Google, you never call, you never write...

Per public records requests, the only communication Greensboro has received from Google regarding Greensboro's application for Google's fiber optic internet access initiative was a confirmation that Greensboro's official application had been received. That was three months ago.

So what's next?...

MoSoul Poets, Greensboro, NC

The first part sets the mood, the can't-miss starts at 1:30.

Awesome powers of observation -- not

Sam Spagnola says a bystander's camera at the Nathan Tabor/Govenor Spencer fray captures the moment Sam described as "Spencer grabbing Tabor's arm by the wrist and elbow and pulling on it."

He offers this images as the moment "the pull" begins.

But this image, of the same moment from Tabor's Camera, is inconvenient to Sam's narrative.

Spencer's hand is empty of Tabor's wrist, elbow or anything.

Sam excuses the contradictory image by saying that the empty hand of Spencer "obviously does not correspond to the time frame I refer to," that "obviously these differing vantage points show a different time." But they are, in demonstrable truth, the same time. If the position of the lady in blue is not convincing enough, Sam misses an indisputable clue -- the audio.

Both of these perspectives correspond with the sound of Tabor saying:

"And don't touch my wife..."

You can see and hear it for yourself. 

• From Tabor's camera, "And don't touch my wife..." begins at the 1:34 mark. 
• From the bystander's camera, "And don't touch my wife..." begins at the 1:37 mark."

The images that Sam says show Spencer "clearly tugging on Tabor's arm" are not from "a different time" than the images of empty-handed Spencer. As the identical audio confirms, they are from the same time. 

"I see it the way I see it," Sam says. I am not sure if that is a testament to Sam's ability to resist facts incompatible with his preconceptions or a to his awesome powers of observation.

Ideological blindness

There are people so inflexible in their allegiance to their ideological "side" they will willfully reject emperical reality just to maintain allegiance to political kin -- in this case, to insist that Nathan Tabor did not push Govenor Sanders before Sanders punched Tabor-- even though:

• Video shows what is consistent with a push by Nathan Tabor on Govenor Spencer before the punch.
• The Winston-Salem Journal reported that Spencer says Tabor shoved him in the neck.
• Tabor himself said on national TV that he pushed Spencer before Spencer punched him

Local attorney, blogger and recent candidate for Guilford County Commissioners Sam Spagnola in the comments at Ed Cone's blog goes through all sorts of self-deluding justifications for denying that Tabor pushed Spencer (including saying that Tabor himself doesn't know what he is saying), but the most disturbing example of rejecting reality in favor of a politically motivated hallucination is this:

Sam says the reason we see Spencer's head and torso jerk back in the video is not because of the push Tabor says he delivered or because of the shove in the neck Spencer says he received. No. Sam says:

Spencer is moving backwards because he is grabbing Tabor's arm with both hands at close range and is off balance.

I can find no frames of the video that show that kind of contact at the moments when Spencer is seen falling backwards. There is however, video that shows a complete contradiction to the illusion Sam describes.

There were two cameras that captured the shove and the subsequent punch: Tabor's and a bystander's. The view from one can be synchronized with the perspective of the other by synchronizing the sound which is common to both.

The movements of the push/shove are captured by both cameras. It begins as Tabor says, "And don't touch my wife, you got it?" This is where Spencer's backwards momentum begins, the point at which Sam says Spencer is "moving backwards because he is grabbing Tabor's arm with both hands at close range and is off balance."

Where are Spencer's hands at this moment, when Sam says Spencer's "left hand is on Tabor's wrist?" Tabor's camera captures Spencer's left hand as the shove begins:

Clearly, if the word clearly has any meaning, Spencer's hand is empty -- empty of anything including Tabor's wrist. Spencer does latch onto Tabor's writ near the conclusion of the shove, but to describe the video showing Spencer falling backwards because he is "he is grabbing Tabor's arm" is, well, it is a willful and intentional rejection of reality. Spencer could not possibly be falling backwards from grabbing Tabor's arm with "his left hand on Tabor's wrist," because Spencer's hand is empty as his movement backwards begins. Sam is wrong.

