Comment Archives: stories: Columns
Re: “Conversations (not) about race”
Who's the punk ass? A 17 year old kid getting stalked by an armed adult for no apparent reason, or a grown man who can't handle a fight with an unarmed child, so he shoots him?
NDO, your comment makes it sound like a crime for a black teenager to walk down the street at night. Perhaps it is in your mind, but not in reality. This identifies YOUR argument as painfully stupid.
Re: “GOP bills ensure less voting, fraudulent or legitimate”
there is no need to show an id, period, no voter fraud, no bs
Re: “GOP bills ensure less voting, fraudulent or legitimate”
I'm still waiting for any member of the "left wing lamestream media" to ask the obvious questions in this fiasco:
"How do you apply the need to show a photo ID to the section of this law that allows one person to pick up multiple absentee ballots?"
"Is it in any way related to the fact that Democrat voters are the largest segment of early voters and Republican voters are the largest segment of absentee voters?"
Re: “Conversations (not) about race”
Still using the picture from when he was fourteen, and immediately identify your argument as painfully stupid.
Trayvon was a thug, plain and simple. Live like a thug, die like a thug. The kid had been in trouble countless times at school (which is why his parents sued to have his record sealed from Zimmerman's attorneys), his 'girlfriend' has now admitted to lying about the phone call she had with him before he was shot, and he'd been moved to his father's because his mother (now a millionaire after suing the homeowner's association) couldn't handle him any more.
Here's what happened. Kid was walking around, not needing to worry about school because he was suspended, looked suspicious, was confronted by an ADULT neighborhood watch officer and decided to 'represent' or whatever the hell it is they say now. He picked a fight with a grown man and ended up getting shot. Had nothing to do with race, had to do with being a punk ass and getting what they get, just desserts. ANYONE, whether they were black or white, would have shot someone attacking regardless of whether they were black or white.
The media ran Trayvon's baby pictures and turned it into a big race deal when two years earlier Zimmerman was organizing the community to help a black homeless man that had been beaten. All Zimmerman really did was save us from having to pay for this loser when he ended up in jail in two years, having god knows how many kids he wasn't going to raise beforehand (like his parents).
Pick a new martyr, even the media knows this story's BS at this point.
Re: “Happy birthday, Iraq War”
To get an idea where Bush/Cheney were coming from, all you have to know is that on 9/11 they hid rather than lead. They were always concentrated on what was good for them. Nothing they did ever had anything to do with the good of this country and its citizens.
Re: “Triumph of the trivial: Why TV news sucks”
Here's a great little video that perfectly shows why commercial TV news sucks. It's called "What You Pay For".
http://www.greybirddesigngroup.com/portfol…
Re: “Parenting the parents: No place for sissies”
I feel for you, being an only child has put a lot of this on your shoulders. Talk to the elder care social workers (area agency on aging), they can find placements in homes you might not be aware of. A good place to find info about homes and how to afford it is http://www.ncdhhs.gov/aging/nhome.htm
my mom in law lives in another state and had to go into a home, it is so sad, she has no idea where she is or what happened to her stuff. It is an 8 hour drive for us so we only see her 3 times a year. Every conversation I have with her now seems to restate where she is and what happened to her.
Re: “Bathing with young kids is no big deal”
I agree, there are much bigger problems in the world than bath time with the grandparent. Being a solo father of a 4 year old daughter, I made the decision to stop taking showers with her at the time when she attempted to point out and grab my "tail." :-) Despite it being easier to wash her hair in the shower, I value the sanctity of a nice, relaxing shower a wee bit more. That being said, when she trots off to visit the family, whether or not the grandparents are taking baths with her is the least of my worries at this age.
Re: “Lawmakers kick the underdogs”
The Rethuglicans are old and scared. Their time on this earth is drawing to a close and they will not go quietly.
Re: “Conversations (not) about race”
DLP, I think you are right in part...but do you think the confrontation would've happened if Trayvon had been white?
Re: “Conversations (not) about race”
I don't understand why so many people are trying to use Florida's "stand your ground" law to justify the shooting of Trevon Martin. The confrontation was initiated by an arrogant person who thought being a member of the neighborhood watch made him a law enforcement agent. If anyone had the right to stand his ground it was Trevon.
I bet that confrontation would never have occurred if George Zimmerman had not been armed.
Re: “Gun insanity”
I hasven't seen anything from Obama, Biden, Feinstein, Cuomo, Pelosi or Mr Grooms that would keep guns out of the hands of the mentals without infringing on the Rights of law abidding citizens.
