How the Medicaid Rebate on Prescription Drugs Affects Pricing in the Pharmaceutical Industry

How the Medicaid Rebate on Prescription Drugs Affects Pricing in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Freeman: Israel is useless to US power projection

Freeman: Israel is useless to US power projection

Iraq: The war logs | World news | guardian.co.uk

Iraq: The war logs | World news | guardian.co.uk

Why Reporters Must Reveal Illegal Leakers

Why Reporters Must Reveal Illegal Leakers

We Need A What Mayor?

Looking for a What Mayor?

Back in 1989, then-mayoral candidate Richard Daley got into political hot water for telling a group of Polish supporters that Chicago needed “a white mayor who can sit down with everybody.”

You could immediately hear the city’s collective knickers twisting. Racial politics are of course unseemly, divisive and unacceptable. In a political pickle, Daley chose to claim he had actually said Chicago needs a “wet” mayor. “Come on”, you say, “Nobody would fall for that,” especially since the actual “white mayor” comment had been recorded and replayed on radio and tv ad nauseum, or ad delighteum if you were a Daley opponent.

In 2010, after almost two decades in office, Mayor Daley would beg to differ.

Now comes State Senator Rickey Hendon. He describes himself as “the black Sarah Palin,” whom I consider the white Al Sharpton. Senator Hendon desires, as do various other melanin-rich pols, to become the “consensus black candidate” for mayor.

To Senator Hendon, a fellow westsider, I say, “wrong move Rickey!” We already have enough Palin clones to keep the makers of black lip liner in business for decades. Chicago needs a post-racial, big tent mayor to unify the city. And Rickey might be just the guy to do it. He needs merely to reset his pitch and rise above a color campaign to one directly focused on crucial issues like how to avoid federal prison - no wait, that’s the campaign for governor, my mistake.

But seriously, Rickey Hendon needs to renounce his current, color-conscious position-- he needs to pull a Daley. He could claim that he didn’t say we need a consensus black candidate but a consensus blank candidate, a clean slate upon whom Chicagoans could write their dreams of a fairer, more prosperous city.

“Sure,” Hendon could say, “‘consensus blank candidate’ is a ridiculous, meaningless phrase that makes no sense in English. Which proves my qualification to be mayor of Chicago.”

Khaled Mesh’al lays out new Hamas policy direction

Khaled Mesh’al lays out new Hamas policy direction

I am ABSOLUTELY NOT A BIN LADEN SUPPORTER!!! I am a Jew and an American, aka target.

However I believer very strongly that to beat him we must counter his aruments and we can only do that by knowing what they are. This is my edit of Bin Laden’s 1996 Fatwa in which he calls for war against the USA. The PBS NewsHour translation of the 1996 declaration can be found here. - af

Praise be to Allah, we seek His help and ask for his pardon. We take refuge in Allah from our wrongs and bad deeds. I bear witness that there is no God except - and that Muhammad is His slave and messenger.

My Muslim Brothers (particularly those of the Arab Peninsula):

It should not be hidden from you that the people of Islam had suffered from aggression, iniquity and injustice imposed on them by the Zionist-Crusaders alliance and their collaborators; to the extent that the Muslims blood became the cheapest and their wealth as loot in the hands of the enemies. Their blood was spilled in Palestine and Iraq.

The latest and the greatest of these aggressions, incurred by the Muslims since the death of the Prophet (ALLAH'S BLESSING AND SALUTATIONS ON HIM) is the occupation of the land of the two Holy Places —the foundation of the house of Islam, by the armies of the American Crusaders and their allies.

It is out of date and no longer acceptable to claim that the presence of the crusaders is necessity and only a temporary measures to protect the land of the two Holy Places. Especially when the civil and the military infrastructures of Iraq were savagely destroyed showing the depth of the Zionist-Crusaders hatred to the Muslims and their children,

It is now clear that those who claim that the blood of the American solders (the enemy occupying the land of the Muslims) should be protected are merely repeating what is imposed on them by the regime; fearing the aggression and interested in saving themselves. It is a duty now on every tribe in the Arab Peninsula to fight, Jihad, in the cause of Allah and to cleanse the land from those occupiers. Their wealth is a booty to those who kill them.

