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Thursday, October 8, 2009
Boomer with Attitude / News Dell Computers locks up again
Posted By John Grooms on Thu, Oct 8, 2009 at 4:51 PM
Dell Computers announced it will lay off all 905 workers as it closes its Winston-Salem plant over the next few months. More than 600 will lose their jobs in the next month alone. Dell will forgo most of the almost $280 million in state and local incentives that were waved in front of the company to get it to come to North Carolina. The company says the reason for closing its W-S plant is a steep decline in desktop computers. As Progressive Pulse points out, the state incentives were largely based on sales projections, showing again how N.C.'s incentives program is out of whack. As they put it, “Out of respect for these workers and their families and to prevent this from happening again in the future, the state should seriously consider enacting major reforms to its business subsidy programs.” They have specific proposals on how to change the economic model for subsidizing jobs, as well as increasing wage standards, and targeting jobs to distressed areas — which at this point, is most of the state. Read all about their ideas here.
News What do you know about your roots?
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Thu, Oct 8, 2009 at 2:21 PM
People are buzzing about how Michelle Obama's roots are firmly planted in the South. She's got a white great-great-great grandfather and her African-American ancestors were slaves.
Frankly, this isn't shocking news. This is the American story. Hate to break it to you guys, but we're all mutts.
Do you know what kind of mutt you are?
If you're like a lot of people, you know a little about one branch of your family tree or the other but you're probably not totally sure what kind of mutt you are.
In my family, I know a ton about my maternal grandparents and their roots. For instance, I know my great-great-great uncle was Levi Coffin, a Quaker Abolitionist who helped slaves make their way north on the Underground Railroad. There's also a great-great-something in our family history that, the story goes, left millions in unclaimed money. We know her name: Lady Margaret Scott Hamilton Snow.
My grandfather says, during the Great Depression, he and his brothers dreamt about claiming that money. I bet they did, since during that time in the Sandhills of Nebraska they were living off of what they could hunt and gather or grow.
Speaking of Nebraska, my great-great grandfather Weber's ranch, I found out, was located on the very land Black Elk, a Sioux medicine man, mourns in the book "Black Elk Speaks." Learning that made me want to cry. It's since been sold to who knows who, the money split between the eldest son's children. One of them, of course, blew their wad in Las Vegas.
So, yeah, I can tell you a lot about my mother's family. But, as for my father's family? When I had the chance to ask my paternal grandmother where she was from, she said, "Baldwin County."
I asked, "No, before that."
"Baldwin County," she said. "We've always been in Baldwin County."
While I feel very lucky to know as much as I do about half of my family tree, the other side is almost entirely blank.
So, it's no surprise to me that first lady Michelle Obama is just learning about her family tree's roots. My experience is that most of us don't really know where we're from.
Do you?
Read more about Michelle Obama's family tree in The New York Times.
News / Biz Recycle your caps
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Thu, Oct 8, 2009 at 2:10 PM
Last week we told you about Aveda -- yes, the beauty company -- and how they recycle bottle tops and caps.
We'll, they've finally responded to our request for information and here's the scoop:
Here's what they recycle:
Caps included in this collection are any plastic “twist on” caps. Some examples are; water bottles, soda bottles, laundry detergent bottles, ketchup bottles, and shampoo/ conditioner bottles. Caps that are NOT included are any metal caps and any “snap fit” plastic caps. Some examples of snap fit caps are; margarine and cottage cheese caps.
You can mail your bottle tops and caps to:
ACA Waste Services, 40 Eads Street, West Babylon, NY, 11704
Or ... You can take them to:
Aveda Experience Center in Charlotte, NC: Aveda Experience Center in South Park, 4400 Sharon Road, Charlotte, NC, 28211. Call them at 704.362.3023.
Boomer with Attitude / News Burr votes against assaulted women's rights
Posted By John Grooms on Thu, Oct 8, 2009 at 11:56 AM
Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) yesterday voted against due process of law. That’s the bottom line of Burr’s “Nea” vote on an amendment to the defense spending bill proposed by Sen. Al Franken (D-SNL). Burr also basically told women who have been sexually assaulted that their woes aren’t deserving of a real trial. In the process, he made a really stupid political move that will no doubt come back to haunt him in next year's election.
Franken’s amendment, which passed 68-30, mandates that defense contractors must allow their employees to take workplace sexual assault, battery and discrimination cases to court, rather than to an in-house arbitration committee. The issue was raised after revelations that some female employees of Halliburton/KBR in Baghdad were raped by their co-workers and, due to that company’s employment contract, they were not allowed to pursue their attackers in a court of law. Franken's amendment does not apply solely to Halliburton, but to any defense contractors.
As Sen. Franken succinctly put it, “The Constitution gives everybody the right to due process of law.” Cut and dry, plain and simple. The question now is how can Richard Burr justify voting against such a proposal? Well, said the GOP flacks, the bill was “just an attack on Halliburton,” it was “against the wishes of the Defense Department” (which, as everyone knows, is constitutionally empowered to determine Congressional decisions), and the amendment “applies to a wide range of companies including IBM and Boeing.” Why IBM or Boeing or Halliburton or Sears Roebuck or any company should be allowed to deny women their constitutional right to a day in court remains unexplained.
News Missed the mayoral chit chat last night?
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Thu, Oct 8, 2009 at 11:52 AM
Don't despair. You can listen to it again on WFAE's "Charlotte Talks" program tonight at 9 p.m. when you tune into 90.7 on your FM dial.
Can't listen tonight? Again, you really shouldn't worry. You can always listen online tomorrow.
If you haven't already, be sure to mark your calendars: Nov. 5 is election day.
