Action Alert

SOUTH DAKOTA BOYCOTT

When the proposed abortion ban in South Dakota was announced earlier in the week, individuals were being encouraged to call the Department of Tourism, other South Dakota state offices, the headquarters of some of the businesses located in South Dakota (like Citibank, Gateway computer, and Iams). The point is to announce that you will be boycotting visiting South Dakota, or boycotting purchasing from South Dakota businesses, until that state shows that it has a commitment to equal civil rights for women!

An article in today's Rapid City Journal shows that this approach is working, but that the numbers are very small.

More info and ideas

Attacks Surge in Iraq Despite Curfew

AP-BAGHDAD, Iraq - A car bomb exploded in a Shiite holy city and 13 members of one Shiite family were gunned down northeast of the capital Saturday in a surge of attacks that killed at least 30 people despite heightened security aimed at curbing sectarian violence following the bombing of a revered Shiite shrine.

It continues!

Semper Fi

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Update: 1:03

Iraq government warns of risk of "endless civil war"

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's defense minister warned on Saturday of the risk of a "civil war" that "will never end" as sectarian violence flared again despite a second day of curfew in Baghdad.

Semper Fi

excellent idea...

Ohio senator's retort: Ban GOP adoptions

One Ohio lawmaker has come up with a clever way to protest the introduction of an anti-gay adoption bill -- but
Log Cabin Republicans might not appreciate it.

In a joking memo sent to his fellow Ohio Senate members Wednesday, outspoken liberal Sen. Robert Hagan seeks sponsors for a bill that would ban households with one or more Republican voters from adopting children or acting as their foster parents.

The memo suggests that "policymakers in Columbus have ignored this growing threat to our communities for far too long," and bases its solution on the Republican-backed legislation to ban LGBT parents from adopting or raising foster children.

"Credible research exists that strongly suggests that adopted children raised in Republican households, though significantly wealthier than their Democrat-raised counterparts, are more at risk for developing emotional problems, social stigmas, inflated egos, an alarming lack of tolerance for others they deem different than themselves, and an air of overconfidence to mask their insecurities, " Hagan wrote.

"In addition, I have spoken to many adopted children raised in Republican households who have admitted that 'Well, it's just plain boring most of the time,' " he wrote.

Rep. Ron Hood, the Asheville Republican who initiated the anti-gay adoption bill, had no comment.

Hood's anti-gay legislation is not actually expected to make it through this year. House Speaker Jon Husted, a Republican from Kettering and former adoptee, has said he won't bring it up for a vote.

Husted responded to Hagan's memo, saying that he was in fact raised by Democrats, but "I got to go to the secret meetings when I was growing up. That's how I knew they were going to tax me and take away my Second Amendment rights. That's why I became a Republican."

Hagan said his memo is meant to be taken as "tongue-in-cheek," but he hopes people get the very serious message behind his mockery of the bill.