Advertising was much in the news this week.

The most-read posts on Under the Dome from last Sunday to noon today included some serious spending on television advertising, and problems with ads already airing.

1. Six-Million-Dollar Woman? A national Democratic group reserves as much as $6 million in air time to target U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole in the fall. Time to buy a Tivo?

2. McCrory's Strip Stake. A Charlotte strip club owner gave Republican gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory a donation, which the campaign won't return. No word on whether it was in fistfuls of $20s.

3. Some Plane Talk. Dole's campaign mistakenly included footage of a French plane in a TV ad about saving U.S. military bases. At least they got the red, white and blue part right.

4. Postponing Payday. Gov. Mike Easley's delay in signing the state budget meant some state workers would not see their raises right away. Mary Easley's doing OK, though.

5. Bully for You. A Christian conservative group helps defeat an anti-bullying bill because it includes references to sexual orientation. Talk about the bully pulpit...

House and Senate negotiators have reached an agreement on a proposed law aimed at protecting  students from bullying that includes provisions meant to satisfy conservatives.

The House and Senate are expected to vote on the compromise today that would require local school boards to adopt anti-bulling polices and require school employees, volunteers and students to report bullying to school officials, Lynn Bonner reports.

Organizations such as the Christian Action League fought a version of the bill that listed "gender identity or expression," and "sexual orientation" as reasons a student would be bullied.

In the compromise, "gender identity and expressiion" is removed, and replaced with "masculinity" and "femininity." All negotiators signed the compromise, except for one Republican senator.

Rep. Rick Glazier, the Fayetteville Democrat who sponsored the bill, said the change eliminated descriptions that were causing the most controversy but still recognized that effeminate boys and tomboys are bullying targets.

The compromise makes clear that the descriptions in bullying law would not expand the existing classifications of people who can claim discrimination, Glazier said.

Opponents of same-sex marriage are making another attempt to amend the state's constitution to ensure such unions do not become law in North Carolina.

Today, they announced new legislation that gives voters the opportunity to vote for a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as "the union of one man and one woman at one time," Dan Kane reports.

Several Republican lawmakers at a news conference today said the recent court decision in California throwing out that state's ban on same-sex marriages makes it urgent that lawmakers take up the legislation. North Carolina law already prevents same-sex marriages.

"We think because of the importance of marriage, as the real building block of our society, we feel that the people of North Carolina deserve the right to vote on should our constitution be amended to make sure that someone's lawsuit filed somewhere in our state, that falls upon the ears of a favorable judge, can not be used to invalidate the law of this state," said Rep. David Lewis, a Harnett County Republican.

No Democrats attended the conference, but supporters provided a list of 66 House members, including several Democrats, who have signed on as sponsors. House and Senate leaders, however, have blocked efforts in the past several years to bring the referendum legislation to the floor for a full vote.

More after the jump.

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Members of a House judiciary committee today narrowly rejected the Senate version of an anti-bullying bill, saying it does not go far enough to protect school children from abuse.

The party-line, 8-6 vote again reflected the debate about whether the legislation should specifically mention students who show homosexual or transgender characteristics as likely targets for bullies, Dan Kane reports.

Republicans have opposed the House version of the anti-bullying bill for that reason, saying it would make them a protected class.

The Senate version had left out any mention of characteristics. Rep. Rick Glazier, a Fayetteville Democrat who wrote the House version, said they need to remain so that teachers have clear guidance as to what constitutes bullying behavior. He said his bill does not create special protected classes.

House Minority Leader Paul Stam, an Apex Republican, asked the committee to give the Senate version a favorable vote. It also failed by an 8-6 vote.

The full House will vote on rejecting the Senate version. If that happens, negotiators from both chambers will be appointed to work out a compromise.

State Sen. Julia Boseman stuck to business Tuesday.

The New Hanover Democrat declined to talk about disclosures that she defaulted on a $1.3 million loan on her former home and smoked marijuana the year before she was elected to the legislature.

Duringa child custody hearing in December, Boseman testified that she had problems with drugs at the tail end of her relationship with her then-domestic partner in 2003. Details of her financial troubles surfaced at a different court hearing last week. (AP)

Boseman, the first openly gay legislator in North Carolina, said that she willingly testified in order to keep access to her adopted son.

"Some time ago, I was faced with a choice of losing my son or having the most intimate details of my private life exposed to the public," she said. "Like any good parent, I put my son before everything else in my life and will continue to fight for him and my family."

Her Republican opponent, attorney Michael Lee, said he would focus on political differences in his campaign. (WS-N)

Among the dozens and dozens of caucuses on Capitol Hill, add one more: the LGBT Equality Caucus, launched this morning at a news conference in Washington.

