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The anti-abortion group, Family Research Council, has launched a television ad in several states across the nation, urging a stop to President Obama’s health care reform efforts. They contend that a government option would fund reproductive services like abortion with tax-payer’s money. The issue of women’s reproductive choice has become a potential deal-breaker in the battle over healthcare. But the impression that the anti-abortion side is united is wrong, according to writer Cristina Page, a spokesperson for Birth Control Watch. She writes in the Huffington Post about serious fissures in the leadership of the movement that do not reflect the vast majority of Americans opposed to abortion. The faultline lies on the issue of contraception. Those who have organized to make contraception widely available to reduce the incidence of unwanted pregnancies and …

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The New Orleans Race Riot of 1866

Back in the day on July 30th, 1866, a race riot broke outside of the Louisiana Constitutional Convention held in New Orleans. Radical Republicans convened to amend the previous constitution of the Southern state that had failed to enfranchise blacks. They also sought to prohibit former Confederate soldiers from voting. With President Andrew Johnson’s granting of overtures to veterans and politicians of the Southern Confederacy, people like New Orleans’ Mayor John T. Monroe were able to return to their pre-Civil War posts and enact “black codes.” Delegates and supporters of the Convention held at the hall of the Mechanics Institute had sought to reverse those regressive perversions of Reconstruction politics when violence erupted. African-Americans marching in support of the effort were attacked outside …

“There is nothing to fear except the persistent refusal to find out the truth, the persistent refusal to analyze the causes of happenings.” — Dorothy Thompson

We’ll examine at Governor Schwarzenegger’s use of a line-item veto to trim even more social programs from the state budget. And, how Obama’s position on Israeli settlements will affect prospects for a peace deal. Plus, a look at internal divisions among anti-abortion organizations in the US.

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The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 13-6 along partisan lines to confirm Judge Sonia Sotomayor to a seat on the US Supreme Court. Groups like the National Rifle Association and the anti-abortion Americans United for Life, had spent the past few weeks furiously urging No votes on President Obama’s first Supreme Court Nominee. The lengthy confirmation hearings at which Sotomayor was questioned by Senators earlier this month included a constant barrage of questions by Republican lawmakers as to her ability to make impartial decisions. Only one Republican, Senator Lindsey Graham, voted for Sotomayor. Among the six Republicans who dissented, Senator Grassley claimed that he was “not sure that Judge Sotomayor is capable of wearing the judicial blindfold.” He added, “Unfortunately, I’m not convinced that Judge Sotomayor will be able to set …

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This month, two major victories were won by local communities over corporate control of their water supply. In Shapleigh and Newfield Maine, Nestle’s Poland Spring water company removed all of its bottled water test wells after residents passed ordinances blocking the company from mining water within their boundaries, asserting that residents control their own water supply. In Michigan, nine years of legal battles ended earlier this month when Nestle settled with the group, Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation, agreeing to reduce its water removal to half of its originally intended amount. This is not the first time that communities have tried to fight Nestle’s grab for their water. Nestle sought to extract water in McCloud, CA, offering to pay residents only one-thousandth of a cent per gallon, until the …

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President Barack Obama will be playing host tomorrow to African-American scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. and white Cambridge Massachusetts police sergeant James Crowley. The White House meeting between the three has no formally announced agenda, but has been billed as an opportunity for dialogue stemming from the recent disorderly conduct arrest of Gates outside his house by Crowley that has generated a large amount of media coverage. Returning from a trip to China, the Harvard professor had trouble attempting to enter his home when his neighbor phoned police of a possible break in. Police on the scene arrested Gates for disorderly conduct – charges that have since been dropped – after the scholar provided proof of his residency. Following the news of the incident, President Obama first commented by saying that …

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The Tipperary Revolt

Back in the day on July 29th, 1848, the Tipperary Revolt ended in an abysmal failure in Ireland. With the potato famine feeding on the lives of the Irish leading many to starvation and immigration, William Smith O’Brien of the Young Irelander movement attempted an armed insurrection aimed at national independence from Britain. The rebellion was launched prematurely as Habeas Corpus was declared that could subject the organization to arrest and detention. O’Brien, a reluctant leader, was thrust into action trying unsuccessfully to harness 100 supporters in an attack on police barricaded at farmhouse. Poorly armed and without a coherent military strategy, the revolt came to an unceremonious end. One important factor to the failure of O’Brien was his inability to rouse the peasantry. Despite his aims …

“Justice in the life and conduct of the State is possible only as first it resides in the hearts and souls of the citizens.” — Plato

Judge Sonia Sotomayor appears poised to be the nation’s newest Supreme Court Justice, despite stiff Republican opposition. Communities in the US fight Nestle Corporation over water rights, and win! And, our on-going discussion over the truth of a post-racial America in light of the Gates arrest and ensuing controversy. Plus this week’s Who Said That contest.