Showing posts with label MEDICARE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MEDICARE. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 01, 2020

The Decade of Decadence



THE ABSURD TIMES



 
  

Our Life Today
by
Czar Donic

Maybe we should be considering the moments of the last ten years, but the "specials" tell us little about what really happened.  We all know that Donald Trump is a complete disaster for the country, if not the entire world (and this includes you Vladimir).  But none of these specials will tell you what started all of this.

So I will.

You have to remember back to the last White House Correspondents' Dinner with Obama.  Have you not noted that there has not been a televised one since?  Have you wondered why?  Have you ever considered why it is that Orance Donald has never appeared there since the last one?  Well, let me take you back there and let you know – since, after all, we are covering the events of the last decade.  People are thinking that the impeachment is the most important story.  Nope.  Some people blame the corporate sector for pushing Hillary while the entire country had enough on living barely, and some starving daily.  Well, we get a bit closer here, but it still does not explain it. 

No, it was Obama and the last dinner, which sounds or echos the last supper, and it still could be if the cowardly half of the Senate allows it to be and keeps him in office.  So, what did Obama do?

It has always been, with the exception of the first, Lincoln, a Political party of the  regressive.  It kept on this way until Goldwater and his amazing defeat caused it to crumble and shrivel up.  It would have stayed that way were it not for Nixon.  Now despite his many faults, he did have a brain – a dangerous commodity in a Republican.  We could go through all of that, but let's not for now.  Other than creating the Environmental Protection Agency, he accomplished nothing any other Republican would have regretted.  He simply got caught at one of his many faults – fear of loosing. 

So, we can move forward. 

Daffy Donald started out with the so-called "birtherism" nonsense long ago.  Obama made him look very stupid on, yes, the old Jay Leno Show.  When Jay asked him why Trump had such a grudge against him, Obama said "It all goes back to when he were growing up together in Kenya."  [It's on you-tube]  In fact, all of this is on You Tube.

Donald kept getting more and more obsessed with the issue and looking increasingly ludicrous.  At one point, someone said a group of subversives planned his rise to the Presidency back in 1950!  Obama remarked that it was "amazing that this group were so careful, brilliant, and well-planned, but gave me the birth name Barack Hussein Obama, especially the Hussein part.  Amazing." 

But it was the last White Correspondent's Dinner that was particularly incisive.  With flawless comic timing, Obama deconstructed Donald Trump (who was sitting there because he DESERVED TO BE) while Trump sat and red-faced silently fumed.

The part I remember most is something like this: "Donald Trump has finally admitted that I was, if fact, born in the United States – and I congratulate him on that.  Now he is free to investigate much more important issues – such as was the original moon-landing actually faked, and also area 51 and the captured aliens."  There was more, but by this time, Trump was destroyed.  Once he was elected, there never was another one of those dinners televised.

So, since Trump is better than everybody, he continued his race to the White House with the results we live with today.  It is fortunate, now, that the run of FDR so irritated big business that they passed the term limit Ammendment for Presidents.  If by some mishap the nutjob gets re-elected (as many voters here in the United States are nutjobs) he will be done soon.  At the same time, many remember the fears people had when Nixon got re-elected, four yeaars of Nixon not worrying about re-election?  A frightening thing. 

The Dems better not blow this one as they did the last one.  Corporate forces are telling them that a "moderate" (corporate whore) will have more support, but that is what happened last time!  Simply add up the votes or percentages for both Sanders and Warren in any poll whatsoever and you will find that they are easily more popular than any moderate.  Moreover, while a "moderate" polls high in many states, Sanders is always second or third along with Warren who is usually a bit behind him, but not always.  This is all to say, Sanders made all the progressive ideals or positions possible and popular this time around.  These are things to take seriously this time.  Very seriously.

* * *
Items to contemplate:

a) The climate.  We never write about that because our own sense is that it is already too late.  Back when people really became active about issues, the 60s, everyone had to have a cause so some boldly came out in favor of reading, others in favor of clean air.  Thos were considered saafe issues, but it was the last time, until about the mid 70s, that anything could really be done.  By that time, contaminates had started to work and would develop, many, such a Ozone, in a chain reaction.  Still, life may yet be preserved at 4-500 feet or greater.   People said that Greta was abused, but I could find no details.  If they are going by her behavior, note that she has a mild form of Asperger's, and she calls that her "secret weapon" as it helps her concentrate.  Another thing in her favor: Trump hates her because he thinks he should be PERSON OF THE YEAR.  (First, he has to establish himself as a person.)

