Tyranny has come to our shores

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Yikes!

In case you aren't panicked enough about Time Warner Cable's planned experiment for Greensboro:



(Hat tip: Erik Huey, where he also notes that a Congressman representing another Guinea Pig market, Rochester, NY, may try to stop this at the federal level.)

When do we get that logic Charles Davenport says should guide discussion of gay marriage?

Reflecting on Vermont's new law that allows gay people equal rights to civil marriages, The News & Record's Doug Clark says the next step is sisters being allowed to marry. He doesn't explain why defining marriage as only between a man and a woman hasn't opened the door to sisters marrying their brothers, however.

The News & Record's Charles Davenport said we shouldn't call people homophobes when they oppose equal civil marriage rights for gays, but should instead argue on logic and evidence. Sounds good to me. I also think that, absent logic and evidence, it is safe to use the word homophobe.

Mayor to take personal initiative to recruit local cable competition

Kudos to Greensboro's mayor Yvonne Johnson. She is understanding the problem with Time Warner Cable's plan to use Greensboro as an experiment for how it charges for internet access. As reported below by WFMY, Johnson says:

"I do know that there are providers of other services to us that could also provide cable service and internet service. So, personally, I am going to be talking to a couple of those businesses to see if they are in a place now to do it in this particular area (and) what it would take."

Time Warner action item #2: Write a letter to the editor

[Second in a series. Previously: #1, City Council.]

The News & Record's editorial page editor, Allen Johnson, has a post at his blog taking a look at "What the letters are saying." He notes that people are not writing letters to the editor about the Time Warner Cable internet access rate change. He notices they are "Burning up the blogs" -- but not writing letters.

There are still a lot of people who read letters to the editors and not blogs. Many of us read both, some only one or the other. Expanding the sphere of influence to those who only read letters in the papers is a good idea.

You can submit a letter to the editor of the News & Record here. A letter to the editor of the Rhinoceros Times here. A letter to the editor of Yes!Weekly here. The N&R has a 200-word limit.

Do's and Dont's:

Do
----

• Remember that not everyone reading your letter will understand technical jargon and acronyms. Try to explain your opinion in a way your grandmother would understand.
• Remember that not everyone is going to sympathize with how TWC's plans will affect you personally. Your ability to download music and upload video are broadly interesting only to the extent that they illustrate how the modern information world works and the effects TWC's plans will have on Greensboro being a modern city. Explain why this matters to everybody.
• Offer your solutions. Do you think TWC should abandon its plans? Should City Council build public internet infrastructure? Should local economic developers recruit competition to break TWC's monopoly? Use your letter to put a little public pressure on those who you think can influence this situation for the better.

Don't
------

• Don't insert partisan politics. This issue touches on things like monopolies, profit motive and regulation/deregulation. But the fact is, the blame/responsibility for this situation can be assigned to a number of parties from a number of angles. There is no political ideology that perfectly aligns with solving this issue. Use your letter to make political hay by blaming your favorite adversary and you are guaranteed to alienate instead of motivate.

City Council starting to come around. Killian has the details

Greensboro City Councilors are starting to come around on the Time Warner Cable internet rate change. The News & Record's Joe Killian has the scoop.

Greensboro City Council, the Datsun B10 of local governments

I used to drive a Datsun B10. Towards the end of its life, the starter went. If you wanted to go somewhere you had to push it first, pop the clutch and hope that you had created enough momentum for it to start running on its own.

CORRECTION: I misremembered. It was not a Datsun B10 (although there was such a beast). The car I learned to drive in was a Datsun 510:

Time Warner Cable action item #1. (But first, some bad news)

At the request of fellow local blogger Gedeon, I am going to provide what information I can for actions consumers can take to address Time Warner Cable's (TWC) experiment with how it charges Greensboro customers for internet access. (Background).

Let's start with Greensboro City Council and some bad news. It used to be that, in North Carolina, cable systems were granted a franchise by cities and counties to provide service. Local governments were free to negotiate guidelines for levels of service, prices and other performance measures. No longer. Thanks to a law passed by the North Carolina General Assembly in 2006 that took effect January 1, 2007, all a company needs to do to procure a franchise now is file some paperwork with the N.C. Secretary of State. The ability for cities and counties to grant franchises has been revoked. (The only area state legislator to vote against the bill was Pricey Harrison.)

So, while TWC appears to be continuing to operate under its original franchise agreement with Greensboro from 1994, that agreement, when it expires this fall, will not be renewable. Indeed, the new state law allows Time Warner Cable to nullify the original franchise agreement at any time simply by applying for the state franchise.

Thus, for all practical purposes, the provisions of the City/TWC franchise agreement that may have allowed the city to exert some control over TWC's plans, no longer apply. Furthermore, the regulations previously found in municipal franchises have been eliminated. Nobody at the state level has the authority to evaluate the cable company's plans or service for compliance with any standards, guidelines or regulations (beyond general "consumer protections" -- more on that later).

That doesn't mean the City is completely impotent in standing up for its residents though. Below you will find contact information for the Greensboro City Council. The first action step is to contact them. Here are some recommendations:

Do's
----

• Do inform them that you consider affordable and plentiful broadband internet access necessary infrastructure, vital to the economic success of a modern city and that you consider TWC's new pricing scheme to be to Greensboro's detriment.
• Do suggest that the City Council formally adopt a resolution instructing the city manager to actively recruit, through all means available, new competition for the broadband internet access market in Greensboro.
• Do suggest that the City Council members individually take the initiative to contact the principals of local economic development organizations and ask them to begin an immediate and serious effort to recruit competition for the broadband internet access market in Greensboro.
• Do ask them to put in motion a process for seriously considering the options for creating a city-owned wireless internet access network (Municipal wi-fi).
• Do provide them with your contact information and invite them to contact you if they would like to know more.
• Do let them know if this will be a campaign issue for you. All council members are up for reelection this November.

Dont's
----

• Do not ask them to try to regulate TWC in some way -- they simply do not have the authority for the reasons cited above.

HOW TO CONTACT CITY COUNCIL
---------------------------

Contact by email:
You may use this form to send an email to all city council persons, or those of your choosing.

Contact by phone:
Mayor, Yvonne Johnson: (336) 373-2396
Mayor Pro Tem, Sandra Anderson Groat: (336) 273-9066
Mike Barber: (336) 852-0195
Robbie Perkins: (336) 358-3219
Zack Matheny: (336) 272-0523
Mary Rakestraw: (336) 852-8639
Trudy Wade: (336) 323-6480
Diane Bellamy-Small: (336) 373-2286
Goldie Wells: (336) 621-0634

I also encourage you to post this contact information on your blog.

Charles Davenport's recent windbaggery

Today's (Greensboro, NC) News & Record has an opinion column by Charles Davenport in which he wags a finger at "liberals" (he names two) who have the audacity to name hate and prejudice when they see it (not online). He writes:

"It is much easier, of course, to demonize one's opponents, to simply brand him as a racist or bigot, than it is to advance an argument based on logic and evidence."

In November of 2008, Davenport wrote a N&R column in which he celebrated California voters' rejection of gay marriage through the passage of Proposition 8. Similar to today's column, Davenport used his ink to insist that an objection to gay marriage is not hate and that popular sentiment should trump equal rights. But the column lacked any "argument based on logic and evidence" against gay marriage.

