Daily Briefing for January 6, 2012

Here is a morning linkfest, or "Daily Briefing" of what's going on that I've found interesting during my early morning prowl of the Internet.

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The Republican Nomination




[C-SPAN] Newt Gingrich Takes Questions From NH Tea Party Voters

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Mitt Romney 27%
Newt Gingrich 19%
Ron Paul 13%
Rick Santorum 11%
Rick Perry 6%
Jon Huntsman 2%

[The Argo Journal] Gallup 2012 Republican Nomination Daily Tracking Survey


TAMPA — After months of behind-the-scenes planning but little in-front-of-the-microphones discussion, Tampa officials Thursday provided a better glimpse of security plans for the Republican National Convention.

No word yet on where the secure perimeter around the convention will go, but officials plan to have 3,000 to 4,000 police officers on duty each day of the event, scheduled for Aug. 27-30.

[Tampa Bay Times] Tampa City Council approves police upgrades for 2012 GOP National Convention

[National Journal] Santorum & the GOP's Changing Coalition

[Newsbusters] NBC's Curry: Santorum About to Go Through 'Meat Grinder;'

[Washington Examiner] Romney wins the battle, but can he win the war?

[Red State] Another Awkward Rick Santorum Vote


So Jon Huntsman can speak Mandarin and also he adopted a little Chinese girl who was abandoned in a market. Providing us with yet more evidence that they are mostly liberal Democrats who are mad that Obama has governed too far to the right, Ron Paul supporters decided this was a good reason to produce a video putting Huntsman in a Mao hat and jacket, complete with what is I guess supposed to be a Chinese version of blackface.
[Red State] You Stay Classy, Ron Paul Supporters

[Race 4 2012] Romney vs. Santorum on Economics

[Real Clear Politics] America's Five Political Parties

[Boston Globe] For vision and national unity, Huntsman for GOP nominee

[The Caucus] Gingrich Campaign Defends Remarks on Food Stamps

[Daily Paul] Vote Fraud, Power, and Privilege in Small Town Iowa

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Miscellaneous


Irredeemably or not, has America become a fascist state? How many products can you buy, services hire, or activities perform that are still utterly free from the hand of government? Where has law permitted state intrusion of dubious constitutionality, and in how many realms has law been abandoned to bureaucratic whim?

[The Imaginative Conservative] The Bill of Reichs: Is America Fascist?



[Independent Political Report] Cindy Sheehan: The Anti-war movement was co-opted by the Democrats

The Libertarian Party Platform Committee met in December in Las Vegas. It adopted 16 proposals, two of which include "pending amendments". (A pending amendment is subject to an initial majority vote by the convention delegates before the proposal it amends receives its usual up-or-down 2/3 vote.)

[Libertarian Intelligence] Libertarian Party Platform Committee Adopts Report


[Political Pistachio] National Defense Authorization Act Became More Sinister For Obama

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World War IV

Kyle, the recipient of five Bronze Stars and two Silver Stars, revealed to O’Reilly why he punched former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, knocking him to the floor. Kyle said that he encountered Ventura at a bar while attending the wake of a fallen SEAL, and that Ventura started bad-mouthing America, then-President Bush, and the Iraq war. When Kyle asked him to tone it down so as not to upset the family, Ventura said, “You [the Navy SEALs] deserve to lose a few guys.” Kyle then punched him and took off running!

[Fox News] American's Most Lethal Navy SEAL Sniper Tells Gripping Tale About Killing 'Savages'

The al Qaeda-linked Ansar al Islam released a statement announcing the name of its new leader. The Iraqi terror group also announced that it would fly a new flag.

In a statement released on jihadist websites yesterday, Ansar al Islam named Abu Hashim Muhammad bin Abdul Rahman al Ibrahim as its leader. The brief statement, which was translated by the SITE Intelligence Group, is dated Dec. 15, 2011 and was signed by the "Command of Ansar al Islam."


[The Long War Journal] Ansar al Islam names new leader

The new military strategy includes $487 billion in cuts over the next decade. An additional $500 billion in cuts could be coming if Congress follows through on plans for deeper reductions. The announcement comes weeks after the U.S. officially ended the Iraq War and after a decade of increased defense spending in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

[American Power] Obama Slashes Pentagon Budget Amid Growing International Danger

Mark Whittington argues that the upcoming joint exercise between the US and Israel constitutes a change in policy by the Obama administration.
The exercise represents a change in Obama administration strategy, made necessary by the failure of the old one. The Obama administration had made it a point to put distance between it and the government of Israel, going so far as to deliberately slight its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. At the same time it attempted an policy of engagement with America's enemies in the Middle East, particularly Iran. It also supported regime change in Egypt and in Libya, the latter with military force.

