Last Night, the House passed the Senate Health care bill by a vote of 219-212. It will now be sent to the President for his signature. The Reconciliation bill, which also passed the House, now heads to the Senate for debate in that body. CNN: Democrats cheer and chant "Yes We Can" as healthcare is passed -Video. Wagist: List of Democrats Who Voted ‘No’ on the Senate-Passed Health-Care Bill. CSM: Attorneys general in 12 states poised to challenge healthcare bill.

WSWS: An attack on health care in the guise of reform:

■ After months of closed-door negotiations with insurance CEOs and pharmaceutical executives, Obama made the absurd claim that the measure came “from the bottom up.” In fact, the legislation was entirely dictated from the top. It represents the opening shot in a sweeping attack on health care for working people. ■ The main features of the bill include hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to Medicare, and the requirement that individuals and families obtain insurance or pay a fine, thus providing a new influx of cash-paying customers for private insurance companies. Businesses are under no obligation to provide their workers with insurance, paying only minimal fines if they do not.

AWIP/Stephen Lendman: The Death of American Populism:

Current legislation doesn't "provide universal, comprehensive or affordable care to the American people. It shovels hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money (to predators that) created the problem: the Aetnas, CIGNAs" and other insurers. It requires no contractual accountability or other benefits for people denied coverage under a "pay-or-die system that is the disgrace of the Western world."

Natural News: Health care reform bill dooms America to Pharma-dominated sickness and suffering:

Today the medical mafia struck another devastating blow to the health and freedom of all Americans. With the support of an inarguably corrupt Congress that has simply abandoned the real needs of the American people, the sick-care industry has locked in a high-profit scheme of disease and monopoly-priced pharmaceuticals in a nation that can ill afford either one.

[Editor's Comment:] How many of the Dems had actually read the bill before they passed it? -Probably none of them. (We're not considering the republicans here because they can't even read.)

You Tube: Know the TRUTH about the Government Health Care Bill H.R.3200 - Key Points FDL: Fact Sheet: The Truth About the Health Care Bill. The Health Care Bill (.pdf)

The American detention centre at Bagram in Afghanistan could be expanded into a Guantánamo-style prison for terrorist suspects detained around the world. This is one of the options being considered as US officials try to find an alternative to Guantánamo Bay, which President Obama promised to close within a year of taking office. The continued use of the prison in Cuba has presented Mr Obama with an embarrassing dilemma because of the difficulty of finding somewhere "acceptable" to imprison those [falsely] considered to be the most dangerous detainees. The Guardian: Afghan prisoners beaten to death at US military interrogation base. GreenLeft: AFGHANISTAN: US soldiers beat prisoners to death.

A US drone fires two missiles into the troubled northwestern Pakistan, killing at least eight people and injuring several others. According to Pakistani intelligence officials, the two missiles landed in the North Waziristan tribal region bordering Afghanistan. Earlier reports said four people had lost their lives in the lethal drone attack. Later, however, officials put the death toll at eight. The death toll is expected to rise as some of the injured are reported to be in critical conditions, sources said. The attack comes less than a week after two similar airstrikes left 17 people dead in the same region. AWIP: Suspected US drone strikes kill eight in north-west Pakistan. Pakistan Observer: CIA chief authorizes every drone strike. The News: CIA’s drone attacks rise under new chief.

Thousands of protesters, many directing their anger squarely at President Barack Obama, marched through the nation's capital Saturday to urge immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. (March 20). WJZ: 6 Anti-War Protesters To Spend Weekend In Jail.

As Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu plans a visit to Washington, a report says he will ask the US to release sophisticated bombs needed for a possible strike on Iran's nuclear sites. Netanyahu will ask Israel's closest ally to supply sophisticated 'bunker-buster' bombs needed to break through to Iran's nuclear enrichment sites, the Sunday Times reported. The Israeli premier is expected to attend a three-day meeting of the top pro-Israeli lobby in the US, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, commonly known as AIPAC and to meet with senior administration officials.

The United States Secretary of State says Israel's security has always been an unwavering policy for the White House. Addressing the annual policy conference of the powerful Israeli political pressure group American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in Washington, Hillary Clinton described US support for Israel's security and future as "rock solid, unwavering, enduring and forever." Clinton personalized her loyalty to Israel and insisted, "Guaranteeing Israel's security is more than a policy position for me; it is a personal commitment that will never waver."

