Good AM, folks!
The LTE's are a sandwich today, with a missive from a concerned citizen separating TB screeds.
Getting to know ALEC
ALEC is a group that links corporate executives with state legislators from over the United States with the purpose of drafting model legislation that favors the corporations rather than the American people. The legislators then import the model legislation to their respective states with the sole purpose of passing them into state law. Among the corporate members of ALEC are Koch Industries, AT&T, Pfizer, Exxon Mobil, State Farm Insurance and Wal-Mart.
The process of drafting the model legislation is much too complicated to describe here, but anything the corporation/legislator partnership decides must pass a vote of the board of directors. The board has 22 members, and all are Republican legislators in this so-called nonpartisan group.
One of the issues high on the ALEC list of legislation this year was Voter ID. The purpose of the proposed legislation was to disenfranchise millions of voters who typically vote for Democrats.
Of special interest to citizens in North Carolina is the fact that Thom Tillis, N.C. House majority leader, was one of eight legislators from around the country to be awarded an a 2011 ALEC Legislator of the Year. I suggest readers crank up their computers and google "American Legislative Exchange Council" and begin learning. They may be shocked.
ANNE GRIFFIS WILSON
Winston-Salem
Relatively speaking
The article "Hunger study calls area worst in U.S." (Aug. 17) was disturbing.
As a retired math teacher, I do feel the wording of the survey question did impact the answer. Lots of individuals and families could probably say "yes" to the statement "at times I did not have money to buy food" if it's two or three days before pay day. Does this mean they were hungry? Not necessarily. They may have food at home — they just couldn't buy food now.
On the flipside however, the same survey statement was asked in all 100 metro areas. So relatively speaking, this may be some sad but valid data for comparing communities.
What if this 35 percent of households with children who said "yes" could grow some of their own food? This could be possible with the many local efforts to assist families to do just that through a community garden project. Reap More Than You Sow is a local nonprofit initiative that helps establish and maintain community gardens in the Winston-Salem area. Assistance is also available through the Forsyth County Extension Service.
Rewording a famous quote, "Give me food, I'll eat for a day. Teach me to garden, I'll eat for a lifetime," makes a lot of sense. Consider also that people are getting exercise, eating healthier, improving the environment and beautifying the community. Maybe we should help people help themselves by supporting community gardens — a concept that needs "fertilizing" locally.
WALLACE WILLIAMSON
Rural Hall
Protecting marriage
Each year for the past eight years, legislators from both parties, Republican and Democratic, have proposed legislation to allow voters in North Carolina to vote on protecting marriage in our state's constitution. Why? Although our current laws define marriage as between a man and a woman and prohibit people of the same sex from marrying, these are statutes that are subject to being overturned either by activist judges or by future legislatures.
Courts in several states have already done this. Courts in Iowa, Massachusetts and Connecticut legalized gay marriage, not because the citizens of those states chose it but because judges unilaterally imposed it. Legislatures in Vermont, New Hampshire and New York imposed gay marriage on their citizens using stealth and high-handed political tactics to win.
After courts in California and Maine ruled their states' marriage statutes unconstitutional and forced gay marriage onto their citizens, voters passed constitutional amendments returning the law to the recognition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Every state where voters have been allowed to vote on marriage (30 in all) has voted to adopt a marriage amendment. Bringing up a constitutional amendment for marriage is not giving legislators the vote to decide the definition of marriage; it's giving the people the vote to decide. It's time to let the people vote so that North Carolina's marriage laws are not decided by activist judges or future legislators. A decision this important should be left up to the people.
ELLEN BOOSE
Winston-Salem
The LTE's are a sandwich today, with a missive from a concerned citizen separating TB screeds.
Getting to know ALEC
Learning about ALEC — the American Legislative Exchange Council — is a study in how to convert a democracy of the people to a plutocracy for wealthy corporations.
The process of drafting the model legislation is much too complicated to describe here, but anything the corporation/legislator partnership decides must pass a vote of the board of directors. The board has 22 members, and all are Republican legislators in this so-called nonpartisan group.
