May 19, 2016 by Rhino Times

Vol. IV No. 20

Greensboro, North Carolina

www.rhinotimes.com

Thursday, May 19, 2016

EAST GREENSBORO WONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T ROLL OVER FOR ANIMAL SHELTER

John Hammer

Speaker Drives Council Into Kitchen plus Under The Hammer, Uncle Orson Reviews Everything AND MORE

RHINO TIMES | Thursday, May 19, 2016 | www.rhinotimes.com

THE WEEKLY Hammer

The Weekly Hammer

Gender Neutrality or Sexgregation by John Hammer Editor Most of what I’ve read in the mainstream media about the whole bathroom brouhaha has been either wrong or based on faulty information. It seems that many of the people writing about the issue haven’t bothered to read either the

Charlotte ordinance or House Bill 2. I have read them both several times and also discussed them with attorneys and some of the legislators who passed HB2. The Charlotte ordinance and HB2 do properly frame the debate, which no one in the

mainstream media is doing because the majority of people agree with HB2, whether they know it or not. The debate has little to do with transgender people using one restroom or shower or the other. That’s a smokescreen. The issue is what is set out in the Charlotte ordinance – whether our society wants to have gender-neutral facilities or facilities segregated by biological sex. Charlotte’s ordinance required all bathrooms, locker rooms, showers, saunas, everything except maybe OB-GYN examination rooms, to be gender neutral. The way the ordinance was written, the signs on the doors of the facilities could not indicate that one or the other sex was preferred. The Charlotte City Council was right, it appears, from a legal standpoint. It would be almost impossible to write a law that would hold up in court that says transgender people can use any facility they want but everyone else is restricted to the facility of their biological sex. If that were attempted, transgender would have to be defined. Do you have to have had surgery? Is taking hormones enough? What if a woman just feels like a man and dresses like a man, is that enough? What about transvestites – men who don’t identify as women but like to dress up like women? There are a host of questions that have to be answered, and currently transgender is not defined. But what is reported is that transgender people feel like they are the opposite sex. How do you test for the way a person feels? If a man goes in the women’s shower and says that it is because he feels like a woman, how can anyone prove that he doesn’t feel like a woman? So what Charlotte did made sense, but so did what the North Carolina legislature did. HB2, as much as possible, puts things back where they were before Charlotte passed what is a radical ordinance. HB2 says you are to use the

restroom of your biological sex. But if you don’t, there is no fine, no jail sentence and no sanction of any kind. The people who wrote this law have at least 10 different degrees of felonies and heaven knows how many different kinds of misdemeanors at their disposal, but this law doesn’t have a penalty, which means there is no plan to actively enforce it. The idea of “bathroom police” has been created by those who oppose HB2. The law will be enforced like it always has been. If a man goes in the women’s bathroom and doesn’t misbehave, most likely nothing is going to happen except he may get yelled at by women who don’t want him there. I have been in men’s rooms plenty of times when women have come in, and I have never once heard a single complaint from the men present. The reason the opponents of HB2 are trying to make it sound like transgender people are being discriminated against is political. The people out protesting may believe the issue is about transgender people, but it appears the folks calling the shots want gender-neutral bathrooms. They want all of us to act like there is no difference between men and women – wake up one day and be a woman and the next day be a man. There is the problem of biological differences, but they ignore the fact that men and women are physically different. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 1975 supported having facilities segregated by sex based on the privacy rights of individuals. However, that was 1975. Looking at recent cases before the federal courts, it appears there is a good chance the federal courts will order gender-neutral facilities. But what I don’t see them able to do is order that people who are transgender get to choose the facilities they want to use while everyone else has to use the facilities based on their sex. We’ll have to wait and see as the cases wind their way through the courts.

www.rhinotimes.com | Thursday, May 19, 2016 | RHINO TIMES

Mommy Makeover and New Lunch and Learn Seminars by Virgil V. Willard II, MD

THE “MOMMY MAKEOVER” is a term that has been coined to describe the surgeries woman have requested after they have delivered the last baby. Our children, God help us we love them, but the changes pregnancy causes are not always kind. Let’s go over these procedures. FIRST THE BREASTS. Different moms have different changes. Usually, after the breast milk stops being produced, some of the ﬁrm breast tissue will wilt away. This leaves the breast smaller and now has some droop that was not there before. Sometimes the breast will stay larger than before the pregnancy. If stretch marks have come, I’m sorry to say we don’t have anything to reverse them. Some lasers can make them smaller if you treat them while they are red. Do not suntan them while they are red or they will stay dark instead of fading to white. If you have lost some volume, a breast augmentation will help restore that volume. If droopiness has become the problem, then a mastopexy (breast lift) is the right operation. I have been in practice for 25 years now, and of all the procedures we will talk about today, the number of mastopexies has increased the most! Like the rest of the procedures here, the ﬁnal result makes for very happy patients. The last change is the breast may become and stay larger. The resultant neck, back, and shoulder pain, often makes breast reductions an insurance reimbursable procedure when the others here are not. Breast reductions give you a lift too. This is another wonderful operation.

SECONDLY, FAT POCKETS SEEM TO OCCUR AND STAY AFTER PREGNANCIES. These are typically amenable to liposuction. These areas can be under the chin, the arms, the abdomen, the hips, the thighs, and the knees. Liposuction is a great operation. As long as the skin has enough elasticity to contract and hold a smaller volume, it works great. THIRDLY, LET’S TALK ABOUT THAT ABDOMEN. If the skin and muscles have not stretched too far, then liposuction will be sufﬁcient. If your muscles are stretched apart, and/or the skin is just too excessive, then an abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) is what you need. This surgery pulls your muscles back together. It also removes lower abdominal skin and the fat beneath it. The incision winds up low in the bikini line. This is an awesome operation. It is also the biggest one we are talking about today. But, if you need it, you need it. If you try a shortcut like just doing liposuction when there is too much skin, you will wind up with ugly, wrinkly skin. Most patients are uncomfortable driving the ﬁrst two weeks, and most patients return to computer-type work in three weeks. Some can sooner, some it takes longer. A lot of patients worry about the pain too. We use numbing medicine that lasts for three days! Incredible. The worst of the pain is over in several days, so this gets you past the worst of it. Do not let pain keep you from having this operation. We have it covered!

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LASTLY, LET’S TALK ABOUT THE FACE. I don’t know if it’s part of the ageing process, or maybe it’s those sleepless nights with a new baby, but changes in the face after a pregnancy are not uncommon at all. It’s unlikely this age group is going to need a face-lift, but the skin of the face can lose elasticity. To help with this, a skin tightening laser procedure like the YAG, or ultrasound treatments with Ultherapy®, create nice changes. The “mask of pregnancy,” the dark discoloration of the cheek, happens sometimes. This will very successfully be treated with either a laser or one of the chemical peels. Once in a while, excess skin becomes a cosmetic problem of the upper or lower eyelids. For this, a blepharoplasty (eyelid lifts) is a wonderful operation to get rid of that skin. Most patients having a “mommy makeover” have more than one procedure. We very commonly do a breast and an abdominal procedure at the same time. It saves the patient money and requires just one recovery instead of two. We are skilled and trained to safely accomplish multiple procedures. And let’s face it, there may be young children at home. Let’s try and keep Mom “out of commission” as little as possible. Dads appreciate that. Call for a consult and we’ll see what procedures might correct what the Little Darlings did!

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RHINO TIMES | Thursday, May 19, 2016 | www.rhinotimes.com

The May Flowers Rhino Times Schmoozefest is Thursday, May 26 at Kickback Jack’s at 1600 Battleground Ave. There will be free beer and wine and hors d’oeuvres for those who sign in and wear a name tag. Once again I have to say that, if I believed what the News & Record was reporting, I’d agree with their conclusions that Police Officer Tim Bloch did something wrong when he shot Chieu Di Thi Vo. But the recent articles are just plain wrong in some statements of fact and they mischaracterize others so that they are hardly recognizable. The article in the Friday, May 13, N&R was written by a reporter who was not at the press conference Police Chief Wayne Scott held on Wednesday, May 11. Having attended, I understand why Scott insisted on releasing the video at a press conference where he had a chance to provide more information than is available from simply watching the video. Those at the press conference know that this sentence in the N&R article – “He [Officer Bloch] had responded to a report of a fight, and found Vo waving a knife while speaking in a language he didn’t understand. He shot Vo when she didn’t respond to his repeated commands to stop” – is an inaccurate

HINOSHORTS

description of what happened. Bloch didn’t respond to a report of a fight, something anyone who was at the press conference or had watched the video of the press conference would have known. He responded to a frantic 911 call from a woman who said there was a woman running around outside the apartments threatening people with a meat cleaver. Vo was not “waving a knife.” She had a big knife in her hand and was running straight at Officer Bloch and the woman who had called 911, who was standing behind Bloch. In the video, if Ms. Vo was saying anything, it’s unlikely Bloch could hear her because he was repeatedly shouting, “Put it down.” The article makes it sound like Vo was shot because she wouldn’t stop waving the knife. She was shot because she was running right at Bloch with a big knife and she didn’t stop when he yelled at her and then pointed his gun right at her. Whether she could understand “Put it down” or not, she should have realized that when a uniformed policed officer points his gun at you, you should stop what you are doing. She didn’t even slow down and she kept coming at him after being shot four times. It was only on the fifth shot that she stopped because she physically couldn’t keep moving. Vo died two days later from the gunshot wounds. The Greensboro Police Department can’t be expected to respond immediately to every call with an officer (continued on page 7)

David French, Robb Baxley, Elizabeth Knight and Jim Brady (from left) on Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands. Send your Rhinos Around the World photos to letters@rhinotimes.com or to PO Box 9023, Greensboro 27429.

www.rhinotimes.com | Thursday, May 19, 2016 | RHINO TIMES

table of

CONTENTS

WEEKLY HAMMER

SPEAKER DRIVES COUNCIL INTO KITCHEN

BY JOHN HAMMER

14 NEIGHBORS TO BURY HATCHETT IF HIGH POINT BURIES POWER LINES BY SCOTT D. YOST

BY JOHN HAMMER

15 UNCLE ORSON

CITY POLS SAY EAST GSO WON’T ROLL OVER FOR SHELTER

23 YOST COLUMN

BY SCOTT YOST

BY ORSON SCOTT CARD BY SCOTT D. YOST

35 UNDER THE HAMMER BY JOHN HAMMER

10 COUNTY KEEPS

DEBT-RIDDEN LANKFORD DUE TO MERGER RUMOR BY SCOTT D. YOST

12 STREETS MAKE IT TO TOP OF LIST ON CITY BUDGET DISCUSSION

BY JOHN HAMMER

RHINO SHORTS

16, 24 PUZZLE ANSWERS 17

REAL ESTATE

CHILDREN’S SCHEDULE

NYT CROSSWORD

THE SOUND OF THE BEEP

SUDOKU

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

EDITORIAL CARTOON

28 Cover: A map of Greensboro showing the site where the Guilford County Board of Commissioners is considering putting the new animal shelter and a photo of the entrance to the site. Photo by Elaine Hammer

PUBLISHER Roy Carroll EDITOR-IN-CHIEF GENERAL MANAGER John Hammer Joann Zollo managing editor ELAINE HAMMER county editor SCOTT D. YOST contributing editor ORSON SCOTT CARD cartoonist GEOF BROOKS

creative director ANTHONY COUNCIL advertising consultants RICARDO NIEVES TYE SINGLETON MICK HAYWOOD

216 West Market Street, Greensboro NC 27401 (continued page 11) P.O. Box 9023, Greensboro NC 27429 | (336)on763-4170 (336) 763-2585 fax | sales@rhinotimes.com | www.rhinotimes.com

RHINO TIMES | Thursday, May 19, 2016 | www.rhinotimes.com

Speaker Drives Council into Kitchen by John Hammer As a result of deliberations at what was clearly an illegal private meeting, the Greensboro City Council postponed action on awarding the contract to allocate the downtown Business Improvement District (BID) funds at its regular meeting on Tuesday, May 17, in the Council Chambers. The problem is that the deliberations on how to handle the contract were not done in the Council Chambers with the public present and in front of the television cameras, or even with the city clerk taking minutes. It was done in the backroom with only councilmembers and two reporters present. The fact that the reporters were welcomed into the meeting doesn’t meet the definition of a public meeting according to the North Carolina open meetings law. The meeting in the hallway outside the council offices and in the small kitchen area was clearly held to make a decision in private

rather than in public, as is required by law. It’s not enough to simply allow two reporters to attend the meeting; the public has to be invited and have access, and they did not. The public, the city clerk, the city attorney and Councilmember Tony Wilkins were all left in the Council Chambers when seven councilmembers (Councilmember Yvonne Johnson was absent) and two reporters went in the backroom to make a decision. It all started when Eric Robert was at the podium speaking about the proposal for his company, Qub Studios, to handle marketing and communications and public space management portions of the contract paid for with the $600,000 in BID revenue. Robert said that he had been told about an hour before the meeting that Downtown Greensboro Inc. (DGI) was allowed to revise its proposal five days after the deadline. Wilkins stopped Robert and said to city staff, “I certainly want to know if

that is a true statement.” Assistant City Manager David Parrish said that he believed what Robert was referring to was the fact that DGI was allowed to amend its proposed budget, but that it was not a substantial change and didn’t affect how the proposals were scored by the city. He said, “They were given an opportunity to clarify some figures.” At this point, Councilmember Mike Barber said, “Point of order. I would like to ask for a five-minute recess without further comment.” Councilmember Jamal Fox seconded the motion for a fiveminute recess and the council voted unanimously to recess. Wilkins didn’t pay any attention to the part of the motion that said “without further discussion” and said, “My question was procedural. It had nothing to do with Qub or DGI.” Wilkins stayed at the dais while Mayor Nancy Vaughan and six councilmembers trooped single file into the backroom where the council offices and the council conference room are, and where they are protected from the public by two locked doors and a security guard. Both Margaret Banks of the News & Record and I trooped right along with them. Once they got back to the council offices, Barber said in response to a question from Banks about what was going on, “Based on the history of litigation, I think we need to postpone this for two weeks.” Barber, who is an attorney, did not elaborate. He said later he was well aware of the law on closed meetings and didn’t deliberate with other members of the council but answered a question from a reporter, went to the men’s room, grabbed a chicken wing and went back out to the dais. The video of the meeting shows Barber back on the dais before anyone else and I didn’t hear him answer any questions or talk to other councilmembers about what was happening. He said he called for a recess because he wanted to collect his thoughts about what to do next, knowing Robert’s history of filing lawsuits. Barber said he made a point not to deliberate with other councilmembers but he has no idea if they discussed the matter among themselves. And, in fact, the other councilmembers did discuss the matter among themselves. It was

