The Hound: A Morganton insider sent this news to me tonight and I thought I'd share it with you. Morganton's Mayor Mel Cohen is running for reelection with Election Day looming on October 11th. You know how with Campaign Finance Reform laws how you are supposed to differentiate what you do as an elected official versus what you do while campaigning for office. Well catch a load of this. Wow!!!, You have to say Wow!!!
10-2
Tom:
Friday I heard a new development in the current local election race here in Morganton.
Due to a PSA recorded by Mayor Cohen and broadcast on Compas Cable (Our city owned cable TV system), challenger for mayor Robert Griner will receive 895 political announcements free.
The PSA aired earlier in September on Compas Cable for more than a week and begins with "I'm Mel Cohen your mayor for almost 26 years" and goes on to say how important NCSD (North Carolina School for the Deaf) is for Morganton and how we don't want to lose jobs and a school that helps so many in Western North Carolina. Since Mel Cohen is the incumbent mayor and a candidate for re-election as Morganton's Mayor, he invoked "equal time" by creating a PSA by himself and airing it on Compas.
On Thursday, challenger Robert Griner contacted WMNC radio and asked about "equal time" and was told that WMNC is no longer a 'partner' with Compas Cable, since last year Mayor Cohen chose to end the partnership and begin a partnership with Charter Cable. Mr. Griner was directed to the City of Morganton and with no choice the city gave Robert Griner 895 political announcements in accordance with FCC rules governing "equal time." Had the city refused, Compas Cable would have possibly been out of business as the license could have been revoked for non compliance or the city could have faced fines or sanctions.
So challenger Griner to this point about a week away from election day has spent little to no money on a campaign, but when he asked about "equal time" he will receive hundreds of political announcements on Compas Cable for FREE !
The News Herald (Morganton's Media General Corporation owned Newspaper) on Friday afternoon stated that they were aware of this issue and Mayor Cohen would have a letter in Sunday's News Herald, in which he would explain the situation to the voters. The letter titled "Community Shows Support For NCSD" is written to HIDE the "Equal Time" facts. In fact, the letter speaks to this matter without calling it what it is ("equal time") by saying "FCC campaign related advertising." Mayor Cohen is hiding behind the story of keeping NCSD open. Mayor Cohen goes on to call it an "honest mistake."
Honest mistake or not, this action results in Morganton taxpayers paying for the labor to "record" spots for challenger Robert Griner for free ! If Robert had purchased the announcements they would have cost thousands of dollars but will be free to challenger Robert Griner due to Mel Cohen's "honest mistake."
Mel Cohen continues his tradition of doing as he pleases with or WITHOUT the will of the people and spending money recklessly and carelessly as if it was his money and not taxpayer money. If you want to re-write this information and post it on the blog, feel free to do so.
The Hound Summation: Mayor Cohen called this an honest mistake. How many times do you see local level politicians pushing the envelope of political propriety, and when they get busted, they call it an honest mistake. It is time for local media, who are supposed to operate in the public arena on the public airwaves for the public good, to open up forums that allow the citizens to be heard, instead of allowing public officials carte blanche on the public airwaves without opposition. Kudos to Robert Griner for standing up for himself.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Economic Stories of Relevance in Today's World -- October 2, 2011
Bob Chapman - The International Forecaster - October 1, 2011 - Remember that $400 billion increase in debt recently enacted? Well it is gone and it only took six weeks. Washington has quite a talent for spending debt, which is other people’s money. Not satisfied the Senate, as we reported, added in another $500 billion. The media covered up the increase in debt by making a major issue of the President’s speech concerning jobs. The enabling super committee is at work cutting $2 trillion from the budget. This supposedly will be concluded by November. These cuts were not designed as such, but they will help slow any recovery, as will any tax increase. As the CBO says, the wrong thing at the wrong time. Even with cuts and tax increases about half of federal government spending will be borrowed. Worse yet, most of any cuts will come from Social Security and Medicare, which are not entitlements, but are benefits the public paid for. Government wants to play Robin Hood, take from those who sacrificed and paid for the benefits and give to those who paid nothing into the system.
Health Insurance Costs Rising Sharply This Year, Study Shows - New York Times - Reed Abelson - September 27, 2011 - The cost of health insurance for many Americans this year climbed more sharply than in previous years, outstripping any growth in workers’ wages and adding more uncertainty about the pace of rising medical costs... A new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit research group that tracks employer-sponsored health insurance on a yearly basis, shows that the average annual premium for family coverage through an employer reached $15,073 in 2011, an increase of 9 percent over the previous year... The Kaiser survey includes both big and small companies using employer-sponsored coverage representing about 60 percent of all insured Americans of working age. The annual growth in premiums, according to the survey, had slowed in recent years to 5 percent, rising just 3 percent in 2010, in part due to the lingering effects of the recession. After years of double-digit increases, the moderation was a welcome relief... Obama administration officials argue that new regulations are forcing insurers to be more circumspect about raising rates. Insurers seeking to raise premiums next year by more than the 10 percent maximum will have to publicly justify their rate increases, and the new law requires the companies to spend at least 80 cents of every dollar they collect in premiums on medical care. If they end up taking too much in premiums, they will have to refund the money to consumers...
