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November 14, 2011

Tim Mak – Going Backwards: Gallup Poll Shows Uninsured Adults Rising

Published on Saturday, November 12, 2011 by Politico

by Tim Mak

None of the components of President Obama’s health care law that have taken effect appear to be affecting insurance coverage of adults over 26, according to a new poll Friday.

The percentage of adults with no health insurance is the highest on record, with 17.3 percent of adults being uninsured in the third quarter of 2011, statistically tying the high set in the second quarter, Gallup found. Three years ago, in the third quarter of 2008, only 14.4 percent of adults lacked health insurance.

Gallup cautions, however, that the record high coincides with a methodological change that samples cell-phone only respondents, which tend to be younger and thus more likely to be uninsured. Thus, some of the increase in the figure could be linked to this change.

One part of Obama’s health care reform that has already drawn results is the change allowing young adults to stay on their parents’ health care plan until they are 26. This has lead to an uninsured rate of only 24.2 percent for 18-25 year olds, down from 28 percent in mid-2010, according to an earlier Gallup poll.

Brian Montopoli – Poll: Americans’ views on foreign policy

By Brian Montopoli

CBS News Poll analysis by the CBS News Polling Unit: Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto.

Ahead of the CBS News/National Journal Republican presidential debate on national security and foreign policy taking place on Saturday night in South Carolina, CBS News surveyed Americans to find out their views on Iran, China, Israel, North Korea and other countries; their feelings about whether the Afghanistan and Iraq wars have been worth the cost; and which of the Republican candidates are most ready to serve as commander-in-chief and to handle an international crisis.

Preview: GOP candidates ready for CBS News/National Journal debate

Here are highlights from the poll:

Steven Mufson – Keystone Delay Unlikely to Stall Giant Oil Companies

Published on Saturday, November 12, 2011 by the Washington Post
by Steven Mufson

With the Keystone XL pipeline on hold, the giant companies tapping Canada’s oil sands will turn to Plan B — existing pipelines to the United States.

Those pipelines, which now carry slightly more than 1 million barrels a day from Canada’s oil sands to the United States, can be expanded by adding pumping stations. Some companies, notably Enbridge, already have plans to boost the capacity of their lines and speed the journey of crude from Alberta to Texas.

“It’s inevitable that it will get here. This oil will have to find a market,” said Fadel Gheit, oil analyst with Oppenheimer & Co. “All these competing pipelines are going to rethink their strategy.”

That would disappoint foes of the Keystone XL pipeline, who hope that the delay or defeat of the project would impede the growth in output from the oil sands, whose exploitation releases 5 to 15 percent more greenhouse gases than the average crude used in the United States.

Eric Margolis – Iran’s Nukes: Old Lies in New Bottles

Published on Saturday, November 12, 2011 by  Eric Margolis

http://www.ericmargolis.com/political_commentaries/old-lies-in-new-bottles.aspx

by  Eric Margolis

NEW YORK – The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) long awaited, much ballyhooed report on Iran’s nuclear activities has been thunderously greeted here as conclusive evidence that Iran is working on nuclear weapons.

Both Tehran and a 2007 US combined intelligence assessment deny such claims.

There’s little new in this report, and a lot of déjà vu. We read the old story floating around since 2002 about a mysterious laptop stolen from Iran and passed to US intelligence. It allegedly contains scientific material about explosive compression methods to trigger a nuclear explosion, and designs to shrink nuclear warheads to fit in missile nosecones.

The UN and western powers say this stolen computer’s contents conclusively proves Iran has violated the UN’s non-proliferation treaty, to which Tehran is a signatory. Israel and its American partisans are raising a hue and cry about an impending nuclear attack on the Jewish state by Iran’s “crazy” leaders. Republicans are baying for war against Iran.

The US and UN also claim a Russian scientist who supposedly worked on Iranian nuclear weapons explosive technology defected and revealed all to western intelligence.

