Controversy is swirling around the excessive wait times for medical appointments at the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), where some veterans may have died waiting for health services on secret lists that clinics maintained to hide long delays. The revelations sparked bipartisan outrage, embarrassed the White House, and have led some lawmakers to argue that the government can never effectively deliver health care services. But a closer examination of the problems plaguing VHA, along with interviews with veterans and their advocates, reveals a far more nuanced and complicated picture of the successes and failures of the nation’s largest integrated health […]

Click here to view original article Why Veterans Still Love The VA

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I attempted to enter Canada on a Tuesday, flying into the small airport at Fort McMurray, Alberta, waiting for my turn to pass through customs. “What brings you to Fort Mac?” a Canada Border Services Agency official asked. “I’m a journalist,” I said. “I’m here to see the tar sands.” He pointed me to border security. Another official, a tall, clean-shaven man, asked the same question. “I’m here to see the tar sands.” he frowned. “You mean oil sands. We don’t have tar here.” Up until the 1960s, the common name for Canada’s massive reserves of heavy bitumen mixed […]

Click here to view original article ‘A Government Of Thugs’: How Canada Treats Environmental Journalists

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If you use Google, Yahoo, Bing, or any other service that tracks your search terms, there is no reason not to change search engines today. When you do a search with these companies, they log your IP address and search terms, and store that data for varying periods of time. If you are logged in with them, they know much more about your identity, and can combine your search history with other sensitive information they have about you. And of course, these records, once stored, can be (among other things) obtained by government agencies very easily under the Patriot […]

Click here to view original article How to Protect the Most Privacy with the Least Effort: Change Search Engines

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This story originally appeared in the Huffington Post and is republished here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Congressmen who are angry at US Fish and Wildlife Service enforcement of environmental regulations were not outraged by an activist’s photos showing oil pipes and tanks repaired with duct tape and trash bags. In fact, Reps. Vance McAllister and John Fleming, both Republicans from Louisiana, berated a Democratic witness from the Defenders of Wildlife on Tuesday for illustrating abuses in wildlife refuges with photos of oil-slicked ponds; abandoned, leaky drums; and even bags and duct tape used for as long […]

Click here to view original article WATCH: Congressmen Defend Repairing Oil Pipes With Trash Bags and Duct Tape

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After Mayor Ford Canadian politics is filled with boobs…

The Canadian city of Toronto, North America’s fifth largest city, and its mayor, Rob Ford , have been an international news sensation for more than a year thanks to Ford’s utterly unexpected and generally loopy exploits. His escapades are numerous and include being temporarily ousted from office for violating conflict of interest laws, tearing up new bike lanes, stating it’s “their own fault” if cyclists are killed by cars, skipping Gay Pride Parade events, allegedly showing up drunk to formal events like the Garrison Ball in honor of the military and veterans, allegedly telling a female staffer “I want […]

Click here to view original article Nikki Benz: Toronto’s Sexiest Mayoral Candidate

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A Tennessee man was arrested Friday night after he walked into a bar, dropped his pants and underwear, and attempted to have sex with an ATM machine, police report. Lonnie Hutton, 49, was collared at The Boro Bar and Grill, the Murfreesboro watering hole where he allegedly sought to make a 9 PM deposit. According to a Murfreesboro Police Department report , an officer was dispatched to the bar, where a witness said that Hutton walked to the ATM and “pulled down his pants and underwear exposing his genitals.” Officer M. Rickard added, “Mr. Hutton then attempted to […]

Click here to view original article Man Busted For Trying To Have Sex With ATM

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