2013 Meeting Index

2013 was quite a year. Here are links to my coverage of the meetings of various local governing boards I provided this past year, with few extra links to some of the other stuff I covered this past year.

I have plans to step up my coverage of local meetings this year and will be expanding to cover things that outside my normal bailiwick. I'm also hoping to launch a news website separate from this blog so I can restart my political blogging here because I really miss doing that everyday and haven't thought it appropriate to post that content here because of my concern that people couldn't tell when I was posting about my opinion or posting a recording of events. 

So, here goes...

2013 MEETING INDEX



FRANKLIN TOWN BOARD OF ALDERMEN

01-07-2013
02-04-2013
03-04-2013
04-01-2013 
04-13-2013 ANNUAL RETREAT
05-06-2013
05-14-2013 BUDGET WORK SESSION
06-01-2013 VIDEO ONLY (I forgot to post this one on the blog)
07-01-2013 
07-30-2013 JOINT MEETING WITH TOWN OF HIGHLANDS AND THE COUNTY
08-05-2013 
09-03-2013 
09-23-2013
10-07-2013 
11-04-2013 VIDEO ONLY  (I forgot to post this one on the blog)
12-02-2013 


MACON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

01-08-2013 
01-14-2013 
01-19-2013 ANNUAL RETREAT
02-12-2013
02-22-2013 JOINT MEETING WITH PLANNING BOARD
02-26-2013 JOINT MEETING WITH BOARD OF EDUCATION
03-12-2013
04-09-2013 
04-12-2013 
05-14-2013
05-20-2013 MEETING IN HIGHLANDS
05-28-2013 BUDGET SESSION I
05-30-2013 BUDGET SESSION II
06-04-2013 BUDGET SESSION III
07-09-2013
07-30-2013 JOINT MEETING WITH TOWNS OF FRANKLIN AND HIGHLANDS
08-13-2013
09-10-2013
10-08-2013 VIDEO ONLY (I forgot to post this on the blog)
11-12-2013 VIDEO ONLY (I forgot to post this on the blog)
11-26-2013
12-10-2013 VIDEO ONLY (I forgot to post this one on the blog, too)


2013 COUNTY BUDGET PROCESS

01-19-2013 ANNUAL RETREAT (the beginning of the budget process)
05-22-2013 BUDGET MESSAGE
05-28-2013 BUDGET WORK SESSION I
05-30-2013 BUDGET WORK SESSION II
06-04-2013 BUDGET WORK SESSION III

2013 COUNTY BUDGET PROCESS (All videos and documents in one post)


FRANKLIN TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

01-14-2013
02-11-2014
03-11-2013
05-13-2013
06-10-2013
07-08-2013
09-16-2013
10-14-2013



MACON COUNTY PLANNING BOARD

02-13-2013 
02-18-2013 WORKSHOP
02-22-2013 JOINT MEETING WITH THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
03-22-2013
05-13-2013 VIDEO ONLY (I forgot to post this on the blog)
05-30-2013
06-20-2013
07-18-2013
08-15-2013
12-12-2013



MACON COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION

02-25-2013
02-25-2013
02-26-2013 JOINT MEETING WITH COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
03-20-2013 
04-13-2013 
04-21-2013 
05-13-2013
05-28-2013
06-04-2013 BUDGET WORK SESSION WITH COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
07-01-2013 NEW SUPERINTENDENT SWORN IN
07-03-2013
09-23-2013
09-24-2013
10-28-2013 VIDEO ONLY (I forgot to post this on the blog)



OTHER COVERAGE

01-18-2013 COLD FOR A CAUSE
02-15-2013 SMALL ASTEROID EXPLODES OVER RUSSIA
04-16-2013 FLAG RAISING CEREMONY AT BOARD OF EDUCATION 
04-25-2013 BIZWEEK 2013 BANQUET
05-06-2013 LAW ENFORCEMENT MEMORIAL SERVICE 
05-21-2013 PUBLIC HEARING ON DUKE ENERGY RATE INCREASE
05-23-2013  USFS PLAN REVISION SESSION
05-27-2013 MEMORIAL DAY CEREMONY
05-30-2013 HALL MOUNTAIN CELEBRATION

