It looks like the threat of loss of revenue, trumps religious wacko's and bigoted crackers feelings.
Even in the Baptist south, the Love Of Money trumps (no pun intended) the love of God sometimes...
Wish we were that greedy here in NC. It's worse than in GA. Feel like I'm going further and further back in time the longer I live here.
Brofan, I also live in NC, and the things that have gone on here in the past few years astound me. I agree with you, it feels like we're in a time machine and it's not taking us back to better days.
Maybe you need some of them "New York Values" that Ted Cruz spoke of. It's different here.
Maybe you should learn how to read. I said I'm moving.
Indeed. Sadly, however, they're more interested in lining their own pockets via the corruption, kickbacks, favors, etc. that they engage in legally in many cases in the bizarre world that is Albany.
Take for example the lack of any serious ethics reform during this years farce that was the budget process. Despite having two of the three most powerful leaders in Albany sent to prison in this past year alone. It's a travesty that it's allowed to continue unabated. 
The difference is corruption and kickbacks and corporate pressure exists in MS, GA, and NC in addition to wanting to monitor your bedroom, bathroom, and reproduction. In NY it's JUST about the money.
Indeed. Sadly, however, they're more interested in lining their own pockets via the corruption, kickbacks, favors, etc. that they engage in legally in many cases in the bizarre world that is Albany.
Take for example the lack of any serious ethics reform during this years farce that was the budget process. Despite having two of the three most powerful leaders in Albany sent to prison in this past year alone. It's a travesty that it's allowed to continue unabated.
The difference is corruption and kickbacks and corporate pressure exists in MS, GA, and NC in addition to wanting to monitor your bedroom, bathroom, and reproduction. In NY it's JUST about the money.
Maybe in your area of New York state, but there are plenty of far right politicians in the more rural areas of New York state that absolutely want to monitor the areas you mention. I live in the North Country (about an hour north of Utica) as we refer to it, and there are local and state elected officials who pander greatly to our conservative residents who are the majority of our population.
It looks like the threat of loss of revenue, trumps religious wacko's and bigoted crackers feelings.
Even in the Baptist south, the Love Of Money trumps (no pun intended) the love of God sometimes...
Wish we were that greedy here in NC. It's worse than in GA. Feel like I'm going further and further back in time the longer I live here.
Brofan, I also live in NC, and the things that have gone on here in the past few years astound me. I agree with you, it feels like we're in a time machine and it's not taking us back to better days.
Maybe you need some of them "New York Values" that Ted Cruz spoke of. It's different here.
Maybe you should learn how to read. I said I'm moving.
Where to kemosabe?
It looks like the threat of loss of revenue, trumps religious wacko's and bigoted crackers feelings.
Even in the Baptist south, the Love Of Money trumps (no pun intended) the love of God sometimes...
Wish we were that greedy here in NC. It's worse than in GA. Feel like I'm going further and further back in time the longer I live here.
Brofan, I also live in NC, and the things that have gone on here in the past few years astound me. I agree with you, it feels like we're in a time machine and it's not taking us back to better days.
Maybe you need some of them "New York Values" that Ted Cruz spoke of. It's different here.
Maybe you should learn how to read. I said I'm moving.
Where to kemosabe?
As I said in my previous post, Austin.
The Mississippi Governor signs a bill sanctioning intolerance in the name of religion. Meanwhile, Pope Francis urges Catholics to practice more tolerance, not less...
Pope Francis, Urging Less Judgment, Signals Path for Divorced on Communion
By JIM YARDLEY and LAURIE GOODSTEIN APRIL 8, 2016
ROME — In a broad proclamation on family life, Pope Francis on Friday called for the Roman Catholic Church to be more welcoming and less judgmental, and he seemingly signaled a pastoral path for divorced and remarried Catholics to receive holy communion.
The 256-page document — known as an apostolic exhortation and titled “Amoris Laetitia,†Latin for “The Joy of Love†— calls for priests to welcome single parents, gay people and unmarried straight couples who are living together.
Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/09/world/europe/pope-francis-amoris-laetitia.html
APRIL 8, 2016
A STATEMENT FROM BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN ON NORTH CAROLINA
As you, my fans, know I’m scheduled to play in Greensboro, North Carolina this Sunday. As we also know, North Carolina has just passed HB2, which the media are referring to as the “bathroom†law. HB2 — known officially as the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act — dictates which bathrooms transgender people are permitted to use. Just as important, the law also attacks the rights of LGBT citizens to sue when their human rights are violated in the workplace. No other group of North Carolinians faces such a burden. To my mind, it’s an attempt by people who cannot stand the progress our country has made in recognizing the human rights of all of our citizens to overturn that progress. Right now, there are many groups, businesses, and individuals in North Carolina working to oppose and overcome these negative developments. Taking all of this into account, I feel that this is a time for me and the band to show solidarity for those freedom fighters. As a result, and with deepest apologies to our dedicated fans in Greensboro, we have canceled our show scheduled for Sunday, April 10th. Some things are more important than a rock show and this fight against prejudice and bigotry — which is happening as I write — is one of them. It is the strongest means I have for raising my voice in opposition to those who continue to push us backwards instead of forwards.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s Sunday April 10th show is canceled. Tickets will be refunded at point of purchase.
It looks like the threat of loss of revenue, trumps religious wacko's and bigoted crackers feelings.
Even in the Baptist south, the Love Of Money trumps (no pun intended) the love of God sometimes...
Wish we were that greedy here in NC. It's worse than in GA. Feel like I'm going further and further back in time the longer I live here.
Brofan, I also live in NC, and the things that have gone on here in the past few years astound me. I agree with you, it feels like we're in a time machine and it's not taking us back to better days.
Maybe you need some of them "New York Values" that Ted Cruz spoke of. It's different here.
Maybe you should learn how to read. I said I'm moving.
Where to kemosabe?
As I said in my previous post, Austin.
That's really good, there are a lot of good people down there. I'm happy for you.
APRIL 8, 2016
A STATEMENT FROM BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN ON NORTH CAROLINAAs you, my fans, know I’m scheduled to play in Greensboro, North Carolina this Sunday. As we also know, North Carolina has just passed HB2, which the media are referring to as the “bathroom†law. HB2 — known officially as the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act — dictates which bathrooms transgender people are permitted to use. Just as important, the law also attacks the rights of LGBT citizens to sue when their human rights are violated in the workplace. No other group of North Carolinians faces such a burden. To my mind, it’s an attempt by people who cannot stand the progress our country has made in recognizing the human rights of all of our citizens to overturn that progress. Right now, there are many groups, businesses, and individuals in North Carolina working to oppose and overcome these negative developments. Taking all of this into account, I feel that this is a time for me and the band to show solidarity for those freedom fighters. As a result, and with deepest apologies to our dedicated fans in Greensboro, we have canceled our show scheduled for Sunday, April 10th. Some things are more important than a rock show and this fight against prejudice and bigotry — which is happening as I write — is one of them. It is the strongest means I have for raising my voice in opposition to those who continue to push us backwards instead of forwards.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s Sunday April 10th show is canceled. Tickets will be refunded at point of purchase.
http://brucespringsteen.net//blockquote >
Maybe the bills should have been separate. Bathroom rights and workplace rights seem to be two different issues, even though it is effecting the same group of people.
Among the LGBT communities, the bathroom issue should not be an issue. IF they have had the surgery and are now with parts identified as male or female, they should be able to use those bathrooms. Those who have NOT undergone the surgery should use the bathrooms appropriate for what they have not how they identify themselves.
It is pretty simple, have a penis, use the men's room. If they have a penis but want to dress as a woman and self identify as a woman, I agree with Carolina, use the men's room.
Well done, Bruce. #theboss
Good going Bruce!
Little Steven Van Zandt also has a history of activism. One of my favorite days ever, when living in NYC during the 80's, was a beautiful crisp clear Autumn afternoon. It was National Peace Day and to celebrate Little Steven, Patti Smith, and Peter Gabriel were providing the free entertainment on the lawn outside of the UN building. All kinds of dignitaries spoke to the thousands of assembled peace niks.
