Tag Archives: North Carolina

Bullies Don’t Stop Until You Stand Up To Them

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Yesterday The New York Times reported that the Obama Administration will now direct all public school to allow students to use the bathrooms (and locker rooms) that conform to their sexual identity. I doesn’t matter what parts you have, you use the bathroom (or locker room) that corresponds to the way you feel at that particular time.

The article reports:

A letter to school districts will go out Friday, adding to a highly charged debate over transgender rights in the middle of the administration’s legal fight with North Carolina over the issue. The declaration — signed by Justice and Education department officials — will describe what schools should do to ensure that none of their students are discriminated against.

It does not have the force of law, but it contains an implicit threat: Schools that do not abide by the Obama administration’s interpretation of the law could face lawsuits or a loss of federal aid.

…“A school may not require transgender students to use facilities inconsistent with their gender identity or to use individual-user facilities when other students are not required to do so,” according to the letter, a copy of which was provided to The New York Times.

I don’t want to see anyone discriminated against or bullied, but it seems to me that this directive (aside from being unconstitutional) opens the door for bullying and all sorts of other high-jinks. Can the imagine the ‘dare you’ going around various teenage boys about going into the girls’ locker room? This is just plain silly.

The obvious answer to this is a private bathroom and changing area for anyone who feels that they need extra privacy. No questions asked. It is really sad that we are talking about discrimination in this matter rather than talking about protecting women and children from people claiming to be transgender who are not. There are already a number of criminal cases filed in various states where nefarious people have used transgender-sympathetic laws to gain access to women’s restrooms. What happened next was traumatizing for the women involved and has severe legal consequences for the man involved. Men do not belong in ladies’ rooms or in women’s locker rooms.

Fighting Back

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The Alliance Defending Freedom posted an article on its website about actions it will be taking regarding North Carolina‘s bathroom bill.

The article reports:

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing students and parents at North Carolina public schools and universities filed suit Tuesday against the U.S. departments of Justice and Education for making federal student aid and educational funding dependent on students sharing restrooms and locker rooms with the opposite sex. The suit is similar to one ADF filed against the two agencies on behalf of parents and students in Illinois last week.

The DOJ disregarded student privacy and safety when it issued letters threatening the suspension of federal funding for North Carolina’s schools and university system, as well as federal financial aid for North Carolina’s university students, unless the state government repudiated the law known as House Bill 2. That law ensures that government facilities and public schools protect personal privacy by maintaining sex-specific restrooms, locker rooms, and showers. The DOJ then filed suit against the state on Monday, the same day that the governor and the General Assembly each sued the agency over its illegitimate demands.

“The administration shouldn’t condition the ability of women to receive an education on their willingness to shower with members of the opposite sex,” said ADF Senior Counsel Jeremy Tedesco. “On behalf of North Carolina students and families—and by extension all students and families across the nation affected by the DOJ’s and DOE’s overreach—we have filed suit to stop both agencies from bullying schools and universities. The agencies must stop using falsehoods about what federal law requires to threaten student access to educational opportunities and financial assistance.”

Do you want boys allowed in your high school or college daughter’s locker room?

Before you sign on to support the idea of men in women’s locker rooms, please watch the following video posted on YouTube by the Alliance Defending Freedom:

If the ‘right of privacy‘ is somehow enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, why are we taking that right away from the women of America?

Purposely Ignoring The Obvious

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On Friday, CNS News reported that Chicago Public Schools have announced that all students and teachers will have access to whichever locker rooms and other spaces that were formerly reserved for one sex. This means that any teenage boy who wants to undress in the girls‘ locker room is free to do so. It also means that girls only health classes dealing with feminine issues are a thing of the past in Chicago.

The article reports:

In a weak acknowledgement of the uproar this will cause, the Chicago Public Schools says students that are not gender confused “should” be allowed access to alternative facilities. So, for example, if there are fifty girls who object to a boy undressing in front of them, it is the fifty girls, not the boy, who must go change in “single stall restrooms” elsewhere. Of course, the odds are high that school officials on the lookout for any sign of “bullying” will take careful note of which students leave the locker rooms, presuming they are allowed to leave at all.

To add to the confusion, the definition of gender identity changes about every three months, so the rules we are supposed to live by are constantly moving. But the latest definition, according to the Chicago Public Schools, is that sex is merely “a label a person is assigned at birth” and that the reality lies in one’s internal “psychological knowledge” of their own gender “regardless of the[ir] biological sex.”

At what point does common sense make an appearance?

The article concludes:

And therein lies the biggest affront from these new policies. Not only must government employees play along with a gender confused child’s every subjective wish, so must every other student. In fact, the Chicago Public Schools specify that students must address a gender confused child by whatever pronoun they wish, be it “they, their, ze, he and she.” Failure to do so “will result in appropriate consequences for offending staff and students,” in other words, discipline up to and including expulsion from school.

But many people of good will and faith conviction will simply refuse to put aside their legitimate privacy, modesty, and safety concerns. Many children of good will resist being forced to say “she” when speaking of a boy they have known for years just as they would resist being forced to say “5” when asked “what does 2+2 equal?

The left for years claimed that all they wanted was for LGBT persons to be left alone but this was a lie. It is now clear that liberals and their enablers will not leave anyone alone and will use the full force of courts, lawsuits, and government to ensure any resistance to their new gender ideology “will result in appropriate consequences.”

I think I would continue my school day sweaty and smelly rather than take a chance and dress in the locker room under the new rules. What are we doing to our children?

Why The Average American Hates Politics

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There was a gross miscarriage of justice today in Raleigh, North Carolina. I don’t know how much of the media will carry it or how they will spin it, but it was a gross miscarriage of justice. This miscarriage of justice occurred in the upper echelons of the North Carolina Republican party. Yesterday I posted an article explaining what the meeting in Raleigh today was about and the forces behind it. The meeting occurred and unfortunately the establishment again beat up the grass roots. The meeting was an illegal meeting to begin with for a number of reasons, but the establishment managed to gather enough votes to oust Hasan Harnett as Chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party. They should be ashamed of themselves.

