MEDICARE, OBAMACARE AND A MERGING OF TWO BIG HEALTHCARE INSURERS ARE ALL MAKING NEWS THIS MORNING. SAY WHAT ONE WILL ABOUT THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT, BUT IT WILL HAVE A POSITIVE IMPACT ON THE BOTTOM LINES OF COMPANIES LIKE AETNA AND COVENTRY HEALTH CARE. AETNA HAS MOVED TO BUY COVENTRY HEALTH CARE FOR A REPORTED [...]

THERE ARE GLOBAL JITTERS BECAUSE OF SIGNS THAT FOOD PRICES COULD GET AS OUT OF CONTROL AS THEY DID SOME FOUR YEARS AGO, PROMPTING A FULL-BLOWN CRISIS OF FOOD PRODUCTION. ECONOMISTS WITH THE FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE U-N SAY THE POTENTIAL NOW EXISTS FOR ANOTHER CRISIS ON THE ORDER OF WHAT HAPPENED IN [...]

SERIOUS DEBT PROBLEMS FACED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF GREECE KEEP THREATENING TO BRING DOWN THEIR ECONOMY AND DO DAMAGE TO THE EURO ZONE BESIDES. THE CONSERVATIVE NEW DEMOCRACY PARTY, WINNER OF SUNDAY’S GREEK ELECTIONS ARE COMING TOGETHER WITH GREEK SOCIALISTS AND THE DEMOCRATIC LEFT PARTY TO FORM A VIABLE COALITION GOVERNMENT WITH A DAUNTING TASK [...]

A CONVOY OF OBSERVERS REPRESENTING THE U-N HAS ARRIVED IN HAFFEH, A TOWN THAT, IN THE WORDS OF SYRIAN STATE TELEVISION HAS “BEEN CLEANSED OF ARMED TERRORIST GROUPS,” A STATEMENT WHICH MAY BE INTERPRETED AS ANOTHER WAY OF SAYING THERE ARE NO TRACES OF OPPOSITION REBELS LEFT ANYWHERE. WHAT THOSE U-N OBSERVERS FOUND WAS THE [...]

IT’S NOT OVER ‘TIL IT’S OVER, AS THE SAYING GOES. AND MITT ROMNEY’S PURSUIT OF THE 2012 REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION MOVED PAST THE PRESUMPTIVE STAGE BY VIRTUE OF HIS DECISIVE VICTORY IN TUESDAY’S PRIMARY IN THE STATE OF TEXAS. IN CAPTURING THE LONE STAR STATE’S 155 DELEGATES YESTERDAY, ROMNEY PUT HIMSELF COMFORTABLY OVER THE TOP [...]

FROM AFGHANISTAN COMES WORD THAT N-A-T-O FORCES HAVE KILLED A SENIOR LEADER OF AL-QAEDA IN AN AIRSTIKE IN THE EASTERN PART OF THAT COUNTRY WHERE U-S AND OTHER COALITION FORCES HAVE FOUGHT FOR TEN YEARS. MOST OF THE AL-QAEDA HIGHER-UPS IN THAT PART OF THE WORLD HAVE FLED TO NEIGHBORING PAKISTAN, WHICH IS WHERE OSAMA [...]

THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT HEARD A SECOND DAY OF ORAL ARGUMENTS TUESDAY IN A LEGAL CHALLENGE TO PRESIDENT OBAMA’S AFFORDABLE CARE ACT. IN AN IRONIC TWIST, IF “OBAMACARE’S” MOST CONTENTIOUS FEATURE, THE INDIVIDUAL MANDATE REQUIRING SOME PEOPLE TO PURCHASE HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE OR FACE A PENALTY WERE TO BE STRUCK DOWN BY THE HIGH [...]

SEATTLE ATTORNEY JOHN HENRY BROWNE IS TALKING FREELY ABOUT THE CASE HE’S TAKEN UP INVOLVING THE ARMY STAFF SERGEANT ACCUSED OF THE KILLING OF SIXTEEN AFGHAN CIVILIANS AT A VILLAGE IN KANDAHAR SUNDAY. BROWNE SPOKE OF HIS CLIENT AS A STRESSED-OUT SOLDIER WHO HAD WITNESSED HIS FRIEND’S LEG BEING BLOWN OFF JUST ONE DAY BEFORE [...]

RELATIONS ARE STRAINED TO SAY THE VERY LEAST BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND AFGHANISTAN. ADDING TO THAT STRAIN ARE NOISES OF DISAPPROVAL FROM KABUL OVER THE FACT THAT THE AMERICAN SOLDIER ACCUSED IN THE MASSACRE OF 16 CIVILIANS IN A SOUTHERN AFGHAN VILLAGE ON SUNDAY HAS BEEN TAKEN OUT OF THE COUNTRY BY THE U-S [...]

THE AFGHANI TALIBAN IN  IS THREATENING TO BEHEAD U-S SOLDIERS, WHILE IN KABUL INSURGENTS OPENED FIRE ON A GOVERNMENT DELEGATION. THIS AFTER THE MASSACRE DURING THE WEEKEND OF SIXTEEN CIVILIANS BY A 38-YEAR-OLD ARMY STAFF SERGEANT. THAT SOLDIER, WHOSE IDENTITY IS STILL BEING KEPT UNDER WRAPS HAD SERVED THREE TOURS OF DUTY IN IRAQ BEFORE [...]