Well, this is good news….
Too bad it happened after these idiots made North Carolina the laughingstock of the Nation in the national media for several days…
From WRAL.com:
RALEIGH, N.C. — A House resolution supporting the creation of an official religion in North Carolina will never come to a vote, officials said Thursday.
House Speaker Thom Tillis’ office said House Joint Resolution 494 was dead.
Filed under North Carolina, Politics
Well, they don’t get much simpler or crazier than Pat but he sure isn’t humble….
He thinks Americans should be “simple” and “humble” like Africans so we would believe in Miracles.
This is a) racist and b) stupid.
He’s really saying only the ignorant can be fooled into believing in miracles….
Or, in my mind, in the Republican Party and Televangelists….
Those guys count on ignorance….
And of course he knows nothing about the complexity and history of Africa.
He’s commenting from his own ignorant, Old South Plantation Era mindset…
It may have been April 1st yesterday, but televangelist Pat Robertson wasn’t kidding when he told a viewer that Americans aren’t experiencing God’s miracles because they are too “sophisticated.”
Why do miracles “happen with great frequency in Africa, and not here in the USA?” asked a 700 Club patron Ken. “People overseas didn’t go to Ivy League schools,” Robertson replied with a chuckle.
“We are so sophisticated, we think we’ve got everything figured out,” the Christian Broadcasting Network chairman continued. “We know about evolution, we know about Darwin, we know about all these things that says God isn’t real, we know about all this stuff.”
According to Robertson, it’s the “skepticism and secularism” that is being taught at “the most advanced schools” around the country that is keeping God’s miracles at bay.
Meanwhile, Africans are “simple” and “humble.” “You tell ‘em God loves ‘em and they say, ‘Okay, he loves me’,” said Robertson. “You say God will do miracles and they say, ‘Okay, we believe him’.”
If Americans wish to experience more miracle, Robertson concluded, they must reject their miracle-negating sophistication in favor of the more credulous African way of life.
via Pat Robertson Blames Ivy League Schools For Lack Of Miracles In America | TPM News.
Filed under Politics, Religion, Uncategorized
The North Carolina GOP has really been busy this week….
Busy trying to piss off as many people as possible….
So far, they’ve introduced legislation to establish a State Religion and ignore the Constitution, to block Student voters, to repeal racial justice legislation, privatize medicaid and now…
They want to make it more difficult to get a divorce in North Carolina.
See, they have something for everyone! Not just Gay people, Black people, Young people….Everyone!
Who do they think is going to be left who is not too pissed off to vote for them?
As I’ve said before, it takes a rare kind of ineptitude for the Dems not to be able to defeat this crew of crazies….
From the Raleigh News and Observer….
A pair of Republican lawmakers want to make it harder to get a divorce in North Carolina by making estranged couples wait longer and go to counseling.
The Healthy Marriage Act would extend to two years the current one-year waiting period in order for a divorce to be finalized. During that time, the couple would have to complete courses on improving their communications skills and conflict resolution.
If the couple has children, they would have to take at least a four-hour class on the impact of divorce on children.
Veteran Sen. Austin Allran of Hickory is the primary sponsor. Second term Sen. Warren Daniel of Morganton has signed on to Senate Bill 518.
Separated couples could resume living together during the two-year waiting period, under the bill. Either the husband or the wife would have to have lived in North Carolina for six months before filing for divorce.
It would also strike from the current law a provision that says “isolated incidents of sexual intercourse” don’t count against the one-year waiting period. It’s not clear if that means an occasional fling with your estranged partner does count against you under the proposed law.
via NC legislators propose more rigorous divorce regulations | State Politics | NewsObserver.com.
Filed under North Carolina, Uncategorized
Whenever I think things are starting to look bad here in North Carolina, South Carolinians do something to make me realize things aren’t as bad here as they seem….
I’m so thankful we have them to draw attention away from the circus in Raleigh…
GREENWOOD, SC (WLTX/WUSA9) — According to Greenwood, South Carolina police a man was arrested after selling his wedding ring to a pawn shop, for $20 to pay a prostitute.
Marvin Holmes allegedly picked up a prostitute and told her he didn’t have any money, but he drove her to a pawn shop where he took out his wedding ring and sold it for $20, say authorities. An officer pulled him over in an area known for prostitution and drug dealers, according to authorities. Holmes then reportedly admitted he was with a prostitute and told the officer he was having problems with his wife so he started looking for sex.
Holmes was charged for solicitation of prostitution and driving under suspension, according to authorities.
via Police: Man Pawned Wedding Ring To Pay For Hooker | wusa9.com.
Filed under North Carolina, Uncategorized
North Carolina Republicans are really doing everything they can do to keep their gerrymandered majority in the State legislature. They know demographic trends are against them, so their goal is to stop Democrat leaning voting blocks from being able to vote…
Now, it’s college students they are after and whose votes they are trying to suppress or water down….