One of the issues high on the ALEC list of legislation this year was Voter ID. The purpose of the proposed legislation was to disenfranchise millions of voters who typically vote for Democrats.
Of special interest to citizens in North Carolina is the fact that Thom Tillis, N.C. House majority leader, was one of eight legislators from around the country to be awarded an a 2011 ALEC Legislator of the Year. I suggest readers crank up their computers and google "American Legislative Exchange Council" and begin learning. They may be shocked.
ANNE GRIFFIS WILSON
Winston-Salem
Relatively speaking
The article "Hunger study calls area worst in U.S." (Aug. 17) was disturbing.
As a retired math teacher, I do feel the wording of the survey question did impact the answer. Lots of individuals and families could probably say "yes" to the statement "at times I did not have money to buy food" if it's two or three days before pay day. Does this mean they were hungry? Not necessarily. They may have food at home — they just couldn't buy food now.
On the flipside however, the same survey statement was asked in all 100 metro areas. So relatively speaking, this may be some sad but valid data for comparing communities.
What if this 35 percent of households with children who said "yes" could grow some of their own food? This could be possible with the many local efforts to assist families to do just that through a community garden project. Reap More Than You Sow is a local nonprofit initiative that helps establish and maintain community gardens in the Winston-Salem area. Assistance is also available through the Forsyth County Extension Service.
Rewording a famous quote, "Give me food, I'll eat for a day. Teach me to garden, I'll eat for a lifetime," makes a lot of sense. Consider also that people are getting exercise, eating healthier, improving the environment and beautifying the community. Maybe we should help people help themselves by supporting community gardens — a concept that needs "fertilizing" locally.
WALLACE WILLIAMSON
Rural Hall
Protecting marriage
Each year for the past eight years, legislators from both parties, Republican and Democratic, have proposed legislation to allow voters in North Carolina to vote on protecting marriage in our state's constitution. Why? Although our current laws define marriage as between a man and a woman and prohibit people of the same sex from marrying, these are statutes that are subject to being overturned either by activist judges or by future legislatures.
Courts in several states have already done this. Courts in Iowa, Massachusetts and Connecticut legalized gay marriage, not because the citizens of those states chose it but because judges unilaterally imposed it. Legislatures in Vermont, New Hampshire and New York imposed gay marriage on their citizens using stealth and high-handed political tactics to win.
After courts in California and Maine ruled their states' marriage statutes unconstitutional and forced gay marriage onto their citizens, voters passed constitutional amendments returning the law to the recognition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Every state where voters have been allowed to vote on marriage (30 in all) has voted to adopt a marriage amendment. Bringing up a constitutional amendment for marriage is not giving legislators the vote to decide the definition of marriage; it's giving the people the vote to decide. It's time to let the people vote so that North Carolina's marriage laws are not decided by activist judges or future legislators. A decision this important should be left up to the people.
ELLEN BOOSE
Winston-Salem
LTE1: A smart ALEC LTE? How many jobs, goods, and services do Koch Industries, AT&T, Pfizer, Exxon Mobil, State Farm Insurance and Wal-Mart provide? If people want to be scared, they should "crank up their computers" and Google "SEIU."
ReplyDeleteLTE2: I generally agree with the LTE writer. And our #1 ranking is sad. But, as for growing food, a good idea in principle, some will be unable for reasons ranging from space availabililty to infirmity, while others will be inhibited by the entitlement mentality conferred on them for decades.
That said, the quote makes a lot of sense, plus it reminds me of similar one: Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish, and he'll stand beside a lake and drink beer all day. Life can indeed be improved :)
LTE3: Methinks the LTE writer opposes gay marriage, and thus is another conservative with a selective view of privacy and individual rights.
Anne Wilson sure sounds all a twitter this am. ALEC has only been around since the early 1970s. They even have a DC office and everything. Not a bunker or hideaway in the woods. Their motto is: Limited Government,Free Markets and Federalism. Back in the early days of their existence,even some Democrats believed in these ideas. Libertarians still do, hence the "non partisan" part. The fact that the Right will no longer allow the Left to be the only shaper of public policy seems to unnerve some people.