So I emailed Mr. Davenport:

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Just curious
Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:03:37 -0500
From: Roch Smith Jr
To: daisha99@msn.com


Hi Charles,

Just read your most recent column. I'm left with one question. Why do you oppose gay marriage?

Yours,
Roch

I got no reply.

You know what is easy, Mr. Davenport? Easy is skipping the logical arguments, pretending they've been made and jumping to attacking people who find bigotry in your views precisely because you assert them in the absence of logical reasons. Easy is saying we should listen to your arguments even as you remain silent when people ask what your arguments are.

The problem for Davenport is that the "arguments" against gay marriage don't stand up as logical.

- "I believe marriage should be between one man and one woman," doesn't offer logic or evidence. It is a statement of belief, one that doesn't justify the usual accompanying objection to civil unions, but it is, nonetheless, an opinion without logic or evidence and against which there really is no argument.

- "I think we should be defending traditional marriage." Sure, have at it. Make it harder for people to get divorced or harder to get married in the first place if that is truly your objective, but unless and until you can convince us that people will start getting married to people of the same sex instead of people of the opposite sex if gay marriage is allowed, this is just irrelevant nonsense.

- "Next thing you know, 'they' will want to marry children." Again, not a reasoned argument or evidence, but nonetheless: Unlike marriage between two consenting adults, this involves exploitation of a victim. The slippery slope fear ignores the all-too-evident fact that we, as a society, do not descend into anarchy simply because we extend rights equally to our adult population. Raising the speed limit to 65 did not result in people just going as fast as they please. Extending to gay people the same rights currently available to straight people is the only issue in question. The red herrings are fear mongering.

- "Marriage is for the procreation of children." We already reject that in allowing people beyond child-bearing age and people who cannot or will not have children, for whatever reason, get married.

- "Gay people can already procure the same rights as married people through various civil contracts." That is simply untrue. A monumental effort may allow a gay couple to mirror some of the rights and obligations marriage confers upon a couple, but not entirely and not without great expense and time -- not equal.

Hate is hard to know. It is one of those things that lives in the heart and mind, concealable if that is one's intention. Bigotry and prejudice however can be judged by external words and deeds. When people object to extending to gay people the equal rights and benefits that come with marriage and pretend that there are logical reasons when there are not, that is the kind of evidence that can properly justify words like bigot, prejudiced and homophobe.

Killian has more on Time Warner Cable, Cone misses the obvious

The (Greensboro, NC) News & Record's Joe Killian has a nice thorough* look at Time Warner Cable's planned rip-off rate change for its Greensboro internet customers. It is well worth a click and read.

I was disappointed that comments from Ed Cone served to justify TWC's intentions, especially since doing so relies on a suspension of Cone's trademark rigorous logic.

Saying, as Ed does, that the "last mile" of access, that portion of the infrastructure maintained by the cable companies, may indeed be under capacity pressure misses the point. Digital data for phone service, digital television and internet access all travels through the same pipe, yet it is only internet access that is being subjected to price increases and data limits by Time Warner Cable. Were it truly a capacity problem and not a competition problem, TWC would be putting caps in place for all data traversing its system. They are not.

Time Warner Cable customer Jennifer Sanders-Melvin sums it up in Joe's article:

“I can watch all the high definition television I want through the same cable service, order on-demand movies and watch all day, and they have no problem with that,” [snip] “But if I want to do the same thing on the Internet, through the same cable, they have to limit what I can use?”

Ed suggests that the reaction from customers is like people not liking speed limits. Well, no. TWC internet customers already deal with speed limits, what they haven't had to deal with is monthly limits on miles traveled. The proper driving analogy would be a system where people who drive red cars would be limited to 100 miles per month, while the drivers of other colored cars have no limits.

[* Nicely absent, from this article or any publicly available source, is commentary from our elected or economic "leaders."]

Greensboro to increase rates for hot water

Inspired by Time Warner Cable's innovative and customer friendly decision to change the way it charges for internet access in Greensboro, NC, Austin, TX, San Antonio, TX and Rochester, NY, Greensboro officials announced yesterday a change to the cost of hot water in Greensboro.

The city will begin monitoring households' hot water usage immediately and, after a three month "education" period, give consumers the option to subscribe to one of three hot water tiers:

TIER ONE, $29.95/month: 500 gallons of hot water per month, delivered at a rate of 0.33 gallons per minute. $1 per additional gallon over limit.

TIER TWO, $39.95/month: 750 gallons of hot water per month, delivered at a rate of 0.5 gallons per minute. $1 per additional gallon over limit.

TIER THREE, $49.95/month: 1,000 gallons of hot water per month, delivered at a rate of 1 gallon per minute. $1 per additional gallon over limit.

City officials acknowledge that, just as digital data (whether for internet, phone or TV) all similarly consume capacity over Time Warner Cable, water (whether cold or ultimately heated) also consumes similar capacity through city pipes.

However, mimicking the geniuses at Time Warner Cable, Greensboro quickly recognized an opportunity to exploit hot water's popularity. "Hot water is very popular," said City Water Manager Buddy Hydro, "People are using it for all sorts of new things, like cooking, cleaning, even bathing."

Local bloggers were swiftly up in arms over the changes, quick to see the negative effects of such a change. "How many people or businesses are going to want to come to Greensboro when it is the only city in North Carolina and one of only four in the country that charges for hot water like this?" asked Baldy Malone at his blog In My Craw.

Greensboro leadership was slower to respond, apparently trying to figure out the importance of hot water.

Zzzzzzzzzzzz. City councilors, when you wake up from your naps...

When Greensboro's city councilors wake up from their naps, maybe they'll read these recommendations for responding to Time Warner Cable's rate change and start to take some action like this Austin, TX city councilor and mayoral candidate.

“This approach, and Time Warner’s specific plan, should be of grave concern to Austin,” Leffingwell said in his statement. “Right now we need to be encouraging, rather than stifling, economic recovery and growth in Austin. This plan moves us in the wrong direction.”

WFMY Vomits a Press Release

After linking to the News & Record's and WGHP MyFox8's coverage of Time Warner Cable's plan to change the way it charges Greensboro subscribers for internet access, I thought I should see what WFMY had on the subject.

What I found was a story that regurgitates Time Warner Cable's talking points with no corroboration of the company's claims, no feedback from affected customers and no context of why this matters to the community.

It wasn't a complete waste of time however, as the unsigned author at least gives us a little chuckle with this nugget:

"The company plans to use metered billing as a way to regulate costumers who use excessive downloading space."

MyFox8 on Time Warner Cable's Internet Access Price Change

Greensboro blogger and WGHP video journalists Stewart Pittman (A.K.A. Lenslinger) reports on Time Warner Cable's plan to change Greensboro subscribers' internet access rates.

Killian's story on TWC's internet access rate changes

The (Greensboro, NC) News & Record's Joe Killian has a story on the subject of Time Warner Cable's planned rates changes for Greensboro's internet subscribers.

Greensboro creative and innovative? Not if Time Warner Cable has its way

Today I want to recommend that you watch this video about Greensboro's own Monkeywhale.

Today, you might very well click on it.

Today you might come to appreciate Greensboro's fermenting creative and innovative spirit.

Next month, when Time Warner Cable starts charging you for how much internet you use... maybe not.

Greensboro in the bottom three: A call to action for city council and economic developers

[Correction: This title of this post refers to three cities affected. The number is four: Greensboro, Rochester, Austin and San Antonio.]

Who says Greensboro isn't unique? Thanks to Time Warner Cable (TWC) we are about to have a distinction reserved for only three other U.S. cities: We will soon be a place where TWC charges you for how much internet you use.

Greensboro subscribers to Time Warner Cable's internet service currently, like other cities, pay a flat rate for broadband access, but thanks to TWC's new CEO, Glenn Britt, Greensboro will soon find itself saddled with a nearly one-of-a-kind competitive economic disadvantage. Under Britt's plan, Greensboro's TWC customers could spend "potentially $100 or more extra" (MyFox8) for monthly Internet access. Downloading a Netflix or Hulu movie "could cost $1 to $4 more".

According to Business Week, Greensboro will be the Guinea Pig for TWC's attempt to "upend a longstanding pricing strategy among Internet service providers." This is a serious affront to Greensboro's economic viability and demands all hands on deck.

If ever Greensboro was serious about inspiring innovation, attracting creative young people and fostering prosperity in industries of the future, it must recognize that impeding access to broadband internet in a way like only three other U.S. cities is a big, bold, speedy move to the bottom. It is the modern equivalent of being one of only a few cities where citizens must pay a fee for every mile they drive. Nobody would move to such a place. No business would expand to such a place. No energetic college student is going to stay in such a place after graduating.

This move demands swift and decisive action from Greensboro's leaders. This cannot be met with genteel, sleepy contemplation. Here is what Greensboro's leadership should begin doing today:

GREENSBORO CITY COUNCIL
-------------

1. Review Time Warner's Franchise Agreement: The first thing to determine is what happens if the original signatory to the agreement (Time Warner) transfers the service operations, as they have done, to another entity (the recently spun-off stand alone Time Warner Cable). Does the city have room to renegotiate the franchise agreement since it is no longer dealing with the original franchisee?

2. Determine if this change is justified and allowable According to generic franchise agreements (I have a request in to the City for a copy of the specific agreement), the cable franchisee must meet certain pricing and technological guidelines. According to a TWC spokesperson on a WGHP video segment last night (I cannot find it online), TWC says it needs to institute this new pricing to keep up with demands on its infrastructure. TWC should be made to come before City Council and demonstrate that that is true. Just as traffic engineers present to council empirical data that shows car traffic versus road capacity, the provisioning of broadband internet relies on technology that also utilizes empirical data to measure traffic and capacity. City Council should ask to see to their satisfaction that TWC's reasons for its actions are, in fact, legitimate.

3. Ask/Require That TWC Postpone Implementation: If allowed by the franchise agreement, City Council should direct the City Attorney to advise TWC not to go forward with this new pricing until the City has had ample time to make the above inquiries. If the City cannot make such a demand, it should request that TWC not go forward until the City has had a chance to explore the issue.

4. Get Serious About Municipal WiFi. (Municipal WiFi: "Turning an entire city into a Wireless Access Zone, with the ultimate goal of making wireless access to the Internet a universal service."). This has come up before. Some city council members have responded that they think this is the kind of thing that should be left to the private sector. We see what that has earned us.

In this day and age, broadband internet access is critical infrastructure. It is no different than roads. Recognizing opportunity in adversity, Greensboro should begin serious efforts to become a thoroughly modern city and, instead of being one of the bottom three for internet access, catapult itself into the top ten. This is not pie in the sky, it is a serious proposal ripe for a city serious about economic development. It is within our grasp; and it's not just for the big boys. It has come to fruition in cities like Corpus Christi, TX, Saint Cloud, FL and Tempe, AZ, where some of the networks biggest fans are police and firefighters who use it to better respond to crises. Even rural Greene County, NC has implemented remarkably successful public wifi.

The cost of such an endeavor appears, at first glance, for a city the size of Greensboro, to be about $10M to $30M. We are preparing to spend $26M on a walking trail around downtown. These two things are not mutually exclusive, but really, which is the smarter investment? It need not be all our money either. Tech experts are noting that federal stimulus money is ripe to support municipal wifi projects. Greensboro is also covered by North Carlina's Golden Leaf Foundation, possibly giving us access to additional outside funding. There may well be other funding sources too. City Council needs to adopt a can-do attitude, avoid looking for excuses and proactively try, with all its might, to make this happen.


ECONOMIC DEVLOPERS
-------------

1. Lobby Time Warner Cable. Put whatever resources you have at your disposal into convincing TWC that, while they have been a good corporate citizen, this action is an aggressive move on Greensboro's economic health. Convince them that not only is the macroeconomic climate unfavorable for this kind of experiment, but that Greensboro, still trying to recover from a decade of the death of old-world industry; Greensboro, with one of its big economic hopes trimmed and delayed and; Greensboro, with unemployment at 11% and climbing is not the place for TWC to try this experiment.

2. Lobby Verizon/Others With Better Technology. Aggressively lobby companies like Verizon to look at Greensboro as a market for their next generation Fiber Optic Internet Service (FOIS). It is faster than TWC's internet access and carries unlimited capacity for all practical purposes. It is already available in other markets. Greensboro would eat it up.

Oh, the irony

I'm pulling for the Greensboro Telegram, Greensboro's new online "newspaper," I really am. But, in an article about the News & Record correcting a Lorraine Ahearn story (hat tip Triad Media Watch), the unidentified Greensboro Telegram reporter writes this:

"The woman had made several frivolous allegations to the FBI against then Greensboro Police Chief Michael Wray."

and this:

"When one read Ahearn's column, one distinctly got the impression that Sanders had worked at the department's bequest..."

If I only had a brain

(I'm a softie on the inside.)

Gene Burnett performs "If I Only Had a Brain."

Link

Guilford Commissioners Chair Skip Alston on government transparency: "I just ain’t told you yet"

Eloquent Guilford County Commissioners Chairman Skip Alston defends illegal government meetings. He explains why he disagrees with North Carolina's open meetings laws

"And I’m not going to adhere to you-all’s version of it and I don't have have no problem with that."

Okay, professor.

Greensboro's Bill Burnett rallies to the defense of mendacity

Bill Burnett of Greensboro has a letter to the editor in today's (Greensboro, NC) News & Record. In it, he writes:

"...I would rather vote for a telephone pole than to vote to re-elect a council member who voted to dismiss the competent former city manager, Mitchell Johnson."

Former City Manager Johnson made racially provocative statements to the public that were not supported by the facts. Mr. Burnett defends those who tolerated this deception and condemns those who set a higher standard. Greensboro deserves better.

Amanda Lehmert, catch up (your editors are letting you down)

Amanda Lehmert, reporter for the (Greensboro, NC) News & Record, has a story in today's edition about a lawsuit that alleges, among other things, that black Greensboro police officers were targeted by the improper use of a line-up book. The story is negligent in its presentation of the facts.

The City has legally sworn that it has no evidence that indicates this book was improperly used and that the only records it has indicate that it was, in fact, properly used in an attempt to solve an alleged sexual assault, allegedly by a uniformed police officer.