What Women Must Know – 11/14/11

Renewing Your Skin, Joints, Organs and Tissues with Collagen – The Anti-Aging Molecule with Sally Byrd, ND   Sally Byrd, a board certified and registered traditional naturopath , a Licensed Massage and Body Therapist-LMBT , Author and an MIFHI –Master of the Institute Individuality, spearheaded by Dr. Peter D’Adamo, the …

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American Jobs Alliance – 11/14/11

Guest: Dave Anderson Dave Anderson is an independent candidate for US Congress in Colorado’s 5th Congressional District.  He talks about how corporate globalization has gutted America’s economy and even threatens our national security. Michele Nash-Hoff of ElectroFab Sales represents high-tech companies and is the author of Can American Manufacturing be Saved? Why …

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Progressive Commentary Hour – 11/14/11

Guests David Braun, Jennifer Krill, Sharon Wilson, and Craig Michaels We have on the line David Braun who is at this moment up in the Capitol offices in Albany awaiting to testify on behalf of opposition to hydrofracking in New York State.  David is helping to coordinate anti-fracking efforts with …

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The Dr. Peter Breggin Hour – 11/14/11

Nonviolent communication is the path to much of what’s good in life–including love and empathy.  But it doesn’t exclude effective self-defense.  Practical approaches dovetail with philosophical subtleties with my guest Melanie Sears, RN Download this episode (right click and save) Podcast: Play in new window | Download (0.0KB) | Embed

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A Better World – 11/14/11

Guests: Bill Gladstone and Jack Canfield On today’s show we have the co-authors ofThe Golden Motorcycle Gang, A Story of Transformation, Jack Canfield and Bill Gladstone. Jack Canfeld is well known as the co-author of the #1 New York Times best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul series which has sold …

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Black Agenda Radio – 11/14/11

  Black Is Back Coalition Holds National Conference “We’ve got to uproot this system, so that our people can live,” said Omali Yeshitela, chairman of the Black Is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations, at a conference in Philadelphia that marked the groups second year of operation. Yeshitela …

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The Natural Nurse – 11/14/11

Guest: Dr. Michael Greer      Host Ellen Kamhi, PhD RN, www.naturalnurse.com , interviews Dr Michael Greer. Dr. Greer attended HahnemannMedicalUniversity, and interned at MadiganArmyMedicalCenter. Dr. Greer is an integrative medicine specialist focused on holistic, herbal, homeopathic and naturopathic solutions for health, incorporating the best of conventional medicine with natural …

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The Gary Null Show – 11/14/11

Guest: Greg Palast   Greg Palast is a journalist’s journalist, with the BBC and the British newspaper The Guardian, who has been called by the Tribune in the UK “the most important investigative journalist in our time.” He has won many awards including from the Financial Times,  the National Press …

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Wake-Up Call – 11/14/11

The Devil Is In The Details   The story of Greece. The ugly choices. The absence of any solution. The problem for MF Global’s clients. Why real estate prices will remain low indefinitely. The horrendous predicament of underwater mortgage holders with CNBC now claiming that fully half of all U.S. …

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Washington’s Blog – Engineers Knew Fukushima Might Be Unsafe, But Covered It Up … And Now the Extreme Vulnerabilty of NEW U.S. Plants Is Being Covered Up

By Washington’s Blog
Global Research, November 12, 2011

Preface: The current nuclear reactor design was chosen – not because it was safe – but because it worked on navy submarines. And governments have been covering up nuclear meltdowns for 50 years.

BBC reporter Greg Palast reports – based on a first-hand interview of a senior engineer for the corporation which built the Fukushima nuclear plants, and a review of engineers’ field diaries – that the engineers who built the Fukushima nuclear plants knew their design would fail in an earthquake:

 

The plant was riddled with problems that, no way on earth, could stand an earth- quake. The team of engineers sent in to inspect found that most of these components could “completely and utterly fail” during an earthquake.

That quote is about the Shoreham, New York, power station, not Fukushima. But Palast claims that:

(1) the company fraudulently changed the seismic report to pretend the plant was earthquake-safe;

and

(2) the exact same thing was done at Fukushima.

As I noted in March:

Joe Romm – Over Half of All U.S. Tax Subsidies Go to Four Industries. Guess Which Ones?

By Joe Romm http://www.nationofchange.org/over-half-all-us-tax-subsidies-go-four-industries-guess-which-ones-1321200366 Citizens for Tax Justice has analyzed corporate tax rates from 2008 to 2010. The report [PDF] examines over half of the Fortune 500 companies Perhaps it’s no surprise that the richest industries get the biggest subsidies, starting with finance and Big Energy.  That’s how the 1% operate. Notably, …