[Israel Matzav] Does the US-Israel joint missile exercise represent a change in US policy?

Bharti, A 15 year-old, is the 18th Hindu girl to have been reportedly abducted, forced to convert to Islam, and forced to marry a Muslim man, in the Lyari area of Karachi, a city in the south of Pakistan, the Express Tribune of India reported yesterday. The real number is probably much higher. In 2009, in the province of Sindh 18 Hindu girls had also been kidnapped.

The family of the teenage girl filed a complaint with Bhagdadi police station, and a court hearing has begun. On the first day of the hearing Bharti -- who has been renamed Ayesha, apparently after the favorite wife of Islam's prophet Mohammed -- appeared "clad in a black 'abaya' " and hardly acknowledged her parent's presence.

[People of Shambhala] Abductions of Hindu girls, forced conversions to Islam, on the rise in Pakistan

[Atlas shrugs] 19-Year Anniversary of Massacre of Serbs by Bosnian Muslim Forces

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Latin American Dictators in the News

Hugo Chavez has a new theory: that the US has developed a secret technology and is using it to give cancer to left wing Latin American rulers that we don’t like. After all, Fidel Castro, the Hero of Venezuela himself, the president of Paraguay, the current and former presidents of Brazil and now Cristina Kirchner of Argentina have all come down with (quite different) cancers.

[The American Interest] Chavez Falls Off The Edge of the World

(Reuters) - Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro said on Thursday the world was on an "inexorable march toward the abyss," which he blamed in part on the discovery and exploitation of vast reserves of so-called "shale gas" around the world.

Shale gas is natural gas locked in rock formations that in the past decade has been found in great abundance around the world and is now considered a top source of future energy.

Castro, 85, wrote in one of his occasional columns published in Cuban state media that "numerous dangers threaten us, but two of them - nuclear war and climate change - are decisive and both are ever further from approaching a solution."

[Reuters] Fidel Castro says world marching into abyss with shale gas



That's all I had time for this morning. I hope you enjoyed the links and clicked on through to the websites to read the full articles.

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It's the End of 2011 (And the Politicos Know It)

One of the themes for my New Year's resolutions for 2012 concerns focus. One of the things I resolve to focus more on is posting more Linkfests.

To the end, here is a last linkfest of 2011 for you, focusing on...

The Republican Primary Contest

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The Iowa Caucus System Explained

The Iowa caucuses on Tuesday begin the process in that state that will result in 25 delegates being selected for the national convention. At the caucuses, voters will cast ballots in a presidential straw poll, and those results will get the most attention on election night.

Caucus-goers also will elect delegates to county conventions, who in turn will elect delegates to congressional district conventions and the state party convention in June. These are the conventions where delegates to the GOP national convention in Tampa, Fla., are selected.

Each of the four congressional districts will elect three delegates to the national convention. They will also appoint two members to a slate committee, which will choose 13 additional delegates. The slate is voted on at the party's state convention in June.

The system puts a premium on getting the most votes in individual congressional districts. If a candidate's supporters can control a congressional district convention, they can choose national delegates and slate committee members who support their candidate.

[Statesman] Wacky rules complicate race for GOP delegates

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[RCP Polls] 2012 Iowa Polls 

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A full slate of delegate candidates would be forty-one.

So which candidates were able to supply a full slate for Tennessee? Only one:

Michelle Bachmann: 0
Gary Johnson: 0
Rick Santorum: 0
Ron Paul: 35
Newt Gingrich: 34
Rick Perry: 27
Mitt Romney: 48

[Race 4 2012] Romney Proves the Point Again

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Ron Paul will hit the trail in Iowa on Monday with his son, Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, to make a final pitch to caucus goers in the Hawkeye State.

The father-son duo will embark on a whistle-stop tour, visiting five counties one day before the nation's first Republican nominating contest on Tuesday.

[CNN Political Ticker] Rep. Ron Paul to make final push in Iowa with son

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WATERLOO, Iowa -- Rick Perry's events have taken a turn for the crowded. He'll arrive, typically, to find that a coffee shop built to accommodate 75 people is crammed with up to twice that many, spilling out the door and jammed into every available corner.

[CBS News] Can Perry's Recent Crowds Translate to Votes?

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"The dumbest thing I've done in the last four years was sit on a couch with Nancy Pelosi," Gingrich said, according to The Hill's Mike O'Brien. "I can't defend it."

In the ad, Gingrich and Pelosi share a seat on a sofa in front of the Capitol and declare that "the country must take action to address climate change."

