Only in America
Where we dream in red, white and blue
Only in America
Where we dream as big as we want to
We all get a chance
Everybody gets to dance
Only in America
Chorus from the song Only in America sung by Brooks and Dunn
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Only in America
Only in America
Where we dream in red, white and blue
Only in America
Where we dream as big as we want to
We all get a chance
Everybody gets to dance
Only in America
Chorus from the song Only in America sung by Brooks and Dunn
Friday, September 24, 2010
Update on 2010 Federal Races in NC
With less than 40 days to go in the 2010 election cycle, time is getting short to get involved in the race of your choice.
Here is a handy chart of the Republican candidates running for federal offices in North Carolina this fall, with links to their websites...
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And here is an update on the fundraising race, and without exception, the incumbent leads the money race...regardless of party affiliation.
Data courtesy of The Center for Responsive Politics.
Commentary
Pollster.com graph showing most voters oppose Obama's Health Care Reform
The passage of the Health Care Reform Bill has essentially destroyed the re-election chances of many Democrats this year, and put Obama's Presidency upon the rocks. Many sleeping conservatives and Republicans have been spurred into action, and I'm hoping that we will see dividends of that awakening with the sacking of my Congressman, Heath Shuler, and his replacement with Jeff Miller.
However, none of this has come to pass...unless you cast your ballot on November 2, 2010.
Previously:
Important 2010 NC Election Dates and Sample Ballots
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Memorial Service for John Armor To Be Held Saturday in Highlands
A memorial Service for John Armor, of Highlands, NC, will be held this Saturday at 2pm at the Episcopal Church of the Incarnation on Main Street in Highlands, NC. [Google Map] [Website]
According to a phone call from his wife, there will be a brief religious service that will be followed by some patriotic readings from the Declaration of Independence and the Federalist Papers after the service at the Harris Lake Rec Park within walking distance of the church. [Google Map]
John Armor, Defender of the US Constitution passed away in August due to complications that arose from Colon Cancer.
I will miss him very much, and will miss his columns. His wife Michelle has my deepest condolences.
Previously:
John Armor, Defender of the US Constitution
1943-2010
Rest In Peace
Free Republic thread on his death.
His Earthlink Homepage
Publius' Forums notes his passing
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Night Driving Time Lapse
Shot this Monday night on my trip back home from Waynesville.
I also seriously thought my windshield was clean...
Free Speech Under Fire in Haywood County
Members of the 9-12 Project in Haywood County put out an alert that their Freedom of Speech was at risk early Monday morning and I decided to go be a witness to their struggle at the Haywood County Commissioners meeting that evening.
Here is an embed of the proposed guidelines so you can make your own judgement whether or not the guidelines were restrictive of Free Speech. I certainly believe that they were, and were it not for the people who showed up at the meeting and made sure their voices were heard, the citizens of Haywood County would now be a little bit less free.
HaywwodSpeechGudelinesTIFFdocument 001
Here are a couple of videos I made from footage I took during my visit to the Haywood County Commissioners meeting. I was discouraged, but allowed, to video upon reassurance that I would cause no disturbance of the proceedings. I had a small Kodak Zi6, which is the size of a blackberry, so I'm sure it was non-threatening. I was told that the commissioners already recorded their meetings.
Part One
Part Two
Commentary
As far as I can tell, it was a victory for the people of Haywood County. They showed up in force, and stood down their County Commissioners. They will have to keep an close eye on them and make sure that these changes to the document are as advertised during the meeting.
I discovered that I have a counterpart in Haywood County, a watchdog who keeps an eye on the proceeding of local government. His website is called Haywood County Toe Prints, and he publishes notes and commentary of the Haywood County Commissioner meetings in easily downloadable PDF format. At the end of this particular meeting, he was the lone citizen of Haywood County monitoring the proceedings who wasn't a county employee. He was there long after the reporter from The Mountaineer had left. (She left at the second break).