B) Medicine.  We remain the only developed country in the world without a national health service.  We alone do not consider healthcare a right.  We have an insurance industry that makes billions out of this scam, aided by the drug companies.  So, how do we understand what is really going on?
          Insurance Companies are not in the business of providing health care, because they are in the business of making profits, making money.  This is the reason they have caps, used to luxuriate in prior conditions, have deductibles, and so on.  The last figures I have been able to find indicate that insurance companies operate with a 24% or 25% overhead (the amount of your premium that does not go into health care).  The figure for Medicare, on the other hand, is about 3%.  By eliminating the Insurance Industry, therefore, we immediately reduce the cost by at least 22%. 
          The next issue in this is taxes.  How much is it going to cost me?  Well, first of all, if you have an employer-based insurance plan, an average of half of that goes out of your salary (check your next paystub).  That amount would imply be placed either in your pocket or in your witholding.  No change for you.
          Then what about costs? Well, most Doctors or hospitals will tell you that a great deal of money is spent on dealing with up to a hundred different companies and filling out billing statements for all those different companies.  With a single payer arrangement, the paperwork would be reduced accordingly, perhaps a hundred-fold – who really knows?  This reduces the cost to the patients and doctors considerably.  Collection costs are eliminated almost entirely as well. 
          Obviously, a great deal has already been saved at no cost whatsoever.
          Medication.  Many U.S. citizens have managed to pay for their needed medicine by crossing the Northern or Southern borders.  One family pays half the cost by traveling up to Canada and another a quarter by driving across the border to Mexico, especially important because they needed the insulin and the cost ws simply too high. Why is that?  And patents are an entirely different matter. Simply by changing one irrelevant portion f the molecule, the company can retain its patent, thus freezing generics out of the market.  We should all be aware of the brat kid who bought a company and rised to life saving drug to thousands of dollars just because he could.  Well, that case made headlines and forced the government to pursue him and he would up in jail for awhile. 
          Deregulation. It is amazing how we see people calling for DEREGULATION when those very measures came about as a result of such dangers.  These regulations started mainly in the Roosevelt era, and he started them because of such things as THE JUNGLE, written by Upton Sinclair.  In it, he describes the meat industry and one case at least where a guy killed his wife and disposed of her body by having her ground up and packed into hot dogs or something like that.  FDR read about it, and regulations started in that industry.  Well, more profit comes from not having regulations, so ever since that ERA, money makers and fought against regulations and supported DEREGULATION in order to make more profit.

Socialism.  Gee. That sound like socialism, which was attacked recently by some politician by pointing to Pol Pot. That is socialism. I treated a veteran with PTSD and alcholism who had infiltrated Cambodia and was tortured when he was captured. His description of what happened sounded more like implementing capitalism than socialism.  [Oh, yeah, he also said that he would be killed if he told me about it and that I would be too. He eventually blew his own brains out, so I think I'm safe now. That was close.]

Well, there are many other things that need to be done as well, but perhaps this is all that is needed for a Happy New Year (other than to mention two of my favortie protest stories: One is seeing a sign saying DEREGULATE MY UTERUS, and the other is an off-hand comment from a Physicist friend who sai "I never thought I'd ever be marching in favor of facts.]

Bye all.
         

I am Perfect



THE ABSURD TIMES




Our Life Today
by
Czar Donic

Maybe we should be considering the moments of the last ten years, but the "specials" tell us little about what really happened. We all know that Donald Trump is a complete disaster for the country, if not the entire world (and this includes you Vladimir). But none of these specials will tell you what started all of this.

So I will.

You have to remember back to the last White House Correspondents' Dinner with Obama. Have you not noted that there has not been a televised one since? Have you wondered why? Have you ever considered why it is that Orance Donald has never appeared there since the last one? Well, let me take you back there and let you know – since, after all, we are covering the events of the last decade. People are thinking that the impeachment is the most important story. Nope. Some people blame the corporate sector for pushing Hillary while the entire country had enough on living barely, and some starving daily. Well, we get a bit closer here, but it still does not explain it.

No, it was Obama and the last dinner, which sounds or echos the last supper, and it still could be if the cowardly half of the Senate allows it to be and keeps him in office. So, what did Obama do?

