EdCone.com

Pollard affirms his decision on Nancy Vaughan's eligibility to vote on White Street.

I have reviewed all of the additional information that I have received from Council Members as well as a letter that I received from Mr. Steven Levitas, the attorney for Gate City.  After considering all of this information, I do not see any reason to change my opinion.

Letter to Levitas here; full text of Pollard's memo to Council after the jump.

Clean Water for NC fracking summit, Central Carolina Community College, Pittsboro, September 10, 1:30-5:30 pm.

$15/person ($25/person after September 2).

Details here.

Fancy houses, up for bids.

Here in GSO, we just sell them off piece by piece.

Vivek Kundra takes to the op-ed page of the Times to say the cloud is kind of a big deal.

Previously, an interview with Nick Carr.

Spent a lot of happy times at the West family cottage near Haines Falls, NY, sorry see how hard that area was hit by Irene.

Living without the electricity: My sister in Richmond is hunting wi-fi at a Panera, my print-mag editor is doing the same at a Mickey D's on Long Island, and my bro-in-law had to evacuate his freshman daughter from her CT campus to their powerless NJ home. But everyone's safe and surprisingly cheerful.

Everyone talks about unstructured data, but nobody does anything about it.

A Venn Diagram explaining the differences between Social Security and a Ponzi scheme.

A comment on the necessity of Social Security.

GWB's attempt to privatize Social Security was a political disaster, and that was back when people had some trust in Wall Street. Wonder how this will work for Perry.

10th Annual Elon University Fall Environmental Forum, Friday, September 30, 2011.

Yacking about fracking is high on the agenda.

“We’re trying to uphold the biblical standard of marriage.”

I suppose my wife and I are trying to uphold that same standard, but what does that have to do with state law?

Previously, previously.

After candidly acknowledging, "we are not familiar with the details of the Vaughan family's relationship with Waste Industries," Gate City goes on to lob theory after theory aganst the wall in the hope that one will stick. A review of each theory demonstrates they either do not fall within the scope of Greensboro's conflict policies or are unsupported by the facts.

A letter to GSO attorney Tom Pollard from Christopher Brook of the SCSJ, challenging the challenge to Nancy Vaughan's unrecusal on the White Street vote.

I said as recently as last night that I do not view weather and seismic activity as political statements, but for the sake of argument let us take this proclamation by Michele Bachmann at face value:

I don't know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians. We've had an earthquake; we've had a hurricane. He said, 'Are you going to start listening to me here?'

How does she know these events mean what she says they mean?

Might they not be signs that God is disappointed by our government's pivot to austerity -- which immediately preceded the quake and the storm -- and lack of focus on jobs, and also divine wrath over inadequate healthcare reform, not to mention a general callousness toward the poor, for whom He is said to have a certain fondness?

Come to think of it, maybe Bachmann's victory in Iowa sparked God's anger.

UPDATE: Bachmann says she was joking, which doesn't really change the theological questions.

I don't get the wounded feelings over the downtown hotel project expressed by Allen Johnson here and, again, in this morning's print paper.

Sure, some people hated the idea because this is Greensboro and they hate everything, and others mistook the bond strategy for public funding.

But the heart of the matter has always been that the owners of a big event space need a hotel to make their property work, and there was no serious indication that GSO could come close to supporting a big new hotel, and so the property owners couldn't raise the money even with a huge recovery-bond assist.

I'd love to see a successful new downtown hotel, and I have no problem with the local daily applauding bold ventures.

But I can do simple arithmetic, and this project has never come close to adding up. Numbers ain't "snide comments," and the big paper should know the difference.

Kristof: Did We Drop the Ball on Unemployment?

Short answer: Yes.

Longer answer: If by "we" you mean the made men of the NY/DC media-political-financial axis, including allegedly moderate voices in the allegedly liberal paper of record, then, hell, yes. If you mean the rest of the country, no, it's been kind of a big deal out here all along.

I wish Jennifer Gardner Trulson had been able to write a boring book.

Unfortunately, the famous sameness of happy families was stolen from her on 9/11, when her husband, Doug Gardner, was killed in the World Trade Center.

And so her new memoir, Where You Left Me, starts with a family unhappy in its own way, as a young widow with two little children tries to keep her shit together amidst a national tragedy.

It helps, from a narrative standpoint, that Jennifer is smart, observant of the smallest details, and clear-eyed about herself and the people around her. Her pain and loss and confusion, along with her toughness and dark humor, are very real and immediate, whether she's grappling with redefined friendships at a party with other widows (Doug was a senior exec at Cantor Fitzgerald, where over 650 people died) or refusing to be a political pawn or media plaything.