The Daily Haymaker posted the story this afternoon. Here are a few quotes from their article:

He’s out. That’s the word I am getting from inside that meeting room in Raleigh — by a margin of 200 to 79. (If it’s any consolation, my sources are telling me Jim Womack has done a bang-up job as Harnett’s chief advocate.) 

The next step is to find a replacement.  Prior to the meeting, my sources told me there were 120 votes FOR keeping Hasan.  There MUST have been some kind of deal struck on the replacement in order to get this kind of sea change. 

So, a bunch of people — representing congressional districts that no longer exist — overthrew a man while THEY themselves could likely not survive a vote of confidence by their own local parties.  

I can’t explain how disappointed I am at the results of this meeting. This was a witch hunt. Unfortunately it was successful–they didn’t find a witch, but they found a good person to hang just the same. I am a registered Republican at the moment. I am not sure how long that will last. I have heard for a long time that the problem with our elections system is the money in politics. This was not about money–it was a pure power grab. I believe that the problem with our political system is not the money–it’s the dishonest people who will do anything to gain or keep power. This whole sage was totally unnecessary and does not reflect well on the Republican Party.

The quote that says it all comes from yesterday’s article on this site:

“[Dallas] (Woodhouse) has said that even if Harnett survives the vote on Saturday, they are still not going to let him back in the office or give him his email back or any of that stuff. The pettiness is going to continue.”

It’s time to put grown-ups in charge of the North Carolina Republican Party. This whole escapade was childish and will cost the party in November.

 

North Carolina’s Voter Identification Law Stands

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Fox News 29 reported yesterday that U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder has ruled that the North Carolina voter identification law is constitutional. The law requires voters who appear in person to cast ballots to show an accepted form of photo identification like a driver’s license, a passport or a military ID The argument against the law is that it discriminates against minorities.

The law was in effect in the March 2016 Primary Election in North Carolina. In that election, 31.6 percent of North Carolina residents who were eligible to vote, voted. In the 2012 Primary Election in North Carolina, 31.5 percent of North Carolina residents who were eligible to vote, voted. (These figures are from the United States Election Project website.) I don’t think the identification requirement had a negative impact on voter turnout. It will be interesting to see if the new law impacts the general election.

Here are some excerpts from the Judge’s decision:

While North Carolina had a sordid history of freezing black voters out of the political process, the plaintiffs didn’t show that the law hampered the ability of minority voters to exercise electoral politics, Schroeder said.

The plaintiffs “failed to show that such disparities will have materially adverse effects on the ability of minority voters to cast a ballot and effectively exercise the electoral franchise” as a result of the 2013 state law, Schroeder wrote. That argument was made more difficult after black voter turnout increased in 2014, he wrote.

“There is significant, shameful past discrimination. In North Carolina’s recent history, however, certainly for the last quarter century, there is little official discrimination to consider,” Schroeder wrote.

North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory released the following statement:

“Common practices like boarding an airplane and purchasing Sudafed require photo ID and thankfully a federal court has ensured our citizens will have the same protection for their basic right to vote,” McCrory said in a prepared statement.

If voter turnout goes down in the general election, I wonder if it will be because only alive, registered people vote. How do minorities board planes, buy alcohol or cigarettes, or buy cough medicine?

 

Sometimes The Media Just Lies

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The HB2 bill in North Carolina has stirred up a lot of controversy. I have been called a bigot because I don’t want men in women’s bathrooms or locker rooms. I have repeatedly stated that I am not concerned about the transgender population, I am concerned with the people who will use transgender as a cloak for nefarious activities. It is instructive that the original spokesperson for allowing men in women’s bathrooms is a registered sex offender.

There was a rally in Raleigh yesterday. There were people there who support HB2 and there were people there who oppose HB2. The people who oppose HB2 made a great show of delivering boxes of petitions supporting their stand. But wait—exactly what was in those boxes?

Governor McCrory’s website posted some interesting pictures of the contents of the boxes:

The anonymously-funded, national smear campaign led by the Human Rights Campaign is grossly misrepresenting information about the petitions delivered to State Capitol today. Contrary to the media reports, the activists only delivered enough petitions to fill two boxes and the overwhelming majority of signatures were from out-of-state. The stacks on the right in each photo consists of out-of-state signatures.

HB2

HB2aIn comparison, here’s a photo of the boxes posted online by a reporter at the HRC press conference:

HB2bIf all you watch is the mainstream media, the above picture is what you saw. The truth is in the previous two pictures. There is some serious manipulation going on here. Most parents do not want boys or men in their daughter’s bathrooms or locker rooms. The aim of this picture is to make those parents feel as though they are a minority. Don’t be fooled.

This Isn’t Good For Our Society

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Breakpoint posted an article today about the intolerance our culture is currently showing toward those who hold Biblical beliefs.

The article includes a wonderful comment about popular conceptions of open-mindedness:

You’ve seen those ridiculous “Coexist” bumper stickers, right? You know, the ones where the word is spelled out using religious symbols from Christianity, Islam, Paganism, Gay rights, Judaism, and so on?

I call it ridiculous because, as someone once wrote: “The C wants to kill the E, X, T, and the O. The O offers peaceful non-resistance, which will be ineffective if real trouble breaks out. The E feels like it’s been oppressed, making it intolerant of the C, the X, and the T. The I and the S are numerically irrelevant, but are just necessary to spell out the word. And the sticker is mostly directed at the T (or the Christian), who ironically poses no threat whatsoever to any of the others.”

