The Health Care Reform- "A Grass Roots Movement?"

Just as during his presidential campaign, president Obama and people around him want us to believe that their actions already have mass support, nowadays for the Health care reform. The grass-root supporters, supposedly organically created groups of people who favor the current bill, should be in their own words standing firmly behind Obama. These groups, now mostly ignored as the media focus on law makers and major lobbyists, focus on promoting the policies in their communities and among local political leaders. However, opponents of policies such as the public option are just as active but are more visible; but Obama supporters refuse to be shaken. The OFA, an organisation connected to the Democratic National Committee, boasts to have already 2million people actively supporting Obama's proposal. Still many doubt that such pro-Obama movements are not created artificially by the Obama administration. Even genuine efforts encounter problems - disagreements over details of all the reform proposals and lack of intensity and passion make them lack behind the opposition.

by Lucie S.

Source: CBS News Politics October 7, 2009

The Health Care Reform - "The $1 Trillion Price Tag"

Alongside the Senates attempts at creating a comprehensive Health care bill which is led by Sen. Reid, there is a similar attempt going on in the House of Representatives lead by the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. On October 23, information regarding the House's bill was leaked. According to this information the price tag should be about $871billion. However, this price excludes such expenses as increased benefits for Medicare and Medicaid, the public option and many others. Therefore, the estimated full price should be more than $1 trillion in the next decade. This is well above the $900 billion limit set by president Obama and it is also questionable whether this plan would not add to the already enormous deficit. This bill holds many similarities to the one worked on in the Senate; it provides coverage to previously uninsured, banns denying coverage for pre-existing conditions, and should slow health care cost growth. The Bill also lifts the exemption the insurance companies previously enjoyed from the anti-trust laws. The House is, as the Senate, still struggling with the issue of public option which some Democrats require and some more conservative Democrats and Republicans refuse. One alternative to this deadlock came from Sen. Snowe, who previously supported the Financial Committee's proposal. She proposed that the government would put up some goals the private insurance companies would have to fulfill and the government would step in only if they failed to do so.

by Lucie S.

Source: Yahoo News/AP October 23, 2009

The Health Care Reform - "Reform after the Financial Committee"

The Financial committee has finally after weeks of debates agreed on a health care reform plan on October 13. Their plan should insure 29million people who as of now do not have insurance and should cost about $829 billion. It is a bill that was created by choosing some out of the hundreds of amendments considered. All Democrats on the committee voted for this plan; however, only one Republican member, Sen.Snowe, was voting favorably as well despite the Financial Committee's decision to cut the public option from the bill.

The responsibility for presenting a bill now shifts to Congress where under the Democrat Harry Reid the Democrats will try to form a Bill that will gain support in Congress. The goal for Reid is not only to form a bill that will get passed by the Senate but also to do so by the end of this year and at a cost below $900 billion. However, to gain agreement by both the Senate and House Representatives might get tricky. As much as both chambers and both parties agree on some aspects of the reform - limiting expenses and guaranteeing insurance for pre-existing conditions, there are many divisive aspects of it as well with the main issue being the public option. The Finance Committee opted for a non-governmental health care co-option. The Health Committee on the other hand promotes a massive government run insurance option that should push down the costs of private insurance companies. Moreover, the Democrats in the House of Representatives have already stated that they will not support any bill that does not include a public option. Therefore, an agreement on a comprehensive bill is far away and could provide fatal to the whole reform movement.

by Lucie

Source: CNN Politics October 14, 2009

The Health Care Reform - "Cautious Optimism"

The AP-GfK poll from October 1-5 found that the public opinion on Obama's health care proposals took a more favorable turn compared to results sampled in September. This poll shows the public in a 40-40 split, with 20% undecided which is a positive sign for the Democrats as in September the polls hinted at an almost 50% opposition to the plan. About 68% percent of Democrats favored the proposal. However, only 29% of Independents and about 20% of Republicans favor the Democrats' policies. Even with this slightly positive movement in the polls, lawmakers still have many obstacles to overcome. The first order of business is to come up with a united bill to be voted on and then to explain such complex proposal to the public.

by Lucie S.

Source: ABC News Money October 7, 2009

Colombia & U.S. defense pact

By Andrea

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

According to Colombian Defense Minister Gabriel Silva, Colombia is going to sign a controversial security pact with the United States to improve countries’ fight against drug trafficking. The accord should be most likely signed on Friday.

