The Poison Ivy Bloc

A Duke University botanist has published research that shows that while much of the rest of organic life on this planet suffers from the increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the breathable atmosphere ... poison ivy is doing quite well, displaying an almost irrational exuberance for polluted air.

"The noxious vine poison ivy not only grows much faster in a carbon dioxide-enriched atmosphere, it also produces more urushiol, the substance that causes most people to break out in a rash."

Okay then. Explains all those yard signs we've seen recently in noxious poison ivy patches ... "Vote Straight Republican ... The Urushiol You Save May Be Your Own!"

Vernon Robinson, Playing the Queer Card

Vernon Robinson has intimated that his opponent in the NC-13 congressional race, incumbent Democrat Brad Miller, is probably homosexual because he has no children, though he's been married for almost 25 years. No, really. Check out the story in today's N&O.

He published that his Republican primary opponent in 2004, Ed Broyhill, was "limp-wristed."

Most bizarrely, of course, he claimed that Virginia Foxx was a liberal.

Yes, that's an impressive track record.

"Comparisons Are Odorous," said Dogberry

Nathan Tabor, bless his heart: "Dean Smith is a great basketball icon who is very liberal in his politics. He certainly has a winning record on the basketball court, however, having his political support is definitely the political kiss of death."

Gosh. Such sapience at such a young age. Nathan learned a thing or two about "the political kiss of death," having been thusly smooched twice at the polls himself. He's an authority on this stuff.

ASU Not the Only Bad College Neighbor

We've watched the administration of Appalachian State University do some scummy things -- hel-looo, Appalachian Cultural Museum, in whatever dark storage space thou art! -- including run roughshod over the Town of Boone's zoning regs. But lest we think this is the only bad neighbor among the constituent members of the University of North Carolina system, check out this posting on BlueNC about what's been happening in Chapel Hill, another small town even more swallowed up by academic arrogance than poor little Boone.

And while we're at it, remember that the ASU fantails promised they were actively searching for an alternative location for the Cultural Museum? We haven't forgotten. We suspect that this "search" will begin to appear like another famous "pro-active manhunt" on the West Coast, and pretty soon we'll be comparing Chancellor Ken Peacock to O.J. Simpson. Same modus operandi, if less blood.

Foxx: Keep Those Subsidies to Big Oil Flowing!

Regarding Big Oil's hooks in The Madam:

1. Virginia Foxx voted against stripping a fiscal 2007 energy appropriations bill of $50 million in direct federal subsidies to the oil industry.

2. Virginia Foxx voted for opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling.

Both votes detailed in today's W-S Journal "Roll Call" report.

Forward to the Police State

Raleigh Republican Sen. Neal Hunt has introduced a bill to require all 16 member institutions of the NC university system to fingerprint and do criminal background checks on ALL entering freshmen.

Now there's a step in keeping with the liberal arts!

What's next? Required fingerprinting before you apply for your Social Security number?

Landmarks in Hypocrisy, Friday Edition

What happened in the Enron corporation? "Arrogance gave way to recklessness, which in turn opened the door to criminality" (according to Kurt Eichenwald's analysis in the NYTimes).

So what does Ken ("Kenny Boy") Lay do when the jury comes in with a unanimous guilty verdict yesterday? He stages one of those Pharisee moments that we've come so to expect from the Higher Income reaches of the Republican Party: He gets his family and friends together in a circle prayer in the courtroom, in full view of the press and spectators, not because he's a pious believer as much as he's a showman in the face of overwhelming evidence of greed, corruption, lying, theft, and malfeasance. "God's got another plan right now," says Lay. "We'll all come through this stronger and more reliant on God."

It's become practically a fashion statement under the Bush II regime, to wrap oneself in the mantle of religiosity just ahead of the clanging of the iron bars.

If Lay were a sincere Christian, he would have conducted his praying in private, out of the glare of publicity.

N.C. Raising Minimum Wage

North Carolina appears to be on the verge of raising the minimum wage a full buck over the federal level of $5.15 an hour. The vote yesterday in the N.C. House was 68 in favor, 39 opposed. All 39 in opposition were Republicans. The N.C. Senate also passed a separate measure, and it's up to the two houses to agree on when and exactly how to implement.

Church Organists Excepted?

The story is in this a.m.'s News & Observer: "Churches that welcome gays, or affiliate with groups that do, may no longer be eligible for membership in the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina."

Which just goes to show that I've been misreading Luke 17:11-19 all these years: "And as he entered a village, he was met by ten homosexuals, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices and said, 'Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.' When he saw them he said to them, 'Get the hell out of my sight, O ye of little pink doilies. Go and show yourselves to the priests." And they answered him, 'But the priests will not have us. They have set their teeth against us.' And Jesus answered, 'Well, they have every right to be exclusive. For as it is written, Few are called and even fewer are chosen.' "

The N&O story: "...the Baptist board's action signals that the convention is willing to take a hard line with churches that silently condone gay relationships among their members."

No mention of Baptist congregations that silently condone adultery, public & private deception and double-dealing, "social drinking," price gouging, or monumental hypocrisies of every other stripe.