PayPal makes good on its threat and cancels expansion in NC

[widdershins]

The first corporation as moved from "expressing disdain" about discriminatory laws passed by a state to actually doing something as PayPal cancels a planned expansion in North Carolina in response to the recent law they passed allowing people to discriminate against gays.  The first shot of what I hope to be many has been fired at state-sponsored hate and bigotry.

[Hydra009]

I don't blame them, though this move punishes Charlotte more than McCrory, and Charlotte was (until recently) the one with the rule accommodating transgender people.

Charlotte's actually getting screwed over by both parties.  McCrory reverses their ordinance because he's an asshole and Paypal won't expand there because they're mad with McCrory.

[Hydra009]

Thus far, McCrory has portrayed himself and his state as victims of "political threats and economic retaliation," which seems accurate enough.  Thus far he has refused to relent, insisting through a spokesman that he would resist “a well-coordinated, national campaign to smear our state’s reputation after we passed a common-sense law to ensure no government can take away our basic expectations of privacy in bathrooms, locker rooms and showers.”

This is why I can't stand this guy.  He does something stupid, it becomes national news and gets a lot of flak.  The state even loses business over it.  His response:  "my stupid decision was a great decision and yall just haters."   

[SGOS]

Yes, it's a shame Charlottee will take the hit over this.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

PayPal needs the space! I'm getting dozens of reports of suspicious activity in my account. They must be very busy sorting those out.

[SGOS]

This is the first comment I've seen on the laws giving Christians the right to discriminate, and it's more like a blurp made in passing by an Obama advisor, who was there to be interviewed on a different issue.  I haven't heard anything from an actual official yet.  Although, the ACLU appears busy getting ready to take the new laws to court.  In my mind, I thought the issue had been settled by the Supreme Court.  But no.  Wait!  Let's just pass a bunch of new state laws that contradict the SC.  How is that even possible?

I assume officials haven't commented because 1) They would rather not, or 2)They (like me) would never outguess the courts.  But the states that are doing this seem like they might be engaging in a kind of civil disobedience.  They call this religious freedom, and that certainly has a positive ring to it, but it's actually demanding the freedom to deny freedom.  It's like they almost get there with the freedom thing, but don't quite fully grasp the concept yet.

https://www.yahoo.com/katiecouric/valerie-jarrett-on-the-white-1401849343565878.html

The Department of Justice and other federal agencies are scrutinizing new state laws that some call legalized discrimination against gay, bisexual and transgender people, President Obama’s senior adviser told Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric on Wednesday.

Valerie Jarrett said what, if any, action may be taken against Mississippi’s and North Carolina’s so-called religious freedom legislation is still to be determined.

“We’ll be interested in hearing what their findings are,” Jarrett said during a live interview. “But they are certainly taking a look at the parameters of the impact of these laws.”

So are these laws going down, or are others wondering if there's a chance that they may have any legal merit?

[Baruch]

The Supreme Court, the Catholic Church and Hobby Lobby ... opened this can of worms.  Southern Protestants are just carpet bagging ;-)

[AllPurposeAtheist]

We've been sold a bill of sale with the states rights issue. This is one nation and not 50 sovereign nations,but many seem to think that their state should have all the power over the federal government because federal government..ohhhh...spooky!  They try to make it sound as if a state law always makes more sense than a federal law.
The most ridiculous thing is that you can drive from say..Maine to California in four days and along the way go from being a perfectly law abiding citizen to a potential felon, back to law abiding, back to felon and once again law abiding just by perfectly legally crossing state lines..

[Gawdzilla Sama]

We've been sold a bill of sale with the states rights issue. This is one nation and not 50 sovereign nations,but many seem to think that their state should have all the power over the federal government because federal government..ohhhh...spooky!  They try to make it sound as if a state law always makes more sense than a federal law.

When somebody starts on that shit I ask them why they don't support "county right" or "city rights" or "neighborhood rights".

The most ridiculous thing is that you can drive from say..Maine to California in four days and along the way go from being a perfectly law abiding citizen to a potential felon, back to law abiding, back to felon and once again law abiding just by perfectly legally crossing state lines..

Or you could just leave that gun at home.

[Hydra009]

Bruce Springsteen cancels NC tour date over bathroom bill

Losing jobs is one thing, but this really hits us where it hurts.  We already have a dearth of good music around here, so pulling what little we get is devastating.  Just look at the list, the next good upcoming concert is Weird Al, but that's not until June.

Look, a lot of us aren't happy about this thing.  We'll fix this, just give us a little time.  Don't make us a pariah state just yet, okay?

[Baruch]

When somebody starts on that shit I ask them why they don't support "county right" or "city rights" or "neighborhood rights". Or you could just leave that gun at home.

Down in the 'hood ... it is neighborhood rights ... particularly if you are wearing the wrong gang colors ;-(

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Down in the 'hood ... it is neighborhood rights ... particularly if you are wearing the wrong gang colors ;-(

Block Party.

[SGOS]

Look, a lot of us aren't happy about this thing.  We'll fix this, just give us a little time.  Don't make us a pariah state just yet, okay?

Is there enough NCers to bring pressure on the legislators, or will this be corrected by the Supreme Court?  Or is it just a matter of North Carolina evolving over time?  I don't think most people want NC to be a pariah, except maybe the media.  I don't think Pay Pal or Springsteen wish the state ill either.  I think they are just trying to apply pressure.  Montana often strikes me as a pariah.  It's not the progressive state I would hope for, and we have enough wacky little churches in my home town that we could be the envy of the Bible Belt.  I would welcome outside help, especially in protecting what's left of Montana's once splendid environment.  And I do hope your state progresses.  I get no joy out of the deprecation of North Carolina.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Look, a lot of us aren't happy about this thing.  We'll fix this, just give us a little time.  Don't make us a pariah state just yet, okay?

Gawd damn, son! Ya's already in the Bible Belt, same as us'ns.

[Johan]

Look, a lot of us aren't happy about this thing.  We'll fix this, just give us a little time.  Don't make us a pariah state just yet, okay?

For a while there we were taking vacations in the outer banks every year. We found a nice rental house right on the beach that was awesome for us. We loved it.

Then the voters in your state saw fit to amend the state constitution to make same sex marriage illegal. No business in NC has seen a single dime of our vacation budget ever since. Did we expect our little boycott to change any minds in NC? Of course not. Its more a matter of if that's how you as a state feel about how people should be treated, then this is how I as a person feel about associating with any of you.

So I feel your pain if you're living there and also not happy about how things have gone. But give you time to fix it? That gay marriage amendment was like 4 years ago. The voters of your state have a long track record of proudly hating gay people and nothing seems to be changing. The rest of us quite frankly, are tired of waiting for the few hold out non-bigot voters to get their shit together. I don't envy you the position you're in. But you've had more than enough time to fix things IMO.