HB2 Bids NC Adieu

After a heated debate HB2 is gone baby gone. All that remains is a signature from North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper and we can settle the matter for at least a short while. Ever since the HB2 was introduced to counteract an ill conceived Charlotte ordinance people have been up in arms to have it repealed. In December the deals fell through when neither side wanted to compromise. Today HB2 finally died with the passage of House Bill 142. The bill was a gutted bill so check the Ratified version on the NCGA website to see what actually passed. So what does this bill do exactly? It repeals HB2 and makes any new local ordinances void until at least December 30, 2020.

So the Religious are all up in arms because their children are not protected. These people are what some might call ignorant. HB2 offered no protection any more than a gun buster sign offers protection. HB2 was even worse, there was no repercussions stated in the legislation if someone did go against the statute. Basically trespassing was all someone could be charged with and in most cases they would simply be asked to leave. One who preyed on children would still be able to prey on small children and if they did then they would be subject to the criminal offense based on their actions, but not because of HB2. It was a sham only created to counteract the Charlotte ordinance which did not protect anyone from anything, it simply ensured ordinances like those in Charlotte ceased to have merit.

Now the LGBTQ (did I get all those abbreviations?) community is all up in arms because they find the legislation used to repeal HB2 to be discriminatory. I just cannot follow that logic. Read the legislation, it doesn’t discriminate, it simply allows only the General Assembly to set regulation access to restrooms, showers, and changing facilities. Of course the Supreme Court or any Court can dictate that and supposedly that was the thought process behind the December 2020 expiration date for one Section. I haven’t spent time listening to many LGBTQ statements, but one LGBT lawmaker (he left off the Q) was up in arms because the LGBTQ representatives were not included in the repeal discussions. How many freaking people does it take to write repeal legislation and handle out a deal? You say Roy Cooper is your Governor and you want him to speak on behalf of the LGBTQ community, then let him do his job and he WAS a big part of the repeal deal.

Here’s the dirty little secret which really isn’t much of a secret. The Governor and General Assembly bowed to the pressure of the NCAA to repeal HB2. They did not listen to the people, the news, various idiotic performer boycotts, or manufacturers who chose to build/relocate elsewhere. They caved to pressure from the NCAA and basketball. Yep, sports are what cause compromise and change and it should show the citizens of NC who is really in charge. It isn’t your religious group, your LGBTQ discrimination claims, or your common sense, it is sports, namely basketball. So to you zealots on the left and right you better watch out because the NCAA is coming down the lane.

At least we now all know where to go to take a piss and who owns NC!

Upcoming Fifth Anniversary

On February 12 the blog will turn five. We generate about 1,000 new views per month and 135 people following our mindless banter. Every comment is considered and we appreciate you taking the time to read about whatever happens to come to mind that day. We may decide to post less frequent and with more focus after the 12th because some days it is difficult to find an interesting topic while other days it is difficult to stop typing. So if you start to see less posts do not become alarmed, we’ll post when we have something to say as opposed to saying something daily.

Happy New Year 2017

Wishing you all the best for 2017.

Happy New Year!

HB2 Just Won’t Die

I posted several times this year about HB2 including the election for Governor. As it turns out the Charlotte ordinance was a bargaining chip designed to cast a shadow over Governor McCrory so Roy Cooper could win the election. Not long after the election was decided Charlotte finally rescinded their ordinance, but did so with caveats and with a promise to enact a more carefully worded palatable ordinance as soon as HB2 was repealed. So when Governor McCrory, as promised, called a special session of the General Assembly several were disillusioned by the move by Charlotte to include caveats and to be promising new ordinances. When the bill came forward it was not only a full repeal, it included a moratorium on ordinances such as the one Charlotte passed which started this whole mess for six months. So the session ended with nothing happening. I’m not sure if HB2 will be repealed after the end move by Charlotte. So in a nutshell Charlotte, and others, used their ordinance to help Roy Cooper win the election, then when they could have eliminated HB2 they chose to continue to play politics. That decision led to the General Assembly concluding their session without repealing HB2. I blame everyone for this, Charlotte and the General Assembly. Both are playing politics and they are not helping anyone. The ordinance was ill conceived as was HB2. Quit playing politics and agree that we need neither in NC.

