The Haywood County Commissioners suspended payments to the fairgrounds as a budget cutting measure last year. Now, the fairgrounds doesn’t have enough money to pay off its loans. The commissioners didn’t think they could afford to take another $40,000 out of their budget to help. However, they think the federal government can find enough money in its $12+ trillion deficit to avail a USDA loan for the facility. The loan would lower payments and avail funds for upgrading the facility.

There is a huge demand for entrepreneurs to go into the business of providing cheap, unlicensed daycare for children under two-years old.

Asheville City Council will be considering giving gay domestic partners of city workers benefits. It is argued that men and women living together, but not married, do not deserve the domestic partner benefits because they can get married.

Smart Growth guru Richard Florida has argued that gays bring wealth and energy to communities. It is further argued that legalizing gay marriage could provide a momentous revenue stream for government. So, in terms of modern political economics, where increasing deficits equate to prosperity, taxpayers will be investing in greater returns. I’m waiting for the counterpoint.

As the agenda item was added at the request of a council member, only one side is presented. The PowerPoint presentation raises awareness by stating, “Personal religious views are not a valid basis for denying some municipal employees the benefits that are provided to other employees.” I disagree. Contrary to implications in reports provided with the agenda item, nobody has a right to make a claim on other peoples’ money. Judeo-Christian and Muslim taxpayers will argue it is a breach of conscience for them to have to subsidize acts offensive to their gods. When the matter comes before the progressive city council, there is a good chance government, that body charged with protecting persons against forced breach of conscience, will likely in the interest of political expediency opt to perpetrate that breach.

About eighteen city employees are expected to take advantage of domestic partner benefits, but it is hoped the availing of the benefits will recruit many more “diverse” people to take advantage of them.

Here are links to the agenda items: 1, 2, 3.

Courtney Gauthier, an AmeriCorps/VISTA employee, works at UNCA’s Center for Diversity Education and serves on the Think About It Committee, which has launched a new campaign this semester.

The campaign aims to raise awareness about responsible tattooing practices, and to get students to think before they get a tattoo, said Jewell Gist, an assistant to the multicultural student program and to the student activities and integrated learning.

With twenty-five tattoo parlors in Asheville’s vibrant economy, students are encouraged to research artists and consider if their choice of careers might influence where they want to get their tattoo. Campaign workers want to make it clear they are not trying to discourage people from getting tattoos.

AmeriCorps/VISTA describes itself as “the national service program designed specifically to fight poverty.”

WWNC talk show host Matt Mittan has been talking a lot lately about the president’s executive order to dilute states’ rights by creating a council of ten governors to partner with federal executives “on matters related to the National Guard and civil support missions.” Mittan pointed out one member is Jay Nixon, who as attorney general in Missouri issued the scandalous report claiming anti-abortionists, supporters of the Second Amendment, people who vote for third-party candidates, Christians, and people who speak out against the IRS and the Fed could be domestic terrorists. Another, Brad Henry, issued English translations of the Koran with the state seal to all 149 Oklahoma state legislators. Another, Luis G. Fortuno of the great (Ejem!) state of Puerto Rico, has deployed the national guard to enhance law enforcement in four of his cities. Others came to power questionably.

Stormin’ Bev (The Bear) Perdue is another appointee. If I were in her shoes, after examining my expertise in military tactics and strategy, I would presume my appointment was a reflection of the president’s low estimation of my intellect. Perdue no doubt sees this, but is heroically serving, supposing a seat filled with inanity is better than one filled with liberty-crushing power-lust.

The Swain County Commissioners voted to accept the federal government’s settlement. David Monteith cast the only dissenting vote.

“I’m against any cash settlement,” he said. “I’d rather work for this road for another 67 years before I would sell away the heritage of our children to a bunch of crazy environmentalists.”

I sent the following to members of Asheville City Council. Perhaps if I post it here somebody will read it.

I apologize, as I believe I was misunderstood.

If I were to characterize the typical member of city council, I would imagine a professional who spends 10-12 hours a day on the job, a community activist who attends at least three or four community meetings a day often giving keynote addresses, an intellectual who reads several books and journals a week, a volunteer who donates several hours a week for various organizations, somebody who serves proactively on about ten council committees, somebody who answers maybe 20-40 emails a day, somebody who can’t go to the grocery store without being hounded by constituents, somebody very active in their place of worship, and somebody who spends quality time with their nuclear and extended family and neighbors.

In the absence of time to conduct better research, I found from Wikipedia that the average adult American reads 250-300 words per minute. That means it takes them 2-3 minutes to read a page of prose, or 20-30 hours to read 600 pages. Last week’s city council agenda included over 600 pages of staff reports. Granted, some of the pages were PowerPoint presentations, but others were maps and large charts. I hope you all have faster and less cantakerous computers than I.

