Comment Archives: Stories
Re: “N.C. Republicans seek exemption from U.S. Constitution (reality to follow)”
Like it or not, The United States of America was founded as "One Nation Under God". Furthermore, Wikopedia states, "...According to the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) (2008) 76% of the American adult population identified themselves as Christians..."
If you don't want to live in a Christian Nation, MOVE ELSEWHERE!!''
How about....no. The 1st Amendment and the Constitution of the United States of America ensures by right that I, nor any other non Christian American, has to stand for such a blatant dictatorial attempt to impose government sponsorship of religion. Furthermore, the Treaty of Tripoli quite clearly states that this was NOT founded as Christian nation and our Constitution's tact of denying the application of a national religion cements it in place. We are a REPUBLIC, a nation of laws. We are not a Christian nation. Get over it.
Re: “Live: Hiss Golden Messenger brings friends, family to the record shop”
Great photos!
Re: “Live: Dex Romweber Duo rips through the catalog in Durham”
Would love to see the Dex Romweber Duo in Detroit again!!!
Re: “The Dix disaster”
WHO got walloped?!??!
What a BLIND "Unaffiliated" person!!!!
So Blind.
A WALLOP is what happened to the GOPers in 2008!
No comparison.
Just more GOPer wishful thinking (a la Dr. Joseph Goebbles -- Tell the same lie often enough and it becomes the truth.) here.
Now.... I KNOW unaffiliated....I _am_ unaffiliated!
This other "thing" does not sound at all unaffiliated. It's typical -- those (even claiming to be un-affiliated) who are so FAR RIGHT that they are falling off the edge of the Milky Way can easily use "Lefty. Lefty." all they want -- for even Adolf Hitler are to the left of them!
Unaffiliated can go back to watching Fox News! (Hmmm.... not being one of the traditional "Big-Three" (NBC, CBS, ABC) I guess "Unaffiliated" thinks Fox is an "unaffiliated" network.)
"Lord, what fools these mortals be...."
-- A Midsummer's Night Dream (WS)
Re: “The Dix disaster”
Here I have read so many words to say what is so plain and clear. It is simple:
GOPers (Republicans) are Crooks and Liars! Top to Bottom.
(And even the "Top" are Bottom-feeding Dregs.)
Re: “The common good is in the way of Republican goals”
All you say about Republicans trying to alter the election system is true-- they are motivated by skewing it to make it easier for their election victory. But, I say again, the Democrats did this with full vigor and effect when they had the opportunity. So spare us the faux outrage. In fact, the wiser question might be to the Democrats-- with all the advantages you allocated to yourselves in the face of a feckless and low IQ opposition (Republicans), how did you destroy the progressive advantage so comprehensively in NC that it has come to this?
Re: “N.C. Republicans seek exemption from U.S. Constitution (reality to follow)”
In light of this recent (and numerous previous) embarrassment(s), I'm pushing an initiative to allow the RTP region to go ahead and secede from the rest of the state of North Carolina, and seek the warm, comforting embrace of some (any) other (even slightly) less embarrassing parent state. Come join the fun at http://www.facebook.com/rtpnonc
Re: “Some facts about the Healthy Marriage Act”
And please remind me-- why do gay people actually want to map into this marriage stuff?
Re: “Salt 'n' pepper: Shake it from a pea, or a turkey”
I read the first few lines and had a sense of "Deja Vu" until I saw at the bottom that my web site www.pepper-passion.com was listed as a source. Thank You for the mention.
Salt & Pepper shakers can be whimsical and cute. Unfortunaltely, you will never experience the true pepper taste if you only used pre-ground pepper from a shaker. If you want to enjoy gourmet pepper the only way to do so is to use freshly ground pepper from a mill.
Re: “Full Frame 2013 short reviews”
Not sure if they are showing worldwide watched doc called "Searching for Steele". If the Bush Administration is not charged with war crimes, we are doomed as a country. This documentary shows black & white, on paper, letters of PROOF they all knew & authorized torture & forced our soldiers to watch the torture they ordered-& see what happens if they speak out, like Bradley Manning-a true hero to the truth of the terror we are paying for. We have to get these radicals out of our government or the rest of the world, I fear, will turn on us. We have become like a big dumb jock that bullies those who have less, instead of doing good, we have Republican US Senators, etc.radicals, going to Uganda, Africa-teaching them the "evils of homosexuality", who now want to kill gay people because of right-wing fundamentalist religion-that does harm- not the good it should. Ayn Rand is NOT Jesus Christ. Wake up Republican voters, please.
Re: “McCrory's Medicaid plan doesn't fix what's broken”
McCrory will be adding N. Carolina to states like Texas. How dare they try to dictate what religion is the best? These people are extremely scary & won't stop until the poor are in shanty towns like after the Great Depression. Check out 1936 movie called Skippy Skinner" with Jackie Coogan as a boy. Shows how bankers look down on low-income people like they are less. It sickens me to see this ideology so prevalent in the Republican party of today. What ever happened to Eisenhower Republicans? There is a class war and the rich have been fighting it since Reagan. No more truth in news cause they are beholden to their corporate overlords. Free speech TV is a great channel to get the truth. Also online is RT. They have the best investigative journalists-where Fox (faux) & CNN got rid of every investigative journalist on their payroll. They get their news from Drudge & Breitbart-thought he died.
Re: “Desaparecidos return to Carrboro, highlighting Conor Oberst's inadequacies”
If anyone listens to those songs and thinks that Oberst "sees himself as some kind of Savior," they obviously missed the entire point. He writes them from different points of view to emphasize what the song is about, not to glorify himself.
