Here's one for your 3pm coffee break...Americans do not know basic civics, according to a report released today.

Do you think the state's EOC test writers who write questions for the state's Civics EOC exam know the answers to their own questions?

USA TODAY:

The study, the third in a series by the non-profit Intercollegiate Studies Institute, finds that half of U.S. adults can name all three branches of government, and 54% know that the power to declare war belongs to Congress. Almost 40% incorrectly said that it belongs to the president.

Those who have held elected office lack civic knowledge; 43% do not know the Electoral College is a constitutionally mandated assembly that elects the president. One in five thinks it "trains those aspiring for higher office" or "was established to supervise the first televised presidential debates."

"Without knowledge of your country's history, key texts and institutions, you don't have a frame of reference to judge the politics and policies of today," says Richard Brake, head of the institute's American Civic Literacy Program.

Click here for the ACLP's Press Release.

Click here to take the quiz.

E.C. :)

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Moscow calls for anti-US alliance

THE President of Russia has called on Europe's leaders to create a new world order that would minimise the role of the United States.

Confident that a row with Europe prompted by Russia's invasion of Georgia in August was over, Dmitry Medvedev arrived in the French spa town of Evian on Wednesday determined to woo his fellow leaders into creating an anti-US front.

Gone was the kind of wartime rhetoric that saw Mr Medvedev lash out at the West and describe his Georgian counterpart, Mikheil Saakashvili, as a "lunatic". Instead Mr Medvedev spoke of a Russia that was "absolutely not interested in confrontation", and outlined plans for a new security pact to ban the use of force in Europe.

Yet there was little doubt that Mr Medvedev was playing the divide-and-rule tactics of Vladimir Putin, his predecessor and now Prime Minister, by seeking to pit the US against its European allies.

In a speech delivered to European leaders at a conference hosted by the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, to discuss the international financial crisis, Mr Medvedev sought to show that the US was at the root of all the world's problems. He blamed Washington's "economic egotism" for the world's financial woes and then accused the Bush Administration of taking Europe to the brink of a new cold war by pursuing a deliberately divisive foreign policy.

He also maintained that the US was once again trying to return to a policy of containing Russia.

"After toppling the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, the United States started a series of unilateral actions," Mr Medvedev said.

"As a result, a trend appeared in international relations towards creating dividing lines. This was in fact the revival of a policy popular in the past and known as containment."

While he called for a cooling of the noxious rhetoric that had blighted East-West relations over the past two years, Mr Medvedev clearly laid the blame for the deterioration on the US, which he said was again viewing Russia through the prism of the Cold War. "Sovietology, like paranoia, is a very dangerous disease, and it is a pity that part of the US Administration still suffers from it," he said.

In order to end the "unipolar" model in which the world depended on the US, he proposed creating new financial systems to challenge the dominance of the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organisation, both of which had fallen under Washington's spell.

Attacking the enlargement of NATO, which he said had advanced provocatively towards Russia, he proposed a new European security treaty.

The new European pact would include "a clear affirmation of the inadmissibility of the use of force - or the threat of force - in international relations" and would be built on the principle of the territorial integrity of independent nations.

While Russia has insisted it was not intending to supplant NATO, Mr Medvedev made it clear that the US-dominated alliance was partly responsible for the war in the Caucasus by its failure to rein in Georgian "aggression".

The Russian President won praise from Mr Sarkozy after he announced that all Russian troops had been withdrawn from buffer zones around Georgia's rebel enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia before today's deadline.

Describing his guest as a man who had "kept his word", Mr Sarkozy immediately declared that talks on an EU-Russia partnership deal, suspended as punishment for Russia's military operation in Georgia, could resume.

Telegraph, London; Guardian News & Media

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As has now been widely reported and roundly criticized, the chief executives of the Big Three automobile manufacturers flew from Detroit to Washington on separate private jets to beg for an additional $25 billion hand-out (just a month or so ago, Congress approved $25 billion in loans for the companies to help them develop more fuel-efficient cars).

The foolishness of their travel arrangements is evident and probably put the last nail in the coffin of their bail-out hopes. But let's consider for a moment what the trip and the general travel policies say about the executives' and their companies' priorities.