When I requested that reports be posted earlier than 3:00 Friday for Tuesday’s meeting, I was concerned about more than my learning disabilities. I was concerned that members of city council are not given the opportunity to do due diligence. Wiki adds, without citation, “Comprehension speeds have been assessed at 400 wpm for full comprehension, and research has shown that speed reading at 600 wpm can achieve about 70% comprehension and 50% comprehension at 1000 wpm.” You were not elected to comprehend less than 20% of the ordinances you would approve, bluffing and trusting that whatever staff produced would be copacetic. The public expects you to see what has been done in other municipalities, talk to experts, question assumptions, and ask hard questions. It was all I could do to pay eye-service to the staff reports last week, and I lead a very empty life.

As I’ve stated elsewhere, there is a point where too much information turns transparency to obfuscation, and I believe the new council has reached this point with its 500+ pages of reports per agenda. I have all the respect for Maggie Burleson and the Herculean efforts she makes on behalf of the city. However, it does me no good to receive the reports at 10:00am Friday if I don’t get off work until 5:00 or 6:00 anyway. Most peoples’ bosses don’t pay them to read council’s agendas.

What I really want is for the reports to be posted online a week or so before they go on council’s agenda. Plans adopted by council are on a par with law, which ideally is supposed to steer people away from harmful acts rather than add to the shelves of verbiage churned out so fast it must contain supercession and severability clauses. I would far prefer every plan and ordinance to go through three or four public shreddings than to watch my representatives bluff around and ask questions they would find answered in the reports if they would read them, which is not an unusual situation.

The bottom line is: I don’t want council voting on materials that are hot off the press. I would much prefer that citizens; particularly members of council, be given time to read, weigh, and consider. I apologize for this distraction, as I know you have 122 pages of material on domestic partner benefits to read this weekend, and many other demands on your time.

Last week, a federal court ruled it was un-Constitutional for North Carolina county commissioners to mention Jesus in their public invocations. The logic is that forbidding citizens who pray in the name of Jesus from doing so does not endorse a particular faith. It just condemns one particular faith. Furthermore, it “does not infringe on the private rights of citizens to free speech or free exercise of religion.” That is, citizens may only say and pray as they please in their own closets.

An article in the Smoky Mountain News discusses the local impact. Following a decision of the Haywood County Commissioners to honor the court more than the Constitution, Christian Kevin Ensley will no longer offer prayers. He was not comfortable overriding the terms and conditions his God placed on prayer. Fearing God more than Alex Cury of the ACLU, the Macon County Commissioners decided to practice civil disobedience.

“I’m just not a very politically correct guy,” said [Commissioner Jim] Davis. “We can’t guarantee that people aren’t going to be offended. You have a right to be offended, and I have a right to not be bothered by that.”

Technically, Jesus was outlawed in 2004, and the Forsyth decision only upholds the former ruling. The decision cites from case law the following muffler put on the free exercise of conscience:

When we gather as Americans, we do not abandon all expressions of religious faith. Instead, our expressions evoke common and inclusive themes and forswear . . . the forbidding character of sectarian invocations.

In other words, it is OK to pray, as long as one is going through hypocritical gyrations and not actually trying to get in touch with his Higher Power.

Recently, it was decided post-theist Cecil Bothwell could serve on Asheville City Council because the words in the North Carolina constitution requiring holders of public office to believe in God sort of mistakenly landed on the page. Atheists far and wide celebrated his refusal to mention God in his swearing-in.

Atheists should be allowed to speak their conscience, but the table-turning Jesus would have issues with the ACLU wanting Christians (who just happen to be in the majority) to have to try to speak an atheists’ conscience.

Thomas Jefferson, who, if I’m not mistaken, played a huge part in writing the rules by which we Americans are supposed to abide, said the following:

Our rulers can have authority over such natural rights only as we have submitted to them. The rights of conscience we never submitted, we could never submit. We are answerable for them to our God. The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg. . . . Constraint may make him worse by making him a hypocrite, but it will never make him a truer man. It may fix him obstinately in his errors, but will not cure them. Reason and free enquiry are the only effectual agents against error.

In the 1940s, the federal government flooded a road in Swain County to construct Lake Fontana. In return for the economic losses incurred by dead-ending the county, the government promised to rebuild the road whenever Congress got around to appropriating the money. It further added a clause to the agreement saying it would not be a violation of the contract if the government never appropriated a dime. Now, thanks to the lobbying of Heath Shuler, Congress is offering to put $12.8 million into a North Carolina trust fund (slush fund?) and allow Swain to draw down $800,000 in interest a year. In addition, they are promising to add $39.2 million to the trust fund if and when they feel like it. $52 million is the value of the 1940s road plus tax and interest. The cost of building a new road is estimated to be $600 million. It is anticipated the commissioners of the economically-distraught county will approve the settlement Friday.

As a general rule, false maligning of one’s character is a compliment. I therefore personally salute the JLF’s John Hood.