Republican Reproductive Atrocities Just Keep on Coming

And murdering abortion docs isn't, right?

They simply won't stop. The Republican strutting brown-shirted storm trooper thugs, who populate general assemblies across the country, have come up with yet another way to harass women getting abortions. This time it's in Tennessee and it involves lists of names being made public so the anti-abortion fanatics can kill abortion providers and recipients. A gift to you from the Pro Life party.

That is, of course, an exaggerated (I hope) worst-case scenario, but it is hardly out of the question. Rep. Matthew Hill's (Jonesborough, site of the international Storytelling Festival) latest Republican atrocity is the "Life Defense Act," which like so many Republican atrocities has a distinct misnomer for a title.

Here's a report from the HuffingtonPost on the new bill (which follows an entire litany of assaults on individual rights by the party that considers itself anti-government):

"A new bill moving through the Tennessee House of Representatives would require the state to publish the names of each doctor who performs an abortion and detailed statistics about the woman having the procedure, which opponents worry will spur anti-abortion violence in the state.


"The Life Defense Act of 2012, sponsored by state Rep. Matthew Hill (R-Jonesborough), mandates that the Tennessee Department of Health make detailed demographic information about every woman who has an abortion available to the public, including her age, race, county, marital status, education level, number of children, the location of the procedure and how many times she has been pregnant. Each report would also have to include the name of the doctor who performed the procedure.

"Several health organizations, including the Tennessee Medical Association and Planned Parenthood, are concerned that the bill will make doctors and women vulnerable to attacks, especially considering the murder of Dr. George Tiller, a Kansas abortion provider, by an anti-abortion activist in 2009."

These people are extremists and murder is an extreme expression. I do not at all put it out of reach of the "Pro Life" gang that is pro-war, pro-death penalty, pro-gun, opposed to school lunch programs for poor children, opposed to health care for those who can't afford it ... It just never ends. But it will.

(Photo: blog.nj.com)

Photo of the Day: Performers of a Different Kind for Cirque

Britainy Dibbs and Karma Jane (I'm not making up these names, but Karma may be) put on a little hoola-hoop demonstration at noon today on City Market in downtown Roanoke, trying to get attention for Cirque du Soleil, which will play the Roanoke Civic Center March 28-April 1. You can get tickets here, starting at $35, which strikes me as a deal. Brit and Karma are "promotional performers" for the Cirque, which means they don't perform at the Civic Center, but "we could," insists Britainy.

'This Is Not a Protest, It's a Demonstration'

These guys were among several at the corner of Jefferson St. and Campbell Ave. at lunch today demonstrating to get out their message on Roanoke city bus service. They want you to be at a City Council meeting March 19 to tell council members that you want more and better bus service. The men, who would not tell me their names, are members of the transit union local 1493. The quote in the headline here is from the guy on the left.

Quote of the Day: Contraception the New GOP Achilles Heel

"There's a perception out there because of the way that this whole contraception issue played out … We need to get off of that issue. In my view, I think we ought to respect the right of women to make choices in their lives and make that clear and to get back onto what the American people really care about -- jobs and the economy."

--Sen. John McCain (talking about an Arizona contraception law. McCain voted for a similar law in the House of Representatives recently, so the protests of women is having an effect) 

For My Buddy Oz, A Comeback of Sorts

My little buddy Oscar, who was born Sept. 1, has had more difficulty in his short life than should be legal. It's been one physical problem after another and rarely a day with no challenge.

Last week, the Oz was in the hospital for a couple of days with a respiratory problem that was a mystery to the docs. I'm not sure they ever solved it to their satisfaction, but left his parents--my son and his wife--with the open-ended hypothesis that he was going to be catching things for a while.

Difficult as life has been for the little boy to this point, he has shown an amazing resiliency and good cheer. He bounces back from his discomfort with smiles and play in a way I doubt his grandpa could or would even want to do.

I haven't had enough time with Oz yet to become one of his inner circle and when I get close, his lower lip often starts to quiver. Today, though, he let me pick him up and even gave me a smile.

He's a stocky boy, a linebacker in waiting, as it were. We didn't last a long with our new best friend game, but it was nice to maybe get a short preview of what could be coming. I'm just hoping Oz can kick whatever it is that's holding him back at this point. He's too young to have to deal with that.

Light a candle for my little bud, if you would.

Photo of the Day: A New Bike for Maddy

Facebook came through again. Yesterday, I dropped a note on FB asking if anybody had a 20 inch girls bicycle, so I could give it to Madeline (my grandgirl, who turned 7 Saturday). It would be her Mads/Pampa bike, so we could go riding together when she's at my house.

I had spent part of Thursday scouting out bikes and was astonished at the price (one bike shop didn't have anything for under $225). Figured I'd try to find something good--and cheap. (OK, before you think I'm a cheapskate, I'd already picked up Mads' birthday present: a copy of The Velveteen Rabbit and two tickets to see the play at Roanoke Children's Theatre--with me.)

Finding both good and cheap looked like an improbability until I got a note from Kathie Northern, a grandma, who looks like a new bride. She said she had a bike sitting in her garage that her daughter never really cottoned to, so it was barely used and I could have it for ... well, a song.

Here's the bike and a beaming Madeline. Beautiful Schwinn. The girl and me are ready to hit the Greenway. Thank you Kathie.

Photo(s) of the Day, Too: More from the St. Paddy's Day Parade

Superhero? I'd say

The obligatory St. Paddy's Day bagpipe brigade (there were about four groups)

Roanoke Rollergirls (from behind)

Just don't let 'em go! They pollute

Big boy, big bike

There was lots of politics going on, some red, some blue, some white

Viking ship hood ornament

Japanese tourists do what Japanese tourists do when they tour

Another look. Believe it

The Norman Fishingtackle Choir (they nearly hit a note)

One of three or four Civil War Groups (one of them Yankees; nobody shot)

The Kazin boys and their caboose

Taller than the rest Cirque de Soleil

The day moved toward hot at one point

Occupy Roanoke, the parade did indeed

One final look; I'm obsessed

Roanoke Rollergirls in the middle of the track (I'm a fan of these smart, athletic and very nice women)

Sometimes you gotta wonder: Who's shootin' who?

Political statements from Occupy Roanoke

I liked this sentiment

If you couldn't hold it, you were in trouble

A garage perch for these spectators

The homely Buchanan Tartan is mine, too

Grayhounds wandered all over the place

Old Southwest won the Best Community Float

(Note: To view photos full-sized, click on them once.)

Here are a few more photos from today's St. Patrick's Day Parade. This is three posts and I've only gone through the shots on one of the two cameras I had. More later ... if you can stand it. Pretty good stuff, though. I just love shooting happy people and there were a lot of them at the parade.