Comment Archives: Stories: Blogs: For What It's Worth
Re: “Science under assault this morning at the legislature”
>"There are tens of thousands of scientists who are off the reservation."
Wow — histrionic, vague AND racist. Par for the course for this crew.
Re: “Science under assault this morning at the legislature”
"Droz is a member of NC-20, a group of government and real state interests"
real estate interests?
Re: “Steve Schewel announces sale of Independent Weekly”
It all sounds so lovely and innocent, but here's a question: will any local Durhamite staff members of the Independent be losing their jobs?
Re: “Steve Schewel announces sale of Independent Weekly”
Somebody needs to revive the Comic Review.
Re: “What lawmakers could learn from Sheriff Andy Taylor”
The Republican-led senate seems driven to pull "the fast one." They pulled it by using a Senate rule to sidestep the eugenics victims' compensation issue.
I'm a Republican, and I'm mortified by the lack of compassion exhibited by our Republican senators. I hope each one feels the full weight of his and her decisions, the type of decisions that would keep a decent person up at night.
My deceased grandmother and great-aunt were sterilized by the authority of North Carolina's eugenics' board, and my family looked forward to seeing the LIVING victims compensated. Compensation for the living victims would have acted as symbolic justice for our family. What did we get? More rhetoric and excuses.
The good news is: we voted this bunch in and we can vote them out.
Re: “What lawmakers could learn from Sheriff Andy Taylor”
And if Andy Taylor were Speaker of the House and saw Rep. Becky Carney in tears because her mistaken vote was about to result in the fracking bill becoming law, Ol' Andy would've found a way to let Carney correct her mistake.
He'd have treated her fairly, in other words, and not tried to "win" by pulling a fast one.
Playing fair is a North Carolina value that Sheriff Taylor taught the world. But it's one that Speaker Tillis and Majority Leader Stam seem not to have learned.
Re: “Safety on the American Tobacco Trail”
I found this thread by searching "American Tobacco Trail teenagers" because I had a handful of gravel thrown at me on the trail by some teenagers today and wanted to see if it was an isolated incident.
This was my first ride on the ATT.
Having had my ass kicked by a group of teens in NYC, I saw familiar signs of trouble to come as I headed back towards downtown. 5-6 young teens huddled around on a bridge and watched me as I approached, right before Riddle Rd, I believe. As I passed them, one kid threw a fistful of rocks at me, hitting the side of my face. I said "thanks," since I was sure these guys understood and appreciated sarcasm. Right past them was a large branch on the path, neatly placed to block the entire paved area. I rode over it slowly, just in time for 3 older teens, maybe 18 or so, to approach me, one of whom said something, which I lost in the wind I generated hauling ass towards town.
Like I said, I've had worse assaults from kids in my life, and this was relatively harmless, but it really makes me think twice about taking a second trail ride on this supposed gem of Durham.
Isn't this the most tolerant city in America?
Re: “The guise of objectivity”
Ms Sorg, it appears that you do not know the difference between "news" and "opinion". "News" should contain only the facts. No slant. No bias. "Opinion" and "editorials" can be as slanted and biased as you want.
So, you are 100% wrong when you state "Journalism is not objective", although you would be 100% correct if you stated "Journalism at the Independant Weekly is not objective".
Re: “Now about those sex ads ...”
How can anyone object to these ads? These women are doing it by their own free will? They are liberated and free to do what they want, aren't they?
Re: “Now about those sex ads ...”
My parents used to say, "If you don't like the program (TV), change the channel". Same holds true, nobody is forcing anybody to read whatever ad is posted. I agree though concerning the "objectify" women thought. No need to 'de-base' a gender. The paper is distributed free. Maybe if they charged a dime a copy, the ad. dept. could screen entries w/the extra $$ brought in.
Re: “Now about those sex ads ...”
Is there anything else we can do? I find it sad that a newspaper lauded for being progressive has a page full of ads that objectify women. I also don't understand why the editorial department can't veto ads without the advertising department having influence over editorial content. Can't one be above the other? I understand that the Indy needs money to exist, but is there any way for ads chosen to be in line with the views of the paper as a whole?
This post seemed reasonable until I read, "Don't read them." I would have liked a suggestion like, "Tell our ad department," or "Offer an alternative source of revenue." The nature of ads makes it difficult to not read them - they are designed to be attention-grabbing. This one in particular is bright pink and hard to ignore.
Re: “Safety on the American Tobacco Trail”
Several years ago I encountered a group of teenagers on the trail at the spot where the bridge used to be over the trail (near Carolina Circle). They were crowded onto the pavement and only left a narrow sliver for me to cycle through. I didn't slow down much which might have prevented my being attacked. It was probably just a show of bravado and/or contempt on their part though.
I also carry pepper spray in case of attack. It's a larger canister than some I've seen, I bought it at The Bicycle Chain a few years ago when they were still near 9th Street.
Other than that, my experiences on the trail have been drama-free (knock on wood). My biggest gripe so far is cyclists who don't announce "passing on your left" or something similar before suddenly appearing beside you going Mach 2.
Re: “Indy interns: Why your next job should be fast food”
As a former Indy intern, I absolutely agree with Lisa's advice. I learned so much during my year there, and I miss it beyond measure. I'm trying to live a fully textured life now (I live in Queens rather than Manhattan!), but I guess I'll have to take a job as a donut delivery person at some point in life. Thanks for the advice, Lisa, you and the Indy staff provided a safe haven for me to learn in during my college years. I'll visit soon!
Re: “Indy interns: Why your next job should be fast food”
Wonderful advice for not just interns, but most humans.
Re: “Ethics 101: Or why plagiarists should learn to say "Would you like fries with that?"”
I'm an instructional designer; I develop online courses. I've had many subject matter experts and professors plagiarize. They may complain about students, but the people with the terminal degrees should know better. My all-time favorite is the guy who plagiarized course content on business ethics, of all things. It's not just journalists who think they can take shortcuts, although journalists should really know better too.
I blogged about some of my plagiarism experiences a while back: http://plsonline.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/copying-pasting-and-getting-caught/
Re: “Your notes please: How to get detained at Walmart”
One of my favorite tales from the field.
Re: “How to freelance for the Indy”
Such wonderful advice, Lisa. I'm going to direct my readers to you.
Re: “How to freelance for the Indy”
Interesting insight, thanks for putting this up.
Re: “Safety on the American Tobacco Trail”
Lisa, I thought your story might include this recent recount on the Bike & Ped listserv:
Yesterday (Halloween), around 7:15pm, I was biking home from work on the
ATT when I was attacked by someone with a knife.
I was headed toward downtown, and just before Enterprise St. I was struck
in the head. I was wearing a helmet and was fine, but startled. I looked
behind me and did not see anyone, but heard someone running off through the
woods on the right side of the trail.
Almost immediately after, I had to stop for trick-or-treaters walking down
Enterprise. They paused in front of me and stared. I greeted them and
they walked on. It sounded like they were muttering something about me,
and as I crossed Enterprise, I figured there must be egg all over my
helmet. So I stopped on the other side of the road and took my helmet
off. A kitchen knife with a 6 inch blade fell out of my helmet.
I called the police when I got home, and they were quick to respond. I had
taken the knife with me, but in my shock, I did not think to mind the
fingerprints. The police did not offer to take fingerprints from the
knife, but I doubt that if they had, they would have found any but my own
by that point.
In case folks need another reason for wearing a bike helmet, there you go.
Re: “Science under assault this morning at the legislature”
Rachel, thanks for catching that. It's been corrected.