Republican State Senators files "waiting period" bill.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Bill calls for waiting period.

Yes, yet another radical conservative files a bill to chip away at abortion rights. This one calls for a 24 hour waiting period, and forces the doctor to to inform the woman of certain information.

That information would include possible physical and emotional risks involved in ending the pregnancy and legal options if a woman continued the pregnancy.

The information must include the "probable gestational age of the fetus" and the "probable anatomical and physiological characteristics of the fetus" at the time an abortion is to be performed.

The doctor also has to give his opinion if the fetus would be more interested in art or sports.

This one has a chance. Republicans are in control of Georgia right now. Please contact you senators and representatives. Governor Perdue will most likely sign.

      your note []

The Voice of Atlanta

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Be apart of the Voice of Atlanta.

Let your liberal voice be heard. The AJC takes a survey periodically of Atlantans. Some of the lastest results seem to be showing a conservative slant. We need some liberals to sign up. Go here and sign up and let your liberal voice be heard. About once a month you will be sent an email with a link to a survey. It takes about 5 minutes. Go and sign up.

      your note []

I'm sorry but this is just too funny.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Man tries to kill dog, kills himself instead.

Police say a man tried to beat his dog to death with a shotgun -- but wound up shooting himself to death instead.

......

Police say the shotgun must have gone off while Poore was using it to beat the 30-pound shar-pei. The stock of the weapon was broken and there appeared to be blood and dog hair on it.

I hope the dog is okay.

      your note []

Atlanta's only Quaker congregation distributing "Peace" signs.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Metro Quakers start a quiet protest of war.

Atlanta Friends Meeting began distributing them, and churches are starting to follow suit. Most a charging a $5 fee to cover printing costs. When will there be one on your front yard?

      your note []

Most celebrated White House Correspondent calls Bush "Worst President ever."

Daily Breeze: Press veteran's take on state of presidency.

There was a lot of that in her speech, this talk of devaluation in the character of leadership. Not surprisingly for an admitted liberal, she held her greatest praise for John Kennedy, the only president in her estimation who made Americans look to their higher angels.

Then came Johnson’s Great Society and Vietnam. Nixon, she said, was a man who would — when presented two roads — “always choose the wrong one.” He was followed by “healing” Ford, well-meaning Carter, Reagan’s revolution, Bush Sr.’s self-destruction and Clinton’s damaging of the presidential myth.

She seemed to have sympathy and affection for everyone but George W. Bush, a man who she said is rising on a wave of 9-11 fear — fear of looking unpatriotic, fear of asking questions, just fear. “We have,” she said, “lost our way.”

......

“This is the worst president ever,” she said. “He is the worst president in all of American history.”

Go read it all.

      your note []

Images of an unseen Gulf War

The Digital Journalist: The unseen Gulf War by Peter Turnley.

Some very disturbing images of war. If your are going to support the war in Iraq, you should certainly be able to view these. If you are against it, these will remind you why.

Via Joe Conason at Salon.

      your note []

Notes about Washingon 1/24: Bush appointing right wing nuts to AIDS Council

National Stonewall Democrats: NSD harshly criticizes Bush appointments to AIDS Council.

Appointments of abstinence only right wing lunatics to Presidential Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS (PACHA). Most are anti gay and lesbian, anti sex education, anti safe sex, and anti anything intelligent. Almost all are against condom use and some believe that homosexuality can be cured by religious conversion. Few have any medical training or experience. Yes this is who George W. Bush has choosen to be on PACHA.  He is not pandering to the right wing base, he is a right wing lunatic.

I am cutting and pasting the list. There is more to read. Go to NSD website and do so. Here we go:

Tom Coburn, Co-Chair

Former Rep. Tom Coburn (R-OK) received a 0% Congressional voting rating in all three of his terms from the Human Rights Campaign. In addition to his poor record on issues of concern to the gay and lesbian community, Coburn consistently voted against needed HIV/AIDS legislation. Coburn also called for the firing of the Director of the Centers for Disease Control because the CDC promotes condom use to prevent transmission of the HIV virus. Rich Tafel, Executive Director of LCR, has called Coburn’s past votes "morally wrong and politically dangerous." (Washington Blade, May 07, 1999)

Louis Sullivan, Co-Chair

Dr. Louis Sullivan was HHS Secretary for President George Bush. Sullivan is known for addressing HIV/AIDS issues in communities of color, and for supporting needle exchange efforts. However, as HHS Secretary, Sullivan extended the Bush Administration’s ban on allowing HIV-positive people, and gays and lesbians, from entering the country. Sullivan also encouraged HIV-positive people, and gay men, to stop having sex. As HHS Secretary, Sullivan argued for guidelines that would have prevented HIV-positive surgeons and dentists from operating, and he repressed a government study on suicide among gay teens so that it would not be linked to the Bush Administration. Sullivan’s relationship with a scam artist, who claimed to have a vaccine for AIDS, was used to swindle millions out of investors before Sullivan realized that the vaccine did not exist.

