Kudos to UNC Women's Lacrosse Team and Remembering Fallen Soldiers

Kudos to the University of North Carolina's women lacrosse team which pulled off an upset over the top-ranked University of Maryland to win an NCAA national championship by a 13-12 margin in a game that lasted three overtimes in Villanova, Pa., just outside of Philadelphia.

Ironically, UNC's long-standing rival the Duke Blue Devils prevailed in the men's final in Philadelphia today by defeating Syracuse 16-10.

For the Lady Tar Heels, Sammy Jo Tracy, a sophomore from Bedford, NY, scored the magical, winning goal against the Lady Terps, a team that finished the season at 22-1, with Sunday's loss being their first ever of the year.

It was the Terps that won the ACC title in the sport a few weeks ago; UNC is in the same conference. The Tar Heels finished 18-3, and the game was the longest women's lacrosse title game in NCAA history. Tracy scored the goal a mere 31 seconds into the third overtime.

The Tar Heels flew back from Philadelphia this morning, and they were greeted home by a jubilant group of supporters upon arriving back in North Carolina.

SIDEBAR: We also want to take a moment to recognize fallen soldiers who lost their lives while serving combat missions for the American military. Today is Memorial Day here in America. My late stepfather Donald Sullivan was a WW-2 veteran.

Today, President Barack Obama marked Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., where the likes of President John F. Kennedy, boxer Joe Louis and actor Lee Marvin are buried. In his comments, Obama spoke to veterans in attendance and to troops who are still serving in the war in Afghanistan.

http://www.goheels.com

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil

http://www.arlingtonva.us

http://www.visitchapel.org

http://www.unc.edu

Kudos to Harvard

The Harvard Crimson men's basketball team won its last two home and regular season games in victories over Columbia University 56-51 and Cornell University 66-56. Prior to Harvard's out-right Ivy League crowns over the last two years, Cornell, located in Ithaca, NY, and nicknamed the Big Red, had won several league titles in a row.

The Crimson edged out Princeton for this year's league title.

Harvard, a 14-seed, will now face New Mexico, the three-seed, at 9:50 p.m., eastern time, in Salt Lake City, Utah (where the local time will be 7:50 p.m.) in the opening round of the West Region for the tourney.

The Crimson have two basketball in the mid-Atlantic region, which is also known as 'ACC Country,' in Michael Hall, a freshman forward/center, and Christian Webster, a senior from Washington, DC. Harvard's coach Tommy Amaker played college basketball at Duke University, an ACC powerhouse. The Blue Devils are a two-seed and they will face the Albany University Great Danes in the first round.

The nation's capital is also home of the most well-known current living Harvard alum in President Barack Obama; he has picked the Indiana University Hoosiers to win it all, which seemingly illustrates that he don't suffer from sour grapes since the state that voted for him in 2008, went red for Mitt Romney, who seems to have disappeared like D.B. Copper, in last year's presidential election.

The mascot for Harvard is John Harvard (pictured above).

http://www.harvard.edu

Election Day #s (4 of 4)_ Ok, Yeah, Perhaps This Was a Bad Idea

Wow~! We are almost done..........eight entries in two blogs dealing with Election Day numbers. It might be time for Anacin, but before we do that, let's take one last look at the numbers:

62.6-Percentage U.S. Senate-elected Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) got in an open seat election

374.-Percentage Linda Lingle, Hirono's Republican opponent got in the election.

60.5- Percentage Cong. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) got in his re-election bid.

39.5- Percentage Cong. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), ironically Sherman's opponent, got.

48.7-Percentage Sen. Jon Tester (D-Montana) got in his re-election bid

44.8- Percentage Tester's Republican opponent Denny Rehberg got.

50.1- Percentage President Barack Obama got in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire

48.4- Percentage Mitt Romney got in Hillsborough County, NH

49.9- Percentage Romney got in Carroll County, NH

49.1-Percentage Obama got in Caroll County, NH

55.7- Percentage Romney got in Maricopa County, Ariz., which has a highly controversial right-wing sheriff Joe Arpaio, who has also made dubious efforts to prove Obama was not born in America.

