — pay the full cost of coverage for their plans. While the Republican Obamacare replacement bill pending in Congress would increase the number of people who would qualify for subsidies, the bill is also expected to increase average premiums over the next two years higher than they would be under Obamacare." Continue reading →
California’s Single-Payer Health Plan Costs More Than the State’s Whole Budget
"The list of states that have tried to go single-payer is still a small sample size, but a fairly wide ranging one. It includes states with large populations and small ones. States with a variety of economies and tax systems. States that are growing quickly and those that aren't. Despite that range of variables, one thing remains constant: state-level single-payer health plans would require massive increases in tax revenue, equal or larger than the amount of revenue consumed by every other state-level program in a single year." Continue reading →
New Hampshire Senate Kills Bill Banning Support for Warrantless Federal Spying Programs
CONCORD, N.H. (May 25, 2017) – The New Hampshire Senate killed a bill that would have banned “material support or resources” to warrantless federal spying. Rep. Neal Kurk and Rep. Carol McGuire sponsored House Bill 171 (HB171), along with two cosponsors. The legislation would prohibit the state or its political subdivisions from assisting a federal agency…
Louisiana House Passes Bill to Encourage Use of Gold and Silver as Money
BATON ROUGE, La. (May 25, 2017) – Yesterday, the Louisiana House unanimously passed a bill that would exempt the sale and purchase of gold and silver from state sales and use taxes, encouraging their use and taking the first step toward breaking the Federal Reserve’s monopoly on money. Rep. Stephen Dwight (R) and Rep. Mark…
One of the world’s largest financial services firms is mining bitcoins
"Abigail Johnson, chief executive of Fidelity, announced that her customers would be able to see cryptocurrency balances on Fidelity’s website, if they held an account with Coinbase, one of the largest providers of storage and trading services in the cryptocurrency business. Johnson also revealed a number of other Fidelity projects underway to figure out how to harness the potential of bitcoin and other digital currencies. One of Fidelity’s projects is mining bitcoin and ethereum, which Johnson said was started for educational purposes, but now turns a tidy profit." Continue reading →
Centuries-old disfiguring plague breaks out due to the war in Syria
"Doctors in Lebanon are trying to control an outbreak of a centuries-old disease that has re-emerged because of the war in Syria. The 'Aleppo boil', named after the northern Syrian city, had largely been contained before the start of the conflict. Health workers treating refugees fear it could get worse." Continue reading →
A Story of Slavery in Modern America
"Lola’s travel papers had expired in 1969, five years after we arrived in the U.S. She’d come on a special passport linked to my father’s job. After a series of fallings-out with his superiors, Dad quit the consulate and declared his intent to stay in the United States. He arranged for permanent-resident status for his family, but Lola wasn’t eligible. He was supposed to send her back. Lola’s legal status became what Filipinos call tago nang tago, or TNT—'on the run.' She stayed TNT for almost 20 years." Continue reading →
1Password adds ‘travel mode’ to keep passwords safe at the (US) border
"Increasingly, people are being asked to turn over and unlock their phones at the border, and doing that can expose a huge amount of data. Add in an app like 1Password — a central repository for a ton of private data — and it’s easy to see why someone would be worried about having to hand over their phone." Continue reading →