An insider's view
The majority of comments on the recently finished Career Center are positive, as they should be, but there seems to be lingering controversy over its locale. Parents of students seem to be complaining about the neighborhood and our consequent safety. Honestly, I believe they are judging too hastily and need to grasp the fact it takes all kinds to make the world go round.
There is a police station within a stone's throw of the new Career Center, and the crime rate in the new neighborhood is actually lower than that of the old neighborhood.
I often arrive early in the morning, unafraid and confident, when it is still dark outside.
This brings me to another positive aspect of the new location, the view. It is outstanding. I love seeing the lights in the antiquated water towers and the skyline of Winston-Salem. Knowing that my Career Center is now a part of a booming downtown revitalization is an uplifting feeling and reminds me that we can contribute, too. Just like the ballpark, the newly announced hotel, the new restaurants, the condos, new businesses and so much more. The Career Center is part of it, and the energy is palpable. Even though I am not directly responsible for it, it is very exciting, and I am grateful to be a part of it.
The location of the new Career Center is what it is. Let us revel in it!
BESSIE ROSE WOLTZ
STUDENT, CAREER CENTER
Winston-Salem
Pipeline dreams
On Jan. 18, President Obama quashed the development of the Keystone XL pipeline, which could have created about 20,000 American jobs and helped 20,000 American families ("Obama nixes Canada oil pipeline," Jan. 19). It would not have cost the American public a penny, and we would have moved forward toward more energy independence from the Middle East. Now thanks to him, Canada could send the oil through to China. What kind of president:
- intentionally kills American jobs
- aids China instead of America, and
- maintains American dependence on our enemies in the Middle East?
Also, why didn't the Journal report this on the front page? The next time this president asks Congress for a jobs bill, you'll forgive me if I laugh out loud — in disgust.
CHRISTINE PULISELIC
Winston-Salem
A rich heritage
Winston-Salem has a rich heritage in Old Salem and has spent a significant amount of time and energy building itself a reputation as the "City of the Arts." As the years have gone by and the presence of manufacturing plants has lessened their impact on our city, our leaders have also attempted to build technology assets. All of these facts are noted in the guidelines prepared for art submissions for Civic Plaza. I found all of the submissions to be lacking in both skill and aesthetics ("Creative Corridor art submissions go green," Jan. 14).
The prospect of a "green baby" as a symbol of our progress is distressing and, in my opinion, totally inappropriate. I cannot help but wonder what employees of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and Forsyth Memorial Hospital think about this proposal. I also think a sculpture of this nature would lend itself to vandalism and graffiti.
If the leaders of the Creative Corridors Coalition did not get the submissions they were looking for, I would hope they would reach back out to the broad community of artists and sculptors living in this area rather than settle for an inadequate response, especially on such a long-term project.
JOAN RUTLEDGE
Winston-Salem
Ballot proposal
Gov. Beverly Perdue is proposing a sales tax of three-quarters of a penny to restore the funding that the Republicans in the General Assembly have taken away from public education ("Perdue to push higher sales tax," Jan. 18). Those deep cuts have undermined North Carolina's public educational institutions, from kindergarten to the 16-campus UNC system. Yet N.C. Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, is quoted as saying that the governor's proposal is "dead on arrival at the General Assembly."
Since the Republican-controlled General Assembly was so eager to put the regressive "marriage amendment" on the ballot and "let the people decide," why not put this proposal on the ballot also and let the people of North Carolina decide whether they are willing to pay a little bit more in order to bolster education in our state? I predict that a majority of my fellow citizens would join me in approving "a fraction of a penny for progress."
ERNEST J. LUNSFORD
Winston-Salem
LTE #2... Dream on Christine. The US biggest export is gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. And up until a few years ago, whenever gasoline prices climbed, there were complaints in Congress that U.S. refiners were not growing quickly enough to satisfy domestic demand; that controversy would appear to be over. There's at least one domestic downside to America's growing role as a fuel exporter. Experts say the trend helps explain why U.S. motorists are paying more for gasoline. The more fuel that's sent overseas, the less of a supply cushion there is at home, you know supply and demand. . As far as dependency on our middle east enemies for crude:
ReplyDeleteCrude Oil Imports (Top 15 Countries)
(Thousand Barrels per Day)
CANADA 2,324
SAUDI ARABIA 1,465
MEXICO 1,099
VENEZUELA 759
NIGERIA 529
COLOMBIA 510
IRAQ 299
ANGOLA 283
RUSSIA 275
BRAZIL 163
KUWAIT 145
ALGERIA 139
CHAD 74
OMAN 72
Now which ones are our middle east enemies?
Transcanada has conceded, its estimate of 20,000 jobs counted up "job years" spent on the project, not jobs. In other words, the company was counting a single construction worker who worked for two years on Keystone as two jobs.
