Albion W. Tourgée, a forgotten Greensboro son?

I've never heard of Albion W. Tourgée until I read this morning that he lived in North Carolina for a while and  looked him up to learn more. Maybe we should have a Tourgée Boulevard.

Albion Winegar Tourgée (May 2, 1838 – May 21, 1905) was an American soldier, Radical Republican, lawyer, judge, novelist, and diplomat. A pioneer civil rights activist, he founded the National Citizens' Rights Association and litigated for the plaintiff Homer Plessy in the famous segregation case Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). Historian Mark Elliott credits Tourgee with introducing the metaphor of "color-blind" justice into legal discourse.

After the war, Tourgée established himself as a lawyer, farmer, and editor in Greensboro, North Carolina, where he and his wife moved so he could live in a warmer climate better suited to his war injuries. An active participant as a Reconstruction Carpetbagger  in his new home, Tourgée had a number of inspiring and harrowing experiences that gave him ample material and impetus for the writing he would later undertake. In 1868 he represented Guilford County at the state constitutional convention, which was dominated by Republicans. There he successfully advocated for equal political and civil rights for all citizens; ending property qualifications for jury duty and officeholding; popular election of all state officers, including judges; free public education; abolition of whipping posts for those convicted of crimes; judicial reform; and uniform taxation.

Update: A letter from Tourgee on the KKK:

Greensboro, N.C. May 24, 1870. Gen. Jos. C. Abbott-My Dear General: It is my mournful duty to inform you that our friend John W. Stephens, State Senator from Caswell, is dead. He was foully murdered by the Ku-Klux in the Grand Jury room of the Court House on Saturday or Saturday night last. The circumstances attending his murder have not yet fully come to light there. So far as I can learn, I judge these to have been the circumstances: He was one of the Justices of the Peace in that township, and was accustomed to hold court in that room on Saturdays. It is evident that he was set upon by some one while holding this court, or immediately after its close, and disabled by a sudden attack, otherwise there would have been a very sharp resistance, as he was a man, and always went armed to the teeth. He was stabbed five or six times, and then hanged on a hook in the Grand Jury room, where he was found on Sunday morning. [Continued]

Update II: Yes! Weekly editor Brian Clarey credits one of the ten best "Overlooked  moments in Greensboro history" to Tourgée.

Update III: D'oh!: "One of Tourgée’s most notable contributions was his role in founding Bennett College for African Americans in Greensboro."

Asking City Council for action on city attorney's stonewalling

The City of Greensboro attorney Terry Wood's explanations for why the public comments on the search for a new police chief were redacted have prompted me to ask the City Council to review the document without the redactions and determine if, as Wood maintained, "only names" were redacted. I sent the following to the mayor and city council.

The City made available on its website the responses it received to its request for public comment on the search for a new police chief. Some of the responses were redacted.

I asked City Attorney Terry Wood to provide the legal justification for these redactions. He said that the redactions were justified by personnel law because the comments "were employee opinion of other employees' performance;" that "statute prohibits the release of any comments or opinions (good or bad) related to an employee's, or past employee's, performance;" and he assured me that "only names were redacted." (Our email exchange is available on request. Document here: http://www.greensboro-nc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/4523E186-E7FB-4D1D-ADC0-AC59B4087BDB/0/PoliceChiefSurveyComments.pdf)

I believe this information to be incorrect in the following respects. One, it seems unlikely that "only names were redacted." Several of the redactions are of two or three letter words, indicating they are likely pronouns. Other redacted words are preceded by articles such as "a," "an," and "the," words that would not precede proper names.

Two, the City website identifies the comments as "Police chief search public comments" and, indeed, I see my comments among the responses. These are not "employee opinions of other employees' performance," as the city attorney described them.

Three, the City publicly recognizes the achievements and accomplishments of employees. The city attorney's response that "comments or opinions (good or bad)" related to an employee are prohibited from release by the City is inconsistent with the City honoring outstanding employees -- a public opinion of the employee disseminated by the City. The City does not apply this "rule" evenhandedly and it is unfair for the City to subscribe to it only when it is convenient to frustrate public inquiries.