ReplyDeleteFor a "non-partisan" group, the entire board of directors of ALEC, all 22 of them, are Republican legislators. The Private Enterprise Board looks like a who's who of Energy, Big oil, Tobacco, Pharmaceuticals, Insurance, including the Koch brothers.
ReplyDeletethey have a very nice mission statement, but it's just a marriage of R's and Big Business, nothing new.
ReplyDeleteAlmost makes you want to read the google entries in a dark closet with a flashlight?
ReplyDeletelol, no closets for me anymore.
ReplyDeleteOne of the Board members, Curry Todd, suggested that pregnant immigrants will "multiply" like "rats" if they are not asked about their citizenship status.
ReplyDeleteI predicted similar to this the other day:
ReplyDeleteBREAKING NEWS:
President Obama has just confirmed that the DC earthquake occurred on a rare and obscure fault-line, apparently known as "Bush's Fault".
Obama also announced that the Secret Service and Maxine Waters continue an investigation of the quake's suspicious ties to the Tea Party.
...
Conservatives however have proven that it was caused by the founding fathers rolling over in their graves.
Representative Eric Cantor said he wanted to cut the funding for the US Geological Survey back in March. It is ironic that the earthquake was centered in his district. Cantor has done a lot more damage in DC than the earthquake.
ReplyDeleteThen maybe the fault should be called
ReplyDelete"Cantor's Fault"? The quake would have quaked, funding or no I'm betting.
In 1980, ALEC co-founder Paul Weyrich told a group of 15,000 conservative preachers in Dallas:
ReplyDelete"Now many of our Christians have what I call the "goo goo" syndrome. Good Government. They want everybody to vote. I don't want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people. They never have been from the beginning of our country, and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down."
Hey Bob, read your email.
ReplyDeleteah, thanks, will do, :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like that darned "electoral" vote problem all over again. Back in 1980 and before and a while after, lower turnouts favored Republicans. In the last 10-15 years, that has shifted.
ReplyDeleteMs Boose....a lot of judges and legislators believe that they can tell people what is generally accepted as normal sexual behavior within a society. Even if gay marriage is legalized, it will not be the norm.
ReplyDeleteDeviant sexual behavior has been taboo throughout history, and it will remain so despite liberals' efforts to ram such behavior down our throats.
Gender neutral housing changes proposed for UNC
ReplyDeleteRoommates at UNC might not have to be of the same sex if a proposal — currently in its early stages — is approved by administrators.
This fall, a group of students is working to draft a petition that would allow men and women to share apartments and rooms in UNC’s residence halls.
Organizers said their proposal will be modeled after similar programs on campuses like Duke University, the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Michigan.
The new option could discourage harassment issues between roommates who don’t have the same sexual preferences, he said.
taken from The Daily Tarheel
This is something I'm glad to see. Why should homosexual students be able to leer at heterosexuals students as they change clothes in their dorm rooms, and verbally harass them on their beliefs regarding same sex marriage or other gay and lesbian issues?
Sounds like a phobia to me.
ReplyDeleteGood afternoon folks!
ReplyDeleteLTE 1: I believe I recognize Ms. Wilson's name as a poster on the Journal forum. It is no surprise or secret that there are large groups of well-heeled contributors who finance political campaigns across the country with the expectation of having their agenda enacted into the law. That's why you see so many similar pieces of legislation proposed in so many states. They are getting their marching orders from these groups. It's not unique to the Republicans, as there are also similar groups that order the "D"'s around. Campaign finance was supposed to do away with this, but it hasn't happened.
LTE 2: I have seen similar proposals, and it is a good idea if there is enough land available in the community and some fair and enforced distribution system can be set up.
LTE 3:"A decision this important should be left up to the people." - maybe that earthquake was triggered by the founding fathers seeing this LTE generated. A prime example of why they did NOT want a democracy and opted instead for a republic. So, if this amendment is passed, marriage will be "protected" from cheating and abusive spouses and all divorce will magically come to an end? Will everyone begin selecting the right partner and never change as a person from when they first marry until death? Oh, please. Judges are there to prevent the majority from running over the rights of the minority. If you're against homosexual marriage, then don't marry someone of the same sex. Problem solved.
left out "reform" after "Campaign finance". it's Friday and my brain is thinking the weekend. I did fix my formview problem from yesterday :)
ReplyDeleteHello AJV!
