Experience in governing
We are voting for Elisabeth Motsinger for the 5th Congressional District in the May 8 Democratic Party primary. We have known Elisabeth Motsinger for over 25 years as a fellow parent, as a member of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school board and as a church member.
We are voting for her because she has experience in governing, because she listens to what others have to say and because she is fair-minded. We believe that she is well informed, is a problem solver and is not afraid to speak her mind.
Elisabeth Motsinger is genuinely concerned about the well-being of all people and will work hard for the common good. Vote for Elisabeth Motsinger and she will work for all of us.
CAROLINE AND JEFF ERSOFF
Lewisville
The bedrock principles
I am grieved that our country has moved so far from the bedrock principles that have made us great. The notion of redefining marriage to allow two men or two women to be legally married is foreign both to our history and our nature. This is not a civil-rights issue, but an issue of losing our way.
The health of the family is an indicator of the health of the society. Families are indeed broken in our country, but redefining marriage is not the way to strengthen families. I am voting for the marriage amendment not because I am a homophobe, but because I believe it is the correct definition of marriage and it is what is best for our country.
Call me a bigot, intolerant or whatever label you choose, but I stand firm on the concept that marriage is ordained by God as the union between a man and a woman. I will be voting "for" on May 8 but with a very heavy heart. We are reaping what we have sown.
SUZANNE REED
Winston-Salem
The law isn't enough
Amendment One is nothing more than writing bigotry and oppression into the North Carolina constitution to control yet another segment of the population. It is currently illegal for gay and lesbian citizens to marry, but the law isn't enough for the righteous fundamentalists and their preachers.
They know that the law can and will be overturned and they also know there is no reason it shouldn't be. Marriage in church by a minister isn't necessary; an individual's marriage must be done in accordance to state and federal laws.
God and the church do not make a wedding legal. I didn't need and still don't need church approval for my wedding in 2005.
They say they are protecting marriage — from what? Is it from gay and lesbian couples who will show them up on how to stay married, to actually work out their problems and raise well-adjusted children, children who are caring, understanding and open to others who are different? Are they afraid that their world of controlling through oppression by fear is coming to an end, that their beliefs are being questioned?
Remember separate but equal, segregation, Jim Crow, when it was illegal for blacks and whites to marry? These practices kept people in such unbelievable and unbearable fear, kept them in their place, and it was wrong. This amendment is wrong and should be seen for what it is, oppressive, bigoted and unnecessary in a civilized society.
KELVIN R. WANNAMAKER
Winston-Salem
We can be a beacon
North Carolina has a chance to stand alone as the unequaled state from the old South to reject constitutional tinkering that limits the right of our fellows to seek life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness by opposing Amendment One.
Our country hasn't amended our constitution toward such an aim. We have a chance to be kind and simply decent. It's my most fervent hope and prayer that we will rise to become the beacon of leadership during dark times by rejecting Amendment One.
GUY NEAL WILLIAMS
Winston-Salem
The welfare of children
In the April 20 letter "The basic building block," stating support for Amendment One, the writer said that evidence shows that "children do best when raised by their married mother and father in a low-conflict marriage." She concluded by saying that "children need both a mom and a dad."
According to this logic, has she encouraged her legislators to introduce a constitutional amendment banning divorce? With the current divorce rate standing at 50 percent, why are people not more concerned with the effects of divorce on the welfare of children rather than the welfare of children raised by same-sex couples?
I am familiar with several families with same-sex parents, and in every case, these parents provide the low-conflict, loving environment in which their children are thriving emotionally.
The devastating outcomes that the writer says will result from children who are not raised by a mother and a father (suicide, teenage pregnancy, academic difficulties, emotional problems, etc.) are much more likely to occur in families with divorced parents, but I have not heard of an amendment to ban divorce.
The logic is not there for this argument; please vote against Amendment One to demonstrate North Carolina's commitment to the civil rights of our citizens.
