From the open publishing newswire: The Multnomah County Democrats will sponsor a Debate on the Fluoridation of Portland's Drinking Water (Measure 26-151) on Wednesday, April 10 from 7:15 to 8:45 p.m. at the Matt Dishman Community Center, 77 NE Knott Street in Portland. Doors open at 7:00.

Healthy Kids, Healthy Portland will present the pro side. Clean Water Portland will present the con side. Prepared questions from the Multnomah County Democrats and written questions from the audience will be asked by the moderator. There will not be open mic questions from the audience.

No signs will be allowed into the debate room; buttons, t-shirts and stickers are fine. Representatives from both sides will have tables outside the debate room with literature and materials.

Parking is limited, so please carpool, bike, or take public transportation if you can. The Matt Dishman Community Center can be reached via Bus #4/Fessenden, Bus #24/Fremont, Bus #6/MLKing Blvd, and Bus #44/Mocks Crest.

This event will be videotaped and your attendance implies consent to be filmed.

From the open publishing newswire: Columbia Riverkeeper reported on their facebook page that 425 people attended the midweek rally in Salem to stop coal export. See pictures of the rally on Demotix. You can read more about the fight to stop coal export from the Pacific Northwest at Power Past Coal.

The fight against coal export is an international one. Newcastle residents in New South Wales, Australia are fighting against the T4 coal loader being built to expand coal export from the world's biggest coal port. It is the same fight to stop King Coal in Australia and in the United States. One of the three companies keen to export coal from the Powder River basin is Ambre Energy, a Queensland based company.

This youtube video by Greenpeace USA explains the issue of coal export from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana through the Pacific Northwest and the impacts this will have: Get the Coal Energy Facts: Help Us Stop Coal Exports.

One of the speakers at the Salem rally was Dr Patrick O'Herron, Trauma and acute care surgeon, Salem Oregon, who attended the rally with several medical colleagues representing over 600 health care representatives in the Pacific north-west sounding the alarm on coal exports.

His speech, which I have transcribed. Watch the video on youtube: Sound The Alarm Rally Doctor on Coal: It Will Make You SICK!:

From the open publishing newswire: no fluoride rally on the Hawthorne bridge

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFbFCKDNxfY [video 38 min]

Friday in Portland Oregon

www.individualsforjustice.com

From the open publishing newswire: Around 1,0000 attend the Health Care All Oregon Salem Rally Monday 2.4.13 in Salem Oregon.

A rally with speeches, music, and Health Justice Networking Rally for HCAO.

This was filmed on the State Capital steps, the event started around 10 am:

 http://youtu.be/75M2g6iEYZ8 [full video 1hr. 25 min.]

(also) the same full video is available for downloading here:
 link to archive.org

(also) the arrival & drumming on the Capital Steps video is available here:
 http://youtu.be/4I_5dBFAlNM [video is 9min.]

Many of the rally's participants came dressed in red [some as Supreme Court justices with umbrellas]
Many participants were waving signs that read "We want health care not wealth care" and "Everybody In. Nobody Out."

From the open publishing newswire: The Montavilla Food Co-op is looking for new volunteers and allies to continue our efforts to open a grocery co-op in Montavilla! For the last three years, a small group of dedicated volunteers has been working to open a grocery co-op in the Montavilla neighborhood, but we need the support of the surrounding neighborhoods and more volunteers to continue the effort. It has been a tremendous summer of growth for the co-op. Our membership has reached ~120 but our aim is to have 500 - 800 members before opening the store. If you would like to help, please continue reading to see how you can get involved and help build our membership.

From the open publishing newswire: Excellent power point presentation by Dr. Paul Connett, Director of Fluoride Action Network. Dr. Paul Connett has spent 16 years researching the fluoridation issue, first as a professor of chemistry, specializing in environmental chemistry and toxicology. Dr. Connett details the many dangers of adding fluoride to municipal water systems and demonstrates the gross lack of science employed by those who promote this action.

