Aunt Bee Says, "Leave Us Alone!"

Maybe its that they thought that everybody from North Carolina was like Barney Fife. Or was that Gomer? Whatever.

The glorious forces of the private sector are here to save us. Save us from ourselves, of course...because we're just not smart enough to figure things out all by our lonesome. And so what if they make a little money while they're at it--for doing things that we're already paying to have done.

Connected Nation. Heard of 'em? Well, they are going to fix us backward North Carolinians right up:

Citizens across North Carolina are clamoring for better access to the Internet, but cable and telecom companies say it's too expensive to build service that reaches them. Now the industry has decided it is willing to pay an outside group, Connected Nation, to collect data about who's stuck on dialup, ostensibly to deliver improved service. But critics say the motive is hardly altruistic, charging that cable and telecom companies are more interested in warding off regulators than in bridging the digital divide.
...
But North Carolina already has a state government authority called e-NC Authority doing the same work. In fact, e-NC did some of the first broadband maps in the country in 2001. The organization, which is a state authority housed in the N.C. Rural Economic Development Center, also gives matching incentive grants to encourage the industry to build out to the state's most under-served areas.

If the state were to fund Connected Nation, it could serve as a stamp of approval for a group critics say is merely an industry front. It would also signal a lack of confidence in an existing state effort that's garnered rave reviews from across the country.

"I think e-NC is the model of how you do it right," says Art Brodsky, communications director of Public Knowledge, a Washington, D.C. public interest group. "They do their own surveys and they're not industry-backed. E-NC has a proven track record."

"This appears to be the first public step of an aggressive hostile takeover attempt by Connected Nation and its Bell company ally, AT&T," says Drew Clark, executive director of BroadbandCensus.com, a Web site designed to provide information about broadband availability to the public. Clark has called e-NC "arguably the most advanced effort of its kind in the nation."

...

How'd things go when they tried this in Kentucky?

...

But not just any service: Brodsky's report says Connect Kentucky pushed AT&T's DSL, rather than competing services from independent companies.

According to Brodsky's sources, "Connect Kentucky is nothing more than a sales force and front group for AT&T paid for by the telecommunications industry and by state and federal governments that has achieved far more in publicity than it has in actual accomplishment. Connect helps to promote AT&T services, while lobbying at the state capitol for the deregulation legislation the telephone company wants."

Connected Nation has denied these claims.

Brodsky says, "There is no evidence that any of the millions of dollars they have spent of primarily public money has done any good for anyone. Connect talks a good game, but a lot of what they claim just hasn’t materialized."

E-NC has a strong track record, he says. "You’ve got a world-class, homegrown operation down there that has infinitely more knowledge and expertise than any other state organization." By contrast, he says Connected Nation is "sort of like a franchise—the Applebee’s of telecom policy."

Folks, if you are concerned about Big Telco coming to NC to try to tell us how to improve broadband access--when we already have a proven team of local experts in place--then call your NC Representative today.

Charter Communications: Worth 9 Cents?

As goblueridge.net breathlessly reports on whether or not Charter Communications will carry WCNC on Charter's local High Country cable monopoly, we would argue that the folks at Aisling have missed something else which is much more important--and perhaps a little more worthy of getting wrapped around the axle about.

Reports are beginning to surface about the possible bankruptcy of Charter. From the St. Louis Business Journal, via the Sacramento Business Journal:

The likelihood of financial distress at Charter Communications Inc. in the next year has increased from 20 percent to 75 percent, a Citigroup analyst said.

Citi analyst David Hamburger also downgraded Charter from buy to sell and reduced the price target from $1 to 5 cents.

...

Charter, headed by chief executive officer Neil Smit, has never made a profit since it went public in 1999, mainly because of its $24 billion debt, and has seen its stock price plummet.

Its stock dropped to its 52-week low Monday to 9 cents a share.

...

So, the whole media consolidation thingy is going pretty well then--yes?

Is it not just a little ironic that the local consolidated radio empire (which is operating in receivership, mind you) missed the real story about the local cable monopoly possibly going belly-up too?

Never too late for irony.

Ore Knob Mine Dam: Ashe County Disaster In The Making

Let's face it. When news happens in Appalachia, the mainstream corporate media rarely covers it. Especially when that news has something to do with something that may interfere with the latest efforts by big coal to greenwash the environmental impacts of coal mining. Don't want to miss out on all that advertising revenue, now do we?

See, over in Tennessee there was this huge environmental disaster that happened the other day. And its impact may be even bigger than that little thing called the Exxon Valdez spill.
As for coverage from the mainstream corporate media? MIA, baby.

From Free Speech Radio News:

About 40 miles west of Knoxville, Tennessee, millions of gallons of ashy sludge have broken through a dike at a coal-fired power plant, flooding homes, burying roads, and threatening rivers and drinking water.
...
The holding pond contained about 70 acres of fly ash – that's the residue left over from burning coal. It often has elevated levels of toxic metals. And according to the EPA, the spill has released about 525 million gallons of the sludge – that's nearly 50 times the size of the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Full audio here.

And yet there is a local angle here. Linda Burchette, a reporter for the Jefferson Post, authored two stories in November 2008 about the Ore Knob Mine dam in Ashe County. Seems that the Ore Knob Mine dam might just be in danger of, well, failing:

Potential failure of the dam at Ore Knob Mine in Laurel Springs has brought action from representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency.

...

An eminent risk of dam failure was determined due to a potentially collapsed or blocked drainage pipe within the dam.

...

The meeting at Peak Creek Community Center last Thursday attracted about a dozen local residents to hear an update from Terrence Byrd, on-scene coordinator, and Sherryl Carbonaro, community involvement coordinator. Also present was Brian Malone, contractor.

Byrd told those present that the EPA officials on site are an emergency response team there to deal with potential failure of the dam, which is 70 feet high and 700 feet wide. He also brought results for those who had not yet received them of water samples from their drinking water supplies. He noted that there had not been any finding of primary contaminants in the wells tested that would make water unsafe to drink.

