On Thursday, July 30, an estimated 2,000 people packed Upper Senate Park to demand that the House of Representatives pass HR 676, a bill to scrap Obama's capitalist health care "reform" and replace it with a single-payer system… Broadcast coverage via WSQT Direct Action Radio.

Portland City Council will consider this week a proposal to build a water treatment plant (LT2) for our pristine Bull Run water. The plan is, we are told, designed to address a US EPA requirement that all drinking water in the US be treated/filtered for Cryptosporidium. While this cookie cutter approach will likely add to the safety of water in other cities, it is not appropriate in Portland because our Bull Run system supplies water with virtually no possibility of contamination. Cryptosporidium in a form that is lethal to humans has never been found in the Bull Run water system. There has been no demonstrated need for treatment/filtration.

The construction of a water treatment plant will be very expensive, $385 million, all of it to be paid for by the city water users. The $385 million would be financed via the issuance of bonds; interest payments due and paid for by water users would increase that figure to close to $1 billion dollars.

Alliance for Democracy has joined others in calling for the Portland city council to postpone a decision until later in August, and to hold public meetings scheduled it a time when citizens can attend. Ask the Portland city council now to postpone a decision until the public can gain knowledge of what is at stake and can get their voices heard. In addition to the letter below from Oregon Wild, please see the editional comment by the Oregonian where they write "The best solution, of course, is the one that would cost nothing: Leave Portland's water alone."

[Background Article:  http://friendsofreservoirs.org/background.html]

As Obama tries to get health care reform passed, the national debate about rights to health care are heating up again. According to Dr. Ted Brown, our guest this week, about 22,000 people every year die as a direct result of not being able to afford health care. The number of uninsured people in this country is up to fifty million. What are the solutions being proposed? Why is single payer, or medicare for all, so steadfastly avoided by the political elite, including Obama? What are the forces shaping the public debate? Dr. Ted Brown, a professor of History and Community and Preventative Medicine and Medical Humanities at the University of Rochester helps us begin to answer some of these question on Indy TV this week.

Health care reform activists in the San Francisco Bay Area will rally on July 30 in solidarity with a major demonstration to be held in Washington DC. "Medicare: Made in America Rally and Lobby Day" will mark the 44th anniversary of the creation of a single-payer health care system for seniors. Demonstrators will invite passers-by to join them for a piece of "single layer, single-payer Medicare birthday cake".

On July 23, 2009 a panel discussion on Health Care Reform was held at the Underground Railroad Cafe. It was sponsored by the Interfaith Health Care Coalition, International Socialist Organization, Progressive Democrats of America and the group Rochester for HR 676. HR 676 is a bill in the US House of Representatives sponsored by John Conyers (D-Michigan) and co sponsored by our own Eric Massa (D-NY 29) which would expand Medicare to all citizens. Panelists were Dr Jim Gaden, a family practice physician, Melanie Funchess, a mental health advocate and Brian Erway, a medical technician and community organizer with 30 years experience in health care.

Small crowds gathered on Thursday, July 23, in Denver, Colorado, at the offices of Senators Mark Udall (D-CO) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) to rally for health care reform of some kind, namely between President Barack Obama’s plan enshrined in America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009, H.R. 3200, now being debated in Congress, and a universal single payer system.

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A crowd of healthcare advocates converge[d] at Pioneer Courthouse Square, in support of a true public option for healthcare reform...to publicly declare their collective desire to see a Public Option healthcare reform package get passed by Congress and approved by President Barack Obama, by this fall or sooner.

There was a noticeable TV media presence, along with a galvanizing speech given by Jefferson Smith, current OR state legislator and founder of the Bus Project. Rally participants also shared tragic stories about their healthcare experiences, and got their message across to the energetic, diverse audience, despite not being allowed by local authorities to carry a bull-horn, in order to be properly heard. Rally participants also expressed concerns over Senator Ron Wyden's response to public option reform.

