Quote :

"Guilford County schools wins an injunction against the General Assembly's 25% plan http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/04/23/3805892/judge-halts-new-tenure-procedure.html?sp=/99/100/&ihp=1"

the law is shitty, but all this does is take away the opportunity for teachers to get a pay raise if they VOLUNTARILY give up career status.

4/24/2014 7:35:31 AM

$500 isn't much to miss

4/24/2014 8:17:13 AM

that's a 500 a year increase for 4 years. after 4 years you are looking at 5000 extra dollars.

4/24/2014 8:47:59 AM

Maybe my math is terrible, but how does 500x4 = 5000?

nm, I get it. 500+1000+1500+2000.

[Edited on April 24, 2014 at 8:49 AM. Reason : .]

4/24/2014 8:49:12 AM

^ha ok.

[Edited on April 24, 2014 at 8:50 AM. Reason : ]

4/24/2014 8:49:51 AM

its only $500 per year, no one would describe that as a $5000 raise because typically when discussing raises you don't combine cumulative sums for multiple years.

also, only the first year was funded so really its a $500 raise and a promise of maybe more

[Edited on April 24, 2014 at 9:10 AM. Reason : .]

4/24/2014 9:09:22 AM

it's an extra $5,000 over 4 years. spin it however you want.

4/24/2014 9:14:03 AM

Fun fact: at current prices, $5,000 will buy 30 8.5oz pieces of silver.

4/24/2014 5:20:05 PM

http://www.wral.com/fact-check-gop-senate-candidates-make-some-questionable-claims/13589575/

4/26/2014 2:03:47 PM

http://www.wral.com/republican-senate-candidates-say-they-would-not-back-net-neutrality/13601638/

4/29/2014 7:55:18 AM

Is there anyone in this primary worth voting for? D, R, or L, since I'm unaffiliated.

I really need to do some research, just been busy. As the latest facebook spam post says, I want married gay couples to defend their marijuana with guns. So, someone point me to candidates in that direction

4/29/2014 10:32:50 AM

Quote :

"I want married gay couples to defend their marijuana with guns"

haha, i could get behind that.... as long as those gays aren't mentally unstable.

4/29/2014 11:02:21 AM

For some reason, I have a feeling that married gay potheads who support their right to bear arms are for the most part mentally stable.

4/29/2014 11:35:14 AM

^^^ I'm assuming you're referring to the Republican US Senate primary? If so, as one of the few actual (R) voters at TSB, I'm leaning towards Jim Snyder. He has almost zero chance, but I just can't bring myself to vote for any of the main four candidates in the primary.

Just saw where he was recently endorsed by the Greensboro News & Record:

http://insurancenewsnet.com/oarticle/2014/04/13/editorial-nr-endorses-jim-snyder-in-republican-us-senate-primary-a-489310.html

[Edited on April 29, 2014 at 4:45 PM. Reason : ....]

4/29/2014 4:41:59 PM

^

Quote :

"since I'm unaffiliated."

= I can vote in any one of the 3

just posted in here as this was the most recent general politics thread

[Edited on April 29, 2014 at 5:31 PM. Reason : .]

4/29/2014 5:30:54 PM

These Republican child molestor supreme court campaign commercials are pretty disgusting and insulting.

4/30/2014 5:42:22 PM

what's up, troll?

4/30/2014 9:58:23 PM

http://www.wral.com/big-business-spends-to-unseat-nc-supreme-court-justice-hudson/13603252/
http://www.wral.com/big-business-spends-to-unseat-nc-supreme-court-justice-hudson/13603252/

Quote :

"Another group, the much more nebulous Justice for All NC, is airing attack ads claiming Hudson sided with child molesters in a 2010 state Supreme Court case."

4/30/2014 10:06:11 PM

lol

4/30/2014 10:56:38 PM

The TV ads are just brutal right now.

Next step is just showing the American History "you see this. It means not welcome" scene. It's a competition between who can shit on immigrants more.

[Edited on May 5, 2014 at 8:22 AM. Reason : I guess they are directed to the huckleberries in the country though]

5/5/2014 8:21:20 AM

i assume every anti-gay person is a closet homosexual who is angry at themselves, but this is a little shocking considering he was living an out life as a drag queen. regardless, this is pretty fabulous.