In the interest of maintaining government transparency and to abide by laws of the North Carolina, I respectfully request that City Council undertake the following actions in this matter: Review the document in question without the redactions in closed session. Determine if anything other than "only names" were redacted as the City Attorney represented to this citizen and, if so, instruct the City Manager to make this document available without the improper redactions.

Sincerely,
Roch Smith, Jr.

Response on redactions from City of Greensboro attorney

I received this reply from the City of Greensboro attorney Terry Wood regarding my request for the legal justification for the redactions made to the public comments about the search for a new police chief.

Those were redacted from comments solicited from employees.  The portions redacted were employee opinions of other employees' performance; therefore their names were deleted to comply with NCGS 160A-168.  That statute prohibits the release of any comments or opinions (good or bad) related to an employee's, or past employee's, performance from being released by the City without that employee's permission.

Those explanations seemed to ignore the context of the redactions, so I asked him to look again, to which he replied with the following:

Only names were redacted. "Bring Back _______!" was the name of an employee such as "Bring Back "Charlie Brown."  If I say some one is doing an excellent job or a terrible job it's an opinion and once that opinion is 'gathered' by the City it cannot be released except with the permission of the employee or otherwise as allowed by the Statute.  If I say "Bring Back Charlie Brown" that could mean I thought Charlie Brown was great and did an excellent job or it could be a facetious statement meaning Charlie Brown was not a fan favorite, either way it's expresses an opinion of performance.

[Update: These responses prompted me to send an email to the mayor and city council asking them to look at the document without the redactions and determine if, as the City Attorney maintains, "only names," were redacted.]

City of Greensboro's improper redactions

The City of Greensboro has posted results from its online questionnaire about the next police chief. There are some questionable redactions, a practice I thought was coming to an end with the City's recent efforts to better communicate to its employees the requirements of North Carolina public records laws:

Here is an example.

The context convincingly indicates that these redactions are of nouns and pronouns (preceding articles "an" and "a" are good indications; very short words, another.). They may suggest the identity of a person or they may be foul language, it's hard to say for sure, but state law allows neither to be legitimately withheld from public records.

Here is another:

Greensboro has been know to venture into the absurd in using personnel privacy laws to keep employees' names out of public records, no matter the context. But the name of someone who this context convincingly indicates is a former employee deserves no secrecy. The City knows this, just look at the numerous documents online at the City's website that mention former City Manager Ed Kitchen without redaction. The City cannot choose to publish or redact an employee's name, current or former, arbitrarily.

There are numerous examples of what appear to be a misapplication of the requirements of the law in this document. I have asked City Attorney Terry Wood to provide me with the legal justifications for these redactions.

News & Record dutifully regurgitates city press release

(Greensboro, NC) Here is a story from the News & Record. The highlighted portions are plagiarized word-for-word from the City of Greensboro's press release and this online announcement.

GREENSBORO — The city today announced the final two candidates for the Greensboro police chief job.

The candidates are Kenneth C. Miller, senior deputy chief for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, and Lisa G. Womack, former police chief of the Elgin (Ill.) Police Department.

According to details provided by Greensboro, Miller's law enforcement career began [during a four-year hitch] with the U.S. Air Force, where he served as a security police sergeant until 1985. From there, he was auxiliary deputy sheriff with the Greene County Sheriff's Department while earning his bachelor's degree in criminal justice and political science at East Tennessee State University. He also has a master's in public administration from UNC Charlotte.

In 1989, Miller joined the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department as a patrol officer and worked up the ranks to sergeant, captain, major and deputy chief. He has managed administrative and support services divisions, as well as the department's internal affairs bureau. In his current post since January, Miller oversees a staff of more than 600 full-time employees and a budget of $18 million.

Womack's law enforcement career began in 1992 following a four-year term as assistant to the city manager's office in [the City of] Hurst, Texas. She began as a police officer with the Arlington Police Department and worked her way up the ranks to sergeant, lieutenant and deputy chief, a post she held from 2001-04. For the next year, she served as chief of police for the Sugar Land Police Department in [Sugar Land,] Texas.