When a fellow preschool mom tells Jennifer, fresh off a "fitful, non-Ambien night," that "God only gives you what you can handle," she writes, "I was itching to snap back...'Are you saying if I'd only been a slightly weaker person, God wouldn't have killed him?" But she just thanks the woman for the kind words, and moves on. And when a new man comes into her life, she's frank about both the deepening relationship between two healthy adults, and the emotional obstacles left for them to negotiate.

The book slows down a bit as Jennifer and Derek build their own happy life together -- Tolstoy, right again -- but the payoff is hard-earned, and I'd guess that many readers will savor the glimpses of a glamorous slice of Manhattan in this real-life romance novel.

Disclaimer: I am not an unbiased reviewer. Doug was my roommate in college and a true friend; I would do anything for Jennifer and her family. But if I thought the book was no good, I'd just politely ignore it. As it is, I can tell you that her portrait of Doug rings true, and I found myself nodding at descriptions of his parents and other friends as well.

In my belief system, the fact that Hurricane Irene made a path straight for Pat Robertson's hometown is an accident of geography and tropical cyclone tracking.

Fake Pat.

Real Pat.

Last night I enjoyed a post-ironic encounter with Free Bird.

The lighter-waving and stage-banter-recitation and air guitar are by this point so completely baked into the experience of the song that they have become elements of the excess, not commentary on it, at least under certain convivial conditions.

I hope they pipe the live version into my old folks home dining room.

"...the grand experiment in free online content has failed."

If quality lives in print, then print pubs need to start hiring again...but where's the economic justification for that?

Google storm tracker.

Storm porn is a problem. Irene may not be the best example, but as Jeff says, "This storm could be awful. But TV has no credibility for warning us if it is."

Ron White: It's not that the wind is blowing, it's what the wind is blowing.

Here in GSO, well west of the storm path, we'd be happy for some rain.

Of the $45.6 billion in Trouble Asset Relief Program funds meant to aid homeowners, the most recent numbers available show that only about $2 billion has actually gone out the door.

Sounds bad, but at least housing isn't a major drag on the overall economy, and of course the administration can point to its strong record on jobs and firm hand with the banks.

Seems like a slow week for City biz, but you can read the Manager's report for yourself.

Bears were kind of interesting, bovines are just embarrassing.

GPD press release:

GREENSBORO, NC (August 26, 2011) – Please advise motorist to use caution or avoid the area of I40E/I85N/MLK Jr Drive. There is a loose cow in the roadway. Animal Control Officers and Greensboro Police Officers are on-scene and are attempting to capture the cow.

I challenge the N&R to avoid puns in tomorrow's coverage, and remind them that any mashup of "moo" and "move" would be seen as insulting by an average third-grader.

King weeps from his grave. He never confused substance with symbolism. He never conflated a flesh and blood sacrifice with a stone and mortar edifice. We rightly celebrate his substance and sacrifice because he loved us all so deeply. Let us not remain satisfied with symbolism because we too often fear the challenge he embraced.

Lamenting the MLK memorial, on philosophical and aesthetic grounds.

UPDATE: Thanks to Nancy Vaughan for this photo of the King statue at Westminster Abbey.

I don't love the bust of King at the corner of MLK and S. Elm, but the plaque says he was on his way to GSO from Memphis on that bad April day, so that's kind of interesting.

Today's Greensboro Jeopardy! answer: This local high school eponym also is memorialized at Westminster Abbey (spoiler here).

"He's treading the line between blasphemy and fantasy. If it had been a bikini, no teenage boy would have left his room in the '70s."

The latest Dear Grantland column at Deadspin includes my fact-check of Bill Simmons, previously mentioned here.

Diamond planet orbiting millisecond pulsar.

A more careful description of the planet involves elements like carbon and oxygen, "most likely crystalline in nature, like a diamond," but "like a diamond" is no more appealing to headline writers than it is to your girlfriend.

Inevitable Fitzgerald allusions remind me that TDABATR is available via the series of tubes, and still worth reading.

I got a copy of Jennifer Gardner Trulson's book, Where You Left Me.

I'm going to read it, and I may write something about it here.

The 10th anniversary of 9/11 will be a big deal. It should be a big deal. It's just not really my deal.

Maybe I'll feel differently on the day itself, but I think I've spoken my piece. I'm going to call Cal's mom and commiserate with the old gang and spend a lot of time with my dog.