79-Percentage of the evangelical vote that went for Romney

68.8- Percentage Obama got in King County (Seattle), Washington

73.5- Percentage Obama got in Denver County, Colo.

55.3-Percentage Obama got in Charlottesville, Va.

61.6-Percentage Obama got in Miami-Dade County, Fla.

50.1- Percentage Sen. elect- Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) got in an open seat election

45.6- Percentage Flake's Democratic opponent Richard Carmona got.

332- Final electoral college tally for Obama

Election Day by the #s (3 of 4)_ All the Votes are Finally In

Here is a look at Election Day numbers in Virginia as well as other parts of the country. Luray Caverns in Luray, Va., which is in the Shenandoah Valley, is pictured above.

Today, President Barack Obama was declared the official winner in Florida, which propels him to 332 electoral college votes.

Rural Nelson County, Va., near Charlottesville, was perhaps the closest jurisdiction, and it was one of the few rural areas won by the president, but Obama did win substantially in major metro areas.

Here are the numbers:

50.7- Percentage that went to Obama in Nelson County

48- Percentage that went to Romney in Nelson County

51.6- Percentage that Obama got in Loudoun County, which had been a Republican stronghold

47.1- Percentage that Romney got in Loudoun County

4,274- Votes for Romney in Dickenson County, in far southwest Virginia, a coal-mining district

2,472- Votes Obama got in Dickenson County, the president did substantially better here in 2008

51.1- Percentage Romney got in King and Queen County in northeast Virginia

16,685- Votes Romney got in Franklin County

9,082- Votes Obama got in Franklin County

688-Votes that Constitution Party candidate Virgil Goode got in Franklin County, his home area

20,036- Votes Romney got in Montgomery County, one of the most politically divided areas in the country

19,903- Votes Obama got in Montgomery County, which includes Blacksburg, the home of Virginia Tech

20,075- Votes that Senate-elect candidate Tim Kaine (D) got in Montgomery County

19,335- Votes that George Allen (R), Kaine's opponent, got in Montgomery County

64.9- Percentage Romney got in Shenandoah County

90.1- Percentage Obama got in Prince George's County, Maryland, a DC-suburban area

9.2- Percentage Romney got in Prince George's County

12 of the 24 Countries Mentioned Last Night: Let's Go to Poland

According to the BBC, Poland along with (surprisingly) Pakistan are two of the very few countries where citizens prefer that Mitt Romney take the throne (we are making fun of a highway billboard near Burlington, NC, which says: 'We must dethrone Obama') over President Barack Obama.

Poland was one of the 24 countries mentioned in the 'last debate' from Boca Raton, Fla., last night.

In case you are wondering, the flags above are of: 1) Poland (Donald Tusk, prime minister), 2) Egypt (Heshan Qandil, prime minister), and 3) Russia (Dmitry Medvedev, prime minister).

Here is a list of 12 of those countries:

China, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, South Africa, Syria, Tunisia, United Kingdom, Venezuela (the only South American country mentioned, which was disappointing to those who watched the debate in Colombia according to the BBC).

Well, actually, that's 13 countries.........oh well!

For a list of the other countries, visit our sister blog "The Daily Vampire" http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com

Friday Night Tweets_ Marijuana and Unemployment

A few weeks back, we were going to start a series on interesting U.S. Congressional races, and our first one was to be the race between Cong. Jim Matheson (D-Utah), perhaps the most conservative Democrat in Washington, DC, against Mia Love (R), the black Mormon mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah. The Beehive State is about three percent African-American, and Mitt Romney, who is also a Mormon, is expected to win Utah by a wide margin. But, surprise, today "The Salt Lake Tribune" endorsed President Barack Obama! This was according to a tweet from Democratic strategist Dana Vickers Shelley.

Here we go:

1) @TheOnion ("The Onion" is a faux news publication): "WARS FOR THE WHITE HOUSE: "Romney's Terrifying Google Search History Leaked."

2) @SFWeekly ("San Francisco Weekly"): "City's first Union Medical Marijuana Dispensary Opens_ Finally!"

3) @current (Current-TV): "Pot & politics: @GovGaryJohnson joins @TYTCurrent in 10 min to talk marijuana laws #Election2012" (Gary Johnson, the former Republican governor of New Mexico, has switched parties and he is now the Libertarian Party nominee for president)

4) @WSOC_TV (WSOC TV, the ABC affiliate in Charlotte, NC): "Unemployment rates drop in both North Carolina and South Carolina."

5) @dcweatheralerts (Weather Gang Alerts, for Washington, DC-metro area): "Tornado warnings for Baltimore County until 7:30 p.m."

6) @nprscottsimon (Scott Simon of NPR): "I like GQ's defense of debate moderators: 'You sit there and try to rein in two egomaniacs....' "

10 People Who Will Decide Election (7 of 10) A Comedian in Portland, Oregon

Well, since WGSR-TV (Star News, Reidsville, NC) seems to think showing objectivity is so yesterday, we hear at "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time" are definitely worried about whose feathers we might ruffle (forgive the reference from Big Bird's comments on "Saturday Night Live"), but then again, we have never pretended to be an objective news source. And, if we owned a tv-station we can assure you that we would never air a show hosted by the very radical Rev. Johnny Robertson of Martinsville, Va.

So, as it turns out, 'Politico' has shown a tilt towards (yikes, yikes, no, no, no!) Mitt Romney. The last objective news source outside of Fox News and Radio Havana, Cuba, shows Romney slightly winning Florida, which has 29 electoral votes over President Barack Obama. Similarly, Romney, who once proclaimed to be even more pro-gay rights than the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, is winning in North Carolina by a 48-4-47.6%, which means Star News thinks that Romney will get 79-percent of the vote in the Tarheel State.

Today, we are focusing on Oregon, which we thought might be a swing state, but now only Star News would predict that Romney has a chance over Obama as 'Politico' is indicating that the president is winning 50-42 percent there.

So, we are focusing on a fictional stand-up comedian in Portland, Ore., who happens to look a lot like Robin Williams. We will call him Mort Schultz, and we will say he is 31 years old and will vote for Obama.

For those looking for actual stand-up comedy in Portland, Ore., we understand that Helium Comedy is quite the place to go!

And, for those who support Big Bird and PBS, which apparently Romney sees as some kind of heavy burden on American tax-payers, who want information that is actually impartial, the public tv-station serving all of North Carolina is WUNC-TV. We have no idea when "Sesame Street" airs on the channel as we don't have kids!


http://www.wgsr47.com

http://www.sesamestreet.org

http://www.unctv.org

http://www.heliumcomedy.com

http://www.politco.com

10 People Who Will Decide Election- New Mexico

Name: Maria Gonzalez (not to be confused with the Costa Rican gymnast of the same name)

Occupation: Fourth grade teacher

Race: Hispanic

Residency: Santa Fe, New Mexico

Age: 28

Will Likely Vote for: Obama

Santa Fe is the state capital of New Mexico, and the state's fourth largest city. Santa Fe County voted overwhelming for Barack Obama by a 77-23 margin. Obama's win in New Mexico was arguably one of his most impressive since his opponent John McCain is from neighboring Arizona.

New Mexico is not an entirely blue state though as the current governor Susanna Martinez, 59, is a Republican though she lost Santa Fe County to her Democratic opponent Diane Denish. The state's previous governor Bill Richardson (D) attempted to run for office. And, another former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson, a former Republican, is on the national ballot as the Libertarian Party candidate.