This agreement has been criticized for various reasons. First, it gives U.S. troops access to seven Colombia's bases. Several neighboring leaders, especially the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, strongly disagree with an American military presence in the region. Then, the accord also grants U.S. troops immunity from criminal prosecution in Colombia.

Nevertheless, Michael Shifter, an expert on Colombia at Washington's Inter-American Dialogue think tank, said that the agreement “is mainly aimed at locking in the Colombia-U.S. relationship for an extended period.” He further asserted that…”There is no sign that it reflects a wider military strategy in the region.”

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/27/AR2009102701963.html

The Health Care Reform- "The Businesses' Worries"

The main concern for most business owners are nowadays the costs of providing health care coverage not only for themselves but also for their employees. So, the new health care is followed by many very closely. But due to the variety and complexity of the bills presented many turn to organizations such as the Small Business Majority, which is one of the national organization working with businesses. They answer questions on the cost of various bills and also form policies they advocate for. Terry Gardiner, national policy director for Small Business Majority, claims that most small businesses can be divided into 2 groups – those who cannot afford insurance for their employees and those who have to reduce benefits due to rising costs of health care. However, not only small businesses suffer from rising health care costs. Large businesses such as Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway cite their health care costs as their fastest rising expenses. In general, businesses not only hope for lower expenses but also for higher premiums from insurance companies. These premiums generally depend on what the difference on insurance paid and claims issued was in the past year and can be used by businesses on wellness and prevention programs for employees. Therefore, for businesses the health care reform is not only about profitability but also about the ability to provide insurance, especially with the considered mandatory clause, which would make businesses responsible for providing health care for its employees or at least to financially support it.


by Lucie

Sources: Journal Star September 27, 2009

The Health Care Reform - "The Big Impact"

The reason why any health care reform proposal in the United States evokes such a passionate response is that the health care related spending in the USA forms over 16% (approximately one 6th) of the total GDP. In the health care sector, not only the insurance companies will be affected by any change; it will be also the pharmaceutical and medical supply companies, hospitals, home health care providers and many others. Furthermore, governmental health care programs make up almost half of the total health care spending (7.5% of the US GDP). Therefore, any change, will translate into the economy itself and every party involved wants to get the best deal out of any reform. This added to the comprehensiveness of the bill and political power struggles makes passing such bills a daunting task everybody wants to have a say in.

By Lucie S.

Source: News Briefing Septemeber 29, 2009

Gustavo Moncayo's reunion with his son

By Andrea

Sunday 25 October 2009

Gustavo Moncayo prays for being reunited with his son who was seized by guerillas 12 years ago. Ever since his son was taken prisoner in late December 1997, Moncayo refused to give up and started a controversial campaign to free his son. After nine years of unsucessfull pleading for Pablo Moncayo's release, his father driven by dispair wrapped himself in chains and embarked on a marathon walk that made him a national hero for many.

He walked the 707 miles (1,138 km) from Sandoná to Bogotá in order to raise the case of Pablo with Alvaro Uribe, the conservative president of Colombia. Although his meeting with Uribe ended as an unsuccessful exchange of views on how to deal with the guerrilla organisation, Moncayo kept on walking. As a result, he won the national peace prize in 2007.

Furthermore, in the past three years Moncayo has shaken hands with presidents, American congressmen, NGO workers and human rights activists, and succeeded in gaining a 10-minute audience with the pope. Due to his father's actions, Pablo's case became very visible by high number of mass media.

Last month a video of Pablo Moncayo was released by the guerrillas, accompanied by an announcement that his release was imminent. According to Senator Córdoba, the hope now is that Pablo might be released by the end of this month. His father's reaction was following; "I feel anxious, I'm crossing my fingers, praying, thinking of that moment of meeting him and how I can control my feelings. I am expecting him like the day he was born."

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/25/colombia-farc-pablo-moncayo-release

The Health Care Reform – “The Obama Plan”

What is one of the biggest battles in modern history of the US? - The attempt to reform the health care system. What to do with the 30 million uninsured citizens sparks a heated debate with most agreeing that the current system is in need of a major overhaul. However, the inability to agree on how to reform and what to reform has already proven fatal to the reform of Bill Clinton's administration. Nowadays there is a new reform initiative on the way led by Barack Obama.

The new proposal was officially introduced on Wednesday September 9 by president Obama at a joined session of Congress. The main reasoning for his proposal was the rising cost of health care which he quoted as costing almost twice as much as in other developed countries. His main goals are long term cost reduction, protection of families from bankruptcies caused by health care costs, expansion of choices of coverage providers, increased investment in prevention, providing medical coverage also for pre-existing medical conditions and most importantly, providing health care coverage for all. This plan should bring significant advantages to the consumers of health care – insurance companies should not be able to deny coverage due to pre-existing conditions and there should be no limit on the amount of coverage one can receive, there should be a limit set to how much a patient will pay for his treatment and finally, routine check-ups and prevention should be covered at no extra cost.

However, as nice as Obama’s plan may sound, there are several controversies connected with his plan. The first issue many people have with this plan is the obligation to be insured which Americans are not used to. To help achieve full coverage, businesses would be required to either to offer coverage to its employees or to contribute to it. For people who would still not be able to afford it there should be a so called “hardship waiver”. The second issue is whether there should be a public option or not. Along with issues such as abortion and illegal immigrants’ coverage the main problem for passing of this bill will probably be the cost of such reforms. Obama boldly promises that his health care plan will not add to the US government deficit. All costs should be made up in savings in the current system – basically, the system should pay for itself. Waste and inefficiency reduction in Medicare and Medicaid along with revenues from drug and insurance companies should pay for the plan.

Whether this plan will be ultimately passed is a big question. Drug and insurance companies, opposition and also many Democrats have objections to this plan. And with the falling public support for Mr. Obama passing a bill before the next Congressional election might not be viable even with Obama trying to do everything, including using Edward Kennedy’s name, to support this bill.

By Lucie S.

Sources:
White House.gov
CNN Edition September 10, 2009

President Barack Obama declares national emergency

President Barack Obama declared national emergency because of the Swine flu. According to statistics more than 1,000 people have died from the Swine flu in U.S. and 20,000 are in hospitals. The proclamation signed by Barack Obama will help to speed up the emergency response operations in case of a rapid increase of a spread of disease which may overburden health care resources.

By Kristýna

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/6425359/President-Barack-Obama-declares-national-emergency-over-H1N1-swine-flu-outbreak.html

Swine flu - first victim in Czech Republic

Swine flu has claimed its first victim in Czech Republic. 31 years old woman in Karlovy Vary died in the hospital. Her condition was already serious when she came to the hospital. She died after multiple organ failure.

By Kristýna

Source: http://www.radio.cz/en/article/121518

The Health Care Reform - "The Dangers of Obama's Appeal"

President Obama has been calling for a comprehensive health care reform passed by the end of the year; however, Obama's heavy involvement could mean the downfall of the reform. The Senate Democrats have only the minimum majority in the Senate - currently the Democrats and loyal Independents control 60 out of the 100 seats and they will need all of these votes to pass the health care bill. However, not only the wording of the bill itself could provide a challenge but Obama's involvement as well. Some of the Senators face re-election next year and their main concern is to be re-elected and voting for such a controversial measure as the health care bill could hinder that. For example Sen. Blanche Lincoln from Arkansas and Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana will be competing in states where Barack Obama lost to John McCain by around 20 percentage points and such states do not tend to favor any kind of public option; in Lincoln's words: "I've ruled out a government-funded and a government-operated plan." On the other hand there are those who have nothing to lose such as Sen. Roland Burris who said: "I would not support a bill that does not have a public option." Furthermore, some Senators are hoping for favors for their states and help during their campaign in exchange for an affirmative vote. All in all, the Senate still has a long way to go before any vote can pass.

by Lucie


Source: AP/Yahoo News! October 22, 2009

Military commanders to be held responsible for killing civilians

By Andrea



Thursday, 22 October, 2009


According to the Colombian's Supreme Court ruling, Armed Forces commanders whose soldiers are found guilty of murdering civilians will have to respond for the crimes committed under their command. The Supreme Court ordered to investigate the commander of a counterguerrilla batallion whose soldiers killed civilians and reported their victims as guerrillas killed in combat.

By now, over 1,300 members of the armed forces are under the suspiccion of kiling cilivilians.


http://www.colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/6513-military-commanders-will-have-to-respond-for-extrajudicial-executions-supreme-court.html

OAS Report

By Andrea

Wednesday, 21 October 2009
In its latest report to the Organization of American States (OAS), the Mission to Support the Peace Process in Colombia acknowledged the significant progress made by the Colombian government in terms of improving the safety of the country. Although massacres, selective killings and mass displacements still remain a matter of great concern, the achievement of the peace process shall not be neglected.

Source: http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/6509-oas-report-highlights-advances-in-colombian-peace-process.html

NBA protects players against swine flu

League officials hired an expert in infectious-disease control. Teams across the NBA have made provisions to guard players against the swine flu because having one player get sick or several role players become ill could hurt a team's performance so NBA is in constant communication with it's teams about this topic.

