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babylonsister
babylonsister's Journal
babylonsister's Journal
April 21, 2022
Well, every word is even truer today.
After the piece ran, some of my colleagues and readers wondered if I had turned into some kind of warmonger, courting World War III. Now another month has gone by, millions of Ukrainians have fled, thousands more Ukrainian troops and civilians are dead or injured, Putin has reduced the city of Mariupol to rubble, and his troops are about to seize what’s left of it.
Meanwhile, weaponry that seemed like too much of a provocation just a month ago—howitzers, antiaircraft systems, anti-ship missiles, armed drones, helicopters—is being rushed to Ukraine. And the hair-splitting continues. (Why drones and helicopters and not planes?)
more...
https://prospect.org/blogs-and-newsletters/tap/send-zelensky-what-he-needs/
Send Zelensky What He Needs
The American Prospect
Home Newsletters TAP
Send Zelensky What He Needs
Today on TAP: Otherwise, this is a slow-motion humanitarian catastrophe and a Putin victory.
by Robert Kuttner
April 20, 2022
A month ago, on March 22, I wrote a piece titled “Magical Thinking About Putin’s Invasion.” I criticized Western policy for giving Ukraine’s President Zelensky just enough weaponry to stave off imminent defeat but not enough to prevail. I wrote:
The West, out of fear of wider war, has allowed Putin to define what counts as a NATO war with Russia. Thus, the Biden administration has gotten into hair-splitting exercises, in which supplying the West’s most sophisticated anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons does not count as a war with Russia, but supplying planes does.
This is dangerous sophistry. It has led to a proxy war between NATO and Russia, in which the West is willing to fight to the last Ukrainian, but in a limited way that doesn’t allow Ukraine to prevail or even to survive. …
Despite Ukraine’s battlefield successes, NATO’s strategy has been behind the curve at every stage of Putin’s escalation. The West has provided Ukraine with just enough defensive weaponry to prevent an outright Russian military victory, but not enough to stave off a humanitarian catastrophe.
This is dangerous sophistry. It has led to a proxy war between NATO and Russia, in which the West is willing to fight to the last Ukrainian, but in a limited way that doesn’t allow Ukraine to prevail or even to survive. …
Despite Ukraine’s battlefield successes, NATO’s strategy has been behind the curve at every stage of Putin’s escalation. The West has provided Ukraine with just enough defensive weaponry to prevent an outright Russian military victory, but not enough to stave off a humanitarian catastrophe.
Well, every word is even truer today.
After the piece ran, some of my colleagues and readers wondered if I had turned into some kind of warmonger, courting World War III. Now another month has gone by, millions of Ukrainians have fled, thousands more Ukrainian troops and civilians are dead or injured, Putin has reduced the city of Mariupol to rubble, and his troops are about to seize what’s left of it.
Meanwhile, weaponry that seemed like too much of a provocation just a month ago—howitzers, antiaircraft systems, anti-ship missiles, armed drones, helicopters—is being rushed to Ukraine. And the hair-splitting continues. (Why drones and helicopters and not planes?)
more...
https://prospect.org/blogs-and-newsletters/tap/send-zelensky-what-he-needs/
April 21, 2022
Rick Wilson: The Battle of Reedy Creek
Guest Author
April 21, 20229min
snip//
It’s time for Disney to call Ron’s bluff.
How? One idea is to go in hard against DeSantis in the Florida Governor’s race, but I’d argue against it. As a general in this war, he’s hard to kill politically. So why not take some of his enablers off the battlefield?
Disney should identify a dozen or so Florida state House and Senate races and invest $25-$30 million into breaking the GOP majority in the state. For the Florida GOP, that amount of money is a significant lift; for Disney, it’s a rounding error. Make every Florida Senator who sponsored this monstrosity rise from their normally serene easy re-elections and suffer.
Bullies rarely fight alone. DeSantis needs an obedient majority in the Legislature to make the threat of breaking Disney a reality. Break — or even shrink — the GOP majority and he’s a loudmouth, not a threat. Given this stunt’s massive, budget-crushing costs, a Legislature with fewer Ron acolytes will think twice before playing this game again.
Disney almost certainly won’t follow this advice. Their lobbyists in Tallahassee have committed profound political malpractice and failed the client. So of course, they’ll double down on doing more of what got them here; sucking up to the Florida GOP and the Governor who wants to destroy them.
