World No Tobacco Day; Workers and Wage Slaves; Banks and Wall Street, Accountability; US Politics, Vote Machinations, Gerrymandering in Florida; Native American, Racism; NSA Spying, Surveillance and Privacy, Your Rights Online, TrueCrypt, Haxx0red, Facebook and Your Data

World No Tobacco Day

• Child Workers Are Getting Nicotine Poisoning on US Tobacco Farms
• New York raises minimum age to buy cigarettes to 21
• World No Tobacco Day: To tax or not to tax
• UK: NHS could start prescribing e-cigarettes as study finds them 60% more effective than gum or patches
• Top scientists warn WHO not to stub out e-cigarettes

Workers and Wage Slaves

• House GOP Votes Down Measure Aimed At Curbing Wage Theft
• Using Jailed Migrants as a Pool of Cheap Labor —"As the federal government cracks down on immigrants in the country illegally and forbids businesses to hire them, it is relying on tens of thousands of those immigrants each year to provide essential labor." NYT
• Bond set at $250,000 for Wayne Miller, president of Cathedral Bible College with Myrtle Beach campus—Allegation: "Miller threatened to cancel foreign students' visas if they did not work long hours for little pay."
• Michigan Set to Raise Minimum Wage to $9.25 Hour
• America's middle-class defeat: How Canada shamed the wealthiest nation on earth—"Want to understand what's causing the decay of the American dream? Take some lessons from our friends to the north." Salon
• 40% of EU citizens can't afford a vacation
• Japan creates new national holiday for 'overworked' population
• Robots will replace fast-food workers

Banks and Wall Street

• IMF chief says banks haven't changed since financial crisis—"Christine Lagarde tells London conference banking sector is still resisting reform and taking excessive risks."
• Bank of England governor: capitalism doomed if ethics vanish—"Mark Carney issues strong critique of City behaviour and warns of growing sense that basic social contract is breaking down."
• Obama Administration Spent a Fortune Monitoring Occupy Protests, including Flash Mobs and Yoga Classes—"The documents show monitoring in 2011 and 2012 by law enforcement agencies around the country [NYT], reporting on religious meetings, Christmas caroling and other events."
• Blast from the Past: What Actually Happens At The End Of 'Trading Places'?

Accountability

• Explosive claims on JP Morgan conduct—"A technical support person who worked for JP Morgan in Australia claims the bank regularly misled its New York parent and the US Federal Reserve by failing to report losing trades." SMH
• Goldman, JPMorgan sued over zinc price manipulation
• Los Angeles sues JPMorgan Chase over foreclosures WaPo
• The guy who tried to rig gold prices and cost his bank $44 million
• Icahn, Mickelson are investigated in U.S. insider trading probe: source
• Iran hangs billionaire over $2.6b bank fraud—"Largest fraud case since 1979 Islamic Revolution sends four scammers to the gallows, including tycoon Mahafarid Amir Khosravi."

US Politics

• Conservatism is losing ground in the US—"Number of Americans describing themselves as social, economic conservatives shrinks, according to new poll."
• Conservatives are losing their edge — quickly WaPo
• Dear GOP: "Duck Dynasty's" Phil Robertson may not help your outreach problem—"Party chair Reince Priebus wants the GOP to be seen as the party of equality. Meet their future leaders." Salon
• Republican Leadership Conference: The GOP’s speakers lineup is a problem—"Why the Republican Party attracts provocateurs, faux martyrs, and grifters in droves."
• America Is Becoming a Bit More Liberal. That's Pretty Unusual Six Years Into a Democratic Presidency.

Vote Machinations

• Americans overwhelmingly side with Hillary Clinton over Karl Rove in brain flap—"Republican strategist Karl Rove may need a different strategy to slow Hillary Clinton's 2016 candidacy." WaPo
• Conservative groups push for voter photo ID requirement in Ohio
• Democrats, stop fighting voter ID laws—"It's a tough concession that could actually work to get more minority voters to the polls." WaPo

Gerrymandering in Florida

• Redistricting Expert: Florida's Gerrymandered Maps Give An 8 Point Advantage To Republicans
• Surprise witness emerges in redistricting trial—"An FSU student who allegedly submitted a map to the Legislature with proposed new districts said he never drew any maps and his name was used without permission."
• Florida may be forced to redraw political districts before midterms WaPo

Native American

• Supreme Court says Mich. can't block Indian casino
• Courts challenge Native American land rights—"Recent cases have undermined tribal sovereignty and economic development, Native Americans say."
• Lawsuit: Casino Built on Native American Burial Ground

Racism

• Unsurprisingly, the Redskins #RedskinsPride Hashtag Backfired Quite Horribly—But that's not stopping them.
• Reports: Donald Sterling To Sue The NBA For $1 Billion
• White Police Lieutenant Awarded $1.35 Million In Racial Discrimination Lawsuit

NSA Spying

• Edward Snowden responds to release of e-mail by U.S. officials WaPo
• Daniel Ellsberg: Snowden would not get a fair trial – and Kerry is wrong—"Edward Snowden is the greatest patriot whistleblower of our time, and he knows what I learned more than four decades ago: until the Espionage Act gets reformed, he can never come home safe and receive justice."
• John Kerry Should 'Man Up' And Admit He's Wrong About Snowden
• Courier Services Deny Participation in NSA Interception Program

Surveillance and Privacy

• Privacy call for internet browsing in the wake of Edward Snowden leaks—"Survey reveals that more than eight out of 10 internet users believe their search history should be kept private."
• German spies want $400M to play catch-up with the NSA—"Confidential documents from the BND, Germany's answer to the NSA and GCHQ, suggest the agency could soon get major funding to improve its online surveillance and hacking capabilities."
• Former Head Of 'NSA North' Says Canadians Are 'Stupid'

