Cut Obamacare a little slack?
Barack Obama
See D.G. Martin column, Pg. A17
Matthew Fox
Famed theologian ‘goes deeper’ — See Story, Pg. A10
Fitz & The Tantrums pack musical punch — See Concert Review, Pg. B1
ILLE V E H AS ASHEVILLEʼS GREATEST NEWSPAPER
December 2013
Vol. 10, No. 1
An Independent Newspaper Serving Greater Asheville
Esther Manheimer, Asheville’s vice mayor, was all smiles on the night of Nov. 5 after she was elected the city’s mayor by a landslide margin — some called it “The Manheimer Steamroller.” In the City Council race, incumbents Gordon Smith and Cecil Bothwell were re-elected, along with newcomer Gwen Wisler, who was the top vote-getter. An election roundup story appears on Page A7.
By JOHN NORTH
john@AshevilleDailyPlanet.com
One could learn how to avoid falling into the trap of radical evil through education, Holocaust survivor Walter Ziffer said during a Nov. 19 address in UNC Asheville’s Lipinsky Auditorium. “We’re all capable of becoming perpetrators of evil,” Ziffer, a scholar and local resident, told the audience, which was virtually standing-room only in the 600-seat room. The aforementioned assessment is generally agreed upon by most evolutionary psychologists, Ziffer said. He specifically cited the findings of social psychologist James Waller. Ziffer said his personal expe-
Daily Planet Staff Photo
Amy Alkon
Mouse ado about nothing
Q: I’ve tried to be open-minded, but I’ve decided that men are givers and women are takers. I study at my local coffeehouse. I am interested in this woman who comes in and often unplug my computer and offer to let her use the outlet. Two weeks ago, I decided to make my interest clearer by buying her coffee. She said, ”Oh! Thanks!” Then she put her nose back in her books. The next time she came in, I offered her my large table because she had tons of books. She blushed as girls do, asking, “Are you sure?” I said, “Of course!” I then worked at a small, cramped table next to her. She made no effort to talk, except when she asked me to watch her computer while she went to the restroom. Finally, I decided to be really clear and asked if she’d like to grab a bite sometime. She smiled and said she’d just see me here, but thanks. Yeah, she’ll see me there and expect me to give her my big table. I’m sick of this take, take, take. A woman needs to tell a man right away if she’s not interested and not let him sit there like an idiot, planning to make her life easier. --Irate
Want to know the answer?
See ADVICE GODDESS, Page A22
FREE
All are capable of radical evil, survivor says
New mayor for Asheville
The Advice Goddess
www.ashevilledailyplanet.com
riences correlate with the explanations by scholars on the human capacity for attrocities. Waller’s work explains “how we are transformed into killing machines,” Ziffer said. “We can learn how not to” slide into radical evil. Walter Ziffer “Goodness and evil are chosen states” — and “a powerful and open education” could be the antidote. Ziffer spoke for an hour on “From Mozart to Murder: A Holocaust Survivor Muses About Radical Evil” and then fielded many questions. See SURVIVOR, Page A15
Boomtown Asheville in the ‘20s?
It was popping, panelists say By JOHN NORTH
john@AshevilleDailyPlanet.com
Boomtown Asheville of the 1920s was a fun place, known as “Little Chicago of the South” and boasting more Art Deco buildings than any city in the Southeast other than Miami Beach, Fla., Nan K. Chase said during a panel discusDaily Planet Staff Photo sion Nov. 9 in Asheville. “Asheville was being marketed From left are John Turk, Kirk Boyle, Dr. Gordon McKinney, Clay Griffith and as a destination city,” Chase said. Nan Chase. McKinney served as the moderator, while the others were panel“It was the whole idea of fun...It got Chase later noted, “What we see today, especially in Elcompletely nuts… It was like Bele Chere for weeks at a time.... lington’s architecture (in Asheville) is a bubble bursting.” “They had party girls and party boys... They would have buses Asheville, like most American cities, soon was to feel the with lemonade and harder drinks — and even harder drinkers....” brunt of the Great Depression of the 1930s. Chase was one of four panelists who discussed “Glitz and But, she said, it was fun while lasted. And, thanks to a Glory: Asheville in the ‘20s” in A-B Tech’s Ferguson Auditocash crunch suffered by the city and surrounding Buncombe rium. The Asheville History Center at the Smith-McDowell County, Asheville’s architecture was preserved because the House hosted the program. About 40 people attended. debt prevented the buildings from being demolished. The program particularly focused on the role architect The program began with presentations by the panelists of Douglas Ellington played in shaping Asheville during that 15 minutes each, followed by a lengthy question-and-answer period. period. “In fact, he was the creator of what we call ‘the Asheville See BOOMTOWN, Page A12 look,’” Dr. Gordon McKinney, the moderator, said.
A2 —December 2013 - Asheville Daily Planet
Firm drops Haywood Street hotel plan
From Staff Reports The abandoned garage across from the U.S. Cellular Center in downtown Asheville will remain, for the near-term, what Mayor Terry Bellamy described as an eyesore. On Nov. 22, McKibbon Hotel Group’s Vice President Wes Townson informed Asheville City Manager Gary Jackson his company, which had plans to purchase the property from the city for $2.5 million, would be backing out of the deal. McKibbon had plans to demolish the two, crumbling buildings on 0.8 acres of city land, and build a 140-room hotel, but the Georgiabased hotel chain reconsidered in the face of pending litigation brought forth by a number of other hoteliers with local interests. The owners of the Renaissance Asheville Hotel, Four Points by Sheraton, and the Indigo Hotel filed a suit in March, but dropped it in September. Representatives from McKibbon said they
Bellamy to take break from politics
were unable to learn the nature of the litigation, but when they first heard about it, they had to seek other options. Even a frivolous case thrown out by the courts could have tied construction up for a year. It was therefore in the corporation’s best financial interest to pursue more shovel-ready property, like the 17-story BB&T building downtown, Townson said. The developer has plans to work with Tower Associates to convert the offices and parking garage to an upscale boutique hotel in a mixed-use development. McKibbon may also play a part in developing the Three Brothers restaurant site and property owned by Tony Fraga at the corner of Battery Park and Page avenues. McKibbon became interested in the property across from the US Cellular Center when the city put property it deemed surplus up for sale in an RFP/RFQ process. The process was supposed to ensure lands would be used in accordance with city council’s strategic goals. McKibbon’s idea was expected to add $116,000 to the tax base, but, coming out of the building slump, environmental groups still opposed development downtown. People Advocating Real Conservancy
wanted a downtown park, and the environmental group worked with ecclesiastical leaders at the Basilica of St. Lawrence to discourage construction on the site near the historic landmark. Other citizens asked why Asheville needed another hotel and asked what kinds of economic advantages the city would be providing by selling their land to a
competitor. The city bought the garage in 2003 with the intention of creating a parking garage, but those plans were dashed by public outcry as well as pricing issues. Members of council indicated they would have to go back to the drawing board to decide what will happen with the property.
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From Staff Reports Asheville Mayor Terry Bellamy announced in late November that she will not run for Congress in 2014. The two-term mayor announced early she would not seek re-election, but would instead run against Patrick McHenry, R-Lake James. Bellamy said she intends to return to the political scene, but would like some time off to complete her master’s degree in public affairs from Western Carolina Unieversity. Bellamy was first elected to council in 1999. She cut her second term short to run for mayor. While serving, she advanced the causes of low-income minority neighborhoods. Among her accomplishments were bringing the federal anti-drug Weed and Seed program to West Asheville, establishing the City of Asheville Youth Leadership Academy, and filling an appointment to the state’s 21st Century Transportation Committee.
Published monthly by Star Fleet Communications Inc. Phone: (828) 252-6565 • Fax: (828) 252-6567 Mailing address: P.O. Box 8490, Asheville, N.C. 28814-8490 Website: www.ashevilledailyplanet.com E-mail the following departments:
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To subscribe to the Asheville Daily Planet, send check or money-order to: P.O. Box 8490, Asheville, N.C. 28814-8490 One-year local subscription (Asheville, Buncombe County, N.C., only)..............................$35 One-year out of area subscription (outside of Asheville, Buncombe County, N.C., but inside the United States).........................................................$50 One-year outside U.S. subscription (outside U.S.)..................................................................................$100 Copyright 2012 by Asheville Daily Planet. Advertising copyright 2012. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. The Asheville Daily Planet is available free throughout Western North Carolina. Limit one copy per person. Additional copies may be purchased for $1 per copy, payable at the ADP office in advance. No person may, without prior permission, take more than one copy of each issue.
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Asheville Daily Planet — December 2013 - A3
A4 —December 2013 - Asheville Daily Planet
Fryar gets seat (finally) at A-B Tech From Staff Reports
Sexy Santas
The Western Carolina University Dance Team performs in sexy Santa costumes during Jinglefest on Nov. 23 at Pack Square Park in downtown Asheville. The festival followed the
Daily Planet Staff Photo
city’s 67th annual Holiday Parade, which, with 102 units, was — reportedly — the largest in Asheville history. The day was cold and blustery, but the parade was well-attended.
Pact could put brakes on Montreat College merger From Staff Reports
MONTREAT — The proposed merger between Montreat College and Point University may be on hold. In January, members of Montreat College, pressed with financial concerns, approached Dean Collins, president of Point University, to explore options for a merger. Montreat’s representatives would only consider a merger with an organization with similar Christian values. In July, representatives from both institutions went public with the announcement. The news met normal resistance from alum-
ni, but now opponents believe they may have a legal basis to prevent the union. Montreat College has long had ties to the Montreat Conference Center, which is overseen by the Montreat Retreat Association, an affiliate of the Presbyterian Church. Those ties were sealed in a contract in 1992 and updated in 2009. In late November, Tanner Pickett, the conference center’s vice president for sales, marketing and communications, noted that the document states that the majority of board members for the college need not belong to the Presbyterian Church USA, but a majority may not be of a different denomi-
nation. Since Point University is not a Presbyterian college, Tanner said he sees potential for problems. Montreat and Point had expected to merge, following the approval of the Southern Association of Colleges and School Commission on Colleges, as early as July 2014. The new Point University would serve Christian students in North Carolina and Georgia, and provide distance learning opportunities as well. Before seeking a merger, Montreat had laid off 29 full-time employees.
Buncombe County Commissioner Mike Fryar will finally get a seat at the table of AB Tech’s Board of Trustees this month. Fryar, who vehemently opposed the quarter-cent tax increase for the college, had been squeezed off the board in last-minute machinations. Fryar’s seating on the board of commissioners was held up somewhat while the two other candidates in his district fought over a very tight and contested vote count. Once seated, he was going to represent the commissioners on the college’s board, but Madison County Commissioner Wayne Brigman was appointed right before the Buncombe County Commissioners voted. State statutes say only one county commissioner may serve on a community college’s board of trustees. AB Tech’s outgoing President Hank Dunn admitted to expediting Brigman’s appointment to bump Fryar. Answering that, the General Assembly created special legislation for AB Tech that would allow Fryar to serve on the board. Fryar said he harbors no ill feelings toward Dunn. In fact, he didn’t want to serve until the fray over Dunn was over. He didn’t want to get into details. “I had a stack of email complaints [several inches] high,” Fryar recalls, and “I’d receive a list of complaints every Thursday.” He knew what was going on when the board, which has oversight for only one position, started holding frequent closedsessions over a personnel matter.
Asheville Daily Planet — December 2013 - A5
Santa says
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A6 — December 2013 - Asheville Daily Planet
Mountain BizWorks laying off more workers
From Staff Reports
Asheville’s Mountain BizWorks is demonstrating its understanding of the business world by right-sizing operations for its changing landscape. Zeroing in on its original mission, the program will be terminating business planning courses, at least for the short-term. Two weeks into November, Shaw Canale resigned as chief executive officer of the nonprofit.
Canale pledged to continue to be intimately engaged with the organization’s operations, but she could not justify receiving a salary in light of other financial burdens. Another eight to ten employees will be canned in the coming weeks as the organization restructures to realize greater efficiencies. Upon resigning, Canale reported the company’s books were in good order, but cash flow was putting the organization in a bind. The nonprofit’s total assets increased slightly
to $5.1 million last year, but grant revenues dropped from $1.8 million to $1.2 million while liabilities increased from $3.3 million to $3.7 million. The organization is the recipient of federal, state, and private grants. For the immediate future, Mountain BizWorks will be focusing on providing small startup loans for entrepreneurs. It will continue to provide business counseling at some level as well. In 25 years of operation, Mountain Biz-
Works has loaned $4 million to small businesses. In 2011, alone, it assisted 51 companies with startup capital. Factoring into the decision to terminate class offerings is the perception that other organizations are already covering those bases. Business curricula from AB Tech, SCORE, and the Small Business and Technology Development Center will still be available. Mountain BizWorks will follow through with its commitments for courses through mid-2014.