[Huffington Post] Newt Gingrich: Nancy Pelosi Climate Change Ad Is 'Dumbest Thing I've Done In The Last 4 Years'

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To underscore her troubles, Bachmann has spent the past 24 hours trying to spin the fallout from her Iowa state campaign chairman’s defection to the Ron Paul camp — insisting repeatedly that the man in question took a payoff to make the switch. Another longtime staffer, who went public to defend the departed chairman, was gone from the campaign by late Thursday.

[Politico] Michele Bachmann's hard fall

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Rick Santorum participated in raiding the federal treasury as an earmarxist, perfectly happy to pork away on Pennsylvania’s behalf. He did not join conservatives who fought against No Child Left Behind. He did not join conservatives who fought against the prescription drug benefit.

Rick Santorum was part of the problem in Washington. He was one of the Republicans the public rejected in 2006. The voters in Pennsylvania rejected him in 2006 because of his and the Republicans’ profligate ways. Along with Tom DeLay, Rick Santorum led the K Street Project, which traded perks for lobbyists for money for the GOP funded with your tax dollars through earmarks and pork projects.

[Red State] Rick Santorum, Earmarxists, and the Pro-Life Statist

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Here's hoping that you have a Happy New Year and that the Republican nomination process is over by early March. I don't think the party can take a long drawn out process this year.

What Others Are Blogging: The Osama Bin Laden is Dead Edition

[WIKIPEDIA] Death of Osama bin Laden


[THE MUQATA] Military Ethics




From the Warriors, the MILBLOGS:


[TC OVERRIDE] Osamathanatopsis: A meditation on the death of the devil


[THIS AIN'T HELL] BIN LADEN DEAD!!!


[Black Five] OSAMA BIN LADIN IS DEAD!


[ARGGHHH!] Really? Kewl! The witch is dead? *And* Qaddaffi's son?


[MUDVILLE GAZETTE] bin Laden Dead


[NEPTUNUS LEX] Closure


[Danger Room] Latest on the Osama Raid: Tricked-Out Choppers, Live Tweets, Possible Pakistani Casualties


[THE LONG WAR JOURNAL] Al Qaeda emir Osama bin Laden confirmed killed by US forces in Pakistan


[OUTSIDE THE WIRE] The Helmund View


[THREATS WATCH] RapidRecon: Usama bin Laden Killed by U.S. in Pakistan


[MILITARY.COM] US SEALs Kill Bin Laden in Pakistan




Mainstream Media:


[BBC] A look at Osama Bin Laden's compound


[THE UK TELEGRAPH] Osama Bin Laden killed: al-Qaeda timeline


[NEW YORK TIMES] Bin Laden Is Dead, Obama Says


[THE TIMES OF INDIA] Hiding bin Laden: Finger of suspicion at ISI


[WALL STREET JOURNAL] U.S. Forces Kill Osama bin Laden


[BOOM TOWN] Viral Video: Inside Osama Bin Laden Compound




Others:


[TECH CRUNCH] Bin Laden’s Compound Gets A Bum Review On Google Maps


[JIHAD WATCH] Muslim Brotherhood: With Osama dead, U.S. troops should quit Iraq, Afghanistan


[MO'S WAY SUNRISE] America’s Best Days


[SWAC GIRL] GWB and the war on terrorism: ' We will not fail'


[FRONT PAGE MAG] Why It Took Ten Years


[SENATOR RICHARD BURR] Senator Burr Statement on the Death of Osama Bin Laden


[SENATOR KAY HAGAN] Hagan Praises U.S. Special Forces for Killing Bin Laden


[SCRUTINY HOOLIGANS] The Obvious and Inevitable Open Thread


[ISRAEL POLITIK] Israel Congratulates USA on Elimination of Osama Bin Laden


[ELDER OF ZIYON] Hamas condemns US for killing Bin Laden (updated)


The Crazy Lefties and Lefty Libertarians:


[NOLAN CHART] Bin Laden is Dead but his Ghost still Haunts America


[Jayne Q RepublicanPUBLIC] Disappointing


[THIS AIN'T HELL] Democratic Underground on bin Laden’s ventilation


[GREEN PARTY WATCH] OPEN THREAD: Now that bin Laden is dead, what do we do next?


[DAILY PAUL] Obama announces Osama bin Laden is dead (You really have to read the comments on this post. This shows the true face of the typical follower of Ron Paul)


[WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE] The Mission That Was Not Accomplished


[MILLS RIVER PROGRESSIVE] How convenient...


[INFO WARS] Red Alert: Government Had Osama bin Laden Frozen for Years


[MOTHER JONES] "OK, He's Dead. Can We Go Home?"