Anti-Gay Marriage GOP Candidate Explains His Past As A Drag Queen

Quote :

"Republican North Carolina State Senate candidate Steve Wiles used to go by a different name — "Miss Mona Sinclair." Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/anti-gay-marriage-gop-candidate-explains-his-past-as-a-drag-queen-2014-5#ixzz30rukO0Yt"

5/5/2014 2:49:39 PM

Every drag queen is gay huh?

"Fabulous" was a good choice of words though.

5/5/2014 3:08:15 PM

everyone in the Miss Gay America pageant is

5/5/2014 3:11:24 PM

Maybe he's bi?

Or maybe someone hit him hard enough with a Bible to expel the demon of gay?

5/5/2014 3:16:17 PM

Quote :

""I don't really understand how you can separate the fact that marriage is a religious institution"

I don't really understand how you can think a government certificate of approval has anything to do with religion.

5/6/2014 8:50:38 AM

http://www.wral.com/roche-the-low-information-voter-was-tricked-again-/13629852/

Quote :

"Rep. Ellmers attended only a handful of GOP meetings and events; always sure to arrive late, and leave early. She would not accept invitations by various media outlets to talk issues side-by-side with me. She would not accept any invitations by our campaign to debate the issues in public. She would not allow herself to be exposed for being so poorly informed on the issues that matter to the voters in the 2nd. The few times she did appear in the same room with me it became clear who the qualified candidate was and who the group supported. The GOP establishment will be proven wrong again with respect to their effort to reelect Renee Ellmers. They are now even more complicit in the ruin of our great country. Shame on them. How will they explain this to their children and grand children? “Sorry about the state for our economy and your future tax burden, but you see, Ellmers could raise more money and Boehner liked her.”"

-Republican Congressional Challenger Frank Roche

5/8/2014 3:58:53 PM

Ellmers is pretty awful.

5/9/2014 2:27:05 AM

I always assumed you had to be a "low information voter" to vote any of these clowns from the NC GOP into office.

5/9/2014 2:54:41 PM

I bet Clay Aiken is much more well informed.

Not that I like her either. Could we get an actual qualified candidate please and not somebody whose claim to fame is singing a few times on TV and didn't even win that either?

5/9/2014 3:45:54 PM

That's an extremely uncharitable view for him. He's done quite a lot before and since American Idol.

http://www.clayaiken.com/about

5/9/2014 4:19:39 PM

you are seriously arguing for the qualifications of clay aiken?

5/9/2014 6:01:24 PM

He's probably fairly informed about the healthcare and education platform he mentioned in is terrible commercial considering his background. He is clearly not qualified though at matching makeup foundation to natural skin tone.

5/9/2014 6:06:28 PM

On a different note this ad against Thom Tillis was actually narrated at his acceptance speech:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=SAuqNqn0ICY

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/05/09/1298164/-No-rest-for-the-wicked-Democrats-start-blasting-Thom-Tillis-just-days-after-his-primary-victory?detail=facebook

5/9/2014 6:57:41 PM

Quote :

"I don't really understand how you can think a government certificate of approval of a religious ceremony has anything to do with religion."

FTFY. To ignore the religious underpinnings of marriage is to be willfully ignorant of a major part of the issue at hand.

5/9/2014 7:29:34 PM

Marriage as a legal agreement predates marriage as religious sacrament (which predates marriage as a Christian sacrament)

5/9/2014 9:32:15 PM

sup, troll?

5/9/2014 11:07:30 PM

The government should be out of the marriage business all together.

5/9/2014 11:32:17 PM

Aaronburro is a patron of the Miss Gay American pageant

5/10/2014 1:03:04 AM

^^ agreed.

^ sup, troll?

5/11/2014 1:30:22 PM

I'm not a religious person and I got married. If you love someone and plan to be with that person forever, then you should have every right to marry them regardless of religion, color, sexual orientation, etc. Why do so many right-wingers want to strip personal rights from individuals?