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Asheville Daily Planet — December 2013 - A7
Manheimer wins mayor’s job; turnout low Wisler finishes 1st in council race, along with incubments Smith, Bothwell
From Staff Reports Vice Mayor Esther Manheimer won a decisive victory in the contest for mayor of the City of Asheville. Manheimer defeated contender John Miall, who was a favorite of business leaders. While serving as vice mayor, Manheimer instilled confidence with her knowledge of the system. Manheimer is a partner with the Van Winkle law firm, and she has vast experience dealing with the state legislature. Manheimer is entirely in-synch with the city’s strategic goals for greening the environment and promoting Smart Growth policies. And that was the basis for Miall’s platform. Miall complained the city was wasting too much taxpayer money – taking resources out of the private sector to create waste. He held up the $1 million the council allegedly blew on the art museum as his poster child. Miall had a track record of fiscal conservatism, having saved the city millions as its former risk manager. But that wasn’t what the public wanted. The winners of the seats open for city council were easy to predict. Gwen Wisler was the top vote-getter. She campaigned as a former CEO of a number of corporations including sporting goods supplier Coleman. Although she gained a reputation for evading questions with expressed interest in further investigations before answering, her background appealed to both party lines. The second highest vote-getter was Gordon Smith. Smith is the champion of West Asheville. In his first term on council, he promoted Food Policy to help with local food deserts and the vast number of children, who in spite of food stamps and food kitchens, are still food-insecure. He also promised to continue his fights for gay rights. In third place was Cecil Bothwell. Truly an independent thinker, Bothwell knows no middle ground. One either totally agrees or totally disagrees with him, issue by issue. Just before the campaign, Bothwell made a splash in the headlines with a resolution that had the potential to make Asheville a sanctuary city. Defeated were independent businessman Jonathan Wainscott and former police officer Mike Lanning. 190 people cast write-in ballots. In the Town of Black Mountain, Michael Sobol won the mayoral race with 52.75 percent of the vote. The current alderman defeated Larry Harris with little more than 100 votes. Sobol said he did not take the victory as a mandate, unless it was that the citizens want more of the same. The two victorious aldermen were also incumbents. Ryan Stone was the runaway leader with 37.72 percent in a five-way race. Carlos Showers received 23.03 percent. In the Town of Montreat, incumbent Letta Jean Taylor was re-elected to serve as mayor with a whopping 96.09 percent of the vote. She was running uncontested, but 3.91 percent of voters opted for a write-in. The election for commissioners was also a formality. Three candidates, Tim Helms, Mary McPhail Standaert, and Ann Vinson split the votes almost evenly in a three-candidate
race for three seats. Dottie Sherrill, who has been serving on the Weaverville Town Council since 1989, was elected mayor with 63.17 percent of the vote. Sherrill, a retired teacher, sports the image of being a community-minded citizen with all the earmarks of a grandmother, like church, knitting, crocheting, and bridge club. Contender Gene Knoefel only collected 36.46 percent of the vote. Doug Dearth and Doug Jackson defeated Lou Accomero for two available seats on the board of commissioners. In the Town of Woodfin, local icon and incumbent Jerry VeHaun waltzed to victory in an uncontended mayoral race. A four-way race for three aldermen seats was settled with Andrea Boyer, the only Libertarian and non-incumbent, being the odd woman out. Boyer had spoken about realigning taxation with normal business and family incomes. She lost to Jackie Bryson, Debra Giezentanner, and Don Hensley. In Buncombe County, 15,720 voters, or 19.19 percent of the registered total, turned out to cast their ballots. Official Results for Asheville were as follows:
Asheville City Council (three seats)
Cecil Bothwell — 8,161 — 25 percent
Gwen Wisler — 9,136 — 28 percent
Mike Lanning — 3,503 — 10.7 percent
Gordon Smith — 8,936 — 27.4 percent
Johathan Wainscott – 2,653 – 8.11 percent
Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer — 8,341 — 68.3 percent John Miall — 3,790 — 31 percent
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A8 - December 2013 - Asheville Daily Planet
I-26 connector update presented
From Staff Reports
An update on the Metropolitan Planning Organization, focusing on the proposed I-26 connector in West Asheville, was presented to the Council of Independent Business Owners during its Nov. 1 issues meeting. About 35 to 40 people attended. Also, CIBO heard about the progress of the Buncombe County Cultural Recreation Authority from David Gantt, chairman of both the CRA and Buncome County Board of Commissioners. In addition, Assistant County Manager Mandy Stone told about the impact of the recent partial government shutdown on Buncombe County. Regarding the MPO, City Councilman Jan Davis said, “I was asked to speak about the MPO … What they do is that it’s the public’s link to DOT (Department of Transportation), transportation improvements” and other related agencies and issues. He added, “Elected officials are appointed to represent their bodies to interact with DOT on a very personal level. “We all meet there and provide a public forum, once a month, out of the Land of Sky Regional Council.” The group includes Buncombe, Henderson, Haywood and Madison counties. “It’s important that we find out where the money’s going” for transportation improvements,” Davis said. “The MPO put together a group in about February to work toward getting an agreement on alignment in moving forward with the I-26 connector. “ He added that “if any good thing comes from (the officer’s fatality recently) is that it will raise public awareness of safety on that (Jeff Bowen) bridge.” Davis warned that “there will be a day when a tanker overturns and people burn up. … Now with Gov. (Pat) McCrory... we have a possibility with a new funding formula. “What we really need is an alignment between the city and county governments. We have been meeting every month, several times a month, since February. … The first is alignment — alternative 3 and alternative 4-B. We’ve recognized that those don’t fit today. “Another things we work toward is neighborhood preservation…. which very much affects West Asheville. Another thing … is the number of lanes — six or eight lanes. “So what we have to do is work on alignment where it affects the neighborhoods the least… reconfiguring in a way that allows for pedestrian movement. You know how popular it is in Charleston (S.C.) for people to walk across the Cooper River bridge. “We also have an interest in the east side of the river and what that will do with development there. We’re making good progress.” Davis noted that “funding is a real difficult part of it. Under Gary’s (City Manager Gary Jackson’s) leadership, we’ve set aside $1 million… That’s part pf your tax increase. Communities that put ‘skin in the game’ get their projects to move up. All of us in this room are.” Regarding the fatal accident on the bridge, Davis said, “This is a professional driver who made the wrong move. It’s happened. We need to fix it. It is the No. 1 safety problem in our state highway system. It’s the place with the most accidents. That’s costing us a lot of money,” removing accidents. Davis noted that the public hearings will start in February. “We’re about a year and a half off on a part” of the project. “I personally would favor six lanes because it would
impact the community a lot, but it’ll probably be eight lanes because a lot of traffic is going to be coming up that road 20 years from now. “Another things very important to people
in this room is the Leicester Highway. It had five roundabouts. … Roundabouts work very well, but that might have been excessive in that rural area. They’ve worked well in the city,” Davis said.
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A10 - December 2013 - Asheville Daily Planet
‘Scariest man in America’ warns of newest threats By JOHN NORTH john@AshevilleDailyPlanet.com
LAKE JUNALUSKA — For yet another year at Sensible Mountain Readiness Seminar III, William Forstchen was introduced to an audience of preppers as “the scariest man in America.” With a smile, Forstchen, who is single, said that such an introduction “really kills my dates.” Forstchen is a history professor at Montreat College and wrote, among his many books, The New York Times bestseller “One Second After.” The fictional work tells about the impact in the area, centering on Black Mountain, if an electromagnetic pulse knocked out all of the digital mechanisms on which modern society depends. Several hundred people attended the twoday seminar. In a jocular vein, he prompted laughter from the crowd when he deadpanned, “I’m on a quest: I’d like to meet the first person who successfully signed up for the Affordable Care Act…. And we’re expecting this same team to defend America. More seriously, Forstchen asserted, “We’ve been meeting like this for a number of years. We talk about impending crises. Thank God, it hasn’t happened yet.... “Recall that the attack on the World Trade Center was the second attack….” Forstchen said there was one man, who took the possibility of such an attack seriously. “He attended conferences, training programs, mapped out his own plan and, on the day it happened, it didn’t surprise him — when a large single aircraft was used as a bomb. “This guy got all of his people out and he was last seen going back up the steps trying to help some other people....” Forstchen added, “I pray I’m wrong. I pray we’re all wrong. But it’s better to be prepared” than not to be. “It’s hard to believe it was 4-1/2 years ago when my book came out.” The author-professor said he would prefer spending most of his time on the stage answering questions, rather than lecturing, but he spoke a bit longer. “Last month I went to a roundtable discussion” with defense officials,” he said. “They took on threat of cyber attack… I was sitting next to the former head of the CIA. He said when he read my book, it slapped him up the side of his head. “ He added, “Here’s the one that shocked me… When I started researching for the book 10 years ago, on what happens with an EMP… it hits the upper atmosphere, causes the Compton Event, and shortcircuits everything out on earth’s surface.... An EMP is not just something that could hit us in 2004... Both we and the Russians are aware” of the threat of EMPs used to defeat a foe. What’s more, there is the potential for more powerful EMPs wreacking even more damage — “2,000 to 2,100 volts per square meter.. Then someone gave us updated figures. Everything I looked at was either unclassified or declassified material…. they’re developing a super-gamma ray.” He also said the North Koreans are testing EMPs. “These things are developing, so what’s the response? The state of Maine actually did pass an infrastructure security bill — on May 1.” Forstchen said there also is an effort by North Carolina state legislators … to do something. Speaking earlier, Skinny Medic spoke of medical supplies that would be vital to have if a catastrophe hit.
In speaking of the case of generalized violence breaking out, he said, “I wear black gloves. It’s a little harder to see blood if you’re wearing black. In general, Skinny Medic said, “If you don’t do anything else, please take a First Aid class. Learn basic CPR. You can do it. It’s not that difficult.” Speaking on water and energy, Scott Hunt, who goes by his YouTube channel of Engineer7775, said, “I’ve been working with National Geographic (which produces the “Doomsday Prepper” series). It’s been a struggle to get them to do real shows on preppers.. If you’ve seen the shows, you know what I mean.” Beginning on the most basic level, Hunt said, “They (good preppers) need water. They need some way to have sanitation. Some sort of energy.” He added, “Just in the last few years, people have gotten very serious about living off the grid.” As for water, Hunt said, This is kind of my passion. I’m just a water geek, a water nerd... We’re very fortunate on the East Coast — we have a ton of water. Hunt titled his water talk as “Got water? What to do when the tap runs dry?” He said there are several ways to look at water. “It’s very important to have stored water in your dwelling place. People can sabotage your solar panels…. To that end, he said, “Figure out what you need to do to be a balanced prepper.. Some people could fight a world war, but they have no water to get water. Others have food... “Stored water is extremely important. I still have water in 2-liter containers in my basement. In very stressful times, you don’t want to have to think about what I’m going to share with you today. “You don’t want to have to think about having sterile water…. in trying times. As for water storage, he said, “You need at least a gallon per person per day. You need to have at least three months’ supply.” On another aspect, moving water, Hunt said, “The grid system I leave alone. When I show up at someone’s house, the first thing I look for is elevation change. How do I get water to your property, especially without using power. I use gravity-fed. My wife says I’m a little obsessed... but you’re pumping slow and steady,” which is a good way to go. “You have a solar, submersible pump…. You can tie it into you city water system… as long as it’s back-flow protected... So that you can go forever. I’ve been pumping offgrid water for about 12 years. “You can get a tax credit (federal and state). It makes a huge difference if you can take care of the tax credit on your water systems. “Wells … people say if the grid goes down, they’d like to be able to get through an ice storm. They’re just a simple mechanical device to lift water out of a well. “You will really appreciate your local power company if you have to pump your own water for a few days.” Also, Hunt spoke about booster pumps, noting that “homesteaders ... farmers never built at the top of a hill. They’d look for a water source. I encourage people to be down in the valley… Once you get the water out of the ground, you need booster pumps (they’ll lift 500 feet from where I am straight up into the air) The only difficulty with these type of system is they’ve got a battery.”
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Time to break up ‘the empire’ is now, theologian urges By JOHN NORTH
john@AshevilleDailyPlanet.com
It is time to break up “the empire,” theologian Matthew Fox said during an address at which he spoke for about an hour — and fielded questions from the audience for another 15 minutes — on the evening of Nov. 16 at Jubilee Community Church in downtown Asheville. Besides his talk, he also led the two morning celebration services earlier that Sunday at Jubilee. His evening talk, titled “Going Deeper With Matthew Fox,” lasted about an hour and was followed by a 15-minute question-and-answer session with the attendees and capped with a book-signing. Fox is the author of “The Pope’s War,” “Christian Mystics” and “Original Blessing,” among many books, and is, according to a press release, “an internationally acclaimed theologian and spiritual maverick who has spent the last 40 years revolutionizing Christian theology.” He was a Roman Catholic, but was expelled from the Dominican order to which he had belonged for 34 years by Cardinal Ratzinger for teaching liberation theology and creation spirituality. The program started with the song “Soul Friend” performed by the Rev. Howard Hangar, Jubilee’s founder and leader. “You’re part of the universe — you’re not just an observer,” Hangar told the estimated 250 people in attendance. Hangar said of Fox, “His rabbinical nature helps me feel fully alive. It somehow endorses and gives me a stamp on all my crazy ideas in this life. It’s a gift to man — and we’re privileged to have him here today.” Beginning on a humble note, Fox said, “Howard advertised this as ‘Going Deeper’ ... that’s cool. I don’t know exactly what that means, but the four things I plan to talk about are” the mystic warrior that we are, what science and spirituality coming together today, how to make the new economics working for everybody and a few words about creativity “It’s about depression, despair, cynicism, the lack of energy. If we need anything today, we need new forms of education, politics, governing, raising food” and other things. “Our times has the word ‘couch potatoitis’” A contrast to that condition is Thomas Aquinas — “people forget that he was condemned three times before they canonized him… He said zeal is the opposite of inertia. It comes from the intense experience of things…” Fox told of telling a man who came back from Vietnam and who had been a soldier, “but now I’m going to make you a warrior. First, they trained him to play the flute…. The soul grows by subtraction, not by addition... Everyone of the lessons was like that. So learning to let go is a big part of warrior energy. But also learning to care.” Further, Fox said, “Nobody said it better than Haffiz (a Muslim mystic)…. ‘It is a naive person who does not realize we engage in a …. battle.’ That’s the mystic. A mystic is a lover. “A soldier is given a focused task. Kill the enemy. The warrior has to develop an inner life. Purify your wants and longings and engage fear and inheritance of the past.” Again referring to Haffiz, Fox said the
mystic talked about “guarding the jewel of the heart versus the dark ooze of the past.” Fox said his examples show how “the warrior is willing to stand in the present, not overwhelmed by fears of future or shadows of the past.” Matthew Fox He then said, “This whole thing about being lovers. I’d like to begin with men... We’re far too rational. We’re too literal to be in touch with our intuition ... our right brain. Do not make intellect your God. Values do not come from the intellect. Values come from intuition. “If we live in a society that ignores intuition… We are sucked into the values of the empire. We not only are missing intuition, mysticism, we’re also missing values. What we need is a cosmic religion. The first expression of cosmic religion is the conscience. “It is not intellect, but intuition, that guides humanity. This is why I think I derive so much juice from the mystics. The mystics swim in intuition. “‘The God-thirsting person sees God everywhere,’ (Ralph Waldo) Emerson said. The great plenitude of being” is “metaphysical combustion. Disappearing into the beyond. It is this transition that the poet celebrates.” After a pause, Fox said, “We’re talking here about falling in love with creation.… Now the archetype for the omnipresence of God within us” is The Buddha, who “is remembered and honored as a historical figure who lived to be about 84 years old. But the living Buddha” is still around. Likewise, he said that, “in the West, the historical Jesus lived to (age) 30,” but the cosmic Jesus” remains here. As for recovering the sense of the whole, he said, “Christ is the fire that connects everything within the heavens and on the earth… The meta-cosmic Christ. I don’t know what the meta-cosmic anything is… except really, really big.” (The crowd laughed.) “I wrote a book about 25 years ago called ‘The Coming of the Cosmic Christ.’ It’s an achievement of the left brain to give us experience.... I don’t know who God is, but I’ve got a story to tell. Whenever the water struck a stone, it had something to say. That is the Cosmic Christ. Every being is part of holiness, that’s the message of the Gospel... That’s why falling in love” means the warrior becomes a lover. “When you love, you defend what you cherish.” He added that “the Cosmic Christ is not just the life in all things, but the wounds… the genius, the politician, the poet... “If this is true, isn’t it something very important? It’s through this awareness that the sake of the sacred. • EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first of two stories on Matthew Fox’s talk at Jubilee. The second (and final) installment will appear in January’s Daily Planet.
Asheville Daily Planet — December 2013 — A11
Scott and Linda love Asheville!
Photo: Max Cooper, Mountain Xpress
Thank you Asheville for helping us become the number one volume Volkswagen dealer in Western North Carolina and Tennessee. It’s hard to believe Harmony Motors is about to celebrate its 2 year anniversary! And thank you to all the great organizations that have allowed us to be part of this incredible community – including LEAF, OpenDoors of Asheville, ABYSA, Asheville Downtown Association, and so many, many more. Stop by and see our vintage Volkswagens, cool neon signs and local artwork (and find out about all the great deals we have on new and pre-owned Volkswagens).
