Good AM, folks. All honors to the fallen and their bereaved on this anniversary.The photo is a remembrance set up for our church service this AM. We in the choir processed into the sanctuary behind our ministers, the acolyte and a bagpiper. One of our associate pastors began crying as she delivered the congregational prayer.
Our other associate pastor gave a sermon on forgiveness, at one point quoting someone as saying that forgiveness enables one to take away the ability of oppressors/aggressors/et al to get inside one's own head. That's tough medicine to take, but he and his source are correct.
The choir, of which I am an off-key part, sang an anthem and an offertory, "Remembrance," and "How Long," both fitting for the day. It was a moving church service, with few dry eyes left before it ended. I was honored to have a very small part.
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Readers' Forum poster JFHlion is the Correspondent of the Week. He so far has not acted on my invitation to join us here.
THE LTE's:
Favorite topics
I spent Labor Day morning reading my favorite part of the Journal, the editorial pages, and I found that things really don't change.
The left was well represented, as always, harping on their favorite topics: Abortion, the possible reduction of big government, the fear that unions are being busted, their open-door policy on immigration and their latest campaign on gay marriage. The irony of these rants is that they always seem to leave out a few facts.
Abortion is touted to help the incest and rape victims as well as to protect the mothers' health. Do they actually believe these terrible situations are more than a tiny, tiny percentage of the millions of abortions being done?
Government shrinking: It is big government that will determine abortion availability, marriage opportunities and immigration. Be careful what you wish for.
Unions have accomplished a lot: the 40-hour work
week, paid vacations, health care and full employment in China.
How can it be cheaper to make something 5,000 miles away with 9 percent
unemployment here?
Gay marriage: I don't care about who marries whom; I do care about the 40 percent of children born to single women. These are the children who have a greater probability to end up in jail than college. Maybe the onus should be on the unwed, not the wed.
KEN HOGLUND
Clemmons
Abolish the blue law
Bravo to state legislators for their bill on the hours for beer and wine sales on Sundays. The Journal editorial on Sept. 4 ("No real need to change law," Sept. 4) advocates letting the current House Bill 796 die, but I believe many in this community would welcome the abolishment of the Sunday "blue law" that prevents beer and wine sales before noon.
As a non-religious family of seven, we often shop for groceries on a Sunday morning, only to be frustrated that we can't buy any beer or wine before noon. The Journal makes the statement that "Religious leaders have a legitimate argument against Sunday sales." Really? Please explain how the separation of church and state is completely overlooked when it comes to buying booze on a Sunday morning.
Are churches worried that their congregations will leave early (or not show up at all) to be the first in line for beer?
TRAVIS HARGETT
Kernersville
The state of marriage
Many of the Journal's letter writers who write concerning the passage of a constitutional marriage amendment forget one important aspect of marriage in North Carolina: What is the state of marriage between men and women in North Carolina?
Does North
Carolina enjoy a lower rate of divorce than any other state when only men
marry only women? The statistics would tend to indicate "no." Do North Carolina
Christians enjoy a lower rate of divorce than any other state when the church
performs their marriages? The statistics would tend to indicate "no." Who are
these men and women who think that only men and women are capable of maintaining
a healthy relationship inside of marriage?
I'm neither opposed to nor for a marriage amendment. I often find, though, that the people advocating for it are more worried that the homosexual community might have a better success rate in maintaining committed, marital relationships than their heterosexual counterparts.
What if homosexuals who were married had better
success rates in maintaining committed marital relationships than those married
in the Christian church? What would that say about the state of marriage inside
the Christian
church in N.C.? If that were the case, what would that say about the state
of marriage in N.C.?
Maybe those advocating for a marriage amendment should first make sure that men and women can maintain healthy, committed, marital relationships before denying others the privilege to marry.
PATRICK MILLER
Deep Gap
Like anyone else
Rep. Dale Folwell held a press conference on Sept. 6 not to talk about what was wrong with same-sex marriage but to talk about what's wrong with being gay. They trotted out the same old clichés that most thinking people got past years ago. But if Folwell really feels that way and thinks he can accomplish something by demonizing gay people, then he needs to introduce legislation against homosexuality rather than same-sex marriage and see how well that flies.
