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FIRST AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble; and to petition the government for redress of grievances. Another View FrOm The WinsTOn-salem JOurnal Gaming the system When it comes to cases of public malfeasance that will raise the ire of North Carolina taxpayers, former New Hanover County ABC administrator Billy Williams may be the winner. Williams, who gamed the system to pay himself an outrageous salary over the years, also bilked taxpayers out of $43,000, using public money set for work at an ABC store to help pay for his garage. Although Williams is now a state convict with a suspended jail sentence of up to 24 months, he will retain his $195,000-a-year state pension. Rep. Julia Howard, R-Davie, has a bill before the Senate that could stop such outrages in the future. Howard, whose bill has already passed the House, wants to cut off pensions for people convicted of crimes related to their government service. We applaud the effort. When it comes to establishing special conditions of criminal penalties, care is very important. The U.S. Constitution guarantees equal protection of the law, and that complicates Howard’s efforts. But Howard appears to have most of the concerns covered here. The convict would not lose any contribution he or she personally made to the pension system, and the convict would earn interest for the years that money was in the system. The convict would lose only the state rewards from the pension system. Public officials and employees who committed crimes unrelated to their public service would not suffer loss of pensions. But narrowly defined as it is, it appears that Howard has fashioned a separate offense for public employees when they commit offenses related to their public work. We’d like to hear a spirited debate of the constitutionality of this bill in the spring. One policy attribute of the bill does concern us. It is possible that a convict’s dependents could become destitute during the convict’s prison term, thus going on the government dole. Hence, we’d like Howard to research whether provisions could be made to guarantee that any returned pension contributions could go toward the support of the convict’s dependents. Howard has a great idea here if it can be done constitutionally. READERS’ POLL QUESTION: Do you plan on attending the annu- al Robeson County fair this year? To respond, go to The Robesonian Web site at www.robesonian.com Letters Policy The Robesonian welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be about issues of general interest, brief and to the point. We reserve the right to refuse letters longer than 400 words; poetry; letters that are in bad taste or libelous; and letters from outside our readership. Letters may be edited, but content will not be altered. Letters should be original. They must be signed. Please include your address and daytime phone number. Street addresses and phone numbers will not be published. A photograph of the writer will be used if provided. Send letters to: The Robesonian, P.O. Box 1028, Lumberton, N.C. 28359 or fax them to (910) 739-6553. Letters can be sent e-mail to ddouglas@heartlandpublications.com. Thursday, sepTember 22, 2011 page 4a OpiniOn f 2,000 tea-party activists descended on Wall Street, you would probably have an equal number of reporters there covering them. Yet 2,000 people did occupy Wall Street last Saturday. They weren’t carrying the banner of the tea party, the Gadsden flag with its coiled snake and the threat “Don’t Tread on Me.” Yet their message was clear: “We are the 99 percent that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1 percent.” They were there, mostly young, protesting the virtually unregulated speculation of Wall Street that caused the global financial meltdown. One of New York’s betterknown billionaires, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, commented on the protests: “You have a lot of kids graduating college, can’t find jobs. That’s what happened in Cairo. That’s what happened in Madrid. You don’t want those kinds of riots here.” Riots? Is that really what the Arab Spring and the European protests are about? Perhaps to the chagrin of Mayor Bloomberg, that is exactly what inspired many who occupied Wall Street. In its most recent communique, the Wall Street protest umbrella group said: “On Saturday we held a general assembly, two thousand strong. … By 8:00 p.m. on Monday we still held the plaza, despite constant police presence. … We are building the world that we want to see, based on human need and sustainability, not corporate greed.” Speaking of the tea party, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has caused a continuous fracas in the Republican The Robesonian’s opinion is expressed only in its unsigned editorials. The opinions expressed in columns, letters and cartoons are those of the authors and artists. Wall Street: A real Ponzi scheme I Letters To The Editor Schools shouldn’t ban female students from wearing leggings To the Editor, According to the Public Schools of Robeson County, “students shall be expected to dress in a manner which is neat, clean and proper for a learning environment. They shall not wear clothing or hairstyles which distract other students or which interfere with the classroom participation of other students or which presents a health or safety hazard.” You’ve seen them everywhere, in the mall, grocery stores and television. Leggings, jeggings (jeans leggings), skinny jeans, yoga pants, bodysuits, tights … they’ve essentially became the go-to accessory for everyday outfits. It has now become apparent that school-age girls have been turned away and demanded to change clothes for reasons of inappropriateness. When did layering oneself with multiple articles of clothing become inappropriate? If I am not mistaken, women for an inordinate length of time have worn panty hoes and tights under their garments. Rather than displaying bare legs all day, one simple decision of layering tights or leggings reassures that one’s body is covered. Leggings have become the replacement for jeans. When worn correctly, one’s body is fully covered by an appropriate length top garment. There is no difference between wearing a dress with tights and a tunic with leggings. It comes down to comfort. Students, as well as teachers, find contentment in diverse materials, and experts agree that students need to feel comfortable in order to maximize learning. Educators spend more time trying to remove eccentricity when they should be embracing diversity amongst students. Socialization is a key part in development. If educators want to force every student into one mold, institute uniforms into the dress code. Until then, students should have the opportunity of self expression and individualism. Fads come and go. Fashion trends have and will be a significant part of the back-to-school process. Kids want to be cool. Leggings, as trivial as it seems, is a concern the Public Schools of Robeson County should not be taking on. Instead, they should harbor energy and efforts toward improving student’s essential grammar, public-speaking skills, foreign languages as well as job and college assistance. presidential debates with his declaration that the U.S.’s revered Social Security system is a “Ponzi scheme.” Charles Ponzi was the con artist who swindled thousands in 1920 with a fraudulent promise for high returns on investments. A typical Ponzi scheme involves taking money from investors, then paying Amy Goodman them off with money taken from new investors, rather than paying them from actual earnings. Social Security is actually solvent, with a trust fund of more than $2.6 trillion. The real Ponzi scheme threatening the U.S. public is the voracious greed of Wall Street banks. I interviewed one of the “Occupy Wall Street” protest organizers. David Graeber teaches at Goldsmiths, University of London, and has authored several books, most recently “Debt: The First 5,000 Years.” Graeber points out that, in the midst of the financial crash of 2008, enormous debts between banks were renegotiated. Yet only a fraction of troubled mortgages have gotten the same treatment. He said: “Debts between the very wealthy or between governments can always be renegotiated and always have been throughout world history. … It’s when you have debts owed by the poor to the rich that suddenly debts become a sacred obligation, more important than anything else. The Sarina Maynor Pembroke idea of renegotiating them becomes unthinkable.” President Barack Obama has proposed a jobs plan and further efforts to reduce the deficit. One is a so-called millionaire’s tax, endorsed by billionaire Obama supporter Warren Buffett. The Republicans call the proposed tax “class warfare.” Graeber said: “For the last 30 years we’ve seen a political battle being waged by the super-rich against everyone else, and this is the latest move in the shadow dance, which is completely dysfunctional economically and politically. It’s the reason why young people have just abandoned any thought of appealing to politicians. We all know what’s going to happen. The tax proposals are a sort of mock populist gesture, which everyone knows will be shot down. What will actually probably happen would be more cuts to social services.” Outside in the cold Tuesday morning, the demonstrators continued their fourth day of the protest with a march amidst a heavy police presence and the ringing of an opening bell at 9:30 a.m. for a “people’s exchange,” just as the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange is rung. While the bankers remained secure in their bailed-out banks, outside, the police began arresting protesters. In a just world, with a just economy, we have to wonder, Who would be out in the cold? Who would be getting arrested? n Amy Goodman is the host of “Democracy Now!,” a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 900 stations in North America. Councilman says pay raise wasn’t due to town manager To the Editor, On Sept. 7, The Robesonian reported that the Pembroke Town Council had voted to give McDuffie Cummings, town manager, a $1,500 bi-monthly raise until his retirement in December of this year. The news indicated that the Town Council approved this raise; however, it did not say that I voted against the motion and Mayor Milton Hunt did not vote to the lack of a tie. This amounts to $3,000 per month for September, October, November, and December, a total of $12,000 of taxpayer money. What is sad is that people have to pay taxes in the town of Pembroke and the the town is always getting these grants, but where is the development going on to improve the lives of the elderly and senior citizens and extra housing for people in the Housing Authority? Mr. Cummings was town manager when the jail house was torn down because it would be an eyesore. The results have been people walking the streets, people put out of low income homes and forced to bundle up in houses wherever they could, and while some houses were boarded up, depending on who owned them, others were left alone. The Town Council had been led to believe that Mr. Cummings was going to retire so they agreed to bring in an assistant to be trained to take his place. Cummings decided he didn’t want to turn over his power to someone he couldn’t control, so he stayed until he got rid of a young man with experience and qualifications for Cummings’ job. The justification for the raise was that the council would compensate Cummings for the extra work that had been done by the assistant. The truth of the matter is that Cummings stayed out of the office more than he stayed in and the town ran pretty smooth without him. Now, the Town Council has decided to pay him an extra $3,000 per month to come into work! Mr. Cummings has announced that he is running for a political office with the Lumbee Tribe. For the next two months Cummings will have an extra $12,000 of taxpayer money to politic and campaign. Allen Dial Pembroke councilman