Scott and Linda Wilkerson Behind the wheel of their 1957 Beetle Proud Owners of Harmony Motors
Volkswagen of Asheville 621 Brevard Rd, Asheville, NC 28806 (828) 232-4000 • www.ashevillevw.com
A12 - December 2013 - Asheville Daily Planet
Boomtown
Continued from Page A1 Besides Chase, the other panelists included John Turk, Kirk Boyle and Clay Griffith. Chase addressed the economic climate in Asheville in the 1920s, Asheville as a boomtown and its consequences. Meanwhile, Griffith spoke about architecture; Boyle, the literary scene; and Turk, popular music of the period. Chase is the author of three books, including her newest, “Eat Your Yard: A Guide to Edible Landscaping.” More to the point for her Nov. 9 talk, though, is her work “Asheville: A History,” McKinney, the moderator, noted. Griffith, owner of Acme Preservation Services, holds a master of architectural history from the University of Virginia. Also, he has published a book, “An Inventory of Douglas Ellington’s Architectural Work in Western North Carolina.” To that end, McKinney asserted, “Now the purpose of today is to tie in with the exhibit in the SmithMcDowell House on Douglas Ellington’s architectural work in Western North Carolina.” Boyle, who teaches literature and other related subjects at UNCA, addressed Asheville’s readers and writers of the 1920s. “Asheville was one of the places where literature came alive in the 1920s,” McKinney noted. Turk, a museum curator, performing musician and author, would speak on the new music of the “Jazz Age in Asheville,” the moderator said. “I think you’d have to agree we’re very fortunate to have these four people with us today,” McKinney concluded, as the audience applauded. The first speaker, Chase, said that the 1920s boom period and Ellington’s architecture were the culmination of growth in the city that extended back to the 1880s. Asheville had grown from a population of 2,800 in its early days to 28,000 and then to 50,000 in 1930. “It stayed at about 50,00 for a long time — and has been rising ever since,” she said. That period — the 1920s — was pre-biotics, prescreen on the windows, pre-radio — radio only came along in 1923 — so a lot of social activities had to do with theater and sports.... “There were many parks, hunting, a horse-racing track, bicycle-racing, a motorcar track, baseball and football... In 1916, a great flood knocked out much of what was along the (French Broad) river.” While “every hotel (that is proposed) today gets so much protest… in the 1920s, it was anything goes.” She mentioned some of the architecturally significant downtown commercial buildings that went up in the 1920s, including (among many), the Jackson Building, the Miles Building, the Flat Iron Building, the Grove Arcade, the Public Services Building and the S&W Cafeteria. The also spoke of the “magnificent” City Building, County Courthouse and Asheville High School. Public officials amassed $8.5 million in bonded indebtness as “the city went on a building bender… building fun things. They borrowed and borrowed… because everything was a bubble. So when it burst, it was really catastrophic.” Chase added, “The sales atmosphere was very feverish. (Local literary luminary) Thomas Wolfe wrote about it… They had party girls and party boys. They would have buses with lemonade and hard drinks and even hard-drinkers ... When streets were exhausted, then new streets were built into the wilderness.” City Planner John Nolan in 1925 called for 94 municipal projects and most were completed within two years, she said. “The 1926 hurricane in Florida helped Asheville (as people relocated here) …. From 1926 to the end of the decade, it got more fevered still.” Chase noted that “one of the most interesting things I came across was the Rhodonderon Festival, which started in 1926 and ended in 1941. It got bigger year after year.” Despite all of the building activity, “the banks (in Asheville) were weak. There was a bank crash that cascaded down. Bank presidents went to jail, the mayor killed himself.” Chase said not much was built in the downtown after 1930 because of the city’s financial plight. “It was discovered that all the cash departments of the city and county were gone. The street department was completely dismissed. The level of indebtedness was the highest per capita (of any city at the time) in the United States,” Chase said. See BOOMTOWN, Page A13
Asheville Daily Planet — December 2013 — A13
Boomtown
Continued from Page A12 “They restructured the debt (in 1976) — 50 years later. It took another 15 or 20 years to get the restoration and revival of the downtown area going,” Chase said. “So what we see again today… in a way, it’s kind of marvelous that there wasn’t any money to tear anything down. But there was a lot of human tragedy too.” Next, Griffith said his talk would put “Ellington into that frenzied climate of the ‘20s.” He noted that “the architecture that we see in Asheville of the first 30 years of the 20th century, in many ways, defines Asheville today... There are many factors that play into that — many individiduals and events.” Ellington, a North Carolina native, “had a rich educational background and studied in the the very traditional way, based on the French model. This was very much ruling architecture of the day. “We see the classical sense of proportion — that tradition was prevalent. It pretty much dominated architecture in the early 20th century. Ellington was an exceptional renderer, painter, exceptional sense of color. In the Navy, he actually developed camouflage patents.” While living and working in Pittsburgh, Penn., Ellington won the award to design the Baptist Church in downtown Asheville and that was the beginning of what was to become his legacy here. However, Griffith noted that, “through the first 20 years of the 20th century, Ricky Sharp Smith was very much ‘the’Asheville architect. He was the supervising architect at Biltmore. … After Biltmore was completed, Smith went out on his own and got pretty good commissions from Vanderbilt himself, as well as cottages. He went out into residential architecture… He made his mark throughout Montford and many northside neighborhoods. He really was ‘the’ guy for the first 20 years. If you look at many of the major commercial buildings downtown, they were done by Smith.” He added, “Ellington gets his rep as an Art Deco architect. What is art deco? It was a modern style at that time. It was a break from the classical style. It grew out of a number of things…. development of skyscrapers, setback requirements to let light through, so that skyscrapers were no longer just vertical shafts … and they looked more like birthday cakes.... “Art deco is not coined until later — 1925 — out of the French…. It seems what Ellington was doing here… He obviously knew of all the various movements,… was to take that and apply it very specifically to Asheville. “He talks about how he wants the buildings to reflect the mountain background. He talks about using materials to blend with the mountains. The colors of city buildings were to reflect changes in the soils,” Griffith said. Addressing the literary scene, Boyle, promised to “share some spicy stories” regarding F. Scott Fitzgerald and prostitutes, but did not get to that in his talk. For the 1920s, “we’re talking about literary modernism. So think about these movements in the context of economics. (Henry David) Thoreau said, ‘Most men lead lives of quite desperation.’” Boyle said that “the first characteristic of literary modernism is phenomenological revolution. — how we receive and understand the world. What (Albert) Einstein called space-time. The world is getting faster. It’s making us experience time in a different way. Time’s more fragmentary. (Karl) Marx and (Friedrich) Engels said, ‘All that is solid melts into air.’ Everything becomes ethereal.” He added that “literary modernism’s second aspect is spiritual. As an example, Boyle cited the T.S. Eliot poem “The Waste Land,” publsihed in 1922, “detailing this new world that has lost meaning. The traditional meanings are no longer there.” Writers can’t escape from writing about writing itself. It’s a novel about the artist. Modernism’s trying to create meaning in an otherwise meaningless world. As a result, many of the era’s important writers decided to break utterly with the past. For Fitzgerald, Boyle said, it was “down with Henry James, down with ‘The Waste Land’…. Read me, I’m the new deal.” Turk, who spoke about the musical scene in 1920s’ Asheville, said there was no “Jazz Age” for mainstream whites here because of racial segregation and that it was hard to tell what kind of music the city’s residents liked at that time. “So the jazz age in Asheville was not the case. Have you seen the movie ‘The Jazz Singer’? There’s no jazz there” — or here in the ‘20s.
A14 - December 2013 - Asheville Daily Planet
Faith Notes Send us your faith notes
Please submit items to the Faith Notes by noon on the third Wednesday of each month, via email, at spirituality@ashevilledailyplanet.com, or fax to 252-6567, or mail c/o The Daily Planet, P.O. Box 8490, Asheville, N.C. 28814-8490. Submissions will be accepted and printed at the discretion of the editor, space permitting. To place an ad for a faith event, call 252-6565.
Tuesday, Dec. 3
PUB CHAT, 6 p.m., Mezzaluna restaurant, 226 N. Main St., downtown Hendersonville. The Unity Center in Mills River will hold “Truth on Tap,” a pub chat with the Rev. Chad O’Shea on matters spiritual and otherwise. A love offering will be taken.
Thursday, Dec. 5
CHRISTMAS AT THE COVE, 5-9 p.m., Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove, 1 Porters Cove Rd., Asheville. “Christmas at The Cove” with Cliff Barrows & Friends will celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, with fellowship, dinner
nied by a 40-piece orchestra. Admission is free.
Thursday, Dec. 12
Tuesday, Dec. 24
ANNIE MOSES CONCERT, 5-9 p.m., Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove, 1 Porters Cove Rd., Asheville. The Annie Moses Band will perform. For tickets, which are $59, call 298-2092 or visit www.thecove.org.
Friday, Dec. 13
MARTY GOETZ CONCERT, 5-9 p.m., Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove, 1 Porters Cove Rd., Asheville. Marty Goetz will perform in concert. For tickets, which are $59, call 298-2092 or visit www.thecove.org. SOCIAL JUSTICE FILM, 7 p.m., Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, 1 Edwin Place, Asheville. A film to be announced will be shown for the UUCA’s monthly Social Justice Night screening. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted.
Sunday, Dec. 1
HANGING OF THE GREENS,11 a.m., Asbury Memorial United Methodist Church, 171 Beaverdam Rd., Asheville. Music and an interactive service will be held during a hanging of the greens. GRIEF WORKSHOP, 1 p.m., Unity Center, Old Fanning Bridge Rd., Mills River. The Rev. Linda Zupan will lead a grief workshop, which is highly recommended for prayer chaplains, health care/hospice workers and counselors, as well as anyone who has experienced or is currently dealing with loss. “Grief isn’t only something that accompanies death, divorce, and other major life changes; it is with us in large and small ways each day,” Unity noted. “The changing of the seasons, the news that a loved one has fallen and broken a hip, the start of a new school or work schedule and the changed morning routine ... these and other life events bring their own emotional charges – whether we examine and embrace them or not. Advent, the beginning of the Christmas season, can bring up old grief and feelings of emptiness. Join this workshop to learn tools to help you access your own healing and forgiveness and to help you move into Christmas with a more hopeful feeling.” The workshop is open to everyone on a “love-offering” basis. KYLE MATTHEWS CONCERT, 6 pm. First Baptist Church, 63 N. Main St., Weaverville. Singer-songwriter Kyle Matthews will perform. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted for ABCCM-North Samaritan Ministries for winter heating assistance. HANGING OF THE GREENS, 6:30 p.m., Calvary Baptist Church, 531 Haywood Rd., Asheville. A hanging of the greens service will feature Land of the Sky Symphonic Band, followed by an annual tasting party.
are $25, call 298-2092 or visit www.thecove.org.
Saturday, Dec. 14
POINT OF GRACE CONCERT, 5-9 p.m., Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove, 1 Porters Cove Rd., Asheville. Point of Grace will perform in concert. For tickets, which are $59, call 298-2092 or visit www.thecove.org.
Cliff Barrows & Friends will perform during a fellowship and dinner from 5 to 9 p.m. Dec. 5 at the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove at 1 Porters Cove Rd. in East Asheville. and music. For tickets, which are $59, call 298-2092 or visit www.thecove.org.
Saturday, Dec. 7
CHRISTMAS PAGEANT, 6 p.m., Grace Lutheran Church, 1245 Sixth Ave. W., Hendersonville. “An Appalachian Christmas Pageant” will be held. It is set in a coal-mining town in Virginia in 1937. The pageant also will be presented Dec. 8 at 1:30 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 8
Sunday, Dec. 15
CHRISTMAS CABARET, 2 p.m., Unity Center, Old Fanning Bridge Rd., Mills River. The Christmas Cabaret will feature a musical celebration of the season. Act one will focus on Christmas around the world, while Act two will celebrate Christmas in the United States. Featured will be solos, duets, trios and ensemble songs with a few surprises. Performers will include the Unitic Band, Unity Choir and others, along with Womansong members, and the Youth Education Program Children. Admission is $5 for adults and free for children.
Sunday, Dec. 22
CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL, 4-5 p.m., First Baptist Church of Asheville, 5 Oak St., downtown Asheville. A Christmas festival will feature more than 200 voices accompa-
CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE, 4 and 9 p.m., Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, 1 Edwin Place, Asheville. Two Christmas Eve services will be held. CANDLE-LIGHT SERVICE, 7:30 p.m., Unity Center, Old Fanning Bridge Rd., Mills River. A Christmas Eve Candle Light service will be led by the Rev. Pat Veenema. Attendees are urged to “experience the beauty and magic of Christmas reflected in the candle-lit faces of your spiritual family. Celebrate the Christmas story in scripture with beautiful music.” Childcare will be provided.
Tuesday, Dec. 31
DINNER/BURNING-BOWL SERVICE, 6 and 7:30 p.m., Unity Center, Old Fanning Bridge Rd., Mills River. A burning-bowl service will be led by the Rev. Pat. Veenema. A fellowship potluck supper will be held at 6 p.m., followed by a burning-bowl service at 7:30. In word and song, Unity will remember the past year and those who passed away during that period. “In a purification process symbolized by fire, we meditate to discover what we’d like to release, write it down and release it to the burning bowl, where fire takes them away,” Unity noted. Childcare will be provided.
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WOMEN’S CHRISTMAS LUNCHEON, 1-4 p.m., Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove, 1 Porters Cove Rd., Asheville. “The Great Joy of Christmas With Jane Derrick” will be presented during a women’s Christmas luncheon. For tickets, which are $29, call 298-2092 or visit www. thecove.org. CHRISTMAS PAGEANT, 1:30 p.m., Grace Lutheran Church, 1245 Sixth Ave. W., Hendersonville. “An Appalachian Christmas Pageant” will be held. It is set in a coal-mining town in Virginia in 1937.
Tuesday, Dec. 10
CAROL SING, 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove, 1 Porters Cove Rd., Asheville. A Senior Salt Carol Sing will be held Dec. 10-12. For tickets, which
Covenant Reformed
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 281 Edgewood Rd. • Asheville, N.C. 28804
828-253-6578
www.covenantreformed.net Wednesday— 7 p.m. Prayer/Bible Study Sunday— 9:30 a.m. Sunday School 11 a.m. Worship • 6 p.m. Worship
Celebration Services 11 AM Sunday
Unity Church of Asheville An Informal Spiritual Center of Practical Christianity for Everyday Living.
