I Had A Dream...

I had a dream last night, which in itself is a miricle, because I don't dream or don't remember them. I had a dream that gas was on a sign at the gas station at $1.01 a gallon, but on the pump it was $3.01 a gallon. When I went to argue the false advertising, I was told to go scratch, "Fill up somewhere else then." We put up the sign like that so we attract customers in, is what I was told.

When I awoke, I realized I was going to get gas today, as my tank was approching E. This is where I draw the line on the oil cartel, now your invading my sleep. Something must be done. Good thing I wasn't using a sleep aid like Lunesta or Ambien, and slept drove to go fill up. Then I'd really be pissed.

Blatant Lie on Net Neutrality

The National Cable and Telecommunications Association ran a TV ad tonight during the Yankees- Red Sox game on ESPN. I am still in shock. Here is a link to the video of the commercial (from their site). They have blatantly lied about the issue to further confuse the public into voting in their favor. What they say is that the Silicon Valley executives are making all the money from the government regulating the Internet, when truth be told, the cable companies stand to make billions off ala carte Internet services. What might you ask would ala carte look like? How about Internet services still cost you $49.95 for regular services, but now with them in control you would pay extra for premium services like Google, Yahoo, Amazon, Ebay, etc... No government to keep neutral how much they charge you, you may have a bill from your cable company for over $100 a month for what you get now for $50. So who stands to make the money? Sounds like cable is just desperate to take more of your money for the same crappy overpriced service. I urge all to go to NCTA and call and e-mail them to tell them to stop lying and start being straight or we are all moving to satellite for cable ad companies like Clearwire for Internet. Keep the net neutral, no one owns the net, we all have a little piece of it.

Attention Democrats- Action Alert

This is a call to action. First come, first serve and you get a boxed dinner. Democratic candidates are going grassroots because we can still connect with our constituents. Be a part of this cool event.

From the Guilford Democratic Party HQ:

The Guilford County Democratic Party will hold a candidates and volunteers a "Door to Door Walk"” in several areas to introduce voters to candidates this Wednesday, August 23. Candidate and Party information, as well as voter registration information, will be distributed. This will be a unique chance for voters to meet their elected officials and candidates on their own doorstep and discuss issues.

Buses will start loading at 5 p.m. in the Sam'’s parking lot (directly next to the Golden Corral at Wendover & I-40 in Greensboro). Once aboard, a boxed dinner will be served before the volunteers and candidates take to the streets in several neighborhoods. Afterwards, the group will return to the Golden Corral for coffee and dessert.

Among the candidates slated to walk are U.S. Congressman Brad Miller, N.C. Representatives Maggie Jeffus and Pricey Harrison, Berkley Blanks (candidate for Guilford County Sheriff), and Ray Riffe (candidate for District 3 County Commissioner).

All Democrats are invited to join the walk. Anyone planning to attend must RSVP to ensure there are enough dinners and seats on the buses.

This event, an unofficial kick-off to the election season, is expected to be one of the largest Democratic Party events of the year.

For more information or to RSVP, call HQ at 315-5532 or respond to this e-mail.

I've Been Elected...

Today, I was elected as President of The Young Democrats of Guilford County. This is a position I feel I can do a lot of good in. After all the younger generation of Democrats are the future of our party. I have a lot of work to do, and I need your help. If you are a registered Democrat, who lives in Guilford County, is 35 years of age or younger, you can be a Young Democrat.

Bottom line is, you have to be involved in your government. Every choice they make effects your everyday life in some way. You have a few ways to get involved, your vote, your voice and your actions. If you would like to be involved with the Young Democrats of Guilford County , please e-mail me or contact the party headquarters at (336)-315-5332 or info@guilforddems.org.

My first order of business is getting the website redesigned and brought up to date, including a community blog and rss feed. Off to work and remember you can make a difference, but you have to do and not say to achieve that.

V Is For Must See

I saw V for Vendetta this evening, finally. Well worth the wait. This might be one of the greatest movies I've ever seen. I highly recommend this flick.

My favorite line and the quote of the day is, "People should not be afraid of their Governments, Governments should be afraid of their people." If that doesn't make you want to see this flick, I don't know what will. I'll just say it has shocking similarities to what is happening today in this country, slowly but surely. Watch it for yourself.

Can You Beat Gigi on PK's?

I found this really cool game at pumafootball.com. Can you beat the Italia goalkeeper Gigi Buffon on penalty kicks? You can try here. He's the world's #1 goalkeeper and trust me he shows you so in the game. The whole time you are made fun of as you miss badly. So can you beat the #1 keeper?

I went 44 for my first 100. How will you do?

Simpkin's Clarification?

There has been a lot of talk on the blogs over the course of time about the Simpkin's PAC. I have heard you pay for an endorsement, I have heard that you don't. So to set the story straight, I went to the horses mouth, I contacted Rep Alma Adams who sits on the PAC.