LOUISE COOPER
Todd
Repeating talking points
"We're not discriminating," the proponents of Amendment One say. "We just want to formally define marriage." But as they define marriage in such a way that it leaves out gay people, they do discriminate.
None of their arguments hold water. "One man, one woman," is not the eternal definition of marriage; it's not even the biblical definition of marriage. Nor is marriage solely a Christian concept; every civilization has had some form of marriage.
The Leviticus "abomination" argument is an example of selective, bigoted hypocrisy, when the verses surrounding it are ignored, as they are. Every assertion that marriage is a wonderful institution that benefits society is an argument for gay marriage, not against it.
They've already heard these responses, but they keep repeating the same talking points as if the responses mean nothing.
Why? Because this is all they've got.
I've never known a fundamentalist or a bigot who changed his or her mind when presented with reason. These letters aren't going to change anyone's mind.
But I hope that voters who realize the harm this amendment will cause will step up to the plate and come out on or before May 8 to vote it down. It is truly evil.
ANGELA M. MYERS
Winston-Salem
The only moral thing
I voted early, on April 20, and cast my vote unquestionably against Amendment One.
All it took was a little empathy, rational thinking and the philosophical concept of Occam's razor.
I imagined myself in other folk's shoes and sensed that their individual liberties are as important as mine. I rationally realized that extended others the same liberties that I have doesn't take anything away from anyone else. I also recalled that the simplest solution is usually the best one and there's no need to complicate things by appealing to ancient books or authorities, perceived higher or otherwise. It was crystal clear to me that it was the only moral thing to do.
Besides, I was a little afraid to relinquish my thinking to some other person or authority. They could tell me that a bride discovered not to be a virgin on her wedding night must be stoned to death on her daddy's doorstep.
Not to mention, the same unfathomable punishment could be proclaimed for adulterers, people who work on Sundays, rebellious children and a host of other imaginary crimes.
Who would want to do that? I wouldn't want to do that.
LARRY J. SANDERS
Dobson
Cast the first vote
If we, as Christians, do not vote against the amendment to the North Carolina constitution, then in my opinion, we do not believe in the love that Jesus taught us to have for others.
When Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well, he transcended the boundaries of gender, race, culture and behavior. He also said, in another passage, "In Christ there is no male nor female."
Should we believe that those who were born with different genes from us, who do not have normal feelings for the opposite sex, should be deprived of rights that others receive? I suppose if this handicap is a sin, they must believe other types of handicaps, such as being crippled, deaf or blind, is a sin and those who suffer with them should not have the same rights.
Since we are all sinners, then why are we standing in judgment of someone else's sins? OK, you folks without sin can throw the first stone, Oh, I mean, cast the first vote for the amendment.
NAOMI J. DAVIS
Winston-Salem
Reposting my comment and Bucky's reply from April 26.
ReplyDeleteWordlyApr 26, 2012 06:46 PM
Anecdotal observations regarding Amendment One:
Just returned from SC having spent the day with my daughter for the purposes of buying her food, wine, dress and purse and listening to her lament that she in no longer 21.
She remarked to me what she had seen on her Facebook about Amendment One, and even her Republican friends were against it, so much so that several of them planned come home on election day and protest at the polls against its passage. She said almost everyone had at least one gay friend and that they were appalled that this amendment would prohibit civil unions(even her friend who graduates from Notre Dame).
She was surprised at the level of activity she saw on Facebook, and it appeared that her friends (an age group) that does not usually vote in the primary were planning on actually voting against it and holding signs against it at polling sites on election day. I don't know if any of this will really happen, but an age group that usually does not vote is at least paying attention to this subject.
Replies
BuckyApr 27, 2012 02:30 AM
Conversely, my friends are energized after I told them that the 'progressives' want to change the definition of marriage. They said they would be voting FOR the amendment.
NC's and the Triad's unemployment rate declined again last month. It is interesting to me to note that this decline has primarily occurred in urban areas of the state and not in the those rural areas which are so focused on passing Amendment One.