Bookstore Meeting Rooms
130 Shelburne Road West Asheville 252-5010 www.unityofasheville.com
New Books by Dr. Bob Holt, M.D. at Lulu Dot Com “Jesus in India,” etc. www.healthark.com
email: decoderdoc@juno.com
Unity Center
A Church Family for ONE and ALL Come as you are! Sunday Services Sunday Services 10:00 a.m 9:30am & 11:00am Serving WNC for 60 years
891-8700 / 684-3798
2041 Old Fanning Bridge Rd. Mills River 28759 Rev. Chad O’Shea
www.unitync.net
Survivor Continued from Page A1
Ziffer is the author of “The Teaching of Disdain: An Examination of Christology and New Testament Attitudes Toward Jews” (1990) and “The Birth of Christianity From the Matrix of Judaism” (2006). He has taught classes in Judaism, early Christian history, Biblical Hebrew and comparative religion. Ziffer earned a doctorate in theology from the University of Strasbourg, France, and has taught at the University of Maine in Orono, Mars Hill University and UNCA and in the theological seminaries in France, Belgium and Washington, D.C. A native of what is now the Czech Republic, Ziffer was 14 when the Germans arrested him and placed him in forced labor. He was freed four years later (at age 18), at the end of the war, weighing 87 pounds. Ziffer began his UNCA speech by noting, “I’m pretty overwhelmed — I didn’t expect this big of a turnout. I spoke last year in another venue on UNCA campus, and nearly filled it up, but it was not as big of a venue... “For some 13 or 14 years, I’ve been an adjunct professor at the religion department at what is now Mars Hill University... I am here tonight as a holocaust survivor.” He noted that he tries not to dwell on the holocaust on a personal level, but that he wants to make sure it is not forgotten so he addresses groups about it upon request. On Sept. 1, 1939 — the first day of World War II — Chechoslovakia was first occupied by the Nazis, he noted. On June 29, 1942, a number of Jews were exported. “It’s hard to believe that 24 hours later they went through the chimneys of Auschwitz” via incineration, Ziffer said. In the seven different prison camps in which he was kept, Ziffer said he and others experienced “unbelievable conditions… most of them died. I’m one of the very, very few survivors. At this point in my life, I know only two other survivors — who are still alive — from my town.” After being freed from the camps, he immigrated to the U.S., caught up on his education and eventually obtained various degrees leading to his career as a professor. “All along, I felt compelled to share about the years I spent in that camp…” and seven camps in all, Ziffer said. “I feel compelled to share about genocide and mass killings… So tonight you’ll hear of a fear experiences of radical evil acts” from the concentration camps he was forced to endure. “I’m going to try to explain how such radical evil can happen… and continues to happen.” He told of coming across the ideas of Waller — and reading Waller’s 371-page book, “Becoming Evil,” which addresses the issue of radical evil. “I want to raise one caveat as we speak, I am not an expert in psychology… I am merely an ordinary man... I am a theologian and a bible scholar. “I want to correlate his (Waller’s) insights with my experiences with radical evil. It was committed by ordinary folks, just like you and me,” Ziffer said. “In order for there to be radical evil, there have to be people to do it.... “It was just before Christmas 1942, when we were marched in ankle-deep snow, with armed guards on each side to a destination unknown. I saw Christmas trees (in the houses along the way). He also heard music. He heard the strains of Mozart, wafting through the air. “I think it came from the camp guards’ quarters from the camp we were about to enter. “I felt absolutely miserable. The camp gates opened. We had to line up. It was just
chaos. Amid much shouting and cursing, we were arranged in rows four deep. Roll was called and we would answer ‘here.’ When the camp leader heard my name, he called me to be his personal servant. He called me ‘my little one.’ “I went to my barracks, sunk into the straw and fell asleep. I learned it was a convalescent camp.” At first, Ziffer said he was happy to learn it was not a hard-labor camp. However, “There was something more sinister than hard labor, and I was soon to find it out.... “We had no calendars, no watches, we didn’t know the dates at all, but nonetheless the prisoners did their best to keep track of time, he said. “Let me tell you about these six months.” His first concentration camp held 400 to 600 “Jewish slave laborers. Every day — except Saturdays and Sundays — some prisoners would be killed. Cold and then hot showers ... and beatings. I could hear the screams… One day, I saw bodies contorted on the floor... Our job — the three of us boys — was to transport the bodies in a cart to an unmarked grave nearby.” In another case, Ziffer told of a Jewish camp scribe, whom he was assigned to serve as his witness. “His eyes were beaten out of their sockets…. We heard him ... finally, the howling became a whimper.” The camp leader “was a sadist… He invented this type of abuse,” Ziffer noted. “How such an average person could sink to be such a cold-blooded killer” is a matter of conjecture, Ziffer said noting that Catholic writer-mystic Thomas Merton labeled the Nazi killers “insane.” However, Ziffer said, “This gives us a feeling of comfort knowing we could never be like that.” To the contrary, Ziffer asserted, citing the work of Waller, “Evil is not just acquired. We humans have the capacity for bad behavior.” He spoke of the wisdom of Original Sin theory and “the ancient teaching about our dark side.” He told of experiments, wherein 75 percent of the babies reached for good teddy bears, which psycholgists termed “a predisposition uninspired by outsiders.” However, for 7-year-olds, “a whole subsocialization had taken place.” After a pause, Ziffer asserted, “I say bravo to our rabbis. They knew what they were talking about” in regard to mankind’s capacity for evil. “Saying human nature is unalterable puts us on a slippery slope. Inclination or predisposition” are not sufficient explanations. At that point, he noted that “it’s generally agreed that all human beings are capable of evil.” To that end, the word “design” means it developed gradually, he said. People are “something like a self-learning computer” with a “need for human defense. Helping ‘our people’ and hurting competitors can be advantageous… We are endowed with psychological mechanisms that can cause us to be evil. I call them triggers... lot depends on the worldview of a society in which one lives.” Ziffer added, ?This lens helps us make decisions to live. Cultural models can influence us…. Our American society is an individualistic one,” while in a collectivist society “identity is based on the group. When conflict arises, it’s usually intra-group. A worldview like Naziism defined itself as pure-blood-based. Jews were an out-group. With enthusiasm, he (German Chancellor Adolf Hitler) killed Jews. This model attracts those who enjoy obeying authority and giving orders to those below them.” He quoted Adolf Eichmann (charged with executing “The Final Solution”) as saying “all we knew was obedience to orders.” Ziffer asserted, “Hitler was seen as a messianic figure as well as a benevolent father figure. The Nazis induced mass hysteria” and concluded that good, open education could be the antidote to radical evil.
Asheville Daily Planet — December 2013 — A15 Advertisement
N.C. GOP SENATE CANDIDATES TO SPEAK AT 21ST ANNUAL CHARLES TAYLOR HOLIDAY DINNER Event to also honor current and past soldiers
The three Republican candidates who have announced a run for North Carolina’s U.S. Senate election in 2014 will headline this year’s annual Charles Taylor Holiday Dinner. The dinner will also pay tribute to members of the U.S. Armed Services, both past and present. 2013 marks the 21st year for the popular holiday gathering, which is the largest sit-down political dinner in the state. N.C. Republican U.S. Senate candidates Greg Brannon, a Cary physician; Mark Harris, pastor of First Baptist Church of Charlotte and president of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina; and Thom Tillis, speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives; will speak at the annual dinner. The 21st annual Charles Taylor Holiday Dinner will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7, at the Crown Plaza Resort in Asheville. People who attend a separate, private reception beginning at 5:30 p.m. will get an opportunity to meet and speak with the Senate candidates. Taylor says the annual dinner is an opportunity for candidates to meet with supporters in Western North Carolina.
Tickets for the 21st annual Charles Taylor Holiday Dinner are $50 per person. Reservations must be made prior to the dinner. Checks should be made out to “Charles Taylor Christmas Dinner” and mailed to: Charles Taylor, P.O. Box 66, Brevard, N.C. 28712. For more information, please contact Trish Smothers at (828) 243-2187 or tasmothers@yahoo.com.
THE BUNCOMBE COUNTY REPUBLICAN WOMEN’S CLUB PROUDLY SPONSORS OUR HOMELESS VETERANS
PRE-HOLIDAY EVENT: CONSERVATIVE WOMEN JOIN OUR EFFORTS TO HELP OUR VETERANS
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GUEST SPEAKER - TRUDI WALLEND FORMER NC HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE, DISTRICT #113 WITH A BRIEFING ON LEGISLATIVE PROGRESS
WE LOOK FORWARD TO MEETING OTHERS AT THIS GIVING EVENT!
A16 - December 2013 - Asheville Daily Planet
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The Daily Planet’s Opinion
The Manheimer steamroller Time to take Asheville where no city has ever gone
Congratulations to Esther Manheimer on her Nov. 5 landslide victory over former city risk manager John Miall. With over 70 percent of the vote, dare we call it the “Manheimer Steamroller”? Manheimer will be sworn in to the top job on Dec. 10. Outgoing Mayor Terry Bellamy, who gave her farewell address to City Council on Nov. 12, received a well-deserved standing ovation. Bellamy shared her feelings of gratitude for the opportunity to have served the city for 14 years, eight as mayor. Bellamy had announced her intention to run for Congress instead of seeking reelection as mayor. But in late November, she decided to take a break from politics. Meanwhile, Manheimer said she ran for the mayoralty because she loves the city, and she wants it to continue to excel. She said she sees Asheville taking a leadership position in the state in two ways. First, she would like the city to be innovative and creative in working on issues, solving problems, and stepping up more in terms of job growth and economic development. Secondly, Manheimer would like the city
to serve as a leader in terms of the “political atmosphere in North Carolina.” Specifically, with the projected growth in minority populations and the influx of Hispanic residents, she expects the state, as a whole, to eventually join Asheville in the liberal vanguard, with social justice and education issues taking the forefront If Manheimer is right, there will be a major correction in the direction the state legislature has taken. She wants to ensure that Asheville will be ahead of the curve, perhaps even riding the tidal wave as a leader, with a city-friendly legislature. While the Nov. 5 voter turnout was poor, it definitely showed a preference for the “Manheimer Steamroller;” that is, more investment in greenways, bike trails, and sidewalk construction and repairs – over contender John Miall’s more fiscally frugal approach. Manheimer’s progressive politics aside, we wish all the best to the new mayor, who claims to enjoy running “a really good meeting” and harboring a deep-seated reverence for “Robert’s Rules of Order.” Let’s rock this city . . . for the better!
Lessons from Disney World for Obamacare CHAPEL HILL — What does Disney World have to do with Obamacare? There is an answer, but you will have to read on a little bit to get there. First, there is this grandfather’s testimonial about a wonderful experience at Disney World last week. Watching grandchildren experience the magic of the Disney kingdom was a treat of a lifetime. Fun and exciting rides, a realistic safari experience, a rocket ship trip to Mars, a dramatic flight over California, a Star Wars space flight dodging the forces of the Empire and more. But it did not start out that way. At the check-in at one of the Disney hotels, each of us got a bracelet that took the place of a real key or key card. Brush the bracelet by the door handle, and the door unlocks. And there is no need for tickets to the Disney parks. The bracelet contains all the information about what rides and times we have purchased. Just brush the bracelet by the gate, and a green light signals admittance. At least that is the way it is supposed to work. However, when our group arrived at the 9 a.m. park opening time, rushing to meet a 9:15 “fast pass” date for the Buzz Lightyear ride, the green light did not come on when my bracelet passed by the entry gate. The same thing happened to my sonin-law, Cotton. So we had to stay behind while the rest of the group hurried to Buzz Lightyear. The park attendant sent us the guest relations window to get our problems resolved. After a long wait, a Disney crew member, Mindy, checked our records and confirmed that we were entitled to enter. She pointed us to another place in the park to get our bracelets reprogrammed. More time lost. “That won’t do,” Cotton said. “You could do that right here, couldn’t you?” She could, and she did. For our trouble, Mindy gave us a paper voucher good for one quick entry to any ride that day. Meanwhile, her supervisor, Travis, explained that the bracelet system was still being tested. “We are in beta test-two, and are having an 85 percent success rate. We think 85 percent is pretty good.”
D.G. Martin Pretty good, unless you’re part of the 15 percent whose bracelets do not work. But for the next three days we became part of the 85 percent. It was smooth sailing. At every ride, green lights signaled our entrance to the fast pass lines. Every vendor accepted our bracelets as payment for the many things we and our grandchildren wanted. It turns out that we were part of a massive transformation that will cost Disney a billion dollars to put bracelets on all visitors and connect them to everything Disney. Testing has been under way for most of this year. Disney plans to recoup the billion dollars and much more by increasing convenience for its visitors. It will also be collecting more and more personal data about those visitors. It will follow them throughout the park, learning what appeals to them. A Disney actor playing Mickey Mouse will be able to greet each visitor by name, even wishing a Happy Birthday on that special day. Disney can give each visitor tailored opportunities to spend more and more while in the park and also after returning home. So, what is the connection of Disney’s billion-dollar wristband project to Obamacare? It is a simple reminder that even one of the largest, most successful, and experienced consumer-service companies cannot bring out a massive new computer-based system without confronting and fixing a multitude of unplanned kinks. If we can understand why Disney might not get it exactly right on the first try, we should give Obamacare a little slack, too. • D.G. Martin hosts “North Carolina Bookwatch,” which airs Fridays at 9:30 p.m. and Sundays at 5 p.m. on UNC-TV.
Asheville Daily Planet — December 2013 — A17
Letters to the Editor
Jefferson proven correct in warning on central bank
When the USA was born, the Founding Fathers deliberately did not create a central bank, with Thomas Jefferson even warning that a central bank is “more dangerous and powerful than any standing foreign army.” However, in 1913, a clandestine group led by J.P. Morgan pushed through a bill creating our central bank, the Federal Reserve. Many years later, it was revealed that creeping competition in the banking sector was the reason for this plot. Many have argued the merits of our central bank - whether this was a good or bad thing. But lets examine only indisputable facts during the last 13 years. Rates have been kept artificially low since the dot-com meltdown in 2001. Currently at zero percent. Who have been the winners and losers due to the actions of our central bank? The losers surely would include senior citizens, who responsibly planned for their retirement only to find that no safe investment will pay them any interest on their life’s savings. A million in a bank today would net the retiree only $10,000 (taxable!) per year; hardly a livable wage. Other losers include the working poor who are paying more for every commodity — including gas, rent and food — due to a
“cheaper” dollar. The winners clearly are the Wall Street Banksters who get free money from the Fed and loan it to us at 7 or 8 percent (or 18 percent as in the credit card biz!). The real estate developers who are seeing the roots of another boom of epic proportions — especially in the big cities. And the Multi-National corporations who are not only making all-time high profits on the back of our cheap US dollar, but are sitting on the largest stockpiles of cash in recorded history. Other BIG winners are the politicians who can borrow and spend trillions to make themselves look good, at the expense of future generations of Americans. All thanks to the financial chicanery of the Federal Reserve’s accounting system. These are the facts. Yet, the new Fed chair, if confirmed, signaled that much more needs to be done. The ‘economy’ isn’t doing well enough. For whom? This country is being looted by the rich and powerful - and both parties are to blame. If any more damage is done to the working poor and our Senior citizens, then I agree with the Founding fathers over the current crop of Politicians. Jefferson’s warning is becoming even more prophetic. Steven Chase Boone, N.C. and Miami, Fla. See LETTERS, Page A19
The Candid Conservative
Who’s persecuting whom?
