Everybody Knows with Dr. Bob and Dan-o

This past spring anti-choice representatives in the Ohio House introduced a bill that would completely outlaw abortion in Ohio without exception: not to save a woman's life, not for victims of rape or incest.  It would even put someone in jail for 15 years for driving a woman to another state to get an abortion.  When he introduced the bill, Rep. Brinkman announced that his plan was to get the bill passed and then take it to the Supreme Court and use it to overturn Roe.  Initially this looked like a far-fetched dream, but now with the dual vacancy on the Court, and John Roberts as the nominee for Chief Justice this dream may quickly turn into a reality and a nightmare for women in Ohio.

Our country remains overly dependent on oil, which has serious consequences ranging from rising gasoline prices that burden every American to global warming that threatens current and future generations. This addiction to oil represents a failed energy strategy, one that ExxonMobil not only supports but has helped to develop. Most disturbing are these facts: ExxonMobil's active support of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; ExxonMobil's efforts to block meaningful action to cut global warming pollution and its funding of junk science to hide the real facts about global warming; ExxonMobil's conscious decision to forgo investment in clean energy solutions despite your record profits at a time of rising gasoline prices; ExxonMobil's failure to pay all of the punitive damages awarded to fishermen and others injured by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. ExxonMobil represents yesterday's energy policy; I would rather spend my money and time moving forward, not backward. Pledge not to purchase ExxonMobil's gas or products, invest in ExxonMobil stock, or work for the company.

Hurricane Katrina, one of the largest and strongest storms on record, roared onto shore this week, causing massive devastation in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and other states. But another danger to the region is still brewing. With storm surges of up to 20 feet in some areas, huge petro-chemical plants, gas stations and waste pits have unleashed a toxic cocktail of chemicals ranging from vinyl chloride to gasoline.

Take Action! Natural disaster or terrorist attack - Tell Congress to act NOW to prevent more tragedy.

Already nicknamed "Cancer Alley," the polluted area now suffers from contaminated flood waters of up to 20 feet - which can affect homes, drinking water and surrounding waterways. In New Orleans, the city's levee system is now serving only to hold water in the city, creating a temporary lake of toxic chemicals, gas, oil and storm debris.

RESULTS has made protecting Medicaid a major domestic focus for more than 6 months and the final outcome is right around the corner. By September 16, Congress must put together their final budget proposal, which includes $10 billion in cuts to the Senate Finance and House Energy and Commerce Committees that have jurisdiction over Medicaid. During the August recess, staffers will be putting together the final “menus” of budget options that Members will have to choose from when they return. This week, voice your support for Medicaid and tell Congress not to make any cuts to Medicaid that would hurt beneficiaries. Visit our Take Action Now center to send an e-mail to MOCs about Medicaid. (http://capwiz.com/results/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=7583841)

For more resources and information on our health care work in 2005, check out our new Health Care for All Campaign Website. (http://www.results.org/website/article.asp?id=1459)

Drug War Chronicle will not be able to continue much longer without your help. In a few months the grant that is paying 60% of the cost of producing it will run out, and we need your help to meet the other 40%. Each issue of Drug War Chronicle costs about $1,400 to produce – please consider a donation in that amount if you can afford it. Without your help, not only with DRCNet be less able to produce the newsletter, we will have less left to carry out our advocacy campaigns as well – ultimately DRCNet is not just a reporting organization, but an organization working to change the world – there will be less for us to work with in changing laws like the Higher Education Act drug provision, the federal ban on medical marijuana, the awful mandatory minimum sentences, laws funding student drug testing and more.

