Press Accuracy Rating Hits Two Decade Low

Press Accuracy Rating Hits Two Decade Low by the Pew Research Center for the people and the press

"Just 29% of Americans say that news organizations generally get the facts straight, while 63% say that news stories are often inaccurate. In the initial survey in this series about the news media’s performance in 1985, 55% said news stories were accurate while 34% said they were inaccurate. That percentage had fallen sharply by the late 1990s and has remained low over the last decade."

The Health Care Deceit By Paul Craig Roberts

Finally, an honest assessment of the health care situation, and it's not pretty.

"The current health care “debate” shows how far gone representative government is in the United States. Members of Congress represent the powerful interest groups that fill their campaign coffers, not the people who vote for them."

"The health care bill is not about health care. It is about protecting and increasing the profits of the insurance companies. The main feature of the health care bill is the “individual mandate,” which requires everyone in America to buy health insurance. Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont), a recipient of millions in contributions over his career from the insurance industry, proposes to impose up to a $3,800 fine on Americans who fail to purchase health insurance. "

"The determination of “our” elected representatives to serve the insurance industry is so compelling that Congress is incapable of recognizing the absurdity of these proposals."

...

"A private health care system worked in the days before expensive medical technology, malpractice suits, high costs of bureaucracy associated with third-party payers and heavy investment in combating fraud, and pressure on insurance companies from Wall Street to improve “shareholder returns.” "

Bin Laden reportedly calls Obama ‘powerless’ Associated Press

"The al-Qaida leader sought to drive home key grievances often voiced in the Arab and Muslim world, where Washington's policies are seen as blatantly favoring Israel at the expense of the rights of Palestinians and other Arabs. "

" "We have demonstrated and stated many times, for more than two-and-a-half-decades, that the cause of our disagreement with you is your support to your Israeli allies who occupy our land of Palestine," bin Laden said. "

" "The delay in your knowing those causes has cost you a lot without any result whatsoever," he said in the tape released by al-Qaida's media wing, as-Sahab. "

Related, for balance to this story, see: Bin Laden: U.S. support of Israel led to 9/11 by Juan Cole

FBI Report: One Drug Arrest Made Every 18 Seconds by Ryan Grim

"More than four-fifths of those arrests were for possession only and nearly half were for possession of marijuana. Of the 847,863 marijuana arrests -- one every 37 seconds -- 89 percent were for possession alone. "



Bill