In other words, the “Coexist” bumper sticker slogan assumes that each ideology be emptied of its actual conviction if its to work. And according to Colson Center board member Jennifer Marshall, that’s what big business is currently trying to sell to the American people.

The article points out that those who claim that they are in favor of coexistence are not willing to coexist themselves. A recently-passed Mississippi law allows those who hold Biblical beliefs on homosexuality to refuse to participate in homosexual weddings and to allow their religious convictions determine their rental policies if they are landlords. The law simply prevents discrimination against those who hold Biblical beliefs on matters regarding homosexuality.

The article concludes:

“Mississippi’s policy shows that we can coexist,” Marshall says. “Why would big business oppose that?”

That’s a good question given the number of times large corporate entities have entered these hot debates just in the last few years. Think of all of the corporate-led attacks and blackmail against common-sense religious freedom legislation in Arizona, Indiana, Georgia, North Carolina, and now Mississippi. And then think of the bakers, florists, and photographers in places such as New Mexico, Colorado and Washington State who have been forced to choose between their beliefs and ruinous fines forcing them out of business. They were not allowed to co-exist, at least not without compromising their convictions.

As Jennifer Marshall points out, true advocates of cultural coexistence seek conscience protections for all, not just those who adhere to the vision of the sexual revolution. Citing a poll that says 63 percent of state residents support the law, Jennifer writes, “Citizens in Mississippi and elsewhere are looking for solutions that defuse cultural tension over issues of sexual orientation and gender identity . . .The corporate establishment’s campaign against these common sense policies disregards all that. Citizens would do well to see through the big business marketing blitz against religious liberty. This corporate messaging puts neither the common good nor constitutional principle first.”

The First Amendment states:

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Living life according to your beliefs is one example of the free exercise of your religion. The group shaming of Christian beliefs is not only damaging to our culture, it is unconstitutional.

Inconsistent Bullies

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Breitbart.com posted an article yesterday about some further ripples in the battle over who gets to use the bathrooms in North Carolina. As previously stated, all that North Carolina HB2 did was to put the laws back the way they were before the City of Charlotte messed with them. Many of the concerts and other entertainment items that are cancelling now because of HB2 booked the events when the laws in North Carolina were the same as they are now. The law passed in Charlotte was the exception–not the rule. It was an interruption–what is now is the same as what was before Charlotte. So if the law was okay when the event was booked, why is it not okay now–the law is the same? It only gets worse.

The article at Breitbart reports:

Canada-based circus and theater entertainment company Cirque du Soleil has canceled its upcoming shows in Greensboro, Charlotte, and Raleigh in North Carolina to protest the state’s Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act.

…The world-famous circus, however, has not canceled its upcoming performances in the United Arab Emirates of Dubai.

Indeed, Cirque du Solei has a planned production, Varekai, scheduled to run from September 16 to 24 at the Dubai World Trade Centre. The United Arab Emirates of Dubai has outlawed same-sex marriage, sex or gender reassignment surgery, adoption by same-sex couples, openly gay and lesbian military service, with the aforementioned being punishable by death, fines, or imprisonment.

I need someone to explain the logic of this to me. I don’t see it.

The article concludes:

In fact, Cirque du Solei has performed for years in the anti-LBGT United Arab Emirates, including Michael Jackson: The Immortal Tour in 2014, Dralion in 2013, Alegria in 2009, and Quidam in 2006.

“Over the past years, Cirque du Soleil has had shows in various countries such as United Arab Emirates,” the Cirque du Solei website proudly states.

While calling North Carolina’s Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act “an important regression to ensuring human rights for all,” it’s unclear if Cirque du Soleil plans to cancel its upcoming shows in nations that put homosexuals to death.

As one person posted on Facebook:

bathroombillpicture

The Double Standard At Work

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From Twitter:

bathroombillLet that sink in a minute. Michael Moore, Bruce Springsteen, and a few other celebrities have decided to boycott North Carolina because of House Bill 2, which says that men should use men’s bathrooms and women should use women’s bathrooms. That is their privilege. However, if they have the privilege of doing business (or not doing business) with whomever they choose based on whatever reason, do Christians have to bake a cake for a homosexual wedding? Do they have to host a homosexual wedding? Do Christians have the same freedom of association that Michael Moore and other celebrities do?

There Is No Resemblance Between The Hype And The Truth

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The North Carolina legislation passed a bill on March 23 called HB2. The media has gone totally bonkers every since–yelling discrimination, bigotry, and all the other things they traditionally yell. I haven’t heard much in the media about the danger bathrooms open to whatever sex you choose to assume on a given day pose to women and children. I need to mention here that the danger does not come from transgendered people–it comes from nefarious people posing as transgenders. The media also overlooked the fact that the spokesmen for the group sponsoring the legislation that HB2 overturned was a registered sex offender. I am sure that is simply an incredible coincidence. The spokesman was removed after his criminal record was exposed.

On Wednesday, World Net Daily posted an article that clarifies the issues involved.

Here are some excerpts from the article:

Widely known now as House Bill 2, or HB 2, the legislation was approved 82-26 in the North Carolina General Assembly. State senators approved it 32-0, although 11 Democrats decided not to vote and another six lawmakers were absent. Republican Gov. Pat McCrory signed the bill on March 25.

Lt. Gov. Forest said the city of Charlotte left lawmakers no choice but to act.

“This isn’t something the General Assembly brought up. The city council in Charlotte brought this up, against legal counsel’s advice and against the advice of a lot of folks. They went beyond their constitutional authority and tried to create a public accommodation law in the city of Charlotte,” Forest told WND and Radio America.

He continued, “That is expressly a responsibility of the state. The city of Charlotte and municipalities don’t have the legal authority, based on our constitution, to establish public accommodation law.”

In addition to overstepping its legal authority, Forest said the Charlotte council pursued a very troubling policy.

