I needed the laugh this morning

The first dance as a married couple. Funny.

Imagine that...a Democrat proposing a tax cut. How they conveniently forget.

Looking for a sign?

The BEST political ad you will probably ever see

Thankfully, Microsoft was not around in 1863

If Abraham Lincoln used PowerPoint.

Yet more boneheads too afraid and stupid to stand up for The Constitution

Yet another instance of people in public schools swallowing the lies of the godless heathens at the ACLU.

FAYETTEVILLE - Schools officials in Cumberland County are no longer allowing outside groups to leave Bibles in elementary schools.

That ruling from the school system's attorney comes after the mother of a fifth grader complained about a stack of Bibles left in her son's classroom. Geri Weaver filed a complaint with the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina.

The ACLU argues that a past federal court case prohibits outside groups of providing Bibles to elementary school students. The ACLU says impressionable young students would think that the school was promoting the bible.

School system attorney David Phillips says he believes the issue could be argued, but he decided to suspend the practice in elementary schools.

Try your hand at this history test

HISTORY TEST

Please pause a moment, reflect back, and take the following multiple choice test. The events are actual cuts from past history. They actually happened!!!

Do you remember?

1968 Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed by
a. Superman
b. Jay Lenno
c. Harry Potter
d. Muslim male extremist between the ages of 17 and 40

1. In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, athletes were kidnapped and massacred by
a. Olga Corbett
b. Sitting Bull
c. Arnold Schwarzenegger
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

2. In 1979, the US embassy in Iran was taken over by:
a. Lost Norwegians
b. Elvis
c. A tour bus full of 80-year-old women
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

3.During the 1980's a number of Americans were kidnapped in Lebanon by:
a. John Dillinger
b. The King of Sweden
c. The Boy Scouts
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

4. In 1983, the US Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by:
a. A pizza delivery boy
b. Pee Wee Herman
c. Geraldo Rivera
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

5. In 1985 the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked and a 70 year old American passenger was murdered and thrown overboard in his wheelchair by:
a. The Smurfs
b. Davy Jones
c. The Little Mermaid
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

6.In 1985 TWA flight 847 was hijacked at Athens, and a US Navy diver trying to rescue passengers was murdered by:
a. Captain Kidd
b. Charles Lindberg
c. Mother Teresa
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

7.In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed by:
a. Scooby Doo
b. The Tooth Fairy
c. Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

8. In 1993 the World Trade Center was bombed the first time by:
a. Richard Simmons
b. Grandma Moses
c. Michael Jordan
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

9.In 1998, the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by:
a. Mr. Rogers
b. Hillary Clinton, to distract attention from Wild Bill' s women problems
c. The World Wrestling Federation
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

10.On 9/11/01, four airliners were hijacked; two were used as missiles to take out the World Trade Centers and of the remaining two, one crashed into the US Pentagon and the other was diverted and crashed by the passengers. Thousands of people were killed by:
a. Bugs Bunny, Wiley E. Coyote, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd
b. The Supreme Court of Florida
c. Mr. Bean
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

11.In 2002 the United States fought a war in Afghanistan against:
a. Enron
b. The Lutheran Church
c. The N FL
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

12. In 2002 reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by:
a. Bonnie and Clyde
b. Captain Kangaroo
c. Billy Graham
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

A story of zoning tyranny

I was surfing some web sites this morning and found this site. For years I have known that planning and zoning is something that can be abused and a means of control over lives, regardless of the public good or lack thereof in the requirements of ordinances. John Thorburn is one man who was actually jailed for complying with zoning ordinances with constant inspections, then later told that he is out of compliance and jailed. This happened earlier this decade and is just insane. Check out Thorburn's story and prepare to be amazed. In the movie "The Patriot", Mel Gibson's character, Benjamin Martin, had a pertinent line, "Why should I agree to trade one tyrant three thousand miles away for three thousand tyrants one mile away?" I wonder the same thing sometimes.

Happy 13th Anniversary, Teresa

Nov. 18

Good quote. Why I hate democracy.

Democracy is simply mob rule. A republic is not a democracy. The U.S. is not and never has been a democracy.

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch."

Benjamin Franklin

I grew up with scenery like this

Two invitations for Thanksgiving

I am writing this out of gratitude. Thanksgiving and Christmas have often been lonely times for me, but not necessarily sad ones. I know that single people can get lonely at the holidays and often depressed. I hear that suicide rates are higher around the holidays.