[Editor's Comment:] Israel spits us in the face and we apologize, on bended knee...(03/04/10)

We grovel, grovel, bow and scrape:
we kowtow, crawl and lick their boots,
fawn and flatter, curry favor
from morning until late at night...

Senior Bush administration officials, including former President George W. Bush himself, have been asked to give testimony before a British committee investigating the basis for the invasion of Iraq, according to a published report. Other officials contacted by the panel include former Vice President Dick Cheney, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former Bush adviser Stephen Hadley, among others.

Today in the Sunday Telegraph my colleague Christopher Booker breaks possibly the most important environmental story since Climategate: a devious plan, truly Blofeldian in its scope and menace, by a hard-left-leaning activist body to gain massive global political leverage and earn stupendous sums of money by exploiting and manipulating the world carbon trading market. James Delingpole: Climategate: the whitewash continues.

Thousands of people across Russia took to the streets yesterday demanding the resignation of Vladimir Putin, in the largest show of discontent since he came to power more than a decade ago. Opposition movements called the nationwide "Day of Wrath" to express growing discontent at falling living standards following years of oil-fuelled growth. The protests followed weeks of sustained demonstrations across Russia that have riled a leadership that does not forgive displays of unrest. Cries of "Freedom" and "Putin resign" filled the main square in Kaliningrad, where up to 5,000 people gathered in pouring rain. CSM: "Day of Wrath" protests occur simultaneously in 20 Russian cities.

Nigerian police say they have arrested 164 people in connection with recent clashes near the central city of Jos, charging 41 with terrorism and homicide offenses. The Police added that only two of the 164 suspects will appear as prosecution witnesses while 121 are to be charged with multiple offences, including unlawful possession of firearms, rioting, and arson. Authorities say 500 people were killed in the March 7 massacre in Dogo Nahawa village, but the exact cause of the violence are still unknown and subject to various speculations.

The investigation into the assassination of a Hamas leader in Dubai hotel is in full swing, with evidence mounting against the Israeli secret service. An expert on the intelligence community, Gordon Thomas, the murder was 'Mossad-style' and their form of execution.

The world’s oldest extant military bloc (formed 61 years ago) and the largest in history (twenty eight full members and as many partners on five continents), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, counts among its major member states all of Africa’s former colonial powers: Britain, France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany and Belgium. With the end of the Cold War and the breakup of the Soviet Union nearly twenty years ago, the major Western powers on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, united under the aegis of NATO, saw that as with the Balkans and the former republics of the Soviet Union itself, Africa was now wide open for penetration and domination.

A volcano in southern Iceland has erupted for the first time in almost 200 years, raising concerns that it could trigger a larger and potentially more dangerous eruption at a volatile volcano nearby. The eruption at the Eyjafjallajokull (AYA-feeyapla-yurkul) volcano, located near a glacier of the same name, shot ash and molten lava into the air but scientists called it mostly peaceful. It occurred just before midnight Saturday (2000 EDT, 8 p.m. EDT) at a fissure on a slope — rather than at the volcano's summit — so scientists said there was no imminent danger that the glacier would melt and flood the area. TV footage showed lava flowing along the fissure, and many flights were canceled due to the threat of airborne volcanic ash. After an aerial survey Sunday, scientists concluded the eruption struck near the glacier in an area that had no ice. AWIP: Volcano Erupts Under Eyjafjallajökull -Video.

The relevant link was to an article in Hebrew. I asked Noam which two articles had been specified, and he replied that the nrg.co.il article implied Article 14 and Article 18. These two articles are as follows:

"Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution." (Article 14)

"Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance." (Article 18)

Israel has no intention of backing down in its argument with the United States over Israeli plans to build 1,600 apartments on disputed land in largely Arab East Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday. "Our policy regarding Jerusalem is the same as it was over the past 42 years.

As I detailed previously, both the Joint Intelligence Committee and 9/11 Commission investigations into 9/11 had government "minders" intimidating witnesses into not saying anything the government didn't like. You may assume that the issue of "minders" is overblown, and is not really that important.