Vote in the May 20 primaries

May 20 is an odd date for a US or state election so pollsters are anticipating "low turnout".  So every vote will carry more weight.

I was going to write up a litany of candidates in the Republican primary that are getting my vote tomorrow (no listing means my thinking is still in progress) but I would be repeating what some of my neighbors are saying.  So I'll include links to their thoughts and you'll get the gist.

State School Superintendent - Nancy Jester

I supported Nancy from Day One in her campaign for school board and have never regretted it.  The only way to get any improvement in systems in crisis is to put officials in place who call a spade a spade and aren't cowed by the inevitable slings and arrows from the sectors clawing their way up to the status quo.  I'm relieved that Stan is running unopposed for District 1 of DeKalb Co. Schools

Dunwoody Talk on Nancy

State Representative - Tom Taylor

I had no idea who Brad Goodchild was until I started getting stark campaign letters with vague positive language and no specifics.  Which immediately buried the needle on my personal BS detector.  Then I saw Erika Harris' letter in rebuttal to a campaign letter I had not yet seen.  I've met Erika briefly when she was discussing GLASS at one event or another.  I completely agreed with her points as I've heard Tom speak directly to what was at stake with his local school district bill and how difficult it would be to get it into law.  But surely, she was exaggerating, right?  Who could be that silly to call Tom's bill "DOA"?

Then I received my copy in the mail today.  The articles were not an exaggeration.

I roll my eyes at a lot of campaign materials, even those for our own City Council.  (Sorry, guys.)  I was utterly offended by this one.  You don't accuse someone of "just showing up" and then fail to show up in any public venue to promote yourself and your ideas.  You don't campaign for a seat in one of the biggest shark tanks in the state and then refuse a community-level candidate forum over alleged lack of fairness.  (You want to see "unfair"?  Sit on that floor for an hour and watch the rhetoric, then watch the local media spin at 11 PM.  Now that is unfair.)  You REALLY don't criticize a long-haul effort for reform in educational structure without knowing what was happening any step of the way.  Even an elementary school chess club knows that to secure an advantage and win a battle you have to move your pieces backwards and sideways in your strategy.

Anywho, Erika's words speak to my thoughts in the link above.  Goodchild doesn't have a pot to piddle in compared with Taylor

State Senator - Fran Millar

Believe me, I do not sit around agreeing with Fran on every little detail.  No question the man is a politician and good at that role.  But has he performed in any way in the State Senate than warrants broad spectrum attacks from Dick Anderson?  Not that I can see.  Fran hasn't deviated from the Constitution (state or federal) so that someone has to come in and "return" to it.

Commentary from Bob L including observations of this race.

Now I'm hitting the hay so I can get to vote ASAP in the morning.  Make the time to vote - it's always worth it.

Happy Mother's Day

Reposted from "The Time Warp Wife" blog.
Read the entire article at:  http://timewarpwife.com/?p=3120

The best Mother's Day tribute I've ever read because I've been through quite a few of these.
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To those who gave birth this year to their first child—we celebrate with you

To those who lost a child this year – we mourn with you

To those who are in the trenches with little ones every day and wear the badge of food stains – we appreciate you

To those who experienced loss through miscarriage, failed adoptions, or running away—we mourn with you

To those who walk the hard path of infertility, fraught with pokes, prods, tears, and disappointment – we walk with you. Forgive us when we say foolish things. We don’t mean to make this harder than it is.

To those who are foster moms, mentor moms, and spiritual moms – we need you

To those who have warm and close relationships with your children – we celebrate with you

To those who have disappointment, heart ache, and distance with your children – we sit with you

To those who lost their mothers this year – we grieve with you

To those who experienced abuse at the hands of your own mother – we acknowledge your experience

To those who lived through driving tests, medical tests, and the overall testing of motherhood – we are better for having you in our midst

To those who are single and long to be married and mothering your own children – we mourn that life has not turned out the way you longed for it to be

To those who step-parent – we walk with you on these complex paths

To those who envisioned lavishing love on grandchildren -yet that dream is not to be, we grieve with you

To those who will have emptier nests in the upcoming year – we grieve and rejoice with you

To those who placed children up for adoption — we commend you for your selflessness and remember how you hold that child in your heart

And to those who are pregnant with new life, both expected and surprising –we anticipate with you

This Mother’s Day, we walk with you. Mothering is not for the faint of heart and we have real warriors in our midst. We remember you.

History Alive! from the Dunwoody Preservation Trust

Thursday, MAY 8TH @ 8PM
Dunwoody United Methodist Church
Activities Building – Upstairs – Fellowship Hall
1548 Mt. Vernon Road, Dunwoody GA

Second in our History Alive! Series, Dunwoody Preservation Trust is bringing to you Dunwoody’s own, Dr. Seymour Goodman who will be discussing the Human Toll of the Civil War in the South. The event will be held at the Dunwoody United Methodist Church, 1548 Mt. Vernon Road, Dunwoody GA. Thursday, May 8th at 8PM.

(Enter the Activities Building from the rear of the church– upstairs in the Fellowship Hall)

Dr. Goodman is professor of International Affairs & Computing at the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and the College of Computing at Georgia Tech. He also serves as Co-Director of the Center for International Strategy, Technology & Policy and the Co-Director of GA Tech’s Information Security Center.

Dr. Goodman is also interested in case studies of how scientists and engineers work in the context of intense national security pressures, and the roles of science and technology in large-scale conflicts. The latter include the American Civil War, World War II, the Cold War, and conflict in cyberspace.

Dr. Goodman’s has been a speaker of the Smithsonian Institution’s Civil War Sesquicentennial Symposium, C-Span & is a member of Atlanta’s Civil War Roundtable and this evening will examine the human costs of the Civil War.

Join us on Thursday, May 8th at 8pm while we learn about the Human Toll of the Civil War from this fascinating local speaker!