And congratulations to all the photographers--me, included!
This is the first time I've placed in the top three in one of these contests,
and I have to say I look forward to them every month. I have learned
so much from all of you!

what was known as Amendment One here that banned gay marriage based on
a statewide vote in 2012 based on a voter turnout of <35% of eligible voters.


From the NY Times:

U.S.
North Carolina’s Gay-Marriage Ban Is Challenged by Church

By MICHAEL PAULSON APRIL 28, 2014


In a novel legal attack on a state’s same-sex marriage ban, a liberal Protestant denomination on Monday filed a lawsuit arguing that North Carolina is unconstitutionally restricting religious freedom by barring clergy members from blessing gay and lesbian couples.

The lawsuit, filed in a Federal District Court by the United Church of Christ, is the first such case brought by a national religious denomination challenging a state’s marriage laws. The denomination, which claims nearly one million members nationwide, has supported same-sex marriage since 2005.

“We didn’t bring this lawsuit to make others conform to our beliefs, but to vindicate the right of all faiths to freely exercise their religious practices,” said Donald C. Clark Jr., general counsel of the United Church of Christ.


http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/29/us/churchs-lawsuit-challenges-north-carolina-ban-on-same-sex-marriage.html?_r=0


And more religious groups have joined the suit:

http://www.wral.com/more-religious-groups-join-suit-to-overturn-nc-same-sex-marriage-ban/13698759/

The real reason the Second Amendment was ratified, and why it says "State" instead of "Country" (the Framers knew the difference - see the 10th Amendment), was to preserve the slave patrol militias in the southern states, which was necessary to get Virginia's vote. Founders Patrick Henry, George Mason, and James Madison were totally clear on that . . . and we all should be too.

In the beginning, there were the militias. In the South, they were also called the "slave patrols," and they were regulated by the states.


And ends:

His first draft for what became the Second Amendment had said: "The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; a well armed, and well regulated militia being the best security of a free country [emphasis mine]: but no person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms, shall be compelled to render military service in person."

But Henry, Mason and others wanted southern states to preserve their slave-patrol militias independent of the federal government. So Madison changed the word "country" to the word "state," and redrafted the Second Amendment into today's form:

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State [emphasis mine], the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."



http://truth-out.org/news/item/13890-the-second-amendment-was-ratified-to-preserve-slavery



For more on Thom Hartmann's source, see here:

http://www.minnpost.com/eric-black-ink/2013/01/was-second-amendment-adopted-slaveholders

I gave the Republican poll worker some shit today, and wish I'd done more.
Some years ago both hubby and I re-registered as Unaffiliated here in NC.
But we always request a Democratic ballot.

So, today when I signed in, they first asked if I had ID. Thank you, Republican
a$$holes. But then they hurried up to say I didn't need to show it, they were
just practicing for 2016. Great.

So, then, since I'm registered unaffiliated, they ask which ballot I'd like.
So I say, "how about one of each?" Pretty good laughs from the Dem
poll workers, but the Repub guy says, "Oh, no! You can only have one".
It's a joke, dummy. On you.

So I request a Democratic ballot. And he says, in good Repub fashion, "Democrat".

At the time I thought, you a$$hole, if you're going to work the polls, you ought to
at least learn the name of both major parties. But I didn't call him on it. Next time,
I will. Because this particular guy is always there.

How did primary day go for you?

I thought I'd take a look at the pier from underneath to see if I liked it for the May contest, but don't think
it's really as effective for looking up as it is for perspective.

God actually mandates abortion when the fetus is a product of adultery (Numbers 5). A jealous and suspicious husband should bring his wife to the local priest, who forces the woman to drink a poisonous "water of bitterness" to bring on God's "curse". If she experiences "bitter pain," if her "belly swells" and her "thigh rots," she fails the test and becomes an outcast. Virtually all Biblical scholars agree that this voodoo ritual and its cloaked euphemisms refer to an induced (not to mention unsafe) abortion. The word "thigh" in the Old Testament usually means genitals, but in this case, it refers to the uterus and its contents. One alternate Bible translation reads, "She will have barrenness and a miscarrying womb." (New International Version)

And a very interesting discussion making the argument that the Bible is pro-choice. Lots of ammunition here
if you are motivated to take on the anti-choice crowd. But we all know you can't confuse them with the facts.

http://www.prochoiceactionnetwork-canada.org/articles/bible.shtml

Both my sons have turned out great!

One is 27 and works for a software firm that develops apps for smart phones.
He is self-taught. Didn't go to college. He owns two cars--loves to
drive autocross--and his own townhouse. Without his help, his dad
and I would be at a total loss dealing with home computer issues!

The youngest son--who will be 24 next month-- is legally blind from a juvenile genetic form of macular degeneration.
He sees with his peripheral vision. In 2012 he graduated Phi Beta Kappa with
a double major in German and Comparative Lit. from UNC-Chapel Hill. He is currently
in Berlin on a Fulbright Scholarship and has been accepted (with a darn good financial aid package) to the Yale School
of Drama to begin a three year MFA program in Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism next fall.

Yes, I am a proud mama!

from our trip to Europe last fall. Both sides of the channel of the Danube flowing through Vienna were covered with the art/graffiti. I spent one Sunday morning--trying to beat the rain-- taking photos when hubby (a psychoanalyst) went off to see Freud's house and it made me wish I'd been down there when the light was better. Encountering the political street art is what motivated me to suggest it as a theme for one of our contests.

These shots are all in Vienna (except the last one in Prague). I thought it was really interesting that the area seemed to be a place dedicated to allowing the art. The first one I noticed from the balcony where we were staying across the river. Two days later I went down to walk along the channel and look at the graffiti.



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And, of course, my entry in the 'based on a song' February contest!






And the John Lennon Wall in Prague


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I turned 63 today.



And a little later the clouds were pink from the sunset

I just couldn't resist entering the sunflower. Love the song...and lo and behold, I had
the photo from the morning I spent taking shots of all the graffiti on the walls lining
the channel of the Danube that runs through Vienna.