The Haywood County 9-12 Project have a social network. Please consider joining their network if you live nearby, or even if you don't...their website has information that may be useful to you.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Free Speech Under Fire in Haywood County Tonight
Our friends in Haywood County are facing a test of their Free Speech rights tonight at a meeting of the Haywood County Commissioners. If any of you can spare the time and effort to attend, it would be greatly appreciated!The meeting starts at 5:30, if you want to speak, you must sign up before 5:20. I'm planning on being there before 5pm, probably around 4:30 or so.Here is a copy of the agenda for the meeting, I've put the agenda item that has people worked up in bold (Item IX (3):
HAYWOOD COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
AGENDA FOR
September 20, 2010
The Board will meet in the HAYWOOD COUNTY COURTROOM
of the HISTORIC COURTHOUSE at 215 N. Main Street, Waynesville
beginning at 5:30 p.m.
Citizens must sign up for public comment prior to 5:20 p.m. and are limited
to three (3) minutes. Audience members may not address the Board at any time
during deliberations unless recognized by the Chairman.
I. Call to Order – Chairman J.W. “Kirk” Kirkpatrick, III
II. Pledge of Allegiance
III. Public Hearing
Schedule of Values – Ron McCarthy, RSM Consulting and Judy Ballard, Tax Assessor
VI. Call to Public Hearing
Animal Control Ordinance Revisions – Jean Hazzard, Animal Control Director - ATTACHMENT 1
V. Public Comment Session
VI. Constituent Concerns
VII. Discussion / Adjustment / Approval of Consent Agenda
VIII. Consent Agenda
- Approve September 7th, 2010 Regular Meeting Minutes
- Budget Amendments – Julie Davis, Finance Director
a. Sheriff’s Office – $65,884 – Car to Car grant – ATTACHMENT 2
b. Tax Collections – $16,000 for collection agency fees from prior year’s tax - ATTACHMENT 3
c. Solid Waste Special Revenue Fund – $144,612 from S/R fund balance for balance of contract due to McGill for groundwater well installation at Francis Farm - ATTACHMENT 4
d. E-911 Fund – $56,204 from fund balance in S/R fund as complies with Section 9 of House Bill 1691, which allows 50% of funds in Emergency Telephone System Fund on July 1, 2010 to be used for public safety needs, including costs not eligible expense under G.S. 62A-46 – ATTACHMENT 5
e. Approve August 2010 Refunds, Releases, Amendments and Discoveries - David Francis, Tax Administrator – ATTACHMENT 6
IX. Old Business
- Governor’s Highway Safety Program (GHSP) Grant for Haywood County Sheriff’s Office – Ellen T. Pitt, Representative MADD / WNC – ATTACHMENT 7
- NC Governor’s Highway Safety Program Local Government Resolution form GHSP-02-A – request for approval of four year traffic safety program funded partially with grant funds – Sheriff Suttles and Mark Banks – ATTACHMENT 8
- Public Comment Session Guidelines – David Teague, Public Information Director - ATTACHMENT 9
X. New Business
- Modification of Crabtree Fire Insurance District – Johnny Glance, Fire Marshal - ATTACHMENT 10
- Extension of Insurance District to Six Miles for Saunook, Junaluska, Jonathan Creek, Waynesville, and Maggie Valley – Johnny Glance – ATTACHMENT 11
- Budget Amendment – Mountain Projects – $16,000 Foster Grandparent grant match from contingency – Julie Davis, Finance Director – ATTACHMENT 12
- North Canton United Fire Department – request for approval to borrow money to purchase two demo fire trucks – Rick Early, North Canton Fire Department Chief and Julie Davis – ATTACHMENT 13
- World Alzheimer’s Day Proclamation – Vice-Chairman Upton – ATTACHMENT 14
XI. Closed Session
- Closed Session Minutes – Approval and / or Release Minutes – G.S. §143-318.11(a)(1)
- Personnel – G.S. §143-318.11(a)(6)
XII. Adjournment
Here is the information I received regarding the meeting from the Haywood 9-12 Project:
Haywood 9-12 Project has invited you to the event 'Mon 5:30 - Speak up Haywood County - before it is TOO LATE - Read on... 1st amendment rights?' on 9 -12 TEA Party - WNC! SPeak NOW - or please came support us in defense of the 1st Amendment... Time: September 20, 2010 from 5:30pm to 7pm Location: Historical County Court House - Main court room Organized By: Haywood 9-12 Project Event Description: We NEED your SUPPORT - The County Commissioners meeting will be one of those "Speak now or forever hold your peace" moments... as they try to pass a limit to PUBLIC COMMENT section of the Board meeting. Times have changed and they do not seem to approve of the public involvement in OUR own Government. Just be quiet and Pay Your TAXES. We will either win this battle or have one of our most important liberties taken from us. Besides this subject, they will also have on tomorrow's agenda: to discuss amending the evaluation process for land value (horticulture, agriculture, forestry) --soil testing and rates for each parcel - to determine your tax value. Watch as Haywood County commissioners cause more farms and tree farms to go into foreclosure. Private property is soon to be extinct in Haywood County b/c no one will be able to afford to continue as a landowner, especially a large landowner. Think it couldn't happen here in WNC or the USA? Think again! Rural ethnic cleansing! We do not need the TAX Assessor on our land - doing soil tests. and to discuss amending the vicious or dangerous animal ordinances to --among other things--allow the animal service officer to enter your house --not just your property--to determine if your windows and doors properly restrain even an indoor "dangerous animal." What part of "private property" do they not understand? Many people question "If I do not plan to break the law - whay should I care?" This is how we have had so many personal freedoms stripped... rather that 10 guilty men go free than one inocent to be imprisoned... we have forgoten this... we must protect everyone to save oursleves.
Important 2010 NC Election Dates and Sample Ballots
It is quickly approaching crunch time in the 2010 election cycle, and I've collected some information for you regarding this election. The information compiled for this post was extracted from the North Carolina State Board of Elections website. To see all applicable North Carolina laws that govern our elections, visit Chapter 163 of the North Carolina General Statutes.
If you have questions regarding elections in your county in North Carolina, please visit the County Boards of Election page on the NC State Board of Election website, they have links to county websites (or for those that don't have separate websites for the Board of Elections...like Ashe County, contact information.)
Here are some helpful dates for this election, and places where you can find sample ballots:
Important 2010 Election Dates
Voter registration deadline
Fri, October 8, 2010 5pm
Voter registration deadline for November 2 General Election. Forms must be postmarked or delivered in person by 5:00 pm today [NCGS 163-82.6(c)]
One-stop begins
Thursday, Oct 14, 2010
One-stop absentee voting begins for General Election [NCGS 163-227.2(b)]; modified full-time county board offices remain open five days each week [NCGS 163-227.2(f)]
Absentee ballot requests due
Tuesday, Oct 26, 2010
Last day to request absentee ballots in writing (exceptions due to sickness or disability)[NCGS 163-230.1(a)]
One-stop ends
Saturday, Oct 30, 2010
One-stop absentee voting ends [NCGS 163-227.2(b)]
Illness requests due
Mon, November 1, 2010 5p
Deadline to request absentee ballots for sickness/disability is 5:00 pm[NCGS 163-230.1(a1)]
GENERAL ELECTION DAY
Tuesday, Nov 2, 2010
General Election Day [NCGS 163-1(c)] Mail copy of certified list of executed absentee ballots to SBE by first-class mail by 10:00 am. Deliver certified list of executed ballots to polling places by 10:00 am. [NCGS 163-232] CBE meets to count absentee ballots [NCGS 163-234(2)] After counting completed, prepare absentee abstracts and mail immediately to SBE [NCGS 163-234(6)] Research provisional ballot envelopes [NCGS 163-182.2(4)]
CBE canvass
Friday, Nov 12, 2010
Canvass Day for county boards of elections [NCGS 163-182.5(b)]
SAMPLE BALLOT INFORMATION
Sample Ballot for NC Court of Appeals IRV (read more about this race)
Sample Ballots by County:
Entire State of North Carolina
Ashe (1 ballot for entire county)
Avery (1 ballot for entire county)
Buncombe (8 different ballots)
Cherokee (16 different ballots)
Clay (9 different ballots)
Graham (4 different ballots)
Haywood (7 different ballots)
Jackson (1 ballot for entire county)
Macon (2 different ballots)
Madison (1 ballot for entire county)
