Republicans, puhleeease...

I am an unaffiliated voter—an independent—by registration and in practice. I voted for Libertarian Mike Munger for governor of our great state. Republican Pat McCrory was too aligned with the backwards and winner winner Democrat Beverly "Dumplin'" Perdue is a dumb bundle of confusion, that opinion being borne out to our great embarrassment.

Puhleeese Republicans, give us an intelligent moderate alternative to Dumbpling this time, one who acknowledges that the majority of North Carolinians want a strong public education system, a clean environment and a tolerant attitude personally and legally towards our diverse populations—someone for whom independents can vote. Governor Dumbplin' is an embarrassment, but she won't be defeated by a candidate who appeals to the swamp dwellers.

Cider House Rules

Hero and Peaches, dripping wet, come inside. Peaches is 
standing next to the list of rules tacked to the kitchen 
support beam.

   PEACHES
 Look at that. Them same damn rules 
 is tacked up again!

Homer has finished putting his instruments away.

   MUDDY
 Why don't you put them damn rules in 
 the wood stove, Peaches?

As the men are murmuring their approval of this idea, Rose 
Rose interjects.

   ROSE ROSE
 I want to hear what they are, first.

The men groan, but Mr. Rose won't oppose his daughter on 
this subject--not this time. He just lies there.

   ROSE ROSE
 Homer, let me hear what they are.

Homer begins to read.

   HOMER
 "One: Please don't smoke in bed."

   MUDDY
 We heard that one already, Homer.

   HOMER
 "Two: Please don't go up to the roof 
 to eat your lunch."

   PEACHES
 That's the best place to eat lunch!

   HOMER
 "Three: Please--even if you are very 
 hot--do not go up to the roof to 
 sleep."

   HERO
 What do they think? They must think 
 we're crazy!

   MUDDY
 They think we're dumb niggers so we 
 need dumb rules--that's what they 
 think.

   HOMER
 This is the last one.

The men groan, in mock disappointment.

   HOMER
 "Four: There should be no going up 
 on the roof at night."

   PEACHES
 Why don't they just say, "Stay off 
 the roof!"?

   HERO
 Yeah, they don't want us up there 
 *at all*!

Homer crumples the list and throws it into the wood stove.

   ROSE ROSE
  (to Homer)
 That's *it*?

   HOMER
 That's it.

   ROSE ROSE
 It means nothin' at all! And all 
 this time I been *wonderin'* about 
 it!

   PEACHES
 They're *outrageous*, them rules!

   MR. ROSE
 Who *live* here in this cider house, 
 Peaches? Who grind them apples, who 
 press that cider, who clean up the 
 mess, and who just plain *live* 
 here... just breathin' in the vinegar?
  (he pauses)
 Somebody who *don't* live here made 
 them rules. Them rules ain't for 
 *us*. *We* the ones who make up them 
 rules. We makin' our *own* rules, 
 every day. Ain't that right, Homer?

   HOMER
 Right.

"F-"

More News & Record "journalism" too awful for words.

"F"

GREENSBORO, NC -- Amanda Lehmert of the News & Record writes a story about the mayoral race that is chock full of negative aspersions by unnamed "critics' and complimentary characterizations attributed to unnamed "supporters"—over and over and over.

Additionally, instead of helping us learn more about the two lesser known candidates, it gives them short shrift with the excuse that they don't have much of a chance.

The article earns an F.

Candidates, elected officials and the Internet

From an email to a friend and associate:

Accessibility, transparency and responsiveness manifest themselves in internet communications to a degree of completeness and efficiency unlike anything else in human history. The internet is an egalitarian realm that inspires the imaginations of people who value a vigorous exchange of ideas and opinions.

When candidates or elected officials decline to make themselves accessible participants, it marks them as insular, incurious and obsolete. I am well enough toward the long end of middle age that I can understand the fear of becoming an irrelevant relic and how easily that can become paralyzing, but becoming vigorously active in this contemporary medium is well within the capabilities of anyone not frozen in time. It does not require strength, endurance, good health or boundless energy—just a little curiosity and a simple willingness. Without some kind of infirmity that would disqualify one from public office in the first place, there are only unflattering reasons for not actively participating.

I should have also added that a candidate or elected official who is not capably using the Internet cannot possibly be fully informing herself on the issues of the day, leaving her decision making less than adequate.

The Rhino on Danny Thompson's campaign finance "stunts"

GREENSBORO, NC -- Elections laws require that candidates for public office file regular campaign reports if they are raising or spending any meaningful money on their campaigns. Greensboro city council representative Danny Thompson seems to believe he has found a way to skirt the legal requirements to which every other candidate is obligated. Smart guy—or skating on thin ice.

