Jody's Garage - Old Greggs Eggs

I know the issue of special treatment by celebrities is not new, but one that baffles me is the continued leniency in the treatment of former baseball player Darryl Strawberry, despite his many run-ins with the law. Isn't it about time that he gets what he deserves? In the latest chapter, he was kicked out of a drug-treatment center for repeatedly breaking program rules, including having sex with one of the residents. It seems he had trouble following the strict rules of the treatment center. He claims it's his addictive behavior that is to blame and that he never thought that breaking the rules of the program would get him thrown out! What usually happens when you break rules (laws)? You get punished! I guess he never learned that one growing up. The reason he was in the drug-treatment center in the first place was to avoid going to prison for violating his probation. Hell, he's violated his probation five times already! The average black man (not that race is an issue here) would have been put in jail, served the full sentence, and have been released in the time it's taken the courts to realize that Darryl needs some time behind bars to straighten him out.

A while ago, I was attending a class and we were asked to write an essay with the theme “how drugs/alcohol have affected my life”. Here’s my take on it.

I would have to say that drug laws have affected my life (and a few other people’s lives as well) more than drugs and/or alcohol themselves. America’s drug war has gone from civil penalties, to almost hysterical criminal penalties aimed at stopping drug use. Sure drugs are harmful if they are abused. Some drugs should be illegal. There are drugs that are legal that perhaps should not be, like alcohol and cigarettes. The reason they are not is pure and simple, although the motive behind the reasoning is not – control and greed. Let’s take a look at cigarettes, for instance. Everyone from the President on down vilifies the use of tobacco, yet permits litigation against the Tobacco Industry to recoup monetary compensation for people who suffer health problems from a voluntary, willful act that has been proven to cause health risks. They even forced to put a warning on the pack, for Christ’s sake!

Now, let’s take a look at alcohol. There is overwhelming evidence of the devastating affect that alcohol has on people’s lives. Yet, instead of being illegal, it is regulated and taxed by the government. So, in order to curb its use, the government comes up with more and more outlandish schemes. First, they raised the minimum drinking age from 18 to 19, then to 21. This creates criminals out of people engaging in an activity, which, until a few years ago, was legal. Next, the government keeps lowering the legal blood alcohol limit in hopes of curbing alcohol-related deaths. It’s not the “average Joe” who stops off for a couple beers after work that kills someone on the way home. The real problem is the habitual drunk driver. The habitual offender will flaunt the law, driving whether or not he has a license, and his blood alcohol level far exceeds any legal limit. These people are the real problem, and lowering the limits won’t solve the problem. Then to top it off, the government decides to skirt the constitutional rights of its citizens, by allowing roadblocks and random searches. If it’s such a horrible plague on society, why not make it illegal? The same reason as cigarettes – controlling people’s behavior while making a profit.

No, it’s not the drugs that are the problem, it’s the legislation aimed at curbing civil liberties that’s the real problem. Mandatory Minimum Sentencing creates criminals out of otherwise law-abiding citizens. Let’s take a look at a so-called “victimless” crime, like smoking marijuana. A minor misdemeanor violation like simple possession of marijuana leaves an indelible mark on an individual’s record. which in turn, creates a stigma that prevents an individual from achieving gainful employment in the safe, secure world of the Drug-Free workplace. However, once the government figures out a way to regulate marijuana, like tobacco and alcohol, they will legalize or decriminalize it, and then take their share of the profits (i.e. Taxes).

The power of the government is a power that must be kept in check. Our civil liberties are being steadily eroded in the name of The War on Drugs. Unless people wake up to see the real motivation behind drug laws – a thinly veiled attempt to control people and take their money, our freedom will be a big loser in this war.

The latest casualty in the state's budget crisis could be public safety. Because of prison overcrowding, some criminals are placed under electronic house arrest. But because of state budget cuts, this program may be eliminated.

Apparently Mike Easley would rather put criminals back on the street without monitoring them than cut his education budget. I think the reason is a simple one - teachers vote and criminals do not.

Jody's Comment: Amen, Gregg. I'll take it one step further and say that I think that Mike Easley is responsible for much of this "budget crisis" due to his lack of action as an Attorney General. Now, he is playing it up so he can convince everyone that his precious lottery will save the day.

