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

Things We Learned from Twitter Last Night- Israel is the Best Place to Get a Kidney

Those of you not hip to this blog may be confused by my twisted sense of humor, but while Tel Aviv may not be the best place to find that antique pipe organ you saw on the Kansas City episode of "Antiques Roadshow" (which airs on PBS here in the USA), it is apparently the best place for organ donations in the world according to an article in "The Jerusalem Post."

Through a tweet from the newspaper, I learned late last night that Israel is first in soliciting organ donations according to the article by Judy Siegel-Itzkovich.

The nation's Donor Action Foundation, founded in 1998, has been an international leader with 600 successful identifications of potential organ donors last year.

Israel is also a leader in preserving donated organs according to the article.

SIDEBAR_ If one wants to find an antique organ, one good place might be The Strasburg Emporium in Strasburg, Va. While visiting the town for the first time in years this week, I also discovered Cristina's Cafe which will be celebrating its second anniversary on Saturday.

SIDEBAR TWO_ If you are not a recipient of a liver transplant and you can pretty much eat whatever you want (a habit I am trying to break though I'm not carrying a dead teenage girl's organs), then you may want to try one of the Five Guys Burgers and Fries establishments in Greensboro, NC.

My friend Brian Clarey, the editor and food critic of "Yes Weekly!" in Greensboro recently reported that the diner at Friendly Center, one of three Five Guys places in the Triad (a national chain with 550 locations, including one in my hometown of Salem, Va., that started in the Washington DC-area a mere eight years ago) serves up a delicious burger as well as scrumptious French fries made from potatoes from a farm in Rigby, Idaho.

We presume that Brian has not had a recent organ transplant either, but if we has we will apologize for the oversight in advance!

Roanoke's Texas Tavern Turns 80!

Amazingly enough, even though Roanoke, Va., is my hometown, and I have walked by the Texas Tavern at least 120 times, I have never actually been inside the landmark establishment--- not even to try their famous chilli!

The restaurant, located on 114 Church Avenue in downtown Roanoke, celebrated its 80th anniversary on Feb. 13. The restaurant was founded on that day in 1930 by Isaac Newton Bullington, who once worked for Ringling Bros-Barnum and Bailey Circus.

Bullington took a chile recipe from a San Antonio hotel, and diners have been steadily coming in ever since.

According to the Texas Tavern's web site, celebrities who have stopped have included The Three Stooges and Glen Miller.

The Texas Tavern is known as "The Millionaires' Club" by locals which is a bit ironic since the food is quite inexpensive. Hamburgers and hot dogs both sell for $1.25 and a pint of chilli goes for $3.25 while a sausage sandwcih goes for $1.10.

There was another Texas Tavern in Lynchburg, Va., but it became difficult for the Bullington family to manage both of them.

Today, the restaurant is run by Matt Bullington, the fourth-generation owner of the diner.

His father and previous owner Jim Bullington told "The Roanoke Star-Sentinel" that as was the case in the 1930s, The Texas Tavern's cheap prices allow folks to eat out even during a bad recession.