BRANNON STILL DRUNK

So Yevonne Brannon, Chair of WakeUp Wake County's Board of Directors, suddenly got all righteous in the N&O today.

Let's review this new found righteousness exhibited by Mrs. Brannon as she recounted her tenure on the Wake County Board of Commissioners:

"We never experienced such lack of decorum ..."

"We all obeyed .... the unwritten rules of courtesy and integrity...."

"We are not serving our county when our excellent reputation is smeared weekly with political shenanigans that show little concern for our quality of life in Wake."

(News & Observer - December 10, 2009)

Gosh Yevonne, when did you have a reborn experience?

The highlight of your tenure on the Wake County Board of Commissioners was marked by your flippant disregard for taxpayers.

From the News & Observer:

The more the commissioners talked, the higher the proposed increase got. The figure reached 13 cents when Commissioner Betty Lou Ward was told that was roughly what corresponds to a $200 average tax-bill increase.

"Sold!" Brannon yelled as she leapt from her seat in a meeting room of Wake Forest University's Graylyn Conference Center. "Hey, you guys - the bar is open!"

(News & Observer - February 20, 1999)

Very impressive display of maturity there Mrs. Brannon.

Sober up Yevonne.

NAACP Rally - October 30, 2009

GOT AN IDEA ON HOW TO WASTE MORE MONEY IN DOWNTOWN RALEIGH?

Got a great idea for Moore Square Park?
What do you like about the Park today?
What would you like to see in the future?

Bring your big – and not so big – ideas to the Moore Square Park Community

Open Call for Ideas

Wednesday, June 17, 20094:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. drop in anytime
Marbles Kids Museum 201 E. Hargett Street
Refreshments will be served

Saturday, June 27, 200912:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. drop in anytime
Chavis Community Center 505 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Light lunch will be served

Same meeting, different locations for your convenience

There will be activities and displays for all ages and perspectives:
Presentation to kick off the day on the Open Call Process and Moore Square Park Historic and current large-scale maps and images of the Park

Write a post card from the year 2030 about your visit to the Park
Participate in a tour of the Park
Work at tables with facilitators and drafters to translate your ideas onto Park site plans (participants also have the option to work on their ideas off site and bring them to one of the Open Calls)
Discuss your ideas with the City of Raleigh Planning and Parks & Recreation staff
Raleigh’s first-ever design competition starts with you!

Join us for the Open Call for Ideas.

Your ideas will help competitors design a Park that meets the needs and dreams of the community.To register (not required, but helps with planning), for more information or to post your comments: www.raleighnc.gov/greatplacesMooreSquare or call 919-807-8480

Future planned web developments: Community big – and not so big – ideas on Facebook and Flickr.

Check back often!

WEDNESDAY'S JOURNAL - APRIL 29, 2009

Today's overview:

ZEBULON LOOKS TO CUT SPENDING AND REDUCE TAXES IN NEW BUDGET

WAKE SCHOOLS CUTS COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS, BUT NEVER FEAR PUTTING THEM ON A BUS WILL IMPROVE ACADEMICS

WAKE PTA ELECTS 2009 OFFICERS

WAKE SCHOOLS BUREAUCRACY MAKES LIFE EVEN HARDER ON REASSIGNED STUDENTS

ROSA GILL PUTS HER NAME IN FOR MALONE'S SEAT

"MOORE" MEEKER SPENDING TO SPRUCE UP DOWNTOWN RALEIGH

RALEIGH RESCUE MISSION FESTIVAL OF HOPE THIS SATURDAY

MEEKER OPPOSES SHIFT IN ROAD SPENDING FROM STATE TO LOCAL - WOULD TAKE FUNDS AWAY FROM HIS DOWNTOWN SPENDING SPREE

COUNTY MANAGER COOKE LOOKING TO CUTS IN NEXT YEAR'S BUDGET

LOW WEALTH SCHOOLS NEGELECTED - NOT WILBURN

WEDNESDAY'S JOURNAL - APRIL 15, 2009

Today's overview:

NO BENCHES AT BUS STOPS, BUT TELEVISIONS ON DOWNTOWN BUSES FOR MAYOR "BENIGN NEGLECT" MEEKER

NEW POLICY FOR RALEIGH PD REQUIRES OFFICERS TO DISCLOSE PROPERTY OWNED

NORTH HILLS GROWS AT BRISK PACE THROUGH PRIVATE DOLLARS - NOT THE HUNDREDS OF PUBLIC MILLIONS PUT FORWARD BY "DOWNTOWN FIRST MEEKER"

MEEKER SLOW ON AGREEMENT FOR NORTH RALEIGH ATHLETIC FIELDS - TOO BUSY PUTTING TVS IN DOWNTOWN BUSES

MORE YEAR-ROUND SCHOOLS MESS AT GREEN ELEMENTARY

TUESDAY'S JOURNAL - APRIL 14, 2009

WAKE ED PARTNERSHIP TELLS PARENTS THEIR REASSIGNMENT FRUSTRATIONS ARE ALL IN THEIR HEAD - IF WAKE ED PARTNERSHIP HAD THEIR WAY THEY WOULD REASSIGN THOUSANDS MORE

WAKE CENTRAL SCHOOLS OFFICE TO AUDIT INDIVIDUAL SCHOOLS - NOT FINANCIALLY

HORACE TART CONTINUES GOLD MEDAL LAP DOG PERFORMANCE FOR WAKE ED PARTNERSHIP

KEVIN HILL CALLS ABYSMALL GRADUATION RATES FOR MINORITIES "HEALTHY"

CHUCK DELANEY - DAMN THE 20 MILE TORPEDOES, FULL DIVERSITY AHEAD

MEEKER'S BIG RE-ELECTION PLANS - BIG SPENDING, BIG TAXES

WAKE COUNTY MANAGER CALLS FOR 10% CUTS IN COUNTY BUDGETS

MITCH SILVER SAYS YOU DRINK THE KOOL AID EVEN THOUGH I PERSONALLY DON'T LIKE IT

MONEY APPEARS ON THE SCENE FOR SOUTHEAST RALEIGH AND SO DOES BRAD THOMPSON

INDEPENDENT WEEKLY REGURGITATES THE FAILED RHETORIC OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC DIVERSITY PROPONENTS

MAYOR "DOWNTOWN FIRST" MEEKER ALL GIDDY FOR TELEVSIONS ON BUSES, BUT NOT FIGHTING CRIME

FRIDAY'S JOURNAL - APRIL 3, 2009

Today's overview:

OH YEAH! FIRST KOOL AID DIVERSITY CANDIDATE COMES OUT OF THE WOODWORK

STAN NORWALK SHARES A CUP OF KOOL AID WITH SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATE

LAW SCHOOL PANEL USES BIBLICAL REFERENCES TO PRAISE WAKE SCHOOLS FAILED DIVERSITY POLICY

WAKE ED PARTNERSHIP KOOL AID KAHLENBERG PUSHES A LOT OF CHARTS, BUT NO CONCRETE FACTS

DOWNTOWN RALEIGH RESTAURANT GOES UNDER - GUESS IT DID NOT GET THE "MILLION DOLLAR MINT" TREATMENT

FIRST DIVERSITY KOOL AID CANDIDATE COMES FORWARD

Related Link

RICHARD KAHLENBERG OF THE CENTURY FOUNDATION SAID A LOT OF THINGS

Last night, April 1, 2009 at the CCCAAC meeting in Southeast Raleigh.

One thing he did not say was the answer to Eric Blau's question.

WANT TO KNOW WHO PARTICIPATED IN HKONJ?

Here's Raleigh FIST's latest endeavor - an active participant in HKONJ. They describe themselves as a marxist youth organization:

Raleigh-Durham F.I.S.T. presents:
Fred Goldstein, author of "Low Wage Capitalism," and Monica Moorehead, the author of "Marxism, Reparations, and the Black Freedom Stuggle" will be in Chapel Hill on Saturday at Internationalist Books (405 W Franklin St) to discuss their works. This will be a great time for folks to get a better understanding of the current economic crisis and how it greatly affects oppressed peoples, workers, and students, as well as what type of fightback is necessary to demand our rights to a job, an education, and everything else that is threatened by crises of capitalism.Start: Apr 4 2009 - 12:30pmEnd: Apr 4 2009 - 2:00pmFred Goldstein, author of Low-Wage Capitalism, will talk about his groundbreaking new book "Low-Wage Capitalism," which presents a Marxist view of the capitalist economic crisis. Critically acclaimed by both Howard Zinn and Michael Parenti, "Low-Wage Capitalism" provides a sorely-needed and easy-to-read analysis of the roots of the current global economic crisis, its implications for workers and oppressed peoples, and the strategy needed for future struggle. Goldstein explains how the dramatic impact of new technology and the restructuring of global capitalism contains the seeds of its own destruction.He will be joined by Monica Moorehead, the editor of Marxism, Reparations and the Black Freedom Struggle, a rich collection of articles from the pages of Workers World newspaper featuring Black Resistance, Katrina, History of Struggle and Anthology. Both authors will sign books following the discussion.For more info check out:http://www.lowwagecapitalism.com/http://leftbooks.com/store/product211.htmlhttp://internationalistbooks.org/?q=node/300(any more questions contact scott@fistyouth.org)Fight Imperialism- Stand Together (FIST) is a Marxist youth organization. http://raleighfist.wordpress.comhttp://fistyouth.org

IF YOU NEEDED ANOTHER REASON ABOUT HOW POOR THE N&O IS ....

You can find it in the Life, etc. section this month.

The News and Observer, in the spirit of March Madness decided to compose a "Music Madness" tournament. Simply put, they matched up 64 musical groups and indivduals over the course of pop music history and invited readers to participate in deciding who is the greatest pop music act in history.

So why bring this up today, April 1st?

Yes it's the birthday of arguably the greatest soul musician ever - Marvin Gaye.

And guess what? He's not on the list.

Nope, but somehow the O'Jays, Isley Brothers, and Sly and the Family Stone made the list? What braintrust over at the N&O put together the soul pairings for this? Were they even over 30 years old?

How in the world does this not make the list?

Weak. You can see the N&O list here.

WEDNESDAY'S JOURNAL - APRIL 1, 2009

Today's overview:

CAMPO AND TRIANGLE TRANSIT MEETING IN NORTHERN WAKE TO PUSH FOR MASSIVE TAX INCREASES FOR FLAWED TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM

DEL BURNS PLAYS MATH GAMES WITH SCHOOL BUDGET, CALLS MILLIONS BASED ON GHOST STUDENTS A CUT

BURNS GIVES UP RAISE, NOT MILLIONS SPENT ON FLAWED DIVERSITY BUSING PROGRAM

MILLBERG ON A ROLL - MORE FEIGNING CONCERN FOR WAKE PARENTS

ST. AUG'S TO HOST COMMUNITY DAY - GOOD LUCK GETTING MEEKER DOWN THERE

IT'S NOT JUST FOR RALEIGH ANYMORE - MEEKER & CO. ATTEMPT TO CONTROL GROWTH IN OTHER LOCAL TOWNS

YET ANOTHER CONVENTION EXPENSE - N&O REPORTER RIDES R-LINE .... ALONE

CARY'S LOUD FLUSHING SOUND (LITERALLY)

Not as senseless as Raleigh's garbage disposal ban but ranking right up there is Cary's toilet buyback progam.

Apparently not only are guns the only danger that municipalities must buy back.

Toilets .... the killer among us.

You can read David Bass' great article here.

DEEP THOUGHTS BY STAN NORWALK

Fresh off of labeling parents as segregationists at the Coalition of Concerned Citizens for African American Children, Stan Norwalk is at it again. When we last caught up with Stan at the CCCAAC meeting, he rambled around for about ten minutes incorrectly citing the Leandro decision as the landmark case for the Mecklenburg school system.

And now this.

Leave it to Stan. He doesn't let facts get in the way.

And who is to blame for the reassignment mess? Chuck Delaney, Del Burns, Central Office, an unresponsive school board? Nope. Lo and behold it's

Drum roll please....

The home builders once again. While you're at it Stan, why not blame them for the spread of malaria in Africa as well.

By the way Stan, you cheapen real issues of racism and segregation that occurred 40-50 years ago by trying to put the Bull Connor label on parents justly concerned about the quality of Wake County's public school system.

Might I recommend a book for you? It's called Blood Done Sign My Name by Timothy Tyson. I know you are not from the South originally so maybe you ought to brush up on your Southern history rather than just spouting out self-righteous drivel and throwing labels around. In case you think it's a right wing book, it was chosen by the folks at UNC-Chapel Hill for the Summer Reading Program. The same folks that forced students to read Approaching the Quran.