In her address at the 2012 Republican Convention in Tampa, Fla., Martinez gave speech that was aimed more at Hispanics than independents which was a stark contrast to the red meat, partisan speeches from the likes of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

Currently, "Politico" has President Obama winning New Mexico by a 50-40 margin over Mitt Romney.

http://www.santafe.org

http://www.politico.com

http://www.governor.state.nm.us

http://www.nmdemocrats.org

http://www.gopnm.com

Chuck Norris vs. Cuneyt Arkin_ The Wonder Kick Years

It is 6:30 a.m. in Harare, Zimbabwe, 1:30 p.m. where one might be having sushi for lunch in Tokyo, Japan, and 9:30 a.m. in Karachi, Pakistan; we read an article in "Mental Floss" that said 9:30 a.m. on Mondays was the best time to post a blog entry. The problem is I don't think we get too blog-reader traffic from Pakistan, but perhaps today is that day.

We are looking at the collective careers of American action movie star Chuck Norris, who turned 72 on March 10th, and his Turkish counterpart Cuneyt Arkin, who is now 75. Both actors have right-wing views, well we are not 100-percent sure of Arkin, but since Norris said that the re-election of President Barack Obama would bring 1,000 years of darkness, it is safe to Norris is very conservative. But, he may actually be to the left of the Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan.

In 1977, Norris had a break-out role as a truck-driver hell-bent on finding his missing brother in "Breaker! Breaker!," a film which has been screened on IFC (The Independent Film Channel) here in the states. There was a time when IFC would show arthouse films with indy screen goddess Parker Posey ("House of Yes," "Personal Velocity"), but it appears that Norris films get slightly better ratings.

On a sad note, Norris' co-star in "Breaker! Breaker," veteran actor George Murdock, who also played Testikov in a "Seinfeld" episode in 1994, died this year.

So, we are asking which actor actually won a Best Actor the year Norris made "Breaker! Breaker!," which incidentally has a 3.4 on the Internet Movie Database, in 1997.

Is the answer?:

A) Jack Nicholson

B) Dustin Hoffman

C) Richard Dreyfuss

D) Marlon Brando

E) Jon Voight

As to the answer in our last entry in this series, in 1982,  the year that Cuneyt Arkin was in  "The Turkish Star Wars" the Oscar went to B) Ben Kingsley for the title role in "Gandhi."

http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com

 http://www.chucknorris.com

http://www.ifc.com

http://www.imdb.com

http://www.parkerposey.org

http://www.cuneytarkin.com.tr

http://www.mentalfloss.com

10 People Who Will Decide the Election (5 of 10)

Name: Stephanie Montgomery

Age: 54

Race: White

Reisdency: Smyrna, Ga.

Job: Secretary

Will Likely Vote: Mitt Romney

At the outset of the election cycle, it seemed like Georgia, the home state of Newt Gingrich, might be a swing state since Barack Obama almost beat out John McCain in the Peach State's electoral college vote in 2008. But, it now appears to be safe for Romney, though given his latest rounds of serious gaffes, it does appear that if the election were held today, it would go to President Obama.

We should add that Stephanie Montgomery is a fictional character based on demographics, and that Smyrna, Georgia, is a bit of an in-joke. The actual Smryna is the city of Izmir, Turkey, my late father's country. Izmir is the third largest city in Turkey.

http://www.georgiademocrat.org

http://www.gagop.org

Ten People Who Will Decide Who Becomes President (4 of 10)

Today, we continue our series, which had its last entry back in July?! on ten possible people who could decide this election. Today, we look at the swing state of Colorado, with this fictional librarian.

Name: Nancy Rose

Occupation: Librarian

Residency: Loveland, Colo.

Age: 49

Party Affiliation: Independent Who Leans Democratic

Will Likely Vote For: Obama

Loveland, Colo., is located some 40 miles north of Denver; the city is located in Larimer County. Cecil Guiterrez is the mayor of the 14th largest city in Colorado.

In 2008, Larimer County voted for Barack Obama by a 55-45 margin; the eventual president won by even bigger margins in San Miguel County (Telluride) with 78 percent of the vote and Boulder County with 73 percent of the vote. But, rural parts of Colorado are heavily Republican as is Colorado Springs, which has a large evangelical base and is home to the Air Force Academy.