DeleteTriad jobless rate fell to 9.6 percent in March
DeleteA nearly 1 percent drop in the Triad jobless rate this year has economists encouraged, but still cautious, that a long-awaited recovery finally has some tangible momentum.
The rate decline to 9.6 percent in March is the second significant monthly drop this year, the N.C. Commerce Department reported Friday. The rate was 10.1 percent in February and 10.5 percent in January.
The Triad rate also is at its lowest point since January 2009.
"It's hard to see bad news here," especially when comparing the employment data on a year-over-year basis, said Andrew Brod, a senior research fellow for UNC Greensboro's Center for Business and Economic Research. The Triad rate was 10.6 percent in March 2011.
When the department reported April 20 that the state's jobless rate reached its lowest level in 17 months during March at 9.7 percent, some analysts said the improvement appears to be related more to North Carolinians dropping out of the labor force during the month than to job gains.
"Unemployment rates that fall a full percentage point over a year are unlikely to be due primarily to people leaving the labor force," Brod said.
He cited as an example that there was a net gain of 1,600 jobs in the Winston-Salem metropolitan statistical area during March and 3,000 overall since March 2011. The MSA consists of Davie, Forsyth, Stokes and Yadkin counties.
Based on that data, Brod said the year-over-year improvement looks real.
The rate for the Winston-Salem MSA slipped to 8.9 percent from 9.4 percent in February and 9.7 percent in January. Forsyth's rate dropped to 8.8 percent from 9.2 percent in February and 9.6 percent in January.
Some economists remain cautious about expressing more confidence in the economic recovery, saying they've said the same thing over the past three years, only to have events beyond the region's control keep local employers on the hiring fence.
Economists and political analysts are closely watching government employment, considering that many agencies and school systems cut jobs because of less money from the legislature.
"We are seeing good news in North Carolina's local labor markets, but our most populous regions are clearly doing the best," said Allan Freyer, policy analyst for the N.C. Budget & Tax Center. "The Triangle, Triad and Charlotte and western regions are experiencing significantly lower unemployment rates than the rest of the state. The metros in these three regions alone account for 91 percent of the total job growth for North Carolina's metro areas since March 2011."
During March, the Winston-Salem MSA had a net gain of 700 jobs each in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services and the trade, transportation and utilities sector. However, a loss of 800 jobs in education and health services followed a net gain of 700 jobs in February. By comparison, the Greensboro-High Point MSA had a net increase of 2,700 jobs in March, led by 900 in the trade, transportation and utilities sector.
Job growth is up 1.5 percent in the Winston-Salem MSA since March 2011 and up 1.7 percent in the Greensboro-High Point MSA.
"By any objective measure, unemployment remains alarmingly high," said John Quinterno, a principal with the research firm South by North Strategies Ltd. "Progress simply is not occurring fast enough to accommodate all those who are jobless."
The real reason the jobless rate is going down 'slightly' is because many people have given up, Wordly. The real unemployment rate is near 15.5 percent. Add in the fact that 1 in 2 college graduates either don't have a job, or are underemployed. The economy is still in bad shape-even after three and one half (3 1/2) years under the Emperor.
DeleteWho knows what the real unemployment rate is?
DeleteThere are many people who work off the books. Yes some of these are illegal, but many also don't want to pay child support or can't find regular employment because of criminal records or childcare issues. They do odd jobs, ebay, mow lawns, coupon, and yardsell.
Even people who have jobs participate in these activities. I spoke with a teacher last year who said she goes to Goodwill and buys their mixed lot boxes and then sells the stuff on ebay. She said she made about an extra $300.00 a month doing this.
The company I occasionally work for recently revised some of its coupon policies.(The biggest change was that you could not us a buy-one-get-one-free coupon to purchase an item the store was selling as buy- one-get-one-free. Effectively getting both items for free except for the sales tax).
We had people come in and complain that that is how they may their living couponing. Purchasing stuff for practically nothing and then reselling it their front yards or at flea markets.
