Tax Day Tweets: Congrats to North Carolina State Senator Phil Berger Sr. for Helping the Economy of Neighboring States

It has been a while since we last blogged on March 11th, but the dubious actions by North Carolina Republicans, such as state senator Phil Berger, Sr. from Eden (pict. bottom) to pass HB-2 otherwise known as 'the bathroom bill' in Raleigh, has even made headlines in Israel. Today, the 90s rock band Pearl Jam joined Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr and Boston in cancelling concerts across the state.

But, comedians Louis C.K., who performed in Asheville, and Joel McHale (of "Community") in Durham, both went ahead with their performances and gave profits from the shows to North Carolina gay, lesbian and transgender rights groups.

We actually used to reside in Berger's district; it's good to now be residing in a legislative district that strongly leans Democratic.

Though we also differ with the far-left politics of Michael Moore (pict. top) who should share a burrito and margarita with Berger at the Green Burro in downtown Greensboro (imagine the photo-op), we feature a tweet from Moore, who is supporting Bernie Sanders (we prefer Hillary Clinton) for the Democratic nomination for president, in our three tweets of the day.

We also want to take a moment to congratulate University of Denver gymnast Nina McGee (pict. center) for winning the NCAA floor exercise title at the women's collegiate gymnastics championships held in Fort Worth, Tex., over the weekend.

Here are the tweets:

1) Michael Moore: Clinton and Sanders now virtually tied in new national poll (NBC); Sanders has also shaved 7 points off Clinton's lead in NY (CBS).

2) The Paris Review: 'Me gift is to take relatively simple things and contemplate them to the point of madness,' John Barth."

3) Donkey Coffee (coffee shop in Athens, Ohio): Back from our employee dinner_ we are open again, come on in!

 http://downtowngreensboro.net/

http://www.ncdp.org/

http://equalitync.org/

http://donkeycoffee.com/

Meet Your Republican Congressman (2 of 3).........and guess when he will turn 103.......

Greetings to our blog readers in Slovenia, France and Mexico..........

Here are 10 members of Congress (the House of Representatives) the year they will turn 103....oh, btw, all of them are Republican, which probably means they aren't well-versed in The Urban Dictionary:

1) Cong. Scott Rigell (R-Va, pict. top) 2063

2) Cong. Walter Jones (R-NC, pict. center, man responsible for term 'freedom fries') 2046

3) Cong. Billy Long (R-Mo) 2058

4) Cong. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) 2067

5) Cong. Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla) 2047

6) Cong. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) Deputy Majority Whip. 2052.

7) Cong. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) 2054

8) Cng. Tom Price (R-Ga) 2057

9) Cong. Bradley Byrne (R-Ala) 2058

10) Cong. Trent Franks (R-Az, pict. bottom) 2060

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/

http://www.theonion.com/section/politics/

http://www.urbandictionary.com/

http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com (for more GOP reps and the years they turn 103)

DC Week Teaser (2 of 2) : So Much for a Political Fund-Raiser at the National Zoo

We are getting ready for DC Week, which will begin on Thursday. Our interview with Newt Gingrich has been postponed as has our interviews with Michele Bachmann and Clarence Thomas (yes, we are kidding, of course), but we hope to bring you an array of entries pertaining to Washington, DC, as the nation's capitals deals with lost tourism revenue due to the federal government shut down.

But, for right now, we leave you with this teaser, which features: 1) Chris Pontius, an American soccer player for DC United; 2) a giraffe to symbolize the National Zoo, which is closed due to shut down and 3) Cong. David Price (D-NC), one of the few Democrats in a 'safe district' in the increasingly right-wing Tarheel State (Price's district is in and around Chapel Hill and Durham, NC), which was the subject of a brilliant "Doonesbury" comic strip that was published yesterday. I'm sure at least one tea partier in North Carolina cancelled his subscription to the "Charlotte Observer."

http://price.house.gov/#dialog

http://www.dcunited.com/

http://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury

http://www.ncdp.org/ (NC Democratic Party)

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/

Election Day by the #s (2 of 4)_ Mitt Romney Wins Yanceyville, NC, but....

One of the great ironies of the election cycle is that two swing states, Colorado and North Carolina, were able to send an openly gay member of the House in Cong. Jared Polis (D-Colo., pictured top) and a member who declared that gay college student Matthew Shepard's murder in Wyoming was a hoax in Cong. Virginia Foxx (R-NC, pictured bottom).

