August 31, 2007

Not infringed ...

Posted by Hal Young at 9:44 PM

WRAL reports this dad was patient enough about a midnight burglary, but the bad guy made a mistake -- he shot first.

The intruders held two adults and four children, ages 4, 5 and 8, at gunpoint and ransacked the house, authorities said.

During the robbery, one of the suspects fired a shot, prompting the man who lives in the house to grab a gun and shoot back, authorities said.

Antione Logan Chestnut, 19, of 109 Evelyn Circle in Dudley, was pronounced dead at the scene of multiple gunshot wounds.

The other two intruders fled ...

As my Western Civ teacher in high school used to say, "Beware the wrath of a gentle man."

Linkable Entry

Don't Ask, Don't Tell Vacations

Posted by Dr. Karen Y. Palasek at 4:28 PM

This interesting article describes IBM's work/vacation time-tracking policy. Apparently, they don't keep tabs on either one.

Too late for us for this summer vacation season, I'm afraid. But the author notes a common thread in the no-tracking/no workplace workplace—at IBM and elsewhere. Most of these empyees and exec.'s are compulsive workaholics anyway.

Linkable Entry

Re: Friday Follies

Posted by Paul Chesser at 3:33 PM

Movie: "Airplane!" My sides hurt.

Album: Not fair because nearly all the albums I listened to came from pre-1978, when I started high school. But since I have to abide by the rules, I'll go with "Van Halen" over Pink Floyd's "The Wall" and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' "Damn the Torpedoes."

TV Show: I was going to say "Cheers" but I discovered that it didn't start until September 1982, and I graduated in June that year. Drat!

So instead, I will cheat and say may favorite television viewing during my high school years was Boston Bruins hockey. We did not have cable or a roof antenna so, living in Rhode Island, I would have to rely on rabbit ears to try and capture the signal from Boston's WSBK, Channel 38. It was often "snowy" and difficult to follow the puck, but watch this video and you might understand why a high-testerone teenager was so enamored:



Stan Jonathan was a runt compared to the Montreal Canadians goon Pierre Bouchard, but was a full-blooded Tuscorara Indian who (sorry about the cliche) packed a serious punch.

Linkable Entry

Friday Frivols

Posted by Hal Young at 3:32 PM

Favorite Movie: Das Boot, directed by Wolfgang Petersen. The last movie I saw with my father, who died while I was in college. We saw it in German with subtitles, which is the way I prefer to think of it.

Favorite Album: Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, The Battell. The PJBE still defines brass for me.

Favorite TV Show: Monty Python's Flying Circus. Okay, it was a little older than that, but it was new to me when I caught it on late night PBS. If you have to be in the range, then SCTV was a lot funnier than Saturday Night Live by that time.

Linkable Entry

Re: Friday Folllies

Posted by Dr. Karen Y. Palasek at 2:44 PM

This was tough, as I couldn't remember a single movie I really liked that was released during my high school years. I assumed I had not seen a movie at all during that time until I looked this up:

Favorite Movie: M*A*S*H

Favorite album: (probably most listened to anyway) James Taylor's "Sweet Baby James"

Favorite TV show: almost as tough as the movie category--can't remember watching much TV at all-- "Bewitched."

Linkable Entry

Not quite on point

Posted by Mitch Kokai at 2:34 PM

I considered responding yesterday after reading this "Under The Dome" item, but additional reports from the Capitol Press Corps actually convinced me that a clarification might be in order.

It's no surprise that reporters would latch on to this item from Don Carrington's Carolina Journal article Monday:

Decker said he was in Black’s office when Black asked Easley about a future job. “The day the co-speaker arrangement passed in 2003, Black used his cell phone to call Gov. Easley. I only heard Black’s end of the conversation. Black said something like he may need a job when this is over,” Decker said.

Then after Black handed him the phone, Decker spoke directly to Easley. Decker said Easley did not discuss a job with him, but basically said, “Thank you for supporting Jim Black.”

Having read the article and having now listened to the governor's response to a reporter's question about the alleged phone call, I'm not sure that the governor's response constitutes a denial.

Easley denies that Black called him about Decker. He also denies that Black called him about a job for Decker. Fine. Decker made neither claim.

My interpretation of Decker's statement is that Black called Easley on the day in early 2003 when the co-speaker arrangement was finalized. If that call took place, I'm guessing the co-speaker deal was the likely topic of conversation. (Here's the historical novel version. Black: "Governor, great news. We finally reached agreement on a speaker deal." Easley: "Good. Now you can finally get to work.")

Decker contends that as part of that alleged conversation, Black made some reference to potentially needing "a job when this is over." Decker did not say that Black mentioned a job for Decker or that Black discussed any specifics. Decker also offered no information about the governor's response — since he says he heard only one end of the phone conversation. Decker also contends that he spoke to the governor later in the conversation and that Easley neither said anything about nor hinted at a job.