In the story, Amanda reports:

"The newly-amended lawsuit claims there are multiple line-up books and that there is no record of such a sexual assault.

"Cohen denied the allegation."

This is another example of the kind of he said/she said reporting the piss poor standards at the News & Record allow. It's not just Amanda, this tactic has a long and sad tradition at the News & Record.

It is fair enough to report what the lawsuit alleges, but to let that claim stand without reporting contradictory facts, especially when they are demonstrably known to the News & Record, is simply unconscionable. Amanda has a little wiggle room because she is a relatively young reporter and relatively new to Greensboro. But the News & Record editors are as aware of this as I am and they should be exercising a little extra effort to make sure Amanda's inexperience isn't getting in the way of accurate reporting.

The fact is, contrary to the unchecked claim Amanda reports, "that there is no record of such a sexual assault," the Greensboro Police Department has said that it does have records of the sexual assault and the News & Record is aware of their existence, a reporter having written about them on her blog.

Leaving this fact out of the story was a huge mistake. The value of newspapers used to be their unique ability to disseminate information. That value has been diminished, perhaps even usurped, by alternate media. The only remaining asset that can offer any kind of value from newspapers and reporters is veracity and their ability to bring understanding to issues. The he said/she said method of reporting, especially when it substitutes for the facts, puts the value of the News & Record in question. There is a mountain of things the News & Record needs to change to survive. This is a hugely important one and one of the easiest to address. This practice should come to an end -- yesterday. Greensboro deserves better.

[Addendum: The city's response to the the News & Record about the records of the assault included an admission of the existence of some records and the denial of the existence of certain memos. The next day, those memos were produced on Ben Holder's blog.]

Tom Phillips, catch up

Rumor has it former city council person Tom Phillips may run for city council again this year. I've always liked Tom. He's smart, respectful and fair. I thought he was a good city council person. But Tom is not up to speed on why citizens found former city manager Mitch Johnson's actions surrounding the "black book' objectionable.

Phillips is quoted in this week's Yes!Weekly ("Justice Department probe of GDP revealed, Johnson fired as city manager" by Jordan Green) as saying this:

"These bloggers keep bringing up that Mitch admitted under oath that he didn’t know exactly how the ‘black book’ was used. He tried to find out, but the people involved wouldn’t talk. They keep bringing this up: ‘He finally admitted.’ He said that from day one. I know he told us in closed session."

Phillips employs some misdirection here (or he truly doesn't understand what Johnson attested to). Johnson was not asked if could say "exactly how the black book was used." He was asked if he had any record at all that even INDICATED any misuse of the black book. He swore no. He had previously lead us to believe otherwise.

Phillips' misrepresentation of the question at hand would be like me asserting that Tom Phillips uses his binoculars as a peeping Tom and, when asked if I had any evidence of such, swearing no, but insisting that my original accusation was fair because I cannot say exactly what Tom uses his binoculars for.

You see, Johnson did not tell the public that he was not sure how the black book was used (even after he apparently became aware that it was a proper investigative tool.) No, Johnson made statements that (we now know) were misleading in asserting that he DID know that the black book was improperly used.

These unsubstantiated assertions bolstered Johnson's case for locking the former police chief out of his office, but they caused the city great tumult and, without any evidence to indicate they were true, Johnson was wildly irresponsible in stoking racial suspicions for his own purposes.

Here are some of the things Johnson told the public:

• Were he, Johnson, a black police officer he would have been damned uncomfortable to be in "that" book. [source]
• That the former chief knew the book was improper. [source]
• That the book was used to conduct "bogus" investigations of black police officers. [source]
• "That there were numerous instances of the book being shown to criminal defendants in an attempt to target black officers among the 19 pictured in the book. Defendants were told, in Johnson's words, 'If you ID an officer, we might help you out....' " [source]
  

Johnson also failed to dispute former city councilor Sandy Carmany's public assertion that there was "ample evidence that the book was used in inappropriate ways several times in efforts to implicate black officers..." which a responsible manager would have done -- especially when, in fact, the city had no record that even indicated misuse of the book, much less "ample evidence."

Phillips thinks these things should be forgotten or misremembered as Johnson saying that he did not know exactly how the black book was used rather than as the inflammatory and unfounded misrepresentations they were.

Johnson may have told Phillips in a closed city council session that he did not really know what the black book was used for (I'll look through those minutes to see if I can find a record of that), but Johnson was telling us, the citizens, something different.

It is that deception of the public Phillips is defending. In fact, one has to wonder, if Phillips knew that the city manager did not know what the book was used for, why was Phillips silent all these years when misinformation was flying? Would he not have been a credit to the community had Phillips stepped forward and said, "Wait a minute, this is going too far. Here's what I was told?" There must be something I'm not getting --- or Phillips needs to catch up.

[edit, 11:50 PM, 03/11/09: added fourth bullet point]

Facts, shmacts. News & Record sloppy again

As an update to the tech staff cuts at Guilford County Schools that caught the attention of Sue Polinsky and me, Sue writes that the (Greensboro, NC) News & Record's reporting that "Tech professionals learned Monday that their department will be cut from 14 employees to five" is not accurate.

According to schools superintendent Moe Green via Sue, "The 14 impacted staff members are not the central district IT staff that supports and maintains district computers." The five positions to be cut are from "14 staff assigned to work with middle school students, one-on-one and in small groups, for computer literacy."

I have invited the News & Record reporter who wrote the original story to comment here.

Tech, shmech. Guilford County Schools contribute to "Gastonia, only bigger."

UPDATE: Never mind. The (Greensboro, NC) News & Record's reporting that inspired this post was inaccurate.
-------------

The Guilford County Schools (GCS) make a contribution this week to Greensboro's new slogan, "Gastonia, only bigger" with their announcements that they are simultaneously cutting their Information Technology (IT) staff while increasing the number of superintendents. (Here, scroll down.)

Although I work with computers and on the Internet, I have a measured view of the benefits of technology in the classroom. I'm not gung-ho on IT as a panacea for education. There are important basics that should come first in the earlier grades and the use of computers should be limited only to supporting other educational objectives. IT for IT's sake should, I believe, begin in middle school, with increasing options through high school. This pretty much aligns with the current GCS approach as I understand it.

Yesterday, however, GCS took two actions that I fear will be a detriment to students and appear to misplace priorities. While the school board approved a plan to create "regional superintendents," GCS announced it is cutting its IT staff from fourteen to five.

Five? Cutting the tech staff to the bone while making the system more top-heavy at the same time doesn't seem wise.

What does five IT people mean?

• 1 tech person for every 24 schools.
• 1 tech person for every 995 teachers.
• 1 tech person for every 14,235 students.

[Source]

The regional superintendent idea should be put on hold and the IT staff maintained.

Refreshing reason at the News & Record

Like a breath of fresh air, the (Greensboro, NC) News & Record's Doug Clark writes a column today in which he shoots down a bogus argument even though it aligns with his views. We know Doug to be opposed to marriage and civil unions for homosexual couples, but he takes a critical look at one of the latest attempts to drum up support for writing prejudice into North Carolina's constitution* and exposes it as a bogus fear tactic.

* Co-sponsors of the bill include local representatives John Blust and Laura Wiley.