The most persecuted religion in the world today is not the Muslim faith; it’s Christianity. Some maltreatment is blatant – Saudi Arabia’s prohibition of Christian symbols, bibles and churches and murders of Christians in Iraq, Egypt and elsewhere offering stark examples. Most persecution comes in the form of ridicule right here at home as much as anywhere. Bring up Christianity among many left-minded folks and smiles will be replaced with smirks and references to the atrocities of the Crusades. Sorry guys, that was 500 years ago, and it was political popes that were generally in charge of those misadventures. Protestants mostly stayed home. If Christianity is so bad, can’t the left come up with more current criticisms? Not really. Most Christians work quietly to follow God’s will and love their fellow man. Christians didn’t celebrate the death of innocents on 9-11, endorse holy wars, censor religious liberties, or murder infidels. One of their worst offenses is to say “Merry Christmas” and mean it as more than a cheerful reference to Santa Claus.
Optimism can be denial ... with fancy icing
Ernest Hemingway once offered that smart people avoid mistaking motion for action. Recent actions by Democrats and Republicans reveal great motion over meaningful action.They just don’t seem to be able to take real action and curb appetites for short-term fixes.To the contrary, special deals, responsibility avoidance, spending and toxic addiction to pretend optimism remain firmly in control.Sacrificing tomorrow for today works as a temporary patch – not as permanent policy. Spending our way to a better day has been undeclared policy for ten plus years.One can burn furniture to get through a blizzard, but that
Carl Mumpower solution eventually leads to sitting on the floor. There’s an important difference in optimism and denial. In Washington today, underneath all the fancy icing, rests a cake of elephant and donkey manure. All served up by a president with talents Hemingway would quickly recognize and discount with matching enthusiasm.
Freedom of my speech
The Rev. Al Sharpton is one sharp racist. He’s a master at playing the victim card and keeping his mascots inflamed while pretending to be a gentleman of virtue and brotherly love. Heck, this guy is so good if he were caught robbing a bank, he’d talk the police into arresting the tellers. By the volume of his words, it’s safe to bet that “Big Al” believes in free speech – or at least his free speech. But Al wants the FCC to stop people like Rush Limbaugh from using the public airwaves. It’s his view and that of many on the left that America’s political discourse is harmed by the right’s dominance on cable and radio. Though our liberal buddies have been quite comfortable with their dominance of mainstream media, they take angry exception to the other side having a vigorous voice. Per political commentator George Will, about 90 percent of America’s journalists vote Democrat. That may explain why liberal bias in the broader media is so rampant and why people like “Big Al” have the gall to suggest we do away with their competition – and a big chunk of our Constitution. See CANDID CONSERVATIVE, Page A20
A18 - December 2013 - Asheville Daily Planet
Commentary Following Billy Graham’s 95th birthday bash at Asheville’s Grove Park Inn, many observers deemed the guest list unfortunate, perhaps unrepresentative, of Graham’s career. Donald Trump? Sarah Palin? Some blamed son Franklin for the rightwing/corporate tilt among invited guests, accusing the son of tainting Dad’s image. Such criticism is unfounded. In Graham’s myriad authorized biographies, one can’t miss endless photo-ops with the rich and powerful. Graham was ever eager to shake hands of presidents and despots, movie stars and industrial kingpins, and to offer grandiose approval of their greatness. Obsequy more than money seemed to drive the man — though his pockets were Billy Graham never empty. If he primly abjured the criminal greed of revivalists like the Bakkers, the flamboyance of Ernest Angsley or Oral Roberts and the corporeal temptations that snared Jimmy Swaggart, he was never in want. Those who travel regularly on presidential yachts and sleep at night in official mansions need not purchase their own to savor luxury. Moreover, his paycheck from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association for the latest year I documented in my 2007 biography, “The Prince of War,” was $500,000.
On the left
Billy Graham, really?
Not bad for a fellow who bragged that he “never paid for a suit or a hotel room in my life.” Those gathered at the Grove Park Inn were Billy’s crowd. BGEA is heavily invested in petrochemical and defense companies, and it has benefited for decades from the support of media giants. William Randolph Hearst and Henry Luce were big-time boosters. No one has graced the front cover of Time magazine more often than Graham. Today’s deep religious involvement in U.S. politics is a direct outgrowth of Graham’s work. Separation of church and state implemented by our Founders remained strong until Graham inveigled supporters in Congress to permit prayer services on the Capital steps, followed by Official Prayer Breakfasts. He formed, joined or endorsed organizations that opposed civil rights, aided CIA interventions and facilitated genocide, then used his religious network to sway electoral politics. Over and over again he placed himself on the conservative, right-wing side of issues ranging from women’s rights, to gay rights, to war.
He decried unions as un-American, and spoke loudly and often decrying efforts by workers to improve their lot. He explicitly endorsed every American invasion from Korea to Iraq, operating from the stance that American armies would Christianize the world. The political work Graham began in the 1950s has grown into powerful religionist lobbying organizations which succeed over and over again in bending elected officials to their bidding. We see creationism inserted into public school textbooks, pharmacists permitted to reject prescriptions based on faith, parochial schools permitted to use corporal punishment, faith-healing parents denying medical care to children, foreign aid dollars directed to abstinenceonly efforts instead of sex education or AIDs prevention, religious hazing in the U.S. military, and much else. More than any other public figure in our history, Graham undermined the Founders’ skeptical deism, eager to rebrand the United States as a Christian nation, its armies the rightful instruments of Christian
Cecil Bothwell
“Today’s deep religious involvement in U.S. politics is a direct outgrowth of Graham’s work.”
— Cecil Bothwell
crusade and empire. He has lent the imprimatur of divine authority to the nation’s growing militarism. In every way, Graham has been the spiritual father of today’s right-wing religious leaders who inject themselves into the realm of politics. If he cloaked his suasion in public neutrality, it was emblematic of an era in which such intrusion was deemed unseemly. If today’s practitioners are less abashed, it is in many ways reflective of the secure foundation Graham built within Republican and conservative circles. The Founders understanding the dangers of state religion and the potential influence of men like Billy Graham, were concerned to defend both freedom of- and freedom from-religion. Separation was championed, when our Constitution was being framed, by southern Baptists afraid of New England Episcopals who might favor another form of Protestantism. Billy Graham was in his element at the GPI, amidst corporate and political power-mongers eager to use his endorsement to burnish their own credentials. After all, if you kiss the ring of “America’s Pope,” you just might find yourself blessed with future success. • Cecil Bothwell, author of nine books, including “She Walks On Water: A novel” (Brave Ulysses Books, 2013), is a member of Asheville City Council.
Asheville Daily Planet — December 2013 — A19
Commentary
American exceptionalism? We’re No. 11 For almost 100 years, especially after the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, escaped slaves from the U.S. South fled to Canada, perhaps as many as 30,000 of them. In Canada, they were free. They could vote and own property. Canada never had institutionalized segregation of the races. The United States had to endure a Civil War and 70 years of Jim Crow before we were that advanced. An idea called “American exceptionalism” came out of our Revolution and western expansion. Americans and Europeans alike noted our uniqueness. As Charles Murray, a conservative at the American Enterprise Institute, puts it in a recent book: “American exceptionalism is a fact of America’s past, not something that you can choose whether to ‘believe in’ any more than you can choose whether to ‘believe in’ the battle of Gettysburg.” But Murray goes on to say: “American exceptionalism refers to qualities that were first observed in the opening century of our history. There’s no reason why they necessarily still apply today. The extent to which
Lee Ballard they still apply is an empirical question.” I spent too many years in the Third World as a missionary to be a big believer in American exceptionalism today. I experienced very different cultures in those years, and when I returned home, I was able to see America more objectively. We’re spectacular in supporting liberty in the world and in answering the call of disaster, as we did in the Philippine typhoon. But we’re not the country we were at our founding. Seventy percent of us think our country is on the wrong track – and I agree. There’s an intuition that the shine is coming off the city on a hill. Forbes reported October 29 that a nonpartisan think tank, Legatum Institute, had studied 142 countries for its “Prosperity
Index.” Forbes headlined the article, “The World’s Happiest (and Saddest) Countries.” Their criteria for ranking relative prosperity: “countries that enjoy peace, freedom, good healthcare, quality education, a functioning political system and plenty of opportunity.” I read the criteria and said, “Uh-oh, we’re in trouble.” And indeed the United States didn’t crack the Top Ten. Number one? Norway. Number two: Switzerland. Number three…Canada. That’s right, Canada, our neighbor to the north that Americans tend to discount as inferior. They apparently meet the criteria a lot better than we do. The rest of the Top Ten, in order: Sweden, New Zealand, Denmark, Australia, Finland, Netherlands, Luxembourg. We’re number 11. To me, these countries have in common that their people are not worried. They are well-educated. They don’t fear sickness because of national healthcare. They don’t fear old age. They respect democracy; they aren’t intent on blocking their opponents’
success. America is dysfunctional in our governing system. Inequality between classes is growing. We spend and spend on our military over the needs of our people. And of course we don’t have universal healthcare. Americans worry. These “happy” countries pay a lot more taxes than we do, and their taxes pay for their good life. It’s my view that most American troubles have their roots in the extreme hatred American conservatives have toward taxation. Our governments stumble along trying to get by with less and less money. Here in North Carolina our education at every level suffers because conservatives control our state budget. Before we automatically say we’re “the greatest country on earth,” we should give some hard looks at ourselves. We’re certainly the most powerful superpower in the world. But the greatest country? • Lee Ballard lives in Mars Hill.
complicit media and a few staged false-flag events, convinced that any protection is required and our family will be safe. Now ask someone you know who lived under these assumptions in the past, if they would TRUST? The promoters and propagators of fear of neighbor and friend seek to fracture unity and self-dependence, the health and prosperity of community and love. WE are the people, it’s our breath and our life, damn if we pay for it with our taxes. The foolishness must stop. A corporation is not a person. Our earth is not for sale to the highest bidder, the original people throughout the world deserve their peace without threat of multinational consquest through absurd international treaties like GATT and the next abortion, TTP now aminig to gut any local rule. We are being used, people, and if you have children... what will you tell them when they realize...? The Occupy Wall Street movement has morphed many ways, providing relief for Sandy victims even before national groups arrived, collecting almost $500,000 to fund a medical bill “Rolling Jubilee,” retiring and forgiving more than $14.7 million of crushing debt to over 2,600 patients, our people, spending pennies for dollars. Here is our power, here is our hope, not from those who bring us war and tragedy for power and greed. The rule of corporation multinationals has been supported and institutionalized, defended cruelly and by abhorrent aggressive means by our CIA hit squads for decades. This is their mission, not America, but corporate interests. Kermit Roosevelt led the first mission for his oil buddies back in the ‘30s (the the OSS). Our current soldiers have been abused for the same ends. It is time for this oligarchy to be dismanted peacefully and thoroughy, no longer allowed to abuse the gifts of our home, our Earth and our people. We live in one nest called Earth. Stand with us, the children of tomorrow, and be a true human spirit. Be now; it is time. Determine what impact your decisions truly have and change
what you choose to, what you can, for a kinder tomorrow. Namaste. WILLIAM STEWART CHALK Asheville See LETTERS, Page A20
Letters to the Editor Continued from Page A17
Asheville elections have consequences
Wisler’s bus service goal lauded as sorely needed
Congratulations to Gwen Wisler on her Elections are over, and we have a new election to the City Council. Her goal to mayor and City Council. So what’s on the provide bus service on Sundays is comhorizon, and where do we go from here? mendable and sorely needed for the Well, based on recent history, we can homeless and poor people who must find definitely look forward to increased traffic, rides to service jobs who are often bilked population growth, limited parking and an by neighbors who offer them overcrowded downtown — also known rides at exorbitant prices. as “smart growth” to Sunday service ought to be a “I keep waiting for our local politicians. priority this term for Gordon Since the econoAsheville to elect officials Smith, who has theoretically my has stabilized, who ‘get it,’ who come been the point person on the the developers have with a new paradigm Council for the homeless. returned with a and who understand you vengeance, marking I speak as the former presiout their territory. can’t develop your way to dent of the Asheville HomeAirport Road has less Network and current sustainability.” already become a secretary. We need Sunday — Jesse Junior strip mall, and Sierra bus service now, not when it is Nevada is building a financially feasible. Disney World-type brewery nearby. John Spitzberg And if the idea of Trader Joe’s, Harris Asheville Teeter and Greenlife all bunched together EDITOR’S NOTE: Spitzberg is past makes you warm and fuzzy, then you will president of Asheville Homeless Network love the McGibbon Group (that wants to and Veterans for Peace, Chapter 099. add two more hotels) and Mr. Tony Fraga (who wants his “legacy” to be a 14-story Time to fight the power edifice across the street from the Grove Arcade). Boy, do they have a downtown for to protect future of earth you. And our local politicians — who have The time is getting short when we as a yet to see a developer or development that nation, as a people, arrive at where we have didn’t make them swoon — have basically been heading. given the city over to these interests. “The 2012 passage of the National Asheville Redux. I keep waiting for Defense Authorization Act has allowed the Asheville to elect officials who “get it,” military to detain indefinitely without any who come with a new paradigm and who trial any U.S. citizen that the government understand you can’t develop your way to labels a terrorist or an accessory to tersustainability. I keep waiting for officials who rorism, while President Obama’s signing understand that if you come to Asheville to of the National Defense Resources Prebuild or develop, you need to come with a paredness Executive Order has authorized living-wage model. You know, stuff like that. widespread federal and military control of So far, with rare exception, all I’ve seen the national economy and resources during are acquiescent politicians who can’t see “emergency and non-emergency condibeyond the next election ... “Makes me tions.” wanna holla throw up both my hands.” When interpreting this far-reaching God I used to love this city ... quote, begin with the worst case, fascism, Jesse Junior military control the population ... for their own safety... after being convinced by a Arden
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A20 - December 2013 - Asheville Daily Planet
Letters to the Editor
Continued from Page A19
GOP accused of trashing Don Yelton, ‘soldier for all’ Those of the Republican Party leadership and those who were offended by the remarks made by Honorable Don Yelton on a nationally televised program in which he remarked about whites and lazy black folks as it relates to voter registration should have instead applauded him for having the courage to say what many black and white folks feel. Unfortunately, Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show” is hardly worth anyone’s time and attention and certainly should not have been given the credibility it was. I am personally offended that anyone would deem Don Yelton as anything but a brilliant, hard working soldier for all the people of the City of Asheville, Buncombe County, the State of North Carolina, and especially the Republican Party that he has served so honorably.
