BREAKING: ELECTION FRAUD-Just in case you wanted a kick to the gut after lunch...

Apparently, Kerry just may have won. Now, I have thought that for a long time, but this website just about makes me want to run screaming through the streets, demanding validation and redemption. Take a look, and get ready to drink heavily in sorrow this evening....

PRESIDENT Kerry:  I apologize you were robbed.

Folks, this is UNACCEPTABLE. Absolutely without a doubt the worst act the Republicans could have ever pulled off, and it was right in front of our eyes. Think about this, long and hard: the reason we are so angry, distraught, shocked, hurt, confused, and always on the verge of throwing in the towel out of sheer exhaustion is because of the results we have gotten from a MAN WHO NEVER ONCE WON AN ELECTION TO THE PRESIDENCY. NOT ONCE.
When will it end? WHEN? Virginia got these great Diebold machines right before the election, remember? So, think about it...maybe VA IS blue, and we don't know it. Maybe Kaine won by 75 % and we just don't know it. And maybe Allen will lose big time to James Webb, AND WE JUST WON'T KNOW IT.

This is the biggest issue we have to fear, friends. It has happened before, and it WILL happen again.

And nothing has been done. Not a damn thing.

For shame, America, FOR SHAME.

Allen Buses In Supporters To Shad Planking. PAID FOR TIX.

Well, let me first say hello and thanks to all of the wonderful people I met, recognized, and knew already yesterday at shad planking. It was awesome, super fun, and really motivating. In light of all of the negativity coming from the Miller supporters, I wanted to get the Webb Heads back on track with the REAL candidate we are trying to beat: George Allen.

Imagine my surprise when I was scouring the internet(s) :) today for info on the event, and I came upon this wonderful little tidbit! Apparently, there was a good reason for all of the blue shirts and college republicans yesterday: Allen and his staff provided FREE TIX and a FREE BUS RIDE for people interested in going and supporting him!!!

Che? Qua? Huh? WHAT? George Allen-say it aint so!!!! But I THOUGHT I COULD TRUST YOU!!!!! ;)

Across the aisle, Sen. George Allen (R-Virginia) raised $1.7 million in the first quarter and now has $7.2 million in the bank, according to The Washington Post. Allen, who raised only $28,000 in his leadership PAC so far this year, is seeking re-election and will face either former Navy Secretary James Webb (D) or telecommunications lobbyist Harris Miller (D) in November. In an e-mail sent yesterday, Allen is offering supporters a free bus ride and a ticket to attend "Shad Planking 2006" -- Virginia's annual non-partisan political fish picnic. And for those Northern Virginia supporters who decide to ride one of the two buses to tomorrow's event in Wakefield, they will get the added bonus of receiving a George Allen t-shirt or hat to wear. Another likely 2008 presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), raised a paltry $14,000 in his Senate account and currently has $1.1 million in the bank. McCain does not face Arizona voters again until 2010. And Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska) raised $39,600 in the first quarter and has $144,000 cash-on-hand.

WOW!!! Must be nice to save $20, save gas $$, and get as hammered as you want bc a trusty bus driver will drive you back to a parking lot somewhere after a nice nap in an air-conditioned bus.

I know, SOOOOOO hard to believe that a rich Republican that votes with George Bush 96% of the time actually has the $$ and resources to pay people to like him...

Meanwhile, in the real world...my Democratic voice is hoarse, my democratic back is burned, my democratic hand is cut, and my democratic feet are tired. I have less $$ and gas than I did yesterday, and I am now super behind in my last few weeks of homework. BUT, I am motivated, ready to work, ecstatic, and refreshed from the day I spent with the best candidate for VA, and perhaps the country. I work for Jim Webb, folks: free of charge. And I could not be happier.
My name is Phriendlyjaime, and I approve this message.