Another Like Us On Facebook Request

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Rohnert Park Public Safety Officer Dave Rodriguez – So Wrong

I’m surprised I kept this one to myself when the video surfaced last year. Here’s the story, a man claimed to have been harassed by the police at his home so he would photograph or video them when he could. He was hooking up a boat trailer in front of his house and the police officer came by, three times IIRC so he began to film the officer. Eventually the officer became irritated he was being filmed and exited the police SUV and engaged the homeowner. He ordered the homeowner to remove his hand from his pocket and pulled his pistol on him.

Let’s stop the story there. Pulling a pistol and pointing it at someone is a show of deadly force. Putting your hand on a fiream, opening a retaining strap, even unholstering and holding it by your side is not a sign of deadly force, but pointing a firearm at someone means you intend to shoot and kill them. I remember watching the video last fall thinking how lucky the officer was he had not engaged me because I might have shot him for his actions. I know that would mean jail time unless a jury saw it my way, but the video would have shown I only exercised my right to deadly force when deadly force was my only option based on the officer’s actions. Leeway is often given to officers in the course of duty, but a guy hooking up a boat and taking your picture or filming the encounter does not call for deadly force!

So the officer was placed on leave and eventually cleared of wrongdoing. Let’s just call BS now because if nothing else the guy should have been sent for retraining, or even better, fired. The homeowner has filed a Federal lawsuit against the officer and the city for violating his civil rights and I have no idea if that will bear fruit, but I’m gonna grab the popcorn and stay tuned.

Should We Abolish Gun-Free Zones?

I noticed where Trump indicated he would abolish gun-free zones as part of a recent speech and it got me thinking, should we abolish gun-free zones? My answer may surprise some of you, but I would say no. I believe it is up to each and every individual business to decide whether or not someone can carry on their premises. I would suggest the signage and sign placement be unified to avoid confusion, but I don’t want to tell a business what they can and cannot do and I don’t particularly want a governmental mandate telling a business they must allow something. I know firearms are part of the constitution, but nowhere in the constitution does it say I can trounce on the rights of another person or business. Now a unified sign ordinance would be useful. No more would I have to walk into a SECU and peek behind a bush to find the gunbuster sign. PS: SECU, if I cannot see the sign, I cannot abide by it. I should not have to go out of my way to determine if a business is gun friendly or not.

Now as far as governmental/municipal gun-free zones, yes, abolish them other than in the court of law, police stations, or select other offices. The NC law on the matter is pretty good and I’d have no problem with that mentality being adopted nationwide. As far as signage SC has a crystal clear law on signage and I’d have no problem with that being adopted nationwide. Of course if a business has a gunbuster sign I might refrain from entering. You never hear of a mass shooting or criminal activity in an area where people are armed, it’s the unarmed citizens who are targeted to become victims.

Be Careful Following Any Consumption

The paper today had a story about a family who was vacationing on the NC coast and their interaction with the local police led to the mother being arrested, ferried off the island, and spending the night in jail. Most officers are simply trying to do their job, but there is a segment of the officer population who are overzealous and charge citizens when no charges are warranted. In the article the woman allowed her son to drive a golf cart when he was too young. The family had dinner nearby and when her son asked to drive back she said yes, but he was five years too young. In the cart was her son, her husband, their younger daughter, and a 22 year-old niece. The woman had some wine with dinner, but no one was intoxicated according to the woman, her husband, and the niece. When police pulled over the golf cart the agitated officer eventually arrested the woman for intoxication, child abuse, and assorted other charges, all because of a poor decision to allow an 11 year-old to drive the golf cart a few blocks home.

The video of the mother’s arrest is here:
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article78955387.html

Personally I find the police in coastal areas to be overzealous and eager to charge behavior. There was a T-Shirt everyone got back in the day which said Property Of Myrtle Beach Police Department since so many were often arrested for public intoxication. While I never have spent any time behind bars I have seen aggressive police pushing trumped up charges in coastal areas. One night we had two designated drivers taking us back to the house we had rented after a night of consumption. One was driving a new model car which was sporty for the time and the other was driving a 4 cylinder, 4 door, 10 or more year old Chevy Cavalier. The two cars stopped side-by-side and the driver of the Cavalier, the car I was in with three other people, rubbed the dash as if to say my car will beat your car. The driver of the sporty model which was also carrying four people put the car in neutral and revved up the engine and so the driver of the Cavalier did the same. When the light turned green the sporty car squealed a tire and accelerated to the speed limit, 35 mph. The Cavalier drove forward as anyone would leave after a light turns green. Within a half mile a blue light came on and the sporty car was pulled over and because the driver of the Cavalier was not sure of the way home he pulled over as well. They were both told to drive a mile or so away and to follow the police officer and were eventually charged with prearranged racing. Let that sink in, prearranged racing in a 4 door, 4 cylinder, Chevy Cavalier with 4 passengers. On a good day the car might do 0 – 60 mph in 20 second, but with 4 passengers I’ll bet that time would be closer to 30 seconds. It would be impossible to race anything another than another 4 cylinder of the day and even then the race would be about as exciting as watching paint dry. The drivers ended up having to go to court and as ludicrous as it sounds they ended up with community service and for joking around at the stoplight and the sporty car turning over a tire, but neither ever going above the speed limit.

