People opposed to gay marriage may be inclined to support the so-called Marriage Protection Amendment, but actually it makes no sense to vote for Amendment One.

If you look around you will find a growing chorus of voices opposing Amendment One that include Republican and Democratic leaders, clergy member, and prominent community leaders all over North Carolina. The reality is that Amendment One is a poorly written law that will negatively affect more heterosexuals than homosexuals, and all North Carolina citizens would do well to learn about the harmful implications of this amendment before they cast their vote in the primary election on May 8.

Gay marriage is already illegal in NC, so if this amendment passes it will not affect the status quo. It will however bar the state from recognizing any legal domestic union other than marriage, including partnerships between unmarried men and women. It would also take away the legal protections for the children of unmarried people, including healthcare and prescription drug coverage provided through an unmarried parent.

Furthermore, senior citizens wanting to keep their legal protections would be forced to marry, which would cause them to lose their pensions, health care and Social Security benefits.

There are many sources of information available about the legal effects of Amendment One, and a compelling one can be found on the homepage of Maxine Eichner, a UNC law professor who is a legal expert in marriage amendment case law. Here it is link: http://www.law.unc.edu/faculty/directory/eichnermaxine/

The sobering reality is that this amendment will hurt many North Carolina families and children. Regardless of your feelings about same-sex marriage, I urge you to VOTE AGAINST Amendment One on May 8.

For those of you have never heard of this word and its meaning.A system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed,are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of capable producers. Does it ring a bell?

So let me get this straight,If you cross the North Korean Border illegally,you get 12 years.hard labor.If you cross the Afghanistan border illegally you get shot.Two americans just got eight years for crossing the iranian border. if you cross the U.S. border illegally you get a job, a drivers license,food stamps, a place to live, health care,housing and child benefits,education and a tax free business for seven years... no wonder we are a country in debt.

I appreciate the fact the carriers are up early to deliver many papers to many neighborhoods and don't make a lot of money doing the job. But since the first of the year, with the resignation of our old carrier, our paper delivery has been sporadic at best. And not just my delivery but all the neighbors on the street where I live are upset. Today takes the cake. Our carrier delivers both The Daily Advance and the Virginia-Pilot. The papers were not delivered until 10:00 and we did not receive The Daily Advance. Inside the second plastic bag were three sections of the VA-Pilot.

I believe that in the two months since the carrier has started you now owe me two weeks credit. Please change something before you lose a whole street of subscriptions.

Tried to support my community tonight and attend the fair. I lost over $50. It rained after we got there, REALLY bad, thunder, lightening, very strong winds.After waiting an hour politely asked for raincheck. Was very RUDELY told by EC Topping and his wife Brenda we do not give refunds or rainchecks, it will be gone in 30 mins. Well the rain was not gone in 30 mins. It was more like a hour and 30 mins. longer for the lightening. Those of us with small children ( and there to spend money on those small children) left. There were large pools of water standing everywhere. It would have taken a while after the storm passed to open and set everything up again. It was not the Legion or the Fairs responsibility to dry the rides off, it was yours. They had your money and as it is every year that is all they care about. If they were treated this way there would be h*ll to pay. They would not stand for it. I will not be back. EVER. They have taken my money for the last time.They do not need or deserve our support if this how they show their appreciation for our business. The rain was not their fault or ours and if this is the best they can do, I feel very sorry for them.I hope everyone stops and thinks before supporting this kind of business. And they wonder why so many people take their businees out of town. I was not the only one requesting a raincheck so that I could come back another day to spend my money. Some there had 4 or 5 kids. They will not be back either. It might be a small loss but all the same it is a loss and with times the way they are and money tight people will stop supporting things like this.

What percentage of the people that have excercised their freedom of speech have run for an elected office in E.C.? If so concerned about this town help run it. It is very easy to criticize any one that are not your neighbor, family or friend without ALL THE FACTS ,that'only human. Everyone so quick to jump on the band wagon need to make sure the wagon can hold them,when they look in the mirror they are looking at themselves and their closets are clean and empty.What has happened to our society that people make nasty remarks about others but when the shoe is worn by them it hurts.Their are two sides to every story and if we judge the first chapter, sometimes we don't finish the complete story. What has happened to the words innocent until proven guilty.

I'm not certain if I see Jesus in the photo of a vine climbing a pole on US 258 near Kinston. I am, however, sure that I don't see Kudzu. That's not simply my opinion. According to an article at the Kinston Free Press website, the vine is actually a Trumpet Vine. A reporter from the Free Press verified this with his local agriculture extension agent. It is disappointing that so many other news agenicies wrongly reported this story and failed to verify the facts. Despite what some may think, not all vines in the South are Kudzu.