The House of Representatives caucus aims to promote equality among gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people. The caucus says that will include working to repeal discriminatory laws, eliminate hate-related violence and improve the health of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders, Barb Barrett reports.

No word on whether that would include a push for same-sex marriage.

The caucus has 53 members so far, all Democrats, though none from North Carolina. Spokesmen for the Tar Heel state's two most liberal members, Reps. David Price of Chapel Hill and Mel Watt of Charlotte, both said they were unfamiliar with the caucus but would look into it.

Wake County prosecutors have dropped a sodomy charge.

After reviewing the case of two men arrested by Raleigh Police, Assistant District Attorney Adam Moyers said the facts showed the acts occurred between consenting adults in private, meaning they are protected by a landmark 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Josh Shaffer reports.

Nelson Keith Sloan, 39, had a $3,000 bond and paid $450 to get out of jail, a typical 15 percent bondsman's fee.

"I am grateful that the DA's office has a better understanding of the Constitution than the Raleigh Police Department," he said in a statement Friday. "However, as long as this law remains on the books it is a crime punishable by an arrest, a stay in jail, media attention, and a fine  of $450 since that is how much it cost me to get out of jail."

Previously: Sodomy law dates to King Henry VIII.

A number of voters were offended by Gov. Mike Easley's "pansy" remark.

At a press conference endorsing Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in late April, Easley said she was a strong candidate, arguing she "makes Rocky Balboa look like a pansy."

In the 48 hours after the announcement, the governor's office received 683 e-mails about the endorsement. About a tenth of the e-mails, recently reviewed by Dome, took offense at his use of the word "pansy."

"As a former Marine and gay man I am no Pansy sir and I demand an apology to all Gays and Lesbians," read an e-mail from a Durham man. "I am insulted as a fellow Democrat that you would stoop to such a low. Have you no shame."

Others called the word "derogatory," "reprehensible" and "inflammatory," though at least one threw the word back at Easley.

"I thnk Hillary Clinton has made a pansy of you," wrote a Winston-Salem woman.

Forty-one of the e-mails were from out-of-state, including New York, California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Colorado, Indiana, Oregon, Texas, Florida, New Mexico, Arizona, Minnesota and Washington, D.C.

The other 20 were from North Carolina, including Raleigh, Charlotte, Durham, Wilmington, Winston-Salem, Kannapolis, Matthews, Hickory, Leicester, Huntersville, Bradford, Oxford, Burlington and Carolina Beach.

North Carolina's sodomy law dates to the reign of Henry VIII.

Under the English king's rule, the Buggery Act of 1533 was adopted — the first civil legislation applicable against homosexuals in that country. (Previously, those offenses had been handled by religious courts, but Henry famously had his differences with the church.)

The law defined buggery as an unnatural sex act against the will of God, later modifying it to include only anal sex and bestiality.

Though later repealed, it was re-enacted by Queen Elizabeth I in 1563 and became a part of North Carolina law in 1715 when all previous parliamentary statutes and court cases — known as common law — were declared to be part of our law.

The state statute against sodomy — or "the crime against nature" — still includes citations to the 25th Statute Roll of King Henry VIII, Chapter 6, and the Fifth Statute Roll of Queen Elizabeth, Chapter 17.

The U.S. Supreme Court declared anti-sodomy laws unconstitutional in 2003, but it remains on the books despite several attempts by state legislators to remove it.

Hat Tip: Gerry Cohen 

The American Civil Liberties Union is politically radioactive in a Republican primary, which is why an ACLU ad has become an issue in the race involving 3rd district Congressman Walter Jones.

The ACLU is running a radio ad encouraging Jones to vote against a bill providing legal protections for telephone companies to help the government conduct warrantless wiretap program, Rob Christensen reports.

The ad asks voters to call Jones to oppose the Bush administration bill: "We need Congressman Jones to stand with Congress."

Jones says he is not interested in anything ACLU has to say. In fact, he notes he has a long history of opposing the ACLU on such issues as Boy Scouts and gay scoutmasters and the right of military chaplains to use the name of Jesus in prayers.

"Their ads are wrong and need to be stopped," Jones said. "While the ACLU is playing politics, the threat of terrorism is very real and must be addressed."

His primary opponent, Joe McLaughlin, claims the ACLU ad is designed to help Jones.

"Obviously all of Walter Jones work on behalf of the 'Blame America First' crowd is paying off as the ultra-left continues to pour money into our district to support their new found friend," McLaughlin said.