Your Rights Online

• User gets prison sentence for using 'Allah CC' nickname on Twitter
• Turkey highest court: YouTube ban violates rights WaPo
• Google sets up 'right to be forgotten' form after EU ruling

TrueCrypt

• "TrueCrypt is not secure," official SourceForge page abruptly warns—"Support for decade-old crypto program pulled, touching off Internet firestorm."
• True Goodbye: 'Using TrueCrypt Is Not Secure'
• Bombshell TrueCrypt advisory: Backdoor? Hack? Hoax? None of the above?—LavaBit 2: Electric Bugaloo?
• TrueCrypt security audit presses on, despite developers jumping ship

Haxx0red

• The eBay hack, the loss of 140 million records, and the PR fiasco—If you still haven't done so, change your eBay password right now.
• Your iPhone has been taken hostage. Pay $100 ransom to get it back—If you still haven't done so, change your iCloud password right now.
• After seven months and no Microsoft patch, Internet Explorer 8 vulnerability is revealed
• Will Everyone Please Quit Bitching About Passwords?

Facebook and Your Data

• Passive listening will soon be a feature for Facebook app during status updates
• Facebook Stops Irresponsibly Defaulting Privacy Of New Users' Posts To "Public", Changes To "Friends"
• Facebook Reaps Billions from Your Data: It's Time to Unplug
• Facebook gives up on automatically posting everything you do online

Fat Tuesday; Obamacare, Bill of Health; Euthanasia, Anti-Vax, Polio, Ebola; Bad for Your Health, Science Under Siege; Food Insecurity, Gone to Waste; Psych

Fat Tuesday

• Putin Is Reviving a Stalinist Fitness Program to Whip Russians Into Shape
• The Jobs With the Highest Obesity Rates—"Strangely, people who work in healthcare tend to be less healthy than others."
• Diet drinks linked with heart disease, death
• Seven-a-day fruit and veg 'saves lives'
• Scientists Fix Errors in Controversial Paper About Saturated Fats

Obamacare

• BOOM! Obamacare Sign Ups on Track to Hit 7 Million Goal
• GOP struggles with Obamacare surge—They're whining that the White House is 'cooking the books'…
• Poll: Obamacare Support Breaks Even For First Time
• Ted Cruz asks his Facebook friends about Obamacare, gets an earful
• Obamacare fails to collapse. Time to Move on, folks. WaPo
• Krugman: Obamacare, The Unknown Ideal—"Obamacare is the conservative alternative, and you can't move further right without doing no reform at all." NYT
• Obamacare is not universal health care—"The Affordable Care Act leaves some of our neediest citizens without insurance or a reliable source of care."

Bill of Health

• Gilead Sciences' $84,000 price for hepatitis drug is scrutinized—"Lawmakers ask Gilead CEO John C. Martin to explain the rationale for selling Sovaldi for $1,000 per pill, or $84,000 for a 12-week course to treat hepatitis C."
• California, 44 other states fail at posting medical prices, report says
• New York Curbs Medical Bills Containing Surprises—"A provision in the state budget agreement will protect consumers by requiring that they be given notice when an out-of-network doctor is involved in their care." NYT

Euthanasia

• While we hesitate, the terminally ill are denied a peaceful end
• Family fights for euthanasia law for terminal patients
• Tory MP Steven Fletcher reopens euthanasia debate

Anti-Vax

• Immune to Logic: Some New York City Private Schools Have Dismal Vaccination Rates
• More than 20 cases of measles in California due to 'unvaccinated children'
• Travis County infant dies of whooping cough

Polio

• India beats the odds, beats polio
• Polio in Syria: An outbreak that threatens the Middle East
• Pakistan polio vaccinator's murder by militants raises health workers' fears—"Salma Farooqi was tortured and repeatedly shot after involvement in Peshawar's battle against polio for four years."

Ebola

• Guinea reports Ebola death toll rises to 78
• Ebola Virus Hits Second Country in West Africa—Liberia, and number three is Sierra Leone.
• Canada patient tests negative for Ebola

Bad for Your Health

• Daylight saving time linked to heart attacks: study
• Smoking Proves Hard to Shake Among the Poor NYT
• More drug-resistant infections seen in U.S. children—"A growing number of American children are developing infections caused by a worrisome type of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, a new study reports."

Science Under Siege

• Scientists Condemn New FDA Study Saying BPA Is Safe: "It Borders on Scientific Misconduct"—"Researchers working on a joint NIH-FDA program to better regulate harmful chemicals accuse the agency of undermining their research with a flawed and deceptive study."
• Wikipedia founder calls alt-medicine practitioners "lunatic charlatans"—"Wales to activists who want new rules for Wikipedia: 'No, you have to be kidding me.'"
• Japan Lab Says Stem Cell Research Was Falsified

Food Insecurity

• Kentucky bill would prohibit filming of farm operations without owner's consent
• 'Pink slime' lawsuit moves forward: Could ABC News be held liable?—"For many Americans, ABC News’s 'pink slime' report was the kind of hard-hitting public interest piece that changes rules and punishes bad actors. But to critics, it became synonymous with media misconduct."
• Russian dairy plant closed after workers bathe in the milk

Gone to Waste

• Costco to dump $2.6m of peanut butter in New Mexico landfill—"The retailer Costco refused to take shipment of the peanut butter and declined requests to let it be donated to food banks or repackaged or sold to brokers who provide food to institutions like prisons."
• "Sell By" And "Best By" Dates on Food Are Basically Made Up—But Hard to Get Rid Of
• The world's growing love affair with the most wasteful form of coffee there is

Psych

• 'Intelligent people are more likely to trust others'
• Why Mentally Ill People Should Have Access to E-Cigarettes
• Tears of the clowns who are out of a job—"Clowns say work has dried up as the 'cynical' public now views them as sinister."