And I will stand by his side against anyone who calls down this man that I have leaned on so many times to help the underprivileged and me to understand issues that affect their lives. No sugar-coating is the H.K. Edgerton realm of truth that Don operates from. He is a philanthropist of huge proportions who has helped the Red, Yellow, and Black folks of this community in ways that are immeasurable. It is ludicrous for anyone to insinuate that having to secure an ID is somehow a racist act or discriminatory towards black people or any people. Moreover, by calling the voter ID law racist, the left is claiming that race is connected with ID possession. The left believes and promotes the stereotype that races other than white are more likely not to own a photo ID. But there are no statistics to prove what race has more ID. And in Georgia and Indiana where ID’s
Candid Conservative Continued from Page A17
Republicans missing a courage button
It took just two years of Obama and a Democratic majority for America to change its mind and take away the keys to the car. Putting budgetary control in the hands of an elephant majority has greatly impaired the ability of the left to convert America to full-time socialism. Having learned that Obama’s mystical talents were just that, fickle American voters hoped Republicans would step up and make things right. There was no way that was going to happen. There is no one who can keep taxes low, benefits high, and the future bright all at the same time. Too many Americans have bought into the “something for nothing” deceptions perfected by Democrats and enabled by both parties. No matter who we have in power, hard choices, change, and challenge are ahead. That’s OK, but it remains to be seen if Republican leadership can stop practicing please and appease politics and start finding their courage button. Republican conservative roots are found in the word “conserve,” which means to “manage wisely.” There is no evidence either side has figured out how to do that. Instead, another word – “squander” or to “fail or take advantage” seems to be in play.
Rules reduce responsibility
Few things reveal the disingenuous of the new age liberal movement more than the mission to replace liberty with control. The resulting restrictions on the creativity, opportunity, and potentials of the individual and the broader culture are extraordinary. The mission of passing rules and laws is comparatively easy. Execution and enforcement are another matter. The first effort is based in fantasy and the illusions of power, while the second involves accountabilities and the limits of power. One path seeks to create order without accountability and the other recognizes accountability as a foundation for order. In today’s liberalized America, we have lots of signs to guide behavior on our highways, but neither the will nor the manpower to reliably enforce those signs. Cities pass laws restricting firearm liberties for responsible citizens at the same time they maintain a revolving door for criminals at liberty to abuse the property and persons of those citizens. Regulations are passed by
the ton to manage the behavior of energy and finance companies, yet abuses are given a conspiratorial wink by PAC fed politicians and lackey regulators fattened by the spoils. In our community the average crack dealer is caught and convicted three times before he or she receives meaningful jail time. Inconsistent enforcement efforts and the lack of alternative sentencing resources insure a never-ending parade of young men corrupted into becoming career criminals before accountability is responsibly applied. A pattern that is pervasive throughout our culture is thus revealed – though rules,
were recently required, voter registration has gone up dramatically. Actually, it is in fact highly racist to accuse anyone of any color or background as somehow not being smart enough to get an ID in three years. Talk about being racist! It is the liberal left that should be ashamed of themselves. The shame is that the Republican Party does not have more folks in their midst who will stand up and say what they think versus being cowards to political correctness. And they would do the Party and themselves proud if they rescinded the resignation of Don and tried to find a way for him to run on a National or State ticket. Having said the above, should this Party not treat Don in a more kindly manner, I will leave it, and encourage other Blacks to do the same. H.K. Edgerton Asheville
Democrats (not Franklin Graham) blamed for woes Recently my favorite columnist, John Boyle, wrote an article (in the Asheville Citizen-Times) titled, “Is Franklin Graham sullying Billy’s legacy?”
regulations, and laws exist with a depth and breadth unprecedented in history, a misguided emphasis on restriction over consequence guarantees social failure and regression. One mission of the true conservative is to sidestep those who confuse permissiveness with compassion. Handing responsible citizens a heavy regulatory burden as you minimize accountability for those who abuse the rest of us is leadership cowardice – not compassion. Passing new laws without matching enthusiasm for enforcement is like dropping bombs from 30,000 feet and rationalizing
Boyle wrote, “What troubles me with the Graham empire is the direction in which Franklin Graham has taken it and the way he at times appears to be using his father to promote a conservative political agenda, such as the full-page newspaper ads touting traditional marriage during the Amendment One argument.” I beg to differ. The Billy Graham Association has never changed in its direction. It has always been about leading people to the word of God. Boyle must have forgotten that it was the Democrats at their national convention, in Billy Graham’s home town of Charlotte, that booed God and wanted the word God stricken from their platform. Boyle must have forgotten that it is the Democrats that believe in abortion of which Billy Graham is against. Boyle must have forgotten it is the Democrats that push the gay agenda which is against the word of God. The direction of the Billy Graham Association has never changed. What has changed is the direction of the Democratic Party. Chad Nesbitt Asheville See LETTERS, Page A21
the consequences of your action because you don’t observe the impact. The best way to contain the frivolity of those who enjoy making rules, regulations, and laws is to build-in matching accountability for funding and enforcing their creations. You use fewer pots when you have to wash the dishes. One law, properly enforced, has the power of 100 laws properly applied to paper. • Carl Mumpower, a former member of Asheville City Council, may be contacted at drmumpower@thecandidconservative.com
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Asheville Daily Planet — December 2013 — A21
Commentary
20% OFF of Any One Item
Yes, Dems, please stand by Obamacare There are so many fundamental problems with the Affordable Care Act, that I’ve long believed it is not designed to actually improve the insurance system in America, but to irreparably break it in order to usher in more direct government control of health care. That said, despite apologists claims to the contrary, most critics fully understand that the government’s Pacman-era website is not the ACA. The rollout of the Healthcare.gov website is another piece of evidence that government is virtually incompetent. And this is the real threat to progressives and statists.
GovCo knows best
If government fails to deliver on the ACA, how can it argue for more intervention in other areas? Once the American public begins doubting government’s abilities, the statist agenda crumbles. This is why progressives are urging their rank-and-file supporters to hold the line and not abandon their big government solution to health care. Democrats need to take a deep breath, steel themselves and stay on message. This program is not about a web site. It’s about providing health care to virtually everyone and controlling costs that have been spiraling out of control. It’s a message Democrats pushed throughout the first decade of this century with overwhelming support. It’s also a message Republicans ignored when they had the power to do something about it. Hmm... perhaps Thomas Mills forgot that the GOP never had super-majorities in the Senate and House while also occupying the White House. Legislation would’ve been a lot easier for the GOP if they had. But I somehow doubt that Mr. Mills would be celebrating health care reform from the Republicans, had they rammed it through the way the Democrats did. Also, in his PoliticsNC blog post today, Mr. Mills advances the big lie about the ACA - which is that health INSURANCE is the same thing as health CARE. It is not. If access to health CARE was the true goal of the Affordable Care Act, it could have been done far cheaper and with much less disruption to the insurance markets. If you doubt this, look at the reaction from Democrats over the cancellations and massive cost increases being seen in the private insurance markets now. The response has been, “Well, these current policies getting canceled are substandard. Plus, they’re only about 5% of the total insurance marketplace.” The people buying these policies were getting care, despite their “junk plans.” The ACA now forces them to get more COVERAGE, even though they’ll never use it for CARE (think of the 58 year old single gay man mandated to carry maternity coverage).
The politics of failure
In his pep-talk to Democrats, Mr. Mills urges them to stand by the ACA - no matter what - and all will be well. Democrats’ only option is to make the program work–and it is workable. They’re fools if they think they
Pete Kaliner can run from it now and supporting legislation that will hurt the program will only hurt them. If the program fails, Democrats across the board will get the blame and no amount of maneuvering will change that. So they need to fight to make it work, not appease the small but vocal group of people who are paying more. I agree with Mr. Mills that Democrats should own this. The GOP should not attempt to help them avoid sole culpability. If he’s right, let them bask in the electoral glory of having provided affordable care for everyone. I doubt this will happen. We could even have a bet - if the ACA is a failure, the left abandons its statist agenda and allows the right to enact free market reforms. Deal? Mr. Mills goes on to offer some free political messaging advice: So, Democrats, here’s your message: We want to control the cost of health care and provide affordable care to all Americans while Republicans have failed to offer any solutions to our broken health care system and are now trying to sabotage reform, not fix it. Well, this is actually not groundbreaking advice at all. (Sorry about that, Democrats.) This is the same talking point advanced by Democrats at the national level for several weeks already. Could this be a sign that there really isn’t any other argument to make? Or is it a sign that Mr. Mills didn’t get the memo? I’m not sure. But, like most things told to us about the ACA, this is also a lie. There have been many GOP alternatives discussed - for decades. Among other ideas, the right has proposed ‘portability,’ tort reform, vouchers, high-risk pools, and equalizing pre-tax treatment of premiums. These reforms are designed to make the market as free as possible, which induces lower prices and, in turn, improves access. This, essentially, rations the service by cost. People are free to choose how to spend their money. The left believes the way to improve access is to mandate it. The ACA is creating an insurance system that is, essentially, a public utility - controlled and regulated through the state. And this is why there is fear among Democrats, because if this grand liberal experiment fails quickly, it will undermine their entire economic and governance philosophy. But if it takes decades to fail, I suspect the push will be for a single-payer system - which is the dream of all progressives. And this is why I’ve long believed that the ACAis not designed to improve the insurance market in the USA, but to so break it that it allows the left to achieve their real aim. • Pete Kaliner hosts a talk show from 3 to 6 p.m. daily on WWNC-AM (570).
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A22 — December 2013 — Asheville Daily Planet
Advice Goddess
Continued from Page A1 A: I guess when you ask a woman whether she’d like to use the power outlet, she should just come right out and say, “I would, but I don’t find you very attractive.” Why go after what you want when you can dance around it, do it favors, and hope it figures out that you’ve made a secret agreement with it in your head? There are girls who would respond in a way you’d consider honorable — who would not only show appreciation when you provide them with complimentary food and beverages but even follow you home. Unfortunately, they’re the sort of girls who catch a Frisbee in their teeth. Like the sign spinner on the corner in the Statue of Liberty suit, you think you need to lure women with a special offer, except instead of “Cash for gold!” it’s “Snake your drain for a date!” You’re apparently convinced that no woman would want you for you. This probably isn’t entirely off base, since the “you” you currently are is a guy who thinks instilling a sense of obligation in a woman for favors rendered is your best hope of having sex again before you forget where the parts go. Stop grumbling that women are conniving takers, and work on accepting yourself, flaws and all. Once your self-respect is no longer trailer-hitched to whether women want you, you can be direct — just talk to a woman, let her see who you are, and ask her out. She may turn you down, but if you feel okay about yourself, you’ll see her rejection as your cue — simply to find the next girl to hit on, not to storm out behind the coffeehouse, shake your fist at the sky, and yell, “Hey, weren’t the meek supposed to inherit the earth? Where’s mine?!”
The Advice Goddess
Amy Alkon
Wait problems
A friend of a year has a pattern of raving about people she meets and then completely cooling on them. Last week, she met a man online. On their first date, he took her shopping, buying her a gold ring and a key ring he had engraved with both their names and “Thinking of you always.” She describes him as perfect, brilliant, etc., and said she loves him and would marry him. I said things like “Take some time to get to know him,” but I don’t think she really heard me. — Concerned A first date like theirs raises some questions for the second date, such as, “Who should pay the invoice for the side-by-side burial plots?” Be prepared to wear out your face trying to talk sense into your friend. The problem is “confirmation bias” — our tendency to seek information that supports what we already believe and toss information that does not. In other words, your time would be better spent painting a wall and speaking meaningful thoughts to the paint as it dries. Another productive use of your time would be adding up how much of it you’re spending worrying about this woman’s problems. It isn’t mercenary or ugly to expect a friendship to be mutual and to influence you in positive ways. If how she lives is
Horoscope By MARYANNE MORRIS
path.
Aries (March 21st-April 19th) The gods are smiling on you this month. Its high time you smile back.
Libra (Sept. 23rd-Oct. 22nd) Keep playing the lotto. Gambling is your game. You’ll soon hit a jackpot, with the ones you love.
Taurus (April 20thMay 20th) Don’t blame anyone but yourself for your downfalls this month.
Scorpio (Oct.23rd-Nov. 21st) The elders at Stonehenge will give you tidings of joy and merriment.
Gemini (May 21th-June 20th) For some reason I forgot to give you a horoscope last month. Which is ok because this month your going to have a blast. Good times. Cancer (June 21-July 22nd) Bring holiday cheer to your friends this month. Send them a holiday or seasons greeting card. Leo (July23rd-Aug. 22nd) Bad bicuits make the baker broke. Use this as a life motto this month. Virgo (Aug. 23rd-Sept. 22nd) The planets are inviting you to take on a new adventure. Tread lightly on this new
Sagittarius (Nov. 22ndDec. 21st) Don’t seek advice from people on the bus this month. You can’t heal wounds with cat spit. Capricorn (Dec. 22ndJan.19th) The stars my be alining for you this month, but that is no excuse to put mistletoe on your butt. Aquarius (Jan 20thFeb.18th) I need your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle. Time travel will be easier for you with no clothes. Pisces (Feb.19th-March 10th) Enjoy your month!!! Start saving for a cruise. A handsome cabana boy awaits your arrival.
dragging you down, you may want to give her a little less prominence in your life. Then, when you do see her, you can just admire her ring and share in her happiness at reaching that milestone golden anniversary — celebrating 50 joyous minutes of knowing a man.
Moody call
Ten months ago, while studying abroad, I had one wonderful night with a girl. We kissed and danced the night away. She lives in Brazil, but we’ve communicated regularly via Skype and email. I’ve never felt such a strong connection. Recently, I asked what she wanted, and she said to be together in the same country. We started imagining that, and she became extremely attached, wanting reassurance about our future that I couldn’t yet give. I confessed to feeling guilty about causing her emotional strain. She flipped, seeming like a totally different person. She said it wasn’t the first time someone had worried about how attached she was and said she’d start being more distant with me. Angry, I briefly blocked her on my phone so I wouldn’t communicate anything rash. She later complained about her texts bouncing back, and I explained what I’d done and why. She lost it, saying she was “sick of this” and “done.” That was two weeks ago. Should I attempt reopening communication? I feel I’m missing the opportunity of a lifetime if I don’t. — International Love Here’s a woman who flips out when you worry aloud that you aren’t making her happy fast enough. The prospect of being with someone who does this is the “opportunity of a lifetime” the way Hurricane Sandy was the vacation opportunity of a lifetime, complete with the chance to swim in the Jersey shore’s finest restaurants and mingle with celebrities (well, wave to Sean Penn if a disaster recovery photo op took his rowboat past the roof of your motel). A long-distance relationship is a relation-
ship that’s miles from reality. Much of its power comes from what’s missing. For example, there are a lot of blanks left by “seeing” somebody by Skype and email. Nature (and human nature) abhors a vacuum, so you fill the blanks with your projections of who the person is, drawn from romantic memories and hopes of who you’d like them to be. The love you feel may, in part, be a love of how your conversations make you feel about you: that you’re witty, charming, and a great romancer. And of course, love that’s out of reach tends to have the strongest pull, a la Romeo and Juliet. Frankly, if their families hadn’t basically been the Crips and the Bloods with linguini and instead had been all “Hey, you crazy kids, be home by curfew,” it probably would have been a matter of weeks before Juliet was sneaking out behind the palazzo with Marcello and then Luigi. You find out whether you can have a life with a woman by experiencing her day to day -- seeing whether she chases you around with a cleaver when you forget to wash a glass or when you draw the line at picking up ladyproducts at the drugstore. You could propose living in the same place for a month -- after getting in touch to tell her how wrong you were. (This is basically catnip for women, and whether you were actually wrong about anything is immaterial.) But consider all that goes into a relationship with someone from another country (travel expenses, residency permits, and difficulty finding work and even getting a work permit). Maybe it makes sense to deem what you had as “one wonderful night with a girl” -- before you get to Brazilian customs and find yourself answering “Do you have anything to declare?” with “Yes, I think I’m making a big mistake.” • (c.) 2013, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. Got a problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave, #280, Santa Monica, CA 90405, or e-mail AdviceAmy@aol.com (advicegoddess.com).
