By now, a lot of folks have heard about Glenn Murphy, the head of the Young Republicans in Indiana.  If you haven't, I'll just quickly say that he's been accused of sexually assaulting a fellow Young Republican.  The accuser woke up to find Murphy's mouth around his private part, while simultaneously attending his own by hand.

UPDATE: Pretty Bird Woman House WILL NOT FAIL.

There's been an effort to raise $25k by May 31st, otherwise this women's shelter serving Native Americans (who suffer soaring rates of violence and rape well-above the average American woman) in South Dakota will fail.

Pretty Bird Woman House WILL CLOSE ITS DOORS.

Why?  

Not enough people are donating.  And it doesn't take $50 donations (though those are so nice!).  There are what, like 100k members of this community?  If everyone donated a dollar - $1 - that would be four times what is needed.

I  know the goal has been reached (103%) -- I want to donate anyway!

If you prefer to donate directly (rather than Paypal), please send a check to:
Pretty Bird Woman House
P.O. Box 596
McLaughlin, SD 57642

nbier states PBWHouse is a registered 501(c)3 charity.  That means matching donations are possible. Email Georgia, the director of PBWH for details: director AT prettybirdwomanhouse.org.

UPDATE: $25,755.19

This appeal is URGENT.

But the challenge is relatively EASY: raise $25,000 by May 31.  

I want to donate right away!  Take me right to the donation page to save this women's shelter!

Otherwise Pretty Bird Woman House (a shelter for Native American women in South Dakota) will close.

--- oh, and by the way -- we're at around $17,000 right now.  So close to $25,000!  We can do this!

Well, not really.  This is just to call attention to what's been going on in this diary...

http://www.dailykos.com/...

Ostensibly a satirical swipe, ostensibly mimicing Maureen Dowd's own high school/Freudelicious analysis of public figures ' dress, hair styles, personalities, and pets, the "Sexist Thought of the Day: Maureen Dowd Needs a Husband" diary didn't quite pull it off (imho).

I think I understand the genesis of the diary, but something went off course.  

Yes, this bill is monsterous.   But we are doing ourselves and the victims (nevermind future victims) +no+ favors by calling it the "Incest Notification Act."

Why?  Because calling it that makes it sound like a good thing, like it's adding protection to victims of incest, when the opposite is true.

Berlepsch's Six-wired Bird of Paradise:
"The bird--known as Berlepsch's six-wired bird of paradise--had been collected only once in the wild since its discovery more than a century ago. Its precise home range was unknown until now."
Source: National Geographic

If you think the age of great land exploration is over, that the discovery of new species is over, well, you're mistaken.  Doughty, determined scientists have just discovered a "Lost World" in a remote Papua rainforest.


A bird-of-paradise lost, and now found

A recent expedition to a remote, rarely visited rainforest unveiled likely new species of mammals, birds, amphibians, insects and more.  Exciting discoveries included a possibly never-before-known monotreme (egg-laying mammal), a possibly brand-new bird, a re-encounter with Berlepsch's Six-wired Bird of Paradise (previously described by hunters in the 19th-century and of which no photographs are known to exist), a tree-kangaroo hunted to the brink of extinction elsewhere, 20 frog species, four buterfly species and five previously unknown palms.  And probably more to come.

(indeed, more...)

This world is often so bleak we need to look at our accomplishments for hope that it's going to get better.  That our fight will be won.  That justice and freedom, kindness and love are stronger than anything that assails them.

A milestone in America's history (and development of values) is the rejection of slavery.

One half of that milestone is the Emancipation Proclamation (1863), which was issued during the height of the Civil War.  The declaration freed all the slaves in the rebelling states (it exempted the states loyal to the Union).  The other half of the milestone was the ratification of the 13th amendment (1865), which freed +every+ slave in the United States.  

Through these two acts, America declared that it understood that depriving an individual of human rights is unacceptable.  Stealing labor via forced servitude is immoral.  Subjugating bodies that are sovereign unto themselves is repugnant.

We take great pride in this, and the blood and ink that were spilled to achieve it.  We rejected slavery and we advanced as a nation.

Unfortunately, our work is not done.

I'm Sending Republicans Monopoly Money^tm...
Because They Cannot Be Trusted With Real Money

This Week: Representative Mike Ferguson (NJ-07)

Let me recap:

It's sad, but it's true.

Republicans cannot be trusted with real money.  So I'm sending them Monopoly^tm money instead.

From reckless, budget-busting spending to billions wasted in Iraq to giving our hard-earned dollars away to fat-cat chums with no-bid contracts (Haliburton), Republicans (sadly) have pissed away any claims they might have once had to fiscal sense.

The Republican Party cannot be trusted with real money.  So I'm sending them Monopoly^tm money instead.  (For a full recap, read yesterday's diary.)

(read more...)

I'm Sending Republicans Monopoly Money^tm...
Because They Cannot Be Trusted With Real Money


It's sad, but it's true.

Republicans cannot be trusted with real money.  So I'm sending them Monopoly^tm money instead.

From reckless, budget-busting spending to billions wasted in Iraq to giving our hard-earned dollars away to fat-cat chums with no-bid contracts (Haliburton), Republicans (sadly) have pissed away any claims they might have once had to fiscal sense.

The Republican Party cannot be trusted with real money.  So I'm sending them Monopoly^tm money instead.

(read more...)

some of you who have read my posts and diaries might be surprised by this -- but i'm a registered nj republican.

below is a post i posted on another thread.

why am i making it into a diary?

1. because i think it would be a nice counterpoint on the day after the alito confirmation to see a +lot+ of these "i'm a republican who votes with the democratic party"/"i'm a recovering republican" diaries.  especially since the outside world might be giving us a longer look in the next few days, because the media wanted to rubberneck at our anguish over alito.

2. because republicans need more encouragement to FOLLOW YOUR PRINCIPLES, NOT YOUR PARTY.  (are you listening, lincoln chaffee?  i'm talking to +you+.)

so i'm a registered republican in new jersey.  the story doesn't have a big conversion angle.  i was never a kool-aid drinker.  just a rank-and-file republican who thought the republicans stood for something other than what they do.

read on, if you wish...

Lautenberg
I spoke with Lautenberg staffers this morning both in DC and in Newark.  

The Newark offices state that they don't know how he will vote on Alito, but the DC office said that Senator Lautenberg will announce which way he will vote today on the Senate floor.

If you wish to contact him, here are some critical numbers be polite:

Washington, 202-224-3224 (phone), 202-228-4054 (fax)
Camden, 856-338-8922 (phone), 856-338-8936 (fax)
Newark, 973-639-8700 (phone), 973-639-8723 (fax)

Senator Menendez
The DC number just put me into the voicemail box, which was full.

I just got through to Senator Menendez's DC offices. They confirm that the senator has +not+ announced which way he will vote. They report that Senator Menendez will make an announcement on the floor of the senate at 2:40 p.m. this afternoon.

The Newark offices stated that Senator Menendez had +not+ yet announced which way he would vote.

If you wish to contact him, here are some critical numbers be polite:

Washington, 202-224-4744 (phone), 202-228-2197 (fax)
Newark, 973-645-3030 (phone)

cheers --

This diary will be short and to the point.

Slurs are not tags.  

Here's an example of using a slur (inappropriately) as a tag (as of the writing of this diary, the diary in question had used the word "bitch" as a tag):

[ diary link removed as the diarist has voluntarily edited the diary title and removed the inappropriate tag -- the issue is not the diarist or the diarist's diary, but the meta-issue of tags ]

buffalobeast has written its own list of the 50 worst people in ameri

http://buffalobeast.com/...

i give you two excerpts...you +must+ read the rest...brilliant.  brutal.  surprisingly appropos.

19. James Sensenbrenner
Charges: Hates free speech. Sensenbrenner is every truculent moron who ever shouted you down for informing him or called you a traitor for disagreeing with him...(more...)

 more...

Today on dkos we saw two things.

1. An important update on Mukhtaran Mai, the Pakistani woman who was gang raped on the orders of the local, tribal council and who -- unlike thousands of women for whom this is a regular occurrance -- stood up and defied her culture to prosecute her torturers

2.  Hate speech on this diary that in its context is the equivalent to burning a cross on a black family's lawn or spraying a swastika on the home of a jewish family.

Many of you are already familiar with the struggle of  New Jersey police officer Laurel Hester, who, after many exemplary years on the force, has developed terminal cancer, and must leave the job she loves behind.  (For background, read BlueJersey.net.)

She will also leave a loved one, her partner of many years, Stacie Andree.  Her female partner.  Hester is a lesbian.

Her dying wish is to ensure that her pension benefits are awarded to Andree, which is absolutely possible, as New Jersey has ruled that counties have the ability to grant their employees domestic partner benefits.  This could all be wrapped up so easily, and so quickly.  

It could be, were it not for the continuing refusal of the Ocean County Board of Freeholders.  These men (all Republican, by the way) have the authority to award the pension benefits to Andree, which must be done before Hester passes away.  

Here's something you can do about it --

You need to send the Ocean County freeholders a copy of "To Kill a Mockingbird" -- ASAP.

Over the weekend, a DKos member posted a diary about his cat who had escaped and endured a severe (but treatable) injury that would incur large vet bills...

How Much is a Cat Worth?

http://www.dailykos.com/...

A lot of the respondants had similar experiences with their cats who had accidently gotten outside, or who were indoor-outdoor cats, or outdoor cats.

Which is why I posted this...

HR 3893 - the Misnamed "Gasoline for America's Security Act of 2005"



Many of you are probably aware that the Bush administration is using the Katrina and Rita disasters to push through bad legislation bundled with relief measures.

Well, they're voting on a bad, bundled bill TODAY -- this Friday, in the House.

The bill (HR 3893) includes yummy treats for the oil and power industries, treats that are bad for you and me.  These "industry treats" roll back environmental protections, key aspects of the Clean Air Act that will result in increased health problems.

How Does the "No Relief" Bill Vote on Friday (today) Affect Our Health?

In essence, the "No Relief" bill decimates the New Source Review program.  "What's that?" (some of) you may ask.  The New Source Review program is "a key tool for cleaning up old, dirty power plants and other industrial facilities."  It prevents these facilities from expanding unless they upgrade controls, equipment and systems that decrease pollution. Pollution that kicks in to our environment and results in increased health problems for humans.

HR 3893 - the Misnamed "Gasoline for America's Security Act of 2005"

Many of you are probably aware that the Bush administration is using the Katrina and Rita disasters to push through bad legislation bundled with relief measures.

Well, they're voting on a bad, bundled bill in 24 hours -- this Friday, in the House.

The bill (HR 3893) includes yummy treats for the oil and power industries, treats that are bad for you and me.  These "industry treats" roll back environmental protections, key aspects of the Clean Air Act that will result in increased health problems.

How Does the "No Relief" Bill Vote on Friday Affect Our Health?

In essence, the "No Relief" bill decimates the New Source Review program.  "What's that?" (some of) you may ask.  The New Source Review program is "a key tool for cleaning up old, dirty power plants and other industrial facilities."  It prevents these facilities from expanding unless they upgrade controls, equipment and systems that decrease pollution. Pollution that kicks in to our environment and results in increased health problems for humans.