Brain Awareness Week; Tech and Your Health, Food Insecurity; Obamacare, Bill of Health; e-Cigs; Ukraine

Brain Awareness Week

• Sex, Drugs, but Not Rock 'n' Roll—"Scientists find that a small percentage of individuals take no pleasure in listening to music."
• LSD, Reconsidered for Therapy—"In Switzerland, the first controlled trial of the drug in more than 40 years found that it eased anxiety in people nearing the end of their lives." NYT
• The psychology of hate: How we deny human beings their humanity—"From slavery to genocide, society has shown a terrifying ability to disregard the personhood of others. Here's why." Salon
• This is your brain on murder: What the mind of a psychopath looks like—"What's going on behind an American psycho's eyes? Science reveals the answer." Salon
• Is it good for people to fail occasionally?—"In our highly competitive world, we prize success and hate it when things go wrong, but is there actually a value in failing?"

Tech and Your Health

• 11 Year MTHR Study Finds No Danger from Wireless Mobile Phone Radiation
• No reliable evidence wind farms harm health, peak research body says—"NHMRC paper finds some 'poor quality evidence' that proximity to windfarms is associated with annoyance and lack of sleep, and further research is warranted."
• Sound machine study should not cause parents to panic: White noise doesn't make your baby deaf.

Food Insecurity

• US Farmers Report Widespread GMO Contamination of Organic Crops
• Monsanto's Roundup may be linked to fatal kidney disease, new study suggests
• Tampa family sickened by meat laced with LSD
• Deadly diarrhea caused by wastewater on crops
• Hundreds of foods in U.S. contain 'ADA' plastics chemical: report

Obamacare

• Republicans press Medicare attack in congressional elections
• As GOP certainty about Obamacare's collapse deepens, number of uninsured falls again WaPo
• GOP's New Kamikaze Plan: Punish Doctors If Obamacare Isn't Chopped
• Republicans have a secret Obamacare strategy — and it's based on deception—"The ploy: Expecting to win Senate seats, they'll play up Obamacare now — to falsely claim it was reason they won." Salon
• Obamacare's Ground Zero—"Florida’s 13th congressional district may be where Democrats learn to live or die with the Affordable Care Act."
• No, Obamacare Isn't Turning America Into A Part-Time Economy
• Cease and desist: Louisiana demands MoveOn stop criticizing Gov. Bobby Jindal in ad—Which factually states that Jindal did deny Medicaid to 242,000 people.
• Cruz Still Thinks Obamacare Repeal Possible In 2015: 'Every Single Word'
• The Fall Of Obamacare McCarthyism
• Colbert Hears Obamacare Horror Story from Someone Who Is Definitely NOT an Actor

Bill of Health

• Florida trauma centers charge outrageous fees the moment you come through the door
• How HCA turned trauma into a money-maker—"The family's bill was so high because Mason, through no choice of his own, wound up at a trauma center run by Hospital Corporation of America."
• Would my blood test still cost $1,132 if the US had a public health option?—"Democrats should admit Obamacare's failures and campaign instead for a public option. It's the only way to bring costs down."
• Medical Bankruptcies are Still a Problem, Here's What to Expect
• Don’t Pay that Total. How to Negotiate Your Medical Bills
• Drug company refuses to give lifesaving medication to 7-year-old boy—"Chimerix, the company that manufactures Brincidofovir, has given hundreds of patients emergency access to the medication in the past, but they have since stopped this practice saying 'they cannot afford it,' according to Johnson Jr. However, Chimerix has received more than $72 million in federal funding to develop Brincidofovir."

e-Cigs

• L.A. E-Cigarette Ban Approved
• Washington: House Finance panel OKs 75 percent tax for e-cigs
• Chuck Schumer goes after marketing of e-cigarettes to kids—"Worried that tobacco companies are marketing to children with flavored e-cigarettes, Sen. Chuck Schumer vowed to push legislation that would close loopholes in advertising laws."

Ukraine

• Let's Please Put the Myth of the Iron-Willed Putin to Rest Once and For All
• Clashes in Ukraine as Rallies Take a Turn NYT
• Russia has miscalculated over Crimea, says Hague

The Day We Fight Back; Fat Tuesday; Obamacare, CBO and Job Lock, CGI Federal, Bill of Health, Big Phrama, Issues, Viral, Smoking; Psycho, Brain

The Day We Fight Back

• Over 5,000 websites signed up for "The Day We Fight Back" protest against mass spying
• The Internet is Owned--Act Accordingly—"Costin Raiu of Kaspersky Lab said he assumes his laptop is compromised at all times. Users in the age of NSA surveillance should act the same way." The terrorists win again.
• The NSA's Secret Role in the U.S. Assassination Program
• The terrifying surveillance case of Brandon Mayfield—"With NSA overreach, nobody is safe from confirmation bias."
• Major NSA intelligence facility established in Jerusalem

Fat Tuesday

• Council to send obese people 'motivational' texts—"£10,000 project aims to encourage people to lose weight."
• Navajo Nation Hikes Sales Taxes on 'Junk Foods,' Makes Healthy Food Choices Tax-Free
• Sugar not only makes you fat, it may make you sick
• 'Biggest Loser' Winner Rachel Frederickson Raises Questions About Healthy Weight Loss
• Married Men — Not Women — Are Fatter Than Their Singleton Counterparts

