Let's you and him fight
U-Cal prof As'ad AbuKhalil breaks down the Syria clusterf* for you.Point number 1 (and I said it here before), the "moderate, progressive" Free Syrian Army is and always has been bogus. They are a small conglomeration of various people who ducked under the umbrella in order to get U.S. support. Many moderate factions are actually allied with the Assad regime (which was always secular, NB). For the most part, the contending rebel factions represent various strains of Wahabism.Then you have and Iran vs. Saudi proxy war, a Saudi vs. Qatari proxy war, the Sunni vs. Shia thing which was mostly conjured up by the Saudis as part ...
Source: Stayin' Alive - September 24, 2014 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
War! What is it good for?
What David Frum says.Speaking for myself -- and I've sort kinda said this before -- yes, these Islamic State characters are evil doers. But so are our Saudi and Qatari "allies" (when they aren't actually financing al Qaeda and similar) and so, for that matter, are we. I suppose you could say it's a matter of degree and that counts for something, but still it must be acknowledged.That acknowledged, the following perhaps less controversial points.1) The only substantively interesting statement in Obama's speech last night was that we are going to arm Iraqi and Kurdish forces. In diplomatic terms, that is extremely significan...
Source: Stayin' Alive - September 11, 2014 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
Think and Act Globally: Health Affairs’ September Issue
TweetThe September issue of Health Affairs emphasizes lessons learned from developing and industrialized nations collectively seeking the elusive goals of better care, with lower costs and higher quality. A number of studies analyze key global trends including patient engagement and integrated care, while others examine U.S.-based policy changes and their applicability overseas.
This issue was supported by the Qatar Foundation and World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), Hamad Medical Corporation, Imperial College London, and The Commonwealth Fund.
The U.S. leads the global pack in hospital bureaucracy, no matter what t...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - September 8, 2014 Category: Health Management Authors: Chris Fleming Tags: All Categories Emergency Medicine Global Health Health Reform Hospitals Source Type: blogs
Health Affairs Event Reminder: Advancing Global Health Policy
TweetPlease join us on Monday, September 8, when Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil will host a briefing to discuss our September 2014 thematic issue, “Advancing Global Health Policy.” In an expansion of last year’s theme, “The ‘Triple Aim’ Goes Global,” we explore how developing and industrialized countries around the world are confronting challenges and learning from each other on three aims: cost, quality, and population health.
A highlight of the event will be a discussion of international health policy—led by Weil—featuring former CMS and FDA administrator ...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - September 5, 2014 Category: Health Management Authors: Chris Fleming Tags: All Categories Global Health Source Type: blogs
Health Affairs Briefing: Advancing Global Health Policy
TweetPlease join us on Monday, September 8, when Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil will host a briefing to discuss our September 2014 thematic issue, “Advancing Global Health Policy.” In an expansion of last year’s theme, “The ‘Triple Aim’ Goes Global,” we explore how developing and industrialized countries around the world are confronting challenges and learning from each other on three aims: cost, quality, and population health.
A highlight of the event will be a discussion of international health policy—led by Weil—featuring former CMS and FDA administrator ...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - August 22, 2014 Category: Health Management Authors: Chris Fleming Tags: All Categories End-of-Life Care Global Health Health Care Delivery Hospitals Innovation Pharma Policy Source Type: blogs
Highly Misplaced Fear and Trembling
It's been amusing (I guess that's the word) watching Republican politicians freak out over the exchange of 5 Taliban prisoners for a U.S. soldier. Yes, these guys were high ranking -- actually they were mostly civilian leadership of the Taliban government. They are described as "hardened killers" but that's because the Taliban regime was violent. The only people they ever bothered were Afghans. They can't be prosecuted because they haven't violated any U.S. laws. They were prisoners of war, which means they have to be released some day.The U.S. has been trying for some time to arrange a peace deal in Afghanistan, as has th...
Source: Stayin' Alive - June 3, 2014 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
MERS comes to Malaysia
You may have come across these recent news reports:
First there was a fatality
The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-coronavirus (MERS-CoV) has killed its first victim in Asia, a Malaysian man who developed respiratory complications after returning from Mecca.
The 54-year-old man, from Batu Pahat, Johor, had arrived in Malaysia on March 29 after performing the umrah.
He died on Apr 13 after being admitted to the Hospital Sultanah Nora Ismail for three days, following complaints of fever, cough and breathing difficulties.
Passengers onboard the Turkish Airlines flights TK93 and TK60 on the Jeddah-Istanbul-Kuala Lumpur route ...
Source: Malaysian Medical Resources - April 17, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Authors: palmdoc Tags: Miscellaneous MERS SARS Source Type: blogs
Freedom of Thought Under Siege Around the Globe: When You are Not Free to Not Believe
Doug Bandow
Much of the world has just celebrated the most sacred Christian holiday, yet persecution of Christians has never been fiercer, especially in the Middle East. Other faiths also suffer varying degrees of persecution.
