Worth Knowing, Probably Not Quite Threadworthy 12/30

[SVPete]

Judge rules basic Medicaid data can be shared with ICE

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/judge-rules-basic-medicaid-data-can-shared-ice-rcna251443

A federal judge in California ruled Monday that the federal government is allowed to share basic information about Medicaid participants with Immigration and Customs Enforcement amid a government push to locate people it believes are in the country unlawfully.

The plan to share information from the federally backed program had been blocked by a preliminary injunction that applied to 20 states that sued, including California.

U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria partly denied the states' request for a preliminary injunction Monday, writing that “basic biographical, location, and contact information” is legal under the law.

But he also granted the injunction as it pertains to any information beyond that.

“We are disappointed in the court’s decision allowing for the sharing of some Medicaid data with ICE,” the office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement Monday.

FWIW, Vince Chhabria is an OhBummer! appointee. The data the ruling allows ICE to access is what ICE needs for enforcement purposes and what AG Bonta was trying to withhold.

[SVPete]

Report: Cuba Sees 185x More ‘Preventable Deaths’ Due to Failed Healthcare System than Regime Admits

https://www.breitbart.com/health/2025/12/29/report-cuba-sees-185x-more-preventable-deaths-due-to-failed-healthcare-system-than-regime-admits/

An independent study conducted by the Cuban Observatory for Citizen Auditing (OCAC) and published on Monday by the Madrid-based Cuba Siglo 21 think tank found that the communist regime is severely downplaying the number of preventable deaths caused by an ongoing epidemiological crisis.

According to the study, titled “The Collapse of Cuba’s Healthcare System,” at least 8,700 Cubans have died as a result of a simultaneous occurrence and intensification of several diseases such as Dengue, Zika, and Chikungunya — a number that is 185 times higher than the 47 deaths that the Castro regime has publicly acknowledged.

The study found that these preventable deaths are the “most visible and striking expression” of the collapse of Cuba’s healthcare system under the communist Castro regime.

No meds, no equipment, poorly nourished population ...

[SVPete]

MSNBC’s Ratings Crash 39% After Rebrand

https://www.frontpagemag.com/msnbcs-ratings-crash-39-after-rebrand/

MSNBC recently decided to rebrand and changed its name to MS Now which sounds like a fundraiser for a disease or the old portal for Microsoft.

Did the ratings improve? Not so much.

Fox News is ending the year on a high note, scoring its best ratings ever in a non-election year while giving primetime broadcast networks a run for their money.
...
In comparison, MSNBC (now MS NOW) averaged 923,000 total viewers (down 25 per cent on 2024) and 81,000 demo viewers (down 39 per cent), and CNN averaged 580,000 total viewers (down 15 per cent) and 105,000 demo viewers (down 29 per cent).

The only thing that can be said for MS Now is that it’s doing better than CNN in overall viewers, but it managed to do worse than CNN in the demo in a country where young people tend to be more leftist than their elders.

MS Now lost 25% of its overall viewers in one year and 39% of its younger viewers.

It may be that DU will soon become a significant % of MesS NOW's viewership, .

[SVPete]

Israel says it will halt operations of several humanitarian organizations in Gaza starting in 2026

https://srnnews.com/israel-says-it-will-halt-operations-of-several-humanitarian-organizations-in-gaza-starting-in-2026/

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel on Tuesday said it had suspended more than two dozen humanitarian organizations, including Doctors Without Borders and CARE, from operating in the Gaza Strip for failing to comply with new registration rules.

Israel says the rules are aimed at preventing Hamas and other militant groups from infiltrating the aid organizations. But the organizations say the rules are arbitrary and warned that the new ban would harm a civilian population desperately in need of humanitarian aid.

Israel has claimed throughout the war that Hamas was siphoning off aid supplies, a charge the U.N. and aid groups have denied. The new rules, announced by Israel early this year, require aid organizations to register the names of their workers and provide details about funding and operations in order to continue working in Gaza.

The new regulations included ideological requirements — including disqualifying organizations that have called for boycotts against Israel, denied the Oct. 7 attack or expressed support for any of the international court cases against Israeli soldiers or leaders.

DWB went political and anti-American two decades ago. Now DWB has gone antisemitic. @#$% DWB!