Geeez, what a redneck state! Wait, don’t we have the same amendment, here in Virginia? I guess I had better walk back those words real fast. Ok Ok, just kidding! We wouldn’t want to impugn our own Old Dominion.
N.C. defined marriage as being between one man and one woman. According to News-press.com:
Both sides spent a combined $3 million on their campaigns.
North Carolina law already bans gay marriage, like nine other states, but an amendment would effectively slam the door shut on same-sex marriages. The amendment also goes beyond state law by voiding other types of domestic unions from carrying legal status, which opponents warn could disrupt protection orders for unmarried couples.
The other day, our friend George Harris posed an interesting question on his Facebook page. It went something like this: If you could interview one person, living or dead, from the 20th century, who would it be and why?
I still haven’t decided on my person yet. Who do you chose? Reminder, the person does not have to be famous
It looks like another political pundit has weighed in on the May 1 City of Manassas election. It sure doesn’t sounds like what our friends were reporting to us. I guess you just had to be there. Anyway, the following text is from Doug Brown’s blog, A Bridge Too Far. Since we were immediately referenced , we couldn’t help but talk back and just get a little sassy. Doug’s words are black. Ours are hot sizzzling pink, the color of talkin’ back.
The Moonhowlers’ favorite GOP chairman Steve Thomas{We don’t often agree with Steve but he isn’t obnoxious.] and the MGOP won a clear victory in last Tuesday’s May 1st election, according to some observers [Yes, those observers would include the voting majority, who elected the entire GOP ticket. Sounds like a victory to us]. But does a Party really win a clear victory by jettisoning half its traditional base and replacing them with scab voters from the political left?[Let's see. If you are talking about the 997 people who voted for Sheryl Bass, a Republican in good standing, and not the Independent Jerry Carman, who many convention attendees, including Doug Brown chose to support, we think the GOP might have come out the winner in this deal. A bonus was Charles Sutherland's stunning defeat. F.O.D's or "Friends of Doug, don't do well in elections] Normally when an outpost loses half its forces, and is overrun by opposing forces the commanding officer is not heralded as a victor, unless of course those doing the heralding are members of the opposing forces or sympathetic to them. [And how many of your preferred candidates won?]‘]
RICHMOND — After a contentious legislative session that drew large protests and national ridicule to the state Capitol, Virginians are less supportive of Gov. Robert F. McDonnell and less optimistic about the direction of the state, according to a poll by The Washington Post.
The approval rating for McDonnell (R) dropped six points over the past year, from 62 percent to 56 percent. Thirty-five percent disapprove of the job he is doing — a nine-point increase from a year ago.
The governor still has firmly positive ratings at a time of political discord nationwide. But he has lost support among independents and urban women after a 12-month period that closed with a partisan standoff over the state budget and an uproar over a bill requiring women seeking an abortion to first undergo a vaginal ultrasound.
It could be in any town, in any time, in any establishment serving spirits.
Everyone has something to say.
How many people take advantage of the bistro atmosphere in the City of Manassas when deciding where to dine or go for drinks? Who frequents the outdoor establishments? How about in the county? Do we have favorite watering holes? Let’s give a shout out to the things we like to do outside.
What do city folks want to see more of? Bike paths and widened streets got groused about by a few people. How many folks consider these enhancements an improvement to their community? Tell us how you really feel. Let’s not just let one side have the floor.
The election has come and gone, but the theater continues. Those who have lost the most, try not to “wawl and cry” nor “mewl and puke” and instead have chosen to spin with much “pride, pomp , and circumstance,” the post-election eulogy of their effort. Much mirth we draw (not to mention laughter) in watching those who made such a noise for their chosen slate, try to salvage a faux victory from what is in fact a stunning defeat.
In some ways, the silence is deafening so, again, rather than charge into the fray, we have chosen to give our “ thoughts no tongue” for a time, let the dust settle, gather numerous perspectives on the election results, and develop what we believe to be a much clearer picture of what happened, and, what it all means.
This Saturday evening, take a look at the night sky and you might see something special. The moon will make its largest, most stunning appearance of the year—an event known to scientists as “the perigee-syzygy of the Earth-Moon-Sun system” and to the popular skywatching public simply as the “supermoon.” As one of the most spectacular supermoons in years, the moon will appear 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than when it is on the far side of its orbit.
Why does the moon sometimes appear larger, and sometimes smaller? The answer lies in the fact that its orbit around Earth is elliptical, so its distance from us varies—it ranges from roughly 222,000 to 252,000 miles away each month. On Saturday, the moon will reach what is known as the perigee, coming as close as it ever does to the Earth, just 221,802 miles away. At the same time, it will be a full moon, with the entirety of its Earth-facing surface illuminated by the light of the sun.
This supermoon will appear especially large because the exact moment of perigee will neatly coincide with the appearance of a perfectly full moon. The full moon will occur at 11:34 p.m. EST, and the perigee will occur at 11:35. During last year’s supermoon on March 19, 2011, for comparison, the perigee and full moon were 50 minutes apart.