President Obama gave a stump speech at the University of Colorado just days before the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte; the 2008 convention was in Denver.

http://www.coloradodems.org

http://www.barackobama.com

http://www.coloradogop.org

http://www.mittromney.com

http://www.denverlibrary.org/

Things We Learned on Twitter Tonight_ Obama Celebrates Team USA Golds

Lots of tweets tonight regarding the 2012 London Olympics; let's jump in the pool:

1) @CaseyMatthews50: "Congrats to Oregon Alum Galen Rupp for taking silver today in the 10k!"

2) @BarackObama: "President Obama celebrating the Olympic and Paraolympic athletes of Team USA in his weekly address."

3) @UCLAAthletics: "All-time UCLA medal count now up to 242 after Mark Hunter's silver in rowing," (the middle image is of the UCLA mascot).

4) @forrestfire: "Quit Russian around and Czech out the  Olympics. I'm covered in Greece from the Turkey I ate earlier, but I'm still Hungary. Poland."

5) @destineehooker: "Sweet dreams everyone. USA x Turkey tomorrow." (The top image is of American women's indoor volleyball player Destine Hooker. Turkey, ranked eighth in the world in the sport, plays the USA, ranked first, tomorrow in a highly anticipated game.)

6) @StayAdventurous: "In battle of beautiful women Czech Republic beat Brasil today." (Indeed, Czech women's beach volleyball players Marketa Slukova and Kristyna Kolocova upset the Brazilian duo of Maria Antonelli and Talita Antunes. The image below is actually of a beach volleyball game in Turkey. The tweeter splled Brazil as Brasil. There is a photo of the Czech duo posing topless_with hands covering bare breasts on the net_but, we don't want to lose readers in Dubai!).

http://www.usavolleyball.com

http://www.tvf.org.tr

http://www.uclabruins.com

http://www.goducks.com

http://kolocova_slukova.cz

UPDATE: Fortunately, we did not mention which country Mark Hunter (rowing) represented. A time of the tweet from UCLA, we presumed he rowed for America, but actually he rowed for Great Britain. Zac Purchase was his teammate in the two-man rowing competition on Saturday.

10 People Who Will Decide the Presidency (3 of 10)_ Termite Inspector in Tampa, Fla.

Name: Ahmet Jones

Job: Termite Inspector

Residency: Tampa, Florida

Age: 39

Race: Mixed

Will Likely Vote for: Obama

Note: The top photo is of termites; the bottom one is of cockroaches.


Today, we are profiling Ahmet Jones, 39, a fictional termite inspector who works for Bug Busters in Tampa, Fla. (note: there is a real company by that name in Portland, Oregon, but we thought of Bug Busters before googling them). He is one of the people who could well decide who will in November as President Barack Obama or his Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

Tampa, Fla., is also the city which is hosting the 2012 Republican Convention. WUSF-FM, the NPR station in Tampa, says that Tampa Police chief Jane Castor says her department is prepared for the tens of thousands who will come to town when the convention meets from Aug. 27-30.

Obama won Florida, which is considered to be among the key swing states in this year's election, by a 2.8 % margin; though John McCain lead in the Sunshine State until September. Florida was the state which also allowed George W. Bush to prevail over Al Gore in the most highly disputed, controversial election in American history in 2000.

"The Young Turks with Cenk Uygur," a liberal political talk show on Current TV said during the program's broadcast last night that Obama is currently narrowly winning in Florida.

The Hispanic vote, including the generally partisan right-wing Cuban-American community in the Miami area, will likely have a huge impact in the election, especially in Florida. Most non-Cuban Hispanics are strongly supporting Obama.

Obama won Broward County (Ft. Lauderdale), Miami-Dade and Volusia County (Daytona Beach) in 2008; McCain won Polk County (Lakeland), Seminole County (Orlando suburbs) and Lee County (Fort Myers) that same election cycle.


http://www.wusf.usf.edu

http://gopconvention2012.com

http://www.current.com

Ten People Who Will Decide the Presidency- (2 of 10) Casino Dealer in Nevada

Today, we continue our series of looking at how individual decisions can greatly affect the outcome of the American presidential election. So far, this year, there have been elections in  some 70 countries, including Egypt, Greece, France and Russia, but the American presidential election receives the most attention and it is conversely the most expensive.Dave Gilson of the liberal publication "Mother Jones" stated in a February column that President Barack Obama spent $730 million to become president in 2008.