2013 TASTE OF SCOTLAND

BRAVEHEART 5K
OPENING CEREMONY
PARADE OF TARTANS 

07-20-2013 10TH ANNUAL FOLK FESTIVAL
07-26-2013 BOB SCOTT FOR MAYOR CAMPAIGN EVENT
08-02-2013 NORTON FARMS GAS LEAK
08-09-2013 LWV "THE SHERIFFS OF MACON COUNTY"
08-19-2013 MARK MEADOWS TOWN HALL
08-27-2013 RONNIE BEALE & JIM DAVIS RECOGNIZED
09-12-2013 GOVERNOR PAT McCRORY IN DILLSBORO
09-12-2013 DAVITA DIALYSIS CENTER RIBBON CUTTING
09-24-2013 LWV & VLF FRANKLIN CANDIDATE FORUM
09-28-2013 2013 TOUR DE FRANKLIN
10-01-2013 NCAE EDUCATION TOWN HALL
10-10-2013 LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS MAYORAL FORUM
11-05-2013 ELECTION DAY 2013 COVERAGE
11-05-2013 ELECTION RESULTS
11-11-2013 VETERANS DAY
11-22-2013 SECU AWARDS HOSPICE $1 MLN CHALLENGE GRANT

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In Celebration of You Tube's 5th Anniversary: 15 16 Videos You Must See!

You Tube is celebrating their 5th anniversary, and I'll celebrate with them by listing my five favorite You Tube videos. 




Enjoy!

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#5 Leeroy Jenkins

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#4 Night Run II

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#3 Charlie Bit My Finger

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#2 Hahaha

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#1 JK Wedding Entrance Dance






To date, I have uploaded 564 videos to You Tube since 2006 and am closing in on a quarter million views on my videos.  

You Tube is a wonderful website. I've wasted countless hours watching videos for entertainment. I've also watched some videos for educational purposes. I've used You Tube videos to find out what is going on in the world, especially during Operation Cast Lead, when Russia invaded Georgia, during severe weather outbreaks and natural disasters. 

The most under-utilized category on You Tube is citizen journalism. People have at their fingertips a very powerful tool to report the news in their community if they would only take advantage of it. I'm not talking propaganda pieces where political activists make videos that support their world view. I am talking about making videos that report the news or cover events in their community without political commentary of any sort. 

That is what I am trying to do with my coverage of events. I point the camera at what is happening and let events unfold and people speak for themselves, whether I agree with them or not.  My favorite example of this is my video of Ron Paul Supporters [See the video]. Anyone who knows me or has read this blog should know that I despise Ron Paul, and I despise his supporters even more. I put those feelings aside in order to document the event. 

Oh, and my pet peeve regarding You Tube videos. People who make videos of businesses for pay and multi-level marketing videos. These people are the scum of the You Tube world in my opinion.

Check out my primary You Tube Channel.


Here are the 5 most popular videos I have made and uploaded to You Tube:

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#5 Fighters Chase UFO Over the M5: Debunked [3,993 views]

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#4 Fred Thompson on Boumediene v. Bush [4,183 views]

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#3 A Hillary Supporter Stands Up [4,549 views]

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#2 Sayre Firecomms (part two of two) [5,553 views]




#1 Gunfight at Ghost Town in the Sky [143,599 views]






And here are my personal favorites that I have made:

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#5 Carolina Sunset

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#4 Gas Panic in Jackson County

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#3 Thunderstorm K1 at WCU

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#2 Asheville Progressives React to the Carolina Stompers

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#1 Gray Squirrel Diner

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Happy Birthday Thunder Pig!!!

On May 14, 2008, I logged onto a public terminal in the Jackson County library and created this blog on a whim. I had been thinking about doing it for months, as I read other blogs from around the country, and listened to Ken Bagwell on Heads Up America (the 1350 WZNN incarnation). I noticed that there were no blogs covering western North Carolina from a conservative perspective. There was no one that posted on a regular basis, or would last long if they did.