The tailings, however, have been found to have high concentrations of numerous metals, including copper, zinc, iron, arsenic and mercury. This area is about 20 acres. The dam protecting water below the tailings area from contamination is eroding, and tailings have “slumped” over partially blocking the 24-inch pipe that directs water from Ore Knob Branch underneath the tailings into a sediment pond. That pond is full and cannot contain sediment from continuing down Ore Knob Branch. Seepage from the dam has high concentrations of aluminum, copper, iron, manganese, silver, zinc and sulfate.

...

What the EPA found recently is that severe erosion of the dam could expose mine tailings that could create hazardous substances in the surface water and sediment throughout Ore Knob Branch (1.5 miles) and Little Peak Creek (2.25 miles). The agency notes that the entire length of Ore Knob Branch, as well as a three mile section of Peak Creek to the South Fork of the New River is sterile, and the ecological impacts can be seen to within eight miles of the border with Virginia.

First of all, kudos to Ms. Burchette for covering the news and writing two solid stories about this potential disaster in the making.

Readers of these stories had to do a little bit of digging (no pun intended) to find the lede, which we would argue was contained in the sentence "An eminent [did she mean "imminent"??] risk of dam failure was determined due to a potentially collapsed or blocked drainage pipe within the dam."

Right in our own backyard, folks. Concerned? Let's have a look at that Tennessee disaster again, shall we?

Weekend Video Salon: Faux Liberal

Ooooohhhhh, we can't wait to audition to be the new Hannity! sidekick. See how Faux News would go about making sure Colmes' replacement is just as gutless as Colmes himself was:

Don't Relent

From Free Press:

Tell Obama: Put the Public Interest First

President-elect Barack Obama will soon pick a new FCC chief and White House Chief Technology Officer -- among many other key jobs. Take a stand with members of Pearl Jam, R.E.M., and organizations like SEIU, NOW, DailyKos, the Hip Hop Caucus and hundreds more. Sign our letter urging Obama to appoint leaders who will reform media and protect Internet freedom (view pdf).

Sign the letter here.

Wither The Meritocracy

It not just that dynasties are bad for hairstyles.

Dynasties are bad for democracies. too.

We're talking about the whole range of dynastization here--not just wealthy political families (think Caroline Kennedy) or rich business elites. We're talking about mainstream corporate media elites, too--think about Luke Russert, who got hired by NBC News when his father (Tim) died. And Chris Wallace of Fox News--son of Mike Wallace? Yikes.

Glenn Greenwald got us thinking about all of these issues:

Bill Clinton yesterday was forced to deny speculation that he would be appointed to replace his wife in the U.S. Senate. Leading candidates for that seat still include John F. Kennedy's daughter (Caroline), Robert Kennedy's son (RFK, Jr.), and Mario Cuomo's son (Andrew). In Illinois, a leading contender to replace Barack Obama in the Senate is Jesse Jackson's son (Jesse, Jr.).
...
The Senate alone -- to say nothing of the House -- is literally filled with people whose fathers or other close relatives previously held their seat or similar high office (those links identify at least 15 current U.S. Senators -- 15 -- with immediate family members who previously occupied high elected office).
...
Virtually the entire neoconservative "intelligentsia" (using that term as loosely as it can possibly be used) is one big paean to nepotistic succession -- the Kristols, the Kagans, the Podhoretzes, Lucinanne Goldberg and her boy. Upon Tim Russert's death, NBC News excitedly hired his son, Luke. Mike Wallace's son hosts Fox's Sunday show. The most influential political opinion space in the country, The New York Times Op-Ed page, is, like the Times itself, teeming with family successions and connections. Inter-marriages between and among media stars and political figures -- and lobbyists, operatives and powerful political officials -- are now more common than arranged royal marriages were among 16th Century European monarchs.
...

Now, help us out here. Didn't some people decide to get on some ships and leave merry old England awhile ago--was it something to do with monarchy and nepotism, maybe?

Really, how does democracy benefit from the creation of this nepotist class--where wealth, social mobility, information, and politics are all locked away in a hermetically sealed world?

A world to which we will never be given the keys?

We Won't Do It Live, Anymore

Oh, Bill-o. We will miss you so-o.

Bill O'Reilly's radio show has been canceled. Although he is not carried on any High Country radio stations per se, he is carried on on the semi-local WJRI in Lenior, and some other station in Abingdon, VA. Perhaps some of Bill-o's High Country fans have been tuning in to these stations to get their daily dose of hate? Alas, no more.

You may recognize WJRI...it is a part of Foothills Radio Group, which in turn may wind up partnering with Curtis Media Group to purchase Aisling Broadcasting. Allegedly.

Maybe we should add a flowchart, or something.

Well, anyway...what will these stations do without their beloved Bill-o? Replace him with some 3rd or 4th string right-winger? Fill his old slot with a progressive show? Dobson?

The cancellation of O'Reilly's show means one thing for sure: that right-wing hate radio is doing just fine, thank you very much. Doing just fine. Things have not changed a bit in this country. Failure=Success.

In case you find yourself missing him already, we have a little something for you:



The Dance Version:



'Cause it's all about the children:

Weekend Video Salon: He Called It

Did you swallow their propaganda?

Somehow, it became common wisdom in the corporate media that to question the state of the economy was tantamount to being unpatriotic. So, who dared to speak truth to power? Who dared to point out that over-the-top deregulation would lead exactly to where we are as a nation today? Who risked their reputation to call things the right way?

He did:

Weekend Video Salon

Those darn bloggers sitting around in their jammies! Enough questioning already:

Radiologic: WXIT 1200 AM

Aisling Broadcasting's WXIT 1200 AM is a 10,000 watt, daytimer station. WXIT's transmitter is located in Blowing Rock. As indicated by the station's coverage map at left, WXIT's main coverage area is Watauga County. Given the High Country's topography, it's pretty hard to pick up WXIT anywhere else.