With no due respect, that ship has sailed. Most people in America understand that sexual orientation is just as innate in people as the color of their skin or their eyes.
Most straight North Carolinians know people who are gay and understand that they're really just like anyone else and deserve the right to make their own decisions about their own lives without Big Brother giving them orders.
One has to wonder why these conservatives are so obsessed about what consenting adults do in their own bedrooms; their interest borders on perversion. Why can't they just live and let live? Why do they have to meddle and try to control every aspect of the people's lives?
Whatever their religious beliefs are, in a free country like America, they don't have the right to impose them on anyone else, and they would resent any other group trying to do the same.
There goes my vote, Folwell.
WILLIAM B. PERRY
Winston-Salem
Sum It Up:
Do you think President Obama's jobs plan will be effective?
CORRESPONDENT OF THE WEEK
Outmoded thinking
Racism? Surely no person can honestly believe that disagreeing with President Obama's policies reflect a disparagement of the color of his skin. I happen to like Herman Cain very much, so how does one reconcile this position?
The problem is outmoded thinking and policies that
have burdened this country while having no positive effect. How does one believe
that when one's debt limit has been breached and various evaluators of credit
worthiness have made cautionary statements about current policy, that the
rational/responsible answer would lie in asking for an increase in one's line of
credit? Who would walk into his local
bank and make the argument that being given additional money to "invest" in
a new car would improve an already tenuous financial situation?
How does one square the policy of having the National
Labor Relations Board, with the president's support, halt the ability of Boeing
to hire 1,000 people in South
Carolina simply because those folks do not want to be unionized? How is this
policy pro-jobs and pro-economic growth?
None of the above has to do with the color of one's skin. They have everything to do with the substance of one's policies. To think otherwise reflects an outlook much more dangerous and problematic than base prejudice.
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JOHN F. HAGEMAN
Winston-Salem
LTE1: Yes, unions have helped reduce Chinese unemployment. And President Obama seems bent on continuing his patrons' assistance to China. See the LTE from the Correspondent of the Week.
ReplyDeleteLTE2: I agree with this bold LTE. I will admit, however, after I moved to CA, I was a bit startled to see hard liquor available for sale in grocery stores on Sunday AM's. The sun still continued to rise, however, so after my first trip to the store, I took no further notice. And having beer available was indeed convenient.
LTE3: This LTE makes good points.
LTE4: No argument here.
Sum It Up: I think President Obama is hoping he can sell this plan to his opponents, while really hoping the economy will start to cure itself, letting him take credit, thanks to his stimulus.
That said, it probably will not hurt, on balance, but I don't want this to be a payoff to unions. There need to be specific requirements to prevent that.
Correspondent of the Week: JH is dead-on here, particularly in his penultimate paragraph. The NLRB's suit against Boeing is criminal. Also criminal is the Board's instituting card check in spite of Congress' refusal to enact it. This alone mandates President Obama's defeat in 2012.
Oh boy, I've got to love Travis Hargett's letter regarding the "blue laws". This is a perfect example of government intruding into the lives of citizens on behalf of religion.
ReplyDeleteThe law regarding sales of alcohol in NC is the same for Monday through Saturday. But it is different on Sunday. Why? Catering to the whims of christians.
When I was a teenager and first began taking an interest in such matters, there were only two cities in NC where you could buy beer at ANY time on Sunday, Greensboro and Carolina Beach. People drove for 100 miles or more to take advantage of those two havens of freedom. The preachers termed them Sodom and Gomorrah.
Of course back then, the blue laws reigned supreme, because the christians had total control. Very few businesses could even be open on Sunday…gas stations, restaurants (no alcohol, of course), hotels and motels, drug stores (prescription drugs, soda fountains and newspapers only…if they sold other items, those areas had to be roped off), maybe a couple of others. Loony? Yep.
Not too long afterward, greed overwhelmed the christians, who were a part of the greed, and eventually nearly every kind of business was allowed to operate on Sundays and even 24 hours per day if they so desired.