Gregg responds:
I think you owe the Hispanic people an immediate apology.
Is your statement "...or just a statue of the Virgin Mother on
the dash" not racist and inflammatory? Just think if someone
of the conservative ilk had said something like that. There
would be calls for their resignation - something you should
consider.

Gregg Vulinec

Well, Governor Weasely's done it again. He's asking the General Assembly to take up the lottery issue. And again he's planning to use lottery revenues in his recommended budget. Come again? That's like you or me hoping we'll win a lottery to pay for our daily household expenses. Apparently, like most Democrat politicians, he doesn't realize that the budget "crisis" is not a revenue problem, but a result of overspending. In the past the lottery has been pitched as a way to fund education programs. Not existing programs, mind you, but new ones. Now it's being touted as the answer to the budget shortfall. Even if it were enacted today, it would do little to help the present situation. It's my guess that it would create another government bureaucratic money pit.

If we can believe Jim Black, the legislature can redraw
the new House and Senate lines according to the court ruling in three weeks.
So how come it took them so long to do it last year? Think of all
the taxpayer money that was wasted while they stretched the
legislative session into the longest one on record, knowing full well
that the plan they came up with was unconstitutional. And these are
the people we want making decisions that will impact the future quality of
life for ourselves and our children? It's obvious that they are more concerned
with their own re-election than for the betterment of the common good.
Come on, people. Wake Up! It's time for us to do our constitutional duty
and vote these self-serving politicians out.

There is an article in today's paper about how Wake County students will not reach the goal of having 95 percent of third and eighth grade students passing end-of-grade tests by 2003. So the school system failed. Yet here is Bill McNeal - a man who failed to get a Phd, so the Education leaders decided to remove a requirement that had been in place for years (dumbing down from the top), so he could get the job - saying they will not meet the goal unless there is a major infusion of money (the 11.3 million requested just isn't enough). What happened to the money we gave him to meet the goal? AND why doesn't someone come out and ask him just how much money it WILL take? The answer, sadly, is never enough. Until there is some kind of accountability - if you don't meet the goals you've set, you're fired - setting goals, albeit a laudable endeavor, amounts to nothing more than verbal masturbation.

But the real kicker is that he says even though we failed we should feel proud about it. Typical liberal feel good bullshit - results don't matter. It's the thought that counts. And if things don't start to change, our children will be unable to do either - think or count.

There was a story on the news the other night about how the legislative budget committee want to cut $343 million from the Health and Human Services Department to help balance the budget. So a group of so-called "health care advocates" paraded the usual suspects - society's wretched refuse - in front of the legislative budget writers. Okay, so the term, "wretched refuse", on the surface may seem heartless and cruel. Sorry for my insensitivity. But I'm not the one using my fellow suffering human beings as mere props in the realm of political theater, just to solicit sympathy for my cause.

All of these "advocates" made their pitch to save their programs by using other people's money (raising taxes) to fund their programs. A woman from a group called Family Voices wants to start a "first-in-the-nation" medical day care for sick children. What a great idea! But why do the taxpayers have to fund it? There are lots of privately run day care facilities in the state. Why not go to a bank and get some financing and turn it into a profitable business? Here's another idea. How about consolidating some of these groups, like Family Voices, Child Fatality Task Force, and Covenant with Children, into one organization? Wouldn't that reduce some of the overhead and lower the cost? But we all know that's not the real issue here, don't we? These people have bought into the idea that the government is the savior of the downtrodden. And that the "winner's of life's lottery", to quote a phrase, should foot the bill.

This is a quote from the N&O today. Pretty violent words
from a tree hugging liberal.

Earlier Wednesday, Easley pledged to "veto, shoot, burn and beat" any General
Assembly spending plan that does not include a state lottery, a tax increase or
some other source of cash to protect public schools, community colleges and
universities.

I think this man is delusional. He's got 250 million in revenue
from a lottery doesn't even exist. That's not fiscal fitness.
That's mental illness.