Fact Check: News & Record... again

From Ed Cone:

Did Thomas Jefferson really say all the things attributed to him in this morning's reader contribution to the N&R?

No evidence exists that he said the first one, according to the "spurious quotations" section of the Thomas Jefferson Encylopedia. Number three doesn't show up there at all, number four is said to be a misattribution, number five was said by Gerald Ford, number six is "at least partly spurious."

Fact Check: News & Record

How can you form a reasonable opinion when you have your facts wrong?

An unsigned editorial in today's (Greensboro, NC) News & Record tries to form an opinion on the removal of the city manager and builds, in part, on the notion of a divided city council. It offers, as evidence this:

"At various times some council members sought to lessen his power by having the police chief and city attorney report directly to the council instead of to the city manager.

"Those efforts did not succeed, but they underscored sharp divisions on the council, and in the community, that would not go away."

I emailed editorial page editor Allen Johnson to ask if it is accurate that those efforts did not succeed. He emailed a one-word reply: "Yes."

Well, no. The effort to put the city attorney under the auspices of city council was approved by city council and included in the City's legislative agenda. It is now up to the state legislature to grant Greensboro this authority. Far from not having succeeded, the effort is proceeding.

Get your facts straight, News & Record. Greensboro deserves better.

Mitch Johnson a "child of the devil:" Insipid News & Record editorial

Like the guy who still puts on his tie the morning after nuclear Armageddon*, the (Greensboro, NC) News & Record, down to two writers on its editorial staff, continues to publish unsigned editorials. Today's is an insipid and obtuse commentary on the removal of Mitch Johnson from his position as Greensboro city manager.

According to, ahem, the News & Record editorial department, a serious understanding of Mitch Johnson's transgressions and missteps could not be gotten rationally, but rather had to be the "fanciful" conclusions of people who imagine "vast conspiracies."

According to the News & Record, people could not come to the reasonable and considered opinion that Johnson should be replaced because they took an honest look at the cold hard facts and saw public lying, unfounded accusations and extraordinary efforts to obscure city government with a shroud of secrecy. No, according the the News & Record, the people who let the facts speak for themselves and concluded that Greensboro deserves better from the head of city government, could only think so because they are crazy people who think Johnson is "a child of the devil."

I thought newspapers were supposed to help us better understand our community. It is a waste of time when all they do is advertise their own incomprehension.

(* Hat tip: Ed Cone)

Greensboro company with a "big time future"

I was talking to WXII's Bill O'Neil today and he mentioned that he had recently done a story on the guys at Greensboro's Iconfactory. You probably know two of them as local bloggers Ged (gedblog) and Anthony (Plead the First).

You can see Bill's story here and see for yourself why he concludes that the Icon Factory has a "big time future ahead of them."

An open letter to City Councilors Zack Matheny and Sandra Anderson-Groat

Dear City Councilors Matheny and Anderson-Groat:

I know that the decision you made to remove the city manager from his position must not have been an easy one. For what it is worth, I think you made the right decision.

In considering who to hire for the position now, I have two suggestions:

1. Put qualifications above all else. Experience, education and skill set should exceed familiarity with Greensboro, connections or other considerations.

2. Subservient to #1, but important, find a candidate who believes, preferably through demonstrable actions, in open government. The culture of secrecy under the former manager was bad for Greensboro. The City Attorney's latest excuse (according to Yes! Weekly) for not releasing secret tape recordings, even to one of the people recorded -- that they are personnel records because they were produced as "a part of the employee's duties" -- is shocking. Can you imagine if the public were denied access to anything produced as "part of an employee's duties?" Everything would be off limits. This propensity towards secrecy needs to be reversed. Hire a city manager who recognizes this as a problem and is willing to change it.

Yours,
Roch Smith, Jr

Guilford County Schools, seriously? Seriously?

It's bad enough that, even though every other school system, day care and cub scout troop can announce their inclement weather delays in time for the 10:00 news, Guilford County Schools seems to imagine that road conditions might somehow defy the laws of physics and meteorology during a night of temperatures in the teens. Whatever.

But when they finally decide, do they have to irritate us with multiple pre-dawn phone calls? We received three automated recorded calls between 5:40 AM and 6:30 AM to let us know of the two hour delay we already knew about because, not knowing the night before, we had to set the alarm for our regular time, got up and turned on the TV. Very annoying.

and Clarey too.

Brian Clarey of Yes!Weekly reports on the Scott Sanders trial and acquittal. He reports the facts and manages to add some color without injecting opinion. Good stuff.

Read: "An innocent man"

Yes!Weekly's Jordan Green writes a must-read

Although I'm tempted to tell you why you must read it, including to bring to your attention the audacious quote by the Greensboro City Attorney that he thinks City records may be kept secret if they are "a part of an employee's duties," I'll just say this: An important subject explained with a degree of professionalism increasingly rare in Greensboro.

Read: "Greensboro leaders remain circumspect about police recordings."

News & Record's Ahearn cocooned

In the wake of the acquittal of Greensboro police detective Scott Sanders, the (Greensboro) News & Record publishes a Lorraine Ahearn column today. It is a diversion from Ahearn's failings as a reporter entitled "Wray's neighbor: Dogs that didn't bark in the night."

Maybe you would like to comment on it. Too bad, you can't. You can comment on N&R columnist Jerri Rowe's latest column; or Rosemary Roberts'; or Ed Cone's; or Doug Clark's; or Allen Johnson's.

But not Lorraine Ahearn's.

So, are you surprised?

WFMY get your facts straight.

In a story about the acquittal of Greensboro police detective Scott Sanders, WFMY reports of the SBI's investigation:

"The investigation eventually led to the resignation of former Police Chief David Wray."

Wrong. This is not a matter of opinion, it is a matter of time line, Wray having resigned prior to the SBI's investigation (which cleared Wray of wrongdoing, by the way). Get your facts straight WFMY, Greensboro deserves better.

Sander's acquittal on the blogs

The acquittal of Greensboro Police Detective Scott Sanders and the dismal of the only other charges even remotely related to the alleged bad deeds committed under the command of former Police Chief David Wray have local bloggers abuzz.

From legitimately wondering why city manager Mitch Johnson is still employed to questioning if former Mayor Keith Holliday and former city councilors Tom Phillips and Sandy Carmany were full of it when they encouraged us to be patient, that once the investigations were complete, once we "knew what they knew" we would understand why accusations of wrong-doing were legitimate:

Sam Spagnola: "Sanders Not Guilty"
Joe Guarino: "Congratulations to Scott Sanders and Tom Fox"
Sawdust for Brains: "Thoughts on the solution to the mess in Greensboro"
The Troublemaker had a lot to say, then takes it back.

No posts on the subject at any of the News & Record blogs yet.

Attorney General: N&R’s coverage was inaccurate and prejudicial

Jerry Bledsoe comments at Joe Guarino's blog:

"This appears to be a clear case in which the N&R and Johnson colluded to taint Sanders on the opening day of his trial in the apparent hope of prejudicing potential jurors. It did attract the court’s attention. Deputy Attorney General Jim Coman, who is trying Sanders, informed the judge that the N&R’s coverage was inaccurate and prejudicial."

I'm quite confident this will be another error by the N&R that they fail to correct.

More.