McDowell (17 different ballots)
Mitchell (9 different ballots)
Rutherford (2 different ballots)
Swain (5 different ballots)
Transylvania (18 different ballots)
Wake [this is where evil state capitol is located] (35 different ballots)
Watauga (1 ballot for entire county)
Yancey (12 different ballots)
Instant Runoff Voting Strategy for NC Court of Appeals
In November 2010, voters in North Carolina will be seeing something very different on their ballot when they vote for a candidate on the NC Court of Appeals...there will be 13 candidates running for that office, and voters will be instructed to rank all the candidates as 1st choice, 2nd choice, or 3rd choice.There is a way that you can defeat this effort to get you to vote for candidates you don't want, and Joyce McCloy has shared them with us:
Who should you rank 1st, 2nd or 3rd? With IRV, a candidate may win by getting the most 2nd choice votes. Keep that in mind as you head to the polls.
a) Rank only candidates you think will get enough votes to make the runoff
b) Voters should vote for party favorite and or their own personal favorite
Source: Protect North Carolina Elections: Stop Instant Runoff Voting (read the entire article)
Commentary
If no candidate gets a majority, then the second and third choices will come into play...and there is a great possibility that the runoff will be decided without your input, you will have been very effectively denied the right to vote in the runoff...you will have been disenfranchised.
The current push to implement Instant Runoff Voting (nation-wide) was inspired by Fair Vote , a group whose ultimate goal is to convert the United States over to "proportional representation" a form of government used in many European countries. IRV is being touted as a way to boost third parties, reduce or eliminate the "spoiler effect", save money by avoiding runoff elections, increase turnout and decrease negative campaigning.
Another thing to remember is to complain about the IRV ballot to the people running the polls. If enough people complain about this all day long, then IRV may not be seen in a favorable light by poll workers and the various elections board across the state will view IRV as more trouble than it is worth. If you are so inclined, it might not be a bad idea to call the county elections board and complain about IRV as well.
Read more about why Instant Runoff Voting should be opposed at Instant Runoff Voting.
I am appending a text outline of the comments made by Joyce McCloy, the Director of the NC Verified Voter Coalition to the NC State Board of Elections below:
Outline of comments:
1. There is no software to tabulate IRV that meets the standards of our state law.
In guidelines for IRV pilots set by the State Board of Elections in January 15, 2009, the State Board of Elections proposed to use an uncertified method of vote tabulation with DRE machines that allows for an “electronic sort” using uncertified software that requires five pages of over 100 single spaced instructions. Experts warn that this spreadsheet tallying method is error prone, lacks an audit trail, and is not good enough for elections. See Standards for IRV Pilots -Approved by the North Carolina State Board of Elections on January 15, 2009
http://www.ncvoter.net/downloads/NCSBoE_IRV_Approved_1-15-2009 The voting vendor warns that IRV is not an approved function of our voting systems and has not been federally tested or certified as required by state law.http://www.ncvoter.net/downloads/PrintElectLetterAugust31_2010_not_legal
To comply with existing state law, IRV must be counted manually until IRV software and its accompanying algorithm is federally approved. This is workable with optical scan ballots, but in order to count the touch-screen paper trails, the vendor should be made to modify the software to print a ballot summary. Touch-screens currently print all selections made by voters, but not a final summary. While a simple contest can be recounted on the touch-screen paper trail, an IRV contest would be more laborious. For a simpler process, touch-screen counties could borrow or purchase optical scan machines for IRV elections.
2. IRV ballots cast on election day must be counted where they are cast just as “regular” ballots are counted as per § 163-182.2.