The cost figure tossed around in the articles is $20,000 for each of the round-trip flights; let's go ahead and work with that figure. If the three executives had simply jet-pooled, they could have saved $40,000, enough to pay one of the companies' $15/hour workers for a year, assuming a 33% fringe benefit rate.

First-class same-day tickets on Northwest Airlines with no advance purchase between Detroit and Washington cost less than $1,400. So, the executives could have flown even less expensively, while still enjoying first-class service.

Clearly, this isn't the only trip any of them will make this year. Assuming that each executive makes dozens of trips each year, there are dozens of jobs that could be saved just by simple economizing measures. We're not talking about a cut in the executives extravagent salaries, just some adjustments in travel arrangements.

A CNN article quotes a GM spokesperson as saying, "Making a big to-do about this when issues vital to the jobs of millions of Americans are being discussed in Washington is diverting attention away from a critical debate that will determine the future health of the auto industry and the American economy." But "a big to-do" should be made when a simple bit of coordination yesterday could have saved one of those jobs and when slightly more frugal policies could save dozens more.

It's telling that the trade-off never even occurred to the executives.

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I just had a very positive experience involving a seafood pancake at Don on Tate St. Also: Madison Park Cafe may be the best restaurant in town these days.

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Aggies sign one of the best players in the state of North Carolina GREENSBORO– North Carolina A&T women’s basketball coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs continues to show she is serious about making the Aggies program respected nationally. Bibbs has announced the signing of three players to National Letters of Intent today. The class is ranked among the top [...]

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Last week saw a slip to 8-7-1 making the prognostications 98-58-1 for the season. Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh: Ocho Cinco is on the shelf this evening, exactly for what has yet to be determined. That means the Bungals have about 2 chances this evening, especially coming off a short week especially coming off an overtime tie. Steelers [...]

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Hubby just finished a run in a play at the Barn Dinner Theatre. We took it all in this past weekend. Food was overwhelming, ambiance was cool and the service was great beyond belief. Quite a deal at the price.

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So much more fun to listen to than “Joe the You-Know-What,” is our Jay-the-Painter. The somewhat new storm door reveals more old paint in the door frame than we wished to see, so Jay’s making it magically one color again.

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Way back in May, I looked at the numbers for Obama and McCain in the NC primary and wondered if Bob Barr might make a difference here in November.Now Ryan Beckwith says Barr was indeed a spoiler for McCain, with...

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Last week I finished a 10-5 and did not win a darn thing. Here was my problem: I had a 10-2 record, sandwiched between a Thursday night loss and a Monday night loss. So I’m determined to fix all of that starting tonight!   The Bungles, ‘er Bengals haven’t lost in 3 weeks-a win, a bye and a [...]

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Actual Presidential write-in votes in Duvall County, FLA: 234 HILARY CLINTON 174 RON PAUL 23 NONE OF THE ABOVE 23 JESUS 21 MIKE HUCKABEE 14 MITT ROMNEY 8 COLIN POWELL 6 GOD 4 OBAMA 4 RUDY GIULLIANI 4 STEVEN COLBERT 3 DONALD DUCK 3 DONALD FOY 3 MICKEY MOUSE 3 T. BOONE PICKENS 2 BILL COSBY 2 CHUCK NORRIS 2 CONDOLEEZA RICE 2 LOU DOBBS 2 PAGO POSSUM 2 SARAH PALIN 2 SEANATOR BROWNBACK Both Ron Paul and Hillary Clinton beat out Jesus Christ -- and Mike Huckabee came within two votes of tying. "God" got but six votes. My question: can (and should) you combine the votes for God and Jesus?

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Sue points to reports of Hoder's possible arrest. I was looking forward to meeting him at ConvergeSouth in 2005, but then this happened, and he didn't make it. Sigh.

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From the N&R:

Guilford County Schools Superintendent Maurice "Mo" Green will hold a town meeting in Pleasant Garden on Monday.

The event starts at 6 p.m. at the Pleasant Garden Baptist Church at 1415 Neelley Road.

The meeting will give parents, students, school district employees and community members a chance to meet the superintendent, ask questions and give feedback and suggestions to Green.

