Washington Must Strike Iran, Not Bargain With It

http://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/washington-must-strike-iran-bargain/

 

Obamacare Exchanges Offering ‘Junk’ Policies With Limited Choices

Many of the policies being offered through the Obamacare health insurance exchanges are super cheap because they offer a very limited number of healthcare providers.
Major insurance companies deliberately created what Consumer Reports called “junk health insurance policies” to sell through the exchanges, articles in both The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times show. These policies will not pay for healthcare at many major hospitals and will only cover services offered by a limited number of doctors.
“Our exchange products will have smaller provider networks that cost less than bigger plans with a larger selection of doctors and hospitals,” David Sandor, a vice president of Health Care Service Corporation (a Blue Cross and Blue Shield provider) admitted to The New York Times.
Chad Terhune of The Los Angeles Times wrote, “Consumers could see long wait times, a scarcity of specialists and loss of a longtime doctor.”
Insurers Deliberately Excluded Major Medical Centers from Obamacare Networks

 

http://www.offthegridnews.com/2013/10/05/obamacare-exchanges-offering-junk-policies-with-limited-choices/

Obamacare Enrollees Already Seeing How New Plans Will Ration Their Health Care

Obamacare Enrollees Already Seeing How New Plans Will Ration Their Health Care

http://www.lifenews.com/2013/10/31/obamacare-enrollees-already-seeing-how-new-plans-will-ration-their-health-care/

The NSA Has Infiltrated The Clouds Of Both Yahoo And Google

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/nsa-infiltrated-both-yahoo-and-google-2013-10#ixzz2jLiz2ACE

http://www.businessinsider.com/nsa-infiltrated-both-yahoo-and-google-2013-10?utm_source=alerts&nr_email_referer=1

Leaked Slide Shows NSA Celebrated Victory Over Google's Security With A Smiley Face

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/leaked-nsa-slide-of-google-cloud-2013-10#ixzz2jLi39z00

http://www.businessinsider.com/leaked-nsa-slide-of-google-cloud-2013-10?utm_source=alerts&nr_email_referer=1

Turkey’s Decision a Wake-Up Call for U.S. Missile Defense Suppliers

  Turkey’s Decision a Wake-Up Call for U.S. Missile Defense Suppliers
National Defense Blogs ^ | 10/29/2013 | Sandra I. Erwin
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3085305/posts

Snowden Lands Job at Russian Website

Snowden Lands Job at Russian Website
http://www.darkgovernment.com/news/snowden-lands-job-at-russian-website/

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden has found a
job working for a website in Russia, where he was granted asylum after fleeing
the United States, a Russian lawyer who is helping him said on Thursday.



"Edward starts work in November," lawyer Anatoly Kucherena said, according to
state-run news agency RIA.

"He will provide support for a large [...]

An Interview with Pope Francis

An Interview with Pope Francis

A CFR Must Read is the America Magazine interview by Anotonio Spadaro, SJ, editor in chief of the Italian Jesuit journal La Civiltà Cattolica, with Pope Francis. The enlightening conversation touches upon the Pope's decision to become a Jesuit, the role of women in the Catholic church, and his hopes for the future. http://www.cfr.org/religion/america-magazine-big-heart-open-god/p31438?cid=nlc-religion-religion_and_foreign_policy_bulletin-link9-20131015&cid=nlc-religion-religion_and_foreign_policy_bulletin-link20-20131015&sp_mid=44251089&sp_rid=bWljaGVsZXRrZWFybmV5QGdtYWlsLmNvbQS2

America Magazine: A Big Heart Open to God

Glenn Greenwald: On Leaving The Guardian and the Future Ahead

Glenn Greenwald: On Leaving The Guardian and the Future Ahead
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/10/31-4

Tap on Merkel Provides Peek at Vast Spy Net - NYTimes.com

“The N.S.A., in a practice that dates back to the depths of the Cold War and that has never ended, was recording her conversations and those of a range of leaders in Germany and elsewhere, storing them in databases that could be searched later, if the need arose. It is unclear how often they searched the databases for her conversations, if at all.”