Initial counting of official ballots. In Cary, NC - the 2nd and 3rd choice votes cast for the "instant runoff" were not counted on election night. Instead, they were carried away from where they were cast and then counted at a later date. This differs from the treatment of absentee ballots and early voted ballots might be tabulated at the central office, these are “retrievable ballots”, not cast on election day. All votes cast at the polls on election day, including IRV ballots, are to be counted at the polls on election night once the polls close. The solution is to count all votes, 1st, 2nd and 3rd on site using the “Australian” method.
3. State law requires election night reporting for voters' second and third choices.
Law requires reporting of votes on election night. IRV ballots are not retrievable and cannot be reported at another date.
4. All votes must be counted. In free, fair and open elections, all votes are recorded and counted.
This means counting all votes, whether 1st, 2nd or 3rd choices. To do otherwise violates a core principle of democracy and tells voters that their choices and votes do not matter. Candidates, voters and officials want to know the breakdown of the votes. Votes must be counted for transparency sake. In the 2007 Pilot program, only partial data was reported for the District B contest where voters’ second and third choices were ultimately counted. In Cary’s other IRV contests for City Council, only some, not all of 2nd or 3rd place data was recorded or reported. In Hendersonville, the IRV votes were never counted or reported.
5. Provisional ballots must be counted before advancing to the 2nd round.
In the 2007 IRV pilot, Provisional ballots were not counted until after the 2nd and 3rd choices were counted, and supposedly "added" back in. Since IRV is not "additive", it is not clear how these votes could possibly be added back in without doing a complete recount.
6. Absentee ballots must be counted before advancing to the 2nd or 3rd round.
It is not clear when the absentee ballots were counted, so the question is - were they counted with the first, second and third rounds? They must be counted with the first round of voting before going to the next.
7. Canvassing of all first round votes, absentee and provisional ballots must be done before counting a second round of ballots.
This has to be done to get an accurate vote count.
8. Audit protocols will have to be developed in coordination with the state appointed statistician and according to current state laws.
Each round of voting must be proven correct if the subsequent round is to trusted. Audits and recounts must be publicly announced and observed, and notice must be given in time for the public to attend.
9. Voter education is expensive, must be repeated, and is not necessarily effective.
The results of Cary NC’s 2008 bi-annual citizen survey indicate that 22.0% did not understand IRV at all.
10. Overvote protection lacking.
North Carolina state law and the Federal Law, Help America Vote Act requires that voters be notified of over votes. NC’s voting machines are unable to notify the voters if they have “overvoted” in the IRV contests - if voters rank the same candidate more than once. The Help America Vote act defines overvotes: “In every election, some voters make more choices than are permitted in a contest, which creates what are called overvotes.”http://www.eac.gov/program-areas/research-resources-and-reports/copy_of_docs/eds-2006/overvotes-and-undervotes.pdf/attachment_download/file
With IRV, voters are not permitted to vote for the same candidate more than once in a given contest. To do so, renders their 2nd and 3rd choices invalid.
11. “Instant runoff voting” should be renamed “Ranked Choice Voting”.
Instant runoff incorrectly infers that the method provides the same results as a runoff election and does so instantly. It can take days or weeks to get the results of an IRV election.
12. IRV does not guarantee a majority winner.
The “instant runoff” contest in Cary, District B City Council in October 2007 was decided with less than a majority of votes.
13. IRV is a difficult way to provide the same results as plurality elections.
The fact is that most often, “Instant runoff voting” historically provides the same result as a plurality election, only with more effort.
14. Instant runoff voting is non-monotonic.
In other words, you can hurt your preferred candidate by voting for him or her.
15. Exit polls, should be conducted by election officials or impartial groups -not advocates, in order to preserve the appearance of objectivity in the results.
Exit polls should be carefully crafted to avoid being push polls. Pierce Co Washington mailed surveys to 91,000 voters, to be completed in the privacy of their homes.
This letter, along with my comments and recommendations set forth in the documents referenced above, and expanded upon in following pages, is my testimony.