It has always been, with the exception of the first, Lincoln, a Political party of the regressive. It kept on this way until Goldwater and his amazing defeat caused it to crumble and shrivel up. It would have stayed that way were it not for Nixon. Now despite his many faults, he did have a brain – a dangerous commodity in a Republican. We could go through all of that, but let's not for now. Other than creating the Environmental Protection Agency, he accomplished nothing any other Republican would have regretted. He simply got caught at one of his many faults – fear of loosing.

So, we can move forward.

Daffy Donald started out with the so-called "birtherism" nonsense long ago. Obama made him look very stupid on, yes, the old Jay Leno Show. When Jay asked him why Trump had such a grudge against him, Obama said "It all goes back to when he were growing up together in Kenya." [It's on you-tube] In fact, all of this is on You Tube.

Donald kept getting more and more obsessed with the issue and looking increasingly ludicrous. At one point, someone said a group of subversives planned his rise to the Presidency back in 1950! Obama remarked that it was "amazing that this group were so careful, brilliant, and well-planned, but gave me the birth name Barack Hussein Obama, especially the Hussein part. Amazing."

But it was the last White Correspondent's Dinner that was particularly incisive. With flawless comic timing, Obama deconstructed Donald Trump (who was sitting there because he DESERVED TO BE) while Trump sat and red-faced silently fumed.

The part I remember most is something like this: "Donald Trump has finally admitted that I was, if fact, born in the United States – and I congratulate him on that. Now he is free to investigate much more important issues – such as was the original moon-landing actually faked, and also area 51 and the captured aliens." There was more, but by this time, Trump was destroyed. Once he was elected, there never was another one of those dinners televised.

So, since Trump is better than everybody, he continued his race to the White House with the results we live with today. It is fortunate, now, that the run of FDR so irritated big business that they passed the term limit Ammendment for Presidents. If by some mishap the nutjob gets re-elected (as many voters here in the United States are nutjobs) he will be done soon. At the same time, many remember the fears people had when Nixon got re-elected, four yeaars of Nixon not worrying about re-election? A frightening thing.

The Dems better not blow this one as they did the last one. Corporate forces are telling them that a "moderate" (corporate whore) will have more support, but that is what happened last time! Simply add up the votes or percentages for both Sanders and Warren in any poll whatsoever and you will find that they are easily more popular than any moderate. Moreover, while a "moderate" polls high in many states, Sanders is always second or third along with Warren who is usually a bit behind him, but not always. This is all to say, Sanders made all the progressive ideals or positions possible and popular this time around. These are things to take seriously this time. Very seriously.

* * *
Items to contemplate:

a) The climate. We never write about that because our own sense is that it is already too late. Back when people really became active about issues, the 60s, everyone had to have a cause so some boldly came out in favor of reading, others in favor of clean air. Thos were considered saafe issues, but it was the last time, until about the mid 70s, that anything could really be done. By that time, contaminates had started to work and would develop, many, such a Ozone, in a chain reaction. Still, life may yet be preserved at 4-500 feet or greater. People said that Greta was abused, but I could find no details. If they are going by her behavior, note that she has a mild form of Asperger's, and she calls that her "secret weapon" as it helps her concentrate. Another thing in her favor: Trump hates her because he thinks he should be PERSON OF THE YEAR. (First, he has to establish himself as a person.)