If I may share my opinion, I believe the same purpose could underlie the collection of American citizen’s information. One doesn’t need to be a conspiracy theorist to speculate how a Dick Cheney as president, or his daughter, could use all of one’s words against a political enemy or a dissident, during “wartime.” If Nixon, or even LBJ possibly, had had these tools during the Vietnam War, and if they had followed the advice of Generals and Admirals running the war, war would have been declared just for the purpose of imposing censorship, punishing violators, and suppressing dissent. As some prominent law professors argued as we entered World War I, the government had authority to try dissenters by military commission. But Ex parte Milligan was fresh in people’s minds yet, so we got the Espionage Act, with the Sedition Act a year later, instead. But at least defendants then received some due process (not that it did them any good during the war hysteria of the day that had been created).  One doesn’t need to speculate how far some military leaders of today have internalized the Vietnam War officer’s advocacy of censorship and punishment of “seditious speech;” General Alexander displayed that for us with his advocacy of censorship, which would logically then need to be enforced in some manner. In a time when we have antiwar activists under Grand Jury investigation yet of whether they provided material support for terrorism in opposing war and when the DOJ admits that a Chris Hedges could be put under military detention for speech alone, it would be dereliction to avoid considering how far this could all be taken in the future now that we have the “U.S. domestic common law of war” to breach that parchment barrier of the Constitution.   

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/31/world/europe/tap-on-merkel-provides-peek-at-vast-spy-net.html?hp&_r=0&pagewanted=all&pagewanted=print

 

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-features/.premium-1.555468

The fine line between criticizing Israel and anti-Semitism

Only Jews are allowed to speak of the effect lobbying and political donations have on U.S. policy in the Middle East; all others are dabbling in anti-Semitism, says former Knesset Member Einat Wilf.

By Anshel Pfeffer | Oct. 31, 2013

First Glimpse Of China's Nuclear Submarine Fleet

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-10-30/first-glimpse-chinas-nuclear-submarine-fleet

Moscow Conducts Large-Scale Nuclear Attack Drill

Moscow Conducts Large-Scale Nuclear Attack Drill

Four long-range missiles launched in war games

http://freebeacon.com/moscow-conducts-large-scale-nuclear-attack-drill/

The Latest National Security coverage from FP 10/31

The Latest National Security coverage from FP

• Merkel tap reveals vast spy net; Lloyd Austin speaks; Meet the MEK; Hagel to NYC; Rosa Brooks on “chipping” a kid; Who’s in nomination limbo?; and a bit more.
• Public Citizen
• The spying data came from the Europeans; A dereliction of duty?; Petraeus on FP: how not to lose Iraq; Did the Army spend $93 million it shouldn’t have?; Gates on Skelton: a “great oak has fallen.”
• Is South Korea stealing American military secrets? Ike Skelton is dead at 81; NSA on Feinstein: “We’re really screwed now;” Asia series launches; Liposuction for the troops?; and a bit more.
• Two Cheers For America's Restraint in the Drone War
• As few as 5K for Afghanistan?; Why do troops want to stay there?; The security descent in Iraq; Will the Pentagon’s Jedi return?; A new breed of NatSecWonk; and a bit more.
• Germany, Brazil ask the U.N. for help re: spies; The last few minutes of Jofi Joseph’s fame; Troops in Afg cost $2.1 million a piece; How do you open up a halal sex shop?; The ‘girly hats’ story wasn’t exactly true, Marines say; and a bit more.
• An administration split over Geneva II for Syria; The U.S. and Pakistan’s deal on drones; Gates, looking for the adults in Congress; Lawmakers on Iran negotiations: Wendy Sherman done good so far; Do not call that Navy 0-6 ‘thickset;’ and a bit more.
• Estimated Recovery Time
• NatSecWonk, unmasked; DOJ looking at Pentagon hopeful Jofi Joseph; “navel gazing” at the White House over Syria; Afghanistan talks may work out; Why SpongeBob isn’t welcome in Cincinnati; and a bit more.
  The Latest from FP

  • Vote of the Living Dead - By Christopher Walker and Alexander Cooley
  • The World’s Spookiest Places - An FP Slide Show
  • Postcards from Zaatari - By Gregory Beals
  • Pain Relief - By Seyward Darby
  • An Open Letter to the NSA -- By John Schindler

The Nuclear Fusion Arms Race Is Underway By Sam Roudman

The Nuclear Fusion Arms Race Is Underway

By Sam Roudman

http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/the-nuclear-fusion-arms-race-is-underway

CFr Daily News Brief 10/31

Top of the Agenda: Egypt Continues Brotherhood Crackdown

Police entered al-Azhar University, one of Islam's top religious institutions, to disperse students protesting in support of the ousted president Mohamed Morsi as the crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood and other opponents of Egypt's generals continues (BBC). Human Rights Watch said a draft law on protests would give the police the power to ban demonstrations, and would severely restrict the ability of political parties and nongovernmental organizations to assemble (DailyNews). Meanwhile, a fifty-member panel that's amending the constitution written by the Muslim Brotherhood and its Islamist allies will likely preserve Islamic law provisions and grant greater powers to the military, despite the dominance of secular and liberal politicians on the panel (AP).