At my other job, I bet we have at least one person a quarter (and these are not illegals these are mostly white males) who come in asking for work and want to be paid under-the-table. We don't do this so they go on their way, but I'm sure some businesses do employ them under their terms. They will tell you that the primary reason they want to be paid under-the-table is that they don't want to pay child support.
Well, if you don't have a pot to pee in after a Judge takes all your money and gives it to your spouse for child support, you might want to earn a little extra money off the record sometime in order to buy a pot.
DeleteI'm sure that wouldn't make any sense to you since you're a liberal.
If they had been hired and worked, they would have had money to buy a pot to wee wee in. There are limits on how much the state can take per pay period for the purposes of child support. They just don't want to pay to support their children. They want tax payers to support them, and as a tax payer I don't like supporting others people's children especially when they are able body men. I've just seen it too many times when we actually hire one of these folks, they quit as soon as the child supports starts coming out of the pay check. They even send their momma's to pick up their last paycheck, afraid the sheriff will be there to pick them up, like they have time for that stuff.
DeleteSo let me see if I understand you. It's perfectly okay to force a women to birth a child, but it's not okay to force a man to help support his offspring.
The infamous John G told us more than he meant to about himself with one of his obsessions, child support, which he stupidly insisted was no different than slavery.
DeleteIt was hard to imagine that any woman would have ever married such a natural born woman hater. It is equally difficult to imagine any woman being attracted to Chatty Cathy...maybe he bought her from overseas...but clearly he is paying child support as well...the judge took "all (his) money".
And yes, there are thousands, if not millions, of men who think it is perfectly okay to force a woman to birth a child or anything else that they want them to do, but who are absolutely unwilling to support their own children.
There are many names for them. I find that narcissistic asshole usually fits pretty well.
Strange how women never think about the other side of coin. What about forcing a man into fatherhood? If a woman can choose, why can't a man choose? Oh that's right, he chose when he went to bed with the woman. But that doesn't apply to a woman? Yeah right!
DeleteWhich brings me to another point. Women want equal pay, but they don't want equal work. I've never seen any women picketing for ditch digging jobs. Have you?
They never march in order to be front-line soldiers in military do they? They want to be pilots of course, but not living in ditches and getting shot at while they're on the ground.
And it's always the whiny, ugly, liberal women that do all of the complaining too. Jeez....it just never stops!
Ah yes...John G. I kind of miss some of the weirdos who used to post. I haven't heard any Billy Prim conspiracy theories lately.
DeleteWell, if you check out Chatty Cathy's little rant right above your comment, you'll be overcome by nostalgia for John G. Woman hating birds of a feather.
DeletePeople like myself don't hate anybody like the hate mongering, liberal, bigots do. We just tell the truth, and liberals think it's hate.
DeleteI have a friend who is a gasline maintenance/installation person for Piedmont Natural Gas. All hell broke loose when she needed maternity uniforms. So I know at least one women who does those type of jobs.
DeleteMany women service personnel want the combat restrictions lifted. The way war is fought today there are really no front lines anymore as any position is susceptible to attack by militants.
Some men do try to force women to terminate pregnancies. They get to choose when they have uterii or they can always choose to wear a condom.
Despite discrimination and sexual harassment problems, about 1 million women work in construction in the US, about 10% of the work force.
DeleteDespite resistance by right wingers, in Afghanistan, dozens of women are serving in front-line combat units right now. Soon, many more will have that opportunity. In May, the Marine Corps will open its 3 month infantry officer program to women. Other combat infantry programs will become open to women soon thereafter.
This didn't come about accidentally. Thousands of women have been pushing the military to allow them to serve in combat roles for decades.
Chatty Cathy does not look so much like a talking doll as she does a talking jackass.
I try not to read Bucky's keyboard diarrhea. He's well into self-parody by now.
DeleteThe scary part is that there are a lot more out there just like Chatty Cathy.
DeleteThere aren't as many as most people think, but the awful racket they make is hard to ignore, even for sane people.