“The Charlotte ordinance said that the business community had to to comply with this ordinance,” Forest explained. “They said it was sex discrimination to have men’s room and women’s room labels on your doors.”

When state officials started hearing from sexual assault victims, the effort to reverse the Charlotte ordinance picked up far more steam.

The article further explains:

Forest said the ordinance only required the person to identify as a member of a particular gender, and to have completed or be in the process of gender reassignment.

He said, despite the protests, HB 2 does a few very simple things, starting with determining who can use which bathrooms.

“What HB 2 did was say that men have to use men’s rooms and women have to use women’s rooms in the state of North Carolina,” Forest said.

At the same time, he said people identifying as transgender benefit, too.

“What this bill did is it created accommodation for people that are transgender, for people that view their gender differently than other folks,” Forest said. “It also provides the opportunity for single-stall unisex bathrooms. Anywhere that you want to place them.”

Forest said, unlike Charlotte, the HB 2 only applies to government buildings and schools. Business owners are free to make their own decisions.

If you own a business in North Carolina, you are free to designate bathrooms in any way you see fit. The article notes that Lt. Gov. Forrest mentioned the possible NBA boycott of North Carolina because of the law. He stated that he found the possible boycott odd because the WNBA  does not allow men to play in their league or enter the locker rooms and the NBA does not open its league or its locker rooms to women.

Common sense needs to prevail here. Note that when the original ordinance was passed in Charlotte, state officials started hearing from sexual assault victims. That statement really tells you all you need to know. Our laws need to protect women and children.

Does This Qualify As A Conflict Of Interest?

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Roy Cooper is the North Carolina Democratic Attorney General who is running for governor in November. However, it appears that some of his campaign donations are in direct conflict with his current job as Attorney General.

The Beaufort County Now posted the following graphic on Thursday:

RoyCooperThis might be something to pay attention to.

The Republican Ability To Form A Circular Firing Squad Is Present At All Levels Of The Party

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This article is based on an article posted at The Charlotte Observer yesterday and an article posted at The Daily Haymaker today. Both articles have to do with the power struggle currently going on within the North Carolina Republican Party. The power struggle began last year when Hasan Harnett was elected to chair the North Carolina Republican Party. He was the choice of the grass roots, but not of the establishment. Since his election, the establishment has attempted to strip him of power and now they are attempting to unseat him.

In September, I reported on the efforts of the establishment Republicans to set up a separate fundraising entity–essentially a shadow party. The grass roots effort to fight back were stopped by the Central Committee postponing any negative consequences until they could gather the legislators who supported them to cast votes in support of the shadow party.

The Charlotte Observer reports:

Harnett has been under fire since the state party’s Central Committee voted Sunday to censure him. Its resolution of no confidence included a litany of eight offenses “deemed harmful to the North Carolina Republican Party.”

Among other things, they included a dispute over the cost of attending the state convention.

Now, less than a year after Harnett was elected the state party’s first African-American chairman with support from grass-roots activists, some party leaders are trying to oust him before the convention.

But Harnett plans to stay.

The Daily Haymaker reports:

The content of the text screenshots we received indicate that executive director Dallas Woodhouse is much more than an innocent bystander in the whole effort to fire party chairman Hasan Harnett:

…The legislators are WHO saved the necks of David Lewis and Dallas the last go-around.  Will our electeds once AGAIN ride to the rescue of cronyism, pettiness, and corruption?  We’ll see. 

As you read this stuff, remember that this organization is completely controlled by the McCrory for Governor campaign organization.  The governor COULD step in and calm this down IF he wanted to.  His silence speaks volumes.

It is time for the Republican Party Central Committee to listen to the people who generally vote Republican. These are the people who elected Hasan Harnett. I am sorry that the Central Committee’s little noses are out of joint because they do not control the chairmanship, but it is time for them to work with the elected leader. If they choose not to work with Hasan Harnett, many North Carolina Republicans will leave the party, and ultimately, the Republicans may lose the general election in November. The childish moves on the part of the Central Committee benefit no one.

What Are We Teaching Our Children?

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Last Wednesday The Daily Caller posted an article about an event at Central Park School for Children in Durham, North Carolina. The teachers were allowed to opt out of the event, but parents did not have the option.

The article reports:

Stef Bernal-Martinez, a teacher of 6-year-old children, signed up all the children in her class for a “Black Lives March and Rally” to take place during the school day, at the city’s downtown Central Park and Farmer’s Market. Ms. Bernal-Martinez describes herself as a “Radical Queer Progressive Educator” and “white-passing Xicana.”

The event, like the Black Lives Matter movement itself, is less a spontaneous protest movement than a divide-and-conquer campaign by elite leftists. Two out of three African-Americans prefer the phrase “All Lives Matter” to “Black Lives Matter” according to a national August, 2015 Rasmussen poll. The grade school is predominantly Caucasian, but run by radical leftists. Naturally the school didn’t send the parents consent forms.

I believe all lives matter (including the lives of policemen), but I don’t like the idea that somehow black lives are any more or less important. The article states that some families that include policemen objected to having their children participate as marchers in this rally as some “Black Lives Matter” movement members have called for violence against police officers in the past.

The article concludes:

Black Lives Matter promotes antagonism against people of a different race based on their belief of the innate characteristics of the other race. This is the traditional, standard-dictionary definition of racism. Alveda King, the niece of civil rights icon Martin Luther King, says that the tactics employed by the Black Lives Matter movement do not represent the principles for which her uncle stood. Mrs. King recently said, “Of course black lives matter, all lives matter.”

The methods employed by Black Lives Matter have been racially polarizing. Parents at the school have asked for the Durham Police Department to be on hand for the children’s protection. Self-proclaimed radical educators dragging children into this ugly and sometimes deadly melee is wrong by any standard.