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Asheville Daily Planet — December 2013 — A23
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A24 — December 2013 — Asheville Daily Planet
Calendar of Events and Concert Reviews
Special Section PULLOUT
B1
Asheville Daily Planet — December 2013
Sax-driven band
High-energy Fitz and the Tantrums unleash surreal neo-soul-pop mix
By JOHN NORTH
john@AshevilleDailyPlanet.com
With its two top singers sounding — at times — like the late soul-music icons Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell (albeit with a 2013 flair), coupled with a smokin’ bass saxophone, the group Fitz and the Tantrums was a smash during a Nov. 5 show at The Orange Peel in downtown Asheville. The neo-soul/indie pop band from Los Angeles that, in an unusual twist, features sax-driven music with keyboards instead of electric guitars, was the headliner in a three-band show. Performing earlier in the evening were the groups Capital Cities and the Beat Club. About 700 people attended. After almost exactly an hour’s performance that included close interaction with the audience, some superb dance moves, an often-dazzling and futuristic light show and — most importantly — excellent vocals and musicianship, Fitz and the Tantrums left the stage. The crowd cheered and called out for more songs. The ruckus continued with the audience soon stomping on the nightclub’s wooden floors until lead singer Michael Fitzpatrick finally bounded back onto the stage, followed by his band, to perform its hit single “MoneyGrabber” and ended the show — for good — with “The Walker.” Besides Fitzpatrick, the band members include Noelle Scaggs, vocals and percussion; James King, saxophone, flute, keyboard, percussion and guitar; Joseph Karnes, bass guitar; Jeremy Ruzumna, keyboards; and John Wicks, drums and percussion. The group opened with “Get Away,” after which Fitz asked, “What’s happening, Asheville?” As the crowd cheered in response, Fitz said, “This is truly one of my favorite cities to come to.” Scraggs, the other vocalist, added, “Can we get everybody to get at least one fist in the air tonight?” Many in the crowd raised their fists, as the band launched into “Don’t Gotta,” followed by “Break the Walls.” Getting one of the biggest audience responses of the evening was “Breakin’ the Chains of Love.” Later in the show, Scraggs said, “I really do love this city. There’s so much amazing energy that comes out of this city. We’ll forever come to Asheville — you don’t have to worry about that.” After performing “Keeping Our Eyes Out” and “Spark,” one of the most memorable songs of the night was “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” a cover of the song performed originally by the British new wave music duo Eurythmics. Fitz’s version featured an extended jam and audience participation. Fitz said, “It’s been an incredible year. The reason the next song went to No. 1 is people like you! “ Fitz and the Tantrums then launched into “House on Fire,” “Fools Gold,” “Out of My League,” “Last Raindrop,” “6am,” “Merry Go Round” and “L.O.V.” When he and the band returned for an
File Photo
Fitz and the Tantrums burst into action at a previous concert. Fitz, the lead singer, is in the foreground, third from left. encore, Fitz said “Y’all really want some cheered. real people and music-lovers. Thank you, more? Asheville, let’s hear what you’ve After performing “MoneyGrabber,” Fitz Asheville, for making our dreams come got. Make some noise.” On cue, the crowd told the crowd, “Thank you guys for being true.”
CONCERTS FEATURING A WIDE RANGE OF MUSICAL GENRES — JAZZ, BLUEGRASS, FOLK, ROCK, INDIE-POP —
B2 - December 2013 - Asheville Daily Planet
Review
Todd Sheaffer channels Dylan at times in show Taylor Martin and band pack punch as ‘opener’
By JOHN NORTH
john@AshevilleDailyPlanet.com
Todd Shaeffer, lead singer and chief songwriter for Americana-based newgrass band Railroad Earth, performed as a solo act and captivated the crowd during a concert Nov. 21 at Isis Restaurant & Music Hall in West Asheville. Some of his folks songs were reminiscent of the works by Bob Dylan and Neil Young, but Sheaffer added his own unique spin to them, along with his stellar musicianship and vocals. Indeed, the English literature graduate from Columbia University not only has written clever song lyrics, but the very names he has given to some of his songs show his literary flare, such as “Black Elk Speaks,” “Like a Buddha” and “Jupiter and the 119.” Even his New Jersey-based band Railroad Earth’s name was borrowed from the Jack Kerouac short story “October in the Railroad Earth.” (The band also has a song by the same name.) Sheaffer, who previously was the frontman for From Good Homes, is the real thing as a folksinger, as he paid his dues developing his chops early in his career in the Greenwich Village, N.Y., folk circuit. Shaeffer showed a terrific ability to connect with the crowd, and his performance inspired some singles and couples — at times — to get up and dance enthusiastically. While the show featured a pleasing combination of his guitar- and harmonicaplaying and singing, it would have been even better if Sheaffer had performed his terrific songs with a full band, providing more structure and rhythm, along with that joyous phenomenon — vocal harmony. Opening the show was Asheville-based Taylor Martin & His Acoustic Band, which, like Sheaffer, mainly performed originals, but also performed memorable covers of Neil Young’s “Don’t Let It Bring You Down” and “Music Arcade” and Tom Waite’s “Jockey Full of Bourbon.”
Special photos by Scott Woody
Todd Sheaffer, frontman for Railroad Earth, performed solo in Asheville. Martin, a singer-songwriter classified in the Americana genre who grew up in Richmond, Va., is known for writing song lyrics with a dark-edge that somehow come out with a cheerful flare. He has a voice reminiscent of famed singer John Hiatt. Martin’s hangdog expression and shy smile, combined with a mesmerizing deep baritone, raspy voice — bordering at times on Louis Armstrong, seem to naturally make him a crowd favorite. Among Martin and band’s top songs were “‘Pon My Door,” “Devils in the Barroom,” “Drive Through the Years,” “Travel for Travel Wide,” “Hallowed Crowd,” “Engine” and “White Buffalo.” Of those originals, “‘Pon My Door” and “Engine” stood out most, showing Martin has much potential to go far. An especially memorable aspect of Martin’s performance were two songs, including one that he said was inspired by seeing a one-eyed woman crying on West Asehville’s Haywood Road and the other that, he claimed, was about about “the Charlotte Street Pub (in North Asheville) and the people who go there.”
Taylor Martin & His Acoustic Band (from left) included Drew Matlich (mandolin), Rick Cooper (bass and backup vocals), Taylor Martin (guitar and lead vocals), and Lyndsay Pruitt (violin and backup vocals).
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A Grown Up FromUp Santa! AWish Grown Wish 2From Winners Circle •Santa! Arden 23 Road • WeavervilleCircle 2 Winners Circle • Arden23 Young 23 Young Road • Weaverville 2 Winners • Arden Road • Weaverville Long Shoals Rd.,A Arden. Grown Up Wish From Santa! AYoung Grown Up Wish From Santa! off Sweeten Creek Rd. Call for appointment off Sweeten Creek Rd. Call for appointment
CONCERT, 12:30 p.m., Porter Center for Performing Arts, Brevard College, Brevard. The First Monday Concert Series will feature Eric Ohlsson, oboe; Steve Cohen, clarinet; and William Ludwig, bassoon. Admission is free. AUTHOR’S TALK/PRESENTATION, 7 p.m., Malaprop’s Bookstore/Café, 55 Haywood St., downtown Asheville. Cassandra King, wife of Pat Conroy, will talk about and sign copies of her new novel, “Moonrise.” The book is set in an eerie mansion in Highlands, N.C. The plot revolves around a group of old friends, some of whom are reluctant to accept the new wife of one in their midst after his first wife has died. As the focus on life changes and the unsolved mystery of Rosalyn’s death in the previous year, the characters display many high emotions of envy, passion and friendship. Admission is free. FILM SCREENING, 7 p.m., Black Mountain Library, 105 N. Dougherty St., Black Mountain. The film “The Other Son” will be shown for free as part of the Middle East Film Series, hosted by Western Carolinians for Peace and Justice in the Middle East.
Tuesday, Dec. 3
AFRICAN ECONOMY LECTURE, 7:30 p.m., Reuter Center, UNC Asheville. Raymond Gilpin will address “Africa: A Hopeful Continent?” He is an academic dean at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in Washington, D.C. Admission to Gilpin’s talk is $10 for the public and free to members of the World Affairs Council and UNCA students.
The Elvis Presley tribute show, “Christmas With the King” will be performed at 7 p.m. Dec. 7 at The Foundation Performing Arts Center at Isothermal Community College in Spindale.
for appointment 828-508-6667 Thursday,CallDec. Berry5 Bate
Look for our ad next week in Guns & Bows!
HOLIDAY HARP CONCERT, 4 p.m., Green River Library, 5 Green River Rd., Zirconia. Carroll Ownbey wil perform a free holiday concert. She is billed as an accomplished harpist and has been performing in Western North Carolina for more than 10 years. FILM SCREENING, 7 p.m., Brooks-Howell Home, 266 Merrimon Ave., Asheville. The film “The Other Son” will be shown for free as part of the Middle East Film Series, hosted by Western Carolinians for Peace and Justice in the Middle East. GREAT QUOTES FORUM, 7-9 p.m., Smoky Mountain Theater, Lake Point Landing, 333 Thompson St., Hendersonville. Dr. John Wells will address the Immanuel Kant quote, “From the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made.” Wells, executive vice president of Mars Hill University, has oversight of strategic planning, academic affairs and student development, enrollment, financial aid, student retention and serves as a member of the president’s cabinet. Following Wells’ 30-minute presentation, a 30-minute question-and-answer session will be held. Moderator Don Emon will then lead a 50-minute “applied philosophy” discussion on the talk, followed by five minutes of the “last word” by Wells. A $5 donation is requested of attendees, with all proceeds going to a general scholarship at MHU. FACULTY CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., lobby, Lipinsky Hall, UNC Asheville. Flutist Judi Lampert will lead a concert by the Apollo Winds. She is adjunct professor of music at UNCA. Admission is $5.
Friday, Dec. 6
LIGHTING OF THE GREEN, 6-8 p.m., Fernihurst and Sunnicrest historic buildings, A-B Tech, 340 VIctoria Rd., Asheville. A lighting of the green will be held and both buildings will be open for free tours with light refreshments and entertainment served at Fernihurst. CHRISTMAS CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts, 1028 Georgia Rd., Franklin. “Mark O’Connor & Friends: An Appalachian Christmas” will feature a musical performance. O’Connor recently was praised by The New York Times as “the only musician today who can [give] listeners a complex, sophisticated piece of early-21st-century classical music and then [knock] them dead with the brown-dirt whine of a Texas fiddle.” For tickets, which are $21 and $26, call 524-1598 or visit greatmountainmusic.com.
See CALENDAR, Page B4
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B4 - December 2013 - Asheville Daily Planet
Calendar
of
Continued from Page B3
Events
Saturday, Dec. 7
PANCAKE BREAKFAST FUNDRAISER, 9-10 a.m., Democratic Headquarters, 951 Old Fairview Rd., Asheville. The Buncombe County Democratic Party will hold a pancake breakfast fundraiser, followed by an executive committee meeting at 10 a.m. “CHRISTMAS ON THE CHIMNEY” GALA, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Chimney Rock State Park, Chimney Rock. Attendees will meet Santa and Mrs. Claus. Other features will include music, free hot cocoa, cookies, kids’ activities and “live critters.” Also, Santa will practice a daring stunt as he descends a part of the 315-foot-high Chimney Rock. Admission is $12 for the general public, $6 for youngsters and free for ages 5 and younger. “CHRISTMAS AT CONNEMARA” GALA, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Carl Sandburg Home, 1800 Little River Rd., Flat Rock. Christmas at Connemara — held on Saturdays through Dec. 28 — will feature musicians and storytellers performing traditional holiday stories and music. Houses will be decorated in the simple style of the Sandburgs. Standard frees apply for house tours: $5 for the general public, $3 for ages 62 and older and free for ages 15 and younger. Admission to the property and trails will be free. CHRISTMAS PARTY/SHAG DANCE, 5-11 p.m., Hendersonville Elks Lodge, 546 N. Justice St., Hendersonville. The Mountain Shag Club will hold its annual Christmas Party. A social hour will be held from 5 to 6 p.m., dinner at 6 p.m. and dancing from 7 to 11 p.m. The DJs will include Buck Crumpton, Jeff Foster, Terry Hopper and Bobby Vaughan. Admission is free for members and $20 for guests. Attendees are asked to bring a toy for the MSC’s annual Toys for Tots drive. Attendees also are asked to brig a dessert to share and/or an item for the MSC’s silent auction fundraiser. Reservations, which are required by Dec. 1, may be made by emailing mountainshagclub@ gmail.com or calling 298-9382. “CHRISTMAS WITH THE KING” TRIBUTE, 7 p.m., The Foundation Center Performing Arts Center, Isothermal Community College, Spindale. The Elvis Presley tribute show “Christmas With the King” will be performed. For tickets, which are $25, call 286-9990 or visit www.Foundationshows.org. CHARLES TAYLOR HOLIDAY DINNER, 7 p.m., Crown Plaza Resort, Asheville. The 21st Annual Charles Taylor Holiday Dinner will feature as headliners three Republican candidates who have announced a run for North Carolina’s U.S. Senate election in 2014. The gala also will pay tribute to members of the U.S. armed services, both past and present. The event is the largest sit-down political dinner in the state. A reception preceding the dinner, beginning at 5:30 p.m., will offer the opportunity for candidates to meet with supporters from Western North Carolina. Former U.S. Rep. Taylor was one of WNC’s longest-serving congressmen, serving the 11th district from 1991 to 2007. The U.S. Senate candidates will be joined by N.C. 11th District U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows and 10th District U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, both Republicans, and many other statewide and local elected GOP officials. For tickets, which are $50, contact Trish Smothers at 243-2187 or tasmothers@yahoo.com. HOLIDAY CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., Ferguson Auditorium, A-B Tech, 340 Victoria Rd., Asheville. The Blue Ridge Orchestra will present “Musical Tidings for the Holidays.” The concert
The venerable American rock band REO Speedwagon will perform at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 8 at Niswonger Performing Arts Center in Greeneville, Tenn. will include Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus Overture,” “Emperor Waltz” and “Blue Danube;” Vaughan Williams’ “Fantasia on Christmas Carols;” “Rejoice” from Handel’s “Messiah” with Heather Ferguson, soloist,; and Britten’s “Ceremony of Carols” and more. For tickets, which are $15 for adults, $5 for students, $10 for friends of the orchestra, visit Musician’s Workshop, 319 Merrimon Ave., Asheville, or go to blueridgeorchestra.org. CHRISTMAS CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., Upper Anderson Auditorium, Montreat Conference Center, Montreat College campus, Montreat. The MCC will host “Christmas in Appalachia,” a fundraising concert for Shindig on the Green. Features will include Whitewater Bluegrass Company and The Griggs. For tickets, which are $20 for adults, $10 for ages 12 and under and $15 each for groups of 10 or more adults, call 258-6101 or call 258-6101, ext. 245. CHRISTMAS COMMEMORATION, 7:30 p.m., Porter Center for the Performing Arts, Brevard College, Brevard. The 16th Annual Performance of “The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols” will be presented. The service, presented by BC faculty, staff and students, is modeled on the traditional festival of the same name that was held on Christmas Eve 1918 in King’s College Chapel at Cambridge, England. REO SPEEDWAGON CONCERT, 7:30 p.m.,Niswonger Performing Arts Center, Greeneville, Tenn. REO Speedwagon will perform in concert. For tickets, visit www.NPACgreeneville. com, or call (423) 638-1679.