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of colleges, there is a Mennonite school that is banning the playing of the National Anthem before sporting events. Goshen College, in IN, says it is too violent.
http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/sports/Indiana-College-Bans-Too-Violent-National-Anthem-128394343.html
Could it be because the students were leering at the guns that the color-guard was carrying while the anthem was playing?
ReplyDeleteBucky, bucky, bucky, if I've told you once, I've told you a hundred times: "Heterosexuality is not normal, it's just common." Dorothy Parker
ReplyDeleteAJV:
ReplyDeleteIs that color guard carrying concealed weapons or instead glad to see Bucky?
Good grief! I guess they respect the "diverse" views of their student body. All but the ones that approve of the anthem I guess. Instead of a school "fight song", they have a school "surrender song"? Or a compromise song? Our national anthem is so powerful, that when the British army heard it sung the first time, they dropped their arms and fled in terror.
ReplyDeleteOnly Bucky can say or on second thought I'd rather not know.
ReplyDeleteThe melody for the Star Spangled Banner was the official song of the Anacreontic Society, an 18th-century gentlemen's club of amateur musicians in London. It was often associated with drinking songs. The British most likely heard the tune, dropped their arms, and ran to the nearest tavern for a pint. :)
ReplyDeleteBob..Hah!! Probably true. The ones near Baltimore had to walk on a lot of water to get there. The song is a b---- to sing to this day.
ReplyDeleteOr to listen to when some "artist" turns makes "free" polysyllabic and stretches it into next week.
ReplyDeleteit's alledge that the drinking song was used as a sobriety test, if you could sing the song and hit all the notes, you were sober, :) and apparently, the National Anthem had never been played before games at Goshen until On Jan. 21, 2010, the Goshen College President’s Council, led by President Jim Brenneman, announced that it had decided to allow the Athletic Department to play an instrumental version of the national anthem prior to select sports events starting that spring. It's been around for 117 years
ReplyDeleteI hate it when these "artists" butcher the song like you mentioned. Personally, I can do with just the instrumental version played traditionally and well. The crowd always knows when to start cheering anyway.
ReplyDeletelol, I didn't get that quite right, if you could sing a stanza and hit all the notes, then you were sober enough for another round.
ReplyDeleteI bet if the singer offered to buy the next round, he would be declared sober even were he singing from flat on his back on the floor.
ReplyDeletethe SSB actually has 5 stanzas and a 6th was added by Oliver Wendell Holmes in 1861
ReplyDeletelol, no doubt, Stab, no doubt
ReplyDeletemuch better
ReplyDeleteIf you are too drunk to sing it, then the driving is all you are left with.
ReplyDeleteI was in Belize 12 years ago and there was a significant population of Mennonites there
ReplyDeleteIf Affirmative Action is legal discrimination, then why can't the government discriminate against homosexuals and not allow gay marriage?
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't make it past the first round. I can never hit that Bb4 in the rocket's red glare.
ReplyDeletehmm, I give up, why? Knock, Knock?
ReplyDeleteMennonites in Belize? Lost maybe?
ReplyDeleteHey Bob, check your FB messages (unrelated to earlier).
ReplyDeleteApparently when they were run out of Ohio in the late 19th Century, they settled in Belize, which was British at the time and the only area in Central American where English was spoken. They are farmers and money changers. At the time you couldn't exchange your Belize dollars back for American, so the Mennonites would do it for a fee of course.
ReplyDeleteMerriam Webster says othewise, Bobby. Who is Dorothy Parker? Let me take a guess. She is a gay and lesbian activist?
ReplyDeleteBelize is really nice to visit, and easy, English is spoken, the Belize dollar is always 2 for 1, it cheap, beautiful, and has the second largest coral reef in the world, just off it's coast.
ReplyDeleteA former CBO official is now saying that Obamacare will add another $1 trillion to the federal deficit, not reduce it as once reported. What the heck, we can just add that screw-up to the many others made by the Obama Administration.
