NCGA

And no, the word isn't vagina:

Rep. Glen Bradley tried to amend the bill to remove the word from the panel's mission. He said the term "sustainable" is government doublespeak, intended to "lull the public into complacency." Bradley warned his colleagues that "sustainability" is part of the UN's Agenda 21.

I bet if we used both those words together in a sentence, maybe like this: We should all work towards making vaginas a sustainable natural resource, Republican heads would explode like in that movie Scanners. Here are a few words from that "Evil" United Nations:

The Magic 8-Ball says "very likely, and you don't have to shake me so hard":

Rouzer's talking points—that the science of climate change and sea level rise is debatable—mirrored those not only of NC-20, but also of the rhetoric spouted by right-wing, anti-regulation, climate-change deniers. Not coincidentally, many of these organizations, including the Heartland Institute and the Competitive Enterprise Institute, have ties to the fossil fuel industry.

And for those who deny the deniers are involved in our local denial movement, here's your connection:

Stop this toxic train before it jumps the track:

If Perdue vetoes the bill, fracking proponents would need 72 votes in the House for an override. If the governor does not veto it, next steps include naming the members of the Mining and Energy Commission and setting a schedule for the creation of regulations and other related work.

That first step being the stacking of the Commission with indiustry or industry-friendly individuals, guaranteeing that any regulations produced will barely give a nod to safety and conservation. And it will only be a matter of time before this starts happening in NC:

Using the rules to sterilize needed legislation:

Senate Republicans say they will not vote on a plan to compensate eugenics victims because Senate Democrats included the payment plan in a failed budget amendment this week.

The House (including Speaker Tillis) must be fuming over this, after working hard to straighten out the kinks and assemble a super-majority (86-31). Especially considering that Berger could waive the damned rule anyway:

When I saw this on Twitter earlier:

triangleaptassc 3:26pm via TweetCaster for Android RT @MrsLux_a_holic: Woot woot!!! RT @triangleaptassc: Landmark NC Landlord Tenant Bill Becomes Law! #ncpol #ncga icont.ac/173uN

I didn't have a clue what all the excitement was about. Granted, I'm fairly busy these days with non-political labors, and I simply cannot monitor all the media/social media outlets. But this crap should have been plastered all over both:

I bet you won't find a transcript of this meeting:

According to Dye's release, the meeting with Tillis would also be attended by William Gheen of ALIPAC, Ron Woodard of NC Listen, James Johnson & Maurine Johnson of NC Fire, Donna Yowell of Feet to the Fire, and David DeGerolamo of NC Freedom/NC Renegade.

Blocking or curtailing debate in both Committees and on the floor, yet the GOP has time to sit down with borderline psychotic anti-immigrant nutcases. This is the kind of government corporate money buys.

Not that the will of the people means much these days:

"I have no problem saying publicly, based on the information that I have, that I oppose fracking," said Commissioner Leon Inman. "I won't say that it's not right for North Carolina, but I will say it's not right for Stokes County."

And I have no problem agreeing with you. For every video I post each Friday, I watch between 5-10 until I settle on one. Sickness, anger, misery, financial despair. Fracking has brought these to people all over the country. Yet our elected officials claim we "won't know until we poke some holes." And we actually pay these guys.

Via Twitter:

clarkriemer 9:46am via web Berger: Not substituting EduJobs money w/ State dollars. LEAs can use $84mil to either retain EduJobs teachers or for teacher raises. #NCGA

Berger's trying to do a couple of things with this approach. First, he's trying to classify some teachers as "Federal" teachers, so he can wash his hands of any responsibility for their fate. Second, with the "choose one" deal, he's pitting current teachers against future hires (I would have gotten a raise if we hadn't hired you). And of course there's this:

This not only costs veterans money they can't afford to spend, it could cost them (and their families) their future:

The GI Bill last year quit paying the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition for veterans attending public colleges and universities. The veterans were told to pay the difference.

That's an extra $19,826 per year (UNC-CH) out of some pretty shallow pockets. In other words, they either won't be able to attend, or they'll have to take on crushing debt to do so. If the General Assembly fails to act, it's the same thing as saying "Your service and sacrifice mean nothing to us." And while we're on the subject of sacrifice: