Did Bush know about 911 before it happened?
Only time will tell. But some people, such as Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga) are starting to ask questions and suggest that such issues be investigated further.
Here’s a Washington Post article by Juliet Eilperin on the subject:
Democrat Implies Sept. 11 Administration Plot .
More on the Bush Administrations latest attack against your privacy: insisting that you to hand over your personal data right off the bat if you ever want to hope you see your reimbursement check from your health insurance provider.
See the article:
Bush Acts to Drop Core Privacy Rule on Medical Data,
by Robert Pear for the NY Times.
The Bush administration today proposed dropping a requirement at the heart of federal rules that protect the privacy of medical records. It said doctors and hospitals should not have to obtain consent from patients before using or disclosing medical information for the purpose of treatment or reimbursement.
The proposal, favored by the health care industry, was announced by Tommy G. Thompson, the secretary of health and human services, who said the process of obtaining consent could have “serious unintended consequences” and could impair access to quality health care.
The sweeping privacy rules were issued by President Bill Clinton in December 2000. When Mr. Bush allowed them to take effect last April, consumer advocates cheered, while much of the health care industry expressed dismay.
Today’s proposal would repeal a provision widely viewed as the core of the Clinton rules: a requirement that doctors, hospitals and other health care providers obtain written consent from patients before using or disclosing medical information for treatment, the payment of claims or any of a long list of “health care operations,” like setting insurance premiums and measuring the competence of doctors.
The Bush administration has proposed to eliminate the U.S. medical
privacy rules that require patients to give consent for disclosure of their health information prior to receiving care.
The American Medical Association is crying foul.
See the Reuters article by Lisa Richwine:
Feds Urge Medical Privacy Changes, Advocates Upset.
That modification “strikes at the very heart of the privacy regulation. Without a prior consent requirement, patients will have no control over how their health care information is used or disclosed,” said Georgetown University’s Health Privacy Project, an advocacy group for medical privacy rights.
The American Medical Association, which had urged the federal government to make the consent requirement less burdensome for doctors, said it too thought the administration was going too far.
“We knew it had to be fixed. Just to remove it completely is a serious problem,” said Dr. Donald Palmisano, the AMA’s secretary-treasurer.
Man, when CSPAN‘s hot, it’s hot!
I tuned in just in time to see the nomination of Judge Charles Pickering to the Fifth Circuit US Court of Appeals get rejected by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
It was pretty gratifying.
(I guess every now and then, the system works 🙂
Hey, I don’t remember giving Bush the go ahead to start World War III. Do you?
Will somebody please explain to the President that this “war” is over (in the sense that we have neutralized the threat and reduced the possibility of the same thing happening again) and that we can’t just keep blowing up the Middle East until we’ve found Bin Laden?
Time for Plan B, C or D guys.
I’ll give you a hint: Keep on going down the list until the possibility of destroying all life on the planet isn’t one of the potential outcomes.
Check out:
Iran honored to be targeted by US – ‘most hated Satan’,
by Afshin Valinejad (AP) for the Jerusalem Post.
Khamenei was one of several Iranian officials, including the president and foreign minister, who have condemned Bush’s characterization of Iran as part of an “axis of evil” during his State of the Union address Tuesday night.
The reaction went beyond words. State radio reported that Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi had canceled plans to attend the 32nd annual World Economic Forum in New York, which opens today.
The cancellation, the radio said late last night, was to protest America’s stand toward Iran and the “humiliating” attitude of the US State Department in issuing visas for the Iranian delegation. It did not elaborate.
President Mohammad Khatami said Bush “spoke arrogantly, humiliatingly, aggressively and in an interfering way – and worse than anything, it is an insult to the Iranian nation.” The president spoke during a Cabinet session last night, according to state-run television and radio.
“We are supporters of peace, a peace based on justice for humanity,” Khatami said.
Kharrazi said the accusations were intended to divert world attention from Israeli violence against Palestinians and reveals US global ambitions.
“With these arrogant statements, the American government has further unveiled its true image as a hegemonic power that wants to dominate the whole world through force,” Kharrazi told the Islamic Republic News Agency.