When are the Dems going to learn that Republicans fight dirty and if they are going to pull us into the gutter with them, we have to fight back in the gutter…
There is so much ammunition accumulating to use against these GOP dinosaurs.
If only the Dems would learn to use it effectively….
From WRAL Raleigh:
RALEIGH, N.C. — A bill filed in the state Senate Tuesday would carry a tax penalty for parents whose children register to vote at their college address.
Senate Bill 667, known as “Equalize Voter Rights,” would remove the tax exemption for dependents who register to vote at any address other than their parents’ home.
“If the voter is a dependent of the voter’s parent or legal guardian, is 18 years of age or older and the voter has registered at an address other than that of the parent or legal guardian, the parent or legal guardian will not be allowed to claim the voter as a dependent for state income tax purposes,” the bill says.
The measure would affect only state income tax, so it wouldn’t have much effect on out-of-state students. But it could effectively cut student voting in counties like Watauga and Orange, where college voters have been a key part of the Democratic Party’s dominance.
The bill would also require voters to have their vehicles registered at the same address as their voter registration. That also could cut down on college student registration, since many students maintain their vehicle registration in their home counties.
Filed under North Carolina, Politics
Our North Carolina Republican Legislature continues its march into insanity….
Jesse Helms would be so proud of them….
And the national press is laughing at North Carolina again…
For those of us who live here and know this isn’t a true representation of the growing Progressive majority, it’s just plain embarrassing…
I wish I had more confidence the North Carolina Democratic Party would learn how to run campaigns…
And I wish we had more hope of the Dems retaking the Legislature, but we wouldn’t be in this position if they had run decent campaigns in the past…
And all the GOP Gerrymandered redistricting only makes it harder…
Still….
If we can’t defeat these GOP Clowns in the next election, that’s really embarrassing…
And this is all coming about because the ACLU stood up to the Rowan County Board of Supervisors for mixing Church and State…..
From ThinkProgress.org:
The Constitution “does not grant the federal government and does not grant the federal courts the power to determine what is or is not constitutional” according to a resolution sponsored by North Carolina House Majority Leader Edgar Starnes (R) and ten of his fellow Republicans — a statement that puts them at odds with over 200 years of constitutional law. In light of this novel reading of the Constitution, Starnes and his allies also claim that North Carolina is free to ignore the Constitution’s ban on government endorsement of religion:
SECTION 1. The North Carolina General Assembly asserts that the Constitution of the United States of America does not prohibit states or their subsidiaries from making laws respecting an establishment of religion.
SECTION 2. The North Carolina General Assembly does not recognize federal court rulings which prohibit and otherwise regulate the State of North Carolina, its public schools, or any political subdivisions of the State from making laws respecting an establishment of religion.
This resolution is nothing less than an effort to repudiate the result of the Civil War. As the resolution correctly notes, the First Amendment merely provides that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,” and, indeed, the Bill of Rights was originally understood to only place limits on the federal government. For the earliest years of the Republic, the Bill of Rights were not really “rights” at all, but were instead guidelines on which powers belonged to central authorities and which ones remained exclusively in the hands of state lawmakers.
In 1868, however the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified for the express purpose of changing this balance of power. While the early Constitution envisioned “rights” as little more than a battle between central and local government, the Fourteenth Amendment ushered in a more modern understanding. Under this amendment, “[n]o State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States,” nor may any state “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” The Fourteenth Amendment completely transformed the nature of the American Republic, from one where liberties were generally protected — if at all — by tensions between competing governments to one which recognized that there are certain liberties that cannot be abridged by any government.
Filed under North Carolina, Politics, Uncategorized
I seem to be pulled into the “marriage” debate a lot lately….
To be clear, we have 6 sets of dishes, so I originally didn’t see the need for Gay Marriage.
As time has passed- almost 16 years with m partner- I’ve seen the need for gay marriage from a legal and societal point of view. I, and most enlightened, educated people understand that marriage is a legal contract that provides security for couples- and gay or straight is irrelevant to this legal contract.
Frankly, to me at this point in my life, it’s more about protecting joint assets, determining who can visit you in the hospital and make major medical and legal decision if you are incapacitated. It’s about who makes sure, when the time comes, your wishes are honored to be cremated and have a tasteful memorial- instead of being painted and stuffed and subjected to a hypocritical Southern Baptist Funeral by people who barely know you….
It’s also really nice to give a big party and celebrate who you love with a couple of hundred of your closest friends. And maybe get some more dishes….
Anyway…..
I’ve also been read by an old friend for not taking Marriage seriously as a religious institution. That’s because it isn’t- at least not primarily so. It’s a legal contract. Period. That’s why you have to get a marriage license from the government before running off to your clergy person, if you choose that route….