So, WXIT is a station that provides solid radio coverage to the Watauga County market: Boone, ASU, Blowing Rock, Meat Camp, Aho, Zionville.

WXIT's syndicated talk programming consists of a stable of all right-wing shows. Folks like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Neal Boortz. Not a single opposing viewpoint in the house. Zilch. Zippo. Nada.

Here's the question: Did you happen to catch the election results for Watauga County? You know, one of the three blue counties in western NC? The county that went blue by a margin of 52 to 47 percent? Yes, THAT ONE.
We're thinking that this interesting fact might just pose a bit of a conundrum to the programming folks at Aisling. Why does Aisling insist on broadcasting talk shows that skew hard right, when the demographics simply ARE NOT THERE?
Well, maybe the new CEO at the out of town media borg which seems ready to absorb Aisling will change things. Ya think? After all--he runs his radio empire like it's 1977--but more on that later.

ASU Makes E&P: Racism

Kudos to The Appalachian, and Anne Baker for covering an important story. No one benefits when things like this are swept under the rug--or chalked up to "youthful indiscretion":

The differences between “free speech” and “hate speech” have been questioned after several recent incidents occurred on Appalachian State University’s campus.

The incidents were prompted by the outcome of the Nov. 4 presidential election where Barack Obama was elected as the nation’s 44th president.

“What [the university does not have] a handle on is, [are the events] widespread, [are they] isolated and how many of our students are affected,” Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Development Dino DiBernardi said. “It’s really just a matter of trying to figure it all out."

With any election, some people will naturally be disappointed in the outcome.

However, it has come to the attention of the administration the “disappointment” has been expressed numerous times through the harassment of black students in residence halls and casual attitudes regarding assassination attempts against Obama.

Vice Chancellor for Student Development Cindy A. Wallace said several students encountered threatening conversations or “racially charged, horrible statements” in the residence halls after celebrating Obama’s victory.

The conversations also included a statement suggesting Obama may not be alive in 2009, Wallace said.

At least one t-shirt has been seen around Appalachian’s campus with the phrase, “Obama ’08, Biden ’09” displayed on it.

...

Appalachian students attempted to combat racism with an event yesterday.

Paul V. Ford, criminal justice and criminology graduate student, hosted “Unite Against Racism” on Sanford Mall as a project for a sociology class.

Attendees brought pictures, CDs, articles and other objects symbolizing racism to the area and “buried” them in a time capsule.

The capsule will be stored in Belk Library & Information Commons’ archives for 20 years, where it will then be opened by future students so they can see how racism has changed in the country.

And looky here...some international attention to the story from today's Editor and Publisher:

At Appalachian State University, the administration has expressed disappointment at the numerous times black students have expressed being harassed in residence halls since the election. The Appalachian, a student newspaper serving the university, also reported conversations suggesting Obama may not be alive in 2009 and a t-shirt seen around campus that reads “Obama ‘08, Biden ‘09.”

Is this unwarranted attention? By no means. Calling for the assassination of the president-elect is inexcusable. What this should be is a clarion call to the university administration that:

1) There exists a big opportunity to educate students about the importance of diversity and tolerance.

2) Some questions need to be asked about the quality of the education incoming students are receiving--regardless of their GPA.

3) This this is no time to sweep another controversy under the rug. The administration had better get ahead of this issue NOW--and not just in terms of public relations (spin). ASU can only rely on a winning football team for so long in order to generate good press.

Update: We have yet to see reports of these incidents on Aisling Broadcasting's goblueridge.net or on the Watauga Democrat's website. Why?

Here--Try This Pod

One of the main reasons our organization came into being was because we felt the High Country's highly-consolidated media landscape was failing to address local concerns--as well as failing to include diverse opinions, both in print and broadcast media.

And unfortunately, this consolidation is most likely going to continue--at least on the local level--as Aisling Broadcasting appears to be on the cusp of being absorbed by an out-of-town media Borg.

But on the federal level, change of a different sort is afoot. Yes, the FCC transition team has been named:

Two academics — Susan Crawford and Kevin Werbach — will lead the Obama FCC transition team with the responsibility of advising the incoming administration on policy, budget and personnel matters, the Obama-Biden office announced today.

Crawford is a professor of law at the University of Michigan, teaching communications law and Internet law. She was a partner with Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering (now WilmerHale) until the end of 2002, when she left to become a legal academic. Crawford recently ended her term as a member of the board of directors of ICANN.

Werbach is an assistant professor of legal studies and business ethics at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and the organizer of the annual Supernova technology conference. His research explores the legal and business dynamics of information and communications technologies. During the Clinton administration, he served as counsel for new technology policy at the FCC.

"The teams will begin their efforts today, and will ensure that senior appointees have the information necessary to complete the confirmation process, lead their departments, and begin implementing signature policy initiatives immediately after they are sworn in," the Obama transition office said.

...

So, we shall see. Now that the elections are over, we plan to take a more detailed look at the Borg that wants to absorb Aisling. Might be kinda fun.

Full article here.

Weekend Video Salon: Need Some Space?

We live in a very rural area. The issue of White Spaces is really important to us:

...

"Our first object should therefore be, to leave open ... all the avenues to truth," Jefferson explained. "The most effectual hitherto found, is the freedom of the press."

Jefferson's call to "open all the avenues" still resonates in the age of the Internet. The avenues we need most desperately today are those that have been shuttered by a controlling class of lobbyists, who tirelessly ply the corridors of Washington, D.C., to keep the media in the hands of a few.

...

For more information, click here.

The Future

Just Breathe

Breathe

Vigilance

Democracy requires it:

If you spot anything while voting or helping out that seems out of
place--anything--report it. The campaign and voter protection organizations
can't help remedy problems unless there's a record of it, so do not hesitate
to report an issue, no matter how minor you think it may be.

