Mobile
News
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Arts / News Beneficial laughs from comedian Shaun Jones
Posted By Anita Overcash on Tue, Sep 22, 2009 at 10:25 AM
Comedian Shaun Jones can’t keep his mouth shut. But, do we really mind? What comes out it is rather humorous, however strange it may be. Past subject matter has included his views on fatties and crack-heads who hold jobs as strippers and falling asleep while driving, among other topics. Jones has made TV appearances on NBC’s Later and BET’s Teen Summit and Comic View. He also starred in feature films Ace Ventura II: When Nature Calls and Shade. Tonight, Jones will perform at Lake Norman Comedy Zone, located upstairs in Galway Hooker Irish Pub. This is a benefit show for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Light The Night. Tickets are $50. Show starts at 8 p.m. Lake Norman Comedy Zone at Galway Hooker Irish Pub is located at 17044 Kenton Dr. For more information, call 704-895-1782.
Arts / Today's Top Five / News Today's Top 5: Tuesday
Posted By Anita Overcash on Tue, Sep 22, 2009 at 9:48 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, Sept. 22, 2009 — as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
• Group f.64 and the Modernist Vision: Photographs by Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Imogen Cunningham, Willard Van Dyke, and Brett Weston exhibition at The Light Factory
• 'Will Spit 4 Sol-Food' at The Evening Muse
• Comedian Shaun Jones at Lake Norman Comedy Zone
• Jolie Holland at Double Door Inn
• Touch One Tuesdays at Wine Up
News Tight race for mayor, or not?
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Tue, Sep 22, 2009 at 8:41 AM
One side says yes, the other says no.
From John Lassiter's camp:
An Elon University poll, released today, shows mayoral candidate John Lassiter with a significant lead ... the poll revealed that Lassiter holds a commanding lead with a 10.78 percent higher average rating (vs. Foxx) on the top five issues to Charlotte voters.The poll also finds that Lassiter’s hold a significant lead vs. Foxx on overall approval rating 44.3% Lassiter vs. 39.2% Foxx among Charlotte voters.
And, from Anthony Foxx's side:
When asked, on a generic ballot, whether the respondent would prefer a Democrat or Republican as the next mayor, the Democratic candidate takes a four-point lead.When asked, 51.4% of survey respondents indicated they did not think the city/county was headed in the right direction, while only 35.8% thought it was. This is yet again proof that status quo leadership, whose record proves that they consistently side with big developers over neighborhoods and communities, has too much influence.
They can he-said-he-said all day, every day until election day -- which is Nov. 3 for those who haven't been paying attention -- but what really matters is who can turn out the most voters.
Still trying to decide who to vote for? CLTBlog.com interviewed both candidates earlier this year. See what they had to say for themselves: Foxx v. Lassiter '09. DING!
Not registered? (Slacker.) Register here. Check your registration status and find out where to pull the lever here. And, for chrissake, mark your calenders and get to the polls on Nov. 3.
Don't make me tell you again.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Boomer with Attitude / News Conservatives' claims on God refuted
Posted By John Grooms on Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 4:09 PM
One of the most irritating things about today’s conservatives — and they offer lots of irritations to choose from — is their presumptuous use of the word “values,” as if they have values and those whom they oppose don’t have any. One example of this took place over the weekend, at the fourth annual “Values Voters Summit” in D.C., where rightwingers got together for a fun weekend of liberal- and Obama-bashing, talons-out speeches, and a few GOP presidential candidates lining up to beg for support. These guys make it clear that they not only think their values are the only real values, they even regularly call liberals “godless” or even “anti-God” — which is OK, I guess, since they say it with smiles on their faces and cross pendants around their necks.
Daily Politics reports, though, on a new in-depth survey that belies conservatives’ claims of a monopoly on spirituality in the political marketplace. The survey, by Public Religion Research and the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics, shows that an increasing number of Americans consider themselves part of a “religious left” and support progressive religious activism. Tellingly, the survey shows that 45 million adult Americans share the conservative religious mindset, while 38 million share what the survey calls the “modernist” spiritual mindset typical of the religious left. It’s a very interesting survey that shows, as most in-depth studies usually do, more nuances and subtle differences among religiously inclined Americans than the media usually acknowledges. And it shows that the religious right's belief that it alone represents "values voters" is nonsense.
