As a shock tactic, a national group that opposes abortion plans to fly a billboard-size picture of an aborted fetus over Cleveland beginning Monday.

The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, which frequently employs such attention-grabbing advertising, hopes to jar people into reconsidering their support of abortion, director Gregg Cunningham said.

He said the banner would be the most graphic picture ever displayed from the air.

"It will be categorically the most shocking we have ever done," he said. "The imagery is so horrifying that I can't almost stand to look at it."
LINK

Denial of minimum wage increase another Republican failure

Dear Editor, Last month in a letter I expressed disappointment in the Republican controlled Congress ("Republicans have had their chance for six years now; vote Democrat," June 28).

They had refused to increase the Federal Minimum Wage of $5.15 per hour, failed to vote on both the Immigration Bill securing our borders as well as the Voting Rights Act extension. Of course, they found time to consider more tax breaks - up to $762 billion - for our poor millionaires. A response to my letter was published shortly thereafter ("The smart votes is to stay with the party of Lincoln," July 5).

In her, response the writer cited a 25-year-old study from 1981 as the reason Republicans voted not to raise the minimum wage. While I don't doubt Republicans use 25-year-old studies to legislate and govern, since that would explain why so many things go wrong these days, more likely the simple truth is because the Republican Party said "No" for the ninth time.

Regardless, here are facts from 2005/2006 - not 1981 - concerning the wage issue: Eighty percent of minimum wage earners are adults, not teenagers; with inflation, today's minimum wage of $5.15 per hour is actually worth only $3.95, which is less than the 1996 minimum wage; numerous impartial, non-politicized studies of the 1990-1991 and 1996-1997 minimum wage increases show no job loss as a result and no negative effect on small business; 18 states have already enacted higher minimum wages than the federal rate; seven other states will vote on a wage increase this November; and lastly, 86 percent of Americans polled in May 2005 favored Congress raising the minimum wage.

Read more here

Neftaly Cruz said that when he heard a commotion, he walked out of his back door with his cell phone to see what was happening. He said that when he saw the street lined with police cars, he decided to take a picture of the scene.

"I opened (the phone) and took a shot," Cruz said

"He opened up the gate and Neffy was coming down and he went up to Neffy, pulled him down, had Neffy on the car and was telling him, 'You should have just went in the house and minded your own business instead of trying to take pictures off your picture phone,'" said Gerrell Martin.

Howard Dean calls for end to divisiveness, party unity

Down with divisiveness was the message Wednesday delivered by Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean as he told a group of Florida business leaders that Republican policies of deceit and finger-pointing are tearing American apart.

Dean called President Bush "the most divisive president probably in our history."

"He's always talking about those people. It's always somebody else's fault. It's the gays' fault. It's the immigrants' fault. It's the liberals' fault. It's the Democrats' fault. It's Hollywood people," Dean said. "Americans are sick of that. Even if you win elections doing that, you drag down our country."

Dean spoke to about 240 business leaders in Palm Beach County at a gathering of the Democratic Professionals Forum as part of a nationwide grassroots campaign to get voters involved in politics on a local level ahead of the November elections.

More

Police said the group were allegedly carrying bags with wires sticking out, making it look like a bomb, while meandering and dancing to music as part of a "zombie dance party" Saturday night.

One group member said the "weapons" were actually backpacks modified to carry a homemade stereos and the suspects were jailed without reason. None of the six adults and one juvenile arrested have been charged.

The Senate has approved a measure that would prohibit taking a minor across state lines to have an abortion without informing her parents.... Many states already have laws covering such cases.

(snip)

The bill was sponsored by Nevada Republican John Ensign, who said it is meant to increase the "effectiveness of state laws designed to protect parents and their young daughters from the health and safety risks associated with secret abortions."LINK

Lawmakers also defeated a proposal to provide federal funds for sex-education courses and abstinence programs, offered as potential ways to avoid teen pregnancies.

Exxon profits: Vying for a new record

NEW YORK -- If you get queasy at the rising price of gasoline, tune in Thursday when the world's largest company lets the world know just how much it has pocketed in the second quarter 2006.

Exxon Mobil has been smashing corporate profit records on the back of soaring oil prices. In the fourth quarter 2005 the company reported quarterly profits of $10.7 billion, the highest ever for a U.S. company, on $88.3 billion in revenue, or $1.72 a share.