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E.C. :)

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I dig the photo accompanying today's N&R article on Seagrove's pottery wars. Very apropos.

I once was a fairly serious pot collector - and still drop down to Seagrove occasionally to pick up the odd/unique piece. But part from my initial thoughts on the matter (where I sympathized with the "upstarts" - mostly because of the snotty/elitist behavior I've seen some of the more successful potters demonstrate), I've stayed pretty much out of it.

The ruckus has been confusing and frustrating - even for those of us who know the topography and the players. I cannot imaging how it looks to people on the outside looking in.

The local economic gurus have been worried about all the mud-wrestling . . . especially since most of their/our eggs are being put into the tourism basket . . . as the thing that is going to save Randolph County while our manufacturing base shrinks/outsources away.

From the N&R's article:

This year, that (Seagrove pottery) community has fallen apart like a poorly fired pot. (Jasin Hardin gets credit for a good analogy)

Instead of one festival, there are two [the older, Seagrove Pottery Festival held at Seagrove Elementary School - and the new Celebration of Seagrove Potters held at the old Luck's plant], the fruit of a bitter dispute among area potters that threatens to confuse customers and hurt potters who might see crowds split.

The dispute, which has lingered for months and has involved insults and legal action, has those not involved with the pottery community shaking their heads.

“It’s just such a shame, because they’re only hurting themselves,” said Jill Thomas, who owns the Seagrove Dairy Breeze, a downtown institution, adding that other nonpottery merchants feel the same.

I feel like Jill at this point: All the in-fighting and legal action is just plain stupid.

I have a cousin (by marriage) who is not a potter - but an artist who has participated in the Seagrove festival in the past. In these hard economic times - when people are just not spending money they don't have to, he thought that this year it would be smart for both festivals to offer decreased entrance fees . .. . or not charge admission at all . . . in order to minimize the PR damage that has already been done and encourage people to attend both festivals.

He was shot down.

I love me some pottery. And I am home this weekend. And even though pottery-hopping is not - and will not ever be - the same for me as it once was (after the deaths of my beloved friends, Archie & Yvonne Teague), I usually go "walk the muddy" if I'm in town on festival weekend.

But this year, I've debated about whether or not I'm even going to go down to Seagrove at all.

It all feels like "a poorly-fired pot".

Hey. Do you think they'll serve alcohol?

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Sometimes, you just can't bear the rules of the normal world and you gotta rip off your clothes and run, literally, buck wild. Goofing around of Facebook today (it's work, really) we ran across this ad from a travel Web...

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There but for the grace of god.... (Thanks, Newsom, for the link.)

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Activist Lane Hudson says the change that’s come to D.C. needs to come to our queer movement, too. From his Advocate.com commentary: We are the only major power in the world that does not recognize these tenets of basic equality. We are also the only one of these nations to have elected a black man president. If [...]

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This just in… Sign the petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/MPoll4Ag/petition.html

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If that works, they'll try with moderate Republicans: "Scientists are talking for the first time about the old idea of resurrecting extinct species as if this staple of science fiction is a realistic possibility, saying that a living mammoth could...

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"Obama's steely calm is now one of our country's major assets. If he needs an occasional cigarette to preserve it, let's hand him an ashtray, offer him a light and look the other way." I'm with Kinsley on this one,...

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Soulforce is hiring! More below. Soulforce Communications Director http://austin.craigslist.org/npo/919034353.html Soulforce Director of Web Development http://austin.craigslist.org/npo/918667121.html Soulforce Development Director http://austin.craigslist.org/npo/919065556.html

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On Monday, we had a playdate with a child in the neighborhood. You remember Monday, the day the cold front really settled in? The Weather Channel said it was 50 degrees, but I think they were wrong. I bundled Andrew and Benjamin up and we set out on foot. Some of the folks on our street and on the way to the park have already raked their leaves to the curb. (We have not.)  Andrew took full advantage of the long piles of leaves! Several times he waded through waist-deep, with a big grin on his face. He'd fall down occasionally, but really didn't seem to mind.