I have a few questions for the people who run this school. How well do the children do in the basic subjects of reading, writing, and arithmetic? Are the children academically strong enough to spend a day away from their studies and not pay a price? Is this a good use of instruction time?

This Is No Way To Win An Election

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I am a registered Republican. There are a few reasons for that. Last time I checked, there was no Conservative Party, and the Republican party was the closest I could come. The interesting thing about the Republican party is the independence of its members. If you look closely at the Democratic party, you find a conglomeration of various special interest groups and causes. These special interests tend to support each other and vote as a bloc. If you look closely at the Republican party right now, I am not sure what you find. There is an element of small government, fiscal conservatism, etc., but that is not the element that is in charge of the Republican party. Add to that the fact that Republicans tend not to march in lock step, and it gets truly interesting.

North Carolina is currently in the midst of a struggle that is a microcosm of the battle between the establishment and the grass roots that is taking place in the Republican party primary elections. The establishment is tearing its hair out at the possibility of a Donald Trump or Ted Cruz nomination. Either one of these candidates has the potential to end the crony capitalism the establishment Republicans and Democrats have set up in Washington in recent years.

Now, the battle has spilled over to North Carolina. The News Observer is reporting today that the Chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party (who is not a favorite of the party establishment) has been shut out of his email account since Monday. There are a few other grass roots types that have also been shut out of their accounts.

The Daily Haymaker also posted an article about the emails. The Daily Haymaker article states:

State GOP chairman Hasan Harnett has fired the latest shot in an email to executive director Dallas Woodhouse, accountant Greg Fornshell, and to hundreds of GOP bigwigs across the state:

[…] Mr. Woodhouse/Fornshell, I am politely requesting you turn my NCGOP Google email immediately back on. I know you have disabled my Google Email account through Computer Plumber. I have called Greg Fornshell and sent text messages but he remains silent. I had also visited the NCGOP Headquarters in Raleigh and apparently Greg Fornshell slipped out of the office ahead of my arrival. I have contacted the Computer Plumber company who services our email account and they said I need to talk with Greg Fornshell. Pretty interesting. Who gave the command? From my perspective, it’s the same old playbook and routine. Dallas, since you run the staff I know you gave the command to Greg Fornshell to disable my account.

Greg Fornshell, you can hide behind the covering of Dallas Woodhouse because he told you to do it. Dallas, the question remains will you also hide behind Tom Starks, General Counsel of the NCGOP to attempt to usurp his authority again and again over me? Or was it the current Central Committee staying on their talking points to make another bogus decision against me? Evidently, having closed door meetings with you does not work because either you brush me off or you just don’t listen. Why are you playing these silly games? Is this a joke or something?

Why would you stoop so low as to disable the Chairman’s NCGOP Google Email account? Why are fighting me? I have brought sound ideas to the table and have bent over backwards to make great things happen for all of us at the NCGOP. It is apparent that my sincere help and service to the Republican Party is not appreciated or welcomed by you and the Central Committee. It is apparent that you and the Central Committee want to do your own thing by working around me as oppose to working with me.

Is the reason why my account is disabled because you and the Central Committee do not want me to succeed as Chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party? Or will you try to hide behind a some bogus email virus attack to explain why my account is disabled? As Chairman, I require full access to my email account in order to carry out my day to day duties which includes fundraising so we can get Republicans elected. Therefore, shutting me out of my official NCGOP Google Email is suppose to accomplish what again? I really question your purpose and motive. I mean seriously, is this some form of ritual or hazing you would put the first black Chairman of the NCGOP State Party through? Or is it because I am not white enough for you? You keep pushing the limits. I guess time will only tell what your real plot and schemes are all about against me. No, worries. Like chess, I await your next move. […] 

Hasan Harnett was duly elected at last year’s GOP Convention in Raleigh. Since his election, the old guard Republicans in North Carolina have worked tirelessly to undermine him. I would like to quietly remind the establishment Republicans that the worker bees in the party and the enthusiasm tend to come from the grass roots. To play these silly games now is to work against your supposed goal of winning the next election.

Is This Really What We Want?

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Today The Civitas Institute (a North Carolina conservative group) reported some interesting information on the recent bill passed in Charlotte regarding transgender use of bathrooms. The article posted on their website reported some information that was omitted by one of the major Charlotte, North Carolina, papers.

The article at Civitas reports:

For months, residents of Charlotte have been debating whether the city should (or in fact could) pass an ordinance allowing individuals who identify as transgender to use the men’s or women’s bathrooms in places of public accommodation. Those opposed to the ordinance have had serious concerns about its effect on public safety.

This morning, Breitbart News is reporting that Chad Sevearance, president of the Charlotte Business Guild, who has taken a lead role in promoting the transgender bathroom ordinance, is a convicted and registered sex offender.

The article goes on to explain that Sevearance was convicted in 2000 of one charge of sexual molestation of a minor. He was required to register with the police for a minimum of ten years.

The Civitas article concludes:

This is not about further condemnation of Sevearance for his sexual offenses. (Although his advocacy group also knew he was a convicted child molester and defended him by calling reports of his convictions “mudslinging.”) The justice system has dealt with him, and it is not my place to heap further condemnation on a man who surely has been thoroughly condemned. This is about the Observer‘s failure to report on how a major figure at the center of a debate involving sexual predators and children has been convicted of being a sexual predator of children. In this context, the Observer‘s failure is tantamount to concealment. It is unfortunately one more example of our media picking and choosing its causes, leaving the task of actual journalism up to Internet news outlets.

I wonder if having this information before the vote would have changed any votes.

Why I Oppose The Relocation Of Syrian Refugees To The United States

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On February 9, I posted an article about the vetting of the Middle Eastern refugees that are headed for America.