BREAKING: Ohio hates women's reproductive rights

Well, as I thought it might, South Dakota's abortion ban has resonated with some folks in other states, and it looks like Ohio is the next state to try to take a moral stand against evil baby killers.  Now, if you leave Ohio bc the law for obtaining an abortion in another state is different and Ohio catches you being naughty, you will be penalized.  In addition, anyone helping someone obtain an illegal abortion in Ohio or elsewhere will be charged as an accomplice.

The passage of South Dakota's statewide abortion ban earlier this month has caused a renewed interest in a proposal to make abortions illegal in Ohio.
Ohio house bill 228 introduced by Tim Brinkman, R-Mount Lookout, in April would make it a felony for a woman to seek to terminate her pregnancy and holds the same penalty if she chooses to leave the state for the medical procedure.

Additionally, anyone who helps coordinate an abortion or transportation to leave the state for one could be charged as well.

The controversial nature of the proposed bill has slowed its progress through the legislature.

"House Bill 228, as far as I know, is still in committee. Some bills take more time to come out of committee. You just never know," said Ohio Rep. John Schlichter, R-Greenfield. "I'm a pro-life person. My voting record has been consistent. I was raised in a Christian home."

There are no plans at this time for the bill to be voted into law. However, many groups on both sides of the reproductive rights issues are giving feedback on it.

"House bill 228 was introduced last year and hasn't really been in committee," said Gary Dougherty, executive director of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of Ohio. "We're still concerned about it. Just because a bill doesn't get any hearings, doesn't mean the issue has gone away."

Dougherty said he's addressed the issue of abortion accessibility to members of the state legislature. He urged lawmakers to consider how limiting any woman's access to birth control or abortions is detrimental.

"This bill really opens a Pandora's Box of wide and wild interpretations of the need for abortions," he said. "Planned Parenthood is all about preventing unwanted pregnancies. Abortion accounts for just about 5 percent of what we do."

Planned Parenthood focuses on preventative health measures such as pap smears, mammograms, birth control options and sexual education, including abstinence.

Very few centers actually perform abortions and all patients are informed of what the procedure is in advance. Chillicothe's Planned Parenthood branch, located on East Second Street, solely caters to family planning and basic health issues.

"If we are precluded from offering a service, it's the low-income people who are most affected," said Dougherty. "What we should be doing is trying to prevent unintended pregnancies, so the state is not burdened with the cost of raising the child."

Many of the women who seek abortions already have several children and are unable to support another. Others are young women lacking financial stability, including health insurance.

Although unplanned pregnancies can create financial, psychological and physical hardships for women, some organizations see support as the best way for women to cope.

A new organization called Elizabeth's Hope, on North High Street, wants to show pregnant women abortion should be avoided. The nonprofit group is part of a statewide abortion alternative counseling program called Care Net Pregnancy Center.

"We're here to offer support and discuss options," said Peggy Watters, center director in Chillicothe. "When you're in the middle of a crisis, it's not a good time to make life-altering decisions."

Watters and the volunteers at the center offer post-abortion counseling as well as promoting abstinence.

"When women have an abortion, they deal with one crisis, but may have another one later," she said. "We believe waiting for marriage is the best choice."

Elizabeth's Hope operates totally from donations given by area churches and individuals. There also are volunteers -mothers themselves -who counsel girls and women about pregnancy and being good mothers.

Schlichter said the varying ideas on abortion access will be taken into account when he votes.

"You have to rely on your personal views and your constituent's views," he said. "None of these are one-sided issues."

Linky-Loo

Folks, considering our location, and the fact that some extreme righties live here already and Delay is on his way over, this is beyond scary. We may have more battles to fight here pretty soon; the Senate race may only be one of the many to come. What I do with my "parts down south" may be safe with Webb, but Allen? I'll be in a chastity belt faster than Bush buys his daughters a keg.

Sometimes, I don't have to say a word....