I happen to follow both members of Congress on Twitter, for what that's worth. Polis got 56-percent of the vote over Kevin Lundberg (R). The Colorado congressman has also been an advocate of legalizing marijuana. His state passed a bill to actually legalize pot, but it is expected to meet many legal hurdles since marijuana is still outlawed at the federal level in America.

Foxx, who has been supportive of the Turkish side of the Rashomon Nightmare with the Armenian lobby, which means I may have been the only Turkish-American to have voted for her opponent Elisabeth Motsinger as I consider social issues to be even more important than ethnic politics. But, even though I reside in North Carolina, I was fortunate not to be in Foxx's district.

As it is, my vote may not have mattered too much as Foxx won by a 58-42 percentage margin, which was enough to make "The High County Press," newspaper in Boone, NC, declare that Foxx had 'obliterated' her opponent, as Eric Alterman of "The Nation" has declared 'what liberal media/", though "The Advocate," a gay politics magazine criticized Foxx's reelection as a sing that American tolerance for gays and lesbians still needs to evolve.

Somehow, I don't foresee Polis and Foxx having lunch at Ray's Hell Burger (pictured center) in Arlington, Va., where President Barack Obama has dined with a camera crew following him.

As for the presidential election, Mitt Romney did reclaim tiny Caswell County (Yanceyville), North Carolina, which is not in Fox''s district. Romney won back the Tarheel State, but only by the thinnest of margins.

Here are the numbers:

69.6 %- The percentage of votes Obama got in Boulder County, Colorado,Polis' home district.

23.2%- The percentage Romney got in Boulder County

51.2%- The percentage Obama got in Colorado

50. 6%- The percentage Romney got in North Carolina

254- The number of votes that Romney won by in Caswell County, NC.

91,606- The number of votes that Obama got in Forsyth County (Winston-Salem), NC

79,177- The number of votes that Romney got in Forsyth County

75.9%- The percentage of votes Obama got in Durham County, NC, the state's most progressive jurisdiction.

23.3%- The percentage Romney got in Durham County.

70.8 %- The percentage Romney got in rural Stokes County, the most conservative county in NC

27.9 %- The percentage Obama got in Stokes County

70.4 %- The percentage of vote Obama got in Orange County (Chapel Hill, Hillsborough), NC

28.2 %- The percentage of vote Romney got in Orange County

60.8 %- The percentage Obama got in Mecklenberg County (Charlotte), NC, where the Democratic National Convention was held

38.3 %- The percentage Romney got in Mecklenberg County.

51.7 %-The percentage Romney got in New Hanover (Wilmington), NC.

47.1 %- The percentage Obama got in New Hanover County

http://www.hcpress.com

http://advocate.com

http://www.yesweekly.com

http://www.boulderweekly.com

http://www.thehill.com

http://www.rayshellburger.com

Monday Night Pre-Debate Tweets- Alex Trebek the 'High Rollers' Days

We are apparently popular in Jordan! And, even more so than in Turkey, which is my late father's home country and a nation I have visited 15 times?! Perhaps, I now know how Al Gore felt when he was not able to win his home state of Tennessee in the 2000 election, which would have made him president instead of George W. Bush.

So, we are posting an image of King Abdullah II, who is the leader of Jordan as one of our three images. The two figures above him are "Jeopardy" host Alex Trebek when he was hosting "High Rollers" in the late 1970s and Big Bird, who has become very popular since Mitt Romney alluded to the fact that might try to fire this famous fowl  by cutting funds for public television during the first debate in Denver, Colo.

Tonight, in Boca Raton, Fla., the candidates will have won one last night debate on foreign policy, if this doesn't settle they may to fight in a boxing in Las Vegas, which would be appropriate since Nevada is also a swing state.

Here are our tweets:

1) @michaelianblack (Michael Ian Black, a comic actor): "They should get Alex Trebek to host the foregin policy debate because he always sounds so authentic when he says foreign stuff."

2) @interviewnews (Interview Magazine): "Even Clark Kent knows there's no future in print journalism."

3) @denverpolitics (Denver Politics News): "Ad blaming Romney for Colorado wind-industry job losses in gray area."

4) @SunDC (The Sun in DC): "Sunset 6:20 p.m., Sunset Tommorow 6:18 p.m."