Mr. Lincoln, What About our Hemisphere?
"All the armies of Europe and Asia...could not by force take a drink from the Ohio River or make a track on the Blue Ridge in the trial of a thousand years." So said Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth president of the United States.
And yet by the steady trek across our borders, we have been invaded by a mass of people, unchecked and uninvited that have come as a plague on our great country. This is not about legal immigration. Legal immigration is good for our country and ensures that people with certain talents and skills can enrich our nation and keep America dynamic and technologically advanced. Legal immigration is by its nature regulated and those seeking legal immigration believe being a citizen is a coveted title and one worth the process and long wait.This is not about race or religion. This is not about national origin. Legal Latino American immigration greatly enriches the tapestry of the United States. When they embrace our laws and language they bring tremendous loyalty to our country, society, and military. Again, it is not about national origin. We are a nation of laws.
This is about filtering and regulating who enters the United States of America. No country can be a sovereign nation when millions of people can sneak across our borders and be allowed to wander wherever they wish, to travel and settle wherever they desire. How can a secure country allow this? If a small contingent of foreign troops crossed our borders illegally, many would be incensed and up in arms demanding action to repulse. And yet many well intentioned liberal Americans are not troubled by this invasion and are willing to defend the invaders. This is ludicrous! What about our suffering citizens? A nation is much more than a place on a map. "It is a state of mind, a shared vision, and a recognition that we are all in this together . . . [and] one indispensable element must be that we all speak one common language." And this language in America is English. Trends continuing, we could truly become a bilingual country. Speaking several languages is a good thing personally, but it is very bad for a nation to be bilingual. All signs, all documents should be in English, to be otherwise is sowing seeds of a bitter harvest. One common language is a must. In California, some fourth and fifth generation Mexican immigrants are still speaking only Spanish and resisting assimilation. A common language is a great unifier and conversely several defacto official languages is a great divider.

The fabric of our country will be stretched, perhaps torn if we allow carte blanche citizenship of 15 million largely unskilled manual laborers. Blanket amnesty would cause much strife, how wrong it would be to reward illegal behavior! What about the thousands of people waiting in line to become legal “citizens?” This is an affront to them. In our democracy there is a basic belief and acceptance of the rule of law. This is the cornerstone of our democracy. This reverence comes from generations of people that not only embrace this but have been willing to spill their blood in defense of these held tenets and ideals. The rule of law! If a taxpayer commits an error filing his taxes, he can be prosecuted and sent to jail, if a person is caught using drugs recreationally, harming no one but himself, he will go to jail. If a person makes their own whiskey to drink or sell, they can go to jail, but millions can break our border laws and remain in our country and go unpunished. Where is the outrage? Why should all the other laws in our country remain in effect and yet breaching our sovereignty is not even punished. Where is the outrage? Naïve and maybe well meaning American liberals need to stop shrilling Emma Lazarus’s "Give me your tired, your poor, / your huddled masses." The world population was 1.5 billion when she penned those words. It is now 7 billion people. America is not and cannot be a dumping ground for the rest of the world's surplus population.

Our federal government does not seem to have the political will to do anything about the illegal immigration, yet the Justice Department rails against any states that try and deal with this crisis. Our nation is going broke, this is a huge problem for many states, and we cannot afford to finance our own destruction. Our people are suffering; with unemployment averaging almost 9 % overall and over 16 % among our black citizens, How can any reasonable person say illegal immigrants are not taking jobs from Americans? This is nonsense. It is ludicrous to say Americans will not do the work that needs to be done. This is a Masterpiece of Understatement, totally absurd. Americans want to work. It is time to cut off the jobs, food stamps, free health care and the 10's of billions of dollars sent back to Mexico every year from illegal’s working here. If just these few things were done then you would reduce the deficit, unemployment and help our economy by making the income earned here stay here. Why is this so hard to understand? What in the world is wrong with any Americans willing to accept this illegal behavior -- nowhere in the world could this happen on such a wholesale level? It is disgusting!!! We have slipped so far as a sovereign nation. Where is the outrage?

Our laws and constitution distinguish us from the chaos of much of the rest of the world. Our constitution and laws are precious to Americans. If we have a huge amount of people that do not understand its meaning or believe it is only a bunch of English words written by a few privileged long dead colonists rather than the genius of creation it is, then we are in trouble. When a majority of people do not revere our rule of law and our constitution, we are in trouble. Our laws and constitution are our distinction from the failings of many other countries. If we have a large number of people that do not understand or care about this living document we are in trouble. Where is the outrage?

Illegal immigration may ultimately prove to be more threatening to the character and values of the United States than any threat from radical Islamists. Wake up, speak up. Demand real change .Where is the outrage?

WAKE UP AMERICA AND DEMAND REAL CHANGE RIGHT NOW!!!

by
Jerry Change

The increase in tolls for people living in Carolina and working in Virginia is absolutely insane. The reasoning is all wrong. Chesapeake has hinted the increases can be used for other projects around town and not just the bypass. If you have traveled this road in inclement weather you noticed the roads were horrible going north until you hit Hillcrest Parkway.HMMMM, wonder why? I travel this road every day, and when I get on at Battlefield the road is packed and bumper to bumper. By the time I go through the toll booth there are very few cars to be seen and believe me they didn't all get off at Hillcrest to bypass the toll. Most of the users of this road live in Virginia and if Chesapeake wanted to collect revenue from the majority of the users thay would have put the tolls just north of the bridge over the intercoastal. Everyone wants to bypass Great Bridge and its bridge lifts.

I too read the letter from Jerry Gill concerning the Arizona shootings. When society and lawmakers allow minimal sentences and continually allow crimes to be committed without consequences, we are breeding a generation of dangerous animals. Maybe we should forgive but.... if someone I loved was mudered or viciously attacked, sympathy would not be an emotion I would be feeling. VICTIMS have rights, NOT murderers!