After a brief introduction by Kim Kaminski of Clean Water Portland, Dr. Connett opens his remarks with the statement: "what you are seeing in Portland is the end of fluoridation world wide. It is already clear from what you have just seen in just a few weeks that they've got no arguments, no science, and you're seeing the kind of tactics that are put in place of science and solid rational argument."

Dr. Paul Connett

This is not Democracy! This is not Portland! This is a wake up call!

[RELATED:] Video: Portland Citizens Respond to Forced Fluoridation Vote

From the open publishing newswire: Photos from the recent Demonstration at Portland City Hall, protesting City Councils intention to add fluoride to our water supply, at the cost of five million dollars. According to corporate news reports, a yes vote has three votes, enough of a majority to pass.
Mayor Adams, Nick Fish and Randy Leonard have indicated their willingness to vote for this proposal.

A large and very well informed crowd gathered at City Hall around 12:00 on August 21, 2012, to emphasize to City Council their dissatisfaction and outrage at this bypass of the democratic process.

These photos not only depict the event, but also provide a window into many of the objections to this proposal:
"Search hydrofluorosilicic acid. (www.fluoridealert.org)

homepage:  http://www.fluoridealert.org/videos.aspx

From the open publishing newswire: The Rosehips medics are preparing for travel to offer free medical support at mass protests of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions in Charlotte, NC and Tampa, FL (Aug 27th-Sept 6th). In 2008, Collective members offered vital Good Samaritan and harm reduction care to Convention protestors; and this election year (which promises another wave of popular protest) the Rosehips will again present basic assessment, first aid, and emergency services free-of-charge in the streets.

To this end, we are making July a month of preparation, with Indiegogo fundraiser, Queers with Benefits--Queer dance party, raffle & fundraiser, with DJ ROY G BIV of BENT fame; Street Medic* Training (Aug 3-5)-- 20 hours of instruction on Street Medicking, from basic assessment to all kinds of care--all for $25-50. Pre-registration required (email rosehipmedics@gmail.com for info or registration)

Depending on funds raised, we will send between 4 and 8 highly-trained and experienced Street Medics* to the East Coast. Without contributions now, some of us will be forced to reconsider our plans in light of survival needs (like rent), which could mean fewer queer medics in the streets and wellness spaces of Charlotte and Tampa this year. Help send the Rosehip Medics to Charlotte and Tampa!

Indiegogo Fundraising page

From the open publishing newswire: Bull Run - leave our water alone Yesterday was a good day, the water rate hikes did not go into effect. Mayor Sam wanted the vote, Leonard wanted the vote but it was put off until next week. This is not victory, just a week's worth of delay. I fear the council will vote for this 7-81/2% (percent) increase. They will end up destroying our wonderful water system, charge us more money to drink polluted water from the Columbia and the Willamette rivers. You must know that Sam and Leonard have decided to bail out before the mass of citizens realize what they have done. The incoming members of the council should be made to answer what their position on this outrage is today. We need to know what the future holds and fight we must. Will you join us? Will you get on the phone and call our senators? Will you attend next weeks meeting and say your piece, or just wimp out in the corner. The wonderful people who have been fighting this issue need your support now.

Related Article: Citizens speak out about water rates:
Citizens of Portland, OR speak up about the need for the water bureau and city council to ask for a waiver from the EPA to halt all unnecessary and costly treatment projects and to stop increasing water rates. One person testified that high utility rates are driving homeowners into foreclosure and many seniors on fixed incomes are having a hard time paying their water bills. And according to another person who testified, there are even people in Portland who cannot afford water at all, despite the fact that access to water is a human right. Watch on youtube

background information | Agenda for City Council meeting Wed May 30th | Open Letter to Portland City Council May 31, 2012
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Citizens for Portland's Water

From the open publishing newswire: Portland, OR, 2/27/2012 --- Watch what you say at OHSU or you might get punched. Or tased. Or choked. September 8, 2011, Monica Taylor was denied medical treatment, beaten, tased and arrested at OHSU. Ms. Taylor is currently preparing a lawsuit against OHSU.

