Pope's millions
Art Pope, through his many organizations, foundations and "think tanks," pulls the strings for much of public-education policy in North Carolina. Pope is a known adversary of public education, and to mask this fact, his recent ad campaign under the name of "N.C. Real Solutions" touts that the state has added 2,000 more teachers. I invite your readers to go to any local school and inquire about the added teachers.
Pope's millions are spread across many organizations, such as Americans for Prosperity, the John Locke Foundation, N.C. Real Solutions, the Civitas Institute, the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy, and the list goes on and on. Pope's money created the latest crop of legislators all bent on reducing taxes by any means. (Has anyone even noticed the one-cent tax we now save that would have gone to public education?) Public education is one of the few places where we come together as a country, people of all persuasions welcomed to learn together.
Pope's vision of a private-education option just further separates us at a time we need to be more understanding and accepting of each other.
For a more revealing overview of Pope, read the Oct. 10, 2011, New Yorker magazine article "State for Sale."
TONY COLBURN
Tobaccoville
They have it backward
What if conservatives have it backward? Rather than liberalism borrowing tenets from socialism — like concern for social justice, for the poor and underprivileged — what if socialism borrows that from liberalism — or from democracy or simple human decency? What if we're all in this together and when you destroy the social safety net you destroy the nation? What if Ayn Rand's philosophy of self-reliance is really just an articulate attempt to create a moral code that justifies selfishness?
In Matthew 25, Jesus talked about those who would join him in eternal life. He describes their actions: "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. … Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."
He didn't say, "For I was hungry and you said you had children of your own to feed. I was a stranger and you asked what part of 'illegal' I didn't understand. I needed clothes and you told me to get a job. I was in prison, but you didn't insult me by suggesting I couldn't handle my own problems."
What if everything in modern conservative Christian philosophy is backward? I think it is.
TOMMY H. SIMMONS
Winston-Salem
The amendment's consequences
I'm Catholic and will vote against Amendment One on May 8.
The Charlotte Catholic Diocese recently distributed a video on the merits of Amendment One. The fact that the church spent scarce resources to produce a video in support of this amendment is more than disappointing. Furthermore, the video failed to disclose the amendment's consequences. If passed, it would bar the state from recognizing any legal domestic union other than marriage, which could have a serious and negative impact on children, women, seniors and families across North Carolina. If passed, domestic-violence protection could only apply to married couples. Does that sound reasonable? Some experts have concluded that it's so poorly written that it will take the state's court system to determine the amendment's lasting consequences. Our tax dollars at work.
Gay marriage is already banned in North Carolina, so why do we have an amendment put forth that attempts to further violate human rights? Amendments should be written to enhance our rights, not take them away.
I urge fellow Catholics and N.C. voters to do their homework on Amendment One and vote against it on May 8. Visit www.protectncfamilies.org for more information.
ANNA MARIE SMITH
Winston-Salem
Election deadline
Letters about the primary election must be received at the Journal by 5 p.m. April 26 to be considered for publication. Campaign workers and family members should please acknowledge their relationship when they write.
LTE #2...true, what could be more socialistic than the redistribution of wealth.... The feeding of the multitudes.
ReplyDeleteSigning off for awhile, Bob. Please give us an update on Mike and his family. I'll be checking in late this evening for the update.
DeleteEven though liberals are trying to change the natural order of things, nature didn't get it wrong. Charles Darwin didn't get it wrong. And in general, the conservatives don't have it wrong.
ReplyDeleteIt's survival of the fittest. Most people have enough sense to leave wild animals alone when it comes to live and let live. Of course, you have a few wacky people that want to capture them, and put them in cages. But most people, leave them alone.
Human beings are much like wild animals. They have a natural way of living, and societies develop from that order. Human life generally flourishes when humans are left to their own ingenuity, and instinctive behavior. I don't know why liberals want to utilize government to totally disrupt life.
The Constitution does not guarantee people certain things in life. For example, it doesn't guarantee you a new car every year. Thus, it does not guarantee gay and lesbian marriage. Equal protection from discriminatory taxes, that's another matter, however.
So everybody should just get off of their liberal high horse, and face reality. Gay and lesbian marriage will probably take a blow in the next election. I predict Amendment One will pass.
Anytime you attempt to get something good to come out of something bad. It usually goes nowhere.
Good Morning to all. Even to those who don't like me.
DeleteA CNN Poll of Polls compiled and released Wednesday indicates that, on average, 47% of registered voters in the four polls say they back Obama, with 45% supporting Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who is making his second bid for the White House. With each poll having a sampling error greater than Obama's two-point margin over Romney, it's fair to say that the race can be considered a dead heat.
ReplyDelete_____________
Of course, CNN reported that Obama was up 9% in its own poll just yesterday. So, who's to believe anything CNN reports.
then why are you reporting it?
Delete;-D)
DeleteJust to see if you're still out there Bobby.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteAs always, lost in the vast universal ignorance of the fools. And as pointed out recently by Stab, quoting Brian Greene, the known universe is to the real universe as a grain of sand is to the earth. Of course, that kind of analogy is so overwhelming that it goes right over the heads of almost everyone, including me.
DeleteAs anyone who knows anything about anything knows, the popular vote has little meaning at the national level. That is because of a little quirk in our system known as the electoral college.
For instance, in one of the most important elections ever held in the US, one party got almost 60% of the popular vote. But the other party got 60% of the electoral vote. That put Abraham Lincoln into the White House by a landslide and brought about the greatest upheaval in the history of our nation.
Today, those who track the electoral vote have a much better idea of what might happen in November than those who don't.
At the moment, the President has the upper hand for 227 electoral votes. Former governor Romney may have 170. There are 141 available in "battleground" states. Since only 270 are required to win, the president need secure only 43 of the 141 to gain reelection.
The GOP states are unassailable...they are made up of all the southern redneck states plus the central tier bible belt states. The Democratic states are also unassailable...they are the cosmopolitan states which have the highest education levels.
Here's the bad news for those who don't like the President for whatever trivial reason. Two of the states on the "battleground" list are Ohio and Pennsylvania. Six months ago, President Obama and Governor Romney were pretty much even in those states.
But the polls in both have been trending toward the President, as they are in most of the other toss-up states, because of the foolish anti-female stance of the GOP candidates, as epitomized by the recent action by the governor of Wisconsin, who favors unequal pay for equal work. Add to that the insane attack by the religious right on an already settled issue...birth control...and one might think that the GOP is on a suicide mission. Women make up more than 50% of the electorate, and most of them are not Southern Baptist submissives.
Ohio and Pennsylvania will almost certainly, in the next few weeks, fall to the Democrats. That would put the Presidents total at 265 electoral votes, 5 short of the number needed. He would then need only one more state.
Since he is already leading in all but 2 of the remaining 9 states, you can figure out for yourself where we are headed.
Before people start throwing around poll numbers, they ought to actually know something about the subject.
Good afternoon folks!
ReplyDeleteLTE 1: I have a hard time understanding why a business owner would be against public education when the success of a business depends on having employees who are capable of understanding how to perform their job as well as being able to learn new tasks. Private schools succeed because they limit the number of students accepted in order to keep classrooms small and the parents have a substantial incentive in making sure their children work hard at their studies. The education of every child is in the public's best interest. The uneducated child will become the adult in jail or on welfare.
LTE 2: Personally, I wish both "liberalism" and "conservatism" would just go away. I do agree with Mr. Simmons on the irony of Christians espousing Ayn Rand whose philosophy was built on selfishness and a total dismissal of religion.
LTE 3: Amendment One would create a bucket of worms that may very well cause short-sighted legislatures to do the proverbial "Oops! We didn't meant that to happen!" dance.
I heard there was a cartoon in the Journal today. The cartoon depicted the Secret Service Agents involved in the recent scandal as being left over from the Clinton years.
ReplyDeleteThere's always some type of sexual perversion going on when liberals and/or Democrats are around.
Hee Hee...yeeeehaaaaaaaaw! Right, Billy?
Good evening folks. Dad continues to fade. Last night I was sure he would make it thru the night and possibly bounce back. Tonight, I am not sure he will last the night. Thank you for thoughts and prayers.
ReplyDeleteStab, consider this:
DeleteGoing Down Hill on a Bicycle
by Henry Charles Beeching
A Boy's Song
With lifted feet, hands still,
I am poised, and down the hill
Dart, with heedful mind;
The air goes by in a wind.
Swifter and yet more swift,
Till the heart with a mighty lift
Makes the lungs laugh, the throat cry:—
"O bird, see; see, bird, I fly.
"Is this, is this your joy?
O bird, then I, though a boy,
For a golden moment share
Your feathery life in air!"
Say, heart, is there aught like this
In a world that is full of bliss?
'Tis more than skating, bound
Steel-shod to the level ground.
Speed slackens now, I float
Awhile in my airy boat;
Till, when the wheels scarce crawl,
My feet to the treadles fall.
Alas, that the longest hill
Must end in a vale; but still,
Who climbs with toil, wheresoe'er,
Shall find wings waiting there.
----
So just as this is coming to an end, Ms. Step-Stab is beginning her "climb with toil" into her future where she "shall find wings waiting there."
Thank you, OT, for that, most kind and a comfort. I will relay your message to Sarah, aka Miss Step-Stab, who will indeed find those wings and will soar. Many thanks.
DeleteDad still abides. Good night, folks.