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Even when a person has health insurance, healthcare in the U.S. is largely inaccessible. Copays and deductibles are enough to put people in thousands of dollars of debt. Investopedia cited an NPR poll that found, “27 percent of respondents struggled to cover food, utilities, and housing expenses because of medical bills.” In fact, due to the impact medical bills have, “Medicare for all” has become a popular political conversation, as more Americans are unable to afford healthcare and begin to compare our healthcare system with that of other countries.

Only immediate climate action can save the future. If we don’t take action, the collapse of our civilizations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon.

A speech by Bill Moyers

At an April 30 conference entitled “Covering Climate Now,” co-sponsored by The Nation and Colombia Journalism Review, Bill Moyers made a speech which included the following remarks:

“I have been asked to bring this gathering to a close by summing up how we can do better at covering the possible 'collapse of our civilization and extinction of much of the natural world,' to quote the noted environmentalist David Attenborough, speaking at the recent United Nations climate summit in Poland...

A few weeks ago, Ohio became the sixth state to pass a so-called “Heartbeat Bill” that prohibits abortion after a “fetal heartbeat” can be heard–around the sixth week of pregnancy when most women don’t even know yet they are pregnant.

Ohio’s “Heartbeat Bill” has been covered extensively, and I don’t intend to reinvent that wheel. Little has been mentioned, however, about how these bills, especially in Ohio, originated with individuals opposed to adoptee civil rights and how implementation can stymie adoptee rights and adoption reform.

“Heartbeat” and Adoption: Background

Tuesday, May 28, 6:30-8:30pm
Columbus Mennonite Church, 35 Oakland Park Ave.
We are in need of volunteers! Join us this Tuesday, May 28 at 6:30pm at Columbus Mennonite Church to get hands-on with our current projects that are happening THIS WEEK! There is some exciting news to share about a path forward, but we need your help. All are welcome!

Death Penalty Action is raising funds to support protests on the ground at the site of the 1500th execution in the United States since 1977. At this writing on May 24th, the 1500th execution may be July 31st in Texas. This may change if there is a stay in prior execution(s) or new dates are added.

These funds will help us raise awareness and coordinate on-the-ground activities around the date of the execution. With your help, we'll be able to support abolitionists who would travel to be there.

Your contribution will make an impact, whether you donate $5 or $1500. Every little bit helps. 

Thank you for your support. Death Penalty Action (DPA) provides high visibility resources, leadership, support, educational and direct action events and activities within the broader anti-death penalty movement.

Donate Here

OMG! Ohio Rep. John Becker (R-Clermont County)is even dumber than I thought. In fact, he has just grabbed the dumber-than-a-doorknob title held for the last few years by former Rep. Jim Buchy who once told Al Jazeera  he couldn’t figure out why someone would want an abortion.

Becker is the Republican who introducedHB 182in the Ohio House a couple of weeks ago, The bill excludes private insurance coverage for abortion, It includes two other whackadoodle provisions:

·         mandates a medical procedure to remove the embryo in an ectopic pregnancy from a Fallopian tube or elsewhere and implant it in the uterus in to order avoid abortion.

·         “prohibits the use of drugs or devices used to prevent the implantation of a fertilized ovum.” whatever that means.

Dayton police protected nine KKK members with hundreds of police yesterday at a two hour Honorable Sacred Knight of the Klu Klux Klan’s Members and Supporters Only Rally in a show of police force not common in Dayton. Across downtown Dayton about 3,000 peace and equality loving protesters sang songs, led chants, and gave speeches, with several hundred across the street from Courthouse Square, several hundred at the launch of Black Lives Matter Dayton at RiverScape MetroPark, and several hundred more celebrated An Afternoon Of Love, Unity, Peace and Inclusion in McIntosh Park.

“Dayton turned out,” said Dayton resident Miracle Woods who attended the counter protests. “We didn’t do any negative sh*t, we came in love and peace and we left in love and peace,” she said. Woods, who was not with a particular group but identified as being with “the anti-KKK unity,” was critical of how the city handled the KKK permit. She said “the mayor needs her ass whooped” for allowing the KKK permit to be rushed through.

From the Sierra Club Beyond Coal:  Nearly 300 of you have made calls, and more than 1,400 messages have been sent to Ohio State Representatives to oppose the nuclear bailout bill (HB 6) but the bill is still alive!  We need to keep the momentum going. Call your state representatives to oppose the nuclear bailout bill. Here's the message: The nuclear bailout bill-HB6 is moving in the OH Statehouse. If it's not stopped, we'll pay hundreds of millions a year for these uneconomic plants! Call your state rep. at 1-512-562-9139 to stop the nuclear bailout bill! #NoOnHB6 #NoNukeBailoutTax #OhiosEnergyFuture.  

The future of energy generation in Ohio hangs in the balance with House Bill 6(HB6) and May 22 and 23 saw some pivotal events in the saga of this bill. Protests and hearings laid out two very different paths Ohio could go down, one filled with nuclear contamination and countless tons of waste, the other with clean energy from wind and solar. The proposed law would add a charge to every Ohioan's electric bill in order to bail out the Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear plants. These crumbling, leaking plants can no longer compete in terms of price with wind, solar, or gas generation. Initially, the bill tried to pass itself off as a pro-environmental bill. The official title states that it  was intended "to create the Ohio Clean Air Program, to facilitate and encourage electricity production and use from clean air resources..." and never actually mentioned nuclear power. However, it quickly became clear that restrictions on how generation sources could access money from the charges meant that most of the money would go to First Energy to bail out their failing nuclear plants. Wind farms and solar fields would not be eligible.