UNC Board of Governors contemplating move out of Chapel Hill

Apparently they're afraid of those notorious Liberal Cooties:

At both the October committee meeting and November’s full board meeting, members discussed a perception that having the general administration staff in Chapel Hill confuses the UNC system and UNC-Chapel Hill. It also makes it look as though the Chapel Hill campus is superior to the other schools, they said.

“That’s a very minor part of this, but it’s still a consideration,” Kotis admits. “Are we the Board of Governors for the UNC Chapel Hill or the UNC system? What does it say about the link between UNCGA and Chapel Hill? Is it the favorite school? It’s like having your house near one kid’s house but not the other.”

Dude, it's the Flagship University. It was the first public University chartered by the NC Legislature in 1789, and the first public University in the *entire country* operating when it opened its doors in 1795. By contrast, it wasn't until 1931 that a "Board of Trustees" was formed to oversee the combination of three state-chartered universities (UNC-CH, UNC-G, NC State), and the BOG itself didn't materialize until 40 years after that. So yes, UNC Chapel Hill is the natural location for such a body. But this move may have a lot more to do with having an antsy real estate developer on the Board than even ideological considerations:

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Thursday News: Globally unpopular

LONDON MAYOR CALLS FOR CANCELLING TRUMP VISIT OVER ANTI-MUSLIM EXTREMISM: The mayor of London on Thursday added his voice to mounting calls for President Donald Trump's state visit to the U.K. to be canceled over his retweets of a British far-right group. Sadiq Khan said Trump has promoted "a vile, extremist group" and an official visit by him to Britain "would not be welcomed." Trump's retweeting of anti-Muslim videos from far-right fringe group Britain First has been widely condemned in Britain. Prime Minister Theresa May's official spokesman said the president was wrong to have done it. In response, Trump urged May to focus on "the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom," rather than on him.
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Brad Woodhouse may have been additional target in James O'Keefe's botched sting

Leroy Gibbs' Rule 39: There is no such thing as coincidence:

Woodhouse said he recognized Phillips’s name and image in a Washington Post story Monday that described how she falsely told reporters that Roy Moore, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Alabama, impregnated her as a teenager. Phillips appears to work with Project Veritas, an organization that uses deceptive tactics and secretly records conversations in an effort to embarrass members of the mainstream media and left-leaning groups.

“I was stunned,” Woodhouse said Tuesday night. “It took a little while to sink in and then it was like, ‘Really? Are you kidding me?’ ” James O’Keefe, the Project Veritas founder, declined to answer questions about whether he dispatched Phillips to rent from Woodhouse. Phillips did not respond to inquiries.

And before you ask, it's because O'Keefe is an idiot. He always tries to go for a straight flush when a King-high two pair will usually win the hand. Okay, that's a little obscure, what I mean is: He can't help but add clever (he thinks) little twists to his plots, that make the cons much harder to pull off, but game-winning zingers if he does. In this case, he (thought) he could make the entire sexual harassment movement look like a Democratic plot, by tying Brad to this one false accusation. And the sad thing is, close to 1/3 of American citizens would probably believe that nonsense.

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Wednesday News: Going out with a fizzle and barely audible pop

SOON TO BE EX-CIVITAS LEADER DE LUCA WHINES ABOUT GIVING TUESDAY: The Civitas Institute, a Raleigh think tank, distributed a fundraising email Monday night that urges people to carefully consider the motivation for their donations on “Giving Tuesday,” the Tuesday after Thanksgiving during which companies and nonprofits encourage people to donate to charitable causes. Francis De Luca, outgoing president of Civitas, in the email criticizes the “guilt” associated with what he called a “leftist idea.” “The phrase ‘give-back’ comes from the leftist idea that individuals can’t achieve success on their own; that successful people must have taken advantage of others to get where they are; and that they have an obligation to ‘return’ some of their wealth to those they took it from,” he continued. “The Left has used this idea as a fundraising tactic for decades.”
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Debunking yet another right-wing conspiracy theory

There are no such thing as ghost voters:

Los Angeles County’s registrar of voters, Dean Logan, explained to the Bee that the names on the inactive voter list are kept as a “fail-safe” so as to not disenfranchise or discourage voters. Combining “inactive voter” and “active voter” lists could result in a higher total number of registered voters that Judicial Watch says raises suspicions.

Logan and Gail Pellerin, the Santa Cruz County registrar of voters, told the Los Angeles Times that very few people on the “inactive voter” list actually show up to vote. As few as 12 people, out of 44,172 people on Santa Cruz County’s inactive list, showed up to vote in November, Pellerin said.

Deeply embedded in North Carolina's voter database are three (3) registration files for yours truly. I have seen them pulled up on a screen during an early voting session. One is from when I was stationed at Ft. Bragg back in the 1980's, another when I was still a (confused) Republican, and my current registration as a Democrat. The two older ones are "inactive" files, and mean absolutely nothing in the scheme of things. It's not a conspiracy to subvert democracy, and it's not even a "weakness that could be exploited" in the system. But efforts to purge voter rolls very likely is a conspiracy:

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Tuesday News: Don't feed the trolls

Tuesday Twitter roundup

One of the biggest swindles in history is happening right in front of our noses:

The @GOP wants to jack up 1.2 million NC’ers taxes.

That means that thousands of Craven County residents will see their tax bills go up, all so the @GOP can give away even more $$$ to billionaires like trump and his Wall Street buddies.#TrumpTaxScam #ncpol @NCDemParty https://t.co/b77bM4Thyf

— Craven County Dems (@CravenDemocrats) November 28, 2017

I honestly don't really care if my taxes go up or down, my main concern is the likelihood they will target Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security disability to balance their twisted books. Putting lives at risk just so the wealthy can afford a second yacht makes me want to break something.

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When your Primary opponent is a Baptist minister...

It's War on Christmas and persecuted Jesus time:

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Small to mid-size farmers will likely suffer greatly under US Senate tax bill

For every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction:

In this season of giving, the U.S Senate is rushing to pass a tax bill next week that would overwhelmingly benefit corporations and the richest households. If passed, this tax plan would not only raise the tax load on millions of low- and middle-income families, it would also mean the elimination of vital programs that help many Americans get by every day. The reason: Math.

By increasing the U.S deficit by more than $1.5 trillion over the next ten years, Congress would have to reduce spending in fiscal year 2018 alone by a total of $136 billion due to spending rules.

Before we look at some of the specific agricultural support programs that are vulnerable under this plan, I'll go ahead and answer your inevitable question, "Why would Republicans intentionally go after their solid base (rural farmers) when they could probably find these cuts elsewhere?" Because US Senate contests are state-wide, not really fitting the profile of "representative." While individual Congressional districts might be particularly hurt by these cuts, Senators will not feel the adverse effects of that. Here are some of the programs at risk:

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Monday News: GOTAAV

SHARP DECLINE IN BLACK VOTER TURNOUT COULD SPELL TROUBLE FOR DEMOCRATS IN 2018: Once prized fighters in the battle for voting rights, students at America’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities dropped their guard in the 2016 elections. Voter turnout among the estimated 300,000 students at HBCUs fell nearly 11 percent from 2012 to 2016, according to a national survey by the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education at Tufts University. The decline, while consistent with a fall off among black voters of all ages in 2016, was a sharp departure. If historic trends hold, Democrats could see black voter turnout drop 30 percent in 2018, resulting in 5.2 million fewer African-American voters, according to a report by the non-partisan Voter Participation Center and Democratic pollster Celinda Lake.
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Sunday News: From the Editorial pages

IT'S TIME FOR LEGISLATIVE LEADERS TO COOPERATE NOT OBFUSCATE ON REDISTRICTING: Federal judges have said repeatedly that North Carolina’s Republican-dominated legislature has produced voting districts that discriminate against African-American voters -- illegally segregating them into state Senate and House districts. One court puts it bluntly, that Republican legislators had, with “surgical precision,” targeted black voters to minimize their participation in elections. So, when the court appointed an expert to draw fair districts and remedy the mess the General Assembly’s created, the legislators’ stubborn reaction didn’t come as a surprise. “It appears the special master has engaged in racial sorting to establish districts with racial targets for black voting age population,” lawyers for the legislature said Friday – objecting to the draft plan Special Master Nathaniel Persily offered up a few days earlier. So, addressing the problem the legislature CREATED marks illegal consideration of race? Let’s get real here.
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House GOP tax plan especially painful for teachers

When making something more "simple" also makes it more costly:

Any full-time instructor at a public or private K-12 school is currently eligible for the $250 deduction. It’s an “above-the-line” deduction, meaning teachers don’t have to itemize to claim it. It’s listed on the part of the tax form alongside deductions for moving expenses, student loan interest and Health Savings Accounts. The House GOP bill does away with those popular deductions as well.

Richardson worries about other ways the legislation may affect education. The Senate bill scraps all state and local tax deductions. Most schools in the United States get their funding from property taxes. Atlanta’s public schools already had to make budget cuts this year after a property tax freeze. School funding could become even more contentious, especially in high-tax cities, if the GOP tax bills are enacted.

In a perfect world, negotiations between the Senate and the House would get rid of the bad parts of each, lessening the sting for teachers and others. But we don't live there. A closer look at some of the things this particular teacher has had to purchase out-of-pocket provides a glimpse of a much deeper problem:

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Saturday News: An idiot shall lead them

THE CLOSER YOU LOOK AT DALLAS WOODHOUSE, THE LESS YOU SEE: In 2014, Woodhouse stood on the sidelines of a Moral Monday protest. He recruited a young woman to wear a sun costume. He wanted to convey to protesters that sunny days had arrived for the state’s economy under GOP leadership, so he handed out Sunkist sodas and yellow, sun-shaped stress balls with the message, “Jobs up, unemployment down.” Woodhouse went on MSNBC during the 2016 presidential election to explain why the state should not have early voting on Sundays. He then pulled out a pair of handcuffs mid-interview to blast Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. “We don’t have a suppression vote problem in North Carolina,” he told MSNBC. “The Democrats have a depression problem. And you know why? It’s very simple: Their candidate, if elected, could have these (handcuffs) on Inauguration Day.”
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Ralph Hise leads latest GOP attack on teacher's union

First you thin their ranks, then you question their membership numbers:

The legislature started requiring the audits in 2014, after a different Republican-backed law targeting the NCAE was struck down in court as unconstitutional. But each year, the NCAE simply refuses to cooperate. “... It certainly appears NCAE is refusing to respond because it does not meet the requirement and is violating the law,” Republican Sen. Ralph Hise said in an email. Hise is a critic of the NCAE who was a driving force behind the audit requirement.

