ALJAZEERA: The massacre of more than 100 children at an army-run school in Peshawar has highlighted the continued vulnerability of Pakistan’s civilians to ruthless acts by the local Taliban in retaliation to military operations against the extremist group. An attack that may well rank as the most distressing, even by the morbid standards of a […]
Russia lurches towards financial crisis
FINANCIAL TIMES: …Russian shoppers rushed to buy goods before the currency lost more value, while some banks ran short of cash as customers stocked up on dollars and euros. “Russia is in full-blown currency crisis,” said Alexander Moseley, fund manager at Schroders. “It is difficult to see the underlying source of stress ending”. At one […]
Iraq’s Premier Narrows Divide, but Challenges Loom
NEW YORK TIMES: ….In nearly every way, [Haider al-Abadi] has so far been a different leader than his predecessor, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, despite their common Shiite political bloc. And though the obstacles facing his government are vast, and he faces political challenges within his own party, his early performance has encouraged a wide array of […]
Analysis of Rohrarbacher-Farr provision to CRomnibus appropriates bill
Rep. Sam Farr: “This is essentially saying, look, if you are following State law, you are a legal resident doing your business under State law, the Feds just can’t come in and bust you and bust the doctors and bust the patient. It is more than half the States. So you don’t have to have any opinion about the value of marijuana.
The Odd Math of Medical Tests: One Scan, Two Prices, Both High
Testing has become to the United States’ medical system what liquor is to the hospitality industry: a profit center with large and often arbitrary markups. From a medical perspective, blood work, tests and scans are tools to help physicians diagnose and monitor disease. But from a business perspective, they are opportunities to bring in revenue — especially because the equipment to perform them has generally become far cheaper, smaller and more highly mechanized in the past two decades…
NCAA, Pa. officials outline issues as trial nears
POCONO RECORD RECORD / AP: The head of the NCAA, Penn State’s former president and former FBI director Louis Freeh are among those who could take the stand in three weeks when a lawsuit brought by two Pennsylvania officials is scheduled to begin… State Sen. Jake Corman and Treasurer Rob McCord say the issues at […]
Pakistan Taliban kill scores in Peshawar school massacre
BBC: At least 126 people, mostly children, have been killed in a Taliban assault on an army-run school in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, officials say. Five or six militants are said to have entered the building. Five are reported to have been killed, at least one of them in a suicide blast. The army […]
Moscow lifts interest rate to 17%
FINANCIAL TIMES: Russia’s Central Bank has raised its main interest rate from 10.5 per cent to 17 per cent in the middle of the Moscow night, just five days after the last rate rise and hours after the rouble suffered its worst drop since 1998… Its move followed a day during which the rouble had […]
Thousands of applications for ‘Healthy PA’ program
PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE: Two weeks after enrollment began, the state has received tens of thousands of applications for health care coverage by way of the “Healthy PA” program, which offers subsidized, Medicaid-like insurance through private carriers to low-income Pennsylvanians. As of the end of the day Wednesday, the state had received applications from nearly 44,000 households, […]
At PA Society, hints of potential compromises
“We’re not going to consider any new revenue until we do pension reform,” he said, noting that a pensions proposal from new Appropriations Chairman Pat Browne would be next year’s Senate Bill 1.
Health Law Hurts Some Free Clinics
WALL STREET JOURNAL: Some free health clinics serving the uninsured are shutting their doors because of funding shortfalls and low demand they attribute to the Affordable Care Act’s insurance expansion… The closings have occurred largely in 28 states and Washington, D.C., which all expanded Medicaid, the federal-state insurance program for low-income people, and are being […]
UN members agree deal at Lima climate talks
BBC: The agreement was adopted hours after a previous draft was rejected by developing countries, who accused rich nations of shirking their responsibilities to fight global warming and pay for its impacts. Peru’s environment minister, Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, who chaired the summit, told reporters: “As a text it’s not perfect, but it includes the positions of […]
Russians comment pessimistically on their current situation
USD – Russian Ruble exchange rate today is 58. The value of the Ruble is almost half what it was less then a year ago. And it keeps falling down. Central Bank continues to spend its reserves, about one billion dollars a day, to support the Ruble.
$1tn cost of longest US war hastens retreat from military intervention
FINANCIAL TIMES: The Afghanistan war, the longest overseas conflict in American history, has cost the US taxpayer nearly $1tn and will require spending several hundred billion dollars more after it officially ends this month, according to Financial Times calculations and independent researchers… The enormous bill for the 13-year conflict, which has never been detailed by […]