When I was a bachelor, I used to be the one who always worked the holidays since I had no family to be with. Since being in North Carolina, I have been able to go back to New England to be with family for Christmas, but Thanksgiving is often the one holiday where I find myself alone. One year I was invited to the home of a friend of mine with his family, many of whom I had never met. A few years, I ended up having dinner with a ministry group that would put on a dinner at their thrift store facility. A few times I have been invited to spend the day with friends. A few years I have gone to Ryan's Steakhouse, since they are open and serve a Thanksgiving feast for a price.

This year is my first Thanksgiving as a single man after 13 of them as a married man. As a matter of fact, this Sunday will be my 13th wedding anniversary, and my last anniversary. I am not celebrating it, since I have been separated from the psycho bitch from Hell for over three months now.

I was planning on going to Ryan's again this year and being available to work, since it was going to be just me. Two different friends have invited me for dinner on Thanksgiving, and for that I am grateful. One friend was the first to invite me over to her home, along with all of her family. She has siblings coming down from New England and up from Florida for a gathering, and since we are good friends, she invited me there, too. Another dear friend of mine whom I have known for a decade and a half (and had Thanksgiving at his home at least once, maybe twice so far) also invited me for dinner. Unfortunately, I am not able to clone myself and be at both locations.

I am grateful for the invitations. To both friends, you have my sincere gratitude. I give thanks for the invitations to feast at Thanksgiving with you. Both people are very kind to me and I do not want to overlook the opportunity to express publicly my thanks. I do so publicly in the hopes that others will do the same for people who may also be alone, have nowhere to go, and nobody to share the sacred time with. At Ryan's, I see all too many people who are there alone or just a couple together. I know what that is like. Been there, done that.

I have probably shared this video before, but well worth stating again...and from the mainstream press!

Great...and they handle some of my finances, including employee stock options

Shares in E*Trade Financial Corp sank 59 percent to a five-year low on Monday after an analyst said mounting credit losses may prompt customers to yank deposits and could put the online brokerage at risk of bankruptcy.

I guess I can understand the fear of bankruptcy and wanting to yank deposits. Transfer complete. From Yahoo news.

Several parts of this story concern me

I understand the "cruel and unusual punishment" aspect of administering the death penalty. The 8th Amendment to the Constitution guarantees that "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." However, the taking of life is neither cruel nor unusual. The argument of whether lethal injection is cruel is fallacious. If we can put thousands of cats and dogs to death in the same manner, we can execute a few murderers in the same way. The end result is death no matter the method. We do not torture to death, draw and quarter, burn at the stake, stone people, cut off heads with a Ginsu, etc. A simple needle in the arm with an overdose of barbiturates is hardly cruel. None the less, spineless liberals will find any way they can to protect murderers while at the same time slaughter innocent, unborn life. The issue of whether or not lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment is going to be decided by a court of nine justices rather than by the supreme judge. Go figure.

What really bothers me is the idea that the 10th Amendment is once again becoming null and void. "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." The rights of the states to try, convict, and execute properly tried criminals is a violation of their rights as states. No execution will go forth unless the 5th Amendment was followed, anyway. "...nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;" Here is the story upon which I comment.

Dane Cook on Atheists

A truism

A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained in arms, is the best most natural defense of a free country.

James Madison
(1751-1836)

Now that is opening up a can

Many people in this town know of me but do not know me. Over the past month or more, I have been hearing rumors circulate and come back to me. I have gotten emails full of hatred for allegations that I can only assume are part of the rumor mill.

There are several reasons why I did not win the election this week, and I take full ownership of the reasons that were within my control. I could have worked a whole lot harder than I did, I will admit. There were also a lot of other things going on in life with which I have had to contend. FEW people know what those truly are. I do have close friends who know. They have seen it and experienced it themselves in a small measure.

When I hear a rumor come back to me one time, I set it aside. When I hear it twice, I take notice. When I hear it from a half dozen sources, I know there is validity to the idea that someone is spreading malicious rumors. One friend of mine deals with the rumors surrounding me and the election. Despicable people spread despicable gossip. Someone who knows me and my life, and has since 1992 opens up a can on the topic.

What part of NO FREAKIN' WAY don't these jackasses understand???

Of no surprise to me is that money hungry politicians want to find more ways to get into our wallets. The land transfer tax was soundly defeated across the state in a referendum on Tuesday, but governments are scheming to find a way to make it happen anyway. We have to keep saying NO time and time again. It only takes ONE yes and we are screwed.