Obamacare

• Obama: 'I Regret' Promise On Individual Health Plans
• White House delays health insurance mandate for medium-sized employers until 2016 WaPo
• Millions Are Now Realizing They're Too Poor For Obamacare
• Missouri Senate Kills Medicaid Expansion For Roughly 300,000 Lower-Income People—Cutting off noses to spite their faces.
• The Koch brothers' group is getting involved in Louisiana's Obamacare fight WaPo
• Obamacare is disproportionately hurting Republicans and conservatives—"New Gallup numbers reveal an ideological tilt to those who say they are being harmed by the law." WaPo
• HealthCare.gov can't handle appeals of enrollment errors—"Appeals paperwork is entered into a computer — but the system isn't able to do more." WaPo

CBO and Job Lock

• CBO: Guys, We Didn't Say Obamacare Would Cost 2.5 Million Jobs
• GOP steps in Obamacare trap: Watch their false claims blow up in their face!—For the right, attacks against Obamacare's market disruption were great fun. Until it doomed their own plan. Oops." Salon
• Why Do Republicans Want Us to Work All the Time? Politico
• Fox Host Commends "Uniquely American" Value: "Work Two And Three Jobs To Make Ends Meet—What a crapload.
• Liberals, Conservatives, and the Meaning of Work—"It appears that those who talk so much about 'economic freedom' aren't too happy when ordinary people have more choices."

CGI Federal

• CGI chief says reputation intact despite 'Obamacare' woes—The change in leadership mostly went unnoticed.
• Bloomberg gave 311 contract worth $10M to company behind Obamacare rollout
• Zounds and zowie! Jindal awards $34 million contract to firm that dropped the ObamaCare web page rollout ball!

Bill of Health

• Snakebite victim charged $89,000 for 18-hour hospital stay
• Hospital Chain Said to Scheme to Inflate Bills—"Whistle-blower suits claim Health Management Associates tried to inflate its Medicare and Medicaid payments by admitting more patients." NYT
• Medical Price Gouging—"It's time to cut out the corporate profiteers and purveyors of waste and fraud and introduce a system that works for everybody." Ralph Nader for single-payer.
• Medical bills still a major burden on American families, CDC study finds
• Waiting to Live: Fighting an Insurance Company for a Life-Saving Surgery
• Study: Health Care Reform Likely to Reduce Bankruptcy and Catastrophic Debt
• The Next Health Care Reform—"Once everyone has insurance, we need to fix health care providers."
• The Onion: Man Getting Screwed By Company's $180,000 Health Deductible

Big Pharma

• Big Pharma's hidden links to NHS policy, with senior MPs saying medical industry uses 'wealth to influence government'
• Manufacturer Tried to Hide Results of Testing of Blood Thinner Implicated in 1,000 Deaths
• US bans more products from India's Ranbaxy
• Big Pharma pushes for U.S. action against India on drugs
• Intellectual property rights: US set to punish India
• Pharmaceutical Company Discontinues Lifesaving Cancer Drug Due To Disappointing Profits

Issues

• Man found dead after 8-hour ER wait—"The patient may have been dead for hours before anyone noticed what had happened." Salon
• Hundreds of mentally ill children 'locked in police cells', some for over 24 hours
• Forsyth Medical Center says 18 patients exposed to deadly disease
• Two dozen charged in $500 million New York pain-pill scheme
• Police will have 'backdoor' access to health records despite opt-out, says MP—"David Davis says police would be able to approach central NHS database without a warrant as critics warn of catastrophic breach of trust."

Viral

• The toll of the anti-vaccination movement, in one devastating graphic
• California flu deaths hit 202; infant dies from whooping cough
• Afghanistan polio: First case in Kabul since 2001—"An Afghan girl has been diagnosed with polio in Kabul - the capital's first case since the Taliban's fall in 2001."
• Pediatrician: Vaccinate Your Kids—Or Get Out of My Office—"If you won't trust your doctors on vaccinating your kids, will you ever really trust them at all?"
• H7N9 Bird Flu in Shanghai Kills First Medical Worker, Renewing Transmission Fears

Smoking

• First major US drugstore drops cigarettes—"US President Barack Obama says decision by CVS, the country's second largest drugstore, sets 'powerful example.'"
• Top lessons from 50 years of fighting the tobacco industry—"In 1964, defeating Big Tobacco seemed impossible. Today, firearms, alcohol and processed food pose similar challenges."
• Leonard Nimoy has lung disease, urges fans to quit smoking
• Marlboro ad man Eric Lawson dies of chronic lung disease—"Actor who appeared in cigarette campaign in late 1970s is third Marlboro cowboy to succumb to smoking-related illness."
• UK: Smoking ban in cars carrying children 'by 2015'

Psycho

• Life as a Nonviolent Psychopath—"Neuroscientist James Fallon discovered through his work that he has the brain of a psychopath, and subsequently learned a lot about the role of genes in personality and how his brain affects his life."
• Comedians have psychotic personality traits, study finds
• Why psychopathic film villains are rarely realistic — and why it matters

Brain

• End the Ban on Psychoactive Drug Research—"It's time to let scientists study whether LSD, marijuana and ecstasy can ease psychiatric disorders."
• The NFL's Response to Brain Trauma: A Brief History
• Lead and Crime: It's a Brain Thing
• An Aging Brain Is Still Pretty Smart—"It may be slower, but it has a wealth of information to draw from."
• First brain map of speech units could aid mind-reading
• IBM Is Using Watson To Psychoanalyze People From Their Tweets
• Brain Rewards Us for Looking at Pretty Faces
• Psychiatrists embrace deep-brain stimulation—"Brain-stimulation procedures for psychiatric disorders are on the rise. Should we be concerned?" Salon

Fat Tuesday, Food Fight, GMO; Obamacare, Bill of Health, Private Sector, Doing Harm, Virus, Cigs; Brain

Fat Tuesday

• Where Does Obesity Come From?—"We think poverty makes people obese and that obesity makes people poor. It's harder to understand exactly why."
• Five myths about obesity—"Are our diets or our genes to blame?" WaPo
• Obesity is a risk factor for serious flu complications, Kalamazoo College students warned
• Slim, unfit men are 'less likely' to suffer heart attacks than fit obese men
• Frozen yoghurt and other deceptively unhealthy foods that are making you fatter
• 'Fat is good': the message from a man who swapped sugar for bacon and eggs—"A new documentary makes startling claims about what is and is not healthy for us, challenging received wisdom."
• Science teacher loses almost 40 pounds on 'McDonald's diet'—"Ninety days of Mickey D's for breakfast, lunch and dinner but with strict daily nutritional limitations of 2,000 calories and trying to stay close to the recommended dietary allowances for nutrients like carbohydrates, proteins, fat calories and cholesterol."