“Go along to get along” is political poison when you’re dealing with authoritarians.
Disney is on the front lines of the culture war now, and unless they fight back hard, it’s a war DeSantis has every intention of riding all the way to the White House.
Rick Wilson: The Battle of Reedy Creek
https://floridapolitics.com/archives/518189-rick-wilson-the-battle-of-reedy-creek/Rick Wilson: The Battle of Reedy Creek
Guest Author
April 21, 20229min
snip//
It’s time for Disney to call Ron’s bluff.
How? One idea is to go in hard against DeSantis in the Florida Governor’s race, but I’d argue against it. As a general in this war, he’s hard to kill politically. So why not take some of his enablers off the battlefield?
Disney should identify a dozen or so Florida state House and Senate races and invest $25-$30 million into breaking the GOP majority in the state. For the Florida GOP, that amount of money is a significant lift; for Disney, it’s a rounding error. Make every Florida Senator who sponsored this monstrosity rise from their normally serene easy re-elections and suffer.
Bullies rarely fight alone. DeSantis needs an obedient majority in the Legislature to make the threat of breaking Disney a reality. Break — or even shrink — the GOP majority and he’s a loudmouth, not a threat. Given this stunt’s massive, budget-crushing costs, a Legislature with fewer Ron acolytes will think twice before playing this game again.
Disney almost certainly won’t follow this advice. Their lobbyists in Tallahassee have committed profound political malpractice and failed the client. So of course, they’ll double down on doing more of what got them here; sucking up to the Florida GOP and the Governor who wants to destroy them.
“Go along to get along” is political poison when you’re dealing with authoritarians.
Disney is on the front lines of the culture war now, and unless they fight back hard, it’s a war DeSantis has every intention of riding all the way to the White House.
April 21, 2022
Ukrainian zoo workers found shot to death and dumped in barricaded room, say owners
Posted 7h ago
snip//
The Feldman Ecopark in Kharkiv said in a statement the workers bodies were discovered "barricaded in the back room".
Kharkiv, in Ukraine's north-east near the Russia border, has been witness to some of the fiercest fighting in the war.
The ABC has not been able to independently verify the claims.
Ukrainian zoo workers found shot to death and dumped in barricaded room, say owners
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-21/kharkiv-zoo-workers-found-shot-to-death-feldman-ecopark/101004712Ukrainian zoo workers found shot to death and dumped in barricaded room, say owners
Posted 7h ago
snip//
The Feldman Ecopark in Kharkiv said in a statement the workers bodies were discovered "barricaded in the back room".
Kharkiv, in Ukraine's north-east near the Russia border, has been witness to some of the fiercest fighting in the war.
"When the war started, [the two employees] stayed in the Ecopark and helped to feed the animals," said the statement posted on social media and the park's website.
"We arrived at the Ecopark on March 7 and did not find them there.
"Until the last, we had been hoping that nothing irremediable had happened, and they were able to survive
"But yesterday we received confirmation that their bodies had been found.
"Our guys were shot by the enemies, and their bodies had been barricaded in the back room."
"We arrived at the Ecopark on March 7 and did not find them there.
"Until the last, we had been hoping that nothing irremediable had happened, and they were able to survive
"But yesterday we received confirmation that their bodies had been found.
"Our guys were shot by the enemies, and their bodies had been barricaded in the back room."
The ABC has not been able to independently verify the claims.
April 21, 2022
more...
https://www.thedailybeast.com/manhattan-das-star-witness-michael-cohen-indict-trump-now-or-im-out?ref=home
Manhattan DA's Star Witness: Indict Trump Now or I'm Out
Manhattan DA’s Star Witness: Indict Trump Now or I’m Out
LAST CHANCE
The grand jury that the Manhattan DA summoned to go after the Trump Organization expires at the end of the month. If it doesn’t bring charges, a key witness says he’s done.
Jose Pagliery
Political Investigations Reporter
Updated Apr. 21, 2022 5:43AM ET / Published Apr. 21, 2022 5:12AM ET
If Manhattan prosecutors don’t indict former President Donald Trump with the grand jury they’ve got in the next nine days, the key witness investigators have used to build their entire case says he won’t help revive it in the future.