Here is a look at today's fictional person who represents a real person who could decide the presidency; please see our disclaimer at the end of the blog_

Name: Linda Garcia

Age: 43

Residency: Las Vegas, Nevada

Will Likely Vote For: Barack Obama

Obama made significant gains over John Kerry to win the Silver State in 2008. Though Nevada has only five electoral votes, it is one of the main swing states. Nevada has chosen the president in every election cycle since 1912 with the exception of 1976 when the state picked Gerald Ford over Jimmy Carter.

In the '08 election, Obama garnered 55 percent of the vote in Nevada. Regionally, his biggest win came in the Las Vegas-metro area. In 2004, George W. Bush won over Kerry by a mere 2.6 percent margin. The city of Elko was considered to be the one zip code responsible for the narrow re-election of Bush as the former president won a whopping 78 percent of the vote there. But, Obama trimmed the margins in Nevada's most conservative area by winning 32 percent of the vote in Elko.

Obama also won in the Nevada capital of Carson City and Reno, two areas that just barely went to Bush four years earlier. Many insiders expect the Hispanic vote to decide many western states. In addition to Nevada, the Hispanic vote will be crucial in New Mexico, Colorado and even Arizona, a state that went to John McCain (he is one of the state's two Republican U.S. Senators) in 2008.

According to the Pew Research Center, Hispanics voted for Obama by a 67-31 percent margin in 2008. Obama also became the first Democrat to win Florida's Hispanic vote by a 57-42 percent margin. And, he even made strides with the traditionally Republican Cuban-American vote by gaining 35 percent of the vote in that demographic. Cuban-Americans started becoming partisan Republicans after the Bay of Pigs fiasco in Cuba.

EDITORIAL NOTE: Linda Garcia is a fictional character. There are many people with that name including a Georgetown professor. There is also a Linda Garcia Cubaro, who is a former Air Force officer. But, this fictional Linda Garcia is not based on them in any way. Nor does this character necessarily reflect the politics of any individuals with her name.

While this has consisted of many political satires from a center-left perspective, this series is meant to be informative and non-partisan.

http://www.pewhispanic.org

http://www.capitolhillcubans.com

http://www.miamicubandems.org

http://www.nvdems.com

http://www.nevadagop.org

http://www.visitlasvegas.com

Quote of the Day/Week-Lyndon B. Johnson

Today, we continue our quotes from American vice presidents or veeps, with Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973), whom like Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush, later went on to become president. Though the circumstances behind Johnson's ascendency to the president were quite tragic as it was in the aftermath of the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

Johnson was re-elected president in 1964 when he walloped Barry Goldwater, winning all but six states, including Goldwater's native Arizona. Among the state that Johnson are several states which have entrenched in red today, including Kansas, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Oklahoma and North Dakota.

Johnson was also the last president who had previously been a U.S. Senator (though Gerald Ford was a member of the House of Representatives) before the election of President Barack Obama, though many past and present Senators, including Al Gore, John Kerry and John McCain have attempted to become president in the years in between. Former Sen. Chuck Robb (D-Va.) was Johnson's son-in-law. Johnson, also known as LBJ, was the Senate Majority Leader from 1955-61.

The 36th president/37th veep, died in Johnson City, Tex., outside of Austin, where his presidential library is today.

Here is his quote:

"Every man has a right to a Saturday night bath."http://www.lbjlibrary.org

10 People Who Will Decide Election(1 of 10)- Fiddle Player in Missouri

Name: Gary Tate

Hometown: Branson, Missouri

Occupation: Fiddle Player

Age: 72

Will Likely Vote For: Mitt Romney

Wow! We are having lots of tech glitches with this entry. At any rate, this is the start of our series on how one person can decide a state, which can in turn determine the winner of the presidential election. Places like Beckley, West Virginia (George W. Bush 2000), Elko, Nevada (Bush 2004) and Cary, NC (Barack Obama, 2008) have helped determine the last three winners of very close presidential elections.