certainly not a formal meeting in any fashion since most of the deliberation appeared to take place in the small kitchen where there were chicken wings and pizza, so there was a crush around the food, but in that crush the councilmembers were discussing what to do about the contract to award the downtown BID money. Right after Barber made his statement, Councilmember Sharon Hightower asked if there were a time element involved in awarding the contract. Mayor Nancy Vaughan said that DGI was funded through the end of the fiscal year, June 30, so delaying the contract for two weeks shouldn’t be a problem. Then councilmembers discussed rebidding the contract, since questions had been raised about the bid process. But the decision made in the backroom was to have the staff go over the proposals and make certain that everything was in order and then award the contract at the next meeting, scheduled for June 7, the date of the congressional and state Supreme Court primaries in North Carolina. City Attorney Tom Carruthers was late arriving at the backroom meeting and warned that no deliberations should be taking place. The councilmembers who were in the midst of deliberating said none were, but were still discussing whether to rebid the contract or not while they ate pizza and chicken wings. Eventually Wilkins also showed up, but by then it appeared that the decision had been made. When the councilmembers returned to the dais, Vaughan said, “Thank you. What I would like to do at this time is to continue this until the June 7 meeting without further advertising. I’d like the staff to evaluate this and come back with an evaluation and recommendation.” Barber said, “So moved.” Wilkins, who had missed most of the discussion in the backroom, asked if they could be clearer, but was interrupted by Barber who said, “The purpose of my motion was to end further discussion until the process is sorted out without further staff comment or any comment.” Wilkins didn’t give up and said, “If a similar situation occurred elsewhere, I want to have a discussion on that at some time.” Barber’s motion then passed on an (continued on page 9)

www.rhinotimes.com | Thursday, May 19, 2016 | RHINO TIMES

RHINOSHORTS (continued from page 4)

who speaks the language of those involved. The police agree that Vo had a history of mental illness, but the police cannot allow people, whether they are mentally ill or not, to threaten people with knives. It certainly appears from her actions that she was mentally ill, and, considering that fact, nobody knows what she would have done when she reached Bloch. No police officer should be expected to stand and wait to be stabbed before responding with force. It may sound good to say that Bloch should have tried some non-lethal way of stopping Vo, but considering the fact that four bullets didn’t stop her, which is a fact borne out by the video, it seems a safe assumption that a Taser or pepper spray would not have stopped her either. If anyone is at fault in this situation it would be the mental health system that decided Vo was not a threat to herself or to others. If the mental health system had done its job, Vo would not have been terrorizing the neighborhood

with a knife because she would have been in a facility where she could be protected from herself. The mischaracterization of the event by the N&R is only adding fuel to the fire. This is a crazy election year. We have three people running for president that most people in the country don’t like or strongly disagree with. We have 22 people running for Congress in the 13th District and none of them or any of the other congressional candidates in the state know if the election will be held or not because the federal courts have not approved the districts. But by far the most confusing race also happens to be arguably the most important, the race for North Carolina Supreme Court justice. When the election season began, North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Bob Edmunds from Greensboro was slated to run in a retention election where he had no opponent. Voters could either vote for him or against him, but his name was to be the only

one on the ballot. Now that method of election has been deemed unconstitutional. Edmunds will not only have an opponent, he will have a nonpartisan primary where his name is simply one of four on the ballot with no indication that he is the incumbent or that he is the only Republican on the ballot. To top it off, that primary is on June 7, where the only other race will be the congressional primaries, so extremely low voter turnout is expected. Add to that that it’s a statewide race and you have a tough political contest. It is one of the most important races of the year because the Republicans currently have a four-to-three majority on the state Supreme Court, and, if Edmunds loses, the Democrats will have a majority. People can talk about nonpartisan judges all they want, but on political issues the court divides right along party lines. The Guilford County commissioners are about to get handed their hat when the proposal to issue a specialuse permit to put the Guilford County Animal Shelter in District 2 comes before the Greensboro City Council. It appears the request may be rejected

by a unanimous vote. It’s worth noting that Guilford County Schools can build new schools and completely renovate schools with the students still attending classes, but the Guilford County Board of Commissioners can’t figure out how to build a new animal shelter on the site of the current one without removing all the animals. Perhaps the commissioners should ask the school board how they do it. Democrat Greensboro state Rep. Pricey Harrison, considered by some to be one of the more liberal members of the House, is quoted in the News & Record as saying she’s “not really unhappy” with the budget proposed by the state House. If Harrison is not unhappy with the budget, I’m worried. The proposed budget is $22.5 billion – $200 million higher than Gov. Pat McCrory’s proposed budget of $22.3 billion. Conservatives can only hope that the state Senate will revise the budget into a form that Harrison doesn’t like. I, like most of the representatives in the House, haven’t read the budget, but Harrison is a good bellwether. If she’s for it, it makes me worry about what’s in there.

RHINO TIMES | Thursday, May 19, 2016 | www.rhinotimes.com

City Pols Say East GSO Won’t Roll Over for Animal Shelter by Scott D. Yost “The answer is no,” Greensboro City Councilmember Jamal Fox said of a recent proposal by the Guilford County Board of Commissioners to build the county’s new animal shelter at 3307 Burlington Road in east Greensboro. “No, we don’t want it over there,” Fox added. “I object to everything about it.” At a Thursday, May 5 Guilford County Board of Commissioners work session, the board voted to request a special-use permit from the City of Greensboro to allow a new animal shelter in economically challenged east Greensboro. Some nearby residents and advocates for east Greensboro say they want to see more retail and entertainment there, but not an animal shelter, which they argue will

decrease property values. In order to put the shelter on that spot – county-owned land next to the Guilford County Agricultural Center – the county will need Greensboro’s approval. Fox said it’s true that Guilford County owns the land, but he added that the site in question is in the city limits, and he said the city therefore has a right to say what does or doesn’t go there. He added that an animal shelter isn’t right for the area. Fox said the county commissioners and city councilmembers representing east Greensboro all oppose the move, and he added that that fact should carry some weight with the Greensboro City Council. When the Board of Commissioners voted on May 5 to build the shelter on the Burlington Road land, it did so on

a 6-to-3 vote, with the board’s three black commissioners – Ray Trapp, Carolyn Coleman and Carlvena Foster – all voting against the move. The commissioners approved the motion to request the special-use permit on the land without making a final decision whether the board would build the shelter there – though that is clearly the spot of choice for a majority of commissioners. Many commissioners like the fact that the county wouldn’t have to buy land if the shelter goes there, and they also point out that the area is central to the majority of animal control calls the county receives. Fox said that, to add insult to injury, he was very displeased with the lack of any official communication from the county prior to the request. He said that when county officials were

discussing putting an animal shelter in the City Council’s District 2, the district he represents, it’s hard to imagine they didn’t at least contact him. Trapp did inform Fox when Trapp realized Guilford County was going to request the special-use permit. However, there was no official contact by county staff or by a representative of the Board of Commissioners. “I knew nothing about it until Ray told me,” Fox said. The land on Burlington Road falls in Fox’s district, and right across Burlington Road is the city’s District 1, represented by Greensboro City Councilmember Sharon Hightower – who’s also, to say the least, is not exactly thrilled with the idea of an animal shelter being put on that property. (continued on page 11)

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kitchen

(continued from page 6)

8-to-0 vote. Vaughan said, “OK, so we will move to the next item.” On Wednesday, May 18, City Manager Jim Westmoreland and Carruthers sent a memo to the mayor and city councilmembers stating that the Legal Department had reviewed the process of analyzing and making a recommendation on the bids for the downtown BID money and that they had been properly handled. The memo states, “In addition, State law does not mandate a specific process when a request for proposals is used to select a contractor. The City elected to use the Best Value Standard of Award and City policy allows for clarifications of requests for proposals.” The memo states that the city did ask for a clarification with respect to one attachment in the DGI bid. DGI had included its entire budget in the figures used for the RFP and the city asked that it be revised to reflect only the BID money. According to the memo, the request for proposals (RFP) states that the city selection committee may ask contractors to provide additional information, and in this case the city asked that of DGI. The memo states that the process used complies with state law and the RFP guidelines and “The recommendation remains to award the contract to Downtown Greensboro, Inc.” Before Barber made the motion and the council took an impromptu recess, Robert said that his group was “selflessly volunteering” to help the downtown by offering to do the marketing and public space management for the downtown. The marketing and public space portion of the $600,000 contract that was under consideration is $262,000. It’s hard to see how offering to contract with the city for $262,000 is selfless or can in any way be considered volunteering. But those are the words that Robert used. He said that he had planned to show a video. He did show a video at the presentation to the City Council’s General Government Committee, and that video uses images that Downtown Greensboro Inc. paid over $18,000 for but can’t use. The video uses images that Robert worked on for a proposed advertising campaign as a volunteer member of the DGI board. Robert was extremely involved in the project, ordering DGI employees by email not to take action without his approval. However,

when the project was complete and DGI had begun using the images in an advertising campaign, Robert’s attorney Scott Hale sent DGI a letter informing DGI that Robert still owned the photos and if they were used in the planned advertising campaign without compensating Robert, then Robert would sue DGI. The DGI board disagreed with some of the facts in the letter from Hale, but sent the photos back to Robert and agreed not to use the images. DGI noted in the letter that it had been billed for the photos and had paid the invoice in full. Robert also filed a lawsuit against the City of Greensboro last year because he did not receive any of the redevelopment funds for the South Elm Street redevelopment project, better known as Union Square, where a building is now under construction at the corner of Gate City Boulevard and Arlington Street. Robert dropped his lawsuit in March after the city had already spent over $100,000 in legal fees on its defense. Robert has a year in which he can reinstate the lawsuit. As part of its defense in Robert’s lawsuit, the city acquired a letter from an official at the Department of Housing and Urban Development that stated unequivocally that Robert’s property, known as The Mill and adjacent to the redevelopment project, was not eligible for federal redevelopment funds. The bulk of the BID revenue has always been awarded to DGI, but this year, because of a new state law, the contract on allocating the money had to put out for bids. DGI and Qub Studios were determined to be the only bidders that met the criteria in the city’s request for proposals. DGI President Zack Matheny, who resigned his seat on the City Council last summer in order to take the position at DGI, was waiting to give his presentation about why the City Council should award the entire contract to DGI when the City Council recessed and then postponed making a decision. The city staff had recommended that the contract be awarded to DGI, and it appears that is the intent of the City Council on June 7. Barber said that he didn’t consult with anyone in person or by text before he made his motion to recess, but considering the city’s history with Robert and the questions raised about the bid process, he thought an immediate delay in the process was necessary.

10 RHINO TIMES | Thursday, May 19, 2016 | www.rhinotimes.com

County Keeps Debt-Ridden Lankford Due To Merger Rumor by Scott D. Yost Guilford County has decided to continue using Lankford Protective Services for its security needs as long as that company continues to pay off its multi-million dollar tax debt and fulfill its other financial obligations. A key to Guilford County’s decision is that Lankford has informed county officials that it is being acquired by another company, and county administrators have determined that this is an acceptable means to assure that Lankford’s service to the county won’t be impaired by its extreme financial woes. Guilford County officials have been in talks with Lankford ever since the Rhino Times reported on March 3 that the company owed over $7 million

in payroll taxes going back over a decade. The City of Greensboro, which used Lankford for many of its security needs, informed Lankford in mid-March that it was pulling out of the contract with Lankford. The city split that contract up into smaller ones and put those out for bids, and that transition to new security providers for the City of Greensboro is underway. Guilford County had plenty of questions for Lankford over the company’s tax debt and considered ending the contract as the city did. However, Guilford County has decided to continue using Lankford in light of what county officials say is an impending takeover of Lankford by another firm. The merger would be in keeping

with a trend in that industry toward consolidation. In the latest example of security firm mergers, on Tuesday, May 3, AlliedBarton Security Services and Universal Services of America announced they were merging, creating the largest security company in North America with about 140,000 officers and a revenue base of roughly $4.5 billion. Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Jeff Phillips and Commissioner Alan Branson both said this week that it was their understanding that Lankford was in the process of being acquired – a move that’s expected to help the company meet its tax and financial obligations, and one that offers county officials some assurances that Lankford will be able to continue to provide service to

the county. Phillips said this week that he hadn’t been directly in on the county’s talks with Lankford but that he was aware of those talks and he said it was his understanding that a takeover of Lankford is coming. “The last I’ve heard is that the sale of the business is more likely than not,” Phillips said. Since Lankford is facing such an enormous tax debt, some industry insiders question whether a takeover of Lankford is really imminent or whether Lankford is using those merger talks – which some say have been going on for a long time – to convince Guilford County officials to keep using Lankford. The negotiations were being conducted largely by Guilford County

(continued on page 26)

www.rhinotimes.com | Thursday, May 19, 2016 | RHINO TIMES

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Peripheral Neuropathy

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“I don’t support it and I will not support it,” an animated Hightower said this week. “I’m sick and tired of people trying to come dump every negative thing on our community. I’m pissed off and, if you want, you can put that in the paper.” Hightower said she felt as though the majority of the Greensboro City Council would refuse to go along with putting the animal shelter on that spot. She said the City Council had been working for a long time to bring positive changes to the area, and they had been working hard to lure beneficial businesses back to east Greensboro – so, she said, she didn’t believe they would support such an egregious step backward. “We fought junkyards; we’ve fought other things that would be a negative – and we will fight this,” Hightower said. She also said she was appalled by the fact that there was no effort from county officials to reach out to her and Fox – or other city councilmembers for that matter – while the county was considering such a project on property inside Greensboro. Hightower said she knew about the proposal beforehand only because she communicates regularly with Coleman on issues of mutual interest. Hightower said county officials made no effort whatsoever to hear the thoughts of the city councilmembers before voting to request the specialuse permit. “They don’t even bother to have a conversation with us,” she said of county staff and commissioners. “When we have done something that affects them, we have bent over backward to communicate with the commissioners – but time and time again they don’t show us the same courtesy. They ignore us. They don’t even have the decency to talk about it with the councilmembers who represent that area. I’m very offended. I represent that area. Jamal represents that area.” According to Hightower, one of the big problems is that the voices of the residents near the proposed Burlington Road site haven’t been heard. She said the community in that area is constantly put upon and doesn’t have the retail choices the rest of the county does. “I’m tired of having to drive to west Greensboro for amenities,” Hightower said. “I’m so tired of people treating low-income people like they don’t have a say in how they live. Some people can’t afford to move to a new area. Tell me if a Target wants to sit next to an

animal shelter. Tell me if a Bed Bath & Beyond wants to sit next to an animal shelter.” Hightower said the best place for a new shelter is on the site of the existing one, at 4525 W. Wendover Ave. That’s the site that Coleman has been pushing for the Board of Commissioners to approve for the new shelter. “It’s a central location,” Hightower said. “They are already there; it’s hidden well, so it doesn’t affect the businesses around it. It’s a very good spot.” While Fox and Hightower are dead set against a new county animal shelter on the 3300 block of Burlington Road, they are only two votes out of nine, and others on the City Council are at least open to having the debate. Greensboro City Councilmember Tony Wilkins said he wants to hear more before making a decision. He said he hadn’t had much of a chance to get up to speed about the proposal yet. “I’ve been real busy talking about police videos and transgender bathrooms,” Wilkins said, referring to two hot-button issues the Greensboro City Council has been dealing with lately. Wilkins said there are a lot of facts to gather before he forms an opinion on whether this would be a good site for a new shelter. Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan also said she wants to learn more details. “I would like to see exactly what they’re proposing,” Vaughan said. She added she did have an initial impression when she heard the request would be coming before the city. “My first thought is that it’s not a very convenient location,” she said of the 3300 block of Burlington Road. The current animal shelter on West Wendover Avenue just south of I-40 sits in a central spot between Greensboro and High Point, the county’s two large population centers – something that can’t be said for the 3300 block of Burlington Road. However, at the current location, there’s a great deal of traffic, and Guilford County might be able to sell that land in the very popular corridor for a good amount of money. Trapp suggested at the May 5 commissioners meeting that the county look into land the City of Greensboro owns that could be used for a shelter, to see if there’s potential for a land swap with the city. County staff said the city was researching available city-

(continued on page 13)

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12 RHINO TIMES | Thursday, May 19, 2016 | www.rhinotimes.com

Streets Make It To Top Of List On City Budget Discussion by John Hammer is that $400,000 is coming from the back and say that they were going to water and sewer fund. So part of the cut out diapers for children, mother’s rate increase for water and sewer is milk and food for the homeless. going to repave streets. Mayor Nancy Vaughan said, “1 The political reason is simple: percent is really nothing; everybody Greensboro already has the highest can find 1 percent.” property tax rate of any comparable She added, “Don’t bring back the city in the state, so the City Council programs that you know we are going doesn’t want to raise property taxes, to find offensive, but 1 percent is really but the voters don’t seem to mind pocket change.” rising water and sewer rates. So the Barber said, “Don’t come back with city is going to raise water and sewer what you are cutting, just come back rates and allocate some of that money with what you can do.” toward paving streets. Both Hightower and Councilmember The rational is that when the water Jamal Fox cautioned Westmoreland and sewer department tears up streets not to cut department budgets. Fox to work on the pipes, they should said a lot of departments needed more pay some of the cost of repairing the employees. streets. But the real reason is that the Hightower said the people in her water and sewer department has a lot district didn’t care about a property of money, so much that it can allocate tax increase. some to streets. The City Council discussed the Includes installation, pad, moving furniture, take-upWyrick and told disposal! storethat for details. the CitySee Council fact that the state took away its right some cities allocate $1 million for to charge a privilege license fee. City every 100 miles of streets. With 1,100 Attorney Tom Carruthers said that they miles of streets that would be about tried to get a bill through the legislature $11 million a year. Wyrick said that last year for a $50 business privilege $10 million a year would get the city license fee, but it wasn’t passed by back where it needs to be. either house of the legislature, which The increase in the motor vehicle means it can’t be brought up in the license fee would allow an additional short session. $3.9 million to be allocated for street It’s interesting that now the city is repair. Wyrick described this as a talking about $50, because the privilege * “game changer,”on butselect addedproducts that it would license fee they were charging was a lowest prices period* with approved not get the city back where it needs to of gross revenue for small credit. See store for percentage details. * be on street repair and resurfacing. businesses and a set amount for large Councilmember Sharon Hightower corporations. It was inherently unfair argued that instead of allocating the to the small businesses that the City increased vehicle license fee money Council claims to support. The state $ for street repair, a larger portion took the right to charge a privilege should be used for the Greensboro license away from cities because cities $ $ PLUS Transportation Authority (GTA), the city like Greensboro were abusing the right plUs plUs ** bus service. and charging an absurdly high amount **** S H O W C A S E Includes installation, pad, moving furniture, take-up and disposal! See store for details. Wyrick said that 75 percent of the for small businesses. streets in Greensboro need some What is even more interesting is that kind of maintenance and 43 percent the City Council said it had to charge needed significant patching and a privilege license fee for the safety of resurfacing. He said that because the city, so that the city would know Call today and we’re on our way! $ Mobile Showroom $ they are concentrating on the worst where businesses were located. 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The Greensboro City Council work session on the budget on Tuesday, May 17, in the Plaza Level Conference Room, followed much the same pattern that City Council work sessions on the budget have for years – some discussion about everything else and then an in-depth and seemingly never ending discussion on funding nonprofit agencies. Councilmember Tony Wilkins had asked for an explanation of why the budget was increasing from the $498 million in the current year to a proposed $520 million, an increase of 4.5 percent. The short answer is that with the economy improving and proposed fee increases, there is more money coming in and the city plans to spend

it. The city is raising the license fees for vehicles from $10 per year to $30 per year along with raising water and sewer rates. The biggest increase in spending is for $7.5 million in Coliseum improvements, much of it for the Swarm, a D-League professional basketball team associated with the Charlotte Hornets that will start playing in Greensboro this fall. The second largest increase is about $5 million for health insurance, which is a 13 percent increase. The city is self-insured, but healthcare costs keep rising. Field Operations Director Dale Wyrick explained that with $2.1 million allocated for street repair and resurfacing, the city would fall further behind. What’s interesting about that number

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roll over (continued from page 11)

owned land that might be suitable for that purpose. As for a land swap or some other deal which allows Guilford County to put it on city land, Vaughan said she was open to the idea. “I think that might be something worth pursuing,” the mayor said. Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Jeff Phillips said that a new, attractive, welldesigned and well-maintained facility such as the proposed new Guilford County Animal Shelter wouldn’t detract at all from the surrounding community. He also said it would do nothing to keep businesses such as grocery stores or other retail establishments from locating there. He said evidence of that can be found by looking at what happened with the existing shelter. “The area around the current animal shelter is one of the most highly developed areas in the entire county,” Phillips said. That area, near Bridford Parkway, is as concentrated with retail and other businesses as it could be. When the animal shelter was built there decades

ago there was virtually nothing in that area and the shelter sat on a small twolane road called Red Road that some say had that name because it was once just an old country road made of red clay. Greensboro Developer Marty Kotis, who’s been very active of late, is currently considering bringing retail to the county property on the same block of Burlington Road as the proposed new animal shelter, and it was revealed in the commissioners’ May 5 work session that the county had specifically asked if a new county animal shelter at the location would prevent him from putting his project there. Kotis, county staff said, replied that it would not. There is a question about whether the county’s planned shelter on that land would leave Kotis or another developer enough acreage to do a viable commercial project, but apparently there’s no stigma, at least for Kotis, about developing near a new shelter. Phillips said this is all a process and that he’s speaking with city councilmembers on the matter.

“I’m confident that they will look at the facts and come to a decision, and the chips will fall where they may,” he said. Phillips added that, if Guilford County has to put the shelter elsewhere, it could mean additional costs to the citizens since Guilford County would likely have to purchase land for the project. Even former Guilford County Property Manager David Grantham, who left county government about four years ago, weighed in on the debate this week. Grantham said that during his many years heading up property management for Guilford County, the county intentionally held onto that land on Burlington Road for governmental use, such as a new animal shelter. He said the city zoned it for governmental buildings years ago and that it makes sense for the shelter to go there. “We went through a purging period when we purged all of the [countyowned] property we didn’t think we would need,” Grantham said. “We sold what we could for market value and put the land back on the tax books, but we held onto that property and we did so to keep it for future governmental use.” Grantham said public access to the

land is very good with approaches from East Wendover Avenue, Huffine Mill Road, East Bessemer Avenue and Burlington Road. He added that, whether the shelter goes there or not, there are already plenty of animals on that land since it’s home to the Agricultural Center, which has pigs cows, horses and “piles of manure.” The Ag Center has goat shows, horse shows, 4-H clubs activities and other events where animals are featured. “It already smells; it’s a barnyard,” Grantham said of the area. He added that People & Paws 4 Hope, a program that connects kids with dogs in order to help the children learn, is also already on the same land. “The animals are already there,” Grantham said of that part of Burlington Road. Grantham said that in the late ’90s, Guilford County attempted to put the juvenile detention center at the same site and requested a special-use permit from Greensboro for that center and the city voted down the request. The juvenile detention center, which opened in 1998, ended up at an industrial complex out near the Piedmont Triad International Airport.

14 RHINO TIMES | Thursday, May 19, 2016 | www.rhinotimes.com

Neighbors To Bury Hatchet If High Point Buries Power Lines by Scott D. Yost The squeaky wheel may get the grease, but apparently the squeaky homeowners who squeak loud enough get their power lines buried. There’s no official word from either the City of High Point or from the NC Department of Transportation (DOT), but indications this week are that the landowners along Skeet Club Road in High Point, who have been fighting relentlessly to keep giant power transmission line towers out of their front yards, will get their wish and have the lines buried rather than strung over giant, unsightly poles. The matter of what action to take was discussed on a Thursday, May 5 conference call between officials with the City of High Point and the state’s DOT. Skeet Club Road homeowner Rick Moore has been one of the most vocal residents against the project that would line the frontage of a half dozen homes with 115-feet high poles with large concrete foundations. Those poles hold lines capable of carrying 100 kilovolts of electricity between High Point substations. Moore said this week that he was greatly relieved during a discussion he had had with the DOT after months and months of being brushed aside by the City of High Point. He said one DOT official told him, “I think you’re going to be happy with what we’ve come up with.” Moore added, “They know that burying the lines is the only thing that will make me happy.” Moore said he was stunned when, at one point in the conversation, the DOT official asked him, “Would it make you happy if we just buried the lines?” “I was speechless,” Moore said. He said he told the DOT official that that was the only thing the affected residents had ever wanted in this long battle. DOT Division 7 Engineer Mike Mills said no final decision had been made, but he added that the matter was discussed on the May 5 call between the City of High Point and the DOT. He said there were a lot of details to work out. “We had a conference call and we’re still working our way through a resolution with High Point,” Mills said.

“We did throw out some things to do on the transmission poles, and asked them [High Point] to go back and look at their estimate one more time and come back and see what it would cost to bury the transmission lines.” Mills said the original estimate for burying the lines had been $4.2 million but that a more recent estimate was closer to $700,000 – though he added that that was a very rough estimate at this point. That’s clearly a giant difference and Mills said the lower estimate is based on the cost of a lineburying project done in the western part of the state. “The cost varies on different scenarios,” Mills said. “The area in question was maybe six or seven properties. So we’re looking at that.” There has been a great deal of disagreement over what it would cost to bury the transmission lines and, apparently, that’s still a key question in the resolution of the matter. Residents who live on that stretch of Skeet Club Road – which is just outside the city limits of High Point – have protested that the giant poles would ruin the aesthetics of their homes and say that the towers would reduce their property values. They also say that the City of High Point engaged in deceptive practices to get clearance for the poles. The DOT controls the right-of-way along Skeet Club Road where the poles were to be placed as part of a City of High Point power project. The city, which installs and maintains its own electrical lines, had begun digging holes for the giant poles along a roughly one-mile stretch of Skeet Club Road between Barrow Road and Johnson Street, as the city has done in many areas of High Point in recent years. However, much to the city’s chagrin, the installation of these poles was suddenly halted by the DOT on Feb. 2. “The NC DOT has the legal right to allow anyone to operate or not operate in their right-of-ways,” Moore said. Mills said High Point operated on “good faith” in proceeding with the project, though he added that approval shouldn’t have been granted to the city. “They got approval to have those transmission poles in our right-of-way,”

Mills said. “They’ve got a signed document from us saying, we can put our transmission poles here. They acted on good faith. They ordered the polls. They engineered the poles. They hired a contractor to put the poles in. And then we stopped them.” He also said one current concern is keeping the work crews occupied on other parts of the project while this is being worked out. He said it was important to avoid piling on the added costs of a delay for contractors who could otherwise claim the DOT held them up and cost them money. Miracle King, the regional communications officer for the DOT, stated this week that the DOT remains in negotiations with the City of High Point and that the installation of transmission lines is “still on hold.” High Point Deputy City Manager Randy McCaslin referred to the May 5 conference call and would only say that “several proposals” were discussed. He said that no decision has been made at this time. It is a very complicated issue with conflicting claims by the City of High Point, landowners and DOT officials regarding the facts of the case, property rights, right-of-way issues and state law. Moore said the entire thing has been a total mess. “The drill rig arrived at my home and they were going to start drilling,” he said. Soon afterward, the DOT came in and instructed High Point to halt the project until the matter could be explored. Moore claims the City of High Point misled the DOT on the nature of its plans in order to gain approval to use the right-of-way. He said that the plans High Point submitted to the state didn’t match what the city was actually doing and that if the DOT had allowed the project to continue,

the DOT would have been liable in a lawsuit. Moore said that at one point he told a DOT official, “I can tell you it’s going to trial.’” Moore said High Point had engaged in “unfair deceptive trade practices” that could result in the awarding of triple the damages incurred by the homeowner if the city went through with placing the power transmission poles along Skeet Club Road. He said that, according to one study, the poles bring down the value of the properties 34 percent and that that doesn’t include other damage that would result from the construction of the string of giant power poles on the properties. “The City of High Point has been intent on doing this and they didn’t care if they stepped on you, ran over your or took your kid,” Moore said.

www.rhinotimes.com | Thursday, May 19, 2016 | RHINO TIMES

UNCLE ORSON Reviews

Uncle Orson Reviews Everything

Woof, Belgravia, Doris, Person of Interest

SEE AND BE SEEN WITH

by Orson Scott Card The novel Woof could have been a disaster. First of all, it has the feel of a Young Adult novel – or even a kids’ book. The main character, Birdie Gaux (a Cajun name pronounced “go”), is 11, and she chooses a dog from the animal shelter as her birthday present. She names the dog Bowser, and they proceed to try to solve the mystery of a stolen trophy fish. Naturally, the adults who know why the fish might have been stolen won’t tell her anything because she’s a child. Here’s why the novel could have been disastrously bad: It is narrated by the dog, Bowser. No, he’s not tapping it out on an old typewriter with his paws. He’s just telling it, in colloquial English. One of those things dogs can’t do. But here’s why it isn’t bad at all: the author, Spencer Quinn. Quinn has already authored a series of mystery novels about another dog-and-human pair, the Chet and Bernie series. I’ve never read those books, or heard of them. Woof is volume one of the Bowser and Birdie series. When creating the voice of a dog, Quinn walks a very narrow line – but he does it perfectly. He takes the dogginess of the narrator, Bowser, seriously. He doesn’t turn it into a series of pathetic jokes about taking off to chase a squirrel. But he does show the limitations and strengths of being a dog. Dogs are smart. They do understand human language to some degree. There are things they remember perfectly. But Bowser doesn’t remember things he never understood in the first place. And even when he gets the sense of something Birdie tells him, once he’s not doing that thing anymore, it takes real effort to remember it. He’s not good at foreseeing

Take Yourself-ie Downtown.

the negative consequences of impulsive actions. And he doesn’t instantly recognize when someone is a threat – unless it’s another dog marking the tree in Birdie’s front yard. That’s a threat he has to deal with, and thoroughly. Bowser loves nothing more than being with Birdie. But that doesn’t mean he has adopted her agenda. She wants him to come along on a late-night ramble? He’s cool with that. But when they scout out the bait shop of the family’s worst rivals, he has no idea that they’re doing something dangerous. So, while he always means well, he sometimes gets them in worse trouble. Finding the right thing at the wrong time, for instance, gets Birdie picked up by the police chief – who assumes she’s lying, and that she’s been doing a bunch of illegal things in order to further some plot of her grandmother’s. Bowser’s narrative reports a lot of human dialogue. Most of it he doesn’t understand, but we get it verbatim, which allows us to follow a story that Bowser himself doesn’t understand. This is a narrative trick that Quinn handles flawlessly. There’s nothing in Woof that would make it inappropriate for readers from age 8 on up. I can’t speak about any other books of Quinn’s, partly because the Chet and Bernie series has an adult human protagonist. There’s nothing in Woof that would make it inappropriate for adult readers, either. The mystery is clearly laid out and clearly resolved. The issues matter, the villain is believable and both Bernie and Bowser are engaging heroes. The novel is brief, and if you listen to the audiobook, James Frangione handles the voice of Bowser with delightful candor and subtle irony.