This Saturday, May 5 will be the annual 138th Kentucky Derby. No charming horse stories jump out at us this year. That might happen post race. The slight favorite this year is a horse named Bodemeister. Why that almost sounds like Blogmeister!
Every year I go out with friends and play our dollar bets on the each race of the Triple Crown. It sounds silly but it is a rite of spring for us.
To view the horses for this race, go to the Washington Post section. CLICK HERE .
In a statement provided to The Washington Post, Grenell, who is openly gay, said: “While I welcomed the challenge to confront President Obama’s foreign policy failures and weak leadership on the world stage, my ability to speak clearly and forcefully on the issues has been greatly diminished by the hyper-partisan discussion of personal issues that sometimes comes from a presidential campaign.” He added: “I want to thank Governor Romney for his belief in me and my abilities and his clear message to me that being openly gay was a non-issue for him and his team.”
Disclaimer: The content of the guest contribution is the opinion of the guest and does not necessarily represent the opinion of the management of Moonhowlings.com.
Morris Davis: KSM Gets His Way at Guantanamo
A military guard will be on each arm of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed as he is led into a courtroom on Saturday to be arraigned for a second time before a military commission at Guantanamo Bay. He went through the same process in the same courtroom on nearly the same charges almost four years ago in the closing months of the Bush administration. The fact that President Obama chooses now, six months before voters choose between him and Mitt Romney, to restart what some have dubbed “the trial of the century,” using a second-rate system of justice he had ordered stopped at a facility he had ordered closed, makes an unflattering statement about the timidity of his leadership and the malleability of his principles.
Much has been made of the intrigue the past few weeks on the various alliances and coalitions in the city election process. Now that the dust is settling, we would like to salute the hot pink campaign, run by supporters of Sheryl Bass. Actually, Ms. Bass didn’t run. Her friends ran her as a write-in campaign. Sheryl Bass supported the Republican ticket. At last count, Ms. Bass received 1052 997 [Ed. Note: correction given this afternoon] votes and her name didn’t even appear on the ballot! That means that Ms. Bass came in 4th without her running and without her name appearing on the ballot.
Ms. Bass should be proud. She has good friends, the support and respect of her community, and the friends of Ms. Bass did things the right way. Several movers and shakers of this campaign had to resign from their political party to run the campaign. THEY did the right thing. Will they be readmitted? Time will tell. They knew the rules. They followed them. The Sheryl Bass campaign made a fine showing at the polls and everyone showed a lot of class.
Ms. Bass has served her community and will be an invaluable resource for all the elected officials to turn to when they need advice and help. A toast of our finest ale to Lady Bass and her ever- classy campaign.
Where is our Greek Chorus of nay sayers? Where are our Obama Bashers? Jon Stewart has the last word on those who admonish the President for daring to speak about killing Bin Laden. You would think Bin Laden was Voldemort.
How does Mission Accomplished fit into this plan of silence? Are you all smoking crack or what? War time over here. Celebrate the death of a killer terrorist dirtbag and then move on. Are you in mouring over Hitler? Stalin? Remember the 3000 dead on that bright, crisp September morning. Remember our war dead.
Brian Williams hosts tonight. He described this event as being the most important of his journalistic career. Rock Center with Brian Williams ‘Inside the Situation Room’ airs Wednesday 9pm/8c on NBC.
“I did choose the risk,” the president said in an exclusive interview with Rock Center Anchor and Managing Editor Brian Williams. “The reason I was willing to make that decision of sending in our SEALs to try to capture or kill bin Laden rather than to take some other options was ultimately because I had 100 percent faith in the Navy SEALs themselves.”
A year after the May 1, 2011, raid on bin Laden’s compound, Obama and several of the advisers who helped plan the operation, known as “Operation Neptune’s Spear,” spoke exclusively to NBC News, reflecting on the tense months spent planning and debating the feasibility of this daring raid. The interviews occurred before the president made an unannounced visit to Kabul on Tuesday, where he and President Hamid Karzai signed an agreement on the future of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan.
“This had to be such a close-held operation,” the president said in the interview airing tonight at 9pm/8c on NBC. “There were only a handful of staff in the White House who knew about this.”
The president did not share news of the mission’s launch with his staff, or with the first lady.
“Even a breath of this in the press could have chased bin Laden away,” Obama said. “We didn’t know at that point whether there might be underground tunnels coming out of that compound that would allow him to escape.”
Catholics United has called Paul Ryan on the carpet for his admiration of Ayn Rand. Rand, an atheist, is touted by many conservatives and libertarians as the quintessential capitalist.
Ayn taught the value of self over all other values. She considered anything less than regaling the individual close to slavery. Catholics United reminded Ryan of the teachings of Christ and he backed off the Rand worship. Larry O’Donnell plays a tape that seals the deal between atheist Rand and Ryan. It establishes his close relationship to the movement that has grown out of her philosophy.
Can people walk themselves back from commitments like this? Is it possible to greatly admire individuals whose core values are different from ours? Is it possible to espouse far-right (for lack of a better term) capitalism and practice the major tenants of Christianity or Judaism who tell us that we are our brother’s keeper?
