Donors predict Romney loss – POLITICO.com

Remarkable. When a campaign’s lost its money men it’s already spiraling down the drain.

DONORS PREDICT ROMNEY LOSS – “The campaign is moving fast to calm nerves, especially among donors. To get a flavor of the challenge before them, a top donor said that after Romney spoke at a fundraising breakfast at the Hilton New York on Friday, a will-Mitt-win poll was taken at one table of 10 men, each of whom had paid at least $2,500 to attend, and some of whom had raised as much as $50,000 for the campaign. Not a single man said yes.”

via First look: Bachus rips CFPB – Donors predict Romney loss – Top story: Monetary easing goes global – Big idea: Dems better for stocks – POLITICO Morning Money – POLITICO.com.

RCAC unplugged

After my post last night, I thought of one other highlight of the evening. After the meeting adjourned later than scheduled, I looked around the room and no one was leaving! The CAC chairs were all happily chatting with each other well after the meeting was over. Ten minutes later I think only 10% of members had left (and we had over 21 there).

I marveled for a moment at the sight of these interactions. I seldom saw this kind of cooperation and collaboration when I first became chair. It tells that I was right about the value of the RCAC, that the chance to work together is what its all about.

I see the RCAC as kind of a support group for CAC chairs. It’s proving to be a good call.

Twitter Updates for 2012-09-20

  • Me jolly pirate crewe Mama's Boyz and I bid ye a fine #TalkLikeAPirateDay Yarrrr! #
  • @kriselie Shiver me timbers! I'll set a course for me Krispy Kreme before nightfall! in reply to kriselie #
  • Dear reporters: if you want people to send you tips and scoops, quit making it so damn hard for them to do so. #
  • Really getting excited about the potential of a Capital Boulevard Park. Let's make it happen! #raleighparks #
  • A joke in here somewhere. RT @wired Madame Tussauds in Hong Kong will unveil its wax sculpture of Steve Jobs next week http://t.co/kw9Inp46 #
  • A breathtakingly beautiful crescent moon is hanging in the sky now. #ncwx #

RCAC recognition

We were having what seemed like a typical RCAC meeting tonight, with a few long-winded discussions about neighborhood events and Raleigh’s UDO. We were already running past our usual adjournment time when Dwayne Patterson of Community Services made a wonderful comment.
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Recycled recognition

Remember last year when BusinessWeek.com named Raleigh the number one city in the nation? I sure do. I chuckled when BusinessWeek lauded our city for its wonderful pedestrian mall, even though the mall was ripped out in 2006.

I chuckled again today when a number of folks passed this same article around on Facebook, apparently thinking Raleigh had won two years in a row. Hey, our city gets so many accolades, it’s hard to keep up with them, right?

Chick-Fil-A Agrees To Cease Funding To Anti-Gay Orgs

Bravo for Chick-Fil-A!

Could Chick-fil-A be turning over a new leaf?A Chicago-based lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender LGBT advocacy group reports that the restaurant chain — which was at the epicenter of a media firestorm this summer after its president confirmed his company’s anti-gay stance — has agreed to cease donations to right-wing groups that oppose same-sex marriage.

via Chick-Fil-A Agrees To Cease Funding To Anti-Gay Organizations, Chicago LGBT Group Claims.

Launch of TV News Search & Borrow with 350,000 Broadcasts | Internet Archive Blogs


For a while now I’ve wanted to build a search engine that would index TV shows by the shows’ closed-captioning transcript. Now I don’t have to, because the Internet Archive (www.archive.org) has built it for me!

The Internet Archives TV News Search & Borrow is amazing! It’s a catalog of news video which is searchable by keyword. Now anyone can do the video research that the wizards to on shows like The Daily Show do, right from their own desks. Obama made a speech about indefinite detention? Find it in seconds. Want to see Romney mixing up Randy Owens of Alabama with Lynard Skynard? A few clicks and it’s in front of you.

Give it a try and see for yourselves. It’s addicting.

Today the Internet Archive launches TV News Search & Borrow. This service is designed to help engaged citizens better understand the issues and candidates in the 2012 U.S. elections by allowing them to search closed captioning transcripts to borrow relevant television news programs.

The Internet Archive works to preserve the published works of humankind. Inspired by Vanderbilt University’s Television News Archive project, the Internet Archive collects and preserves television news. Like library collections of books and newspapers, this accessible archive of TV news enables anyone to reference and compare statements from this influential medium.

via Launch of TV News Search & Borrow with 350,000 Broadcasts | Internet Archive Blogs.

Taking to the stage?

One of the many things on my bucket list is to play a role in a musical. A friend let me know about upcoming auditions for Theatre in the Park’s production of A Christmas Carol. With encouragement from Kelly, yesterday I made an appointment to audition for a spot in the ensemble.

My last audition was over 25 years ago, at South Mecklenburg High School for a role in the musical South Pacific. I think I did well because there was discussion about me playing the lead role of Lieutenant Cable. Ultimately I opted not to be in the play because drama was the realm of my brother, Allen, and I didn’t want to crowd him. Probably more accurate, though, was that I was still extremely shy and had little self-confidence.

The kids were excited when I mentioned the play and now they want to audition, too! Picking out good audition songs for them is proving to be difficult but they sure have no problem performing before crowds.

While Kelly is sitting this one out, she has enthusiastically agreed to join the kids and I as we reprise our roles as zombies for the Haunted Mordecai trolley ride again this year. Boo!