Womack then served as chief of police of the Elgin Police Department [in Elgin, Ill.] from 2005-10. In that post, she managed a staff of more than 300 full-time employees and a budget of $32 million. She resigned [*]  from the job in April after the hiring of a new city manager.

Womack holds a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Texas Woman's University and a master's degree in public administration from the University of North Texas, Denton.

Read more about the candidates at www.greensboro-nc.gov/Candidates.

More than 200 people applied for the Greensboro job, and city officials recently narrowed the field to six, all of whom were interviewed before the final two finalists were picked.

Miller and Womack will participate in panel assessment activities later this week. Panels consist of local public safety officials, business community representatives, neighborhood representatives and residents from each council district, as well as Greensboro Police Department [(GPD)] employees, according to a news release.

Current Police Chief Tim Bellamy is retiring July 31. Assistant Police Chief Dwight Crotts has been selected interim chief effective Aug. 1.

* hyperlink not in original

[Update: Although not to the same extent as the News & Record, WFMY copies and pastes too.]

Metal in my Kingsford Charcoal

Why is there metal in the Kingsford charcoal I purchased from Home Depot?

Armed citizen journalist at Greensboro demonstration reportedly acquitted of charges

[Update: The News & Record's Ryan Seals confirms the reported disposition of the charges.]

(Greensboro, NC) In October of 2009, James Ronald Penn Jr.video taped an anti-abortion demonstration with a gun on his hip. That inspired the attention of the police and, as subsequently reported by Ryan Seals in the News & Record, a search of his home and criminal charges of failure to store a firearm to protect a minor, resisting a public officer and possession of a firearm at a parade or demonstration.

A pseudonymous commenter at the post on this blog reporting the charges says that the first two charges were dismissed and that Penn has been found not guilty of the firearm at a demonstration charge. I have emailed Seals to ask if he can confirm and if the N&R is going to follow up.

Here is the video Penn recorded:

Local media: stenographers of government propaganda

(Greensboro, NC) It takes little effort to repeat what government officials say about their actions. It takes more thought and effort to put official pronouncements into a larger context that incorporates relevant facts. The former is stenography. The later is reporting. Local media continue to propose their value is as stenographers.

In covering the new state law that would allow North Carolina law enforcement to collect and share the D.N.A. of innocent and guilty people alike, local media fell down and resorted to simply regurgitating what other people in favor of the law thought of it.

I'm talking to you News 14 Carolina, WFMY and WGHP. I reserve a special mention for the amazingly insipid WFMY story that manages to conflate the bill with a cold case, neither having anything to do with the other.

Only Mark Binker at the News & Record quoted anyone opposed to the law in his coverage of its debate in the General Assembly. (As far as I can tell, the N&R has not, at the time of this post, covered the bill being signed into law at all).

All coverage, including Binker's, failed to report the factual yet negative measures of the legislation. The law allows the state to share D.N.A. with other jurisdictions but provides no means, indeed cannot provide any means, for innocent people to have their D.N.A. removed from the databases of other jurisdictions. It provides no prohibitions or penalties for private contractors, authorized to perform D.N.A. analysis on behalf of the state, who may expropriate a person's D.N.A. sample for commercial research or profiling purposes. These facts are not reported.

Instead, what we got from local reporters was not reporting at all. It was regurgitation -- from WFMY, a summary of the Governor's Tweets -- all uncritical repetition of the official line, each failing to report any derogatory facts about this law.

Harrison stands up for civil rights; Blust, Berger, Vaughan and Jeffus for erosion of liberties

Greensboro state legislator Pricey Harrison (D) voted against the bill that would allow the state to collect DNA samples from people upon arrest, whether they are convicted or not, and share the samples with other jurisdictions, including the federal government.

Local legislators John Blust (R), Phil Berger (R), Don Vaughan (D) and Maggie Jeffus (D) voted in favor of this erosion of liberty. Governor Beverly Purdue (D) signed the bill into law today.

Should anyone doubt this is the beginning of an "erosion,"  Purdue said the bill was a "first step," that "It's better than nothing but, yes, we've still got work to do.”