Delete“There is a regulatory process in place, and we have to respect that process,” Alberta Premier Alison Redford said. “The good news is that the president said he wasn’t making a decision on the merits of the project. It does allow for reapplication.”
DeleteExcellent list, Bob, but sooner or later you will learn that people do not want the truth, because if they know the truth they won't have anything to whine about and will have to admit that their real complaint about the president is the color of his skin.
DeleteAs to your "enemy" question:
Obvious...Canada. W. Bush told me that Canada is between South Carolina and Tajikistan, which clearly makes it a Middle East enemy. What really worries me is all the Canadians sneaking across the Tajiki border, then into the US to steal our jobs, rape our women and lay waste our suburban lawns.
Nebraska route reason for Keystone pipeline delay? I doubt this is the end of the pipeline debate, and when built the oil will be sold at "market" prices.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.politico.com/politico44/2012/01/propipeline-schweitzer-defends-obama-on-keystone-111493.html
http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/your-world-cavuto/2012/01/20/keystone-pipeline-blame-game
There's an empty space at 245 W 4th St between Trade and Cherry with a dark green marble facade. I think it used to be a shoe store. From the outside looking in, I can envision a truly nice restaurant and bar for all you venture capitalists out there.
ReplyDeleteNow this could lead to an interesting battle. Sarah Palin said Governor Christie got his panties all in a wad about Mitt losing in SC. Bring on the octagon.
ReplyDeleteHer choice of words betrays her white trash origins.
DeleteSarah who? I thought she had gone back to Alaska to sit on the porch and keep and eye on Russia.
ReplyDeleteWhat good thing have we done to deserve such a rich cast of clowns for our entertainment?
What she was commenting on was Governor Christy's assertion that Newton Gingrich is an embarrassment to the Republican Party. I guess the truth hurts sometimes, doesn't it Silly Sarah.
And it's more than Republicans who ought to be embarrassed...say all Georgians, Southerners, Americans and human beings.
Dotnet:
ReplyDeleteLTE 1: A young person experiences change in her life and instead of sulking and complaining decides to embrace it and look at all the positive sides to the change. I predict a very bright future for her. I also love her "I often arrive early in the morning, unafraid and confident, when it is still dark outside" comment in contrast to some of the "gotta carry my gun to the park in broad daylight in case I'm attacked" remarks that have been made. To think, a teenage girl has shown she has more cojones than several adult men. I love this girl!
LTE 2: "...why didn't the Journal report this on the front page?" - why didn't you read the article to get the answer to your questions? The jobs were temporary jobs, and the potential impact on Nebraska's groundwater would definitely cost pennies; potentially billions of them.
LTE 3: Another vote against having the big green baby as a symbol.
LTE 4: Paying an extra penny per dollar on my purchases would have no impact on my finances at all. However, if we are going to have the legislatures put all of its proposals on the ballot for the citizens to decide, then why have a legislative branch at all? This is a republic, not a democracy. If the R's are going to refuse to consider reinstating the penny sales tax, then they will have no business crying over a lack of funds for education when it's time to put together the next budget.
It interests me that lying has become acceptable in the business and political world and that the press has become reluctant to point out even the most egregious lies
ReplyDeleteThe outrageous claims made by the Keystone people and their supporters have been swallowed almost universally by the press and naive, uninformed people everywhere.
Here's something a little closer to the truth...note that the first part comes directly from the project's own people:
“Transcanada itself cast doubt on its employment forecast when a vice president for the company told CNN last fall that the 20,000 jobs Keystone would create were temporary and that the project would likely yield only ‘hundreds’ of permanent positions.
“One independent review of Keystone puts that number even lower, with the Cornell University Global Labor Institute finding that the pipeline would add only 500 to 1,400 temporary construction jobs. The authors of the September report also said that much of the new employment stemming from Keystone would be outside the U.S.”
MoneyWatch
January 19, 2012 7:00 AM
In the end, this is just another tempest in a teapot, fueled by people who are either too lazy to actually look for the truth or just looking for some other lie to smear the president with.
And dare I say that these are union jobs? Hmm, so Mr. Union himself is now killing 20,000 union jobs...what a laugh.
That's right, O.T., the unions are very disappointed with the decision to delay. That Ogallala Aquifer is vital to life, the oil sands from Canada are not. If it takes 6 more months to a year or more to do a complete environmental safety analysis, do it. We already have enough crude coming in to make gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel our biggest export.
DeleteI can live without air about 2 minutes. I can live without water about 2 weeks. I can live without food about 4-6 weeks. This nation can live without those oil sands as long as it takes to make sure it's safe for the other 3.
DeleteDuring the Viet Nam fiasco, a sailor fell off the fantail of a Navy destroyer in the South China Sea. Since it was night time, no one saw him, so it was quite a while before a search commenced. After a couple of days, the Navy gave up, figuring that he was dead.