[MY DD] The World Rejoices, The American Radical Right Moans

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News and Commentary From Around The Internet: (Because I'm Too Lazy to Blog Edition)

Here are a few links and a tidbit of what I've found interesting this morning...



NRCC/NRSC Post-Election study shows the GOP Pledge to America Broke Through in 2010 midterms

A Note to GOProud and Other Libertarian Tea Partiers

GOP Freshmen Say They Were Not Invited to Tea Party Patriots Event

Our Best Advisor Says It’s All Over.

I’m not a pessimist but our top and best advisor who seems to be always correct offers the following.  If he is correct, and I suspect he is, we have a long slow Japan-style slog in the economic mud with a major system breakdown, like Russia’s bust-up some years ago. I suspect somewhere along the trail in this movie, the USA Sheeple go to pitchforks and torches. I sure hope not but it almost seems inevitable. What a shame that a few Marxists can do so much permanent damage to my beloved America. All political parties are guilty.

“The midterm elections are anticlimactic and change nothing. In the short term, it makes no difference how many Congressional seats the GOP captures.  The Dumb-O-Crats have already won.  Since taking control of Congress in 2006, Hussein and his wrecking crew have jammed through more socialist legislation than all the past liberal agendas combined (had) ever hoped to accomplish.  It's a done deed.”

“If anyone thinks that changing the mix of Congress with more elected conservatives will fix things; (they are) dreaming. The new Congress will be just as clueless, incompetent, corrupt, and swayed by the lobbyists. The only priority will be to get re-elected, as usual. Any hopes and promises will be dashed by reality. The reality is any legislation that the new Congress passes to try to undo Hussein's Marxist programs will be simply vetoed.  The GOP will not have the votes to over-ride a Presidential veto. This is a Dead-End.”

“The Constitution gives the responsibility of appropriating funds to the House. They may be able to shut-off any additional funds for existing programs, such as Obamacare, etc., but the basic funding of those programs is already the law of land. Control of the Federal purse strings is of no help to undo the damage already done.”

“So, there will be two years of legislative gridlock.  In the mean time, Hussein will expand (entrench) his new socialist programs with a blizzard of Presidential executive orders and appointees by-passing Congress. These Dumb-O-Crat political appointees in charge of hundreds of Federal agencies, set policy that interprets, and bends the intent of new and existing programs to the socialist ideology...encasing them in concrete.  It will require literally decades of political dedication and action to undo the damage…and that is not likely to happen.” 

Source: Kitco: Roger Wiegand

Paul Krugman Recommends 'Death Panels' to Help Balance Budget

Daily Kos: The American Dream Is a Virus Like AIDS, and Rick Perry is Satan

US Oil Production Gearing Up

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West of the Balsams News Roundup Updated

**6.53am** It looks like The Southern Highland Reader has been reborn as The Tuckasegee Reader. Scroll down to the bottom of this article to see news from that website.







It has been a while since I've posted a news roundup to the news of the immediate region that is the real western North Carolina...the part of North Carolina that is west of the Balsam Mountain Range that border Jackson County and Haywood County and receives next to no coverage from regional media...and is virtually ignored by Raleigh and statewide political campaigns. 


Here are some excerpts from local newspapers in the region...

District III Democratic Cherokee County Commission candidate Steve Jordan has paid off his remaining delinquent property taxes totaling nearly $7,000, said Joy Kephart, delinquent tax officer at the county tax assessor’s office.


Kephart said Jordan paid off the amount on Sept. 23. However, Jordan has been spending more time in the tax assessor’s office than other candidates following an error found within his personal motor vehicle bills.


On Sept. 13, Kephart said Jordan owed $4,991 in personal vehicle bills, but the total was incorrect. Due to the fact that Jordan shares the same name with his deceased father, Jimmy Steve Jordan, the matching names threw the tax office for a loop.


“Both [Jordan] and his father have the same name. There is no way of deciphering [the bills] were his or his father’s. Steve has to be the one to tell us,” Kephart said.


The incorrect information was printed on page 3 in the Sept. 16 edition of the Andrews Journal.


Kephart said with the tax office’s system, there is no way to determine who owes what when someone shares the same name with another taxpayer.


“It is frustrating for us as well,” Kephart said.

Source: The Andrews Journal [Candidate pays off owed taxes - Tax office mixes up some of candidate’s vehicle tax notices belonging to father]
Related: The Cherokee Scout [Candidate pays off owed taxes - Tax office mixes up some of candidate’s vehicle tax notices]

State and federal environmental agencies for more than a decade have questioned the need to make substantial improvements to Needmore Road. They’ve also repeatedly raised concerns about the possibility of serious environmental damage and worries about public reaction, documents on file at the state Department of Transportation show.