So the governor's statement Thursday does not refute Decker's claim. Easley could refute the claim by saying: "I did not speak to Jim Black by phone on the day the co-speaker deal was finalized." Or "I spoke to Jim Black that day, but he never said anything about maybe needing a job." And/or "I did not speak to Michael Decker by phone that day."

But here's where I address my headline "Not quite on point." The crux of the story is not the phone call. No one contends the phone call constituted some sort of deal.

Instead Don's story focuses on the flawed process that led to the creation of a job for Decker two years later. Unraveling that process is the key to the story. Governor Easley says he was not part of the process. The question is: Who was part of the process? Did those participants abide by the law?

Linkable Entry

Et ego, Brute?

Posted by Jon Sanders at 1:06 PM

---

Julius Caesar lay dead and Brutus was talking to his co-conspirators about swords and blood when he paused and excused himself, saying "I seem to have stabbed myself."

Aspen actor/director Kent Hudson Reed accidently cut his leg open with the knife he was using in an outdoor performance of "Scenes from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar" on Wednesday.

He tried to carry on, "but my boot was filling up with blood and I was flubbing my lines, wondering if I was going to pass out, wondering if the audience could see the blood."

---

Is that a dagger I see in my leg?

Linkable Entry

Incentives and Special Sessions

Posted by Chad Adams at 12:30 AM

The citizens of NC aren't getting a special session to deal with roads and infrastructure which is what citizens need.  They're aren't getting a special session to deal with excess spending or to revise the tax code which could dramatically make NC more competitive.  They aren't even getting a special legislature to look at new ideas or to get rid of outdated laws.

No, we're paying thousands upon thousands of dollars to bring legislators back from across the state to give a unionized plant $40 million in tax breaks.  In fact, the legislation is so poorly worded that Goodyear, once this bill passes, could lay off 750 of its 2,750 employees (over 20%) and still get the full amount. How's that for a good deal?

The Governor is to be commended for getting this deal dead on.  Speaker Hackney (D-Orange) is showing a profound lack of leadership calling a special session to override this. 

(HT-JC)

Linkable Entry

Re: Friday follies

Posted by Mitch Kokai at 12:25 AM

Thanks, Jon. That was fun.

Album: I can't choose just one, since two of the (still) greatest albums of all time were released during my high school years. I've listened to both in the past month.

The Joshua Tree is the only U2 album you really need, and Master of Puppets is the greatest heavy metal album ever recorded.

TV show: Moonlighting, up until the big "Be My Baby" moment. The Cosby Show, Family Ties, and Miami Vice deserve honorable mention, and the two big prime-time soaps of the day deserve mention only because of their incredibly great theme songs: Dallas and Dynasty. (In the case of the latter show, the opening was the only part of the program I watched.) 

Movie: Hollywood pumped out a lot of junk during my high school days. I'm sure I'm forgetting some good artsy flick, but among the top grossers I would have to go with Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Indiana Jones and the Lost Crusade came out just before graduation, so it earns special recognition.

I was surprised to see that Rain Man was the top grossing film of 1988. I paid to see it, sat in the theater while it played, but never watched it. I blame Mary Beth Malcolm. 

Linkable Entry

Re: Friday Follies

Posted by Jon Sanders at 11:57 AM

Album: Aerosmith's Permanent Vacation. It still reminds me of my first trips to the beach in my own car, freed from the saccharine sounds of The Carpenters and other "light rock" mainstays.

TV Show: Night Court, because John Larroquette kept me in stitches.

Movie: This is a difficult choice, because I didn't have a clear favorite in this category. I think I'll go with Dead Poets Society, because I found it inspiring.

Linkable Entry

Friday Follies: Real Culture

Posted by Jon Ham at 11:29 AM

I got this idea from a radio talk show while driving home yesterday: Name your favorite album (no "greatest hits" or soundtracks allowed), TV show and movie from your four actual high school years. Here are mine:

Album: "Meet the Beatles." For sheer cultural impact, no other album comes close. Plus, it was a great album, No. 59 of all time according to Rolling Stone.

TV show: "The Andy Griffith Show." This was a real cultural phenomenon. The morning after every show, as we'd gather in the gym at Fayetteville Senior High School waiting for the hallway doors to open, everybody was talking about the previous night's episode.

Movie: "Charade" with Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. My serious picks would have been "To Kill a Mockingbird" or "Becket," but "Charade" still edges them out.
 

Linkable Entry

You've seen the 'Veto' stamp ...

Posted by Mitch Kokai at 11:21 AM

... now Gerry Cohen shows us the "Override" stamp. 

Linkable Entry

Paul Krugman (intellectually) drawn and quartered

Posted by George Leef at 11:21 AM

My Freeman colleague Sheldon Richman here takes on Paul Krugman's latest effort at cleverness and completely blows him away.

Krugman feebly attempts to make the case for a system of government health care, claiming that health care should be recognized as a "right." Richman replies that the "right to health care" is a counterfeit right, just as are all other claimed rights that require the coercion of some people in order that others may enjoy their "right."