As far as his music "falling into precise and pretty folk-rock impulses and songs that lack the emotional immediacy of his earlier material," that's completely subjective and invalid. Just because he adjusted what he wrote about from personal angst (even though that's meant to be universal anyway) to broader social issues doesn't mean that the music he made is any less authentic and consistent.
I'm not saying everyone in the world needs to like Conor's music - it isn't exactly easy listening. But I am saying that the man is one of the most prolific and creatively gifted individuals currently in existence, and simply not enjoying what he creates doesn't make that any less true.
Re: “N.C. Republicans seek exemption from U.S. Constitution (reality to follow)”
The current crop of Republicans in Raleigh reminds me of that episode in the Andy Griffith Show where Barney was put in charge of the jail.
And here Barney perfectly captures their grasp of the Constitution...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBuPQgV8yBM
Re: “N.C. Republicans seek exemption from U.S. Constitution (reality to follow)”
Whoops...a mistake I can't edit now: I wasn't replying to "Patrique" in that portion of my comment...it was Jacob Teter. My apologies.
Re: “N.C. Republicans seek exemption from U.S. Constitution (reality to follow)”
It's both scary and hilarious that the NC legislators have no clue that Constitution was written to prevent EXACTLY THIS from happening and freedom FROM religious persecution is equal to the freedom TO religion. As an Atheist who believe in factual evidence rather than Mythology, I find it shocking that prayer is not just handled the way other civilized, educated people handle it: "Observing a moment of silence" so that each person can pray in their heads to their Pagan, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, etc Gods....or just do what I do and hope Science keeps giving us the answers the religious people ignore.
Regardless of faith, lack of faith, or even just lack of denomination of faith....this is a laughable bill that doesn't really deserve Supreme Court consideration. The US Constitution and Supreme Court Rulings override the States and it is already illegal to "attempt to obstruct the Federal Laws by the State".
As for the poster who says this is a "Christian Nation" and it's "One Nation, Under God" .....um, no it isn't. Those things were not in the Constitution, God was not on our money until the 1950's, and no founding father ever deemed us a "Christian Nation". You may want to reconsider what is obviously your Southern, religious homeschooling.
It's called "Separation of Church and State". The reason that "the rest of us" who are not Christian do not have to just MOVE AWAY or sit and take it is because we are taxpaying Americans and our right to no religion being forced on us is no lesser than your right to go to Church each Sunday. See, that is why there is no religion in public schools or Government properties or meetings. Because everyone there is EQUAL. Everyone there is a TAXPAYER. Those are all considered "State". So favoring one religion or one God turns the United States into what we call a "Theocracy". A Theocracy is Iran. So perhaps you should take your own advice and move to Iran where you'd be more comfortable wiping your behind with the United States Constitution and what our Nation was founded upon.
And also for the poster, "Patrique"....I could easily say to you: "If you refuse to deny your Mythological beliefs and bow to Science, you can no longer use anything Science has created. Which is everything."
Re: “N.C. Republicans seek exemption from U.S. Constitution (reality to follow)”
I would like someone to explain to me (explicitly) how if a leader decides to pray to God before a government meeting, and a non-believer (be they an atheist, muslim, scientologist, etc.) is present at that meeting, exactly what effect does it have on that person?
Couldn't that person just choose to not participate in the prayer, and/or pray to their God at the same time?
Please explain to me exactly how this would "infringe on their rights"?
Re: “The truth about the Goathouse Refuge”
It seems like the real problem is that there is an irresponsible and uncritical board. The chair of the board does not attend the meetings? He does not visit regularly? Why is he there? Another board member admittedly knows little about cats? And the other board member quoted in the article thinks that time and again there are conspiracies against Siglinda. Why would people conspire against her, not just once but multiple times?
In full disclosure, I have donated to Goathouse and have friends who have volunteered there. While all of us believe that the intentions of the place are good, it needs a better management structure starting with the board. A responsible board would include members that: a. attend meetings; b. visit regularly; c. have knowledge of cats; and d. do not suffer from paranoid delusions.
The are many responsible animal rescue organizations in the area. It seems that one way to effect change and ultimately improve the lives of the animals is to demand changes to the board structure and possibly members. To have this happen donors, particularly large donors, should consider withholding funding until changes are made. There are other organizations that people can support that help animals.
I applaud the Indy for actually doing some critical reporting, unlike the reporting done of The Today Show, NYT and other outlets. It won't win you many friends, but hopefully in the long run it will help the animals.
Re: “N.C. Republicans seek exemption from U.S. Constitution (reality to follow)”
Marbury v. Madison, the landmark case that Will cites in the article, doesn't directly give the federal courts the authority to declare state laws unconstitutional as to the Bill of Rights, it just asserted the prerogative of the federal courts to adjudicate the constitutionality of laws against the Constitution. Since the language of the Bill of Rights is explicitly directed at federal laws (i.e., because of the language "Congress shall make no law…"), states had far more leeway in the laws they could pass. At the time of Marbury, a state law would likely be declared unconstitutional if it attempted to usurp the enumerated powers given to the federal government. The guarantee that the Bill of Rights applied to the states came with the Fourteenth Amendment, which was adopted in 1868. Even then, there was heated debate about which of the Bill of Rights could be enforced against the states. I don't think it was a given that the First Amendment was incorporated into the Fourteenth against the states. Later cases, though, have held that the substantive portions of the First Amendment do apply to the states.
Re: “Full Frame 2013 short reviews”
Saw "Blood Brother" at Sundance and was moved. Then learned the next day that subject and filmmakers alike are from the Greater Pittsburgh Church of Christ. And that Rocky Braat was in India as a missionary, and converted many of these kids to Christianity. Maybe it shouldn't make a difference, but ugh. Guess google had to ruin it for me...
Re: “Dancing babies”
Awesome.