Puppet attempts to discredit accrediting agency

The march to mediocrity for Wake schools continues:

If the system drops AdvancED accreditation, what will happen?

...thousands of young people from across the country apply for college every year from non-accredited institutions and home schools, and they do just fine getting scholarships and admittance to top schools.

Roll up your pant-legs folks, the shit is getting seriously deep. Why don't we take a look at admissions requirements for one of those (neighborhood) top schools:

Ellmers takes hypocritic oath

Taxpayer-subsidized healthcare is ~~Socialism~~ necessary if you want to avoid bankruptcy:

“Unfortunately, being here in Washington is very expensive,” said Ellmers. “Yes we do have a salary and we do have benefits. It costs a lot of money to be here. I've signed on to the private plan, just like so many in America are on. The benefit is available to me. People need to understand out there it costs a lot money to be here in Congress.”

Yeah, I'm sure getting by on a salary of $12,250 a month is tough...

More charter school extremism

Public monies with no public oversight? From Josh Ellis' Twitter feed:

Sen. Berger says bill to lift charter cap may also move governance of charters outside of DPI

Since the NCGA website is still a blank slate on this session's bills, committees, etc., I'm assuming this bill has yet to be written.

In either case, charters are already too far outside the control of local school boards. To also remove them from DPI oversight is a slap in the face to the very taxpayers these Republicans claim to support.

Tedesco continues his campaign of insults

And as usual, his colleague Debra Goldman is the target:

"We're four, four and one and increasingly that one depends on what she thinks on any given day," said school board member John Tedesco, referring to the Walnut Creek calendar vote.

The word you're thinking of is "flighty", or one who responds to "flights of fancy", an ad hominem attack that reeks of sexism and was oft-used during the suffrage movement to cast doubt about how women would vote, if they were allowed to. It was a disgusting tactic 100 years ago, and it hasn't gotten any less disgusting since.

Tillis demonstrates his incompetence

Contradicting himself at every turn:

The flawed ideology of "tax more, spend more and regulate more" that has led to a $3.7 billion budget shortfall must stop. It's time state government follows the example of hard-working North Carolinians during tough economic times

It's the "tough economic times" of a global recession that led to the budget shortfall, not the so-called "flawed ideology" of former leadership. And that global recession was brought about thanks to the Republican-led deregulation of the financial sector. Your inability to track causality of our problems speaks volumes about your aptitude for solving them.

After dark

White nominated to replace Basnight

That's a big pair of shoes to fill:

The Washington Daily News reported that Stan White was nominated to replace Basnight at a meeting Friday night of the North Carolina Democratic Party 1st District Senate Executive Committee.

White is a Nags Head businessman and a current member of the state Board of Transportation. His name will be sent to Gov. Beverly Perdue, who will appoint him to fill the vacancy.

Guard and Reserve suicides on the rise

Via e-mail from a Governor's Institute partner:

But the number of guard and reserve troops who killed themselves while not on active duty jumped to 145 from 80 the previous year. Officials said some of that increase may reflect the difficulty in getting help to people scattered away from military bases and back at their civilian homes and jobs.

The realities of both war and current domestic economic developments have combined to produce a near "perfect storm" for these folks, and if we don't take some positive steps, these tragedies will continue.

White supremacists to hold convention in Charlotte

Josef Mengele would be proud:

A magazine described as a platform for white nationalists plans to hold its annual conference in Charlotte next month, smack on the heels of an NAACP leader's description of the city as a "racist bastion." According to its website, the group advocates "race realism," a belief that race is "the most prominent and divisive" fault line in society.

While the inferiority of non-whites is a recurring theme with these nutcases, they don't have much respect for women, either:

The Congressional Prayer Caucus

Here's the story, but I just wanted a platform for this joke:

*intercom buzzing*

"What?"

"Sir, the Congressional Prayer Caucus is on line two."

"Marcie, what part of 'I'm busy so don't bother me' did you not understand? Who did you say it was?"

"The Congressional Prayer Caucus. Do you want me to..."

"No. Just leave them on hold, but make a note of how long they wait before giving up."

BlueNC

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