Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/mar/17/healthcare-reform-republicans-democrats

Republicans are in denial. They're desperate to convince Democrats that passing comprehensive healthcare reform legislation will be the worst possible move they could make.

Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/17/us-army-troops-training-drills

The asymmetric reality of 21st-century warfare has taught the US military much over the last decade. It has taught them that their enemies are relentless, technologically advanced and often invisible – and that hardware and superior numbers are no longer the guarantees they once were.

Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62G2DO20100317

In May, 2002, Jerome Mitchell, a 17-year old college freshman from rural South Carolina, learned he had contracted HIV. The news, of course, was devastating, but Mitchell believed that he had one thing going for him: On his own initiative, in anticipation of his first year in college, he had purchased his own health insurance. Shortly after his diagnosis, however, his insurance company, Fortis, revoked his policy. Mitchell was told that without further treatment his HIV would become full-blown AIDS within a year or two and he would most likely die within two years after that. So he hired an attorney -- not because he wanted to sue anyone; on the contrary, the shy African-American teenager expected his insurance was canceled by mistake and would be reinstated once he set the company straight.

Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/17/us-muslims-court-pakistan-terror

Five young US Muslims were charged today with plotting terrorism in Pakistan in a case that has generated concerns that Americans are heading to the country to join militant groups.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2010/mar2010/geor-m17.shtml

Viewers of the 8pm Saturday news broadcast by the Imedi network in the former Soviet republic of Georgia switched on their televisions to see an invading force of Russian tanks and soldiers heading towards the capital, Tbilisi, while bombs fell across the country. Over this footage an announcer declared that the Georgian government had fallen and the country’s president, Mikheil Saakashvili, was dead.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2010/mar2010/fran-m17.shtml

On March 12, thousands of students, teachers and parents took to the streets across France to protest education “reforms,” deteriorating working conditions, and job cuts.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2010/mar2010/bobb-m17.shtml

Robert Bobb, the emergency financial director hired by Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm to oversee shrinking the Detroit public school system, announced his plan to close 45 more public schools on Monday.

Link: http://blogs.aljazeera.net/americas/2010/03/16/everything-stops-tea

Hundreds of Tea Party activists rallied outside the US Congress on Tuesday in protest at President Barack Obama’s almost $900bn healthcare reform. The group of mostly rightwing grassroots protesters are opposed to the way the administration is driving healthcare through congress.

Link: http://www.uruknet.info/index.php?p=m64275&hd=&size=1&l=e

Many Palestinian children still living in precarious situations at ground level in Gaza after Israeli bombing during "Cast lead" have unusually high concentrations of metals in the hair, indicating environmental contamination, which can cause health and growth damages due to chronic exposure. This is the result of a pilot study conducted by the New Weapons Research Group (Nwrg), an independent committee of scientists and experts based in Italy, who is studying the use of unconventional weapons and their mid-term effects on the population of after-war areas.

Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7064697.ece

After 14 months and more than 60 speeches President Obama’s fight to win reforms of America’s health insurance system may have only four days to go. His fight to keep them on the statute books will then begin.

Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article7063635.ece

Riots broke out in Jerusalem and the West Bank yesterday as Palestinians staged a “day of rage” in protest at Israeli plans to build 1,600 new homes in the disputed east of the city.

Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/8992253

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — When a Tennessee jailer ripped the gold grill from a new inmate's teeth two days before Thanksgiving last year, it left the 31-year-old man in excruciating pain and left taxpayers on the hook for nearly $100,000 in damages.