FM newswire for April 19, interesting articles about geopolitics

Today’s links to interesting news and analysis. If you find this useful, pass it to a friend or colleague.

1. No further analysis needed:  Rush Limbaugh explains that the volcanic eruption in Iceland is God’s reaction to health care’s passage
2. “Get ready for decades of Icelandic fireworks“, New Scientist, 16 April 2010
3. Slowly people start to admit that the Emperor is butt-naked:  “Greece’s bail-out only delays the inevitable“, Wolfgang Münchau, Financial Times, 18 April 2010
4. As usual with leaked memos, deny they say what they say:  “Gates Pushes Back on Report of Memo About Iran Policy“, New York Times, 18 April 2010 — Our Iran policy is a dead end; congrats to Gates for admitting it (privately).  Of course, next he’ll recommend bombing (he’s Bush’s SecDef, after all).

Today’s propaganda

Presidential Memorandum on Hospital Visitation, 14 April 2010 — Excerpt:

Initiate appropriate rulemaking, pursuant to your authority under 42 U.S.C. 1395x and other relevant provisions of law, to ensure that hospitals that participate in Medicare or Medicaid respect the rights of patients to designate visitors. It should be made clear that designated visitors, including individuals designated by legally valid advance directives (such as durable powers of attorney and health care proxies), should enjoy visitation privileges that are no more restrictive than those that immediate family members enjoy.

Ensure that all hospitals participating in Medicare or Medicaid are in full compliance with regulations, codified at 42 CFR 482.13 and 42 CFR 489.102(a), promulgated to guarantee that all patients’ advance directives, such as durable powers of attorney and health care proxies, are respected.

Reported by Dan McLaughlin on RedState, endless repeated on conservative websites:  “Barack Obama Will Decide Who Can Visit You In The Hospital” (red emphasis added).

Summary analysis:  “Your modern Republican party — unashamed to lie about anything, no matter how obvious the lie”, by John Cole, posted at Balloon Juice (hat tip to them for this juxtaposition).