News / Biz CEO pay increased last year
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 3:43 PM
CEOs in the Carolinas enjoyed a pay increase last year while many of their fellow citizens suffered.
Indications point to lower bonuses and salaries in the near future, but when you're pulling down a lottery-winning-like salary each year, it's difficult to worry about CEOs bringing in a million or so less.
Which brings me to this reality show suggestion: Take CEOs out of their towers and put them to work in a minimum-wage job. Can they survive in, what is for many, reality?
My guess is the season will be full of nervous breakdowns.
The median compensation for top N.C. and S.C. executives increased by 3 percent last year, to $2.9 million, an annual Observer analysis of federal securities filings show. Their bonuses also grew and they still enjoyed a slew of perks.The Observer calculates annual CEO pay by adding base salary, bonuses, the value of stock awards, profits from exercising stock options and "other" pay, such as personal use of corporate planes. Annual proxy reports that detail compensation typically come out in the spring and reflect data from the year before, so 2009 numbers show 2008 results.
In 2007, nine Carolina CEOs took in more than $10 million.
For now, experts predict a decline in overall compensation this year as firms look to manage and set performance measures in a volatile environment. Board compensation committees often tie pay to hitting targets in such areas as revenue, profits and total shareholder return.
"Generally what you'll see in salaries for executives from 2008 to 2009 will be flat," said Tom Kelly, compensation practice leader for the Carolinas with compensation consulting firm Watson Wyatt in Charlotte. "And bonuses will definitely be down," as they are closely tied to operating performance.
In June, President Obama appointed an official to review compensation plans for top executives at banks that received government aid.
In July, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo generated outrage and headlines after highlighting nearly $33 billion in bonuses paid out last year to executives and other employees by Bank of America and other banks that received government bailout money following their own huge losses.
And a new national poll for Reuters found that 60 percent of Americans remain concerned or angry about excessive executive pay on Wall Street.
Read the entire article on Charlotte.com.
Film / Film News / News Dr. Strangelove opens Charlotte film fest
Posted By Matt Brunson on Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 3:38 PM
The 4th Annual Charlotte Film Festival commences this evening with a screening of Stanley Kubrick's 1964 masterpiece Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. The movie will be shown at 6:30 p.m. at the Park Terrace. That screening will be followed by a showing of Charlotte filmmaker John Schwert's latest release, In/Significant Others, at 9 p.m. at the same theater.
The Dr. Strangelove screening is free. Tickets for In/Significant Others cost $8 and are only available at the door. For a complete festival schedule, go here. And to marvel at Strangelove star Peter Sellers' three distinct characters in the film, check out the photos below.
Arts / News Poets Jaycee and Bluz talk 'Will Spit 4 Sol-Food'
Posted By Anita Overcash on Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 3:34 PM
This Tuesday night, a spoken word event, dubbed "Will Spit 4 Sol-Food" will invade The Evening Muse. The show puts two popular Charlotte poets - Jaycee and Bluz – in the spotlight. In addition, Tarik Cranke & VKC will perform and back the word play with extra sounds. Tickets are $12. Doors at 7:30 p.m. The Evening Muse is located at 3227 N. Davidson St. For more information, call 704-376-3737 or 704-765-4131. For tickets, click here.
Creative Loafing spoke with both Jaycee and Bluz about the event and their background in poetry. Check out what they had to say below.
Creative Loafing: What brought on the title for Will Spit 4 Sol-Food?
Jaycee: Starting as poets, in the beginning, we really weren’t making any money. So we did do a lot of spitting, just to eat. We would go to cook outs or house parties to perform, but we weren’t getting paid in the beginning. So, [people would be like], “Well you can come out and get something to eat and drink,” and that’s how it started out.
