It can be done, with new polls showing Saxby Chambliss below 50% (behind subscription walls) and old polls showing him at 53%. But can we do it with Vern? Same Strategic Vision poll shows Vernon losing to Saxby 57 to 24, and it's early, and there are tons of people that don't know Vernon yet, but it is difficult to believe that as more people get to know him they will like him at all, much less to the point of Jonesin' for him. There has been a lot of talk of Rob Teilhet running, and I, for one, am for it. He could raise money, compete in the inner ring and would have a very good shot of defeating Saxby. Anyone else heard this?

From the World Briefings section of the New York Times:

Jenny Bailey, 45, was installed as mayor of Cambridge, and her partner, Jennifer Liddle, 49, a former council member, assumed the honorary title of mayoress, which is given to the partner of the mayor. Both were born male and had gender reassignment surgery in their 30s. “It is the council’s firm view that someone’s gender and sexual orientation has no bearing on their suitability to hold public office,” said Rob Hammond, the Cambridge Council’s chief executive.

How civilized.

There's been so much talk about how Democrats failed to send Bush an Iraq bill with a timetable for withdrawal that very few are talking about a major bonus in HR 2206 - a Minimum Wage Increase!

If the president signs the latest version of the war spending bill, the minimum wage would rise from $5.15 to $5.85 an hour in 60 days. The next increase, to $6.55, would occur a year after the signing. The final jump, to $7.25 an hour, would happen two years from now.

This is good for the millions of Americans that are considered the "working poor".

According to CQ, Rep. Jim McDermott, (D-Wash) believes that "Democrats may not get much of a political boost from touting the wage increase during the upcoming recess."

McDermott is quoted as saying:

"Nobody’s dying [because of] the minimum wage, or lack of it,” he said. “The war is what’s going to be on the front burner.”

I am completely frustrated with the number of American soldiers that have been killed in this senseless war and the number of soldiers that are sitting in Iraq without a real exit strategy. But I'm going to have to disagree slightly with McDermott because American families are dying because parents are working too many long hours at crap pay while their children are left unattended because American corporations are more about greed, shareholders, bonuses, and the bottom line. We have allowed corporate America's behavior to become the norm in our society.

I don't think's it's an either or situation - this country's leaders have neglected American workers and families for the last 6 years just as they have failed our military. We need leaders that can focus on both. Along with international diplomacy, environmental cleanup, Darfur ...

There's an interesting article in this morning's Augusta Chronicle - Republicans set to fight over taxes.

Many politicians, once they're in office, suddenly become more pragmatic about funding government programs. Then there are the ideologues who steadfastly adhere to their less-spending-lower-taxes end of the continuum.

102 Georgians have died in Iraq, from AJC:

Nine were as young and fresh-faced as 19; one as grizzled and grandfatherly as 57.

They were 83 soldiers, 13 Marines, 5 sailors and 1 airman among the 102 Georgians who have died in the Middle East since the start of the war in Iraq. All men, they left behind 52 widows and 107 children without fathers.

Their average age was 28.3 and most (58) were in their 20s.

The biggest killer was roadside bombs, taking the lives of 40 of them. Another 13 were killed in non-combat vehicle accidents.

On this Memorial Day, we salute the bravery and ultimate sacrifice that these Georgians, and their families, have made on our behalf.

Three sangrias, two chocolate cupcakes and a corn dog.

UPDATE: this was the response from the organizing committee:

We appreciate that you took the time to e-mail your concerns to us. We deeply regret that a part of the program did not keep with our policy of a non-political event.

We do thank you for contacting us and for supporting our Memorial Day efforts to truly honor those who have given so much for this country, in a non-political way. Your statements are very much appreciated.

Dotty Etris
Executive Director

For almost my whole life our family has found time on Memorial Day to attend a gathering of veterans to honor our sailors, airmen and soldiers who gave their lives in service to this country. For 20+ years my brother served in the Navy, we were grateful for his service and relived each time he came home safely from a deployment.

I've attended these events in small towns in New Jersey, New York City during fleet week, in Pennsylvania, and since 1990 in Georgia. Even during the Vietnam War as divisive as that was, on Memorial Day, we took a deep breath and honored those who bravely gave all to defend this experiment called democracy.

Today was the first time I left in the middle of a Memorial Day service.

Ehud Barak, former prime minister of Israel is the the leading vote getter heading into the runoff. This election will determine who leads the Labor party in Israel. The labor party is part of the ruling Kadima coalition of Ehud Olmert, and should Barak win, he will likely pull Labor out of the coalition causing early elections and a new government. And to think you read all this because you thought it was about Barack Obama, now available in sepia tones.

then join the Democratic Party of Georgia on one of their many canvassing days. Click here to find out the dates. They are planning on walkng and talking throughout the 10th Congressional District.

