The American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) increased the SNAP benefit by 13.6 percent beginning April 2009. It was always something of a shock absorber, a measure to make sure the disaffected poor would be able to have something in their belly. But as human vulnerability is treated as weakness by the budget hawks of the GOP, the scheme was always going to come under criticism and eventual savaging.

By Irit Shimrat - The Networker

Kids on Ritalin and similar drugs have been found to be 10 times more likely to perform below age level in school. Apart from increased [Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder] symptoms, they suffered from elevated blood pressure, motor abnormalities, liver disorder, tics, mania, [Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder] and paranoia and psychosis...Moreover, treating kids with stimulants sets them up for mood swings...["]He is diagnosed with bipolar affective disorder (BAD) and given a drug cocktail. He has begun a career as a mental patient."

By Greg Macdougall - May 7, 2013

Mental health awareness is gradually gaining ground, and so are radical alternatives to mainstream approaches. Community-based initiatives by and for the so-called crazies amongst us tend to be kept under the radar in Canada, challenging discrimination, providing peer support and advocating for a diversity of perspectives on mental health, its treatment and justice.

By Jon Queally - April 30, 2013

Recessions hurt, but austerity kills...Despite assurances by financial elites that austerity economics is a prescription to improve the lives of the masses, research contained in a newly published book shows that the push for steep cuts in wages, social programs, and public health programs is literally killing people throughout Europe and the US.

It's unaffordable. It doesn't protect. It under-insures. It forces millions to choose between life or debt. It reflects irresponsible governance. Obama bears full responsibility.

By Martha Rosenberg - April 25, 2013

...[D]on't worry, Wall Street. Pharma isn't going to deliver disappointing earnings just because it has little or no new drugs coming online and has failed at the very reason for its existence. Here are six new Pharma marketing initiatives that are guaranteed to keep investor expectations high...The secret? Recycling old and discredited drugs and marketing diseases to sell the few new ones.

By Andre Damon - 20 April 2013

Despite the hazardous nature of the material stored in the plant and its proximity to homes and public facilities, it appears that enforcement of health and safety regulations was abysmally lax. In this, West [Texas] Fertilizer is not an exception, but rather the rule after decades of deregulation and the gutting of government oversight of private companies — a process that has been accelerated under the Obama administration.

By Belén Fernández - April 10, 2013

The practice of attributing emotional distress and other phenomena to alleged cerebral/biological abnormalities rather than to social and psychological causes...is particularly problematic: "Standard psychiatric diagnoses… do not correspond to meaningful clusters of symptoms in the real world" and can counter-productively result in "further stigma, discrimination and social exclusion" for their recipients.

By Dietmar Henning - 6 April 2013

Large sections of the European population are paying with their health, if not their lives, for the European Union (EU)-dictated austerity measures...Numerous reports from Greece and Spain describe the despair and misery of the people as a result of the crisis: children who collapse in school from hunger; parents driven by poverty and desperation to send their children to care homes; pensioners who rummage through garbage for food...“In Greece, unemployment today means death.”

By Alex Kane - April 1, 2013

The number of children and teenagers diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has increased remarkably over the past decade...The rise in numbers...has led some to say that the increase is due to parent pressure on doctors and a loose definition of the disorder...Two-thirds of those diagnosed take stimulant medication for the disorder like Ritalin and Adderall, which could lead to anxiety, addiction and potentially psychosis.

Agribusiness giant Monsanto's the world's leading GMO seed producer. They're hazardous to human health. They should be banned. They proliferate.

Times policy is irresponsible. It's unprincipled. It's reprehensible. It's longstanding. It supports wealth, power and privilege.

By Martha Rosenberg - March 22, 2013

Do you fall asleep at night and wake up in the morning? Do you wake up…hungry for food? You may be suffering from……fill in the disease du jour...Selling symptoms to suggestible people has been a gold mine for Big Pharma since it started advertising directly to the consumer almost 15 years ago. Thanks to disease mongering ads, millions of people who were once fine now have depression, insomnia, season allergies, GERD and assorted attention and pain disorders.

March 25, 2013 - Coop Média de Montréal

According to Dr. Alexander Nataros, the McGill Faculty of Medicine has launched personal attacks against him that have “sent chills to the depths of the McGill system”...A hierarchical professional culture at McGill affiliated hospitals in which senior doctors are viewed as intimidating and unassailable is putting patients lives at risk, said Dr. Nataros, a junior doctor at Saint Mary’s hospital.

Obamacare is a healthcare rationing scheme. It enriches insurers, drug companies and large hospital chains.