“As I had mentioned earlier, I am concerned with the controversy surrounding this project,” Tim W. Savidge, who worked in the transportation department’s environmental unit, warned District Engineer Joel Setzer in a letter dated Sept. 2, 1997. Setzer now serves this region as the transportation department’s top leader and decision maker.


In a required transportation department checklist, the district engineer — who surfaces in the documents then and today as a driving force behind the project — indicated at about this same time that he did not believe construction work to the road would be controversial.


Savidge’s warning, however, proved prescient.


In the past few weeks, environmental advocates and more mainstream voices — longtime residents living near the community, among others — have spoken out against the transportation department proposal to pave and widen Needmore Road to two lanes. The state wants to take the road to more than 30 feet across to accommodate lanes plus shoulders.


If done at the level currently endorsed, construction would require cutting out and removing Anakeesta-type rock, often dubbed “hot rock” because of the possibility it can leach acid when exposed by construction.


The documents reveal that even transportation department officials who favored extensive work to Needmore Road have questioned what is now being proposed. One internal memorandum baldly stated that it wasn’t feasible: from an economic standpoint or an environmental one.


The proposal to “improve” this 3.3-mile stretch of gravel road in Macon and Swain counties sparked concerns because it runs through the protected 4,400-acre Needmore Game Lands. Also, the project comes with a steep price tag during a time of economic constraints: $13.1 million.

Source: The Smoky Mountain News [Documents reveal DOT tug of war over Needmore Road]
Related: The Smoky Mountain News [Public debates paving, widening Needmore Road]
Related: The Macon County News [Opinions divided over $13 million Needmore project]


This Needmore Project puzzles me. I am no environmentalist, but I cannot fathom why the NCDOT would want to widen a back road like Needmore. If people want a faster or safer way to get to travel between Macon and Swain Counties, then State Highway 28 should be their choice. My first guess would that there is a developer with friends in the the right places at the NCDOT and a plan to develop property in the area. I have seen this type of thing happen too many times in North Carolina. Many NCDOT Projects have been designed to benefit and reward political allies in the past, and that practice continues today.

It’s perfectly legal and safe when used for the purpose intended, but that bag of herbal incense that was available in Clay County is a new and dangerous fad.


School resource officer and Clay County Deputy Stacy Posey said the substance is being used as synthetic marijuana. If smoked, it does not show up on drug tests and is reported to be more hallucinagenic in nature than marijuana.


While it is legal to sell as an incense, it also bears warnings that it is not meant for human consumption. This also means that it is not inspected by state or federal agencies.


The craze started in Europe and has prompted as many as six states, including Tenneessee, to enact bans on the product. The U.S. Marine Corps has also asked stores near North Carolina bases to stop selling the product, according to Raleigh news reports.

Source: The Clay County Progress [Incense gaining popularity as legal way to get high]


It is a shame that the full story is hidden behind a subscriber pay wall...

A steady year-to-year increase in the number of visitors to Cherokee County continues unabated, despite a nationwide economic downturn that has hampered growth in other sectors of the economy. Whether this translates to more money for local merchants – and the public coffers – is less clear.


Phylis Blackmon, executive director of the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce, said that her numbers show this summer to have seen the largest number of tourists to visit the county since she began keeping track, with July showing a record 2,084 tourists signing the chamber’s guest register.


“I can tell you that we’ve had the best summer we’ve had since 1996, when I started keeping records,” Blackmon said. “Last year for July, we had 1,993. In fact, if you average the first six months of this year compared to the first six months of last year and we’re up about 12 percent.” While the number of tourists may be up, sales and occupancy tax returns show a more mixed picture. The occupancy tax, considered to be a good gauge of tourist activity, has been down for most of this year, though July did show a significant increase over last year.

Source: The Cherokee Scout [Local tourism on rise - County seeing more tourists, fewer dollars]

Graham County Commission Chairwoman Sandra Smith said she believes Sheriff Russell Moody is breaking the law by keeping his office in the old Wachovia Building against the wishes of the commission.


Smith’s anger at the sheriff erupted in an exchange between Smith and Moody in Monday evening’s commission meeting.


Smith asked Moody, who was seated in the audience at the commission meeting, if the rent on the Wachovia Building had been paid by the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association.


Moody responded that it will be paid by December.


Moody, who said he had heard Smith was alleging he was a “criminal” in public discussions in recent weeks, asked Smith, “Do you think I’m a criminal?”


“Yes,” Smith responded.


“You do?” Moody said.


“Yes,” Smith responded.


