40 years after the Klan-Nazi massacre in Greensboro

Submitted by scharrison on

And it's still hard to fathom:

“After the smoke cleared, it was silence,” Clapp would later tell the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which would examine what happened that day and issue a report. “There was a stillness in the air. We knew people were dead.”

Four decades later, many of the wounds from that infamous day — later designated the “Greensboro Massacre” by the North Carolina Historical Society — haven’t healed for those involved and may not in the aftermath of a tragedy that made headlines around the world. Some people continue to blame the victims. Some continue to blame the police.

I remember that day clearly. I watched it happen via news cameras that were on the scene, and it was horrific. One CWP member was chased into a corner of a building, and shot several times from about four feet away. Here's a list of those who died:

Monday News: Unexcused absence

Submitted by BlueNC on

TILLIS IS A NO-SHOW AT KAY HAGAN'S MEMORIAL SERVICE: Former U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan was remembered Sunday as a woman who brought tireless energy and passion to her job, her family and her faith. More than a thousand people filled Greensboro’s First Presbyterian Church to honor Hagan, who died last week at 66 after a three-year battle with encephalitis, caused by Powassan virus. The crowd included five of Hagan’s Senate colleagues: Sen. Richard Burr, an N.C. Republican, Democratic Sen. and presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, and three former Democratic senators, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana. The service came almost 11 years to the day that Hagan defeated Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole to win election to the Senate and five years after she lost the seat to Republican Thom Tillis in what was then the nation’s most expensive Senate race.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article236823213.html

Sunday News: From the Editorial pages

Submitted by BlueNC on

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UNC BOARD'S FOCUS SHOULD BE EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE, NOT LEGISLATIVE FEALTY: A dozen members of the UNC board – fully half of its members – carry the very real potential to be compromised and become puppets of the legislative leadership. Years ago there were various criteria and categories legislators were required to follow in their election of UNC board members. There were even candidate nominations and fierce campaigns within the General Assembly to win a coveted slot. We are not about to suggest that the old was optimal. But the evolution has NOT been an improvement. To achieve more diversity and less fealty to the legislature, give the governor the authority to appoint a third – eight members -- of the board. Even in circumstances where the governor and legislature’s majority may share political party the clear difference in interests would bring about a broader board.
https://www.wral.com/editorial-unc-board-s-focus-should-be-educational-excellence-not-legislative-fe...

Part-time Congressman, full-time Jerk

Submitted by scharrison on

If any new employee missed this much work in the private sector, he'd be fired with a vengeance:

From Sep 2019 to Oct 2019, Bishop missed 26 of 78 roll call votes, which is 33.3%. This is much worse than the median of 2.1% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving.

After the embarrassing catastrophe that was the NC-09 Fraudfest, mainstream media should be watching Bishop like a hawk. By the time he missed his 10th appearance, it should have been plastered all over the front pages. But instead, we get crickets. I expect to see this covered by the middle of next week, and if it isn't, I might let Evil Steve loose on the Internet...

Saturday News: Impasse

Submitted by BlueNC on

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MARATHON SESSION ADJOURNS WITH NO NEW BUDGET: "It’s unfortunate that the General Assembly left town passing a sweeping corporate tax cut while leaving teachers with a pay raise much less than other state employees," Cooper said Friday. During the budget impasse, lawmakers passed a series of so-called "mini-budgets" to get new money to various agencies and programs. Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger
said Thursday that the various measures account for 98.5 percent of what was in the vetoed budget. Although Cooper complained about the piecemeal process, he has signed many of the proposals into law. The teacher pay raise bill cleared the legislature Thursday, but Cooper wouldn't say Friday whether he would sign it or veto it to force more negotiations.
https://www.wral.com/long-legislative-session-fails-to-produce-state-budget/18738654/

Beware of those "Local" news stories on social media

Submitted by scharrison on

It's the newest frontier in fake news & propaganda:

Some misinformation in local news comes from foreign governments seeking to meddle in American domestic politics. Most notably, numerous Twitter accounts operated by the Russian Internet Research Agency were found to have impersonated local news aggregators during the 2016 election campaign.

A recent Senate Intelligence Committee report found that 54 such accounts published more than 500,000 tweets. According to researchers at N.Y.U., the fake local news accounts frequently directed readers to genuine local news articles about polarizing political and cultural topics.

I know I've ticked off more than a handful of friends by correcting them when they share hinky stuff on Facebook, but I mostly do it via private messages these days instead of the comment thread. I really don't want to be "that guy," but when the person posting it has several hundred friends, the misinformation can spread like wildfire. And it's not just those dastardly Russians doing it; the (U.S.) Conservative election machine is now cranking out a ton of this material as well:

Friday News: Penny-Pinching Phil

Submitted by BlueNC on

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NC SENATE STRIPS FUNDING FROM HOUSE DISASTER BILL: The nearly $280 million package included $30 million for the N.C. Office of Recovery and Resilience to aid local governments in recovery from the hurricanes, $32 million to enhance laser-made topographical maps of North Carolina and $15 million for Golden L.E.A.F. to provide disaster grants to governments and nonprofits, among others. That bill was not the one voted on in the Senate on Thursday, with the body instead considering and ultimately approving a different Storm Recovery Act of 2019. The Senate effort included $70.8 million to provide matching dollars for Hurricane Florence recovery projects funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s public assistance program, as well as $31.7 million for similar projects that are part of the recovery from Hurricanes Matthew, Michael and Dorian. The House voted 106-0 not to concur with the Senate and appointed a conference committee led by McGrady.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article236869443.html

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