Michael Cohen, the New York lawyer Trump used for years as his family company’s trusted consigliere, told The Daily Beast he’s already wasted too much of his time on a case that slowly and then suddenly doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. Prosecutors only have until the current grand jury’s term expires on April 30 to issue charges, at which point they must ask jurors who’ve already done this for six months to continue hearing evidence—or call the whole thing off and awkwardly make the entire presentation all over again in front of another 23 jurors.
If this grand jury is let go, Cohen won’t play ball. Asked if he’d be willing to sit down again with investigators or testify at a future trial against Trump, Cohen responded with utter exasperation.
“No. I spent countless hours, over 15 sessions—including three while incarcerated. I provided thousands of documents, which coupled with my testimony, would have been a valid basis for an indictment and charge,” he said.
“The fact that they have not done so despite all of this… I’m not interested in any further investment of my time,” he said.
“The fact that they have not done so despite all of this… I’m not interested in any further investment of my time,” he said.
more...
https://www.thedailybeast.com/manhattan-das-star-witness-michael-cohen-indict-trump-now-or-im-out?ref=home
April 20, 2022
2 hours ago
Why the Hell Isn’t Jared Kushner’s $2 Billion Saudi Payment a Big Scandal?
Anyone remember Billygate?
David Corn
snip//
Billygate is a good point of reference when assessing what could be called Jaredgate. On April 10, the New York Times revealed that Jared Kushner, son-in-law and adviser of the 45th president, secured a $2 billion investment for his new private equity firm, Affinity Partners, from a fund controlled by the Saudi crown prince—even after advisers to the Saudi fund raised serious objections to the investment. The screening panel for the Saudi fund had cited “the inexperience of the Affinity Fund management”; an “unsatisfactory in all aspects” due diligence report; a proposed asset management fee that seemed “excessive”; and “public relations risks.” Yet the panel was overruled by the fund’s board, which is headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s autocratic de facto leader, who, according to US intelligence, green-lit the operation that resulted in the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
It’s damn hard to not see the $2 billion investment as either a payoff for past services rendered or a preemptive bribe should Trump manage to regain the White House. And it could be both. It’s a wonder that the disclosure of this deal hasn’t created more of a fuss and prompted congressional investigations. (Imagine what Republicans and Fox News would be doing if Hunter Biden received $2 billion from a Ukrainian government leader who was responsible for the gruesome murder of an American resident.) A 10-figure payment to a relative of a former president who is essentially the current (though undeclared) GOP frontrunner in the 2024 contest and possibly the next inhabitant of the White House is a major scandal.
Or it should be.
snip//
Whatever the past or future quid pro quos, if any, this deal stinks and demands congressional scrutiny. Allowing foreign authoritarians to shower billions of dollars upon family members of past, present, or future presidents is ethically wrong but carries a greater threat. As Ali Al-Ahmed, the director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs, wrote in the Washington Post, “The prospect of a dictator using his deep pockets to wield influence at the highest levels of the U.S. political system should be cause for serious concern and targeted action. Not all attacks on American democracy will take the shape of violent insurrections—the corruption of the Saudi-Kushner deal is an attack on democracy, too.”
snip//
The Trump cosmos is full of grift and scandal. And what’s $2 billion compared to an attempt to overturn an election and incite violent insurrection? But in a world of never-ending Trump sleaze, this shady venture does stand out as especially egregious. At the very least, Kushner deserves the Billygate treatment.
David Corn: Why the Hell Isn't Jared Kushner's $2 Billion Saudi Payment a Big Scandal?
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/04/why-the-hell-isnt-jared-kushners-2-billion-saudi-payment-a-big-scandal/2 hours ago
Why the Hell Isn’t Jared Kushner’s $2 Billion Saudi Payment a Big Scandal?
Anyone remember Billygate?