We were, and still are eat up with progressives, and those who are slouching toward it.

Here is my very first post, and I think I have lived up to my original vision, nor have I gotten around to posting that short, horrid bio I had promised.


Then and Now comparisons:

Then...I had a 28.8k dial-up telephone connection that clocked a reliable 19 to 21k, Now....I have Verizon DSL with around 3Mbps download and 768k upload speed. Note to self...update this post with the results of my latest speed test when I get home tonight. (I'm still giddy over that). Here are my stats for my current location:



Then...My computer had a 6GB Hard Drive and 256MB RAM and a 1.44MB Floppy Drive and a CD-ROM drive (no burner).
Now....My desktop has a 80GB Hard Drive and 512MB RAM two combo CD-DVD Burners. I can run multiple monitors when the need arises.

Then...My portable memory needs were met with a stack of 1.44MB floppies that I carried around to use in public terminals to save my work, and to save webpages for later viewing.
Now....I have portable Hard Drives that I use, depending on the purpose. I have an ultra portable 60GB WD Passport, a bulky 80 GB Seagate, and my everyday workhorse 320 GB WD Passport that has my life on it. Sadly, it is not backed up, so I am living on the verge of information disaster.

Then...I had a no-name 2.1MP digital camera with with I took pictures, and silent movies. I once lost it at work while weed-eating, and found it three weeks later (after several rains), dried it off for a week, and it was as good as new. In fact, I still have it as one of my backup cameras.


Now....I have a Kodak EasyShare Z710 that takes excellent 7MP photos and movies with sound. [flickr] [youtube]

Then...I had a dream of uniting conservatives in western North Carolina into a coherent online community with efficient sharing of information, and a pool of writers and citizen journalists armed with audio, video, and photo recording equipment to document the actions of local and state governments...and having that information posted in a timely manner so people could act as appropriate to their conscience.
Now....I still have that dream, although I now fully understand the Rear Admiral Grace Hopper quote:

"The most damaging thing in the language is--'It's always been done this way.'

I have learned that conservatives are like cats...they cannot be herded in a new direction easily.


Then...We had a Republican President and a Republican Congress...I paid $2.25 a gallon for fuel.
Now....We have a Republican President, and a democrat Congress, and I pay $4.49 a gallon for fuel.

Chart courtesy: Gas Buddy
Why Diesel Prices are higher than gasoline.

Where will I be in 3 more years, provided I survive?

I have no clue. I hope that we will be thinking about which conservative will be the best to replace McCain with in 2012.

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Program Note (Updated)

I'll be running a live webcast from the NC-11 GOP Convention this Saturday, from at least 11.30 am until the end of the convention. So, if you plan on being in the area Saturday, drop by and we'll talk. And if you have a group or candidate you want to promote feel free. If you give me a heads up in the comments, I'll design a graphic I can put onscreen during your appearance to direct viewers to your website.

I'll embed the stream on all my websites, and if you want to be added to the network, contact me in the comments, or swipe the embed code once the show starts.

**update** 9.30am I've been advised that the internet connection is not 100% reliable for Saturday. Bummer. If that happens...I'll go to Plan B, and set up to record video and grab some interviews.

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How to Operate The New Widgets On My Sidebar

I have worked myself pretty hard chasing down headlines, trying to decide which ones to post on West Carolina Report, and have decided to use a variety of widgets to handle the headlines in various categories by creating a widget for each category of news so I won't be spending four or five hours every morning copying and pasting headlines and URLs. That will give me more time to highlight a few of the important stories, and perhaps comment on them.

I'll still have to get most of my state and local news headlines in person because most of the local papers don't use feeds.

The Widgets will also be in my sidebars...probably on my right sidebar for three categories, and the rest will be at West Carolina Report.

Here are the first two widgets I have developed, one for tracking Jihad Watchers:

Get this widget!

and another for tracking the 2008 Presidential Campaign:

Get this widget!

The Menu button will allow you to access the feeds individually, and you can use your mouse to scroll down the selections and choose a feed to read, or you can use the arrow keys to go through the websites one by one. Currently, I have 14 in the Jihad Watchers category, and about eight in the 2008 Campaign Tracker, and will be adding more. You can click on a story, and a new window or tab will open up to take you to that website to read more on what piques your interest.