Pat Ware, Executive Director.

Ware’s appointment is disturbing due to her advocacy that undermines safe-sex education and that shifts away money from prevention efforts in the gay community.

Ware has been associated with anti-gay organizations such as the Family Research Council and is most closely linked to her work with Americans for a Sound HIV/AIDS Policy (ASAP), which has since changed its name to the Children’s AIDS Fund. ASAP was an abstinence-only organization opposed to most HIV/AIDS education and prevention measures. ASAP also lobbied against including HIV and AIDS in the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Ware herself is a strong abstinence-only proponent, lobbying against any effort that promotes education and protection over abstinence. Ware is also opposed to condom use. Pat Ware has advocated that the government shift away funds from groups that serve gays and towards abstinence-only education. At the 2000 Republican Convention in Philadelphia, Ware referenced the "innocent babies" infected with HIV, a comment that implied that others are "guilty" victims of the epidemic.

Joe McIlaney

Dr. Joe McIlaney is the founder and director of the Medical Institute for Sexual Health (MISH) in Austin, Texas. MISH is an abstinence and anti safe-sex organization. Dr. McIlaney is most noted for his repeated attacks against the idea of using condoms to prevent HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. Among his books, McIlaney co-wrote The Myth of Safe Sex with James Dobson, president of Focus on the Family (which runs a prominent ex-gay ministry). McIlaney frequently interprets medical statistics for his own liking, and those interpretations are often used by anti-gay groups. On November 15, 2001, McIlaney testified before Congress to promote abstinence. McIlaney also enjoyed influence over the state health curriculum while George W. Bush was Governor of Texas.

Rashida Jolley

As a young person, Rashida Jolley has given much to her community. Jolley was named Miss District of Columbia in the year 2000. She is a college student and sexual abstinence advocate. Jolley travels with a group of beauty pageant winners promoting abstinence for Project Reality, an abstinence organization.

After promoting the administration’s faith-based initiatives, and interning with the Heritage Foundation, President Bush appointed her to PACHA. A biography of Ms. Jolley states that she hopes to become an attorney or a professional harpist. While Ms. Jolley has done much to better her community, she still does not bring the level of expertise on HIV/AIDS issues that would benefit the council.

Dandrick Moton

Dandrick Moton, 25, is a man whose background in HIV/AIDS policy consists of traveling with his mother as dual motivational speakers to promote abstinence for youth until marriage.

Anita Smith

Anita Smith is the co-founder of the Children AIDS Fund (formally Americans for a Sound HIV/AIDS Policy). Smith has stated that her organization "believes abstinence is the only true prevention." (Family Voice, July/August 2001). Smith’s organization lobbied against including HIV/AIDS status in the Americans With Disabilities Act. The organization has also pushed to take money from prevention efforts in the gay community and reassign it to less effective efforts. Smith has also worked extensively to promote abstinence-only programs.

Smith has appeared in articles by the Concerned Women for America, who have lobbied to keep gay men off the council. Referencing potential appointments to the council, Concerned Women for America stated:

"What we have here, frankly, is a power struggle between homosexual white men who have used all the government AIDS programs fundamentally to fund their subculture and political activities, versus the other dominate demographic group who’s suffering from AIDS, - namely, black women." (Battle Underway of AIDS Panel, Family News in Focus. October 29, 2001).

Joseph Jennings

Joseph Jennings is a motivational speaker, and former gang leader, who travels the country speaking to children about drugs and violence. Jennings’ background in HIV/AIDS comes mostly from telling teenagers to abstain from sex. Jennings is a frequent speaker for Acquire The Fire youth conferences. Acquire The Fire, organized by TeenMania Ministries, promotes among other issues, religious conversion as a cure for homosexuality and sexual abstinence until marriage.

I picked this up via Atrios. I don't think anybody would mind if you spread this list around, other than the GOP.

And if you don't think outrage can help, it already has. Gay bashing Jerry Thacker already withdrew from his appointment to the same council because of the uproar it caused. Bush probably thinks he can now slide these in without anybody noticing. We need to show him that we do not like these at all.

      your note []