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Wednesday, July 13, 2011
What goes around comes around - JR Ewing style
(Two parts to this Dallas chain above) Related to an Oil Field that Cliff's Daddy said was stolen from him by Jock Ewing and this caused Cliff to pursue this property over the years. Control was eventually obtained by Cliff, but was eventually regained by Ole JR.
In life, no one should ever deal the deck of the cards of life in a high handed fashion. As some say, "What goes around comes around" and others, "It all comes out in the wash."
We all have our faults and flaws and when things become personal who knows what the outcome will be. Sometimes you win and many times you lose, but long memories never fade away. Remember that in all of your dealings in life. Some people are better at connecting dots than others.
And never-ever-never count your chickens before they hatch, because they're hatching all the time!!!
Monday, July 11, 2011
Economic Stories of Relevance in Today's World -- July 10, 2011
Geithner says hard times to continue for many - AP - July 10, 2011 - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (GYT'-nur) says many Americans will face hard times for a long time to come... He says President Barack Obama rescued the United States from a second Great Depression and will keep working to strengthen the economy. But Geithner says will be some time before many people feel like the country is recovering... Geithner tells NBC's "Meet the Press" that it's a very tough economy. He says that for a lot of people "it's going to feel very hard, harder than anything they've experienced in their lifetime now, for a long time to come."
The Fed Rearranges the Deck Chairs on the Titanic Economy - The International Forecaster - July 2, 2011 - World markets and especially US markets are in a state of uneasiness and it is only a matter of time before they degenerate further. The real question is will everything break loose between now and the end of the year? The answer in part is yes, and it is currently in process... “The President’s Working Group on Financial Markets,” along with elitist insiders normally have the ability to make the stock and bond markets do what they want them to. That is, at least on a short-term basis. We believe the market is being deliberately taken down by them in order to impress upon politicians that if they do not extend the short-term cash debt limit that the market will fall even further and that in turn will reduce their ability to get reelected. If you do not think that is possible then you have no idea what is going on. At the present time with about a month to the August 2nd deadline the two political parties are nowhere near an agreement. As we draw closer to the deadline investors will become more and more concerned and the market will trend lower.
Dollar’s Share Of Global Reserves Continues To Slide, Reserve Status Questioned - Forbes - Agustino Fontevecchia - Jun. 30 2011 - Attesting to the continued global loss of confidence in the U.S. dollar, the greenback’s share of the world’s reserve continued to slide in the fourth quarter of 2010, the latest data show. Interestingly, the trend can be explained entirely by valuation effects, with the trade-weighted dollar depreciating 4%% in that time frame... The U.S.’ share of allocated reserves fell in the first quarter to 60.69%% from 61.53% from Q4 2010. Central Bank reserves move slowly, but the slide in the greenback’s share, which Nomura suggests would be even steeper if China was included in the sample, has been very pronounced if one takes a longer-term window... A year before the latest data, Q1 2010, the greenback’s share stood at 61.64%, while in Q1 2001, ten years before, it stood at 72.3%. While USDs dominance was unquestioned a few years ago, it is anything but rare to speak of a move toward a multi-currency system, with the dollar still a primus inter pares [first among peers]. (Read Central Banks Dump Treasuries As Dollar’s Reserve Currency Status Fades).
BofA's Mortgage-Bond Pact Draws Challenge - Wall Street Journal - Ruth Simon - July 6, 2011 - In a court filing Tuesday, the group of 11 mortgage-bond investors, who call themselves Walnut Place but declined to identify themselves, said the parties that crafted the deal with Bank of America have conflicts of interest that raise questions about the fairness of the settlement accord... "Walnut Place has serious concerns about the secret, non-adversarial, and conflicted way in which the proposed settlement was negotiated and about the fairness of the terms of the proposed settlement," the group wrote in a filing in New York County Supreme Court. The filing also called the deal "inadequate."... Last week's agreement was struck by the Charlotte, N.C., bank and 22 institutional investors that include BlackRock Inc., MetLife Inc. and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Also part of the settlement is Bank of New York Mellon Corp., which as trustee for the bond deals is charged with protecting bondholder interests.
The Real Cause of the U.S. Debt Crisis: Spiralling Defense Spending - GlobalResearch.ca - by Bruce Arnold - July 3, 2011 - Contrary to Kleptocracy-scripted CNN newsbytes, the United States Debt Debate is NOT just the false choice between raising taxes on the few and rich versus lowering Medicare for the many and poor: What always goes unmentioned is MILITARY PORK.
Our Politicians Are Selling Off Pieces Of America To Foreign Investors – And Goldman Sachs Is Helping Them Do It - Before It's News - July 05, 2011 - All over the United States, politicians are selling off key pieces of infrastructure to foreign investors and big Wall Street banks like Goldman Sachs are helping them do it. State and local governments across the country that are drowning in debt and that are desperate for cash are increasingly turning to the "privatization" of public assets as the solution to their problems. Pieces of infrastructure that taxpayers have already paid for such as highways, water treatment plants, libraries, parking meters, airports and power plants are being auctioned off to the highest bidder. Most of the time what happens is that the state or local government receives a huge lump sum of cash up front for a long-term lease (usually 75 years or longer) and the foreign investors come in and soak as much revenue out of the piece of infrastructure that they possibly can. The losers in these deals are almost always the taxpayers. Pieces of America are literally being auctioned off just to help state and local governments minimize their debt problems for a year or two, but the consequences of these deals will be felt for decades.
The Tea Party and Goldman Sachs: A Love Story - Truthout.com - Robert Scheer, Truthdig - July 6, 2011 - In the midst of a jobless recovery, those same corporations are sitting on more than $2 trillion in reserves, refusing to invest in this country, as increasing percentages of their profits are garnered in tax-sheltered operations abroad. And the bankers who caused the economic meltdown have turned against President Barack Obama, who saved them; instead they favor a tea-party-dominated Republican Party that seeks to limit any restraint on corporate greed while destroying the ability of state and federal governments to bring some measure of relief to ordinary folk... The whole point of the tea party is to focus concern over our stagnant economy on something called “big government” while ignoring the big corporations that have bought the government as an accessory to their marketing strategies. Big government is big precisely because it now exists primarily to make the world safe for multinational capitalism, whether through a bloated defense budget, trade pacts like the North American Free Trade Agreement, or monetary policies that serve the interests of the largest companies... It was their lobbyists who got Congress to end sensible regulations of financial shenanigans, and now, with the new tea party members of Congress as their most stalwart allies, they are yanking the teeth from the very mild regulations that Obama got through the last Congress. As The Associated Press reported: “Congressional Republicans are greeting the one-year anniversary of President Barack Obama’s financial overhaul law by trying to weaken it, nibble by nibble.”... It is nothing short of demagogic for the Republicans to be complaining about the debt when it was the radical deregulatory policies that they pursued which caused all that governmental red ink in the first place. What a hoax to pretend that teachers’ pensions or environmental protections are responsible for a debt that increased by 50 percent as a direct consequence of the banking collapse. Yet they want to gut even the tepid regulations that became law under the Obama administration, foaming at the mouth about sensible regulation as job killing when it is the uncontrolled greed of Wall Street that is at the root of our high unemployment.
Economic Collapse a Mathematical Certainty - Top 5 Places Where Not To Be
The Fed Rearranges the Deck Chairs on the Titanic Economy - The International Forecaster - July 2, 2011 - World markets and especially US markets are in a state of uneasiness and it is only a matter of time before they degenerate further. The real question is will everything break loose between now and the end of the year? The answer in part is yes, and it is currently in process... “The President’s Working Group on Financial Markets,” along with elitist insiders normally have the ability to make the stock and bond markets do what they want them to. That is, at least on a short-term basis. We believe the market is being deliberately taken down by them in order to impress upon politicians that if they do not extend the short-term cash debt limit that the market will fall even further and that in turn will reduce their ability to get reelected. If you do not think that is possible then you have no idea what is going on. At the present time with about a month to the August 2nd deadline the two political parties are nowhere near an agreement. As we draw closer to the deadline investors will become more and more concerned and the market will trend lower.
Dollar’s Share Of Global Reserves Continues To Slide, Reserve Status Questioned - Forbes - Agustino Fontevecchia - Jun. 30 2011 - Attesting to the continued global loss of confidence in the U.S. dollar, the greenback’s share of the world’s reserve continued to slide in the fourth quarter of 2010, the latest data show. Interestingly, the trend can be explained entirely by valuation effects, with the trade-weighted dollar depreciating 4%% in that time frame... The U.S.’ share of allocated reserves fell in the first quarter to 60.69%% from 61.53% from Q4 2010. Central Bank reserves move slowly, but the slide in the greenback’s share, which Nomura suggests would be even steeper if China was included in the sample, has been very pronounced if one takes a longer-term window... A year before the latest data, Q1 2010, the greenback’s share stood at 61.64%, while in Q1 2001, ten years before, it stood at 72.3%. While USDs dominance was unquestioned a few years ago, it is anything but rare to speak of a move toward a multi-currency system, with the dollar still a primus inter pares [first among peers]. (Read Central Banks Dump Treasuries As Dollar’s Reserve Currency Status Fades).
BofA's Mortgage-Bond Pact Draws Challenge - Wall Street Journal - Ruth Simon - July 6, 2011 - In a court filing Tuesday, the group of 11 mortgage-bond investors, who call themselves Walnut Place but declined to identify themselves, said the parties that crafted the deal with Bank of America have conflicts of interest that raise questions about the fairness of the settlement accord... "Walnut Place has serious concerns about the secret, non-adversarial, and conflicted way in which the proposed settlement was negotiated and about the fairness of the terms of the proposed settlement," the group wrote in a filing in New York County Supreme Court. The filing also called the deal "inadequate."... Last week's agreement was struck by the Charlotte, N.C., bank and 22 institutional investors that include BlackRock Inc., MetLife Inc. and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Also part of the settlement is Bank of New York Mellon Corp., which as trustee for the bond deals is charged with protecting bondholder interests.
The Real Cause of the U.S. Debt Crisis: Spiralling Defense Spending - GlobalResearch.ca - by Bruce Arnold - July 3, 2011 - Contrary to Kleptocracy-scripted CNN newsbytes, the United States Debt Debate is NOT just the false choice between raising taxes on the few and rich versus lowering Medicare for the many and poor: What always goes unmentioned is MILITARY PORK.
Our Politicians Are Selling Off Pieces Of America To Foreign Investors – And Goldman Sachs Is Helping Them Do It - Before It's News - July 05, 2011 - All over the United States, politicians are selling off key pieces of infrastructure to foreign investors and big Wall Street banks like Goldman Sachs are helping them do it. State and local governments across the country that are drowning in debt and that are desperate for cash are increasingly turning to the "privatization" of public assets as the solution to their problems. Pieces of infrastructure that taxpayers have already paid for such as highways, water treatment plants, libraries, parking meters, airports and power plants are being auctioned off to the highest bidder. Most of the time what happens is that the state or local government receives a huge lump sum of cash up front for a long-term lease (usually 75 years or longer) and the foreign investors come in and soak as much revenue out of the piece of infrastructure that they possibly can. The losers in these deals are almost always the taxpayers. Pieces of America are literally being auctioned off just to help state and local governments minimize their debt problems for a year or two, but the consequences of these deals will be felt for decades.
The Tea Party and Goldman Sachs: A Love Story - Truthout.com - Robert Scheer, Truthdig - July 6, 2011 - In the midst of a jobless recovery, those same corporations are sitting on more than $2 trillion in reserves, refusing to invest in this country, as increasing percentages of their profits are garnered in tax-sheltered operations abroad. And the bankers who caused the economic meltdown have turned against President Barack Obama, who saved them; instead they favor a tea-party-dominated Republican Party that seeks to limit any restraint on corporate greed while destroying the ability of state and federal governments to bring some measure of relief to ordinary folk... The whole point of the tea party is to focus concern over our stagnant economy on something called “big government” while ignoring the big corporations that have bought the government as an accessory to their marketing strategies. Big government is big precisely because it now exists primarily to make the world safe for multinational capitalism, whether through a bloated defense budget, trade pacts like the North American Free Trade Agreement, or monetary policies that serve the interests of the largest companies... It was their lobbyists who got Congress to end sensible regulations of financial shenanigans, and now, with the new tea party members of Congress as their most stalwart allies, they are yanking the teeth from the very mild regulations that Obama got through the last Congress. As The Associated Press reported: “Congressional Republicans are greeting the one-year anniversary of President Barack Obama’s financial overhaul law by trying to weaken it, nibble by nibble.”... It is nothing short of demagogic for the Republicans to be complaining about the debt when it was the radical deregulatory policies that they pursued which caused all that governmental red ink in the first place. What a hoax to pretend that teachers’ pensions or environmental protections are responsible for a debt that increased by 50 percent as a direct consequence of the banking collapse. Yet they want to gut even the tepid regulations that became law under the Obama administration, foaming at the mouth about sensible regulation as job killing when it is the uncontrolled greed of Wall Street that is at the root of our high unemployment.
Economic Collapse a Mathematical Certainty - Top 5 Places Where Not To Be
Thursday, July 7, 2011
My letter to the UNC Board of Governors about the UNC-CH Football Scandal
Here is my letter to the entire UNC Board of Governors that I finished late last night and the response from Hannah Gage who is the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the UNC System. I did have two typos that I have corrected in this copied version, they are in red italics. I wish my proof reading were better at 2am (haha):
Members of the Board of Governors,
I am writing this letter to you to ask why you have let this scandal at the University in Chapel Hill become such an embarrassment to both the State and our University System?
You are the overseers of all of the institutions within the UNC System. Oversight is an inherent responsibility related to your position within the UNC System. You have a fiduciary responsibility to operate in the best interests of the citizens of this State and the Alumni of every institution within that system. It is your responsibility to be fair and just when questions of the honor and integrity of the system arise. It is my contention that as a body you have failed to properly exercise your authority towards accountability in relation to the out of control happenings with the sports program and administrative duties of the Chancellor and the Board of Trustees in Chapel Hill; and to a lesser degree, the Athletic Director and Football Coach that the school.
This matter should have been expedited a long time ago. As the weeks pass, we are treated to more embarrassing revelations and challenges of integrity related to the University in Chapel Hill. We see more and more lawyers entering the scene and most of those lawyers are high profile attorneys who graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill. We see them providing consultation to students of the University who have been charged with wrongdoing in relation to the Amateur Athletic Bylaws of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and academic improprieties which are supposed to ultimately fall under your purview, because you are at the top of the pyramid. You are ultimately responsible. You are the ultimate administrators and guarantors of the Bylaws of the UNC system.
Two questions: (Actually More) 1) Where is the money coming from to pay these legal fees? 2) Has anyone asked if these students can afford these fees? 3) If these fees are paid by someone else, is someone asking about the connections? 4) If these fees are being provided pro bono, then would this not be considered an extra benefit and therefore render these athletes ineligible to compete? 5) Are these attorneys all charging their standard rate or are they discounting? 6) And finally, how is it that all of these lawyers appear to be graduates, big supporters of their Alma Mater, and athletic boosters associated with UNC-Chapel Hill? Sure does seem like a conflict of interests to me... The recent cases of Michael McAdoo and Quinton Coples sure spring to mind in relation to the questions above. And there are certainly others.
By looking at the UNC system website, it is obvious that most of you have close ties to UNC-Chapel Hill. Most of you graduated from there. It doesn't take a scientist from Cape Kennedy to understand that there are definite conflicts of interest related to this issue and a fact that UNC-CH connected board members hold the numbers when it comes to any votes taken towards action on this subject matter and any investigations related to this subject matter. Tell me I am wrong. Is the personal interest related to UNC-Chapel Hill the predominate variable in this equation?
I hope that you don't think that I take pleasure in writing this letter to you, because honestly I don't. I understand that many of you feel that you have a vested interest in this representation of your University and the promotion of "The Carolina Way." Honest people will admit that this has never been reality. It was all a marketing ploy to justify elevating Chapel Hill above other similar institutions. Chapel Hill has always had something to be proud of in relation to its history as the first born of our fine university system. All of the grandiose promotion at the expense of others has been completely unnecessary and has led to a lot of resentment, not from the jealousy as many of the Chapel Hill vested surmise, but instead because of the arrogance and belittling that has been fostered, whether implicitly or explicitly, by the Powers That Be who are associated with UNC-Chapel Hill.
My questions to you are 1) Are there different sets of rules in relation to UNC-Chapel Hill versus the other UNC institutions? 2) If there are then why and how can this be justified? 3) If laws have been broken (Federal, State, Felonies, Misdemeanors) in relation to this scandal, is the BOG going to ensure that those infractions are fully adjudicated or is there going to be some sort of plea bargaining or immunity process? 4) Why has there been no independent investigation created to get to the bottom of all of this?
In the end, I believe that the release of the Notices of Allegations and Infractions is your final chance to act in accordance with your responsibilities as the Governance of the North Carolina University System. In too many cases, we see leadership in this State that wants to sit on their hands and wait for issues to be brought to them on a silver platter. Folks, that is not leadership. You may hope that this situation is minimized and just goes away, but the momentum has been building for over a year towards a negative conclusion. Do you really want to chance a disastrous outcome, while people see you sitting on your hands? What is that going to look like. What will the value of that perception hold?
I implore you to please do the right thing and expedite this investigation towards its conclusion, because this is harming the asset of University Higher Education in what has been looked upon as one of the greatest Higher Educational systems in the world. Do you really want to risk that over a Football Coach who has no ties to this State and a bunch of players who chose the low road over doing the right thing.
What example are you setting for the future? What legacy are you leaving for the future generations of people who have ties to the State of North Carolina? Step up and do the right thing.
Sincerely,
James Thomas Shell
Hickory, NC 28601
hickoryhound@gmail.com
UNC-Wilmington 1989
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you for your concern.
Hannah D Gage
<hgage@ec.rr.com>; <peter.hans@nelsonmullins.com>
Members of the Board of Governors,
I am writing this letter to you to ask why you have let this scandal at the University in Chapel Hill become such an embarrassment to both the State and our University System?
You are the overseers of all of the institutions within the UNC System. Oversight is an inherent responsibility related to your position within the UNC System. You have a fiduciary responsibility to operate in the best interests of the citizens of this State and the Alumni of every institution within that system. It is your responsibility to be fair and just when questions of the honor and integrity of the system arise. It is my contention that as a body you have failed to properly exercise your authority towards accountability in relation to the out of control happenings with the sports program and administrative duties of the Chancellor and the Board of Trustees in Chapel Hill; and to a lesser degree, the Athletic Director and Football Coach that the school.
This matter should have been expedited a long time ago. As the weeks pass, we are treated to more embarrassing revelations and challenges of integrity related to the University in Chapel Hill. We see more and more lawyers entering the scene and most of those lawyers are high profile attorneys who graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill. We see them providing consultation to students of the University who have been charged with wrongdoing in relation to the Amateur Athletic Bylaws of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and academic improprieties which are supposed to ultimately fall under your purview, because you are at the top of the pyramid. You are ultimately responsible. You are the ultimate administrators and guarantors of the Bylaws of the UNC system.
Two questions: (Actually More) 1) Where is the money coming from to pay these legal fees? 2) Has anyone asked if these students can afford these fees? 3) If these fees are paid by someone else, is someone asking about the connections? 4) If these fees are being provided pro bono, then would this not be considered an extra benefit and therefore render these athletes ineligible to compete? 5) Are these attorneys all charging their standard rate or are they discounting? 6) And finally, how is it that all of these lawyers appear to be graduates, big supporters of their Alma Mater, and athletic boosters associated with UNC-Chapel Hill? Sure does seem like a conflict of interests to me... The recent cases of Michael McAdoo and Quinton Coples sure spring to mind in relation to the questions above. And there are certainly others.
By looking at the UNC system website, it is obvious that most of you have close ties to UNC-Chapel Hill. Most of you graduated from there. It doesn't take a scientist from Cape Kennedy to understand that there are definite conflicts of interest related to this issue and a fact that UNC-CH connected board members hold the numbers when it comes to any votes taken towards action on this subject matter and any investigations related to this subject matter. Tell me I am wrong. Is the personal interest related to UNC-Chapel Hill the predominate variable in this equation?
I hope that you don't think that I take pleasure in writing this letter to you, because honestly I don't. I understand that many of you feel that you have a vested interest in this representation of your University and the promotion of "The Carolina Way." Honest people will admit that this has never been reality. It was all a marketing ploy to justify elevating Chapel Hill above other similar institutions. Chapel Hill has always had something to be proud of in relation to its history as the first born of our fine university system. All of the grandiose promotion at the expense of others has been completely unnecessary and has led to a lot of resentment, not from the jealousy as many of the Chapel Hill vested surmise, but instead because of the arrogance and belittling that has been fostered, whether implicitly or explicitly, by the Powers That Be who are associated with UNC-Chapel Hill.
My questions to you are 1) Are there different sets of rules in relation to UNC-Chapel Hill versus the other UNC institutions? 2) If there are then why and how can this be justified? 3) If laws have been broken (Federal, State, Felonies, Misdemeanors) in relation to this scandal, is the BOG going to ensure that those infractions are fully adjudicated or is there going to be some sort of plea bargaining or immunity process? 4) Why has there been no independent investigation created to get to the bottom of all of this?
In the end, I believe that the release of the Notices of Allegations and Infractions is your final chance to act in accordance with your responsibilities as the Governance of the North Carolina University System. In too many cases, we see leadership in this State that wants to sit on their hands and wait for issues to be brought to them on a silver platter. Folks, that is not leadership. You may hope that this situation is minimized and just goes away, but the momentum has been building for over a year towards a negative conclusion. Do you really want to chance a disastrous outcome, while people see you sitting on your hands? What is that going to look like. What will the value of that perception hold?
I implore you to please do the right thing and expedite this investigation towards its conclusion, because this is harming the asset of University Higher Education in what has been looked upon as one of the greatest Higher Educational systems in the world. Do you really want to risk that over a Football Coach who has no ties to this State and a bunch of players who chose the low road over doing the right thing.
What example are you setting for the future? What legacy are you leaving for the future generations of people who have ties to the State of North Carolina? Step up and do the right thing.
Sincerely,
James Thomas Shell
Hickory, NC 28601
hickoryhound@gmail.com
UNC-Wilmington 1989
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The response of Mrs. Gage:
Mr. Shell,
Thank you for taking the time and sharing your concerns with us about athletics at UNC Chapel Hill. I can assure you we take this issue very seriously. The process is moving forward and we've been asked not to comment by the NCAA.
Thank you for taking the time and sharing your concerns with us about athletics at UNC Chapel Hill. I can assure you we take this issue very seriously. The process is moving forward and we've been asked not to comment by the NCAA.
Thank you for your concern.
Hannah D Gage
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If anyone would like to write a letter to the UNC Board of Governors, regarding this issue and your concerns, here is the e-mail listing to cut and paste when sending the letter to the entire UNC BoG :
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
North Carolina Congressional Redistricting plan renders Hickory Irrelevant
The redistricting proposed by the North Carolina legislature splits the immediate vicinity around the City of Hickory into three different districts. This area will now be represented by the current 5th District - Virginia Foxx, 10th District -Patrick McHenry, and 11th District - Heath Shuler.
Caldwell County and portions of Burke County will move from the 10th district to the 11th district, about two-thirds of Hickory, but excluding Longview will move to the 5th with Watauga and Alexander. The balance of Catawba County stays in the 10th and will now be associated with Asheville and Gastonia.
Some people have pointed out that this will cause our area to lose political clout. My argument is that we don't have any political clout to begin with. Look at the fact that the local "Formal" media is more interested in mixing articles with advertising in relation to local Professionals and businesses, instead of doing any investigative reporting about what is going on around here in relation to local governance. Has anyone heard anything about this issue on WHKY or in the Hickory Daily Record?
In my conversation with Harry Hipps, related to this issue, he quoted the Ted Turner book, "Lead, Follow, or get out of the way." Hickory's political leadership has proven itself to be all to unwilling to exercise any initiative on anything that would be considered innovative or outside of the box thinking, because that would be considered too risky. Another serious problem is the arrogant attitude of our leadership that seems to feel that the City of Hickory is entitled to be the focal point of the attention of this area through infinity without taking action to express the City's importance. This dissolution of the current electoral paradigm will neuter Hickory as far as being a politically viable cog in the wheel of North Carolina politics; at least for the time being.
We have zero political clout, because we don't stand for anything. We have zero in the way of leadership on the local level politically. Our local political establishment is defined by glad handing and status. Tell me where there is a game plan on getting some things done?
Every time we have a local election people talk about how they don't want it to be too partisan or vitriolic. In my opinion, in Hickory that is the reason why you have that Status Quo, all of one mindset governance and that is the reason why all of this is happening.
The thinkers have a gameplan, but the thinkers aren't in office. Critical Thinkers aren't allowed a seat at the table. They are labeled trouble makers for asking too many questions of the establishment. The people who are in office have to be "Doers" and because of the rules that I set forth above, the leaders aren't going to be challenged and if they aren't going to be challenged, then where is the energy that forces them to do anything going to come from? Where is the accountability going to come from?
Look at the Hickory Daily Record and WHKY, one or both have been expressly given stories that they will not touch. I don't understand the thought process, but empirical evidence shows that they will not report on anything that could shape a political thought process. They will report on murder and mayhem and fluff, but anything that could affect political decisions they will not touch.
Personally that is the reason why I have moved away from writing opinion pieces to the HDR. I am sorry, but I don't look at what they do as being a valid news organization at this point. I beg them to change and become more involved. It is like a colleague has stated that they are usually the only "formal" presence at Hickory City Council meetings, but what have they really discussed? All they seem to do is take the City's information from the meetings and run with it in different blurbs over the week following the meeting. There is no in depth analysis and it leaves the public ignorant of the facts of what is happening in the community.
That is part of the multi-level negligence that I describe above. They have been given the story related to the malfeasance at the airport. They haven't ever talked about the bankruptcy of the operators of the airport. They were given details of interest related to the rental property task force. They will not devote diligence on the issues related to downtown. No one from the HDR showed up to the proceedings of the Hickory By Choice meetings. They barely touched the issue of the redistricting of the wards in the City of Hickory and won't touch ward specific elections with a 10 foot pole. There were factual discrepancies that tilted towards city management in relation to the pool issue.
It surely seems that when someone tries to hold an elected official's feet to the fire in our area, you have one of their buddies toting their water and making excuses for them and they don't have to lift a finger to defend their record. And that is a big problem. The apologists need to stand down and let us have a real election for once, instead of another processional pageant where no one participates, because the fix is in. We need to have a series of real debates and serious dialogue where the people who have the best ideas can get their message out, because from ideas we get action and from action we get things done!!!
What implications will this Congressional Redistricting hold for our area? The goal is what Congressman McHenry pointed out a couple months ago in the Politico article from May 4, 2011 entitled Race politics hit North Carolina redistricting. In this article the Congressman states:
The swerving of our Congressional district lines serves multiple purposes. It most likely puts a Democrat seat out of the reach of Heath Shuler, because they are going to add Republican strongholds to the 11th district, while taking away Asheville and sacrificing some of the wide two-thirds support that McHenry now receives in the 10th district. Congressman McHenry also remembers that he had a tough go against Daniel Johnson in the City of Hickory in 2008, while he blew him away in the rest of the district. For that reason, I can see why as a strategy he doesn't mind trading in the City of Hickory. It also helps Virginia Foxx maintain the current wide support in the 5th District. Her district seems to be the least affected district in our area with only modifications affecting sparsely populated areas north of Winston-Salem, while allowing her to keep her centrifugal force centered around North Wilkesboro. IIt is also going to most likely spell doom for Larry Kissell, because the heavily Republican area in south Iredell County moves from Congressman McHenry's district to his 9th district. (EDIT: My mistake - Sue Myrick is the 9th District representative and inherits South Iredell from McHenry, while giving up parts of Gaston County, which is McHenry's home county. Kissell inherits parts of Rowan, Davidson, Randolph, and Robeson County, which I presume to be more Republican and loses some constituents to Mel Watt's gerrymandered minority district. Still making it harder for him to be reelected. The results of my hypothesis still don't change.)
The effects on Hickory, I believe, are related to our bad economy here. These Congressional representatives don't want the Hickory Metro's bad economy hindering their personal political efforts; so why not split it up? It can be good for Hickory if we find some leadership, because we would have three advocates for our interest, if we could ever focus on a gameplan. The one thing that I believe is that it essentially renders it nearly impossible for a candidate from the City of Hickory to ever be viable, because Hickory is on the fringes of all three of these districts and its population is split amongst those districts. In general, I believe that most candidates come from the heart of their district or the most populated areas within their district.
There is also the fact that our metropolitan area is taken for granted, because for the most part it automatically supports the Republican candidate. We do not have a valid two party structure in our area. We are the milk cow of North Carolina politics. Two-Thirds of the people here can be counted on to go in and vote straight Republican. I doubt that most of these people can even tell you who they are voting for. If we are going to not even have any expectations, then why shouldn't we be ignored. As the old saying goes, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. The only time we have ever squeaked was in relation to the Inter-basin transfer from the Catawba River. We took notice on that issue, but have never chirped on the issues related to the loss of our local industry due to "Free for All" trade and the devastating effects it has had on our area.
So, in the end, we are getting what we deserve. This cannot be good from the standpoint that our Metropolitan area is being sliced and diced by Raleigh and Washington. Essentially they are saying that our metropolitan designation is unfocused, irrelevant, and not politically significant. As my colleagues have stated and I have conveyed in this blog, Inaction is an Action and that is what we are guilty of from the top to the bottom of our area.
Whether people are scared of retaliation or whatever the excuse, the fact is that there isn't much getting done around here. There isn't much movement, much less energy. People are scared to rock the boat and if you don't rock the boat and make waves, then you aren't going to get moving. That is where our problem lies. This is just another in a long list of issues that can be labeled as "the same ole story, the same ole song and dance, my friends."
Caldwell County and portions of Burke County will move from the 10th district to the 11th district, about two-thirds of Hickory, but excluding Longview will move to the 5th with Watauga and Alexander. The balance of Catawba County stays in the 10th and will now be associated with Asheville and Gastonia.
Some people have pointed out that this will cause our area to lose political clout. My argument is that we don't have any political clout to begin with. Look at the fact that the local "Formal" media is more interested in mixing articles with advertising in relation to local Professionals and businesses, instead of doing any investigative reporting about what is going on around here in relation to local governance. Has anyone heard anything about this issue on WHKY or in the Hickory Daily Record?
In my conversation with Harry Hipps, related to this issue, he quoted the Ted Turner book, "Lead, Follow, or get out of the way." Hickory's political leadership has proven itself to be all to unwilling to exercise any initiative on anything that would be considered innovative or outside of the box thinking, because that would be considered too risky. Another serious problem is the arrogant attitude of our leadership that seems to feel that the City of Hickory is entitled to be the focal point of the attention of this area through infinity without taking action to express the City's importance. This dissolution of the current electoral paradigm will neuter Hickory as far as being a politically viable cog in the wheel of North Carolina politics; at least for the time being.
We have zero political clout, because we don't stand for anything. We have zero in the way of leadership on the local level politically. Our local political establishment is defined by glad handing and status. Tell me where there is a game plan on getting some things done?
Every time we have a local election people talk about how they don't want it to be too partisan or vitriolic. In my opinion, in Hickory that is the reason why you have that Status Quo, all of one mindset governance and that is the reason why all of this is happening.
The thinkers have a gameplan, but the thinkers aren't in office. Critical Thinkers aren't allowed a seat at the table. They are labeled trouble makers for asking too many questions of the establishment. The people who are in office have to be "Doers" and because of the rules that I set forth above, the leaders aren't going to be challenged and if they aren't going to be challenged, then where is the energy that forces them to do anything going to come from? Where is the accountability going to come from?
Look at the Hickory Daily Record and WHKY, one or both have been expressly given stories that they will not touch. I don't understand the thought process, but empirical evidence shows that they will not report on anything that could shape a political thought process. They will report on murder and mayhem and fluff, but anything that could affect political decisions they will not touch.
Personally that is the reason why I have moved away from writing opinion pieces to the HDR. I am sorry, but I don't look at what they do as being a valid news organization at this point. I beg them to change and become more involved. It is like a colleague has stated that they are usually the only "formal" presence at Hickory City Council meetings, but what have they really discussed? All they seem to do is take the City's information from the meetings and run with it in different blurbs over the week following the meeting. There is no in depth analysis and it leaves the public ignorant of the facts of what is happening in the community.
That is part of the multi-level negligence that I describe above. They have been given the story related to the malfeasance at the airport. They haven't ever talked about the bankruptcy of the operators of the airport. They were given details of interest related to the rental property task force. They will not devote diligence on the issues related to downtown. No one from the HDR showed up to the proceedings of the Hickory By Choice meetings. They barely touched the issue of the redistricting of the wards in the City of Hickory and won't touch ward specific elections with a 10 foot pole. There were factual discrepancies that tilted towards city management in relation to the pool issue.
It surely seems that when someone tries to hold an elected official's feet to the fire in our area, you have one of their buddies toting their water and making excuses for them and they don't have to lift a finger to defend their record. And that is a big problem. The apologists need to stand down and let us have a real election for once, instead of another processional pageant where no one participates, because the fix is in. We need to have a series of real debates and serious dialogue where the people who have the best ideas can get their message out, because from ideas we get action and from action we get things done!!!
What implications will this Congressional Redistricting hold for our area? The goal is what Congressman McHenry pointed out a couple months ago in the Politico article from May 4, 2011 entitled Race politics hit North Carolina redistricting. In this article the Congressman states:
“It’s politically probable that there will be a new minority influence district. … It’s logical based on the demographics of our state,” said Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), who has become the point man in Congress for the state’s redistricting.
McHenry and other North Carolina Republicans defend their redistricting efforts, saying the Tar Heel State’s booming population and the surge in Republican voters — not to mention the fact that Democrats drew the current districts — justify a new map that could give the state nine Republicans and four Democrats in Congress.
“Republicans should pick up three seats under any fair and legal map,” McHenry said. “That is huge. No other states in the nation would gain as many Republican seats. This would be in a state that Barack Obama won in 2008 and where we have had a Democratic governor since 1992 — the longest such period in the nation. A 9-4 delegation is pretty good and would attempt to avoid the risk of a bad year for Republicans. Clearly, Reps. Kissell and Miller are serving their final term.”
The swerving of our Congressional district lines serves multiple purposes. It most likely puts a Democrat seat out of the reach of Heath Shuler, because they are going to add Republican strongholds to the 11th district, while taking away Asheville and sacrificing some of the wide two-thirds support that McHenry now receives in the 10th district. Congressman McHenry also remembers that he had a tough go against Daniel Johnson in the City of Hickory in 2008, while he blew him away in the rest of the district. For that reason, I can see why as a strategy he doesn't mind trading in the City of Hickory. It also helps Virginia Foxx maintain the current wide support in the 5th District. Her district seems to be the least affected district in our area with only modifications affecting sparsely populated areas north of Winston-Salem, while allowing her to keep her centrifugal force centered around North Wilkesboro. IIt is also going to most likely spell doom for Larry Kissell, because the heavily Republican area in south Iredell County moves from Congressman McHenry's district to his 9th district. (EDIT: My mistake - Sue Myrick is the 9th District representative and inherits South Iredell from McHenry, while giving up parts of Gaston County, which is McHenry's home county. Kissell inherits parts of Rowan, Davidson, Randolph, and Robeson County, which I presume to be more Republican and loses some constituents to Mel Watt's gerrymandered minority district. Still making it harder for him to be reelected. The results of my hypothesis still don't change.)
The effects on Hickory, I believe, are related to our bad economy here. These Congressional representatives don't want the Hickory Metro's bad economy hindering their personal political efforts; so why not split it up? It can be good for Hickory if we find some leadership, because we would have three advocates for our interest, if we could ever focus on a gameplan. The one thing that I believe is that it essentially renders it nearly impossible for a candidate from the City of Hickory to ever be viable, because Hickory is on the fringes of all three of these districts and its population is split amongst those districts. In general, I believe that most candidates come from the heart of their district or the most populated areas within their district.
There is also the fact that our metropolitan area is taken for granted, because for the most part it automatically supports the Republican candidate. We do not have a valid two party structure in our area. We are the milk cow of North Carolina politics. Two-Thirds of the people here can be counted on to go in and vote straight Republican. I doubt that most of these people can even tell you who they are voting for. If we are going to not even have any expectations, then why shouldn't we be ignored. As the old saying goes, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. The only time we have ever squeaked was in relation to the Inter-basin transfer from the Catawba River. We took notice on that issue, but have never chirped on the issues related to the loss of our local industry due to "Free for All" trade and the devastating effects it has had on our area.
So, in the end, we are getting what we deserve. This cannot be good from the standpoint that our Metropolitan area is being sliced and diced by Raleigh and Washington. Essentially they are saying that our metropolitan designation is unfocused, irrelevant, and not politically significant. As my colleagues have stated and I have conveyed in this blog, Inaction is an Action and that is what we are guilty of from the top to the bottom of our area.
Whether people are scared of retaliation or whatever the excuse, the fact is that there isn't much getting done around here. There isn't much movement, much less energy. People are scared to rock the boat and if you don't rock the boat and make waves, then you aren't going to get moving. That is where our problem lies. This is just another in a long list of issues that can be labeled as "the same ole story, the same ole song and dance, my friends."
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Economic Stories of Relevance in Today's World -- July 3, 2011
Biggest Tax Avoiders Win Most Gaming $1 Trillion U.S. Tax Break - Bloomberg - Jesse Drucker - Jun 27, 2011 - Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) has cut its income taxes by $7 billion since 2005 by booking roughly half its worldwide profits at a subsidiary at the foot of the Swiss Alps that employs about 100 people. Now Cisco, the largest maker of networking equipment, wants to save even more -- by asking Congress to waive most federal taxes due when multinationals bring such offshore earnings home. Chief Executive Officer John T. Chambers has led the charge for the tax holiday, which would be the second since 2004. He says it would encourage companies to “repatriate” as much as $1 trillion held abroad, spur domestic investment and create jobs. Cisco’s techniques cut the effective tax rate on its reported international income to about 5 percent since 2008 by moving profits from roughly $20 billion in annual global sales through the Netherlands, Switzerland and Bermuda, according to its records in four countries. The maneuvers, permitted by tax law, show how companies that use such strategies most aggressively would get the biggest benefit from the holiday, said Edward D. Kleinbard, a law professor at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
Federal Reserve Secrets and Lies - Greg Hunter - USA Watchdog - June 27, 2011 - The Federal Reserve has been a clandestine organization since its inception. It is not really part of the federal government; it is merely a subcontractor for monetary policy. The Fed is basically a cartel of both U.S. and European banks. It has pulled the levers in the economy from behind a curtain of secrecy since 1913 and has always enjoyed a certain degree of respect and admiration. All that changed when the economy melted down in 2008. The respect and admiration of the Federal Reserve is being shredded right along with its veil of secrecy. The Fed allowed everyone to think the cost of controlling the 2008 financial crash was just a measly $3.3 trillion. This giant lie was exposed after Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont put a provision in last year’s financial reform bill that forced the Fed to come clean on $9 trillion in additional emergency loans and bailout money. The Fed funneled cash to foreign banks and companies right along with American banks and companies. It basically rewarded reckless and illegal behavior of greedy Wall Street bankers that caused the mess we are in now.
US Fed's QE2 stimulus ends with a fizzle - Activist Post - June 30, 2011 - The US Federal Reserve wound up its $600-billion "QE2" program to boost the ailing economy with easy liquidity on Thursday, having generated more controversy than jobs and growth. Without fanfare the US central bank's New York branch paid banks $4.9 billion for US Treasury bonds in the program's last step Thursday morning, as economists and bankers continued to argue its effect. Critics of the Fed's second "quantitative easing" program -- hence QE2 -- say it fueled surging food and fuel prices, pumped up asset bubbles in emerging economies like China and Brazil, and devalued the dollar. Even sympathizers say it didn't have much impact, noting that US employment remains stubbornly high at 9.1 percent and growth remains depressed.
What Accelerated Hyperinflation Looks Like - SHTFplan.com - Mac Slavo - July 1, 2011
Never having lived through a hyperinflationary currency meltdown makes it difficult to visualize how such an event may unfold. We know from historical examples like the Weimar Republic and Zimbabwe that the end result is wheel barrows full of paper currency being used to buy basic staples like bread and rice. The following chart from the late Howard Katz provides us an example of what the beginnings of a currency meltdown look like, in this case Zimbabwe’s hyperinflation, and how quickly it can devolve into completely financial chaos:
The Zimbabwe dollar took roughly five years to completely lose the confidence of its people. But because the US dollar is the world’s reserve currency all bets are off in terms of time lines. Given our dependence on debt issuance and foreign investment to cover our expenses, there’s a distinct possibility that shouldn’t be ignored. As James Rawles discussed in his book Patriots and Troy Grice in his book Indivisible, if our foreign creditors pull the plug on lending, the entire monetary system of the United States could collapse in one fell swoop. This is certainly a possibility.
Whatever the triggering mechanism, and however long it takes for the American public and our foreign creditors to lose confidence, the end result will be the same. We often talk about store shelves emptying if and when the dollar becomes worthless, but another likelihood in such an event would be that store shelves remain fairly well stocked simply because the people have nothing of value to acquire those goods (and eventually, that leads to riots and political collapse).
Can the Fed Stop Quantitative Easing? - Lew Rockwell.com - Paul Craig Roberts - June 29, 2011 - If the Fed stops QE, confidence in the US dollar would rise. Money would flow into US investments, both supporting the US stock market and helping to finance the large US budget deficit. Gold and silver prices would decline. Negative dollar expectations would
be squeezed out of oil and grain prices, although drought, flood, and supply factors would continue to impact grain prices and the administration's wars can impact oil prices.
If a halt to QE coincided with more European sovereign debt problems, the dollar might regain a lot of the ground that it has lost.
Looked at from this perspective, the Fed should halt its bond purchases, and people should bail out of their bullion investments and commodity speculations.
But there are other factors in play – the economy and continuing solvency worries about financial institutions. At a June 22 news conference, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said: "Some of the headwinds that have been concerning us, like the weakness in the financial sector, problems in the housing sector, balance sheet and deleveraging issues, may be stronger and more persistent than we thought."
Despite the fiscal stimulus of the large federal budget deficit and Obama's $700 billion stimulus program, the economy's growth and employment performance is not up to expectations. Indeed, as John Williams says, if inflation were fully measured, the economy's growth could be negative, and if unemployment were correctly reported, the current rate would be over 22%.
An economy this weak offers no support to US-derived corporate profits or to the outlook for financial organizations. US corporations have made large investments abroad in the production of goods and services to sell to US consumers who have neither the income nor borrowing capacity to purchase. People without jobs and those with the low paid jobs provided by domestic service, such as hospital orderlies, bartenders, and waitresses, cannot afford to buy a house even at the depressed current prices. To the extent that financial institutions' books remain filled with real estate paper, the financial crisis is not over.
Moreover, it is unlikely that the Dow Jones average can be sustained without growth in employment and GDP.
Can the Fed afford to sacrifice recovery, employment, and Obama's reelection to save the dollar and price stability? This is the unasked and unanswered question.
Federal Reserve Secrets and Lies - Greg Hunter - USA Watchdog - June 27, 2011 - The Federal Reserve has been a clandestine organization since its inception. It is not really part of the federal government; it is merely a subcontractor for monetary policy. The Fed is basically a cartel of both U.S. and European banks. It has pulled the levers in the economy from behind a curtain of secrecy since 1913 and has always enjoyed a certain degree of respect and admiration. All that changed when the economy melted down in 2008. The respect and admiration of the Federal Reserve is being shredded right along with its veil of secrecy. The Fed allowed everyone to think the cost of controlling the 2008 financial crash was just a measly $3.3 trillion. This giant lie was exposed after Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont put a provision in last year’s financial reform bill that forced the Fed to come clean on $9 trillion in additional emergency loans and bailout money. The Fed funneled cash to foreign banks and companies right along with American banks and companies. It basically rewarded reckless and illegal behavior of greedy Wall Street bankers that caused the mess we are in now.
US Fed's QE2 stimulus ends with a fizzle - Activist Post - June 30, 2011 - The US Federal Reserve wound up its $600-billion "QE2" program to boost the ailing economy with easy liquidity on Thursday, having generated more controversy than jobs and growth. Without fanfare the US central bank's New York branch paid banks $4.9 billion for US Treasury bonds in the program's last step Thursday morning, as economists and bankers continued to argue its effect. Critics of the Fed's second "quantitative easing" program -- hence QE2 -- say it fueled surging food and fuel prices, pumped up asset bubbles in emerging economies like China and Brazil, and devalued the dollar. Even sympathizers say it didn't have much impact, noting that US employment remains stubbornly high at 9.1 percent and growth remains depressed.
What Accelerated Hyperinflation Looks Like - SHTFplan.com - Mac Slavo - July 1, 2011
Never having lived through a hyperinflationary currency meltdown makes it difficult to visualize how such an event may unfold. We know from historical examples like the Weimar Republic and Zimbabwe that the end result is wheel barrows full of paper currency being used to buy basic staples like bread and rice. The following chart from the late Howard Katz provides us an example of what the beginnings of a currency meltdown look like, in this case Zimbabwe’s hyperinflation, and how quickly it can devolve into completely financial chaos:
| year | rate of increase in prices | |
| 1999 | 56.9% | |
| 2000 | 55.22% | |
| 2001 | 112.1% | |
| 2002 | 198.93% | |
| 2003 | 598.75% | |
| 2004 | 132.75% | |
| 2005 | 585.84% | |
| 2006 | 1,281% | |
| 2007 | 66,212.3% | |
| 2008 | 231,150,888.87% (July) | |
Whatever the triggering mechanism, and however long it takes for the American public and our foreign creditors to lose confidence, the end result will be the same. We often talk about store shelves emptying if and when the dollar becomes worthless, but another likelihood in such an event would be that store shelves remain fairly well stocked simply because the people have nothing of value to acquire those goods (and eventually, that leads to riots and political collapse).
Can the Fed Stop Quantitative Easing? - Lew Rockwell.com - Paul Craig Roberts - June 29, 2011 - If the Fed stops QE, confidence in the US dollar would rise. Money would flow into US investments, both supporting the US stock market and helping to finance the large US budget deficit. Gold and silver prices would decline. Negative dollar expectations would
be squeezed out of oil and grain prices, although drought, flood, and supply factors would continue to impact grain prices and the administration's wars can impact oil prices.
If a halt to QE coincided with more European sovereign debt problems, the dollar might regain a lot of the ground that it has lost.
Looked at from this perspective, the Fed should halt its bond purchases, and people should bail out of their bullion investments and commodity speculations.
But there are other factors in play – the economy and continuing solvency worries about financial institutions. At a June 22 news conference, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said: "Some of the headwinds that have been concerning us, like the weakness in the financial sector, problems in the housing sector, balance sheet and deleveraging issues, may be stronger and more persistent than we thought."
Despite the fiscal stimulus of the large federal budget deficit and Obama's $700 billion stimulus program, the economy's growth and employment performance is not up to expectations. Indeed, as John Williams says, if inflation were fully measured, the economy's growth could be negative, and if unemployment were correctly reported, the current rate would be over 22%.
An economy this weak offers no support to US-derived corporate profits or to the outlook for financial organizations. US corporations have made large investments abroad in the production of goods and services to sell to US consumers who have neither the income nor borrowing capacity to purchase. People without jobs and those with the low paid jobs provided by domestic service, such as hospital orderlies, bartenders, and waitresses, cannot afford to buy a house even at the depressed current prices. To the extent that financial institutions' books remain filled with real estate paper, the financial crisis is not over.
Moreover, it is unlikely that the Dow Jones average can be sustained without growth in employment and GDP.
Can the Fed afford to sacrifice recovery, employment, and Obama's reelection to save the dollar and price stability? This is the unasked and unanswered question.
Bank Of America Forecloses On Wrong House: Dylan Ratigan With 82 Year-Old Tampa Man Who Returned From Vacation To Find Everything Gone
Friday, July 1, 2011
Where are the UNC Board of Governors? - (Part 2) - Everybody knows "The Carolina Way"
This is the third article that I am writing on this subject matter. The story is about a collegiate football program and athletic department that has been allowed to perform in a rogue fashion with no expectations of operating on a level playing field via academics and/or amateurism. This is also a story about lots of money, absolute power, and corruption at the highest levels of our State.
The argument is not about the issue of fairness in relation to athletes not being paid for the economic value that they bring to their university. It is about the fact that every University and athlete is expected to perform under the guidelines set forth by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). With those guidelines, there is an expectation of amateurism and their is certainly an expectation; not only with the NCAA, but also with the University of North Carolina system; that all students meet the system's expectations, by doing their own academic work, to work towards a degree within the system.
Dr. Bill Friday stated in an Interview with WRAL in Raleigh that, “It’s been a difficult time but like good North Carolinians we’ve admitted we’ve made the mistake. Now let's move on.” said Friday. Last October, in an interview with the same television station, he even went so far as to state that all of college sports needs reform. He has basically admitted UNC-Chapel Hill's guilt all along, but he seems to want to put the punishment/sanction part to the side. In the article above he stated that, "He believes UNC can recover if it deals with the scandal honestly with a goal toward institutional control."
You see the problem is that this former UNC system President seems to believe that UNC deserves the benefit of the doubt. In his mind, pious ethics and the mythical "Carolina Way" are supposed to lend UNC-CH some sort of "Get out of Jail free" card. Is this the same Bill Friday who wanted to condemn NC State's sports program 20 years ago under a lot less conspicuous circumstances? Or the same Bill Friday who just one year ago tried to stop UNC-Charlotte from starting a football program?
What we have seen over the last year has shown that the "Carolina Way" is a fraud. They operate no better than any other program and their prior attitude of condemnation never reflects back on themselves. Now there is the repeated talking point, "Everybody Does It."
The information gleaned so far from this investigation shows UNC-CH's leadership along with its Board of Trustees and the system's Board of Governors care little about performing above board and operating an open investigation. Instead they have all lawyered up and only released information that the court system has forced them to release to the public. To any person paying attention and not drinking the "Cooperation" Kool-Aid, it is obvious to see that there is a lot to hide in all of these stacks of stuff and sooner or later it is all going to come out.
The question begs to be asked; what else has gone on over the years, because UNC-Chapel Hill surely seems to have been afforded this benefit of the doubt and had "The Powers that Be" tote their water for them and help hide things in the closet?
They have avoided scrutiny over the years by creating this false mystique deemed "The Carolina Way." You have heard sport's journalists and broadcasters such as Mike Patrick and Dick Vitale preach to the proletariat about how Carolina is special and about the "Carolina Way." How much momentum did the University gain from such advertising in which they (and their minion) have arrogantly promoted that they do everything above board and the right way and insinuate that everyone else cheats, while many of us have heard stories about their former "Student"-Athletes.
People like Friday and Erskine Bowles tell us that they are cooperating and that we are supposed to sit back and let the investigation play out. They say that we should trust all of these public officials involved in this situation, then we read about the lack of cooperation. We see shenanigans abound through all of this obfuscation and how the media is having to sue to gather public documents. Then when the documents are released and people start fitting the pieces together it doesn't look good and leads to more questions, which they have to go back through the courts to obtain.
Through it all we see new allegations come out periodically that appear to be credible, if not yet proven factual. We also see UNC-CH trying to lay all of the blame on everyone but the University itself. Agents, players, coaches, tutors... Look at John Blake who left the University with a $75,000 severance check. That just does not add up to those of us who live in the real world. What I am led to believe is that all of those who are fostering a notion of forgive and forget are either naive, in denial, or corrupt and maybe it is all three, which would be the definition of stupidity in my book. How about a straight forward Mea Culpa?
Last week UNC-Chapel Hill received its Notice of Allegations from the NCAA. In this 42-page document, they listed nine major infractions that the Football team is accused of. In the Semantic world of NCAA By-Laws, the University was not accused of a Lack of Institutional Control, which to many is the ultimate label of member impropriety, but what we see, and further information that is being discovered shows, is something much worse. What we see is that there has been Controlled Institutional Corruption, which has to be endorsed throughout the University. There is just way too much going on to characterize it all as a coincidence or a misunderstanding.
ESPN released a story under the Associated Press by Heather Dinich entitled UNC receives notice of allegations which details much of the report.
In that ESPN article, UNC-CH Chancellor Holden Thorpe admits, "I deeply regret that Carolina is in this position. We made mistakes, and we have to face that. ... We will emerge with a stronger athletics program, and we will restore confidence in Carolina football." Would these "Mistakes" have come to light if Marvin Austin hadn't made those public tweets on Twitter in late Spring of last year and the NCAA hadn't come knocking on the door? The signs that something was awry had been there, but administrators of the University, both inside and outside of the Athletic Department, were obviously neglecting all of those warning signs.
And now we see an article released in Sports Illustrated by Andy Staples dated July 4, 2011 entitled Carolina Blues. Folks, this is the Walter Cronkite on the Vietnam war moment. This is a Tar Heel friendly national publication that is saying that UNC-Chapel Hill should get hammered. The quote from them is one that many of us have understood for more than nine months, but now it has moved past conspiracy theory to generally accepted fact.
None of the findings that have come out have come from the UNC-CH internal investigation. They have come through the NCAA or independent investigations. That should tell you what we are dealing with here. The most egregious, guilty party in this procedural mess is the Board of Governors. It is their responsibility as the overseers of this public asset, that is our University System, that they look out for the integrity of the entire system, not protect their personal interests and/or their cronies in Chapel Hill.
If this were happening in Wilmington (my Alma mater), then I would want all who are involved fired immediately. Instead, we are truly seeing the gang who couldn't shoot straight and as the light is being shed on the scene of the crime, we see all of the damage. I think most of us recognize that it will take years to undo this damage and it is embarrassing and the longer this goes on, the more angry many of us become.
I understand that the Board of Governors slots are politically appointed positions. If they are not willing to clean up the mess in Chapel Hill, sooner rather than later, then can we not get the Governor or the Legislature to do their jobs and make sure that the agencies in our state are operating properly? Over the last decade this State has proven itself to be very corrupt with scandals involving the former Governor, his wife, administrators at NC State University, the DOT, the Department of Agriculture, and we can go on. Isn't it time that we clean the messes up?
There have been a multitude of laws broken here. Many of these improprieties rank as felonies under both State and Federal statutes. I know that this all revolves around a spherical ball, but it also revolves around lots and lots of money and it also revolves around the integrity of a diploma from the oldest institution in our University system and that University system means something to those of us who properly worked towards a degree within that system.
The entire nation can see what has been taking place in Chapel Hill. If Dr. Friday truly wants to put this all behind us, then he should help to route out the corruption at his dear ole Carolina. I have my doubts that anyone will voluntarily do this. So we will continue to drag this out until the very bitter end, because that is where this story is headed and that is how it will end.
The argument is not about the issue of fairness in relation to athletes not being paid for the economic value that they bring to their university. It is about the fact that every University and athlete is expected to perform under the guidelines set forth by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). With those guidelines, there is an expectation of amateurism and their is certainly an expectation; not only with the NCAA, but also with the University of North Carolina system; that all students meet the system's expectations, by doing their own academic work, to work towards a degree within the system.
Dr. Bill Friday stated in an Interview with WRAL in Raleigh that, “It’s been a difficult time but like good North Carolinians we’ve admitted we’ve made the mistake. Now let's move on.” said Friday. Last October, in an interview with the same television station, he even went so far as to state that all of college sports needs reform. He has basically admitted UNC-Chapel Hill's guilt all along, but he seems to want to put the punishment/sanction part to the side. In the article above he stated that, "He believes UNC can recover if it deals with the scandal honestly with a goal toward institutional control."
You see the problem is that this former UNC system President seems to believe that UNC deserves the benefit of the doubt. In his mind, pious ethics and the mythical "Carolina Way" are supposed to lend UNC-CH some sort of "Get out of Jail free" card. Is this the same Bill Friday who wanted to condemn NC State's sports program 20 years ago under a lot less conspicuous circumstances? Or the same Bill Friday who just one year ago tried to stop UNC-Charlotte from starting a football program?
What we have seen over the last year has shown that the "Carolina Way" is a fraud. They operate no better than any other program and their prior attitude of condemnation never reflects back on themselves. Now there is the repeated talking point, "Everybody Does It."
The information gleaned so far from this investigation shows UNC-CH's leadership along with its Board of Trustees and the system's Board of Governors care little about performing above board and operating an open investigation. Instead they have all lawyered up and only released information that the court system has forced them to release to the public. To any person paying attention and not drinking the "Cooperation" Kool-Aid, it is obvious to see that there is a lot to hide in all of these stacks of stuff and sooner or later it is all going to come out.
The question begs to be asked; what else has gone on over the years, because UNC-Chapel Hill surely seems to have been afforded this benefit of the doubt and had "The Powers that Be" tote their water for them and help hide things in the closet?
They have avoided scrutiny over the years by creating this false mystique deemed "The Carolina Way." You have heard sport's journalists and broadcasters such as Mike Patrick and Dick Vitale preach to the proletariat about how Carolina is special and about the "Carolina Way." How much momentum did the University gain from such advertising in which they (and their minion) have arrogantly promoted that they do everything above board and the right way and insinuate that everyone else cheats, while many of us have heard stories about their former "Student"-Athletes.
People like Friday and Erskine Bowles tell us that they are cooperating and that we are supposed to sit back and let the investigation play out. They say that we should trust all of these public officials involved in this situation, then we read about the lack of cooperation. We see shenanigans abound through all of this obfuscation and how the media is having to sue to gather public documents. Then when the documents are released and people start fitting the pieces together it doesn't look good and leads to more questions, which they have to go back through the courts to obtain.
Through it all we see new allegations come out periodically that appear to be credible, if not yet proven factual. We also see UNC-CH trying to lay all of the blame on everyone but the University itself. Agents, players, coaches, tutors... Look at John Blake who left the University with a $75,000 severance check. That just does not add up to those of us who live in the real world. What I am led to believe is that all of those who are fostering a notion of forgive and forget are either naive, in denial, or corrupt and maybe it is all three, which would be the definition of stupidity in my book. How about a straight forward Mea Culpa?
Last week UNC-Chapel Hill received its Notice of Allegations from the NCAA. In this 42-page document, they listed nine major infractions that the Football team is accused of. In the Semantic world of NCAA By-Laws, the University was not accused of a Lack of Institutional Control, which to many is the ultimate label of member impropriety, but what we see, and further information that is being discovered shows, is something much worse. What we see is that there has been Controlled Institutional Corruption, which has to be endorsed throughout the University. There is just way too much going on to characterize it all as a coincidence or a misunderstanding.
ESPN released a story under the Associated Press by Heather Dinich entitled UNC receives notice of allegations which details much of the report.
The notice states seven players received more than $27,000 in improper benefits in 2009 and 2010. In addition, the NCAA alleged unethical conduct by former tutor Jennifer Wiley for refusing to cooperate with the investigation and providing about $3,500 worth of extra benefits in travel, parking expenses and free tutoring to players.
The school was also cited for failing to monitor "social media activity" of the team in 2010 as well as the conduct of former player Chris Hawkins. Hawkins was previously connected to trips to Atlanta and Las Vegas made by cornerback Kendric Burney and also paid $1,000 for the jersey of Georgia's A.J. Green -- a transaction that resulted in Green's four-game suspension because the NCAA said Hawkins qualified as an agent. Hawkins had hung around the program and players in recent years but has since been told to stay away.Here is a good summarization of most of what the University is currently accused of:
- A tutor paying parking fines
- A tutor writing papers for players
- A tutor giving free study sessions
- A tutor paying for a player's airline ticket
- An assistant coach funneling players to a specific agent, for money
- Ignoring information from a student athlete about improper benefits
- $27,097.38 worth of improper benefits to various players
- Failure to monitor the activities of Chris Hawkins, an agent/runner and former UNC player currently accused of distributing Cocaine and awaiting trial on this charge
- Failure to monitor the social networking of players
In that ESPN article, UNC-CH Chancellor Holden Thorpe admits, "I deeply regret that Carolina is in this position. We made mistakes, and we have to face that. ... We will emerge with a stronger athletics program, and we will restore confidence in Carolina football." Would these "Mistakes" have come to light if Marvin Austin hadn't made those public tweets on Twitter in late Spring of last year and the NCAA hadn't come knocking on the door? The signs that something was awry had been there, but administrators of the University, both inside and outside of the Athletic Department, were obviously neglecting all of those warning signs.
And now we see an article released in Sports Illustrated by Andy Staples dated July 4, 2011 entitled Carolina Blues. Folks, this is the Walter Cronkite on the Vietnam war moment. This is a Tar Heel friendly national publication that is saying that UNC-Chapel Hill should get hammered. The quote from them is one that many of us have understood for more than nine months, but now it has moved past conspiracy theory to generally accepted fact.
Any discussion of the litany of allegations the NCAA hurled at North Carolina last week must begin with these two: The Tar Heels allegedly employed an agent's runner as its associate head coach, and a woman employed by coach Butch Davis to tutor his son provided several players improper assistance. If proven, those violations rank alongside any of the last decade.The only people who don't seem to understand that the writing is on the wall are the caretakers of our state's University System. I truly believe that the reasoning is related to the fact that the majority of the people on the Board of Governors are Chapel Hill graduates. It is somewhat understandable that the University would try to spin damage control and minimize penalties, but this should be done through real cooperation and they are harming an asset of this state by operating in the manner they have over the last year. It is their fiduciary responsibility to operate in the public's interest and not their own. If they can't separate the two, then they should do the right thing and resign from the board.
(The article ends.) ...Davis and Blake's relationship dates to 1976 when Davis coached Blake at Charles Page High in Sand Springs, Okla. Still, the coach has pleaded ignorance throughout this investigation. Last October, Davis said, "I'm sorry that I trusted John Blake," and the coach maintains that position.
Davis has taken the stance that those who remain ignorant should remain gainfully employed. But even if he somehow keeps his job, he probably won't find it so appealing once the NCAA is finished with the Heels.
None of the findings that have come out have come from the UNC-CH internal investigation. They have come through the NCAA or independent investigations. That should tell you what we are dealing with here. The most egregious, guilty party in this procedural mess is the Board of Governors. It is their responsibility as the overseers of this public asset, that is our University System, that they look out for the integrity of the entire system, not protect their personal interests and/or their cronies in Chapel Hill.
If this were happening in Wilmington (my Alma mater), then I would want all who are involved fired immediately. Instead, we are truly seeing the gang who couldn't shoot straight and as the light is being shed on the scene of the crime, we see all of the damage. I think most of us recognize that it will take years to undo this damage and it is embarrassing and the longer this goes on, the more angry many of us become.
I understand that the Board of Governors slots are politically appointed positions. If they are not willing to clean up the mess in Chapel Hill, sooner rather than later, then can we not get the Governor or the Legislature to do their jobs and make sure that the agencies in our state are operating properly? Over the last decade this State has proven itself to be very corrupt with scandals involving the former Governor, his wife, administrators at NC State University, the DOT, the Department of Agriculture, and we can go on. Isn't it time that we clean the messes up?
There have been a multitude of laws broken here. Many of these improprieties rank as felonies under both State and Federal statutes. I know that this all revolves around a spherical ball, but it also revolves around lots and lots of money and it also revolves around the integrity of a diploma from the oldest institution in our University system and that University system means something to those of us who properly worked towards a degree within that system.
The entire nation can see what has been taking place in Chapel Hill. If Dr. Friday truly wants to put this all behind us, then he should help to route out the corruption at his dear ole Carolina. I have my doubts that anyone will voluntarily do this. So we will continue to drag this out until the very bitter end, because that is where this story is headed and that is how it will end.
Where are the UNC Board of Governors?!?!? - UNC-Chapel Hill athletic scandal - October 1, 2010
State of North Carolina University System -- We've Got a Problem Here!!! - September 18, 2010
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