Once we arrived at the park, Andrew went off with his little friend and I got Benjamin out of the stroller. Benjamin is toddling around pretty good these days, but he is not too keen on walking on grass or mulch. I held him most of the time while Andrew played. Andrew didn't seem to mind the cold, but after about half an hour the other parents and I were starting to freeze so we decided to all go home. Andrew waded back through the leaves- what joy for a little boy!

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During the speakers from the floor portion of Tuesday night’s City Council meeting a gentleman called the new Assistant City Manager for Information’s (Denise Turner) position nothing more than a $120,000 PR position or something along those lines. I emailed Mitchell Johnson this morning to gather some further detail on this position and what the individual is [...]

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A flat-chested young lady went to Dr. Smith about enlarging her breasts. Dr Smith advised her, 'Every day after your shower, rub your chest and...

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Kid #2 plays with the camera and the battery promptly dies. I think it was overwhelmed with her fabulous personality and inherited great looks.

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Regarding the Nov. 7 letter, “Obama now must end any racial preferences”: I would agree with most of the writer’s basic conceptual contentions and would make additions with which most Americans of African descent are intimately familiar, as well as...

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Regarding the comments of Tim Tessier (“Congratulations, Dems, but we’ll be watching,” letter, Nov. 11): I am perplexed that Tessier comments that the Democrats campaign well, but then questions whether our newly elected president and the Democratic House and Senate...

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The citizens of Greensboro really do like taxes. Since the federal and state governments obviously don’t take enough of our hard-earned money, we find it necessary to tax ourselves by passing more than $800 million in bonds within a six-month...

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I was surprised by Hazel Latham’s letter (Nov. 11). There are several of her points that I would like to correct. First of all, the Muslim God is the same as both the Christian and the Jewish God. Christians...

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[Welcome to another edition of J's Indie/Rock Mayhem. Tonight's show was full of great stuff including an interview with Greensboro's own The Bronzed Chorus who are playing tomorrow (Thursday) night as part of this month's installment of the excellent Dotmatrix Project concert series down at the Green Burro. They're playing along with Durham, NC's Hammer No More the Fingers. Ought to be a fantastic show - you know I'll be there.

Time to get on with the fun - onward.]