One of my guilty pleasures that I just cannot seem to break is visiting neo-conservative/ psychotic bat shit crazy websites just to remind myself how many more brain cells I have than some.  It is refreshing and good for the soul, though it can be very frustrating.  I have not gone so far as to sign up for any of the sites, as I am sure my time and effort would be for naught anyway; I am positive the first progressive minded comment I typed would result in me getting booted off the site for communism, and my personal info would probably be sold to the FBI. Then perhaps I would mysteriously "disappear."  But I wanted to share some "gems" I came across today on the subject of the UVA students and the recent arrests made.  For those of you unfamiliar with http://www.freerepublic.com, let me give you a brief rundown.  Here, I have provided some of the many falsities this site and its owners claim to adhere to:

Purpose: The Free Republic forum is intended for Conservative users who wish to have a serious discussion about political events, conservative principles and the elimination of government corruption and abuse. This is a news and information site not a chat room. Please stay on topic. Free Republic is a supporter of free speech on the Internet but we believe that along with the privilege of free speech comes the responsibility to respect the rights of others.  

Please remember to use courtesy when posting, refrain from personal attacks and do not use profane or obscene language. Your posts will be read by thousands of people and will be archived for years to come. Violation of these guidelines can cause your account to be suspended or revoked. Your Free Republic account cannot be used to engage in any illegal activity.

Suitability of Posts: Free Republic does not edit or censor user posts but does reserve the right to remove what it deems to be (in its own judgment) inappropriate posts or materials.

Well, I have noticed from my visits that anyone who does not fall in line with Bush's decisions and talking points are treated absolutely horribly, simply because their Republicanism or Conservativism is too "lite" for the crowd over at the freepers board.  Perhaps I am wrong; maybe when the kool aid starts running out, the locals get antsy.  Whatever it is, my point is this:  why are we still debating which party would be better at running the country?  Are we kidding ourselves?

Take a look at some of the comments from the thread pertaining to the strike at UVA...and then explain to anyone who supports the Conservative agenda how simple minded, ignorant, and flat out wrong their entire platform is and always will be until they pull their heads out of their asses.  The fact that they still call themselves the "party of compassion" is astounding.  Now remember-you won't learn anything from these people; in fact, you may be a little slow after you read their comments or visit their site.  But this is to make you feel better about yourself, and to remind you to give yourself a hand for being RIGHT whether you straddle the center or lean to the left.

The article:  

17 U.Va. Students Arrested After Sit-In(for a living wage for workers)

CBS News ^

Posted on 04/18/2006 9:05:55 AM PDT by John Geyer

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) -- Seventeen student protesters were arrested Saturday at the University of Virginia on the fourth day of a sit-in seeking raises for the school's lowest paid workers.  The protesters are calling for a "living wage" of $10.72 an hour for 800 to 1,000 workers at the school. Last month, the university raised its minimum wage by 49 cents to $9.37 an hour.  The students were taken into custody without incident and were transported to the city jail to be booked on trespassing charges, activist Amy Kniss said.  University President John T. Casteen III met with the protesters earlier Saturday, but negotiations were at a standstill, said school spokeswoman Carol Wood. She said the students' presence in the administration building was disruptive.

"Casteen was clear throughout the four days that while he respected the work that the group has done and their dedication to it, he did not believe a sit-in in Madison Hall was the best way to produce those results," the university said in a statement.  Protest organizer Benjamin Van Dyne said he was appalled the university would "suffer the huge embarrassment of arresting its students before it honestly engaged in the issue of paying people a decent wage."  A similar living wage campaign at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg resulted in a 46-cent pay increase for full-time workers.

And now, the brilliant minds discussing the article:

If workers want a better wage, they need to get a better job.

Minimum wage -> unemployment. It's that simple.

Ha, ha! Who's holding down the poor now???