That record was mostly due to the price of crude, which soared 40 percent between the close of the fourth quarter 2004 and the end of the fourth quarter 2005.

Since then, oil prices have gone no where but up. Crude has gained 31 percent from the close of the second quarter 2005 to the end of the second quarter 2006, and has gone from trading in the low $60s during the fourth quarter of 2005 to the low $70s in the second quarter 2006.

Here's more if you care

"In a recent Gallup Poll, 50 percent of Americans said they supported a constitutional ban on gay marriage, while 47 percent oppose it."
(LINK)

Nationwide, 30 percent of Americans say abortion should be legal under any circumstances, 15 percent say it should be illegal in all circumstances, and 53 percent say it should be legal under certain circumstances, according to the Gallup poll's latest survey on the issue in May. Asked if they would like to see Roe overturned, 55 percent said no and 32 percent said yes.
LINK

I wanted to update you on the lawsuit I have filed against George W. Bush and members of his administration, referred to in legal parlance as Conyers v. Bush.

You are likely familiar with a number of steps I have taken to challenge the legality and constitutional grounds of the Administration's actions. From the lead up to Iraq, to the Downing Street Minutes, to the outing of a CIA agent, to warrantless wiretapping of U.S. citizens, I have called loudly for the Bush White House to explain itself.

I decided to file suit against the President in Federal Court in Michigan, along with 11 Senior Democratic Members of Congress. This suit was necessary because of a clear violation of the constitution. When the President signed the Deficit Reduction Act (which "reduced" the deficit by cutting taxes, health care benefits, and student loans), he signed into law a bill that had not passed the House and Senate. A different version of the bill passed each house of Congress with a multi-billion dollar difference in funding for life-saving medical equipment.

Anyone who ever watched Schoolhouse Rock knows this to be a problem.

Given the stakes involved I felt it was imperative to aggressively take this fight to the courts. The President's lawyers tried to get the bill dismissed, but late last week I responded with legal filings that stand up for the rule of law and the Constitution and hope to bring the President, and our United States government, back under the rule of law.

I wanted to email you this news today to update you on our efforts and to thank you for your help and support. Thank you also for your continued dedication to a better democracy.

Sincerely,

John Conyers

President Bush cast the first veto of his 5 1/2-year presidency Wednesday, rejecting legislation to ease limits on federal funding for research on stem cells obtained from embryos.

"This bill would support the taking of innocent human life of the hope of finding medical benefits for others. It crosses a moral boundary that our society needs to respect, so I vetoed it," Bush said
LINK

Republican Newt Gingrich, a former speaker of the House, is calling for the Bush administration to officially announce that the U.S. is fighting in WWIII, according to the Seattle Times. By doing so, Gingrich argues that the Republican Party may gain enough political support to win the upcoming elections this year.
LINK

He said European leaders and some in the Bush administration who are urging a restrained response from Israel are falling short of what needs to be done "because they haven't crossed the bridge of realizing this is a war."
(snip)
There is a political element to his talk of World War III. Gingrich said that public opinion can change "the minute you use the language" of World War III.
LINK

One detainee is accused of belonging to an Al Qaeda cell "circa 1998," according to the summary of evidence prepared for his hearing. But Pentagon records show the detainee was born in 1986, making him 11 or 12 in 1998.

In another case, a detainee stands accused of attending a terrorist training camp in July 2001. But copies of pay stubs show he was a chef in London at the time.

Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has nixed President Bush's misbegotten scheme for secret military tribunals to try terror suspects captured abroad, he sent a couple of his lawyers to a Senate hearing this week to suggest a response.

Unfortunately, their suggestion was that Congress pass a law making the administration's plan legal.

One witness, Steven Bradbury, an acting assistant attorney general, even went so far as to offer, "The President is always right."
LINK

Former President Bush among guests at Lay funeral

HOUSTON (AP) -- Former President George Bush and his wife, Barbara, were among the mourners Wednesday at the funeral of Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay.

Lay's funeral drew some of the high-profile guests who were close to him before he was convicted in May of fraud and conspiracy for lying to investors and the public about the energy company's financial health before it collapsed in 2001.