The full report at this link:http://www.ncvoter.net/downloads/NC_Comments_on_IRV_and_2010_Judicial_Elections.pdf
Forget majority outcomes: if a candidate does not win a majority in the first round, with IRV it is a near impossibility that a candidate can obtain a majority with 2nd and 3rd round votes. This happened in Burlington Vermont in their 2009 mayoral contest. With chance to rank only 3, and since ranking isn't mandatory, and since there are 13 candidates, the math is against getting a majority win.
Regards;
Joyce McCloy, Director
NC Coalition for Verified Voting
212 Evergreen Drive, Winston Salem, NC 27106
Regards;
Joyce McCloy, Director
NC Coalition for Verified Voting
212 Evergreen Drive, Winston Salem, NC 27106
Thursday, September 16, 2010
4 Things to Know About Delaware
Updated with Poll Showing Coons Leading 53-42
Here is a thoughtful piece I've excerpted about Christine O'Donnell's victory in the GOP primary in Delaware I found in Real Clear Politics...
An awful lot of ink has been spilled on Christine O'Donnell's monumental upset of moderate Republican Mike Castle in the Delaware primary on Tuesday. Far too much, in fact. So let's cut to the chase. There are really only four things you need to know:Source: Real Clear Politics (please read the entire article by Sean Trende)
1. Yes, that is almost certainly the end of GOP prospects for this Senate seat.
2. This doesn't hurt the GOP's chances of the taking the Senate all that much.
3. Still, the GOP will regret not having Castle's vote someday.
4. No, this doesn't mark the end of the GOP.
There are two problems here. The first, and perhaps most obvious, is that the Republicans are currently positioned to win the most House seats that they've won in an election since 1946. Republican candidates for the House are running away with races in evenly-matched swing districts.
They are competitive in House districts in Maine that are typically 3-8 points more Democratic than the country, and in a Central Valley district that is five points more Democratic than the country. And if Republicans are competitive in CA-20, what does the polling look like in the 116 districts Democrats occupy that are as or more conservative than that district?
In other words, pundits aren't seeing the forest for the trees here. The same forces that ended Mike Castle's career are the same forces that are propelling the GOP toward an historic midterm election win, and the results will be especially strong in the chamber where actual control matters the most.
Second, there's nothing new here. The GOP base has been at war with its establishment since the 1960s. Charles Sandman's primary of New Jersey Governor William Cahill in 1973, Jeffrey Bell's primary of New Jersey Senator Clifford Case in 1978, Kenneth McMillan's primary of Thomas Railsback in 1982, Oliver North's primary of Jim Miller in 1994, the trifecta of Allard, Brownback, and Salvi in 1996 . . . all of these were precursors of Tuesday's upset.
The Democrats do it too, by the way. The anger that drove Democratic successes in 2006 also endangered their chances when establishment candidates lost primaries in California 11 and New Hampshire 1, and might have cost them their chance at California 4 and a few other seats.
Yet both parties endured, and even prospered. And that's the important thing to remember about Tuesday. When historians look back on the 2010 elections, O'Donnell's win over Castle will just be a footnote.
Commentary
If O'Donnell is able to win in Delaware, it would indicate a truly seismic shift in the American political scene.
**4.41pm** Rasmussen has moved Delaware US Senate Race from "Leans Democrat" to "Solid Democrat"Democrat Chris Coons holds a double-digit lead over Republican hopeful Christine O’Donnell in the first Rasmussen Reports post-primary survey of the U.S. Senate race in Delaware.
Coons earns 53% of the vote to O’Donnell’s 42%, with leaners included. One percent (1%) prefer some other candidate, and four percent (4%) are undecided.
The Delaware race is now viewed as Solid Democrat in the Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 Senate Balance of Power rankings.
This marks a remarkable turnaround in a race that at the beginning of the month was rated Solid Republican and was on track to be a GOP pickup. At that time, Congressman Mike Castle led Coons as he had been leading all year. O’Donnell trailed Coons at that time 47% to 36%.
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