Re: “Lawmakers kick the underdogs”
"So far, the General Assembly has outdone even other GOP-controlled legislatures..." Which ones would that be? As pointed out above, the Democrats have controlled our Legislature since the Civil War. Which Democrat Legislatures were our Democrats trying to outdo? Califirnia? New York? Illinois? Michigan?
Re: “Lawmakers kick the underdogs”
140 yrs of Liberal Legislation sure hasn't seemed to do the state a lot of good. And so nice of you to completely and totally ignore the role played by Democrats in the "Old South" (up to the 1960s). They were the enforcers of Jim Crow, the faces under the white hoods, the party of Segregation. They despised Kennedy for how he bucked them on racial equality.
Re: “No honors for Jesse Helms”
Was he as big a bigot as Michelle is?
Re: “CIAA: What's in a name?”
I hear your concerns, Shane, and we are completely willing — in fact, we would be more than happy — to meet with members of the LGBT community, and we will schedule something as soon as we can arrange a time to do so. Right now there's much going on at Creative Loafing — but take note: We WILL be meeting with you and we WANT to hear your feedback and suggestions.
As for us covering only fancy dinners, nightclubs and drag shows: how many other local non-LGBT publications published not one, but two cover stories — two COVER stories in a row! — on the Amendment One issue? CL has consistently supported the LGBT community and LGBT issues. No, I am not personally a part of the LGBT community and neither is our news editor — and yes, I think we always could use more out-gay reporters and more reporters of other diverse backgrounds. And in fact, we HAVE a new out-gay writer, Charles Easley, whose "Class is in Session" column will be appearing regularly in the paper — most recently, he wrote a piece on one of the unsung heroes of the Civil Rights movement, Bayard Rustin. You should give it a read. It is excellent.
Could we do more stories on LGBT issues? Absolutely. We could do more stories on many issues. I wish we still had the number of pages we did several years ago to more thoroughly cover every important issue and every minority group as they SHOULD be covered. Could we assign more stories to out-gay reporters? Yes. And we'd love to. We'd like to hear from any out-gay reporters interested in writing for Creative Loafing. Can we do better? Yes, we all can always do better. But to suggest that all CL does in terms of LGBT issues is cover the parties and drag shows is quite simply disingenuous.
Re: “CIAA: What's in a name?”
With all respect, Kemp: How many out LGBT writers and, or staff do you have at Creative Loafing? It's hard to be informed about a community from the outside, looking in. Spataro demonstrated this in her article. She does not know our community and failed to understand what she was reporting. Your article dealt with something we discussed 4 years ago and she merely rehashed it in a disingenuous, sensational way. The basis of news is that it is "new" information. Nothing in her article was new.
Take the criticism Kemp and let it sink in. If you have been consistently and strongly supportive of the LGBT community, then listen to our LGBT leaders. Ask yourself what it means to be a paper that reflects the diversity of the community you serve and do you really have that diversity present in your leadership, your writers, etc. You heard some very harsh criticism about Spataro from some of our most involved, notable community leaders -- and I think you should show some concern, rather than be dismissive.
Lastly don't miss my point: Its 2013 -- time to diversify your staff and your reporting on our LGBT community. We are more than fancy dinners, nightclubs, drag shows -- where is CL at other LGBT non-social events, community forums, actual news? I invited Spataro to a young adult leader panel in early February where QNotes showed up -- and so did about 20 of our LGBT community organizations (about 50 people in total). LGBTQ young adults shared about being in Charlotte and what it is like -- sometimes feeling silenced/invisible. Where was Creative Loafing? You know the answer: CL is largely absent in our LGBT community unless its a party, a club or nightlife.
So stand by your story, but until you diversity your staff and where you show up in our LGBT community, you don't "stand for us."
Re: “Lawmakers kick the underdogs”
Where does it say that government is required to protect people from their poor life choices. We talk about freedom, well if you use your freedom in a maneer that is detrimental to you and/or your future, why does anyone else owe it to you to make it better? Where is personal responsibility and accountability?
Re: “Pat McCrory's commerce fetish”
All this " job fury" by Mayor Pat whilst his cronies eviscerate unemployment benefits and seek to gut workers compensation. Guess we can train lots of laborers for the 1% who will have to work no matter the pay.
Oh, and since govt does everything wrong according the the Republicans, how the heck is it supposed to spot job trends - unless, again, we are not talking about real, good wage jobs?
Re: “Are the Avett Brothers America's last great rock band?”
I've tried to like the Avett Brothers; really, I have. They seem to be all the rage...like pop country from Nashville. Sure, some of the lyrics are good, it's just too bad you have to wade through all of the whiny, over stressed vocals and music that sounds like someone trying to remember what a MTV reality show soundtrack would be with a banjo.