History really does repeat itself: Months after they hammered Democrats for cutting Medicare, House Republicans are debating whether to relaunch their quest to privatize the health program for seniors. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is testing support for his idea to replace Medicare with a fixed payment to buy a private medical plan […]
This week the House will vote on repealing healthcare reform, the first big legislative move of the new Congress. Perhaps the GOP leadership in the House wants to rethink this, since they are “listening to the people” and all: As for repeal, only about one in four say they want to do away with the […]
Tea Party Nation has just blasted out an email blaming Obama for the rising gas prices (login required): As we close out 2010, gas prices in much of the country crept about the $3 a gallon mark. In an interview a couple of days ago, the ex-president of Shell oil predicted $5 a gallon gas […]
Atlanta sees their first white Christmas since 1882 As the country and most of world experiences below average temperatures and record snow falls, the wingnuts are starting their annual cry of “global warming is a lie!” This piece in the New York Times sparked this year’s season of denial: THE earth continues to get warmer, […]
Can’t say I’m surprised by this: A federal judge in Virginia ruled Monday that the individual mandate contained in the health care law passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama this year is unconstitutional. The judge found in favor of Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who brought this suit separately from the other […]
A new report [pdf] by the FCC gives a real wake-up call to U.S. internet customers: A recent report by the FCC shows that more than two-thirds of so-called broadband internet connections in the U.S. don’t actually meet the minimum speed requirements of 4Mbps downtream and 1Mbps upstream to be considered broadband. In real terms, […]
One of the biggest problems that plagues our nations health and wasn’t really discussed during the healthcare reform debate is about to get bigger: Up to a third of U.S. adults could have diabetes by 2050 if Americans continue to gain weight and avoid exercise, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention projected on Friday. […]
Do we really need this? Anyone driving the twists of Highway 1 between San Francisco and Los Angeles recently may have glimpsed a Toyota Prius with a curious funnel-like cylinder on the roof. Harder to notice was that the person at the wheel was not actually driving. The car is a project of Google, which […]
It must be a day ending in ‘Y’. Today we find out about the new big cancer threat: Swimming in chlorinated pools can cause an increased risk of cancer in bathers, Spanish researchers said on Monday. Researchers from the Barcelona-based Centre of Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL) and Research Institute Hospital del Mar studied changes […]
I didn’t see this one coming: The world’s most high-profile climate change sceptic is to declare that global warming is “undoubtedly one of the chief concerns facing the world today” and “a challenge humanity must confront”, in an apparent U-turn that will give a huge boost to the embattled environmental lobby. Bjørn Lomborg, the self-styled […]