We say to the Defense Secretary that his talk can induce a grieving mother to laughter! Where was this false courage of yours when the explosion in Beirut took place on 1983 AD (1403 A.H). You were turned into scattered pits and pieces at that time; 241 mainly marines solders were killed. And where was this courage of yours when two explosions made you to leave Aden in lees than twenty-four hours!

But your most disgraceful case was in Somalia; where- after vigorous propaganda about the power of the USA and its post cold war leadership of the New World order. However, when tens of your solders were killed in minor battles and one American Pilot was dragged in the streets of Mogadishu you left the area carrying disappointment, humiliation, defeat and your dead with you. It was a pleasure for the "heart" of every Muslim and a remedy to the "chests" of believing nations to see you defeated in the three Islamic cities of Beirut, Aden and Mogadishu.

Terrorizing you, while you are carrying arms on our land, is a legitimate and morally demanded duty. It is a legitimate right well known to all humans and other creatures. Your example and our example is like a snake which entered into a house of a man and got killed by him.

The youths hold you responsible for all of the killings and evictions of the Muslims and the violation of the sanctities, carried out by your Zionist brothers in Lebanon; you openly supplied them with arms and finance. More than 600,000 Iraqi children have died due to lack of food and medicine and as a result of the unjustifiable aggression (sanction) imposed on Iraq and its nation. The children of Iraq are our children. You, the USA, together with the Saudi regime are responsible for the shedding of the blood of these innocent children. Due to all of that, whatever treaty you have with our country is now null and void.

These youths are different from your soldiers. Your problem will be how to convince your troops to fight, while our problem will be how to restrain our youths to wait for their turn in fighting and in operations and sacrifice from father to father. These youths love death as you love life.

As for our daughters, wives, sisters and mothers they should remember the courage and the personality of Fatima, daughter of Khatab, when she accepted Islam and stood up in front of her brother, Omar Ibn Al-Khatab and challenged him (Our women instigate their brothers to fight in the cause of Allah. )

My Muslim Brothers of the World:

Your brothers in Palestine and in the land of the two Holy Places are calling upon your help and asking you to take part in fighting against the enemy -your enemy and their enemy- the Americans and the Israelis. they are asking you to do whatever you can, with one own means and ability, to expel the enemy, humiliated and defeated, out of the sanctities of Islam.

Our Lord, the people of the cross had come with their horses (soldiers) and occupied the land of the two Holy places. And the Zionist Jews fiddling as they wish with the Al Aqsa Mosque, the route of the ascendance of the messenger of Allah (ALLAH'S BLESSING AND SALUTATIONS ON HIM). Our Lord, shatter their gathering, divide them among themselves, shaken the earth under their feet and give us control over them Our Lord, show us the wonderment of your ability in them!

Our Lord, make the youths of Islam steadfast and descend patience on them and guide their shots!

Our Lord, unify the Muslims and bestow love among their hearts!

Our Lord, bless Muhammad, Your slave and messenger, his family and

descendants, and companions and salute him with a (becoming) salutation.

And our last supplication is: All praise is due to Allah .

Helpful Blogging Links: Tips for Better Vlogging (video blogging) | Blogging Basics 101

Helpful Blogging Links: Tips for Better Vlogging (video blogging) | Blogging Basics 101

An American jihadi in on military mission in Somaila - fascinating!

In this Vanguard extra, Abu Monsoor Al-Amriki -- aka "American Jihadi" Omar Hammami, originally from Daphne, Alabama -- outlines Al-Shabaab's plan to ambush Ethiopian and Somali troops. This and similar videos are intended to help recruit other young Muslims from the West to wage jihad overseas.

"Vanguard," airing weekly on Current TV Wednesdays at 10/9c, is a no-limits documentary series whose award-winning correspondents put themselves in extraordinary situations to immerse viewers in global issues that have a large social significance. Unlike sound-bite driven reporting, the show's correspondents, Adam Yamaguchi, Kaj Larsen, Christof Putzel and Mariana van Zeller, serve as trusted guides who take viewers on in-depth real life adventures in pursuit of some of the world's most important stories.

