Tag Archives: North Carolina

April 3, 2013 · 6:15 pm

NC GOP Senate Bill Seeks to Curb College Vote

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.

via Senate bill seeks to curb college vote :: WRAL.com.

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April 3, 2013 · 5:16 pm

Eleven North Carolina Republicans Sponsor Resolution Saying Their State Can Ignore The Constitution

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.

via Eleven North Carolina Republicans Sponsor Resolution Saying Their State Can Ignore The Constitution | ThinkProgress.

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April 3, 2013 · 12:03 am

Traditional Marriage: Whose Tradition?

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.

via How marriage has changed over centuries – The Week.

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April 1, 2013 · 11:15 pm

I Do Not Like “Your” Christians….

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….

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March 29, 2013 · 2:47 pm

McCrory Eliminates Latino Outreach Office

North Carolina’s new Republican Governor is succeeding nicely in his quest to infuriate as many people as possible and lead the march to GOP irrelevancy….

This shows just how seriously the Governor and the GOP take the concerns of one of the fastest growing demographic groups in the state and the country…

It’s really quite unbelievable how fast this man is moving to alienate people.  I just hope they remember this is his- and all the Republican’s agenda- come the next election.

There are fewer and fewer old white people left who support his kind of politics….

From the Charlotte Observer:

 

WASHINGTON North Carolina’s Latino advocates are voicing alarm following the governor’s decision to eliminate the state’s office for Latino affairs.

The closing of the Office of Hispanic/Latino affairs was sudden and caught many by surprise. The move appears to have exacerbated the already tense relationship between Republican Gov. Pat McCrory and the Latino community, including criticism over a driver’s license plan for young immigrants.

Advocates say it sends a message that McCrory and Raleigh conservatives are less concerned with the needs of the Latino community. Paradoxically, it comes at a time when issues of deep concern, such as immigration, are at the political forefront.

via McCrory eliminates Latino outreach office | CharlotteObserver.com.

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February 19, 2013 · 7:30 pm

North Carolina Slashes Jobless Benefits

Amazing….

Amazingly heartless, amazingly stupid and amazingly bad public policy….

I just can’t believe the People of North Carolina really want this…..even most of the ones who voted for these idiots.

But, of course, the GOP only cares about Corporations and Corporate welfare. They are the only “people” who matter to the Republicans.

Laura Clawson at DailyKos.com says it best:

Surprising no one, but brutalizing hundreds of thousands of people, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory, a Republican, signed major unemployment insurance cuts into law Tuesday. Under the new law, the maximum unemployment benefit is cut from $535 to $350, and the maximum weeks of eligibility are cut from 26 to 20, which cuts jobless North Carolinians off from the federal emergency unemployment compensation program.

The cutoff from federal benefits alone affects 170,000 people; overall, there are 400,000 unemployed North Carolinians.

The kicker is that this was done to protect businesses from having to pay higher unemployment taxes. But a big part of the reason it needed to be done was that North Carolina went into the recession with an underfunded unemployment insurance trust fund because of cuts to employer unemployment taxes. Now, with an unemployment rate of 9.2 percent, the fifth-highest in the country, the state is cutting the benefits that jobless people use to buy groceries and pay the rent and put gas in their cars to go to any job interviews they may be lucky enough to get.

Republican governance, y’all.

via Daily Kos: North Carolina slashes jobless benefits despite 9.2% unemployment.

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February 16, 2013 · 10:00 am

The North Carolina Nipple Police

North Carolina’s new GOP controlled legislature is living up to all my expectations….

With all the important issues like unemployment, education and infrastructure needs being ignored, they are focusing on ….

Nipples….

Maybe, after all,  we are safer if that’s where they keep their focus.  But sadly  they really are making themselves – and by default the state of North Carolina- a laughingstock to the rest of the country.

These Church Ladies seem intent on dragging us back to the days of Jesse Helms and the Andy Griffith Show.

But, I don’t think even Aunt Bea and Thelma would take too kindly to putting duct tape on their nipples…

Well, Aunt Bea might….

From RawStory.com:

North Carolina Republican state Rep. Tim Moore says that women can protect themselves from a new law that makes baring female breasts illegal by simply applying duct tape to their nipples.

On Wednesday, the state House Judiciary Committee C approved House Bill 34, which makes it a Class H felony to purposefully expose “private parts” for the “purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire.”

The bill expands the state’s definition of “private parts” to include a woman’s “nipple, or any portion of the areola.”

Republican state Rep. Rayne Brown told lawmakers that she was co-sponsoring the bill because activists had held a topless women’s rights rally in Asheville last summer, where as many as a dozen women bared their breasts

Although Brown’s district is 100 miles from Asheville, she felt it was important to act before women tried to assert their rights again by going topless at another rally.

“You’ve got local governments passing ordinances to protect themselves from just this thing,” she explained. “These folks don’t need to be doing that, but they do it because they’re not sure about the law.”

Under the proposed law, women could spend up to six months in jail for a first offense. “Incidental” nipple exposure by breastfeeding mothers would be exempt from the law.

Democratic state Rep. Annie Mobley said she worried that women wearing “questionable fashions” could be prosecuted under the new rules.

But Committee Chairwoman Rep. Sarah Steven (R) suggested that women could use pasties or nipple coverings just to be safe.