The Supreme Court decided 5-4 that pay discrimination damages should be limited to the 180 days before an EEOC complaint and not for the entire history of the discrimination. Keep in mind to allege discrimination you have to show that others (in this case, men) were making more than you (in this case a woman) for the same work and the disparity is due to discrimination. Tough thing to show, eh? Especially considering the lack of protection for those filing suits and the difficulty in knowing what other people are being paid, especially when there is such a large interest in keeping that information secret for both the employer and the employees benefiting from the discrimination. The Court could have allowed the employee to show the plaintiff knew about discrimination and had a remedy other than (or the same remedy available to her earlier) but by not even demanding that of the employer, the employee plaintiff is left with little recourse and Title VII lakes the economic bite necessary to employers rout out discrimination, which was the entire point of Title VII. Okay, Congress, you see the problem. Get to it and force the court to repudiate this case with a new, stronger, Title VII.

Salon offers expert views.

They don't think it's cell phones. It may be cyclical. Or it could be genetically engineered crops and/or insecticides. Check out the smart guys discussing it over at Salon: Who Killed the Honeybees?

Must be nice living in your own fantasy world.

Valerie Plame was too covert! She was! She was!

John Edwards banks on populism.

Seriously, who still thinks Giuliani is so great?

As has been reported and commented on, our friend Matthew Cardinale with the Atlanta Progressive News, was stabbed in the stomach. The location of the crime was the Exxon station at the corner of Monroe Drive and Ponce de Leon Avenue. Apparently they refused to call 911 for him.

This afternoon he is staging a protest at the Exxon station, and has contacted NBC and local Fox afflicate to cover it. Tune in between 6-8 pm on NBC (WXIA) and 5-7 on Fox5 (WAGA) or join him at the protest!

Matthew has asked for someone to please YouTube any coverage so he can add to the APN website.

Creative Loafing picks five.

The newest issue of Creative Loafing features a cover story on five Georgia bloggers. Andisheh Nouraee profiles a range of local bloggers from conservative Erick Erickson to wise-ass Doug Monroe rounded out with a sex therapist (Inside the oversexed mind of Gloria Brame) a local flavor observer (I Saw It On Ponce) and a live music archivist (Cable & Tweed)

It's a good roundup. Not sure I agree with the author's premise that the "Atlanta blogosphere is dim". Kudos to those selected.

Doug Monroe is (gulp), moving to Brooklyn this Monday to teach school. I can hardly believe he's leaving, nor can I believe he couldn't get a teaching gig here where we need him most.

He will be very, very much missed.

This Saturday night (June 2nd), there will be an impromptu send off for him at RedLight Cafe, Amsterdam Walk, 553 Amsterdam Ave.

Check Rusty for all the details.

Looking at places to relocate and came across this on the San Francisco Examiner:

- San Francisco's next Mayor

This is pretty funny and good stuff. The profile on Snoop Dogg is pretty true about today's politicians.

I doubt if Atlanta's local paper (how many people actually still work there?) will do something like this for the 2009 Mayoral race. Maybe one of Atlanta's cool bloggers can take up the job (hint,hint).

In the midst of everything that Special Sonny vetoed yesterday (which sadly didn't include his stupid "Go Fish Georgia" initiative... I might just start a "You Know Your Governor Is A Redneck When..." book), he actually signed HB 214 to protect the south end of Jekyll Island (well, at least sort of protect it). Yay!

(Amusingly, I was originally going to go on a tirade about the AJC's coverage, because I was searching for the word "jekyll" in the article to find out what was going on, and I didn't find it. Turns out they're not on a crusade to keep their readers uninformed, their copy editing just sucks - the author (or whoever did the typing for the online version) spelled it "jeykll". Dorks.)

WTF?

In an on-air interview on NPR this morning, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin had this to say about climate change:

I have no doubt that a trend of global warming exists. I am not sure it is fair to say that it is a problem we must wrestle with.

He goes on to say that he finds it arrogant to assume that climate change is bad.

I kid you not.

Love the title and the pictures...
Edison is a cool town. Way to go Congressman Frank Pallone, who by the way is so cool he marches proudly in the NJ Pride Parade with the Transgender Community!

Hilarious!

Check out the Periodic Table of Criminal Elements.

They even got Zell in there!

Matt Weyandt has been named the Executive Director of The Democratic Party of Georgia.

Congratulations, Mr Weyandt! We're looking forward to working with you.