Food Fight

• The war against butter is over. Butter won.
• How Gatorade turned water into 'the enemy of performance'
• "Expired" food is good for you: A supermarket exec's bold business gamble—"Trader Joe's' former president wants to sell you the food that other stores throw out. Will it work?" Salon
• Parents, experts decry junk food marketing in schools
• Food Marketing in 2014 Will Be Ugly—Are food corporations living up to 'responsible marketing' promises?

GMO

• Top U.S. court refuses to hear appeal of Monsanto seed case
• Maine becomes second state to require GMO labels WaPo
• A Lonely Quest for Facts on Genetically Modified Crops—"When a bill to ban genetically engineered crops on the island of Hawaii was introduced, doubts nagged at Greggor Ilagan, a councilman, about what the risks were, if any, of the crops." NYT

Obamacare

• Ignore the Republicans: Obamacare Is Doing Fine
• Despite what the critics say, Obamacare is working WaPo
• Desperate, last-ditch effort for Obamacare haters fails—"A federal judge's ruling suggests Obamacare foes are either dishonest or unable to read." Salon
• Obamacare's a "Bailout" Now? Conservative Critics Are Getting Desperate
• Senate Candidate Claims IRS is Training "Brown Shirts" to Enforce Obamacare Using Assault Weapons
• Health-insurance sign-ups by young adults are off pace seen as key to new law's success WaPo
• Medicaid is Obamacare’s biggest success. But neither side wants to talk about it. WaPo
• Nearly 6 in 10 in Georgia favor Medicaid expansion
• Obama administration to end contract with CGI Federal, company behind HealthCare.gov WaPo
• Insecure healthcare.gov allowed hacker to access 70,000 records in 4 minutes

Bill of Health

• New Data Show How Hospitals Rip You Off
• Patients' Costs Skyrocket; Specialists' Incomes Soar—"Patient costs have risen as doctors have become more entrepreneurial, protecting their turf through lobbying by medical societies and increasing revenues by offering new and more lucrative procedures." NYT
• Why I Had to Close My Preventive Healthcare Clinic

Private Sector

• Novartis may be involved in another clinical study—"The Japanese arm of Swiss-based drug maker Novartis is suspected of having involved its sales staff in a clinical study of a new drug."
• NHS patient data to be made available for sale to drug and insurance firms—"Privacy experts warn there will be no way for public to work out who has their medical records or how they are using it."
• Health Canada library changes leave scientists scrambling—"Main Health Canada research library closed, access outsourced to retrieval company."

Doing Harm

• $62M awarded to woman who lost legs after surgery
• Montreal: Woman claims she was told to leave hospital and province for requesting English service
• Turkey passes controversial medical aid bill—"Bill that makes it crime for doctors to provide emergency first aid without government authorisation comes into force."

Virus

• 'Golden age' of antibiotics 'set to end'
• Botulinum Toxin type H- the Deadliest Known Toxin With no Known Antidote Discovered
• Pakistan polio workers shot dead in Karachi
• HIV-Positive Student Secretly Filmed Self Having Unprotected Sex With At Least 31 People
• S.Korea steps up measures to contain bird flu
• This Incredible Map Shows All The Infections That Vaccines Could Have Prevented

Cigs

• Have cigarettes become more addictive?
• China, world's leading tobacco user, moves to ban indoor public smoking
• Chicago votes to ban e-cigarettes

Brain

• Body Atlas Reveals Where We Feel Happiness and Shame
• Supercomputer takes 40 mins to calculate a single second of human brain activity
• Heavy drinking tied to faster mental decline in middle-aged men, study finds—"The study of about 5,000 British civil servants found that over a decade, the added decline was the equivalent of about two extra years of aging for a combined measure of mental abilities like reasoning, and about six years for memory."

Obamacare, War on Drugs, Big Pharma, 420, Health, Mental, Viral

Obamacare

• Obamacare Deadline Keeps Getting Delayed, Even As Enrollment Skyrockets—Allowed 750k Americans more to sign up.
• Mass., Vt. halt payments to firm behind health sites Boston Globe
• GOP theme for 2014: bashing Obamacare, again
• Can Vermont's Single-Payer System Fix What Ails American Healthcare?—"As Obamacare struggles, progressives hope a bold experiment could offer a better model. But first, it has to work."
• Health Care's Road to Ruin—"There are ways to lower costs. Is there the will?" NYT
• This $55,000 Bill Is The Perfect Example Of Our Broken Hospital System
• Conservative Editor Who Was Hospitalized Without Health Insurance And Had To Rely On Donations Is Still Against Obamacare

War on Drugs

• Outrageous HSBC Settlement Proves the Drug War is a Joke
• In Honduras, a Drug-War Mission Gone Wrong—"Why are we still fighting the drug war?"
• Woman sues over vaginal, anal exams in El Paso drug search
• Legal challenge questions reliability of police dogs—The claim is that "the Metropolitan Police Department's police dogs, and eventually NHP's own dogs, were 'trick ponies' that responded to their handlers' cues, and therefore routinely violated citizens' rights to lawful search under the Fourth Amendment."
• Drug overdoses kill more people than auto accidents in 29 states—"Drug overdoses kill more Americans than motor vehicles in 29 states, despite new laws aimed at curbing abuse."

