August 2008

I.O.U.S.A. - Hosted by Lawson for Congress

From the producers of Wordplay and the studio that brought you Supersize Me, the must-see documentary I.O.U.S.A. uncovers the source of critical economic concerns that touch the lives of every American. A tapestry of archival footage, hard data and candid interviews woven together, it paints an authentic profile of today's economic condition. Solutions for how we can impact this nationwide crisis and evolve into a more fiscally sound nation for future generations are offered by the documentary's powerful conclusion.

Please join us as we watch and critique this important documentary. While we may agree on the challenges, and disagree on the proposed solutions, our future depends on beginning a substantial conversation. Join others who are tired of learning about McCain's $500 shoes and Obama's lapel pins. There are more important issues facing our future.

There will be a live discussion among Warren Buffett, Pete Peterson, and David Walker following the viewing of the film. This one night event will be shown LIVE at 8:00pm ET. Lawson for Congress has sponsored an entire theater for the national premier, and welcomes you to join us completely free of charge.

"We are inviting people to watch and critique this documentary with us because it's so important for citizens to truly understand our challenges so that we can secure our future. The more people who join the conversation, the better chance we have of understanding our underlying problems and how we can address them."

- William (B.J.) Lawson, Candidate for Congress, North Carolina's 4th District

Location: North Hills Stadium 14, Raleigh, NC

RSVP: call 919.471.1177
Carpooling assistance will be provided

Date: 

Thursday, August 21, 2008 - 4:00pm to 6:30pm

Location: 

North Hills Stadium 14, Raleigh, NC

If Durham Can Do It - Why Not Orange?

A short story posted today on WRAL.com describes how Durham has entered into an agreement to install internal combustion engines and generators at their landfill. Duke Energy will subsequently buy the power generated which is estimated to be sufficient to serve 1600 homes.

The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Thursday that a deal with Methane Power Inc. will allow Charlotte-based Duke Energy to begin buying up to two megawatts of power generated by the landfill beginning next year.

WRAL.com: Duke to turn Durham landfill gas into electricity, 8/7/08

Wouldn't it be nice if Orange County did something similar (which a number of OP posters have been advocating for over the last several years) and then specifically directed the funds generated by the sale of those rights to improvements to the Rogers Road community? It would at least be a start to repaying those folks for the sacrifices they have borne.

DWI dismissals in Johnston Co - an accident waiting to happen here?

How often do we read about fatal accidents attributed to drunken drivers, only to find out that the drivers were repeat offenders? I once did jury duty on a DWI case and was surprised at the level of tolerance among some jurors - "Haven't we all been driving under the influence?" "How will this person carry on with life without a car?"

Justice in Action Committee monthly meeting

According to the Chapel Hill Herald, "The Justice in Action Committee meets at 5:30 on the first Thursday of each month in the second floor training room of Town Hall." That's all I know.

Date: 

Thursday, September 4, 2008 - 1:30pm

Location: 

Chapel Hill Town Hall, 2nd Floor Training Room

Rep. Price sure owns a lot of Oil Stock

The Sunlight Foundation has a blog post today called Oil Industry Influence: Personal Finances. It contains a chart of public information about how much stock in Oil companies members of the US House of Representatives own.

This chart shows stock holdings in the leading oil companies by members of the House of Representatives. If you aren’t familiar with personal financial disclosures, they require lawmakers to list assets in a range (i.e.: $15,001-$50,000). In the chart you will see a low estimate, a high estimate, and an average. In some cases, lawmakers list the actual value - not a range - and that is listed in this color.

So, who’s going to make money if Congress passes pro-oil industry legislation:

Son of a [mill-worker]

Not only women want John Edwards's head on a platter. I counted at least seven reporter/columnists in the Sunday N&O and NYTimes gleefully dissing him, saying they never liked the former senator in the first place. Aha! Pants on fire! For some reason, the same dedicated campaign hangers-on always found it necessary to quote the poor slob verbatim, as did his girlfriend who had all sorts of editing power: "I have come to the personal conclusion that I actually want the country to see who I really am." What a revelation!

Carson Case - The Judicial Phase

Orange-Chatham District Attorney James Woodall just announced that he will seek the death penalty against Demario James Atwater in the slaying of former UNC Student Body President Eve Carson.

Can it happen in Orange County?

Enforce Bicycle Laws of North Carolina!

I am pretty amazed at how lax state and local governments are when it comes to the bicycle laws of North Carolina.Walking down Frankiln Street I saw numerous cyclists running red lights, not using hand signals, passing waiting cars, and riding on the sidewalk. All this was happening in plain view of Chapel Hill Police. There was even on man who was decked out in racing clothes who rode in the middle of the two lanes and cut in front of the car in the right lane and made a right on red without stopping.If you want to know the laws you can read them here:http://www.ncdot.org/transit/bicycle/laws/laws_bikelaws.htmlEither enforce the laws or get rid of them. I plan on bringing this up with the Carrboro police department.

OP editor away from her desk

Your humble editor (that's me) is spending time with her family for a week and will not be here to babysit the site regularly until next Wednesday.  This means that anonymous comments will not be approved promptly (if at all) but also that if you write a nice blog entry you have a good chance of it being promoted to the front page.

As we used to say, please play nice.  ;-)

Chapel Hill Culture War?

A long time ago, I asked y'all how long you had lived here in Orange County. Almost half (49%) have been here for 5 to 20 years, and another 34% have lived here for more than 20 years. In the paper I recently saw some grumbling that the newer residents of Chapel Hill don't share the values of those of us who lived here in the "halcyon days" of outspoken progressive activism.  I don't think this is necessarily true.

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