Can you each tell me a little about your background with spoken word?
Bluz: It really started in college. I was writing and what not. Then, I had a little breakup and to deal with my feelings, I started writing. I started these kind of sexual pieces and the girls were responding the way I wanted them to. I met Jessica Care More, who did this poem called “Black Girl Juice,” and it completely changed the way that I looked at what I do. I wanted it to be less of a visual and for it to touch more people deeper than what I was doing, because she changed my heart and mind about how I looked at life. So after meeting her, literally overnight, I changed the way that I was writing and got a little bit deeper. From there, it was on. I began writing more, looking more at my culture and at life as a whole, as opposed to just one specific thing. So that’s pretty much my background. I got into SlamCharlotte and that’s what I have been doing and how I got as popular as I did.
Jaycee: I’ve always been a poet. From elementary to high school, I used to write poems to my girlfriend - I was more into love poetry. Then I moved to Charlotte in 2000 and Charlotte was kind of my turn around point. I decided to start writing again and sharing my poetry at karaoke places, open mics or whatever I could find. I started performing and people were really responding like crazy to my poetry, because I’m more of a story teller [with my poetry]. It always has a beginning and an end. I realized that people were really enjoying what I was doing and asking me to come to their cook outs and house parties. I met Bluz and a few more poets here in Charlotte and once we all met, we realized there was a movement for poetry. Seeing all the other poets going hard at it, and SlamCharlotte getting started, I began to promote poetry in the clubs, so we would have somewhere to perform – that’s what really kind of got me locked into it. Bluz was in SlamCharlotte and I was more in the clubs, trying to make sure that the poets would have somewhere to come to write, share and hone their skills.
Bluz: At that time, the two kind of meshed. The poets would be at Jaycee’s spot working on their stuff and making sure it was tight. Jaycee is a stickler for tightness, so before you can get on the mic there, you have to make sure your joints are tight. Then the by product of that tight work coming out of his productions would hit our SlamCharlotte stage, which would polish the work that they were doing on his stage. So, the poets were getting a constant work out between his venues and mine. The beauty about his venues is that it’s every week, so they have every week to make sure they got it right. Mine is once a month, so it’s like a one-shot type deal.
Tell me a little more about the event. Will you both be performing solo or together throughout the night?
Jaycee: It’s kind of going to go both ways. There will be times when he [Bluz] is just on stage, and times when I am just on stage, and times where we perform together. We actually have a few guest poets that we are going to bring in to join us as well, just to let everybody know that it’s not just us in the scene and that there’s more in Charlotte.
The band will play solo in the beginning and then they are going to back us up throughout the night. There will be times when we don’t have any music behind us, but then, of course, we will have a set that will be with the band as well.
Bluz in action:
News / Biz Do news outlets deserve to be bailed out?
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 1:19 PM
While the auto industry is being ordered to retool and rethink their products, the banking industry braces for tough regulations and the insurance industry continues to lick their wounds and sharpen their knives, there's word from The Hill that Obama is willing to consider a bailout of the news industry.
The caveat? They have to become non-profit organizations.
And, that, dear readers, I'm all for. In fact, I've been shouting this for years: If the news industry is as vital to our democracy as everyone believes it is, why is it for-profit?
If the industry's sincere objective is to lift the proverbial veil so citizens are clued in to what's going on in local, regional and national government, then why not lift the damn veil, shine the flashlight, report what you see, take your paltry non-profit salary and go home feeling good about having done a good deed that betters the country and your fellow citizen's lot in life.
That's not how it works, though. Why? News is big business.
This truth is made clear every time you open your newspaper and find that half of it consists of advertisements. It's also brought to everyone's attention when both sides of the political isle call for advertisers to boycott pundits they dislike ideologically. And, it's shown in the outrageous salaries some of the most popular, and outrageous, pundits collect each year.
The newspaper industry has enjoyed fat profits -- fatter than you might think -- for a long, long time. They've also taken on impressive debt, gotten stuck in time and lost touch with the very people they're trying to serve while blaming everyone else (the Internet, Craigslist, bloggers, even their aging subscribers) because they can't rake in the dough like they once did.