The rich are different - and not in a good way, studies suggest - MSNBC - August 10, 2011 - Psychologist and social scientist Dacher Keltner says the rich really are different, and not in a good way: Their life experience makes them less empathetic, less altruistic, and generally more selfish. In fact, he says, the philosophical battle over economics, taxes, debt ceilings and defaults that are now roiling the stock market is partly rooted in an upper class "ideology of self-interest." "We have now done 12 separate studies measuring empathy in every way imaginable, social behavior in every way, and some work on compassion and it's the same story," he said. "Lower class people just show more empathy, more prosocial behavior, more compassion, no matter how you look at it." In an academic version of a Depression-era Frank Capra movie, Keltner and co-authors of an article called "Social Class as Culture: The Convergence of Resources and Rank in the Social Realm," published this week in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science, argue that "upper-class rank perceptions trigger a focus away from the context toward the self…." In other words, rich people are more likely to think about themselves. "They think that economic success and political outcomes, and personal outcomes, have to do with individual behavior, a good work ethic," said Keltner, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. Because the rich gloss over the ways family connections, money and education helped, they come to denigrate the role of government and vigorously oppose taxes to fund it. "I will quote from the Tea Party hero Ayn Rand: "'It is the morality of altruism that men have to reject,'" he said. Whether or not Keltner is right, there certainly is a "let them cake" vibe in the air. Last week The New York Times reported on booming sales of luxury goods, with stores keeping waiting lists for $9,000 coats and the former chairman of Saks saying, "If a designer shoe goes up from $800 to $860, who notices?"...
Wall Street Donated $41 Million to Supercommittee Members - Truthout - Mike Ludwig - September 26, 2011 - "Wall Street bought the deregulation that led to our economic collapse and the American public has paid the price," said Nick Nyhart, president and CEO of Public Campaign, the group that co-authored the report. "The supercommittee should not give Wall Street and big banks another free ride because of their campaign cash." Congressional veterans Sen. John Kerry (D-Massachusetts) and Sen. Max Baucus (D-Montana) top the list, having each received about $6 million in contributions from the financial sector during the course of their careers in Washington. The top GOP recipient on the committee, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Arizona), has received $5.2 million from the sector.
Donations from the political action committees and executives of Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo - banks that received $95 billion in federal bailout funds - account for one-fifth of the $4.3 million in campaign cash donated by commercial banking interests to the 12 supercommittee members. Supercommittee co-chair Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) received the most from the big banks. Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo have given Hensarling a total of $188,962 during his Congressional career. Hensarling also serves as the vice chair of the House Financial Services Committee and has received a total of $3.9 million from financial interests. The report also identifies 27 former or current aides to supercommittee members who have worked as lobbyists for the financial industry. Manny Rossman, for example, was Kyl's chief of staff before landing a position at the Breaux Lott Leadership Group, where his clients include Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Prudential Financial....
How Attorney General Eric Holder Colluded With Bank Of America To Destroy Wikileaks And Silence Unfriendly Journalists, Including Glenn Greenwald - The Daily Bail - When we wrote a few weeks ago about Eric Holder, Wikileaks and Bank of America, we focused on the irony of the U.S. Attorney General threatening to prosecute an organization (Wikileaks) that possibly holds the very information on which he might draw up his very first indictment of a major bank or Wall Street executive.
These are valid questions -- ones for which we really didn't have good answers other than the usual corruption, cowardice and ineptitude when it comes to prosecuting large financial institutions.
However, new information has surfaced that shines a whole new light on the situation. By now, most of you have heard about Bank of America's plans to go after Wikileaks and Glenn Greenwald. Until they were caught, Bank of America was working with a group of law and cyber security firms to draw up plans for destroying Wikileaks, the hacker group Anonymous, as well as Wikileaks supporters in the media (like Greenwald).... Ironically, the hacker group Anonymous turned the tables on Bank of America's hit team and captured a cache of emails that all but prove the Justice Department's direct involvement. Here is an email from one of the firms, admitting that it was the Department of Justice that set the ball rolling:
The Myth of American Freedom
Health Insurance Costs Rising Sharply This Year, Study Shows - New York Times - Reed Abelson - September 27, 2011 - The cost of health insurance for many Americans this year climbed more sharply than in previous years, outstripping any growth in workers’ wages and adding more uncertainty about the pace of rising medical costs... A new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit research group that tracks employer-sponsored health insurance on a yearly basis, shows that the average annual premium for family coverage through an employer reached $15,073 in 2011, an increase of 9 percent over the previous year... The Kaiser survey includes both big and small companies using employer-sponsored coverage representing about 60 percent of all insured Americans of working age. The annual growth in premiums, according to the survey, had slowed in recent years to 5 percent, rising just 3 percent in 2010, in part due to the lingering effects of the recession. After years of double-digit increases, the moderation was a welcome relief... Obama administration officials argue that new regulations are forcing insurers to be more circumspect about raising rates. Insurers seeking to raise premiums next year by more than the 10 percent maximum will have to publicly justify their rate increases, and the new law requires the companies to spend at least 80 cents of every dollar they collect in premiums on medical care. If they end up taking too much in premiums, they will have to refund the money to consumers...