Phantom City Council Meeting

At the February 3rd, 2009 meeting of the Greensboro City Council, blogger Ben Holder (the Troublemaker) spoke from the floor to ask that the city release information regarding the surreptitious recording of citizens by police three years ago.

In defense of governmental secrecy, city councilor T. Dianne Bellamy-Small said that city council had a closed session meeting with police chief Tim Bellamy and the citizens who were taped and that she recalled them saying that they didn't want the recordings released. (Video: at the 28:25 mark)

I requested the minutes from that meeting. Assistant City Manager Denise Turner replied: "We have not found that any such closed session minutes exist."

Are there no minutes of the meeting (a violation of state law) or did the meeting not take place? I have asked Turner if there is any record indicating that this meeting happened.

Afternote: City councilor Zack Matheny has proposed that the city council record all closed sessions. It is an incredibly sensible idea that should be approved and implemented post haste.

UPDATE: Ben Holder is reporting that one of the citizens surreptitiously recorded requested copies of the tapes made of her. Ben says she was told she could not have them. Welcome to the city of the lie.

UPDATE II: Assistant City Manager Denise Turner follows up to say that Bellamy-Small was referring to a closed meeting between Chief Bellamy and the citizens surreptitiously recorded and that the reporting of that meeting to City Council took place in "small group sessions."

"Now Greensboro has reached the Orwellian stage where the lie is truth, and truth a lie."

"Now Greensboro has reached the Orwellian stage where the lie is truth, and truth a lie. At this point, the lie prevails."

Jerry Bledsoe cuts to the cold hard truth about what Greensboro's "leaders" have allowed this city to become in "The City of the Lie."

The people in positions of power and leadership in this city (Jerry calls many of them out) used to seem big to me -- a little larger than life -- as if they had some things about the world figured out that I hadn't quite grasped yet. I no longer have that opinion of most of them.

What I see now is that their claims of love for this city and to want what's best for Greensboro all too easily yield to petty personal grudges, fear of embarrassment and a desire to avoid confrontation or complicated thinking.

I wish I could give the leaders of our new found idicoracy a good shake with a "Snap out of it." Awake. Be as big as others once thought you to be. Stand tall and stand up. The pretending, the sleepwalking, the genteel ignorance may be comforting to you, but they do not well serve Greensboro. You underestimate your fellow citizens if you do not understand that your fate is irrelevance if you insist on rooting yourselves in the swamp of mediocrity and mendacity.

Modern Native American Music

I've been continuing my exploration of musical genres unfamiliar to me. My previous foray was into Goa/Psy/trance (without the drugs, thank you). Recently I've discovered an "online station" called In Tune With Spirit. It is music inspired by (mostly) western indigenous cultures, northern and southern hemispheres. Included in the mix is a hefty dose of modern American Indian pieces. Some of it is bad, it sounds like the worst of Holiday Inn lounge band influenced by Spaghetti Western soundtracks (think "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly" meets Kenny G). Much of it is really good though: Organic, genuine and moving.

Tune in here (choose your player, top left, under "live radio"). Don't say I didn't warn you--you'll get a dose of schlock--but the good stuff, especially if you've never heard it before, is worth the rough patches.

Cricket broadband anybody?

Is anybody using Cricket "broadband" mobile internet access? I need a mobile solution for the Greensboro area. Cricket advertises theirs as "unlimited," but the fine print pretty much says, "Not really." Has anybody tried it?

This is how you do it: Ben Holder applies new media to civic engagement

It does not have to look like Spielberg put it together, and it does not. But Ben Holder makes a video mash-up of the expectations and promises previously made by civic leaders then shows it to Greensboro City council at their meeting. The message, loud and clear: Respond or make us a community of hypocrites.

Like the editorial pages of a newspaper (when editors are willing to face the truth), Ben forces our community to take a hard look at itself. Unlike the editorial pages, Ben does it with mixed media, in person, on live TV, and supports it with his own passionate and informed appeal. Great job, Ben.



Afternote: Where are the community leaders who originally publicly said that they expected the truth of this issue to come to light? Why are they now letting Ben Holder carry their water? Are they a bunch of paper tigers? Yes, I'm talking to the dozen of you from the Greensboro Partnership who originally lined up to express your concerns that we get to the bottom of this issue. Next time we hear you express some concern or expectation on a civic matter, is there any reason why shouldn't just sigh and think, "Empty suit?"

"I believe these blogs are getting out of control. Next thing you know, there will be dancing!"

"I believe these blogs are getting out of control."

So says North Carolina Senator and Baptist minister Steve Goss as he explained to the News & Observer's Under the Dome blog his introduction of a bill that would make bloggers criminally liable for libel. The law would make libel by bloggers a Class 2 misdemeanor criminal offense and subject them to penalties greater than those for print publications found guilty of libel.

Our local state senators are:

Guilford County
-----------------
Phil Berger (District 26)
Stan Bingham (District 33)
Katie G. Dorsett (District 28)
Don Vaughan (District 27)

Rockingham County
---------------------
Phil Berger (District 26)

Forsyth County
-----------------
Peter S. Brunstetter (District 31)
Linda Garrou (District 32)

Randolph County
------------------
Jerry W. Tillman (District 29)

Alamance County
------------------
Tony Foriest (District 24)

Find state senators for other areas of North Carolina here.

Correcting the record: Doug Copeland, Triad Business Journal, Not Spammers

Doug Copeland of the Triad Business Journal called me today to comment on a post I had made previously about local spammers. I had referenced a post by Sue Polinsky where she was complaining about receiving what she thought was spam from Doug. Doug explained to me that the email to Sue was, in fact, a personal email. The confusion apparently was caused by Doug's email signature which includes instructions for "unsubscribing" by default.

Doug lamented that this is "One of the problems with blogs" -- that mistakes can take on a life of their own. Sure. I suppose. Like a lot of forms of communication. One of the advantages though is that corrections can happen lightening fast and with the same prominence and exposure as the original, something I'm happy to do, here and as an update to the original post.

Our new slogan: "Greensboro: A Bigger Gastonia"

Ed Cone coined the phrase "Greensboro Disease." Its onset is brought about by the presence of some largely good opportunity for Greensboro and manifests in symptoms of hand wringing, finger pointing, confusion and paranoia.

The local spin doctors' immediate treatment is a large dose of boosterism. It is rarely effective in treating the stricken and is resulting in unwanted side effects. Just as the overuse of antibiotics results in new resistant bacterial strains, Greensboro's liberal applications of boosterim are having the unintended consequence of spreading G.L.U.M.M. -- Greensboro Leaders Unresponsive to Mediocrity and Mendacity.

GLUMM is caused when the boosterism antibodies mistake real and urgent infections for Greensboro Disease and launch their suppressive actions on any target that has negative implications for Greensboro. It manifests in symptoms of blindness, deafness, dumbness, paralysis, coddling the incompetent and a fear of being impolite. Mediocrity and mendacity flourish unabated as a result.

City Councilor Zack Matheny was kind enough to have a cup of coffee with me this week. He asked me how I thought we can rise above the mediocrity and mendacity. For people in positions of leadership, check yourselves for GLUMM. If you think you might be infected, daily affirmations are the first order of business: "I will not tolerate mediocrity. Greensboro deserves better. I will not tolerate mendacity. Greensboro deserves better."