Charlotte's two mayoral candidates continued to play up their differences Wednesday as they parted ways over a proposed streetcar and the nature of the city's top job.Democrat Anthony Foxx and Republican John Lassiter spoke to a Charlotte Chamber audience in Pinehurst in the afternoon before bringing what Lassiter called their "traveling road show" to Queens University of Charlotte in a forum co-sponsored by WFAE that night.
Less than a month before the November election, both still are fighting the impression that there's little difference in the men who hope to become Charlotte's first new mayor in 14 years. At the Chamber's Pinehurst retreat, Johnson C. Smith University President Ron Carter told them they "sound alike in many ways."
Film / Film News / News Opening Friday
Posted By Matt Brunson on Thu, Oct 8, 2009 at 10:00 AM
The Baader Meinhof Complex - Academy Award nominee, Best Foreign Language Film
The Boys Are Back - Clive Owen, Laura Fraser
Couples Retreat - Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman
Arts / Today's Top Five / News Today's Top 5: Thursday
Posted By Anita Overcash on Thu, Oct 8, 2009 at 8:00 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, Oct. 8, 2009 — as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
• Almost, Maine at Armour Street Theatre
• Needtobreathe and Serena Ryder at Visulite Theatre
• Robot Johnson at Actor's Theatre of Charlotte
• A Novello Evening with Christopher Buckley at ImaginOn
• Grand opening of Sanctuary of Davidson Gallery
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
News / Biz Family Dollar, rocking Wall Street
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Wed, Oct 7, 2009 at 5:38 PM
Hope you bought low, 'cuz now they're high.
Family Dollar Stores Inc. reports higher earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter ended Aug. 30.The Matthews-based company earned nearly $60.1 million, or 43 cents per diluted share, in the latest quarter, up from $53.2 million, or 38 cents per diluted share, in the same period last year.
Revenue grew to $1.81 billion from $1.77 billion in the year-earlier period.
News / Biz Water near coal ash ponds is tainted
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Wed, Oct 7, 2009 at 5:38 PM
An interesting note: The EPA listed "Mountain Island" as the closest town to Duke Energy's Riverbend Steam Station Coal Plant's unlined coal ash ponds.
First of all, there is no such town. Second, they said it was six miles down stream -- which, of course, is impossible since it doesn't exist.
But, if anyone was paying attention they'd know that the Charlotte suburb is right across the Rozzelle Ferry Bridge on Highway 16 and that the Catawba River Pumping Station -- which sucks millions of gallons of Charlotte-Mecklenburg drinking water every day out of the lake -- is just downstream and around the bend from Charlotte's two high-hazard coal plants.
The draft of the EPA report, which I've read cover to cover (it's a quick read since most of it is redacted), says the wells drilled near the unlined coal ash ponds to monitor ground water are bubbling over with water. That means the water table is very high. That means these unlined ponds are sitting on and in an area where the groundwater is very near the surface. That also means this finding probably isn't a surprise to the state, the EPA or to Duke Energy.
State data show contaminated groundwater near all 13 N.C. coal-ash ponds owned by Duke Energy and Progress Energy, an environmental group said Tuesday.Ash, left by coal-burning power plants, is loaded with metals that can be toxic at high levels. It's often mixed with water and piped into open basins, a practice under scrutiny since a ruptured dike in Tennessee spilled 5 million cubic yards of sludge in December.
The analysis by Boone-based Appalachian Voices shows ash can also seep into groundwater and, the group said, also needs more oversight by regulators. The report detailed 681 instances in the testing of the ponds in which pollutants exceeded state groundwater standards.
Duke and N.C. groundwater officials didn't challenge the group's analysis. But they said there's no evidence that contaminated groundwater is flowing off the large, rural power plant sites into neighborhoods where people could be exposed to it.
"Based on the data we have, we do not believe we have any potential impact on public health or the environment," said Dave Mitchell, Duke's managing director for environmental issues.
"At this point, the jury is still out," said Ted Bush, the state's aquifer-protection chief. "We don't know definitively, and we're convinced no one knows, whether these groundwater exceedances are violations that are enforceable."
The reason: State law allows groundwater contamination inside a "compliance boundary" 250 to 500 feet around an ash pond.
The EPA now says it will propose tightening regulation of coal ash by late this year. Cancer risks from drinking groundwater tainted by arsenic from unlined coal-ash ponds are 900 times higher than the government says is acceptable, the agency has estimated.
Arts / News Theater review: Late Nite Catechism
Posted By Anita Overcash on Wed, Oct 7, 2009 at 5:26 PM
Late Nite Catechism
Booth Playhouse
Oct. 6, 2009
The Deal: One-woman act, titled Late Night Catechism kicks off at Booth Playhouse. In the show, the “Sister,” played by Mary Zentmyer, dishes out her thoughts on both Catholicism and her “class” – the audience.
The Good: The show, which is part stand-up, will have you on the edge of your seat, as you attempt to control yourself … and your laugher, all during pretend (and crazy!) catechism-like “class.” Though the show is for anyone, but it wouldn’t hurt to be familiar with your Catholicism - that way when “Sister” asks questions, you can volunteer some answers. Just don’t be chewing gum or showing off cleavage while you do so, “Sister” doesn’t like that.
For the most part, the show is humor-driven, but be prepared for some funny religion overload. Zentmyer is almost schizophrenic in her ability crank out jokes while turning harshly on the “class” (audience) for one reason or another - it’s all in good fun, though.
The Bad: Being called out by the “Sister.” This could be frightening, and maybe even a little embarrassing, if you’re not in a playful mood or you just can't take things like that. But, audience-interaction in this show isn’t heavy duty … “Sister” picks just a few gems to shine.
The Verdict: “Class” goes by fast in performances of Late Nite Catechism. Funny, entertaining lessons are taught and come together for nun-other than a unique theater experience. Shows continue through Oct. 11. For more information, click here.
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