24 is larger than 900? N&R writer gets her facts wrong.

In a counterpoint column in the News & Record today, writer Jo Lynn of Greensboro suggests that if city counselor Mike Barber wants to consider re-opening the White Street Landfill, he should think instead about opening a landfill in his district. Lynn says that she even knows of a perfect site in Barber's district, one that she describes as "actually larger than the White Street site."

Bzzzzzzz! Wrong. Lynn goes on to describe her proposed site as being 24.52 acres in size. The White Street landfill is, in fact, approximately 900 acres.

I've bemoaned the N&R's unwillingness to fact check reader contributions in the past. I'm doing it again. Whatever good arguments there may be for not re-opening the landfill, or opening another one, this is not one of them. It really holds our community back when we have discussions on public policy that start from places of misinformation. While I understand and agree with the N&R's desire not to squelch opinion, assertions of facts should be checked and commentary rejected if it claims something that is demonstrably false by empirical measurement.

While it would be far better for the N&R to exercise their fact-checking in advance, it's not too late in this case. Hopefully, in a subsequent edition, the N&R will offer a correction noting that this article contained an error. Doing so would not only correct the public record and better inform readers, it would send a message to future writers that they must get their facts straight or be publicly corrected.

Clinton, Obama invited to meet with Greensboro bloggers

I sent an invitation to the media coordinators of the Obama and Clinton campaigns last week inviting each to do an interview with Greensboro bloggers ahead of North Carolina's May 6th primary. I told them of Greensboro's national recognition as one of the most active local blogging communities and of our civic engagement through the city council candidates forum, fund-raisers and public records requests. I invited them to take a look at the Greensboro page of We101.com to see for themselves the diversity, independence and seriousness of Greensboro bloggers.

I haven't received a reply from either campaign yet.

Hammer Watch: Rhino Times reports bogus terrorism plot

Have you heard about the FBI foiling a plot by terrorists to shoot up movie theaters across the country? Neither have I. But there it is in this week's Rhinoceros Times (not online) in publisher John Hammer's "Under the Hammer."

In his column, Hammer writes that "Those who claim to know" tell of a plot in which terrorists were planning to go into "a number of movie theaters in shopping malls in different parts of the country at the same time of the day after Thanksgiving..." According to Hammer, "The terrorists would be armed with automatic weapons and, when the lights went down, they would simply stand up and spray the packed theater with bullets."

Scary, huh? Thank goodness "The FBI caught the terrorists before the plan could be carried out," as Hammer reports. Still, Hammer wants us to "Imagine if it had been successful." Before doing that though, imagine if any of this were true. It doesn't appear to be. I pay pretty close attention to the news and never heard of this plot or arrests. Almighty Google comes up empty, except for some similar urban myths. It looks like Hammer pulled this one out of his hat.

This is not the first time Hammer has put forth a "story" based on vague "sources." It should be the last. This sort of blatant fabrication is simply embarrassing and a gross disservice to Rhino readers. If Hammer had any allegiance to the truth, he would publish a correction in the next issue.

David Crawford: School board candidate, plagarist

Guilford County School Board candidate Erik Huey blogged today excerpts from School Board Candidate David Crawford's MySpace page.

Crawford's blurb begins with "David Crawford for School Board at Large Crawford on the Issues..." and proceeds to copy from Cobb County (Georgia) School Board Candidate John Crooks' web site. Except for the removal of references to Cobb County-specific information, Crawford copies Crooks word-for-word and without attribution. Guilford County students get Fs for plagiarism. What was Crawford thinking?

A screen shot of the plagiarized portion of Crawford's MySpace page:


A screen-shot of a portion of John Crooks web site: