A source of pride
The Nov. 6 election offers voters one of the most vitally important choices for our country and our state in recent memory, which is why I'm voting for Elisabeth Motsinger for Congress inNorth Carolina's Fifth District.
Elisabeth's unwavering, selfless dedication to improving the health and well-being of the district's residents is a source of continuing admiration for those who know her. And her years of experience on the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School Board and as a physician's assistant give her strong credentials in the crucial areas of education and health care.
Most importantly, Elisabeth's intelligent, thoughtful approach to problem solving and her ability to work productively across party lines suggest she will serve the people of the Fifth District with distinction and be a source of great pride for our state.
JOHN ONG
Winston-Salem
Abiding by our laws
In response to the Oct. 7 article “Gay couple waits in legal limbo,” in reading the facts presented, I'm finding this fight of the Defense of Marriage Act for this particular case to be in the wrong.
The article reports that Manny Llamas’ travel visa expired a year before his arrest on Oct. 10, 2011. He had been living here for the last nine years.
The article also mentioned his fear of being picked up and turned into the hands of immigration.
Llamas and Charles Banks III got married in the state ofVermontlast month. So why now is he fighting for the passing of DOMA? Is that supposed to allow him to stay here illegally now? He was well aware of his expired visa. Part of living in this great country is abiding by our laws, rules and regulations.
This limbo which he is living in was brought on by himself.
BONNIE GRAY
Lexington
Defending Lance Armstrong
Let me tell you what “Livestrong” means to me. As a cancer patient receiving radiation treatment atForsythMedicalCenter, I found a “Livestrong Guidebook Planner and Journal” that I could use. These are well written, easy to understand plans for patients dealing with cancer. They were free, thanks to the Lance Armstrong Foundation. I used them and then shared them with a friend who had cancer.
To me, Lance Armstrong is a very caring person to establish a foundation that can offer this service to others. He used his cancer experience to help others in a very real and meaningful way.
“Livestrong” has a very special meaning to me and your “Dopestrong” cartoon (Oct. 15) just did not make me laugh. What has this artist and your paper done to help others? I certainly have not been touched by either of you as I have been by Lance Armstrong.
I have not seen any proof of the accusations made against him and I doubt anyone else has, either. If he passed the test given at the time he raced, I cannot see how anyone could convict him now. Those trying to convict him, the artist trying to mock him and newspapers that cannot find anything better to print need to follow Lance Armstrong's lead and do something that would be worthwhile by helping others.
I'm making a donation to the Lance Armstrong Foundation in honor of all of you.
EVELYN H. TATE
Lexington
Local benefits of wind power
Your editorial “North Carolinamust keep pace” (Oct. 3) says that wind turbines offshore would bring industry, create energy at comparable utility prices and be good for the environment. Sounds good, but what will do it for theWinston-Salemarea?
Most of us know that the electricity we use comes from burning coal. Our gubernatorial and presidential candidates talk about the promise of so-called clean coal. Coal is dirty in the ground, it is dirty in shipment, but worst of all, it is dirty when burned, and then it is dirty in the left-over ash ponds.
Our air here is rated unhealthy too many days each year and we are paying the cost in childhood asthma and shortened lives for the general population.
Offshore wind power will decrease our dependence on coal and mountain-top removal and the need for expensive new nuclear power plants.
Some of that needed economic growth and jobs you write about will happen right here in our area. A single wind turbine is composed of over 8,000 parts, and the industry is already creating jobs right here in thePiedmont. ATEC Coatings inForsythCountymanufactures coatings for wind turbines. PPG Industries, just south ofLexington, manufactures fiberglass for turbine blades. Other local employers are capable of manufacturing motors and housings, electrical switchgear, and the other nuts and bolts that go into the systems.
Let's elect politicians in Raleigh and Washington who understand that our health and well-being depend on a clean energy economy.
GUS PRESCHLE
Clemmons
Never mind
I was so amused by the letter “A proud Republican” (Oct. 13) from the woman who thinks the Republican Party is the party of civil rights for all people. Never mind the Southern Strategy, never mind Willie Horton and the confessions of Lee Atwater. Never mind today’s persecution of Muslims and Republican legislators’ lock-step votes against women receiving equal pay for equal work.
Republicans have a notoriously difficult time admitting that they’re wrong about anything. I’m afraid the best we can hope for is to have them deny that they were on the wrong side to start with.
So, sure, they’re for civil rights. I do admit, with the exception of their lies about the president and all the race-baiting on Fox News, Republicans have made impressive strides overcoming their racist past. So I’m willing to let them get away with it, as long as they continue to claim that racism and sexism are wrong.
Just think; 20 or 30 years from now, they’ll all be saying that same-sex marriage was a Republican idea.