ReplyDeleteA trillion here, a trillion there...
Who is Dorothy Parker?!? Lordy, have mercy (heavy..heavy sigh)
ReplyDeleteNo she is an American Short story writer and poet famous for saying, Many things
ReplyDelete“You can drag a horticulture, but you can't make her think.”
“I'd rather have a bottle in front of me, than a frontal lobotomy.”
“It's a small apartment, I've barely enough room to lay my hat and a few friends.”
“That woman speaks 18 languages and can't say "No" in any of them”
But her best was saved for her editor who was bugging her about deadlines while on her honeymoon, She telegrammed him:
ReplyDeleteToo Fucking Busy, and vice versa.
Ahhh, a lady of refinement and dedication to purpose.
ReplyDeleteYou should take one out, instead of rolling around with those hairy buttocked gay bucks you hang out with.
ReplyDeletefirst, I like smooth, second, I don't hang out, and third, all the rolling around I ever did is now fully covered by the statute of limitations.
ReplyDelete“I wish I could drink like a lady / I can take one or two at the most / Three and I'm under the table / Four and I'm under the host”
ReplyDeleteDorothy even thought of you, Bucky: “With the crown of thorns I wear, why should I be bothered with a prick like you?”
ReplyDeleteThis may help in understanding Bucky from faculty.mdc.edu/jmcnair/Joe5pages/Psychosexual:
ReplyDeleteAnal Fixation
Anal-Expulsive Personality: If the parents are too lenient and fail to instill the society's rules about bowel movement control, the child will derive pleasure and success from the expulsion. Individuals with a fixation on this mode of gratification are excessively sloppy, disorganized, reckless, careless, and defiant.
Anal-Retentive Personality: If a child receives excessive pressure and punishment from parents during toilet training, he will experience anxiety over bowl movements and take pleasure in being able to withhold such functions. Individuals who fail to progress pass this stage are obsessively clean and What do
you think?
orderly, and intolerant of those who aren't. They may also be very careful, stingy, withholding, obstinate, meticulous, conforming and passive-aggressive.
works for me, dotnet
ReplyDeleteParker was actually quite attractive in her younger days, before the drinking and smoking caught up with her.
ReplyDeleteBut then I've always liked funny women. Sarah Silverman's been a nerd crush of mine for years.
I looked her up on Google, not bad in younger days, as you note, a bit hard as she aged, indeed.
ReplyDeleteHey Bucky, she bedded a bisexual guy.
dotnet....I rarely read your jibber jabber. It's much like eating sawdust, it does nothing for your mind or your body.
ReplyDeletelol, yea, her husband, she always said: "he's queer as a billygoat."
ReplyDeleteShe also got another bi guy along the way.
ReplyDeletehmm, never had sawdust, how do you prepare it, Bucky?
ReplyDeleteHey Stab....I'm ready for my daily admonishment.
ReplyDeleteShe lived in Hollywood, oy, and like she said, "Scratch an actor and you'll find an actress."
ReplyDeleteGood PM, Bucky. I hope you're well.
ReplyDeleteThat's kinda scary in a way, Bob. Does that mean if you scratch an actress, you'll find an actor?
ReplyDeleteBucky, I'd avoid the movie scene were I you, might get your gender preferences all turned around :D
That's because my intended audience generally does not include you, Bucky. Jibber-jabber is an admission that the content of my posts is beyond your comprehension.
ReplyDeletelol, happy LABOR day, Stab, ;)
ReplyDeletethat's next weekend, duh
ReplyDeleteHey Bob, thank you much, and the same to you, unionized or otherwise :)
ReplyDelete"Sometimes I'm so clever, even I don't know what I'm saying." Oscar Wilde
ReplyDeleteIndeed...well, sir. I'm still working on my Charles Darwin piece. I think I'm going to entitle it in manner consistent with current thinking on gay matters.
ReplyDeleteHow to enjoy a badend, in a straight world.
What do you think?
should be enlightening, I've never lived in a straight world. Want to give us a snippet? How do you enjoy a badend, bucky?
ReplyDeleteSince this is going to be Darwinesque, it must be an empirical work.
ReplyDeletePlease footnote the details.