The NCAE says it doesn’t have to comply with the audit. “The NCAE believe the law as written and being implemented by the state Auditor is overly intrusive in violation of the constitutional rights of the association and its members and further exceeds the authority of the state Auditor,” the group wrote in a letter to state officials earlier this year.

As usual, this is just another end-around attempt by Republicans to get something the courts refused to allow them, the discontinuation of payroll-deducted membership dues. But what nobody seems to want to talk about: Membership in the NCAE is voluntary. As in, the teachers in question have agreed to pay these dues, and are fine with that method of payment. This isn't just an attack on the NCAE as a monolithic entity, it's an attack on the individual teachers themselves. And frankly, Ralph Hise is the last person who should be criticizing people over non-compliance:

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Friday News: Prepare to be fleeced

Friday fracking video

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Thanksgiving open thread: Celebrate, but also contemplate

Thursday News: Suborned

POPE-FUNDED THINK TANK TAKES CREDIT FOR MANIPULATING UNC BOARD OF GOVERNORS: A conservative think tank in North Carolina is taking some credit for recent university policies enacted by the legislature and the UNC Board of Governors. In its Thanksgiving-themed fundraising letter, the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal thanked its supporters and referred to them as partners in higher education reform. “Thank you for helping us make great strides this year in advancing needed reforms in North Carolina,” said the email, signed by Jenna Robinson, president of the center. “Finally we’ve seen action from the people who are in the position to make decisions,” she said. “Seeing that means that we are pointing out problems that people think are important. We will continue to point out those problems, and obviously not every problem that we point out will lead anyone to take any particular action.”
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After dark

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Jerry Tillman admits judicial redistricting is partisan power grab

The word you're trying to recall is "Brazen."

One of the legislative proposals is a bill that changes the configuration of superior court, district court and prosecutorial districts across the state. At last week’s meeting, Asheboro attorney Jon Megerian said the changes were designed to get more Republican judges elected. In a weekend interview, Tillman did not argue with that notion.

“All redistricting, whether it be Republicans or Democrats, they are partisan activities,” he said. “The Constitution says the winning party will do that. It’s a partisan activity that goes to the winning party in the election."

“If it’s partisan, you’re going to draw them to your advantage if you can. It’s our job and our time and our responsibility to do exactly that.”

There is a deep logical fallacy in the "I've been given power by gerrymandering which gives me the right to gerrymander" position, but I can't pin the damn thing down. Something something in Latin, how's that?

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Wednesday News: White lives matter more

Tim Moore takes propaganda to a whole new level

Babbling his nonsense on a national platform:

As President Donald Trump and the United States Congress finalize the details of their tax reform proposals, they need look no further than North Carolina as the bellwether for pro-growth policies to accelerate the nation’s economy rooted in tax relief.

Successful tax reform at the federal level will require the same long-term commitment to meaningful relief and structural improvements that worked in the Old North State. What the American public needs is an evolution in pro-growth tax policies under constant review and necessary iterations that improve the national economy for the long-term.

The only growth we've seen in North Carolina is the gap in wealth between the haves and the have nots. Frankly, The Hill has just dropped several rungs on the ladder of credibility by publishing Tim Moore's campaign rhetoric dressed up as an essay. I mean, it's bad enough we have to put up with it, but why expose everybody else to these mindless ramblings:

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Tuesday News: "I have Black friends!"

MARK WALKER WANTS TO TEAM WITH BLACK CAUCUS TO CUT FEDERAL SPENDING ON PRISONS: ep. Mark Walker, a conservative Republican, wants the GOP-controlled Congress to move on long-stalled efforts to revamp the nation’s criminal justice system next year — and he's enlisted a seemingly unlikely ally: The head of the Congressional Black Caucus. Walker, R-N.C., chairman of the conservative House Republican Study Committee, is teaming with Chairman Cedric Richmond, D-La. Richmond and Walker agree the current criminal justice system negatively impacts families, particularly in communities of color, costs the federal government too much money, and does little to reduce the rate of recidivism. The United States accounts for only 5 percent of the world’s population but 25 percent of its prison population.
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Tuesday Twitter roundup

Probably the single biggest crisis looming in the near future:

Republicans pay for huge tax breaks for the wealthy by cutting Medicaid. Priorities?#GOPTaxScam #ncpol https://t.co/ChSsDRsGxa

— Progress NC Action (@ProgressNow_NC) November 21, 2017

People will literally die in order for Republicans to put more money in the pockets of their wealthy donors. It doesn't get much more disgusting than that.

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DCCC ready to step up for Dan McCready against Pittenger

A closer look at Duke Energy's corruption of UNC Charlotte

Our public universities should never allow this to happen again:

Daniels described the board in a letter to Tom Reeder, then the assistant secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, in a letter on April 5, 2016, arguing against a risk classification system for Duke’s coal ash ponds. “The NAMAB is an independent group of experts chartered through Duke Energy and managed by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte). Board members provide advice to Duke Energy, but they are contracted with and report to UNC Charlotte,” Daniels wrote. That same letter concluded with a final reaffirmation of the board’s independence. “And we are independent,” Daniels wrote.

But emails obtained by WBTV show staff from Duke Energy scheduled meetings, coordinated the distribution of research materials and facilitated the day-to-day operation of the board; a direct contradiction of what Daniels wrote in his April 2016 letter to Reeder.

There's nothing fossil fuel companies like more than penetrating a reputable university and setting up an industry-funded "research" operation. When you can dictate the scope of the research, you can (very often) achieve the results you were hoping for. Or make changes to those results if you're not happy with them:

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Monday News: Irony alert

TRUMP STAYING OUT OF ALABAMA RACE DUE TO "DISCOMFORT" WITH SEXUAL ASSAULT ISSUE: Budget director Mick Mulvaney said while the White House had "serious concerns," it was hard to weigh in against Moore. Moore's name cannot be removed from the ballot before the special election even if he withdraws from the race, though a write-in campaign remains possible. Trump "doesn't know who to believe. I think a lot of folks don't," Mulvaney said. Short, pressed repeatedly about whether Trump still supported Moore, said: "I don't think you have seen him issue an endorsement. You have not seen him issue robocalls." Short added, "I think you can infer by the fact that he has not gone down to support Roy Moore his discomfort in doing so." Moore has forcefully denied the charges as "unsubstantiated" and "fake" even as more women have come forward to make complaints of sexual improprieties.
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From the brilliant mind of Andy Borowitz

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Sunday News: From the Editorial pages

SPEAKER MOORE'S BOASTING ABOUT EDUCATION DOESN'T ADD UP: North Carolina schools today have more students than ever, but fewer assistant principals, nurses, social workers and guidance counselors. Money for teacher assistants has been sliced $62 million. There are 3,150 fewer teachers in our schools today than there would be if formulas in place during the 2011-12 school year were still followed. North Carolina is on target this year to drop from 42nd – not much of a position to start with – to 43rd nationally in per-pupil spending. That’s more than $3,000 per student below the national average. The reality is that Moore and his ideological soulmates in the General Assembly are more intent on cutting taxes for big corporations and the wealthy than providing the needed funding for properly paid teachers and quality public schools. When it comes to doing more for education in North Carolina, Moore’s boasting is no more than school-yard trash talk. All platitudes, with little to back it up.
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2018 elections: The only thing certain is uncertainty

And the NC GOP has certainly screwed up the electoral landscape:

This week, Democrat Anita Earls announced she would run for the seat on the state Supreme Court held by Republican Justice Barbara Jackson. But will there be an election in 2018 at all?

There's a different question surrounding legislative elections in 2018: which incumbents will be forced to share districts? New proposed district lines are out, drawn by an independent mapmaker, but that's not the final word.

Even though the court has spoken (clearly), and even though Percily only redrew a handful of districts, Republicans are still trying to bully their way in to scribble on the damn maps. They need to be called out by the press for their efforts to undermine democracy and the voters who rely on it, and they need to be spanked a lot harder by the courts for constantly muddying the waters. The people need to reclaim their time.

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Saturday News: No refuge to be found

GOP meddling in teacher pay is like gasoline on a fire

Kicking turnover and teacher shortages into overdrive:

A pivotal legislative task force may be just beginning its dive into North Carolina’s school funding maze, but lawmakers’ hints that they may abolish the state’s teacher salary schedule or other state-set funding allocations is already spurring criticism from local district advocates. Talk of nixing a state-set pay scale emerged this year when lawmakers took on a revamp of school principal pay, and it’s resurfaced multiple times in the Joint Legislative Task Force on Education Finance Reform’s first meetings in November.

The state’s teacher pay struggles coincide with massive teacher shortages in many of the state’s 100 counties, as well as a substantial drop in students seeking teaching degrees in the UNC system. Mark Jewell, president of the N.C. Association of Educators (NCAE), the top lobbying organization for North Carolina teachers, said lawmakers’ invitation to ditch the salary schedule would be “short-sighted,” adding it may “jeopardize teacher retention and recruiting.”

With every year that passes under Republican reign, it becomes more clear what they are actually trying to achieve: A massive failure of our pubic school system. Making it much easier to stimulate the growth of charters and private schools, pushing millions of taxpayer dollars into the pockets of businessmen instead of genuine educators. In a political environment where scams are around every corner, this one has the potential to top all the others by a wide margin.

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Friday News: That's it, you're done

DEQ REVOKES WASTEWATER DISCHARGE PERMITS FOR GENX MANUFACTURER: The state revoked permits Thursday for the factory accused of dumping pollutants into the main source of drinking water for southeastern North Carolina. State regulators in the Department of Environmental Quality had been criticized by several legislators earlier this year – both Democrats and Republicans – who accused them of not acting swiftly enough to address the release of a chemical called GenX. They took their harshest action yet on Thursday, stripping the factory’s permission to put any of its wastewater into the river from here on out. The Cape Fear is the source of drinking water for cities like Fayetteville, Wilmington and others in that corner of the state.
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Friday fracking video

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Profiles in idiocy: GOP women who voted for Trump have buyer's remorse

Sometimes your explanation just makes things worse:

Republican women who voted for President Trump in North Carolina said during a focus group Wednesday night that they are embarrassed by and exasperated with him.

-- Annie Anthony, 56, voted for Trump last year because she opposes abortion and did not like how Hillary Clinton handled Benghazi. Now she fears that Trump is marching us toward war with North Korea. She describes the first 10 months of his presidency as “chaotic, stressful and an uphill battle.”

Benghazi? During his campaign, Trump demonstrated time and time again that he wasn't even remotely qualified to serve as President, that he had nothing but contempt for women and viewed them as merely sexual toys to be played with when the mood came on him, and that he would lie about any subject, no matter how easily that lie would be exposed. But you didn't like Clinton because of a totally fabricated controversy that Fox News fed to you every day. You should be embarrassed, and don't expect the slightest bit of sympathy for your condition.

