Yesterday, a website promoting for the NC the constitutional amendment to define a marriage between only a man and woman launched, matching up with an existing website promoting against the same amendment. On May 8th elections, this amendment will be on North Carolina ballots for your decision. If you care about this matter either way you must vote your preference by that date. If you vote Yes on the amendment, that means you are against allowing gays to wed. If you vote No on the amendment that means you would allow gays to wed.
For: Vote For Marriage NC. “Vote FOR Marriage NC, a broad coalition of policy organizations and faith leaders in support of the North Carolina Marriage Protection Amendment- an amendment to the state constitution preserving marriage as a union between one man and one woman- launched its campaign and website today. A bi-partisan majority of the North Carolina Legislature voted in September 2011 to place the North Carolina Marriage Protection Amendment on the May 8, 2012 ballot”. (read more)
Against: The Coalition to Protect North Carolina Families. “On September 13th, the North Carolina Legislature proposed an amendment to the Constitution that would ban legal recognition for all unmarried couples, strip protections and benefits from families across our state, hurt our business climate and economic development and put our children in danger. We are a coalition of groups, individuals and families dedicated to defeating this amendment at the polls on May 8 and protecting North Carolina from the harms it represents. Join us.” (read more)
There are plenty more groups on each side, but from what I can find these are the two with the most going on right now. Some national organizations are getting involved as well, including a religious one called Believe Out Loud that is hoping to deny the amendment. “At its core, this is what Believe Out Loud is about – helping churches live out this Christian principle by becoming fully inclusive of all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.”
For your video pleasure today I found a video of a musical put together promoting voting No on the amendment.
White House released a new promo video Monday as well: In October, President Obama declared that, as a nation, we can’t wait for a gridlocked Congress to resolve their differences and start passing legislation that will jumpstart the economy. Since then, the President himself has taken almost 20 different actions to support the middle class and create jobs. Check the We Can’t Wait page for more info.
Tonight, President Obama will deliver his State of the Union address at 9:00 p.m. ET. During that speech, he’ll lay out his vision for an America where hard work and responsibility are rewarded, where everyone does their fair share, and where everyone is held accountable for what they do. Immediately following the President’s speech on Tuesday, be sure to stay tuned to WhiteHouse.gov/SOTU for a live panel featuring senior White House advisors answering your questions about the speech. Then, on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, a group of policy experts and advisors to the President will sit down for Office Hours on Twitter — discussing the issues that matter to you and your community.
One of the more American of inventions — and a staple of television advertising — is having its 77th anniversary this week. The first canned beer was put on sale in 1935 as a marketing test in Richmond, Virginia, by the Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company of Newark, New Jersey. Experiments with putting beer in cans had taken place as early as 1909, but the technology of the time couldn’t stop the beer from interacting with the metal of the can. Then, Prohibition delayed further development. Now, cans are the preferred container for beer in the U.S. American adults drink an average of nearly 22 gallons of beer a year, down about 2 gallons from 1980.
You may think the debate about smoking is fairly recent. But this week in 1908, the New York City Council passed an ordinance that made it illegal for women to smoke in public. The ordinance was the result of a campaign by the National Anti-Cigarette League, the first to use the term “coffin nails” for cigarettes. At the time, a number of cities had banned smoking, along with the states of Arkansas, Iowa, Idaho, and Tennessee. All of these laws were revoked by 1917, since they were not only difficult to enforce but added to the allure of smoking. Now, just under 21 percent of adults in the U.S. currently smoke. The highest proportion is in Kentucky and West Virginia, at 25.6 percent. The lowest is Utah at 9.8 percent.
Last night was yet another GOP debate. As of this writing, it hasn’t started yet. Feel free to weigh in below on your thoughts from the debate. As with the NC gay marriage amendment, everyone’s slinging words around all over the place. This week the media is hounding on Newt. Next week it’ll be Mitt. I don’t even know who’s left anymore, News, Mitt, Santorum and Paul I think?
Paul’s son, Rand Paul, a US Senator, got detained by TSA yesterday at an airport checkpoint in Nashville for refusing a full body pat down after the scanners went off. Rand offered to go back through the scanners, as he believed there was a false alarm, but TSA refused. (read more)
Newt has been accused of shady dealings with Freddie Mac. The consulting firm founded by Newt Gingrich on Monday night released a copy of its 2006 contract with Freddie Mac showing it was paid $300,000 to provide unspecified “consulting and related services” for the federally sponsored housing agency. (read more)
Using a practice that made him eligible for large tax deductions, Mitt Romney gave the Mormon church substantial stock holdings that he obtained through his private equity firm, according to documents filed with the government and to Romney associates. (read more)
Obama’s critics blame him for the economy, lack of jobs, over regulation, and not producing a birth certificate. But since there’s no direct competitor for Obama in the DNC there’s not a lot of official slinging going around I can show you yet. Maybe once the GOP picks their candidate and him and Obama go head to head.
TUESDAY at 4:00pm will be your LAST CHANCE to buy a ticket! The Ruin Creek Animal Protection Society of Henderson, NC will be selling tickets for a chance to win a BRAND NEW CHEVROLET SILVERADO as a fundraiser. The raffle drawing will be held the evening of January 24, 2012 at the Henderson-Vance Chamber Of Commerce Banquet with special guest & speaker, ABC-11 WTVD’s Mr. Larry Stonger. The cost of each ticket is $100. PLEASE purchase a ticket for a chance to win a brand new Chevrolet Silverado and help the homeless, abused & abandoned animals of this area. You do not have to be present to win. TICKETS CAN BE BOUGHT AT BOYD CHEVROLET, US 158, ASK FOR ASHLEY OR THE VANCE COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.
You’ll notice an editorial by Richard Brand on yesterdays newsreel here on HiH. Mr. Brand submitted his opinion article for your discussion, and you can too. Email us your article at submit@homeinhenderson.com You are always free to post in the comments on an open line, but if you’d like to really start some discussion or have an opinion you’d like heard on an issue and shown as a main article please send it on. Although we expect people to disagree, keep your discussions respectful.
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