David Corn
snip//
Billygate is a good point of reference when assessing what could be called Jaredgate. On April 10, the New York Times revealed that Jared Kushner, son-in-law and adviser of the 45th president, secured a $2 billion investment for his new private equity firm, Affinity Partners, from a fund controlled by the Saudi crown prince—even after advisers to the Saudi fund raised serious objections to the investment. The screening panel for the Saudi fund had cited “the inexperience of the Affinity Fund management”; an “unsatisfactory in all aspects” due diligence report; a proposed asset management fee that seemed “excessive”; and “public relations risks.” Yet the panel was overruled by the fund’s board, which is headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s autocratic de facto leader, who, according to US intelligence, green-lit the operation that resulted in the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
It’s damn hard to not see the $2 billion investment as either a payoff for past services rendered or a preemptive bribe should Trump manage to regain the White House. And it could be both. It’s a wonder that the disclosure of this deal hasn’t created more of a fuss and prompted congressional investigations. (Imagine what Republicans and Fox News would be doing if Hunter Biden received $2 billion from a Ukrainian government leader who was responsible for the gruesome murder of an American resident.) A 10-figure payment to a relative of a former president who is essentially the current (though undeclared) GOP frontrunner in the 2024 contest and possibly the next inhabitant of the White House is a major scandal.
Or it should be.
snip//
Whatever the past or future quid pro quos, if any, this deal stinks and demands congressional scrutiny. Allowing foreign authoritarians to shower billions of dollars upon family members of past, present, or future presidents is ethically wrong but carries a greater threat. As Ali Al-Ahmed, the director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs, wrote in the Washington Post, “The prospect of a dictator using his deep pockets to wield influence at the highest levels of the U.S. political system should be cause for serious concern and targeted action. Not all attacks on American democracy will take the shape of violent insurrections—the corruption of the Saudi-Kushner deal is an attack on democracy, too.”
snip//
The Trump cosmos is full of grift and scandal. And what’s $2 billion compared to an attempt to overturn an election and incite violent insurrection? But in a world of never-ending Trump sleaze, this shady venture does stand out as especially egregious. At the very least, Kushner deserves the Billygate treatment.
April 20, 2022
‘F*cking Shoot Them’: Chechen Fighters Executed Russian Troops Who Rebelled in Ukraine, Official Says
MUTINY
As more and more reports leak out about Russian soldiers disillusioned with the war, Ukrainian intelligence says three men who wanted out were “brutally killed” on the spot.
Allison Quinn
News Editor
Updated Apr. 20, 2022 9:35AM ET / Published Apr. 20, 2022 7:48AM ET
Reuters
Russian troops tried to rebel against their military commanders in an occupied part of southeast Ukraine, but three of them were killed by Chechen fighters in response, according to Ukrainian intelligence.
Ivan Arefyev, a spokesman for the Zaporizhzhia regional military administration, detailed the incident in a statement on Telegram early Wednesday.
No further details were provided on the brigade said to be involved in the riot, but Chechen troops have widely been seen as playing the role of “enforcers” during the war, and many survivors of the Bucha massacre outside Kyiv said the mass execution of civilians only began after Chechen troops were sent in to replace Russian soldiers there.
more...
https://www.thedailybeast.com/chechen-fighters-executed-3-russian-troops-who-rebelled-against-ukraine-war-official-says?ref=home
'F*cking Shoot Them': Chechen Fighters Executed Russian Troops Who Rebelled in Ukraine...
‘F*cking Shoot Them’: Chechen Fighters Executed Russian Troops Who Rebelled in Ukraine, Official Says
MUTINY
As more and more reports leak out about Russian soldiers disillusioned with the war, Ukrainian intelligence says three men who wanted out were “brutally killed” on the spot.
Allison Quinn
News Editor
Updated Apr. 20, 2022 9:35AM ET / Published Apr. 20, 2022 7:48AM ET
Reuters
Russian troops tried to rebel against their military commanders in an occupied part of southeast Ukraine, but three of them were killed by Chechen fighters in response, according to Ukrainian intelligence.
Ivan Arefyev, a spokesman for the Zaporizhzhia regional military administration, detailed the incident in a statement on Telegram early Wednesday.
“According to Ukrainian intelligence, yesterday in the Pologovsky district Russian troops started to rebel: Russia’s soldiers didn’t want to fight because they have not received their promised payouts. [Ramzan] Kadyrov’s men brutally killed three of the instigators of the riot who were ready to lay down their weapons and head home,” Arefyev wrote.
No further details were provided on the brigade said to be involved in the riot, but Chechen troops have widely been seen as playing the role of “enforcers” during the war, and many survivors of the Bucha massacre outside Kyiv said the mass execution of civilians only began after Chechen troops were sent in to replace Russian soldiers there.
more...
https://www.thedailybeast.com/chechen-fighters-executed-3-russian-troops-who-rebelled-against-ukraine-war-official-says?ref=home
April 20, 2022
April 18, 2022
EPA Has Finally Opened Civil Rights Investigations Over Pollution in “Cancer Alley”
“It is so obvious what’s happening is discriminatory.”
Oliver Laughland
This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
snip//
The civil rights inquiries will investigate Louisiana’s environment department (LDEQ) over a series of permits approved in both St. John parish and St. James parish and elsewhere in the region, where chronic air pollution in majority Black communities has led to a wave of activism and international attention.
One investigation, targeted at the state’s health department, will examine whether the department violated the rights of Black residents and schoolchildren living near a neoprene facility in St. John “by allegedly failing in its duty to provide parish residents with necessary information about health threats”, and whether the department failed to make recommendations to community members and local government over how to reduce exposure to pollution.
The neoprene facility, operated by the Japanese chemicals firm Denka, is the only location in America to emit the pollutant chloroprene, listed by the EPA as a likely human carcinogen. Residential locations around the site, including an elementary school near the plant’s fence line, often record levels of chloroprene well above the EPA’s lifetime exposure guidance levels.
The investigations will also examine permits related to a proposed gargantuan plastics site in the neighboring parish of St James, operated by the Taiwanese company Formosa, permitted to emit up to 15,400 lbs of the cancer-causing chemical ethylene oxide. That project has been placed on hold during a federal government review.
snip//
Recent studies have pointed to elevated cancer diagnoses in areas around the plant, and EPA data points to a cancer risk rate 50 times the national average in census tracts near the plant.
EPA Has Finally Opened Civil Rights Investigations Over Pollution in "Cancer Alley"
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/04/epa-has-finally-opened-civil-rights-investigations-over-pollution-in-cancer-alley/April 18, 2022
EPA Has Finally Opened Civil Rights Investigations Over Pollution in “Cancer Alley”
“It is so obvious what’s happening is discriminatory.”
Oliver Laughland
This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
snip//
The civil rights inquiries will investigate Louisiana’s environment department (LDEQ) over a series of permits approved in both St. John parish and St. James parish and elsewhere in the region, where chronic air pollution in majority Black communities has led to a wave of activism and international attention.
One investigation, targeted at the state’s health department, will examine whether the department violated the rights of Black residents and schoolchildren living near a neoprene facility in St. John “by allegedly failing in its duty to provide parish residents with necessary information about health threats”, and whether the department failed to make recommendations to community members and local government over how to reduce exposure to pollution.
The neoprene facility, operated by the Japanese chemicals firm Denka, is the only location in America to emit the pollutant chloroprene, listed by the EPA as a likely human carcinogen. Residential locations around the site, including an elementary school near the plant’s fence line, often record levels of chloroprene well above the EPA’s lifetime exposure guidance levels.
The investigations will also examine permits related to a proposed gargantuan plastics site in the neighboring parish of St James, operated by the Taiwanese company Formosa, permitted to emit up to 15,400 lbs of the cancer-causing chemical ethylene oxide. That project has been placed on hold during a federal government review.
snip//
Recent studies have pointed to elevated cancer diagnoses in areas around the plant, and EPA data points to a cancer risk rate 50 times the national average in census tracts near the plant.
April 20, 2022
Ukrainian Millionaire Asks Ukrainian Military To Bomb His Russian-occupied Mansion
After Andrey Stavnitser saw Russian forces occupy his newly-built mansion he gave out the coordinates to the Ukrainian military to level it.
By Ed Scarce — April 19, 2022
Video @ link~
"I will rebuild this house, we will rebuild the country, the main thing is to save lives," he told "Good Morning Britain."
Source: NY Post
A few days ago he told the same story to Bloomberg, with better photos.
Ukrainian Millionaire Asks Ukrainian Military To Bomb His Russian-occupied Mansion
https://crooksandliars.com/2022/04/ukrainian-millionaire-asks-ukrainianUkrainian Millionaire Asks Ukrainian Military To Bomb His Russian-occupied Mansion
After Andrey Stavnitser saw Russian forces occupy his newly-built mansion he gave out the coordinates to the Ukrainian military to level it.
By Ed Scarce — April 19, 2022
Video @ link~
"I will rebuild this house, we will rebuild the country, the main thing is to save lives," he told "Good Morning Britain."