From the Rhino Times (hat tip: Triad Watch):

By paying for advertising with personal checks and then reimbursing himself from the campaign account, there was no record of how the money was actually spent. Campaign finance reports are supposed to track both where the campaign money came from and how it was spent.

Tuesday night Thompson said he filed the same nondisclosure report two years ago and it helped him run a campaign under the radar. He said he planned to do the same this year.

An example would be that because he withdrew his threshold report on Sept. 7, he didn't have to file a report stating that he had signed a contract to buy $3,153 worth of television commercials on Sept. 2. Thompson readily provided those figures when asked, but similar financial data for other candidates is on the Board of Elections website, available to anyone who is interested. [Link added]

Thompson said that he shot the television commercial on August 24 at a cost of $400 well under the $1,000 threshold. But he said when he shot the commercial on August 24 he wasn't sure he was actually going to run it, which is why he didn't sign the contract to run the commercials until Sept. 2. After signing the contract to buy $3,153 worth of television time from WFMY, Thompson then went down and filed a report stating that he was going over the $1,000 limit on Sept. 7. If he had filed that report on Sept. 2 instead of Sept. 7, he would have had to file the 35-day report. The ads according to Thompson started running on Sept. 6, the day the 35-day report was due.

The very reason the campaign finance laws exist is an attempt to keep the playing field level and keep campaign spending out in the open. Two years ago Thompson pulled all kinds of stunts to keep his campaign report murky and said that much of the problem was caused by inexperience. This year Thompson has experience and appears to be doing the same type of thing. [More.]

 As Triad Watch reminds us:

On 2-18-2010 Rhino had this post titled "Thompson's Campaign Finances Don't Add Up" [Link added]

Deborah Fae Brogden adds profile to GreensboroCouncilCandidates.com

Deborah Fae Brogden, candidate for City Council at large, has added her profile to GreensboroCouncilCandidates.com -- sort of.

Yvonne Johnson adds profile to GreensboroCouncilCandidates.com

Yvonne Johnson, candidate for City Council at large, has added her profile to GreensboroCouncilCandidates.com.

Nancy Hoffman adds profile to GreensboroCouncilCandidates.com

Nancy Hoffman, candidate for City Council district 4, has added her profile to GreensboroCouncilCandidates.com.

Patriotic Haiku

Wheels of justice turn;
sends a shiver down my leg.
Proud American.

Found in translation

With apologies for copying the entire post, from Ed Cone:
--------------

Rhino sez: 

The reason the city is where it is as far as using the White Street Landfill for the disposal of Greensboro's garbage is because the opponents of using the landfill filed a successful lawsuit in May blocking the planned use because the city had not complied with state law on opening Phase IV and Phase V. 

Should read:

The reason the city is where it is as far as using the White Street Landfill for the disposal of Greensboro's garbage is because the city had not complied with state law on opening Phase IV and Phase V, leading opponents of using the landfill to file a successful lawsuit in May blocking the planned use.

To my gay and lesbian brothers and sisters

To my gay and lesbian brothers and sisters, do not despair. Our hearts may be heavy this morning, burdened with the possibility that our neighbors may carve into stone prejudices against you and there may be the temptation to throw up our hands, helpless that we were born a decade or two too early, but let us not give up until we have given it our all.

There are people among us who are simply not bothered by their bigotry and never will be. They will not give any thought to the reasonableness of their desires to codify into law the permanent consignment of gay people to second class status—it is in their gut and that is enough. They are not the key to our success.

Between now and the vote in May, let us thoughtfully and respectfully make a heartfelt appeal to our friends and family who we know to be goodhearted but who may not yet appreciate the importance of their vote on this matter.

To them, let us make an appeal of fairness and remind them that this amendment doesn't just define marriage as the domain of straight people, it says that straight marriage will always and forever be the only kind of domestic union in North Carolina, for gay or straight people. No civil unions, no domestic partnerships. It locks down the status quo leaving no room for anything new.

So kindly turn to that aunt who loves you but thinks marriage is between a man and a woman. Make sure she understands this amendment goes far beyond protecting her beliefs and into the realm of denying you equal participation in society. You have to do this. You cannot just read and nod in agreement. Sometime between now and the vote, you have to actually have these conversations. They may be unlike any conversations you've ever had before, they may be uncomfortable at first, but you, we, have to do this.

Don't stop with your aunt. Have the same conversation with that conservative golf buddy who has a libertarian streak, the Palin-loving coworker who laughs at your jokes, the neighbor who voted for McCain and admires your garden. Anywhere you have a good connection with people who might be inclined to support this amendment simply through inertia, bring this to a personal level for them. Make sure they know exactly what the amendment would do—no civil unions, no domestic partnerships, ever. Ask them to consider if this is fair for you, if they want to assist in cutting you off from the same rights and obligations available to straight people. Then ask them to please vote.

