Politics

Politics

There are 1,050 posts filed in Politics (this is page 61 of 105).

The newly revealed arrogance

Shameful indeed. If there was any question before, it’s obvious now that cooperation and bipartisanship in the North Carolina General Assembly ain’t gonna happen as long as Thom Tillis and Phil Berger are in charge. Time to call these guys out for being the morally-bankrupt assholes they are.

It is hard to know where to start in describing the fiasco that was the North Carolina General Assembly Wednesday night and early Thursday morning.

The word that comes quickly to mind is arrogance. And not just because the Republican leadership abused their power, went back on their word, cut off debate, and refused to disclose what would be discussed at a special session held at 12:45 in the morning when they announced it just 90 minutes before.

And it is not just because they physically blocked a reporter from asking questions about their ridiculous manipulation of the legislative process or used irrelevant examples of past legislative actions to defend the way they held the General Assembly hostage to their partisan whims, at one point even showing a college football game on the voting board in the House during the recess, while legislative leaders hatched their schemes in their corner offices.

via The newly revealed arrogance | NC Policy Watch.

Could you pass a citizenship test?

Remember when I suggested that all citizens who wish to maintain their citizenship take a citizenship test? I was being facetious, of course, but now the Christian Science Monitor asks its readers if they could pass the test and provides a handy sample test online.

Give the test a try here.

(For the record, I got a perfect score.)

The NDAA’s historic assault on American liberty

It’s a sad day for America. I suppose the Pledge of Allegiance now needs to be rewritten to say “with liberty and justice for some.”

The Obama administration and Democratic members are in full spin mode – using language designed to obscure the authority given to the military. The exemption for American citizens from the mandatory detention requirement (section 1032) is the screening language for the next section, 1031, which offers no exemption for American citizens from the authorisation to use the military to indefinitely detain people without charge or trial.

Obama could have refused to sign the bill and the Congress would have rushed to fund the troops. Instead, as confirmed by Senator Levin, the White House conducted a misinformation campaign to secure this power while portraying the president as some type of reluctant absolute ruler, or, as Obama maintains, a reluctant president with dictatorial powers.

via The NDAA’s historic assault on American liberty | Jonathan Turley | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk.

More ink in the N&O

An alert reader pointed me to today’s edition of the Midtown Raleigh News, where an abbreviated version of my RCAC press release ran in the Notables section on page 2M:

Turner to lead citizens council

Mark Turner, outgoing chairman of the East Citizens Advisory Council, has been elected to lead the Raleigh Citizens Advisory Council. The RCAC is made up of the chairmen and other leaders of each of the 18 geographically based Citizens Advisory Councils in Raleigh. It provides a forum for the leaders to discuss citywide issues.

Turner, who lives in the Bennett Woods neighborhood, became involved in the East Citizens Advisory Council after he attended the Raleigh Neighborhood College in 2008. The series of classes is sponsored by the Community Services Department to inform residents about the work of city government and how they can have a role.

Turner also serves as chairman of the City of Raleigh Parks, Recreation and Greenway Advisory Board.

I’m glad they mentioned Raleigh Neighborhood College, too. Hopefully other folks will be encouraged to step up and do great things for the city.

NCSU Chancellor’s home

N.C. State recently built an updated home for its chancellor. The home, with 5,000sf of entertaining space and a cost of $3.5 million, immediately drew the ire of local conservatives who held it up as an example of the misplaced priorities of academia. Or a waste of taxpayer dollars, or … something. The protests are a little unclear.

I know many of these conservatives simply can’t live without having something to be angry about but before they go blowing a gasket they should note that their ire is misguided. Private donations paid for the home in its entirety.

Let me say that again: private donations paid for the home in its entirety. The cost to taxpayers (and students)? Nothing. Zip. Zilch.
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Raleigh issues press release on my RCAC election

The City of Raleigh issued a press release Wednesday morning on my election as Chair to the Raleigh Citizens Advisory Council. It’s nice to get some recognition, and I’m looking forward to working with my fellow CAC chairs to improve our effectiveness.

Mark Turner, outgoing chair of the East Citizens Advisory Council, has been elected to lead the Raleigh Citizens Advisory Council (RCAC) in the coming year.

The RCAC is made up of the chairs and other leaders of each of the 18 geographically based Citizens Advisory Councils in Raleigh. It provides a forum for these leaders to discuss citywide issues.

“The dialogue between the City and the community is the most valuable thing the RCAC provides,” Mr. Turner said. “It’s been the traditional role for the RCAC.”
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Vaclav Havel

Vaclav Havel, former president of the Czech Republic who helped steer that country through it’s Velvet Revolution, has died at the age of 75. I will always remember the historic revolutions that swept the world in 1989, including the one that created the Czech Republic.

I learned last week that Havel was a huge Frank Zappa fan, too, and appointed Zappa to be a cultural consultant in 1990.

Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) — Czechs mourned the death of Vaclav Havel as world leaders lionized the former president and dissident who endured years of jail to become the first leader of post-Communist Czechoslovakia.

Black flags fluttered under gray skies at Prague’s Hradcany Castle, the seat of the president’s offices overlooking the capital, as government officials began planning the country’s biggest state funeral in decades.

via Czechs Mourn ‘Symbol’ Havel as Leaders Gather to Plan Funeral – Businessweek.

Dear Congress, It’s No Longer OK To Not Know How The Internet Works

The House tried to pass the “Stop Online Internet Piracy” bill out of committee today, only to run out of time. It wasn’t due to the lack of trying on the part of Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC). Rep. Watt acknowledges that he doesn’t understand the ramifications of the bill he is sponsoring, yet feels the need to press on, regardless.

It’s quite embarrassing, especially as a North Carolinian. As one commenter put it, Congress trying to regulate the Internet is like trying to build a bridge without an engineer. This misguided attack on America’s First Amendment must be stopped.

It’s of course perfectly standard for members of Congress to not be exceptionally proficient in technological matters. But for some committee members, the issue did not stop at mere ignorance. Rather, it seemed there was in many cases an outright refusal to understand what is undoubtedly a complex issue dealing with highly-sensitive technologies.

When the security issue was brought up, Rep. Mel Watt of North Carolina seemed particularly comfortable about his own lack of understanding. Grinningly admitting “I’m not a nerd” before the committee, he nevertheless went on to dismiss without facts or justification the very evidence he didn’t understand and then downplay the need for a panel of experts. Rep. Maxine Waters of California followed up by saying that any discussion of security concerns is “wasting time” and that the bill should move forward without question, busted internets be damned.

via Dear Congress, It’s No Longer OK To Not Know How The Internet Works | Motherboard.

Proof that good things come back to you

That looks familiar . . .


At tonight’s meeting of Raleigh’s Parks board, we were given nice Tervis plastic mugs as a token of the city’s gratitude for our service. As I was leaving tonight’s holiday meeting, I burst out laughing to discover that the picture adorning the mug is my public domain picture of Raleigh!

Out of all the unexpected places to see my photo, this one really cracked me up! I never expected to be handed my own photograph as a gift!

The mug has the North Carolina League of Municipalities’s name on it. I’m guessing the League asked cities to submit photographs of their city for their respective mugs, because the photo on the mug is apparently the one that Raleigh’s public affairs department has retouched to remove a street lamp and a crane.

It gave me a good laugh!