I have the perfect solution for both capitalists and socialists.  On their applications for admittance, put a question:  DO YOU WANT TO ADD 20% TO YOUR TUITION COSTS IN ORDER TO PROVIDE A LIVING WAGE TO OUR NON MANAGERIAL EMPLOYEES? [ ] YES  [ ] NO

Oh if only I ran things.  Let me do the math. 10.72 - 9.37 = 1.35.   So they are asking for a raise of $1.35 an hour or at a 40 hour week $54.00 a week or $2808.00 a year.  Let us go with the higher number (1000) of employees and that comes to $2,808,000 per year in additional expenses for the school.  But I honor the position these 17 students have taken so I will grant their request. However effective immediately their tuition will be raised by $165,176.48 a year so that they too may feel the warm glow of helping their fellow man.

"Dear Mummy and Daddy -- the Dean says that my tuition is going up. But that's OK, because the tuition increase will allow about 1000 workers to have a Living Wage. Isn't that neat? Of course, a lot of students aren't paying for it. There's just 17 of us who volunteered to foot the bill. So, I guess you'll be paying about 120,000 for my tuition next year. I don't really know how much that is -- it sounds like a lot -- but you can afford that, right? Toodles!"

These morons will have more credibility when they get out of school and start working for a living paying for the dumbed down people they want to have a "living wage". These folks don't make much money because they make poor decisions that keep them at the lower end of the wage spectrum.  But, you can't tell these morons, they already know it all.

They did the same stunt here at notre dame a few days ago. I propose a solution. Have the students who want higher wages for these people sign a petition. Then, raise the tutition on the students who signed the petition to pay for the wage increases. Problem solved!

I wish there was a way to simply tax the idiots. A little check mark - "Do you believe in communism or the redistribution of income to those who have less than you?" 'Yes: Put all your money in an envelope.' 'No: Drat -well, it was worth a try. Continue to question 2.'

That's just a sampling, folks.  Just a sampling of perfectly good brains and bodies that have been tainted and destroyed by idiocy.  What can we do?  We can never give up the good fight, and we can do our best to throw this type of ignorance and the multitude of ignorance that is sure to follow right back in their faces.  Get out there on these great internet"s"of ours that "Al Gore invented" and "let the eagles soar, like they've never soared before!!!!!!"  There is a wealth of resources that include other fabulous quotes like these touching on every fact of politics and world issues, and it just may help our cause to make a little compilation, and type it up and carry it around with you for busting out purposes when a moron tries to argue politics with you.  We can call it "The Best of Republican Stupidity" or "What Conservatives REALLY think about while they are watching Fox news and foaming at the mouth..."

Seriously...I think the more people who may just vote for the w(R)ong candidate because their parents do, or because they think they will have more $$, or because they don't know any better (c'mon, some people DO live almost under a rock, you know) just may change their mind if they are faced with the fact that they are surrounding themselves with a cult of fools.  I'm making one; will you join me?

Proud to be a Democratic Woman

Good day, my fellow Americans, my fellow Virginians, and/or my fellow Democratic/Progressive/Liberal/Common Sense partners in crime.  I wanted to take this moment to give a personal thanks to all of you who have helped convince me to remain in a red state turning blue, as opposed to moving back to New Jersey, my already blue home.

I moved here to Richmond on July 1, 2002. I was working in New York City with a theatre group before I moved; my first day of work was 9/10/01. I watched the second tower explode from my seat on the bus on my way into the city for work, and like most people from the North closely involved, I will never forget the months after the attacks; the countless car searches, the chemical spills that would send an entire Borough into a panic, the fact that for 3 months, a firefighter could not pay for his own meal or drink anywhere in New York City, the tears and the hugs, the laughter and the hope. Realizing my priorities weren't exactly in the order I thought were important, I moved here to be with my boyfriend of 4 years. We were only supposed to be here for a year. Well, it'll be 2007 before we know it, and we are looking to buy a home somewhere in the city so I guess we are here to stay.

