Comment Archives: Stories
Re: “Gubernatorial candidate James Protzman could rouse the Democrats”
Hi, all, you may remember me as MTBinDurham from BlueNC and other spots.
Here's why James has a long way to go before he gets my support -- I'm not interested in symbolic runs; I want someone who's going to actually get into office. Winning office at the state level is a long and messy process. "Speaking truth to power," or any other number of vacuous slogans and phrases, isn't going to get anywhere.
The progressive I'm going to support is going to be one who shows he can go to North Carolina's small towns where the economy is the worst, jobs are scarce, and the Democratic party is scarcer. Show my you can get those towns not just excited, but organized and motivated to do the tedious work of turning out people to vote and getting everyone moving in the same direction, and I'm on board. Writing internet missives from a comfy chair in Chapel Hill isn't what makes a governor.
Re: “Duke study: High levels of methane in drinking water wells linked to fracking”
I bought a older home a few years ago and had to have a new well dug but now theres something wrong with my water i had it tested and it tested high for methane gas and oil i cant use the water at all and i have stayed sick since i bought the property is there anything i can do or anyone i can speak to about the situation i also have a old store near my home that still has the gas drums in the ground could that be the source of the gas in my water?
Re: “Live: Phil Cook and his Guitarheels celebrate Ry Cooder”
Great review.
Re: “Why Aqua NC customers are furious about their service”
Our community has had several residents complain to Aqua's so-called President, only to get the same form letter back from them saying the exact same thing.
Re: “Gubernatorial candidate James Protzman could rouse the Democrats”
Thanks for this article--a big ray of hope in the face of all the collateral damage already wreaked by McCrory and friends in the short time he has been in office. I am glad to hear about James Protzman. I am glad he is willing to call liars liars. He sounds like a man capable of critical thinking and a heart that can feel. I will learn more and plan to support him and his voice early and often.
Re: “Deep South's Dave Rose cautions against climbing into the van”
What ever happened to Raleigh downtown live shows??
Re: “Gubernatorial candidate James Protzman could rouse the Democrats”
While I've also never met the man in person, I've followed his activities at BlueNC for a couple of years and I can promise you, he is EXACTLY the type of candidate we need to see in every race and every level of office in this state.
Sometimes arrogance has more to to with the perceptions of those on the receiving end than the character of the person accused of being so. As for uncompromising; I've seen a lifetime's worth of compromise in candidates who call themselves progressives (or sell themselves as such), and I'm sick to death of it.
Give me a candidate who tells it like it is, pulls no punches, and occasionally calls an asshole or a liar what what they really are, in public, any day of the year over the sniveling, compromising, afraid-to-offend professional politicians we've had to put up with for as long as most of us can remember.
Protzman is a breath of fresh air in a room full of stale air and rusted tools.
Go. James, go!
Re: “The anarchic face of Savage Weekend noise festival belies an acute curatorial mind”
This article and interview is great, looking forward to this event! But.... I took the photo featured here, which seems to have an incorrect attribution. I'm sure it's an honest mistake - how should I straighten this out? http://www.flickr.com/photos/nocore/726327…
Re: “The anarchic face of Savage Weekend noise festival belies an acute curatorial mind”
Thanks for the catch, Jeremy. The text has been corrected.
Re: “The anarchic face of Savage Weekend noise festival belies an acute curatorial mind”
Article states in the body that the shows are on friday and sunday but that is a typo. Friday and saturday may 17 and 18
Re: “Remembering a time when DIY was not a lifestyle choice”
I think the key difference that strikes me is the choice; wrapped up in that choice is the ability to escape it at any point it becomes tiresome.
Re: “Gubernatorial candidate James Protzman could rouse the Democrats”
Michael, if James really didn't care about our state and the average people who inhabit it, which seems to be the prevalent opinion amongst the vast majority of candidates/elected officials, he would not get as angry about some of the things that have happened.
We need somebody with a little emotion, who can feel a sense of outrage when it should be felt. But behind that emotion is one of the smartest people I have ever met, who also happens to be one of the most objective, as well. He isn't above reevaluating his beliefs, to see if he's missed something along the way. He's hungry for new information, as opposed to running away from inconvenient truths, and that is the only way to continually make progress.
Is he a rock star? No. Have we had enough rock star politicians already? Oh, hell yes.
Re: “Gubernatorial candidate James Protzman could rouse the Democrats”
I've known this good man for more than 35 years. He'd be a great governor! He's smart enough to know when arrogant and uncompromising is appropriate. In this political climate we need someone who is willing to tell the truth.
Re: “Gubernatorial candidate James Protzman could rouse the Democrats”
@Michael
As the article suggests, I'd be thrilled to see a great progressive candidate join the fray and lead our party forward.
Pat McCrory spent ten years running for governor. We need someone to step forward now to challenge him at every turn. Got any suggestions?
Re: “Gubernatorial candidate James Protzman could rouse the Democrats”
The problem is that Protzman can come across as a complete jerk. I share almost all of his political views, but it would require some serious nose-holding to vote for him in the primaries. (The stench from the GOP would be such that in the general that wouldn't be much of an issue.) Interacting him through BlueNC and other online fora, my initial reaction is that while he's done some good work statewide, I'd be worried if he were the flag for NC progressives, because he'll make us all look uncompromising and arrogant.
I should qualify this by saying I've never met him in person, and Lord knows it's easy for one to get the wrong impression online, but while I'm not as active in the NC progressive online chatterboxes as I used to be, I was never really left with a good impression of the man.
Re: “Remembering a time when DIY was not a lifestyle choice”
Thank you for this essay, Lisa. You do an excellent job of showing both sides of the "luxury" of such choices, and the economic structures that must sustain them. There are many who might choose the new domesticity who simply cannot afford it; and others who can barely afford it, but sacrifice to do so. I will definitely find the book and read it!
Re: “This week in disappointment: rolling back the environment, reproductive rights and more”
this is what happens when believers override the will of the not so stupid. However that being said these incredibly ignorant backward fools were VOTED into office. Shame on anyone voting for anyone associating themselves with the religious right. Next time ask what would Jesus do? He would do the exact opposite of the actions of the NC Legislature. This is the textbook example of why separation of church and state is such a fantastically good idea. don't vote for religious nuts...they are insane and destructive.
Re: “Three new art spaces testify to downtown Durham's increasing vitality”
Fair point, although it depends on one's expectations. Those drawn by the words "Anne Frank" in the title might be expecting the narrative made familiar by umpteen iterations on stage and screen. They will be in for a surprise (a good and exciting one!).
From Byron Woods' INDY Week review:
"In this devised performance, sections from those texts are placed in an unlikely matrix of other sources. In one section, science writer Mary Roach (Tamara Kissane) holds forth on flatus; elsewhere, Ron Vawter (Tony Perucci), another Wooster Group co-founder, recalls an experience from his military service that was theatrical, religious, profane—and undeniably funny. These cards are shuffled in a deck including the strange affirmations of L. Ron Hubbard and 1920s calisthenics and football guru Walter Camp, along with remembrances by cast and crew members of their own adolescence. In between these scenes are deliberately awkward transitions including movement sequences, vintage cartoon footage and the unique vocal stylings of live shape-note singing, and songs by Peter Sellers and Screaming Jay Hawkins."
Re: “An intergenerational discussion about rejecting the workplace for domestic life”
Thank you, Lisa! I didn't want people to read this and get a wrong impression.
Re: “Three new art spaces testify to downtown Durham's increasing vitality”
In that case I would edit article to this:
"Such "whatevers" include the strange, wonderful, deconstructive show called The Wooster Group's "Diary of Anne Frank," a Little Green Pig production that is not your typical Anne Frank play..."