What is AI doing to healthcare?

The Trump admin is using AI to analyze Medicare prior authorizations, and companies get 25% of the "savings" the system generates.

We found Carlyle Group and Patient Square Capital, private equity firms, backing this process.

It's the latest oligarch attack on healthcare. 

History lesson: Resisting Washington's divide & conquer tactics in Okinawa

 

This post originally from April 24, 2018 about a VfP solidarity trip to Okinawa to resist support citizen opposition to a new US airfield on top of pristine Oura Bay

About 700 people came for the daily construction gate blockade yesterday (Tuesday) at the US Marine Base Camp Schwab here in Okinawa.  Usually they bring in legions of dump trucks full of big rocks and gravel three times a day but on Monday and Tuesday they only did it twice because it took so long to clear the blockades from the gates.

On Monday the gates were shut down for five hours but on Tuesday lots more Japanese police from the mainland were brought in so they were able to clear the gates after about 90 minutes during the two different blockages.

As they drag people away from the gates they put them in well-guarded pens that they create by parking police buses next to the sidewalk near the gate.  The base fence serves as another barrier and they close off each end with portable fencing and lots of police.  I got stuck in there for a couple hours once and have made sure not to fall into that fly trap again.

It seems abundantly clear to me that the Japanese police and government in Tokyo have been completely outsourced to US interests.  There can be no doubt that ‘democracy’ in Japan (and Okinawa) does not exist except in a rhetorical sense.

The amount of construction going on at Camp Schwab is massive.  Just inside the gates heavy machinery are constantly preparing the ground for new buildings – likely more barracks as the US ‘pivot’ to the Asia-Pacific requires more facilities to house the transfer of 60% of all Pentagon forces into this region.  

So, in addition to the operations in Oura Bay to build the twin-runways on top of the water (killing coral, fish and the endangered sea mammals called Dugong) there are other construction projects everywhere there is vacant space on Camp Schwab.

I took delight several times when huge Marine Corps military vehicles were passing by us to step out in front of them and refuse to move.  The police were so busy with the gate blockades that they left me alone. I wanted the Marines in the vehicles to see my Veterans For Peace T-shirt and know that fellow Americans are also at these protests.  Some of them might easily dismiss the Okinawans for protesting but I want them to have to think about why these VFP guys are here.  Dud Hendrick joined me twice when I did this in the road.

At 5:00 pm on Tuesday as people were leaving the base I stood by the gate again wanting to have the GI’s driving off the base to see my shirt.  I got to make eye contact with quite a few Marines.  At one point a bus full of Marines with windows open pulled up trying to enter the base but they had to wait for traffic to clear so I ran out into the road and went up and down the side of the bus saying, “You work for a fucking police state.  This is not a democracy.”

I did this because by 5:00 pm I was filled with disgust and anger watching and thinking about how the Okinawan people’s demand that this new airfield not be built on top of pristine Oura Bay is totally ignored.  I felt intense rage watching as police are brought in to overwhelm people’s honest and heartfelt non-violent protests; hearing how several mayors who oppose the base have been defeated in recent elections by heavily funded and manipulated campaigns orchestrated by Tokyo and Washington; seeing the massive environmental destruction currently underway at Camp Schwab (and other bases on the island); and the general disrespect for the people.  

In that moment when I could come face-to-face with the Marines on the bus I was channeling all this pent-up emotion.  You should have seen the wide eyes of the guys on the bus.  The last thing they ever expected to see was an old guy with a VFP T-shirt and a Baltimore Orioles baseball cap in the middle of the road in Okinawa.  For me it was a priceless moment.  (One of the simple joys in the life of a peacenik.)

Today (Wednesday) there was an action in the bay with more than 100 kayaks and other boats directly confronting construction operations going on in the water.  We were taken out in a glass bottom boat owned by a man who lives by Oura Bay and for years has made his living by renting kayaks to people who want to enjoy the beauty of this sacred place.  He now has become a leader in the movement and his face carries the sad look of a man whose heart is breaking.

While on the boat we learned that in Okinawa fishing licenses are given to villages. The government went to several Oura Bay fishing communities and offered them a deal.  If the village would give up their license then the fisherman would be paid $500 a day each to sit on their boats and spy on any protest activity in the water.  In some of the small villages a majority of fisherman voted to take the money even though not all of the others agreed. This has caused widespread conflict dividing communities and even families.  If a majority of the fishermen voted to accept the money then those who voted not to do so have lost their license and their income.

These kinds of divide and conquer tactics are manipulative and evil and have no place in a truly democratic society. But Tokyo and Washington are not interested in fostering democracy. In fact their only interest is in dividing the people of Okinawa and creating the feeling of inevitability - that the construction of the twin-airfields on top of Oura Bay is unstoppable and thus should not be resisted.

Fortunately there are many that still maintain their deep connection to nature, justice and true democracy and continue to daily resist these crimes that are ultimately coming from the corporate oligarchies that dominate politics in Washington.

I am proud to stand and sit with these true heroes.

Bruce 

An artist against war

 

AN ARTIST RESPONDS TO WAR is a vibrant portrait of Peter Schumann, the visionary founder of the Bread & Puppet Theater, whose six decades of radical political performance have been forged from a single, searing childhood question: how do we as humans respond to the madness of war and violence?

​Born in Nazi Germany and shaped by the brutal reality of war via the aerial bombardments he experienced as a child, Schumann channeled this trauma into one of the most boundary-breaking landmark theater companies in the world.