If you have a blog or a website, you can add the widget to your website by clicking on options and selecting either HTML, or JS for use on most platforms, and copy and paste the code into your website template.

I will be adding more categories of widgets for the next few weeks, until I have all my news categories covered. I will also put them on West Carolina Report when I figure out where I am going to put them. Let me know here if you have any trouble operating them.

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West Carolina Report and WW4 update for Dec 12

I have updated West Carolina Report for today, and have included the World War IV Report in this post to give you a flavor of what I doing over there.

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updates 11.38am

|CENTER FOR VIGILANT FREEDOM| Suggested Corrections for Charles Johnson

|NATIONAL TERROR ALERT| Jury Deliberates in Miami Liberty City Seven Terrorism Case

|THREATS WATCH| RapidRecon: Iranian Nuclear Weapons Program Dispersed, Not Halted

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At least three attacks on Pakistani nuclear weapons complexes have occurred since August 2007. Attacks on other Pakistani bases in conjunction with the Taliban takeover of the Northwest Frontier Province may be part of coordinated campaign to compromise Pakistan's nuclear stockpiles.

|LONG WAR JOURNAL| Al Qaeda, Taliban targeting Pakistani nuclear sites

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|GATEWAY PUNDIT| BEATDOWN IN HAVANA!!... Castro Thugs Bash Democracy Protesters

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Americans are only beginning to realize what they’re up against, Inbal Nachum of the [Israeli] Home Front Command says forebodingly. “Americans don’t understand — you don’t understand — what it is like… [when terrorism] just is … just is the reality.

“They say the difference is that in America talk is about preventing terrorism; here in Sderot talk is about how to maintain sanity and group strength in the face of it. …

When — or perhaps if — terrorism strikes American soil again, America should do more than retaliate, they should also build up a community capable of bouncing back time and again.

Americans don’t ‘get’ terrorism,
by Amar C. Bakshi, washingtonpost.com,
7 December 2007.

|DNI| Sign up for 4GW

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|LONG WAR JOURNAL| Al Qaeda hits UN offices, courts, police station in Algiers

|CENTER FOR VIGILANT FREEDOM| Man Strangles Daughter To Death. Why?

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According to the former agent, waterboarding of Abu Zubaydah got him to talk in less than 35 seconds. The technique, which critics say is torture, probably disrupted "dozens" of planned al-Qaida attacks, said John Kiriakou, a leader of the team that captured Zubaydah, a major al-Qaida figure.

35 seconds? That sounds good enough .
Think of all the thugs you could crack in an hour?

|GATEWAY PUNDIT| Waterboarding Saves!... And Saves On Time

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|MAVERICK NEWS NETWORK| "Islamophobia" Assault on Free Speech Continues

|KAVKAZ CENTER| Amir of the Caucasus Emirate abolishes the Cabinet of Ministers, the Parliament of the former C.R.I.

|KAVKAZ CENTER| Save Darfur is a PR scam to justify the next US oil and resource wars in Africa

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According to the articles, sixteen-year-old Aqsa Parvez was choked to death. Police have arrested Muhammad Parvez, the girl's father, for her murder (the degree of the charge not yet determined) and her brother for obstructing the investigation.

|MAVERICK NEWS NETWORK| Dead Because Of A Hijab

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As the Pakistani military continues the slow push to regain control of the settled district of Swat, suicide bombers struck in two locations, one at a sensitive weapons facility near Islamabad. The most deadly attack occurred in Swat in the Northwest Frontier Province after a suicide bomber hit a police checkpoint near Matta, where the Pakistani Army just established a presence. Ten were killed, including two children and three police.