Their knee jerk reaction, of course, is to cut their biggest expense -- their staff. So, instead of offering citizens more value, they've decided to offer less. Less investigative journalism (which is very expensive), fewer foreign correspondents, fewer boots on the ground in Wall-shington and more sharing of stories with sister news organizations.
What that means for readers is often less background information on a story and less ties to local situations. That translates to this: Citizens, the very people the news industry swears it's looking out for, often don't know the whole story and, instead, are subjected to the interpretations of non-journalist entertainers who are more interested in popularity and ratings than in lifting the veil.
Therefore, I say 'yes' to a non-profit news industry focused on providing non-emotional, fact-based truth to all. More, I believe they should be afforded the same tax breaks any other non-profit would enjoy -- no more, no less. Beyond that, the government has no place in the news industry. None. The phrase that comes to mind is, "Conflict of interest."
At the same time, I say 'no' to crying with industry executives and shareholders because they're not able to capitalize like they once did on what should be free -- the spread of vital information, which is necessary for a healthy democracy.
What's not free is news gathering. It takes time, it takes dedication and it should be priced accordingly.
So, when newspapers start asking you to chip in for the cause -- hopefully their non-profit, democracy-focused cause -- by way of online subscriptions don't bow up, reach into your wallet and remember that you expect to be paid for your work also.
Democracy Now reviews the issue:
Boomer with Attitude / News Myrick forgets she's in a government-run health system
Posted By John Grooms on Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 1:08 PM
In case you missed it Saturday, Rep. Sue Myrick gave a classic performance in a GOP weekly message, denouncing health care reform measures being considered in Congress. Sue looked spiffy in a pink suit sporting some sort of tarantula, and spoke in her usual, Bobby Jindal-esque style, as if she thought she was addressing an audience of the mentally challenged. Myrick spoke of finding out nine years ago that she had breast cancer. “I knew something was wrong with my body – but it took six doctors, three mammograms and one ultrasound before they finally they found my cancer,” she said. “This process took only a few weeks.”
Then the nonsense began. “Under the government-run health care system they have in Canada and the United Kingdom, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to get those tests so quickly,” Myrick claimed. “One international study found that three times as many citizens in those countries wait longer than a month to see a specialist.” Which, of course, is completely irrelevant to the current U.S. health care debate since no one is proposing that we adopt a British or Canadian style system! How many times does this have to be explained? Hey, maybe Sue knows her audience after all.
The other hilarious thing about Myrick’s comparison of her experience to what she would have endured under a government-run health care system? She is covered, as a member of Congress, by a government-run system — which, according to her, worked really well.
News / Biz Duke CEO makes predictions about climate legislation timeline
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 11:49 AM
Am I the only one who worries when CEOs — any CEO — predict what will happen in Washington?
Climate change legislation is unlikely to pass the U.S. Congress until the first half of 2010, and maybe not until 2011, Duke Energy Corp Chief Executive Jim Rogers said on Friday.Rogers is one of the biggest supporters of national carbon-cutting rules among power utility executives and is active on Capitol Hill both in relations with lawmakers and as a Congressional witness.
Rogers said he has not ruled out passage of legislation this year, but believes that it is highly unlikely.
If the bill does not pass in the first half of 2010, Rogers said "it won't be done until 2011 because 2010 is an election year."
Rogers made his comments at an energy symposium at the University of Michigan.
About half the power generated in the United States comes from coal-fired plants.
Duke Energy is the third-leading U.S. emitter of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas that causes global warming.
Rogers has set himself apart from many power utility executives in supporting carbon-cutting legislation. Electric power generation creates about 40 percent of U.S. greenhouse gases.
Thousands rally in Washington for clean energy:
-
Meghan McCain's dating woes revealed
The girl is hard up and in need of help. Volunteers?
-
One-night-only art show at Hart Witzen
-
5 Reasons To Buy Home Insurance Policy