Go to this link for more information:
Stop the Drug War

Plutonium-238 is an isotope of plutonium that is 270 times more radioactive than the isotope (plutonium-239) used in atomic bombs. It's used as a power source in radioisotope power systems (RPSs) for military spy satellites and NASA space missions such as the Cassini spacecraft to Saturn and the upcoming New Horizons mission to Pluto. Is it necessary for these space missions? No:

The European Space Agency's Rosetta mission is heading far from the Sun on solar power. NASA's own Deep Space 1 probe is solar-electric powered. Modern solar power technology can be used to power spacecraft even far from the Sun. The biggest use for the production of plutonium-238 -- and the real reason for its production -- is to provide power for classified military satellites, as well as profits for big military contractors.

ACTION NEEDED ON REP. LEE'S RESOLUTION

Congresswoman Barbara Lee and 29 co-sponsors are backing a Resolution of Inquiry which, if passed, will require the White House and the State Department to "transmit all information relating to communication with officials of the United Kingdom between January 1, 2002, and October 16, 2002, relating to the policy of the United States with respect to Iraq."

If the Downing Street Documents are not accurate, this is the White House's opportunity to prove it.

If your Representative is not a co-sponsor (http://tinyurl.com/8mzrn), we need you to ask him or her to become a co-sponsor of H.Res. 375. Many, even possibly some Republicans, will co-sponsor this, but they have to be asked.

Please do all three of the following:

Email your congress member:
http://www.democrats.com/peoplesemailnetwork/50

Phone your congress member:
http://www.usalone.com/get_instantcongress.htm

Fax your congress member:

Tell your Senators to oppose Roberts and any Supreme Court nominee who would overturn Roe v. Wade and limit the rights, freedoms and legal safeguards we have fought for and won.

TAKE ACTION!

As O'Connor's replacement, Roberts would cast the deciding vote on countless matters of individual rights where O'Connor had been a key vote, often in a 5-to-4 split-issues like abortion and birth control, affirmative action, privacy rights, disability rights, Title IX equal educational opportunity, family and medical leave, health care, environmental protection and dozens of other crucial issues for decades to come. For young women, Roberts' votes could determine their access to birth control and abortion for their entire reproductive lifetimes.

Action Needed:

1. Contact your Senators immediately and demand their opposition to Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts, a staunch opponent of women's rights and civil rights.

2. Forward this message to friends, family and colleagues. We need to flood the Senate with messages that our rights are on the line!

It's perfectly clear that Rove - the person at the center of the slash and burn, smear and divide tactics that have come to characterize the Bush Administration - has to go. Despite carefully worded denials, it is now apparent that Karl Rove discussed the identity of an undercover CIA agent with a reporter. His clear aim was to discredit that agent's husband who had dared to challenge the Administration in the buildup to the war. There appears to be no limit to the lengths to which Rove - and this Administration - will go. But, there is a limit to the patience of the American people - and we have reached it. President Bush has a choice to make: Spend the months ahead focused on protecting Karl Rove's job security or spend them focused on protecting America's national security. We are asking the President and the White House to do what they promised. When the scandal first broke, here's what the President's spokesman, Scott McClellan, said: "If anyone in this Administration was involved in it, they would no longer be in this Administration." (9/29/03, White House press briefing). Now we will find out if the Administration is good to its word.

Largest tract of land ever confiscated in history of Hebron District to take place 19 July 2005. Two military orders, T/06/05, and T/93/05 issued on 28 June 2005, if carried out, will confiscate the farmland of fifty Palestinian families (500 people) living in the village of Tarqumiya in the Hebron district. The order stipulates that Israel will confiscate ninety-seven dunums for building the Security Barrier/Annexation wall, but in actuality the military will also confiscate 500 dunums (125 acres) behind the fence. This tract is the largest amount of land ever confiscated in the history of the Hebron District. Telem, an Israeli settlement in the southwest corner of the West Bank, will expand onto the land, currently growing olives, grapes, and field vegetables. The land confiscation will take away income of fifty families. The military gave the families a deadline of 19 July 2005 to respond. A final court decision will occur on that day. Israeli authorities claim that they will build gates in the new wall so that farmers can go onto their land. However, the Israeli government, in other previous land confiscations, did not build the gates it promised.