Charles Meeker's premise that higher-income residents produce more trash than lower-income residents is as flawed as the premise that bigger homes produce more stormwater runoff than smaller homes. Lower income families tend to have larger families. Census data will bear this out. And a larger family, no matter what their income, would produce more trash than a smaller one. Also, more affluent families tend to eat out more often, resulting in less garbage at home. Along the same lines, the layout of a house would have more bearing on the stormwater runoff than the size. A single-level ranch style house would tend to have more roof surface area than a comparable multi-level house and therefore, in theory, produce more runoff.

But let's get to the real issue here. These proposed "fees" are nothing more than a way to generate income to fund the mayor's pet projects, like the light rail system (itself a flawed idea), without raising taxes. These, like most liberal ideas, operate on the premise that in order to create "fairness" in an unfair world, the "haves" must foot the bill for the "have-nots".

Regarding the May 8 People's Forum letter about the state budget headlined "It's the outgo":

As a former business owner I know from experience that you cannot cut your way to profitability. At some point you have to increase revenue. The state's budget problems will be brought in line through a combination of cuts as well as a tax increase.

In response to the May 28 People's Forum letter "Revenue too":
I notice that Mr. Hagen regards himself as a "former business
owner". Perhaps the reason he no longer has a business is that
he ran his as efficiently as the State does theirs. A business
cannot simply increase it's profitability by raising it's prices.
It can only charge what the the market will bear. It's simple
economics. Also, a smart businessman will not waste revenue
on needless expenses, because this will cut into his profit margin.
However, looking at the bigger picture, the government' s purpose
is to protect the rights of it's citizens, not to produce a profit.

The General Assembly is considering an increase in the beer tax to raise revenue to help balance the budget. This would spare us from cuts in health care and education programs. A North Carolina-based web site called Pennies Count points out that the tax hike would lead to fewer accidents, less crime and less underage drinking. Mere speculation. They also pointed out that die-hard beer drinkers would buy beer no matter what the price is. Same tired argument that people use about cigarettes.

I have a different take on this. How about leaving the price alone. We could drop the drinking age back down to 18, as it used to be. This would create a larger pool of potential revenue. We could also encourage people to drink more. This would offset the revenue lost by not imposing the tax. We could raise the BAC back to a reasonable level, so ordinary citizens could have access to the alcohol, without the fear of getting a DUI. And while we're at it, let's get rid of those pesky road blocks, too. This would not necessarily produce more revenue for the State, but getting rid of road blocks would give us back some of our constitutional rights. Which is an important thing, also.

But if you do happen to get pulled after having a few too many, you could always use the excuse that you're just doing your part in helping to balance the budget. Cheers.

Well, Governor Easley has signed the so-called "Clean Smokestacks Act" into law. According to him, the law will "dramatically reduce air pollution in North Carolina without increasing rates for customers". Sounds great doesn't it? Well it turns out that without the rate freeze, the utilities faced a rate reduction after recouping costs associated with nuclear plant construction. Which, in turn, were passed on to customers. So the rates were going to go down until Mike Easley stepped in to save the day. And the rate freeze is only for five years, in which time the power companies can assess the cost of these new restrictions, and adjust their rates accordingly. Do you honestly think the rates will go down? Duke Energy said they would recover about 70 percent of the cost over the next five years. How will they recoup the rest? Raising rates. North Carolina already has the highest electricity rates in the Southeast. And North Carolina's air will not be the only beneficiary of this bill. According to Wall Street Analysts, the measure will benefit the power companies because it eliminates "the threat of the traditional cost of service ratemaking". So the rate freeze will give the power companies the ability to meet their earning goals.

There is new legislation brewing which would impose restrictions on the number of passengers that could occupy a vehicle driven by 16 and 17 year old drivers. The idea behind the legislation is that this would limit the distractions and lead to fewer wrecks. Supposedly, these drivers are more than twice as likely to be involved in a crash when two or more passengers are in the car compared with those carrying no passengers. It seems to me that it should be the parents' decision on whether or not to let their licensed teen carpool - not the State of North Carolina.

This law, like the seat belt law, child safety seats, child helmet laws, the incremental reduction in the acceptable blood alcohol level in the DWI laws, graduated licenses, etc., ad nauseam, is a knee jerk emotional response to isolated incidents. Which, in turn, get blown out of proportion - like it's some sort of epidemic.

Instead of making individuals take personal responsibility for their actions, laws are passed to protect the stupidity of a few at the expense of the many.