www.robesonian.com NATION The Robesonian, ThuRsday, sepTembeR 22, 2011 — 5a News Briefs associaTed pRess House kills spending bill WASHINGTON — In a rebuke to GOP leaders, the House on Wednesday rejected a measure providing $3.7 billion for disaster relief as part of a bill to prevent a government shutdown at the end of next week. The surprise 230-195 defeat came at the hands of Democrats and tea party Republicans. Democrats were opposed because the measure contains $1.5 billion in cuts to a government loan program to help car companies build fuel-efficient vehicles. For their part, many GOP conservatives felt the underlying bill permits spending at too high a rate. Satellite still on for Friday freefall CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A dead 6-ton satellite is getting closer and closer, and is expected to smack down on Earth on Friday. NASA’s old research satellite is expected to come crashing down through the atmosphere Friday afternoon, Eastern Time. The spacecraft will not be passing over North America then, the space agency said in a statement Wednesday evening. The predictions should become more precise by Thursday afternoon and certainly by Friday. “It is still too early to predict the time and location of re-entry with any more certainty,” NASA said. An estimated 26 pieces — representing 1,200 pounds — are expected to survive. Georgia executes Davis Supporters of convicted cop-killer call it injustice JACKSON, Ga. (AP) — Strapped to a gurney in Georgia’s death chamber, Troy Davis lifted his head and declared one last time that he did not kill police officer Mark MacPhail. Just a few feet away behind a glass window, MacPhail’s son and brother watched in silence. Outside the prison, a crowd of more than 500 demonstrators cried, hugged, prayed and held candles. They represented hundreds of thousands of supporters worldwide who took up the antideath penalty cause as Davis’ final days ticked away. DAVIS “I am innocent,” Davis said moments before he was executed Wednesday night. “All I can ask ... is that you look deeper into this case so that you really can finally see the truth. I ask my family and friends to continue to fight this fight.” WASHINGTON (AP) — Call it the recession’s lost generation. In record-setting numbers, young adults struggling to find work are shunning longdistance moves to live with Mom and Dad, delaying marriage and buying fewer homes, often raising kids out of wedlock. They suffer from the highest unemployment since World War II and risk living in poverty more than others — nearly 1 in 5. New 2010 census data released Thursday show the wrenching impact of a recession that officially ended in mid-2009. It highlights the missed opportunities and dim prospects for a generation of mostly 20-some- Associated Press photo Anti-death penalty protesters listen Wednesday to news about the impending execution of Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis in Jackson, Ga. Prosecutors and MacPhail’s family said justice had finally been served. “I’m kind of numb. I can’t believe that it’s really happened,” MacPhail’s mother, Anneliese MacPhail, said in a telephone interview from her home in Columbus, Ga. “All the feelings of relief and peace I’ve been waiting for all these things and 30-somethings coming of age in a prolonged slump with high unemployment. “We have a monster jobs problem, and young people are the biggest losers,” said Andrew Sum, an economist and director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University. He noted that for recent college grads now getting by with waitressing, bartending and odd jobs, they will have to compete with new graduates for entry-level career positions when the job market eventually does improve. “Their really high levels of underemployment and unemployment will haunt young people for at least another decade,” Sum said. years, they will come later. I certainly do want some peace.” She dismissed Davis’ claims of innocence. “He’s been telling himself that for 22 years. You know how it is, he can talk himself into anything.” Davis was scheduled to die at 7 p.m., but the hour came and went as the U.S. Supreme Richard Freeman, an economist at Harvard University, added, “These people will be scarred, and they will be called the ‘lost generation’ — in that their careers would not be the same way if we had avoided this economic disaster.” Beyond the economy’s impact, the new figures also show a rebound in the foreignborn population to 40 million, or 12.9 percent, the highest share since 1920. The 1.4 million increase from 2009 was the biggest since the mid-decade housing boom and could fuel debate in this election season about U.S. immigration strategy. Most immigrants continue to be low-skilled workers from Latin America, with growing Court apparently weighed the case. More than three hours later, the high court said it wouldn’t intervene. The justices did not comment on their order rejecting Davis’ request for a stay. Hundreds of thousands of people signed petitions on Davis’ behalf and he had prominent supporters. His attorneys said seven of nine key witnesses against him disputed all or parts of their testimony, but state and federal judges repeatedly ruled against him — three times on Wednesday alone. Officer MacPhail’s widow, Joan MacPhail-Harris, said it was “a time for healing for all families.” “I will grieve for the Davis family because now they’re going to understand our pain and our hurt,” she said in a telephone interview from Jackson. “My prayers go out to them. I have been praying for them all these years. And I pray there will be some peace along the way for them.” Census: Recession takes toll on young adults numbers from Asia also arriving on the bet that U.S. jobs await. An estimated 11.2 million immigrants are here illegally. Seniors 65 and older tended to return to or stay put in their jobs, accounting for the few U.S. employment gains in recent months. About 1 in 6 older Americans is now in the labor force — the highest level since the 1960s, before more generous Social Security and Medicare benefits made it more attractive to retire. Nationwide, employment among young adults 16-29 stood at 55.3 percent, down from 67.3 percent in 2000 and the lowest since the end of World War II.
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