When contacted Tuesday, Smith denied she called the sheriff a criminal, but said “he is breaking the law.”


“I don’t like the way he is dealing with his office — I just think he is breaking the law,” Smith said.


Smith said the sheriff could face removal from office and his chief deputy could be made sheriff if Moody is removed.


Moody, with the help of the sheriffs’ association, moved into the old bank building and restored his office within four days after a suspected arsonist destroyed his headquarters on Main Street on May 17. The commission was opposed to the move.

Source: The Graham Star [Chairwoman Smith thinks sheriff is 'breaking the law' - Sheriff, commission disagree on HQ building]

Following a strained landlord-tenant relationship with Jackson County, Stanton and Stanton Woodworking has been evicted from the Tuckaseigee Mills Property.


Owner Charles Stanton told The Herald Tuesday his company was served with the eviction notice Aug. 24 and is in the process of relocating to the old Hooper Builder’s Supply on Allen Street.


When county officials met with tenants of the county-owned property May 11 to work out new leases, an error was discovered in the square footage of Stanton’s lease that affected his rent payments. The proposed lease said his space was 33,000 square feet, and Stanton told leaders at that time it should be 27,000 square feet. In addition, the price per square foot was set at $1.50 instead of the previous $1. County Manager Ken Westmoreland agreed during that meeting to investigate those numbers and correct them if necessary.


“Ken and (county finance officer) Darlene (Fox) came over in 2007 and said they would write a new lease. They got one toilet working for us, nothing else, and we didn’t get a new lease,” Stanton told The Herald Tuesday.


“(After that 2007 walk-through) Westmoreland said the new lease would be ready Monday and it never came about,” Stanton said.


According to his original lease, he was able to make necessary repairs to the building and deduct those expenses from his rent payment, Stanton said.


Stanton estimates he made approximately $54,000 in repairs and said he sent photos and letters to the county supporting his claims.


Commissioners’ Chairman Brian McMahan said Stanton’s repair claims are not evidence of Stanton satisfying his rent obligation.
...SNIP...
Stanton is moving ahead with plans to reopen his business in his new Allen Street location. Initially he will have six full time employees, but due to a contract he received from Cherokee, that number might grow to include 12 to 20 additional workers, he said.


Stanton said he’s heard a company from Alabama will be remodeling his former space at the Tuckaseigee Mills property to the tune of roughly $30,000.


Both McMahan and Westmoreland told The Herald that the county has had discussions with a company from Alabama.


The company, which McMahan confirmed is HomeTex, makes pillows, bedsheets and comforters, McMahan said.


“Hopefully we’ll be able to make a pretty significant announcement with some changes down there and some new industries coming into the county,” Westmoreland said Tuesday.

Source: The Sylva Herald [County evicts Stanton; talks to Alabama company]


It looks like Jackson County wanted rid of Stanton's company and has made a deal to get the Alabama Company into space that has already been improved by the previous tenant.


**6.53am** The Southern Highland Reader (dormant since May) has been reborn as The Tuckasegee Reader. Check out a couple of stories from that website below:

CASHIERS -- The first annual Jackson County Home Builders Association town hall forum on Tuesday night wasn’t the ambush the incumbent candidates had feared. In fact, it was a long, civil and basically tame affair during which two starkly contrasting tickets presented themselves to voters.

Source: The Tuckasegee Reader [Town hall forum shows candidates split on issues] (more video on site)
Related: The Tuckasegee Reader [In their own words]


I'm tickled that someone else in the region is capturing stuff on video...though disappointed that the whole forum is not available. At any rate, it's a start, and I'm glad to see The Highland Reader, err The Tuckasegee Reader back in the game. I know it is not a paper, but I included it here because it does fill a serious gap in news coverage by the co-called media. It is a gap I am interested in filling in Macon County, and have been working toward.

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Off The Air

Pardon the interruption in regular blogging and all things Internet from me until perhaps Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. Until then, here are my recommendations for places to go and keep up with what is going on in the world...


Hurricanes


Hurricane Track
National Hurricane Center


North Carolina Politics


Katy's Conservative Corner
Sister Toldjah (she also does the national scene)
Wild West
Lorrie Byrd


Updates on the War with Islam


Gates of Vienna
Atlas Shrugs
Jihad Watch
Tundra Tabloids


Breaking News


The Drudge Report
Gateway Pundit




Sciences


Al Fin 
Space Weather
This Week's Sky at a Glance

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Busy Day Linkfest

I've got over 6 hours of video from the last two budget meetings of the Macon County Commissioners to process, and I won't be able to blog or tweet as much as I usually do, so I'm going to post a few links of interesting stuff I've found that might be interesting to you while I edit video and give my laptop all the extra clock cycles it needs...