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Thursday News: Supremely qualified

Coalition headed by ACLU files suit for farm workers in NC

BREAKING: @ACLU @SupportFLOC @splcenter @ncjustice Sue North Carolina Over Law Stripping Rights From 100,000 Farmworkers #ncpol https://t.co/9nd6YCs5Ti http://pic.twitter.com/zvNEqa60RI

— ACLU-North Carolina (@ACLU_NC) November 15, 2017

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Democracy NC wants BoE to probe Forest television studio issue

Somebody needs to look that gift camera in the mouth:

A voting rights organization has asked North Carolina election officials to scrutinize spending by a nonprofit group for equipment for a television studio in the office of Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest.

Democracy North Carolina Executive Director Bob Hall wrote a letter Monday to the state elections board seeking review of $60,000 in purchases by what’s called the North Carolina Promotion and Development Fund. WRAL-TV reported the fund owns the equipment, which Forest can use to produce videos about issues important to him. One fund donor is a longtime Forest supporter.

And while they're at it, they might as well look into all the renovations this same supporter did to the Hawkins-Harnett House, which this little blurb leads people to believe Forest paid for it himself:

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Wednesday News: Truth or consequences

SESSIONS HAVING TROUBLE REMEMBERING ALL THE LIES HE'S TOLD TO CONGRESS: A defiant Attorney General Jeff Sessions told Congress on Tuesday he never lied under oath about Russian interference in the 2016 election and said sleep deprivation and the "chaos" of the Trump campaign clouded his recollections of campaign contacts with Russians. Sessions sought to explain away apparent contradictions in his public statements by portraying President Donald Trump's campaign as an exhausting operation and said he could not be expected to remember specific encounters from more than a year ago. "In all of my testimony, I can only do my best to answer all of your questions as I understand them and to the best of my memory," Sessions told the House Judiciary Committee. "But I will not accept, and reject, accusations that I have ever lied under oath. That is a lie."
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Tuesday News: Stopped clock version

BOTH BURR AND TILLIS CALL FOR ROY MOORE TO EXIT SENATE RACE: North Carolina Sens. Thom Tillis and Richard Burr joined a growing group of Republicans calling for Roy Moore to drop out of the Alabama Senate race after a fifth woman publicly accused the former judge of sexual misconduct Monday. “The allegations leveled at Roy Moore are disturbing. I have serious concerns about his prior conduct and fitness for office. He should immediately withdraw from the race,” Tillis wrote on Twitter on Monday evening. Burr also called on Moore to withdraw from the race. “With 5 women now coming forward, Moore should do the right thing and withdraw from the race,” he said in a statement released by his office. It was his first public comment since the scandal erupted last week. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he believed the women and called for Moore to get out of the race earlier Monday. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, also called for Moore to step down.
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Tuesday Twitter roundup

Bound to be the hot topic for at least a few days:

Special master in racial #gerrymandering case releases first round of redrawn legislative districts - https://t.co/lYodncFf3j #ncpol #ncgov #ncga

— NC Policy Watch (@NCPolicyWatch) November 14, 2017

Since Persily's mandate only covered a handful of districts, the redraw does not represent sweeping changes to the whole state, just a few clusters:

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Shadowy non-profit sets up TV studio for Dan Forest

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood for political propaganda:

A little-known group set up by the Lieutenant Governor's Office and headed by a major campaign donor has provided Lt. Gov. Dan Forest with enough television equipment to build an in-office studio. Forest's arrangement with the North Carolina Promotion and Development Fund appears to be unique in North Carolina state government. Gov. Roy Cooper doesn't have his own television studio, and neither does General Assembly leadership.

NCPDF is a 501(c)(4), also known by its IRS designation as a "social welfare organization." These groups are perhaps best known as political advertising vehicles for anonymous donors, and they're often called "dark money" groups. But attorneys who specialize in this section of the tax code said the category is much broader, and that the way Forest's office uses the NCPDF seems to be allowed under state and federal law, without disclosing donors, provided the group doesn't fund campaign activities. Neither "the studio nor any of the items purchased by the NCPDF have been or ever will be used for campaign purposes," Forest Chief of Staff Hal Weatherman said.

Aside from Dan Forest's inclusion in committees he's not really qualified for (like the Energy Policy Council), the man has no direct influence or responsibilities that would require him to "inform his constituents" about ongoing government matters. So this studio doesn't really serve or promote the office of Lt. Governor, it just promotes Dan Forest. And for at least one wealthy businessman, that promotion is worth a a big pile of money:

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Monday News: Deplorable

Sunday News: From the Editorial pages

TAX OVERHAUL MUST WORK FOR ALL, NOT JUST RIG IT FOR RICH AND BIG BUSINESS: “I think in their heart of hearts they believe that only the wealthy really help the economy, and they believe that the wealthy just carry the rest of us on their backs, that we're all worthless, and only the Charles Kochs and Robert Mercers of the world really add economic value to the economy, and, of course, this is just utterly ridiculous.” You don’t grow the economy by cutting taxes. The economy expands when consumers – mostly those at the middle income levels – have more disposable cash to go out and buy things. Look no further than our own state to see the proof. Over the last five years, the General Assembly has lavished tax cut upon tax cut to corporations and the wealthy while, in many ways, increasing tax burdens on those in the middle. What is there to show for it? A stagnant economy, underfunded critical state needs, declining tax revenues and the distinct possibility of a half-billion hole in the next state budget.
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Harry Brown's anti-wind energy "maps" are still alive

This is why we can't have nice things:

Brown, whose district includes the largest Marine base on the East Coast, believes the turbines could interfere with military radar or flight routes, and cause Department of Defense officials to close, downsize, or relocate military installations to other states. The solution, he says, is a statewide map that will rule out wind energy in certain places.