5) @thehilltweets ("The Hill" is a daily journal which covers Congress): "Obama, Romney promote voting apps on Facebook."

6) @marketplaceatm ("Marketplace" is a daily radio show airing on most NPR stations): "For those of you talking politics at work: yes, it can get you fired." (Wow!)

7) @ForecasterEnten  (Harry Enten covers American politics for "The Guardian UK"): "Put another way even if Obama still has ads on the air in North Carolina any neutral observer knows he may have a high floor, but a low ceiling" (This is reference to the Tarheel State, our state of residency, which speculators now see going to Romney, but then again no one thought Duke would beat UNC in football over the weekend).

8) @NRO ("National Review," a conservative magazine, yes, we don't quote their tweets very often): "Exchange of the day: Soledad flips on Rudy "I'm a journalist!" Isn't that proof that you're a bad one?" (Soledad O'Brien is a reporter for CNN. Ironically, it seems that the NRO has one thing in common with us: Neither of us will be watching the debate on CNN. Presumably, they will watch it on Fox News, whereas we will watch it on PBS!).

http://www.pbs.org

http://www.nationalreview.com

http://www.thehill.com

http://www.visitjordan.com

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

Things We Learned on Google Today- President of Turkmenistan Has Very Long Name

We don't have a list of every world leader in front of us, but we firmly believe that Turkmenistani President Gurbanguly Berdimukhammedov has the longest surname of them all! He became president of Turkmenistan in 2007 after replacing 'president for life' Sapurmurat Niyazov who died in December of 2006.

The current president, like the man before him, has been cited for human rights abuses by Amnesty International (amnesty.org), but hey we worry more about Republicans here! And, in all seriousness, while human rights abuses are a serious matter, I want to focus on this very remote country that few Americans have probably been to.

The capital of Turkmenistan is Ashagabat, which sounds like a city in a "Harry Potter" book, which has a population of 695,300.

Afghanistan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan border this former Soviet Republic.

There is apparently lots of unique cuisine in Turkmenistan, including the national dish plov (pictured here) which consists of mutton, rice and carrots.

Blogger Jon Rosenweig visited Turkmenistan and he discovered some other foods there, including chorek, which sounds similar to the Turkish dish borek, both of which consist of baked bread. There is also kohlbasa, a lunch dish made from fried kielbas with onions and boiled eggs.

Turkmenistan is the seventh former Soviet republic we have profiled in this series; Belarus was the pervious one.

SIDEBAR_ He's back. "Independent Weekly" in Durham, NC, is reporting that fringe Republican candidate Vernon Robinson will challenge Cong. Larry Kissel (D-NC), a moderate in North Carolina's 8th district.

Robinson, who has been nicknamed The Black Jesse Helms, challenged Cong. Brad Miller (D-NC) in 2006, even though he does not reside in Miller's 13th district.

To our knowledge, the only political office that Robinson has ever held was in Winston-Salem where he was a city council member who allegedly missed a lot of meetings.

Robinson also managed to get lots of media attention, even outside of North Carolina, for his racist anti-Hispanic ads back in 2006.

Things We Learned on Twitter Today- Endangered Elephant in DC

There is apparently endangered elephant from the Tarheel State, but it is not one that you would see on a trip to the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro.

Rather, it appears that Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) is the only sitting GOP senator in Washington, DC, who might well be in danger of losing his seat.

His challenger is current (North Carolina) Secretary of State Elaine Marshall (D), not to be confused with Supreme Court nominee Elana Kagan or Elaine from "Seinfeld."

Marshall tweeted today that according to the famed Rasmussen Poll, the race between Burr and Marshall is a toss-up.

Upon further examination, I found that Rasmussen is also reporting that the Democrats in the Senate are virtually guaranteed of having 49 seats after all the recounts and recounts are settled, while the God, Guns and Country Party is assured of maintaining at least 41 seats.

According to Rasmussen, the North Carolina race is one of ten U.S. Senate races that could go either way.

In other domestic political news, "The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette" tweeted that current West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin (D) is thinking about pursuing the late Sen. Robert Byrd's seat. It's interesting that a Steel City paper reported this because Pittsburgh is not in West Virginia!

