NC: Not Going Democratic This Time

Ken AshfordElection 2012, Local InterestLeave a Comment

Nate Silver's NYT column give NC the treatment: In North Carolina, Obama’s 2008 Victory Was Ahead of Schedule By MICAH COHEN The choice of Charlotte as the host city for the Democratic National Convention may seem unremarkable. President Obama carried North Carolina by fewer than 14,000 votes in 2008, making him the first Democrat to win the state since 1976. The Obama campaign hopes the convention … Read More

North Carolina Now A Toss-Up: CNN

Ken AshfordElection 2012, Local InterestLeave a Comment

CNN Monday turned the important battleground state of North Carolina from "lean Romney" to true "toss up" on its Electoral Map, following the release of a new CNN/Time Magazine/ORC International poll that indicated the race for the state's 15 electoral votes was a dead heat.

Escaped Monkey Enjoys Independence (Day)

Ken AshfordLocal InterestLeave a Comment

Local news: Winston-Salem, NC– Officials with Animal Control and and Veterinarians with Wake Forest Baptist are in Davidson County searching for a monkey. Wake Forest Baptist tells WFMY News 2 that the animal is about the size of a domestic cat and it escaped from an animal housing area on Friday. As of Wednesday, officials with the research facility told the Associated Press … Read More

Hitting The Wrong Button: Fracking Is Now Legal In NC

Ken AshfordEnergy and Conservation, Environment & Global Warming & Energy, Local Interest1 Comment

First, a little background on "fracking". Fracking is media term applied to a process known as Hydraulic Fracturing. It is a process that creates fractures in rocks to force natural gas, water, and oil reserves trapped 5,000 to 20,000 feet below the earth up to the surface. Hydraulic fractures may occur naturally, via volcanic dikes, sills, ice; or they can … Read More

Romney Leads in NC

Ken AshfordElection 2012, Local Interest, PollsLeave a Comment

Rassmusson Reports: Mitt Romney continues to hold a small lead over President Obama in the key swing state of North Carolina.  The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the Tar Heel State finds Romney earning 47% support to Obama’s 44%.  Three percent (3%) like some other candidate in the race, while six percent (6%) are undecided.  (To … Read More

Swept Under The Rug

Ken AshfordHealth Care, Local InterestLeave a Comment

It is a particularly dark chapter in North Carolina history. Between 1929 annd 1974, an estimated 7,600 North Carolinians, both men and women, were sterilized under the authorization of the North Carolina Eugenics Board, according to the N.C. Justice for Sterilization Victims Foundation. Many of those people were minorities, poor, undereducated, institutionalized, sick or disabled. Between 1,500 and 2,000 victims of state … Read More

Joe Biden in Winston-Salem

Ken AshfordElection 2012, Local InterestLeave a Comment

As I type this, Joe Biden is a couple of blocks away, speaking in the building where I used to work up until last year.  Of course, back then, the building was a piece of sh*t — little more than a warehouse converted into offices.  Now, the place has been refurbished, and is a state of the art medical research … Read More

Republicans In NC Legislature Solve Global Warming Problem

Ken AshfordEnvironment & Global Warming & Energy, Local InterestLeave a Comment

North Carolina Republicans have come up with a novel strategy to combat a future threatened by a rise in sea levels, which scientists agree will continue to accelerate thanks to global warming: Pass a law pretending it won't happen: The bill has not yet been introduced, but the language in the version being circulated would make the Division of Coastal Management the only … Read More

The Response To Pastor Worley

Ken AshfordGodstuff, Local Interest, Sex/Morality/Family ValuesLeave a Comment

Much to North Carolina's shame, another NC pastor has shown his ass.  Earlier this month, Sean Harris, the pastor of Berean Baptist Church in Fayetteville, gained controversy after telling parents they should punch gay-appearing children. But he backtracked. And now comes Pastor Charles L. Worley of Providence Road Baptist Church — located at 3283 Providence Mill Rd, Maiden, NC 28650.  He … Read More

Amendment One Poised to Win

Ken AshfordLocal Interest, Polls, Sex/Morality/Family ValuesLeave a Comment

No change in polling over the weekend.  It's likely to win only because people don't understand it, according to PPP: Our final marriage amendment poll finds it leading by a 55-39 margin, little change from a week ago when it was ahead 55-41. The final yes percentage will likely be somewhere in the 57-59% range depending on how the undecideds break. Opponents … Read More

North Carolina Is Now Birther Central

Ken AshfordLocal Interest, Obama OppositionLeave a Comment

ThinkProgress: North Carolina is apparently ground zero of the latest resurgence of the birther movement, as a number of Republican candidates in the state are expressing doubts about President Obama’s birthplace. ThinkProgress has previously noted that Richard Hudson, running for a congressional seat in the state’s 8th district, said Obama is “hiding something on his citizenship,” while the Charlotte Observer rescinded … Read More

State Senator’s Wife: Amendment One Is Needed Because The Caucasion Race Is Diminishing

Ken AshfordElection 2012, Godstuff, Local Interest, Sex/Morality/Family ValuesLeave a Comment

Holy crap! I won't say much because the "state senator" works in the same law firm as me, but the gist is that the senator's wife…. oh, hell.  Roll it, Think Progress: The wife of a prominent North Carolina state senatorand supporter of Amendment 1 — a proposed ballot initiative that would outlaw same-sex marriage, civil unions, and domestic partnerships in the state … Read More

As You Might Suspect, Amendment One Proponents Are Funded By Religious Right And Anit-Gay Groups

Ken AshfordLocal Interest, Sex/Morality/Family ValuesLeave a Comment

Jeremy Hooper points out that almost all of the top donors supporting North Carolina’s discriminatory Amendment One, which limits what relationships the state can recognize, are from radically conservative religiously-affiliated groups. It’s true that opponents of the measure have raised twice as much money, but it’s telling that they have raised four times as much money from individual donors. Over 70 percent of Vote FOR Marriage NC’s campaign fundraising … Read More