Dear video "sweepstakes" operators

Dear video sweepstakes operator:

You are engaged in fraud. Your shuttering will not come a minute too soon. How am I so sure your are predatory crooks? A good clue comes from the fact that no legislation proposed to officially legalize video gambling offers any player protections. Honest games and honest operators would:

• Post the odds of winning
• If odds change as the game is played, post the odds in real time.
• Make games that represent real-world games, such as dice, cards or dominoes have the same odds as the real world games.

Operators are free to do these things on their own already. That they do not tells me that their interest is primarily in defrauding people of their money. No other endeavor would be permitted to engage in this kind of thievery. Hopefully the state house will pass the ban already approved by the senate.

Fish cites fisherman

From the Associated Press:

Nancy Fish of the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries said Peter Wann of Alexandria, Va., was cited on Sunday. She said Wann purchased the license more than two hours after landing the marlin on June 14.

Did Ed Cone introduce race into discussion of the Tabor/Spencer Tea Party fray?

Some commentators at Ed Cone's blog are accusing him of injecting race into discussion of the Nathon Tabor/Govenor Spencer Tea Party protest fray in his newspaper column.

Let's explore the veracity of that accusation with some movin' pictures of the innerwebs.

Billy's law

Stop thieves from stealing air conditioning units for scrap metal and protect the environment. Billy says there should be a law:

A few days ago, while talking with a customer who is also a victim of several stolen air conditioning units he told me what he believed would put an end to most thefts of HVAC units. He suggested that only licensed HVAC contractors be allowed to dispose of HVAC units and other items that contain the toxic CFCs and HCFCs we commonly call Freon. While thieves simply dump these chemicals into the air, licensed HVAC contractors save, recycle and resell the Freon they evacuate from anything that contains refrigerants. Not only would this reduce theft (Why steal it if you can’t sell it?) but it would also eliminate dangerous releases of chemicals into the air we breathe.

N&R publisher's situational objectivity

When Greensboro was gathering its resources in pursuit of Google's proposed ultra high speed fiber optic internet access, I wrote to News & Record publisher Robin Saul and asked him if he would publicly go on the record in support of it. I suggested he could possibly do so on video, at a public meeting or with a letter.

He declined. He said he wanted to maintain "impartial objectivity." I told him I understood his position.

Why then is he serving on the Downtown Area Consolidated Plan Advisory Team -- a group charged with "bringing additional viewpoints and perspectives to the planning process" to ultimately "help spur new investment and economic activity for the entire center city area?"

Is offering his opinion on economic investment to this committee somehow more impartial than it would have been for him to support Google's internet access as a good economic investment?

It seems inconsistent to me.

[Addendum: While Saul's involvement with this committee is perplexing in comparison to his reasons for declining to support the Google pursuit, a broader concern of media personnel being involved with these kinds of efforts will include noticing that Rhino Times publisher Willie Hammer also serves on this committee.]

Lex pays attention to Chamber of Commerce hypocricy

From Lex Alexander:
-----------------------

First, they want you, the taxpayer, to help pay to clean up BP’s mess.

That’s bad enough. But to add insult to injury, here’s their logic:

“It is generally not the practice of this country to change the laws after the game,” said Tom Donohue, the president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “. . . Everybody is going to contribute to this clean up. We are all going to have to do it.  We are going to have to get the money from the government and from the companies and we will figure out a way to do that.”

Uh, Tom, what was that you guys said about changing the laws after the game back when the telcos were in danger of being charged and held civilly liable for their roles in Bush administration violations of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act?

Oh, yeah, this:

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world’s largest business federation representing more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region, strongly supports S. 2248, the “FISA Amendments Act of 2007,” as passed by the Senate on February 12, 2008. The Chamber believes that this bill, in its current form, provides necessary, appropriate, and targeted relief commensurate with the threat to national security that arose in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.

Look who's talking

Now that it is to his advantage, Guilford County Commissioner Skip I-will-never-talk-to-the-most-unethical-Joe-Killian-again Alston talks to reporter Joe Killian.

Alston, March 11, 2010:

I told Mr, Killian or Mr. Wilbur, whichever way he wants to call his name, don't call me any more. I am not going to respond to any questions from you because I don't trust you and therefore I would not say anything because I know you would probably take it out of content and put it in a very negative light. (2:09)

Wraslin' in Greensboro

[Found on Greensboro101]

Other than the mimicked moves in the Rolling Roads playground as a youth, I never was much for "professional" wrestling. This, however, has to be one of the most amazing displays of athletisism ever seen in a ring... or something like that.