JAMES T. FULLER
Winston-Salem
They’re getting desperate
The news that Forsyth County prosecutors only weeks ago filed a materially false affidavit in theSilkPlantForestcase should shock every fair-minded citizen (“Affidavit at odds with Smith reports,” Oct. 11). But to those of us exposing this ongoing fraud of a case it’s no surprise. Behind the scenes, former and current prosecutors have been forceful defenders of the miscarriage of justice.
To the citizens’ review committee, to former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker and to others that office has repeatedly claimed it had information that victim Jill Marker that night identified her assailant as a black male, and even charged DukeLawSchool’s Innocence Project with withholding this information from investigators. Those claims were wholly false and invented. All of the police documentation, testimony and witness statements described Jill as profoundly incoherent and unable to describe her attacker, including the report from the police officer who signed the recent affidavit. The first year of the ensuing investigation reflects that police had no description of the attacker(s). But on August 28, the district attorney’s office filed the false affidavit anyway, claiming that Jill said her attacker was a black male (as if Kalvin Michael Smith were the only black male inForsythCounty).
When it became obvious this would be exposed, prosecutors called their filing “inadvertent” and applied to withdraw it. District attorney Jim O’Neill and his predecessor, Tom Keith, have termed exposing these actions an act of “desperation.” Sure. Who are the desperate ones really?
THE REV. KELLY CARPENTER
JET HOLLANDER
CO-CHAIRS,SILKPLANTFORESTTRUTH COMMITTEE
Winston-Salem
I can't even imagine to uproar had a top adviser in the Obama Campaign had invested in a Voting Machine Company, must less an adviser and a family member.
ReplyDeleteRomney Family Investment Ties To Voting Machine Company That Could Decide The Election Causing Concern
You want voter fraud, you get voter fraud.
DeleteBillboards popped up last week in poor, minority neighborhoods in Milwaukee, Cleveland and Columbus stating that voter fraud is a felony and might lead to jail time, a clear attempt to intimidate people of limited education who have no idea what that means. Protests and petitions had no effect. When you are anonymous, you are unaccountable.
Try as they might, reporters were unable to discover the source of the billboards as their anonymity was protected by the recent Citizens United decision of the US Supreme Court.
Protected, that is, until some sharp reporter noticed that the billboards were owned by Clear Channel Outdoor, a Bain Capital company. That put NPR on the case. NPR discovered that Clear Channel Outdoor has a nationwide policy of not accepting anonymous ads but was apparently making an exception in this case. Once that question was put to Clear Channel executives, the billboards began coming down...damage already done.
Money and hypocrisy, the twin attributes of the Romney campaign. What will Romney, who has led a meaningless life, do to give himself a purpose for the next four years? You figure it out.
Dopey liberals, like you Rush, have been blowing smoke up our sexually unused butts for quite some time saying we have no voter fraud.
DeleteNow we're learning there is no national data base to cross-reference voter registrations in multiple states. In one cursory study, they learned that over 26,000 people were registered to vote in both New York and Florida.
I don't know why we even listen to the nutty liberals, like you Rush, at all. We need voter I.D. laws, and we need voter registration cross referencing in order to have fair and just elections.
It's too late for this election though. It's pathetic.
Rasmussen poll: Romney up 3 in 11 swing states. The train's a coming folks. Wooo Woooooooooo ..chug...a.chug.a chug..wooo woooooooooooo!
DeleteIt some states it is not illegal to be registered in more than one state. You just aren't supposed to vote in both states at the same time.
DeleteI agree Bucky. We need national voting laws that supersede individual states laws. In this post 911 world, we need a national ID card provided free to every citizen 18 years of age or older, and when you get your card you are also automatically registered to vote.
God knows what massive government bureaucracy we'll need for this great expansion of the Federal movement or how much it will cost, but I'm all for growing government to protect your right to vote.
Carefully Wordly, you're treading on dangerous grounds agreeing with me. I agree with you sometimes too, I just don't admit it.
DeleteIt should have been in in the first sentence, and what ever else is wrong.
DeleteBut Bucky, there was a Democratic congressional nominee I believe in Maryland who had to withdraw because someone discovered that she voted in Florida and Maryland in 2008 if I recall correctly.
I heard about that. I can understand being 'registered' to vote in several states just from moving around. However, there should be a national data base that only honors one state as a person's current residence in which they are eligible to vote.
DeleteYou know how people like Rush are. If they think they can get away with voting two, three times. They'll do it.
The NAACP and ACLU have called in UN inspectors to monitor elections in states that have voter I.D. laws. I think that is utterly outrageous, particularly recognizing the fact that liberal Democrats have fought against having honest and fair elections in the U.S. through voter I.D. laws.
As already pointed out, Scott Rasmussen is in the pocket of the GOP and his "polls" are pretty much useless.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, the Rasmussen Daily Swing State Tracking Poll is as meaningless as the national popular vote poll, because all that matters is the individual states.