B) Medicine. We remain the only developed country in the world without a national health service. We alone do not consider healthcare a right. We have an insurance industry that makes billions out of this scam, aided by the drug companies. So, how do we understand what is really going on?
Insurance Companies are not in the business of providing health care, because they are in the business of making profits, making money. This is the reason they have caps, used to luxuriate in prior conditions, have deductibles, and so on. The last figures I have been able to find indicate that insurance companies operate with a 24% or 25% overhead (the amount of your premium that does not go into health care). The figure for Medicare, on the other hand, is about 3%. By eliminating the Insurance Industry, therefore, we immediately reduce the cost by at least 22%.
The next issue in this is taxes. How much is it going to cost me? Well, first of all, if you have an employer-based insurance plan, an average of half of that goes out of your salary (check your next paystub). That amount would imply be placed either in your pocket or in your witholding. No change for you.
Then what about costs? Well, most Doctors or hospitals will tell you that a great deal of money is spent on dealing with up to a hundred different companies and filling out billing statements for all those different companies. With a single payer arrangement, the paperwork would be reduced accordingly, perhaps a hundred-fold – who really knows? This reduces the cost to the patients and doctors considerably. Collection costs are eliminated almost entirely as well.
Obviously, a great deal has already been saved at no cost whatsoever.
Medication. Many U.S. citizens have managed to pay for their needed medicine by crossing the Northern or Southern borders. One family pays half the cost by traveling up to Canada and another a quarter by driving across the border to Mexico, especially important because they needed the insulin and the cost ws simply too high. Why is that? And patents are an entirely different matter. Simply by changing one irrelevant portion f the molecule, the company can retain its patent, thus freezing generics out of the market. We should all be aware of the brat kid who bought a company and rised to life saving drug to thousands of dollars just because he could. Well, that case made headlines and forced the government to pursue him and he would up in jail for awhile.
Deregulation. It is amazing how we see people calling for DEREGULATION when those very measures came about as a result of such dangers. These regulations started mainly in the Roosevelt era, and he started them because of such things as THE JUNGLE, written by Upton Sinclair. In it, he describes the meat industry and one case at least where a guy killed his wife and disposed of her body by having her ground up and packed into hot dogs or something like that. FDR read about it, and regulations started in that industry. Well, more profit comes from not having regulations, so ever since that ERA, money makers and fought against regulations and supported DEREGULATION in order to make more profit.

Socialism. Gee. That sound like socialism, which was attacked recently by some politician by pointing to Pol Pot. That is socialism. I treated a veteran with PTSD and alcholism who had infiltrated Cambodia and was tortured when he was captured. His description of what happened sounded more like implementing capitalism than socialism. [Oh, yeah, he also said that he would be killed if he told me about it and that I would be too. He eventually blew his own brains out, so I think I'm safe now. That was close.]

Well, there are many other things that need to be done as well, but perhaps this is all that is needed for a Happy New Year (other than to mention two of my favortie protest stories: One is seeing a sign saying DEREGULATE MY UTERUS, and the other is an off-hand comment from a Physicist friend who sai "I never thought I'd ever be marching in favor of facts.]

Bye all.

Thursday, March 16, 2017

TRUMP: BUGGER THE PEOPLE, ISRAEL APARTHEID


THE ABSURD TIMES



It seems the religions get along together as long as the people can use their minds.  At the bottom or end of this is a report on Zionism in action.  The photo comes from people working together here to pick up after hate crimes. The article is a UN thing on Apartheid in Israel.  [There is no need to point out, except for the sake of mockery, that Israel thinks it is a lie.] 





Trump: Bugger the People



This may not be apparent to most U.S. Citizens, but the idiocy and inanity of the Trump administration is quite a relief to parts of the international community.  While all the superficial funny stuff is going on, and our media is gobbling it up, other countries are happy to see it flailing away and looking like a clown with two left feet.  So, let's look at the more amusing things first and then what Trump really means for the rest of the world.



Of course, hate crimes here have risen dramatically as Trump in office makes many think that such is fine these days.  The morons who commit them, however, are not very well educated or knowledgeable, of course, as they voted for the clown.  For example, we have several examples of Indian people (from India), Sikh sect being shot at and told to go back home to Iran.  India and Iran are two different countries, naturally, but they have no idea of that.  Mention Ghandi to them and they would look at you strangely.  Mention a travel ban against Moslems, and they will still applaud, despite further rulings that they violate the first amendment (remember that?)  In case you missed it, we deid publish the entire Constitution just recently.  We may open things up for comment on the blog for awhile to see how things go.



Facebook, it seems, has yielded to Zionist pressure and banned most BDS conversations, but nude and objectified Marine women were to be found there until recently.  The photos have now reappeared several places, but we have not looked for them.



Trump tends to TWC (Tweet While Constipated) often when publicity is a problem and manages to change the conversation.  The latest spate was over Obama "tapping his phones" before the election.  Soon afterwards, after a list of praise for Wikileaks  ("I love Wikileaks'), a list of covert spying methods was released.  "Weeping Angel" was my favorite, but they were many others, including something about a kangaroo.  Lots of fun there.  People pretended to be shocked and offended, but hasn't it been common knowledge that EVERYTHING is digitized, compressed, and stored somewhere by the NSA? 



