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This week's column:

Armed with what probably was the only Southern accent within several dozen kilometers (maybe more), I spent a recent Friday afternoon before a room full of Canadians ... discussing Greensboro.

The occasion was a conference on the first Truth and Reconciliation project in Canadian history. The site was the University of Calgary, a pristine, leafy-green college campus in the still-rugged western province of Alberta, which borders Montana and Idaho to the south, and whose gentle hills and cool, misty afternoons were a welcome respite from the Carolina heat.

The Canadian Truth and Reconciliation initiative involves a shameful chapter in that country’s history when it forcibly removed First Nations, or Indian, children from their parents and placed them in what came to be known as “residential schools.”

In concert with various churches the Canadian government used these schools to teach First Nations children reading, writing and arithmetic. And to unteach their native language and culture
.
Indian Residential Schools date back to 1857 in Canada, when the Gradual Civilization Act was passed to assimilate First Nations children.

In 1920, the Canadian government mandated by law that all Indian children ages 7-15 attend residential schools.

Priests, Indian agents and police officers were empowered to remove these children from their families.

Many of the students went on to suffer sexual and physical abuse at the hands of the adults in those schools. Some tearfully recalled their experiences, in person and on videotape, at the Calgary conference. Their testimony was as compelling as it was painful.

Each said he or she had taken the scars into adulthood and, in most cases, even old age.

Tears flowed into the tiny eddies of their wrinkled brown faces. Voices cracked.

The reminiscences were so upsetting for some that counselors were on hand to provide comfort.

The Canadian government, for its part, has agreed to a $4 billion settlement with the Indians who attended residential schools, the last of which did not close until 1996.

It has not apologized.

The caller was calm, matter-of-fact and crystal clear in his voice mail pronouncement:
"We have got to stop blacks from stealing money."

He was referring to recent fiscal problems at N.C. A&T.

And he was stating his opinion as an incontrovertible fact, with the same tone he might use in stating that the sky is blue or that the sun rises in the east: Black people are more predisposed to steal than white people.

Even more interesting was that he left his name and number and was happy to talk further.

He was not some anonymous ranter, which we get occasionally. He was a real person with a real name who was willing to be accountable for his views.

So I called him.

When he answered the phone I identified myself and he thanked me for taking the time to follow up. He was pleasant and courteous.

I cut to the chase.

"So, I gathered from your message that you believe black people are likelier to steal than white people?"

"Oh yes, my goodness, without a doubt," he said. "Look at our police department."

Just in case he didn't know, I told him, I'm a black person.

"Oh, I know," he said. "I know all about you. I read you all the time."

Now that we'd gotten that out of the way, I invoked such major scandals as Enron and Tyco, which involved white people stealing and mismanaging money. Really big money.

You're right, he said. White people steal, too. But not as much as black people. They have a natural disposition to steal.

"When you put two of them together you've got problems."

He did not back off his premise but he allowed that there were some good black people. Lots of them. He also praised A&T's role and legacy in the community.

But that fact remained: Black people steal.

As for the police department, he said, "We need to get a white chief that not intimidated by the Greensboro blacks."

He went on to share a little bit about himself. He was a semi-retired businessman and he had spent most of his life in Greensboro.

Throughout our conversation he remained friendly and pleasant.

After about 10 minutes on the phone, in which time neither of us budged from our points of view we hung up and thanked one another for spending the time.

Then I checked my calendar ... for the date and the year. And the century.

At least one reader has called and another has e-mailed about a headline on today's editorial page. It reads:

"Senators don't lose to no one."

And it prompted Shirley Simpson to respond in an e-mail:

"It disturbs me greatly when I see such a misuse of the English language in one of your headlines -- today's editorial page, July 2, 2007 -- "Senators don't lose to no one". Surely you have better proof readers than this. I only hope that you were trying to be funny and that in reality you know better. Still, I feel you have a responsibility to model exemplary literary skills."

My story (and I'm sticking to it):

"Yes, we know better, Ms. Simpson, and yes, we were trying to be a little bit funny.

