Apr 18 2008
COLUMBIA — The National Rifle Association has endorsed U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham in his re-election bid.
The group says it endorsed the Republican from South Carolina because of his stance on gun rights and his voting record.
Graham faces Buddy Witherspoon in the June 10 primary.
He’s never getting my endorsement at the ballot box, that’s for sure.
Apr 18 2008
Rep. Greg Delleney, the Chester Republican who last year authored the bill requiring a woman to view an ultrasound, said the compromise forges a more contemplative clinical environment for women making a critical decision.
“I hope the ultrasound will persuade women to forgo the abortion,” Delleney said.
Under the compromise, Delleney noted, a woman must:
- Be informed that an ultrasound is being performed
- Be informed of her right to view the image, either during the ultrasound or after it is recorded
- Then wait one hour before an abortion is performed
- Sign a consent statement
Apr 18 2008
School board members met Wednesday and asked staff members to draft changes to the weapons ban that would would allow marksmanship teams such as the one at East Wake High School to compete in off-campus shooting events.
School board member Lori Millberg, chairwoman of the board’s policy committee, said the original intent of the weapons policy was to keep students safe by barring firearms, knives and other deadly weapons from school grounds. There wasn’t any thought that the policy would keep school-based marksmanship teams from competing.
“That was not what the school board was seeking to bar when we wrote this policy,” Millberg said.
But in late March, an East Wake principal, Sebastian Shipp, decided to bar the East Wake team from competing in the marksmanship tournament sponsored by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission the day before the contest took place. Area superintendent Danny Barnes supported Shipp’s decision.
But Barnes and Shipp interpreted the weapons ban on campus to mean students could not participate in an off-campus event sponsored by a state agency and supervised by adults certified in firearms safety. The East Wake team members were part of a school-approved club, FFA, formerly known as Future Farmers of America.
Barnes and Shipp, two more “educators” who apparently were never themselves educated in the arts of common sense. Two more “educators” who I would also speculate have never held an actual job in the private sector where their labor has to produce actual results. How is it that so many people in this country that lack very basic analytical skills continue to end up teaching our children? What made these two men think that they had a right to regulate what these students do off of school grounds? What made these men think that there was a clear and inherent danger in letting students, responsibly trained in the use of firearms, attend a competition in marksmanship supervised by adults, also responsibly trained in the use of firearms. These kids aren’t Columbine outcasts.
In my parents’ days they use to have rifle clubs in high school. You could drive up to school and park your truck with a loaded shot gun in the rack and it didn’t concern anybody. We’ve got a bunch of politically correct, limp-wristed wimps running our schools these days who don’t know their behind from a hole in the wall.
Apr 18 2008
DURHAM - Advocates of a 1 percent local tax on restaurant and bar bills, which is likely to go to a referendum in November, are counting on the likes of Michelle Stanback.
Durham lawmakers agreed Thursday to submit a bill when the legislature convenes next month that would authorize putting the new tax to a vote, a burst of progress after ideological differences stalled the effort for years.
The estimated $5 million a year the tax would generate would go to projects aimed at drawing more tourists to Durham, such as a large-scale renovation of the city’s civic center.
Sounds like a plan that can make everyone happy. The Durham councilmen can get the initiative on the ballot, Luebke can stop sobbing about class warfare, and ultimately the voters of Durham can decide if this extra money is really necessary and worth it in the end.
Apr 18 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 16, 2008
Contact: Andy Polk
(202) 225-1976
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Rep. Sue Myrick (NC-9) called on Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to revoke former President Jimmy Carter’s passport. This is in response to the former President traveling to Syria to meet with Hamas, an organization officially designated by the United States as a Foreign Terrorist Organization
“Former President Carter has acted in contradiction of international agreements to isolate Hamas. He has acted in defiance of both United States policy and international policy. His actions reward terrorists, lend support, and provide legitimacy to their belief that violence will eventually get them what they want,” said Rep. Myrick.
After Hamas won the 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections the Quartet (US, UN, EU and Russia) called on Hamas to renounce terror, recognize Israel and recognize the previous agreements between the Palestinian Authority and Israel as they seek an agreement to make peace. Hamas has categorically rejected these three conditions for more than two years.
Congress granted the Secretary of State the power to grant and verify passports. In 1981, the United States Supreme Court held in the case of Haig v. Agee that the Secretary of State has the implied power to revoke passports as well (453 U.S. 280).
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Apr 18 2008
Two N.C. House challengers are among the Charlotte-area legislative candidates endorsed by the N.C. Association of Educators for the May 6 primary.
The group endorsed Democrat Nick Mackey over incumbent Drew Saunders in District 99 and Republican Larry Hale over incumbent Jim Gulley and challenger Edy Brotherton in District 103.
Any political group that would hand out an endorsement to a corrupt, embarrassing excuse for a man like Nick Mackey is not a serious organization. As I said the other day, neither the NEA nor it’s state level affiliates give a rat’s ass about any child’s education. This endorsement is living proof of that.
Apr 18 2008
Ridership on Charlotte Area Transit has hit the highest level in fifty years.
Transit Keith Parker says the figures from February show CATS carried more than two-million passengers… a total that has not been seen since the transit system was a privately-run entity. And compared to February of ‘07, Parker says ridership was up 35-percent.
He says the light rail weekday service carries more than 13-thousand riders a day, which exceeds projections by 40-percent. Parker says the train has already carried it’s one-millionth customer.
For all the criticism of the light rail project, it’s taken off far better than even the proponents thought it would. 40% above projection is very impressive and it’s not surprising either. Oil is hitting $116 a barrel today. Even in South Carolina which has some of the cheapest gas in the country, we are nearing $3.30 per gallon of gas. I started taking the light rail back in February for this reason and to avoid forking over $100 a month for an uptown parking lease.
Apr 18 2008
A Wilmington high school student is on court-ordered probation after admitting she baked marijuana into cookies that were given to a teacher.
The Star-News of Wilmington reported Friday that 17-year-old Elizabeth Ann Coleman was given two years supervised probation and ordered to perform 96 hours of community service. She also must write an apology letter to the Spanish teacher.
Wow, this kid got off easy. You know what though? She will be a story for her classmates to tell their friends and others down the road for the rest of their lives. Nobody in Elizabeth Coleman’s class will ever forget who she was. She’ll become a high school legend. Two years of probation is almost kind of worth a little immortality.