At any rate, these revelations were enough for his helpers to defend Trump.  Kelley Anne Conway would say things like "they turn your microwave into a camera."  Later, someone said that it was "said in jest," but we can tell when someone is jesting.  Why we can even tell when Steven Wright was jesting.  Conway simply cannot jest.  She can use the term "alternative facts" completely seriously without any idea of how strange it sounds.  Sean Spicer handled the nonsense a bit more safely, saying that "The tweets speak for themselves," and then ducking away from the cameras, surely a statement worthy of the Trump Administration.  In case you wonder, all those tweets will become national property and placed eventually in the Trump Library one day.



Perhaps this belongs with the hate crimes, but what the hell – it all fits together anyway.  Representative King (R – IA) stated that we can't have a civilization with other peoples babies.  Confused?  Well, you can't play tennis with them either.  What's the point, moron?  I keep reminding myself that he is a Republican and that explains most things.



Still, even Republicans are running away from the TWC, but many support their version of "healthcare".  1) Don't buy an Iphone, and 2) if you are 64 and make 34K/year, half goes for health insurance.  Obama is increasingly being called the ACA which was its original name but called Obamacare by Republicans because, you know, black healthcare and all.  Gotta keep our civilization with out babies.



Before we blame everything on the Republicans, consider how the Democrats kept Sanders from the nomination and remember he could have defeated both Trump and help other Dems take seats in Congress.  However, he thought Medicare for all was the solution, and many voters agreed.  That would put insurance companies out of profits and bring health care cost to what they are in other industrial nations (about half of what they are here).  These companies donate hugely to campaigns.



And finally, Wikileaks never told us anything we didn't already know – it just provided documentation.  It was popular here during Bush's war on Iraq; they same people are now attacking it as an instrument of Russia. 



This is getting too crazy, so let's see how this affects the world.  Since the military budget is being raised beyond what the military even wants, and already is larger than the next 8 countries' combined, we gotta cut other stuff, like the UN, EPA, and all that tree-hugging stuff.  Perhaps those who voted for Trump will notice what he actually does to them. 



Meanwhile, everyone seems to have forgotten Israel amidst all this nonsense and perhaps that is the reason.  Here is an interview on Apartheid in Israel:

For the first time, a United Nations agency has directly accused Israel of imposing an "apartheid regime" on the Palestinian people. The report also urges governments to "support boycott, divestment and sanctions [BDS] activities and respond positively to calls for such initiatives." The findings come in a new report published by the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, which is comprised of 18 Arab states. For more, we speak with the co-author of the report, Richard Falk. He's professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University and previously served as the U.N. special rapporteur on Palestinian human rights.

TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: For the first time, a United Nations agency has directly accused Israel of imposing an apartheid regime on the Palestinian people. The report also urges governments to, quote, "support boycott, divestment and sanctions activities and respond positively to calls for such initiatives." The findings come in a new report published by the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, which is comprised of 18 Arab states. This is the head of the U.N. agency, Rima Khalaf.
RIMA KHALAF: [translated] The importance of this report is not only because it is the first of its kind, one that is published by one of the United Nations' bodies that clearly and frankly concludes that Israel is a racist state that has established an apartheid system that persecutes the Palestinian people, but also it sheds light on the essence of the Palestinian cause and the conditions needed for accomplishing peace.
AMY GOODMAN: The report met with immediate condemnation from Israel and the United States. U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters in New York the report was published without any prior consultation with the U.N. Secretariat.
STÉPHANE DUJARRIC: If we just saw the report today, which, as you say, was published by ESCWA, it was done so without any prior consultations with the Secretariat. And the report, as it stands, does not reflect the views of the secretary-general.
AMY GOODMAN: To talk more about the report, we go, not to The Hague, but to Edinburgh, Scotland, to talk to Richard Falk, co-author of the report that's titled "Israeli Practices towards the Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid." He has written a number of books, including Palestine: The Legitimacy of Hope, professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University. He previously served as the U.N. special rapporteur on Palestinian human rights.
Professor Falk, welcome to Democracy Now! Can you talk about the main findings of your report and how unusual this report is within the United Nations?
RICHARD FALK: Yes. As the head of the commission indicated, this is the first time that a comprehensive and systematic inquiry has been carried out into the allegation that Israel is responsible for maintaining an apartheid regime in relation to the Palestinian people. One of the distinctive features of the report is to treat the Palestinians as a whole, and that's quite innovative as far as the discussions of the applicability of apartheid to the Palestinian circumstances is concerned. And that means distinguishing between Palestinians that live under occupation in the West Bank and Gaza or as permanent residents in Jerusalem or as a Palestinian minority in the state of Israel, and, finally, as refugees or involuntary exiles.
What the report argues is that Israel has pursued a policy of fragmenting the Palestinian people in order to maintain the domination of a Jewish state over these different categories of Palestinians, and has done so in a way that is systematically discriminatory and is responsible for deep suffering over a very long period of time, with no end in sight. Unlike other forms of international criminality, this is an ongoing crime, according to the analysis in the report, and there is no end in sight, nor no political process that can adequately challenge this set of policies and structures that have been applied to the Palestinian people.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Well, Professor Falk, I'd like you to say something about the agency that commissioned and published the report, the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia. The membership of this agency, there are 18 Arab members, a number of whom don't recognize Israel. So, do you think that that might raise questions about the legitimacy of the report?
RICHARD FALK: Well, all the—these Arab members of ESCWA did was to ask that such a report be prepared. And Virginia Tilley, professor at the University of Southern Illinois, and myself were asked to prepare this report on a contract basis. It doesn't represent a U.N. finding as such. It is a report commissioned by the U.N. that has been received, with approval, but there's been no formal endorsement of it. It's possible that it will be endorsed, or efforts will be made to obtain an endorsement at the General Assembly or in other parts of the U.N. system. But as of now, it's a scholarly report undertaken by independent scholars. And there is a kind of disclaimer that the U.N.—this U.N. commission made, that the report doesn't necessarily represent even ESCWA's views. It is the views of the two of us who prepared the report.
AMY GOODMAN: So, Israel's U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon issued a statement saying, quote, "The attempt to smear and falsely label the only true democracy in the Middle East by creating a false analogy is despicable and constitutes a blatant lie." The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, the former South Carolina governor, Nikki Haley, said the U.S. is "outraged by the report." In a written statement, she said, quote, "That such anti-Israel propaganda would come from a body whose membership nearly universally does not recognize Israel is unsurprising. That it was drafted by Richard Falk, a man who has repeatedly made biased and deeply offensive comments about Israel and espoused ridiculous conspiracy theories, including about the 9/11 terrorist attacks, is equally unsurprising." Can you respond to this? She said that the U.N. should withdraw the report altogether.
RICHARD FALK: Well, this is, of course, nothing new in terms of the way in which Israel and the United States respond to any kind of criticism, no matter how well grounded in fact and careful, reasoned analysis. I would ask that people look at the report, look at the evidence, and then come to a conclusion. Whatever else it is, it isn't an effort to smear Israel or to in any way give aid and comfort to anti-Semitism. In fact, the report makes a clear statement that it—that the authors are unconditionally opposed to anti-Semitism as a form of racism. And it tries to draw a distinction between criticizing Israel as a state, or Zionism as a movement, from any kind of hostility to the Jewish people. But, unfortunately, American diplomacy, including under the Obama—during the Obama period of leadership, and Israel don't want to deal with the substantive issues that are raised.
AMY GOODMAN: So talk about those substantive issues that you raised in this report, Professor Falk.
RICHARD FALK: Well, the essence of the substantive issues are policies and practices that impose a discriminatory—a discriminatory pattern of behavior that has greatly—greatly contributed to Palestinians suffering over the years on a daily basis. It is a situation that appalls most of the governments in the world, and is not something that is in any way dealt with in this report in an emotional way. It looks at the policies and practices. It looks at the structures by which Israel has justified the way in which it addresses the Palestinian presence in these four domains, and generally tries to make an objective appraisal of how these policies and practices stand up against the international definition of apartheid that is in the 1973 International Convention on the Suppression and—
AMY GOODMAN: And what did you conclude?
RICHARD FALK: We concluded that there is a integrated regime of apartheid that is victimizing the Palestinian people in a collective manner, and that it should be acted upon by the United Nations and by other institutional mechanisms to bring this crime to an end. That's the essential—
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Well, Professor Falk, very quickly, before we conclude, can you say, what do you expect to happen? What's the effect of this report, given that the U.N. has already distanced itself from it?
AMY GOODMAN: We have 10 seconds.
RICHARD FALK: Well, the Secretariat has distanced itself. Other organs of the U.N. haven't responded so far as I know. Our hope is that this report will lead to a careful inquiry by appropriate organs of the U.N., and that if our analysis is persuasive, that it will have some political consequences.
AMY GOODMAN: Richard Falk, we want to thank you for being with us, joining us from Edinburgh, Scotland, co-author of the report, "Israeli Practices towards the Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid." Thanks for joining us.
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