Subsidizing Disappointment
Dear Editor,
I so enjoy our great yearly Bryan Series of lectures (sponsored by Guilford College and many corporate partners) provided by talented and intelligent guests from around the world. However, I am becoming frustrated with the venue for these lectures – our own Greensboro Coliseum.
I have previously `sounded off about the stadium seating that is packed so tight that people with long legs experience pain pressing their knees into the seatbacks in front of them. But last night was really frustrating for all attendees.
For the first 15-plus minutes of this lecture, both Dr. Jill and former Vice President Joe Biden were using wireless headset microphones that obviously had not been sound-checked before the presenters mounted the stage. The result was garbled sound throughout the facility and the audience was not able to understand what was being said for at least 15 minutes.
My wife and I saw people seated all around us trying to adjust their hearing aids, as they must have thought it was only them who could not make out what was being said.
Finally, someone brought Jill and Joe wireless hand-held microphones, and even those had to be replaced yet again after another 10 or more minutes due to batteries running low or whatever.
In a quality facility, the batteries would have been renewed and a full sound check of the system would have been completed before the show began, or the sound people themselves would have been replaced after such a lapse.
Before the show my wife and I each needed a drink of water. We walked the halls on two levels of the Coliseum, and we found a total of three water fountains. Each one provided water that only rose about three-quarters of an inch from the silver mouthpiece. I would bet they set them this low so that paying guests would give up trying to use them and buy the $10 beer or bottled water.
It was so disappointing knowing that visitors to our city, in addition to we who subsidize the losses of this facility with our tax money each year, experience these same deficiencies at our Coliseum. I suppose when you have a monopoly on something you learn that you no longer have to spend money or effort making it better.
William D. Courter
Supporting Barber
In the upcoming City Council race there are a number of candidates with little or no experience who are representing primarily special interest groups. That is particularly true in the at-large race, where we have 15 candidates vying for three seats.
We need to support Mike Barber, who has the experience we need on the council. I served with Mike in the past and I know that he is always trying to do what is best for all of our citizens.
This is a crucial election. Please vote on Oct. 10 and Nov. 7 for Mike Barber, City Council at large.
Tom Phillips
Abuzuaiter At Large
Dear Editor,
Marikay Abuzuaiter, City Council at-large candidate, when considering issues, makes her judgment based on facts.
Marikay is willing to meet with anyone to discuss issues or problems. She studies the facts in a case without bending to pressure from any side. Marikay Abuzuaiter is an unflinching seeker of truth
She supports and values public safety. She was a leader in getting City Council and city staff to cooperate with Guilford County commissioners to open the Family Justice Center, and still serves on the executive committee there. The Family Justice Center is a “one stop shop” for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse and elder abuse.
Marikay actively supports building infrastructure in Greensboro. She serves as chair of the Municipal Planning Organization, which manages the transportation planning process required by federal law. The MPO plans for our area’s surface transportation needs, including highways, transit, bicycle and pedestrian facilities. She is also a board member of the Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation, whose mission is to enhance transportation throughout the piedmont triad.
Having spent 22 years as a small business owner, she knows the value of developing relationships among public safety officers and the community. With a broad view of the entire community, she is uniquely positioned to make good judgments. She is the candidate best positioned to help improve police community relations. She is extremely hard working, passionate about Greensboro, with a 33-year record of working for the people of Greensboro.
Please vote for Marikay Abuzuaiter for councilmember at large.
James Bennett
Voting for Wilkins
Dear Editor,
Tony Wilkins is a smart Greensboro city councilmember. He repeatedly has stood his ground by showing good common sense when voting against ill-conceived matters that were financially irresponsible and not in the best interests of Greensboro citizens and taxpayers.
Wilkins stands unbending for good government. He is not afraid to take a politically unpopular stance when it is called for, or to ask tough questions that would otherwise go unasked and unanswered. For his untiring efforts, Tony is recognizable as a positive force for Greensboro. It is noteworthy that he has gained considerable support from throughout the city
Tony Wilkins must be returned to District 5 where his voters can take comfort knowing that as their representative on the City Council. Tony Wilkins will represent them in a mature, fiscally responsible and honest manner.
Bill Knight
Politically Auto Correct
Dear Editor,
Our society has reached the tipping point of stupidity and has begun the downward slide to an abysmal end for what was at one time one of the examples of what mankind could achieve with hard work, perseverance and common sense. (By the way, as I was writing this, the auto-correct wanted me to replace “mankind” with “humankind” or “humanity.” Yes, it’s come to that – auto-correct is now politically auto-correct)
I have seen two stories where whiny liberal social justice whiners are complaining they are offended by, are you ready for this, a stalk from a cotton plant. In both instances, they were being displayed as decorations, one at a dinner reception being given by a professor and the other as a decorative display being sold by Hobby Lobby. It is now racist to display a few stalks of a cotton plant in a vase. The list just keeps growing.