The rich are different - and not in a good way, studies suggest - MSNBC - August 10, 2011 - Psychologist and social scientist Dacher Keltner says the rich really are different, and not in a good way: Their life experience makes them less empathetic, less altruistic, and generally more selfish. In fact, he says, the philosophical battle over economics, taxes, debt ceilings and defaults that are now roiling the stock market is partly rooted in an upper class "ideology of self-interest." "We have now done 12 separate studies measuring empathy in every way imaginable, social behavior in every way, and some work on compassion and it's the same story," he said. "Lower class people just show more empathy, more prosocial behavior, more compassion, no matter how you look at it." In an academic version of a Depression-era Frank Capra movie, Keltner and co-authors of an article called "Social Class as Culture: The Convergence of Resources and Rank in the Social Realm," published this week in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science, argue that "upper-class rank perceptions trigger a focus away from the context toward the self…." In other words, rich people are more likely to think about themselves. "They think that economic success and political outcomes, and personal outcomes, have to do with individual behavior, a good work ethic," said Keltner, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. Because the rich gloss over the ways family connections, money and education helped, they come to denigrate the role of government and vigorously oppose taxes to fund it. "I will quote from the Tea Party hero Ayn Rand: "'It is the morality of altruism that men have to reject,'" he said. Whether or not Keltner is right, there certainly is a "let them cake" vibe in the air. Last week The New York Times reported on booming sales of luxury goods, with stores keeping waiting lists for $9,000 coats and the former chairman of Saks saying, "If a designer shoe goes up from $800 to $860, who notices?"...
Brutal bank crackdown but crooks go free - Commentary: ‘Occupy Wall Street’ harassed while bankers go free - MarketWatch - David Weidner - September 27, 2011 - If you want to know how a nation supposedly by and for the people has become uprooted, one only needs to see how common young people, who are suffering so badly in this recession, were humiliated further by trying to exercise their given right to peacefully protest. If this is justice, I’d rather break the law. The bankers who brought us this mess not only walk free, they drive free in Bentleys paid for by money looted through toxic mortgages, trading debacles and derivative madness. Regulators, prosecutors and an administration patsy to big finance do nothing except hand out $1.3 trillion in bailout cash and guarantees. Consider how sick this narrative has become. A counter protest was planned in which bankers and traders said they would douse the “dirty hippies” of Occupy Wall Street with champagne, to give them “a bath.” Watch YouTube video of police arresting protesters . These are the people police are protecting. The ones outraged by greed run amok, reckless behavior and fraud are getting wrestled to the pavement and arrested... Brian Moynihan, the chief executive of Bank of America Corp. BAC -3.62% , got $10 million in stock and salary. Thomas Montag, Moynihan’s lieutenant actually got more, $14.3 million. Their bank has lost $14 billion during the last year. Shareholders — that’s you moms and pops, widows and orphans with 401(k)s — are holding the bag....
That kid with the bandana who was thrown to the ground? Could have been Jamie Dimon of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. JPM -4.05% or Joe Cassano, who ran American International Group Inc.’s AIG -4.11% cowboy outfit, the financial products unit, that caused $60 billion in losses. Maybe those protesters were planning a new mortgage-backed security doomed to fail. This could all be just one big mistake. After all, this country wasn’t founded to serve a bunch of elitists. Government wasn’t intended to be bought and paid for by financial interests. Our nation’s economy wasn’t supposed to be built on fraud and abuse. If that came to pass, you’d expect people to be angry. You’d expect people to get roughed up. You’d expect a revolution. And you’d expect the system would fight like hell to keep it down.
Wall Street Vampires - Citizen Vox - Rachel Lewis - September 24, 2011 - Vampires. Thieves of the night. As sunlight is said to be deadly to them, these mythical creatures venture out to drain the blood from their innocent victims only when it is dark outside. Judging by the reactions of Wall Street to Public Citizen’s attempt to shine a light on their industry, it seems sunlight kills more than vampires though. Lady Liberty can’t help but wonder if the Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan et al crew are trying to audition for the next season of True Blood . . . or, more likely, they have something to hide. Remember that big gas price spike back in 2008? Well, Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program, didn’t buy the reasons offered for it then, and he didn’t buy it this spring either when he spoke with then-MSNBC’s Cenk Uygur for a segment properly entitled, “Rigged Game.” Uygur’s first question, ”Is it possible that speculators are driving up the gas prices?” Slocum’s reply–”Absolutely.” At the time President Barack Obama, responding to the media frenzy over gas prices, announced the formation of a task force to look into what was driving the increase. Slocum explained to me that this was many months ago and so far, “not a peep” has been heard from this investigative team. Fast-forward a few months. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) managed to use his congressional powers to get a hold of a set of three-year old trading documents from one of the days leading up to the 2008 $144-per-barrel oil spike, which coincided with the exorbitant gas prices we all remember seeing at the pump then. Sanders, aware of Slocum’s expertise, forwarded these documents to Slocum and to the Wall Street Journal, which reveled at what it considered a ”rare glimpse of the secretive world of oil trading, where buying and selling often takes place away from public markets.” Soon thereafter, all hell brook loose . . .
Wall Street Vampires - Citizen Vox - Rachel Lewis - September 24, 2011 - Vampires. Thieves of the night. As sunlight is said to be deadly to them, these mythical creatures venture out to drain the blood from their innocent victims only when it is dark outside. Judging by the reactions of Wall Street to Public Citizen’s attempt to shine a light on their industry, it seems sunlight kills more than vampires though. Lady Liberty can’t help but wonder if the Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan et al crew are trying to audition for the next season of True Blood . . . or, more likely, they have something to hide. Remember that big gas price spike back in 2008? Well, Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program, didn’t buy the reasons offered for it then, and he didn’t buy it this spring either when he spoke with then-MSNBC’s Cenk Uygur for a segment properly entitled, “Rigged Game.” Uygur’s first question, ”Is it possible that speculators are driving up the gas prices?” Slocum’s reply–”Absolutely.” At the time President Barack Obama, responding to the media frenzy over gas prices, announced the formation of a task force to look into what was driving the increase. Slocum explained to me that this was many months ago and so far, “not a peep” has been heard from this investigative team. Fast-forward a few months. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) managed to use his congressional powers to get a hold of a set of three-year old trading documents from one of the days leading up to the 2008 $144-per-barrel oil spike, which coincided with the exorbitant gas prices we all remember seeing at the pump then. Sanders, aware of Slocum’s expertise, forwarded these documents to Slocum and to the Wall Street Journal, which reveled at what it considered a ”rare glimpse of the secretive world of oil trading, where buying and selling often takes place away from public markets.” Soon thereafter, all hell brook loose . . .
Wall Street Donated $41 Million to Supercommittee Members - Truthout - Mike Ludwig - September 26, 2011 - "Wall Street bought the deregulation that led to our economic collapse and the American public has paid the price," said Nick Nyhart, president and CEO of Public Campaign, the group that co-authored the report. "The supercommittee should not give Wall Street and big banks another free ride because of their campaign cash." Congressional veterans Sen. John Kerry (D-Massachusetts) and Sen. Max Baucus (D-Montana) top the list, having each received about $6 million in contributions from the financial sector during the course of their careers in Washington. The top GOP recipient on the committee, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Arizona), has received $5.2 million from the sector.
Donations from the political action committees and executives of Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo - banks that received $95 billion in federal bailout funds - account for one-fifth of the $4.3 million in campaign cash donated by commercial banking interests to the 12 supercommittee members. Supercommittee co-chair Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) received the most from the big banks. Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo have given Hensarling a total of $188,962 during his Congressional career. Hensarling also serves as the vice chair of the House Financial Services Committee and has received a total of $3.9 million from financial interests. The report also identifies 27 former or current aides to supercommittee members who have worked as lobbyists for the financial industry. Manny Rossman, for example, was Kyl's chief of staff before landing a position at the Breaux Lott Leadership Group, where his clients include Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Prudential Financial....
How Attorney General Eric Holder Colluded With Bank Of America To Destroy Wikileaks And Silence Unfriendly Journalists, Including Glenn Greenwald - The Daily Bail - When we wrote a few weeks ago about Eric Holder, Wikileaks and Bank of America, we focused on the irony of the U.S. Attorney General threatening to prosecute an organization (Wikileaks) that possibly holds the very information on which he might draw up his very first indictment of a major bank or Wall Street executive.
Why hasn't Eric Holder asked to see the evidence, which Wikileaks claims to have, that executives at one of our largest banks may have committed serious crimes?
Let's be honest, Holder doesn't really give a rip about financial crimes, but the media should at least be asking him why he doesn't want to see the evidence. We know he'd love to get his hands on Julian Assange's hard drive -- why doesn't he want to see Brian Moynihan's (or Ken Lewis's)?
For some reason, Holder and the rest of the Obama administration would rather endanger our Constitutional rights to due process and a free press by persecuting journalists on specious charges, than to actually do their job and enforce the law.
However, new information has surfaced that shines a whole new light on the situation. By now, most of you have heard about Bank of America's plans to go after Wikileaks and Glenn Greenwald. Until they were caught, Bank of America was working with a group of law and cyber security firms to draw up plans for destroying Wikileaks, the hacker group Anonymous, as well as Wikileaks supporters in the media (like Greenwald).... Ironically, the hacker group Anonymous turned the tables on Bank of America's hit team and captured a cache of emails that all but prove the Justice Department's direct involvement. Here is an email from one of the firms, admitting that it was the Department of Justice that set the ball rolling:
The Myth of American Freedom
Friday, September 30, 2011
The Pride Festival and the City's New Can of Worms
In reading the article in the Hickory Daily Record about the "Pride Festival" that was supposed to be held at LP Frans Stadium (and was cancelled two days before the event), there are a lot of questions that need to be addressed, but I have talked about the cause and effect issues that the perception of intolerance towards people of differences has had on this community.
Hickory -- A Lack of Creativity?
In Dialogue with Silence DoGood:
The Hound's Deal: I do not presume to know exactly how the group promoting this event feels, but I don't think it would have been in the paper if they had zero problem with it. I think they proactively reached out to the HDR.
Hickory -- A Lack of Creativity?
In Dialogue with Silence DoGood:
Just for posterity, let me make sure that I understand this. Hickory (Republic of) owns Crawdads Stadium, and the property thereon it finds itself. Hickory (Republic of) leases said facility to Hickory Crawdads Inc. or their parent organization. There is a provision in said contract, apparently agreed upon between the lessor and the lessee that provides that the lessee cannot sub-let without the express written permission of governing board of Hickory (Republic of)? Am I on track so far?
And that this lease was executed in 2008 between lessor and lessee and of the events that have hence been held on the premises, there has not previously been a problem until the Pride celebration tried, rather vainly, to use aforementioned venue as the locus in quo. Am I right up to this point, because I have questions.
So what I’m wondering here is, why is the parent organization of Hickory Crawdads Inc. paying a stadium manager who obviously doesn’t have the authority to manage the stadium? Why is Hickory (Republic of) paying a manager who obviously doesn’t have the authority to make decisions like this on a day-to-day basis in the general governance of the Republic in order to avert problems such as these? Would this even have been a problem at all had the event been a religious crusade on the grounds instead of a group of people celebrating who they are, without having rocks, bottles, and slurs hurled at them. How much noise would have been heard had “complaints” not been voiced to ‘management’ at the stadium? I likewise wonder how many of those complaints found their way to the Republic’s executive committee?
This has all the grace and eloquence of being tarred and feathered. Since there was a prior agreement with the lessee, all it would take on the part of management of Hickory (Republic of) is to make 6 phone calls to elicit a verbal agreement that it would be okay to proceed on the part of lessor, chalk it up to experience, and do it right from here on out, just like the contract calls for. For those that would contend that this would be underhanded and behind the scenes politics, was the lease read, voted on, and approved in a public meeting, or just calendared and approved without any fanfare or even an eyebrow arch? Would that violate the covenants of that contract? Not to mention that apparently, this particular covenant has already been violated in ignorance since this agreement was entered in to in 2008. But no, here the line has been drawn in the sand.
Here, Hickory (Republic of) chooses to hide behind a formal agreement that essentially has no premise for them to act except that they have reserved that right by codicil in a lease agreement. I wonder if they reserved the right to regulate alcohol sales at the Stadium as well? I guess not, or the ‘right’ people haven’t complained… yet.
I’m not gay, but right’s right and fair’s fair. My incensement as a result of this action is that it screams of being partisan and not content neutral, based on the actions of the parties. Acting in violation of the contract on the part of Hickory Crawdads Inc. and deliberate indifference on the part of the executive committee of Hickory (Republic of) since you know that of the events that have been there in the span of time from 2008 to now, not one council member or the attorney who drafted that contract didn’t know or have prior knowledge of that particular provision and chose to do nothing, until now.
Is any of that going to change what has transpired? No. Is it going to change what is to come? Oh you bet. There will now be eyes watching to ensure that this particular rule applies to every person, group, or entity that seeks to utilize that property, from this day forth.
The Hound's Deal: I do not presume to know exactly how the group promoting this event feels, but I don't think it would have been in the paper if they had zero problem with it. I think they proactively reached out to the HDR.
I am
sure that you understand that I am not saying the
City Government should promote a Pro Gay rights agenda. What I am
pointing to is that once again we see inconsistencies and hypocrisy,
because I don't think the people running LP Frans stadium have been
asking permission from The City Manager or the City Council for every event
that takes place there. That is plainly what City Manager Berry insinuated in the article.
That Creative Class piece I wrote over two years ago was one that got a lot
of people thinking and discussing the subject of differences and tolerance with me. It was a subject that I talked about at a lunch I had
with a Council person. That Council Person said that they didn't believe that there was an intolerance towards
gay people in our area. Well, I had a conversation with a Professor at one of our local colleges and this person stated that there was a top notch
professor who was gay and left Hickory because of the intolerance towards
Gay people, including the professor who left, in the community.
I also am reminded of a person on Hickory City Council's comments during the City Council meeting when they discussed the issue of Hickory Alive. They didn't believe the city should "promote" drinking on city
property. Basically they insinuated that the consumption of Alcohol on
City Property (ie Union Square), even sold by a third party, was "promoting" drinking on Union Square.
I think this mindset could be extended to a belief that the Pride Festival would be a promotion of a
Gay agenda on City Property and that won't be allowed or tolerated. Never
mind that the stadium can be used to promote any of a variety of other Religious or Cultural Agendas without question. This certainly opens a can of worms. Now they are going to micromanage the Crawdads and LP Frans Stadium?
As DoGood states above: There will now be eyes watching to ensure that this particular rule
applies to every person, group, or entity that seeks to utilize that
property, from this day forth.
Oh Brother!!!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Is the Economy being used as a Political Football? -- Silence DoGood
What is happening? Of late, I’ve read some very disturbing things that I’ve taken some time to mull over (which quite often doesn’t bode well for my reputation, I might add) that I feel I must question. Ever get the sense that something is going on, on a larger scale, that just stinks, but you can’t quite put your finger on it? I do too. Right now, I’ve got the feeling that the economy has become a political football in the cause of partisan politics.
The Senate proposes legislation that the House rejects. The Senate is controlled more or less by Democrats. The House proposes legislation that is rejected by the Senate. The House is controlled by in large by Republicans. Then, the President proposes legislation that's proclaimed, “dead on arrival” and that proclamation streams from both chambers of Congress. And while the ball continues to trade hands in an endless series of fumbles and interceptions, the people continue to suffer.
Is it possible that politics and quite honestly, the Presidency is the object of this exercise? That the Republican party feels it will have a better chance to take back the White House if the economy stays in the toilet as opposed to improving? I don’t intend to be taking sides, but that is the line of thought I saw in print that started me to thinking, based on a number of quotes by various members of one political persuasion.
What I don’t understand is, how can either side, or any side for that matter, claiming to be representative of the American people conceive or even idolize the notion of literally starving millions of people on the basis or notion of selfish partisan political gain, for bragging rights? I get, although I don’t agree with, the practice of pitting one class against another for political gain. In mild forms, it probably isn’t that unhealthy since it causes classes to cast a wary eye on one another in a form of oversight so that one will not wholly outstrip the other. But as I’ve seen stated elsewhere and even written of before myself, the going thing today is all or nothing. You’re either with me or against me. Is it really possible that people can’t disagree any more without becoming mortal enemies? Think about it, Bible readers out there. Once there were more than two people on the planet, how well did they get along? Think about your own relationships for a minute. How many of you get along 100% of the time with those you interact with on a daily basis in a working or living relationship? If you just said all the time, I think you might be deceiving yourselves.
I really do want to think and believe that the economy is not being used as a means to gain any office in this nation. I want to think that a genuine effort is being put forth in order to provide the best possible outcomes for the people of this nation. Yes, I do want to believe those things. But my mind and my conscience recognize the polar opposite of what I just wrote. We are literally being stood up and held hostage by this little charade. We are being slowly bled into a coma by the Executive and Legislative branches of our Government, aided and abetted by the Judicial branch that allows money to be poured into political campaigns. And for the life of me I can’t fathom why, except for one of the most fleeting things on this planet... Wealth.
Now, this isn’t meant to be a partisan diatribe against one political entity or another. To be absolutely candid, the man that administers this website is of a different political affiliation than I. But our different political affiliations doesn’t mean that we likewise differ substantially in perspective. We both want this country to move forward in a positive way. We both want the very best for Hickory and Catawba County. The How, that’s where we differ. The entire purpose of this is to illustrate that people can differ in opinion and still like each other and work together for the common good and the betterment of all persons, no matter their political persuasion. This petty bickering however, is what we’re now seeing and it is radicalizing the entire nation into splinter factions.
I’ve talked here about the people behind the scenes who really pull the strings of those who pretend to be in charge and make decisions. Is this part of some diabolical plan or design? To take over the world, reduce the governments to one, the financial matters to one, and unite everyone under one banner? It’s so simple in fact, that it is invisible right in front of our eyes. Power and the politics of greed, that’s what it’s about.
So to answer my own question I posed at the beginning of this piece... Is the economy being used as a political football? Yes, I believe that it is. The economy is being allowed to flounder just enough to make people desperate. I would really like to believe that isn’t true. I’d like to think that despite it all, Republicans and Democrats really do have the best interests of the people at heart and desire the absolute best for this nation. That despite an entire Corporate orientation on the one side and an entire social stratification on the other, both sides, deep down, realize that it takes both sides to make this whole thing work as a country, a nation, and as a people. I’d like to believe that. I’m just not that naïve or live that far outside reality.
-- Silence DoGood
The Senate proposes legislation that the House rejects. The Senate is controlled more or less by Democrats. The House proposes legislation that is rejected by the Senate. The House is controlled by in large by Republicans. Then, the President proposes legislation that's proclaimed, “dead on arrival” and that proclamation streams from both chambers of Congress. And while the ball continues to trade hands in an endless series of fumbles and interceptions, the people continue to suffer.
Is it possible that politics and quite honestly, the Presidency is the object of this exercise? That the Republican party feels it will have a better chance to take back the White House if the economy stays in the toilet as opposed to improving? I don’t intend to be taking sides, but that is the line of thought I saw in print that started me to thinking, based on a number of quotes by various members of one political persuasion.
What I don’t understand is, how can either side, or any side for that matter, claiming to be representative of the American people conceive or even idolize the notion of literally starving millions of people on the basis or notion of selfish partisan political gain, for bragging rights? I get, although I don’t agree with, the practice of pitting one class against another for political gain. In mild forms, it probably isn’t that unhealthy since it causes classes to cast a wary eye on one another in a form of oversight so that one will not wholly outstrip the other. But as I’ve seen stated elsewhere and even written of before myself, the going thing today is all or nothing. You’re either with me or against me. Is it really possible that people can’t disagree any more without becoming mortal enemies? Think about it, Bible readers out there. Once there were more than two people on the planet, how well did they get along? Think about your own relationships for a minute. How many of you get along 100% of the time with those you interact with on a daily basis in a working or living relationship? If you just said all the time, I think you might be deceiving yourselves.
I really do want to think and believe that the economy is not being used as a means to gain any office in this nation. I want to think that a genuine effort is being put forth in order to provide the best possible outcomes for the people of this nation. Yes, I do want to believe those things. But my mind and my conscience recognize the polar opposite of what I just wrote. We are literally being stood up and held hostage by this little charade. We are being slowly bled into a coma by the Executive and Legislative branches of our Government, aided and abetted by the Judicial branch that allows money to be poured into political campaigns. And for the life of me I can’t fathom why, except for one of the most fleeting things on this planet... Wealth.
Now, this isn’t meant to be a partisan diatribe against one political entity or another. To be absolutely candid, the man that administers this website is of a different political affiliation than I. But our different political affiliations doesn’t mean that we likewise differ substantially in perspective. We both want this country to move forward in a positive way. We both want the very best for Hickory and Catawba County. The How, that’s where we differ. The entire purpose of this is to illustrate that people can differ in opinion and still like each other and work together for the common good and the betterment of all persons, no matter their political persuasion. This petty bickering however, is what we’re now seeing and it is radicalizing the entire nation into splinter factions.
I’ve talked here about the people behind the scenes who really pull the strings of those who pretend to be in charge and make decisions. Is this part of some diabolical plan or design? To take over the world, reduce the governments to one, the financial matters to one, and unite everyone under one banner? It’s so simple in fact, that it is invisible right in front of our eyes. Power and the politics of greed, that’s what it’s about.
So to answer my own question I posed at the beginning of this piece... Is the economy being used as a political football? Yes, I believe that it is. The economy is being allowed to flounder just enough to make people desperate. I would really like to believe that isn’t true. I’d like to think that despite it all, Republicans and Democrats really do have the best interests of the people at heart and desire the absolute best for this nation. That despite an entire Corporate orientation on the one side and an entire social stratification on the other, both sides, deep down, realize that it takes both sides to make this whole thing work as a country, a nation, and as a people. I’d like to believe that. I’m just not that naïve or live that far outside reality.
-- Silence DoGood
The Hound -- Below is a video about the Reality we face:
Goldman Sachs and the Mega Banks own this Government and the Global Establishment. You were warned and you allowed this to happen!!!
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Does Bev Perdue want to suspend the Constitution?
Does Bev Perdue want to suspend the Constitution? Does she realize that is what would have to be done to suspend elections? Does she know history? Does she understand that is what Adolf Hitler did after the Nazis burned the Reichstag. He manipulated the elections that took place a week after that fire and then manipulated the German Parliament. Does she have a plan or is she clueless? What is the deal?
Audio of Governor Perdue's comments. Does it sound like she is joking to you?
She needs to explain herself. It's one thing to pontificate with friends about how it would be easier to do things if we had some theoretical change of our system and yada, yada, yada; but she is the Governor of one of the largest States in the Union, she is the Executive Officer of that State, and she is speaking to a leadership group within that state in a formal speech.
I don't support many of the Governor's positions on issues. I didn't like the way that she groveled to President Obama when he came into office or to the pork laden stimulus packages pushed through a couple years ago. We are paying a steep price for all of those Bridge to Nowhere packages where they pushed the problem down the road, while the raging inferno devouring our economy has continued to grow. I also don't support her giving Bob Etheridge a Gravy Train position after he embarrassed the State and his district summarily booted him out of office. I think most of us get tired of these tired old reboots of Freddy Krueger politics.
I do understand the Governor's position of loyalty toward fellow Democrats and one can appreciate her support of the President. She would not have beaten Pat McCrory if not for the coattails of our current President. I also think she and her staff did a very good job during the Hurricane Irene of being responsive towards the needs of those citizens located in the far eastern reaches of our state. I also appreciate that her administration has been far less embarrassing in terms of corruption than the last Governor.
Governor Perdue really hasn't been all that bad of a Governor. She has had issues, such as the airplane scandal involving her campaign in 2007-08, but a Governor cannot control every person in their campaign and/or administration and there hasn't been an administration yet that hasn't had some sort of problem. It seems that when people in her administration became a nuisance towards the public good, then they were shown the door.
The problem with the Governor's thought process on this mindset is that we are living in a time when we have seen pervasive corruption. We have a system where politicians have been encouraged to act in the interests of the connected and multi-national corporations in order to fill their campaign coffers and give them inside information to enrich themselves and their personal interests. You talk about the need to address the issue of jobs, then why don't we talk about "Free For All Trade" and the offshoring of our jobs. All the politicans, both Republican and Democratic have stolen our Social Security and ran up huge deficits to pay for Corporate Welfare, such as the Banking Bailouts and manipulating the tax system to allow these entities to evade taxes at the expense of our jobs. Ma'am, what do you think happened to North Carolina's Manufacturing base? Why don't we talk about leveling the playing field? And what difference will it make to give these people more time? They are either going to do the right thing or not and it is more than apparent that they aren't, so it is time to get people in office that will operate in the interests of the People.
Clue #1: This was a BIG MISTAKE Governor!!!You were sworn into office to faithfully execute the duties of the office you hold and to protect and defend the Constitution. Do you understand how this makes you look?
Audio of Governor Perdue's comments. Does it sound like she is joking to you?
News and Observer -- September 27, 2011 "You have to have more ability from Congress, I think, to work together and to get over the partisan bickering and focus on fixing things. I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won't hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover. I really hope that someone can agree with me on that. The one good thing about Raleigh is that for so many years we worked across party lines. It's a little bit more contentious now but it's not impossible to try to do what's right in this state. You want people who don't worry about the next election."
She needs to explain herself. It's one thing to pontificate with friends about how it would be easier to do things if we had some theoretical change of our system and yada, yada, yada; but she is the Governor of one of the largest States in the Union, she is the Executive Officer of that State, and she is speaking to a leadership group within that state in a formal speech.
I don't support many of the Governor's positions on issues. I didn't like the way that she groveled to President Obama when he came into office or to the pork laden stimulus packages pushed through a couple years ago. We are paying a steep price for all of those Bridge to Nowhere packages where they pushed the problem down the road, while the raging inferno devouring our economy has continued to grow. I also don't support her giving Bob Etheridge a Gravy Train position after he embarrassed the State and his district summarily booted him out of office. I think most of us get tired of these tired old reboots of Freddy Krueger politics.
I do understand the Governor's position of loyalty toward fellow Democrats and one can appreciate her support of the President. She would not have beaten Pat McCrory if not for the coattails of our current President. I also think she and her staff did a very good job during the Hurricane Irene of being responsive towards the needs of those citizens located in the far eastern reaches of our state. I also appreciate that her administration has been far less embarrassing in terms of corruption than the last Governor.
Governor Perdue really hasn't been all that bad of a Governor. She has had issues, such as the airplane scandal involving her campaign in 2007-08, but a Governor cannot control every person in their campaign and/or administration and there hasn't been an administration yet that hasn't had some sort of problem. It seems that when people in her administration became a nuisance towards the public good, then they were shown the door.
The problem with the Governor's thought process on this mindset is that we are living in a time when we have seen pervasive corruption. We have a system where politicians have been encouraged to act in the interests of the connected and multi-national corporations in order to fill their campaign coffers and give them inside information to enrich themselves and their personal interests. You talk about the need to address the issue of jobs, then why don't we talk about "Free For All Trade" and the offshoring of our jobs. All the politicans, both Republican and Democratic have stolen our Social Security and ran up huge deficits to pay for Corporate Welfare, such as the Banking Bailouts and manipulating the tax system to allow these entities to evade taxes at the expense of our jobs. Ma'am, what do you think happened to North Carolina's Manufacturing base? Why don't we talk about leveling the playing field? And what difference will it make to give these people more time? They are either going to do the right thing or not and it is more than apparent that they aren't, so it is time to get people in office that will operate in the interests of the People.
Clue #1: This was a BIG MISTAKE Governor!!!You were sworn into office to faithfully execute the duties of the office you hold and to protect and defend the Constitution. Do you understand how this makes you look?
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