Analysis

"Four months ago, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi carried out a coup in Egypt that overthrew President Mohamed Morsi and imprisoned the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood. Hardly a day now passes without some indication of how the new Egyptian regime seeks to erect a military-police state, crushing those who dare oppose it," the Financial Times writes in an editorial.

"The White House under Obama worked for the coming to power of the Muslim Brothers in 2012 in the context of an understanding that the latter would protect American interests in the Middle East and across the Muslim world. The dilemma that will confront the White House in the near future will be the election of a new Egyptian president who would possibly be inspired by the ideals of the Nasser era. And maybe this is the reason why the Americans insist on an all-inclusive democratic process," Hussein Haridy writes in Ahram.

"By removing their patronage from the Brotherhood and throwing their full support behind the Egyptian military—and other regimes bent on crushing the Brotherhood—the Saudis may be pushing the movement to become both more extreme and more sharply anti-monarchical, threatening the Islamic legitimacy of all the Arab monarchies," Vali Nasr writes in the New York Times.

Daily News Brief Sponsored By:

PACIFIC RIM

Asian Anger Over U.S. Spy Reports

Chinese and Southeast Asian governments demanded an explanation from the United States and its allies over reports that American and Australian embassies in the region were being used for Washington's secret electronic surveillance program (AP).

This CFR Backgrounder explains the U.S. surveillance program.

JAPAN: The Bank of Japan will continue to expand the monetary base by as much as $711 billion, and predicted the country will hit its inflation target in 2015 (Bloomberg).

This CFR Backgrounder explains Abe's economic vision for Japan, dubbed Abenomics.

Meet The Weird, Super-Connected Group That's Mucking Up U.S. Talks With Iraq

Posted By Yochi Dreazen

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/thecable/2013/10/30/meet_the_weird_well_connected_ex_terrorists_threatening_our_relationship_with_iraq?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foreignpolicy%2Fthecable+%28The+Cable%29

NSA Bombshell Shocks Former Spooks: "Why in The World Would We Burn Google?" Posted By Shane Harris, Noah Shachtman, John Hudson

NSA Bombshell Shocks Former Spooks: "Why in The World Would We Burn Google?"

Posted By Shane Harris, Noah Shachtman, John Hudson

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/10/30/nsa_bombshell_shocks_former_spooks_why_in_the_world_would_we_burn_google?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foreignpolicy%2Fthecable+%28The+Cable%29

More FP Coverage the NSA Leaks

• Public Citizen
• Intel Vets: Of Course Obama Knew About NSA Spying
• Mr. President, We Can Handle the Truth

Analyzing Breaking Events By Scott Stewart

Analyzing Breaking Events

By Scott Stewart http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/analyzing-breaking-events?utm_source=freelist-f&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=201231031&utm_term=Sweekly&utm_content=title&elq=7590512dc47b47e5b2ebf8bf4154f9c4

Intel Vets: Of Course Obama Knew About NSA Spying

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/10/29/intelligence_vets_of_course_obama_knew_about_nsa_spying?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foreignpolicy%2Fthecable+%28The+Cable%29

http://consortiumnews.com/2013/10/30/the-neocons-iraq-war-mess/

The Neocons’ Iraq War Mess

October 30, 2013

The neocons are rewriting more Iraq War history, arguing that if only President Obama had stayed the course on an open-ended U.S. military occupation, the regional situation would be a lot better. But the truth is that it was their invasion of Iraq that set loose the chaos, as ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar explains.

By Paul R. Pillar

On spying, White House 'ignorance' excuse doesn't cut it By David Rothkopf, Special to CNN

On spying, White House 'ignorance' excuse doesn't cut it

By David Rothkopf, Special to CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/29/opinion/rothkopf-obama-spying/

The Arab-Israeli Peace Process Is Over. Enter the Era of Chaos.