Bread & Puppet is an iconic theater group that has helped to redefine political theater and public art in the U.S. for over 60 years. Founded in New York City in the early 1960s, the troupe revolutionized street protests against the Vietnam War by utilizing gigantic paper maché puppets.​

The Bread & Puppet Theater grew into its full form on a 250-acre Vermont farm in the 1970s, where the landscape itself became a stage that continues to draw thousands to its epic outdoor spectacles. 

​​Decades later, as international norms collapse and atrocities unfold in Gaza in plain sight, Peter Schumann — now 92 and still working with fierce urgency — finds his life's central question more pressing than ever. Peter continues his relentless work using paintings and large-scale performances to show audiences the true cost of war. 

Drawing on originally-shot footage and a remarkable archive spanning 60 years, film director Robbie Leppzer offers an intimate window into the man, his art, and his unbroken faith that creativity can stand against the brutality of power. 

AN  ARTIST RESPONDS TO WAR is a testament to the radical, enduring idea that art is not a retreat from the world — it is a way of fighting for it.  

Sunday song

the funnies

Saudis & Ukraine losing wars, EU broke, NATO confused, No Nobel Prize 4 Trump

• Language discrimination in Ukraine: In Kiev a group of Nazis patrolled the book market and seized books in Russian, humiliating and threatening the booksellers for speaking and reading on the "wrong" language. 

• Kharkov, Ukraine: No clothes, no worries. Zelensky’s meat hunters tear the ‘Ukrainian patriot’s’ clothes off and then ship him off to die for Zelensky. Such western values are strong in ‘free’ and ‘democratic’ Ukraine. 

• 'If attacked, we are ready to fight tonight': General Alexus Grynkewich, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, is trying to find a justification for the 'alliance' to exist. Fight against who? Well, the Russians of course - the same Russians Trump says he is buying diesel fuel from!

• The Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant continues to face difficulties in restoring external power supply. The head of Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, stated that ongoing attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces are hindering the repair of equipment on the "Ferrosplavnaya" and "Dnepro" power lines. 

• Oh boy .. the man wants his Nobel – any prize will do. 'My diesel deal with Russia is not really a deal for me. It’s a deal FOR THE REST OF THE WORLD’ claims Trump'. 

• Kit Klarenberg: Absolute clown shit. Israel and Saudi Arabia have openly been conjoined at the hip for a decade.  But the CIA-riddled Pakistani military that coups anyone the West doesn’t like [including Imran Kahn] was shocked I tell you! No serious person could possibly believe this rubbish. Pakistani military officers were shocked when they traveled to Saudi Arabia to find Israeli advisors taking part in intelligence meetings under CENTCOM.

• Simplicius: For a sign of just how extraordinary oil shipping costs have become, consider this: It’s now more expensive to hire a tanker from the US to China than to launch a rocket into space. That journey costs about $80 million, compared with $74 million for a standard SpaceX Falcon 9 launch, shipbroker Gibson said this week. The same amount of money could have bought a near-identical tanker outright earlier this year. The eye-watering prices are the result of a global tanker shortage that is getting worse with every additional barrel of oil flowing through the Strait of Hormuz.

• Yves Engler: According to a recent official lobbying report, B’nai Brith is pressing Public Safety Canada to “conduct a national security review of organizations, networks, and entities that promote, finance, facilitate, or legitimize extremist ideologies.” They’ve held formal meetings with government officials to promote their authoritarian position. In fact, hundreds of Jewish entities and organizations “promote, finance, facilitate, or legitimize” the extremist ideology of genocidal Jewish supremacist colonialism.
• Fotros Resistance: Days ago the Baku government announced it is not allowing female teachers to wear hijab at school. The Azerbaijani government is now demanding girls to also remove their hijabs. All hijabi women and girls have been kicked out from school, both students and teachers. Many men and women have already been arrested. The Baku government is oppressing Muslims even though the majority are Muslim. 

• Crowds flood Bangkok’s streets to protest World Bank and IMF: The rally drew over a thousand people. It coincides with the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group, being held in the Thailand capital from October 12-18. The demonstrators accuse the international financial institutions of deepening the country’s debt dependence, widening social inequality, and backing environmentally harmful projects. “Stop capital that is destroying the world! The people determine their own future! No to the World Bank and the IMF!” reads the demonstrators’ slogans. Police have blocked the demonstrators’ route to the meeting venue, yet organizers vow that the protests will continue. 

• Saudi Arabia called literally every country in the world (this is not an overstatement) to try and find support of any kind for their 12-year war against Yemen and Ansarallah. They even begged the Iranians to intervene with Ansarallah and parley for a one month ceasefire. Abdul-Malik Badr al-Din al-Houthi said absolutely not. The Yemenis are only interested in Saudi stopping their war on Yemen and the blockade lifted and a lasting peace agreement. (Does this make you think that they may have taken some advice from Russia? Yemen sourced comments say they are carrying out a SMO in Saudi Arabia). 

• Politico reports that Zelensky is now fighting to regain attention from a Europe that has become fatigued with pulling the stiffening corpse of the Ukrainian state along the muddy road of its own future. Zelensky says to EU "The war will cost €155 billion next year. And we need at least another €70 billion from you for defense, weapons and our resilience. This is a realistic amount. And I ask you to find this support. It will help us deter Russia."  

The Alaska Fishing Crisis Will Shock You

Regular people are losing the right to fish in Alaska. 

Corporations discard millions of pounds of fish every year while people lose access to rivers, and the media is sleeping on the story. 

Now the working class is fighting back, and their rage could flip the US Senate. 

The Truth about Christianity in Africa

Abir Ibrahim makes brilliant statement about Africa: What’s Africa’s role in Christian history? 

From Nubian royalty to the Coptic Church and Axumite coins. 

Was Africa writing the script before Europe ever picked up the pen?