Source: NY Post
A Ukrainian millionaire says he asked the military to bomb his newly built mansion when he saw on a security camera that Russian forces had occupied it and were firing rockets at Kyiv from his property.
Andrey Stavnitser, CEO of TransInvestService, an IT company, said he saw via a webcam last month that Russian soldiers had taken up a position on his land, bringing along a dozen pieces of military equipment.
“They destroyed most of the cameras inside the house, but there was one small amateur webcam,” he told ITV’s “Good Morning Britain” on Monday.
Rather than allow the invaders to shell Ukraine’s nearby capital from his land, Stavnitser, 39, said he reached out to Ukraine’s armed forces, passed on to them the coordinates of his mansion and asked them to bomb it.
“It was a kind of an obvious decision for me,” the businessman said, adding that he felt “disgusted” to see the invaders traipse all over his home.
'I felt disgusted.'
Businessman Andrey Stavnitser’s house West of Kyiv was taken by Russian troops & Stavnitser saw from the webcams that Russians were deploying equipment from there. So he gave the location coordinates to the Ukraine military and ordered them to 'bomb' his home pic.twitter.com/bwl7ESIJAK
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) April 18, 2022
Andrey Stavnitser, CEO of TransInvestService, an IT company, said he saw via a webcam last month that Russian soldiers had taken up a position on his land, bringing along a dozen pieces of military equipment.
“They destroyed most of the cameras inside the house, but there was one small amateur webcam,” he told ITV’s “Good Morning Britain” on Monday.
Rather than allow the invaders to shell Ukraine’s nearby capital from his land, Stavnitser, 39, said he reached out to Ukraine’s armed forces, passed on to them the coordinates of his mansion and asked them to bomb it.
“It was a kind of an obvious decision for me,” the businessman said, adding that he felt “disgusted” to see the invaders traipse all over his home.
'I felt disgusted.'
Businessman Andrey Stavnitser’s house West of Kyiv was taken by Russian troops & Stavnitser saw from the webcams that Russians were deploying equipment from there. So he gave the location coordinates to the Ukraine military and ordered them to 'bomb' his home pic.twitter.com/bwl7ESIJAK
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) April 18, 2022
A few days ago he told the same story to Bloomberg, with better photos.
"It looks like a nightmare."
Businessman Andrey Stavnitser asked the Ukrainian military to bomb his home near Kyiv when he found out the Russian army were using the property for attacks pic.twitter.com/b1hN9IwGth
— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) April 15, 2022
Businessman Andrey Stavnitser asked the Ukrainian military to bomb his home near Kyiv when he found out the Russian army were using the property for attacks pic.twitter.com/b1hN9IwGth
— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) April 15, 2022
April 20, 2022
Legalizing marijuana lowers demand for prescription drugs, study finds
“The reductions in drug utilization that we find could lead to significant cost savings for state Medicaid programs. The results also indicate an opportunity to reduce the harm that can come with the dangerous side effects associated with some prescription drugs,” one researcher said.
by Adam Barnes | April 18, 2022
Access to marijuana via legalization lowers demand for expensive prescription medications through state Medicaid programs, according to a new study.
snip//
more...
https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/3271896-legalizing-marijuana-lowers-demand-for-prescription-drugs-study-finds/
Legalizing marijuana lowers demand for prescription drugs, study finds
Legalizing marijuana lowers demand for prescription drugs, study finds
“The reductions in drug utilization that we find could lead to significant cost savings for state Medicaid programs. The results also indicate an opportunity to reduce the harm that can come with the dangerous side effects associated with some prescription drugs,” one researcher said.
by Adam Barnes | April 18, 2022
Cornell University researchers analyzed data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in all 50 states from 2011 to 2019.
They found a decline in the volume of prescriptions targeting pain, depression, anxiety, sleep, psychosis and seizures in states that have legalized recreational use.
Thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia currently permit the use of medical marijuana with a prescription.
They found a decline in the volume of prescriptions targeting pain, depression, anxiety, sleep, psychosis and seizures in states that have legalized recreational use.
Thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia currently permit the use of medical marijuana with a prescription.
Access to marijuana via legalization lowers demand for expensive prescription medications through state Medicaid programs, according to a new study.
snip//
“These results have important implications,” Shyam Raman, a doctoral student in the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy, said in a news release.