For more, go to http://current.com/vanguard.

"Germany has the oldest students, youngest retirees and longest vacationing workers in the world"

The Germans have traditionally regarded their model as "Sonderweg", that is a middle of the road approach between free market liberalism and state-centered socialism. The welfare system is an integrated part of Germany's "social market economy." Particularly significant is the fact that in Germany, more than in most countries, welfare policies have been mechanisms of economic governance. That is welfare policies are designed to enhance employment effects by withdrawing surplus labor from the economy. In short, early retirement schemes or long university programs serve to constrain the supply of labor when unemployment rates are high. This has prompted critics to charge that Germany has the oldest students, youngest retirees and longest vacationing workers in the world. European Welfare States - Information and Resources

The World's Most Profitable Companies

Why is is so hard to find images of Furkan Dogan?

Damn, the Israeli's are smart! Somehow they have managed to make it really difficult to find, via a Google search, images of Furkan Dogan the American college student killed by Israeli commandos on 31 May. They obviously don't want hm to become the symbol of he flotilla massacre. Wanna join the movement to frustrate them?

Make him your profile image, blog the pic and make sure it's labeled.

Post baby, post!

Freegaza - Survivor testimonies

“The Israeli navy fired on the ships five minutes before commandos descended from ropes that dangled from helicopters. “Freegaza - Survivor testimonies - Haneen Zuaby - Minister Israeli Knesset

According to video released by the IDF...

There were two attempts by Israeli troops to board the Mavi Marmara. The first a water assault, was repelled by the passengers.



This video record of the failed assault establishes certain facts:

1) The passengers intended to keep the IDF commandos off the ship.
2) The passengers had sticks and metal rods which they shook in the universal warning, "Come here and I got something fo' yo' ass!"
3) The IDF was not prepared for the resistance they met.
4) At this point, no one has gotten hurt.

There is now a lull in the action and the IDF has lots of choices including:

a) Ask to inspect the ship's cargo at sea
b) Try to negotiate a non-violent helicopter boarding.
c) Warn the folks on the deck to drop their sticks and pipes and kitchen knives and announce that if they impede the troops' landing the IDF intends to use deadly force.
d) Wait until the ship is closer to Gaza and in shallow water then disable it thus reducing the danger to passengers should the ship itself be damaged and sink.

As always, there were lots non-violent alternatives and then there was:
z) Use more force.

Having chosen a hostile helicopter landing the chopper hovered above the Mavi Marmara and according to the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, The boarding party had real-time photographs of the ships from IDF helicopters hovering overhead,

So they could see (if they could not figure out) that the folks waving the sticks and bars who had repelled the first boarding attempt had not gone away.

The IDF still had all the nonviolent options available to them. They could have postponed, cancelled, rethought the attack. They could again have warned the folks on the deck that resistance would be met with deadly force. But, again according to the Haaretz report.

a decision was made to board the Marmara with 14 commandos, some of whom rappelled from a helicopter. They carried rifles loaded with paint balls for crowd control, as well as loaded pistols, but the latter were not supposed to be used.

Former Israeli Navy chief Ami Ayalon said in Highland Park last week, "Professional soldiers know that anytime you send warriors into an operation among civilians you are sentencing a certain number of civilians will die. Whatever politicians may say, professionals know that civilians will die."

Knowing all this some IDF commander gave the order, "go!"

As the video shows,

After the first paratrooper was captured and disarmed the commanders were able to break off the attack and begin negotiations for the captured soldier. But they chose to continue and send more young Israeli soldiers into a gauntlet of angry people violently defending their boat.

The Torah warns against placing a stumbling block before the blind, which the rabbis interpret to mean that you may not take an action that would tempt a normal person to sin.

At every point in the confrontation and despite clear warnings from the passengers, decisions to escalate force were made by IDF commanders with easily predictable results and tragic results for the victims and for Israel.

"War is the remedy my enemy has chosen, I say let him have as much of it as he wants." - Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman