Thursday, September 29, 2005

Last round of public hearings for the Truth & Reconciliation Commission, tomorrow and Saturday, Elliott University Center Auditorium at UNC-Greensboro. Scheduled to appear: Greensboro Mayor Pro Tem Yvonne Johnson and Timothy Tyson, author of  "Blood Done Sign My Name," and many others. 7:51:42 PM   permalink   comment []

Five questions for Backwards City Review's Gerry Canavan in this morning's GoTriad. Another example of Greensboro's indigenous creative culture. Kick-ass blog, too. The print edition of GoTriad also has a fashion spread that includes a picture of Luna pulling a model down the street. 4:44:25 PM   permalink   comment []

Greensboro has run out of fluoride, and so our water won't be fluoridated for a while. There's a national shortage of the stuff, according to a press release from the City, in part because California is bogarting it all. From the release: "The national shortage is the combined result of increased demand from the state of California, which recently began fluoridating its water, and withdrawal from the market of major manufacturer U.S. Agrichemicals of Florida, one of only three fluoride producers in the country." Not everyone will be displeased. 3:53:38 PM   permalink   comment []

Roch Smith Jr. posts about the local alt-media session at the Converge blogcon blog. 3:35:53 PM   permalink   comment []

I fired a broadside at the N&R yesterday. Thought they deserved it, still do, will probably reload and fire again. Meanwhile, my first phone call of the day after that post was with the writer of the article (but not its headline), Margaret Banks. It was a friendly, serious conversation. She had no complaints, she knows I respect her work (it's been much praised here in the past). We walked through our differences on the story in question, agreed on some points and not on others. When I criticize the N&R, I am usually doing it as a reader, and doing it in hopes of improving the paper that means so much to this city. Respectful disagreement that sticks to the facts and issues at hand is a good thing. A little rough and tumble is OK, too. I tell my son when the smart mouth he inherited from me starts flapping that I never look back at my life and wish that I'd been more of a dick. I try to apply that to press criticism and blog comments as well. If you write in public, people are going to disagree with you, and tell you about it, sometimes with vehemence. Some writers, especially non-professionals publishing blogs, seem surprised and hurt when this happens. Don't be. 2:06:26 PM   permalink   comment []

Roberts confirmed. It seemed a done deal all along, he didn't appear extreme in the hearings, the opposition seemed to be going through the motions more than rallying the troops. Of course, you can't always tell how a Justice will perform until they have been there for a while, but that can cut in either direction. As I said on Brad & Britt yesterday morning, if the Democrats want more control over the Court nominations, they should try winning more elections... 1:38:51 PM   permalink   comment []

Lenslinger thinks 2 Guys Named Chris have "really hit their stride." It's interesting -- a few years ago it looked like local radio in Greensboro was going the way of the dodo, doomed to be replaced by syndicated junk like Bob & Tom, John Boy and Billy, and various Strong Women with Wimpy Male Partners. Now it seems that local is the thing during morning drive-time -- Murphy is still going strong (although if he insults my dog again he could be in trouble), Brad and Britt are freaking HUGE, 102 Jamz has the Wild Out show, and on the AM dial Dusty Dunn is the dean of local hosts....some the credit has to go to Dick Broadcasting for swimming against the syndication tide...what else happened? I don't know, but I'm glad it did. 1:32:02 PM   permalink   comment []

Two very different worldviews, same comment: yesterday a diehard Democrat NY magazine editor, and diehard non-Democrat GSO textile industry guy both offered me the same opinion on DeLay and Frist: "These guys think they can get away with anything." Probably not as much as they did last week. Power corrupts. It's one reason parties cycle in and out of power. 7:30:49 AM   permalink   comment []

A warm welcome for DeLay's replacement, Roy Blunt. 7:27:43 AM   permalink   comment []

City Council candidate forum wrap-up from Hardy, here and here. 7:16:54 AM   permalink   comment []

DarkNYT: Brooks on DeLay: "The DeLay Era would be marked by one word: partisanship. Far from being a conservative ideologue, DeLay was a traditional Tammany Hall politician who would do whatever it took to put more Republican fannies in House seats...Social conservatism helped the team, so DeLay exploited it. Money from lobbyists could help the team, so DeLay merged K Street and his operations. If federal spending could help the team buy votes, DeLay was willing... "Yesterday the DeLay Era ended. DeLay fell victim to his willingness to push right up against the campaign finance laws for the good of the team. Remember, DeLay didn't do anything for personal enrichment. If he committed a crime, he did it for the sake of the team... "Will we learn from DeLay's fall about the self-destructive nature of the team mentality? Of course not. The Democrats have drawn the 10-years-out-of-date conclusion that in order to win, they need to be just like Tom DeLay." Herbert wants an independent investigation of Katrina issues: "Government at all levels failed the city of New Orleans and other parts of the Gulf Coast, and many died as a result...Make no mistake: government officials have blood on their hands." 7:10:38 AM   permalink   comment []