By Kristýna

Source: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orl-sportsmagic-12101209oct12,0,2319079.story

FARC relaunches its attack on Cauca

By Andrea

WEDNESDAY, 21 OCTOBER 2009

The FARC (the guerrilla Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) has relaunched its attack on the Cauca police station with the intent to gain control over the area. The armed conflict started at around 10pm Tuesday night and continued until around 4.00 am Wednesday morning.

The situation is so severe in some parts of Cauca that 45 per cent of Cauca residents are at some level of risk of having to flee.

Army units, supported by the Air Force, are hunting down the rebels responsible for the harassment. The police, meanwhile, are conducting patrols in the downtown area to ensure safety.

Source: http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/6503-the-farc-relaunches-its-attack-on-cauca.html

By Andrea

20 October 2009
"Human rights groups are urging the Obama administration to work to ensure that Colombia's government protects activists in the country. Rights organizations and Colombian activists told a U.S. congressional panel that the situation in Colombia has deteriorated, with activists facing increasing threats, including physical attacks and assassination." Quoted by Dan Robinson, VOA News.

Source: http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-10-20-voa58.cfm

Colombian human rights activist seriously injured in gun attack

By Andrea

19 October 2009
According to an Amnesty International report, the invaluable work carried out by human rights defenders in Colombia shall not be overseen. Islena Rey, President of the Meta Human Rights Civic Committee, was travelling by boat along the Guejar river when embers of the guerrilla Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) reportedly opened fire, seriously injuring her. As Marcelo Pollack, an Amnesty International’s researcher on Colombia, further noted; “Hundreds of activists are still the target of threats and killings at the hands of all the parties to the conflict; be they the security forces, paramilitaries or guerrilla groups. No one us providing them with effective protection.”

Source: http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGNAU2009101913580&lang=e&rss=recentnews

Swine flu vaccination starts today in Wales

For the next few weeks, people in the priority at-risk groups will be invited for vaccination. The Welsh Assembly Government today said that vaccines will be used to protect about 750,000 people in Wales.

By Kristýna

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mZWXRu9jUs&feature=player_embedded#

Source: http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/10/21/swine-flu-vaccination-starts-today-in-wales-91466-24982276/

Strike over swine flu preparation

The nurses in California has threatened a one-day strike on October 30 accusing the providers of poor swine flu preparedness. They will strike if state and federal swine flu protection recommendations aren't written into their contracts. Nurses have complained about poor access to protective masks.

By Kristýna

Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g-vDyxJRZwMdkbF9Wo7naTzgzRswD9BEF9UG1

Plan Colombia

By Andrea

On Friday, October 16th, 2009, Colombia’s Minister of Defense, Gabriel Silva Luján, spoke out in defense of the results Plan Colombia has produced in the fight against drug trafficking and terrorism. He said that those who’ve moved to modify it in the United States’ House of Representatives for it’s supposed failure are mistaken. Besides, he pointed out that thousands of Colombians have benefited from the Plan implemmented in the year 2000.

Source: http://www.ecbloguer.com/globalnewsroom/?tag=gabriel-silva-lujan-mindefensa

Arrest warrant derails Colombia-Ecuador talks

By Andrea

“After nearly going to war last year over a Colombian military raid inside Ecuador, the two nations seemed to be patching relations when their foreign ministers met a few weeks ago. Then an Ecuadorian judge issued an arrest warrant this week for the head of the Colombian armed forces, pushing relations back one giant step. Colombian Gen. Freddy Padilla, the armed forces chief whose arrest is sought, canceled a meeting scheduled for Friday with Ecuadorian Gen. Fabian Varela. Padilla thought he might be arrested if he traveled to Ecuador.“
Quoted from Arthur Brice, CNN. Sat October 17, 2009.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/10/17/colombia.ecuador.relations/index.html

Colombia & Ecuador diplomatic relationship

By Andrea

Colombia and Ecuador are known as governments with different and radical positions. Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa has resented the Colombian government’s attempt to violate his territory. Furthermore, he has had issues particularly with Alvaro Uribe, who lied to him on the day the Colombian army bombed FARC chief Raul Reyes’s camp. Uribe, on the other hand, was still raging because even though he recognized the violation of Ecuador’s sovereignty, he felt he was not attacking the people or the government of Ecuador. He believed that he was attacking his internal enemy, the guerrilla, who was being tolerated on the other side of the border.