Back in college I was the designated driver once and our agreement was the DD could have a single beer during the night so when we first entered the establishment I ordered my beer and proceeded to consume it over the next hour, but at some point about halfway through the beer it was spilled by someone in the bar so I was dry from that point forward. At the end of the night I was driving four other passengers home in the sporty Honda and because it had a digital speedometer I drove exactly at the posted limit. As I passed a 45 mph sign I checked the speed and was spot on. I knew in about a mile the speed dropped to 35 mph so I began to slow as I passed a police officer coming out a road to my right and then one to my left. As it was after 2 am I expected to be pulled and sure enough a mile or so later I was blue-lighted and pulled into a grocery store parking lot. The police officer ordered me out of the car and asked it I had been drinking and I told them I had drank half a beer all night because it was spilled and I was the DD. They asked if I knew what my speed was and I conveyed the speedometer was digital and exactly where the speed changes occurred and where each of them pulled out to follow our vehicle. They asked me to breathe into a hat which I did. After some difficulty finding the registration, the owner was in the passenger seat, they told us we could go but to slow down. I asked them why because I was driving the speed limit. Luckily the situation did not escalate and end up with me spending a night cuffed and stuffed. Back then there were no dash or body cams.

The moral of the story is to be careful after consuming alcohol if there is a chance you might come in contact with an officer. Follow all the laws and of course comply with instructions and hopefully your interaction will be positive.

Bathroom Break

I’ve posted far too often about HB2 recently and readers outside NC probably don’t care. I keep seeing otherwise sensible people post we don’t want men in women’s restrooms. Well do you want Caitlyn Jenner in your men’s room? The fact is most women’s rooms have stalls for privacy. Changing areas might not be as private, but the Charlotte ordinance is the only one which would blatantly allow a man in the area in the first place. Otherwise prior to the ordinance and HB2 people were simply going into the areas to change or do what comes naturally. All of a sudden it is an issue, but the laws regarding peeping toms haven’t changed so perverted behavior is still just as illegal as it was before and face it, your wives and children as still as unprotected as they were before in a restroom.

Let’s look at the facts. Transgender are 0.3% of the US population. Assuming a population of 320 million that would be 960,000 people. The NC population is around 10 million or 3.1% of the US population. That would mean in NC we have about 30,000 transgender individuals. If they were spread over all 100 counties that would be 300 people per county, but in reality they are more likely located in larger metro areas. An interesting statistic would be what percentage of transgender are also currently identifying as female, but are biologically male and sex offenders. To date zero, I’ll repeat, ZERO, cases of a transgender using a women’s room and sexually assaulting a female child or adult have been recorded. None, nada, zilch. So transgender individuals are not a problem and never have been. You may feel uncomfortable if you knew the person in the stall next to you had parts different from you, but you have no problem with someone doing their business otherwise? That’s just asinine.

So stop hiding behind protecting women and children because laws offer no protection, only the ability to arrest the criminals after they break the laws. It’s a gunbuster sign and we all know how I feel about those ridiculous placards at the entrance of businesses who do not want anyone inside to be protected. The only people they affect are law abiding citizens. You child is much more likely to be a target of someone you know and trust. Have you run a background check on your child’s teacher, clergy, bus driver, daycare worker, sitter, coach, etc.? I’ll bet you have not and yet you cry foul at someone using the bathroom with zero cases of abuse. Face the fact boys are more likely to be abused by men and girls by someone they know and trust then by a chance encounter in a women’s room. I don’t pretend to understand transgender thought patterns regarding sexuality, but in this case all they need is a bathroom break.