“The map says it’s okay here, it’s not okay here,” Brown told Southeast Energy News this summer. “To me that’s the only way we’re ever going to be able to resolve this issue.”

There's nothing to resolve, you idiot. There are already multiple mechanisms in place to safeguard the airspace for both military and civilian aircraft, which means this move by Brown is really about something else. And that something else becomes clearer by his effort to draw in Solar and Biomass energy projects into his crusade:

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Veterans Day reminder: Honor the fallen, but hire the living

Some thoughts to consider below the fold:

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Saturday News: From the pages of Pravda

TRUMP SAYS "PEOPLE WILL DIE" BECAUSE OF RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN MEDDLING INVESTIGATION: "Having a good relationship with Russia's a great, great thing. And this artificial Democratic hit job gets in the way," Trump told reporters, once again casting doubt on the U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that Russia did try to interfere in the election. "People will die because of it." Trump's suggestion that he may believe Putin over his own nation's intelligence community is certain to re-ignite the firestorm over the election meddling. Meanwhile, a special counsel investigation of potential collusion between Moscow and Trump campaign aides so far has resulted in two indictments for financial and other crimes unrelated to the campaign, as well as a guilty plea. Trump said the probe into the election hacking was a "fake barrier" placed by Democrats that was hurting the United States' ability to have a relationship with Russia, a distraction that was putting lives at stake.
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Sorry Not Sorry: Chemours "accidentally" spills more Genx into Cape Fear

Old (nasty) habits are apparently hard to break:

In a press release Thursday afternoon, officials with the state Department of Environmental Quality said preliminary data revealed a spike in the levels of GenX in untreated water near the chemical company's Fayetteville Works facility in Bladen County. After contacting the company, DEQ spokesman Jamie Kritzer said Chemours officials revealed that workers had spilled dimer acid fluoride during planned maintenance at the plant Oct. 6.

Dimer acid fluoride effectively breaks down in water into the equivalent of GenX, a poorly studied and unregulated contaminant in a family of chemicals linked to cancer and other negative health effects. Kritzer said it's unclear how much of the chemical leaked or how long it spilled into the Cape Fear River.

As our Riverkeepers and their cadre of volunteer water watchers will tell you, such "accidents" happen way too often to not be intentional. Whether it's polluting industries or municipal wastewater treatment plants, there are numerous cases of "Oops!" that occur every year. Because making it somebody else's problem is the easiest way to deal with chemicals and sewage. Until it starts costing you a lot of money, which is what needs to happen.

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Friday News: Another GOP pedophile

Friday fracking video

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Resisting in the streets and at the table

The term "Iconic" comes to mind...

This is @BraxtonWinston. This photo was taken following the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott. Yesterday, he won a seat on the Charlotte City Council. http://pic.twitter.com/DicpBV9e5g

— Nate Scott (@aNateScott) November 8, 2017

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Thursday News: Change is in the air

LGBTQ CANDIDATES WIN SEVEN RACES IN NORTH CAROLINA ELECTIONS: Advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people are celebrating Tuesday’s election as seven openly LGBTQ candidates won races across North Carolina while other candidates made history in elections around the country. Three of those new North Carolina officials come from the Triangle. Altogether, there now will be 20 openly LGBTQ office-holders across the state, according to Equality NC. “It’s huge for LGBTQ North Carolinians,” said Ben Graumann, director of communications for Raleigh-based Equality NC, a statewide advocacy group. Tuesday’s election results, said Vernetta Alston, who was elected to the Durham City Council, “signal a great new progressive force that can kind of lead the way in advancing the rights of LGBTQ folks.”
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After dark

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Hongbin Gu leads pack of newly-elected Council members in Chapel Hill

Wednesday News: Resistance!

Tuesday News: Rhetorical pistols at dawn

Tuesday Twitter roundup

Geremy the Germ has an important public service announcement:

Don't forget to vote tomorrow! Find your polling place and sample ballot right here: https://t.co/BoEJzQQ6Jy #ncpol

— Geremy the Germ (@Geremy43676198) November 6, 2017

To clarify, Geremy wrote that yesterday, meaning the election is today. Tuesday. I'll have a talk with Geremy about the concept of time passing, and how certain terminology might cause your message to become moribund in just a few hours' time. Is that 4th person? Am I speaking in 4th person? I'm easily confused...

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Choosing voodoo economics over successful ventures a recipe for failure

The following Op-Ed was apparently not ready for Prime Time viewing:

NC’s motto “Esse Quam Videri,” to be rather than to seem, should be more than just a quaint Latin reference on our State’s Seal. It should be an organic, working principle to guide us, as it was originally intended. Even for those on the right who profess to believe state government should be run like a business, when something you’re doing is working, and working so well it exceeds all expectations you had about its viability, you don’t try to actively undermine that success. Scheme and plot to make it go away. If you did that in a publicly-held corporation, your shareholders would revolt, and sweep that Board of Directors right out the door, and replace them with more responsible leaders.