Krugman wants to ratchet up the degree of governmental power so people can have the carefree world of universal health care. It won't work out very well, but next there will be another visionary demanding another government program to improve society in a different way. Gradually, freedom dies the death of a thousand cuts. People like Paul Krugman who use the knife are the great malefactors of mankind.

Linkable Entry

Union bosses -- naughty or nice?

Posted by George Leef at 11:12 AM

There is a whole lot of naughtiness, as writer Bret Jacobson points out here.

The trouble with unions, as I've said before, is not their objectives, but that they asked for and were given unique powers not enjoyed by any other private group, turning them into a sort of quasi-government. Power always attracts unsavory characters.

Linkable Entry

"Redacted II" -- my idea for an award-winning movie

Posted by Jon Sanders at 10:44 AM

Obviously, I took the idea from director Brian "The Reality Is We're All Rapists in Hollywood" de Palma, because that is exactly what he is trying to do with his film, Redacted:

---

A new film about the real-life rape and killing of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl by U.S. soldiers who also murdered her family stunned the Venice festival, with shocking images that left some viewers in tears. ...

Inspired by one of the most serious crimes committed by American soldiers in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, it is a harrowing indictment of the conflict and spares the audience no brutality to get its message across.

"The movie is an attempt to bring the reality of what is happening in Iraq to the American people," [De Palma] told reporters after a press screening.

"The pictures are what will stop the war.One only hopes that these images will get the public incensed enough to motivate their Congressmen to vote against this war," he said.

Abeer Qasim Hamza al-Janabi was gang raped, killed and burnt by American soldiers in Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad, in March 2006. Her parents and younger daughter were also killed.

Five soldiers have since been charged with the attack. Four of them have been given sentences of between 5 and 110 years.

---

My film would focus on Roman Polanski, who pled guilty to statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl at his home. Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston were there at the time. Polanski fled the country to avoid jail time and hasn't returned for fear of being arrested. In 2003, his victim, Samantha Geimer, spoke out on "Larry King Live" on CNN:

---

KING: Did he forcibly rape you?

GEIMER: You know, I said no. I didn't fight him off. I said like, no, no, I don't want to go in there, no. I don't want to do this, no. And then I didn't know what else to do. We were alone. And I didn't want to -- I didn't know what would happen if I made a scene.

I was just scared and after giving some resistance figured, well, I guess I'll get to go home after this.

KING: So you completed the sexual act.

GEIMER: Right.

KING: It was just straight sex, nothing else?

GEIMER: It was all kinds of...

KING: Did he ask you to do other things?

GEIMER: He did things and I didn't do anything. ...

---

According to the de Palma standard of "reality," a crime by one member of a group, even though it is pursued by the judicial system, is a harrowing indictment of the entire group and reflects their collective "reality." I hope de Palma will do the right thing and turn himself in before he harms another little girl.

Linkable Entry

Interesting Poll on Growth

Posted by Jon Sanders at 09:00 AM

According to the results of a phone poll conducted by the Charlotte Observer and WCNC News, nearly 55 percent of those surveyed in the Mecklenburg area think that growth is good.

However, "33 percent of respondents said the growth is harmful because it causes congestion, crime and sprawl."

To help ease the troubles of that 33 percent, the Observer suggests that increasing taxes is the key. They immediately let slip the fact that residents will soon have the choice to implement a land-transfer tax to help make growth "pay for itself."

Though raising taxes may help decrease congestion, crime, and sprawl, it's also likely, especially in Charlotte, that growth would pay for itself if the concerns outlined by that 33 percent were a funding priority. But, these citizens will never know because of the spending mentality in the Queen City (and elsewhere).

If Charlotte leaders think light rail, arenas, NASCAR, whitewater, and arts complexes are funding priorities, then of course growth will never look like it can pay for itself. Because the minute someone moves in, their taxes aren't going towards the basic city/county needs, they're going to subsidize some new development plan that's supposed to turn Charlotte into Disneyland.

Linkable Entry

This weekend on Carolina Journal Radio

Posted by Mitch Kokai at 08:33 AM

State lawmakers plan to head back to Raleigh soon to deal with a gubernatorial veto, and it might give them a chance to chat about the latest pronouncements from government watchdog Joe Sinsheimer. As you'll hear in the next edition of Carolina Journal Radio, Sinsheimer wants House Democrats to give embattled Rep. Thomas Wright the boot.

Also in this weekend's program, John Hood will preview the Sept. 8 conference on politics and the Internet that JLF is co-hosting with the N.C. Institute of Political Leadership. Roy Cordato will explain the new environmentnc.com Web site and blog.

Joe Coletti will tell us why surprise provisions aren't the worst problem tied to the new $20.7 billion state budget. And Wake Forest University economics professor Dan Hammond will share his insights from two decades of study of Milton Friedman. 

Linkable Entry

<< Last Entry