ReplyDeleteMale Homosexuality Can Be Explained Through A Specific Model Of Darwinian Evolution, Study Shows
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080617204459.htm
there's the prebuttal.
actually, you can spare us the details
ReplyDeleteSorry Bobby, I couldn't respond. I guess the government does a download about this time of day.
ReplyDeleteRE: My dissertation....you're going to love it Bobby. Just trust me.
It is too funny that many Republicans want to limit the rights of their fellow citizens when their party was founded on the motto "Free Labor, Free Land and Free Men." As far as ALEC goes, it might be the Legion Of Doom, but I am sure there is a counter part group for Dems as well that looks no better. Corporations want to make lots of money, that's why they exist. Attempting to ensure a friendly tax and regulatory environment is but one component in their pursuit of that goal.
ReplyDeleteLocal and community gardens are fantastic for the local populaces health and the local economy. I saw several posters talk about ensuring their is enough land. Most urban farms use land that is unsuitable for living, like steep hills or flood plains. In Urban areas the top of multistory buildings can be used if designed properly.
I agree with you though stab, for some populations, the entitlement mentality is a great obstacle. Why do the work of farming when your food stamps allow you to buy a Pepsi and a bag of Doritos? I do not advocate the ending of the program, but it needs to be revamped to encourage healthy eating.
Opps forgot they are not food stamps any more, it is the EBT card. BIG difference lol.
ReplyDeleteIt's projected that half of the U.S. population will be obese by 2030. And wouldn't you know it, we've a got a first lady telling us how to eat healthy food, and her backside looks like it was hit by a Mack truck. Please.
ReplyDeleteBucky...
ReplyDeleteA debater commits the Ad Hominem Fallacy when he introduces irrelevant personal premisses about his opponent. Such red herrings may successfully distract the opponent or the audience from the topic of the debate.
She might have a largish backside, but She does not have a Mack truck's tire (or 2) around her abdomen like a truly obese person.
"I like big butts and I can not lie
You other brothers can't deny
That when a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist
And a round thing in your face
You get sprung"
- Sir Mix-A-Lot
Forgot to put in the reference for the definition. sorry
ReplyDeletehttp://www.fallacyfiles.org/adhomine.html
lol, Hi Andrew, Bucky gets confused when one speaks of valid inference and correct reasoning.
ReplyDeleteCameron Diaz, Charlie's Angels, a memorable scene
Andrew....you might want to reread your reference-particularly the section under subfallacies, abusive.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to debate nonsensical babble, I suggest you do it with Kit/Rush. He's an expert at it.
Sometimes I feel like I'm at batting practice in here, and they're all softballs. Jeeez.
ReplyDeleteUPDATE: ESPN is coming down on Paul Azinger for mocking President Obama on Twitter. The golf analyst tweeted Thursday the commander in chief plays more golf than he does -- and that Azinger has created more jobs this month than Obama has.
ReplyDeleteThe politically correct news world strikes again.
I'm not sure I understand Bucky. You are pointing out the particular type you preformed. Just because it may be effective does not keep it from being an ad hominem fallacy.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I do not know who kit/rush is. Though I'm glad to debate anyone who wants to.
Okay Andrew.....Kit/Rush is a regular in here. He'll be yapping away soon. He gets tanked up about this time. He has his PhD in psychiatry and works for the ACLU.
ReplyDeleteHe'll make perfect sense to you.
New tid bit....Obama vs. Reagan....both inherited terrible economies. At the same point in President Reagan's presidency in his first term as Obama's, the economy was growing at a 6% rate, Obama's is growing at less 1%.
ReplyDeleteHi guys!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry I missed such a fun day!
So I was just sharing the content of today's and yesterday's conversation with Jason (particularly the Leopard's Limb, as he enjoys a good beer)... and Jason said:
"Geez, what's wrong with that guy Bucky? He sounds like that closeted wingnut LG from the normal forum."
VERBATIM!
Wow, funny.
Cool it Reille....your boyfriend, Johnny, is going to the slammer soon.
ReplyDeleteSharon, please thank Jason for the late evening chuckle.
ReplyDelete