In the government realm, those shareholders are the voting public, not the shadowy PACs funded by wealthy individuals who would sacrifice overall economic growth for personal profits every day of the week.

Author's note: Sometimes these essays have their origin in a single misleading sentence in the news, generating a desire to set the record straight. In this case, it was actually a symbol that I had seen one too many times, the Georgia Film logo (with a peach, of course) that got my mind churning. Here's the rest:

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Monday News: Keep your fingers crossed?

JUDGE OVERRULES BOARD OF ELECTIONS ON QUESTIONABLE VOTING SOFTWARE: Voting software that’s been under a cloud for months can be used in elections next week. The State Board of Elections & Ethics Enforcement is appealing an administrative law judge’s decision Friday allowing counties to use software from a company called VR Systems that checks voters’ registration information. Durham was using VR software on Election Day last year when a malfunction forced the county to switch to paper poll books. The glitch halted voting in some areas, and eight precincts extended voting hours. The state elections board doesn’t want counties to use the software. The board hasn’t certified it, as required by law. In a court complaint, VR Systems said the elections board improperly revoked its license, and that some counties still want to use its product.
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Sunday News: From the Editorial pages

DON'T LET OTHERS DECIDE FOR YOU, VOTE!: “Americans are sharply divided.” It is the mantra these days from the nation’s political commentators and talking heads. The reality is just the opposite. The vast majority of North Carolinians and Americans are united in apathy. Last month 85 percent of Raleigh’s registered voters were united in avoiding the polls for the primary election for mayor. A month earlier, 92 percent of Charlotte’s voters failed to participate in that city’s mayoral primary. Just 21,850 voters out of 544,908 – 4 percent – decided for all of the city to oust incumbent Mayor Jennifer Roberts. Is it true that 96 percent of Charlotte’s voters had no opinion or didn’t care whether she continued in office; about how she did her job; whether she needed to be replaced? Rest assured, voters WILL determine next week who will lead North Carolina’s local governments. None of us need to, or should, cede that decision to anyone else – especially someone with whom we might disagree.
http://ift.tt/2Ab3tlT

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Trump/GOP tax cut plan biggest swindle in decades

Saturday News: Caught in a lie

Primer on the NC GOP's war on the court system

A systematic and sustained effort to subvert the judiciary:

Number of actions they've taken in recent years to change the makeup and independence of state, district and local courts: at least 12

Date on which the N.C. legislature sustained a bill eliminating judicial primary elections that Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper had vetoed: 10/16/2017

Days later that they introduced a bill to wipe out the terms of all state judges, from the N.C. Supreme Court to the district courts, at the close of 2018 and require them to run again: 1

Hat-tip to the Institute for Southern Studies for compiling this list. Every single one of those Legislative Republicans who are licensed attorneys should be disbarred for these attacks, or at least formally (and loudly) censured by the NC Bar Association. Follow the link to see the true depth of the GOP's meddling, but here's another taste:

http://ift.tt/2zqaIcD

Friday News: Opposite of the 1st Amendment

Friday fracking video

http://ift.tt/2zD1s5H

Choosing voodoo economics over successful ventures a recipe for failure

The following Op-Ed was apparently not ready for Prime Time viewing:

NC’s motto “Esse Quam Videri,” to be rather than to seem, should be more than just a quaint Latin reference on our State’s Seal. It should be an organic, working principle to guide us, as it was originally intended. Even for those on the right who profess to believe state government should be run like a business, when something you’re doing is working, and working so well it exceeds all expectations you had about its viability, you don’t try to actively undermine that success. Scheme and plot to make it go away. If you did that in a publicly-held corporation, your shareholders would revolt, and sweep that Board of Directors right out the door, and replace them with more responsible leaders.

In the government realm, those shareholders are the voting public, not the shadowy PACs funded by wealthy individuals who would sacrifice overall economic growth for personal profits every day of the week.

Author's note: Sometimes these essays have their origin in a single misleading sentence in the news, generating a desire to set the record straight. In this case, it was actually a symbol that I had seen one too many times, the Georgia Film logo (with a peach, of course) that got my mind churning. Here's the rest:

http://ift.tt/2y8RgNM

Monday News: Keep your fingers crossed?

JUDGE OVERRULES BOARD OF ELECTIONS ON QUESTIONABLE VOTING SOFTWARE: Voting software that’s been under a cloud for months can be used in elections next week. The State Board of Elections & Ethics Enforcement is appealing an administrative law judge’s decision Friday allowing counties to use software from a company called VR Systems that checks voters’ registration information. Durham was using VR software on Election Day last year when a malfunction forced the county to switch to paper poll books. The glitch halted voting in some areas, and eight precincts extended voting hours. The state elections board doesn’t want counties to use the software. The board hasn’t certified it, as required by law. In a court complaint, VR Systems said the elections board improperly revoked its license, and that some counties still want to use its product.
http://ift.tt/2xSXWzK...