HB2 – Can’t We All Just Get Along

I started writing about HB2 because breweries became involved in the conversation. Then later I proposed a logical solution, and of course no one attempted it, because our legislators and those who adopted the Charlotte ordinance are not logical people, they are politicians. If they don’t want to listen to me, perhaps they will take note of an excellent post by former Governor Jim Martin posted on the Higher Education Works Foundation website and reprinted in several newspapers.

As controversy over HB2 roils campuses and boardrooms across the state, former Gov. Jim Martin weighs in with a simple suggestion: Listen to each other.

By Jim Martin

How did we ever get ourselves into such a mess? Otherwise-friendly companies withdraw plans to expand to North Carolina, or threaten to do so. Popular entertainers cancel concerts here, or threaten to do so. They had no problem with North Carolina a year ago.

Who did this to us? We did.

An exercise in politics got caught up in politics. Charlotte City Council wanted an ordinance sought by LGBT voters, and finally, after the recent election, had a majority to adopt it. Most important was extending anti-discrimination rights based on sexual preferences and orientations. Then, against cautionary advice from legislators, the Governor, and even supportive editors, they went “one bridge too far.” They added a right for transgender folks to use the bathroom of their choice, which they probably were using anyway. That was newsworthy.

What happened next was predictable, and forewarned: our North Carolina General Assembly called a special session to halt the ordinance before it took effect. Once House Bill 2, to repeal the bathroom ordinance, was open for amendment, strange things happened. Amendments that could have been taken up later were moved and approved with little debate or understanding. That was newsworthy.

The political reality is that this works great for both political parties. Each side can stand up for its respective, favored constituents. Democrats can stand firm in defense of liberal constituents and principles. Republicans can stand firm in defense of conservative constituents and principles. Neither has to listen to the other’s legitimate concerns. Each can righteously blame the other for overacting.

That is where this debacle really started. Politics in North Carolina, and most of America, has become so polarized that we don’t listen much to each other … because we no longer have to. Some legislative districts are so safe for Republicans that electable candidates may ignore liberal concerns. Some are so safe for Democrats that electable candidates may ignore conservative concerns.

Another factor, by the way, is the choice of many good moderates to abandon both political parties, leaving each with less moderation, so to speak. That’s a topic for another day.

What can we do now? First, both sides need to take time to listen to each other. We might learn how some young people have great difficulty dealing with their anatomy and hormones, in ways most of us could never begin to understand. Denying access to our state courts for protection leaves them vulnerable to harm from bullies. Our courts should be open for civil judgment. Hate crimes should be defined in enforceable law.

On the other hand, we might learn also that some people have had terrible experiences with sexual predators, and are fearful of laws that could make it easier for one to slip into girls’ locker rooms. It is not fear of transgender individuals, who have probably already been using such facilities without incident.  (In almost 80 years of occasional visits to public bathrooms, I have never once dared to check out the qualifications of those standing next to me, and doubt that you have.)

The concern is for unintended consequences on both sides of this issue. Maybe if we adopted stronger punishment for predatory pretenders who do sneak in and violate the criminal law, it might reassure those who have been molested and others who share their fears. Besides, that’s an issue that would justify police action; unlike the City’s ordinance and the State’s HB2.

Some want to repeal all or parts of HB2. In this legislative session, partial repair may be possible; as some have indicated openness to reinstating access to the courts for civil remedies. With patience and goodwill, the court process should be restored.

The bathroom rule is another matter. If the City of Charlotte had not taken that step, we would be about where we were in 2015, with little public disturbance of big corporations, popular entertainers, sports leagues, and even daily newspapers; none of whom asked for this. Once that genie was called out of the bottle, a bigger genie was lurking in there, and it didn’t like what the first genie did. It’s possible this General Assembly could amend the bathroom clause of HB2, but it is problematic. No one yet has offered compromise language. A referendum has been suggested, and one can judge from their responses that both sides predict the same result. The General Assembly might be replaced, of course, but this issue will have far less effect on it than will each party’s presidential candidate.

The federal courts could overrule HB2, depending frankly on which set of judges hears it on appeal. By the time it reaches the Supreme Court, it may again depend on the presidential winner. The saner course would be for the General Assembly to take up the issue, which it has effectively tabled, conduct thoughtful hearings, and work out a reasonable balance of interests. Let reason and fairness prevail.

For some, the issue of which bathroom to use requires an official blessing. For most, it never gets a second thought. Until we stir it up.