It was fantastic. Azure sky. Cool breeze blowing. Great music. Pretty girls.
"Ain't Gonna Play Sun City" was the encore with Steven, Patti, and Peter all taking a verse.
Tennessee is offering up its own version of discrimination and hate...
Tennessee’s Anti-LGBT Measure Goes Farthest Yet To Deny Services
Monday evening, the Tennessee legislature passed HB 1840, a measure that will allow therapists and counselors to legally refuse service to the state’s LGBT residents. But lawmakers did not pass the bill before agreeing to a change demanded when the measure was introduced last Wednesday; the bill’s original language allowed mental health professionals and unlicensed therapists and counselors to cite a “sincerely held and religious belief†when denying service to anyone. The legislature changed that language to “sincerely held principles,†thus broadening the scope of reasons someone could be legally refused.
The bill’s opponents believe the bill’s wording allows for discrimination against other groups, including African-Americans. “There’s no litigation on what those ‘principles’ are,†state Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D) said. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) says the bill’s language allows mental health professionals to “refuse to see clients for almost unlimited reasons. For instance, a counselor could refuse to see a lesbian simply because of her sexual orientation, or to see a couple involved in an interfaith relationship. A counselor who is an atheist could refuse to see a Catholic client—and the list goes on.†The bill now heads to the desk of Gov. Bill Haslam (R) for his review. Haslam has not indicated whether or not he’ll sign or veto the measure.
HB 1840 is the only bill of its kind in the nation. The American Counseling Association (ACA) says the legislation trounces upon its code of ethics, which states that mental health professionals cannot deny service based on “personally held values, attitudes, beliefs and behaviors.†Sen. Jack Johnson (R) sponsored the measure, but says that it is the ACA that is discriminatory, not the state legislature. Counselors, he says, have always been able to turn away clients if they disagreed with them. “And by the way,†he said, “why should someone seek counseling from a counselor who is unqualified, untrained, and has no experience in a particular subject matter?â€
The measure holds significant consequences for Tennessee’s LGBT community. Nearly a quarter of the state’s 6.5 million residents live in rural areas, where access to mental health care is scant. The bill states that a therapist must provide a referral to their client if they refuse service, but it is likely the nearest therapist willing to help an LGBT patient could be hours away. LGBT children and teens have limited access to insurance and transportation and are most at risk. LGBT children and teens are four times more likely than their peers to attempt suicide; the consequences could be deadly if their parents are unwilling to help or if their parents throw them out of their homes when they learn they are LGBT.
The measure is the most recent in a series of anti-LGBT legislation in the South.
Last month, the North Carolina legislature passed a bill that overturned local gay and transgender protections in a special one-day session that cost taxpayers approximately $42,000. Governor Pat McCrory signed the bill into law mere hours after its introduction. The bill was a direct response to a prior nondiscrimination ordinance in the city of Charlotte, which had offered a wide range of protections.
Full article: http://secondnexus.com/politics-and-economics/tennessees-anti-lgbt-measure-goes-farthest-yet-to-deny-services/
There currently is this sick "one - upmanship" dick measuring contest that is going on in the South to see which state can set back human rights the furthest in direct violation of the Bill of Rights, i.e The United States Constitution.
I first noticed this when the GOP took over here in NC and looked to Texas every time it would pass a law pandering to the extreme right wing electorate in state. Then it would be Alabama. Then Tennessee. Then Georgia. Then Florida. Then Mississippi. Then SC. Then, when the dust would settle, the NC Legislature would read all their putts and double down on whatever social issue was at hand to try to prove that they were no longer at the kid's table. "Hey! Now that we are going to reinstitute executions (again, Texas was and is always No. 1 in that distinction - no other state is even close, except for Florida) WE aim to be NUMBER ONE in THE MOST executions! After all, we aim to please!"
Actually executions in NC are currently suspended - although the GOP is TRYING LIKE HELL to get back into the killing business, despite example after example of men that were wrongly accused being exonerated after sometimes decades of being on Death Row. And they are black in about, oh, 95% of all cases. Coincidence? Hell, no!
