"In politics, nothing happens by accident.
If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way."
Franklin D. Roosevelt
"If the results of Tuesday’s elections
were a referendum on the White Street landfill
— and most likely they were
— the majority of Greensboro citizens want that facility to remain closed.
So what happens when the city's budget deficit spikes shortly,
and the city will have to fire police and firemen
to make up for the money lost by keeping the landfill open?
If the City of Greensboro’s average employee salary is about $50,000,
and the city could not spend about $7,000,000 per year
by reopening the White Street Landfill,
could Greensboro's City Council have to choose
between shipping our trash to Montgomery County
or about 140 city jobs, sooner than later.
...Critics of landfill opponents had dismissed that group
as representing the narrow interests of only one part of the city,
but the election returns don’t bear that out.
If a few purchased relatively inexpensive homes near a landfill
established more than 60 years ago,
why should the many unaffected
who may have paid more for their residences
to avoid potential hazards and easements,
be taxed to have trash shipped elsewhere?
...the landfill was the signature cause of a slim majority on the council
that tried (and failed) to ram through a decision
with minimal discussion and research.
When the money in the budget isn't there,
is Greensboro going to have to sacrifice city jobs
to keep the landfill closed and the swimming pool financed?
...the solid waste problem won’t go away
and had not been adequately addressed by previous councils.
Move next to a landfill at a discount,
and get the local government to close the landfill
by charging everyone else a premium for property taxes
so those living near a recently closed landfill
can sell out at a premium
after waiting while paying relatively lower taxes then everyone else?
Did they vote for Yvonne,
who lives two blocks from the landfill,
who profited from the landfill staying closed
and increased the value of her property,
which everyone else has been subsidizing for 30 years?
As Perkins and others have suggested,
the best way forward is to explore longer-range solutions,
including a regional landfill planned in Randolph County.
Did the electorate vote how the News & Record told them too,
after Greensboro's African American leadership betrayed their people?
The council has a second chance to lead honestly,
openly and effectively on this issue."
Did the Greensboro News & Record, Yes Weekly or any TV stations
reported the $175 million savings potential of reopening the landfill?
Did the Greensboro News & Record, Yes Weekly or any TV stations
report how much the city has lost by closing the landfill?
How could a majority of Greensboro taxpayers feel
about Greensboro's media not reporting
what could be some candidate's willingness
to exchange about $175 million of other people's property taxes
for the chance to become Greensboro's election winners?
Why would some some candidates
put their personal political interests above those
of the majority of Greensboro taxpayers
and their children?
Why should Greensboro's taxpayers
have to pay for other's artificially inflated real estate values
after they bought property near the landfill at a discount?
Are most of those who purchased properties at a discount,
because the landfill was there when they bought in,
deserving of a premium funded by everyone else when they sell?
Could many in East Greensboro
have received misrepresented messages
from some who may profit from a particular outcome?
Should the White Street Landfill remain closed
to artificially increase the value
of privately owned residential real estate
at the expense of public transportation?
Why would the Greensboro News & Record Editorial Board
inject Race into the White Street Landfill Issue?
...Deliberate distortion is never permissible.
Diligently seek out subjects of news stories
to give them the opportunity to respond to allegations of wrongdoing.
Examine their own cultural values
and avoid imposing those values on others.
...Analysis and commentary
should be labeled and not misrepresent fact or context.
Deny favored treatment to advertisers and special interests
and resist their pressure to influence news coverage.
The SPJ Code of Ethics
If 2011's City Council election was a referendum on the landfill
how could it not have been considered Black against White
instead of financial and sustainability issues
if the Greensboro News & Record Editorial Board
took what most believe to be a financial budget issue
and converted it into a race based campaign propaganda platform
that brought out minority and thought controlled voters
at the News & Record's behest?
The propagandist seeks to change the way
people understand an issue or situation
for the purpose of changing their actions and expectations
in ways that are desirable to the interest group.
Propaganda, in this sense, serves as a corollary to censorship
in which the same purpose is achieved,
not by filling people's minds with approved information,
but by preventing people from being confronted
with opposing points of view.
...Propaganda is generally an appeal to emotion, not intellect.
..."Propaganda is a form of communication
that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community
toward some cause or position.
As opposed to impartially providing information,
propaganda, in its most basic sense,
presents information primarily to influence an audience.
Propaganda often presents facts selectively
(thus possibly lying by omission)
to encourage a particular synthesis, or uses loaded messages
to produce an emotional rather than rational response
to the information presented.
The desired result is a change of the attitude
toward the subject in the target audience..."
Wiki
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