Today, we focus on the tourist mecca of Branson, Missouri, located off Highway 76. Branson has a population of 10,520, but more importantly the town in southern Missouri near the Arkansas border has popular theatres with mostly country musicians and old-time crooners, such as Roy Clark, Andy Williams,  and Lee Greenwood. Branson also has a theatre run by Russian emigre comic Yakov Smirnoff, who like Greenwood, is known for his conservative politics.

We expect that since Missouri will once again go Republican as John McCain narrowly won the Show Me state in 2008, but President Barack Obama should perform strongly in St.Louis and Kansas City.

DISCLAIMER: Though he shares his name with a pastor in England, Gary Tate is a ficticious person. The image is actually of North Carolina bluegrass legend Hubert W. Watts (1885-1976).

Special Report: North Carolina Passes Controversial Amendment

It was not a matter that was entirely about gay marriage. One of the opponents to Amendment One, a politically venomous measure which passes on May 8th in North Carolina was the advocate group North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence which said similar bills in other states that passed failed to protect unmarried couples, even ones consisting of a man and woman.

But, many churches in North Carolina, except for progressive congregations such as the Unitarian Universalist Church, were highly in favor of Amendment One. Glen Hope Baptist Church in Burlington,NC, openly endorsed the measure on its web site and cited Corinthians, Verse 7, in the process.

Lots of money was also spent on the ballot initiative with the pro-amendment group Vote for Marriage North Carolina raising $1.2 million and the opposition group Protect All North Carolina Families raising $2.2 million, according to "The Charlotte Observer."

The issue put African-Americans Christians in a bind. While most supported Amendment One, the Rev. T. Anthony Sparman, pastor of the African Methodist Episcopalian Zion Church in Hickory, NC, told NPR that he changed his mind about gay rights when working with gay and lesbian college students.

But, more African-Americans voted for the measure. In a separate NPR segment produced after President Barack Obama said his views on gay marriage had evolved to supporting the cause on Wednesday, the day after the North Carolina vote, the Rev. Patrick Wooden Sr. of the predominantly black Upper Room Church of God in Raleigh said he supported Amendment One and that he was disappointed by Obama's endorsement.

Wooden added that in his view African-Americans should vote according to Christian teachings as opposed to the race of a candidate. The support among African-Americans helped Obama beat Hillary Clinton in the 2008 state primary and later John McCain in the general election.

But, there is also the valid question regarding gay marriage as a human rights issue. Though many might be inclined to think that the notion that "Sesame Street" characters Bert and Ernie were secretly gay started from militant gay activists, it actually is reported to have originated with the Rev. Joseph Chambers of Charlotte, NC. In more recent years, Chambers has even taken on the arguably more radical notion that another PBS children's show figure Barney the Dinosaur was a socialist figure trying to indoctrinate children with extreme left-wing views.

One thing remains certain though: This issue regarding gay marriage will be an issue for quite some time to come irregardless of how it does or does not play out in the 2012 general election.
http://www.glenhope.org

http://www.uufr.org

Quote of the Day/Week-Mary Lou Retton

Today, we continue quoting American athletes who won either gold or silver medals at the Summer Olympics with a quip from Mary Lou Retton, 44, whose image with a red, white and blue leotard is making its way back to Wheaties cereal boxes.

We will be quoting international athletes, including perhaps Nadia Comaneci of Romania, who was a major influence on Retton, who won both team and individual gold medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Retton is from Fairmont, West Virginia, and she is a member of the President's Council on Physical Fitness, which is slightly ironic as Retton is a Republican as she attended the 2004 Republican convention.

Gymnasts of today have also been influenced by Retton as she developed 'the Retton flip' move on bars.

Here is her quote:

"If I had a bad performance in a particular leotard, I threw it in the trash."

