Sunday, August 22, 2004

Piedmont Blog Conference Saturday, August 28. Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro. Free. If you blog, are interested in blogs, work as a journalist or in politics, or just like hanging out in cool places with interesting people, please come. 11:37:49 AM    comment []

A long front-pager in this morning's N&R about Chico Sabbah's strategy of parking millions of dollars in far-flung places to hide his assets as he funded the American Hebrew Academy. More great reporting by Margaret Banks. The last quote made me want to gag, though. It's from Sabbah's lawyer and nephew, Glenn Drew, who says Sabbah is a "deeply religious individual" who still believes in the power of anonymous giving. "While Mr. Sabbah continues to maintain this belief, it is unfortunate that his personal desire for privacy has no longer been respected by many," he said. Sorry, but this guy is no longer anonymous because he defrauded his business partners on a massive scale, and was forced to repay hundreds of millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains. From the article: "The settlement came seven months after an arbitration panel awarded the Japanese companies $1.12 billion, saying the men and their company engaged in fraud and 'willful and deliberate misconduct.' It was one of the largest fraud awards in American history." Isn't that the unfortunate thing here? Previous coverage and links here. 9:43:48 AM    comment []

The N&R runs a long profile of Greensboro community activist, blogger, and sometime political candidate David Hoggard. Writer Maria Johnson has Hoggard down cold. She picks up the action as his side loses a big local political battle: "No grudges hiding under the thatch that's just one missed haircut away from curls? 'Nah, no reason for that,' he says. 'Life's too short for that crap.'" Great photo, too, of a laughing Hoggard, unfortunately not online. Johnson, who was quick to figure out that mining blogs for good stories is a growth business for local journalists, cites Hoggard's weblog high in the article: "There, in the blogosphere, he brings his handyman mentality to bear on local issues and life in general: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. And if it is broke, don't create another problem with a jackleg fix." 9:28:44 AM    comment []

Shouting points memo: my newspaper column this morning offers pointers on talking politics. "It's a bipartisan, multimedia template that works for any point of view on the partisan spectrum... I am right, and you are wrong. You are not just wrong, you and those like you are intellectually insufficient and morally suspect. Why do you hate our country? Think of the children. God said to tell you that he is not pleased... The most extreme example or action of an individual who agrees with any idea or position you favor will do just fine as a representation of your actual ideas or positions. The most extreme example of anyone or anything associated with my ideology shows that inclusiveness is a vital part of our message." Read the whole thing here. 9:07:14 AM    comment []