Another thing that should be pointed out is that the agencies that produced the statistics concerning teen drivers have a vested interest in promoting the busing of students. The UNC Highway Safety Center, along with Institute for Transportation Research and Education (who are in the business of school bus transportation and routing), received a grant to study this issue, and their conclusion is that busing is the safest way to get students to and from school.

But the safety issue is just a smokescreen. We all know the real issue here - control.

The powers that be do not want your children to drive to school, no matter how many passengers are in the car. And they do not want the parents to drive them, either.

School officials want students to ride the bus, so the bus can take the students to the school that has been designated for them.

With the recent court decisions in favor of school vouchers, the ending of forced busing, and with the advent of charter schools, parents have more of a choice in where

they send their children. Bus ridership is down and this puts school officials in a bind. The more choices individuals have, the less control the school system has. And the less students attending public schools, the less funding the schools get.

So if they can get a law passed that essentially prohibits carpooling, this makes sending a student to the school of the parent's choice a bit problematic. If the student can't drive, then they might not be able to go to the school of their choice. And control goes back to the school system. And the wheels of the bus go round and round.

The multi-teenager passenger law is just another in a long line of laws that are passed based on
an emotional issue. And again, like most of them, not well thought out. Is this not going
to increase the number of teens driving cars? And along with that, the potential for more accidents due to their inexperience? Another issue raised, is the amount of pollution generated
by more vehicles on the road. I think the whole air pollution issue is just another revenue scam, anyway. The government charges fees to punish people for engaging in an activity that is deemed a problem. Which may or may not exist - depending on who is doing the study, or the way it is conducted.
The bigger issue here, though, is the continued erosion of an individual's constitutional rights.
How will this law be enforced? This will give the police the authority to stop any car with more than one passenger, under the pretense of checking to see if the driver is licensed to ferry more than one passenger. also, this just another item in a long list of things for which that the police can set up roadblocks. What happened to the rights guaranteed to us in the 4th amendment - the one that protects us against unreasonable searches and seizures? Once again, the rights of the many must to be sacrificed for the few who are incapable of knowing how to act responsibly and who look to the government for their salvation.

I read a story the other day in the Raleigh News and Observer about this thing called a "matricula consular". It is a card that makes it easier for Mexicans to open bank accounts, get driver's licenses and get social services. It seems this card helps undocumented immigrants (illegal aliens) because they are unlikely to have another photo ID with a U.S. address. In Carrborro, a town in close proximity in both geography and ideology to the socialistic capital of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, the card can be used to get discounts for park programs. Hmm...I wonder what kind of discount a taxpaying resident gets? Apparently, this card doesn't grant legal residency (not yet, anyway), and it doesn't confer rights or benefits. What would you call getting a discount for park programs?

The Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates greater restrictions on immigration, criticizes the Mexican Government for issuing the card and local government and banks for accepting it. Well, bless them for saying something. It may just be lip service, but at least someone is speaking out for the right's of legal residents of the United States. According to the director, the whole purpose of the card is to circumvent U.S. immigration law. Of course it is.

But guess what? Some banks don't agree. I wonder why? According to a Bank of America spokesgal, "This is a way for an underbanked, underdeserved population to access our services..." Well, isn't that nice. The banks will make a profit off untaxed currency deposited into their institutions. Doesn't this sound oddly familiar? I thought there were laws against money laundering. It may not be on the grande scale of mobsters and drug dealers, but that's what it is. Think of it as Mexican money laundering.

The NC DMV likes the card because it proves that the cardholder lives in North Carolina. Not legally, but just that they live here. And until recently, you didn't even have to prove that to get a driver's license. Wayne Hurder, DMV's director of driver's license certification, claims that because Mexicans must pass a driving test to get a license, it will make North Carolina's roads safer. Like hell. Hispanics are about ten times as likely to die in car crashes as whites or blacks. And in 2000, about 12 percent of DWI arrests were Hispanics, although they compose only 4.7 percent of the population. Startling statistics, but that's not the focus of this discussion.

This thing is an insult to taxpaying citizens. Not to mention the people from other countries who immigrate here legally. If Mexican people want to live here, they need to obey our laws and become legal residents, and pay taxes to support the infrastructure that they share with the rest of us. And Dios Mios, learn to speak English, por favor.

A couple of weeks ago, the Dictator, uh, I mean the Governor of North Carolina, Mike Easley ordered an immediate $54 million dollar expansion of two education initiatives - reduction of class size and More at Four - without legislative approval. If you recall, these were cornerstones of his 2000 Gubernatorial campaign. He claims that he cannot wait until the General Assembly agrees on a budget. Under the North Carolina constitution, the Governor is not empowered to appropriate money for new programs; that is the job of the General Assembly. But Easley skirted this by citing a state law that authorizes him to expand programs (and they just happen to be his programs) when under a court order to do so. And the court order came in the form of a recent court ruling by a Wake County Judge to improve public education. Not that the ruling authorized the governor to usurp legislative authority given by the people, that's just the way Easley interpreted it. Just so he can expand his liberal social engineering programs.

But with North Carolina facing a $1.5 billion budget shortfall, where will this money come from? According to Easley, he will take funds from other sources if money isn't allocated for them in the final budget. Just what other sources he will use remain a mystery. The arrogance of this man amazes me. He's more interested in legacy building than doing what's best for everyone in North Carolina. Sure education is important, but with the state running a deficit, you don't expand programs, you cut spending.

He also recently used this ruling to garner support for a lottery. He claimed then that the lottery was the only way to pay for his education initiatives. And since "they have to respect the court order", the ruling should give legislators the "political cover" they need to approve a lottery. "Political cover"? Whatever happened to voting for something based on its merits, rather than hiding behind the liberal interpretation of a court ruling? However, since this is an election year, legislators are squeamish about voting for a lottery. They were going to vote on a nonbinding public referendum (which too is unconstitutional - the public doesn't decide public policy, that's the General Assembly's job) , but the Democrats in the General Assembly didn't have enough votes, so they pulled the bill. Talk about conviction. They wouldn't vote on it because they weren't sure it wouldn't pass. I suspect , though, that once the budget is finalized, the lottery issue will rear its head. And Mike Easley will be running around again, citing that ruling as a basis for putting the screws to legislators to approve a lottery referendum. Because Mike Easley's triumvirate of legacy builders will not be complete until North Carolina has a lottery.

If you remember, in 1998, the Wake County school board adopted a goal of having 95 percent of third and eighth graders pass state end-of-grade tests by 2003. Not surprisingly, Wake County is not on pace to reach that goal. (See Egg #7) Of course, that doesn't stop them from offering Superintendent Bill McNeal a 100 percent bonus if he sticks around until 2006. But that's another issue, altogether.

Last year, a citizens advisory committee was formed by the school board and the Wake County Board Of Commissioners (talk about a stacked deck) to review the school system's operating budget. One of their missions was to ensure enough funding to reach the 95 percent goal. So they hired a consultant to study the issue. And guess what they found, friends and neighbors? That funding has been lacking to meet the goal!

They found that the community and the commissioners were not aware of the price tag associated with reaching that goal when it was proposed. Are you serious? No one discussed the costs associated with implementing this plan? The committee also went on to say that in the future school officials should fully disclose all necessary costs associated the goal to allow proper public consideration. Seems to me, that they are implying that the school board lied to everyone about how much this would cost. Also, this consultant came up with a formula for determining annual county funding for the school system. But the committee co-chair, Jim Talton, said they would probably come up with their own formula. Isn't that why they hired a consultant? Because the school board couldn't figure out how to budget for this? More likely, it was that the consultant didn't give the school board the answer they wanted to hear.

In a related issue, those interested in helping the Wake County school system develop it's next long term pipe dream can attend upcoming community feedback sessions. The committee is called "Beyond 2003: Voices and Choices". Guess who's the co-chairman of this nonpartisan, fair-minded think tank? Orage Quarles III, president and publisher of the N&O. Get your wallets out, people. The N&O has never met a tax hike that it didn't like.