So do this. I will too. It won't be easy, but do it until you have exhausted all of the open-minded friends and family you can think of and we might just have a chance.

And one other thing, like any human, there are limits to my empathy and comprehension of what it is like to be gay today, and I'm not scolding, not telling you what to do, I may not understand, but if you are a gay or lesbian elected official who remains in the closet while your constituency works to subjugate people like you: Why? 

Wait, what?

In their lawsuit on behalf of Gate City Waste Services seeking to enjoin Nancy Vaughan from voting on the waste disposal contract, attorneys from Kirkpatrick, Townsend & Stockton spend fifteen pages trying to make the case for why Vaughan has a financial interest in the outcome of Council's decision.

Then they ask the court not to require the plantiff's to put up security monies because, well, Vaughan has no financial interest.

Plaintiff requests that the Court dispense with any security requirement because the restraint requested herein by Plaintiff will cause Defendant Vaughan no material damage.

"This is not a debate over the vendor"—more Gate City contradictions

More contradictions from that full page ad by Gate City Waste Services offering us "The Truth About the White Street Landfill." Previously...

• Gate City said they were the lowest bidder? Not so truthful.
• Gate City said the process was legal and responsible. They've changed their mind...

...and now this from Gate City's lawsuit today:

[The] Council is holding a public hearing on September 20, 2011, on the very question of whether to make an award to Gate City. Members of the public are free to urge the council at that hearing to make the award to Waste Industries instead of Gate City, and the Council may still elect to do so.

Hold the phone. That is the exact opposite of what Gate City told the public in "The Truth About the White Street Landfill" ad:

The final step in the due process will be a public hearing on September 20. THIS IS NOT A DEBATE OVER THE VENDOR. [Emphasis and capitalization in the original.]

I don't understand. The ad promised us what Gate City was saying was the truth. It was a full page and everything...

More trash company propaganda contradictions

GREENSBORO, NC -- Yesterday, I wrote about a conflict with the facts in the full-page "Truth about the White Street Landfill" ad by would-be municipal trash contractor Gate City Waste Services. They claimed they were the lowest bidder. They weren't in any meaningful sense.

Another "truth" from the ad now comes into question. This by Gate City's own self-contradictions. From the ad: 

The process has been legal, responsible and extremely thorough.

Today, Gate City apparently has changed their minds and filed suit against the city over the legality of the process.

UPDATE: Here is a copy of the lawsuit.

Councilman Thompson defends trash company ad

GREENSBORO, NC -- Greensboro city council representative at-large Danny Thompson called to talk about yesterday's post "Would-be trash contractor misleads public with propaganda." He wanted to explain the justification for Gate City Waste Service making the claim in their full-page Rhinoceros Times ad that they were the lowest bidder for Greensboro's trash contract—a claim I found contradictory to the record.

As this blogger wrote, the Rhino Times and the independent engineering consultant hired by the City to evaluate the bidders' proposals both said Gate City Waste Service's bid was not the lowest bid, contrary to what Gate City said in their ad:

The Gate City response IS THE LOWEST bid received by the City for their waste. [Emphasis in original.]

Every bid included price components for various amounts and types of trash, allowing each bid to be evaluated under different scenarios. Thompson told me that we need to look at the line item in Gate City's bid that represents the cost for, what he called, "city-owned" waste. Although the term is not found in the independent engineering firm's evaluation of the bids or the City's request for proposal, Thompson defined "city-owned" waste as the minimum trash Greensboro is obligated to collect—the green residential cans, he said. No apartment dumpsters, no businesses. This amount of trash is, according to Thompson, 6,000 tons per month and Gate City's rate for the disposal of municipal solid waste in the range of 5,000 to 10,000 tons per month was the lowest.

 

So what Thompson is saying is that if you look at one of the pricing components of the Gate City bid, it is the lowest among all bidders for that component. But this line item is a single cost component of the entire bid and, when looking at the entire costs, Gate City is not the lowest.

The independent engineer evaluated the proposals by two cost scenarios, the first for disposing of all municipal solid waste (and all construction and demolition debris); the second for just city-collected municipal solid waste (and all construction and demolition debris). Under both of these scenarios, Advanced Disposal had the lowest cost, not Gate City and it was by this evaluation that City Council chose Gate City—although, one may legitimately wonder why the lowest qualified bidder wasn't chosen.