Obama Voter Protection:
Call 1-877-US-4-OBAMA (1-877-874-6226) and let them know
what problems you're seeing. If you can't get through, use this online form
and/or call your local campaign HQ.

You can also call Election Protection, a nonpartisan organization:
For immediate assistance, call the 866-OUR-VOTE hotline.
To report problems to Election Protection’s state teams through Twitter, use these guidelines.
Track incident reports received through the hotline at OurVoteLive.org
Keep an eye on voting issues as they are reported at the OurVoteLive Blog
Follow breaking voting news and issues at the 866OurVote Twitter account

The Goo-Goo Syndrome

Now here's a religious radical who tells it like it is. At least he's honest about why heavy voter turnout is bad for him--and his fellow radicals:

Paul Weyrich, father of the right-wing movement and co-founder of the Heritage Foundation, Moral Majority and various other groups tells his flock that he doesn't want people to vote...
...
Weyrich: "Now many of our Christians have what I call the goo-goo syndrome -- good government. They want everybody to vote. I don't want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people, they never have been from the beginning of our country and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.

Audio here. Full post here.

Election Night Coverage

Planning on listening or watching as the election results roll in? Tired of the same old talking heads? Allow us to suggest a few alternative sources for election night coverage:

1) Democracy Now!

Democracy Now! will be doing a special five-hour broadcast on November 4th from 07:00PM–12:00AM ET to bring you the 2008 election results as they come in.

The program will include live coverage of the results as the polls close, on-the-ground reports from across the country, reactions from across the globe, and running in-depth analysis and commentary from a wide range of guests you won’t get anywhere else.

On November 5th, the morning after, Democracy Now! expands to a two-hour broadcast from 08:00AM–10:00AM ET to provide complete coverage of the election outcome.

2) Air America

3) Maron vs. Seder (for a more humorous approach)

4) NovaM Radio Network

On Election Night, Brad Friedman of The BRAD BLOG will be anchoring Nova M Radio's coverage from 3:00 p.m. to at least Midnight (and possibly later), PST. That coverage will be not of the horserace, but of the track conditions, with stories of disenfranchisement, voter suppression, long lines, last minute legal rulings, any challenges that arise, etc. The networks and cable won't give any attention to these issues, but you know we will! We'll have up-to-the-minute information and a number of live guests. (from velvetrevolution.us).

If it's flashy graphics you crave, then why not just tune in to some election night TV program, put the TV on mute, and crank one of the above programs up?

Weekend Video Salon: Cost Of Recovery

Locals know best. Watch as the residents of Wasilla, Alaska (both Democrats and Republicans) talk about Sarah Palin's role in deciding that victims of rape should be charged the cost of a rape kit:

Weekend Video Salon: How She Was Chosen

Funky John:

Lenoir, Google & Proposition 8

As you head down U.S. 321 toward Caldwell County from Blowing Rock, you see a sign on the right side of the road that says, "Welcome To Caldwell County. Where Progress Meets Tradition."

Which got us to thinking. Caldwell is actually a pretty conservative place. Bush defeated Kerry in 2004 by a 68 percent to 32 percent margin there. OK, no problem.

Google opened a data center not too terribly long ago in Lenoir. You probably knew that. But did you know about Google's official position regarding Proposition 8? Yes, California's Proposition 8, which conservatives have been working overtime to defeat? It's all about allowing GAY MARRIAGE!

So, what is Google's official position? Check this out:

...we do not generally take a position on issues outside of our field, especially not social issues. So when Proposition 8 appeared on the California ballot, it was an unlikely question for Google to take an official company position on.

However, while there are many objections to this proposition -- further government encroachment on personal lives, ambiguously written text -- it is the chilling and discriminatory effect of the proposition on many of our employees that brings Google to publicly oppose Proposition 8. While we respect the strongly-held beliefs that people have on both sides of this argument, we see this fundamentally as an issue of equality. We hope that California voters will vote no on Proposition 8 -- we should not eliminate anyone's fundamental rights, whatever their sexuality, to marry the person they love.

Posted by Sergey Brin, Co-founder & President, Technology.

How many staunch "family-values" types will now quit their jobs in Lenoir out of sheer dedication to their constant quest to live their "values"?

Just wonderin'.

Cluster Received?

Aisling Broadcasting's website, goblueridge.net has a post up which says that Aisling may have found a buyer for their six-station "cluster"(gosh, that word just seems to stick out, doesn't it?). Aisling Broadcasting is currently operating in receivership.

Curtis Media Group--the possible buyer--says that it is comprised of 19 stations in North Carolina, several around the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area. Foothills Media of Lenoir would partner with Curtis on the deal, should it come to fruition.

Are you hoping that maybe Aisling may change their lineup if the purchase of the "cluster" goes through? You know--to serve the obvious and growing progressive Boone-area radio market? Well...

A quick perusal of some of the syndicated talk programming carried on the current Curtis stations doesn't really offer much hope. There's plenty of Rush, plenty of Savage, Hannity---the standard hard right fare.

Come on guys. How about some Stephanie Miller?

Click here for a bio of Phil Zachary, CEO of Curtis Media Group (from radioandrecords.com).

Weekend Video Salon: Waasup Guys!

Weekend Voting Tips

When you go to vote--if you encounter problems--take action. From The Brad Blog:

Yesterday, VelvetRevolution.us' election integrity expert Emily Levy suggested that when this problem occurs, voters should first tell officials, and ask them to remove the machine from service.

Then...Alert everyone else in line waiting to vote which machine caused the problem, and warn everyone else not to use it!

These are among the steps she recommends, with which I strongly concur:

• Call poll supervisors to observe the problem
• Fill out a problem report
• Refuse to vote on that machine
• Request that the machine be taken out of service
• Get a serial number of the machine if possible (may be unlikely in many cases)
• Tell other voters not to vote on that machine
• Call county/town election office
• Call local reporters
• Call voter problem hotlines (eg. 866-MYVOTE1 and 866-OUR-VOTE)
• Contact bloggers and Election Integrity websites.
• Raise holy hell.