“The reductions in drug utilization that we find could lead to significant cost savings for state Medicaid programs. The results also indicate an opportunity to reduce the harm that can come with the dangerous side effects associated with some prescription drugs,” Raman added.
“The reductions in drug utilization that we find could lead to significant cost savings for state Medicaid programs. The results also indicate an opportunity to reduce the harm that can come with the dangerous side effects associated with some prescription drugs,” Raman added.
more...
https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/3271896-legalizing-marijuana-lowers-demand-for-prescription-drugs-study-finds/
April 19, 2022
Sitting senator shown to have colluded in coup attempt. Sunday shows yawn
Joan McCarter
Daily Kos Staff
Monday April 18, 2022 · 11:01 AM EDT
Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee was up to his eyeballs in the conspiracy committed to overturning the 2020 presidential election—the same Lee who sits on the Senate Judiciary committee and lectures much smarter, much more patriotic people on how the Constitution works.
Lee is also a liar. A liar smart enough to know that his “14 hours a day” spent trying to figure out how to overthrow the government and keep Trump installed in the White House was not a good look for him after the events of Jan. 6, so he lied about it. The newly revealed text messages between the senator and then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows prove that Lee had been pushing the plot by John Eastman to get Republican state legislators to toss their election results and appoint their own pro-Trump electors since Nov. 23, 2020.
”If a very small handful of states were to have their legislatures appoint alternative slates of delegates, there could be a path,” Lee texted Meadows on Nov. 23, when the counting had all been done. When Joe Biden had secured the office. But that’s not what he told Bob Woodward and Robert Costa in their recent book about the events leading up to Jan. 6. He told Woodward and Costa that the first he’d ever heard about “alternate electors” plot was on Jan. 2 and that “he was shocked.” That fact, interestingly enough, was picked up and tweeted extensively by former Texas Sen. Ted Cruz communications official Amanda Carpenter, who apparently has a bone to pick with the former Cruz sidekick.
Wow, a sitting senator who plotted for weeks to overthrow the will of the people, fueling the insurrection and then lying about it? Big news, right? Not at all. “[N]ot one of the five major Sunday talk shows mentioned one word about Lee,” writes the Washington Post’s James Downie. “Will the media let Sen. Mike Lee go unquestioned?” Downie asks. Why yes, yes they will.
more...
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/4/18/2092610/-Sunday-shows-AWOL-on-story-of-Sen-Mike-Lee-s-coup-conspiring
Sitting senator shown to have colluded in coup attempt. Sunday shows yawn
Sitting senator shown to have colluded in coup attempt. Sunday shows yawn
Joan McCarter
Daily Kos Staff
Monday April 18, 2022 · 11:01 AM EDT
Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee was up to his eyeballs in the conspiracy committed to overturning the 2020 presidential election—the same Lee who sits on the Senate Judiciary committee and lectures much smarter, much more patriotic people on how the Constitution works.
Lee is also a liar. A liar smart enough to know that his “14 hours a day” spent trying to figure out how to overthrow the government and keep Trump installed in the White House was not a good look for him after the events of Jan. 6, so he lied about it. The newly revealed text messages between the senator and then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows prove that Lee had been pushing the plot by John Eastman to get Republican state legislators to toss their election results and appoint their own pro-Trump electors since Nov. 23, 2020.
”If a very small handful of states were to have their legislatures appoint alternative slates of delegates, there could be a path,” Lee texted Meadows on Nov. 23, when the counting had all been done. When Joe Biden had secured the office. But that’s not what he told Bob Woodward and Robert Costa in their recent book about the events leading up to Jan. 6. He told Woodward and Costa that the first he’d ever heard about “alternate electors” plot was on Jan. 2 and that “he was shocked.” That fact, interestingly enough, was picked up and tweeted extensively by former Texas Sen. Ted Cruz communications official Amanda Carpenter, who apparently has a bone to pick with the former Cruz sidekick.
Wow, a sitting senator who plotted for weeks to overthrow the will of the people, fueling the insurrection and then lying about it? Big news, right? Not at all. “[N]ot one of the five major Sunday talk shows mentioned one word about Lee,” writes the Washington Post’s James Downie. “Will the media let Sen. Mike Lee go unquestioned?” Downie asks. Why yes, yes they will.
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https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/4/18/2092610/-Sunday-shows-AWOL-on-story-of-Sen-Mike-Lee-s-coup-conspiring
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