May 3, 2014 - Of the total 3,139 inmates under sentence of death in 2010 and 2011 — in both federal and state courts — 1,309 were black. And 1,743 were white. The DOJ report found there were 387 Hispanic inmates on death row. That's 14 percent of death row inmates with a "known ethnicity," according to the DOJ.
http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/05/03/308370643/whos-waiting-on-death-row
The link don't work...
[Edited on 4/13/2016 by alanwoods]
[Edited on 4/13/2016 by alanwoods]
Hey Rich, how ya doin?
May 3, 2014 - Of the total 3,139 inmates under sentence of death in 2010 and 2011 — in both federal and state courts — 1,309 were black. And 1,743 were white. The DOJ report found there were 387 Hispanic inmates on death row. That's 14 percent of death row inmates with a "known ethnicity," according to the DOJ.
www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/.../whos-waiting-on-death-row
In North Carolina?
I'm looking.
Hey Rich, how ya doin?
Doing OK, Alan. How're things in the Volunteer State? I DO like Tennessee, you know! Was in Memphis (oh my God, the ribs at Central BBQ were ORGASMIC - and CHEAP!) and Nashville - one of my all-time favorite cities anywhere - I like Knoxville, too - back in Feb.
Always like it when I'm in Tenn. Beautiful state and the people are just great. And THE BEST ribs on the PLANET!
I found a page that lists 80 black death row inmates to 60 white. That is still a disproportionate amount when you consider the overall demographics of the state but not 95%.
http://www.ncdps.gov/Adult-Corrections/Prisons/Death-Penalty/Death-Row-Roster
You know, Memphis is about as far for me as Detroit... We in East Tennessee think of it almost as another state. Now, Nashville is about 2.5 hours and I go there as often as I can. But the real BBQ is definitely in Memphis.
For Tennessee - according to the DOC website:
Number on Death Row: 66
Numbers Breakdown: 65 males and 1 female
34 White, 30 African Americans, 1 Hispanic, 1 Asian -
See more at: https://www.tn.gov/correction/topic/tdoc-death-row-facts#sthash.yRLXQLzg.dpuf
I found a page that lists 80 black death row inmates to 60 white. That is still a disproportionate amount when you consider the overall demographics of the state but not 95%.
http://www.ncdps.gov/Adult-Corrections/Prisons/Death-Penalty/Death-Row-Roster
I'm not sure that's totally accurate but I know it isn't 95%. But there are WAY more poor blacks on death row in NC (and I'm sure other states, not just in the South) who were "convicted" back before DNA testing and many have been exonerated due to advances in technology. Many of these innocents - who prosecutors continue to insist are "guilty" - even when they have been PROVEN to have been falsely convicted - would have no doubt been executed had executions not been suspended.
Look, back when I was a hard - core Republican - and I was, until Reagan, and I voted for him TWICE - I was a full supporter of the Death Penalty. Then I had an epiphany and woke up.
As I often do I was "exaggerating" just a bit in order to prompt "debate"....
I found a page that lists 80 black death row inmates to 60 white. That is still a disproportionate amount when you consider the overall demographics of the state but not 95%.
http://www.ncdps.gov/Adult-Corrections/Prisons/Death-Penalty/Death-Row-Roster
I'm not sure that's totally accurate but I know it isn't 95%. But there are WAY more poor blacks on death row in NC (and I'm sure other states, not just in the South) who were "convicted" back before DNA testing and many have been exonerated due to advances in technology. Many of these innocents - who prosecutors continue to insist are "guilty" - even when they have been PROVEN to have been falsely convicted - would have no doubt been executed had executions not been suspended.
Look, back when I was a hard - core Republican - and I was, until Reagan, and I voted for him TWICE - I was a full supporter of the Death Penalty. Then I had an epiphany and woke up.
As I often do I was "exaggerating" just a bit in order to prompt "debate"....
How many were actually executed wrongfully? We may never know.
I still support the death penalty in particularly heinous crimes. Now that we have the tools to assure more accurately "beyond a reasonable doubt" - such as DNA, I think the margin for error has been minimized somewhat.
