The homophobic thread :>

[Vrede too]

Our Governor is worse than Georgia's....

Worse than SC's, too ...

My niece is considering Dook and Wake, I'm suggesting alternatives. She also likes Northwestern. May be a great school for all I know, but suburban Chicago, ick.

[Vrede too]

More about one of S-M's many, many fears of the world.

[Vrede too]

McCrory may be governor, but he ain't The Boss.

Bruce Springsteen cancels NC concert, citing new state law

... A statement was posted on the musician's official website, brucespringsteen.net, reading:

"As you, my fans, know, I'm scheduled to play in Greensboro, North Carolina, this Sunday. As we also know, North Carolina has just passed HB2, which the media are referring to as the "bathroom" law. HB2, known officially as the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, dictates which bathrooms transgender people are permitted to use. Just as important, the law also attacks the rights of LGBT citizens to sue when their human rights are violated in the workplace. No other group of North Carolinians faces such a burden. To my mind, it's an attempt by people who cannot stand the progress our country has made in recognizing the human rights of all of our citizens to overturn that progress. Right now, there are many groups, businesses, and individuals in North Carolina working to oppose and overcome these negative developments. Taking all of this into account, I feel that this is a time for me and the band to show solidarity for those freedom fighters. As a result, and with deepest apologies to our dedicated fans in Greensboro, we have canceled our show scheduled for Sunday, April 10. Some things are more important than a rock show and this fight against prejudice and bigotry, which is happening as I write, is one of them. It is the strongest means I have for raising my voice in opposition to those who continue to push us backwards instead of forwards."

[rstrong]

McCrory may be governor, but he ain't The Boss.

There are many who would stand with McCrory on this issue. Vladimir Putin. The Iranian government. The Taliban. Isis. The Westboro Baptist Church. Etc.

[O Really]

Our Governor is worse than Georgia's....

Worse than SC's, too ...

My niece is considering Dook and Wake, I'm suggesting alternatives. She also likes Northwestern. May be a great school for all I know, but suburban Chicago, ick.

Dook, Wake, Davidson - all good schools, and will continue to be long after the current crop of drooling fascists in the NC legislature are gone. I would't personally reject Dook because it's in a state with a temporary infestation of stupidity any more than I would refuse to get treated at MC Anderson just because the state it's in is run by idiots. I admire the businesses protesting, as well as Springsteen, but one student selecting a different school probably wouldn't matter. But if she's picking schools by state politics, and can afford places like Dook, maybe she could look at Middlebury.

[Vrede too]

Agreed, I'm not suggesting that she boycott because of HB2. Rather, I just don't think it's a very nice state now and that she can find more enriching ones.

Davidson is too small for her - she visited - and Middlebury isn't on the list of top schools she's got her sights on. Also, she's not into winter, so that rules out the Ivy League, probably Northwestern in the end and other good northern schools. The family's going to the Bay Area over the summer to check out Stanford and Cal.

Here's what I wrote:

My concerns are not about the law itself, it's more a symptom of the climate here than something to focus on in isolation. We've been beaten up on so many fronts. Seriously, we're as bad as MS or AL these days and things aren't looking to improve anytime soon. No school is an island. McCrory and the Leg. are deliberately evil and, sadly, they do reflect the majority of NC.

Found this ranking, you probably have a better one.
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandrevie ... ities/data

Heavy on Ivy League and/or northern schools, of course.

#4 Stanford would be nice.
Dook is impressive at #8.
Northwestern is #12.
#15 Vanderbilt (mentioned by Mom) - free her inner Dolly.
#20 Cal would be nice.
Considered #21 Georgetown? I like D.C. as far as cities go.
UCLA (also mentioned by Mom) is #23.
Wake Forest is #27.
UNC is #30. (she didn't like it as much as Dook and Wake, not sure why)
UC Santa Barbara at #37? Beautiful town and area.
UC Davis at #41? Very close to your Bay Area plans. I've always heard good things about it.

If she chooses elsewhere for whatever reason, she could send a note to the NC schools telling them that HB2 is why.

I chose based on curriculum and locale, not academic ranking, but I'm not them. So, I quit at #50.

[O Really]

If she's smart enough to get in anywhere and price is no object and she doesn't like winter, then the Cardinal it is.

[Vrede too]

She's pretty smart, has good grades and her two non-medical doctor parents have the cash, but:

All that said, we plan to check out the Bay Area, but acceptance rates are pretty low out there. I'm thinking UCLA might be a somewhat easier route, as she is a major legacy there, but all of California is in an uproar over the fact that out of staters make up too large a proportion of the student body, leaving in-state students out...so they are changing their acceptance rates to favor Californians.

All of this depends on her being able to get into these schools, which is far, far from guaranteed. She is a bright kid, but several kids with much better grades, SATs, and other credentials have been turned down at very surprising schools. Higher education is just whacked, unfortunately.