(continued on page 16)

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16 RHINO TIMES | Thursday, May 19, 2016 | www.rhinotimes.com

uncle orson (continued from page 15)

And if, like me, you don’t wuv widdo doggies and you have zero patience with people who consider themselves to be their dogs’ “mommy” or “daddy,” you won’t be sickened by a bunch of sentimental twaddle about dogs. Bowser may be narrating a novel, but he’s a dog, not a person, and the book never loses track of that. I recently heard a comedian’s routine about Lassie and the amazing amount of information she (always played by a male collie) can convey with a couple of yips and a tail wag. Bowser can’t do that. Explanations are not possible for him, partly because he doesn’t really have any complicated messages to convey. The entire contents of his most frequent conversational gambit is this: “Hey! Here I am!” Is that authentic dogspeak or what? And at the end of the book, Birdie doesn’t have to shoot the dog. So we’re all OK, right? You’re not going to have to cry, and the story doesn’t depend on your loving all things doggish. It’s a good story, very well told. You’ll probably enjoy it, and your kids

will, too, whether they’re dog-lovers or not.

.... Maybe you know that Julian Fellowes is the creator and writer of Downton Abbey. What you might not know is the Fellowes is something like the world’s foremost expert on the history and culture of the English upper class. I first became aware of Fellowes with his wonderful book Snobs. It’s the way I learned that the genuine upper class never eats out at restaurants; in fact, restaurant dining is proof that you are not upper class. That’s because the upper class all have cooks, and if they want to “eat out,” they’ll go to the home of a social equal, where they will be served whatever the cook in that house serves. The idea of choosing from a menu is worse than gauche. I don’t know to what degree Fellowes takes poetic license, but my impression is that he strives for absolute accuracy in his depiction of class distinctions. That’s one of the reasons why Downton Abbey was so moving and entertaining – we really did feel as if we were entering into another world. sudoku_527A Most writers of novels about upper class life are faking it – completely. Created by Peter Ritmeester/Presented by Will Shortz I don’t mean just the “women’s 8 of today, 9 which are thinly 3 historicals” disguised pornography, full of absurd 2 6 anachronisms.4 I mean 5 novels 6 like The 3 Scarlet 9 Pimpernel, which is humiliatingly bad in 2 its7depiction of the culture (every movie or TV version of 9 is better 7 than the book, 3 Pimpernel because it skips right over 1 the author’s deep ignorance and stupidity). 1 3 2 Jane Austen gets the culture of 5 her novels exactly right, because she

Sudoku Solution

527A

Distributed by The New York Times syndicate

Solution sudoku_527A

From last week’s issue

6 7 2 3 4 8 1 9 5

4 3 1 2 9 5 8 7 6

8 9 5 7 1 6 4 2 3

5 4 6 8 7 3 9 1 2

9 1 8 6 2 4 5 3 7

7 2 3 1 5 9 6 8 4

2 6 7 4 8 1 3 5 9

3 8 9 5 6 2 7 4 1

1 5 4 9 3 7 2 6 8

527A

wasn’t writing historical fiction, she was writing about the culture she lived in. But when, less than a century later, Benjamin Disraeli wrote novels about the upper classes, he had no knowledge of upper class life – he simply repeated what he had learned about the upper class from reading other people’s novels, most of which were also fakes. His novels sold very well, but he soon gave it up and became a politician, and then prime minister, so that he did get a good solid dose of exposure to the upper class – including Queen Victoria. Then he was made Earl of Beaconsfield, thus becoming authentically upper class himself. But I assume he still committed solecisms all the time, because he had not grown up in the upper classes and therefore the customs of that society were not ingrained in him. Julian Fellowes, however, is a firstrate anthropologist in his observation and reporting of the English upper class. He’s also a very good storyteller, so the foreground as well as the background of his novels and screenplays work very very well for an audience that wants to be entertained as well as educated. Here’s some wonderful news for fans of Downton Abbey who are hungry for more. Julian Fellowes is in the process of publishing Belgravia, a novel in serialized form. You can buy the installments as ebooks on Amazon for $1.99 each, or as Audible.com downloads for $2.95 each. I may not be a math wizard, but knowing that there are at least eight episodes, and Amazon Prime customers can buy the entire novel as of July 5 for $18.97, you’re not likely to save any money doing it this way. I’ve listened to the first five installments and I have to tell you, the book is wonderful. Each installment is a long chapter, and the story moves well. Fellowes understands the obligations of serialization, so each episode contains a complete incident that significantly advances the movement of the tale. The first chapter takes place at a famous ball on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo. Nobody knows where Napoleon is, but they’re in a Belgian city that is not in immediate danger. The daughter of Wellington’s resourceful quartermaster has fallen in love with an officer who happens to be the son and heir of a noble family. The match is impossible, of course, no matter how beautiful the girl; but the quartermaster, an inveterate social climber, encourages his daughter all the same.

The chapter ends with the soldiers rushing off to battle. The girl is waving good-bye to her beloved, when she sees something – we’re not told till the next chapter what she saw – that causes her far more distress than merely parting. The next chapter skips 25 years, but we’re very quickly brought up to date, and as we change viewpoints (Fellowes dare to use a nearly omniscient viewpoint, which few modern writers handle well), we begin to see how radically the social classes misjudge each other. We decide very quickly which characters to approve of and which we wish to slap just a little, to wake them up to the mistakes they’re making. But Fellowes provides us enough context that even when we don’t admire some characters, we understand why they behave as they do. There’s no way for me to share another scrap of the plot without annoying you with spoilers. Let me simply report that Fellowes enters into the terrain of Thackeray’s Vanity Fair and holds his own very well. I realize that for many male readers, I have already planted the kiss of death on Belgravia, what with formal balls and star-crossed lovers. But for those men who enjoy Austen or Thackeray, I can promise you a delightful ride. Most female readers will need no more encouragement; and I say that with full respect, knowing that few woman readers are content with fluff. There must be substance, and Belgravia has it. There will be much for your book group to talk about. If you become impatient waiting for installments to come out, wait till the fifth of July to buy the novel. But if you enjoy the fun of serialized fiction, climb aboard. You can read or hear the first four or five chapters right away; it will all come to fruition soon enough.

.... My wife and I were looking for a movie to watch last Friday night. The reviews of Money Monster were not promising, but we saw some encouraging comments about Hello, My Name Is Doris, starring Sally Field and Max Greenfield (Schmidt in New Girl). We decided to give it a try. The premise is simple enough. Doris (Field) is a spinster who cared for her aged mother through the last years of her life. Both Doris and her mother had a hoarding problem (though the set decoration shows that the production designer has never actually seen a hoarder’s home). (continued on page 22)

RHINO

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May 19, 2016

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18 RHINO TIMES | Thursday, May 19, 2016 | www.rhinotimes.com

AAF TANK MUSEUM 3401 US 29 • Danville

Family Fun Day

Saturday, May 21, the family is invited for a day of fun at the Tank Museum with vehicle demos, a bounce house, “catch the cannon ball,” face painting and radio control tank battles. There will even be special appearances by Iron Man and Scooby-Doo from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event is included in admission of $12 for adults and $10 for children under 12 and adults over 60. Children under 4 get in free. For more information, visit aaftankmuseum.com, facebook.com/ AAFTankmuseum or call (434) 836-5323.

GREENSBORO PARKS & REC Hester Park • 3615 Deutzia St.

Introduction to Archery

7KH FLW\ LV RIIHULQJ DUFKHU\ FOLQLFV WKH ¿UVW DQG WKLUG 7KXUVGD\ RI HDFK month from June through September, noon to 2 p.m. at Hester Park, 3615 Deutzia St. Each clinic is $25 per person and limited to 10 participants, 8 years of age and older. The clinics are for beginners and those seeking a refresher course. Participants will learn range safety and shooting techniques. All equipment is provided. Each clinic consists of 90 minutes of instruction and 30 minutes of practice. Dates for the clinics are June 2, June 16, June 30, July 7, July 21, August 4, August 18, Sept. 8 and Sept. 22. For more information and to register, contact Remy Epps with Parks and Recreation at (336) 373-3741.

GREENSBORO PUBLIC LIBRARY

Summer Reading 2016

Pre-readers through high school students, register at your favorite library location anytime beginning June 1. Then, track reading minutes on your reading sheet to earn prizes every month this summer. Bring your reading sheet, with total number of monthly reading minutes, back to the library anytime in July to receive your prizes. Continue reading and return in August to get even more prizes. Get more information at your favorite library branch.

ARTQUEST AT GREENHILL 200 North Davie St.

Free Family Night

Wednesdays from 5 to 7 p.m., ArtQuest hosts a free Family Night. Create art, working with paint, clay or new and unexpected materials. For more information, call (336) 333-7460 or visit GreenhillNC.org.

GREENSBORO CHILDREN’S MUSEUM 220 N. Church St.

$4 Fridays and Sundays

On Fridays from 5 to 8 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m. enjoy all the Children’s Museum has to offer for only $4 per person. For more information, call (336) 574-2898 or visit hwww.gcmuseum.com.

CHECK US OUT ON THE OPEN HOUSE PAGE

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At Home Hydrotherapy Caryl’s Pool and Spa BY SANDY GROOVER Spring can be a busy time – planting gardens, cleaning up winter debris, seeding and mowing the yard and undertaking spring cleaning. All that work can lead to sore backs and aching muscles. One remedy is hydrotherapy. According to Caryl’s Pool and Spa owner David Cheeseman, hydrotherapy has been shown to completely relax a person in just 20 minutes, diminishing muscle soreness and arthritis pain, enhancing circulation and improving sleep. It feels good, calms stress and can be a fun way to spend time with friends and family. Cheeseman said he is a big believer in the quality of the Sundance Spas. Caryl’s Pool and Spa is the number one Sundance Spas dealer in the Triad, as well as the area’s warranty center. As Cheeseman put it, their spas are not “cheap and deep.” Rather, he said, Sundance hot tubs are built for the human body, with each seat and water jet configured to target specific body areas. Both the direction of the jets and the water pressure are independently adjustable and provide deep tissue massage. And, he said, the hot tubs are well built, easily lasting 15 to 20 years. But how does one go about choosing a hot tub? Cheeseman said that purchasing a one is not an impulse buy and that a consumer really needs to try them out. He said it’s like buying a car – and you wouldn’t buy one without test-driving it. So at Caryl’s, you can “wet-test” a hot tub. Caryl’s has a curtained off hot tub set up in the store – along with a private changing room. A wet-test consists of a 20- or 30-minute session in the

tub while Cheeseman demonstrates the different features and answers questions. Wet-tests are available during store hours, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., or by appointment. Cheeseman said a concern for customers is one of the reasons Caryl’s Pool and Spa has been in business for 38 years. The company’s goal is to make life-long customers, and he said that children of their original customers are now coming to them for their pool and spa needs. And the service doesn’t end when the hot tub is purchased. Once it’s delivered, positioned on a deck or concrete pad (a flat surface is necessary for proper operation) and filled, Cheeseman will come out and give a hands-on tutorial. He said wants to be sure his customers know how to use the tub, and care for it. Established in 1979, Sundance Spas has received more awards and honors than any other hot tub company and has dealers in 60 different countries. The company’s spas come in a variety of sizes, prices and colors, with 20 models to choose from. And, through May, Caryl’s is offering customers an $800 instant rebate or 0 percent financing for three years on their spas. Sundance has tubs for two and tubs for as many as eight. Each comes with steps to get in and out, plus a cover and cover lifter. The lifter allows the cover to be easily be moved off and on with just one hand. To learn more, visit Caryl’s Pool and Spa at 2616 Lawndale Dr., Suite E, across the street from Harris Teeter and Target, call (336) 691-0111 or go to caryls.com.

REAL ESTATE

www.rhinotimes.com | Thursday, May 19, 2016 | RHINO TIMES

The New York Times

crossword puzzle No. 0508 TRAPPED MOISTURE

BY DAVID J. KAHN / EDITED BY WILL SHORTZ ACROSS

1 Wise ones 6 Suffered from 9 Opened a bit 13 Presto 17 Central courts 18 Dentist’s request 19 “O.K., I’m game” 20 Lock opener? 22 Like some statements 23 City in “Slumdog Millionaire” 24 Tricky start to a tennis rally 26 Spoke hesitatingly 27 Advice to captains plagued by pirates? 29 Slyness 30 When repeated, toy on a track 32 Double-crosser 33 The Dixie Chicks, e.g. 34 Sweaty 35 Direction taken by a large pipe? 39 Give the once-over 41 Class taken for kicks? 43 Propose tentatively, with “out” 44 Impress, and then some 47 Musical ____ 50 Segment of the 47-Across 51 Bibbled 53 “Ta-da!” Online subscriptions: Today’s puzzle and more than 4,000 past puzzles, nytimes.com/crosswords ($39.95 a year).

55 How many a medical problem ends? 56 With 36-Down, New England college town 58 Santa ____, Calif. 59 Beethoven’s “Kreutzer,” for one 60 Fraction of time: Abbr. 61 Very small distinction 63 Container to keep a canine cool? 65 Timeout sign 66 Magazine with an annual “500” list 67 C.I.A. concern 68 Noggin 69 Part of Pres. Monroe’s signature 72 Telegrams sent by those in trouble? 74 Handyman’s accessory 76 Mediocre 79 Out of business 80 Nonstandard: Abbr. 81 “That smarts!” 82 Help badly? 83 Country music’s K. T. ____ 84 Pay “tribute” to, as a comedian 86 “You ____ Seen Nothing Yet” (1974 #1 hit) 87 1982 coming-of-age movie 89 Dark time for poets 90 Clinched, with “up” 91 Things held, in a saying

93 Musical curve 95 Conservative’s opinion of the Republican presidential candidates? 98 Give the once-over 100 Expanses of H2O 103 “I need a sweater in here!” 104 French suffix that’s an anagram of 4-Down 105 Chocolate ____ 108 Oceans? 112 With 45-Down, jazz singer who worked with Woody Herman 114 1961 movie featuring Jackie Gleason as Minnesota Fats 115 Within bounds 116 Djokovic rival 117 Canadian rowdy 118 One of the Saarinens 119 ____ weight 120 Actress Patricia and others 121 Animals in un zoológico 122 Reddish-brown 123 Chamber worker: Abbr. 124 Safe places DOWN

1 One of the Obamas 2 Battling it out 3 Somatotropin, e.g. 4 Samuel Beckett’s homeland 5 Desert feline 6 Very powerful

7 Gillette product 8 1960s secretary of state 9 Real estate and the like 10 Hot time 11 Running rampant 12 Come back 13 Bait holders 14 From the start 15 Tatamis, e.g. 16 Milkman made famous by Zero Mostel 18 Burger topper 21 Pause 25 Dwarf planet more massive than Pluto 28 Long-jawed fishes 31 Rushed 36 See 56-Across 37 Chaplin of “Game of Thrones” 38 “Dallas” family 40 Sugar coating? 41 Longtime “60 Minutes” reporter 42 High retreat 45 See 112-Across 46 How excellent students graduate 48 Be prone 49 Mac key 52 Home on the range 53 Venetian dignitaries of old 54 Proscribed 57 Some of this, some of that 59 Like clogs, say 62 Prelude 63 Poet Mark Van ____

30 35

63 67

88 93 99

108

100

101 102

64 In a masterly manner 67 Taking a dig at? 69 Passover, e.g. 70 Garment cut 71 Leaves alone, in a way 72 Trump International, e.g. 73 Magician’s skill 74 Go from male to female or vice versa

86 92

103

104

110

121

114

111

105 106 107 112

115

116

118

119

120

122

123

124

75 Cooperative leaders? 76 In a blue state 77 Tokyo wrap 78 Beyond comprehension 80 Setting for “The Music Man” 84 Second and third versions 85 Marvel Comics hero 88 Causes of congestion

90 95

109

117

46 54

90 Ticked 92 David Mamet play 94 Some vintage autos 96 Second-largest moon of Uranus 97 Designer of Spain’s Guggenheim Museum 98 Tallinn native 99 Google rival 101 Following

113

102 Fifth-century pontiff 106 The tiniest bit 107 Model wood 109 Baseball executive Epstein 110 Olympian deity 111 Tag in some dictionary definitions 113 Dundee disavowals

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20 RHINO TIMES | Thursday, May 19, 2016 | www.rhinotimes.com

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www.rhinotimes.com | Thursday, May 19, 2016 | RHINO TIMES

The Sound of the

beep

What follows has been transcribed from the answering machine on our comment line. We edit out what is required by the laws of the state, of good taste and of good sense. The limit on phone calls is one minute and each caller may make up to two calls per week. If you have something to say, call our comment line at 763-0479 and start talking at The Sound of the Beep. I sat here yesterday and saw that this Department of Justice lady has changed the name of felons to justice-involved youths. I watch every week as this fool Hussein Obama has done everything he can to destroy the integrity, the moral values and the personal relationships in America of each and every citizen. Does he think by changing the name of felons and common thugs and criminals to justice-involved youths that that’s going to lead to less involvement crime?

%%% Yes, I ran across a very interesting letter in Monday’s paper, and the writer was Rosemarie Andrews. The title was “Pat McCrory would be fired if he led a company,” and I quote: No one is talking about the white elephant in the room – Gov. McCrory, who signed the HB2 Bill. The governor’s priority is to bring jobs to North Carolina, not prevent them from coming in. Were McCrory a CEO in a corporation, he would have been fired on the spot.”

%%% If the HB2 Bill is not about transgender people then there is a lot of people calling into your publication who don’t have a clue what they’re talking about. How it could not be about transgender people? Basically, it states that you have to go into the bathroom that represents what is on your birth certificate. OK, who would that be if it’s not a transgender person who would be going into the bathroom that was opposite of their birth sex? So, your editor’s comment last week makes no sense at all to me. And as far as everyone else calling in about this bill, and they keep using the same thing. I don’t want these men who decide they’re going to be women that day going into the bathroom. Well, they pretty much think that all transgender people, men who are transgender to women, are some kind of freaks or perverts. I think maybe they’re pointing at themselves.

%%% To continue. If you’re pointing your fingers at someone and calling them something, just remember, you’ve got three fingers pointing back at yourself. And if you really want to know who the real molesters are, the real people you need to worry about. Hum, let’s see. Politicians. I don’t know. Dennis Hastert comes to mind. Coaches. Anyone who voted last week, or two weeks ago in the Senate to not abolish the statute of limitations on child molestation. Who would do that but a child molester, someone who had that in their past? Why would anyone vote against getting rid of the statute of limitations on child molestation? Think about it.

%%% When the voices of the people are ignored, the government becomes a dictatorship. This whole election process has been more so a dictation, not by the people, but by the status quo, the establishment that Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump is coming against. And McCrory has made us look mighty bad. We need to fire him. He needs to resign. Whatever we need to do to get him out. And we need jobs bad in the state.

%%% The laundry list of sins committed by the Clintons is mind-boggling. Folks, don’t forget the one that seems to have been forgotten. When Bill hot pants Clinton left the White House in January 2001. He and his habitual lying quote, wife, end of quote, stole a number of items from the White House. I understand they returned some of the items, but I

(continued on page 24)

22 RHINO TIMES | Thursday, May 19, 2016 | www.rhinotimes.com

uncle orson (continued from page 16)

The mother has just died, and Doris is at loose ends, though her brother wants to clean everything out of the house, sell it and allow Doris to use her half of the proceeds to get an apartment in the city, much closer to work. Doris does not protest, but inwardly she seethes: The “junk” her brother wants to clear away is her stuff, and the house he wants to sell is her home. At work, where she does something or other with a computer in a cubicle, Doris falls instantly in love with John Fremont, the firm’s new director of something-or-other. So far, this may sound interesting, but I can assure you that the writers have ruined everything, from the first moment on. First of all, the story is constantly interrupted by absurd daydreams in which John responds favorably to Doris’ obvious infatuation, involving a lot of unfunny physical comedy. When we come out of each daydream, Doris is in some awkward posture that is meant to be funny, and other people notice that she’s been taking a timeout. In other words, she

needs a therapist who can prescribe medication. But worse than this is the constant condescension toward Doris – even worse than the way the title character was treated in the Jack Nicholson snob hit About Schmidt. When younger people write about old people, they are often incapable of compassion or understanding, but Hello, My Name Is Doris is downright mean to Doris. Field’s makeup, posture and voice turn Doris into an awkward dolt. At no point in the first half-hour of the show are we given anything like an understanding of what her own life means to her. Instead, she is treated as a true clown, in the original meaning: A bumpkin coming to the big city for the first time. She has no idea what Facebook is; a friend from work has to show her how to friend John Fremont and gain access to his page. This despite the fact that Doris has worked with computers every day for years, and works where she can easily hear conversations among coworkers, which would certainly have

included many references to social media. I know several women who have spent years caring for elderly parents; some of the women are single, and some are married. Nothing about such a life cuts them off from the outside world; in fact, many in this situation rely on Facebook and other social media as a window on the wider world. If Doris had been closed off in her and her mother’s house of hoarding, maybe her ignorance could be believable. But going to work every day, riding the ferry, walking the city streets, she sees contemporary fashions and hairstyles. Maybe she doesn’t care, but she certainly knows how to walk and talk in an adult way, instead of Sally Fields’ obnoxious little-girl awkwardness. This contemptuous, trivializing treatment of the main character makes it very difficult to sympathize with her or care what happens to her – because we don’t believe in her. Maybe we’d understand her obsession with John Fremont, if she fell in love with him after a reasonable amount of interaction; but she becomes obsessive – to the point of stealing his pencil – during a single elevator ride when their bodies are pressed close together. That’s it. Love at first physical touch. Now, such things may well happen with people who are desperately lonely. But Doris has friends and acquaintances. It is far more likely that she would have found this inadvertent physical contact with an unfamiliar young man to be obnoxious, especially because he doesn’t have the good manners to pretend that the encounter isn’t happening. Instead, he’s chatty and “charming” in the charmless way that makes me wish I had a taser with me. (Yeah, yeah, I know, TASER is trademarked and they use capital letters. But I think the word has entered the English language as a generic word, like aspirin, and needs no capitalization. I don’t own stock in the company and they don’t pay me to protect their trademark. Losing trademark is what happens when a product is too successful; my business is using the English language as it’s actually spoken.) Nor do I find John Fremont to be so good-looking as to overwhelm all onlookers. If I saw some sign that he was unusually good at his job, perhaps I’d find him more likeable – but his introductory speech to the staff that will be working with him is so horribly inept that I’m quite sure the writers have never actually seen a competent manager speak to the

workers who will report to him. The reason that my wife and I walked out of this badly-written “comedy” was deeper than the simple incompetence of the writing and directing. We know people who have paid the steep personal cost of caring for parents through their final years. It can be as all-consuming as caring for a 2-year-old, but is complicated by the fact that the parent is used to being a responsible adult, free to make decisions and have them stick. Those who have made this sacrifice – whether they’re married or not – deserve respect and praise and gratitude, not the stupid ridicule of a clownish portrayal in an inept movie. I was ashamed to be watching it. It was as if I were participating in the bullying of people I admire and care about. My wife felt the same way, and so we ended the shame by leaving. I don’t know how other moviegoers felt, but that Friday night, almost all the audience was our age or older. At least a few of them were the elderly being taken care of by a devoted child – I knew that because the elderly women helping the evenmore-elderly women make it into the theater called them “mother.” They were not laughing at anything. I am sure of that because nobody was laughing. Now, maybe there was a nervous titter or two, now and then, but there were never any real laughs. The audience was being slandered by this movie, attacked by it. We were old and, so far, getting older; we know what it feels like to be out of touch with some new technology that has suddenly become a necessity, though we never felt any need for it. That generational disconnect is painful, when the younger generation treats us like fools for not having “kept up,” though we’re old enough to regard “keeping up” as the high-school foolishness that it really is. So ... whom did the filmmakers think this movie was for? Younger and middle-aged audiences would find nothing in the premise or the promos to make the movie interesting to them. The only people who might want to watch Sally Field play an elderly woman in love are old folks. And, as we learned with Enchanted April, it’s quite possible to make a movie that shows understanding and compassion for love that comes so late in life. The last thing that theatergoers would expect from Hello, My Name Is Doris is the ridicule, abuse and ignorance that are heaped upon the elderly main character – by the writers, the director and the actress alike. (continued on page 30)

www.rhinotimes.com | Thursday, May 19, 2016 | RHINO TIMES

YOST Column

Yost Column

Yost Offers Enhanced Communication Clarity by Scott D. Yost The world is highly complicated as it is, but have no fear because I’m going to help simplify it for everyone. One of the very complicated things in life is the legalese and business mumbo jumbo that we find in all our contracts, terms and conditions’ statements, government notices and all sorts of things like that. Even if you try to take the time to read all that fine print, for the most

part those forms aren’t written in anything remotely resembling plain English, so, in 99 percent of the cases, you have absolutely no idea what they are telling you or what you’re agreeing to. Even if you do read it and kind of understand it, the wording is misleading or there are hidden clauses in other parts of the document – or, in some cases, the company simply isn’t giving you all the facts.

Electronic Graphics/Andrew Berry, 48 Parsons St., Brighton, MA 02135-2739 USA Vox: 617.987.8256, Fax: 619.789.6520 767SCH Krypell LifeInColor Rhino10x6-125 May 12, 2016 2:59 PM Publication: Bleed: Trim: Live: Rhino Times 00" x 00" 00" x 00" 10" x 6.125" Pub. Contact: Delivery Route: Halftone Freq: Materials: Insertion Date: Jim Garrison ads@rhinotimes.net 150 lpi PDF 5/19/2016

In 2010, President Obama signed the “Plain Writing Act,” which requires that federal agencies use “clear Government communication that the public can understand,” but that was six years ago and that didn’t do one bit of good when it comes to understanding anything that the government puts out. And private companies, as well, still use convoluted fancy-pants legal jargon that never gives you a clear idea of what the documents you are reading actually mean. So, now, finally, in an effort to make things easier, I’m going to cover some examples of notices you may get and going to provide you with translations as to what they actually mean … Duke Energy: Notice of Vegetation Management Notice: Vegetation on power lines can adversely impact the reliability of your electric service. To minimize power interruptions resulting from overgrowth, Duke Energy uses an environmentally responsible vegetation management program

to control the natural plant growth within power line right of way. We employ lateral and directional pruning methods endorsed by tree care professionals as well as herbicide application methods including foliar, stump, stem and vine applications. Concerns or questions can be shared with our Duke Energy customer service representatives at 1(800) 777-9898. Actual real-world translation: We are about to come through your yard and man-oh-man are we going to cut down everything in sight. If you think that guy in Texas Chainsaw Massacre waiving the chainsaw randomly in the air over his head plays it loose with a chainsaw – well, you should see our crews in action. In fact, we use the Texas Chainsaw series as our training films. You know how Sherman went through Atlanta? Well, that’s pretty much how we’ll be going through your yard. We are going to slice and dice every living thing that’s over 6 inches high. If a tree branch looks at us (continued on page 24)

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24 RHINO TIMES | Thursday, May 19, 2016 | www.rhinotimes.com

beep (continued from page 21) personally have never heard if all of the items were ever returned. Does anyone out there in Rhino Times readership land know if all items were ever returned? Just wondering.

%%% Editor’s Note: The Clintons eventually paid for some of the items they took.

%%% Just a thought. We should change the welcome to Greensboro sign to read welcome to Sodom and Gomorrah, where thug criminals are paid $50,000 by our lawless City Council, DA and city manager to break the law and, then, defy and threaten police officers. It’s time for us to vote out all of these people, starting with, the mayor.

%%% After more than 1.1 million people pledged to boycott Target, celebrities and corporations alike are having second thoughts about crossing Americans on such a consensus issue. The decision by the retail giant has not only sparked a massive backlash, but it’s helping the country get a real picture of the controversy in North Carolina. It’s also shown that without the big media’s coverage, twisting the facts, they’re all by their selves. There’s even more evidence that more singers are keeping their concert dates in North Carolina than canceling them. Even more telling is not one business has threatened to leave the state after seeing what happened to the retail giant, which has taken a $2.5 billion hit for letting grown men and women share restrooms and dressing rooms. After executives announced the change, shares dropped 6 percent in just 10 days. For Target, the bad news just keeps piling up.

%%% Hey, John. It’s the old retired sergeant out of the Marine Corps. I talked to you probably about eight or 10 years back, if you’ll remember, and told you how far this country has gone since Vietnam, or straight down rather. Anyways, it looks like we’ve got a governor with nerve. This bathroom bill is such

(continued on next page)

yost

(continued from page 23)

wrong, it’s toast! Or, rather, firewood. Because let’s be honest about it: We here at Duke Energy just enjoy cutting things down. It’s fun! And, while we’re there, we’re also going to spray deadly toxins over every square inch of your yard that should kill anything our chainsaws can’t destroy. In fact, if you have plants inside your house, you can expect them to be in tatters on the floor as well when you get home. Don’t ask how we got in – we’re the power company. If you have concerns or objections about our vegetation management practices, please contact us at 1(800) 777-9898 and we’ll see if you still have those objections after you and your family have been without power for four days.

of Supplemental Add-on Exclusions on our web page in Section 20,345, Subsection 4,342, paragraph 3, footnote 138-D). Listen, do you know what we do when you send in your claim and a heartfelt letter explaining your loss and why we should pay to replace it? We keep them in a big pile and, once every week on Friday afternoon, everyone in the office gathers around and we break out some margaritas and the manager reads the claims out loud in a real sad, teary, mocking voice, and we all just laugh and laugh. I mean, we laugh so hard we can hardly breathe. Sometimes we rub our thumbs and our middle fingers together like we are playing the world’s smallest violin.

Your insurance company’s Personal Items Insurance Policy

Facebook Statement of Privacy for posts and for Messenger app

Notice: “We insure for all accidental direct physical loss, theft or damage to the property covered excluding an act of war, act by a military force, discharge of a nuclear weapon or lawful seizure of the item by governmental or municipal authorities. Real-world translation: Under no circumstances will you ever see one red cent from us. In the 130-year history of this insurance company, we have never, ever once paid a dime on any claim made by our clients. Under no circumstances – no matter how the loss of, or damage to, your item was incurred – will we pay you anything. For instance, if your policy specifically covers your diamond necklace and it is stolen from you at gunpoint in a crowded ballroom with 400 witnesses and with multiple video cameras recording the whole thing, we will pay you exactly zero dollars and zero cents (as is, by the way, clearly stated in your agreement’s List

Crossword Solution From last week’s issue F A C T S

O M A H A

U T E P

N A M I B

R U B Y S L I P P E R

N A M E

A V I D

D E R M

H E M P

A G R O

L O M A

A G E L E T L E C H M H P O O K I T E D A E N A D L O Y E O P E R A C R I T I C

K E U M R I T M O D I S H

A D E S T E

P A U L P I E R C R E A S M H O R H O E N S T S E R R S

T A N G I E R S I D O

O W N G O A L D E A D A I M

R E E L L I C E N S E F E E S

M O N T S E L A A C S E H Y

I D D O L D E S R I P R I N E S E D A A N T O E T T S S A T K G E O A N U M P T E A S T I T I N E M S P E

I C E F O G

S E R A P H

G A R R E T

R G I C E L U R L E M

U N I O N S T R I K E

E R O S T A N E D J U L A S A M S H C G C A R O C U S T E

S M E E

T A R S

S P E E

I K I D

D O S E

E S T A

N E E D I N G H E L P

T I N G E

N E E T

T I E U P

V E R S E

Notice: Your privacy is very important to us. When you share and communicate using our services, you choose the audience who can see what you share. For example, when you post on Facebook, you select the audience for the post, such as a customized group of individuals, all of your Friends, or members of a Group. Likewise, when you use Messenger, you also choose the people you send photos to or a message. In order to enhance your Facebook experience, we may provide our family of companies with some information without providing any that personally identifies you. Real-world translation: Anything you post to your account or message to a friend may appear anywhere in the world at any time. If you use Facebook, you may very well see your photos, that you thought you were sharing with your close circle of friends, on a national Pepsi television commercial during the Super Bowl, with your full name, headshot and contact information included in bold type across the screen. Also be aware that any photos sent using the Facebook messaging app may appear in poster-sized versions on the bedroom walls of Facebook employees and may also appear on the pages of magazines distributed largely in the Philippines and Amsterdam. Here at Facebook we have a saying: “Privacy-Schmivacy.” Don’t like it? We’ll then, what if we told your wife you visit your exgirlfriend’s page an average of 18.2 times a day and that you just private messaged her that you want to get together for some drinks for “old times

sake”? Any complaints over our policy now? We didn’t think so. (By the way, if you care so much about privacy, why did you post that picture last Saturday night of you of relieving yourself in a public park with a bong in your hand?) Apple iCloud Statement of Privacy Notice: iCloud secures your data by encrypting it when it’s sent over the internet, storing it in an encrypted format when kept on server, and using secure tokens for authentication. This means your data is protected from unauthorized access both while it is being transmitted to your devices and when it is stored in the cloud. iCloud uses a minimum of 128-bit AES encryption – the same level of security employed by major financial institutions – and never provides encryption keys to any third parties. Real-world translation: We here at Apple like to keep it simple, so, if you want to know about our iCloud privacy stance, just google “iCloud” and “Jennifer Lawrence.” We suggest you make any children leave the room before you do. City of Greensboro Water Service Disconnection Policy Notice: Delinquent customers will receive written notice on their normal monthly utility services bill that if the full past due amount, plus any penalties, is not paid by the due date on the bill, then water service may be cut off at any time after the pay by due date on the notice. Real-world translation: At 30 seconds past midnight on the day your water bill is due, you can say goodbye to your water service. Pay the $42 you owe plus a $34-million reconnection fee and we will be happy to turn it back on within 10 days. And, as always, thank you for doing business with the City of Greensboro! By the way, here at Yost Column we don’t use any of that misleading or fancy language in our policies – we just always tell it like it is so there is never any need of translation. So, in that that light, here’s our policy … Yost Column notice and actual real-world translation: Scott Yost writes columns in the sincere hope that you will enjoy them, however, due to various circumstances we understand that may not happen from time to time. Therefore, if at any point, you do not enjoy a column by Scott Yost – whether in print or on the internet – please let us know and Mr. Yost will always gladly reimburse you the full amount you spent to read it.

www.rhinotimes.com | Thursday, May 19, 2016 | RHINO TIMES

beep %%% Thank goodness our governor is suing the DOJ, because the DOJ doesn’t care if kids get attacked by somebody in the bathroom. There’s also perverts in the DOJ. Thank goodness we’ve got a governor that is fighting for rights of children everywhere, standing up for our kids and fighting the pedophiles and the scumbags of the world. Stay out of the darn bathrooms.

%%% I was just reading about the City Council voting to release the Vo family’s video to the public. And I hope the City Council understands that by taking this action they have essentially voted a $4 million to $5 million dollar personal injury settlement to the family as well. That’s typically what’s given to

cases such as this. Since they’re talking about the budget this week, I hope they included that line item in the budget. Sometimes there’s the unintended consequences of making these decisions. And there’s only one reason that the family’s attorney, who’s from Charlotte, is participating. It’s not out of the goodness of his heart. It’s because he’s seeking the wrongful death lawsuit settlement that has been given recently to cases like this.

%%% Another day on Bessemer Avenue. I was there. Had two wrecks today. One elderly lady got hurt at Lindsay and Bessemer. She had the green light. Here come a fool flying, runs the red light just like they always do. Here comes a guy on a motorcycle running about 70. Had to run up the street to keep from running the stop signs. If this lady got hurt, I hope she gets OK. But I hope she reads the Rhino Times or reads this and (continued on page 26)

The New York Times

Hyper-Sudoku

(continued from previous page) hideous liberal manure. Anyway, the pathetic thing about it is, the only way he’ll beat this thing is, hopefully, we’ll get some more states behind us.

sudoku_527B Created by Peter Ritmeester/Presented by Will Shortz

3 8

7 2

6 2 5

7 3 9

1 4 9

8 8

527B

Distributed by The New York Times syndicate

Solution sudoku_527B

2 5 6 9 1 4 7 3 8

8 4 3 6 5 7 1 9 2

1 9 7 8 3 2 6 5 4

9 2 5 1 6 3 8 4 7

6 3 8 7 4 9 2 1 5

4 7 1 2 8 5 3 6 9

3 8 9 5 2 1 4 7 6

5 6 4 3 7 8 9 2 1

7 1 2 4 9 6 5 8 3

527B

26 RHINO TIMES | Thursday, May 19, 2016 | www.rhinotimes.com

lankford (continued from page 10)

Manager Marty Lawing and Guilford County Attorney Mark Payne. When Lawing was asked about the county’s talks with Lankford recently, he said he did not want to comment because he didn’t want to negotiate the matter in the press. The city’s contract with Lankford was for $1.2 million a year, while Guilford County currently spends about $670,000 annually for Lankford’s services. Guilford County doesn’t have a clause in its contract with Lankford requiring that the company remain current on its taxes and assessments – however, the City of Greensboro did. That apparently helped make the city’s decision to end the current contract easier. Greensboro’s contract stated that Lankford “assumes full responsibility” for all assessments and taxes, including federal and state taxes. The city’s contract also specifically stated that Lankford is responsible for paying payroll taxes, the type of taxes the federal government says Lankford has owed for years. The $7.2 million

in assessments against Lankford are for federal 940 and 941 payroll taxes covering most of the years between 2005 and 2015. Guilford County has been looking for ways to work with Lankford, though several county officials have stated that they have serious concerns about the security firm’s $7 million in back taxes. They said that the financial and potential legal problems could lead to a sudden inability to provide services. However, county officials, as well as city officials, have praised the service that Lankford has provided, and Guilford County officials also appear to value the long working relationship that goes back to around the turn of the century. Guilford County does have its own Security Department with about 15 employees. However, those county workers are supplemented by Lankford officers who handle duties such as providing security at the entrance to the two Guilford County courthouses as well as operating the security checkpoint at county commissioner meetings in the Old Guilford County Court House.

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Greensboro broke the large security contract into four smaller ones. City staff has recommended that WinstonSalem-based North State Security Group be awarded the largest of those four contracts, and on Tuesday, May 17, the City Council approved that contract. North State CEO Bill Comer said that, these days, takeovers are becoming very common in his industry. “They’re gobbling one another up,” he said. “It seems to be that you’re seeing that more and more.” Comer, who was in law enforcement for 25 years before heading up North State Security Group, said larger firms sometimes find even failing companies attractive takeover targets because it allows the acquiring company to show more billable hours on the books – and some clients like using larger firms for their security needs. He added that, when the current wave of consolidation is all said and done, there may be only four to six major national or global security companies that end up with the lion’s share of the market. North State Security Group opened in 2012 and provides company police and security services in central North Carolina, with clients from Watauga County to Randolph County. Comer said he believes that sometimes the quality of customer service suffers as the firms shift from being smaller local security providers to being part of a giant national or international company. Comer also said that, in the past, his company has bid against Lankford and he’s been surprised at how low

beep (continued from page 25) calls the chief of police and tell him he’s a fool. He doesn’t care about people. Streets are unsafe to drive on, and he won’t do nothing about it. He needs to be replaced.

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the Lankford bids came in. He said he knew what it cost a security firm to provide the service being bid out, and the significantly lower bids by Lankford raised questions in his mind. According to Comer, anytime someone is offering bids with unfair advantages, it negatively affects the entire industry in that area. Comer wrote in an email, “It’s a tight market and when you have a security provider that plays outside of the rules, it makes it very unfair. If they’re not paying taxes then their costs are falsely lower. The end result seems to be, not only is it an unfair bidding practice, but it can often lead to a lower standard of applicants due to the fiscal unavailability of employee incentives and pay, plus … it creates a ‘false bottom’ in the marketplace that all security bidders must gravitate towards for competition, which can often affect the caliber of services, and sometimes safety of those security is hired to protect. As in any market, a customer will get what they pay for.” He added, “The false bottom price, it’s not real; it’s not accurate and it often restricts the market price in general.” Comer said a security company’s reputation, as well as complaints against a company can be checked out through authorities such as the NC Private Protective Services Board, the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education & Training Standards Commission, the NC Department of Labor and the Better Business Bureau. He added that anyone selecting a security firm would be wise to check those sources before doing so.

This call is from a used-to-be Republican who is now going to be an Independent. I enjoy the Beep. It’s amusing that people can be so ignorant and uninformed. It’s fun to read it each week. When it comes to Trump, he’s not going to divulge his taxes. Check out The Wall Street Journal this past Wednesday. He takes $3 billion for goodwill on his name. What a joke. They say at the very most it might be worth $100 million, but not $3 billion. If

you take that away, plus his other exaggerations, he’s worth about half what he claims. And there was a Forbes and Fortune article on this in the last several months. He doesn’t want that to come out.

%%% Heard that there are some activists that are trying to change the name of the Aycock Elementary. And, once again, I think if you want to go ahead and rewrite history, you should be responsible for the costs associated in doing that. What I mean is, there should be bake sales, car washes, magazine subscriptions sold to pay for any changes in the signage, or

(continued on page 31)

www.rhinotimes.com | Thursday, May 19, 2016 | RHINO TIMES

Letters IT’S A CRIME NOT TO LET FELONS VOTE DEAR EDITOR,

The Virginia government banned felons from voting after the Civil War. The governor of that state, Terry McAuliffe, recently did the right thing by signing an executive order that restored the voting rights of 200,000 convicted felons. They can now also serve on juries and run for office. Republicans who run the state legislature are, of course, upset and plan to sue. We Americans should be wary of any political party that wants to disenfranchise citizens. As a supporter of democracy I believe that every adult citizen should have the right to vote, run for office and serve on a jury.

Chuck Mann

GETTING IN DEEPER DEAR EDITOR,

High Point’s City Council has just fired a shot across the bow of any business looking to potentially locate in the city and further burden businesses already in place there. Long known as being “unfriendly to business,” the High Point council’s new budget has solidified the city’s proven reputation as North Carolina’s most expensive city in which to live and work. With an additional 4 percent increase in stormwater runoff fees, another 60 percent increase in monthly garbage collection fees, and a whopping 400 percent increase in vehicle ownership fee (per vehicle), the High Point City

LETTERS To The Editor

TO THE EDITOR Council has effectively removed over $7 million from its local economy by stripping the citizens of that much disposable income, which will now go directly to city government instead of being spent with local merchants. Ironically, all this comes at the very moment when High Point has renewed its efforts and funding for new retail business recruitment. It seems that for every High Pointer that is trying to fill the hole, you now have two more digging it deeper.

Richard Bostik

NET STRETCHED TOO FAR DEAR EDITOR,

Let’s go sheeple, let’s get in line. It’s time to be sheared again. In case you missed it, here’s the latest: “Cashing in: Illegal immigrants get $1,261 more welfare than American families, $5,692 vs. $4,431.” (Paul Bedard, The Washington Examiner, May 9, 2016). The federal feeding trough, more commonly referred to as the welfare system, is already so badly abused and corrupted that short of a complete shutdown it is next to impossible to fix. And before you start getting your panties in a twist, I believe there are people out there that are truly in need of assistance. For those that are physically or mentally incapable of being able to support themselves there should be a safety net. But this? If you are here illegally you are entitled to nothing except emergency medical care to prevent the loss of

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life or limb. Additionally, the 14th Amendment to the Constitution needs to be repealed immediately. Its original intent has been abused long enough. Let me correct myself. You are entitled to one way transportation back to where you came from unless you can prove you will be imprisoned or killed the minute you set foot back in your native country. Illegal aliens are not the only ones that need to be cut off from the federal teat. There are plenty of Americans as well. Social Security was designed as a supplement for working Americans after they retired. Who paid into Social Security? Working Americans. Key word there is “working.” If you didn’t contribute, why should you benefit from it, unless someone who is entitled wants to give it to another for whatever reason? When referring to Social Security,

Medicaid and Medicare as entitlements, remember they are an entitlement for those that contributed. It was their money in the first place. Reserve the attitude for those that could have or should have contributed but didn’t and are getting something for nothing. It’s time to face facts, folks. We have limited resources. There is only so much to go around and only so many willing to work to pay for it. The number in the wagon far exceeds the number pulling. And the pullers are getting more and more fed up with having it taken away to be given to non-producers. How do you think Trump got where he is now. Remember, Washington and liberals are generous with your money. Go Galt, go vote.

Alan Marshall

(continued on page 29)

28 RHINO TIMES | Thursday, May 19, 2016 | www.rhinotimes.com

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www.rhinotimes.com | Thursday, May 19, 2016 | RHINO TIMES

letters

(continued from page 27)

PLAYING UNFAIR DEAR EDITOR,

Be patient all you peepers, flashers, rapists, child molesters and perverts in general. Soon the courts will give you the right to ply your trade openly in ladies bathrooms, lockers and showers. Gone will be the laws of decency that protect us from your sicknesses. Indecent exposure can no longer be a law, and when you are in our shower parading around, how will we know you are neither a woman nor a true transgender? Because you will have a little something that women and true transgenders don’t have. And if we call the police because we believe you are just another pervert, we will be charged with discrimination against you. It can and will happen. HB2 gives businesses the right to set their own rules for bathrooms. We, the majority, would have the right to frequent those stores or shop elsewhere. HB2 is more than a fair bill. But our liberal courts don’t play fair, do they.

Fay Pegram

STUDENTS PAY PRICE DEAR EDITOR,

I’d first like to start off by saying that the North Carolina education system is broken and the sad part is we are not the only state to have this problem. The task is how do we fix the problem and the answer is you do not. The old ways of just pouring in money is not working and if you hold water in your hands then over time it will leak out. The people need to understand that fixing a problem is not always the best course of action and an example will be potholes in streets. The government always fills potholes up and declares them fixed, but only for a short time. They always come back and bigger. The best plan is to replace the road with something new and that’s our problem, we don’t replace. The future for now is charter schools. Rep. Jon Hardister is right on charter schools. I just could not say it back in the day, but he is on the money. The truth is we need a new system, and while people and liberals fight charter schools, the only victims are the children who don’t get a fair shot at education. The anti-charter school people don’t want money taken from the state education system and given to charter schools. Well, I say, then come up with a plan to replace the mess of a state system we have with the Department

of Public Instruction (DPI). The plan the anti-charter school people have is to give more money to the DPI. Well, so far that plan has failed, along with the Education Lottery, which I might add is a false statement and the word education needs be removed to make it more factual.

Sal Leone

BATHROOM TEMPEST DEAR EDITOR,

The recent Megyn Kelly-McCrory segment on Fox was reported by one of those web “news” sites this way: “Throughout this and other interviews, McCrory has said that his concern isn’t about transgender people, but about ‘men’ sneaking into women’s restrooms and claiming they’re transgender as an excuse (which, for the record, has never happened in any of the 17 states and more than 200 cities across the country that have trans-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinances).” Now that is about as disingenuous as it gets. The only meaningful statistic in this brouhaha is: How many transgenders have complained, on the record, about not being allowed to use the toilet of their choice? Probably none, because how could that even happen – are there monitors at the door of public restrooms putting anyone through a pat down à la the TSA, then turning them away to use the other facility – and keeping stats on it? I don’t think so. In fact, I haven’t heard of (and in the hysterical atmosphere encouraged by this tempest in a peepot we would have all seen) the YouTube video of a transgender person describing how he/she was traumatized by such an incident. The only thing the Charlotte ordinance would do, in terms of practical reality, would be to make transgenderism an automatic defense to any prosecution for indecent exposure in a restroom. For, if a perp claims to be transgender, how can we disprove it? Transgenderism is, after all, delusional thinking; and delusional people, by definition, believe their alternative reality to be true despite of all evidence to the contrary. So how can they be faulted for displaying their package, which they truly believe to be female in nature, to little girls? From that viewpoint, transgenderism is already available as an insanity defense for someone charged with the state felony of indecent exposure by a

(continued on page 31)

30 RHINO TIMES | Thursday, May 19, 2016 | www.rhinotimes.com

uncle orson (continued from page 22)

What were they thinking? They were thinking, “Hey, it’s a movie and it’s funny.” The kind of idiotic attitude that gets a Reaganwith-Alzheimers script floated through the studios. Nobody thinks: Who will love this story? No, let’s be briefer. When it comes to Hollywood’s movie-making decisions, nobody thinks. “Hey, she has these Walter Mitty fantasies about making love to this young guy, and they play out really funny.” Sold! Even though people who have such fantasies don’t drop into a fugue state and adopt funny poses, unless they really suffer from a serious psychological disorder. Comedy that ignores reality is doomed to fail. Comedy that attacks its only possible audience is so stupid that it deserves to fail. So far, the movie has made $13 million in the US. If most audience members hadn’t had senior citizen discounts, the number would be higher. But I wonder how many of the ticket buyers then told all their friends, “Oh, you’ll love it!”

Maybe, by walking out, I missed some redemptive scenes. But guess what? No movie, ever, deserves more than a half hour of the audience’s time without engaging them in a story and giving them some trust in the underlying truthfulness of the script. My time is worth too much for me to be willing to waste it by continuing to watch trash, just in case it might get less trashy.

.... When Person of Interest began its run on television, it had a remarkable cast – Jim Caviezel, Michael Emerson, Taraji P. Henson and Kevin Chapman as a group brought together to help save people from dire fates predicted by a supercomputer. The computer, programmed by Harold Finch (Emerson), is designed to identify potential terrorist threats. There really are computer programs that do this. They are regularly used by Las Vegas casinos to identify cheaters, and the NSA uses similar

algorithms in monitoring patterns in telecommunications. But Finch was unhappy with the fact that the program also identifies regular citizens about to fall into great danger – but simply ignores them as “irrelevant” to the primary mission of identifying terrorist threats. So Finch arranged for the Machine to phone him from time to time with “numbers” – coded references that allow him to identify the people and send help. The rest of the characters are the team that Finch assembled over time. Along the way, they lost Henson (her storyline had run its course) and added Amy Acker and Sarah Shahi, two excellent actresses playing women who have joined in service of the mission. There is also an evil government organization seeking to get rid of Finch’s Machine and replace it with “Samaritan,” an even-morepowerful program that is determined to eliminate threats by eliminating human freedom from the equation. What drove the series were the weekly episodes – the particular person whose personal crisis required intervention. Sometimes the person was the victim, sometimes the perpetrator. But the writers kept falling in love with their overarching storyline. For the first couple of years, it was about “H.R.,” a corrupt group in the police department. The problem was that we tuned in for the episodes – the people needing help – and not for the war with “H.R.” So they ended that storyline and killed off Henson’s character, then replaced it with an even more tedious and far more confusing overall storyline involving the struggle to save the Machine from Samaritan. If only they had studied Law & Order a little more and realized that tiny doses of overall storyline are plenty. What we tune in for is a story complete in this episode, a story about a person in trouble who needs help from people with muscles, brains and way better information. Sure, the writers can get tired of the episodic “formula,” but that’s what drives series television. Characters we care about, getting into dilemmas and dangers with the best intentions in the world. If you have a hit series, stick with the formula. Think of how Lost died. The episodes became less and less about immediate problems of the characters, and more and more about the confusing, contradictory and ultimately stupid storyline about “what’s really happening.” Now it’s the last season of Person of Interest, and the first couple of

episodes consisted of nothing but mindless action – shooting and getting shot at by Samaritan’s minions – and hopelessly ignorant computer talk about what the Machine needs and wants and the psychological state of this piece of software. The less you know about computers, the harder it is to follow anything that’s going on; the more you know about computers, the harder it is to treat the show with any respect at all, since the writers have no more understanding of how actual computers work than I have about how to pet Schrodinger’s Cat. There is no reason why the vast program and dataset of the Machine would ever have been hypercompressed and loaded into volatile RAM, requiring that the memory chips be constantly powered up. But if such an insane decision were made, it is equally stupid to have the power supply fail and then revive the program like a drowning victim after a few minutes. When it comes to RAM, gone is gone. But we laugh and keep watching because this is the fifth season, the last season, and, as with Lost, we have to see how it comes out, even though we have zero trust that the ending will make any sense or have any integrity. For me, the series nearly died when they turned Amy Acker’s insane, evil character, Caroline Turing, into “Root,” the prophet of the Machine. It was the same kind of moral turnaround that George Lucas made with Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi: Suddenly we’re supposed to feel fine about a murderer and torturer. Acker is a wonderful actress, skilled and charismatic. But her character is a monster that we’re now supposed to care about, and I’m not playing. So many mistakes were made in this series. But at least the network gave them a half-season in which to tie up the loose ends. Too bad they’re doing such a weak job of it. Still, there are a few glimmers of what the series was at its best. Episode 3 actually had a storyline of its own that made sense, reminding us why we ever watched the series. Maybe there’ll be more that transcend the stupidity of the overall storyline. My wife and I are still committed to seeing it through to the end. But our patience is not infinite. Too well we remember how sad the ending of Lost made us. Such a wonderful start, only to lead to a bathetic ending. I hope Person of Interest manages to salvage more before the end.

www.rhinotimes.com | Thursday, May 19, 2016 | RHINO TIMES

letters

(continued from page 29)

man over 18 to a girl under 16. So the Charlotte ordinance really wouldn’t change things and is pretty much no more than a progressive rant. Unless, of course, transgenderism supporters really think that it shouldn’t be a crime to traumatize little girls?

Anonymous

WHOSE RIGHTS? DEAR EDITOR,

Is anyone else tired of the bullying by the LGBT community demanding extraordinary entitlements and special privileges above and beyond what the rest of the population can expect? Now, in North Carolina, they demand to be able to use the bathroom/shower of their choice, irrespective of the gender of their birth. The Center for Disease Control, which tabulates these things, estimates that 96.6 percent of the population is “straight.” That equated to 3.4 percent who identify themselves as LGBT. The Williams Institute of the UCLA School of Law reports essentially the same thing – 96.5 percent straight, 3.5 percent LGBT.

“Fairness” is the watchword of these times. Is it fair that such a small segment of the population is able to control and stomp upon the rights of a group 28 times larger than themselves? Is it fair that a miniscule group is able to intimidate the majority and force their will upon the rest of the population? Why do they feel that their rights supersede those of everyone else? Why should a young girl have to fear the possibility of a deviant man entering the bathroom she is using? I’m withholding my name for fear of retribution by this group of angry, hateful individuals with whom I have had contact in the past. It will come. Rather than receiving special bathroom treatment, they should be receiving help. No, this is not politically correct – political correctness is destroying the United State and resistance to being PC is giving Donald Trump his following. Thankfully, many in the LBGT community are decent individuals with a different lifestyle. However, others yearn for revenge and retaliation. Speaking of angry and hateful, no one other than spiteful, hateful souls would ambush bakers and florists

in Washington State, pizza parlors in the Midwest and privately owned wedding chapels in the East. All these businesses refused service because serving the LGBT community ran contrary to their deeply held religious beliefs. Rather than finding other venues for services, this angry, hateful, spiteful 3.5 percent sought revenge against the straight population. Evidently, the desires of the 3.5 percent trump the First Amendment rights of

the majority. By the way, Chad Sevearance (who changed his name to Turner) is not only the former head of the LGBT Chamber of Commerce in Charlotte, but is also a convicted sex offender in South Carolina. He was the individual who introduced the Charlotte ordinance.

Anonymous

Send to letters@rhinotimes.com or P.O. Box 9023, Greensboro 27429

beep (continued from page 25) the stationery, or any other costs associated with a name change. If you’re so actively involved in rewriting history, you should also be actively involved in the financial costs of doing so.

%%% In the letters to the editor, I see Mr. Brian Stratton says on here, regardless of your beliefs where transgenders should pee, it’s clear that this HB2 bill would devastate

the economy and tarnish our state’s reputation. Mr. Stratton, where are your family values at? Do you have a wife and children, granddaughters? Do you not care that some pervert might wander in the bathroom while you’re not available to help them? A lot of us in this state don’t care if that tarnishes our state’s reputation. If they want to tarnish our state’s

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taken on Election Day, and the only opinions that matter are those of the voters. Political pundits for all their bluster get one vote on Election Day like everyone else, and about Trump they have been wrong every single day from day one. When some of the political pundits come around and realize that Trump has decided to bypass the media, by using the media for his own purposes, they might get back in the game, but right now they are caught in the past. People can watch the candidate for themselves and make up their own minds. Journalists hate to admit it, and many refuse to admit it, but news is a business. The reason Trump gets so much prime time is because he’s good for ratings. People will turn on their TVs to watch Trump, which is why he received so much free TV time. Trump knows business and knows news is a business. Some of his statements didn’t make any sense to political pundits who like to pretend that they are above all that business of making a profit, but they aren’t.

It is simply astounding how poorly the mainstream media report on religion, which is a big part of people’s lives all over the country. It appears that the fact checkers who verify other articles can’t be bothered to fact check articles on religion. The Washington Post ran a story on Pope Francis saying that he was going to study allowing women to be deacons in the Roman Catholic church. But the article has this incorrect statement, which is easily checked, about Catholic deacons: “Unlike priests, they may marry.” Actually they may not. Deacons can be married, but if they are not married at the time of ordination they must take vows of celibacy, and if they are married and their spouse dies they have to get special dispensation to marry again. Certainly a newspaper as large as The Washington Post must have one practicing Roman Catholic on its staff who could be consulted. But the mainstream media continue to write about religion like the Kremlinologists used to report on the Soviet Union

beep (continued from page 31) reputation by calling us concerned citizens for our family’s values and our family’s safety and moral values, then let them call it what they will.

%%% I’d like to hear somebody ask Barack Hussein Obama if he would go along with transgender people going to the bathroom with his daughters, and maybe the showers and changing rooms. I’d just like to hear what his answer would be. It makes no difference what they call themselves. They can call themselves transgender if they want to, but they’re either a male or a female. And that’s all there is to it. And that’s just how low this country has fell. I don’t know how much lower it can go. If we get Clinton in, we’ll probably find out.

%%% How many of y’all have joined one of these dating sites? They run these promos where you see some model, secondhand model, come out and say, “Oh, I joined,” and they give her first name. I guarantee you, if you go through

there, you’ll find out that the real person is probably not even on it. Basically, they – even says they’re paid spokespersons. It just blows my mind so many people out there join and spend thousands thinking they’re going to find Ms. Right. You know, if you’re that desperate, just go on your Facebook page and put right across the front of it, looking. If you’re the one for me, email me. Just put it on your Facebook page. It doesn’t cost anything, and you’ll get more people to see it than you will on those sites.

%%% Tony from the North visiting your beautiful city again. I just wanted to say something to Mr. Copeland, who wrote the column about immigration. I wanted to see if I could teach him the word illegal. That is why we are upset about. We’re not upset about legal immigrants. We’re upset about those that are illegal. Not once in your column did you say illegal. So, please, see if you can correct when you talk about us being against immigration, that we’re against illegal immigration.

during the Cold War, when all kinds of theories were put forth based on the order the Soviet leaders walked on to the podium. Here’s a radical idea for the mainstream media: Hire someone to report on religion who is actively practicing their religion. They don’t hire sports writers who don’t know anything about sports and don’t hire political writers who hate learning about politics, but they consistently hire religion writers who don’t know beans about religion. The mainstream media were reporting on a speech former President Bill Clinton, the only elected president to be impeached, gave in New Jersey. Bill Clinton was an hour late and blamed it on traffic. Bill Clinton is usually late. Why is it that Bill Clinton always hits bad traffic and others don’t? The truth is that Bill Clinton is late because he has an enormous ego. What being an hour late says to the inner Bill Clinton is that I’m still so important that people will wait an hour to see me. He’s not late all the time because of traffic, or whatever excuse he gives, but because it stokes his ego to be late. Yet the mainstream media for decades have been reporting his excuses as if they are true. Those same reporters probably believe he was telling the truth when he said, “I did not have sex with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky.” And to this day it is rare for anyone in the mainstream media to report that when he started having sex with that woman she was a White House intern. Political pundits are becoming more and more like economists and meteorologists – it makes no difference when they are dead wrong, they still have jobs. How many economists predicted the recession of 2008 or the fact that some of the largest financial institutions in the country were about to fail? The meteorologists predict the storm of the century, it seems, a couple of times a year and, instead, we get moderate rain or a dusting of snow. But the very next time they predict the storm of the century, everyone goes out, strips the grocery store shelves clean and governors declare states of emergency. Political pundits laughed when people said that Trump might get the Republican nomination. They laughed, not when anyone said he would get the nomination – I don’t know of anyone that bold – but simply that he might win.

The political pundits picked Jeb Bush, who voters ran away from in droves, and then Sen. Marco Rubio, who, as Gov. Chris Christie proved on national television, couldn’t get past his memorized talking points. But week after week for nearly a year they predicted the demise of Trump. He would, according the pundits, never be able to win enough votes to have a majority at the Republican National Convention. Cruz was so convinced that it would be a contested convention that he wasted a lot of time and money on getting his people elected as delegates – bound on the first vote to Trump but then free to support Cruz on the subsequent votes. The huge miscalculation is that there won’t be any subsequent votes. Trump was portrayed as a political numbskull for not lining up his own delegates, but what Trump was doing was winning enough delegates to get the nomination on the first ballot. Now that Trump is going to be the nominee, we hear that there is no way he can ever beat Hillary Clinton. No doubt we will be hearing this mantra until Nov. 8, when he does beat Hillary Clinton or whomever the Democratic nominee is. The pundits all say it’s Hillary Clinton, but tomorrow, if all the super delegates gave up on Hillary Clinton, then Sen. Bernie Sanders WOULD become the front-runner. Here’s one thing to consider about the presidential race, which is going to be Donald Trump versus a Democrat: I’m not convinced we know which Democrat yet, because we’ve never had a presidential candidate with 150 FBI agents investigating her before. Maybe I’m naive, but I don’t see how this is a winning strategy for the Democratic Party. If Hillary Clinton is indicted will the Democrats believe she is completely innocent and still nominate her? But one thing to consider is that a lot of people are going to vote for Trump who aren’t going to admit it to a pollster or maybe even their spouses. Because of the way the press has been trashing Trump and saying that Trump supporters are racists, bigots, hate women, hate Muslims and want to bring about the downfall of America, a large number of people won’t say they are going to vote for Trump, but they will. In the primaries he consistently outperformed the polls. It’s also the case that some people won’t say they plan to vote for Trump because they don’t want to get in a big argument. A lot of people want to (continued on next page)

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vote and be left alone. People who are for Hillary Clinton think they are so right that they don’t mind telling the world that they are voting for the person that all the mainstream media say is the better candidate. Also, a vote for Trump is a shot in the dark. Nobody, not even Trump, knows what kind of president he would be. He’s never held elective office and has never had to work with government agencies from the inside. It’s as difficult or maybe more difficult to work with the government from inside the government than it is from outside. Trump, if he is elected, is going to be extremely frustrated. He’s used to running his own business and telling people what to do. If they don’t do it to his liking – he fires them. The government doesn’t work like that. First of all, you really can’t fire government workers for not doing their jobs. If you could, half the workforce would be sent home on any given day. Look at the Transportation Security Administration. It failed 95 percent of its tests and did anyone get fired? No, what the TSA decided is that they couldn’t detect more than five out of 100 guns and bombs that agents tried to get through airport security and what they needed was more money. Then they did what government agencies have always done, they took it out on the citizens. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson says that the enormously long lines for air travel caused by his department are not a national emergency. I have a suggestion that won’t cost the taxpayers a dime and will solve this whole problem in one day: Congress should pass a law stating that when the secretary of Homeland Security, the deputy secretaries, the assistant deputy secretaries, in fact all the employees of the department, travel, they have to stand in line and be searched like every other citizen in the country. No special treatment for anyone in Homeland Security. They must by law be treated like any other passenger. I predict that the next day the line problem will be solved and the treatment of American citizens who choose to travel by air will improve immensely. No longer will Americans be forced to wait for two to three hours in line only to be yelled at by TSA employees for doing exactly what

they have been told to do. I’ve been through airport security in at least five or six other countries and nowhere except the US have I been yelled at by the security personnel. Every other country runs their security more efficiently, and pleasantly, than the US. There is absolutely no reason for the US to handle airport security so poorly or make the experience such a hassle for everyone involved. Although the federal government is not known for its efficiency in any department, imagine if any other department had the failure rate that TSA has. In the recent test, 95 percent of the fake guns and bombs got through security. Imagine if 95 percent of the mail didn’t get delivered, or if 95 percent of the money printed by the Department of the Treasury was misprinted. What if 95 percent of the people arrested by the FBI were found not guilty? What if air traffic control managed to crash 95 percent of the planes in the air or 95 percent of the audits by the Internal Revenue Service were faulty. A failure rate of 95 percent would not be tolerated in any other department of the government, but for some bizarre reason it’s not considered a big problem in the TSA. Here’s an even better idea than forcing all Homeland Security employees to go through the TSA lines like everyone else: Abolish Homeland Security, let the airlines and airports handle security privately but according to federal regulations. Is it possible that if airport security were handled by the private sector that they could have a failure rate higher than 95 percent? It is possible but highly unlikely. And what if they did? What if the failure rate for private security was 96 percent or 97 percent? Would that be such a loss? There is a good reason the Republican Party is known as the stupid party, and proof has reared its head again. Former House Speaker John Boehner has announced he’s going on a cross-country fundraising and campaign trip to campaign for House Republicans. It would seem the plan of the Republican establishment is to help House Republicans lose and then blame the loss on Trump. Why else would the Republicans send out a man who is so disliked by his fellow Republicans that they forced him to step down as speaker? If the Republican establishment is serious, it should team Boehner

with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, as well as the man who is really running the Senate – Minority Leader Harry Reid – and throw in House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi for good measure. Then at one event you would have the main forces that caused Congress to have an approval rating of less than 13 percent. Perhaps they could pull Boehner’s former majority leader, Eric Cantor, out of forced retirement and get him to campaign also. Cantor was, before Trump, the prime example of how the Republican leadership has completely lost touch with its Republican base. Cantor was the number two man in the House and lost his reelection bid in 2014 in the Republican primary to David Brat, a candidate who was virtually unknown. Brat won, not because people voted for him, but because the majority of the Republicans in the district voted against Cantor. No one was more surprised by Cantor’s loss than Cantor and the Republican leadership. If the Republicans put together this group to go out and campaign for Republican House members, they could probably get a lot more of them defeated, which appears to be their goal.

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34 RHINO TIMES | Thursday, May 19, 2016 | www.rhinotimes.com

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As is usual, the city spent about as much time discussing the $900,000 to be allocated to nonprofits as the rest of the budget put together, and they likely would have spent more time on that discussion except councilmembers ran out of time and had to go upstairs for their regular meeting. Every year the City Council spends more time discussing what nonprofits to fund and how much to allocate to them than any other portion of the budget. Apparently this year will be no exception, even though the City Council appointed a Community Partners Board to make recommendations on funding nonprofit agencies. For years the city had a Community Resources Board that was charged with the same task, but abolished the board because the City Council paid little attention to its recommendations. It appears this City Council is going down that same path and the agencies will be funded based on the time-honored political process known as “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine.” Councilmembers will make deals to fund agencies they don’t like in return for other councilmembers voting to fund agencies they do.

Westmoreland said he was proposing that 12 of the 15 agencies recommended for funding by the Community Partners Board be funded by the City Council. Westmoreland said that he had eliminated both the YWCA, recommended for $34,000, and Big Brothers Big Sisters, recommended for $15,000, because they were receiving other funding from the city. He eliminated the Queen’s Foundation, recommended for $150,000 for a summer camp for young women, because it was 25 percent of their budget and it was really asking for a three-year commitment. He said it was also unclear how many of the 86 young women in the program would be from Greensboro. Fox said he wanted to support the Queen’s Foundation, wanted $50,000 more for the Greensboro Community Development Fund and was opposed to the $100,000 for the Children’s Museum. Hightower agreed that the Greensboro Community Development fund should get the full $250,000 it requested rather than the $150,000 recommended in the budget. Councilmember Tony Wilkins

objected to the $20,000 in funding for Preservation Greensboro for the Blandwood Mansion after he was told some of that funding may go to pay John Graham, Preservation Greensboro’s executive director. Wilkins noted that Graham wrote about state Sen. Trudy Wade, “Trudy needs to have her nose rubbed into her own feces.” The comment was posted by Graham on a News & Record blog site. He said that Graham had also verbally attacked state Reps. Jon Hardister, John Blust and John Faircloth, all Republicans, and that he had questioned the Christianity of Congressman Mark Walker, who was an associate pastor at Lawndale Baptist Church before being elected to Congress. He said, “I guarantee the Guilford delegation knows what’s going on.” Perhaps Wilkins is the only councilmember who has noticed that requests from the Greensboro City Council are dead on arrival in Raleigh because of the attitude the council has exhibited toward the state legislators. Wilkins proposed cutting the Preservation Greensboro funding but didn’t get any support. Barber said that this was the only itemized list that had been presented to the City Council from the $520 million budget. He noted that the City

Council spent 50 percent of its time on 1 percent of the budget. He said, “We don’t need to do this again.” He asked that next year the city not be presented with a list but just have the total amount allocated to nonprofit agencies. City Councilmember Marikay Abuzuaiter complained that the agencies had to be audited to qualify for funding and this put a financial burden on some of the smaller agencies. It would seem that Abuzuaiter doesn’t care how the agencies spend the money once they get it. The reason the audit is required is that in the past the City Council has discovered that after the money was allocated to some agencies that it was not spent properly. No doubt the City Council will discuss funding nonprofit agencies more at the next budget meeting, which is supposed to be on the proposed bond referendum, something that so far the City Council has only discussed in secret meetings. So this will be the unveiling of the bond proposal that the City Council has been working on behind closed doors. At one point the proposed bond was up around $200 million, but Vaughan said that had been cut in half. However, with no official word on the bond, it’s hard for the public to know where it is.

www.rhinotimes.com | Thursday, May 19, 2016 | RHINO TIMES

under theHAMMER

by John Hammer

Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker recommends people watch the YouTube video titled “Hillary Clinton lying for 13 minutes straight.” (www. youtube.com/watch?v=dY77j6uBHI) and I agree. I’d watched the video a while ago and found it entertaining. I wasn’t sure why they stopped at 13 minutes. People who don’t like Hillary Clinton will love it. People who love Hillary Clinton won’t watch it. And people who are on the fence about Hilary Clinton may watch it but will probably say all politicians lie. It is true that all politicians lie. It is also true that all people lie. However, we know in our own lives that some people tell social lies – “Come on in. I’m not busy” – and some people tell huge lies – “If you put your retirement savings with me, I guarantee you a return of 10 percent a year.” All lies are not equal for regular people and for politicians. Former President George H.W. Bush lost his reelection bid because he told the same lie all over the country. He must have been convinced that, because all politicians lie, it wouldn’t make a difference – but all lies are not equal. He said, “Read my lips, no new taxes.” And then, in office, he raised taxes. All politicians do lie, but Hillary Clinton lies a lot more, lies about more important issues and tells lies that don’t make any sense. Why would she insist that she landed in Bosnia under sniper fire? Does she not realize that everything today is taped? It is not an important lie – in that it isn’t about people being killed like the lie about Benghazi, or about national security like the multitude of lies about the personal email server she used – but it is an important lie in that it is further proof that she lies so much she doesn’t seem to know when she is telling the truth. There was nothing to gain from the lie about sniper fire in Bosnia. It sounded weird that the first lady and her daughter would be exposed to sniper fire. No general in his right mind would allow the first lady and the first daughter to land under sniper fire. But when

she was caught, she still couldn’t admit it was a lie. It becomes another in the long litany of lies told by Hillary Clinton. She has told so many about her email server that I wonder how she can keep track. The Republican establishment needs to get its head out of the sand, or wherever it is, in dealing with Donald Trump. It’s not as if Trump is being forced on them by some third party. Trump is going to be the Republican nominee because Republican voters in overwhelming numbers voted for Trump. He started the campaign with no established constituency. People came to his rallies by the tens of thousands because they liked what he was saying, and after seeing him in person they liked what he was saying even more. He won the support of Republican voters fair and square. The pundits said that Trump only appealed to about a quarter of the voters and were forced to increase that to a third when candidates dropped out and Trump’s winning percentage increased. Trump said he was winning with less than a majority because there were so many candidates in the race. The pundits and other candidates said that if candidates dropped out, candidates other than Trump in the race would get those votes and Trump would keep his 30 percent or so but could never get above that number. It turned out that Trump, not the pundits and not the other candidates, was correct. When the race got

down to three candidates Trump started getting over 50 percent of the Republican votes. When in Indiana Trump went up against Cruz one on one, although Gov. John Kasich was still on the ballot, Trump won a huge victory over Cruz. But the Republican establishment needs to face the fact that Trump ran against it and beat the tar out of the Republican establishment. What the Republican establishment should be worried about is that the Republican voters in overwhelming numbers went to the polls and voted against the establishment candidates and for a candidate who talked about what the Republican establishment was doing was wrong for the country and wrong for the party. Speaker Paul Ryan won an election in one congressional district in Wisconsin. The only national campaign Ryan has been a part of, he lost. He is, by definition, the Republican establishment, and Trump ran against him and won. Ryan needs to get over his hurt feelings and get behind the Republican candidate or change parties and back Hillary Clinton. It is not clear why Ryan is waiting. In the end he knows he is going to support Trump, and Trump is not going to change for Ryan because Trump has the voters and Ryan is the speaker of the House when Congress has an approval rating of about 13 percent. This is really funny when you consider it. Politico has a group of “activists, strategists and operatives in ten key swing states,” that are anonymously analyzing Trump’s

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campaign, apparently on a minute-byminute basis. These activists, strategists and operatives didn’t think Trump had a good week. How is this news? Give me a week that the political glitterati thought that Trump had a good week? When he won, he didn’t win by enough. According to them he made a huge mistake saying he was going to build a wall and then doubled down making an even bigger mistake by saying that Mexico would pay for it. But his vote totals kept going up. The political experts said that saying he wouldn’t allow Muslims into the country until they could be properly vetted was an even bigger mistake, but after he said it, his vote totals went up again. The only polling or opinion that matters in an election is the polling

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36 RHINO TIMES | Thursday, May 19, 2016 | www.rhinotimes.com