[Disclosure: The BRAD BLOG is a co-founder of VR.]

Also, before you go to vote, bring a video camera (a cell phone video camera will do), to document the vote-flipping when you vote, and then upload it to VideoTheVote.org and YouTube, etc.!

Video Your Vote

Republican efforts to silence the vote continue unabated across the country. They are trying to gum up the works by filing frivolous lawsuit after frivolous lawsuit.

One problem with this methodology: Judges keep throwing out their lawsuits, or ruling against them. The latest:

GOP: James Taylor concert equaled vote buying

Republicans will take case to Board of Elections Friday

ASHEVILLE – A recent concert given here by music icon James Taylor in support of Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign amounted to vote-buying, Republican officials are saying.

GOP officials plan to bring their case to the Buncombe County Board of Elections Friday.

...

Madison - A Dane County judge dismissed Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen's lawsuit against the state's elections board, saying Van Hollen had not shown that any state or federal laws had been violated.

The ruling comes just 12 days before voters will cast ballots for president.

Van Hollen sued the Government Accountability Board on Sept. 10, arguing the law requires the board to check registration information for more voters against driver's license or Social Security records.

But Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi ruled this morning that Van Hollen had not shown any laws had been violated.
...

Time for Plan B: Steal the vote...

More voting problems reported

Martinsburg man says machine switched Democratic vote to Republican 5 times

...

Roger Belozier, a veteran and retired postal worker from Berkeley County, experienced problems with electronic voting machines when he went to vote early in the Martinsburg courthouse.

"I reviewed my vote to make sure it was a straight Democratic ticket. But it switched my vote to Republican candidates five different times. I was able to cancel out the Republican votes.

"But I am scratching my head. Why did the machine switch my votes five different times? I asked someone to come over and explain it to me," Belozier said on Wednesday.

"I am concerned about a lot of people who might not notice or people who might be intimidated. They have to raise their hands and ask for some help."

...

Folks, bring your video cameras to the voting booth. Record what you encounter.

Going, Going, GREEN!

Hope you didn't blink. We were waiting (and waiting, and waiting, and waiting) for Aisling Broadcasting to roll out their Go Green! page on goblueridge.net---and THEY DID! For like, 2 days--or something.

We did manage to catch a glimpse, though. And my--was it exciting. Innovative too!

Have a seat, and we'll share these juicy tidbits with ya, dontcha know:

1) There was a big picture of a local electric cooperative on the page. Sponsor? Who knows? Yes, irony, we know.

2) And there were three (count 'em) three links--one link apparently was to the ASU Energy Center, because they seem to be somehow involved with this whole crazy alternative energy thingy.

And that's it. No more. Then the page disappeared.

When a broadcasting company carries syndicated talk programming whose hosts actively try to refute established scientific facts (programming like this, this, and this)--they can't really be expected to take global warming seriously, now can they?

So, here are some helpful tips for our local media monopoly--from radio stations all over the U.S. (even the areas with REAL, PATRIOTIC AMERICANS) which have actually GONE GREEN:

KZMU, Moab, Utah

WJFF, Jeffersonville, New York

WYEP, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

What Voter Fraud Looks Like

The GOP strategist and author of this book did this--and went to prison for it.

And now--funny--look what is happening in Ohio:

Secretary of State Website Temporarily Taken Down for Security Purposes
Ohio State Highway Patrol will assist with investigation

Columbus, Ohio – Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner announced on Monday afternoon that the state website has been set in a static mode with limited functionality as a precaution. The Ohio State Highway Patrol will assist with an investigation of one or more security breaches detected by the Secretary of State.

...

Unfortunately, this is not the first instance of direct assault on the operations of the Secretary of State’s office. In recent weeks, phone lines and e-mail channels have been barraged, even in the business filings section of the office, with menacing messages and even threats of harm or death. Last week, a suspicious package covered with threatening messages and containing an unidentified powder was mailed to the Secretary of State’s office via the previous location of the Client Services Center. These incidents are also under investigation.

...

There are a lot more electoral votes in Ohio than there are in teeny weenie New Hampshire. Ken Blackwell and all the mega-churches in Ohio must be brimming with pride.

Posse Update

Both the Army Times and Democracy Now! have reported on it, and we've mentioned it in a previous post, but now it seems that the Army's domestic (here in the U.S.) deployment of the 3rd Infantry Division 1st Brigade Combat Team for domestic duty seems to be garnering a little more attention.

As it should. From rawstory.com:

Following reports that US troops will be permanently on call to work inside the United States handling "civil unrest," "crowd control" and other functions traditionally carried out by civilian law enforcement agencies, activists are demanding to know why the Pentagon is reversing a longstanding prohibition on domestic deployment of the military.
...
The American Civil Liberties Union is demanding more details on the domestic deployments, which appear to violate the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits use of the military to direct internal affairs of the US.
...
“This is a radical departure from separation of civilian law enforcement and military authority, and could, quite possibly, represent a violation of law,” former FBI Agent Mike German, an ACLU national security policy counsel, said in a news release.
...
While future generations recognized the need for a strong military to defend against increasingly capable foreign threats, they also passed statutory protections to ensure that the Army could not be turned against the American people. The erosion of these protections should concern every American.”
...

Will Bush go back to clearing brush at the end of his term? Or will he leave a mark?

Here's the ACLU's Freedom of Information request.

Rawstory article here.

More On MTN

Do you ever watch MTN? They offer some local programming, mostly local news and things like chamber of commerce "shows", and spots about local arts council activities, humane society pet adoptions, ASU sports coverage, infotainment.