But the attack at a Pakistani Air Force base in Kamra, while only injuring seven, has far more serious implications. The Kamra complex is a likely location for Pakistan's nuclear weapons program. The suicide bomber targeted a bus filled with 35 children of Pakistani Air Force officers. The driver, a conductor, and five children were wounded in the strike.

|LONG WAR JOURNAL| Suicide attack at Pakistani nuclear weapons complex

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|MULTINATIONAL FORCES-IRAQ| Giving the Gift of Raw for Christmas: Wrestling Superstars Visit Troops

|GATEWAY PUNDIT| Iran Arrests 20 Student Leaders Behind Sunday's Protest

|BBC| Blast kills Lebanon army general

|GLOBAL GUERRILLAS| Neofeudalization

|SMALL WARS COUNCIL| China Signs US$2 Billion Oil Dev Deal with Iran

|MAVERICK NEWS NETWORK| "Islamophobia" Assault on Free Speech Continues

|STATELINE| Iraq casts shadow on 2008 state races

|BBC| Somali pirates free Japan tanker

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West Carolina Report 3.1

I have upgraded West Carolina Report with the addition of story snippets, and I am testing the use of Google Reader's "Share" feature that allows users to publish things they find interesting to a public page, and I have embedded a widget that will allow readers access to that page.

The big improvement, for me, is that I don't have to copy and paste so many times to bring attention to news stories or blog entries as I find them...I just click the share button to include it on the public page.

I am also putting the final touches on the code that will allow independent reporters to contribute content to West Carolina Report without having to go through me. I am looking for local or state oriented features, but will consider material for the National and World War IV pages, or other pages that will be established in the future.

And I have secured the means to go live at any time with videocasting, and may be simulcasting several shows on that website in the near future of a local and regional flavor.

The future for conservative and classical libertarians is looking very bright for western North Carolina, and the WCR News Network will be broadcasting the Revolution Live!

I am very excited, and have been working toward this moment for two and a half years, and can see everything coming together in the next twelve months.

Read More: West Carolina Report
Get Involved: Contact Information

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West Carolina Report for Nov 21

I have posted the morning updates for West Carolina Report, and this post will serve as comment thread for items in the news today as well as open thread.

I can't believe that Giga Tuesday is almost upon us...and I wonder why North Carolina's Primary is still stuck way out in May, when the nomination is almost always in a lock, especially in the modern era.



This means, to my way of reckoning, that the Primary Season in North Carolina is about nothing more than raising money for use in other states, whose people will decide our party nominees for us...almost as bad as that idiot plan to do away with the Electoral Collage.

Thank God Thanksgiving is upon us, I need the break from all this nonsense!

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West Carolina Report Updated and Improved

I have made what I consider to be an improvement to my News Headline Aggregator, West Carolina Report, with the addition of scroll boxes to reduce the 'footprint' of the daily page, and to allow the user to move more quickly past sections they may not be interested in to get to a favorite section.


This also addresses the problem of me adding 'too many' headlines, as I seem to want to add more and more each day as I streamline my news gathering routines.

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West carolina Report For Oct 30

I have updated West Carolina Report for today, and will probably update it until at least noon, as events warrant.

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West Carolina Report for Oct 25

I have updated West Carolina Report for today, and published an article on WNC Citizens Blog on the Sylva Town Council Race.

The Scene in Macon County

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West Carolina report For Oct 23

I have updated West Carolina Report for today, and will likely be posting frequent updates throughout the day as I work on editing some video. Even when I get a few days off work...I somehow seem to escape relaxing. Maybe that's why there were pink clouds this morning...



9.10am...Freedom Folks attended an Islamofascism Awareness Event last night, and have plenty of photos, and even video.

9.32am...Feel Good Video of the Morning. I wanna hug!

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West Carolina Report For Sept 28

I have updated West Carolina Report for today, and will be updating it throughout the day since I will not be working. I will also be engaged in redesigning the sidebars to accommodate my West of Balsam readers who are on dial-up, so the pretty pictures are gonna hafta go!

I am also playing with a site re-design for WCR to accommodate contributions from Citizen Journalists as they become available.

Thank you for reading, and consider this an open thread. Any body have any ideas on how to implement Trackback on Blogger? Every time I've tried it, things get broke!

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Sun Dogs and Sun Rings

I'm starting to post again at my photoblog, and you're welcome to check it out.

My last upload is called Sun Dogs and Sun Rings.

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