J's Indie/Rock Podcast: 19th November 2008 Show

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
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King Khan and the Shrines - "Welfare Bread" [from the supreme genius of.. king khan and the bbq show are playing at square one here in greensboro (on the corner of glenwood and grove) next monday night along with hollow stars. the show is FREE and is co-sponsored by WQFS and WUAG. free king khan? you better be there.]
the Geraldine Fibbers - "Toy Box" [from butch. my friend brad (also drummer for my second high school band) gave me this copy of butch for some reason. he said he didn't care because he had made a tape copy. that still befuddles me. all the same, a great, raucous and alternatively beautiful album of chaotic, raw, waits-ian world and word play - a howling good time in all.]
the Subways - "Girls and Boys" [from all or nothing. okay. after talking with anna tonight i'm just going to have to stop. there is no way this album is going on my top 25 list for the year, let alone going anywhere near the top like mad dog thinks it should. this is an okay album at best. i might play "strawberry blonde" again on the year end singles show, but that's it.]
Kula Shaker - "Hey Dude" [from K. i wrote an argument for this being a pretty good album a bit over a year ago. and i stand by that - especially these singles. i've never bothered with any of their other albums - maybe i'm missing something there as well?]
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the Moondoggies - "Changing" [from don't be a stranger. man this song rocks. end of story.]
the Clash - "Brand New Cadillac" [from london calling. to me, it's always been somewhat surreal that the clash were as big as they were at their peak. i guess it's just as hard to picture just how big the jam were in their day too. british radio is weird. or maybe american radio is just boring.]
Pavement - "Harness Your Hopes" [from the newly expanded edition of brighten the corners which is due out in early december - just in time for the holidays. i'm excited for this reissue as i almost certainly feel brighten the corners is my favorite pavement album and the expanded stuff has been really interesting and good for all of these reissues. the question about whether there'll be a terror twilight reissue is more like 'why bother?']
Delta Spirit - "Trashcan" [from ode to sunshine. sorry. i know i played this last week but god this song is great. seriously great.]
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Vic Chesnutt, Elf Power and the Amorphous Strums - "Bilocating Dog" [from dark developments. the initial reviews i read of this album called it dark - and lyrically it probably is - but musically it's a lot sunnier than last year's north star deserter. this is a fun record and relaly enjoyable for fans of chesnutt, but this isn't going to dethrone about to choke or anything. or, for that matter, north star deserter which was quite brilliant.]
Horse Feathers - "Rude to Rile" [from house with no home. horse feathers put on a gorgeous show at the green bean last night, sponsored by WQFS. my interview with justin ringle of horse feathers was broadcast earlier this week and the transcription will be going up in a few days. see this band live. seriously.]
Bon Iver - "Skinny Love" [by request. from for emma, forever ago. one of the best albums of this year? get ready. the j's indie/rock annual top 25 albums list is less than a month away.]
Pop Will Eat Itself - "Wake Up! Time to Die" [from this is the day..this is the hour..this is this. released the same year as the beastie boys' paul's boutique, another record of equally brilliant pop culture mashing and recontexting, the album rewards constant relistening as you catch onto different references lyrically and musically and sample wise. it's a rollicking good time and a really fun album.]
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Crooked Fingers - "Modern Dislocation" [from forfeit / fortune. this is probably my favorite song from the album and it's quite a ravishing single to boot.]
All the Saints - "Regal Regalia" [from fire in corridor x. this atlanta band is seriously sharp - loud, epic riffs and dreamy almost shoegaze/psychedelic singing. we'll be hearing a lot more from this band and this album.]
Verbena - "All the Saints" [from la musica negra. makese sense, right? see? i love this song. plus..]
A.A. Bondy - "Black Rain, Black Rain" [from american hearts. bondy, verbena's front man, will be playing at local 506 in chapel hill on monday night. he's an amazing live show and well worth seeing. especially to hear him sing this song. "but love it don't die / it just goes from girl to girl / town to town, rose to rose / all around the world / like a ghost on a breeze / in a land of elegies." haunting stuff.]
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Ryan Adams and the Cardinals - "Go Easy" [from cardinology. new ryan adams. good stuff.]

[Here is where the interview with Adam Joyce and Brennan O'Brian of the Bronzed Chorus began. They're playing tomorrow night, along with Hammer No More the Fingers, as part of the Dotmatrix Project concert series at the Green Burro downtown in Greensboro. We talked about the band's origins, whether instrumental bands like themselves face audience prejudices, the difference between Deerhunter and Deerhoof, touring and more. They also brought some rough masters from their forthcoming second album due out in February on Athens, Georgia's Hello Sir records, home to fellow Greensboro band, and all around good eggs, Tiger Bear Wolf. Hope you enjoy.]

the Bronzed Chorus - "Underpass Sunrise," "Hiding in the Woods" and "Tiny Oxen" [all three of these are from their forthcoming album and i wouldn't be surprised if you heard most of them tomorrow night as well. obviously.]
Catherine Wheel - "Black Metallic" [from ferment. i wrote about this song over at aquarium drunkard and made bold pronouncements trying to elicit a good argument/conversation. it failed. that said, some people agreed with me and i enjoyed that. this is, after all, a magnetic song.]
Belle and Sebastian - "Like Dylan in the Movies" (live) [from the new live at the BBC collection that collects the band's john peel sessions and various other BBC related live performances. i was always very fond of this song, from if you're feeling sinister, so thought i'd go with that.]

That'll do it for this week. Next week I'll be on the air from 4pm - 8pm - covering the Democracy Now slot on that day and then carrying out the usual Mayhem from 6-8 with the annual Thanksgiving show. The podcast will be the normal 2 hour show. Until then, Go Panthers! Go Heels!, and take care.


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It is time to engage in civil discourse as we search for comprehensive solutions to our nation’s problems. An integral part of finding these solutions is to seriously consider T. Boone Pickens’ plan to install a wind energy electric...

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I think someone is going to be happy with this seriously marked-down 37″ LCD. I know a perfect place to hang it and it’s not even in my house. It’s a LG 37LB5DF 37-inch 1080p LCD HDT