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