Unless and until Greensboro begins to address the outbreak of GLUMM, I fear I must agree with a commentator at Joe Guarino's blog who suggests that we, as a city, are headed on a path to being Gastonia, only bigger.

Will work for a donut... Not

Arbitron just called. The caller said I had been selected to keep a diary of my radio listening for a week in February. He said I would receive a small financial token of thanks for participating. When I asked how much, the caller said "Enough to buy a coffee or a donut." A donut? (Such a small unit of value that my spell checker is telling me it should be plural as I type this.) Very politely, I told the caller, "You are working for more than a donut. Your bosses are earning more than a donut. I'll pass."

Sorry Brad and Britt.

Former Mayor Keith Holliday, Pat Danahy, Rev. Nelson Johnson, Goldie Wells, Ben Holder: Truth about survelince must be known

Last week, Ben Holder of The Troublemaker blog, went before city council to complain that the completed investigation of secret recordings of citizens by the Greensboro Police Department is being withheld by Chief Bellamy. Ben has posted a video that remind us that former mayor Keith Holiday, Pat Danahy, CEO of the Greensboro Partnership, the Reverend Nelson Johnson and City Councilor Goldie Wells have all stated their expectations that the public would know what happened when the investigation was complete:

Patrick Danahy have you met Ben Holder?

When information first came to light about citizens having been secretly recorded by a police informant, Patrick Danahy, President and CEO of the Greensboro Partnership, went before Greensboro City Council on behalf of the Greensboro Partnership and said:

"We understand the need for limited public information to protect the investigation, but at the appropriate time (we) expect full transparency of what has happened and what will be done about it."

The investigation is now complete. Ben Holder, who blogs at The Troublemaker, requested the results. He says Police Chief Tim Bellamy won't give him the report because it is an "administrative report." Ben brought this to the City Council's attention this week.

I hope Mr. Danahy will be at the next City Council meeting to reiterate the Greensboro Partnership's original expectation of full transparency on this issue and to support Ben's request for the report.

Can Obama's new spirit of openness trickle down to Greensboro City Council? Troublemaker gives them a chance

President Obama signed an executive order today instructing government agencies to handle Freedom of Information requests "with an eye toward disclosure, not refusal." He said that angencies should err on the side of releasing information and not withhold it just because the law may give them a reason not to release it.

What a breath of fresh air. Greensboro should take note and get a clue.

The Troublemaker, Ben Holder, spoke to council last night on a matter that demonstrates the city's current problem: Some incident comes to light (in Ben's case it was undercover recordings made by the police), city staff make some initial characterizations and promise that information will be forthcoming when the facts are compiled then, when the facts have been compiled, they are denied to the public (in Ben's case GPD Police Chief refuses to give the public findings about the recordings because they are an "administrative report.")

Too often, the result is that misinformation and suspicion are allowed to fester. And why? Didn't we learn a lesson from the decades of suspicion that plagued Greensboro as a result of information being withheld about the Klan/Nazi shootings? Has our current generation of leaders learned nothing about what the scourge of secrecy can do to a community?

The propensity to find any reason not to release informatoin to the public is a tiresome and frustrating pattern in City government. Obama is raising the bar. Greensboro can and should follow his lead.

Zack Matheny's email address?

Does anybody have city councilor Zack Matheny's email address?

Piraino is back with protest petition cartoon

Anthony Piraino used to draw cartoons and post them on his blog. Then the News & Record (Greensboro, NC) hired him, then they un-hired him. Now he is back with a cartoon commentary on the protest petitions:



.

Gatten, Carmany, Phillips, Wells, Holliday -- what are they hiding?

Remember the polygraph tests that city council members took in 2006 to prove that they were not responsible for the "leak" of the RMA Report? Eight of nine council persons took the test.

At the time, the eight who were subjected to the polygraph were told their results in private, by the examiner, and allowed to orally report their results to the public -- as if someone determined to be a liar would not also lie about their results.

The whole thing was absurd, a waste of thousands of dollars of public funds, intended to back into a corner the one council person who would not take the test, T. Dianne Bellamy Small -- to make her guiltiy by implication. We were left to deduce that the one who did not take the test, T. Dianne Bellamy Small, was hiding something because she would not take the test.

With their consent, the polygraph examiner has now released a written report for the examinations of Mayor Yvonne Johnson and council persons Mike Barber and Sandra Anderson-Groat. The resutls? Each said they did not leak the report and the examiner reports there was "no deception detected." (Amanda Lehmart at "The Inside Scoop" has more, including the reports.)

Having yet to give their consent for a written report to be prepared of their results are former mayor Keith Holliday, former city council persons Tom Phillips, Sandy Carmany, Florence Gatten and current city council person Goldie Wells. What are they hiding?

Crime in my neighborhood

Neighbor Charlie has posted 2008 crime incidents at the neighborhood blog and compares them to 2007. Crime is up. Larcenies and burglaries up 167% year over year, from 9 to 15.

The cops did help us get a Neighborhood Watch program going last summer. It has resulted in us being more vigilant and willing to check up on each other. Indeed, since forming the CW, I have seen very swift responses by the police to reports of suspicious activity. I don't know what else we can do, but I hope something reverses this trend. This is a decent middle-class neighborhood, the kind that should be safe and stable if this city has anything going for it.

Congratulations Joe Killian and Amanda Lehmert

News & Record higher education reporter Joe Killian and Greensboro reporter Amanda Lehmert are engaged. Sources say the proposal was proffered and accepted on Christmas eve at the Bristol (Connecticut) Press headquarters where the two worked as cub reporters. Congratulations Joe and Amanda.

Bob Kober, Doug Copeland. What are you doing?

Spam from Bob Kober and Doug Copeland. Sue takes note (again):

"It’s local - the Triad Business Journal - and I like Doug Copeland and everyone else there. This isn’t personal. It’s technology and in many cases, it’s the law. Use the right tools for the right job."

I contacted the TriadNewsWirespam's sponsors North State Communications and Environmental Holdings Group. No reply. They must condone.

UPDATE: Doug Copeland called me to inform that the email Sue received was not spam, but a personal email from him. It included "to unsubscribe" instructions, which apparently caused the confusion.

Great deal on corn at Harris Teeter

I wish I had had my camera. At the Harris Teeter on Lawndale tonight, ears of corn were marked with this sale sign: Regularly 2 for $1.00, on sale: 5 for $3.00.

Why is it impossible to find an email address on the City's website?

I'm trying to find the email address for the City of Greensboro's Asst. City Manager for Communications, Denise Turner. I clicked on every promising link on the City's web site and used the search box to search her name. No email address. If anybody has Ms. Turner's email address, please post it in the comments. Thanks!

Environmental Holdings Group: Sponsors of Email Spam

Another day, another unwanted email spam from TriadNewsWire. Today the sponsor is Environmental Holdings Group. As noted previously (here, here, here and here), TriadNewsWire insists on sending spam to people who never asked to receive it. Their tactics even generated a complaint to the FCC. Is EHG aware of this?

North State Communications: Sponsors Local Spam

North State Communications, I don't know how much you paid for your ad in the TriadNewsWire's email "newsletter," but you have attached your good name to a despised spammer. As noted previously (here, here and here), TriadNewsWire insists on sending spam to people who never asked to receive it. Their tactics even generated a complaint to the FCC. Yet they continue and now have people paying for their annoyance.