The theater of the peace process was key to U.S. hegemony in the Middle East—and without the process, there will be no peace

http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/150744/without-peace-enter-chaos

SPEAKING FREELY United States eyes a Shi'ite-led West Asia By Mohammad Pervez Bilgrami

From the Asia Times Online: a deft articulation of paranoid Sunni apprehensions, explaining why some see the United States and Israel sharing a preference for Shiite power in the region and conspiring with it.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MID-02-301013.html

Middle East      Oct 30, '13

SPEAKING FREELY United States eyes a Shi'ite-led West Asia By Mohammad Pervez Bilgrami

America's NSA Megalomania William Pfaff

America's NSA Megalomania

William Pfaff

The URL for this article is:
http://www.williampfaff.com/article.php?storyid=650

Karen Higgins: Targeting Wall Street, Robin Hood Tax Comes to Washington

Karen Higgins: Targeting Wall Street, Robin Hood Tax Comes to Washington
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/10/30

Bob Dreyfuss: Can Congress, Hawks and the Israel Lobby Wreck the US-Iran Talks?

Bob Dreyfuss: Can Congress, Hawks and the Israel Lobby Wreck the US-Iran Talks?
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/10/30-7

New Edward Snowden NSA Leak: The NSA Infiltrates Links To Yahoo And Google Data Centers Worldwide

New Edward Snowden NSA Leak: The NSA Infiltrates Links To Yahoo And Google Data Centers Worldwide

http://warnewsupdates.blogspot.com/2013/10/new-edward-snowden-nsa-leak-nsa.html

NSA infiltrates links to Yahoo, Google data centers worldwide, Snowden documents say

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-infiltrates-links-to-yahoo-google-data-centers-worldwide-snowden-documents-say/2013/10/30/e51d661e-4166-11e3-8b74-d89d714ca4dd_story.html


For a better understanding of how the NSA is able to hack into private networks such as Google’s .... go here.http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/national/the-nsa-is-hacking-private-networks/542/

Obamacare site posed ‘high’ security risk, govt. document obtained by the AP says

Obamacare site posed ‘high’ security risk, govt. document obtained by the AP sayshttp://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/oct/30/obamacare-site-posed-high-security-risk-govt-docum/?utm_source=feedly

Ten states where Obamacare wipes out existing health care plans

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/09/28/ten-states-where-obamacare-wipes-out-existing-health-care-plans/#ixzz2jEMxf492

http://dailycaller.com/2013/09/28/ten-states-where-obamacare-wipes-out-existing-health-care-plans/

Obamacare: A Health Insurance Subsidy, Not Healthcare Reform

Obamacare: A Health Insurance Subsidy, Not Healthcare Reform
http://rooseveltinstitute.org/new-roosevelt/obamacare-health-insurance-subsidy-not-health-care-reform

Lower Health Insurance Premiums to Come at Cost of Fewer Choices

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/23/health/lower-health-insurance-premiums-to-come-at-cost-of-fewer-choices.html

ObamaCare Insurance Plans Will Limit Specialists, Hospitals

http://www.wrtl.org/blog/index.php/2013/09/30/obamacare-insurance-plans-will-limit-specialists-hospitals/

Obamacare Insurance Plans Will Limit Your Hospital and Specialist Choices

Obamacare Insurance Plans Will Limit Your Hospital and Specialist Choices

Starting Tuesday, October 1, people around the country will begin enrolling in “exchanges” mandated by the Obama Health Care Law, choosing their health insurance for 2014. When they do so, however, many will find their alternatives limited to cut-rate plans that allow them to see only narrow groups of health care providers that exclude the best specialists and health care centers.
A New York Times article titled, “Lower Health Insurance Premiums to Come at Cost of Fewer Choices” explains

http://www.lifenews.com/2013/09/27/obamacare-insurance-plans-will-limit-your-hospital-and-specialist-choices/

Related articles

• Obamacare Rationing: Seniors' Doctors Get Booted From Medicare Advantage
• Obamacare: Fewer options for many - CNN

HHS to providers: Check list of excluded Medicare personnel

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20130508/NEWS/305079942

Healthcare law promises coverage for everyone, but not everywhere

Healthcare law promises coverage for everyone, but not everywhere

http://www.wtvm.com/story/23552637/new-law-promises-coverage-for-everyone-but-not-everywhere

Related articles

• One Lie After Another: Obama Promising You Can Keep Your Existing Healthcare Plan 24 Times!
• Sen. Fischer says healthcare problems go well beyond website glitch
• Obama Is Breaking His 'If You Like Your Healthcare You Can Keep It' Promise Because He Wants To
• Healthcare bill requires many to purchase coverage before March
• AFFORDABLE CARE: 14m To Lose Current Coverage