Troubled local banks

Dick Barron has an interesting article today, looking at the financial health (or lack thereof) of local banks. He references some eye-opening data from The Investigate Reporting Workshop:

A News & Record comparison of the Triad’s banks using that data showed that CommunityOne is by far the most troubled bank.

Carolina Bank and NewBridge Bank, although in much better shape, face substantial issues with their balance sheets, and rank second and third on the local list. Burlington’s VantageSouth Bank also has a relatively large Troubled Asset Ratio."

News & Record Fedex update story online?

I saw a headline in the News & Record in a newspaper rack a couple of days ago, something along the lines of "Fedex update."

The News & Record's website search and a Google search of news at news-record.com for "fedex 2010" do not find the story. Did anybody see it online? Got a link?

Spencer says he was "pushed."

Thanks to commentator Triad Agitator for bringing  this to my attention. The portions of the protest video that show what I had described as Nathan Tabor taking a "left-handed punch (or shove)" at Govenor Spencer before Spencer punches Tabor captures an act that Spencer himself describes as a "push" near the end of the video (in the neck as reported by the Winston-Salem Journal.)

On the edited video, Tabor follows Spencer to Spencer's car with his camera where the two men have this exchange.

Tabor: "Sir, stick around, the police wants to talk to you."

Spencer: "I beg your pardon."

T: "Stick around the police wanna talk to you."

S: "Take that camera and shove it up your ass, alright? Now if you're gonna fuck around, you'll get hurt."

T: "You've already hit me..."

S: "[inaudible] you pushed me."

T: "...you threatening me again?"

S; "You pushed me."

T: "You pushed my wife."

S: "I didn't push your wife."

T: "Yep, I got it on video."

S: "[inaudible] off the sidewalk."

The video Tabor refers to, that he claims shows Spencer pushing his wife, has not been publicly produced.

Water rate increases to support plastic crap

The City of Greensboro is raising water rates. Meanwhile, the News & Record's Amanda Lehmert reports that the city is giving away plastic crap.

"Some of the trinkets the city uses to promote its programs. On the right, the water conservation mascot. On the left, a reflective GDOT button to wear while walking or biking at night."

Local media coverage of the Greensboro protest violence.

June 8, 2010, Greensboro, NC: a fight at a protest in front of Congressman Mel Watt's office involving the Forsyth County Republican Party chair.

• The story broke locally on Guarino's blog.
• WGHP had a report that night.
• The News & Record reported that WGHP was reporting on it.
• WXII had a report.
• WFMY hasn't had a peep. (Although they covered another local protest two days later.)
• The most professional and informative coverage is from The Winston-Salem Journal.

[Update: Added WXII]

Tabor slowmo

Without the written commentary, here is an animation made of key frames from new video of the Tabor/Sanders affray in Greensboro, NC on June 8, 2010. This is immediately prior to Tabor (white shirt) getting punched by Spencer (black shirt).

Here are the five individual frames:

But, but, but... He started it! Tabor swung before getting punched

{Update: Here is a better compilation of the frames.]

Nathan Tabor has found quick fame as the peaceful innocent protester who was attacked without provocation in Greensboro, NC on June 8th. He was on Fox's Neil Cavuto yesterday afternoon as the video of him being punched in the face was played again and again.

Apparently Nathan Tabor and Govenor Spencer have both been charged as a result of the fight. If either goes to trial, I am sure the video evidence will be a big factor, and I'm not sure it will support Tabor's narrative.

There were clearly at least two cameras taping during the affray. Only a single clip, composed of selected segments from both cameras has been released (and now removed from YouTube for terms of service violations).

Full video from both cameras will be instructive. There may have been things captured that are not in the released clip. There may relevant evidence that neither camera captured, but I saved a copy of the original and looking at it more carefully this morning, it shows that Tabor punched or shoved Spencer immediately prior to Spencer throwing the punch that struck Tabor in the face and is getting all the airplay.

