Saturday, April 20th, 2019
, - Reporters Without Borders
Stephan: The Nordic nations and Holland are societies in which wellbeing is the highest social priority. As a result these countries are always in the top five in every social outcome category. In contrast, the United States isn’t a leader in anything but having the largest number of incarcerated men and women, the largest military budget, the most number of ongoing wars, and the most money.
Press freedom, surely we lead in press freedom, right? Well, no. To quote from the study: “Norway is ranked first in the 2019 Index for the third year running while Finland (up two places) has taken second place from the Netherlands (down one at 4th)… As a result of an increasingly hostile climate that goes beyond Donald Trump’s comments, the United States (48th) has fallen three places in this year’s Index and the media climate is now classified as “problematic…”
Published annually by RSF since 2002, the World Press Freedom Index measures the level of media freedom in 180 countries. It assesses the level of pluralism, media independence, the environment for the media and self-censorship, the legal framework, transparency, and the quality of the infrastructure that supports the production of news and information. It does not evaluate government policy.
The global indicator and the regional indicators are calculated on the basis of the scores registered for each country. These country scores are calculated from the answers to a questionnaire in 20 languages that is completed by experts throughout the world, supported by a qualitative analysis. The scores measure constraints and violations, so the higher the score, the worse the situation. Because of growing awareness of the Index, it is an extremely useful advocacy tool.
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The 2019 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) shows how hatred of journalists has degenerated into violence, contributing to an increase in fear. The number of countries regarded as safe, where journalists can work in complete security, continues […]
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Saturday, April 20th, 2019
Lauren Weber, Kaiser Health News Staff - U.S. News & World Report
Stephan: The United States cannot seem to muster the political will to overcome the self-interest and corruption of the illness profit industry. You would think it would be simple; our health outcome data is so poor in so many areas, from infant and maternal mortality to... well, syphilis that a child can see that the entire system needs to be changed fundamentally. You might think that, but you would be wrong. Read this, and you will see what I mean.
Karolyn Schrage, executive director of the Choices Medical Services clinic in Joplin, Mo., says that pregnant women, young men and teens are part of the rapidly growing number of syphilis patients she sees.
Credit: Bruce Stidham/ Kaiser Health News
When Karolyn Schrage first heard about the “dominoes gang” in the health clinic she runs in Joplin, Missouri, she assumed it had to do with pizza.
Turns out it was a group of men in their 60s and 70s who held a standing game night — which included sex with one another. They showed up at her clinic infected with syphilis.
Attacking AIDS in Atlanta
That has become Schrage’s new normal. Pregnant women, young men and teens are all part of the rapidly growing number of syphilis patients coming to the Choices Medical Services clinic in the rural southwestern corner of the state. She can barely keep the antibiotic treatment for syphilis, penicillin G benzathine, […]
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Saturday, April 20th, 2019
Stephan: The United States has become a nation of endless war, just like the failing Roman Empire, and the largest purveyor of mass murder in the world. This is all supposed to be about Muslim terrorists; it is not. It is about profit, but you can get in trouble saying that and, if you are inside the system, and become a whistleblower... well, read this.
Credit: shutterstock
I don’t know if I’d have the nerve to be a whistleblower. I’d like to think I would. We all like to think we would, just like we all like to think we could catch the game-winning touchdown, triumph on “America’s Got Talent,” and fold a fitted sheet quickly and without cursing.
But to blow the whistle on a huge organization with a lot of power, likely drawing that power to come crashing down on your head—that takes some serious spine-age. Now, imagine the organization you’re calling out is arguably the largest, most powerful, most secretive and most violent organization on planet Earth. I’m speaking, of course, of the U.S. Department of Defense.
Yet thousands, even tens of thousands, of people have taken that step over the past five years. (More on this in a moment.)
All the while our organized human murder machine continues its work around the world. Every day. Every hour. Never a moment of rest. Never pausing to clip their toenails or scratch their ass. Bombs dropped. Buildings […]
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Saturday, April 20th, 2019
TRAVIS GETTYS, - Raw Story
Stephan: One of the best ways to keep something secret today is to do it publicly and then generate false information about it which you spread like rancid mayonnaise across a country's media. Trump and Russia demonstrate this point, and our Congress, particularly the Republican Senate, is so corrupt we cannot seem to do anything about it.
How successful have Trump and Putin been? Tonight on fivethrityeight Trump is at 41.6% approval. The truth is the White supremacist christofascist community that supports Trump doesn't give a damn about democracy, integrity, even their own self-interest as long as their hate and resentment are stoked.
US President Donald Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin shake hands during a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, on July 7, 2017
Credit: AFP
Russian state-owned media gloated over public revelations in special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, which showed the Kremlin interfered in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump win.
The Kremlin denied Mueller’s findings of “sweeping and systematic” election interference, but Russian media boasted that Vladimir Putin had won after the special counsel did not bring additional charges at the investigation’s conclusion, reported The Daily Beast.
Russian media watchdog Julia Davis said the country’s state TV hosts gleefully repeated Trump’s “no collusion, no obstruction” mantra throughout Mueller’s investigation, and they told viewers that economic sanctions would soon be lifted.
“Average Russians are being sold on the idea that Putin’s long-term strategy is bound to pay off,” Davis wrote. “According to the Russian state TV, Putin always wins — even when he loses.”
Russian media has openly bragged — sarcastically, they say — in recent […]
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HEATHER CAYGLE, SARAH FERRIS and JOHN BRESNAHAN, - Politico
Stephan: Here you see very clearly the cynical realpolitik calculation of the Democratic leadership. They won't impeach because the spineless Republican cretins of the Senate will not convict. I believe history will record the Mueller Report as the moment when the democracy of the United States was torn apart by the White Supremacist christofascists who make up the base of the Republican Party. Although a minority they are still the dominant power.
“Based on what we have seen to date, going forward on impeachment is not worthwhile at this point,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told CNN.
Credit: Alex Edelman/Getty
Robert Mueller’s report reveals a stunning array of new allegations against President Donald Trump. But one thing remains the same: House Democrats are ducking any talk of impeachment.
After interviews with 15 lawmakers Thursday, it’s clear Democrats think the report is severely damaging to the president, with substantial evidence that he attempted to derail the Russia probe. But it’s still not enough to pull the trigger on the most consequential — and politically risky — action Democrats could take in their new majority: trying to forcibly eject Trump from office.
“Election time is when you beat Trump,” said Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), a senior member of the party’s progressive wing who was an early supporter of impeachment efforts in the previous Congress.
“Right now, he’s got enough protection around him from the top lawyer in the country to keep him in office,” Grijalva added, […]
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