Well, well. Now we have CMPD on record that it is going back and using the latest developments in DNA technology to — in effect — re-open the Kim Thomas murder case.
Is Mecklenburg County district attorney Peter Gilchrist fully prepared to deal with the results? He better be. I’m told that the Charlotte legal community is holding its collective breath, unsure of what will happen if Marion Gales’ DNA is found on crucial bits of evidence in the case, such as the handcuffs used on Kim Thomas back in 1990.
Simply put, if Gales is as innocent of the crime as Gilchrist, CMPD, and entire city power structure has maintained all these years, his DNA should be no where near Thomas’ body. The same cannot be said of Thomas’ husband, Ed Friedland. A man who lived in the same house should leave DNA traces all over it. The distinction should not be lost moving forward.
Gilchrist, therefore, if he is confronted with DNA evidence of both men at the crime scene should not and cannot claim it is a wash. Let’s see what happens.
Forget that there was a live debate between two of the three candidates for governor of North Carolina last night. Here’s the take-away quote for the evening:
“I was not in the last eight years part of anybody’s elite circle.”
That is what Bev Perdue told reporters after the debate, desperately trying to undo Pat McCrory’s linkage of her time in public office in Raleigh to Raleigh’s various scandals and ineptitudes. Perdue willingly told voters that, contrary to the campaign message she has tried to hammer home, she has been completely ineffectual and powerless as an elected leader to statewide office. Coming on top of a weak and disjointed debate performance, Perdue’s declaration was a staggering gaffe, one that must shake all but the most die-hard of her supporters.
The only saving grace for the Democratic candidate is that Libertarian Mike Munger was not invited to participate in the debate. Had he been, Perdue would have easily been the third-worst debater out of a three-person field, a revelation for some viewers who know Bev only via her TV ads.
The Panthers’ first round draft pick had his Escalade carjacked at gunpoint in Uptown by one of Charlotte’s violent repeat offenders. Cash and bling were also taken by 19-year-old Marcellus Morris and an accomplice, WCNC reports. Otah’s brother was driving the SUV at the time of the incident.
State records indicate Morris was paroled in April on felony charges of robbery with a dangerous weapon.
Given what has been described as McClatchy’s six-figure publishing deal with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, this headline caught my eye:
Franklin Graham pans movie about his father
Seems Billy’s son has no use for media he does not authorize — and presumably does not share in the profits. Is this really news? And if it is, shouldn’t the paper’s financial arrangements with Franklin Graham rate a mention?
Put another way, if McClatchy is counting on a big payday with the sale of memorializing books and special editions on occasion of Billy Graham’s passing, how likely is the company to criticize or get on the other side of Franklin Graham on any issue or topic? At a minimum this relationship should be disclosed when reporting on issues relating to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association so that readers can make up their own minds.
The movie in question, Billy: The Early Years may well turn out to be dreck when the public gets a look in October. But a pre-emptive negative review loudly amplified without the benefit of context has not exactly convinced me that the film will reek.
I’ve waited patiently to hear Duke Power CEO James Rogers explain his Save-a-Watt program. How consumers would have incentives to save energy. Turns out that was never Save-a-Watt’s intention. Both Duke and the state Utilities Commission figure consumers are too dumb to do anything other than write checks. The size of which will be determined not by market forces, but by Jim Rogers and the Utilities Commission.
Worse the entire premise of NC’s current energy debate is how to incent Duke Power to do the things regulators and environmental activists want done. No consumers there either. As a result we are discussing a plan that would spread cost and risk to the broader public in the form of higher power bills while privatizing the profit for Duke. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the very definition of fascism.
Don’t cringe. Learn. We’ve seen the fascist leanings of what passes for our state government before. The eagerness to put corporate interests at the head of every line. But the Save-a-Watt program takes this to a new level. It explicitly would use state power to compel citizens to give more money — how much more is presently a state secret — to Jim Rogers and Duke Power. Duke Power then, per agreements with state regulators, would spend some amount of that money in ways state regulators favor. Either you see that this proposal is repugnant to any notion of open and limited government or you do not.
If Jim Rogers wants to draw up regulations to attempt to micro-manage the lives of his fellow citizens he is welcome to take a $80,000 job with some arm of state government. If he wishes to reap millions by selling a needed product to willing consumers, have at it. But to stride into Raleigh and declare that he intends to do both marks Rogers as a fascist archetype. The first step in averting this outcome is recognizing it.
Here’s a fun thing that is whizzing around the inter-tubes. CBS supposedly accidentally posted its fall college football plans weeks ahead of time.
Note that the sked kicks off in Columbia with the Gamechickens hosting preseason number one Georgia, led by former Independence standout WR Mohamed Massaquoi. (Lesser Carolina features a couple former Patriots as well.)
Were talking John Edwards hiding in a hotel bathroom bad. But not at all surprising. Her campaign pretends Bev didn’t flip-flop on off-shore drilling and slams Pat McCrory on precisely the voucher issue that Easley used against Vinroot in 2000, as we mentioned back in June.
Speaking of June, that was waaaayback when Perdue was “100 percent” opposed to off-shore drilling. The campaign is officially on, boys and girls. McCrory absolutely cannot act all shocked and disappointed by this development, as will be his want. He needs to go for the jugular. Force her into another complete howler.
Worst of all, he should not waste time trying to throw off the “danger to the middle class” stuff, no matter how much it must hurt Pat to hear that. Stay on the offensive and realize that there is much more to come from the Down East kleptocracy.
Lots of better and bigger snaps of the 277 cap scheme can be found at the CLT Blog. Meanwhile, I sense that the “cheaper” $170m. option is getting the Uptown play. The missing piece will be getting NC DOT on board, not easy. Not for an oufit that cannot even keep 277 lit. But otherwise the skids are truly greased for this thing to get done.
Glad to see I’m not the only one who got the heebie-jeebies watching the presidential duopoly genuflect before Rick Warren.
Mecklenburg County’s official blog has not been updated since May 16th. That’s some awesome communicating going on there.
Elizabeth has a sinkhole. As ever, the city’s 311 system has been alerted. Stand back citizens, help is on the way.
Help this guy find a home. Not homeless, just wants to move away from his Ballantyne apartment and buy a place. First, stop buy one of those $16 city of Charlotte maps. Learn it. The QC remains the city of unknown shortcuts, making location, location, location a secret.