Delete28 days later, an air-sea rescue helicopter accidentally found him. He had lost over half his body weight and had a terrible sunburn, but he was alive.
How did he survive for 28 days? Two simple techniques learned in survival school.
The first was low energy flotation. But how about water? In the exposed conditions that he found himself in, survival without water is reduced to just a few days. But he managed to hang onto his white sailor hat when he went overboard. And that saved his life.
Fortunately for him, it rained several times. Each time he went to the bicycle float on your back technique and turned his hat inside out to make a bucket, so caught enough fresh rain water to keep him going.
We were all taught to do that in survival school. Sometimes the Navy actually knows what it's doing.
wait a minute!!!! We are subsidizing big oil to make gas our biggest export? Taxes go to oil companies and they sale the gas overseas while Americans are paying more at the pump. Great!!
ReplyDeleteI would really be interested to see Romney's tax returns prior to 2010 when he closed his Swiss accounts.
ReplyDeleteHe's also been campaigning for the past 6 years, so I imagine the campaign funds pay for a lot of travel, lodging, and other daily amenities. As he told that group in Florida (romneychuckle) "I'm unemployed too." Unemployed, making 42M/year, and the past 6 years funded by campaign dollars. Not a bad life.
Deletecorrection: 21M/year over 2 years.
DeleteThe price, so far, for stupidity: 4 dead, 15 wounded. Hope those Marines enjoyed their little stunt.
ReplyDeleteAfghan soldier executes 4 French troops
Just in case you get worn out by the State of the Union and the Republican response, our old pal Herman Cain will be delivering a Tea Party response as well. That ought to be good for a few laughs.
ReplyDeleteSince Ricky boy is now out of the GOP race and back in Texas working on secession, maybe he will do a State of the Kingdom of Texas address...more chuckles.
Lol, the Gang that couldn't shoot straight. If this keeps up, the Mayans could be right, as we laugh ourselves to death by Christmas.
ReplyDeleteGood evening, folks!
ReplyDeleteInteresting info on the pipeline, Bob and OT, especially the overstated jobs number. As for the Oglala aquifer, I suggest that the farmers who have pumped trillions of gallons of water from it are a far greater threat. I need some schooling on the danger presented by a pipeline, but I'm open to that. As for exporting fuels, I'm glad we're actually exporting manufactured products.
The stats on from whom we buy oil are interesting, but I'd prefer to buy in this hemisphere, rather than transfer wealth to Arabia. Interior lines of supply are more secure.
Stab, the danger of a pipeline is always the same...a leak. It doesn't take much of one to become catastrophic. All I ask in the case of the Keystone project is that a proper environmental study be completed...which has not happened so far.
DeleteYour comment on the Oglala aquifer is much more in my line of interest. This is a huge problem throughout the west, because cities cannot exist without water, yet water is in short supply almost everywhere west of the Mississippi.
I have spent a lot of time walking western rivers, especially the Colorado and the magnificent Snake, which flows through an extraordinary desert in the Pacific Northwest.
The Hoover Dam on the Colorado near Las Vegas is an impressive and awesome work of man, but what is its purpose, other than creating the strange wonderland of Lake Meade?
Anyone who has spent time in LA is aware of the joke Los Angeles River, which is no more than a man-made acqueduct which drains off water from many people upstream.
Cities like LA and Phoenix are totally artificial, because they always steal water from others upstream. The magnificent movie "Chinatown" brought much of the LA story into focus.
When you walk these rivers upstream, you begin to see what the big downstream cities have done to their upstream neighbors.
My favorite western city is Boise, Idaho, dependant upon the Boise River which flows through the town. Somehow, Boise has managed to avoid exceeding the limits of their river...they are often mentioned in studies of the best places to live in the US, with good reason.
The tar sand oil is cited as being high carbon. This is a bit of a chimera. Gasoline and diesel have set formulae, with set numbers of carbon and hydrogen atoms in each of the two molecules. Now the basic crude contains more carbon, yes, but that may well end up in compounds used for other than fuels, like plastics and other products that actually bind the carbon rather than combusting it with oxygen and producing CO2. Remember, diamonds are high carbon, too.
ReplyDeleteYes, and it is diamonds that bought our latest clown, Newton, the ability to run for president.
ReplyDeleteI am still struggling with the idea that if I wanted to run for POTUS, I would have to bribe my mistress/spouse to allow me to do so.
In a real relationship, that sort of thing would be settled by rational discussion. If my mistress/spouse presented compelling arguments against my candidacy, I would probably acquiesce. If, on the other hand, my arguments prevailed, I would expect her to acquiesce.
Buying acquiescence through luxury cruises and diamonds says far too much about both partners...trash and more trash.