I do want to thank the people who have commented on the stuff I've written at this blog, and those who shared a kind word along the way.

It mattered to me, and it still does.

Also, go see The Help, because LaChanze is in it.

Greensboro native Dockery Clark is serving as chief of staff for the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.

Dockery has held senior positions at companies including Bank of America and MillerCoors, and was most recently chief marketing officer for PBR (Professional Bull Riders).

And she's always known how to throw a party.

Fox8 website reports, "Man With Pocket Knife Robs Winston-Salem Stake 'N Shake."

I find their food a little wooden, but at least there are no vampires.

 

"She was a great companion and it didn't hurt that she was a good-looking red head."

Good dog, Mina.

You want shared sacrifice? Let’s start with market regulators forcing the largest banks to fess up to their pent-up losses and come clean with their books, so we can get their red ink behind us as quickly as possible and create a new baseline for sustainable growth.

Better late than never.

The genius and power of fictional business titans often makes me shake my head at the disconnect between art and real life, but then I remember to say, "except for Steve Jobs."

Until iPad and to some extent iPhone, Apple was not that relevant to our readers, but they still eat up anything we publish about the man and his company.

"And with that Knight quit being mayor."

John Hammer refers specifically to Bill Knight's behavior at this week's City Council briefing, but it reads like a post-mortem on a political career.

Yes, that's his actual campaign site, as of today (click image to enlarge).

The man leads like an accountant.

A focus on costs is good, as far as it goes, but there's much more to the job.

On a divisive issue like the landfill, the mayor needs to get out in front and lead. Explain the vision and the long-range plan. Speak to the people, in east Greensboro and across the city, and help us understand an opaque process. Be a damn mayor.

John says, "Knight's been mayor for 18 months, and at times it seems he has learned nothing about the political game."

At one point, a lack of political chops might have sounded like a recommendation. Now it sounds like a eulogy.

Eighty-seven percent of parents said they think spending time on social networking sites does not make it more likely their child will drink alcohol; 89 percent of parents felt it would not make their child more likely to use drugs.

My first glance at the report does not convince me that these large parental majorities are wrong.

Jorge Luis Borges is trending on Twitter, on what would be his 112th birthday.

I half expect to see myself walking the dog when I drive to work in the morning; if I ever meet a younger Me, maybe I should tell him to read less Borges.

Here's a brief audio clip of Jerry Garcia relating his own near-death experience to a Borges story, while mispronouncing "Borges."

“You are now and will always be our coach,” Cheek told her. With the blessing of her university, she will continue to work for as long as she is able.

Pat Summitt, winner.

Facebook enhances privacy features.

One way I deal with the risk of over-sharing on FB is not posting anything too personal to FB.

After the jump, a memo from then-acting City attorney Tom Carruthers, concerning potential conflicts facing Nancy Vaughan and Zack Matheny.

Vaughan has told the current interim attorney, Tom Pollard, that "this memo covered one very specific issue...[but] does NOT address the current issue."

Vaughan thinks she can and must vote, and will consider lawyering up on her own if Pollard reverses his recent decision to let her do so.

Council members discussed long-range landfill plans this afternoon. That's a good thing.

With Nancy Vaughan back in the game, the ram-through may well be dead.

Rakestraw and Knight look highly vulnerable come November, but even if both are voted out, Greensboro needs to move ahead with a strategic plan for municipal waste -- one that makes both economic and political sense.

UPDATE: Much more here. "Wade and Knight expressed as an article of faith that private companies can save more money than city staff." Seems like it's worth running the numbers anyway, huh?

Tim LaFollette, RIP.

Why, yes, I did feel the earth move. But I thought it was the door to the loading dock.

A colleague in our NY office says, "The office was totally shaking, but everything seems to be ok. New Yorkers do not prepare for such things."

An editor in San Francisco says, "amateurs!"

Reports from Richmond and DC.

UPDATE: TDub posts the attorney's letter.

UPDATE: Nancy Vaughan says, "I have a legal duty to vote as described by the general statute. I no longer have a financial interest in this project."

She says GSO interim attorney Tom Pollard rendered an opinion after researching the issue, and that the statutes on councilmember voting are very specific.

Vaughan says she doesn't know how she'll vote, but she thinks the process to date has been "amateurish" and needs further deliberation.

Also, she says she's been told there's a move to bring Waste Industries back into the discussion in order to keep her from voting. (Me talking: For the rump majority to reverse itself for such a naked political ploy would be shocking, even after all we've seen.)