Nonbelievers also often are mistreated. The lack of religious belief is less likely to be punished by communist and former communist regimes. But such systems penalize almost all independent thought.
Moreover, atheists and other freethinkers are at special risk in theocratic and especially aggressively Muslim states. The International Humanist and Ethical Union re...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - December 31, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Doug Bandow Source Type: blogs
Free Hiv Screening For All Pregnant Women Soon
Fifteen new cases of HIV/Aids were detected in Qatar last year, taking the total cases in the country to 276, an expert at the Supreme Council of Health (SCH) disclosed at the seminar that marked World Aids Day. Speakers stressed the importance of HIV screening for pregnant women to prevent transmission of the disease to newborns. The event for doctors was organised by Hamad Medical Corporations (HMC) Infectious Disease Department in collaboration with SCH. HIV transmission appears to be very limited in Qatar with a low HIV prevalence rate of 0.02 percent, said Dr Al Mubasher Abu Baker from SCH. A total of 276 HIV cases ha...
Source: aids-write.org - December 10, 2013 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: aidswrite Tags: current news aids news Source Type: blogs
Element Shortages, Really Light and Really Heavy
Element shortages are in the news these days. The US has been talking about shutting down its strategic helium reserve, and there are plenty of helium customers worried about the prospect. The price of liquid helium, not a commodity that you usually hear quoted on the afternoon financial report, has apparently more than tripled in the last year.
I think that this is more of a gap problem than a running-out-of-helium one, though. There's still a lot of helium in the world, and the natural gas boom of recent years has made even more of it potentially available. Trapping it, though, is not cheap - this is something that has ...
Source: In the Pipeline - September 19, 2013 Category: Chemists Tags: Chemical News Source Type: blogs
Will Changing of the (Political) Guard Bring Reform to Qatar?
Doug Bandow
The U.S. is the colossus which bestrides the globe, but Qatar is the pipsqueak which dominates the Middle East. That’s a slight overstatement, but the tiny kingdom of Qatar has been destabilizing other nations. There’s a new emir who would best concentrate on freeing his own people.
Qatar is barely 40 years old. For the last 18 years it was ruled by Hamad bin Khalifi al-Thani, who ousted his father in a palace coup.
Sheikh Hamad created the television channel, Al Jazeera, and annually hosted the annual Doha Forum. I attended the internationally renowned gabfest in May, which a...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - July 16, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Doug Bandow Source Type: blogs
MERS-CoV Cases Increase to 70 with 39 Fatalities
The number of MERS-CoV cases - the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus - have increased to 70. There have been a total of 39 deaths. The World Health Organization (WHO) says it has received lab-confirmed cases of MERS in the following countries: Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). France, Germany, Italy, Tunisia and the United Kingdom have reported cases, but these cases involved people who had been traveling in the Middle East.
A recent report said MERS spreads easier and is deadlier than SARS. This may turn out to be true, but it is also possible there are infected people with no sy...
Source: HealthNewsBlog.com - June 25, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Tags: mers Source Type: blogs
Washington Foolishly Tilts Towards War in Syria
Doug Bandow
The bitterest fights tend to be civil wars. Today, Syria is going through such a brutal bloodletting.
The administration reportedly has decided to provide arms to Syria’s insurgents. It’s a mistake.
This kind of messy conflict is precisely the sort in which Washington should avoid. Despite the end of the Cold War, the U.S. armed services have spent much of the last quarter century engaged in combat. At the very moment Washington should be pursuing a policy of peace, policymakers are preparing to join a civil war in which America’s security is not involved, other nations have much more at stake, man...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - June 14, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Doug Bandow Source Type: blogs
Cultural Sensitivity or Surrender?
Doug Bandow
One of the most important lessons one learns from traveling abroad is to be culturally sensitive. A self-professed sophisticate like myself would never want to be considered to be the prototypical “Ugly American.”
Yet as I’m visiting the Persian Gulf kingdom of Qatar I’ve been thinking about who gets to decide on culture.
Most of us believe that certain practices are beyond the bounds of tolerance. Consider the Indian practice of suttee—the burning of widows—which Britain banned. Set aside whether the British government should have shown up with soldiers, guns, and warships and claimed the Indian s...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 24, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Doug Bandow Source Type: blogs
Policy Life Stirs in Doha: Islamists and Democracy
Doug Bandow
Big conferences can be enervating, especially when large panels are populated with establishment political figures spouting the conventional wisdom. However, the Doha Forum, which I have been attending in Doha (surprise!), Qatar, sported a burst of spontaneity at a workshop on the role of Islamists in the Middle East.
While competing discussions of economics and technology were sparsely attended, the Islamist workshop overflowed. Islamists from Bahrain, Egypt, and Tunisia made the case that Muslim fundamentalists in those countries were dedicated to democracy and intended to be inclusive of all within their so...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 22, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Doug Bandow Source Type: blogs
