Reading archive 2017-12-06

The Uneven Playing Field: Sure, don’t stoop to their level. But let’s acknowledge that the game Republicans are forcing everyone to play insists morality is for losers. - "This isn’t a call to become tolerant of awful behavior. It is a call for understanding that Democrats honored the blue slip, and Republicans didn’t. Democrats had hearings over the Affordable Care Act; Republicans had none over the tax bill. Democrats decry predators in the media; Republicans give them their own networks. And what do Democrats have to show for it? There is something almost eerily self-regarding in the notion that the only thing that matters is what Democrats do, without considering what the systemic consequences are for everyone."

A congressman's accuser: Blackballed and baby-sitting for cash - "But Greene’s budding career imploded, she said, the minute she accused Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Texas) of sexually harassing her. Since the summer of 2014, when she says Farenthold fired her for raising concerns about a hostile work environment, Greene has been unable to land a full-time job. She’s making $15 an hour working temporary gigs for a homebuilder. She baby-sits on the side to earn extra cash.
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She later added: 'I was told right away that I would be, quote-unquote, 'blackballed' if I came forward. … That’s exactly what happened.'"

How the Kremlin Tried to Rig the Olympics, and Failed: A study in humiliation

Kushner says Mideast peace is essential to thwarting Iran and Islamist extremism

'If You Hemorrhage, Don't Clean Up': Advice From Mothers Who Almost Died

California decided it was tired of women bleeding to death in childbirth: The maternal mortality rate in the state is a third of the American average. Here's why. - "A group of concerned doctors, nurses, midwives, and hospital administrators, including CMQCC medical director Elliott Main, started a maternal mortality review board to pore over each death in detail and identify its root causes. Pretty quickly, hemorrhage and preeclampsia (pregnancy-induced severe high blood pressure) floated to the top of the list as the two most common — and preventable — causes of death.

"It’s difficult to overstate how revolutionary this simple first step was in the arena of maternal health. About half of US states still don’t formally review the causes of maternal death on a regular basis to find out which deaths are preventable and how to stop future similar deaths from occurring. The US National Center for Health Statistics hasn’t even published an official maternal mortality rate since 2007 — that’s how low-priority this issue is."

Ryan says Republicans to target welfare, Medicare, Medicaid spending in 2018 - "Ryan's remarks add to the growing signs that top Republicans aim to cut government spending next year. Republicans are close to passing a tax bill nonpartisan analysts say would increase the deficit by at least $1 trillion over a decade."

Trump Calls Jerusalem Plan Step Toward Peace, but It Puts Mideast on Edge