How many were actually executed wrongfully? We may never know.
Alan, is even ONE acceptable? Jesus.
The problem is that for what seems like forever the attitude has been, "SOMEBODY has to die for this. So get me someone. And if he's back and poor, so much the better."
Witness - From yesterday's Raleigh News And Observer:
Saunders: An end to Joe Freeman Britt’s brand of justice
You know what’s so lovable about me?
My willingness to admit mistakes, my modesty.
It’s true, of course, as Winston Churchill said about a political rival, that I have “a lot to be modest about.â€
So did Joe Freeman Britt, but that never prevented him from marching into the Robeson County Courthouse nearly 50 times with unwavering certitude and emerging only after sending yet another defendant to death row. Whether that defendant was actually guilty or not seemed to be of incidental, if any, concern to Britt.
Britt died last week. He was 80 and at one time was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as having sent more people to death row than any other prosecutor. The death-dealing dude delighted in the sobriquet “world’s deadliest D.A.†and the international attention it earned him.
Even more odious than taking pride in such a dubious distinction is the fact that Britt seemed incapable of admitting a courtroom mistake – even when irrefutable DNA evidence proved that he’d sent the wrong man to the death house or to a cell for three decades.
That’s what happened with Henry Lee McCollum and Leon Brown, two teenagers who spent three decades in prison – McCollum spent most of his on death row – after being convicted of a rape and murder in which confessions appeared to have been coerced and evidence hidden. Brown was at the time the youngest person ever sentenced to death.
When DNA evidence revealed that neither man was involved in the 11-year-old victim’s death or rape – and that another man with a history of such crimes was – was Britt aghast at the error, did he rush to fling open their cell doors, did he apologize?
Nah. He said, “No question about it, absolutely they are guilty.â€
In the world according to Joe Freeman Britt, DNA evidence is infallible when confirming guilt, but still open to skepticism when proving innocence.
That world seems to be no more in Robeson County, where the only thing the current D.A. appears to have in common with the unlamented – at least by me – Britt is his last name. “His father and my grandfather were first or second cousins,†District Attorney Johnson Britt told me Monday, obviously in no rush to claim close kinship with the man who once held the same office he now holds.
Would you?
When asked whether he thinks some prosecutors are more concerned with gaining convictions than seeing that justice is done, Britt said, “Absolutely. I’m not going to specify who, but some prosecutors get so caught up in the contest of winning. When they do that, he or she loses sight of what their responsibilities are.â€
Joe Freeman Britt’s “legacy still pervades this community,†Johnson Britt said. “He was viewed by many as a tough, law-and-order prosecutor. He was viewed by many as being ...†– here, Britt, no doubt trying to honor the dictum of not speaking ill of the dead, searched for just the right, diplomatic word – “abusive.
“My goal, when I became D.A., was to do my job, seek justice, and change the community’s impression of what this office stood for,†Johnson Britt said.
For adopting such an enlightened attitude, Britt was called a derogatory name by Joe Freeman Britt, who also said Johnson Britt had been hanging around with “the wine and cheese crowd too long.â€
Yikes. Mark my words. Fawning obituaries of the capital-punishment-crazy D.A. will ignore that, but will note the irrelevancy of his being 6’6†or his commanding courtroom presence.
Despite his height, when it came to seeking justice, not just convictions, though, Joe Freeman Britt was lilliputian.
See if you can get your hands on the “60 Minutes†episode from 1985 on “The Deadliest Prosecutor.†Eat first, though, because you won’t have an appetite after watching Britt lead a seminar instructing D.A.’s from around the country on how to get convictions. “Within the breast of each of us burns a flame that constantly whispers in our ear ‘preserve life, preserve life, preserve life at any cost.’... It is the prosecutor’s job to extinguish that flame.â€
The prosecutor, he said, should not be afraid to “go after ’em and tear that jugular out†when confronting “adverse witnesses,†he said. In the courtroom, Britt told his D.A. acolytes, “you’re the producer, the director, the actor, the key grip.â€
Good Lord in heaven, man. He did know he was dealing with people’s lives and not auditioning for “Matlock,†right?