Since we first reported on the difficulties facing Class A low-power television stations (LPTV)--the class to which MTN belongs--several months ago, we have not come across much else regarding the hurdles facing LPTV stations in the age of digital TV.

Indeed, the transition to digital TV could spell trouble for MTN. Now, it looks like the FCC has chosen to ignore those troubles:

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin expressed frustration Wednesday that the other four commissioners rejected his plan to make rules that could have provided Class A stations a clear path to full-power status.

The commission struck the item from its Wednesday (Oct. 15) meeting at about 4 p.m. Tuesday when Martin realized he did not have the votes to pass it. He said other commissioners supported a lesser measure—a notice of inquiry—that would have removed the potential for mandatory cable carriage for Low-Power stations.

"This provided nothing for Low-Power," Martin told reporters.
...
The plan would have enabled some Class A stations to apply for full-power status, under which they would then qualify for cable must-carry rights.
...
Representatives of Class A and Low-Power stations were angry at being strung along; many flew to the meeting in Nashville, Tenn., before learning the item was removed. Three commissioners maintained a quorum to proceed with an event on childhood obesity that was all that remained of the panel's mandatory monthly meeting.
...
The snub was the latest setback for LPTV, which faces potential loss of over-the-air viewers who fail to receive the analog stations with new DTV converter boxes.

Wonder if anyone from MTN made the trip to Nashville?

Full article here. MTN here.

Feeling Forgetful?

Having a little trouble remembering? Not sure who to vote for? This interactive time line should help...just click on the arrows on the left and right sides underneath the time line below...they are kinda hard to see:

Weekend Video Salon: She Could Have Done So Much

Aw, NUTS!

Charlie Crist, the Republican governor of Florida, seems to think that the GOP is blowing the whole voter fraud thing way out of proportion. From the Miami Herald:

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida's governor says his fellow Republicans may be exaggerating claims of voter fraud in the state.
...
The Republican National Committee and GOP presidential candidate John McCain have accused an activist group of fraudulently registering people in Florida and other states. It has focused on young people, minorities and others seen as more likely to support Democrat Barack Obama.

That activist group's name? A-C-O-R-N.

Full article here.

McCain Robocalling NC

Danger, Will Robinson--from TPM Election Central:

The McCain campaign and the RNC are pumping new robocalls into North Carolina that question Barack Obama's patriotism by charging that he and his fellow Dems put "Hollywood above America," another sign that Republicans are seriously worried about losing the traditionally red state to Obama.
...
A second round of robocalls, also from McCain and the RNC, hits Obama as a tax-hiker, and stops just short of criticizing the big bailout package that McCain has repeatedly taken credit for helping get passed. Both the McCain campaign and the RNC declined to comment
...

Listen to the McCain Robocall here.

The Lone Man?

And so the beat goes on. In Scranton, PA today another Palin supporter yelled out "kill him" when the Barack Obama hour of hatred kicked off.

It is truly fascinating to watch these "christians" in action. How do they reconcile their hateful ideology with the actual teachings of Christ? And Sarah--poor Sarah--how can she profess to be a "christian" while allowing the shocking behavior of her followers to continue? This is leadership?

What do these good churchgoers fantasize about during their preachers' sermons? The rapture? Peace on earth? Killing people they don't agree with?

1:25 p.m.

Chris Hackett addressed the increasingly feisty crowd as they await the arrival of Gov. Palin.

Each time the Republican candidate for the seat in the 10th Congressional District mentioned Barack Obama the crowd booed loudly.

One man screamed "kill him!"

Supporters have been noted shouting “kill him,” “terrorist,” “off with his head” and other equally incendiary terms about Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. Others have directly suggested Mr. Obama is a Muslim, which he is not, or a traitor. Some comments even drew rebuke from Republican presidential nominee John McCain.

Other than the lone man, there were no other such outbursts.

Full article.

Southern Poverty Law Center.

'Round The Mountain

We'll be starting a new, semi-regular feature here at the DNHC blog over the next few days. Yes, we shall call it "'Round The Mountain", and it will focus on local newspaper coverage.

How did this idea take root? It really had to do with the stories written in the various local newspapers about the gasoline shortages here in the High Country. Once we came across this headline in the Avery Post (9/17/08), we knew that we just might be on to something:

"Customers Create Gas Crisis"

Then there was this, from the Mitchell News-Journal (9/24/08):

"Economy Affects Local Businesses"

Still another (Wilkes Journal-Patriot, 10/3/08):

"Fears Drive Increase In Gun Permits"

We will discuss each of these articles as a starting point over the next few days, examining the aspects of each article that we believe deserve a wider audience, as well as the context and content (or lack thereof) of each article, and the political implications of local journalism.

Your comments will be welcomed.

Weekend Video Salon: Bumpersticker of Terror

The results of the McCain/Palin hate rallies are already bearing fruit! And to think--right here in North Carolina. Be proud, folks:

Weekend Video Salon: New Business

For those of you with an interest in local government, monthly meeting minutes, and dramatic readings, we give you this:



How's that for executive experience?

Resentment Conservatism

There has not been a whole lot of mainstream corporate media coverage of the increasingly lynch-mob-like behavior of the folks attending the McCain/Palin rallies. At a time of economic crisis and massive job losses it becomes much easier for "leaders" (or wannabe leaders) to stoke the fires of racism, fear, and violence. McCain and Palin know exactly what they are doing--and they are willing to tear at the heart of our nation's fabric to achieve their goal.

It built up over the course of the week, as supporters at the rallies of John McCain and Sarah Palin started randomly screaming "terrorist!" and "off with his head!" and "treason!" and even "kill him!" at the mention of Barack Obama's name.
...

But he's [McCain] a desperate man, watching his decades-long dream slip away, no doubt infuriated that this neophyte who hasn't suffered as he has is running circles around him. That's a shame for him, but McCain's mental state is not the thing to be worried about here. The thing to be worried about is the impact that his campaign - "a national disgrace," wrote Joe Klein of Time magazine - is having on the nation.

