Politics

Politics

There are 1,056 posts filed in Politics (this is page 96 of 106).

Ty-ed up in red tape

My officemates and I were out on an afternoon walk around the city when I ran into N.C. Rep. Ty Harrell. Almost literally ran into him: he was walking out of the municipal building with a cellphone to his ear just as we were walking by.

Once he got through with his call he told us about his odyssey to get the appropriate ABC permits for his fundraiser tonight at Artspace. He apparently had to go to at least four different agencies to get approval – including one where he needed a background check!

“I had to prove I’m a state legislator,” he said.

Unbelievable. Who knew what kind of red tape would be involved in hosting a party?

If you’re looking for something to do tonight (and you’ve got a little cash to contribute to his campaign), stop by Artspace tonight for Ty’s fundraiser. We’re lucky to have guys like him serving the state.

Tabloidism

Today the News and Observer put this story at the top of its front page. Its a story crowing about how mental hospital director Patsy Christian now won’t be able to hang a portrait of herself in the new Butner mental hospital thanks to an N&O story.

Of the legions of problems our state’s mental health system needing to be solved, this is what the N&O is most proud of? Getting a damn portrait removed? Is that how our fabled fourth branch of government is protecting our interests? Since when did the N&O become the paper equivalent of talk radio?

Is it any wonder that the newspaper business is in trouble?

PBS documentary on FDR

Kelly was out at a volunteer function last night, so for the first time in probably years I plopped down in front of the TV and channel-surfed. I was appalled at the crap that was on television: it was all just so dumb. Until I landed on PBS, that is.

The American Experience program The Presidents [self-playing Flash] was on and last night it featured Franklin Delano Roosevelt. For two hours I was captivated learning about his life from the time of his birth up to his becoming President.

I knew he was a great man but had no idea just how great he was until this documentary showed me. America was lucky to have a man like him during such troubling times in America.

Election night

It was an exciting evening last night as the results came in from yesterday’s primary election. As I predicted, Barack Obama rolled in North Carolina, 56% to Hillary Clinton’s 42%. Perdue won her race against Richard Moore as Democratic gubernatorial candidate, 56% to 40%. I was not happy with either campaign, but wound up not liking Moore more than Perdue. So I’m glad she won.
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Commercial debut

The Janet Cowell campaign commercial I mentioned is now available on YouTube. The first few times I watched I actually missed our scene. Then I realized we’re on the bottom of a split-screen part. Its not much screen time, but considering how Travis was making faces and our nerves were getting a bit shot, the scene is better than I expected. Regardless, it was a lot of fun!

Look for us 19 seconds into the commercial across the bottom of the screen when the announcer says “improving our schools.” Blink and you might miss it: we’re there for less than half a second!

Sold out

I saw that Barack Obama will be speaking at the Kerr Scott Building at 12:30 today. Tickets are required but the campaign headquarters is a short walk away from my office so I took a stroll to pick them up.

I was presented with a sign on the door saying tickets were sold out. I looked at my watch: it was five after ten. Tickets went on sale at 9:30 and sold out 25 minutes later.
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Taxes out of thin air

Kelly and I finished up our taxes last night. I thought it was pretty sneaky that our tax software asked if we had a refund from last year. Seems the IRS taxes refunds now. I’m all for paying my fair share, but getting taxing on money that I don’t owe? Well, that’s a bit much.

  • Refund = money you don’t owe
  • Paying taxes on money you don’t owe = a legal fallacy worthy of Alberto Gonzales

And some people wonder why others don’t trust their government