"What you perceive in today's "Short Stack" item as atrocious grammar is actually an intentional play on words that is meant to be a double-negative.

"The headline 'Senators don't lose to no one' attempts to pose this question: If the Democrats believe Elizabeth Dole is so 'vulnerable,' why haven't they found someone to run against her?
The headline's implied point: Dole certainly won't lose her bid for re-election if nobody runs against her.

"If we would have written the less grammatically jarring 'Senators don't lose to anyone,' it would not have reflected what were trying to say. Nor would it have made any sense.

"On the other hand, maybe it didn't make sense anyway.

"After all, a play on words, like a joke, works only if people get it. Maybe we were trying too hard?

"Thanks for your sharp eye and for keeping us on our toes."

Richard Prince reports that Don Imus may be coming soon again to a radio near you.

According to Prince, a spokeswoman for CBS Radio would neither confirm nor deny a report in the New York Post on Monday that Imus, removed in April from CBS-owned WFAN Radio in New York, after making racist remarks on the air, might return to the station.

If all this is true, I don't begrudge Imus a second chance. I'd be curious to see what he does with it.

Let me be the first to admit I'm not ready for prime time.

But I still enjoyed the debut of "NewsMaker," our online interview series that premiered last week on news-record.com with my conversation with new Bennett College President Julianne Malveaux.

We'll try to do "NewsMakers" as often as possible, giving our readers the chance to hear news headliners in their own words, and giving those headliners, in turn, a chance to voice their positions unfiltered. We thought it made good sense to do video interviews, since we're frequently talking to people in the news anyway.

We plan to pair many of those interviews with columns and editorials in the printed paper. But just as often they may stand alone. We'll also solicit your suggestions for possible interview questions.

Various members of the editorial staff will conduct the interviews.

Let us know how you like them.

The tantalizing tale of the "secret project" that could change the face of downtown Greensboro is beginning a lot like the TV series "Lost" ... captivating, confounding, exciting, hopeful ... and bizarre, frustrating and vexingly mysterious.

The latest chapter, as reported Wednesday by Don Patterson, is that the project is going underground for a while -- that the steady drip,drip of details may go dry as complex issues such as land acquiistion are necessarily hammered out behind closed doors.

Inquiring minds have been advised, "Chill."

That's understandable.

Here's hoping this fantasy mystery becomes a reality series. Soon. Greensboro's psyche and economy could use that kind of major victory right now.

Meanwhile, I hope city leaders don't give short shrift to a more tangible project (one you can touch and see, with land purchased and preliminary designs completed), Murrow Station. The mixed-use development is targeted for a tract of land near the eastern edge of downtown.

It carries with it a $42 million price tag, which would be the largest downtown investment in recent memory. For context, the Center Pointe tower is a $37 million investment. The mother of all downtown developments, "The Secret Project," represents an estimated $50 million to $200 million investment. If it happens.

We have editorialized before that Murrow Station is too important to underappreciate. But maybe now wouldn't be a bad time for another reminder. Murrow Station provides more affordable housing than currently exists in the center city. More significantly, it establishes an important beachhead in the black community, which remains chronically underdeveloped.

Disconcertingly, when I asked some City Council meetings about Murrow Station, they hadn't given it a lot of thought.

And they hadn't grasped what the development, which will need city incentives, could mean to east Greensboro.

C''mon, guys.

Ideally, the "Secret Project" and Murrow Station will both succeed. Greensboro as we know it --not just downtown -- would be transformed.

In case you're wondering, there definitely will be a follow-up to May 16's One Guilford leadership symposium.

The original will be a tough act to equal. Among its strengths were excellent speakers and the ultra-classy hospitality of High Point University President Nido Qubein and his staff.

The next One Guilford does promise to be more hands-on than the first, as we move toward a common vision for the county.

We're working on it. And as always, your input is invited and appreciated.

More details to come. Soon.

In the face of a drought that has afferced the whole state, the city this week asked residents to voluntarily conserve water.

Judging from all the sprinkers I saw blithely spouting off during my Saturday morning run, quite a few of us have not chosen to sign up.

