newsobserver.com projects - David Menconi - Comments

Re: And the nominees are...

stites1 — Sun, 03 May 2009 19:33:52 -0400

"Busted" by Ray Charles

--or--

"Eve of Destruction" by Barry McGuire

Re: And the nominees are...

dawgitall — Sun, 03 May 2009 13:55:30 -0400

Carolina By The Sea - Super Grit Cowboy Band
Rumble - Link Ray

Re: And the nominees are...

tracylee4 — Sun, 03 May 2009 09:27:08 -0400

There is also another great song out there that would be a great song for North Carolina. It is called North Carolina....The Place To Be, by Dick Barnes. Although more bluegrass than rock, if you just hear this song, you would know it would be perfect. I read on his website that it has been # 1 in over 10 countries. You have just got to hear this song!!!!

Link to the site:
http://www.dickbarnes.net

Re: Quick Hits: Virginia Foxx

lpetrou — Fri, 01 May 2009 17:35:53 -0400

Kedavra I agree with what you wrote. But it is hard to have a rational discussion on this issue as it has been not a discussion over an issue but one over emotions. What those two men did was hate filled, but they are paying the price. If it had been classified a hate crime under this new legislation what additional could be done to them? This is just a step towards a thought police mentality.

Re: And the nominees are...

ncrma601 — Fri, 01 May 2009 16:48:57 -0400

What About Home in My Heart (North Carolina) by Claudia Church

I remember waking up
Running down a dirt road
Morning dew a shinin', watermelon by the wagon load
Little baby brother and my sisters in the shade
Listening to the crickets and the music that they made
Riding on a tractor with my granpa in the summertime
Cold bologna sandwich, green tomatoes on the garden vine
Billy Joe McMillan was the first boy that I ever knew
he moved to California and it broke my heart in...

North Carolina...your pine trees so tall
Your hills and your valleys, your cool waterfalls
Your Blue Ridge Mountains
Your fields and your streams
Are lost on the back roads that run through my dreams
Of North Carolina...Home in my heart

Skinny legs and barefoot on the top of an abandoned car
Pouring out my heart just like a country music singing star
Pinecone for a microphone
Full moon for a spotlight
Shining down from heaven, like it's smiling on me

Although it seems like yesterday
I'm still a million miles away
Going to the ocean in my uncle's new sedan
Daddy's in the Army, there's a war in Vietnam
Mama kept us going with her sewing and a prayer
It's hard to be a family when your daddy's missing

Home in my heart
Home in my heart

Re: Quick Hits: Virginia Foxx

woodcox — Fri, 01 May 2009 11:20:22 -0400

Not to let an actual policy debate get in the way of a good political distraction but there are valid reasons for not punishing thoughts.

Re: Quick Hits: Virginia Foxx

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 01 May 2009 10:56:22 -0400

At the request of a reader, here is the full statement from Sen. Burr:

"I am disappointed in the comments of Congresswoman Foxx in regards to the murder of Matthew Shepard. I find these comments to be inaccurate and insensitive. I hope that as debate continues on this legislation we can focus on the facts and not the emotions associated with it."

— RTB

Re: Quick Hits: Virginia Foxx

acidqueen — Fri, 01 May 2009 08:08:02 -0400

Just because Wyoming had no hate crime legislation at the time, kedavra, that doesn't mean that what the murderers of Matthew Shephard did wasn't a hate crime. They admitted at trial, under oath, that they attacked him specifically because he was gay.

But I suppose you think that's OK?

Burr disappointed in Foxx

Gosh — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:17:17 -0400

In statement, U.S. Sen. Richard Burr says he is "disappointed" by Foxx's remarks, found them "to be inaccurate and insensitive."

Any comment from the back row?

Re: Quick Hits: Virginia Foxx

kedavra — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 21:05:16 -0400

This comment is not in defense of Foxx's comments,
but it is a question as to the value of the hate crime bill.
The two guys convicted of Shepard's crime were not convicted
of a hate crime - they were convicted of felony murder.
Actually, one of them pled out to life in prison in
exchange for testifying against the other.
The other took a deal for two consecutive life sentences
without possiblity of parole while the jury was deliberating
whether he should get the death penalty.
That deal was brokered by Shepard's parents.
So what does the classification of this as a hate crime
bring to the table other than getting the feds involved
in what is traditionally a state responsibility, and
one that was handled very ably by the state?

Dillon Fence

Gosh — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 19:27:13 -0500

Unless I'm mistaken, I'm old and went to college 20 years ago.

Aren't they dead yet?