On Friday, October 9th, 2009, the Foreign Relations Ministers of Colombia and Ecuador, Jaime Bermúdez and Fander Falconí, met in Ipiales, Nariño, in order to rebuild the trust between the two nations as a way to restore the diplomatic relationship. The meetings resulted in an agreement between the two countries. Accordingly, Colombia promised to refrain from carrying out military operations in Ecuador. Ecuador; on the other hand, would combat illegal groups within its territory.

Source: http://www.ecbloguer.com/globalnewsroom/?p=6228

First Swine Flu Camapign in China

The first vaccination campaign begins in Beijing. The ministry plan to vaccinate 65 million people by the end of this year. The groups with top priority are students, military, police, transit workers and people with heart and lung diseases.

By Kristýna

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/22/world/asia/22briefs-Swine.html?_r=2&scp=2&sq=swine%20flu&st=cse

The Health Care Reform - "The Women's Stake"

The Democrats in an attempt to gain wider support for their health care reform bill started in a greater extent targeting women. Speeches and conferences are led by House Democrats under the lead of Nancy Pelosi and also by Michelle Obama. The reason for this effort is that a great number of women remain undecided. The proponents of the reform argue that women have a special stake in the reform because they have lower incomes than men, have higher health care costs and since they work more part-time than men they are less likely to get insurance through an employer.

by Lucie

Source:
SF Gate Chronicle October 9, 2009
The Kansas City Star September 27, 2009

Kidnap victims in Colombia

By Andrea

Kidnapping became one of the crimes most Colombians fear. Furthermore, for many years a high number of kidnap victims represented the extent of violence in the country. The reason for that is the fact that at the end of the 90s kidnappings became uncontrollable. Guerrillas used it for financing their activities as well as for fighting a political war in the country. Besides, it also became a profitable business leading to organized massive kidnappings all over the country.

Nonetheless, it is often being overseen that a turnover came in the past decade. During the last years, the situation in the country has significantly improved. Accordingly, kidnappings decreased dramatically due to democratic security policies; 89% according to official figures. Thus, the estimates of some NGOs assuming thousands of kidnap victims in Columbia would rather seem unreasonable.

Source: http://www.semana.com/noticias-print-edition/how-many-kidnap-victims-does-colombia-have/123183.aspx

Tunisia banned people travel to Mecca because of the Swine flu

Tunisians have been banned from performing this year's hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, amid growing concerns about the swine flu pandemic. Tunisia is not the only country with this restriction. In July, Arab health ministers had proposed a ban on children, the elderly and those with chronic medical conditions in their countries from performing this year's hajj without canceling the whole ritual. In August, Iranians were banned from attending the holy places in Saudi Arabia during fasting month of Ramadan, which took place following peak flu season.

By Kristýna

Vaccination

Vaccine for Swine Flu Is Ahead of Expectations in New York

More than three million doses of swine flu vaccine will be available by the first week of October.
But nearly all those 3.4 million doses will be of the FluMist nasal spray type, which is not recommended for pregnant women, people over 50 or those with asthma, heart disease or several other problems.
Nonetheless, it will still be possible to vaccinate people in other high-risk groups: health care workers, people caring for infants and healthy young people.
The nasal spray contains a weakened live virus, while injections contain killed and fragmented virus. The spray gives a stronger immune reaction but carries a small risk that the virus will multiply too quickly in people with compromised immunity.
Swine flu cases are rapidly increasing across the country, the officials said. There is now “widespread” flu activity in 21 states.

By Kristýna

Swine flu

What is 2009 H1N1 (swine flu)?


Swine flu, now called H1N1 influenza A, is a type of flu virus. It is a new strain of flu that has just recently been affecting people. It is a human influenza virus and is being spread by people. It is thought to be a combination of three different flu viruses - swine flu, bird flu and human flu. The new strain is extremely contagious and is quickly spreading across the globe. The swine flu has similar symptoms to standard seasonal flu bugs. Swine flu is characterized by a high fever at first and extreme fatigue along with muscle aches. There are also typical cold symptoms. Anyone who has the symptoms should seek medical attention right away. Those who get immediate treatment are most likely going to make a full recovery.


Current situation (the beginning of October):
Worldwide H1N1 (Swine Flu) Infection Data

Worldwide Total: 434299 cases, 4931 deaths

Most Infected Countries:
United States: 44555 cases
Australia: 36670 cases
Mexico: 32950 cases

There you can find the map with information about current situation:
http://healthmap.org/swineflu/

Video about swine flu, explanation what it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFl3FRNpU4E

By Kristýna