Big Pharma

• Glaxo Says It Will Stop Paying Doctors to Promote Drugs—"The announcement, an apparent first for a major drug company, would end a common practice that is criticized for posing a conflict of interest." NYT
• $1,000 Pill For Hepatitis C Spurs Debate Over Drug Prices—"Graham says she thinks once Gilead has recovered its investment cost, it ought to cut the price of sofosbuvir. 'That's very unlikely that we would do that,' responds Alton, Gilead vice president."
• India's Efforts to Aid Poor Worry Drug Makers NYT

420

• The lie that won't die: "We don't know enough about marijuana!"—"Drug warriors insist we still don't know enough about its possible therapeutic properties. It's simply not true." Salon
• 10 things to know about nation's first recreational marijuana shops in Colorado—The Denver's Post Cannabist site is online.
• California Attorney General: Legalizing Marijuana Would Save Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars A Year

Health

• Family gets $340,000 bill after losing medical malpractice suit
• Multivitamin researchers say "case is closed" after studies find no health benefits
• New York City Extends Smoking Ban To E-Cigarettes
• An emotional goodbye for 'bubbly, energetic' teen Emma following nut allergy tragedy—"When she began showing signs of going into anaphylactic shock, her mother brought her to the nearby Hamilton Long pharmacy where she was refused the EpiPen autoinjector as she did not have her prescription."
• Ontario mom urges schools to let asthmatic kids carry puffers—"Ryan Gibbons, 12, died after a severe asthma attack during recess at Straffordville, Ont., school."

Mental

• Two senators block Franken's mental health bill
• Health law may not broaden access to mental treatment—"Low rates are among the reasons psychiatrists opted out."
• Medicare to Cover More Mental Health Costs—"Effective Jan. 1, Medicare will cover the costs of mental health care much as it does other medical expenses." NYT

Viral

• Hong Kong confirms first death from H7N9 bird flu
• WHO says 4 new Saudi cases of MERS virus, one fatal
• Fired: pregnant nurse studies flu vaccine fine print, decides it's too risky—Too risky also for sick patients in the hospital to have her around.
• AIDS vaccine test results faked—"Dong-Pyou Han was an assistant professor of biomedical sciences. He resigned in October after admitting responsibility, an ISU spokesman said."
• Bubonic plague outbreak kills 32 in Madagascar

Bill of Health, Obamacare, Shutdown Showdown; Immunization; Smoking; Medical Marijuana, War on Drugs; Healthscare; Psychology; NSA Spying

Bill of Health

• Bamboozled: Life-saving transplant denied, health insurance canceled over 26-cent shortfall—Fortunately in the end, the "Department of Labor said the company will reinstate him from May till now."
• How to Charge $546 for Six Liters of Saltwater—"Exploring saline's secret costs." NYT
• Merchants of Meth: How Big Pharma Keeps the Cooks in Business—"With big profits on the line, the drug industry is pulling out campaign-style dirty tricks to keep selling the meds that cooks turn into crank."
• Florida Pharmacists Win $597 Million Blowing Whistle on Scheme
• Man robs bank of $1, sits and waits for cops

Obamacare

• Newt to GOP: We've got a problem—"I will bet you, for most of you, you go home in the next two weeks when your members of Congress are home, and you look them in the eye and you say, 'What is your positive replacement for Obamacare?' They will have zero answer."
• Crowd Calls 'Bullsh*t!' On GOP Congressman's Obamacare Lies
• Ken Cuccinelli : 'Human beings will adjust'—To the loss of Obamacare and the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act.
• UPS won't insure spouses of many employees—"UPS will follow thousands of other companies this fall in ending health insurance coverage of employees' spouses if they can get coverage elsewhere."
• 'Obamacare' enforcement measures help set $4.2 billion record in recovered fraudulent Medicare charges last year
• Ex-GOP Operative’s Cancer Struggles Make Him An Obamacare Supporter
• Krugman: One Reform Indivisible NYT

Shutdown Showdown

• New Conservative Plan: Repeal Obamacare or We'll Default on the National Debt
• More than a third of House Republicans prefer a government shutdown over implementing Obamacare
• Conservatives Revolt As GOP Tries To Calm Obamacare Shutdown Mania
• Tea party groups to target skeptical GOP senators on defunding Obamacare
• Eugene Robinson: GOP in Fantasyland—"The make-believe crusade by publicity-hound Republicans to somehow stop Obamacare is one of the most cynical political exercises we’ve seen in many years. And that, my friends, is saying something."

Immunization

• Decision to close immunization clinics shows Bloomberg administration's ill will
• Australia: Labor to cut tax benefit for parents who don't immunise children
• Texas Megachurch Changes Vaccination Stance After Outbreak

Smoking

• Doctors Asked to Counsel Teens About the Dangers of Smoking
• Pensioner campaigns to stop smoking outside hospital
• Bert Fish Medical Center: Smokers need not apply
• Smoking ban erodes Sun’s gaming profit
• Ban E-Cigarettes? The Anti-Smoking Lobby's Clueless Crusade

Medical Marijuana

• Holder Asked To Testify On Marijuana Legalization Before Senate Committee
• Obama Does Not Support Changes To Medical Marijuana Laws 'At This Point,' White House Says
• Leaked: Cops Obtain 'Confidential' Colorado MMJ Patient Registry—"Participants in Colorado's medical marijuana program were shocked this week to discover that, according to a June 2013 investigation by the State Auditor's Office, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CODPHE) had leaked confidential patient and caregiver information to law enforcement officials."
• Marijuana: DEA Bans Armored Cars From Picking up Pot Shop Cash
• In marijuana policy, the confusing smoke signals continue to burn—"In a city that hosts a pot expo, Tony Jalali thought renting space to medical marijuana outlets was perfectly legal. Guess again."