But the christians stuck stubbornly to the alcohol laws. It was a big day for real Americans when Sunday alcohol sales became widely available statewide. But the Sunday time restriction has remained for many years.
The Journal editorial that Mr. Hargett references actually said this:
"Religious leaders have a legitimate argument against the Sunday sales. It was only a few years ago that Sunday sales were moved from 1 p.m. to noon to accommodate the Panthers. That really didn't hurt religious sensibilities because most services are done by noon. But at 11, many are still in progress."
What utter nonsense. Civil law has nothing to do with "religious sensibilities". If I am a christian sitting in church at 11 AM on Sunday, what business is it of mine if somebody else is having a beer at a bar down the street?
The Journal editorialists are just as crazy as the christian ministers. If beer sales are allowed beginning at 5 AM Monday through Saturday, then they should be allowed at 5 AM on Sundays as well. Got to love the great insanity of American life.
Republished from yesterday: (The Kat posed as a new poster yesterday, Fam.)
ReplyDeleteSomehow, again, in Kitty Kat's twisted, little pea-headed mind, he thinks he's pulled off the coup d'etat with his little ruse. People have been doing that since Al Gore invented the internet. What a nitwit!
I knew whoever it was, it/she/he was a liberal wanna be because of all of the politically correct language. He said something without really saying anything. Much like you do all the time Kitty Kat.
It's interesting how yet again the 'ole Kat has ducked a question that I posed to him. It seems he knows everything about everything, but when the time comes to answer one of my questions, he comes up moronic.
His ignorant babble about the Patriot Act proves that he knows nothing about some of the things that he, quickly and readily, condemns. A typical liberal, idiot's perspective on something that justs comes from a conservative lawmaker illicits tired, old, Democratic phraseology.
The sad part of this reality show is that people like Kitty Kat are walking around everywhere, and people wonder why so many things go undone, and why so many 'crazy' things happen in life.
It's a Kitty Kat world out there.
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Craziness is all around us. Just look at what happened on 9/11, some ten years ago.
No incumbent president in recent history has won re-election with the unemployment rate anywhere near the current 9.1 percent.
ReplyDeleteCNN
Mr. Hageman's logic has not improved since he started using his real name.
ReplyDeleteHe speaks of racism, then gives himself away by using the old racist's line "Why some of my best friends are black."
And it is a shame that very few colleges these days require a single course in economics, so that people would know that there is nothing in common between one's household budget and the national budget.
To cite one tiny difference, one's personal line of finance is determined by bankers using a simple, tried and true economic formula. The national debt limit is arbitrarily set by politicians using a political expediency formula.
The US is in no sense anywhere near "bankruptcy", and could carry significantly more debt if necessary. The debt needs to be addressed at some point, but the most important matter at the moment is getting the crippled economy rolling and reducing unemployment, which will be helped by more spending. I am disappointed that the president did not ask for a trillion dollars in the latest round.
The yield on 10 year treasuries is now just under 2 percent.
ReplyDeleteYeah...we really hit the debt limit. People are SO scared of lending us money now. Hyperinflation is just around the corner too.
Good PM, folks!
ReplyDeleteSome of JH's LTE may indeed be arguable, but his comment re the NLRB is spot on.
HEADLINE: STAB AGREES WITH HAGEMAN ON NLRB
ReplyDeleteIn a stunning announcement from his headquarters in Winston-Salem, NC, Mr. Stab today said that he agreed with Mr. Hageman's negative characterization of the NLRB. Reporters from around the world rushed to Winston-Salem to seek confirmation of this startling news. The White House went on full alert and the Department of Homeland Security issued a statement asking the American people to remain calm.
Hi OT,
ReplyDeleteYes, earthshaking news, indeed. How do you feel about that lawsuit, and about the NLRB instituting card check, which should be a legislative perogative (and should have been declared unconstitutional in 1968), by bureaucratic fiat?
In regard to a discussion yesterday about lobbying and unions, corporations love to make a fuss about unions, but the truth is that unions are so weakened these days that they really don't care enough to go after them.
