US Officials Believe That “We” Are at War With Russia

Source: The American Conservative
by Doug Bandow

“Could someone please tell Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of the Senate’s premier warmongers, that ‘we’ are not at war with Russia? Ukraine is. The grandstanding warrior wannabe recently visited Kiev. The Zelensky government is under pressure to expand conscription to bulk up its army. Graham enthusiastically backed the effort. Reported the Washington Post: ”I would hope that those eligible to serve in the Ukrainian military would join. I can’t believe it’s at 27,’ he told reporters Monday. ‘You’re in a fight for your life, so you should be serving—not at 25 or 27.” He insisted: ‘We need more people in the line.’ We? When did Graham accept Ukrainian citizenship and enter the Ukrainian Rada? Graham is one of many witless American officials who seem to believe that they are to represent foreign countries dealing with the U.S. rather than the U.S. in dealing with foreign countries.” (03/28/24)

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/u-s-officials-believe-that-we-are-at-war-with-russia/

PA: “Undated” mail ballots don’t count, appeals court rules

Source: WHYY News [US state media]

“A requirement for Pennsylvania voters to put accurate handwritten dates on the outside envelopes of their mail-in ballots does not run afoul of a civil rights law, a federal appeals court panel said Wednesday, overturning a lower court ruling. A divided 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled to uphold enforcement of the required date on return envelopes, a technical mandate that caused thousands of votes to be declared invalid in the 2022 election. The total number is a small fraction of the large state’s electorate, but the court’s ruling puts additional attention on Pennsylvania’s election procedures ahead of a presidential election in which its Electoral College votes are up for grabs.” (03/28/24)

https://whyy.org/articles/election-2024-pennsylvania-mail-ballots-undated-appeals-court-ruling/

With Fewer Doctors, Should Florida Pharmacists Be Given a Prescription Pad?

Source: Cato Institute
by Marc Joffe & Jeffrey A Singer

“As Florida lawmakers learned in December, their state is expected to have a severe physician shortage in the 2030s. Even now, it can take up to three weeks to get an appointment with a primary care clinician. Many rural Floridians live in primary care deserts. While encouraging more aspiring doctors to study and remain in Florida can help ease the problem, that will take time to see results. Meanwhile, a more immediate and cost‐​effective approach empowers other qualified healthcare professionals to take on more responsibility for patient health. One such reform is allowing pharmacists to prescribe certain medications, as they do in the United Kingdom, many Canadian provinces and several states in the U.S.” (03/28/24)

https://www.cato.org/commentary/fewer-doctors-should-florida-pharmacists-be-given-prescription-pad

A City of Liberalism Means Becoming a City of Yes

Source: Liberal Currents
by Nick Felker

“From the high-brow culture of Broadway to the grassroots organizing at Stonewall, New York City has been a city rich in culture, history, art, and food. Generations of people have come to this city in search of a better life, and they’ve found it. Dozens of museums scattered across the five boroughs tell the stories of the people who have met like-minded people and built something great. However, the city is now facing a crisis of its own creation. The price of housing is rising more than residents are able to afford. … It is a crisis that has been decades in the making, so it cannot be solved instantly. It will require an ongoing series of political reforms that dismantle the vetocracy and heavy-handed efforts to micromanage the city. The sooner it starts, the sooner New York can reclaim the dynamism of a city for everyone.” (03/28/24)

https://www.liberalcurrents.com/a-city-of-liberalism-means-becoming-a-city-of-yes/

US tuberculosis cases were at highest level in a decade in 2023

Source: SFGate

“According to a new government report, the number of U.S. tuberculosis cases in 2023 were the highest in a decade. Forty states reported an increase in TB, and rates were up among all age groups, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. More than 9,600 cases were reported, a 16% increase from 2022 and the highest since 2013. Cases declined sharply at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, but have been rising since. Most U.S. TB cases are diagnosed in people born in other countries. Experts say the 2023 number is in part a combination of a surge in TB cases internationally — the World Health Organization said TB was behind only COVID-19 in infectious fatal diseases worldwide in 2022. And there are also increases in migration and post-pandemic international travel. But other factors are also at play, including other illnesses that weaken the immune system and allow latent TB infections to emerge.” (03/28/24)

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/us-tuberculosis-cases-were-at-their-the-highest-19373548.php

Scotland: Parliament Considers Assisted Dying as Poll Shows Support

Source: US News & World Report

“Legislation that would that would allow [sic] people living in Scotland with a terminal illness to take their own lives was laid before the country’s parliament on Thursday as a poll showed the policy is backed by most of the population. If the legislation is passed, Scotland would join other countries such as Switzerland, Canada, New Zealand, Austria and Ecuador in allowing assisted dying in certain circumstances. The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill would give [sic] mentally competent adults who have been diagnosed with a terminal condition the right to end their life.” (03/28/24)

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2024-03-28/scotlands-parliament-considers-assisted-dying-as-poll-shows-support

Distinctions Without Difference: The Security Council on Gaza Passes

Source: CounterPunch
by Binoy Kampmark

“The UN Security Council presents one of the great contradictions of power in the international system. On the one hand vested with enormous latitude in order to preserve international peace and security, it remains checked, limited and, it can be argued, crippled by an all too regular use of the veto by members of the permanent five powers (US, Russia, China, the United Kingdom and France). When it comes to the bleeding and crushing of human life in Gaza by the Israeli Defence Forces (32,300 dead Palestinians and rising), resolutions demanding a cease fire of a conflict that began with the attack on Israeli soil by Hamas militants have tended to pass into voting oblivion. The United States, Israel’s great power patron and defender, has been consistent in using its veto power to ensure it, exercising it on no less than three occasions since October 7. On March 25, a change of heart was registered.” (03/28/24)

https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/03/28/distinctions-without-difference-the-security-council-on-gaza-passes/