They’ve also started expanding their attack on history by starting to include Columbus, Franklin, Jefferson, Gandhi and Washington, and who knows who else has been added since the writing of this. They will not be happy until the people of this country simply move and think as they are directed instead of thinking and acting for themselves.
The only answer is for the real thinking, commonsense people to stand up and vocally announce that they will no longer tolerate this incredibly stupid nonsense. They must make it known that these attempts to shame them with various labels like homophobe, racist, privileged, etc., are not going to work any longer. In other words, ignore these babbling fools. When they call for a boycott of a company or product because it “offends their sensitivity,” shop there or buy twice as much. We’ve got to quit ignoring these mindless fools and start taking back our society. Ignoring them only encourages them and motivates them to continue with their nonsense.
The movement to correct this train wreck can and should begin where it all started in the first place, that being college campuses. You are not going to convince me that these snowflakes make up the majority of most every campus. I just don’t see the numbers.
They plot as the people sleep, and if the people wait too long they will wake up in metaphorical chains. (Am I allowed to say that?)
Go Galt and save the republic.
Alan Marshall
Davis in High Point
Dear Editor,
With good character, judgment and dedication, Councilwoman At Large Cynthia Davis has served High Point citizens well during her first term in office. She studies the issues carefully that come before City Council and makes decisions that are positive for both the city and its citizens without showing favoritism or bending city ordinances.
If one has a question or concern she will work hard to get answers and address a problem. She is truly a servant of the people, and not served by the people.
I met Ms. Davis soon after she was appointed to the Planning and Zoning Board years ago. I can truly say that she considers her most important duty is to represent all citizens and give them a voice in the governance of High Point.
Please vote to re-elect Cynthia Davis for High Point City Council at large.
Jimmy Morgan
Southern Rights
Dear Editor,
With all the recent uproar about taking down the Confederate monuments because “They glorify men who fought for slavery,” one obvious omission that the protestors make is that the Civil War was not fought over slavery. It was fought over a state’s right to secede from the Union.
In the most basic terms, 85 years before, the Southern states had joined a club. Then they eventually realized that staying in that club was no longer in their best interests. So they withdrew and started their own club.
This has happened throughout history, whether between countries, religious organizations, political groups, etc. The most recent example is Britain’s withdrawing from the European Union. The Southern generals and politicians that so enrage the protestors were fighting simply for the Southern states’ right to release themselves from their original bond. And here’s the kicker: There was nothing in the Constitution to prevent their doing so.
Thus, the entire war was started because one man – Abraham Lincoln – took it upon himself to declare that the Southern states did not have the right – regardless of the Constitution’s total silence on the matter. (How’s that for an executive order?)
Again, in the most basic terms, if you commit an offense that there’s no law against, you cannot be arrested or charged for that offense. So Lincoln had no constitutional right to force the Southern states back into the Union. Now, what does all that have to do with slavery?
It should also be noted that:
In the Gettysburg Address, there is not one word about slaves, slavery or bondage.
Lincoln’s much proclaimed Emancipation Proclamation was not issued until January 1863 – after the war had gone on nearly two years. So if the war was fought over slavery, what took him 21 months to realize it? Also, it is generally agreed by many historians that the proclamation was much more a political statement than a humanitarian one.
Finally, there is his oft-cited statement, “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that.”
So while the Confederate monuments so enrage the protestors, at least they should know how misguided their rage really is.
John Pugh
Not Everyone Loves A Parade
Dear Editor,
Well, I see Greensboro had its first Gay Pride Day on Saturday, and it was a smashing success. They managed to smash every bottle and can and shred every piece of paper trash they could find, leaving Elm Street looking like a landfill. But not to worry, the dumb taxpayer will see that it gets cleaned up.
I can only assume that this is Nancy Vaughan’s first foray into the management and activities of her new found job as executive director of the Guilford Green Foundation, a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) organization. One would have thought, knowing the nature of this group, that she would have resigned as mayor after taking this job, and should have, if she had any class. No sweat; she has no class.
In the meantime, her minions are salivating over the prospect of her winning and them not having to have bake sales for four years. They might even manage to get on the Greensboro annual nonprofit dole list with the Children’s Museum – whatever a Children’s Museum is – and the Pyrle Theatre.
I didn’t attend this event; I didn’t have to – it was happening at my front door. I live downtown. The city has no qualms about imposing these half-witted, nonsensical events on downtown residents and property owners. Something they would never do in Irving Park
Fortunately, there was a police officer very near my front door. I could only hope that he would stay there.
J.W. Forster