Two new polls in Ohio have Obama at +1 and +5, making the current RCP average for Ohio Obama +2.2.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteIn the 2008 elections, Rasmussen polls were the most accurate. More garbage out of a liberal sanitation director
DeleteGallup:
DeleteRomney 50%, Obama 46% Among Likely Voters
Obama down sharply among men, college grads, and Southern voters vs. 2008
Romney leads 10 point among men. At least most men have some sense. Of course, that leaves you out Rush.
DeleteFrom twitter:
DeleteIt is difficult to get a man to understand something when his sanity depends upon believing that one day he'll be rich guy paying no taxes.
Good AM, folks!
ReplyDeleteI voted this AM, waited about 15 minutes in line. African-Americans predominated in line, so I suspect that it was a good morning for President Obama. The white voters were less identifiable, with none of the middle-aged ponytail guys in evidence. There was much less electioneering, just 3 people pitching judges (Sipprell, Keever, and the Democratic-recommended slate).
Left over from yesterday: thank you, OT, for your encouragement re school board. Once this year is out of the way, I will start boning up, as you say. With impending marriage, home remodeling, and my work schedule, I cannot properly attend school issues at the moment, except for those presented by the overworked and over-meetinged Susan. Ideally, my work schedule will change after the first of the year, and I will be able to attend board meetings.
Facebooking: Susan's son Josh is recovering from reconstructive spinal surgery at Baptist Hosp. He was paralyzed in an automoble accident 9y ago, and things had degenerated, and he had been in chronic pain. He's doing well. All good thoughts appreciated just the same.
Please give Josh my best.
DeleteVery good news! Hope his recovery continues to go well.
DeleteBest wishes for a speedy recovery for Josh.
DeleteAkin: McCaskill fetches DC headaches like a 'dog'
ReplyDeleteThis guy is a Legitimate Idiot.
I would expect a crackpot to emerge from time to time in the House where you have districts with people of sometimes questionable sanity, but you would think that at least the entire state would have enough sane voters to avoid putting a crackpot on the general ballot for Senate much less electing one. I guess that's the price you pay when only TB's bother to vote in the primaries.
DeleteCompared to Pelosi and Reid, he looks like a statesman.
DeleteDid you see Rush's brother, Harry Reid, waving his hand when Biden asked if anyone knows anyone that has served in Iraq and Iran?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4_cJc-WYhI&feature=related
Good afternoon folks!
ReplyDeleteLTE 1: Endorsement
LTE 2: Umm, a little reading comprehension works. The point of the article was that if Manny Llamas had been in a heterosexual marriage, he would have no problems obtaining a permanent visa. Since DOMA prevents the fed govt from recognizing MR. Llamas' homosexual marriage, he is being treated differently and thus may be forced to leave the country although he does have a legal marriage according to VT. It's a clear case of discriminatory practice.
LTE 3: The hammer has come down on Armstrong, but the work he has done on behalf of cancer patients can never be undone. I think Armstrong still deserves accolades for his charitable work.
LTE 4: I recall reading about a community college class in windmill turbine technology out in the midwest where a company came in and hired everyone in the class because there was such a shortage of workers in the field. It is proven technology and a proven job creator, however it also has a proven NIMBY record that may be difficult to overcome.
LTE 5: It is far more about ideology than party. The ideology of the South has always been of a conservative (used in the traditional sense as opposed to the current buzzword) bent regardless of which party dominated the region. The South has been the major force in the party that best suits its ideology, rather R or D since it rejoined the Union. For some reason, the South keeps wanting to cling to a way of life even when it becomes clear that way of life is fading away, hence the backlash against education and any percieved changes to the social structure.
LTE 6: With the number of questions raised, I still fail to see why a new investigation is not being done to establish the truth concerning Smith's conviction. After the Darryl Hunt fiasco, it's incomprehensible that the same scenario could be taking place again.
Latest Gallup Poll, likely voters: Romney 51% to 45% for Obama.
ReplyDeleteThose national figures have to have translate into increases in swing states.
Woooooooooo woooooooooo! I hear it comin.
Let's all hope Romney does well tonight. If he does, he's on his way to victory.
Lot less Obama stickers and yard signs this time around. Quite a few Romney/Ryan signs.
DeleteI'd be ashame to have an Obama bumper sticker on my car. He's been a horrible president by any 'sane' person's standards.
Ms. Gray, liberals don't care about certain laws. They get to decide which ones are 'real', and which are not, in case you haven't noticed.
ReplyDeleteThat's why our country is in a constant state of chaos with Democrats in charge.
There are not all that many truly free countries left these days. One of the first things that a dictatorship does is impose a requirement for a national ID. Here are just about the only nations left that do not require a national ID:
ReplyDeleteAustralia
Austria
Canada
Denmark
Finland
France
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Liechtenstein
Japan
New Zealand
Norway
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom
United States of America
The French had never had identity cards until 1940, when the NAZIs imposed them, then used them to identify and deport 76,000 French citizens, Jews and other "undesirables", to the concentration camps.
The ID issue is one of the few being tossed around today that is actually worth dying to defeat.