On her doctor's referral, Monica Taylor went to OHSU to be seen by a neurologist for her rapidly declining mobility and health concerns. At the time, she was using a cane to walk. She was quickly dismissed by the OHSU neurologist and denied an MRI. Upset, scared and angry, Monica became increasingly agitated, yelled at personnel that she needed an MRI and eventually collapsed in the lobby in tears. OHSU staff asked her to leave the building. Outside the lobby door, she called her doctor to get a second referral. Next thing Ms. Taylor knows, a security guard is standing over her demanding she leaves. Ms. Taylor stated she would leave after her phone call to her doctor. Officer Townsend responded by grabbing her neck and slamming her face into the ground. Officer Townsend proceeded to tase Monica 8 times in the back, leaving permanent scars. The cops were called, and Monica was handcuffed, put in a wheelchair and taken to jail. Ms. Taylor was charged with trespassing, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, attempted assault and assault of an officer.

From the open publishing newswire: Instead of celebrating with her son for his birthday, Cindy Fisher was found rallying in front of the Clark County Courthouse in Vancouver with dozens of supporters. She made a cry out for help after her son was recently taken into custody and faced charges for what boiled down to a coat he found that had been stolen. After returning the jacket, he was apprehended and blamed for the crime. Due to his history of mental health issues and the fact that he was on a high dosage of a drug he had been prescribed at the time, he acted in fear of the cops and was arrested. Cindy gathered much support since her son was put in jail, and all her hard work has paid off. She broke the good news to all those in attedance that her son had contacted her early that morning to tell her that the charges had been dropped and now he is under care at a facility. The facility however is giving her son large doses of medication and this worries her because she knows the effects of these drugs and believes there should be a better treatment solution. She showed us how she prays in a meditative state for her sons healing every day.

We can only hope for a better future that will provide those with mental health issues more than just a suppressive drug. Cindy Fisher still needs over $5,000 to meet the $9,000 cost to put Siddharta in a new program which offers better treatment. If you would like to know more, contact Cindi below.

VIDEO: Happy Birthday Siddharta - Rally on Clark County Courthouse Steps - 2.28.12

www.joeanybody.com

From the open publishing newswire: Alondra Nelson, the author of 'Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight Against Medical Discrimination,' writes that "the Party's focus on health care was both practical and ideological." On a practical level, the BPP provided free community health care services, including preventative education. Simultaneously, the BPP railed against the medical-industrial complex, declaring that health care was "a right and not a privilege."

One of the lessons that the BPP offers today's activists is that they should be more loyal to the desired outcome than to the tactic. The sit-in came to be associated with the southern civil rights movement just as the mic check is now emblematic of the Occupy movement. But these groups also used other tactics: marching, occupying, sermons, etc. Social movements are dynamic phenomena; circumstances are constantly changing. So too should tactics.

 http://www.angola3news.com

From the open publishing newswire: The best gift of all is good health and this can be done with single payer health insurance... Good health is what everyone in this country desires and needs. The best way to achieve this goal is to have affordable health insurance. Unfortunately what stands in the wsy is private health insurance companies who value monetary greed over peoples health by always raising premiums and by charging outrageous deductibles and co-pays. The solution is to give the wonderful present of single payer health insurance and you can do this by visiting the internet site of ( Single Payer Action) which is working for single payer health insurance.

Here is the mailing address of Single Payer Action if you wish to contact them by snail mail.
Single Payer Action
P.O. Box 18384
Washington D.C. 20036

I just don't understand why some americans do not want single payer health insurance. What we have now are insurance company pirates who take all of our hard earned cash and then refuse to pay their fair share of your medical bill.