In that article, I quoted a Breitbart.com article:

Two houses in the village (Sankt Johann) are used to house Syrian refugees, but among the opponents of the Assad regime living there SPIEGEL TV tracked down a suspected commander of the Islamic State terror group after tip offs from other Syrian activists. They had identified him as a man called Bassam, a notorious commander said to be responsible for the deaths of dozens of people.

…As Breitbart London recently reported, German security forces have received more than 100 tip-offs that Islamic State fighters may be hiding among migrants currently staying in the country.

Because the government of Syria has dissolved, there is no way of vetting any of these refugees. We allow them to enter our country at our own risk.

Meanwhile, gopthedailydose.com posted the list of American cities that ISIS has listed as targets. In North Carolina, Fayetteville and New Bern are listed as targets.

Recently, the Craven County (which includes New Bern) Board of Commissioners passed a Resolution stating that until there is a way to vet the refugees from countries where terrorists are in charge, Craven County should not accept any refugees from those countries.

Compassion for these refugees is needed, but it would actually be more compassionate to help them find safe places near their homelands where they can live safely until it is safe to go home.

 

What’s The Magic Number?

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Charlotte, North Carolina, just passed a law allowing transgender people the right to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity. Simply put, that means that regardless of what sexual equipment you were born with, you can choose the bathroom of the gender you identify with. It sounds harmless enough until you consider the risks of putting a man with all of his parts intact (regardless of who he identifies with) in a closed bathroom with women and young children.

If you wonder exactly what the risk is, The Toronto Sun posted a story in 2014 about a sexual predator who posed as a transgender in order to gain access to women’s restrooms.

The article reports:

A sexual predator who falsely claimed to be transgender and preyed on women at two Toronto shelters was jailed indefinitely on Wednesday.

…He (Justice John McMahon) noted the Montreal man, 37, attacked four vulnerable females between the ages of five and 53 in Montreal and Toronto over the past 12 years.

“He has demonstrated from the age of 12 until the present an inability to control his sexual impulses,” said McMahon.

Hambrook served four years in prison for sexually abusing a five-year-old girl and while on bail for that crime, raping a 27-year-old intellectually-challenged woman in Montreal.

This man may be the exception, but the fact that he exists is cause for concern. What is the magic number? I know that we want to be kind to people who struggle with transgender issues, but what is the number of young children who will be sexually assaulted before we either set up separate restrooms for trans-gendered people or simply demand that they use the restroom corresponding to the equipment they have? Are we putting our children at risk to accommodate something that can be addressed in a way that does not endanger our children?

 

Occasionally Someone In Government Makes A Statement Illustrating The Concept Of Common Sense

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North Carolina Lt. Governor Dan Forest posted the following on his website today:

RALEIGH — In light of tonight’s scheduled Charlotte City Council vote on redefining bathroom ordinances, Lt. Governor Dan Forest releases the following statement:

“Girls’ bathrooms are for girls, boys’ bathrooms are for boys. The fact we are even debating this is a sad commentary on where we are as a society.”

I realize that there are children and teenagers who may be confused about their gender. It might not be a bad idea to give them their own bathrooms, but allowing teenage boys (regardless of whether or not they are confused about their gender) into teenage girls’ bathrooms is creating a situation that has risks for beyond the simple sexual confusion of the person using the bathroom. I agree with Lt. Governor Forest’s statement.

One Opinion On The North Carolina Bond Issue

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BondIssueNCaBondIssueNCbThere are two very disturbing things about the North Carolina Bond Issue. It is not the roads and bridges bond it was popularized as–there is very little roads and bridges money in it. The bond also borrows money in advance in case we need it in the future. Why would we pay interest to borrow money before we actually need it? That’s like taking a mortgage out now and making payments on the mortgage because you may want to buy a house next year. It is not fiscally responsible.

Unless we begin to hold our legislators accountable for their spending, they will never cut their spending. If you live in North Carolina and want to see that state grow and attract businesses in the future, you will vote against this bond.

There Seems To Be A Bit Of A Double Standard Here

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Herman Cain posted an article on his website about a recent protest march in Raleigh, North Carolina. North Carolina is in the process of implementing a requirement to show some form of valid picture identification in order to vote. In a 2011 poll, 75 percent of North Carolina supported the voter identification requirement. However, that hasn’t stopped the protests.

The article reports:

Each year the civil rights watchdogs hold a so-called “Moral March on Raleigh.” The annual event is designed to protest any laws that Republicans may have passed during the preceding 12 months. This year’s march took place this weekend, and it focused extensively on the Voter ID regs.

So, what did you need if you wanted to attend?

RaleighProtestNote the last item–you have to bring a photo id to protest having to have a photo id when you vote. Makes perfect sense?!?!?!?

 

Is It Charitable To Finance Someone’s Drug Addiction?

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Many years ago, I knew a Pastor who had a wonderful way of dealing with people who approached him on the street and asked him for money. He would take them to breakfast, lunch or dinner (whichever was appropriate for the time of day). He knew that in many cases, if you give someone who begs you for money cash, it will be spent on drugs and alcohol, and you are not helping that person. Some states are beginning to realize that their welfare programs are supporting drug addiction and are attempting to do something about it. North Carolina is one of those states. Before I write this article, I would like to remind the reader that most job applications today include a drug test. If I have to pass a drug test to get a job to earn money, shouldn’t you have to pass a drug test to collect money?

Breitbart.com posted an article yesterday about North Carolina’s drug testing program. The state began doing drug tests late last year. So far, almost 25 percent of those tested, tested positive for drug use.

The article reports:

State officials report that of the 89 applicants given the drug test, 21 of them tested positive. An additional 70 applicants who were told to take the test never showed up for their appointment and consequently never got benefits.

I wonder what the percentage of the 70 that never showed up would have been.