shop, 319 Merrimon Ave., Asheville, or go to blueridgeorchestra.org. CHRISTMAS CONCERT, 4 p.m., First
The play “A Christmas Carol” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 19 at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center in Greeneville, Tenn. Presbyterian Church, 40 Church St., Asheville. Pan Harmonia will present “Chamber Music Messiah.” The performance of the Christmas portion (Part 1) of Handel’s masterpiece to benefit Homeward Bound and Pan Harmonia’s
See CALENDAR, Page B5
Way beyond hip and trendy Asheville Daily
weekend g n i v r e Now s
Sunday, Dec. 8
HOLIDAY CONCERT, 3 p.m., Blue Ridge Community College, 180 W. Campus Dr., East Flat Rock. A holiday concert, “A Wintry Mix,” will be performed by the Hendersonville Community Band and Fletcher Community Chorus. Roberto Fiores, bariton, will be the solo vocalist for “A White Christmas.” For tickets, which are $10 for adults and free for children, call 694-1700 or stop by the Hendersonville Visitor Center or Laurel Park Wine Market. HOLIDAY CONCERT, 4 p.m., Lipinsky Auditorium, UNC Asheville. A wide range of musical groups will perform holiday music. Admission is $5. HOLIDAY CONCERT, 4 p.m., Folk Art Center, Milepost 382 Blue Ridge Parkway, Asheville. The Blue Ridge Orchestra will present “Musical Tidings for the Holidays.” For tickets, which are $15 for adults, $5 for students, $10 for friends of the orchestra, visit Musician’s Work-
outreach. The suggested donation is $25 per person or $30 per family, but the concert organizers said nobody will be turned away for lack of funds.
$2 Tuesdays
$2 domestic draft Wednesdays Breakfast Club-Brunch menu served until noon on Sundays before shows.
brunch
Asheville Daily Planet — December 2013 — B5
The long-running rhythm-and-blues, funk and disco group Kool & The Gang, perhaps best-known for its hit “Celebrate,” will perform at 7 p.m. Dec. 29 in the Event Center at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino in Cherokee.
Calendar
of
Continued from Page B4
Events
Monday, Dec. 9
HOLIDAY CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., Reuter Center, UNC Asheville. The Reuter Center Singers will also present a holiday concert. Under the direction of Chuck Taft, the chorus will present a program featuring traditional and contemporary arrangements of holiday songs, followed by a cookie and hot cider reception. The performance is free.
Tuesday, Dec. 10
AMBOY ROAD COMMUNITY MEETING, 6 p.m., RiverLink’s Warehouse Studios, 170 Lyman St. (in the heart of the River Art District), Asheville. Neighbors in particular and the community in general will be given the opportunity to meet the developer and view plans for new housing in-fill on Amboy Road. One of the goals of the Wilma Dykeman RiverWay is to promote higher density development along highly traveled river corridors that feature multi-modal options. “Amboy Road offers bike, boat, bus, and auto connections to get to work, to visit other neighborhoods and to conserve energy and access the French Broad,” RiverLink noted. LIBERTARIAN MEETING, 7 p.m., Oakleaf Furniture, 130 Miller St., Waynesville. The Haywood County Libertarian Party, which meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays, meets for open discussion, with debate encouraged. All perspectives and persuasions are welcome, regardless of political or religious affiliation. For more information, call Windy McKinney at windymckinney@yahoo.com.
Wednesday, Dec. 11
SOCIAL MEDIA WORKSHOP, 6-9 p.m., Room 2046, A-B Tech, Enka. Asheville SCORE, coun-
selors to America’s small business, will offer a seminar on Social Media for Business on Dec. 11 and 18. It will delve into the social media sites used today. Held in a computer workshop, participants will be able to go live onto their social media sites and learn more about making the site a true business tool. Sign-up starts at 5:30 p.m. For more information, including directions and registration, visit www.ashevillescore.org.
Friday, Dec. 13
WINTER CONCERT, 6:30 p.m., Diana Wortham Theatre, Pack Place, downtown Asheville. “Intersections Sing Together: Winter Songs With Beth and Jim Magill” will celebrate the joy of music and singing together. For tickets, which are $10 for adults, $8 for ages 12 and young and free for ages 2 and young, call 257-4530 or visit www.dwtheatre.com. APPALACHIAN CHRISTMAS, 7:30 p.m., Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center, 91 N. Lakeshore Dr., Lake Junaluska. The center’s Appalachian Christmas celebration will feature classic Christmas carols at 7:30 p.m. At 2 p.m. Saturday, a craft fair will be held, with music by The Cockman Family. At 7 p.m. Saturday, Handel’s Messiah will be performed. Admission to all concerts is $17.50 and $20.
Saturday, Dec. 14
VICTORIAN CANDLELIGHT CHRISTMAS, 4-7 p.m., Thomas Wolfe Memorial, 52 N. Market St., downtown Asheville. Attendees will be able to take a step back in time, before Mrs. Wolfe owned the boardinghouse to see the roots of Asheville’s Christmas traditions from the Victorian era. Live music will be featured, along with Santa Claus. Also, attendees will be able to make Victorian Christmas ornaments. Admission is $10 for the general public and free for children.
See CALENDAR, Page B8
B6 - December 2013 - Asheville Daily Planet
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B8 - December 2013 - Asheville Daily Planet
Calendar Continued from Page B5
Saturday, Dec. 14
CHRISTMAS CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts, 1028 Georgia Road, Franklin. “Robert Ray & Friends... Home for the Holidays” is billed as “an eclectic mix of the world’s best-loved Christmas Music — presented in both familiar and imaginary ways. Expect to hear ‘Angels We Have Heard on High — sung to a rock beat and backed by a gospel choir. ‘Hark the Herald Angels’ will be paired with Bach’s ‘Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring’ and topped off with a trumpet obligato. Pop music fans will enjoy Kenny Loggins’ ‘Celebrate Me Home’, Bette Midler’s ‘From a Distance’ and Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas is You.’” For tickets, which are $10, call 524-1598 or visit greatmountainmusic. com. DEBBY BOONE CHRISTMAS CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., Niswonger Performing Arts Center, Greeneville, Tenn. Debby Boone will perSinger Debby form in a “Christmas Boone will perform Memories” concert. at 7:30 p.m. Dec. For tickets, which are 14 at Niswonger $30-$40, visit www. NPACgreeneville.com, Performing in Greeneville, Tenn. or call (423) 6381679.
and what nature can teach individuals at this time of year. All ages are invited to participate, bringing something beautiful from the winter landscape to share. Following the program there will be a potluck meal featuring holiday specialties from ESA members and friends.
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Thursday, Dec. 19
“A CHRISTMAS CAROL” PERFORMANCE, 7:30 p.m.,Niswonger Performing Arts Center, Greeneville, Tenn. The play “A Christmas Carol” will be performed. For tickets, which are $20$30, visit www.NPACgreeneville.com, or call (423) 638-1679.
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Friday, Dec. 20 SENT COUPON. LIMIT O Our friendly and knowledgeable NUTCRACKER BALLET, 7:30 p.m., Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts, 1028 Georgia Road, Franklin. The Nutcracker Ballet will feature a full, two-act ballet presented by A Family of Friends Productions in conjunction with Betsy’s School of Dance. The performance also will be offered at the same time Dec. 21. The plot is summarized as follows: “On a very special Christmas Eve, a young girl named Natasha receives a beautiful gift in the form of a nutcracker. Through dreams and magic, Natasha is rescued from the evil Rat King by the nutcracker and taken on an exciting adventure to the Snowflake Forest and Land of Sweets where she meets many new friends.” For tickets, which are $11 for adult and $7 for students, call 5241598. or visit greatmountainmusic.com.
Saturday, Dec. 21
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Winter Festival, 2-3:30 p.m., Friends Meeting House, 227 Edgewood Rd., Asheville. “Winter Beauties” will be celebrated at the monthly meeting of the Ethical Society of Asheville. The Winter Festival will feature the beauty of nature in winter
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CHRISTMAS SHOW, 6 and 7:30 p.m., Thomas Wolfe Memorial, 52 N. Market St., downtown Asheville. “Christmas on the Mountain” with Sheila K. Adams will be presented. The show will feature Appalachian storytelling with balladeer and folklorist Shelia Kay Adams. For tickets, which are $10, call 253-8304.
See CALENDAR, PAGE B9
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The American blues-rock band ZZ Top will perform at 10 p.m. Dec. 31 (New Year’s Eve) in the Event Center at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino in Cherokee.
Continued from Page B8
Sunday, Dec. 22
SWANNANOA SOLSTICE, 2 and 7 p.m., Diana Wortham Theatre, Pack Place, downtown Asheville. Seasonal music will be performed by Al Petteway, Amy White and Robin Bullock. They will include musical genres of Celtic, Appalachian,
Scots-Irish and world-influenced holiday music on guitars, mandolins, Appalachian dulcimer, Celtic harp, bouzouki, piano and world percussion. Complementing the headliners will be guest musicians, dancers, storytellers and host Doug Orr, president emeritus of Warren Wilson College and founder of The Swannanoa Gathering.
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B10 - December 2013 - Asheville Daily Planet
Calendar of Events Continued from Page B9
Sunday, Dec. 29
KOOL & THE GANG CONCERT, 7 p.m., Event Center, Harrah’s Cherokee Casino, Cherokee. The band Kool & The Gang will perform in concert.
Tuesday, Dec. 31
ZZ TOP CONCERT, 10 p.m., Event Center, Harrah’s Cherokee Casino, Cherokee. The band ZZ Top will perform in concert.
Saturday, Jan. 11
AARON TIPPIN CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., Niswonger Performing Arts Center, Greeneville, Tenn. Country music singer-guitarist and record-producer Aaron Tippin will perform in Aaron Tippin concert. For tickets, visit www.NPACgreeneville.com, or call (423) 638-1679.
Saturday, Jan. 25
EAGLES TRIBUTE CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., The Foundation Center Performing Arts Center, Iso-
Way beyond hip and trendy
Asheville Daily Planet
Robin Thicke will perform at 8 p.m. Feb. 25 in the Event Center at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino in Cherokee. thermal Community College, Spindale. The Eagles tribute show, “Hotel California,” will be performed. The Eagles are one of the world’s best-selling bands of all time, having sold over 150 million records — 100 million in the U.S. alone — including 42 million copies of “The Eagles: Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)” and 32 million copies of “Hotel California.” They are the fifth-highest-selling musical act and highest-selling American band in history. No American band sold more records than the Eagles during the 1970s. For tickets, which are $19 and $24 for adults and $8 for youths, call 286-9990 or visit www.Foundationshows.org. LITTLE RIVER BAND CONCERT, 7:30 p.m.,Niswonger Performing Arts Center, Greeneville, Tenn. Little River Band will perform in concert. For tickets, visit www.NPACgreeneville. com, or call (423) 638-1679.
See CALENDAR, PAGE B12
Asheville Daily Planet — December 2013 — B11
* Read the owner’s manual before opening Honda Power Equipment. Not all dealers carry all products. Consult your local Yellow Pages. The Honda Power Equipment Visa® credit card is issued by Wells Fargo Financial National Bank, an Equal Housing Lender. Special terms apply to qualifying purchases charged with approved credit at participating merchants. Regular minimum monthly payments are required during the promotional (special term) period. Interest will be charged to your account from the purchase date at the APR for Purchases if the purchase balance is not paid in full within the promotional period. For newly opened accounts, the APR for Purchases is 27.99%. This APR may vary with the market based on the U.S. Prime Rate and is given as of 04/01/2013. If you are charged interest in any billing cycle, the minimum interest charge will be $1.00. If you use the card for cash advances, the cash advance fee is 5.00% of the amount of the cash advance, but not less than $10.00. Offer expires 12/31/2013.
B12 - December 2013 - Asheville Daily Planet
Calendar Continued from Page B10
Tues., Jan. 28
LEADERSHIP EVENT, 6:30 p.m., Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, downtown Asheville. Lessons in Leadership will host speaker and author Harry Paul at its next main event. Paul is an internationally renowned speaker and co-author of the bestseller “FISH! A Proven Way to Boost Results and Improve Morale.” Paul will discuss lessons learned while observing workers at Pike Place Market in Seattle and taking their energy, enthusiasm and sense of fun into the corporate world. Opening the event will be local entrepreneur, author and speaker Keith Challenger. He will present a different and unique way of managing the lack of time in our lives. Networking will start at 5:30 p.m. To register, visit www. wncleaders.com.
Friday, Feb. 7
MERLE HAGGARD CONCERT, 9 p.m., Event Center, Harrah’s Cherokee Casino, Cherokee. Merle Haggard will perform in concert.
Friday, Feb. 14
REO SPEEDWAGON CONCERT, 8 p.m., Event Center, Harrah’s Cherokee Casino, Cherokee. The band REO Speedwagon will perform in concert.
Sat., Feb. 15
SPINNERS CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., The Foundation Center Performing Arts Center, Isothermal Community College, Spindale. The Spinners will perform in concert. The Spinners are billed as “the greatest soul group of the early ‘70s, creating a body of work that defined the lush, seductive sound of Philly soul. Ironically, the band’s roots lay in Detroit, where they formed as a doo wop group during the late ‘50s.” For tickets, which are $29 and $34 for adults and $8 for youths, call 286-9990 or visit www.Foundationshows.org.
Sat., Feb. 22
DARIUS RUCKER CONCERT, 7:30 p.m., U.S. Cellular Center, downtown Asheville. Darius Rucker will perform in his True Believers Tour, with special guest David Nail. For tickets, visit ticketmaster.com or call (800) 745-3000.
Tues., Feb. 25
ROBIN THICKE CONCERT, 8 p.m., Event Center, Harrah’s Cherokee Casino, Cherokee. Robin Thicke with Jessie J will perform in concert.
Sat., March 22
BLUES BROTHERS REVUE, 7:30 p.m., The Foundation Center Performing Arts Center, Isothermal Community College, Spindale. The “Official Blues Brothers Revue” will perform in concert. The Blues Brothers (or, more formally, The Blues Brothers’ Show Band and Revue) are an American rhythm and blues revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedy actors Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on “Saturday Night Live.” For tickets, which are $19 and $24 for adults and $8 for youths, call 286-9990 or visit www. Foundationshows.org.