I found out last night that Gus Gusler, owner of Raleigh’s Player’s Retreat, discovered to his surprise that he was now a fan of Mitt Romney’s Facebook page. Anyone who knows Gusler knows how ludicrously improbable it is that he chose to do this willingly.
“I wouldn’t vote for that empty suit phony for dog catcher,” Gusler says.
Still hoping that the media starts taking this Mitt Romney Facebook hacking seriously.
Speaking of Foreign Affairs, I was delighted to see a writer make the same point about Israel as I did.
Israel is an ally, true, but Netanyahu needs to shut his piehole.
But it is Americans who ought to be incensed with Netanyahu. By insisting on red lines and threatening to launch a unilateral strike on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, Netanyahu is trying to commit the United States to fighting a preventive war on Israel’s behalf. In effect, he is demanding that the United States do far more to protect Israel’s security than it does for any of its other allies. Netanyahu is also inserting himself into a U.S. presidential campaign to a degree unprecedented for the leader of a close American ally, implicitly echoing the Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s charge that the Obama administration is “throwing Israel under the bus.”
During a recent visit to the wonderful Quail Ridge Books (boy how we need more local bookstores), I picked up a copy of the latest Foreign Affairs magazine. I used to subscribe to Foreign Affairs as an enlisted sailor in the Navy, trying to learn more about why the military was doing the things it was doing. It’s a wonderful (if pricey) magazine. Anyhow, the latest issue has an essay that says China sees America as a bully out to block its rise.
I don’t think that’s an accurate view of America-China relations. If America really wanted to thwart China, however, here’s how it would be done:
With the rest of the world going green by reducing car dependency and building greener military fleets, this strategy should set China back for decades.
I’ve started running again after going a long time avoiding it in favor of biking. Turns out I enjoy it more than I thought I did, though it’s certainly a lot more fun running with someone else.
For those times when I can’t run with someone else (for instance, when I’m stuck at home with the kids) it would be nice to jazz up the usually-dull running on the treadmill. Running while staring at a wall is pretty boring, you know.
Then I remembered how cool I’ve always thought it would be to build my own flight simulator. Why not apply this concept to the treadmill? What if I could connect a mouse or other control to my treadmill and use it to drive a moving Google Maps image on a screen in front of me?
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The N.C. GOP sent out mailers against candidate for state senate Sig Hutchinson in which they called Raleigh’s greenways “horse trails.” Well, being the chair of the Parks board, I don’t take kindly to that so I wrote a letter to the editor this morning. With any luck it will run tomorrow:
Contrary to what the N.C. GOP would have you believe, you won’t find any horses on Raleigh’s 80 miles of beautiful greenways. What you WILL find are citizens of all political stripes appreciating one of Raleigh’s more popular and unique amenities.
That’s why our citizens have consistently and enthusiastically supported the parks bonds, the same ones shepherded by Sig Hutchinson and other civic and business leaders. Our voters know these parks and greenways are a savvy investment in the health and well-being of our citizens (and future generations as well). These are benefits that even former city councilor Neal Hunt couldn’t say “neigh” to.
Mark Turner
Chair, Raleigh’s Parks, Recreation, and Greenway Advisory Board
Raleigh
(And with any luck, the N&O will fix my typos!)
I took a swipe at the N&O for its coverage of the firing of Tony Tata the other day and I stand by my criticism. If I’m going to point out the bad, though, it’s only fair that I should also praise the good.
Editorial page editor Steve Ford took up the issue in his column today and does so with a fairer, far more deft touch than most anything else I’ve read in the paper. Ford’s sober consideration of the issue was what I’d been looking for from the newspaper.
That I can say this even while not necessarily buying into every point he makes shows Ford struck the right balance. More of this, please.
Campaign consultant Perry Woods, who often pops up to assist Democratic candidates hereabouts, does his best to rebut the notion that the firing of Wake County school superintendent Tony Tata was an exercise in partisanship.
In a letter that we ran yesterday, Woods – noting he had advised all five of the Democrats who won seats on the school board last fall and who now have told Tata to make himself scarce – said that from a partisan political standpoint, the timing was wrong.
via Ford: The battle Tata couldn't win – Ford – NewsObserver.com.
