So, we had the first organizational meeting for this whole military families support Obama idea.  It was the brainchild of a woman who is a military spouse herself.  Her husband has retired.  It is much easier to be vocal about your politics when your husband isn't in the line of fire, no?  I know I get hell from Mr. Wonderful because of my own inability to not share my opinionated ideas and have blogged about the repercussions as well.

This is a call out diary for military affiliated people in the Hampton Roads (even DC!) area who support Obama!

Did anyone catch any of the articles earlier in the week about Blackwater getting raided? Federal agents were there as, "part of an investigation into whether the private security company sidestepped federal laws prohibiting the private purchase of automatic assault rifles."

First, I tried to ignore Senator Ken Cuccinelli's (VA, R- 37th) inflammatory, and incidentally, factually inaccurate, LTE last week in The Virginian-Pilot in response to LTEs of support for Planned Parenthood as previously blogged about here.

Last night, Senator Cuccinelli (R-37) introduced an amendment to the biennium budget to defund Planned Parenthood, which passed by a vote of 20-20, with Lt. Governor Bolling casting the tie-breaking vote. This bill would strip Planned Parenthood affiliates in VA from ANY state funding for STI screening and treatment, annual exams, cancer screening and treatment, and much more.

The Family Foundation has put out an e-lert to announce a bill being sponsored by two of our most pro-criminalization legislators in Virginia.  

The bill would:

"...prohibit any organization or individual that provides abortion from going into our schools to provide classroom material or curriculum.  These entities are benefiting financially when their programs fail and that has to come to an end."

The bill is being sponsored by Senator Mark Obenshain (R-26, Harrisonburg) and Delegate Tim Hugo (R-40, Centreville) and is a blatant attack on Planned Parenthood.

I have been online all day today reading over the rehashing of the events of last night and coming here, reading through today's diaries, finally got to me.  I don't think there was even one congratulatory diary up (granted there may have been one earlier in the day).  Do democrats really dislike Hillary that much?

A District Attorney (and rabid right-to-lifer) named Phill Kline has brought charges against the Planned Parenthood clinic in Overland Park, Kansas - 107 counts in all, with 23 of them being felonies.

There was recently an article in the Daily Press about abstinence-only sex education that begs a response.

I wish you all peace on this September 11th.

So I don't know if this is even an appropriate diary, but I'm going for it anyway because you guys are the smartest, most eloquent guys and gals I know (please help me, please help me, please help me!).

I am a member of a few online forums for military spouses.  There are more than a few, shall we say, Bush lovin' bible thumpin' neo-cons.  Recently a topic came up about a transgendered person.  The discussion, of course, started to go downhill when a few "devout" people started quoting scripture as to why homosexuals are an abomination in the eyes of God.

Another attack on women's healthcare.

I occasionally get email alerts from a site called LifeNews - one of those fundie hate sites.  A sorta know thine enemy approach to keeping up with things.  They just sent out an action alert because the Jacksonville Jaguars Foundation has given a grant to the Planned Parenthood of Northeast Florida.

A New York storage company's billboard sign is getting people riled up.

http://wcbstv.com/...

Have you ever had a really nosy next-door neighbor?  Someone always looking in the windows to see if you’re home or telling you how to plant your vegetables?  Really making a nuisance out of herself just because she can?  Well, it seems the Virginia General Assembly is the new Gladys Cravitz on the block.

Joe Darby was a reserve soldier with US forces at Abu Ghraib prison who saw and then anonymously reported the infamous "torture pictures."  Well, at least he was promised anonymity.   Darby was scared of retribution from the accused soldiers...what he should have been frightened of was the length this administration will go through to silence a critic.silence a critic

My friend who lives in Asheville sent me both the initial article about this episode:

http://www.mountainx.com/...

and the follow up article:

http://www.mountainx.com/...