James Hunter Six flaunts British soul at Grey Eagle — See REVIEW, Pg. B1
Asheville rated No. 2 for spring break fun — See STORY, Pg. A4
UNCA named tops in ‘making impact’ — See STORY, Pg. A6
ILLE V E H AS ASHEVILLEʼS GREATEST NEWSPAPER
March 2016
Vol. 12, No. 4
An Independent Newspaper Serving Greater Asheville www.ashevilledailyplanet.com FREE
Asheville celebrates Mardis Gras
Writers risk death voicing truth to power, Rushdie says By JOHN NORTH
john@AshevilleDailyPlanet.com
Special photo by DEBBIE DELL
Special photo from AshevilleMardisGras.org
Really old men in the hood
Q: When I was in my youth, a lot of women I knew fell for bad boys. I’m now a man in my 60s, entering retirement. Amazingly, I’m finding that even women my age prefer bad boys. What’s this about? — Nice Guy A: Since older women often end up dating much-older men, this leads to the question, what’s the profile of the elderly bad boy? Cheating at bingo? Swearing on the
Asheville marked Mardis Gras on Feb. 7 in downtown Asheville, with a parade and celebration, a chili cookoff and other activities. The photo above shows some of the colorful celebrants in eye-dazzling costumes. The parade began on Wall Street and circled back via Haywood Street and Page Avenue. Billed as the city’s longest-running winter festival, this year’s them was “Saints versus Sinners,” The parade was led by the 2016 Mardi Gras royals (left)— Queen Sara Widenhouse and King Robert Bone.
The Advice Goddess Amy Alkon
golf course? Shotgunning Ensure? Some older women — just like the younger ones — go for bad boys because they don’t think much of themselves and feel most comfortable with someone who seems to share their view. But even older women who aren’t emotional shipwrecks can be drawn to the aging delinquent. It turns out that a bad boy’s unreliability has a neurological upside. See ADVICE GODDESS, Page A14
In a harsh world where ruthless dictatorships can reach someone virtually anywhere, writers who speak truth to powerful governments increasingly risk everything — including their lives — in doing so, acclaimed novelist Salman Rushdie, who spoke from harsh experience, told an audience at UNC Asheville Feb. 18. About 3,000 people — nearly packing UNCA’s Kimmell Arena — attended his 45-minute speech titled “Public Events, Private Lives: Literature Plus Politics in the Modern World.” In touting freedom of speech and decrying ever-growing censorship, Rushdie spent much of his time talking about the vital role that literature plays in the Internet era. His 1988 novel, “The Satanic Verses,” mixed magical realism with a satirical stab at Islam — dream sequences about a Messenger receiving revelations, or extra scriptures dedicated to three pagan female deities. Many Muslims worldwide considered the book to be blasphemous against the prophet Muhammed. Indeed, Ayatollah Khomeini, the supreme leader of Iran, expressed outrage and issued a fatwa, or religious decree, calling for Rushdie’s death. After several assassination attempts, the Indianborn novelist was forced into hiding for 10 years in Great Britain. “I’m not going to say a lot about the Ayatollah Khomeini other than to say one of us is dead — and it’s not me,” Rushdie noted dryly, triggering applause. Rushdie said he also had serious problems — prompted by the content of some of his novels — with leaders of India and Pakistan. Given that Khomeini and his aforementioned two other powerful political foes all are dead now, Rushdie mused, with a wry grin, “So ‘dictator eliminator’ appears to be a service I can perform.” The crowd laughed and applauded. See RUSHDIE, Page A16
Body cam video should not be made public, city safety chair Bothwell says From Staff Reports
Police body camera videos should not be available to the public for viewing, according to Cecil Bothwell, City Council’s public safety chairman and a former journalist, who recently took a firm stance in the national debate about the cameras. Following a number of high-profile violent encounters between law enforcement officers and residents in different cities around the nation, the cameras have become commonplace Locally, his stance pits him squarely against the Asheville Citizen-Times and other news media, who are battling for the routine release of the videos, as well as the Dec. 31 recordings that authorities say led to the firing of two Buncombe County sheriff’s deputies.
Instead, Bothwell, a former managing editor of the Mountain Xpress and a longtime liberal activist, is taking the opposite stance from the local news media, siding with restrictive positions taken by Asheville and other police departments. “While I have long been an Cecil Bothwell advocate of government transparency the broad questions concerning body cams and surveillance cams are complicated,” Bothwell said in a mid-February e-mail to the AC-T. “Surveillance cameras are ubiquitous in our society today, intruding on our privacy and solving crimes at the same time.” See BOTHWELL, Page A7
A2 - March 2016 - Asheville Daily Planet
UNCA chancellor gives update on looming bond referendum By JOHN NORTH
john@AshevilleDailyPlanet.com
A report on the Connect North Carolina bond referendum, specifically detailing how it would provide needed infrastructure improvements and repairs at UNC Asheville, was presented Feb. 5 during a 30-minute breakfast meeting of the Council of Independent Business Owners at Chickfil-A restaurant in North Asheville. More than 80 people attended, including a number of business leaders, as well as local elected and non-elected officials. The report was presented by UNCA Chancellor Mary Grant, with a few details added by Vice Chancellor John Pierce. Grant, who spoke most of the time during the Connect N.C. bond referendum presentation, began by saying, “Thanks for the time,” noting that she appreciated being given “a chance to talk about the bond.” At that point, though, Grant said, “I’m just going to do a little commercial for UNC Asheville. We’re having a really great season at UNC Asheville and both (men’s and women’s) basketball teams are in first place…. So it’s an excellent time to be a Bulldog!” She then noted that a number of UNCA officials were in attendance of the CIBO meeting, prompting her to joke, “Is anybody working?” (The crowd laughed.) Grant also said, “We were named just this week the No. 1 university in the country for ‘making an impact.’ The impact is important because it talks about their (students) satisfaction after graduation.” She reiterated, “It’s a great time for UNC Asheville!” In turning to the March 15 bond referendum, Grant said, “There’s a $2 billion bond that will go before the voters on Nov. 8. It will invest in key infrastructure — it will have a wide statewide impact.” She noted that, since the last time a bond was approved in 2000, “the state has added 2 million people.” If the referendum is passed, $980 million will go to the 17 UNC system campuses, Grant said. “From the bond, $21.1 million is slated to come to UNC Asheville, if the bond is approved,” she noted. “We borrowed for our buildings. And our buildings have suffered. You look at Owen Hall, which is approaching 40 years old, and right next to it, Carmichael Hall, which is approaching 50 years old. “So this bond will allow us to take these buildings and totally do them over. We can’t keep going like this with these buildings…. We really need help on that. “As many of you know, when we have projects like this, it not only helps the university, but they (the projects) bring jobs,” Grant said. “When we think of the collective impact (of UNCA on Asheville), it is very significant. So this is a big time, it will transform major institutions. “That is the reason I came to speak with you today. … We also want to thank members of the business community for your support. We have a game on Saturday, so come onto campus and become a Bulldog. Come cheer on our hometown team. Because you’re all Bulldogs,” Grant concluded. Next, Pierce, the vice chancellor, added that “these bonds — every 15 years — are one of the fundamental ways we can fund our capital needs at our university. We have about an annual repairs budget of $80 million, but it has been way below that for a number of years because the economy has been down.”
Further, Pierce said, “Talk to your employees. It’s very important (that the referendum passes) on March 15.” During a question-and-answer session that followed, Grant fielded a question from someone asking — in light of the high demand — about the limited availability of on-campus housing. “Last year, we had 180 students who wanted to live on campus who we couldn’t acommodate,” Grant said. “With the bonds, that would help with the housing piece” of the puzzle. A man asked Grant, “How can you — and what can you do to — curb some of the cost of education? What can the university do to hold down the price of education? Now they’re talking about the taxpayers paying off students’ debt.” In response, the chancellor said, “At UNC Asheville, we’re still relatively affordable. Tuition at UNC Asheville is about $6,000 per year. That’s pretty reasonable. Scholarships? Anyone who works with us knows we are” trying hard to help. What’s more, Grant said, “We’re not in a facilities arms race at UNC Asheville — as is the case with some other colleges and universities... Everytime we do something, we have to think about what do we do about the student.” Another man asked, “What’s the plan for the area west of Broadway” Street, encompassing 9.3 acres that is undeveloped and owned by UNCA? “A very big dog park!” Grant quipped with a grin, triggering much laughter from the CIBO crowd. More seriously, the chancellor said, “That (land) will be looked at as part of our master plan. We have to make sure it matches with our mission, community needs and that there is funding to support that.” She added that “the university was wise in purchasing that property” for future needs. A man asked about online access to UNCA. “When I was in Massachusetts, I was part of UMASS online,” Grant said. “Even though our mission is primarily undergraduate” education, she said UNCA is “looking at other possibilities for reaching out further with online class offerings. “I’m a big fan of hybrid work, where some of it is in-class and other parts, online,” the chancellor noted. She also pointed out that “we’re going to have space right in the middle of downtown at the Center for Craft, Creativity & Design” to reach out to the community with course offerings. “So technlogiy is essential and there’s absolutely more room for that.” A man at the meeting said, “I’m a UNCA grad — and happy to be that… Do you know in the way that this is set up if any of this (building refurbishing) work will be given to North Carolina contractors?” “I know on the last bond that that was a key condition,” Grant said. “I know for us, we do a lot of work for local busineses. I would be hard-pressed to think that that wasn’t a key value.” In winding up the Q&A session on a high note, Grant then asserted, with enthusiasm, “All I can say is: ‘Go Bulldogs!’” triggering applause — and a bit of laughter — from the CIBO attendees. On a separate matter, a brief report was presented by Jason Nortz, the City of Asheville’s development services director. Nortz introduced himself as holding the position on a permannt basis, versus serving in that post in an interim capacity, as when he first addressed CIBO about six months ago.
Heritage Life Skills IV Weekend Hands-On Classes
To register, visit www.CarolinaReadiness.com
April 29-May 1
Haywood County Fairgrounds 758 Crabtree Rd., Waynesville, N.C.
Come and join us for a weekend of learning! RVs & Tents - Free camping. No electricity or showers available.
Classes (and more) being offered are:
Beekeeping Canning Meat* Canning Fruits/Vegetables* Cheesemaking* Dehydrating Weed Walk Dutch Oven Cooking* Food Storage Sun Oven Cooking Candle Making* Suturing* Bread Making* Night Patrol Understanding Your Weapons Capabilities Herbal Salves, Tinctures, Teas
Essential Oils Perimeter Security ATLATL Fire Starting* Archery Blacksmith/Knife-Making* Solar Greenhouse Prepper Pharmacy Knot-Tying Secret Garden of Survival Map & Compass Navigation* Tactical Radio Communications Silver and Gold 101 Basics Sewing/Quilting* Self-Defense Survivor Jane Basic Survival
Some classes will be limited — sign up for classes early. Classes subject to change. *Minimal materials charge Bring pad & pens, and folding chairs.
Friday Night Speaker
7 p.m. — Dr. Joe Alton a/k/a Dr. Bones 8 p.m. — Dr. William Forstchen
Saturday Night Speaker 7 p.m. — TBA 8 p.m. — Mr. MadMick
Carolina Readiness Supply Inc. Will you be ready when the lights go out?
72 Montgomery St. Waynesville, N.C. 28786
(828) 456-5310
www.carolinareadiness.com
Asheville Daily Planet — March 2016 - A3
A little bee told me, “Spring is almost here!”
$499
95
HUSQVARNA 525LS
25.4 cc, 1.3 hp, 10.1 bs. Auto return stop switch, adjustable handle bar and T35x cutting head.
$329
95
HUSQVARNA HU800AWD
Honda GCV190 engine, 190 cc*. Collection/Mulch/Rear-side discharge. Cutting width 22 in, quick trigger 1.5-4.0 in cutting height adjustment, AWD and AutoWalk™.
Financing available with approved credit
$849
95
HUSQVARNA DRT900H
Honda GCV160 engine, 160 cc, 6.9 hp*. Gear, forward/ reverse, working width 17 in., working depth 6.5 in.
www.husqvarna.com
A4 - March 2016 - Asheville Daily Planet
Metro AVL’s jobless rate falls to 4.2%
City named a top pick for spring break
From Staff Reports
Asheville was named a top choice for spring break travel for “up-and-comers” looking for outdoors adventures recently by the website CheapTickets.com. The so-called “Paris of the South” ranked No. 2 as an outdoors destination for spring break for this group of travelers, defined as adults ages 25-34. The cost of travel and accommodations was a primary factor in the rating. South Lake Tahoe, Calif., was rated the No. 1 outdoors destination for “up-andcomers,” according to CheapTickets.com. The site reported average airfares to South Lake Tahoe at $362, compared with $482 for Asheville. Average daily hotel rates were reported to be $120 for the California city, versus $138 for Asheville. “From college students living off of Top Ramen to families trying to trim their expenses, people across the country are planning their spring break trips with a budget in mind,” the website stated in a news release “One of the top destinations for upand-comers this year is Asheville.” College students comprise 44 percent of spring break travelers, compared with 37 percent up-and-comers and 23 percent familiesk — and the average “up-and-comer” budget is $1,162, CheapTickets.com noted.
From Staff Reports
Daniel Meyer, conductor and music director of the Asheville Symphony Orchestra, will leave his post in 2018. The search for a new director begins this spring.
ASO director to leave in 2018
From Staff Reports The conductor and music director of the Asheville Symphony Orchestra for 13 seasons will depart in 2018, David Whitehill, ASO exectuive director, announced in mid-February. Meyer will conduct the full schedule during the 2016-17 season — and a reduced schedule during the 2017-18 season. He does not conduct exclusively for the ASO. In 2015, he also led performances of the Rochester Philharmonic, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Erie Philharmonic and the Pittsburgh Sympony, among others.
“Daniel has seen the ASO through a period of tremendous growth on many levels,” Whitehill said. “Our musicians are playing at the highest level. Our programming is recognized nationally for its creativity... There is no doubt that Daniel is the face of the Asheville Symphony.” The next season’s programming will celebrate Meyer’s career. A search for a new conductor will begin in the spring. In turn, Meyer said, “I will miss the wonderful musicians and audience members who have been such an integral part of my tenure with the ASO. “
Western North Carolina’s perennial leaders in the state for lowest unemployment rates — by county and metro area — again led the way in December, figures released Feb. 3 indicated. Buncombe County dropped to 3.9 percent from November’s adjusted figure of 4 percent. Meanwhile, the Asheville metro area, which includes Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson and Madison counties, fell to 4.2 percent from November’s adjusted 4.3 percent. North Carolina Department of Commerce statistics also showed Henderson County as recording the state’s fourth-lowest rate at 4.3 percent, an improvement over November’s 4.5 percent. State officials revised November’s figures to reflect updated data. The numbers are not seasonally adjusted, meaning that government officials have not taken into account fluctuations that occur because of phenomena. such as seasonal hiring. Economists emphasize that year-over-year comparisons are more significant than those month-over-month. Job totals in the Asheivlle metro area also increased in December — over both November 2015 and December 2014 data.
These venues invite you to visit them in Downtown Asheville Located at the Grove Arcade
COMPARE OUR BUYING PRICE ON GOLD AND SILVER
WE BUY LARGE
OR
SMALL COIN COLLECTIONS
BUYING ALL GOLD & SILVER 1 Page Ave Suite 120 Asheville NC
828-255-0731
0003151683
Mon.-Sat. 10-5
ART + I N D E PE N D E N T FI L M S
Coming in March: LADY IN THE VAN • DEMOLITION EYE IN THE SKY $5 Tuesdays Local Brews on Tap Best C oncession Prices Special events/fund-raisers excluded Prices subject to change Upstairs Stadium Seating All films — all day — only $5.00
www.FineArtsT heatre.com
Open D aily
•
36 Biltmore Ave
•
232.1536
Voltage Records
Visit our new location at 28 Asheland Avenue, Downtown Asheville
• Free parking • Sales, service and repair
New, used and vintage
BICYCLES 253-4800
Way beyond hip and trendy Asheville Daily Planet
Buy - Sell
LPs & CDs New & Used
Always purchasing LP collections Sell us your records for cash
90 N. Lexington Ave., Asheville
(828) 255-9333
Asheville Daily Planet — March 2016 - A5
Dickie’s Spring Sale You can grow with these prices MORE food for LESS money Cheapest groceries anywhere!
Good Old Boyz Grill
OPEN NOW! Serving BBQ, burgers, wings and more
Chef Erik Christenson
Boxes of Cereals ...
Nothing over $149
Angus Beef Patties ..............2-lb. box/$498 All labels of Cereal Bars, reg. & organic
5/98¢
All Potato Chips and Snack Items
49¢ to 98¢
All Salad Dressings and Mayonnaise
98¢ each
28-oz. cans of Tomatoes, organic & reg..................... 98¢ Pork Loin Chops and Pork Cubes - all $2/lb. (smaller sizes)
Pork Tenderloins (Flavored)
Original, peppercorn, lemon garlic, mosquete, terriyaki, apple bourbon $200/lb
1-lb. Bacon
Low sodium, smoked, hickory $198/each
DICKIE’S FOODS Buy, Sell, Salvage Foods & Overruns RICE SALE
Whole-grain “dirty” herb Fried rice Chicken and herb Couscous Risotto Black Cajun “dirty” rice dinner kit Pepper Gumbo Rice, vegetables Buy, sell, Salvage Foods & Overruns
DICKIES FOODS WOW!
We now carry Krispy Kreme donuts! HAMS
Virginia chopped, boiled whole, pit wholes, boneless, halves and wholes, Bacon 49¢ to 98¢ deli ham 24 ozs./$398 Asian, Thai and Curry All hams........ $100/lb. Roasted Garlic K-Cup teas #1 1114 Hansel Ave., Asheville, Ph. 253-4415 Ham Steaks 00 Swannanoa, Dinners..................98¢ #2 308 Patton Cove Rd., Ph. 686-5852 3/$10 (1-lb. per piece) #3 1512 Charlotte Hwy., Fairview, Ph. 826-0834 $198/each Helpers Sausage Rolls Owner Buzzy Hamburger Plemmons flavors to choose from) mild & hot 98¢/lb. (10 Frozen Hot Dog Salvage refers only to 98¢ slight dents in cans or Chili............ 12-oz./98¢ Hot Dogs Dried Cherries boxes. They are the 50 98¢/pack same brands 2-lbfound bag/$7 in Good Local
3 LOCATIONS
supermarket. Thanks to everyone whoany shops at Dickie’s. Contents all 100% The Plemmons family sure appreciates your guaranteed business! All items have been rigidly inspected by us and are passed for sale.
Produce
Reasonably priced
Out of date product guaranteed by us. Cheapest groceries 2 LOCATIONS If not satisfied, return product
#1 310 Weaverville Hwy., Woodfin, forPh. full 484-7168 refund. #2 1512 Charlotte Hwy., Fairview, Ph. 628-0834
Visit our web site at DickiesHalfPriceFoods.com
anywhere!
All items 100% guaranteed by Dickie’s
A6 - March 2016 - Asheville Daily Planet
UNCA ranked No. 1 for ‘making an impact’ From Staff Reports
UNC Asheville has earned top marks in the Colleges that Pay You Back: 2016 Edition, ranking No. 1 in the nation for “Best Schools for Making an Impact,” the university announced Feb. 2. The category recognizes schools with the best community service opportunities, student governments, sustainability, and on-campus student engagement, as well as graduates with high job meaning. “This ranking from The Princeton Review recognizes what our community already knows — that UNC Asheville students and alumni are doing incredible work in and out of the classroom and in their careers,” UNCA Chancellor Mary K. Grant. “Our ability to make an impact is a credit to exemplary teaching and a culture of cre-
ativity. Our students lead on campus and in the community, learning from faculty and staff mentors who work diligently to make a difference. Our graduates take our liberal arts mission to heart and into their professions, striving for innovation, discovery, civic engagement and lifelong learning.” Colleges that Pay You Back, released in February, expands on The Princeton Review’s prior annual publication, “Best Value Colleges” by focusing in on those factors that prospective students and their families find most important. Colleges That Pay You Back: The 200 Schools That Give You the Best Bang for Your Tuition Buck – 2016 Edition is a one-of-a-kind guide to the nation’s academically best and most affordable colleges that also have excellent records of alumni employment. “On so many fronts that matter to parents
For 1st time, UNCA names a building after black backer
and students alike, these colleges are truly standouts,” said Robert Franek, The Princeton Review’s senior VP/publisher and lead author of Colleges That Pay You Back. “They offer outstanding academics and generous financial aid to students with need and/or charge a relatively low cost of attendance. Some, phenomenally, do both. Their students also have access to extraordinary career services programs and a lifetime of alumni connections and post-grad support.” The Princeton Review chose the schools based on return on investment ratings it tallied for 650 school last year. The ratings weighted 40 data points that covered everything from academics, cost, and financial aid to graduation rates, student debt, and alumni salaries and job satisfaction. The publication stated that “UNC Asheville is an inexpensive way to achieve
Peace Corps rates UNCA 11th among small schools
Civic leader, ex-UNCA board chair Whitesides honored
From Staff Reports
For the first time, UNC Asheville has named an academic building in honor of an African-American, Alfred J. Whitesides Jr. The building, previously known as New Hall, was dedicated on Feb. 19, after a public vote by the Board of Trustees. “All of our campus community is excited about this opportunity to honor Al Whitesides, a passionate steward of UNC Asheville, a champion in the Asheville community and a dear friend,” said UNCA Board Chair Pat Smith. “During Al’s tenure and through the stewardship of the board, UNC Asheville experienced an unprecedented period of growth and construction, second only to the groundbreaking of the campus in 1959. Buildings constructed during this time include Highsmith Union, the Glass House of the library, Governors Hall, Sam Millar Facilities Complex, Zeis Hall, the groundbreaking of the Wilma M. Sherrill Center and construction of New Hall.” An ardent supporter of the Bulldogs with more than 15 years of service to the university and many more to the UNC system, Whitesides is a board member of the UNC Asheville Bulldog Athletic Association (BAA), having served as president of both the BAA and the UNCA Board of Trustees. He received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from UNCA in 2012, and as a student at North Carolina Central University, he served as presi-
dent of the student government association and a member of the board, resuming his service on the NCCU board almost a decade later as an alumnus. “It’s not many times in the life of the university that From left are UNCA Board Chair Pat Smith, Chancellor you do something Mary K. Grant and Al Whitesides stand together outside like this and have an of newly named Whitesides Hall on UNCA’s campus. opportunity to think mained active in the civil rights movement about and thank those individuals that we while attending college, where he met his honor and those who lead us,” said UNCA wife Shirley, a retired art teacher and nonChancellor Mary K. Grant. “New Hall has profit leader, who leads the Delta House been a canvas ready for this recognition. It Life Development of Asheville. The Whitewill share Al’s impacts on campus, in our sides have two daughters. community and around the state, while re"As I stand here today, it would not be right for minding us that we have much work to do me not to recognize all of those whose shoulders building on the legacy of a great man and a I stand on," said Whitesides who spoke about the great institution.” community and family. "One of the things that Whitesides is recognized throughout our families told us is, 'how you take the name Asheville as a successful businessman, a away from home, we want you to bring it back community leader and a living touchstone to the same way.' It was that pride that we've never the city’s struggle to eliminate segregation. forgotten. Another thing I remember my grandWhile attending the segregated African- father telling me is 'what you put between your American Stephens-Lee High School in the ears nobody can ever take away.’" Whitesides called on education as the way early 1960s, he and his classmates joined ASCORE (Asheville Student Committee on to level the playing field, and he thanked Racial Equality). The group organized and students while reminding them to go back participated in nonviolent demonstrations to and help those in need to help themselves. desegregate local businesses. Whitesides re- He challenged the community to do more.
UNCA lauded as top producer of Fulbright scholars From Staff Reports
The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has unveiled that UNC Asheville is among the U.S. colleges and universities with the highest number of Fulbright Scholars in 2015-16, UNCA announced Feb. 24. UNCA is tied for second among bachelor’s institutions. “UNC Asheville is home to scholars with a global focus, who are at the same time dedicated teachers in our undergraduate classrooms and engaged researchers in our local community and around the world,” said UNCA Provost Joseph Urgo. “They are leaders in liberal arts education and hands-
on learning that aims to not only understand our world but to make a difference in it.” Three UNCA faculty and staff were awarded Fulbright Scholar grants for 2015-16: • David Gillette, associate professor of environmental studies, was awarded a Fulbright research grant and is spending the 2015-16 academic year in Nepal, returning to the Gandaki River basin where he had studied fish populations decades ago. Gillette and his colleague, Professor David Edds of Emporia State University, are re-sampling fish communities in 40 previouslysampled sites to document changes and develop an understanding of ecosystem response to climate change. • Keya Maitra, chair and professor of phi-
an excellent education, at a school that may be less intimidating than a larger institution. The myriad research opportunities help flesh out a résumé, and the stress on real-world application gets students job-ready before they even set foot outside the mountains.” The Princeton Review cited UNCA’s Career Center, Study Abroad, Outdoor Programs and service opportunities through the Key Center, as well as the nationally recognized Undergraduate Research Program, as highlights of the school. UNCA also made the list of The Princeton Review’s The Best 380 Colleges and is ranked as one of the top Public Liberal Arts Colleges, coming in at No. 8 in U.S. News and World Report. Kiplinger’s Personal Finance named UNCA a “Best College Value,” with Fiske Guide to Colleges naming the university a “Best Buy.”
losophy, was awarded a Fulbright-Nehru Senior research grant and spent the fall 2015 semester at the Department of Philosophy, University of Delhi, India. The trip enabled her to study ancient Buddhist texts in India, and conduct research, and share her ideas with Indian colleagues with the aim of developing an epistemology of mindfulness. • Cara Gilpin, assistant director of UNCA Study Abroad programs, was one of 20 American international education administrators to receive a Fulbright grant to attend a two-week seminar abroad. The conference began in Berlin, and Gilpin then traveled with other participants to the German cities of Marburg and Wittenberg.
From Staff Reports UNC Asheville has been ranked by the Peace Corps as one of the top-producing colleges for alumni now serving as volunteers in the organization. Specifically, the university is rated No. 11 among small schools in the nation. “UNC Asheville students and alumni strive to apply their undergraduate liberal arts education in meaningful ways, and service with the Peace Corps is a wonderful example of the worldwide impact that we have,” said UNC Asheville Provost Joseph Urgo. “Peace Corps volunteers do vital work in communities around the globe, and our graduates find it a fulfilling extension of the civic engagement and hands-on experience that they gain on our campus.” According to the Peace Corps, UNC Asheville now has 10 alumni serving around the world. This is the first year that UNC Asheville has been included in the ranking. “The Peace Corps is a unique opportunity for college graduates to put their education into practice and become agents of change in communities around the world,” Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet said. “Today’s graduates understand the importance of intercultural understanding and are raising their hands in record numbers to take on the challenge of international service.”
Published monthly by Star Fleet Communications Inc. JOHN NORTH Publisher Phone: (828) 252-6565 • Fax: (828) 252-6567 Mailing address: P.O. Box 8490, Asheville, N.C. 28814-8490 Website: www.ashevilledailyplanet.com E-mail the following departments:
News: news@ashevilledailyplanet.com Letters to the Editor: letters@ashevilledailyplanet.com Display Advertising: advertising@ashevilledailyplanet.com Classified line ads: classads@ashevilledailyplanet.com Circulation: circulation@ashevilledailyplanet.com Publisher: publisher@ashevilledailyplanet.com
To subscribe to the Asheville Daily Planet, send check or money-order to: P.O. Box 8490, Asheville, N.C. 28814-8490 One-year local subscription (Asheville, Buncombe County, N.C., only)..............................$35 One-year out of area subscription (outside of Asheville, Buncombe County, N.C., but inside the United States).........................................................$50 One-year outside U.S. subscription (outside U.S.)..................................................................................$100 Copyright 2011 by Asheville Daily Planet. Advertising copyright 2011. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. The Asheville Daily Planet is available free throughout Western North Carolina. Limit one copy per person. Additional copies may be purchased for $1 per copy, payable at the ADP office in advance. No person may, without prior permission, take more than one copy of each issue.
Asheville Daily Planet — March 2016 - A7
Woman dies after being found in dumpster with screwdriver in skull From Staff Reports
A woman was found fatally wounded with a screwdriver embedded in her skull and lying in a trash bin, late afternoon Feb. 12 in Asheville. Despite rescue efforts, she died shortly after being found. Ambulance crews briefly resuscitated Kessinger, but she later died at Mission Hospital, according to Christina Hallingse, a spokeswoman for the Asheville Police Department. When she was discovered about 4:30 p.m. by a man taking out the trash, the man reportedly said that he ran back into the building to call police, and then returned to the dumpster with a coworker, in an effort to help the victim. The woman was later identified as Christina Louise Kessinger, 62, who had worked for six months as a real estate agent for Asheville
Realty Group. As of late February, it remains unclear as to why Kessinger was at the Central Office Park office building at 56 Central Avenue near downtown. “She was a wonderful person and a real professional. Our whole office is just Christina Louise heartbroken,” Bobbie Kessinger Baxter, co-owner of the group, told the Asheville Citizen-Times. On the afternoon of Feb. 13, Asheville police charged James Michael Norton, 29, of Marshall with first-degree murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon in Kessinger’s death.