ReplyDeleteInstead, much lobbying focus at the moment is aimed at finding a way to bring money stashed in foreign banks, estimated to be about $1 trillion, into the US without paying taxes on it.
The top 10 overseas stashes:
1. General Electric $94 billion
2. Pfizer 48.2
3. Merck 40.4
4. Johnson & Johnson 37
5. Exxon Mobil 35 More than 80% of its 2009 profit came from overseas, Fortune reports.
6. Citigroup 32.1
7. Cisco Systems 31.6
8. IBM (IBM) $31.1
9. Procter & Gamble $30
10. Microsoft 29.5
OT, your instruction on the doings of corporations is illuminating, and I pay attention to such info and adjust my thinking as required to fit the apparent truth.
ReplyDeleteMy arguments with unions are many, but the most basic argument is the trampling of individual rights in favor of empowering a few individuals in undemocratic political organizations.
My second argument is the negative effect unions have on productivity, work ethic, and ethics in general, as witness the violence in Longview WA, studious underreported, I note.
I wonder what sort of reportage would ensue if 500 right-handers invaded Solidarity House, damaged property, and held people against their will.
I believe the Longview event involved longshoremen, a special breed of thug.
ReplyDeleteMy friend's father was a dock superintendent in Tampa in the 1930s and had many wild tales about longshoremen, including one about a brawl that broke out in the hold of a ship that led to the ship sinking right beside the dock.
That must have been a fine brawl if it resulted puncturing the hull or capsizing the ship.
ReplyDeleteRaleigh, NC -- The gay marriage debate has arrived in North Carolina after years in which Democrats managed to push it aside because they controlled the Legislature.
ReplyDeleteNow Republicans are in charge of the General Assembly after a 140-year absence. They've scheduled a legislative session Monday to consider proposed constitutional amendments, including those that would let voters decide next year whether to define marriage in the state constitution as between one man and one woman.
State law already makes that restriction, but amendment supporters argue putting it in the constitution would help the state against challenges from same-sex couples married in the six states that allow the unions.
Gay rights supporters contend the constitutional change is unnecessary and would run counter to the trend of increased acceptance of gay couples.
The Democrats have screwed the pooch, and everybody else for over 100 years on a number of issues: forced annexation, budgetary issues, taxation, and no gay marriage amendment. It looks like the Republicans are trying to change some of those horrific decisions.
ReplyDeleteStab - that story was told when I was a child, so I'm hazy the details, but I believe that the brawlers somehow caused an explosion or a fire.
ReplyDeleteI thought there might be something about it online, but nothing turned up. I did find this from last August:
"We were on the Carnival Dream sailing 08/07 to 08/14 and heard that a brawl broke out in the dance club around 3:00 a.m. on the morning of the 12th. We heard from passengers and a bartender that the brawl started over a song. It involved so many young people (men and women) that the security on board was unable to handle everyone and had to call in assistance from wait staff and other crew members. The fight spilled over into the art gallery located next door and apparently a $10K painting was ruined with blood spatter. Flat screen tvs were smashed and there was a lot of damage done. We heard that people on the ground were getting kicked in the head by men and women and that one person needed to be revived because he was hurt so badly. We also heard that the crowd spilled out of the dance club and that innocent people were getting punched in the face as they were walking by.
The next morning in Costa Maya there were a bunch of people (10 people) sitting by the side of the ship with all of their luggage as they were kicked off the ship and their relatives were shipped off to Mexican jails. Carnival needs to learn a lesson here and not serve alcohol after a certain time and perhaps shut down the 18+ dance club before 3:00 a.m. Nothing good can come of drunk teenagers at 3:00 in the morning."
There is some video of this here: http://www.cruiselawnews.com/2010/08/articles/passenger-rights/more-cruise-ship-violence-a-drunken-brawl-on-carnivals-dream/
Apparently, this is a growing problem as cruise ships get bigger and widen their demographic with deep discounts.
I can't imagine taking a foreign vacation with 3000 other Americans, but to each his own.
I did learn that if you are taking a Bermuda cruise, you should NEVER take any marijuana with you...their laws appear to be as draconian as those in Texas in the 1960s.