April 2004

4/4/04 - Kucinich Does Carrboro

No it's not an April Fool's joke. This has got to be the first presidential candidate's visit to Carrboro! (Someone please chime in if I'm wrong.) Whatever you may think about his campaign, Dennis Kucinich has been articulate, poised, and principled. And it's kind of exciting that he's coming here!

This is an e-mail from the venerable Joe Straley:

DENNIS KUCINICH
At the Farmers Market in Carrboro
1:00 PM, Sunday, April 4

Satisfied with the hawkish tones of US foreign policy? Come and become dis-satisfied.

Tired of being a part of a nation which bullies nations which it doesn't understand? Come and hear an alternative foreign policy.

Tired of spending billions for war while penny-pinching domestic needs? Dennis is your man.

Dennis Kucinich will be in Carrboro long enough to convince you that a vote for him in the April 17 Democratic Caucus is the best vote you will be able to make this year.

ALSO...

4/5/04 - How to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office

A PSA from Internationalist Books and Community Center:

April 5 -- Join members of the League of Pissed Off Voters to discuss their
new book, celebrate political activism and collaborate on swinging the 2004
presidential election. Responding to the current political stupidity
(perpetrated by Stupid White Men of all races, genders and IQ scores), 12
ingenious young political artists and organizers have created a book, How
to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office
, that could tip the balance in 2004.
It shows how young people who don't do electoral politics can play the game
-- on their own terms.

Monday, April 5, 6:30 PM at Nightlight, 405 1/2 W. Rosemary St, Chapel Hill.

Readers Digest

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Zero Tolerance for Intolerance

Just when we think we're so enlightened around here, a bunch of teenagers assault a Sikh man because they think he looks like Osama Bin Laden. In fact the kids were so stupid that in addition to the assault charges, one of them got busted for possession of marijuana and intent to sell crack. Not our community's finest, I must say.

Gagandeep Bindra, who has a short beard, brown skin and wears a Patka, a scarf wrapped around his hair, said that it is not uncommon for people to call him and others with brown skin Osama bin Laden or a terrorist.

"This is like a normal occurrence after 9/11," Bindra said Friday. "Every night when I go out to Franklin Street, someone shouts out bin Laden.... They think anybody brown is Middle Eastern. Anybody brown is a terrorist."

The way people treated him after 9/11 changed, he said, but he expected he would be safe in a college community.

Caucus Primer

Guest Post by Gerry Cohen

THE NORTH CAROLINA DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS
A PRIMER ON THE APRIL 17 EVENT

Due to snags in approval of North Carolina's legislative redistricting plan and a Democratic National Committee requirement that delegate selection be finished by early June, the North Carolina Democratic Party has established caucuses to determine candidate preferences from North Carolina in time for the Democratic National Convention in July. North Carolina's 20 at-large delegates will be allocated proportionately to any candidate getting at least 15% of the caucus vote statewide, and the same 15% rule will apply in each congressional district, where from four to six delegates will be elected. (The Fourth District - including all of Durham and Orange, north Chatham, and western Wake - is the only district getting six delegates.)

Planning Bored

I was asked to share this gem from last's night's Planning Board meeting with you. Phil Szostak is an architect who is developing an addition for Olin T. Binkley Baptist Church. Binkley is a leading progressive institution in this community and is also very prominently located next to University Mall on The Bypass. So I found it very amusing that Phil kept claiming "we're just a little church." If that's so, then UNC is a community college, OK?

Suffer the little billionaires

Consider the plight of the fabulously rich....

Get Registered!

Guest Post by Blaise Strenn

North Carolina will have a Presidential preference county caucus on April 17th. Participation in this caucus will be for Democrats only. You must be registered as a Democrat by April 9th to vote in this caucus.

There is an updated form available at the State Board of Election site: www.app.sboe.state.nc.us Click on voter registration, Changing your Information, then North Carolina Voter Registration Application/Change of Information Form.

This will open a PDF file you can print out. You must get this form to your county's Board of Elections by the end of Friday; postmarked on Friday will not work. If you plan handing the form in on Friday, please call to check their hours for it is Good Friday.

It is very important to not use an old form, it will not be accepted. You must use the updated form from this website or the new form you would get at the county BOE office.

For caucus sites state wide see: www.ncdp.org Registered Democrats can vote in any county in North Carolina.

Caring for Northside's elderly can help stop drug abuse

The Northside neighborhood of Chapel Hill is a beautiful place. Many of its residents are now spending their twilight years in the community they helped build. Unfortunately instead of living without worry they have fallen prey to drug users and dealers.

Last week, the Chapel Hill Herald wrote that an 88-year-old woman was arrested for "maintaining a dwelling to keep or sell controlled substances." I can see her porch on Nunn Street from mine on Sunset Drive. She lives near the peninsula of land at the intersection Graham, Whitaker, Sykes, and Nunn Streets which is the heart of the crack trade here in Northside.

[She] is wheelchair-bound and lives in the home, which police say often has been the center of drug sales in the Northside neighborhood. � "[She] was charged after several incidents involving narcotics occurred at her property," [Police Chief] Jarvies said.

Welcome to Sprawlville

Now I know we have some problems, but I never would have guessed that the Triangle would rank #3 on the national urban sprawl index! The report, by Smart Growth America, says...

This study shows that sprawl is a real, measurable phenomenon with real implications for peoples’ everyday lives. Regions wishing to improve their quality of life should consider taking steps to reduce sprawl and promote smarter growth. Based on this research, Smart Growth America offers six policy recommendations:

1) Reinvest in Neglected Communities and Provide More Housing Opportunities

2) Rehabilitate Abandoned Properties

3) Encourage New Development or Redevelopment in Already Built Up Areas

4) Create and Nurture Thriving, Mixed-Use Centers of Activity

5) Support Growth Management Strategies

6) Craft Transportation Policies that Complement Smarter Growth

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