Stanford would be totally amazing, but the current joke is that they accept 0% of applicants. I think the real number is lower than 5%, but of course we will try anyway.

I'd love Georgetown. Gotta check out that one and William and Mary, maybe UVA.

[O Really]

The "real number" appears to be about 5.1%, the lowest of anywhere.

[Seth Milner]

[Seth Milner]

More noise from the closet.

Your skeletons falling off the shelf?

Great. The 'Meanwhile Back in the Closet' thread is out of the closet.

Your cohorts have tired of your silly repetitiveness.

[Vrede too]

More noise from the closet.

[Vrede too]

The "real number" (Stanford acceptance) appears to be about 5.1%, the lowest of anywhere.

Yeah, she may not be that much of a rock star. Pretty cool that she's good enough to think it's even possible, though.

[Vrede too]

Drug company reconsiders $20M North Carolina factory over new law

North Carolina's governor met Thursday with gay-rights advocates bearing a letter signed by more than 100 corporate executives urging him to repeal the nation's first state law limiting the bathroom options for transgender people....

New Jersey-based Braeburn Pharmaceuticals said it is "reevaluating our options based on the recent, unjust legislation" whether to build a $20 million manufacturing and research facility in Durham County. The 50 new jobs paying an average of nearly $76,000 a year were announced two weeks ago.

Lionsgate, the California-based entertainment company, had been lining up hotel and equipment rentals and hiring more than 100 workers in North Carolina, but decided to shoot its pilot episode for a comedy series in Canada instead, said Jennifer Irvine, a Charlotte production coordinator.

Charlotte convention officials and the organizers of one of the world's largest furniture markets say some customers have pulled out, also citing the new law....

After Walt Disney Co., Marvel Studios and Salesforce.com threatened to take their business elsewhere and the NFL suggested Atlanta could lose its bids for the 2019 or 2020 Super Bowl, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal vetoed a measure that would have allowed individuals, businesses and faith organizations to deny services to others based on their "sincerely held religious beliefs."

Leaders of many economic sectors signed onto the letter. Tourism is represented by Hilton, Marriott and Starwood hotels; AirBnB, Uber and Lyft; and American Airlines, which has a major hub in Charlotte, the state's largest city. Banking and finance executives include the leaders of Bank of America, Citibank, TD Bank, PayPal, and others. Restaurateurs and retailers include leaders of Starbucks, Barnes & Noble and Levi Strauss; and technology executives joined in force, including the leaders of IBM, Apple, Intel, Google, Facebook, Yahoo, eBay, Twitter, YouTube, and many others.

The new law "will make it far more challenging for businesses across the state to recruit and retain the nation's best and brightest workers and attract the most talented students from across the nation. It will also diminish the state's draw as a destination for tourism, new businesses, and economic activity," the letter said.

Bank of America is the biggest of only a handful of North Carolina-based companies to sign on to the repeal letter....

The state's Chamber of Commerce has not expressed a position on the law, which includes provisions some companies may appreciate, including a prohibition against local requirements that businesses to pay more than the state's minimum wage, currently $7.25 an hour, and an effective ban on employment discrimination lawsuits in state courts.

When Indiana adopted a "religious freedom" law, that state's business chamber was among the most vocal opponents, joining an outcry that forced the legislature and governor to revise the law. The state's tourism group, Visit Indy, estimates a $60 million loss in net state revenue after 12 different convention groups cited the religious objections law as part of the reason they took events elsewhere....

Apparently, the NC GOP is so stupid and so pants wetting terrified, like S-M, that it didn't learn from IN's experience last year.

[O Really]

Apparently, the NC GOP is so stupid and so pants wetting terrified, like S-M, that it didn't learn from IN's experience last year.

There's ample precedent for that. Nobody in the GOP bothered to ask the Russians how things went with their 12 years in Afghanistan, either.

[Vrede too]

Not to mention the thousands of years that it's been "The Graveyard of Empires".

That said, almost any Dem POTUS would have attacked it after 9/11, though perhaps not occupied it and almost certainly wouldn't have been distracted by invading Iraq, and Obama gets "credit" for his Afghan escalation.

[Vrede too]

Mississippi Anti-Gay Tourism Video

North Carolina's Anti-Gay Tourism Commercial

[O Really]

[GoCubsGo]

[Vrede too]

I was just posting about it, must have both watched the 11 p.m. news.

Anti-HB2 billboard causes controversy in Polk County

An anti-House Bill 2 billboard is causing controversy in Polk County.

The billboard is located off N.C. Hwy. 108 outside the town of Lynn ...

The group that put the billboard up is called Planting Peace and is based out of Topeka, Kan.

Planting Peace members gained international attention after purchasing a house across the street from the anti-LGBT Westboro Baptist Church and painting the house rainbow-colored.

A spokesperson for Planting Peace told News 13 members of the group paid for the billboard in Polk County, because it's close to the South Carolina border.

Republican South Carolina state Sen. Lee Bright introduced a bill similar to HB2 last week.