War on Drugs

• Canada's police chiefs suggest tickets, not charges, for pot possession
• Drug addiction not a criminal issue, says chief medical officer—""Sally Davies says drug addiction should be seen as a medical problem and admits eating hash cookies at university."
• Mother Wins Settlement after Child Welfare took away her Baby because she ate Poppy Seeds in Pasta Dressing

Healthscare

• Vegetarian diagnosed with Mad Cow Disease and told he has just months to live—"Doctors believe the illness – which can lie dormant for years – came from beef he ate before safety laws changed."
• UC Davis surgeons resign after bacteria-in-brain dispute—"Two UC Davis neurosurgeons who intentionally infected three brain-cancer patients with bowel bacteria have resigned their posts.... All three patients consented to the procedures in 2010 and 2011. Two of the patients died within weeks of their surgeries, while the other survived more than a year after being infected."
• US behavioural research studies skew positive—"US behavioural researchers have been handed a dubious distinction — they are more likely than their colleagues in other parts of the world to exaggerate findings...."

Psychology

• Psychotherapy Lags as Evidence Goes Unheeded
• Soft Drinks Consumption Is Associated with Behavior Problems in 5-Year-Olds
• LSD And Other Psychedelics Not Linked with Mental Health Problems

NSA Spying

• UN says it will contact Washington over NSA spying report
• NSA leaks: David Cameron's response is intimidation, says world press body—"World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers tells the UK government its actions could threaten press freedom."
• NSA and GCHQ: the flawed psychology of government mass surveillance—"Research shows that indiscriminate monitoring fosters distrust, conformity and mediocrity."
• NSA row: Merkel rival threatens to suspend EU-US trade talks—"Peer Steinbrück says he will delay negotiations until US comes clean on bugging of German government offices."
• NSA: Listening to everyone — except oversight

World No Tobacco Day; Obamacare, Medicaid, Bill of Health; Bad Medicine, Vax Populi; Psych; Health Issues

World No Tobacco Day

• IRS Sleuths Were on the Right Track: Big Tobacco Created Tea Party in 1994
• Why Calif. Doesn't Want Smokers To Pay More For Health Insurance
• FDA will rule none too soon on e-cigarette regulations
• French Researchers Recommend Stopping E-Cigarette Use in Public
• Apple won't fix your computer if you smoke near it

Obamacare

• Some very good news for Obamacare
• Obamacare Will Be A Debacle — For Republicans Salon
• Why the GOP keeps trying to destroy Obamacare
• Republican Congressmen & Press Caught Lying About Obamacare
• Rubio: The 'Only Answer' To IRS Scandal Is To Repeal Obamacare
• Health Law Critics Seek to Gut It by Attacking Exchanges
• The GOP's dangerous Obamacare strategy

Medicaid

• Health Officials Decry Texas' Snubbing Of Medicaid Billions—Sending uninsured Texans down to Mexico for health care.
• AZ GOP Governor Shuts Down Lawmaking Until Her Party Agrees To Expand Medicaid
• House members say yes to cheap health insurance — for themselves—"Florida House Republicans last month loudly and proudly rejected billions of dollars in federal money that would have provided health insurance to 1 million poor Floridians. Quietly, they kept their own health insurance premiums staggeringly low. House members will pay just $8.34 a month for state-subsidized health care next year, or $30 a month to cover their entire family."

Bill of Health

• Kill Bill: Political techniques may have changed, but lobbyists still deliver a terrific return on investment—"According to statistics United Republic assembled, the prescription drug industry spent $116 million lobbying for legislation to prevent Medicare from bargaining down drug prices — legislation that enabled drug companies to make an additional $90 billion annually." NYT
• Millions can't afford to go to the doctor
• Americans Who Battle Cancer Are Twice As Likely To Go Bankrupt, Even If They Have Health Insurance
• Doctors Denounce Cancer Drug Prices of $100,000 a Year —"More than 100 influential cancer specialists argued in a journal that some drug prices are unsustainable and perhaps even immoral." NYT
• Life-saving drugs' prices set to fall by up to 80 per cent
• One hospital charges $8,000 — another, $38,000
• Two Oregon insurers rethink 2014 premiums as state posts first-ever rate comparison
• Health law is fostering competition, administration says NYT
• South Portland doctor stops accepting insurance, posts prices online
• Hospitals profit when patients develop bloodstream infections—"Johns Hopkins researchers report that hospitals may be reaping enormous income for patients whose hospital stays are complicated by preventable bloodstream infections contracted in their intensive care units."

Bad Medicine

• Dirty medicine—"The epic inside story of long-term criminal fraud at Ranbaxy, the Indian drug company that makes generic Lipitor for millions of Americans."
• New SARS-like virus is a 'threat to the entire world'
• Root of teen's mystery ailment: tiny wire from barbecue brush
• Vegan couple sentenced to life over baby's death—"Malnourished baby was fed soy milk and apple juice, weighed 3 1/2 pounds."
• The Health Toll of Immigration—"A growing body of mortality research on immigrants has shown that the longer they live in the United States, the worse their rates of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes."

