Even Insured Can Face Crushing Medical Debt, Study FindsRandy Farris, 58, a factory worker from Conger, Minn., needed a knee replacement three years ago. His insurance covered 80 percent of the bill, but he needed to cash in an I.R.A. to pay his $4,000 share. “I haven’t been to the doctor since because I don’t want any more doctor bills,” he said.

Study: US is an oligarchy, not a democracy – BBC NewsA review of the best commentary on and around the world… The US is dominated by a rich and powerful elite. So concludes a recent study by Princeton University Prof Martin Gilens and Northwestern University Prof Benjamin I Page. This is not news, you say.

‘I helped create ISIS’: Iraq War veteran says US policy caused ‘blowback’ in Middle EastSaying he had “helped create ISIS,” an Iraq War veteran and US Marine is speaking out about the atrocities and criminal activities he and his fellow soldiers engaged in during the Iraq War, claiming he knew it would lead to “blowback” in the Middle East.

Switzerland: Poised for a revolution?Sam Gerrans is an English writer, translator, support counselor and activist. He also has professional backgrounds in media, strategic communications and technology. He is driven by commitment to ultimate meaning, and focused on authentic approaches to revelation and realpolitik.

Lifting the VeilLifting the Veil: The best ever investigative history of of what’s really going on behind the scenes in our world with over 500 links to reliable sources to back up the stunning picture that is painted. Knowledge is power.

The Plutocrats Are Winning. Don’t Let Them! – BillMoyers.comDear Reader, In the fall of 2001, in the aftermath of 9/11, as families grieved and the nation mourned, Washington swarmed with locusts of the human kind: wartime opportunists, lobbyists, lawyers, ex-members of Congress, bagmen for big donors: all of them determined to grab what they could for their corporate clients and rich donors while no one was looking.Across the land, the faces of Americans of every stripe were stained with tears.

Police killed over 1,100 people in US in 2015 – reportRelying on grassroots rather than federal data, the Mapping Police Violence project said over 1,100 people were killed by US police in 2015. It also found that 321 African-Americans were killed by police in numbers disproportionate to their populations.

Bush Military Official: US Citizens Must Stand Up to Stop the EmpireFrom ‘ Empire Files ‘: “Abby Martin interviews retired U.S. Army Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, former national security adviser to the Reagan administration, who spent years as an assistant to Secretary of State Colin Powell during both Bush administrations.” A few of the points made by Wilkerson: US’s foreign bases are “colonial, imperial” stations over the globe.