He and Palin - "his Sancho Panza", as George Will mockingly wrote in the Washington Post - are deliberately stoking rage that is based on lies that they know to be lies (well, that at least McCain knows to be lies). The normally reserved commentator David Gergen said: "There is this free floating sort of whipping around anger that could really lead to some violence. I think we're not far from that."

We are seeing the dark, Gothic heart of resentment conservatism. It's going to be a disgusting three weeks.

In a state like North Carolina, with large rural and urban African-American populations and a growing Hispanic population, no one needs this sort of purposeful polarization. At what point will McCain/Palin be guilty of yelling "FIRE!" in a crowded movie theater?

Full article here.

Weekend Video Salon: Bunker Man

We really do miss Marc Maron's radio program (called Morning Sedition) but thankfully, he's branched out into other things. Check him out in one of his latest videos--Bunker Man:



Here's the site for Maron vs. Seder, which airs M-F at 3:00 p.m. High Country time.

Get Me The Economic Development Department!

Time to get in the WAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY back machine--all the way back to 2006. October 2006, to be exact.

Back then, there was a certain candidate for Watauga County Commissioner who said that he was against allowing ASU students to vote in local elections. Have a look yourself:



So, student voting in local elections was a bad thing then. But now--up in Virginia--student voting is a good thing! It's a righteous thing! From cnn.com:

...

Given the close nature of the presidential race, Jerry Falwell, Jr., chancellor of Liberty University, recently launched an ambitious effort to register all 10,500 eligible student voters at the fundamental Baptist institution in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Falwell kicked off the voter registration drive September 22, urging students -- including those from out-of-state -- to register locally.

"Liberty students have never been permitted to register locally in the past. The recent change in election law is giving Liberty University the chance to make history," Falwell stated in an e-mail addressed to faculty and staff. "Liberty University's 11,000 students and 4,000 faculty and staff could cause Liberty to become known as the university that elected a president!"

...

Falwell's belief that Liberty could impact the outcome of Virginia's election may seem like wishful thinking, but Virginia's 2006 U.S. Senate race was decided by slightly less than 10,000 votes.

"The majority of Liberty students want McCain to win," Woods said. "If you have a few thousand people voting for one candidate, who weren't [initially] voting in Virginia, it could possibly make a difference."

Ashley Barbera, communications director of the College Republicans National Committee, said college students have the potential to significantly impact the outcome of this election.

...

Regardless of whether Liberty voters affect the outcome of this election, Hernandez said the voter registration drive might just be the beginning of Liberty University's political influence.

"It could be a starting point. Maybe it won't change anything this time, but in the future," she said. "If the school keeps up the initiative, even just one little change is probably going to affect the future."

...

All that former candidate for Watauga County Commissioner needs to do now is somehow convince a branch of Liberty University (or maybe even Regent University!) to set up shop right here in Watauga! So those righteous kids will vote for HIM again and again--on the straight party-line ballot!

Librul

How many times have you heard the all right wing line up of syndicated talkers carried by Aisling Broadcasting in Boone blame the "liberal media" for everything from hurricanes to AIDS to the current economic crisis?

For the folks who really, deeply believe that the mainstream media in this country is liberal--think about this statement:

The mainstream media are only as liberal as their corporate owners.

Example: General Electric owns NBC. When was the last time you saw a negative report about GE on NBC News (or any other network, for that matter)?

With this example in mind, let's take a look at how McCain's proposed tax cuts would benefit the mainstream "liberal media" outlets so derided by the right (see chart above).

And this, from the Center for American Progress:

The multinational corporations that run the mainstream media — GE (NBC), Time Warner (CNN), Walt Disney (ABC), News Corporation (FOX), and Viacom (CBS) — stand to benefit hugely under a McCain presidency. The centerpiece of Sen. McCain’s economic plan — actually, the whole plan — is large tax cuts for corporations. It would deliver $1.44 billion in tax cuts to the five largest media companies, according to an analysis by the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

Explains a lot doesn't it? They're only as liberal as their corporate masters. Who do you think the mainstream "liberal media" are rooting for in this election?

Weekend Video Salon: How Is Knowledge Sexist?

After all the discussion about Sarah Palin, a few simple points need to be made:

1) She is clearly unqualified

2) McSame's selection of her was rash

3) Rashness is not a good quality in a president (have we not had quite enough of that?).

Here is Rachel Sklar of Eat The Press with Marc Maron and Sam Seder talking about Sarah Palin. Enjoy!

Weekend Video Salon: Dance!

It isn't just that watching Sarah on the teevee is like watching a trainwreck happen in slowmotion. Watch as Rachel Maddow (of both Air America Radio and MSNBC) dismantles one of McSame's campaign advisers. At about four minutes and 30 seconds into this video, the real fun starts.

This is the first time that anyone from the McSame campaign has actually agreed to appear on Rachel's show. Next time the McSame camp sends someone to have a talk with Rachel, they may want to choose someone who can actually hang with a Rhodes Scholar (that would be Rachel). Not that being smart is a good thing, or anything like that. We're just sayin'.

Would someone please get the McSame adviser a new pair of tap shoes?

How Firm Thy Friendship: O-HI-O

Who says we don't pay any attention to voting issues in Ohio? After all--it's round on the end and high in the middle! Cue the rim shot. Get it? Anyone?

OK, so here goes. Our favorite investigative reporter, Larisa Alexandrovna, just happens to be a Cleveland State graduate (sorry, Buckeye fans). And much to the chagrin of corporate "investigative" reporters everywhere, she has been doing some investigative reporting:

COLUMBUS -- A high-level Republican consultant has been subpoenaed in a case regarding alleged tampering with the 2004 election.

Michael L. Connell was served with a subpoena in Ohio on Sept. 22 in a case alleging that vote-tampering during the 2004 presidential election resulted in civil rights violations. Connell, president of GovTech Solutions and New Media Communications, is a website designer and IT professional who created a website for Ohio’s secretary of state that presented the results of the 2004 election in real time as they were tabulated.