I would like take time off from the usual routine to offer condolences to Jody and his family on the loss of his father, who passed away recently. I had only met and spoken to his dad briefly on two occasions - at Jody and Amy's engagement party and again at their wedding reception. Although I could hardly profess to know the man, he was a most generous and gracious host. He was also, as I came to find out later, a well-loved and respected member in his community. It's always hard to accept the loss of a loved one, especially one who we think was taken too soon. One thing we all should realize, although we don't like to think about it, and we certainly shouldn't dwell on it, is that death is a natural part of life. As we go through our lives, each one of us has or will experience the death of a loved one. But it is also important to realize that, although your loved one has passed out of the physical realm, they still very much alive and remain a part of you. Going through the grieving process, we experience a multitude of emotions, as we struggle to understand why this has happened. Only God, in His infinite wisdom, knows the answer. But by experiencing deep emotion, as in the loss of love, or the loss of a loved one, we all grow in depth, understanding and wisdom.

Did you catch the Anaheim Angels/San Francisco Giants World Series baseball game the other night? After they introduced the players, coaches, bat boys, trainers, etcetera, etcetera, the announcer instructed everyone to stand up and remove their caps while Tony Bennett sang "America the Beautiful". For some reason, that bothered me. While it's a noble and almost venerable tradition, it's not etched in stone that baseball games are prefaced with the singing of the national anthem - "The Star Spangled Banner", by Francis Scott Key. Some of you may remember that Ray Charles sang "America the Beautiful" before one of last year's World Series games between the New York Yankees and the Arizona Diamondbacks. I must have missed that, but that wouldn't have bothered me as much, because I think he's more identified with that song. And it was close on the heels of a national catastrophe. It made me wonder why one would be asked remove their headgear in deference to something that amounts to little more than a pop song. That's like stopping and removing your hat and singing along with "Born in the USA" every time you heard it on the radio. I guess it bugged me because certain groups having lobbying to replace the "The Star Spangled Banner" with "America the Beautiful" as the national anthem. Also, the game was being played in San Francisco, a city where they probably started the movement to change it. So this was like a test run to see how it would fly. And it also took place in California, where one of the schools decided to change the lyrics to "The Star Spangled Banner" because some of the words were antiquated, and the children were ignorant of their meaning. So rather than teach them the meanings of the words, they decided to change them. Modernize them, if you will. Reminiscent of that teacher in Florida who was banned from using the word "niggardly" because one of her students thought it sounded offensive. Even thought the teacher used the word in a historical context.

Most students these days are woefully ignorant of actual historical events that shaped this country. They are not being taught the truth. They are being spoon fed a liberal revisionist version where belief in God, Family and Country are no longer relevant. Hard work and sacrifice are scoffed at. These values are being replaced by a government sponsored welfare state where sloth is rewarded and litigation is frequently used as a means of conflict resolution and a way to a quick buck.

I'd like to revisit an issue I discussed earlier (see Egg #19), since a little more light has been shed on the subject. A committee called the Citizens Advisory Committee on School Operations, was formed to determine how much county funding is needed to reach the goal of having 95 percent of third and eighth-graders pass end-of grade tests. This committee hired a consulting group to do an audit of the school system's budgetary practices. Well, it turns out that the audit cost us $422,820. The consulting group, MGT of America, came up with $20.2 million worth of potential savings over the next five years. And guess what? The committee rejected most of them, deciding that they would come up with their own recommendations. For crying out loud, they just paid someone almost a half a million dollars (how many teachers would that buy, Mike Easley?) to show them where they could make some improvements, and then they decide that they would rather do it themselves.

Let's go over some of MGT's suggestions, and the school board's responses, shall we?

For magnet and year-round schools, MGT recommended providing something called "express busing", where parents would take their children to a central location, such as a YMCA, instead of to their local bus stop. This could save $4.3 million over five years. But school officials said neighborhood transportation must be provided if magnet and year-round schools are to remain viable. What exactly does "remain viable" mean?

MGT also proposed that elementary schools with fewer than 500 students not get an assistant principal, which they estimated could save $3.2 million over five years.

School officials responded that decisions about assigning assistant principals should be made on a school-by-school basis. Which means that they will decide if certain schools need another administrator, and that we will have to pay for it.

School administrators did not directly address what is perhaps MGT's most controversial recommendation: reducing busing for diversity and relying on increasing diversity through magnet schools, rather than through involuntary reassignments. MGT estimated this could save $1.1 million over five years.

School officials gave their support for some recommendations, including creating the position of deputy superintendent and adding another area assistant superintendent - funding permitting. You can bet this one will get the thumbs up.