A vote is potentially expected sometime early next week, so the outcome has yet to be decided in Congress. Stay tuned. Related: Howard Dean @ Powell's speaking on Single Payer Health Care | The Face of Privatization

The Governor's health care proposal is unsatisfactory and is not even a good starting point for discussions.

On Monday, July 20th, Oakland's Street Level Health Project held a community rally and press conference in response to the burglary and vandalism of the center that took place the night before. The perpetrators of the attack broke equipment, destroyed wall paintings and medical records, and stole three computers.The break-in took place while the security cameras were down due to repairs. This has forced SLHP to close down for a week and turn away people seeking health services.

A newly formed faction of the Seeds of Peace Collective, named Eastern Seeds of Peace, is committed to organizing medical infrastructure in support of the expected large-scale actions against the International Pittsburgh Coal Conference and G20 Summit in Pittsburgh in late September. This is a call to action for street medics, clinicians, herbalists, and all those interested in contributing to the medical support that is crucial to the success of the planned marches and demonstrations. In late May, it was announced that both the G20 Summit and the International Pittsburgh Coal Conference will be hosted by the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during the same week (9/20-9/25) in late September. Two groups of activists, the G20 Resistance Project and the Pittsburgh Organizing Group, have taken responsibility for organizing a response to these gala events and they have been hard at work for the past two months building the general infrastructure to support an activist response to these events.

Kettleman City is a small town in the southwestern San Joaquin Valley. The city is next to the I-5 Interstate Highway and is the site of the largest toxic waste dump in the western United States. About 200 residents held a march and rally on Saturday, July 18th, to protest a cluster of birth defects that has recently been exposed.

Maricela Mares-Alatorre is a mother and has lived in Kettleman City for 31 years. She also helped organize the march. Mares-Alatorre said "in the past we have fought a lot of issues with our local toxic land fill, which is the largest in California. Currently they are in the process of an expansion, but what we are asking for is a moratorium on all of those permits until there is an investigation as to why there are so many children being born with cleft palate. We have had a cluster here — in a 14 month period from 2007 to 2008 five children have been born with cleft palate. We just found out this morning that there is another woman who is pregnant who will also have a child with cleft palate and we believe that until that is investigated and they know why it is happening that there shouldn't be any more permits issued."

Maura Alatorre is one of the mothers whose child was born with a cleft palate. Alatorre said she was at the rally because "it is in honor of the children that were born with these deformities and thanks to the attention that everybody is putting into this rally, there will be attention put to the problem in Kettleman City and that will help."

On Friday, July 17th, Kings County health officials said they were on a fast track to investigate the high incidence of birth defects in Kettleman City. The US Environmental Protection Agency also released a statement on Friday saying that it will be working with the county and the state to determine if the incidents are related to environmental factors. Photos and Audio Report

Starbucks and McDonalds billboards in the Ballard neighborhood were corrected, to provide the public with more accurate nutritional information.

The Governor and the California General Assembly approved wage reductions for in-home assistance to elderly and disabled as part of an overall budget reduction proposal earlier this year. On June 23rd, activists from "The People's Day of Reckoning" protested those cuts as well as the governor's accusations that state funded In-Home Support Services is "rife with fraud." Seventeen people, many in wheelchairs, were arrested. On July 15th, members of that coalition were joined by labor activists, educators, and students at a larger protest at the same location.

On July 5th health care reform advocates counter protested a right wing "tea party" demonstration at a busy intersection in San Jose, California. The Raging Grannies, in colorful costumes and carrying "Patients Not Profits" parasols, joined members of other advocates of a single payer health care system. Angry "tea party" demonstrators, who said they are against any health care reform whatsoever, carried signs with their slogan Taxed Enough Already. Their t-shirts, buttons and placards proclaimed their anti-gay, pro-gun and pro free market health care position. Read More | Related: http://dc.indymedia.org/feature/display/131836/index.php

KSKQ 94.9 fm in Ashland, Oregon will be providing a remote broadcast this July 7, 2009 when at 6:00 pm we bring you the "SING OUT FOR SINGLE PAYER ROAD SHOW"
 http://rogueimc.org/en/2009/06/15119.shtml

Available "live" via the internet at KSKQ, the Rogue Valley's community radio station
 http://www.kskq.org

KSKQ 94.9 lpfm Community Radio is a project of the Multicultural Assn of Southern Oregon.