The article further reports:

Also, despite the positive results, in half the cases benefits were still paid to the applicants because children were involved.

Does anyone actually believe that the benefits paid were spent on the children involved and not drugs?

We are not doing anyone any favors by giving people with drug addiction problems money. What kind of an example are we funding for the children growing up in a house with an active drug addict? We need to put the people who test positive into compulsory treatment programs and take their children away until they are clean.

For those who argue that drug testing is too expensive and will not yield positive results, please tell me what positive results come from giving an addicted parent money to buy drugs (even if you say the money is for the children, that is not where it will be spent). The most charitable thing you can do for a drug addict collecting welfare is to hold them accountable and help them kick their drug habit. Paying them to continue in their addiction is cruel to them and very damaging to the next generation.

Keeping Your Child’s Data Safe

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One of the problems with Common Core is the data mining. There are some very intrusive questions asked of young children about their families (does anyone in your house own a gun? what religion are your parents?). This data is collected (along with data predicting the success of your child in future years). The law allows videos of your child to be taken and stored in ‘the cloud.’ The proponents of Common Core have always gone out of their way to assure parents that this data is secure and cannot be accessed by anyone not entitled to access it. They also have overlooked the fact that the data will follow the child from kindergarten through five years into the workplace.

Lady Liberty posted an article today about the security of the data involving your child. The article quotes WRAL News in Raleigh, North Carolina:

CARY, N.C. — A Panther Creek High School student was arrested Wednesday in connection with a hack of the school’s computer system last fall, police said.2

Saivamsi Hanumanthu, 17, of Pilot Hill Drive in Morrisville, was charged with felony accessing government computers, felony breaking and entering and misdemeanor accessing government computers. He was released on a unsecured $15,000 bond to the custody of his parents.

Cary police began investigating unauthorized access to Panther Creek High’s computers on Oct. 13 and later determined that the system had been hacked into several times and that student grades had been changed.

Wake County school officials discovered that an email sent from one Panther Creek High teacher to another a few days before the initial hacking contained keystroke-tracking malware, according to a search warrant in the case.

We either need dumber high school students or smarter computers.

Lady Liberty concludes her article by stating:

I’ve noted a lot of issues with Powerschool since it was implemented both here and in other states. I’ve also noted issues with other Pearson products. Everything from the system going down to wiping out entire gradebooks, and from delayed report cards to DDOS attacks.

Now we have a high school student getting into it multiple times to change his grades.

But your child’s data is safe, they said…

Small wonder Pearson sold Powerschool last year to Vista Equities. NC went with the very pricey Powerschool because of the established relationship with Pearson, now they’ve sold it off.

As a point of interest, as an elementary parent, three years after Powerschool went live I still don’t have access to it, which is arguably a FERPA violation.

Another reason to get rid of Common Core.

Some Thoughts On The North Carolina Superintendent Race

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I have met Dr. Rosemary Stein on a few occasions. As a pediatrician, she truly cares for children. She is aware of their physical needs, their developmental needs, and their emotional needs. She has consistently opposed Common Core because it includes things that are harmful to our children. She is running for Superintendent of Public Instruction in North Carolina.

Lady Liberty posted an article today about the race for North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction. The article included the following statement from Dr. Stein:

My husband and I started a pediatric clinic 16 years ago. Our clinic provides the best possible care to our patients regardless of the parents’ circumstance in life. Several years ago, we read the Sunday paper in which a list of the top 100 students in the area was printed. Not a single one of our patients was on that list.” said Stein. “This lead us to begin the process of determining why our kids were not succeeding in school.”

During our investigation of this problem, we realized that our children were not able to read at grade level, and in some cases not at all. To solve this problem and not misdiagnose ADD, we began to investigate better methods of teaching reading and math. It was clear that North Carolina was no longer using traditional phonics based reading methods and classical mathematics instruction.”

Today, our children are forced to learn using a curriculum based on Common Core. This method of instruction is developmentally inappropriate.” stated Stein. “It does not teach to the child’s brain development. In fact, because Common Core teaches things to the child at the wrong developmental period of their brain development, it is actually harming their brain development.”

This path is the primary factor in my decision to run for Superintendent of Public Instruction. It is my intention to return North Carolina to the Classical Education model that was used so successfully in America decades ago. It is proven to be developmentally correct for the brain development of the child.”

This lady would be a wonderful gift to the parents and students of North Carolina. She deserves the vote of everyone who cares about our children’s education.

Numbers Don’t Lie

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Last year in North Carolina the Academic Standards Review Commission (ASRC) was charged with replacing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The North Carolina General Assembly voted to replace Common Core, and the ASRC was expected to come up with alternatives to Common Core. Unfortunately, that did not happen. Although the findings in the ASRC draft report of the commission (located  here) clearly indicated that the standards needed to be replaced– such issues as age-appropriate materials, lack of teaching materials, and excessive testing were mentioned–the ASRC simply ignored their own experts and did not replace CCSS. So what are the results of Common Core in North Carolina, and what are the alternatives? The results are awful, and there is one vetted and time-tested alternative.

The test data from the ACT tells the story of Common Core in North Carolina:

     Beginning in 2011, graduating seniors across the nation averaged a 20.6 in English, 21.1 in math, 21.3 in reading, 20.9 in science, and 21.1 composite. By comparison, North Carolina students averaged a 21.2 in English, 22.4 in math, 22.2 in reading, 21.4 in science, and 21.9 composite. Obviously, North Carolina scored well among the states and things were looking up.

     However, since 2011, things have gone downhill. 2015 graduating classes looked like this: (NC/National) 17.6/20.4 for English, 19.5/20.8 for math, 19.2/21.4 for reading, 19.0/20.9 for science, and 19.0/21.0 composite. Moreover, this is not just a dip in the scores. They have been steadily declining during the five-year period. Obviously, something is amiss or, at least, not what is being claimed. While National scores have remained fairly flat, North Carolina’s have tanked.