There is such a thing as the separation of Church and State whether these people like it or not….
The religious significance of Marriage depends on the Religion. And the time and place….that does not supplant the legal, contractual importance of marriage.
I’m fine with a religious marriage ceremony- as long as it’s a secondary religious observance of a civil contract.
Legal rights come first. And “traditional marriage” is a concept that has changed radically over time- both in the Christian and non-Christian world.
I won’t even touch the Biblical Old Testament definition of marriage as it’s too complicated and messy for even me to explain, so I’ll leave it to Mrs Betty Bowers:
And those who think Gay Marriage is an especially new invention should read this from “The Week”….
Same-sex unions aren’t a recent invention. Until the 13th century, male-bonding ceremonies were common in churches across the Mediterranean. Apart from the couples’ gender, these events were almost indistinguishable from other marriages of the era. Twelfth-century liturgies for same-sex unions — also known as “spiritual brotherhoods” — included the recital of marriage prayers, the joining of hands at the altar, and a ceremonial kiss. Some historians believe these unions were merely a way to seal alliances and business deals. But Eric Berkowitz, author of Sex and Punishment, says it is “difficult to believe that these rituals did not contemplate erotic contact. In fact, it was the sex between the men involved that later caused same-sex unions to be banned.” That happened in 1306, when the Byzantine Emperor Andronicus II declared such ceremonies, along with sorcery and incest, to be unchristian.
Filed under Gay, Uncategorized
I’m going to post a sad little video….
So sad, on so many levels….
First of all, I can’t have anything but compassion for this poor, misguided child.
Secondly, I would like to see his parents in jail for child abuse for putting him out there like this and teaching him all this hate….
Thirdly, I’m sad that this happened in North Carolina, in Winston-Salem, in front of a Church that has stood in support of Gay Marriage…
Fourthly, I’m proud of the people who go to this church for their compassion, class and dignity….
If it weren’t for the behavior of the members of this Church, I would be stuck thinking, as I frequently am, of Gandhi’s quote:
“I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”
I’ll simply salute the members of this Church in Winston- Salem and try to overlook this poor, misguided child….
More reasons to love both the late Freddie Mercury and the late Princess Diana….
From HuffingtonPost.com:
According to a new book, Queen Legend Freddie Mercury snuck Princess Diana into a notorious gay bar in the late 1980s — and the beloved royal went unnoticed.
In “The Power of Positive Drinking,” comedian Cleo Rocos writes about how she, TV star Kenny Everett and Mercury disguised Princess Diana as a male model so that she could sneak into the Royal Vauxhall Tavern in south London. Dressed in an army jacket, black cap and sunglasses, Diana enjoyed a night out on the town, free of attention.
“When we walked in … we felt she was obviously Princess Diana and would be discovered at any minute. But people just seemed to blank her. She sort of disappeared. But she loved it,” Rocos says, adding that the venue was packed, but the presence of Mercury, Everett and herself helped divert attention from Diana so that she could order drinks at the bar. The group left after about 20 minutes.
“She did look like a beautiful young man,” Rocos explains. “She was always a very fit girl, so they might have thought, ‘There’s a nice young man with pert buttocks.'”
via Freddie Mercury Snuck Princess Diana Into A Gay Bar Dressed In Drag.
Filed under Entertainment, Gay
I’m glad to know there is someone taking longer to take down their Christmas Lights than us. We didn’t get the chance, due to weather and schedules to take ours down until late January.
I don’t quite see Maria Shriver hanging her own lights, so she really has no excuse- unless she’s too cheap to pay the Help to take them down….
At this point, she might as well just leave them up and turn them all year. Maybe that is her intent…..
Maybe she is trying to be too politically correct and just considers them Holiday Lights and means to use them for all Holidays all year long…..
From TMZ.com:
On the 94th day of Christmas … MARIA SHRIVER STILL HASN’T TAKEN DOWN HER CHRISTMAS LIGHTS … and her Brentwood neighbors are starting to go all Ebenezer Scrooge … TMZ has learned.
Sources in Maria’s super fancy Brentwood community tell TMZ, the neighbors have been clucking about Maria’s ultra-bright Xmas light display for weeks now … because Christmas is long over, and the lights on the trees around her property have become an eyesore.
In fact, TMZ shot video (below) on Maria’s street Tuesday night … and her house was the ONLY ONE still sportin’ the Clark Griswold treatment.
We’re told the neighbors haven’t approached Maria directly yet because they like her and don’t want to hurt her feelings … but in typical passive aggressive neighborly fashion, they’re hoping word will make its way back to her.
If not … she can just keep the decorations up until December — after all, it’s only another 271 days until Santa comes back to town.
via Celebrity Gossip | Entertainment News | Celebrity News | TMZ.com.
Filed under Entertainment, Holidays, Uncategorized
Lost in the 21st Century 