From WRAL.com (click on the link for the full story)

A day after voters in 16 North Carolina counties soundly defeated a controversial tax on home sales, state and local officials said Wednesday they would continue pursuing the tax to help pay for growth-related needs.

And this is the federal government's job how?

Yet another UNCONSTITUTIONAL spending initiative by the federal government brought to you by Bob Etheridge. From WMPM's news site.

Federal Funds Secured For Johnston County Hospice Center - U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge has secured $320,000 for Johnston Memorial Hospital's Johnston County Hospice Center Initiative. The funding is included in the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2008. "These funds are great news for Johnston Memorial Hospital and Johnston County," said Etheridge. "This funding will help Johnston Memorial to provide the services needed by the growing hospice patient community and their families in Johnston County and North Carolina." The funding will be used to construct a 12,458-square-foot combination inpatient and residential hospice facility on an eight-acre site on Hospital Road in Smithfield. Currently, there is not a freestanding inpatient or residential hospice facility in Johnston County. The proposed facility will be home-like in design and will provide large community and dedicated family areas. The center will include meditation gardens and an accent water feature surrounded by tree buffers to enhance its aesthetics and facilitate tranquility for patients and families. Patient rooms will include adequate space for personal items and family members, and a private bathroom. Living rooms, kitchen facilities, and activity areas will be provided for those patients who are ambulatory. A large family room and private family solace room, and kitchen will give family members space to privately spend time together. The bill passed the House Tuesday night. The Senate must now pass the bill and the President must sign it to become law.

Katy's Conservative Corner

I am being published by Katy's Conservative Corner. Now I know that I have arrived. Thanks, Katy, you are a real darlin'.

I am sooooooo glad it is over, regardless of the outcome

A little late, but it was published online

The Selma News FINALLY published the voters guide online for the election Tuesday. I have wanted to link to it ever since I wrote the answers to the questionnaire. Unfortunately, The Selma News is not as efficient as their sister paper, The Kenly News with their web presence.

Here is my write up.

Troy LaPlante

Address: 505 West Anderson St., Selma
Age: 39
Education: AAS Fire Protection from New Hampshire Technical College
Professional: Fire and rescue, all aspects of protection; private protective security; radio and television broadcast.
Committees, civic clubs, community involvement (past and present): Many years in fire service, Selma Planing Board, Selma Citizens Advisory Committee, Johnston County Local Emergency Management Planning Committee.
Honors and awards: Non listed
Family: Single

Three top issues/problems for Selma and your solutions:

1) Selma’s image and desirability as a place to live, work, own a business: Selma is strategically situated along the major crossroads of I-95 and Highway 70. With the new Clayton by-pass coming by the end of spring 2008 or so, we will be seen as more of a bedroom community for commuters to Raleigh and RTP. Selma has a reputation of being a drug haven, crime ridden, and a low class town. We need to improve the town’s image. There are some good steps that have been taken thus far in terms of cleaning up abandoned and neglected properties. The police department has worked on dealing with the drugs and crime. Those efforts need to continue and be expanded in conjunction with other efforts. The improvement of appearance can take the form of easy, low or no cost efforts that need to be performed first. Image is just one step, however, in attracting residents and business.

2) Infrastructure: One thing that we need to focus on is the improvement of our existing infrastructure. We have a superior electrical system, I am told, but we have 100-year-old sewer lines. We have award-winning designs on water towers, but we have some streets that are unpaved and others that require dodging potholes. Without improving infrastructure and maintaining what we have, how can we consider growth to accommodate more territory? Essential services come first. The electricity, water, and sewer must flow. Police and fire protection must be provided. The priority items are important to society at large. Proper infrastructure is imperative to attracting new industry and residents. We can not have growth without keeping up with demand.

3) Public fairness, legality, and honesty: I realize that there are always going to be issues that are not immediately for public consumption. However, I do believe that being forthcoming with information, public records, and public business is imperative to the success of a representative republic. Ordinances need to be passed legally, and must be ethical. The town can not follow one single individual’s agenda, but must reflect the needs of an entire community. The town has made great strides in the area of financial accountability, but that needs to continue. Accountability, however, does not stop at fiduciary responsibility.

More wusses bow down to the ACLU

I am sick and tired of people being such pussies about the ACLU and their Godless agenda. A school system has knuckled under to the pressure of the ACLU and decided to stop letting the Gideons hand out Bibles. There is NOTHING against that activity in the Constitution. People are so doggone uneducated about the Constitution and what it really says that they just accept what some bully organization that is Communistic says. This has got to stop. Cowards.