Would-be trash contractor misleads public with propaganda

GREENSBORO, NC --- Gate City Waste Service, LLC really wants to secure a contact to dispose of Greensboro's garbage in a reopened White Street Landfill. When the contract seemed in jeopardy because councilperson Nancy Vaughan's previously recused vote was put back into play by a decision from the city attorney, Gate City took steps to manipulate the process by adding items to their proposal that would likely, once again, prohibit Vaughan from voting, probably ensuring a city council 4-to-3-with-2-abstaining majority in favor of Gate City (barring lawsuits).

But Gate City wants us to know it has all been on the up and up and just to make sure we, the sheep, know it, Gate City took out a full page ad in the Rhino Times offering "THE TRUTH ABOUT THE WHITE STREET LANDFILL."

One of the "truths" offered in the ad is this:

The Gate City response IS THE LOWEST bid received by the City for their waste. [Emphasis in original.]

According the the Rhinoceros Times and the independent firm hired to evaluate all proposals, that is not true. Another bidder offered the lowest net cost.

From the independent evaluation of all proposals:

BREAKING: UNIDENTIFIED DOG BEATER RUNNING FOR MAYOR

BREAKING :-) BREAKING :-) BREAKING :-)

GREENSBORO, NC -- Local blogger Joe Guarino, Greensboro's Matt Drudge, has revealed that a candidate for mayor, whom Guarino did not identify, was seen beating his dog in public. This has been confirmed by this blogger.

The candidate in question was walking his dog at Country Park, when Moocher slipped her collar and took off after a goose. The candidate, despondent from unspecified immoral acts, was slow to react and Moocher had the goose by her neck in no time flat. The candidate roused himself from memories of raindrops and kittens and sprang into action, calling to the dog. Nearby picnickers thought he was yelling at them.

The candidate ran towards Moocher and in the general direction of the picnic shelter, waving the leash overhead like a lasso and yelling "Moocher! Moocher! Let go of the bird, girl."

Mistaking him for a rabid Michal Savage fan (weeknights locally 101.1 FM) and thinking the candidate was yelling at his wife, one of the picnickers met the running candidate with a stand-up block right under his, I'm told, manly chin.

The candidate went flying, landing on the geese poop—greased grass, sliding towards the water's edge and the dogged goose. The picnicker was in pursuit. The goose was on its last breath. Time was of the essence.

In an act of pure communicative efficiency of the kind justified by centuries of tradition and sanctified by God himself, man took dominion over beast and a swift lash was delivered across Moocher's flank. This elicited an immediate howl which precipitated the goose who plopped to the ground motionless.

The picnicker was closing in. Thirty yards. Twenty. Thighs rippling, chest heaving.

With the precision and accuracy of a Kung Foo master, the candidate karate chopped the collar onto Moocher, grabbed the goose and ran towards the Natural Science Center, Moocher happily leading the way. The picnicker pulled up short, reluctant to keep his melting Gnam Gnam waiting.

At the Science Center, curators and junior curators attempted to revive the goose. Valiant efforts were made, the pictures of which will surely soon surface as some freakout over girl-on-goose in taxpayer supported facilities.

That is all this blogger can confirm at this time. I'm trying to track down the goose. I heard it ended up as a most delicious special at Nico's, but that is unconfirmed.

Comparison of suspensions by race in Guilford County Schools

GREENSBORO, NC -- This is one of the most valuable things a reporter can do, in my humble opinion: find out what empirical data can tell us about a matter of public interest.

The News & Record's Morgan Josey Glover digs through suspension data to make an "apples to apples comparison" of suspension rates by race in Guilford County Schools.

City: "Lack of integrity shown by WFMY reporters"

GREENSBORO, NC -- Greensboro city officials met recently with the general manager and news staff of WFMY over WFMY's reporting practices, expressing the City's displeasure with "storylines designed to portray the City in a negative manner" and "the lack of integrity shown by WFMY reporters in their news gathering tactics." [Hyperlink added]

Apparently, the meeting went well enough to allow the City to restore WFMY's access to city employees. Here is an email from the assistant city manager to City department heads.

WFMY photo fun

From reader Hugh:

Ever notice how WFMY's site hypes stories with sensational photos?  Today's [9/5/11] example, Front page headline:

"Hatteras Island Residents Given OK To Return Home" is illustrated with a photo of Hatteras Lighthouse with the the surf menacingly close.  I guess it's irrelevant to their readers that the lighthouse was moved 1/2 mile inland 12 years ago.

He's right:

Makes my head hurt

This News & Record article by Donald Patterson is describing some kind of job changes at Timco, the airplane maintenance company at the airport. Patterson describes positions coming and going and moving around, some now, some later. I think the bottom line is that 50 jobs are leaving the Greensboro location, but it's not really clear.

David Crawford adds profile to GreensboroCouncilCandidates.com

David Crawford, candidate for Greensboro city council district 5, has added his profile to GreensboroCouncilCandidates.com.