Spagnola: "It's time for John Robinson to go." He has a point.

From The Spagnola Report:

It was big, bold headlined front page news when Ahearn initially reported the alleged improper use of the “black book”. The fact that Johnson later admitted in his answers to us under penalty of perjury that he had no evidence to support the claim has yet to even be written about in the News and Record even though I have had this document since August and The Rhino made the story front page news after I made a copy available to John Hammer.

There is no excuse for this if the News and Record intends to be considered a credible news source. Just like Mitch Johnson, it is time for John Robinson to go.

Where Sam has a point is the fact that the (Greensboro, NC) News & Record has failed to report, since it first came to light in September of last year, that the City of Greensboro, sworn to by City Manager Mitch Johnson, admits that it has zero evidence of anything indicating any misuse whatsoever of the so-called "black book."

You will recall that the former police chief David Wray was driven from office in large part because of the purported misuse of this book. The News & Record previously reported city manager Mitch Johnson as saying that the former chief of police "knew the book was improper" and that the book was "shown to prostitutes and drug dealers across the county in an effort to get information on any officers who might be engaging in illegal activities."

None of these assertions has ever been substantiated and now that the City, through the sworn statement of the City Manager, says that they have zero indication that the book was improperly used, the best the N&R can muster is "The city manager recently said the city could not prove the black book was used inappropriately." [Emphasis added] Well, no. That misses the point and is journalistic prestidigitation intended to divert readers away from the truth and the News & Record's complicity in obfuscating it.

City Manager Mitch Johnson was not asked if he could prove that the black book was used inappropriately, he was asked to:

"State whehter there are any documents or recordings in the posession of the City that indicate any other use of the 'Black Book' other than to solve or prevent a violation of the law." [Emphasis added] [Source, p13 #10]

To this the City replied, with the notarized signature of City Manager Johnson:

"Based on information and belief, the City of Greensboro is not aware of any documents or recordings in the possession of the City that indicate any other use of the photo array, an original of which is currently in the possession of the State Bureau of Investigations (sic), other than to purportedly solve or prevent an alleged violation of the law." [Emphasis added] [Source, p13 #10]

The city manager was not asked to prove improper use of the line up book, he was asked if the city has anything at all that even indicated improper use. The City and City Manager say no.

This matters greatly. The N&R previously reported the City Manager as saying that the book was used improperly. Now the manager says he has nothing that would indicate that at all. Where did those previous assertions reported in the N&R come from? Was the City Manager lying or being misquoted by the media and why does the N&R seem hellbent on ignoring the now glaring contradictions, much less investigating the reason for the contradiction and setting the record straight?

Sam is right. If the N&R will not explain to the public why it reported the City Manager as saying something for which he now says he has no evidence, then the N&R is not merely tolerating but standing in defense of mendacity -- a stance that should lead to the editor's dismissal if the paper's owners have any concern for its credibility.

UPDATE: Ben Holder (at Guarino's blog) provides another example of the (Greensboro, NC) News & Record reporting City Manager Johnson implicating former Chief Wray with statements about the "Black Book" for which he says he now has no evidence:

"Wray countered in a written statement that the black three-ring binder had only been compiled and used to identify a suspect in a single case: A prostitute's complaint that a police officer groped and sexually assaulted her during a strip search last January.

But City Manager Mitchell Johnson said investigators concluded otherwise - that there were numerous instances of the book being shown to criminal defendants in an attempt to target black officers among the 19 pictured in the book. Defendants were told, in Johnson's words, 'If you ID an officer, we might help you out....' "

UPDATE II: Here's another example of how the (Greensboro, NC) News & Record has left standing inaccurate reporting about the black book:

The book in question includes head shots of 114 black males, including at least 19 city officers. Wray maintains that the photos were assembled for one purpose only: A woman reported that she was sexually assaulted by an unidentified black policeman, and the 19 photos were of the uniformed black officers working that particular shift.

However, Bellamy said Tuesday that he has found no record of such an assault, whether in the form of a police report, a tape of the woman's statement or any previous computer search of the black officers on that shift.

If one were to go by the "official paper of record" for Greensboro, one would believe that there were indications of misuse of the "black book" and no evidence of a legitimate purpose when, in fact, the exact opposite is true. There is only evidence of its proper use and zero indication of its misuse, but the N&R seems unable to make that known for some reason. A newspaper editor content to let such a gross distortion of the facts stand on the record may be acceptable to his corporate bosses, but Greensboro deserves better.

Court, public records and City Council polygraph tests

Sam Spagnola and I had our day in court today for our suit against the City of Greensboro regarding our public records request. Frankly, Sam and the city attorneys made some good arguments. The judge agreed to review the RMA report and minutes from closed City Council sessions in camera to see what may legally be released.

We had asked for the results of the polygraph tests taken by eight of nine City Council members in 2006 to ferret out the "leaker" of the RMA report. We were told that there were no written records to deliver. However, the polygraph examiner has agreed to write a report of each council person's results provided they agree. The News & Record's Amanda Lehmert reports:

"So far, three council members have agreed to sign -- Mayor Yvonne Johnson, Sandra Anderson Groat and Mike Barber. Other test takers said they would not sign, City Attorney Terry Wood said.

"The tests were taken by eight current and former council members, including Sandy Carmany, Florence Gatten, Keith Holiday, Tom Phillips and Goldie Wells."

It is really very strange, when you think about it: A polygraph was apparently necessary because council members wanted to "prove" their honesty about whether or not they "leaked" the RMA report. But if someone showed deception during their polygraph test, would they not also deceive in self-reporting their results? And if they honestly reported the results of their polygraph test, why would they now refuse to allow a written report to be provided to the public?

When we were verbally told by then-Mayor Keith Holliday that all eight members of the City Council who took the polygraph test reported to him that they "passed," we were left to draw our own conclusions about what it meant that one council person would not take the test. Now we are left to draw our own conclusions about what it means that some City Council members do not want a written report of their results.

So, what happened? Did the Supreme Court authenticate Obama's birth certificate?

Remember this?

The US Supreme Court has ordered Obama to submit his birth certificate by December 1st for review. -- Jaycee

And this?

If those challenging the citizenship are just crazed conspiracy theorists, why is the Supreme Court paying any attention to them? A response is due Dec. 1 and a hearing is scheduled for Dec. 5. It seems that at this point Obama would just send a copy of his birth certificate to the Supreme Court to settle the issue, but it seems like he would have done that a long time ago. -- Rhinoceros Times Editor, John Hammer

So, did Obama obey the order to turn over his birth certificate by December 1st and how did that hearing go? (If you prefer to answer the answerable, you might try "Was there ever an order for Obama to turn over his birth certificate and was there ever a hearing scheduled?")

Goa anybody?

The musak at the Y has a techno channel. I liked. I went searching for some and stumbled on Goa. Never heard of it before.

It's hard to find good music to listen to while programming. Most of what I like has lyrics and it's too easy to get distracted by words when trying to code. My default is usually classical, which can be sleepy. Goa though! Driving, electronic, distinctly layered -- seems to increase the motivation and concentration.

You can find plenty on Shoutcast or check out this guy.