Take a look at these three frames, in the sequence in which they occur.:

1) Here, Tabor is in the background, center, white shirt. He is following through on a left-handed punch (or shove) that has Spencer (black shirt), falling away from Tabor. The cuff of Tabor's shirt is seen to the left of Spencer's head. The lady in blue has reached up to steady Spencer.

2) Here is a split second later, from Tabor's camera. Spencer's hand is seen (lower left corner) grabbing Tabor's forearm. Tabor's fist is clenched. The lady in blue is reaching for her purse.

3) What follows is Spencer's punch to Tabor's face. This is the moment of contact, the lady in blue moving away from the fight.

Gatten's secret document -- REVEALED!

Here is the document that Greensboro, NC War Memorial Commission vice-chair and former city council woman Florence Gatten provided to all fellow commissioners in advance of their last meeting except to fellow commisioner Tony Wilkins because she did not want to see it "show up on the blogs."

The document was provided by the city in response to a public records request by this blogger. It looks to me like the letter is a response to City Council concerns about accountability and oversight of coliseum management. Why Gatten would not want the public to know of this or expect that a document provided to a public body could be kept out of public view are puzzling.

GattenWMC

My counterpoint in the News & Record

News & Record editor Allen Johnson gave me the extra space to make a counterpoint to editor Doug Clark's support of proposed legislation that would allow North Carolina to collect DNA from people on arrest, even if they are innocent. It appears today. Thanks, Allen.

Fight erupts at Greensboro protest

[Update: Fox 8 reports, including identifying the two primary parties: one, the camera man, as head of the Forsyth County Republican Party and former congressional and NC senate candidate Nathan Tabor the other as Govenor Spencer, of Greensboro. Fox8 reports that both men have filed charges against each other.]

A fight erupted at a protest outside of Congressman Mel Watt's office. Joe Guarino says the protesters were from Conservatives for Guilford County. Commentators at Guarino's express doubt the local mainstream media will cover the affray.

[THE VIDEO WAS REMOVED FROM YOUTUBE FOR TERMS OF SERVICE VIOLATIONS]

Electronic ambient meets the Mississippi delta

Shut 'er down

The News & Record continues its efforts to kill its web site. From editor Allen Johnson (scroll down):

"We have begun to enable comments only on two letters daily, partly to manage comments more efficiently and party because so many of them had become so uncivil."

Gatten should change course or step aside

According to Tony Wilkins, who serves on the War Memorial Commission and writes a blog, vice-chair of the commission and former Greensboro city council member Florence Gatten distributed a document to all other commissioners prior to their meeting except for Wilkins because he is a blogger. Wilkins says:

"Vice Chair Florence Gatten denied documents to me that all other commission members were provided so she 'would not see them show up on the blogs'." [Emphasis added.]

Gatten has a history of contempt towards government transparency. Previously, she has:

• Defended an illegal closed session meeting of city council as "perfectly appropriate."

• Refused to authorize the release of her results of the lie detector tests she and eight seven other council members took relating to leaked documents. (Four Three other council members consented to the release of their results.)

• Said, regarding former City Manager Mitch Johnson's handling of a police scandal, "If you knew what we know, you would say the city manager absolutely did the right thing." Quite the opposite came to fruition: as more information came to light about Johnson's handling of the matter, council and the public lost confidence in Johnson, leading to his resignation. Gatten has never publicly explained what she meant by "what we know."

• Erroneously told the public at a press conference regarding the police scandal that Garrity rules prohibited the release of information as heard in the clip below (0:54). The city manager subsequently admitted they did not.

With a new  city council and new city manager, Greensboro is making great progress in shedding its frustrating propensity for government secrecy. Gatten's latest antics are a reminder of her role in contributing to the previous climate of hostility towards the public's right to know and of her disdain for those who exercise that right. Greensboro is moving away from that wrong and broken attitude and Gatten should change or step aside.

Stolen lawnmower update II

I still am cautious about going into detail yet on the case of my stolen lawnmower, but the police did their job, and well -- lawnmower located, thief charged and served. Next, I am told, I'll hear from the District Attorney.

"He brained that n_ _ _ _ _"

(Greensboro, NC) Hickory Trails apartments.

"He brained that n_ _ _ _ _." (1:26)






Why that word?

N&R's Clark misses important facts in supporting DNA collection on arrest

The News & Record's Doug Clark supports the bill working its way through the state house that would have DNA samples collected from anybody arrested for a felony crime at an estimated cost of $3.5 million per year. Clark writes:

Civil libertarians say that's a violation of constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure.

That argument has been carried into court elsewhere and rejected. Here's a federal court ruling from California. The judge called DNA testing "a technological progression from photographs and fingerprints." A mouth swab is hardly more intrusive.

The North Carolina bill makes provisions for removing a person's DNA information from a database if charges are dropped or he is acquitted. However, DNA information can be very helpful in connecting suspects to crimes or clearing individuals who are falsely accused.

It is not just "civil libertarians" who oppose this bill but, as reported in the News & Record, it is also opposed by "the gun-rights group Grass Roots North Carolina." There is good reason for these strange bedfellows finding common purpose.

Just because a federal court has ruled that a governmental act is allowable (The Supreme Court has not), does not mean that we, in North Carolina, must accommodate further erosion of our civil liberties. The possibility that something may be helpful in solving a crime is not the ultimate test for the wisdom of it. For example, collecting a DNA sample from every person when they are born would be a far greater help to solving crime, but we would not stand for it. What is the argument against collecting DNA at birth that does not also argue against the idea of collecting DNA on arrest? They are principally the same. 

It is not as if law enforcement cannot get DNA samples from suspects without this bill. In those instances where it is reasonable that DNA testing might help solve a crime, law enforcement can get a warrant. Currently, before this complete record of one's identity can be collected and analyzed by the state, a judge must find there is probable cause. This bill removes the probable cause hurdle. A suspect need not even be charged, just arrested. That is an invitation for abuse.

Furthermore, DNA is not simply the modern equivalent of a photograph or fingerprints. DNA is not just identification. It is our biological blueprint. We are just beginning to unlock the secrets of DNA, but it is clearly not just information about who we are, it is information about what we are -- our biological predispositions, our physical abilities and vulnerabilities, the very code to our physical beings. DNA sampling is not just a benign recording of one's identification, but the collection of the complete master plan of one's biological architecture. That should not become property of the government so cavalierly.

Finally, as for how the DNA information is handled if the charges are dropped or the defendant is acquitted, it is not as Clark describes and the differences are important. Nothing happens as a matter of course. A not-guilty defendant must make a request of the state through an attorney, an undue burden on innocent people. The state is then required to destroy the original sample and remove identifying information from the stored profile. The profile itself is not deleted. Why does the state want to keep a collection of DNA profiles? I cannot even speculate, but any lawmaker who supports this bill should certainly know the answer to that question before supporting this bill. Also disturbing, the destruction requirements have no teeth. There are no penalties for either government employees or private contractors (who this bill authorizes to conduct collection and testing on the state's behalf) who fail to destroy a sample or remove identifying information from it. You got arrested in a case of mistaken identity yet the state failed to destroy your DNA sample? Tough cookies.

The benefits of this bill do not outweigh its costs and it should not become law.

Greensboro officials' censorship of public speaker: "A pretty dangerous threat to freedom of speech in our city."

(GREENSBORO, NC) Although Greensboro city council routinely allows multimedia presentations by speakers from the floor, according to Eric Ginsberg, at the May 18th, 2010 meeting, Greensboro assistant city manager Mike Speedling and city manager Rashad Young prohibited him from showing a video because of who appears in it. Ginsberg wanted to deliver a recorded message from Cherrell Brown who has been banned from city council meetings for two years for her involvement in a peaceful demonstration at the May 4th, 2010 meeting (video).

Ginsberg called the prohibition "a pretty dangerous threat to freedom of speech in our city."

I agree.

Ginsberg responded by reading the text of Brown's recorded remarks. Here is Ginsberg's appearance at the May 18th meeting.



Here is the video that, according to Brown, she asked Ginsberg to show during speakers from the floor:

Greensboro council speaker from the floor video: 2,287 views on Youtube

Found on Greensboro 101, a speaker from the floor at the Greensboro City Council May 18, 2010 meeting on the mayor's decision to replace the moment of silence with a spoken prayer. To date, it has had 2,287 views.