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Wednesday, September 16, 2009
News / Biz Chamber offers job seeker support
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 11:53 AM
The Charlotte Chamber of Commerce is offering individual memberships for a limited time in an effort to help job seekers help themselves. Considering the usual cost of membership, their $75, 3-month membership is a great deal.
Here's their spiel:
Finding new employment in today’s job market requires intensive networking and personal relationships. However, many job seekers (especially those new to Charlotte) lack access to quality networking.The Charlotte Chamber’s new Job Seeker Package allows individuals to join the Chamber for a limited time. These individuals will enjoy the same benefits as those employed with Charlotte Chamber General Member companies, as well as a few additional benefits designed to help job seekers survive and thrive in our market.
Boomer with Attitude / News Burr voted to deny insurance to domestic abuse victims
Posted By John Grooms on Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 11:51 AM
We told you yesterday that North Carolina is one of only eight states that allow health insurance companies to classify domestic violence as a “pre-existing condition.” Well, guess who helped kill an attempt to change that horrendous situation? That would be North Carolina’s own U.S. Sen. Richard Burr. In 2006, Burr and nine other GOP senators voted against an amendment to an insurance bill that would have told health insurance companies they could not deny coverage to women because of domestic abuse. Find more details here
As the political blog BlueNC puts it today, “If that doesn’t make Burr beatable in 2010, I don’t know what does.”
News The Wack List: Sept. 16
Posted By Carlton Hargro on Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 11:23 AM
Five people, places and things we really ain't digging today.
• Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina. Even President Carter thinks the guy is a racist. What the hell is up with S.C. elected officials anyway? And this video by his wife is bizarre:
• The fact that the N.C . economy is expected to contract this year.
• Anyone who actually gives a shit that Tom DeLay will be on this season's Dancing With the Stars.
• The death of Patrick Swayze. Damn I love Roadhouse.
• Anyone who cares about Tyra Banks' or Meghan McCain's weave.
Arts / Today's Top Five / News Today's Top 5: Wednesday
Posted By Anita Overcash on Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 8:00 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, Sept. 16, 2009 — as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
Seussical at Theatre Charlotte
Crowntown Showdown at Double Door Inn
The Charlotte Comedy All-Stars Showcase's Benefit for 'Element 7' Volunteer Group at Wine Up
Pop Life at Apostrophe Lounge
Passionate Journey: The Grice Collection of Native American Art at Mint Museum of Art
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
News Waxhaw's naked jogger
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Tue, Sep 15, 2009 at 3:00 PM
Shoes, socks and not much else. That's the description of a jogger reportedly spotted in Waxhaw.
"Have you heard about the naked jogger in town?" resident Mark Brambier asked friends while sitting outside the Crossroads Coffee House.A naked jogger has been spotted running through downtown in the middle of the night, past a barber shop, computer store and over the famous railroad bridge.
John Tiley got the first e-mails and posted them on his Waxhaw Gazette blog.
"Sure looked like they were in the buff turning the corner," Tiley said, citing one of his e-mails. "Whether it's true or not, I cannot attest to."
But, he says, the e-mails got more descriptive with more sightings.
"One of them did comment something about wrinkles," Tiley said.
By most accounts the jogger is a woman, possibly an older woman.
Neighbors say there could be one really easy explanation for this -- the anniversary of Woodstock -- 40 years ago this August -- the same month the naked jogger sightings started.
Read the entire article at MSNBC.com.
Steve Guttenburg does it, too:
Film / Film News / News This Week's DVD Releases
Posted By Matt Brunson on Tue, Sep 15, 2009 at 2:30 PM
Following is a list of some major DVD releases debuting today. For a complete list, go to www.amazon.com.
Boomer with Attitude / News Joe Wilson ally spouts Confederate flag b.s.
Posted By John Grooms on Tue, Sep 15, 2009 at 1:35 PM
Rep. Steve King of Iowa, who is urging his fellow Republicans in Congress to sign a petition supporting Rep. Joe Wilson, today defended the South Carolina congressman’s vote in favor of flying the Confederate battleflag over the state capitol in Columbia (Wilson was one of only seven GOP reps who contradicted their party leadership and voted to continue flying the flag). King spoke of Wilson on FoxNews, where he said that “Being a son of the South puts you in a different position when it comes to the Confederate flag. It means something entirely different to the people who have ancestors who fought in the Civil War [for] the South.” WHOA! WHOA! What?!
Let’s get this straight: Steve King says that if you had ancestors who fought for the South, you thought flying the Confederate flag on the state capitol was a good idea? Well, let me be the first white male Southerner to say that King is completely full of it. I couldn’t begin to count the number of South Carolinians — not to mention other Southerners — I know personally who opposed flying the Confederate battleflag in Columbia. I’m talking about people with deep roots in the South; I don ‘t know how many of them had ancestors who fought for the Confederacy, but if they’re like most white Southerners, it’s probably most of them. For one, my great-great-grandfather on my father’s side was a scout for Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, and lo and behold, I thought flying the flag on the S.C. capitol was a terrible idea. Here’s why: the state only began flying the flag over the capitol in 1962 as a big, public “screw you” to the civil rights movement — you can look it up — just as that symbol was revived all over the South in those times for the same reason. The Confederate battleflag was used then as the power-wielding good ole boys' message that they ran the South, by God. After major civil rights laws were enacted over the good ole boys’ objections, the flag became a sign of resistance to equality for blacks. And that’s what it has remained up to and including today no matter how many times some white Southerners say they “love the flag” because it’s “about heritage.” Which is bullshit — if you want to honor that part of your heritage, then fly the actual Confederate “national” flag, instead of a battleflag that had largely been forgotten until the 1960s — and which automatically alienates a large part of the population. Oh, I forgot. Pissing off people is the whole point of displaying the flag.