Cressie Thigpen, co-chairman of the committee, said the group should give as much weight to the school system's responses as to MGT's recommendations. It seems to me that they routinely dismissed all the recommendations, except ones that would increase the size of an already bloated bureaucracy. It's obvious that the people that run the Wake County school system aren't looking to save any money or streamline any services. They spent the money on the audit to have the appearance of propriety. They want total control over where your children go to school and how they will get there.

Mayor Charles Meeker launched an extra push Monday to persuade state lawmakers that they need to turn over the state-owned homes and parking lots around North Blount Street to private owners to help transform the area into a lively neighborhood.

A few of the houses are empty, but the rest are offices for about 340 state employees. The area also includes several parking lots with about 1,200 spaces, mostly reserved for state employees. Part of the state's task will be to figure out how to replace the office space and parking spaces if it sells the properties.

I've got an idea. How about turning the old houses into brothels and casinos. The whole area could be turned into a red-light district. That would certainly liven up the neighborhood. Considering all the supposed support for gambling (albeit State-sponsored, in the form of a lottery), as a way to increase revenue, this could be a guaranteed winner for everyone involved. Not only would the citizens get a chance to gamble at games with better odds than a lottery, but just think of all the tax revenue that would be generated to finance the construction of new office space to house the displaced state employees.

I recently received an email from my uncle, who cited an article that said the black market economy is gradually rising around the world. It has now reached on average just under 20% of world economy. The largest segment is in European countries like France, Germany, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands - the heart of liberalism and socialism. The article cited that reason for this steady rise is due to ever growing tax burden and government regulations which is smothering small business and the free market world. (The US is listed as one of the smallest black markets in world).

In a similar vein, I just read a story about the supposed growing problem of people pumping gas and splitting before they pay. The gist of the article was that gas stations might lose customers if they force people to pre-pay. Gas theft is not a new problem and it's not like there are no laws governing it. A law was passed in 2001 that punishes people who get caught twice they lose their license for 60 days. (Now there's a law with some teeth!). If caught three or more times, they can lose it for six months. Granted, gas stealing amounts to little more than petty theft and so it isn't a high priority crime for police investigators. But buried in the article, though, was this: "Some business owners claim the answer is for the state Legislature to pass a law mandating that all gas stations make customers pre-pay."

What business is it of the government? Shouldn't it be up to the business owner whether they make people pre-pay? They are the ones losing money. I guess if it becomes a law, every citizen, law abiding or not, will be coerced into paying up front, and no gas station will lose customers. Maybe that's their angle. Instead of taking personal responsibility and rewarding honesty and punishing deceitfulness, let's have the government tell us how to purchase our gasoline. And why stop at the gas pump? How about pre-pay at restaurants? That would stop people from dining and dashing. Or what about pre-pay at all stores in general? This would go a long way towards eliminating shoplifting. Knowing all too well how things can snowball (i.e. seatbelt laws, child safety seats, bicycle helmet laws, et al), these ideas don't seem too far out.

After reading the story in the N&O about the PLENTY, I thought it would be great if we had
an alternative currency to use here in our area. We could call it TRiangle Alternative Scrip Hokum,
or TRASH. Because, outside of the few merchants that would accept it as legal tender,
it is basically a worthless piece of paper.

As I watch this parade of idiots across my TV set, I can’t help but wonder: if I checked a dictionary or a thesaurus, would the word “Hypocrite” be synonymous with “Liberal Democrat”?

This shouldn’t come as any shock to those who have been following this story. If you remember back to Egg #19, an "independent" (yeah, right) advisory committee was formed to study the Wake County School System budget. Well, surprise of all surprises, it recommended sharply increasing funding for the school system. It wants $31.2 million in new initiatives, not a far cry and certainly a short jump to the $56 million that the school system wants. But thank goodness, calmer heads prevailed, and the increase would be phased in over a period of five years. How considerate. Another subcommittee is recommending an additional $19 million to recruit and train teachers. So, next year, it would about a $25 million increase. The real deal here is how much of a property tax increase would the citizenry be willing to bear, to foot the whole the whole $56 million tab. Either way, we don’t have a big say in the matter. Historically speaking, since it's not an election year, lawmakers really aren't worried about voter backlash, so they would be more inclined to support an tax increase.

In a cruel twist of fate, there has been a changing of the guard in the Wake County Board of Commissioners. This is the group that controls the school systems’ money supply. It seems that the old Board held a Democrat majority. These were the same people who stacked the "independent advisory committee" with their “more money/more taxes” flunkies. The Republicans now hold a majority on the board. This isn't to say that taxes won't go up, that may be inevitable, but hopefully this bunch will be a little more fiscally conservative. The school system has been on a spending spree with virtually no accountability for some time. I'm expecting this group to take a hard look at what's going on in the public education system and decide where our money is most wisely spent. That's why we voted for them. English as a Second Language? Please!

Gregg responds to a letter to the editor in the N&O

The Letter:
Rallying against war
February 14, 2003

I am amazed once again at the words that come out of Washington and how easily they are picked up by media and individual alike and taken as truth. Concerning the front-page article of Feb. 12, "Alleged bin Laden tape fuels fire," it is pure conjecture to see this tape as "proof" of a partnership between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. All this proves is that President Bush has succeeded in uniting every enemy the United States has ever had and creating a few new ones at the same time.

This unrelenting push toward a war that is not needed will prompt more attempted terrorist attacks and cause more people around the world to join the growing ranks of terrorists groups whose aim is to bring down the United States. Let's thank Germany and France and the other countries who oppose U.S. plans to invade and occupy Iraq. Help stop the madness by marching against the war, this Saturday at 11:30 a.m. In Raleigh, at West Morgan Street and the Fayetteville Street Mall.

Mary McKinney

Raleigh

Gregg's response:

I am writing this in response to Mary McKinney's Feb. 14 editorial, "Rallying against war". She claims that it is "pure conjecture" to see the bin Laden tape as proof of a partnership between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. She then goes on to say that "This unrelenting push toward a war...will prompt more attempted terrorist attacks and cause more people around the world to join in the ranks of terrorist groups whose aim is to bring down the United States."

The definition of conjecture is "a conclusion deduced by surmise or guesswork". Between the two, her statement more aptly fits the definition. Hatred of the United States by terrorists is well documented. The only prompting they need for future attacks is appeasement. And it's my contention, that in light of the anti-U.S. rhetoric coming from people like Ms. McKinney, it's not only terrorists whose aim it is to bring down the United States.

North Carolina will reap exactly what it sows through its decisions about the state budget. If the budget sows an attitude of "tough luck" toward our harmed, vulnerable children, we can count on reaping decades of mounting social and economic costs. Our leaders need to lead by: securing more federal funding; funding "have to" items first; cutting genuine waste; increasing funding by closing loopholes; and increasing income tax rates for individuals and businesses

Now let me get this straight. North Carolina has had a triple-A credit rating since 1960, a 42-year span. And yet it took Gov. Mike Easley only about 30 months to lose it. That's "strong executive management"?

A strong recurring feeling I get from watching Dylan perform is the sense that he’s playing for Big Stakes. He says he’s “just a musician”, and in his boots he needs that kind of protection from intellectual probes, which are a constant threat to any artist. Even so, the repercussions of his art don’t have to be answered by him at all. They fall on us as questions and that’s where they belong. Myth is a powerful medium because it talks to the emotions and not the head. It moves us into an area of mystery. Some myths are poisonous to believe in, but others have the capacity for changing something inside us, even if it’s only for a minute or two. Dylan creates a mythic atmosphere out of the land around us. The land we walk on every day and never see until someone shows it to us.

10 black teens arrested in UVa. Attacks
By Matthew Cella
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
February 14, 2002

Police in Charlottesville have arrested 10
black teen-agers in connection with a series of attacks on University of Virginia
students who were white "or white in appearance," according to city officials.
"Three of those we arrested did say they considered race in targeting their victim,"
"This investigation is ongoing, and nobody knows whether it was racially motivated
or not," Mr. Caravati said. "In Charlottesville, we take a very aggressive stance dealing
with these issues. We don't need outside groups to help us - of any stripe."
"My feeling is the prime motivation was thrill," Lt. Gibson said. "Even if race was an issue,
I think it was a secondary concern."