From the WMPM news site:

School System Bows To Pressure From ACLU - Under pressure from the American Civil Liberties Union, the Harnett County School system has stopped a long-standing tradition of allowing the Gideons to distribute Bibles to elementary students. Superintendent Dan Honeycutt said they had little choice but to end the distribution. "The American Civil Liberties Union contacted us and said it was a violation of Constitutional rights," Honeycutt said. "They asked us to stop handing out the Bibles." School board attorney Duncan McCormick said he did not recommend trying to fight the case. The national civil rights organization said it was a violation of federal law to hand out religious materials in elementary schools. If the school system tried to fight the ACLU, the school district would have needed to be prepared to take the case all the way to the US Supreme Court. The Gideons International is a worldwide organization that serves as an extended missionary arm of the church, according to their website www.gideons.org. Its purpose is to minister to people of all ages through testimony, and by distributing the Bible in everyday life. Local Gideons members contacted did not wish to comment on the school ban of Bible distribution. ACLU of North Carolina Legal Director Katy Parker said her organization was contacted by someone in the school system with a concern about children receiving Bibles from the Gideons. She said the practice is clearly illegal under federal law and she sent a letter to the local school system complaining about the Bible distribution, which Mr. Honeycutt said has gone on for many years. Parker said the Gideons can be on campuses of high schools under the law but can only distribute religious materials under strict restrictions, in certain circumstances. McCormick said there will still be Bibles in the schools. "This doesn't mean individual students cannot have Bibles," he said. "It means there cannot be distribution of any religious materials in the elementary schools."

Is is snowing in Hell?

Of course not. It is just that there does exist some common sense once in a while. The editors at The Smithfield Herald have given ME their endorsement as a candidate for Town Council here in Selma. The other endorsements in Selma are no surprise to me, and quite honestly, I am hard pressed to disagree with their logic, though I do have my own opinion.

Here is their piece in today's Smithfield Herald. Thanks, guys.

For Town Council: As a group, Herald staffers gave a quick thumbs up to Eric Sellers, appointed to the council after Jeff Weaver moved out of town. Mr. Sellers approaches problems from the prospective of a businessman. He weighs the benefits against the costs and votes accordingly. We think town councils could use more of that. That leaves candidates Troy LaPlante, Cheryl Oliver and Tommy Holmes. It’s clear that all care about Selma and its future, but of the three, Mr. LaPlante has the clearest grasp of the issues, and for that reason, he earns our endorsement.

I am all for women's rights!

Celebrate National Ammo Day

Alan Colmes is such a pompous butthead

I think Anne Coulter is often bombastic, but I like Colmes even less. He is being difficult and accusatory. He roundaboutly calls her an anti-Semite without having the balls to actually come out and say the words.

Mayor draws heat in Selma

This is on today's N&O web site:

Mayor draws heat in Selma
Race focuses on the leadership

Peggy Lim, Staff Writer

SELMA - William Overby, who is running for mayor, was surprised when large plywood signs asking voters to elect him started popping up all over this Johnston County town.

He had not asked anyone to put up the signs. But those responsible were clearly not fans of incumbent Charles Hester.

A few even read: "Anyone but Hester."

The mayoral election Tuesday amounts to a referendum on Hester and his strong, often controversial leadership style. Although some see the developer and former Marine lieutenant colonel as dictatorial, others say he provides a willingness to make tough calls that Selma has long needed.

"He's cleaned up a lot of problems that were created many years ago," said Pat Weaver, owner of Antique Wish downtown, who said she will vote for Hester.

When Hester took office in 2005, the town was about $1.6 million in debt. The mayor led the charge to fire about half a dozen town employees and cut expenses to balance the budget.

Weaver said Overby is nice but Selma needs Hester to stay in office.

"He has a lot of irons in the fire," Weaver said. "To change horses in the middle of the stream is not wise."

But even Ron Hester acknowledges that his father has enemies.

"I've got a bull's-eye on my truck -- it says 'Vote for Charles Hester,' " said Ron Hester, 48, who works for his father's real-estate company.

Earlier this year, 10 members of Selma's fire department threw their gear onto the mayor's driveway to protest the replacement of their popular volunteer chief by a paid, full-time one. One of the firefighters was dismissed. The others stayed with the department. Hester has said the fire department needed to become more professional.

"If he wins, it's not for lack of me campaigning against him," said firefighter Mike Kendall, who has put out about six signs reading: "No Hester."

Hester also has managed to alienate traffic violators, convenience store customers and outlying neighborhoods.