I was never actively involved in politics until the 2000 election, where I watched what little I understood about the American government and courts system be flushed down the toilet by the hands of powerful, pathetic (mostly rich and white) men. I watched as one African American after another pleaded for their voice to be heard, for their votes to be counted: they got nothing. I watched as America turned to a man never elected POTUS for guidance and help when faced with the worst tragedy in American history: we got nothing. I watched as our Supreme Court was hijacked twice, and while progressives made countless phone calls to their local politicians and sent hundreds of thousands of faxes and emails, well; we still got NOTHING. I watched as American's greatest tragedy was replaced with the new greatest tragedy known as Katrina, and I sobbed for the people whose lives were destroyed, and are now displaced across the country, their last hopes dwindling as they recognize the fact that they too, will get NOTHING.

Why bother expecting anything?

But here, somehow, HERE...a red state is slowly but steadily turning blue. Out of anger, hope, disgust, and even boredom, I became involved with the Tim Kaine campaign early on in the race. I walked, knocked on doors, made calls, delivered signs; I don't want a medal, because I did the same as many of you here writing and reading. But I want those who may be acting passively, who may not "have the time" to help, who may think that apathy is ok for Americans; I want you to think again. The only way we will change the direction of this country is to work for it, and to work HARD. We can win this fight, and our children and grandchildren NEED us to win this fight. The more Americans we can get elected to fight for the common good and the Constitutional principles we all hold dear, THE BETTER.

They call us "Angry Dems" like we should be embarrassed; excuse me, but the last time I checked, I am indeed a member of the Democratic Party, and yes, members of the MSM, the Republican/Conservative/"Just can't bring myself to vote for a librul" Party: I AM MAD. I am mad at your stupidity and reckless abandonment in times of tragedy. I am MAD at the deficit you have created. I am MAD that my friends in NOLA are still in a shelter in Texas, and my friends in NYC that died on 911 are in a graveyard, if they are lucky. I am MAD that so many young men and women are forced to say "Yes, sir" and smile bravely as they continue to fight an un-winnable war. I am MAD that you won't listen to me, and that whatever I say is deemed unimportant because I have a "D"listed on my registered voter card. I am MAD that people make less than a living wage, and I am MORE MAD that when a peaceful protest of said bad wages is held, Americans are arrested and placed in jail, which incidentally, costs the taxpayers more time and $$ in the judicial system. I am MAD that you lie, and I am MAD that your supporters claim polls don't matter. I am MAD in the morning, when Bush supporters call Washington Journal and whine that Democrats and the "librul media" hate the president for no good reason. I am MAD that you are willfully blind.

But, surprisingly, my anger quells a bit each day. With every moment of every day that the party of corruption, greed, arrogance, and ignorance makes yet another mistake, or commits an act of grievance upon global humanity, we take a small step towards democracy for America. Every time an American loses their job to an overseas worker, a pair of eyes is opened. The soccer mom whose daughter ends up pregnant and must walk the line of shame at the clinic may quietly vote Democratic while keeping it a secret from her husband. The Mexican woman good enough to pick our veggies, cook our food, clean our homes, and take care of our children just may call in sick on future election days. A young citizen may decide to find a way to serve his or her country that does not involve bullets and non-existent armor. Politicians may start working for the good of all, versus the good of the few. The country is slowly but steadily crawling out of the fetal position. And that, my friends, is the first step towards freedom, liberty, and justice for all.

Take this moment to make a pledge with me: promise me, and more importantly YOURSELF, that you will never be apathetic. Promise me that when you here ignorance in the form of rhetoric or talking points coming from the other side, that you will not sit silently while the anger wells up inside. Promise me that you will work some elections and help some new Democratic and Independent candidates get elected. Promise me that you will educate your children, family, friends, and even strangers on the importance of accountability and fair politics. Promise me that you will actively engage yourself and as many people as you can in the act of taking America back from the American hijackers. Promise me that you will not stop fighting.

Yesterday, April 16, 2006, Easter Sunday, was my 27th birthday. Help me celebrate the anniversary of the day I was brought into this world by turning this country back to the America we all know and love.

Remember: this country was founded on fighting for rights. And this fight, my friends, is what DEMOCRACY looks like.