Lawnmower thievery suspect indicted

A grand jury has indicted a person in the case of my stolen lawnmower. The indictments are for larceny, possession of stolen property and, because he pawned it, obtaining property by false pretense. The person may plead guilty at an upcoming court date or plead not guilty and demand a jury trial, which could put resolution months away.

Out in public sick and without pants

(Greensboro, NC) Would you go out in public sick and without pants? That's what two institutions of local importance are doing with their websites.

First, there is Urban Hotel Group, the proposed developer of the proposed downtown hotel. As Jeff Martin brings to our attention, their web site is infected with malware. As Google warns: "This site may harm your computer." (So don't go there, mmmkay?)

Then there is the airport. Boasting of their remodeled website in press releases and on billboards, most of the remake consists of "framing" content from other sources within the boarders of the airport's website. On the "Find your flight" screen, this creates a violation of  common security settings, resulting in an inescapable loop of error messages as seen here:

More suicidal tendencies

Lex Alexander:

"[T]he real test of a reporter’s work isn’t whether there’s a perception that he can’t be fair. It is whether the work he actually publishes is fair, accurate, and ethically produced. That’s all that matters."

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

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

So what's next?...

MoSoul Poets, Greensboro, NC

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

Awesome powers of observation -- not

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You can see and hear it for yourself. 

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

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

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

Ideological blindness

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dear video "sweepstakes" operators

Dear video sweepstakes operator:

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

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

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

Fish cites fisherman

From the Associated Press:

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

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

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

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

Billy's law

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

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

N&R publisher's situational objectivity

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

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

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

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

It seems inconsistent to me.

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

Lex pays attention to Chamber of Commerce hypocricy

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

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

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

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

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

Oh, yeah, this:

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

Look who's talking

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

Alston, March 11, 2010:

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

Wraslin' in Greensboro

[Found on Greensboro101]

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

Troubled local banks

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

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

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

News & Record Fedex update story online?

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

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

Spencer says he was "pushed."

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

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

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

Spencer: "I beg your pardon."

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

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

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

S: "[inaudible] you pushed me."

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

S; "You pushed me."

T: "You pushed my wife."

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

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

S: "[inaudible] off the sidewalk."

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

Water rate increases to support plastic crap

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

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

Local media coverage of the Greensboro protest violence.

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

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

[Update: Added WXII]

Tabor slowmo

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

Here are the five individual frames:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gatten's secret document -- REVEALED!

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

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

GattenWMC

My counterpoint in the News & Record

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

Fight erupts at Greensboro protest

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

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

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

Electronic ambient meets the Mississippi delta

Shut 'er down

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

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

Gatten should change course or step aside

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stolen lawnmower update II

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

"He brained that n_ _ _ _ _"

(Greensboro, NC) Hickory Trails apartments.

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






Why that word?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I agree.

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



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

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

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

News & Record editor responds to Pastor's plagiarism

News & Record editor Allen Johnson responds to the issue of the guest column with substantial plagiarized portions.

Johnson writes:

"We obviously would not have knowingly published such passages if we had known they were not properly credited. So we feel it is important to acknowldge that here and now."

Johnson also reports that Michael Usey, pastor of College Park Church, explained that he originally composed the guest column as a sermon and Usey says that explains why he did not identify the original sources of the paragraphs he copied word-for-word:

"When you give a sermon you’re not giving a lecture – saying, ‘as so and so said,’ but when you put it in print there are different standards and I should have remembered that."

On the News & Record's publishing of plagiarism and lack of response

On the (Greensboro, NC) News & Record's handling (or lack thereof) of the plagiarism it published as a guest column (no link to the N&R column, original letter here) N&R reporter Joe Killian and I had this exchange:

Joe:

I usually follow the Greensboro blogs pretty carefully but because of the rush Friday and then the holiday weekend even I wasn't aware of it until it would have been too late to do anything to prevent it.

I've sent an e-mail to a few of the editors now -- but I think under the circumstances "publishes known plagiarism" suggests that someone in a position to prevent it knew it was plagiarism or at least unattributed and I don't think that's the case here.