Here’s Steve King’s appearance on FoxNews.
News / Biz Federal judge: BofA settlement unfair to shareholders
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Tue, Sep 15, 2009 at 12:57 PM
Too bad it takes a federal judge to step up on behalf of shareholders.
Calling Bank of America's proposed settlement with the SEC a "facade of enforcement," U.S. District Judge Jed Rankoff told both parties to get ready for a February trial.
A federal judge on Monday rejected Bank of America's $33 million proposed settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over allegations it misled shareholders about Merrill Lynch bonuses. The rebuke came amid reports that top bank executives could soon face charges from New York's attorney general over similar accusations.In his order, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan attacked the settlement reached last month as unfair and unreasonable, and told the two parties to prepare for a Feb. 1 trial date. The ruling prevents the bank from closing one aspect of a multilevel investigation of the 2008 Merrill acquisition and promises to dredge up more bad publicity for Bank of America and chief executive Ken Lewis.
The judge said the settlement unfairly left shareholders footing the bill. The agreement “was a contrivance designed to provide the SEC with the facade of enforcement and the management of Bank of America with a quick resolution of an embarrassing inquiry – all at the expense of the sole alleged victims, the shareholders,” Rakoff wrote.
Here's WCNC's broadcast from last month, explaining why BofA proposed a settlement in the first place:
Boomer with Attitude / News Domestic violence = 'pre-existing condition'?
Posted By John Grooms on Tue, Sep 15, 2009 at 12:41 PM
Un. Be. Lievable. In case you needed any more reasons to despise health insurance companies, health care reform advocates today are pointing out some of the mind-boggling things that some insurers consider “pre-existing conditions.” An industry that is widely viewed as being heartless, and that’s on its better days, is being justly attacked for allowing insurers in eight states — including the Carolinas, naturally — to classify domestic violence victims as high-risk, or uninsurable, because being beaten up by one's mate is a “pre-existing condition.” Yep, the health insurance industry has a big new jewel in its Cruelty Crown.
Two things: first, denying coverage to women who’ve been beaten by their spouses is grotesque and clearly inhuman, and I don’t want to hear some lame excuse about “protecting their profits.” Second, it’s also now clearer than ever that the insurance industry can’t, or won’t, properly monitor itself, which lends yet more proof that it needs a major overhaul.
Meanwhile, states can legislate against this heinous practice, as Arkansas did in April when lawmakers there told health insurers to act like decent human beings for a change.
- NC insurers don't have to cover her
Arts / News Max Siegle's Family Affair
Posted By Cheris Hodges on Tue, Sep 15, 2009 at 11:56 AM
Growing up as the child of a Jewish father and an African-American mother, Max Siegle has lived in two worlds all his life. In the recently published anthology Family Affair: What It Means to be African-American Today,
Siegel, currently the highest-ranking African-American NASCAR executive, writes about his life and how his early sense of self shaped him into the man he is today. Sharing his story in the anthology, he said, is another dimension of what he does personally.
“I constantly do a lot of introspection of where I am in my life. It’s a great time for the book because of everything that’s going on in the world, it kind of evaluates where African-Americans are as a people,” said Siegle. “What I’ve found is that if you focus on the things you have in common with people, you’ll find that we have more in common than what we have different.”
In his essay, “Calm within the Storm,” Siegel writes about how is father moved him and his sister from place to place after telling them that their mother died. When he was 11, he learned the truth — that his father had lied about his mother’s death and was dying himself of lymphoma.
As the illness turned his father into a shell of himself, Siegel writes that his father told him he had to become a man sooner, rather than later. “I was fortunate enough that despite my dysfunctional household, my parents instilled a lot of self-confidence. I never really had any self-esteem issues,” he said.
The dysfunction that he says surrounded him as he grew up, prepared him for life. Siegle — president of global operations at Dale Earnhardt Inc. — never expected to work in NASCAR, a business that employs only a few African-Americans, he writes in his essay.
“I have approached life pretty open-minded, but I’m also very realistic and very deliberate. I didn’t come [into NASCAR] thinking that I would be treated a certain way,” he said about his success in the sport. Siegel said he was aware of the stereotypes typically thrown around about NASCAR, but he approached his job with an open mind.
And in his essay, he says this about what his job has taught him.
“Living in Charlotte, N.C. has been an ideal situation for my family, and I can honestly say that this position has forced me to use every skill I have ever developed — marketing, business, law and leadership. It’s a win-win situation. Having confidence in my abilities is the primary reason why I am where I am today.”
According to Siegel, NASCAR itself is committed to diversity and including women and people of color in the sport. And he said the he can see his impact on the sport because he knows that people are watching what he’s doing.
“You’re under such a microscope, but it’s great to see the impact that you have, touching one life or two lives and an organization.”
Family Affair editor, Gil L. Robertson IV, writes in the preface of the book: “If America is ever to engage in a real conversation about race, all of its citizens must be mentally and spiritually prepared to take part.”
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Meghan McCain's dating woes revealed
The girl is hard up and in need of help. Volunteers?
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Question the Queen City: What lurks in the woods of Camp Greene? 1
The World War 1 training facility's tragic past lingers even today
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Live review: Moogfest, Asheville 1
Five memorable performances from the weekend.