In Defense of Diversity
Posted 03-28-2009 at 04:11 PM by StanN

In Defense of DiversityThe rallying cry of the coalition promoting the reversal of WCPSS’ diversity policy is “neighborhood schools” aka “community schools” The coalition consists of three Political Action Committees (PAC’s) involving irate parents who are supporting four candidates for the Board of Education (BOE) in this falls election. Other individuals supporting vouchers and private schools have attached themselves to the PAC’s.The unstated message of “Neighborhood Schools” is “keep your poor kids in their own schools, not in ‘our’ schools.” Rather than re-segregated neighborhood schools we need a new commitment from all levels of government to raise the academic bar for all children. Irate parents have been led to believe that reversing the school board’s (BOE) diversity policy would resolve their legitimate concerns, i.e. the pain of frequent reassignments, lengthy bus rides and the inconvenience of mandated year round schools (MYRS). However, rolling back the diversity policy will not address these grievances and may make them worse. The false choice of raising the funding level for schools with high concentrations of needy children will eventually fail as it require an increase in property taxes - including the 70% of voters who do not have children in public schools.The understandably irate parents are aiming at the wrong target. WCPSS’ diversity policy plays a minor role in their grievances. Rather the BOE’s use of these measures results from decade’s long mismanagement of growth in Wake County. For twenty years both the State and the County have been unwilling to insist that growth must be connected to new school infrastructure (read: an Adequate Public Facility Ordinances) and that growth must pay for growth. (read: impact fees on new residents.) Too few in the State legislature and the County Commission are willing to vote against powerful special interests opposing widely used solutions.As a result, Wake is has over 25,000 seats in trailers, (1170 trailers) over-crowding campuses to the point where schools must be capped and children assigned to more distant schools. Inadequate funding leads to MYRS and lengthy bus rides. Worst of all, taxes from existing residents are used to pay for constructing schools rather than educating the children they house.All students are impacted. Teacher intensive, specialized courses are the first to go when funds for education are tightly restrained.NC is 44th in the nation in support of K-12 classroom education . Likewise, Wake’s schools are 85th (of 115 school districts) in the state (not counting the costs of constructing schools. Source NC DPI). Focusing on reversing the diversity policy will not resolve these deplorable facts. Wake’s children are caught in the crossfire of a blame game between the BOE, the County Commissioners, and state legislators – and now, misinformed parents.Concentrating poor children in segregated schools will not address parents’ grievances. Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s experience in re-segregating their schools resulted in more bussing; abysmally low academic performance in re-segregated schools; “brain flight”; shifting resources from more affluent area schools to pay for education in poor ones and higher property taxes for all. It has taken decades of mismanaged growth to dig the hole for our schools. Especially during a deep recession there are no silver-bullet solutions to undo the damage of those decades. Growth will return and we should remember the need for real reform. For now, let’s avoid taking giant steps backward. Rather we should focus on using limited resources to advance academics.Rejection of funds to advance academics for our growing school population, we result in lower graduation rates. There will be more citizens who cannot find adequate employment. Then we will spend much more money fighting gangs and building jails.Consider that Wake’s success in attracting high-paying jobs is based on its concentration of brainpower. Wake’s competitive advantage needs nurturing. Constantly raising the academic bar attracts quality jobs and prepares the next generation for such jobs. Diversity is a given in the worlds of business and government. Do we really want to teach our kids that diversity is unimportant? Dealing with the challenges in our schools requires leadership with a long range vision and a focus on what’s critically important. It requires courage to resist powerful special interests and the “critical many” rather than the critical few. Leaders need to find common ground across organizational, ideological and party lines.Past great leaders have fought and for diversity in schools. Some even died in the effort. Where will Wake’s citizens stand this fall?Stan Norwalk is a member of the Wake County Board of Commissioners. His views on diversity are his own. He can be reached at stann@nc.rr.com

TUESDAY'S JOURNAL - MARCH 31, 2009

Today's overview:

LOCAL STATISTICIAN SHOWS WAKE ED PARTNERSHIP'S DIVERSITY EMPEROR HAS NO CLOTHES

WAKE SCHOOLS CONTINUE FLAWED YEAR-ROUND BUT MOVE FORWARD TO FIRE TEACHERS

ROSA GILL JOINS PATTI AND LORI - FEIGNS CONCERN FOR WAKE PARENTS

MONDAY'S JOURNAL - MARCH 30, 2009

Today's overview:

WAKE SCHOOLS GOES GEORGE ORWELL - CALLS ENDING DIVERSITY BUSING ILLOGICAL

SECOND ROUND OF VIOLENT GUNFIRE IN LESS THAN A WEEK OFF RALEIGH BOULEVARD – MEANWHILE MEEKER ATTENDS EDUCATORS CONVENTION TO PUSH DIVERSITY

UE-150 UNION PUSHES FOR HIGHER WAGES FOR RALEIGH SANITATION WORKERS - CITY MANAGER SAYS THEY DON'T EVEN WORK 40 HOURS A WEEK

BETTER GET A BIG PITCHER - THREE SCHOOL DIVERISTY FLAVOR AID EVENTS THIS WEEK

UNC CIVIL RIGHTS CONFERENCE TO CALL WAKE PARENTS RACISTS

FORMER WAKE ED PARTNERSHIP FLAKEY - WAKE SCHOOLS COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, NOT EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE, STANDS OUT

WAKE ED PARTNERSHIP SPEAKER PRAISES WAKE SCHOOLS DIVERISTY POLICY THAT FAILS MINORITIES

RALEIGH SOUP KITCHENS SEE RECORD NUMBERS - LET THEM EAT CAKE SAYS CHARLES "THE MINT" MEEKER

FRIDAY'S JOURNAL - MARCH 27, 2009

Today's overview:

WAKE SCHOOLS WASTES $350,000 IN NORTH RALEIGH

NAACP STAYS SILENT - HOLDS RALLY NEXT TO STATE GOVERNMENT MARKER HONORING WOMAN RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEATH OF MILLIONS OF AFRICANS

PATTI HEAD AND LORI MILLBERG - THE DOUBLEMINT TWINS

LOCAL LEFTIST GROUP DISTORTS ATTENDANCE FIGURES - CLAIMS 10,000 WHEN THEY DID NOT EVEN HAVE 1000

VIOLENT SHOOTING NEAR ENLOE HIGH SCHOOL - MAYOR "BENIGN NEGLECT" MEEKER TOO BUSY SOAPBOXING ON DIVERSITY IN WAKE SCHOOLS

CARY MAYOR STANDS AGAINST COSTLY STUDENT EDUCATION FORUM

WILL ST. AGNES HOSPITAL AT ST. AUGUSTINE'S - BRAD MILLER GETS $285,000 IN FEDERAL PORK TO DO SO

REV. BARBER - THE NEXT TIME YOU'RE ON JONES STREET...

How about taking time to urge that someone with state government remove this sign.

You did your HKONJ rally right beside a plaque honoring a woman who can rightfully be blamed for the ecological genocide of millions of Africans.

Who is it?

Rachel Carson. Somebody your environmental buddies who participated in the HKONJ march probably worship at the feet of.

She was quite successful in eliminating the use of DDT to fight malaria - particularly in Africa - thus resulting in the deaths of millions of Africans that continues to this day.

Thanks for propping up the leftist environmental movement Rev. Barber. It sure seems to be serving your brethren in Africa well.

DANTE STROBINO AT RALEIGH FIST IS ....

A. Not a good liar

B. Blind

C. Very poor counter

D. Juvenille leftist

E. All of the above

In Dante Strobino's blog post at Raleigh FIST, with the nifty Che Guevara picture clearly identifying them as real socialists, he stated:

Almost 10,000 people gathered in Chavis Park before the march....

If you even had 1000 people down at Chavis Park, that would be stretching it. I guess if you call the rally HKONJ (Historic THOUSANDS on Jones Street) then you can just say 10,000 and assume people won't know better.

You had over 80 leftist groups together with paid activists and you could not get beyond say, 10 - 15 per group?

You can see the real crowd photos here:

Or if you like, you can count below. These photos were taken at the peak of attendance at Chavis Park.

PATTI AND LORI - THE DOUBLEMINT TWINS

After being two of the bigger proponets of disrupting the lives of parents and children through a disastrous reassignment process and trying to force mandatory year-round schools for a flawed socio-economic diversity experiment, what did they have to say about opening school earlier and changing adjournment times?

But the school board is considering the move's potential hardships on families, such as increased childcare costs.

"All of us agree that planning time as a regular commitment is a good thing," said outgoing school board member Patti Head. "But it's all these side issues we have to balance."

Raleigh News & Observer, March 25, 2009

"This is going to be difficult for parents in the community to make this adjustment," said school board member Lori Millberg.

Raleigh News & Observer, March 25, 2009

Spare me.