I told her what I had been hearing about paying for an endorsement and she said, "No way. Let's say you ran for office Jay. If we gave you an endorsement, we don't require you to give us money. What we do is ask anyone that gets an endorsement for a donation to help offset the cost of running the PAC, which is expensive. If you didn't have the money or didn't want to donate, we would still endorse you. We in no way require you to give us anything. We offer the same opportunity to donate as any citizen who wants to donate. Emphatically, in no way do you have to pay for the endorsement "

Sounds pretty clear to me, except the asking for a donation, which if you didn't know what I just told you could come across as a little intimidating for a candidate. I don't know of any other PAC that asks for a donation from it's endorsee's. What I'd like to know is, has anyone ever not donated to the Simpkin PAC and what happened? Anyone care to enter the frey?

I genuinely trust Rep Adams, she has never lied to me in the past. I think that the public should have more of an understanding of how any PAC works. In this case the Simpkin PAC is good for the African-American communities best interest. Something that often goes overlooked to appease the more wealthy tax payers interest.

That is what I know. Hope it helps settle this ongoing debate. At the very least, the conversation continues.

On the blogs in the past here , here, and here.


PS: Thanks Alma on the Minimum Wage Increase. It still isn't enough, but it will help many who need it.

Robinson Tells Me Not To Call

I just got off the phone with a campaign worker at Robinson For Congress. I was calling to get comment on and fact check some info for a piece I am putting together and will blog later, as soon as I get all of the documents I need in hand.

I was told, first off, that "Mr Robinson does not want me to call his campaign to ask questions any more".

I asked, "Why"?

The response was "that Mr Robinson feels you are harassing him".

I asked, "How so"?

"The FEC Complaints that you are filing aren't making him happy."

I stated that I do look at the Miller campaigns FEC filing, and that I don't find any discrepancies. That if Vernon filed his quarterlies as they should be and wasn't breaking any campaign laws, I'd have nothing to complain about. I also stated that I don't feel like uncovering the truth is harassing someone.

The response was, "Well when we mentioned your name, Mr. Robinson seemed to get infuriated."

Seems like Vernon can dish it out, but he sure can't take it. I have kept my cool and not flown off the handle in this matter, it seems like Vernon is stripping me of my 1st Amendment rights of a free press. The more subtle I get, the madder he becomes.

I told the gentleman, "It sure is hard for me to get Vernon's side, when I have had my communications cut. I am after the truth and uncovering the distortions of the truth."

I then asked, "Should I assume that Vernon has no comment then, in the future?"

"Mr Robinson has your number and he'll call if he has a comment.", I was told.

Well Mr Robinson, I feel like I am doing my duty as a citizen of the district you are running for. This election is in the public interest and I am covering that interest. Filing FEC complaints is only facilitated by having to, to make sure your books are in order. If you weren't breaking laws in the FEC guidelines, I wouldn't have to complain. I would do the same to the Miller campaign, if their books weren't so squeaky clean. There are laws for a reason. Follow these laws and I have nothing to say. You should just hire me as your Treasurer and then your book would be straight, I seem to know the laws pretty good. Don't I?

As a citizen and a freelance writer(journalist) I have an obligation to my fellow citizens to make sure this is a clean election. It is something I am passionate about. As long as you are doing wrong I will report it. I will fact check you and hold you accountable. If you feel like I am harassing you, please file charges, because no judge in the land would uphold them. I have rights and I am well within them, and will continue to be. You have asked me not to call, so I will not. That doesn't mean I'm going away. My work on this election won't be done until November the 2nd. Please don't forget that.

Maybe you should get your ducks in a row so I don't have to. I have called your campaign office once to ask for your side of a story, and I am told not to call back? I am a citizen of the 13th District, is this how you are going to handle all your constituents, if you happen to win? I think the people would like to know. And Vernon, the truth please, this is getting old having to correct a grown mans mistakes.

I Don't Understand

Yeah, world market, OPEC(which besides the drug cartels is the only other cartel I know of), speculation. I don't understand why our gas prices keep going up on speculation about the Middle East if our top 10 oil imports are from 2 countries in the Middle East and 8 other countries. Report here. Top 5 in order are, Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Nigeria. Someone please elaborate on this.

What War Really Looks Like

Very Disturbing Video Images Below Proceed At Your Own Risk


I have friends that are within miles of the bombings in Lebanon. My thoughts are with you and your families. I hope we see each other again.

These friends of mine in Lebanon are very good people. You have probably eaten at their resteraunts here in Greensboro. They gave me my first job when I moved to town in the early '90's.

People of all countries should not have to suffer for the actions of their governments or other governments.

This video is war at it's worst,not that there is a best. Chilling footage. A cease fire should be immediate, if civilian casualties are going to be as bad as this video shows. Both sides are wrong. The New Crusades continues. With the operation Isreal carried out today at a hospital in the north of Lebanon, they have shown they are able to fight Hezbollah without dropping bombs, they can use their Special OPs teams. If one is to fight terrorism, dropping bombs is not the way to do it. It, in itself, is terrorism.