There are what, four or five of you liberals in here? And one just one pitiful me trying to compete with all you super smart liberals. I can't imagine why you all can't keep up. Wait a minute! Yes, I can. You all don't have the facts on your side. Hee...Hee....those nasty little facts really bug you all don't they?
DeleteCall me a bigot, intolerant or whatever label you choose, but I stand firm on the concept that marriage is ordained by God as the union between a man and a woman.
ReplyDeleteSuzanne Reed
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I wouldn't let it get to you, Suzanne. I don't. The liberals are the real hate mongers and intolerants. If you don't think and act like they do, they start their bullying routine where they harass the living daylights out of you.
They profess and tout 'diversity', but they are true bigots of our time.
Just look at aetheists groups that are attacking all kinds of Christian symbols.
DeleteThere is now some discussion that the crosses at Arlington National Cemetery will have to be taken down soon.
They are filled with pure hate. What else would explain their intolerant actions?
Anti-Bullying Speaker Curses Christian Teens
DeleteAs many as 100 high school students walked out of a national journalism conference after an anti-bullying speaker began cursing, attacked the Bible and reportedly called those who refused to listen to his rant “pansy assed.”
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Again, liberals are the true hate mongers and bigots of our time.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi called what the Secret Service agents did with prostitutes in Colombia, 'disgusting'. Some people would call the sex acts that homosexuals engage in, disgusting.
ReplyDeleteSo let me get this straight? It's okay for people to engage in disgusting, deviant sex acts, so long as they are currently considered politically correct, and they are Democrats like Johnny Edwards and Tony Weiner?
Actually, the unemployment rate is 54.6%. That is the percentage of all Americans not working, including children, the disabled and retirees. That number is up from 50.7% in 2000, the lowest rate ever. In 1970, 59.6% of Americans were not working, so the current number is 5% less than it was in 1970.
ReplyDeleteThe number of adult men who had jobs fell to 66.8% in 2010, the lowest ever, down from 85% in 1948. The number of adult women who had jobs was 55.7%, up from about 30% in 1948.
All of these numbers reflect a trend that began after World War II. Before the war, most US families did OK with a single wage earner, usually male. But during the war, many women had to take the jobs of the men who had gone off to war. And many continued working afterward.
But the real change began around 1970 as the wages of business owners and executives began to rise sharply while those of their middle class workers remained stagnant, thus creating the 1% vs 99% situation that we see today. Where once upon a time a young couple could marry and have children with only one wage earner, nowadays it is almost certain that both will have to work.
As to the official unemployment rate, uninformed people think that it is calculated from the numbers registered for unemployment, so like to blather on that it does not count those who have "given up" looking for a job. They are wrong.
The official rate has been calculated in the same way for over 60 years…it is done by a monthly survey that includes all who want a job.
Just a few years ago, an unemployment rate of 4% was considered "normal". But then came the economic crash which led to double digit unemployment. But much of that was actually beneficial to companies large and small because it gave them an excuse to rid themselves of a lot of dead weight…the water cooler people who had been unproductive for years. As a result, most businesses are doing quite well these days.
We will never see 4% again…6% would be an extraordinary achievement..
The economy has changed drastically in many different directions over the last 40 years and job qualifications have changed with it. There are plenty of jobs out there, but not enough qualified people to fill them. A few days ago our most recent local job fair drew a record low number of job seekers. The companies in attendance were all hiring, but filled very few jobs.
If people want jobs, they must be willing to retrain, and that includes recent college graduates who chose the wrong majors, most prominently the number one undergrad major, business. Smart employers want people who can think both analytically and creatively, not a part of your usual business program.
Yeah, and heinies don't stink.
DeletePeople like to get jobs doing what they like. After all, most people have spend over 30 years doing them.
Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeey! How does my crotch look today!
DeleteJay Parmley, who served less than a year at the helm of the party (Democrat), denied harassing any employee and blamed right-wing political enemies for “spreading a false and misleading story.”
Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/04/15/2003701/nc-democratic-party-executive.html#storylink=cpy
You gotta be a certified, liberal, nitwit to do some of this stuff.
DeleteSpeaking of atheists, one of Chatty Cathy's favorites boogey men, the Pew Research Center recently completed a survey of religious knowledge among the American public.
ReplyDeleteThis was not a test of complex theological theories, just 15 simple questions that any school child should know the answer to. The results were appalling.
The overall population got only 50% right.
Among groups subdivided by religious belief, Jews did the best at 65%. Right behind them were atheists/agnostics at 64%. Mormons did OK, scoring 61%. But white Catholics, Evangelicals and mainline Protestants did awful, clustered around 50%, same as the overall population.
Frequency of church attendance made no statistical difference, which tells us something about what is going on in too many churches.
Men got 52%, women 48%
High school graduates got 40%, college grads 61%, grad schoolers 68%
66% of mainline Protestants did not know who Job was. Over 50% of all Christians did not know what day the Jewish Sabbath falls on. Over 75% of all Christians were wrong about the law regarding the use of the Bible in schools. In fact, the whole thing reminds me of the ignoramuses who support the so-called marriage amendment.
Embarrassed by a prostitution scandal, the Secret Service will assign chaperones on some trips to enforce new rules of conduct that make clear that excessive drinking, entertaining foreigners in their hotel rooms and cavorting in disreputable establishments are no longer tolerated.
ReplyDelete__________
We can trust the president's life to the Secret Service, but we can't trust them to be by themselves? What has our country come to?
I'd say it will be harder and harder to get people to join the 'Secret' Service in the future.
DeleteSince much of the bullying that takes place in middle and high school involves harassment of gay students, that subject must be addressed in any program on bullying. Mr. Savage was talking about "adults" who hide behind the bible to avoid taking on that problem. We have several such "adults" on our local school board. Here is what he said:
ReplyDelete"People often say that they can’t help with the anti-gay bullying acts because it says right there in Leviticus, it says right there in Timothy, it says right there in Romans, that being gay is wrong.
"We can learn to ignore the bullshit in the Bible and what it says about gay people."
At that point, about a dozen students in the audience of several thousand walked out. Of course, that number is now up to "as many as 100", or even "hundreds", depending upon which crackpot source you consult. A few more may have followed, but nowhere near 100...not even 30.
Apparently, the first to get up was an "adult" adviser, so naturally the little brainwashed robots followed Daddy out.
These kids are supposed to be journalism students. If they are going to be covering anything more important than the outfits worn to church on Sunday, they are going to hear much worse things said.
Just another non-event created by ideologues…reminiscent of Patty whatshername's recent ruckus at the Stevens Center…much ado about nothing.
Elizabeth Motsinger has about as much of a chance of becoming the Congresswoman for the 5th Congressional District of N.C. as Anthony Weiner does. I don't know why she's even bothering to run. Especially in this election!
ReplyDeletePeople in N.C. have wised up to Obama's and the Democrats' nonsense.
I also note another resemblance between John G. and Chatty Cathy.
DeleteWhenever you call her a liar to her face and provide the facts to prove it, she either makes some stupid remark about heinies or changes the subject.
I'd like to note the similarity between Kitty Kat and Rush. Everytime you slam a fact up his old, and loose kazoo. He seems to like it.
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8rZWw9HE7o
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECSkgkUD2ns&feature=related
DeleteThe "Buffett Rule" tax on millionaires has become Obama's bumper sticker. The proposal is reasonable - but it does not deserve the attention Obama is showering on it. It raises a trivial sum of money - $47 billion over the next 10 years - during which period the federal government will spend $45 trillion.
ReplyDeleteFareed Zakaria, CNN
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You're missing the point Fareed! It's all about class warfare in order for Obama to get reelected. It's Hugo Chavez tactics to the core. Don't you get it?
Man, I'm starting to feel like I'm working out on a speed bag.
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfY84QiuX9o&feature=related
Delete