Vax Populi

• Bioethicist says parents who don't vaccinate should face liability for consequences
• Measles Epidemic in Wales Has Roots in Antivax Movement
• Grieving parents speak out against anti-vaccination extremists
• New Zealand: Preschools may get right to bar unvaccinated children
• NSW: Vaccinate your children or declare why not, parents told
• Taliban renounces war on anti-polio workers

Psych

• Schizophrenic. Killer. My Cousin.—"It's insanity to kill your father with a kitchen knife. It's also insanity to close hospitals, fire therapists, and leave families to face mental illness on their own."
• You Are Less Beautiful Than You Think
• The Lethality of Loneliness—"We now know how it can ravage our body and brain."
• Coding, Fast and Slow: Developers and the Psychology of Overconfidence
• Justice Is in Our Nature—"Social contracts are written into our biology. As is the justice they need."

Health Issues

• Sacramento couple sees their 5-month-old baby after CPS took him following dispute with doctors
• Vermont OKs assisted suicide bill
• L.A. poised to go after Las Vegas hospital in patient-dumping cases—"Multiple agencies, including the Los Angeles city attorney's office, are investigating whether Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital in Las Vegas, Nevada's primary public mental health facility, has been systematically dumping patients across state lines for years."
• UK: Top A&E doctors warn: 'We cannot guarantee safe care for patients anymore'—"Patients at risk from combination of 'toxic overcrowding' and 'institutional exhaustion', say heads of 20 emergency departments."
• Medical Test Uses Fingers To Predict Heart Disease
• Doctors: Sitting is the new smoking
• Avoiding Burnout

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Fat Tuesday; Vaccination; HIV/AIDS; Abortion and Birth Control; Obamacare; Brain; Smoking; Psych

Merry Christmas...

• Dropkick Murphys: The Season's Upon Us
• Hark! The Herald Angels Didn't Sing --"It takes a strong imagination to approach Scripture literally." NYT
• Science explains Rudolph's red reindeer nose
• 25 Ridiculous "Sexy Santa" Stock Photos
• Penny Arcade: Santa

...and a Happy New Year!

• 2012 Person of the Year: Barack Obama, the President
• Nate Silver: Person of the Year
• Why 2012 was the best year ever--"Never in the history of the world has there been less hunger, less disease and more prosperity."
• 2012's Biggest Rule Breakers: 'Walking Dead,' Psy, Quentin Tarantino and 7 Others Who Rocked the Status Quo
• Facebook, Google release 2012 trends
• The Worst CEOs of 2012
• The Onion's Top Movies Of 2012

Fat Tuesday

• Global report: Obesity bigger health crisis than hunger
• Big Food Corporations Are Making The World Fat
• Which Europeans are fattest, laziest and drink most, in charts
• Chris Christie Weight Comments: 5 Presidents Over 200 Pounds
• Obesity and Overeating During Menopause Together Promote Breast Tumor Growth and Progression

Vaccination

• Karachi polio killings: Vaccination workers shot
• Girl, 8, to get vaccination shots after court overrules mum
• Congress Holds An Anti-Vaccination Hearing
• Australia: Minister orders anti-vaccination group to change its name
• How anti-vaxxers see the world

HIV/AIDS

• Hillary Clinton launches blueprint for eradication of Aids
• Obamacare Will Now Include HIV Testing, Saving Millions of American Lives
• EU scientists develop gel to prevent HIV transmission

Abortion and Birth Control

• Culture Wars: After a Decade of Debate, the Philippines Passes Reproductive Health Bill
• Ireland to legalise abortion--"Ireland is to legalise abortions when the mother's life is at risk, including when she is suicidal, in an historic move expected to spark a major battle with the Roman Catholic church."
• Colin Powell Urges Congress To Remove Abortion Restrictions For Military Women
• In France, Free Birth Control For Girls At Age 15
• Likely Increase in Births Has Some Lawmakers Revisiting Cuts--"Moving $73 million away from family planning services seemed prudent to state lawmakers last year, but the cost of that decision is now clear: more babies born into Medicaid."NYT
• No-cost contraception reduces unintended pregnancies
• Better Than A Condom? Discreet Nanofabric Protects Against Pregnancy and HIV

Obamacare

• 'Obamacare' saves consumers nearly $1.5 billion--"Health insurance companies passed $1.5 billion in savings mandated by 'Obamacare' on to consumers in 2011, a new analysis shows."
• Obama Administration: States Will Not Receive Full Federal Funding For Partial Medicaid Expansions
• Anti-Obamacare Rants Hurting Restaurant Brands--Just ask Red Lobster among others.
• Obamacare architect leaves White House for pharmaceutical industry job
• Frank Morrocco, Ex-Convict, Claims He Intentionally Got Arrested To Receive Healthcare

Brain

• Brain's 'reading centres' are culturally universal
• Study: Biking Restores Brain Connectivity in Parkinson's
• Scientists Solve Mystery of Human Brain's Chandelier Cells
• More cases of brain disease found in football players
• Canadian scientists create a functioning, virtual brain

Smoking

• Tobacco companies ordered to admit they lied over smoking danger--"US judge says tobacco firms must spend their own money on a public campaign admitting deception about the risks of smoking."
• Smoking 'rots' brain, says King's College study
• Australia: Plain packaging leaves bad taste in smokers' mouths
• Are Electronic Cigarettes A Genuine Threat To Big Tobacco?
• The lungs that Jennifer Wederell was given to save her life brought only agonising death--"A young newlywed was never told that the organs needed for her transplant had come from a heavy smoker."

Psych

• Anger as French psychiatrist is found guilty after patient hacks man to death
• Viewpoint: How happiness changes with age
• Why Old People Get Scammed
• Holiday suicide myth persists, research says--"Suicide-prevention experts say stories perpetuating the myth are not only wrong but dangerous."
• The Power of Negative Thinking--"Both ancient philosophy and modern psychology suggest that darker thoughts can make us happier." WSJ