SIDEBAR: People in Retton's home state of West Virginia are likely not to happy today as West Virginia University lost to Gonzaga in the NCAA tournament yesterday.

I was also disappointed to see Harvard lose to Vanderbilt 79-70 though President Barack Obama, a graduate of Harvard, said he had to reluctantly pick Vandy since that school has just won the SEC Tournament.

But, there is happy basketball news for my home state of Virginia because Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) 'upset' Wichita State 62-59 in Portland, Oregon, in the NCAA tournament last night.

UPDATE: When we posted this entry earlier in the day, we did not know the first name of Mary Lou Retton's sister who was a great gymnast in her own right at West Virginia University. Her name is Shari Retton.

As for the current Mountaineers gymnastics team, they head to Baton Rouge, La., tonight for a meet with SEC power LSU. For WVU, current gymnast Kaylyn Milick was named EAGL Conference Gymnast of the week. The Mountaineers also have an exceptional, nationally-ranked gymnast in Hope Sloanhaffer.

Quote of the Day/Week- Sidney Poitier

Since we just got back from The Bahamas and today is the start of Black History Month, we thought it would be nifty to quote Sidney Poitier, 84, who won an Oscar for "Lilies of the Field" (1963), the first African-American to win a Best Actor Oscar. More recently, in 2009, Poitier also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama.

Though Poitier has lived in the United for a long time, he is a Bahamas-native and maintains dual citizenship. In fact, in 1997, Poitier was the Bahamian ambassador to Japan. We also learned that he is fluent in Russian.

Here is his quote: "History passes final judgment."

SIDEBAR ONE: The underground cult classic "Pretty Poison" (1968) with Tuesday Weld and the late Anthony Perkins, who was best-known for playing Norman Bates in "Psycho" begins a week-long run at the Film Forum in New York starting on Friday. We finally saw the film two years ago. And, for those of you in the Big Apple or even New Jersey, we highly recommend it.

SIDEBAR TWO: We would personally love to see actor Michael C. Hall, who plays Dexter on "Dexter," a Showtime series about a serial killer who kills off people whom he believes have killed people, say: "I am not a serial killer, but I play one on tv." Today, Hall turns 41, the same age as me. He is originally from Raleigh, NC. Happy Birthday, Dexter.

Things We Learned on Twitter Today- GOP Scare Tactics Not Accurate

We saw this interesting tweet from Virginia state Senator Creigh Deeds (D-Hot Springs) who was easily re-elected over Charlottesville attorney T.J. Aldous on Tuesday, though since Republicans were able to brand conservative, pro-life Democrat state senate incumbent Roscoe Reynolds as a 'liberal,' his opponent Bill Stanley won the highly-contested seat in the Martinsville area and gave the state senate to Republicans by an extremely narrow margin.

In his tweet this evening, Deeds, whom I volunteered for when he ran for state attorney general in 2005 and endorsed in 2009 against his opponent Bob McDonnell, a fervent right-winger who is now governor, said the following: "Does government regulation really kill jobs? Economists say overall effect is minimal-Washington Post."

His tweet comes at a time when I saw several militant anti-Obama billboards, including two in Beckley, WVa, the heart of coal country, which said that every state from Indiana to South Carolina was in Obama's 'job-killing zones.' Interestingly, all these states, which included Virginia, were highlighted in red, the color used by the electoral college when it has voted Republican in the presidential election.

Though West Virginia was one of the eight states that selected Michael Dukakis in 1988, it has gone Republican for the last three presidential races. But, Obama won four 'Bush states' in Ohio, Indiana, Virginia and North Carolina during the last cycle.

There have been a number of dubious anti-Obama billboards paid for by far-right groups. One near Orlando, Fla., actually said "Please Don't Vote Democrat" which an image of the Twin Towers from 9-11. Another one in Grand Junction, Colo., which was eventually removed, compared our president to a terrrorist. Others have shown Obama wearing a turban while another one put a Soviet Union flag beside the president. And, these shameless people assuredly call themselves patriots.