The arrest of Norton by Madison County sheriff’s deputies occurred after they received an anonymous call regarding a suspicious vehicle. Just after 9 a.m. Feb. 13, deputies arrived at a home on Ledford & Craine Road in Marshall and reportedly discovered a 2010 Toyota Corolla with no license plates. While deputies examined the car, Norton approached them from a house across the road. During the ensuing conversation, APD officers alerted Madison deputies that the Corolla was registered to Kessinger. On Feb. 15, Norton appeared before a Buncombe County district court judge, where he was assigned a public defender and continues to be held without bond in the jail. An subsequent examination of Norton’s background revealed that he was released from prison about a year ago — Feb. 15,
2015 — for larceny of a motor vehicle and altering a serial number, after serving a sentence of at least 10 months. Norton’s criminal history shows felony convictions across several counties, including larceny of more than $1,000 and credit card theft in Buncombe County, breaking and entering in Madison County and drug possession in Henderson County, according to Department of Corrections records. “I’m at 56 Central Office Park on the corner of Central and Elm. I went to throw some trash in the dumpster. There’s a lot of blood out here and somebody’s in the dumpster, not breathing, on and off,” the 911 caller told an Asheville police dispatcher on Feb. 12. “A coworker of mine jumped in and was trying to, tried to...” the caller continued, his voice trailing off as the dispatcher said it appeared that officers had reported to the scene.
Continued from Page A1 “While on the council, he (Bothwell) pushed for civil liberties legislation limiting police video taping of public rallies,” the AC-T noted in a late February news story, adding: “Bothwell took the latest stance on videos after questions from the Citizen-Times about the agenda of a Feb. 22 public safety commit-
tee meeting and whether he expected much discussion on the videos. Asheville police anticipate getting their first 60 cameras by this summer then a final 120 over the next few years. The 60 cameras will cost $142,000 for the hardware plus initial storage space.” Buncombe Sheriff Van Duncan and Asheville Police Chief Tammy Hooper stated
at a Feb. 8 public forum at UNC Asheville that they believe body camera videos are protected because of the personnel law and because they can contain evidence. They also cited privacy issues and administrative problems. However, according to the North Carolina Press Association, the videos are in fact public record because they are not specifically
exempt from state public records law under North Carolina General Statute 132. That law says things such as documents or recordings are public record when they are “made or received pursuant to law or ordinance in connection with the transaction of public business by any agency of North Carolina government or its subdivisions.”
Cecil Bothwell, City Council public safety chairman, was contacted by the Daily Planet on Feb. 24 for a more detailed explanation of his stance on body camera videos,. The following is the full text of the statement Bothwell emailed to the newspaper: • As chair of the Asheville City Council Public Safety Committee, I have fielded a few questions about my position on the forthcoming deployment of body cams, and city policy concerning the recordings. Body cams employ relatively new technology to record interactions between police officers and citizens. They can serve several functions. Citizens who choose to have interactions recorded (and they can decline — on camera, so their choice is recorded) are somewhat protected from bad behavior on the part of officers. Officers are protected from false claims concerning their work. Recordings may help prove innocence or guilt for either when cases arrive in court. It has been predicted and observed that body cams help diminish excesses of both officer and citizen behavior — when everyone knows a recording is being made, they tend to be on their best behavior. The question then becomes: what is the status of recordings? Should they be deemed a “public record” under the law. North Carolina law defines all evidence gathered in the course of investigating or preventing crime as investigative, and therefore not public. The argument for this is that if police are making a case it would be counterproductive to release what they know. Perhaps a specific interaction with a suspect does not “prove” criminality, but helps build the picture. Release of that recording could tip-off the suspect. (That’s one simple example.) On the other side, recordings of employee behavior are regarded as part of a personnel file — most importantly when bad employee actions are recorded. Personnel files are strictly private under N.C. law. If a complaint is filed against an officer, such a recording becomes part of the evidence weighed concerning the officer’s employment — or possible prosecution. So it seems clear to me that any body cam recording that reveals a problem with either a citizen or an officer is automatically not a public record under N.C. law. That would leave recordings (I would guess,
most) that reveal neither criminal behavior nor officer bad behavior. What such recordings would presumably reveal are the faces of innocent people, of children, perhaps of domestic violence victims who choose not to press charges, and etc. In such cases children’s faces would have to be blurred — it is against the law to record photos of minors without parental release. It also seems to me that most people would prefer not to have their innocent interactions with police recorded and made public. Certainly, as a matter of helping to shield domestic violence victims, the matter of privacy is paramount. State law permits destruction of such recordings after 30 days. Police Chief Tammy Hooper intends to preserve them for 60 days, based on Asheville’s track record concerning citizen complaints. Almost all complaints are filed within 30 days, some later, and virtually none after 60 days. The limiting factor is cost. Storage of data is expensive and video recordings are data-intensive. (If you run into storage problems on your personal computer it is almost certainly video files that cause the overload.) In the meantime, any citizen recorded via body cam will be able to request viewing (and of their minor children if such interactions are recorded). The police chief will be able to grant the request, and if the citizen is denied, the citizen will be able to appeal that decision. An overarching matter is that the N.C. General Assembly is almost certain to take up the question of how body xam recordings are handled in the near future — this is a new issue, and is being handled in different ways in cities across the state. When the GA acts, we will of course comply with the new law. Meanwhile, those who insist that all or some Body Cam recordings should be public seem to me to be well-intended but not practical. First off there are the two classes of recordings mentioned above that are not public under current state law. So the third group, that embody no bad behavior, might be eligible for release. First off — if nothing happened, what’s the point? Second — the cost to taxpayers could prove to be enormous. Each recording released would have to be screened very carefully — to blur the faces of chidren, for example. But then how does the screener know that a person is a minor? Would an innocent adult in the recording have a say in whether their image should
Bothwell
Bothwell issues statement to Daily Planet on his stance on body cam videos be released? A simple 10-minute tape might take hours to examine. Who is going to pay for those hours? And as a matter of public reporting, what exactly is the value to the public of recordings concerning non-issues? Given that N.C. is a Dillon’s Rule state
(municipalities only have authority specifically granted by the state government) — I am content to follow the guidelines offered by the City of Asheville legal department and the Chief of Police, pending more definitive regulation from Raleigh.
A8 — March 2016 - Asheville Daily Planet
Asheville Daily Planet — March 2016 — A9
Quality Tree Service
Offering the following professional services: Tree Removal • Tree Pruning Stump Grinding • Storm Damage Lot Cleaning • Brush Removal Clean Up • Dead Wood Removal View Clearing • Limb Removal Dangerous Tree Removal Firewood Sales @ $200/Cord
We do all phases of tree work • Free estimates 15 years’ experience • Licensed & fully insured
24-Hour Emergency Service Call Anthony / Owner
828-552-6274 or 828-775-6210
A10 — March 2016 - Asheville Daily Planet
The Daily Planet’s Opinion
Kudos to UNCA for courage to host a talk by fatwa target
O
ur terrific local university, UNC Asheville, really cranked it up a notch in its mission to promulgate the free exchange of ideas in the never-ending search for truth — in theory, a major role of any university — when it recently hosted a speech by writer-thinker-free speech activist-provocateur Salman Rushdie. Indeed, Rushdie’s fourth novel, “The Satanic Verses” (1988), was the centre of a major controversy, provoking protests from Muslims in several countries. Death threats were made against him, including a fatwā calling for his assassination issued by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran, on Feb. 14, 1989. As a result, Rushdie was put under police protection by the British government. Under tight security, Rushdie spoke Feb. 18 in UNCA’s Kimmell Arena, drawing an impressive turnout of about 3,000 people, many of whom appeared to be UNCA students. His hour-long speech, titled “Public Events, Private Lives: Literature + Politics in the Modern World,” peppered with moments of Rushdie’s dry humor and wit, featured his obvious passion for the central role literature plays as writers continue to risk their lives in speaking their truth to power. Rushdie’s speech proved inspirational. UNCA merits a salute for displaying the courage to host Rushdie.
Coughs/sneezes on campus monuments/names CHAPEL HILL — “When America catches a cold, Britain sneezes — eventually.” Writing in The New York Times, Matthew d’Ancona, a graduate of Britain’s Oxford University and columnist for British papers, The Guardian and The Daily Evening Standard, reported, “The argument about the proper limits of free speech and ‘political correctness’ that has raged for years on American campuses has arrived at British universities with a vengeance.” According to D’Ancona, there is a fierce debate at Oxford about a campaign to remove a statue of Cecil Rhodes from the campus of Oriel College, a part of the university. Rhodes made a fortune in diamond mining in southern Africa and left much of it to Oriel and to fund the scholarship program that bears his name. The objection to his statue is based on his white supremacist views. In 1877, he wrote, “I contend that we are the first race in the world and that the more of the world we inhabit the better it is for the human race.” In late January, Oriel College announced it would keep the statue, but the controversy continues. Meanwhile, in late January in Chapel Hill, America’s cold continued to bring about loud coughs as a panel of distinguished faculty members discussed proposals to remove the “Silent Sam” Confederate memorial and the names of slave-holding or segregationist men from campus buildings. Judge John J. Parker Distinguished Law Professor Al Brophy poignantly reported how an African American client in Sampson County told him that the Confederate memorial at the courthouse was a signal to her that she could not get justice there. If the memorial sent that message, Brophy suggested, its display could be a violation of the Federal Constitution. Responding to a campus Board of Trustees’ 16-year prohibition on building name changes, William B. Umstead Distinguished Professor of History Fitz Brundage suggested a form of collective civil disobedience. The campus community, for example, could begin to refer to Ruffin Hall as Chambers Hall in honor of civil rights hero Julius Chambers. Although there would be no formal renaming, “we as a collective community would decide Ruffin Hall will be Chambers Hall.”
D.G. Martin The only African-American on the panel, professor of law Ted Shaw, said that he was more interested in preserving history than obliterating it. But with respect to the Silent Sam statue, he conceded that “sometimes we need revolution, but I am much more interested in an honest rendition of history, so that it isn’t, as we say in the black community, ‘only his story.’” Campus historian Cecelia Moore pointed out that, for better or worse, the university’s building names reflect the power structure of an earlier time, rather than the values of today’s community. Shouldn’t, then, the campus community be free to surround itself with buildings with names that reflect current values? And why stop at buildings and monuments? What about the names of scholarships and professorships named for distinguished men and women whose views on race would be unacceptable today? Times columnist d’Ancona would say, no, “we have moral values --ones that are appropriate to our era. But for that very reason, if we build a monument that is consonant with those standards, then, reasonably, we expect it to be respected by future generations.” Regarding the proposed removal of the Rhodes statue, d’Ancona continues, “Protecting them from the challenge of history by obliterating uncomfortable facts about the past would infantilize them. “It would be a terrible precedent in this country, and because of Oxford’s renown, it would make headlines around the world. If Oxford is forced to take down its historic statuary, why stop there? Next for demolition: Mount Rushmore.” Good point, but as Professor Lloyd Kramer pointed out to his Chapel Hill colleagues, one of those men on Mount Rushmore, Thomas Jefferson, told us, “The world belongs to the living.” • D.G. Martin hosts “North Carolina Bookwatch,” which airs at 9:30 p.m. Fridays and at 5 p.m. Sundays on UNC-TV.
Letters to the Editor
Why do Hillary’s emails remain a huge problem?
Here’s why Hillary Clinton’s emails are a huge problem: • It’s not a conspiracy by the Republicans. • Clinton is accused of using her personal email server to hold classified material while in office, which is illegal. Last week (late January) the State Department said top-secret material went through her server, and that it would not make public 22 of the emails because they contained “highly classified information.” If an investigation determines those emails were classified before they went through Clinton’s server, she could face 22 felony counts. By the way, I am supporting Bernie Sanders — and not any of the Republicans. Gary Carter Walhalla, S.C.
Flint’s water fiasco tied to Democrats’ failings
Flint, Mich., is one of the poorest and most dangerous cities in America. It is so bankrupt, a financial custodian
(Democratic) is in charge and led the decision to seek a more efficient, cheaper water supply. NOT the governor. In fact, Flint’s own City Council, mayor and state treasurer — all Democrats — approved the idea. In hindsight, this decision to seek a new water supply was a disaster. But it is one entirely caused by government actors— most of them local government actors— and ignored by regulators until it was too late. The people who have thusfar done too little to fix the crisis are also government actors — at the local, state and even federal levels. It is just UNBELIEVABLE that every TV pundit is blaming the REPUBLICAN governor of the STATE, when instead, it’s a great example of DEMOCRATS failing to efficiently provide even the most basic of public services due to a characteristically toxic combination of administrative bloat (unsustainable public employee pensions) and corruption. Oh, did I mention 50-plus years of Democrat’s rule (?). STEVEN CHASE Miami, Fla., and Boone, N.C.
See LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, Page A11
The Candid Conservative
We should not be PLS-D
“Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.” ― Winston Churchill
The problem
T
he Democratic Party has surrendered all connection to America’s political heritage. The latter’s framework – characterized by liberty, opportunity and responsibility linked to the same harness – is in direct opposition to everything the donkey now stands for. Worse, a large percentage of that party’s base is clueless that an epic transfer of values been pushed through on their watch. That transformation is undebatable. At no point in our history would traditional Democrats have supported Presidential candidates such as closeted socialist Hillary Clinton or celebrated socialist Bernie Sanders. This remarkable turn of events is not an accident.
Who?
Progressive-liberal-socialists, selfdeclared as the ‘new and improved’ Democratic Party, represent the most powerful, creative, and successful political movement in 21st century America. Over the last two decades their policy and control achievements have eclipsed Marx’s wildest dreams. Need proof? Allow me to exhaust you.
Destruction of the family
If you want to kidnap a culture, one the best places to start is by killing the family. Today’s PLS-D movement has been remarkably fruitful. Pick any empirical study on raising children and the conclusion will be the same; traditional mother-father family units beat all other models by a landslide. That’s not to say others can’t be made to work – but they work like a size 13 shoe works on a size 10 foot. The PLS-D’s means to their misguided ends are numerous – not the least of which is making convenience a priority over conscience.
Carl Mumpower To date in America we’ve chosen to intercept 55 million new lives rather than embrace the accountabilities of family. Any guesses as to the impact of taking that many souls – a number equal to Hitler’s tally for World War II – off our country’s game board? In making it easy to stop doing what only a woman can do we’ve robbed the fairer gender of the core of their most sincere identity. What’s that? Not much – just civilizing the world. In today’s goofy PLS-D cultural model we’re telling women that they should not only be able to do what men do, but that they should be like men. Women as aggressive, over-sexed, and pleasure seeking narcissists is not a good thing. One gender prone to those qualities is enough. Social welfare subsistence policies ensnaring single parent families are another reprehensible example of the false benevolence of the PLS-D’s big government gusto. This practice is the moral equivalent of adopting a puppy and chaining it to a dog house. My favorite sleight of hand is same-sex marriage. Talk all you want about love, fairness, and equality, but nature’s message is clear – marriage is about a man and a woman. This bonding of equal opposites lays the foundation for birthing and raising children in the preeminent version of a safe, consistent, and nurturing incubator. Same sex pee-pees can’t do that and nature could care less about tax deductions.
Murdering our character
Left-minded culture vultures love to point out the inconsistencies of our JudeoChristian heritage. They do it for a toxic reason – because they want to be the opiate of the masses. See CANDID CONSERVATIVE, Page A14
Commentary
Social conservatives look silly years later
T
he 19th Amendment, the one that gave women the right to vote, was passed by Congress in June, 1919 and went out to the state legislatures for ratification. Fourteen months later enough states had voted “yes,” and it became part of the Constitution. But along the way ... Virginia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Maryland and Delaware voted “no.” Let me repeat that: these Southern states voted against giving women the right to vote. (North Carolina apparently didn’t vote on the amendment in this time period.) Viewed 95 years later, these votes look ridiculous. But we shouldn’t just cluck our tongues and shake our heads. There’s a lesson here for our time. The lesson is about what has come to be called “social conservatism.” Conservatism is part of our heritage as Southerners. And the votes against women’s suffrage were pure-and-simple conservative votes – in the dictionary sense: “a disposition in politics to preserve what is established.” Preserving what is established implies that somebody wants to un-preserve what is established. That somebody are liberals. I grew up in a conservative home in Georgia. Preachers talked about “modernists.” The world around us was teeming with “liberal” ideas: modern dancing, lipstick, movies, playing cards, women bobbing their hair and wearing men’s clothes. The no votes on the 19th Amendment were driven by this same anti-liberal sentiment . The Bible is clear that Christian women are to be subservient to men. For example, First Corinthians 14:35: “If [women] will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.” Did Southern conservatives think they would actually win their fight against women voting? I don’t know. But I’m sure it didn’t matter. They had to dig in against liberals who were threatening to topple the world as it was supposed to be forever, changing the role of women. Does anybody today feel that women shouldn’t vote? Not many. This is a powerful clue for me in understanding today’s social conservatives. They fiercely oppose change that threatens their traditional ideas of right and wrong. But over time, what was “wrong” is accepted. For example, the Christian college I attended no longer forbids students’ going to movies or dancing, or female students’ wearing slacks. Generations that came after me – most notably those that donate to the college – embraced change. In the 19th century, Southern preachers found abundant support for slavery in the Bible – Ephesians 6:5, for example, where slaves are told to obey their masters as if they were obeying Christ. (Interestingly, aboli-
Lee Ballard tionists argued more from the American principles of liberty and equality than from the Bible.) I remember the biblical arguments I heard as a kid in support of segregation. Nobody but kooks today think Negro slavery was appointed by God, and most Southerners now realize the evils of segregation. So it will be with homosexuality. As time passes now, and more and more gays come out of the closet, people will discover that they know homosexuals – people they love and respect. Opinions of church members will change, and the issue will pass. Social issues are by their very nature temporary. Society changes over time until a new consensus is reached. And issues cease to be issues. Why do I care what social conservatives think and do? My next column in this space will be about politics and social conservatism – how their bloc voting is impacting the future of us in North Carolina. • Lee Ballard lives in Mars Hill.
! d e r a p e r P e B
Continued from Page A10
As for school shootings, trust in God is the answer
We once were a people who trusted in the Lord, but we now are secular humanists who trust in ourselves instead of the Lord. We see it in our schools, which have been transformed into fortresses to protect our school children from school shooters. If we truly trusted in the Lord, we wouldn’t turn our schools into fortresses and we would place our trust in the Lord to protect our schools and schoolchildren. And if school shootings occurred in our unprotected schools, we would trust that the Lord God, who is all-good, all-loving, all-knowing and all-powerful, acted with justice and righteousness. Let us return to trusting the Lord and put our faith in the Lord our God, rather than in man and security, and suriveillance technologies, and school resource officers and guns and security camersa and security systems and lockdowns out of our schools, and leave our schools unprotected to show our perfect trust in the Lord our God. Replace security and surveillance and guns with trust in the Lord! As a postscript, if school shooters shoot your children in the unprotected schools, rest assured your dead children had completed their assignments on earth and their earthly work was done. And that was why they were called home. RICHARD D. POPE Hendersonville
Islamic terrorist attack erroneously blamed on guns The recent Islamic terrorist attack in
California brought out the usual reaction from American politicians and others. Some immediately blamed guns and suggested more gun laws, ignoring the fact that it is ungodly humans who pull the trigger. When the perpetrators turned out to be Islamic, the question they wanted answered was, how did they get radicalized? Like if they didn’t know! Historians tell us that Prophet Mohammed respected both the Jewish and the Christians and that he told his followers to leave them alone (don’t try to convert them), because they already knew God. So obviously, He believed in the Living God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel). However, later things changed, so that now, The Koran (Qur’an), contains such things as, “Kill them [the infidels, namely Christians and Jews] wherever you may come upon them, and seize them, and confine them, and lie in wait for them at every conceivable place.”-Sura 9:5 So the Prophet’s love of the Living God has now been turned into hatred against God’s Chosen People, the Jews and Christians, and the rest of the world. Now the Muslim Brotherhood says, “Our mission: world domination.” Some Muslim slogans are, “Death to America,” “Kill the Jews,” “Kill the Unbelievers.” Yes, America, Islam is serious when they say, “Death to America.” To them it is death to everyone who doesn’t follow their God. That is not exactly what the Living God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob commanded. His commandments were, “Thou shall not kill,” and “Love thy neighbor.” Sadly, God’s plan for salvation, through the forgiveness of Man’s sin, by the shedding of His precious Son’s blood, has been rejected by Islam. Instead, they tell their followers the path to Heaven is by killing those who do not believe in Allah, and that by doing so, 70 family members will win entrance to Heaven too. And some ask for a motive!! Lest we forget, America, too, has rejected God and His Word (Jesus Christ, our Lord). Manuel Ybarra Jr. Coalgate, Okla.
.22-caliber ammo available!
Go to: BeforeItsNews.com
Be ready for whatever is around the corner!
We offer pepper spray & stun guns for security
Your local source for:
√ Heirloom seeds √ Freeze-dried and dehydrated food √ Military paracord √ Survival silver — dimes, quarters, half-dollars
Write a Letter to the Editor
The Asheville Daily Planet print letters to the editor, preferably less than 150 words in length. All letters must be signed and include a daytime telephone number for confirmation purposes only. Send your opinions to Asheville Daily Planet, P.O. Box 8490, Asheville, N.C. 28814-8490 or e-mail them to letters@ AshevilleDailyPlanet.com.
Letters
Asheville Daily Planet — March 2016 — A11
Smokey Mountain Preppers, Tactical & SurpLus
Come to the Ammo Depot! • We carry ammo, bulletproof vests
• Camo • Tactical Gear • Blackhawk • Flags • Army Surplus • MREs • Water Purifiers • Medical Supplies • Survival Training No Double Discounts
A12 - March 2016 - Asheville Daily Planet
Commentary
What passing of Scalia means for U.S.?
Jeff Messer is the host of a daily radio talk show on Asheville’s WPEK (880AM, The Revolution) that airs from 3 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. This column features posts from his daily blog. • The following was posted on Feb. 17: ‘ve seen it from afar, and up close. People are pretty sensitive about the passing of Justice (Antonin) Scalia and the fact that a lot of folks are celebrating it. Poor taste? Perhaps. Honest? Certainly. Maybe a little too much honesty. I have pondered how it might be if, oh, say, (President Barack) Obama had died. Would the right-wing that are outraged to hear people cheer Scalia’s demise hold themselves to the same criteria if they were jubilant about that? I know the answer. So do you. Let’s not pretend otherwise. How about outrage over Alex Jones calling it murder, and trying to pin it on Obama? Where’s that outrage? Obviously, Scalia was a highly polarizing figure. And his passing has huge significance for many people, for varying reasons. Some are in despair over losing a giant of the Antonin Scalia right-wing. Others want to pop corks and cheer, viewing it as an end to an oppressive rule on what was supposedly a non-partisan court. I’ve struggled with it, and with my feelings about it. And it has been a point of discussion after my post of yesterday. How much honesty is too much? And should it be silenced in the preservation of good taste? Do you take the high road and keep on trucking, or use that high road as a better vantage point from which to throw rocks? Can you have it both ways? I walked that line with yesterday’s post. And I know I did. And, that was kind of the point. It was a chance to be a little bit of a smart ass about it, while doing so from the high road. It was met with varying results. Certainly this concept applies to many people and things, and will continue to be questioned over time. But today, I saw something that gave it new perspective. My opinions surely mean less, because I am not gay, a minority or a woman. I can’t take it as personally as others. So, how do people feel who were more directly affected by his views? People who had their rights trampled by his power? And I found this, which I want to share without further comment. Something to think about and consider amid the lunacy:
I
TO REPORT AN ERROR
The Asheville Daily Planet strives to be accurate in all articles published. Contact the News Department at news@ashevilledailyplanet.com, (828) 252-6565, or P.O. Box 8490, Asheville, N.C. 28814-8490.
Jeff Messer http://www.advocate.com/commentary/2016/2/17/dear-straight-people-wereentitled-our-feelings-scalia The following was posted on Feb. 10:
Asheville makes top 10 on more lists; one is shocker
Asheville is at it again. This “cesspool of sin” has made some more top lists — and at least one is shocking. Well, shocking to those who call it the “cesspool of sin” anyway. Here’s Realtor site Trulia’s list of the top 10 sinful cities in America based on the actual 7 Deadly Sins: New Orleans, Louisiana Atlantic City, New Jersey Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Tampa, Florida Toledo, Ohio Louisville, Kentucky Shreveport, Louisiana Las Vegas, Nevada San Antonio, Texas Columbus, Ohio
You will notice that Asheville didn’t even make the list. Sure, it must be No. 11, right? So you might say. However, Trulia also charted the 10 most Saintly Cities, and at least one of those may shock you, too: Provo-Orem, Utah Ogden-Clearfield, Utah Fort Collins, Colorado Tuscaloosa, Alabama Raleigh, North Carolina Claremont, New Hampshire-Lebanon, Vermont Boise, Idaho
Asheville, North Carolina Greeley, Colorado Cambridge, Massachusetts
That’s right. Asheville is officially the
8th most Saintly City. So there. For those who may be unsure, here are the criteria they used: The 7 Deadly Sins:
Lust: Number of adult entertainment venues Gluttony: Rates of obesity, binge drinking and smoking Greed: Number of racing and gambling venues and residents’ reported charitable donations Sloth: Number of residents who have not exercised in 30 days Wrath: Per capita violent crime Envy: Inequality in home prices Vanity: Number of beauty and tanning salons and plastic surgery offices And, in other corners of the Internet, Asheville has officially been named the Coziest City In America by Honeywell Heaters.
Yes, the people who make portable heaters rank cities in America by their Cozy Factor. Regardless, there are two more feathers in Asheville’s cap. Wear them proudly.
To place a classified line ad in the Daily Planet, call 252-6565. Rates are as little as $10 per month for 25 words or less!
Foam Foam& &Fabrics FabricsOutlet Outlet Outlet Foam & Fabrics Foam & Fabrics Outlet Foam & Fabrics Outlet Foam & Fabrics Outlet DRIVE DRIVEa little littleSAVE SAVE SAVE lot! a lot! DRIVE aaalittle aaalot! DRIVE little SAVE lot! DRIVE little SAVE lot! DRIVE DRIVE aaa little little SAVE SAVE aaa lot! lot!
Complete CompleteFabric Fabric FabricCenter Center Center Complete Complete Fabric Center Complete Fabric Center Complete Fabric Center
Drapery DraperyMaterial Material Material Drapery Drapery Material Drapery Material Drapery Material
Roc-Lon Drapery Lining Drapery Print and Solid Waverly
Upholstery UpholsteryFabrics Fabrics Fabrics Upholstery Upholstery Fabrics Upholstery Fabrics Upholstery Fabrics 50,000 50,000 Yards Yardsin in instock stock stockto tochoose to choose choose fromfrom 50,000 Yards from 50,000 Yards in stock to choose from 50,000 Yards in stock to choose from 50,000 Yards stock from 50,000 Yardsin stockto tochoose choose from in 99 9999 $ $$$$ 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 2.2. $$$$$19. 19.
2. 2. $$19. 19.9999 2. 19. 2. 2. 19. 19.
$$ 99 99
FOAM FOAMRUBBER RUBBER RUBBER FOAM FOAM RUBBER FOAM RUBBER FOAM RUBBER Cut Cut to toSize Size Size Cut Cutto to Size Cut to Size Cut Cutto toSize Size
Fabric Fabricby by bythe the the pound pound Fabric pound Fabric by the pound Fabric by the pound Fabric by the pound
AUTOMOBILE AUTOMOBILE AUTOMOBILE AUTOMOBILE AUTOMOBILE AUTOMOBILE
3049 HENDERSONVILLE HIGHWAY
I-26 Exit 44, North miles I-26 I-26 Exit Exit 13, 13,then then thenNorth North North miles 3 miles I-26 Exit 13, then 3333 miles I-26 Exit 13, then North miles
I-26 I-26 Exit Exit 13, 13, then then North North 33 miles miles
684-0801 684-0801 684-0801
Asheville Daily Planet — March 2016 — A13
Commentary
Old candidates? They’re cool now
Pete Kaliner is the host of a daily radio talk show on Asheville’s WWNC (570AM) that airs from 3 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. This column features posts from his daily blog. • The following was posted on Feb. 1: ’m old enough to remember when leftists were worried about old people winning the U.S. presidency. But now... their top two candidates are Hillary Clinton — who would be 69 on Inauguration Day — and Bernie Sanders - who would be 75. John McCain was 71. So, while we were told by the media and the Democrats (but I repeat myself) that this was a legitimate issue in 2008, it is not in 2016. Why? Because it’s the message that matters here. Not the vessel. Stephen Miller takes this up in a great piece at The Wilderness. (Or, is it “in The Wilderness”?) It’s definitely worth your time to read the whole thing, but here is an excerpt: And the cavalry isn’t coming anytime soon for the Democrats: their most exciting fresh face just got elected to the Senate from Massachusetts at the dewy young age of 64. But a culture-driven media knows that while they are unable to sell a candidate, they can still sell the message…no matter how unelectable, deranged, geriatric or preposterous the person they attach that branding to might be. The only way to sell a radical ideology to an engaged youth electorate is to change the narrative as best they can without engaging more culturally relevant candidates like a Marco Rubio or Rand Paul, who are just as comfortable talking Public Enemy and Pink Floyd as they are foreign policy, and appeal on a personal level as a human being, not just a preachy elder. My wife is a fan of the Ellen Degeneres show. And I must admit — some of the games she plays with the audience and her celebrity guests are very funny. But Ellen has a bad habit of using her entertainment show to advance political messages. And when she brings on politicians (for some reason, only Democratic ones), I notice exactly what Miller describes in his excellent analysis: If a suitable ambassador for that message won’t present themselves, culture media will create one. Sanders doesn’t know his Reddit from his Snapchat but he doesn’t need to. As Bernie Sanders waited backstage of the Ellen show, a program producer was seen doing everything in her power stopping short of using a cattle prod to get Bernie to lighten up and dance (this was Ellen DeGeneres’ ongoing schtick for guests). He clearly wasn’t having any of it, and after he was introduced, he managed a few side steps and hand waves before reverting immediately back into “NO TOUCH” mode. These tiny moments are parlayed into memes and gifs of “Bernie as old-man-hippie hipster” that thrive on social media, and are then picked up by a sympathetic cultural mainstream media desperately trying to either relive or re-engineer the 1960s. The axiom is: “Politics is downstream of the culture.” And it’s why I believe the fights, memes, and narratives on social
I
Pete Kaliner media matter. Pushing back matters. And conservatives needs to be better at creating these types of “moments” for their candidates, too. The following was posted on Jan. 21:
Could Trump lose worse than Carter in election?
First, let me state up front that I know this information will not sway Trump supporters from their belief that the longtime donor to Democrats and the “GOP Establishment” billionaire developer will single-handedly save America from the Democrats and the Establishment GOP. At this point, I am merely laying down my markers so I can come back later and say “This is what I warned you about.” That being said.... Over at Right Wing News, John Hawkins makes the data-driven case that Donald Trump would almost certainly be wiped out in a general election worse than Jimmy Carter lost to Ronald Reagan: Despite the fact that Donald Trump talks about his poll numbers incessantly, nobody
ASHEVILLE PET SUPPLY Holistic before it was cool!
Since 1990 NATURAL AND ORGANIC FOODS AND TREATS Wellness, Solid Gold, Wysong, Nature’s Variety, Raw Frozen, EVO, Innova, California Natural
Herbal remedies Flower Essences Homeopathic Remedies WHAT MORE COULD YOUR PET NEED? Toys! Lots of toys! The fun place to shop for you and your best friend.
ASHEVILLE PET SUPPLY 1451 Merrimon Ave., Asheville (828) 252-2054
seems to be pointing out the fact that his favorability/unfavorability poll numbers with the general public are cataclysmically bad. If the fact that a poll shows that Donald Trump is ahead in some certain state is relevant, then the fact that other polls show he’s completely unelectable would seem to be relevant as well. How bad are Donald Trump’s numbers with the general public? This bad. Donald Trump has the same numbers that Jimmy Carter did early on in 1980. As you can see from the chart, Carter did improve
his numbers a bit by election time, but he still lost in one of the biggest landslides in American history; 489-49.
Buying! Buying! Buying!
• Collector coins • Gold and silver bullion
WNC’s oldest, full-service coin shop Family-owned and operated for 43 years!
(828) 298-5402
www.wrightscoinshop.com
Open Monday-Friday 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
1271 Sweeten Creek Road, Asheville I-40 to Exit 51, turn left, go 1.3 miles
Order online now!
Guns.WNCCarry.com Large amount of ammo in stock
A14 - March 2016 - Asheville Daily Planet
Candid Conservative
Continued from Page A10 In case you didn’t know it, our culture’s traditional values have set the world’s stage. That’s why the international language is English versus Farsi, Zulu, Mandarin, Hindi, Nahuatl, or Cherokee. The global models for education, governance, law, housing, commerce, medicine, art and about everything else you can think of come from the enlightenments of a European culture grounded in Christian values. The impact of Islam, Africa, China, India and the early America’s have provided more seasoning than meat and potatoes. The PLS-D movement – Obama personifies their membership – take special delight in highlighting failures in Christian behavior. News flash guys – show us something touched by the hand of man that doesn’t get turned sideways. That’s the point of Christianity – by looking up instead of down, the corruptions of man are constrained while the blessings of God are released. Perfection doesn’t exist on this planet. Over the course of history no social-spiritual values system in existence has uplifted more people than Christianity.
Diversion
good over doing good. What else did you think ‘escaping’ was about?
diction. Nowhere will you hear a word about individual choice and responsibility – all the participants are portrayed as innocent waifs.
The PLS-D movement loves to wear a mask. Case in point – man made global warming. Contrary to what you read and hear, the science behind this phenomenon is sketchy at best – corrupt at worst. Global weather cycles are a fact of nature and if we’re not very, very careful, we are going to impair our capacity to stay warm, mobile and employed per the absurdisms of what really is a political movement. The mission is to turn their enemy – free enterprise – on its ear. That can be done by focusing the world’s attention on something we can all agree – taking care of our environment – versus something many of us hate – centralized government and the homogenizing impacts of socialism. The PLS-D has found a back door to making the world a socialist paradise by marketing environment but producing political change. Don’t buy it? Take a quick look at the website advocacy positions of the Sierra Club, the UN, and most manmade global warming groups. These folks are ecosocialists pretending to be virtuous baby seal protectors.
A study in chaos
Disguise
The PLS-D loves distraction as a means to social change. Sex is one of their favorites. I defy you to watch two hours of television without seeing at least one reference to performance enhancement products or the ecstasies of carnal pleasure, infidelity, gender swapping, seduction or casual sex. The message is constant – feeling good is what it’s all about and sex is the fastest track to feeling good. Drugs run a close second. The PLS-D is pushing legalization because addiction makes people stupid and the left is about nothing if not stupidity. Check out Willy Nelson for confirmation on both counts. Getting high is about escaping reality. Man’s efforts toward learning, growing, enriching, building, producing, protecting, and uplifting get lost in the mission of feeling
Have fun
Continued from Page A1 Neuroscientist Wolfram Schultz finds that unpredictable “rewards” seem to be the most satisfying for the brain — maybe even giving us three or four times the buzz of the experiences that we see coming. So, as a nice guy, the thing to be is exciting and unpredictable — without the downside of the deviousness, thieving, and unreliability. Use the element of surprise — even by hiding small presents (tiny chocolate bars) or funny notes around her house (as opposed to a bag of unmarked bills). Ultimately, even thrill-seeking women prefer a man who says, “Quick, grab your suitcase. I’m taking you to Paris,” and not “Quick, duck down. The cops are here, and they have a warrant.”
claimed that we have a right to “the pursuit of Happiness,” but it doesn’t get into actually having it, which, as you’ve discovered, can be a bit of a bore. This makes biological sense, considering that there are stages in attraction and bonding and a cocktail of biochemicals behind each. Dopamine, a neurochemical that researchers associate with wanting, “novelty-seeking,” and focused attention, is a star player when you’re in chase mode (aka “infatuation,” “attraction,” or, more descriptively, “Who knew you could get a callus down there?”). However, evolution is no fool, and it realized that we couldn’t spend all of our time chasing each other around whatever passed for the kitchen table back when “the man cave” was an actual cave. So bonding hormones — oxytocin and vasopressin — eventually take charge. And that’s why, a year into a relationship, you may be doing “unnatural acts” in the bedroom, but they probably involve things like dusting the miniblinds. Going from hot sexts to ho-humming along is a result of “hedonic adaptation.” “Hedonic” comes from a Greek word for pleasure, and hedonic adaptation describes how we quickly acclimate to changes in our circumstances — positive or negative — to the point where they no longer give us the boost (or kick in the teeth) that they first did. Research by social psychologist Philip Brickman and his colleagues suggests that we each have a happiness “set point,” and we keep getting pulled back to it.
The PLS-D is a big advocate for comfort and the fun of a downhill run. Responsibility, accountability, growth, values, choice, and integrity matter little to pleasure seekers. Those pursuits take work and people who climb are more creative, capable, and independent – and thus threatening – than those dedicated to easy. Witness today’s growing heroin problem. It is no coincidence that this returning scourge is finding its strongest initial attachments up north and on the west coast – havens of liberalism and the PLS-D. Watch the TV commentators lamenting the ineffectiveness of medical interventions, limited treatment resources, and the murder and mayhem developing out of heroin ad-
Advice Goddess
Shrug, actually
I’m in my first serious relationship. It started off super hot and sexual. Now, a year in, it’s lovey-dovey and cuddly. Not that my boyfriend and I don’t have sex. We do, and it’s still good. But we no longer sext or send cute selfies, and the butterflies feeling is gone. Is it all downhill from here? — Worried Once you’ve been together for a while, you may still have vivid fantasies running through your head during sex, like the one where you get to the dry cleaner’s before closing time. The Declaration of Independence pro-
The PLS-D is an assemblage of confusion. On one hand they’re enthusiastic about killing the unborn and ignoring black teens incarcerated amidst the carnage of a growing drug culture and government housing stockades. On the other they whoop and wail over gun ownership by law-abiding citizens seeking the means to self-protection. The left persistently pounds on the fantasy of 21st century white privilege while paradoxically applauding black racism in forms like the NAACP, BET, and Congressional Black Caucus – and then champions the segregation of American Indians within a broken reservation system. I don’t even want to start on education. All you need to know is found in a brief statistical review of the percentage of educators in public schools and universities identifying themselves as conservative. Add PLS-D controlled teacher unions to the mix and the formula is complete – the minds of our children rest snuggly in the hands of political demigods. Watch the anti-everything rally at MIZZOU for a front-row view of students and educators confused by very apparent PLS-D programming. Chaos theory suggests the present predicts the future. That doesn’t mean that future can be predicted accurately. In the case of the PLS-D, the best window into the future is the past. Everything they’re doing has been tried – and never worked.
Solutions
If you’re a Democrat, remember that this mess is happening on your watch. If you’re a Republican – or principle driven independent – you have a part to play in slowing the slide. Culturists should not be pleased with the mounting successes of the PLS-D… • Carl Mumpower is a former vice mayor and former member of Asheville City Council.
A fascinating example of this is their finding that people who won big in the lottery were (of course) stoked at first, but ultimately, they ended up being no happier than victims of crippling accidents. Happiness researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky finds that people in relationships can resist hedonic adaptation, but it takes “ongoing effort” to bring in variety. She’s talking about varied experiences and, especially, varied surprising experiences. Surprise, Lyubomirsky explains in “The Myths of Happiness,” delivers “strong emotional reactions.” Remember strong emotional reactions? They’re a little hard to come by once you can close your eyes and draw a solar system of your beloved’s every birthmark, freckle, and mole. The good news is that, even now, you can bring surprise into your relationship; you just need to stage it. Try to inject it into every day, and maybe take turns planning a weekly secret date night — secret from the person who isn’t the planner — so at least one of you is surprised. You might also take turns planning separate sextracurricular activities, on the same model. Without this extra effort, sex may still be fun, but the only way it’s likely to be surprising is if one of you tries to sneak out the window afterward. • (c.) 2016, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. Got a problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave, #280, Santa Monica, CA 90405, or e-mail AdviceAmy@aol. com (advicegoddess.com).
LOWEST PRICE GAURANTEED
Asheville Daily Planet — March 2016 — A15
2. Merchandise To place a classified line ad in the Daily Planet, call 252-6565. Rates are as little as $10 per month for 25 words or less!
APPROXIMATELY 2 truckloads of aged pine plank siding for sale. $500.00, or best offer. You haul. Call (828) 803-9611.
6. Real Estate
10. Services
ad in the Daily Planet to reach our estimated 25,000 readers. Our circulation stretches from Mars Hill to the north to Flat Rock to the south to Black Mountain to the east and to Enka-Candler to the west.
To place a classified line ad in the Daily Planet, call 252-6565.
LARGE NEW STUDIO available Jan. 1st in Fairview. Beautiful setting. Private building with own parking. Full kitchen, bath, w/dr. $700/mo + electric. (828) 803-9611.
10. Services
ADVERTISE — Call 713-6336 today to place your
Administrative Assistant Needed
Remember the neediest!
We are currently seeking for P/T Office Assistant needed. Must be dependable, self-motivated and detail-oriented computer skills helpful, ($700) weekly, to join our team. Please respond via email and include your resumé or CV with a cover letter to:
mrgerrythompson2@gmail.com.
10% OFF on TUX
or PROM GOWN alterations
(with this coupon only)
Mary’s Magic 555 Merrimon Ave., Asheville • 828.253.5003
www.marysmagictailoring.com
Grumpy Salvage Reopening for the season (weather permitting)
2046 New Leicester Hwy. Asheville, N.C. 28806
Call (828) 423-2400
Way beyond hip and trendy! Daily Planet
To place an ad in this space, call 252-6565
Tell our advertisers — who enable us to bring you this newspaper for free each month — that you saw their ads in the Daily Planet.
A16 — March 2016 - Asheville Daily Planet
Rushdie
Continued from Page A1
Rushdie, who had traveled to Asheville from New York City for the speech, was greeted with sustained and enthusiastic applause from the UNCA crowd when he appeared on stage. Preceding him was a performance by X-tet, the UNCA Jazz Ensemble, welcoming remarks from UNCA Chancellor Mary K. Grant and an introduction by Dr. Samer Traboulsi, an associate professor of history (specializing in the Middle East) at UNCA. “Jeez, look at this crowd,” Rushdie deadpanned, in greeting the audience. “Don’t you have anything better to do?” As the crowd roared with laughter, he added, “It’s very optimistic of you to come out in such numbers to listen to a writer speak.” Regarding his current speaking tour, at which the UNCA visit is just one stop, Rushdie asserted, “So here I am, maybe risking my life — and not for the first time.” Later in his speech, he said, “I’m beginning to form an impression of the Internet — and information is not what you get” from it. To that end, he said Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump “is the icon of this new age” of the Internet. What’s more, Rushdie said, “Donald Trump would not exist without the Internet, which is probably the worst thing you could say about the Internet. “Newspapers are going out of business — and digital media hasn’t been able to fill the void. So there’s actually an informaton deficit” in the so-called Internet era. “The news correspondents are (instead) giving us opinion, rather than the truth,” which, he said, is “the news.” Turning to literature, he said it provides readers with “the experience of being there” and that it “can still bring us the news... not just in private life, but in public life as well.” Further, Rushdie said, “We live in a world where there are two competing visions of reality.” Specifically, he said there are now “two narratives” that are clashing. “The world no longer has the same solidarity, where the writer and reader have agreement on what is the truth about the world. Now, it’s more fractured. The world is getting more fictional... Some (now) live in a world where reality ceases to exist. In that reality, where the ‘real’ has become a problem. That’s really the work of a novelist.” While “Americans are getting more impressive about literature,” Rushdie there remain “some efforts in Kansas to ban Harry Potter because it (the series of works) encourages withcraft? Goodness — like it’s a bad thing?” Many in the crowd laughed. “To the students here, I’m a bit worried that silencing free speech is (regarded as) a good thing.” The crowd that appeared to include a large contingent of UNCA students, roared with applause. “I’ve encountered political correctness” on some college campuses... “Of course, students at a university should be in a safe space” in which to live. “But the university should be a safe space for ideas — and not from ideas... How else will you learn how to think?” Again, the audience applauded his assertion vigorously. “It is becoming a problem for what seems to be legitimate reasons to silence voices you disagree with and ... how should I put this? You are wrong!” The crowd once again cheered his words. Rushdie warned that “the public arena has come much closer to our private lives. “Today, we have the butterfly factor. A butterfly flaps its wings in Iran — and we feel the breeze here” in the U.S. Regarding what he termed “that terrible day on Sept. 11, 2001, the two narrative butterflies crashed into one another — New York City and the Arab world.”
He then noted that Voltaire “once said that it was a good idea for a writer to live near an international frontier so that, if he angered powerful men, he could skip across the border and be safe.” Rushdie added, “Of course, this doesn’t work any Salman Rushdie more because — how can I say this? — they come after you” anywhere in the world today. (His reference may also have been to the fatwa against him, which was an extraterritorial action — ignoring all notions of national sovereignty.) Rushdie cited as a truism that “a man’s character is his destiny. What kind of person
you are determines the kind of life you have. But what do you do when your character has nothing to do with your faith?” Rhetorically, he then asked, “What make people become men of violence?” “The answer is their character is their destiny.... It (a propensity to become a terrorist) was in one’s character — or not,” Rushdie said. “In the novel, you can never betray the human spirit. The self is not homogenuous. We are contradictory” in some areas — and not in others. “One of the biggest forces rising in the world is identity politics. In this country, it has as much to do with gender and race, as religion. It’s a problem,” worldwide. “In the pages of a novel, it’s clear that the human being is heterogenuous — not homogenuous. “All writers know about the idea of broadbased identity to find common ground with their readers.”
Later, Rushdie said, “If you want to push the frontiers, you need to go to the edge — and start pushing. There are powerful forces that don’t want the universe to open any more. In fact, they’d often rather see it closed a bit more. “A poet wrote a satirical poem about (Josef) Stalin, who then destroyed his (the poet’s) life. But his poetry has outlived Stalin.... “Literature, itself, is strong, but writers are not that strong — and can often get into big trouble. “Journalists are now thought of as legitimate targets in war zones. It’s remains a very dangerous time to be a writer. “But facing up to power, speaking truth to it, in spite of all the dangers, all these writers would agree — it’s the job,” Rushie said. He received a standing ovation after he finished his speech. He bowed and smiled — and then left the stage.
Pinnacle Point
1816 Hendersonville Rd • Asheville, NC 28803 (Next to Publix)
828-277-3505
M-F 9-9 • Sat 9-6 Sun 11-6
$4.99 Haircut Valid at Pinnacle Point only 04/01/16
$6.99 Haircut
Valid at participating locations
04/01/16
Entertainment,
Calendar, Sports, Faith & Style
Special Section PULLOUT
B1
Asheville Daily Planet — March 2016
James Hunter Six revs up By JOHN NORTH
john@AshevilleDailyPlanet.com
The James Hunter Six played hard and well — and all-too-briefly — during a soul-fueled concert on a snowy, icy, 20-degree night Feb. 9 at the Grey Eagle Music Hall in Asheville’s River Arts District. The group, featuring Hunter, the acclaimed British soul singer and rhythm and blues musician, played just one 75-minute set that included a rousing encore — “Talking ‘bout
My Love” About 125 people attended the show — a much smaller turnout than usual that was blamed on the weather. Despite its size, the crowd swayed to the 1960s-style American soul music, cheered — and some even danced. Hunter is especially noted for his masterful singing of ballads, with some music afficianados saying he channels funky and soulful Jackie Wilson, or silky smooth Sam Cooke, or the-gospel-with-an-attitude voice of Ray Charles.
Alas, at his latest Grey Eagle show, Hunter performed only one ballad, “People Gonna Talk.” It was hard for this reviewer to believe that his ultra-popular ballad, “Carina” was left off the Asheville setlist. On the bright side, the group sparkled with the up-tempo “Let the Monkey Ride” and several other numbers. The band featured Hunter on lead guitar, along with a standup bassist, keyboardist, drummer and two saxophonists — all of whom have performed with him for years.
Little Anthony & the Imperials still can charm
“You don’t remember me, but I remember you it was not so long ago, you broke my heart in two Tears on my pillow, pain in my heart Caused by you, you....” — “Tears on My Pillow” lyrics • FRANKLIN — One of the very few doo-wop groups to maintain success on the rhythm and blues and pop charts throughout the 1960s, Little Anthony and the Imperials left no doubt that they can still pack a vocal punch after a powerful performance Feb. 13 at the Smoky Mountain Center for Performing Arts. The show, which drew about 500 people, lasted 75 minutes and, despite cheering from the crowd that was on its feet, surprisingly did not include an encore. The two top song performances of the night — undoubtedly — were of their hits “Hurt So Bad” and “Goin’ Out of My Head.” Besides the excellent singing and backup harmonies, the show was backed by an excellent nine-piece band. The concert was preceded by some film clips that were played on big screens flanking each side of the stage, including a riveting performance of “Hurt So Bad” on
Shelley Wright
The Santa Claus experiment — Part 2
I Above, Little Anthony and The Imperials (with Little Anthony in the middle) first were active in 1958. The inset photo shows the latest version of the group, with Little Anthony to the far left. Ed Sullivan’s television show in 1958. Back” and “I Miss You so.” The concert began with an overture, feaBesides the vocals, especially the harmoturing the best-known of the group’s songs. nies, the group’s choreogaphy and the tight Then Little Anthony strode onto the stage band, a highlight of the concert was the to much applause and began — sadly — frequent reminisces of Little Anthony and singing “All By Myself,” which was ended others in the group about their songs — when The Imperials joined him on-stage and what they saw happening in the music and the quartet, all smiles now, launched scene over the past 50-plus years. into “I Heard It Through the Grapevine.” The group also performed admirably with That was followed by the group’s mega-hit, their renditions of some more modern songs, “Tears on My Pillow” and another of their big such as The Police’s “Every Breath You early hits, “Shimmy Shimmy Ko-Ko-Bop” Take,” with which they closed the concert. Three other major hits later performed Little Anthony and the Imperials have during the show included “Hurt So Bad” been inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of and “Goin’ Out of My Head” and “I’m on Fame and have received the Pioneer Award the Outside Looking In.” from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. Still other hits performed were “Take Me — Reviewed by John North
Manilow tribute scores V-Day hit By JOHN NORTH
john@AshevilleDailyPlanet.com
Guy LeMonnier sang songs of Barry Manilow.
Special photo by Terry D. DaraKjy
James Hunter performed Feb. 9.
HENDERSONVILLE — For Valentine’s weekend, a surprisingly riveting and romantic performance of “The Music of Barry Manilow” was featured by the Flat Rock Playhouse at its downtown Hendersonville stage. The 90-minute show (with an intermission), which ran Feb. 11-14, featured Guy LeMonnier, who gave voice to Manilow’s globally beloved songbook. It was the first of the FRP’s 2016 Music on the Rock series in Hendersonville. The tribute featured a roundup of Manilow’s easy-listening classics including “Mandy,” “Copacobana” and “I Made it Through the Rain.” Lemonier intentionally did not don a wig to recreate Manilow’s wavy tresses, nor did he wear a pastel blazer to invoke the balladeer’s signature
style of dress. However (and more importantly) he captured the spirit of the songs — and offered the audience the delight of hearing a Manilow with a slightly rougher — and darker — edge. LeMonnier was accompanied by a talented and well-directed five five-piece band that included a guitarist, bassist, drummer, keyboardist and organist. Besides LeMonnier’s intriguing vocal interpretations of Manilow, backed by such the skilled band, a highlight of the show was the performance by by the Flat Rock Chorus, under the skillful direction of Diane David. The chorus of four men on one side of LeMonnier, and four women flanking him on the other, swayed, rhythmically, as they ably backed the lead singer. The overall effect was mesmerizing, even for those who are not diehard fans of Manilow’s songs. See MANILOW, Page B9
n last month’s column, we were discussing the making of a tulpa, a thought-form that can be seen by others and interact with them. Since a tulpa is the sum of whatever characteristics are given to it, I asked myself questions along the way and learned from past experiments. In the Philip Experiment of the 1970s, the participants imbued their tulpa with characteristics that made Philip come into being and beat them up. Note to self: No warlords. Day 1 was fairly uneventful except for a naughty dream with a Santa-looking guy. I call that a success! Day 2 – 12/5/15: Used Tibetan EMOs over my eyes. This has been shown to put subjects in an extreme state of relaxation and slow their brain waves down to those of Tibetan monks. I then removed them and stared at Sexy Santa, consciously willing him to be — and repeating the qualities I wished him to possess. Day 3 – 12/6/15: If tradition holds true, all hell should break loose here in about a week. Day 5 – 12/8/15: As I continue to concentrate on my Sexy Santa tulpa and take photographs, I’m glad I imagined Santa pants on my shirtless Santa. Because, do we really want to photograph his jingle bells? Day 6 – 12/9/15: Sam, our producer, and I were in the studio getting set up to record the Christmas edition of “Speaking of Strange.” I was sitting down, in the middle of eating a piece of pizza, when the tall, bladeless fan to my right was shoved forward onto the floor. Sam saw it happen. And I thought tulpas couldn’t travel… Day 13 – 12/16/15: Hearing funny sounds in the house that even the cats are reacting to ... my tulpa? Day 14 - 12/17/15: “Why don’t you show me you’re here?” I asked the Santa picture. About an hour later, I walked into the kitchen and found a flyer from a package I opened earlier in the evening sitting on my kitchen counter. It was turned so I would see it right as I walked in. I’ve never seen that flyer before, but it plainly bears the name of the company whose package I opened this evening. See WRIGHT, Page B9
B2 - March 2016 - Asheville Daily Planet
The tribute band, Hotel California: A Salute to the Eagles, will perform at 7:30 p.m. March 5 at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin.
Calendar
of
Events
Send us your calendar items
Please submit items to the Calendar of Events by noon on the third Wednesday of each month, via e-mail, at calendar@ashevilledailyplanet. com, or fax to 252-6567, or mail c/o The Daily Planet, P.O. Box 8490, Asheville, N.C. 288148490. Submissions will be accepted and printed at the discretion of the editor, space permitting. To place an ad for an event, call 252-6565.
Tuesday, March 1
COAL ASH PUBLIC HEARING, 6 p.m., Ferguson Auditorium, A-B Tech, Asheville. A public hearing on the state’s controversial coal ash pond classifications, criticized for failing to categorize many of the toxic impoundments as “high-risk,” will be held. Asheville’s two coal ash basins at the Lake Julian plant in Skyland are among the eight pits across the state that were earlier deemed high-risk under a 2014 law. However, the recent DEQ draft did not classify any new impoundments at that risk level. GREAT DECISIONS PROGRAM, 7:30 p.m., Manheimer Room, Reuter Center, UNC Asheville. The Great Decisions Program will feature an address on “Global Migration” by Natalie Teague, a multi-lingual attorney who has been specializing in immigration law and litigating in state and federal courts. She has had a practice in Asheville for the past several years. Admission is $10 for the general public and free for full-time students. Percussion Ensembles Concert, 7:30 p.m., Lipinsky Auditorium, UNC Asheville. The Percussion Ensembles Concert, featuring performance of varied works by UNCA student percussion ensembles (under the direction of Matthew Richmond of the music faculty), will be held. Admission is free and open to the public.
Wednesday, March 2
SIERRA CLUB MEETING, 7 p.m., Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, 1 Edwin Place, Asheville. The Sierra Club will feature an address on “Wildflowers and Rocky Fork State Park” by Tim Pharis and Frosty Levy. Admission is free and open to the public.
Thursday, March 3
CONCERT, 12:30 p.m., lobby, Lipinsky Hall, UNC Asheville. The Asheville Singers, a UNCA student vocal ensemble, will perform in a free midday concert. CIVILITY IN POLITICS LECTURE, 7 p.m., Broyhill Chapel, Mars Hill University, Mars Hill. North Carolina senators Tom Apodaca and Terry Van Duyn will address civility in politics during a lecture titled “How Can Civility in Politics Be Recreated?” Apodaca is a Republican who represents the 48th district in the N.C. General Assembly. Van Duyn, Democratic whip in the state Senate, represents the 49th district. Apodaca’s district includes portions of Buncombe, Henderson and Transylvania counties, while Van Duyn’s district includes most of Buncombe.
Friday, March 4
Opera Talk, 3 p.m., Reuter Center, UNC Asheville. The monthly Opera Talk series, partnering with Education and More, will feature a talk by David Craig Starkey, general director of Asheville Lyric Opera. Admission is free and open to the public. STRING QUARTET PERFORMANCE, 8 p.m., Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, 1 Edwin Place, Asheville. The American String Quartet will perform in concert as part of the Asheville Chamber Music Series. For tickets, which are $38, visit www.ashevillechambermusic.org.
See CALENDAR, Page B3
Get all your shoe needs!
New, factory returns, closeouts and overstocks at
FANTASTIC PRICES! Family-owned and operated since 1970
ARBY‛S SHOES 828.258.1128
509 New Leicester Hwy. Asheville
Asheville Daily Planet — March 2016 - B3
Calendar of Events Continued from Page B2
Saturday, March 5
MARIONETTES PERFORMANCE, 2 and 8 p.m., Diana Wortham Theatre, Pack Place, downtown Asheville. The Cashore Marionettes will perform. DWIGHT YOAKAM CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., The Event Center, Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort, Cherokee. Grammy Award-winning country music and film icon Dwight Yoakam will perform in concert. Since the 1980s, Yoakam has been one of the pioneers of modern country music. With five No. 1 Billboard albums and 15 Grammy nominations, Yoakam’s hits include “Guitars, Cadillacs,” “Honky Tonk Man,” “I Sang Dixie” and “A Thousand Miles From Nowhere.” For tickets, visit ticketmaster.com, or call (800) 745-3000. THE EAGLES TRIBUTE CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts, 1028 Georgia Rd., Franklin. “Hotel California: A Salute to the Eagles” will be performed. It is billed as an opportunity to take “a trip down a dark desert highway, feel the cool wind in your hair, and experience Grammy Award-winning sounds.” According to Rolling Stone magazine, “No other band did as much to translate the explosively creative, politicized rock of the 1960s into the massively popular, de-politicized rock of the 1970s as the Eagles. Specializing in broadly appealing, masterfully crafted tunes, the Southern California band has sold more than 100 million albums.” The 1976 compilation, “Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975,” was the first album ever certified platinum and has sold 29 million copies in the U.S., second only to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” on the all-time list. The Eagles’ songs merge country-tinged vocal harmonies with hard-rock guitars and lyrics that are alternately yearning (“One of These Nights,” “Best of My Love”) and romantically jaded (“Life in the Fast Lane” and “Hotel California”). The band released an album every year from 1972 to 1976, with increasingly better sales, culminating
in 1976’s “Hotel California,” which has sold 16 million copies. After releasing one more album, 1979’s “In the Long Run” (which sold eight million copies), the band broke up in 1980. For tickets, which are $20 and $22, visit GreatMountainMusic.com.
Monday, March 7
DIFFICULT CONVERSATION CLASSES, 6:308:30 p.m., Jewish Community Center, 236 Charlotte St., Asheville. A four-week class series will be offered on “Surviving and Thriving in Difficult Conversations” with one’s family, workplace and world. Leading the class will be Roberta Wall, certified nonviolent communication trainer. This is based on the work of the same name by Dr. Marshall Rosenberg and Nonviolent (Compassionate) Communication. The Monday classes will be held on March 7, 14, 21 and 28. To register or for more information, contact Polly at 775-6333 or polly.medlicott@gmail. com. Registration fee is $100 per person for all four classes. BALLET PERFORMANCE, 7:30 p.m., The Foundation Performing Arts Center, Isothermal Community College, Spindale. Moscow Festival Ballet’s “The Sleeping Beauty,” with choreography by Marius Petipa, will be performed. The fulllength classic ballet includes three acts.
Tuesday, March 8
CUBA TALK, 7:30 p.m., Reuter Center, UNC Asheville. The World Affairs Council of Western North Carolna will host a Great Decisions talk by Stan Dotson, founder of InOurElements, a leadership and curriculum development resource for churches and community organizations. Dotson recently returned from teaching for two years at the Ecumenical Theological Seminary in Matanzas, Cuba. Admission is $10 for the general public and free for UNCA students.
Wednesday, March 9
GREEN DRINKS MEETING, 5:30 p.m., The Spot,
The iconic British rock band, The Moody Blues, will perform in concert at 7:30 p.m. March 19 in the Event Center at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino in Cherokee. 76 Biltmore Avenue, downtown Asheville. A presentation will be offered on “Animal Justice — Unchained” at the meeting of Asheville Green Drinks. The group will gather and eat (and drink at 5:30 p.m., followed by the program at 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 10
CONCERT, 8 p.m., Diana Wortham Theatre, Pack Place, downtown Asheville. The band Altan will perform in concert.
See CALENDAR, Page B4
Remember the neediest!
B4 - March 2016 - Asheville Daily Planet
In-home carpet cleaning
Asheville Cleaners “The Home of Fine Dry Cleaning”
230 Merrimon Avenue • Asheville, North Carolina • 254-2364 Country music and film icon Dwight Yoakam will perform in concert at 7:30 p.m. March 5 in the Event Center at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino in Cherokee.
Calendar
of
Continued from Page B3
Events
Friday, March 11
SYMPHONY TALK, 3 p.m., Reuter Center, UNC Asheville. The Symphony Talk series will feature Daniel Meyer, who is music director and conductor of the Asheville Symphony Orchestra. He will discuss the ASO’s next concert, while local music aficionado Chip Kaufmann will speak about the composers Berlioz, Elgar and Mozart. The event is free and open to the public.
Saturday, March 12
CITIZENS CLIMATE LOBBY MEETING, 12:30-3 p.m., Kairos West Community Center, 742 Haywood Road, West Asheville. The Citizens Climate Lobby meets on the second Saturday of each month. The CCL is advocating for a carbon fee and dividend, which, the group claims, would impose a fee on fossil fuels at point entry. The fee would be refunded to individuals and families. “There is bipartisan support in Congress as this will create jobs and help grow the economy, boosting renewables,” a news release noted.
Sunday, March 13
CLEAN ENERGY REPORT, 3-4 p.m., Dave Hall, Congregation Beth HaTephila, 43 N. Liberty St., Asheville. A program, “Clean Energy Asheville: A Report From Mayor Manheimer” will be hosted by Carolina Jews for Justice/West. Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer and other panelists will discuss the city’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint in a collaborative partnership between the city, Buncombe County and Duke Energy by building a 21st century electric energy infrastructure in the community. The other panelists will include Councilwoman Julie Mayfield and Robert Sipes, who is general manager of Duke Energy’s Western Region.
Monday, March 14
TALK, 7 p.m., Mission Health Mountain View Room, Sherrill Center, UNC Asheville. “About Man and God and Law: Bob Dylan and Religion” will be addressed by Stephen Hazan Arnoff-Arnoff, chief executive officer and president of the Jewish Community Center Association, explains how Dylan’s pursuit spiritual truth embodies a modern quest of many great artists and intellectuals to make sense of ancient traditions and folkways when religious institutions and practice fail them. Admission is free and open to the public.
Monday, March 15
WOMEN’S WAGE DISPARITIES TALK, noon-1 p.m., Intercultural Center, 114 Highsmith Union, UNC Asheville. The Lunch ‘n’ Learn series will feature an address on “Wage Disparities for Women” by Dr. Gwendolyn Whitfield, associate professor of management.
Remember the neediest!
Tuesday, March 16
GREEN DRINKS MEETING, 5:30 p.m., The Spot, 76 Biltmore Avenue, downtown Asheville. The program’s topic to be discussed is “Invasive Species.” The group will meet at 5:30 p.m. to gather and eat. The program will begin at 6:30 p.m.
Friday, March 18
“TREASURE ISLAND” PRODUCTION, 7:30 p.m., Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts, 1028 Georgia Rd., Franklin. A live stage production will be presented March 18 and 19 of “Treasure Island,” Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale. The one-hour play is suitable for all ages. For tickets, which are $12, visit GreatMountainMusic.com.
Sweet Bouquets Florist
Same-Day Delivery Available ... Asheville, Arden, Hendersonville and surrounding areas.
2120 Hendersonville Rd. • (828) 215-8105 • (828) 684-0810 sweetbouquetsflorist@gmail.com
Saturday, March 19
FIXING THE WORLD PRESENTATION, 2 p.m., Asheville Friends Meeting at 227 Edgewood Road, Asheville. A program, “How Do We Fix Our Broken World?” will be presented. To that end, the program’s organizers noted, “We need hope, we need change, we need justice — and we have help. In this divided world, Maitreya, the world teacher, is stepping forward. His mission has begun. Maitreya and his group of enlightened teachers are here to help us reverse the damage we have done to our planet and inspired us to create a new civilization based on sharing the world’s resources and justice — the way to lasting peace.” The sponsor is Share International Southeast. Admission is free. THE MOODY BLUES CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., The Event Center, Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort, Cherokee. The British rock band The Moody Blues will perform in concert. In 1967, the group was among the first to fuse rock and classical music, pioneering in the development of art rock and progressive rock. THE CELTIC TENORS CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., The Foundation Performing Arts Center, Isothermal Community College, Spindale. The Celtic Tenors will perform in concert. For tickets, which are $35, $30 and $25, visit www.FoundationShows.org. CONCERT, 8 p.m., Diana Wortham Theatre, Pack Place, downtown Asheville. The group stephaniesid will perform in concert.
See CALENDAR, Page B5
Write a Letter to the Editor
The Asheville Daily Planet print letters to the editor, preferably less than 150 words in length. All letters must be signed and include a daytime telephone number for confirmation purposes only. Send your opinions to Asheville Daily Planet, P.O. Box 8490, Asheville, N.C. 28814-8490 or e-mail them to letters@ AshevilleDailyPlanet.com.
expires 12/31/2016
50 Broadway • Downtown Asheville
828-236-9800
Asheville Daily Planet — March 2016 — B5
The vocal quartet, Under the Streetlamp, will perform the hits of the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60 in concert at 7:30 p.m. April 8 at Niswonger Performing Arts Center in Greeneville, Tenn.
Calendar of Events Continued from Page B4
Wednesday, March 23
a cappella fest, 7-9 p.m., Diana Wortham Theatre, Pack Place, downtown Asheville. Two hours of a cappella music will be performed from multiple genres and by various performers. The music will range from traditional barbershop to pop, doo-wop to Celtic. Performers will include The Land of the Sky Chorus, regional champs SuperSonic, ShBoom, AH-cappella (Asheville High), Pastyme and Fortisimamas. For tickets to the family-friendly show, which are $20, visit http://www.dwtheatre. com/performances/calendar/2015-16-rentals/landof-the-sky-chorus-presents-a-cappella-fest.
Monday, March 21
F-WORD FILM FESTIVAL, 7 p.m., Laurel Forum, Karpen Hall, UNC Asheville. The F- (feminist) Word Film Festival will run March 21-22. On March 21, the event will begin with a screening and discussion of “Three to Infinity,” the first feature documentary on people who are neither male nor female. On March 22, filmmaker Maha Marouan will screen her short documentary, “Voices of Muslim Women from the U.S. South” — and participate in a post-screening discussion. Admission is free and open to the public.
Thursday, March 24
EMEL MATHLOUTHI CONCERT, 7 p.m., Lipinsky Auditorium, UNC Asheville. Mathlouthi, billed as the “voice of the Tunisian revolution,” is a songwriter, composer, guitarist and singer who is bringing a powerful new sound to Tunisian music. “Endowed with an outstanding voice, she evokes Joan Baez, Sister Marie Keyrouz and the Lebanese diva Fairouz,” a UNCA promotion noted. “Her captivating style is lyrical, with powerful rock, oriental and trip hop influences (she’s collaborated with Adrian Thaws AKA Tricky). Emel began her artistic career at the age of 8 on stage at the small amphitheater in the Ibn Sina suburb of Tunis, where she lived until the age of 25, when she moved to France to pursue her career as a singer. Her song ‘Kelmti Horra (My Word Is Free)’ was taken up by the Arab Spring revolutionaries and sung on the streets of Tunis. She has immense stage presence and a voice that spells revolution and freedom.” Tickets are $6 for UNCA students, $8 for area students, $13 for the campus community and $20 for the general public.
Friday, March 25
FAB FRIDAY LECTURE,11:30 a.m., Reuter Center, UNC Asheville. The Fab Friday Lecture series will feature “A Resource in Your Back Pocket: Geriatric Care Managers,” with Amy Fowler, owner and care manager with WNC Geriatric
Care Management. Fowler will define the role of a care manager and explain why a care manager is such a valuable part of one’s elder care team and discuss how to utilize a care manager to provide an individual and his family peace of mind. Admission is free and open to the public. CONCERT, 8 p.m., Diana Wortham Theatre, Pack Place, downtown Asheville. The band Dervish will perform in concert.
Thursday, March 31
PERCUSSIVE/DANCE PERFORMANCE, 8 p.m., Diana Wortham Theatre, Pack Place, downtown Asheville. Rhythmic Circus, billed as a “percussive-dance phenomenon,” will perform in concert on March 31 and April 1. HEALTH LECTURE, noon, Mission Health Mountain View Room, Sherrill Center, UNC Asheville. “What You Don’t Know CAN Hurt You” will be addressed by Lucille Adams-Campbell, professor of oncology, associate director, minority health & health disparities research and associate dean of community health and outreach at Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University. Admission is free and open to the public. PARSONS LECTURE, 7 p.m., Lipinsky Auditorium, UNC Asheville. “Chaos Games and Fractal Images” will be addressed by Bob Devaney. Devaney, professor of computer science, mathematics and statistics at Boston University will deliver UNC Asheville’s 2016 Parsons Lecture, which aspires to make math accessible to a general audience. Devaney will show how the simple steps of this “game” produce, when iterated millions of times, the intricate images known as fractals. Admission is free and open to the public.
Friday, April 8
UNDER THE STREETLAMP CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., Niswonger Performing Arts Center, Greeneville, Tenn. The vocal group Under the Streetlamp, a quartet composed of recent leading cast members of the musical “Jersey Boys,” will perform the hits of the ‘40s, ‘50s, and ‘60s in concert.
Saturday, April 16
THE CARPENTERS TRIBUTE CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., The Foundation Performing Arts and Conference Center, Isothermal Community College, Spindale. “Close to You: The Music of the Carpenters” will be performed in a tribute concert by singer-playwright Lisa Rock and her six-piece band. For tickets, call 286-9990, or visit FoundationShows.org.
B6 — March 2016 - Asheville Daily Planet
Asheville Daily Planet — March 2016 — B7
20 new tractortrailer loads of general merchandise 5,000 new tablet computers $1.8 million in high-end children’s clothes Shipment of new laptops — 40% off Shipment of new TVs — 40% off Looking for distributors in all states. (tractor-trailer loads to wholesale dealers) Let us show you how to make money in your own store!
B8 - March 2016 - Asheville Daily Planet
Sports Commentary
Media’s war on football escalates
Tank Spencer is the host of a weekly sports talk show, “The Sports Tank,” on Asheville’s News Radio WWNC (570AM) that airs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays. Spencer also serves as WWNC’s news anchor, reporter and afternoon producer. This column features posts from his blog.
The following was posted Jan. 20: The media’s war on football has been building for years now. Every few months, there is another story to fuel the fire behind the push that will ultimately destroy the game we love. Football, as we know it, appears to be on a short leash. The latest story grabbing headlines is former Pittsburgh Steeler Antwaan Randle El telling the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “If I could go back, I wouldn’t.” He was referring to playing football. Randle El could have had a different life today had he not chosen to go to college and play football, rather than play professional baseball. He describes the pains he feels every day from playing football all of those years as frightening. Randle El says, at 36, he has many moments of memory loss and has trouble getting up and down flights of stairs. His story is just one of hundreds like it. Football has long been considered America’s passion. It’s a game that employs great skill and strategy, and has a certain beauty to it. All of that, however, comes with a price. Yes, football is a violent game. Yes, it has its elements of danger. For all of those who fear the worst, it’s an unnecessary risk to yourself
Tank Spencer or your children. I think it is important that we not forget that in everything there is risk and reward. For all of the stories of regret and woe like Randle El’s, there are former players out there who see the pain suffered now as battle scars from a career path that can’t (or wouldn’t) be traded. Growing up I watched videos of guys like Deacon Jones and Art Donovan who reveled in the glory of being gridiron heroes. They spoke as if not only the pain they inflicted, but also the pain inflicted upon them was a memento of the “good ole days.” Should steps be taken to try to make the game safer? Absolutely. Should there be a conversation about the risk involved in competing on the football field? Most definitely. But let’s not act like the game is forced upon these poor, unfortunate athletes. There is a price to pay for glory, fame, and riches... and they all know it. Apparently, Randle El doesn’t feel now that what he sacrificed was worth it, but before we strike up the violins and play a sad tune, think about all he and others have gained from playing the game.
Way beyond hip and trendy Asheville Daily Planet
Faith Notes Send us your faith notes
Please submit items to the Faith Notes by noon on the third Wednesday of each month, via email, at spirituality@ashevilledailyplanet.com, or fax to 252-6567, or mail c/o The Daily Planet, P.O. Box 8490, Asheville, N.C. 28814-8490. Submissions will be accepted and printed at the discretion of the editor, space permitting. To place an ad for a faith event, call 252-6565.
Tuesday, March 1
WEEKLY BOOK STUDY, 3:30 p.m., First Congregational United Church of Christ, 1735 Fifth Ave. W., Hendersonville. A weekly study of Robin Meyers’ book, “Saving Jesus From the Church,” will be held on Tuesdays through March 22. Leading the study is the Rev. Richard Weidler. DINNER/CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., The Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove, 1 Porters Cove Road, Asheville. The Evening at the Cove series will feature Phillips, Craig and Dean. A buffet dinner will be followed by a concert. For tickets, which are $55, visit http://thecove.org.
Wednesday, March 2
FINANCIAL PEACE PROGRAM, 7-8:30 p.m., Asheville North Seventh-day Adventist Church, 364 Broadway St., Asheville. A program, Financial Peace University: “Applying God’s Word to Your Money,” will be presented on Wednesdays through March 16. FPU is billed as teaching biblically based ways to get rid of debt, spend and save wisly and give like never before.
Friday, March 4
MOVIE, 7 p.m., Unity of the Blue Ridge, 2014 Old Fanning Bridge Rd., Mills River. The documentary “PlantPure Nation” will be shown. The film tells the story of three people on a quest to spread the message of what is billed as one of the most important health breakthroughs of all time — the benefits of a plant-based diet. Admission is $5.
Wednesday, March 9
POTLUCK DINNER, 6 p.m., Sandburg Hall, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, 1 Edwin Place, Asheville. In addition to the meal, the Peacemaking Potluck series will include the beginning of a reading and discussion of “Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, The Struggle for the Soul of a Generation” by Eboo Patel. Patel is the founder of Interfaith Youth Core, “a movement of people from all faiths and traditions who are working together to change the world.” The potluck will be held from 6:15 to 6:45 p.m., with the program from 7-8:15 p.m.
Friday, March 11
SOCIAL JUSTICE FILM, 7-9:30 p.m., Sandburg Hall, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, 1 Edwin Place, Asheville. The monthly Social Justice Movie Nite series will offer a film that is to-be-announced. A discussion will follow. Admission is free.
Thursday, March 24
MAUNDY THURSDAY SERVICE, 7 p.m., First Congregational United Church of Christ, 1735 Fifth Ave. W., Hendersonville. A Maundy Thursday service will be held.
Covenant Reformed
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 281 Edgewood Rd. • Asheville, N.C. 28804
828-253-6578
www.covenantreformed.net Wednesday— 7 p.m. Prayer/Bible Study Sunday— 9:30 a.m. Sunday School 11 a.m. Worship • 6 p.m. Worship
Celebration Services 11 AM Sunday
Unity Church of Asheville An Informal Spiritual Center of Practical Christianity for Everyday Living.
Bookstore Meeting Rooms
130 Shelburne Road West Asheville 252-5010 www.unityofasheville.com
Advertise your church on this page
@ $10 per month
If interested, e-mail us at
advertising@AshevilleDailyPlanet.com ... or call 252-6565. A positive path to spiritual living 2041 Old Fanning Bridge Rd., Mills River, N.C. 28759
828-891-8700
unity@unitync.net www.unityblueridgenc.org Rev. Darlene Strickland Sunday services with child care, workshops, bookstore, meeting rooms, weddings
Wright
Barry Manilow (left) and Guy LeMonnier, who paid tribute to him in Hendersonville.
Manilow
Continued from Page B1 Interestingly, among the quartet of male choral singers on stage was Bob Staton, Flat Rock’s mayor. For the Manilow tribute show, LeMonnier wore a three-piece grey suit, with a black shirt open at the neck and black shoes. Among the hits performed early in the concert were “I Can’t Smile Without You,” “Looks Like We Made It” and “Somewhere in the Night.” LeMonnier shared interesting tidbits on Manilow and his career throughout the show and, at one point, noted that the romantic crooner had sold 80 million records worldwide in “a great career.” In the second set, among the memorable hits were “Could It Be Magic,” “I Write the Songs” and the show concluded with “I Made It Through the Rain.”
As the crowd cheered, LeMonnier retured to the stage to perform a rollicking “Copacabana,” a 1978 mega-hit for Manilow. The song refers to the Copacabana nightclub as “the hottest spot north of Havana.” The story of which the song tells, starts in the late 1940s and focuses on Lola, a Copacabana showgirl, and her lover Tony, a bartender at the club. “One night, a mobster named Rico takes an interest in Lola, but he overplays his hand while trying to seduce her and is attacked by Tony. The ensuing fight results in a shooting. Thirty years later, the club has been transformed into a discotheque, but a crazed and drunken Lola, having lost Tony, still spends her nights at the Copacabana dressed in her 1940s finery,” according to Wikipedia.
Asheville Daily Planet — March 2016 - B9
Continued from Page B1 So yay! The tulpa experiment worked. But now I’m all alone with a tulpa! Really glad I didn’t make him a warlord. Really glad I made him like redheads. I texted Joshua as I was kinda freaked out. You can’t put a tulpa back in the bottle and I felt like things were ramping up. In the experiment we did for Warner Brothers, the tulpa we created was downright frightening. I sent picures and explained what was going on and all I got back was, “LOL! You are obviously on the right track!” No LOL! Wait! He was gone and I was still alone with my tulpa. I didn’t fall asleep for a good, long time that night. Day 22 – 12/25/15: When I went to visit my parents for Christmas, I specifically left all my decorations turned on since they were battery-operated. When I returned a few hours later, I immediately noticed that the LED candle that was high above the cats’ reach wasn’t on. I flipped it over and it had been turned off! Day 23 – 12/26/15: Woke up this morning to find that the pillow that rests on the left side of the couch has been “placed” beside the pillow on the right side. Day 25 – 2015: Terrible storm tonight. Turned on 2 LED pillar candles, a Coleman lantern and a couple other lights. Curiously, when I switched the Coleman lantern on, it immediately turned off. Without thinking, I said out loud, “Nick! Stop it!” And the lantern immediately came back on. Just got up to go to bed and was turning the candles off. One of the pillar candles had already been turned off! After I got in bed, I noticed that my porch light had been
turned on but not by me. I had to get out of bed to turn it off. Joshua says tulpas just love turning lights on and off! Though I didn’t capture the picture evidence I intended, I did capture evidence, some in the form of photographs. But let’s be clear: no one has ever taken a photograph of a tulpa. I do believe Sherlock Holmes was right. “Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.” I’m settling in with my Santa tulpa. I talk to him and blow air kisses at his likeness, which actually seemed to cause activity to escalate before. I made him to like animals too and my cats act like they get lots of attention and are very happy. In fact, I knew I would be home late one night last week and found myself thinking, ”It’s ok, Nick will take care of them!” • Shelley Wright, an Asheville native, is a paranormal investigator. She works at Wright’s Coin Shop in Asheville and is a weekly participant in the “Speaking of Strange” radio show from 9 p.m. to midnight on most Saturdays on Asheville’s WWNC-AM (570).
Tell our advertisers — who enable us to bring you this newspaper for FREE every month — that you saw their promotions in the Daily Planet!
,
Best Computer Repair/Service in the USA!
At Electron, you can TRUST your computer guy. Here’s why:
• NEVER a drop-off charge. • Free estimates always. • No Fix = No Charge.
• 30-plus years of tech experience. • We stand behind everything we do 100%. • We do onsite service calls.
670 Weaverville Hwy., Asheville, N.C. • (828) 484-7065
Open: Monday-Friday 9:00 am to 6 pm; Sat: upon appointment
B10 - March 2016 - Asheville Daily Planet
Entertainment
Sock Hops quartet wows audience with vocals, moves By JOHN NORTH
john@AshevilleDailyPlanet.com
FRANKLIN — The sweet-singing vocal quartet, The Sock Hops, billed as “Georgia’s premier oldies group,” wowed the crowd with tight, four-part harmonies on Jan. 30 at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts. About 650 people attended the 90-minute, two-set show that featured a step back into the past with songs from the doo-wop era and — mostly — the early years of rock ‘n’ roll. Among the many song highlights during the concert, an explosive standout was the Sock Hops’ full-throttle rendition — with Scott Cruce singing lead — of The Tokens’ “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” and the Four Seasons’ “Sherry.” Besides the music (mostly from the past), another of the show’s highlights was the sometimes elaborate, sometimes amusing choreography, all of which was quite stunning. The group also performed several songs by the Eagles, as a tribute to the recent death of one of the landmark group’s founders, Glenn Frey, at age 67. The concert originally was scheduled about a week earlier, but was postponed because of a snow and ice storm. The Sock Hops, formed in 1989 in Marietta, Ga., feature the combined talents of Courtney Oliver, Ward Hiss, Cruce and Jim Mitchell. The lead vocals rotate between group founder Oliver and Cruce. The concert began with a powerful rendition of “Runaround Sue,” followed by “Little Darlin’” and “You’re 16.” At that point, Oliver gave his full-throttle vocal presentation of “Cara Mia” that triggered much applause. Next, the group launched into a soaring rendition of The Happenings’ “See You in September.” Then, the Sock Hops played their first of several Eagles songs, “Take It Easy,” after which Cruce intoned (in a reference to Frey), “We’re going to miss you, Glenn!” (In the second set, the group also sang the Eagles’ “Best of My Love.”) The group singing several Roy Orbison songs, performed an especially poignant version of “Crying,” and then launched into Sam Cooke’s “What a Wonderful World” — and both songs received sustained applause. In addition, the group sang the Beatles’ “All My Loving,” followed by the Four Seasons’ “Sherry.” Cruce’s falsetto on “Sherry” probably would have impressed even Frankie Valli, who sang it originally — and the performance elicited the loudest applause of the night, to that point. As the cheering continued, Oliver noted that Cruce has been with the group for eight years. To that, Cruce, who is blind, smiled and quipped, “I’ve never seen these guys before.” His deadpan delivery prompted much laughter from the crowd. Later in the first set, the group sang the Monkees’ “Daydream Believer,” followed by Orbison’s “Only the Lonely.” After the intermission, the Sock Hops began the second set with the Beatles’ “I Saw
Her Standing There” and, a little later, the Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” Other memorable second-set songs included Jay and the Americans’ version of “This Magic Moment” and Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” the Mills Brothers’ “60-Minute Man,” the Four Seasons’ “Rag Doll” and Orbison’s “Pretty Woman.” The concert ended with an encore that include a patriotic medley that had the crowd on its feet. Oliver, who counts “Cara Mia” and “What a Wonderful World” as two of his top song leads, is originally from Birmingham, Ala. Cruce, an Atlanta native, joined the Sock Hops in 1997. He especially soared with lead vocals on songs by the Four Seasons and the Eagles. A fixture in the Sock Hops since 1996, Hiss is billed as adding the baritone glue, holding the group’s complex harmonies together. Originally from Coral Gables, Fla, Ward sings mellow lead vocals on songs like Jimmy Buffet’s “Margaritaville” as well as Jimmy Durante’s “As Time Goes By.” Mitchell, another Birmingham native, has anchored the group with his booming bass notes since 2006. His renditions of “Blue Moon,” “Sweet Caroline,” and Tennessee Ernie Ford’s “Sixteen Tons” are standouts. The Sock Hops have served as the opening act for the concert appearances of The Rascals, The Swingin’ Medallions, ShaNa-Na, The Temptations, Three Dog Night, Mark Lindsey, The Drifters, The Grass Roots, Frankie Avalon, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Peter Noone, The Cadillacs, The Bobbettes, The Clovers, Herb Cox and the Cleftones, The
The Sock Hops performed Jan. 30 at the SMCPA in Franklin. Skyliners and Eddie Holman. The Sock Hops also perform regularly as
one of the featured acts in The Great American Rock and Roll Revival show.
Make your own beer, wine, cider and mead! We have WNC’s largest selection of ingredients and supplies.
Two free classes every month!
ASHEVILLE BREWERS SUPPLY 712-B Merrimon Ave • Asheville • (828) 285-0515
Mon-Sat 10-6 and Sun 11-4 • Plenty of Parking! www.AshevilleBrewers.com • South’s Finest • Since 1994
Is your food making you sick?
• Migraine & Other Headaches • Irritable Bowel Syndrome • Chronic Diarrhea • Heartburn/GERD • Fibromyalgia • Arthritis • Joint Pain • Muscle Pain • Weight Imbalances • Chronic Fatigue • Chronic Sinusitis • Insomnia • Skin Eruptions • Autism/ADD
Top 10 reasons to consult with an RDN
Here are just a few of the reasons people seek the expert, science-based advice of a registered dietician nutritionist: 4. You’re pregnant or trying to get preg- 7. You need to gain or lose weight — 1. You have diabetes, cadiovascular nant. weight management problems or high blood pressure. 5. You need guidance and confidence for 8. You’re caring for an aging parent. 2. You are thinking of having or have breasfeeding your baby. 9. You want to eat smarter had gastric bypass surgery. 6. Your teenager has issues with food 10. You want to improve your perforand eating health fully. mance in sports. 3. You have digestive problems.
—
A c c e p t s
m o s t
i n s u r a n c e
—
Asheville Daily Planet — March 2016 — B11
Style The last Bee Gee still gets around
MIAMI, Fla. — Barry Gibb, the lone surviving member of the iconic rock-disco group the Bee Gees, recently was spotted in attendance of a Miami-area charity fundraiser. Since the recent deaths of his two broth-
ers, Robin and Maurice Gibb, who rounded out the group, Barry Gibb performs infrequently — and as a solo act. Gibb crossed paths at the fundraiser with Steven Chase, a fellow lifetime musician who lives in Miami and Boone, N.C., and they exchanged greetings, Chase said. Chase and his band performed at Gibb’s last wedding. Chase also visits Asheville, N.C., as often as he can — and is a frequent letterwriter to the Asheville Daily Planet.
The group the Bee Gees was comprised (from left) of Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb.
Barry Gibb and Steven Chase
B12 - March 2016 - Asheville Daily Planet