Joe reports that Nancy Vaughan may be allowed to vote in the next round of landfill maneuvering. Kind of a big deal if it pans out.

Meanwhile, Vaughan says opening new sections of the landfill would involve zoning changes that could be blocked via protest petitions. UPDATE: Vaughan elaborates on the zoning situation here.

The bank never told investors about the extent of its Fed borrowings, even as they rose to the most in the 97-year history of emergency lending by the U.S. central bank...

At the peak of Morgan Stanley’s Fed borrowings, on Sept. 29, 2008, the firm reported that liquidity was “strong,” without mentioning how dependent its cash stores had become on the government lifeline...

...Neither Morgan Stanley nor its competitors in prime brokerage -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Citigroup and Credit Suisse Group AG -- disclose the size of their hedge-fund balances, leaving shareholders dependent on regulators who previously failed to rein in the risks.

That's a lot of cheddar.

I believe this is known as "the robust free exchange of information."

Best intentions:

But despite all that has been promised, almost nothing has been built back in Haiti, better or otherwise. Within Port-au-Prince, some 3 million people languish in permanent misery, subject to myriad experiments at "fixing" a nation that, to those who are attempting it, stubbornly refuses to be fixed. Mountains of rubble remain in the streets, hundreds of thousands of people continue to live in weather-beaten tents, and cholera, a disease that hadn't been seen in Haiti for 60 years, has swept over the land, infecting more than a quarter million people.

In the midst of such suffering, only a fraction of the money devoted to Haitian relief has actually been spent...

Rumors of its death were not exaggerated: Fairness Doctrine bites the dust.

So, anyway, this is the editorial I wanted to talk about, from yesterday's N&R:

The Randolph landfill won’t be built until late 2012 and probably wouldn’t resume taking trash until 2013. So Greensboro still has time for the smart compromise we first suggested in May — and that could address short-term fiscal needs as well as long-term landfill needs: Reopen White Street for the next three to five years, then move to Randolph County for the next 30.   

Everybody sacrifices. Everybody wins.

And if GSO can buy an equity stake in the regional landfill with some of the money it saves in the next few years, more better.

Why this wasn't discussed in public by the Council is beyond me. Instead, we've got a political mess that will make even a good long-range solution that much harder to reach.

I wanted to use the N&R e-reader.

Well, I didn't want to, but the article I was looking for is hidden in the GPV, so I went to the e-reader, but it didn't recognize my long-used login, so I was directed to the print subscriber sign-in page, but that didn't recognize my home address, so I waited on hold for a long time before dropping off to do a work call, and then called back and got a very helpful person who asked me questions like, "Did you type in 'Drive' instead of 'Dr.' in your address?," because doing so apparently confuses the system, as will using spaces in your phone number, and so on, and all this is guesswork for the user, no prompts on the page, and the very helpful person acknowledged that the system was terrible and not at all user friendly.

Also, the page says the e-reader is not compatible with iPads or iPhones.

I'm rooting for you, N&R, but geez you make things hard.

The bond vigilantes say spend now, save later.

Previously.

I'm confident that Obama is serious about jobs. After all, it's 2009 already, and unemployment is heading toward 8%.

Neither the US nor Europe has even properly diagnosed the core problem, namely that both regions are being whipsawed by globalisation.

Free registration required at FT, sorry.

...globalisation has not only hit the unskilled hard but has also proved a bonanza for the global super-rich...

Please. Noticing that the benefits of a global economy have flowed mostly to a limited group is rude, if not outright class warfare, and also totally understates the awesomeness of everyday low prices at Wal-Mart.

...An improved fiscal policy in the transatlantic economies would therefore be based on three realities. First, it would expand investments in human and infrastructure capital. Second, it would cut wasteful spending, for instance in misguided military engagements in places such as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Yemen. Third, it would balance budgets in the medium term, in no small part through tax increases on high personal incomes and international corporate profits that are shielded by loopholes and overseas tax havens.

One thing is certain as the Qgdaffyi endgame plays out: Libya's future is full of peeance and freeance, with a heaping side order of pro-America.

I'm not lamenting the fall of a bad guy, especially now that we all think he's bad again, and I'm hoping for the best...

It is difficult to read this in any way but as a group of people inside a bunker who (1) have been wrong about the situation, (2) are scared to use the powers they have to try to make things better, and (3) really do not like being reminded that they were wrong about the situation.

Who could have guessed that the Very Serious People who got us into this mess were not the ones to get us out?