Me:

Thanks for the comment, Joe. You might think it is a distinction without a difference, but I did not write, "Knowingly publishes plagiarism." My intention was to convey "publishes what was known, even if not by the N&R, to be plagiarism."

I'll grant you, I loaded that title a bit -- to convey two things: That a piece that did not pass the smell test to this lowly blogger passed undetected through a reporter and a editor at the N&R; and two, to emphasize that if professional newsorgs are to maintain value, one of the most important ways is as adjudicators of accuracy and truthfulness and here, the N&R stumbled -- so asleep in this case, that they not only failed to catch it themselves but remained oblivious (or at least, unresponsive) as it came to light on local blogs.

To-date, it does not appear as if the N&R has addressed or even acknowledged this in print, on its website or on either of the editorial staff blogs.

News & Record publishes known plagiarism

Although the letter from Michael Usey, pastor of College Park Church to Greensboro mayor Bill Knight was exposed as plagiarism yesterday afternoon, Ed Cone reports that it was published in this morning's (Greensboro, NC) News & Record (no link).

The News & Record has been careless before in publishing plagiarized submissions, but when the plagiarism comes to light in advance, it is incomprehensible how the News & Record can proceed with its publication.

[Update: Ed says the Sunday edition goes to press on Thursday.]

Recursion

Do you know what "recursion" means? Try searching it on Google.
(Hat tip: Larry Ullman)

Of politicians, pastors and plagiarism

Today, Ed Cone linked to a letter from Michael Usey, pastor of College Park Church.to Greensboro, NC mayor Bill Knight. It was a great letter. Much of it is not his. He took large chunks -- multiple paragraphs -- including a first person account that begins with "In France, I had seen..." from a 2005 lecture by J. Brent Walker. Other portions came from an unsigned work at the Baptists Joint Committee for Religious Liberty web site.

Also this week, Bill Randall, a Republican vying for the chance to run against Brad Miller for North Carolina's 13th congressional district admitted to Yes! Weekly's Jordan Green that large portions of his web site were copied from other sources. Randall blamed the plagiarism on  "unauthorized inclusions" by a volunteer he would not name.

[Update: Usey's passage that begins with "In France, I had seen..." is actually identified as a quotation by Usey, albeit without quotation marks. Other copied portions are not identified as from other sources.] 

[Update II: As Michelle notes in the comments, Usey's identification of the quotation is, itself, within the original text copied from another author.] 

My first concert

Ed Cone says he went to the Led Zeppelin concert at the Greensboro Coliseum in 1977. I was too young to go. My first concert was the next year: Electric Light Orcehstra, also at the coliseum.

I could not find any video from their stop here, but these are from the same tour.

Led Zeppelin - Greensboro 1977 Concert film

Found on Greensboro101. From the description:

"Never-before-seen live concert film clips of Led Zeppelin performing 'The Song Remains the Same' in Greensboro, NC, May 31, 1977 (John Bonham's 29th birthday)."

"Real n _ _ _ _ _ _"

These young men make an appearance in Greensboro to tell the crowd about "real n_ _ _ _ _s" (2:50). There appears to be much enthusiasm for the speech. Girls yell, "We love you."

Stolen lawnmower update

I think I should probably not go into detail yet, but I have been in contact with the detective assigned to the case of my stolen lawnmower and I'll say this: The detective has gathered substantial evidence.

Letter writer Rosen offers broken logic

In a letter to the editor of the News & Record today, Richard J. Rosen, MD, tries to take down Don Liebes, the guy fighting to allow smoking in his private club in the face of the restaurant and bar smoking ban. Rosen fails.

Rosen sets up the pins by accurately describing Liebes' objections to the law -- the law prohibits smoking in bars and restaurants unless they attach to tennis courts or golf courses violating equal protection, says Liebes -- but, instead of taking on the legal issues, Rosen "counters" Liebes by citing the health benefits of the ban. It's a non sequitur: "The law is based on sound science," therefore Liebes' equal protection objections are invalid, is Rosen's broken argument.

I can appreciate Dr. Rosen's enthusiasm for protecting the public health, but he really failed to explain or justify his objections to Liebes' complaints.

This just in: Robbie Perkins, son of Satan!

Robbie Perkins is the son of Satan! So says a commenter at Joe Guarino's blog about the Greensboro city council representative's objection to government sanctioned prayer during the exercise of Council's official duties.

Oh yeah, and hooga booga!

O' holy straw man

When it comes to the appropriateness of prayer on the agenda of public meetings, can we at least ground the discussion in a little reality? The issue is one of a governmental body officially undertaking praying during the course of its formal duties.

Objecting to that is not the same as saying that people do not have a right to pray in public as heard on 94.5 this morning and posited by local blogger Joe Guarino. Nor is it an attempt to "scrub our culture of religious symbols..." as the News & Record's Doug Clark worries. Those are straw men*.

[* "The Straw Man fallacy is committed when a person simply ignores a person's actual position and substitutes a distorted, exaggerated or misrepresented version of that position."]

Disorientated

From the News & Record today:

"Lee Street is south of the campus. To its west is Spring Garden Street."

Uh, no.


View Larger Map

So a short bald guy, a fat redheaded guy and a tall blond guy walk into a lineup...

This asserts some facts that I hadn't heard before, but if they are true, what are the implications?

"It is our understanding that the investigative practice of 'line-ups' is based upon the people in the line-up exhibiting a reasonable likeness to the description of the person alleged to have committed the crime. It has been widely reported that the 'Black Book,' which was at issue during the end of Chief David Wray’s tenure contained 19 photographs of African American officers who were reportedly on duty during the time that a reported sexual assault occurred. Further, information indicates that officers in the photo line-up had a range in age of at least 20 years, ranged in height from approximately five feet five inches tall to six feet and five inches tall, ranged in weight from approximately 170 pounds to approximately 390 pounds, in skin complexion from very dark-skinned to very light-skinned, and had a combination of full heads of hair to completely shaved heads."

[From the Pulpit Forum's letter to Greensboro Police Chief Tim Bellamy]

Green won't let me waive off knowledge of Pulpit Forum complaints

Information that translates into knowledge is one of the foundations of democracy.
-- The Pulpit Forum

What were those occupiers of the City Council dais protesting before their arrests anyway (video)? I said their complaints seemed short on specifics. Yes!Weekly's Jordan Green said, not so fast, there are some specific concerns. He sent me the questions the Pulpit Forum sent to Greensboro Police Chief Tim Bellamy.

While some questions are clearly leading and others are out of of the Chief's purview, of what remains I find some of the questions compelling, especially those that have to do with empirical information such as the numbers and breakdowns of investigations, arrests and prosecutions and the appropriation of funds.

It's a wonk's read -- for now. But some of the specifics are going to bubble up to newsworthy significance soon, I suspect.

No college for you!

"Let's just say, if you wonder why America is in the crap it's in... well here ya go!"

Education at GTCC: Sold out.

Robbery update

A police officer just left. He got here within an hour of the 911 call. Very professional and helpful. He ran the tag and it matches my vehicle description (morons). The Sheriff has been dispatched to the owner's home.

Yes! Weekly reconciles the facts on police complaint review committee bill

Bloggers make assertions and raise questions. Mainstream alternative weekly illuminates with the facts.

"Local bloggers Sam Hieb and Joe Guarino ask how language ended up in Harrison’s bill allowing access to police personnel files if the city council approved a resolution that removed a provision to allow such access."

The answers.

I was just robbed!

I work at home. I had the headphones on yet still managed to hear a noise. I looked out the window to see a man walking across the neighbor's yard towards a small silver SUV that another man was loading up my lawnmower into. I ran out, got the license tag and called 911.

Free! For $1.95

From the City of Greensboro website describing the new online water bill payment feature:

"It’s free to use all options, but a convenience fee of $1.95 will be charged when making online payments."

Urban farming in Greensboro

Found on Greensboro 101.

Urban Harvest and Greensboro's Children Museum made this video as part of their application to attend Terra Madre, a gathering in Turin, Italy on local sustainable gardening and farming. It is an interesting look at urban farming in Greensboro and why people are into it.

Dam good question

Sometimes, just because someone seems to have a grudge, it does not mean they don't ask some damn good questions.

Mike Barron:

QUESTION: So why is Williams saying the city needs money to purchase RR [Randleman Reservoir] water?

ANSWER: It’s because the city does not need water from RR—but by contract it must take it anyway! That means production at Greensboro’s two water plants must be cut back by 6 mgd to accept the 6 mgd of water from RR. And, you can count on the fact that RR water will be more expensive that Lake Townsend water!

This is precisely where Greensboro needs (and all too often lacks) a watchdog media -- one that does not simply regurgitate the official line but digs into a subject with some skepticism until questions are stasifactoraly answered.

As Mike notes, News2 simply played the role of stenographer, just reporting the City's explanation without question. What about the others? Yes!Weekly? News & Record? WXII? WGHP? Is there anybody in this berg with the tenacity and professionalism to take on this one?

Joe Guarino's intentional lies

"Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but they are not entitled to their own facts." -- Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Rarely have I seen such a blatant exhibition of intentional misrepresentation on a local blog as Joe Guarino approvingly quoting this:

"In North Carolina, Bank of America has a special place in the heart of Democratic Senator Kay Hagan, who has been pushing an amendment to the bill on behalf of the giant bank...

"Hagan, a former Vice President with Bank of America who oversaw subprime lending programs there, has proposed the amendment under the guise of 'protecting consumers'..."

Kay Hagan never worked for Bank of America. She was never vice-president at Bank of America and she never "oversaw subprime lending programs there."

As this blogger explained to Guarino in the comments beneath his untruthful post, more than twenty years ago Kay Hagan worked at NCNB (North Carolina National Bank) and she left twelve years before its descendant, Nations Bank, merged with Bank of America. As for the "oversaw subprime lending" part? Hagan worked in the estates and trusts division at NCNB.

Joe's response? Close enough.

He has declined a request to correct the misinformation.

It ought to

Doug Clark:

"This afternoon we saw a black city manager and black police chief refuting complaints from the NAACP and a black ministers' group. Does that pass for progress around here?"

Now, what about those "white power" chants?

I once thought Democrats understood civil liberties. The joke's on me.

I voted for the Libertarian candidate for Governor in the last election. It was a symbolic vote. Now, with Democratic Governor Bev Perdue pushing to allow DNA collection on arrest, I seriously wish he had won. Instead we have a little more freedom slipping down the tubes.

"There is likely to be an effect upon libraries, and it could be substantial."

The Greensboro Public Library blog takes a look at the challenges ebooks present to libraries and their patrons.

"Digital publishing, as a music industry phenomenon for example, drove many retail music sellers out of business.  How can libraries ensure that the same fate does not befall them and the digital divide between information haves and have-nots does not widen even further?"

Weekday circulation at the News & Record down 20 percent in a year

According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, circulation continued to decline for the (Greensboro, NC) News & Record.

Averages for the six months ended March 31, 2010:

Sunday: 89,275
6 month change:  - 2.5%
12 month change:  - 11.8%

Weekday: 67,625
6 month change:  -16.7%
12 month change:  -20.0%

Since 2005, the N&R's weekday circulation has declined 28.9% from 95,119 while Sunday circulation has declined 20.4% from 112,154.

Stock market terror attack?

Bear with me.

I search the Internet for "stock market terror" or "stock market attack" and there is nothing discussing the possibility that today's stock market "glitch" might have been man-made and deliberate -- an act of terrorism.

Media is reporting officials as blaming electronic trading, possibly put into motion by a typo. That doesn't really smell right--that out of the millions of trades that occur every year, this was the first time someone struck the wrong key. Hmmm. Maybe.

Even if so, could the cascade have been initiated intentionally. If entering an order to sell a billion shares could cause this kind of disruption, doing so intentionally certainly would be a remarkably easy way to inflict harm and panic. Easier than a virus or hack, which also seem like feasible possibilities.

But with all the discussion about today's events, I have yet to hear or been able to find anybody explaining why the possibility that this was intentional is not likely. Is it because it is, in reality, so unlikely that it doesn't warrant a minute or a word? Maybe. But I sure would like someone smarter than me to explain why.