Millions losing health plans under Obamacare. Did president mislead? (+video)

It turns out that at least 7 million Americans will not be able to keep their current health insurance plans under Obamacare, news reports say, despite Obama's assurances that they would.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Decoder/Decoder-Wire/2013/1029/Millions-losing-health-plans-under-Obamacare.-Did-president-mislead-video

Aetna pulls out of 'Obamacare' health exchange

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/09/aetna_pulls_out_of_obamacare_health_exchange.html

Related articles

• Aetna CEO says Healthcare.gov won't be fully functional until 2017
• Obamacare's Medicaid Mess?

Obamacare: More than 2 million people getting booted from existing health insurance plans

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57609737/obamacare-more-than-2-million-people-getting-booted-from-existing-health-insurance-plans/

Related articles

• Jay Carney Berates Insurance Companies For Complying With Obamacare
• Obamacare: 2 million getting booted from existing plans
• Nearly 1 Million Californians Could Lose Health Care Plans Under Obamacare
• CBS: More Than Two Million Americans Being Dropped From Their Health Insurance Plans
• 300,000 Floridians Health Insurance Plans Cancelled Because Of Obamacare
• Has Your Health Insurance Plan Been Canceled?
• Report: Millions Could Be Forced To Change Health Insurance Plans
• Obamacare: More than 2 million people getting booted from existing health insurance plans - CBS News

Congresswoman: Obamacare creating health insurance monopolies

http://dailycaller.com/2013/09/26/congresswoman-obamacare-creating-health-insurance-monopolies/

Big insurers avoid many state health exchanges

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/20/little-competition-insurers-some-states-obamacare-plans/2986795/

Related articles

• Here's Why So Many Americans Are Getting Letters Saying Their Health Insurance Is Canceled

Blue Cross, Aetna, United, Humana Flee Obamacare Exchanges

Blue Cross, Aetna, United, Humana Flee Obamacare Exchanges - See more at: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/blue-cross-aetna-united-humana-flee-obamacare-exchanges#sthash.5RFv4bNw.dpuf

Blue Cross, Aetna, United, Humana Flee Obamacare Exchanges 
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/blue-cross-aetna-united-humana-flee-obamacare-exchanges

Related articles

• 9 insurance companies pull out of market, cite Obamacare
• Obamacare effect? 9 companies exit Nebraska's health insurance market
• Obamacare wipes out more than 1 million plans
• Thanks Barack... Ten States Where Obamacare Wipes Out Existing Health Care Plans

UnitedHealthcare dropping R.I. doctors from Medicare Advantage network/ Poll

http://www.providencejournal.com/breaking-news/content/20131021-unitedhealthcare-dropping-r.i.-doctors-from-medicare-advantage-network.ece

Related articles

• Obamacare Rationing: Seniors' Doctors Get Booted From Medicare Advantage
• SICK: Seniors get notices of lost doctors...
• UnitedHealthcare drops 10-15 percent of its doctors in Medicare advantage plans
• Concerns Raised About Patient Access After Insurer Drops Some Doctors
• UnitedHealthcare eliminates one Medicare Advantage plan for Hawaii in 2014
• UnitedHealthcare dropping several Medicare physicians in Ohio
• United Healthcare Drops 300 Southwest Florida Doctors While Aetna Announces It Is Expanding Medicare Advantage Doctor Networks With Employer Sponsored Medicare Advantage Plans, No Word Yet On Individual Polices - Clustered Algorithm Analytics Creating "Blac
• United Healthcare dropping many doctors from Medicare Advantage plan

UnitedHealthcare dropping several Medicare physicians in Ohio

http://medcitynews.com/2013/10/unitedhealthcare-dropping-several-medicare-physicians-ohio/

Related articles

• ObamaCare is Stripping Seniors of Their Doctors
• UnitedHealthcare drops 10-15 percent of its doctors in Medicare advantage plans
• UnitedHealthcare eliminates one Medicare Advantage plan for Hawaii in 2014
• Concerns Raised About Patient Access After Insurer Drops Some Doctors
• UnitedHealthcare dropping several Medicare physicians in Ohio
• Thousands of doctors fired by United HealthCare
• Thousands Of Doctors Fired By United HealthCare
• Thousands of Medicare Doctors Fired by UnitedHealthCare
• Obamacare Rationing: Seniors' Doctors Get Booted From Medicare Advantage