Lastly, in international matters, the Twitter site United4Iran tweeted that Canada has called for a stop to executions and stonings in Iran, which should please the Persian diaspora in Bluefield, WVa (that is a joke since it's a very small town near the Virginia border, but perhaps there is, by chance, an Iranian family residing there!).

PSA- Go Out and Vote! (well, this applies to NC residents only)

Even though the rest of America voted for their respective party's political candidates last week, those of us who reside in North Carolina will decide which Democrats and Republicans are on the ballot on Tuesday.

As a Democrat who is just slightly less partian than Terry McAuliffe (I actually met him in person in Roanoke, Va., at a Democrat Party event---of course!), I am looking forward to seeing who we pit against unpopular incumbent Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC).

There are two major Democratic candidates running for the party's candidate. They include Elaine Marshall, the current North Carolina secretary of state, and former state senator Cal Cunnigham, who I plan to vote for.

According to his campaign web site (calfornc.com), Cunnigham was campaigning today in the cities of Hickory, Boone, Statesville and Salisbury. Tomorrow, he stumps in the eastern part of the state as he ventures to Greenville, Kinston and Wilmington before traveling to Charlotte late in the day.

As a state senator elected in 2000, Cunnigham, who is only 36, represented the Salisbury area, which is almost exactly between Greensboro and Charlotte geographically.

The Democratic state convention will be held in Fayetville on the weekend of July 31-Aug. 1.

We presume that both Pat Warren, who is the county Democrat Party chair in tiny Caswell County (the hamlet of Yanceyville with a population of less than 1,000 people is the county seat), and Joel Ford, the county chair of Mecklenberg County (North Carolina's largest county which includes the metropolis of Charlotte) will be both be very busy on Tuesday.

Oh, it should be pointed out that Robert Redford, who lives (at last report) in Park City, Utah, is not a candidate for North Carolina's U.S. Senate seat though he did play a politician in the under-appreciate early '70s cinematic gem "The Candidate" (pictured above).

Silly Picture to Fill Space- Kandula the Elephant

Since we posted an image of a Turkish donkey in representation of the Democratic Party, we thought we'd post an image of the Republican Party's symbol, the elephant even though I vote for Republicans as often as I ride an elephant (I actually rode on at the San Diego Zoo in 1984 when I was 14).

While researching this piece, I found out that 75 percent of all evangelicals vote Republican, and that our very own Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) is the ninth most conservative member of the Senate. Who are the other eight?!

The North Carolina Republican Party is now headed by former Raleigh mayor Tom Fetzer.

This image is of Kandula, who was born at the National Zoo in Washington, DC, in
2001. The zoo is currently hard to bred female elephants, including Shanthi. At the moment, from what I gathered, visitors can not view elephants at the National Zoo because they are working on an Elephant Trails project.

But, if one wants to see a female elephant in Washington, DC, they go to Capitol Hill and say hi to one of the Tarheel State's most vocal members, Cong. Virginia Foxx (R-NC).

Know Your Mayors (Entry 11) Charlotte's Pat McCrory

The state of North Carolina will see many municipal elections on Tuesday, but few will probably be as closely watched as the one to replace current mayor Pat McCrory.

McCrory is the longest-serving mayor in the Queen City's history as he is now finishing up his seventh two-year term. The current election will mark the first time that McCrory has not been on the municipal ballot in 20 years.

The Republican Charlotte mayor ran for governor in 2008, but lost to current governor Beverly Perdue.

McCrory is an alumnus of Ragsdale High School in Jamestown, NC (outside Greensboro and High Point) and Catawba College in Salisbury, NC. He worked for Duke Energy for many years before turning his attention to civic politics.

McCrory has managed to become a long-serving mayor in spite of the fact that Democrats and independents in Charlotte outnumber Republicans by a three-to-one margin. According to today's "Charlotte Observer," the mayor has a sixty percent approval rating.

The mayor is credited with lowering Charlotte's violent crime rate by adding 330 new police officers. He is also lauded for bringing the NASCAR Hall of Fame to the Queen City.

Charlotte is the 18th largest city in America with a population of 687,456. The city's suburbs now stretch into South Carolina, and include my mom's hometown of Rock Hill, SC, which was once a college town with a farming community. The city has grown by 20 percent since McCrory was first elected.


UPDATE: Democrat Anthony Foxx won the highly contested election.



The race for McCrory's succesor will between Democrat Anthony Foxx, and African-American who is 38, and Republican John Lassiter who is 55.