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Sunday News: From the Editorial pages

DON'T LET OTHERS DECIDE FOR YOU, VOTE!: “Americans are sharply divided.” It is the mantra these days from the nation’s political commentators and talking heads. The reality is just the opposite. The vast majority of North Carolinians and Americans are united in apathy. Last month 85 percent of Raleigh’s registered voters were united in avoiding the polls for the primary election for mayor. A month earlier, 92 percent of Charlotte’s voters failed to participate in that city’s mayoral primary. Just 21,850 voters out of 544,908 – 4 percent – decided for all of the city to oust incumbent Mayor Jennifer Roberts. Is it true that 96 percent of Charlotte’s voters had no opinion or didn’t care whether she continued in office; about how she did her job; whether she needed to be replaced? Rest assured, voters WILL determine next week who will lead North Carolina’s local governments. None of us need to, or should, cede that decision to anyone else – especially someone with whom we might disagree.
http://ift.tt/2Ab3tlT

http://ift.tt/2y3nYAq

Trump/GOP tax cut plan biggest swindle in decades

Saturday News: Caught in a lie

Primer on the NC GOP's war on the court system

A systematic and sustained effort to subvert the judiciary:

Number of actions they've taken in recent years to change the makeup and independence of state, district and local courts: at least 12

Date on which the N.C. legislature sustained a bill eliminating judicial primary elections that Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper had vetoed: 10/16/2017

Days later that they introduced a bill to wipe out the terms of all state judges, from the N.C. Supreme Court to the district courts, at the close of 2018 and require them to run again: 1

Hat-tip to the Institute for Southern Studies for compiling this list. Every single one of those Legislative Republicans who are licensed attorneys should be disbarred for these attacks, or at least formally (and loudly) censured by the NC Bar Association. Follow the link to see the true depth of the GOP's meddling, but here's another taste:

http://ift.tt/2hD1pfJ

Friday News: Opposite of the 1st Amendment

Friday fracking video

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Newest GenX lawsuit reveals DuPont downplayed animal studies

Knowingly releasing proven carcinogens into public drinking water resources:

Publicly reported results of DuPont and Chemours studies on Gen X toxicity “contain misrepresentations and factual misstatements that tend to understate Gen X’s potential for toxicity.” DuPont data show toxic effects in animals from short-term, subchronic and long-term exposure.

Gen X exposure to rats and mice prompted incidence of cancers at levels exceeding those detected in controls in the brain, liver, adrenal glands, pancreas and testicles. Gen X posed reproductive and developmental risks to lab animals, as well as toxicity in the liver, kidneys, the hematological system, adrenal glands and stomach. DuPont animal studies demonstrated an association between GenX and effects found from other PFASs, including changes in the liver, kidney, pancreas, testicles, and the immune system.

As is very often the case when "No potentially adverse effects to humans are known at this time" cases emerge, they knew damn well what those effects could be. Researchers have a fundamental responsibility to follow-up on their laboratory findings, to make sure management doesn't try to sweep stuff like this under the rug. I realize that's easy to say, and it's not my job on the line. But we've seen this happen way too often to just accept "I did my job properly, somebody else misused my findings." Here's more evading and equivocating from DuPont:

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Thursday News: You had your chance

JUDGES REJECT REPUBLICANS' REQUEST THEY BE ALLOWED TO REDRAW DISTRICTS: The federal judges reviewing election maps for N.C. General Assembly candidates have questions about districts in Guilford, Hoke, Cumberland, Wake and Mecklenburg counties and have asked a Stanford University professor to draw new lines for the court by Dec. 1. The judges — Catherine Eagles and Thomas Schroeder of the U.S. Middle District of North Carolina and James Wynn of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals — rejected a request by state lawmakers to give them another chance to draw the lines. “The State is not entitled to multiple opportunities to remedy its unconstitutional districts,” the judges said in their order released Wednesday.
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Exploring the mind of the Special Master

Nathan Persily has been a staunch advocate for democracy for years:

Republicans don’t necessarily have a problem with Persily’s credentials, which are many, or his map-drawing chops, which are considerable. They worry about what GOP lawyer Phil Strach called “possible bias.” They’re right about that, but maybe not for the reason they think.

He has characterized gerrymandering as “partisan greed” – which happens to be true, regardless of which party is engaging in it. He has frowned at the Supreme Court’s campaign finance decision in Citizens United because of the power it gave to the few – Democrat or Republican – who have a lot of money. He has argued against a Texas effort to draw districts based on eligible voters instead of total population, because it would dilute the voting power of a growing Latino population.

In summary, Persily has been laser-focused on defending the rights and Constitutionally-granted powers of individual voters, matters the NC GOP has worked against relentlessly since they were granted a majority by those same voters. Why would you do that? Why would you punish those who had entrusted you? The logical answer is: Because you knew from the start you were going to exceed your mandate, take steps that are clearly in violation of (at least) the spirit of the NC Constitution and your previously stated principles, and you wanted to make sure those voters would not be able to correct their mistake. Here's more on Persily:

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Wednesday News: Can't win 'em all

COURT REAFFIRMS DECISION TO DISMISS COOPER LAWSUIT OVER ELECTION BOARDS: "The merger of the Board of Elections and Ethics Commission ... is a political question and therefore a nonjusticable issue, and that this court lacks authority to review." Because of that, the judges said they were reluctant to address the merits of Cooper's case but did so because the Supreme Court asked them to do so. They determined that Cooper has the authority to appoint all members of the new eight-member board and to remove any of them for cause, but speculation that the board's Democratic and Republican members would repeatedly deadlock on issues doesn't meet the standard for finding the combination unconstitutional. "Were the Governor given the degree of control he seeks over either the Board of Elections or the Bipartisan Board in this case, neither board could continue to function as an independent regulatory and quasi-judicial agency," the judges wrote.
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