The U.S. Supreme Court in 1994 turned down McCollum’s and Brown’s request for a new trial, and Justice Antonin Scalia said McCollum’s crime was so vicious that death was warranted. Scalia also wrote in a 2006 case that no innocent person had ever been executed because “If such an event had occurred in recent years, we would not have to hunt for it; the innocent’s name would be shouted from the rooftops by the abolition lobby.â€
If no innocent people have been executed recently – an unlikely proposition – it isn’t because scary, score-keeping prosecutors such as Joe Freeman Britt didn’t disregard the safeguards meant to guard against it.
The biography of singer Jim Morrison was titled “No One Here Gets Out Alive.†True enough, but, sad to say, some get out without facing justice for their misdeeds – deliberate misdeeds or not.
Yeah, we’re looking at you Joe “Deathrow man†Britt. He was elected a state Superior Court judge after his distinguished, but tarnished, tenure as a prosecutor.
As Joe Freeman Britt sheds his earthly robe, all I can say is, “May you rest uneasily for all eternity, not only for what you did to Henry Lee McCollum and Leon Brown and who-knows-how-many-others, but for not having the decency to apologize.â€
Even a sincere apology wouldn’t have returned to them one second of the years taken from them, but it might have provided a balm to their souls, might’ve let them see that someone acknowledged the injustice done them.
Joe Freeman Britt is dead. Perhaps now Lady Justice can uncover her face.
Correction: This story incorrectly stated that Joe Freeman Britt had been elected to the state Supreme Court. He was elected a state Superior Court judge.
Barry Saunders: 919-836-2811, bsaunders@newsobserver.com, @BarrySaunders9
BARRY SAUNDERS
Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/barry-saunders/article71222712.html#storylink=cpy
Alan, do you actually think this mindset is defensible?
[Edited on 4/13/2016 by brofan]
I think the power of death is too much power to give the State. Governments have abused that power throughout history.
I think the power of death is too much power to give the State. Governments have abused that power throughout history.
________________________________________________________________________
So what would you do with the murderers?
Lock them up for life to the tune of $32,000 to $37, 000 per year?
Free them because they are misunderstood and incarceration is not nice?
Do you want them in the general population so that they can keep murdering at will? This is an important question because the liberals are against solitary confinement.
What is your solution?
I think the power of death is too much power to give the State. Governments have abused that power throughout history.
________________________________________________________________________
So what would you do with the murderers?
Lock them up for life to the tune of $32,000 to $37, 000 per year?
Free them because they are misunderstood and incarceration is not nice?
Do you want them in the general population so that they can keep murdering at will? This is an important question because the liberals are against solitary confinement.What is your solution?
I'd send them to your house.
I think the power of death is too much power to give the State. Governments have abused that power throughout history.
________________________________________________________________________
So what would you do with the murderers?
Lock them up for life to the tune of $32,000 to $37, 000 per year?
Free them because they are misunderstood and incarceration is not nice?
Do you want them in the general population so that they can keep murdering at will? This is an important question because the liberals are against solitary confinement.What is your solution?
I'd send them to your house.
I think the power of death is too much power to give the State. Governments have abused that power throughout history.
________________________________________________________________________
So what would you do with the murderers?
Lock them up for life to the tune of $32,000 to $37, 000 per year?
Free them because they are misunderstood and incarceration is not nice?
Do you want them in the general population so that they can keep murdering at will? This is an important question because the liberals are against solitary confinement.What is your solution?
I'd send them to your house.
________________________________________________________________________
Obviously you have no answer or clue. Typical liberal, no solutions.
Let's see what little billy comes up with.
Jesus Christ Muleman... you just keep amazing me with your piles of steaming dung.
How many of those prisoners that costing $32,000 - $35,000 a year are actually working for huge corporations? The private prisons are making money off our prison industrial complex. Maybe if the politicians weren't so interested in kow towing to lobbyists a deal could be worked out to where prisoners had to pay their own room and board. How's that for a solution?
Your right wing typical solution is hypocrisy. No abortion! Wait until they grow up and then lets kill them.
