"Exemplified by the hundred and some odd people they’ve killed in the last 48 hours, the US is struggling mightily with the narrative that they are taking extraordinary care to limit the number of civilian casualties in the air war in Syria, and are rapidly losing any pretense of a moral high ground." Continue reading →
"Billionaire Saudi Arabian arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi is best known for his roles in some of the most infamous political scandals of the 1980s. They include the Iran-Contra affair (he was a key middleman in the arms-for-hostages exchange) and accusations that he concealed funds alongside Philippines First Lady Imelda Marcos. But the 81-year-old, who now lives in Monaco, was also a womanizer with multiple wives and a bevy of beautiful girls at his beck and call. Among them was young American model Jill Dodd." Continue reading →
"Trump has said he wants to encourage international weapons sales as a way to create jobs in the United States. Saudi Arabia agreed to buy $110 billion of U.S. arms, with options running as high as $350 billion over 10 years. The lawmakers aim to block about $500 million of the sale, the portion including precision-guided munitions and other offensive weapons. 'Given Saudi Arabia's past support of terror, poor human rights record, and questionable tactics in its war in Yemen, Congress must carefully consider and thoroughly debate if selling them billions of dollars of arms is in our best national security interest at this time,' Paul said in a statement." Continue reading →
"President Rodrigo Duterte made a joke about rape as he urged soldiers to use the powers of martial law to take control of a besieged city in the southern Philippines. In the speech Friday, Duterte said he will pay the consequences if any soldiers are accused of abuses. He said: 'I will go to jail for you. If you happen to have raped three women, I will own up to it.' On Tuesday, Duterte imposed 60 days of martial law in the southern Philippines as government forces battle militants in Marawi, a city of some 200,000 people. Duterte is unapologetic about his manner of speech and liberally peppers casual statements with profanities." Continue reading →
"Greg Gianforte has won a special election for Montana’s sole seat in the House of Representatives, just one day after he was charged with misdemeanor assault for 'body-slamming' a Guardian reporter. Speaking at the G7 meeting in Sicily on Friday, Donald Trump called the victory a 'great win in Montana'." Continue reading →
"The president vowed to block German car exports to the U.S. during a meeting with top EU leaders on Thursday, according to German news magazine Der Spiegel. 'The Germans are bad, very bad,' Trump said, according to participants in the room who spoke to Der Spiegel. 'See the millions of cars they sell in the U.S., terrible. We will stop this.' The comments were said to have been made in a meeting with the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and the European Council President Donald Tusk, who both showed support for Germany." Continue reading →
"The FDA will promote the 'environmental, nutritional, food safety, economic, and humanitarian impacts' of biotech crops and food products." Continue reading →
"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 →
"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 →
"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 →