“They’d be good to go” with nipple coverings, Stevens said.

“You know what they say, duct tape fixes everything,” Republican state Rep. Tim Moore agreed.

via NC lawmaker: Women should ‘duct tape’ nipples to stay out of jail | The Raw Story.

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February 7, 2013 · 7:08 pm

North Carolina Unemployment Bill Would Lose State $600 Million In Federal Benefits

Things just keep getting worse and worse under the McCory administration….

This is not just morally wrong, it’s stupid.

Democrats have to do a better job of making people aware of the real Republican agenda.  I can’t help but think if people really knew what these guys were up to, they wouldn’t vote for them.  The GOP is dependent on smoke and mirrors to hide their insensitivity and true plans.

I have to blame the Dems for letting them get away with this….

I keep saying, if the NC Democrats knew how to run a political campaign, we would not have to suffer under these heartless, wrong-headed Republicans.

I can only hope the NC Democrats realize this and are going to get their act together before too many people and wonderful institutions are hurt or destroyed by the GOP legislature and the GOP Governor.

From Huffingtonpost.com:

 

North Carolina lawmakers are considering a bill that would slash unemployment benefits and cause the state to lose roughly $600 million worth of extended jobless compensation paid entirely by the federal government.

The measure would reduce the maximum weekly benefit from $530 to $350 per person. If it passes, North Carolina workers will no longer receive long-term compensation starting in July, since states cannot remain eligible for federal unemployment insurance if local lawmakers cut weekly benefit amounts. An estimated 80,000 people would miss out on federal extended benefits, according to the North Carolina Justice Center, a worker advocacy nonprofit. At $25 million per week, the total loss over time amounts to more than $600 million.

Policy experts said the move would be unprecedented. “It is pretty amazing,” the center’s Alexandra Sirota said in an interview. “As far as we know, no other state has rejected federal dollars to push that level of benefit cuts.”

More:   North Carolina Unemployment Bill Would Lose State $600 Million In Federal Benefits.

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January 30, 2013 · 8:58 am

Gomer Pyle Gets Hitched: Jim Nabors Marries His Longtime Male Partner

Well, no one saw this coming….

That’s sarcasm, in case you missed it….

Anyway, congratulations to Jim Nabors!

Mayberry will never be the same….

From WBTV Charlotte:

Jim Nabors, the Hawaii resident well known for his starring role in the 1960s television sitcom “Gomer Pyle, USMC,” married his longtime male partner early this month, he told Hawaii News Now Tuesday.

Nabors, 82, said he married his companion of 38 years, Stan Cadwallader, who’s 64, in Seattle on Jan. 15.

Nabors declined an on-camera interview but spoke to Hawaii News Now by phone.

“I’m 82 and he’s in his 60s and so we’ve been together for 38 years and I’m not ashamed of people knowing, it’s just that it was such a personal thing, I didn’t tell anybody,” Nabors said. “I’m very happy that I’ve had a partner of 38 years and I feel very blessed.  And, what can I tell you, I’m just very happy.”

Nabors said he and Cadwallader traveled to Washington state, where gay marriages became legal in early December 2012. They were married at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle.

A judge performed the marriage ceremony in the privacy of their hotel room with a couple of friends who live down the street from them near Diamond Head as witnesses, Nabors said.

Before they were married, Nabors said, “It’s pretty obvious that we had no rights as a couple, yet when you’ve been together 38 years, I think something’s got to happen there, you’ve got to solidify something.  And at my age, it’s probably the best thing to do.”

via EXCLUSIVE: Actor Jim Nabors marries his longtime male partner – WBTV 3 News, Weather, Sports, and Traffic for Charlotte, NC.

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January 29, 2013 · 4:49 pm

NC Gov McCrory Takes on UNC- Wants to Focus Higher Ed Funding on Vocational Training, Not Liberal Arts

What an absolute ass….

My experience has been that the best leaders and managers have liberal arts educations.  It teaches you to think broadly, critically and to problem solve.  A Liberal Arts Education has longterm benefits besides making life much more interesting and enjoyable.

Vocational education teaches specific skills that can easily become redundant as the marketplace, automation and industry moves to different phases.  It’s a short term solution to immediate corporate hiring needs.

This fool may lead to my return to blogging on this site on a more regular basis….

From the News and Observer:

 

Gov. Pat McCrory said he would propose legislation to overhaul the way higher education is funded in North Carolina, putting the emphasis on job creation not liberal arts and taking specific aim at the state’s flagship university.

“I think some of the educational elite have taken over our education where we are offering courses that have no chance of getting people jobs,” McCrory told conservative talk show host Bill Bennett, the former education secretary for President Ronald Reagan, during an interview Tuesday morning.

McCrory echoed a crack the radio show host made at gender studies courses at UNC-Chapel Hill, a top tier public university. “That’s a subsidized course,” McCrory said, picking up the argument. “If you want to take gender studies that’s fine, go to a private school and take it. But I don’t want to subsidize that if that’s not going to get someone a job.”

The Republican governor said he instructed his staff Monday to draft legislation that would change how much state money universities and community colleges receive “not based on how many butts in seats but how many of those butts can get jobs.”

 

McCrory wants to revamp higher ed funding — takes aim at UNC-Chapel Hill | newsobserver.com projects.

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