Last night, WLOS paid a visit to franklin to report on a couple of child molesters being sent away for a long, long time. I happened to see the satellite truck at the Court House while I was on my way to the County Commissioners budget meeting, and took a couple of photos and posted to TwitPic, here and here. Watch the video of Charu's report on the WLOS website. I am not sure how long the video will be archived at WLOS, so check it out now before it is gone.


Randy's Right has an interesting article about Glenn Beck selling out to Freedom Works. [Read it]


I've personally had a bad couple of run-ins with Freedom Works, mainly at the local level where their leader has no interest in coalition building. I've had reports of the same thing happening to other people who tried to organize local Tea Parties only to find that the local Freedom Works group ready to destroy them. Randy's article got me to thinking, and looking for other article and videos.


Michelle Malkin has an article entitled "In response to amnesty stooge Dick Armey" [Read it]


Here is the money quote from Dick Armey in the article:


“When I was Republican leader, I saw to it that Tom Tancredo could not get on a stage because I saw how destructive he was,” Armey said of the anti-immigration former congressman. “Republicans have to get off this goofiness.”


Roy Beck of Numbers USA has the numbers on Dick Amrey's time in Congress spent supporting amnesty. His numbers are in the bottom 10% of current Republicans. [Read it]


In other news, American Power has an article on fraud at the US Census. I'm shocked, just shocked! [Read it]


Fausta has the latest on Nancy Pelosi's strange religion of The Word. I've swiped the video and posted it below, but you can see it and read her commentary on Fausta's Blog. [Read it]









Notice how Nancy squirms uncomfortably when she tries to pretend that she is a Christian, or a follower of Christ? Those of us who are can recognize that she is lying and knows that it is wrong to do so. She is being convicted by the Holy Spirit. We should keep her in our prayers. Wouldn't it be wonderful if she came to be saved? Just think how much good she could do. Think about how screamingly mad the progressives would be at her?


Since we are on a religious note, I'll point out an article called "From Marx to Mohammed" at my favorite Counterjihad website, Gates of Vienna. [Read it]


And since we are now on the subject of Islam...I'll point you to Gateway pundit, where there is breaking news that 40 of the "peace activists" on the Gaza Terror Flotilla are members of Al-Qaeda. That figures and does not surprise me. If Lefties, Anti-War Activists and Islamic Terrorists share one thing in common, it is a hatred of Israel. [Read it]


Here is a video of President Obama's Secretary of State, the HildaBeast, condemning Israel for taking action to protect itself:





Nothing good can come of this. Nothing at all. So, I'll direct your attention to the latest installment of LOLBAMA at IMAO for some much-needed comic relief... [Read it]

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Spring Fever 2010 Blogburst, First Edition

I've experienced a bit of the doldrums lately as I've contracted a severe case of spring fever. I've spent too much time going over my seed collection and garden design plans for the coming growing season. Here are some excerpts and links to what other people have been blogging about to hold you over until I work my way back from the depths of this illness...

The essay notes that the purpose of the Nobel Peace Prize has changed from its origins in the first few years following Alfred Nobel's death, during the first decade of the 20th century. According to Nobel's will, the award was to go to those whose "accomplishments" had most advanced the cause of international peace. But over the life of the recognition -- and especially in recent decades -- the Nobel Prize Committee has sought to honor those showing the greatest promise of future peace. This is the Nobel's "aspirational" mode -- that is, an award for the best of peace to come. Not only is this a corruption of Alfred Nobel's original vision, it is deadly international politics as well. As Krebs shows:

Source: American Power

Public Policy Polling found in January that 49 percent of those surveyed trusted Fox News. In contrast, only 39 percent trusted CNN. Next came NBC, including its sister network MSNBC, with 35 percent. Least trusted were CBS with 32 percent and ABC with 31 percent.


That trust shows up in ratings and profits. While competitors have been laying off employees, Fox has been expanding.

Source: Fox News Still Number One from A Watauga Conservative

“The longest suicide note in history” is not a phrase I came up with. I stole it from some talking head on TV. For the life of me, I cannot remember his name. But, whoever said it was “spot on!”


This week the Democratic Party is scheduled to commit suicide. Their intention to ram ObamaCare, a socialized medicine bill, down the collective throats of a highly P.O.ed America will finish them off for the remainder of 2010 and most likely return them to the wilderness whence they came. For the record, we’d like to say: “Good Riddance!”