To say government should be out of the religious business is full on retard. There are laws and rights associated with marriage and children born from marriage. The government is responsible for writing, changing, and enforcing those laws when needed.

5/11/2014 5:13:45 PM

Quote :

"To say government should be out of the religious business is full on retard."

Is it your intention that gov't should interfere with religion? Just curious...

That the gov't got involved in it in the first place is the problem. There should be a completely separate entity that the gov't handles that addresses the current benefits given to marriage. Then the right-wing whackjobs that "don't want them homos tellin me what to do" can keep their bigotry and everyone else can accept that homosexuals should be able to visit their loved ones in the hospital without jumping through extra hoops and everyone is happy.

5/11/2014 5:24:50 PM

ha, sorry i went full on retard with my writing. meant to say "marriage business". oh well, shit happens.

5/11/2014 6:30:22 PM

The right's excuse is that marriage is a religious institution and thus subject to their beliefs. They choose to ignore that there are two separate institutions of marriage, one being religious, one being legal. They also choose to ignore, and choose to not fight against, marriages between non-believers or of other religions. The right is hypocritical and obtuse when it comes to marriage rights. I don't know why they have a hardon for gays, but they do.

5/12/2014 9:46:53 AM

Quote :

"I don't know why they have a hardon for gays, but they do."

Really? You don't know why?

Quote :

"“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9–10). “But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted” (1 Timothy 1:8–11)."

Paul from the NT.

5/12/2014 9:58:56 AM

And yet, there isn't a crusade against these other sinners. My point was, I don't know why the right has it out for one type of sinner, and not the other.

5/12/2014 11:12:22 AM

you mean you don't hear all the GOP up in arms about adulterers or murderers trying to get married?

5/12/2014 12:01:35 PM

Quote :

"And yet, there isn't a crusade against these other sinners. My point was, I don't know why the right has it out for one type of sinner, and not the other."

The dynamic at play here is that secular society at large generally frowns upon most of the other types of "sinners" while not even recognizing homosexuality as a sin.

This dissonance between society and their philosophy furthers the us vs them narrative that the leaders drive into the followers.

5/12/2014 12:23:18 PM

16% approval rating to start this session

5/14/2014 11:46:54 AM

Can someone break down NC GOP's recent actions as they relate to our public schools? I'm mostly interested in things they've passed (legislative or executive), not the silly shit some of them have proposed.

eg I know they've passed a bill to phase out teacher tenure

what else?

5/14/2014 12:06:28 PM

Quote :

"Emails have North Carolina State Legislative Building buzzing"

RALEIGH (WTVD) -- An email exchange between a North Carolina teacher and a state senator is generating a lot of buzz.

It began when Sarah Wiles sent a letter to all 170 members of the North Carolina General Assembly voicing her frustration.

"My students know that no one cares about education, because they frequently ask me why I ever made the decision to become a teacher," Wiles said in part in her four paragraph email written last Tuesday.

She ends by saying, "I am embarrassed for you. I am embarrassed by you. And, save for my students, I am embarrassed by being a teacher in North Carolina, the doormat of society."

Click here to read Wiles' letter (.pdf)

"It seems as though there are these cycles of when everybody cares about public education, and election season is a top season for caring about education," said Wiles to ABC11.

State Senator David Curtis of Gaston County says he thought about Wiles' email for three days before writing back.

On Monday, Curtis responded to Wiles and the General Assembly, saying in part, "My concern is that your students are picking up on your attitude toward the teaching profession."

"I think the teachers union has kind of sold the public on a somewhat erroneous idea that their total compensation is just extremely low," said Curtis.

He offered Wiles four suggestions for what she should tell her potential new private sector employer after she leaves teaching, which included expecting to be paid more money than she made as a teacher and expecting eight weeks paid vacation per year because that's what taxpayers gave her.

Click here to read Curtis' reply (.pdf)

Despite his take on the situation, Wiles said he plans to support a teacher pay raise, but that he just wants to "balance the conversation."

On a side note, the president of the North Carolina Association of Educators says teachers do not actually get that eight weeks paid time off.

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=9536205



[Edited on May 14, 2014 at 12:53 PM. Reason : ]

5/14/2014 12:51:45 PM