At the time, Ohio’s Secretary of State, Kenneth J. Blackwell, was also chairman of Bush-Cheney 2004 reelection effort in Ohio.
...
The case took on fresh momentum earlier this year when [attorney] Arnebeck announced in July that he was filing to "lift the stay in the case [and] proceed with targeted discovery in order to help protect the integrity of the 2008 election." The new filing was inspired in part by the coming forward as a whistleblower of GOP IT security expert Stephen Spoonamore, who said he was prepared to testify to the plausibility of electronic vote-rigging having been carried out in 2004.
...
The interest in Mike Connell stems from his association with a firm called GovTech, which he had spun off from his own New Media Communications under his wife Heather Connell’s name. GovTech was hired by Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell to set up an official election website at election.sos.state.oh.us to presented the 2004 presidential returns as they came in.

Connell is a long-time GOP operative, whose New Media Communications provided web services for the Bush-Cheney ’04 campaign, the US Chamber of Commerce, the Republican National Committee and many Republican candidates. This in itself might have raised questions about his involvement in creating Ohio’s official state election website.

Read on, and GO BUCKS!!

Meanies

"Some people say" (which is our favorite pseudo-journalistic phrase) that everyone is being mean to poor Sarah. That they should just lay off her.

Because, you know, an evil leader of another country would never ever be mean to Sarah in a contentious meeting or anything.

But--it looks like Sarah can be a little bit mean herself. To god's little creatures, no less:

Freeze The Vote

Hey, didya catch the most recent edition of Uprising Radio on WATA? They did a whole program on the durn Eskimos of Alaska.

Don't they like wear mukluks or something? Worship nature, or their ancestors, walruses?

One thing is clear: they do not pray to the right god. So Sarah decided to just pretend that they didn't exist.

When Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was announced as John McCain’s Vice Presidential running mate, the campaign was quick to present her political record in the state as one of reform against corruption. Rarely cited, if at all, was what her tenure has meant for issues of concern for Alaska Natives who comprise nearly one-fifth of the state’s population. Despite the echoes of “Drill, Baby Drill,” on the floor of the Republican National Convention, a majority of tribes in Alaska have continued to oppose Palin’s platform for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. As Governor, Palin has also opposed Alaska Native Subsistence rights to hunting, harvesting and fishing by filing an appeal seeking to invalidate such protections granted by the Federal Government. While the Republican Vice Presidential candidate speaks of her campaign’s energy policies for the nation’s future, indigenous communities in Alaska continue to suffer a crisis of rising heating oil and gasoline prices...

Full Uprising program here.

20,000 Leagues Over Her Head

Will she now claim to be the only rightful heiress to the Reagan legacy because of her experience on the teevee?

Yes, we all had to start somewhere, but sometimes the best decision is to simply stay put.

Or maybe just to play in a league that is not out of your depth. Now, for the league update:

Weekend Video Salon: Who Owns Water?

...and how did a handful of corporations steal our water?

Weekend Video Salon: Boner? Bayner?

Be sure to watch the CNN banner at the bottom--and the crawl--as Sam Seder provides this update from the bailout negotiations:

One For The Posse

When you think of the countries around the world that have used military force to suppress their own citizens, which countries come to mind?

China?
Myanmar?
Chile?
Indonesia?

To the list above, you may want to add one more. From armytimes.com:

Beginning Oct. 1 for 12 months, the 1st BCT will be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command, as an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks.
...
They may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive, or CBRNE, attack.
...
The package includes equipment to stand up a hasty road block; spike strips for slowing, stopping or controlling traffic; shields and batons; and, beanbag bullets.
...
“If we go in, we’re going in to help American citizens on American soil, to save lives, provide critical life support, help clear debris, restore normalcy and support whatever local agencies need us to do, so it’s kind of a different role,” said Cloutier, who, as the division operations officer on the last rotation, learned of the homeland mission a few months ago while they were still in Iraq.

We are curious about a few things:
1) Whatever happened to Posse Comitatus?
2) Do you remember Bush's recent order in which he granted enormous powers to himself in the event of an "emergency"?
3) At what point will the looming economic disaster facing this country be declared an "emergency"? Before or after the scheduled November election?

Did you really think--after what Bush has done to this country--that he would simply fade quietly into the sunset?

The following EOs all fall under EO 12919: [8]

• EO 10990: "allows the government to take over all modes of transportation and control of highways and seaports." [9]
• EO 10995: Federal seizure of all communications media in the US.
• EO 10997: Federal seizure of all electric power, fuels, minerals, public and private.
• EO 10998: Federal seizure of all food supplies and resources, public and private and all farms and equipment.
• EO 10999: Federal seizure of all means of transportation, including cars, trucks, or vehicles of any kind and total control over all highways, seaports and water ways.
• EO 11000: Federal seizure of American people for work forces under federal supervision, including the splitting up of families if the government so desires.
• EO 11001: Federal seizure of all health, education and welfare facilities, both public and private.
• EO 11002: Empowers the Postmaster General to register every single person in the US.
• EO 11003: Federal seizure of all airports and aircraft.
• EO 11004: Federal seizure of all housing and finances and authority to establish forced relocation. Authority to designate areas to be abandoned as 'unsafe,' establish new locations for populations, relocate communities, build new housing with public funds.
• EO 11005: Seizure of all railroads, inland waterways and storage facilities, both public and private.
• EO 11051: Provides FEMA complete authorization to put above orders into effect in times of increased international tension o[r] economic or financial crisis (FEMA will be in control incase of 'National Emergency').

• EO 12919 "Apparently Allows Cabinet Heads to Make Direct Loans to Government Contractors." [10]
• Also see Index of Executive Orders, Beginning December 30, 1992, WorldNetDaily website.