Source: The Longest Suicide Note In History! Democrat’s Healthcare Bill A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

The only way to legally change or adjust the Constitution is through amendments. Precedent Law and Implied Powers were first utilized by Alexander Hamilton and the Federalists, and later used by John Marshall in order to subvert the Constitution because they did not like the limiting principles of the document. What you are falling for is the same garbage pushed by the Federalists in order to try to turn America's government into a system similar to what we fought against with Britain. The shock troops of the Federalist Party used Hamilton's arguments for a centralized nationalist system as federally appointed judges so that they could rewrite history and the Constitution. That was the beginning of liberal judicial activism. They made sure to get those judges in place under John Adams by appointing hundreds of "midnight judges" to the federal judiciary during the final hours of his administration. With Jefferson coming into office the hope was for the judges to subvert the new administration's strict construction of the Constitution and its limited government policies.


When Jefferson canned the judges, he was accused of waging war on the judiciary, and one of those judges sued. You guessed it, the judge was Marbury. Marbury v. Madison resulted in an opinion being written that was later used as an excuse for the Supreme Court of the United States to claim it was the final arbiter of the Constitution.

Source: Precedent Law and the Constitution from Political Pistachio

Got my census form in the mail today. In a box on the front of the envelope, in big bold letters, is says YOUR RESPONSE IS REQUIRED BY LAW. Ok, let's see what these bastards want....


There is a page that informs me that my information is "confidential", and will only be used for "statistical" purposes. Right, like the "statistics" that sent Japanese and German immigrants to internment camps during WWII.


Question #1 wants to know how many people live in this house, apartment, or mobile home. I am also advised not to count anyone currently serving in the military, away at college, in a nursing home, or in jail. Fair enough, they can know that, because it's Constitutionally required to set the number of "representatives" in CONgress.


Question #2 wants to know about any additional people not accounted for in question #1. A bit redundant?

Source: Census from Keep It Simple Survival

Update: Also, Michigan Coffee Party linked to MoveOn and DFA here.
The initial photo set was linked out to by Bill Jacobson. Plenty more groups there. I got a tip to follow up on from that.
Let's see - Colorado Coffee Party chapter leader- Niccolo Cassewit, Community organizer Transition Colorado -also home to MoveOn types and efforts to give Barack some good ideas - candidate - Denver City Council, 4% of vote total. Not new to politics our boy Niccolo. Does he connect with anyone not Far Left? No, not really. Krugman fan, bleech!

Source: Denver Coffee Party - 2 Tsp Of Dem Politics And A Dash Of Progressivism, Please from Riehl World View

Possessing a treasure trove of political capital -- and fresh from narrow legislative victories over Republicans in passing a Stimulus program; an Omnibus spending bill; auto company takeovers; housing recovery programs and cap-and-trade -- Democrats decided it was time to target the health care industry.


Their goal -- using accounting gimmickry, outright fabrications and straw villains (doctors who do too many amputations, health insurers, pharmaceutical companies, etc.) -- convince the public that a government takeover of the entire health system would result in higher quality and lower costs while insuring between 30 and 50 million more individuals.


The people rebelled. They said hell, no.

Source: Fourteen Months of Hell: A Brief, Illustrated History of the Ill-Fated Democrat Health Care Nationalization Efforts of 2009-10 from Doug Ross @ Journal

Check the video at about 2:45 minutes. We have "Coffee Party" founder Annabel Park claiming that "Democracy isn't supposed to be about two teams fighting ... it is community of people advancing common good."


Well, that's an odd definition of democracy (since, for example, political scientists consider two party competition, er, fighting, as essential to democratic government). But check Ed's additional comments on the hypocrisy.

Source: The Coffee Party War! by Donald Douglas (I had to double-dip a source for this piece)

In light of Israel's rebuilding of the Hurva Shul in the Old City of Jerusalem, Hamas has declared a "day or rage".


- Khatem Abd el-Kader, holder of the Fatah's Jerusalem portfolio, called on Palestinians to “converge on Al-Aksa to save it” from “Israeli attempts to destroy the mosque and replace it with the temple.” (JPost)


- Khader called the renovation of the Hurva a “provocation” and warned Israel that it was “playing with fire.” (JPost)


- Mayor of the Beduin city Rahat, Faiz Abu-Sabihan , expressed his support in the struggle, saying that Jews have no right over the Temple Mount, and that Israel's "provocative actions, which undermine the peace, must be stopped." (JPost)


Starting their rage, masked Palestinians clashed with Israeli police in multiple Jerusalem neighborhoods today, hurling rocks and burning tires.

Source: Day of Rage from The Muqata




That's all I have for you for now. For more updates on what I'm reading and passing along, try following me on Twitter and checking out my Shared Items Feed on Google Reader. I comment on those everyday...

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