     Since the focus is on readiness for careers and college, other data is included in the ACT report for who is ready for what. Some of the key pieces of data in the report are the “benchmarks” which depict the level at which a student should perform in order to succeed at a specific career or a given college. The benchmarks are listed for each of the subject fields tested, i.e. English, math, reading, science, and composite. Benchmarks are useful for selecting a particular college, getting scholarships, determining career fields, etc.

     For the graduating classes of 2015, a full twenty-five percent of North Carolina students scored a benchmark in English of 0 to 12 (range of 1-36). Another seventeen percent scored 13 to 15, and twenty percent scored 16-19. This means that a total of sixty-two percent of our students in 2015 scored benchmarks that might, repeat might, get them into a community college. Only nine percent scored in the top two brackets, 28 to 32 and 33 to 36. For the math benchmark, the figure was sixty percent in the lower three brackets, reading was fifty-five percent, and science was fifty-four percent. In order to succeed at any of the major North Carolina Universities and colleges, current ACT benchmarks are NC State 24 to 29, UNC 21 to 26, Wake Forest 29 to 31, Campbell 17 to 27, East Carolina University 20 to 24, and UNC-Charlotte 20 to 25. If a student with an ACT of 19 were to apply to UNC-Charlotte, it is estimated that they have a fifty-five percent chance of success while the same score would only have a twenty-three percent chance at Campbell University.

     Along with the falling scores, there has been little to no progress in closing the learning and achievement gaps for minority students. Students of color are worse off with the CCSS standards, not better. Their parents ought to be outraged at the lack of appropriate content.

     As for “career ready” there is a “World of Work” map for careers that supposedly matches ACT scores with various occupations. Given the narrow aperture that the rest of the ACT/CRS process uses, one can only imagine how well the map works in determining a career for students not planning to attend college. What ever happened to guidance counselors working with parents to help choose a career?

     In conclusion, our public education system imposes a set of standards on its students and their parents, has designed a testing apparatus totally aligned with the standards and developed to supposedly reveal what career students should consider or what college to attend, and touts this as an improvement. However, data gathered and reported by its own testing shows the results to be dismal and failing. How can the Chamber of Commerce and other interested parties believe that they will be getting better employees for their members? How can colleges believe that their incoming classes of students will not require more remedial classes?

So why in the world are we stuck with Common Core? There is a lot of serious money behind Common Core. Bill Gates is one of the primary forces behind Common Core. As I have previously reported:  On September 21, 2013, (according to The Washington Post), Bill Gates stated, “It would be great if our education stuff worked, but that we won’t know for probably a decade.” It is becoming very obvious that it doesn’t work! Just for the record,The Daily Caller reported in March 2014 that the children of Bill Gates attend a private school that does not use Common Core standards. Common Core for thee, but not for me.

So what is the alternative? The North Carolina Education Coalition has created the North Carolina Education Plan. It is based on two vetted and very successful standards in two different states–Mathematics based on the Minnesota Standards (which the draft resolution of the ASRC recommended) and English Language Arts (ELA) is based on the Massachusetts standards as developed by Sandra Stotsy, credited with developing one of the country’s strongest K-12 ELA programs in Massachusetts.

Common sense would dictate replacing something that has failed with something that has been successful. Unfortunately, in the North Carolina academic hierarchy, money has become more important than educating our children. Many of the people in charge of education in North Carolina have a vested monetary interest in Common Core. We will not get rid of Common Core unless parents stand up and demand that public education in this state be controlled by common sense rather than money. We also need to replace any people involved in education in North Carolina who will make a profit through the implementation of Common Core.

Taxpayers Are Waking Up

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No one denies that we need a social safety net. The discussion centers on the size and the use of that safety net. It is meant to be a safety net–not a career choice. Many states, including North Carolina, are beginning to revise their safety nets in order to encourage people to work, to abstain from drugs, and to become productive members of society rather than constantly depending on the safety net.

On Saturday, the News & Observer posted an article detailing coming changes in the North Carolina food stamp laws. Food stamp recipients in North Carolina will soon be required to either work, volunteer, or take classes for at least 20 hours a week.

This is a chart showing the number of Americans on food stamps:

https://www.rightwinggranny.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/food-stamps-yearly-do-not-hotlink.jpg

The number has almost doubled since President Obama took office.

The article at the News & Observer continues:

That federal requirement (work, school, or volunteering) – which applies to adults under 50 who don’t have children – was suspended in 2008 as the recession hit and unemployment rates rose. But the exemption ended Jan. 1 for 23 mostly urban counties across the state, including Wake, Durham and Mecklenburg.

While the 77 other counties are seeing a slower economic recovery and could continue the federal exemption, the state legislature acted last year to restore the work and education requirement statewide starting July 1.

The change affects 115,000 North Carolinians who will have to document work, volunteer or education activities or lose their food stamp benefits. Recipients can still get up to three months of benefits without meeting the requirement.

Opponents of the change claim that it will rip away the safety net. There are some of us who feel that the change will simply sort out the people who genuinely need food stamps and those who are happy to take advantage of ‘the system.’

In April of last year, I posted a story about what happened in Maine when people who received food stamps were required to either work or volunteer.

The story included the results of that action:

A Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) spokesman tells the Associated Press that 12,000 non-disabled adults were in Maine’s SNAP program before Jan. 1 – a number that dropped to 2,680 by the end of March.

More than 9,000 Maine residents have been removed from the state’s food stamp program since Republican Gov. Paul LePage‘s administration began enforcing work and volunteer requirements.

The goal of a safety net is to help people who need help. Changing the rules will allow North Carolina to continue to help those in need while providing some relief to the taxpayers of the State who also have needs.