Among the other mourners at the downtown Houston church Lay attended for 12 years were former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane Jr., heart surgeon Denton Cooley and Lay's criminal lawyer, Mike Ramsey.

Link

When the 10th Mountain Division first arrived in Afghanistan, the Taliban was in power. When some of you left, the Taliban was in ruins and the Afghan people were liberated.
LINK

"thanks to the United States and a coalition of the willing, the Taliban no longer is in power."
LINK

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman filed paperwork Monday that will allow him to collect signatures to petition his way onto the November ballot if he loses an August primary. Lieberman's campaign announced the move in an e-mail to reporters.

The three-term senator faces a tough Aug. 8 primary challenge from Greenwich businessman Ned Lamont. Lieberman, who has been criticized by fellow Democrats for his support of the war in Iraq and a perceived closeness with President Bush, is popular among many unaffiliated and Republican voters in Connecticut.

Lieberman also filed papers with the secretary of the state's office Monday to create a new party called Connecticut for Lieberman.

Marion Steinfels, Lieberman's campaign spokeswoman, said the 25 people who signed on to help Lieberman form the Connecticut for Lieberman party will oversee the petition drive.

Check out Ned Lamont's new ad.

Learn more about Ned Lamont or donate to his campaign at his NedLamont.com

"I was really surprised," Bush said on a cable news show. "You know, my hope is that his heart was right with the Lord and I feel real sorry for his wife. She's had a rough go and she's now here on earth to bear the burdens of losing her husband, a man she loved."

Bush called Lay, who was a friend of the Bush family and a large donor to the president's campaign, "a good guy." He said he was shocked to hear both about the Enron scandal and Lay's death this week from a heart attack at age 64.

If the Republicans lose on appeal, DeLay will have to decide whether to campaign for an office from which he already has resigned.

When he announced his resignation, DeLay said he believed he could win re-election but thought he would be a drag on other Republican candidates for office because Democrats would use him as a lightening rod to raise money and attack the GOP in general. So he resigned and dropped his re-election bid.
LINK

"You can't be in here protesting," Officer Adkins said, pointing to my Veterans For Peace shirt.

"Well, I'm not protesting, I'm having a cup of coffee," I returned, thinking that logic would convince Adkins to go back to his earlier duties of guarding against serious terrorists.

After informing me I could either pay the $275 fine on the citation or appear in court, Ousley escorted me off the premises, warning me if I returned with "that shirt" on, I'd be arrested and booked into jail.

I'm sure I could go back to officers Adkins' and Ousleys' fiefdom with a shirt that said, "Nuke all the hajis," or "Show us your tits," or any number of truly obscene things and no one would care. Just so it's not "that shirt" again.

There's one company now you can sign up and you can get a movie delivered to your house daily by delivery service. Okay. And currently it comes to your house, it gets put in the mail box when you get home and you change your order but you pay for that, right.

But this service isn't going to go through the internet and what you do is you just go to a place on the internet and you order your movie and guess what you can order ten of them delivered to you and the delivery charge is free.

Ten of them streaming across that internet and what happens to your own personal internet?

I just the other day got, an internet was sent by my staff at 10 o'clock in the morning on Friday and I just got it yesterday. Why?

Because it got tangled up with all these things going on the internet commercially.
READ THE REST HERE (it's too good to miss)

Osama bin Laden endorsed the new leader of al-Qaida in Iraq in an Internet posting Saturday, and he warned Shiites there against collaborating with the United States in its fight against Sunni insurgents.

In his fifth audio message this year and his second in two days, bin Laden also warned nations not to send troops to Somalia, where Islamic militants have taken over control of the capital and much of the southern part of the country
LINK

Q Sir, several news organizations have reported about a program that allows the administration to look into the bank records of certain suspected terrorists...if neither the courts, nor the legislature is allowed to know about these programs, how can you feel confident the checks and balances system works?

THE PRESIDENT: Congress was briefed...And the disclosure of this program is disgraceful. We're at war with a bunch of people who want to hurt the United States of America, and for people to leak that program, and for a newspaper to publish it does great harm to the United States of America. What we were doing was the right thing. Congress was aware of it...

Today on ABC, Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that she wasn't briefed until after it was clear the New York Times was publishing the story.

The administration is required under law to brief the entire intelligence committee on all intelligence programs.