Although international law prohibits the use of chemical and bacteriological weapons, America has had an active biological warfare program since at least the 1940s. In 1941, it began secret developmental efforts using controversial testing methods. During WW II, mustard gas was tested on about 4000 servicemen. Biological weapons research was also conducted. Human subjects were used as guinea pigs in various other experiments, and numerous illegal practices continued to the present, including secretly releasing toxic biological agents in US cities to test the effects of germ warfare.

Specialist Trevor Loope, 23, of Austin TX, served 15 months in Afghan combat with the 3d Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division. Upon returning to Ft. Drum in 2007 he was unable to obtain adequate treatment for mental health issues. This caused him to leave the base in search of effective treatment. Dr. David Ogren, a clinical psychologist from Houston, TX with fifteen years experience treating victims of mental trauma, spent hours examining and testing Specialist Trevor Loope. Dr. Ogren’s report concludes that Trevor suffers "from a severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and a Severe Depression."

Trevor Loope might be be facing a court-martial proceeding on July 1. Or maybe the proceeding will be delayed. Or maybe (we hope) the charges against him will be dropped and he will be a favorable, non-punitive administrative separation –in effect acknowledging his PTSD and severe depression, and the failure of the military to provide the treatment that he requested upon his return from his combat tour in Afghanistan

Watch the Interview: We support Trevor Loope -Interviews after sanity board 6-18-09

Additional Information: Press Conference: Spc. Trevor Loope appears before sanity board at Ft. Drum 6-18-09 | Sanity Board for Soldier at Ft Drum is Challenged by GI Rights Group | Tompkins County Against War & Occupation

Nurses, doctors, and other health care advocates protested in front of the Fairmont Hotel on June 22 to voice objection to Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius' visit to San Francisco. Earlier this month Secretary Sebelius said that a Single Payer plan is "not part of the discussion" in health care reform debates and that dismantling private health care coverage is a "bad direction to go." Sebelius was at the Fairmont as guest speaker for a Democratic fundraiser held by Nancy Pelosi. Photos | Video | Single Payer Now

With a universalization of Medicare, at one fell swoop, America would have a single-payer system—one that its elderly citizens already have, and by all accounts are very satisfied with—and one that would be substantially cheaper than what we have now.

RELATED: Employers are Undermining the Economic Stimulus Program II Obama's Health Care Waterloo

On June 23rd, the Santa Cruz City Council passed a 45-day moratorium on new medical marijuana dispensaries in the city limits. Councilmembers said they needed the moratorium because they claimed there was a flood of daily inquiries to the city's Planning Department about opening medical marijuana centers. The are two pending applications for dispensaries on the Westside of Santa Cruz.

From: "International Action Center"
Contact: action.news@organizerweb.com

The following alert was released on July 19 by the Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee.

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In April 2009 a youth group launched a boycott against Flor de Caña, the famous Nicaraguan rum. The boycott is in solidarity with former sugar cane workers who are members of the Nicaraguan Association of Those Affected by Chronic Renal Insufficiency (ANAIRC).

I hope that Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey will make our city the gold standard when it comes to enforcing the FACE Act. They should both read these words that President Bill Clinton spoke when he signed the FACE Act into law in 1994:

“No person seeking medical care, no physician providing that care should have to endure harassments or threats or obstruction or intimidation or even murder from vigilantes who take the law into their own hands because they think they know what the law ought to be.”