The mayor had the town's District Court moved to Smithfield as a way of burnishing Selma's antique mecca image. He has been a driving force behind Selma's lawsuits against two convenience stores that he considers public nuisances. And he is pushing to force some neighborhoods to be annexed by Selma.

Hester said the lawsuits were a response to the police calls at both stores. "You wouldn't let crime run rampant," he said. "You try to do something to stop it."

And he said that involuntary annexation could add $75 million to Selma's tax base.

Hester thinks his actions will be good for the long-term health of the community even if his decisive style makes him an easy target.

"When you're very authoritative," he said, "people try to bring you down."

One of them is Tony Tetterton, who put up about 30 plywood signs against Hester. The mayor "has good intentions," Tetterton said, but is "willing to use Machiavellian methods to achieve it. That's my rub."

Tetterton first became interested in standing up to Hester last year. The owner of a park for recreational vehicles, he had pushed for a "quiet zone" so trains couldn't blow their horns in town. He said Hester prevented him from talking at a public meeting.

"He shut me down," Tetterton said. "He gaveled me down."

Ever since then, Tetterton has been a vocal watchdog at town meetings on other issues such as involuntary annexation. He has posted videos on youtube.com, including one titled "King Hester holds court" that shows Hester trying to cut off Tetterton during a meeting.

Hester has said that town meetings should not be "like a big ballgame where you jump and shout and cheer" and has facilitated debate at public meetings.

Overby, chairman of Selma's recreation committee for the past four years, said Hester's decision to hand over an old school gym to a charter school instead of improving it for the town's parks and recreation department inspired him to run.

"When he arbitrarily came in and said they could get that property for $1 a year, that didn't sit well with me," Overby said. "The town's not a military base."

Commentary from Chad Adams

A commentary from Chad Adams from The Center for Local Innovation.

There are a plethora of eerie things amiss in the far reaches of North Carolina. We are quickly approaching a rather unique electoral cycle across the state, where there is a spate of bond referendums. But more haunting is the specter of new land transfer or sales taxes slouching towards counties to be born.

It's sinister the creepiness with which some counties are approaching such options. In Union County, for instance, students have been given "educational materials" about the tax. Pardon me, but we can barely educated our kids to read and write but find it acceptable to use them as mules to bring home new tax increase information?

In Brunswick County, staff has prepared very impressive PowerPoint and brochure overviews of the land transfer tax. It isn't exactly promotion, but it isn't hard to see which way the county leans.

In Macon County, the school system essentially admitted in the local paper that they had paid for signs promoting a bond referendum "for the kids". And in adjacent Swain County, billboards have allegedly been paid for with school funds.

The entire issue here is that YOUR money is being used to promote new tax increases. It's technically illegal, but the NC Association of Commissioners has spent a great deal of effort educating local staff in how to "educate" without promoting a given referendum.

The Macon County School Board was caught red-handed. Now they are attempting to rectify the process by getting donations to cover the cost. I wish I could use the same "I'm sorry" attitude when a trooper catches me speeding. They broke the law and have not been held accountable. Even Harnett County (which has both the sales tax and land transfer tax on the ballot) appears to have been using public education to disseminate information about the referendums. Activists caught them, and a clarification letter was issued after the Dunn Daily Record brought the situation to light.

In almost every instance, it is the grass roots folks that are discovering the abuse. Both FreedomWorks (in the west) and American's For Prosperity (in central NC) were the organizations exposing much of this activity.

There is a much larger issue bubbling over, here – taxpayer funded lobbying. The simply explanation is this. You pay taxes. Those taxes go to city, county, state and federal government. In NC, groups like the League of Municipalities (which derives income from cities paying dues) hires lobbyists with your money to push for more city power and more taxing authority.

Issues like forced annexation, which are anathema to the overwhelming majority of North Carolinians (our state is one of one four to allow it), are allowed to proliferate because the taxpayer-funded lobbyists are fighting to keep them in place. And while funding continues to roll in to support government growth, there is no taxpayer-funded group fighting to lower taxes.

From the local to the state level and beyond, it is high time that such issues be addressed. Using tax money to lobby decision makers to spend more tax money or take away freedoms is simply unethical and reprehensible. Taxpayers are progressively being removed from the decision-making process. When schools protest that they don't have enough money, they should be reticent to spend those precious resources "educating" the public. Instead they should focus on educating the public's children.

It's All Hallows' Eve, and there are indeed goblins looking to take their treats from the public trough. The real TRICK will be to stop this inane and disdainful behavior before it becomes a real-live nightmare.