Author: Ruby Sinreich

For those in southern Orange County, here are my suggestions. If you want more than my opinion, visit OrangePolitics.org.

Bonds: Yes on all 5.

School Board: Elizabeth Carter, Gloria Faley. optional: George Griffin, Ed
Sechrest, or none (you get up to 4 votes)

C.H. Town Council: Sally Greene, Bill Strom, Cam Hill. optional: none/Thatcher Freund/Andrea Rorhbacher (you get up to 4). Just please don’t vote for Dianne Bachman!

C.H. Mayor: You can write in “Pat Killian” if you’re feeling rebellious and
futile, otherwise you don’t have a choice.

Carrboro Board of Aldermen: Mark Chilton, Joal Broun, Alex Zaffron

Carrboro Mayor: Mike Nelson (you have a bit of a choice, and I still recommend Mike)

Published today in the Chapel Hill News:

Big shock, huh? The AP writes: Report Links Iraq Deals to Bush Donations

WASHINGTON – Companies awarded $8 billion in contracts to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan have been major campaign donors to President Bush, and their executives have had important political and military connections, according to a study released Thursday.

Here’s the actual report: Windfalls of War.

Damn. To paraphrase Kos, things must be pretty f*cked up if the president is forced to have a press conference to explain himself. You know he does not like that public accountability crap. (Don’t worry, I’m sure he won’t be asked any non-pre-approved questions.)

Do you think he’ll keep claiming that increasing attacks in Iraq are a sign of U.S. success? Tell it to the families of the dead and wounded.

Once again, a critical vote on the floor of the senate and John Edwards isn’t there. It seems he thinks we elected him for the express purpose of supporting his presidential campaign. Wrong.

At The Well-Timed Period.

What if you were 17 years old and you got pregnant? How long would it take you to finally go get a test to be sure? How long until it sinks in, and you acknowledge what happenned? Then how long would it take you get up the courage to tell your parents? What if you thought you could still have the baby and the normal life you planned with college and a social life, and it took a while for a sypathetic adult to explain that motherhood would not allow room for such privileges? What if you wanted to be a good parent, but knew you couldn’t do it at your young age?

What if it took a few months to realize that having a baby right now would ruin life as you knew it? What if by the time you got to the doctor, you were in your second trimester? And what if the doctor said to you “sorry honey, the President said you have to have that baby. You can kiss the rest of your life goodbye.”

PLEASE DON’T LET THIS NIGHTMARE HAPPEN!
E-mail the President, and sign up for the Planned Parenthood Action Network now. I thank you.

Everytime I see it, I wish it was referring to the Professional Bowlers’ Association. But no, the term “Partial Birth Abortion” actually referrs to ending a pregnancy in the second or third trimester.

SaveROE.com explains why this ban is a horrible horrible thing for women who want to control their own lives. The site even presents three real-life stories of women who had to have late-term abortions to protect their own health. These examples are important, but equally so are the stories of women who are unprepared for motherhood emotionally, physically, or financially.

The implications of this legislation for a teenager who is pregnant and puts off dealing with it could be devastating. Because of this ban, one accident could ruin two or three lives rather than allow one person to make a critical, personal decision.

…in a very horrible way. The fact is, hate and bigotry are hardly limited to the South or our fair state.

Yahoo! News reports that neo-Nazi Richard Butler is running for mayor of Hayden, Idaho.

Butler moved to northern Idaho from California in the early 1970s because the region was mostly white and he figured it would make a good place to launch a race war. He and his followers rail about Jewish conspiracies and rising numbers of blacks and other minorities in the United States.