This week's column.

The name "Ron McNair Elementary School" stood for 34 days and several hours before being overturned by the Guilford school board in the face of blistering opposition.

Never mind that McNair fit nearly any criterion for a hero you could conceive.

Never mind his legacy as an exemplary student and N.C. A&T alumnus.

Never mind that he went on to earn his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (in laser physics, no less) and ultimately made the grade as a NASA astronaut.

Never mind that he led a model life as a husband and father and lost his life in the space shuttle Challenger tragedy in 1986.

Say it isn't so, Joe.

"I'll tell you, I'm depressed," the major proponent of the McNair name, Joe Stafford, said Friday morning. "The name should be based on the merits of the name, not how many people come through the door."

From the moment the school board voted 7-3 in May to name the new school in the Reedy Fork development for McNair, opposition was fierce.

By the June 28 school board meeting, opponents of the name had gathered 2,600-plus signatures on a petition, more than enough to shock and awe the school board, which promptly backed off its earlier vote and renamed the school Reedy Fork Elementary.

How, in the midst of so many more important issues, could one elementary school's name command so much attention and stir so many emotions? I have a few theories:

Another chapter (this one hopeful) in the squishy ethics of state-sponsored gambling:

UNC system president Erskine Bowles is right to decree that the N.C. Education Lottery should not advertise on UNC campuses.

"While it is legal for our students who are 18 or older to participate in the lottery, the lottery is nonetheless a form of gambling, and I feel strongly that we should not encourage gambling by our students," Bowles wrote in a May letter to the chancellors.

Amen to that. Ads for the lottery during broadcasts of Tar Heel basketball games last season always felt, well, sleazy and inappropriate.

Over the last nine months, the lottery spent more than $385,000 with seven UNC universities, including N.C. A&T. That spending consisted of radio ads, signs, check presentations and announcements during games.

Given the unsavory history of gambling and collegiate sports in the not-too-distant past, Bowles' policy should be iron-clad and unequivocal.

In case you're wondering, in light of recent events, here is an editorial we wrote about Bill Clinton on Jan. 26, 2001:

One of Bill Clinton's first official acts in his first days as president, back in January 1993, was to enact Executive Order 12834. It contained an ethical pledge that senior appointed members of his administration were going to have to sign.

The rules were impressive in their stringency. Appointees agreed not to lobby their former departments for five years after leaving government, not to advise foreign entities for five years after leaving a trade negotiating post and never to lobby on behalf of a foreign government.

One of Bill Clinton's last official acts before leaving the presidency last week was to rescind Executive Order 12834. It was all an elaborate joke, apparently. The Clintonistas are free, after all, to exploit their former connections and share in the spoils.

The saddest part is that after eight years, this comes as no great shock. Americans have long since come to understand that the self-righteousness of his presidency was in inverse proportion to its integrity.

To be fair, there are those outside the Clinton circle who have argued that it has become too difficult to find top-notch people to serve in the government and that the strictures of Clinton's revolving-door order were among the deterrents. But there was never any real evidence of that.

If the lobbying rules deterred some people from joining government, they weren't the kind of people government needs. A far more serious deterrent, it seems to us, would be good people's reluctance to be associated with a White House whose veneer of idealism concealed a core of pure sleaze.

Too strong a word? Consider another of the multitude of 11th-hour actions by the departing president -- the pardons he issued just minutes before his powers expired to Marc Rich and Pincus Green, two world-class crooks who have been hiding in Switzerland for nearly 20 years to avoid prosecution.

According to 1983 indictments, Rich, a New York commodities trader, bilked the U.S. government out of $48 million in taxes. It was the largest tax evasion case in history. He and Green were also charged with buying oil from Iran in violation of the U.S. embargo.

Rich went on the lam to Switzerland before he could be indicted. In Europe, he has continued his business and become a billionaire. In this country, his now ex-wife has become a major political contributor, showering more than $1 million on Democrats during the Clinton years.

Rich has become famous for his own charitable generosity, a fact that was pleaded in his behalf. But he never did the one and only thing that he was obligated to do - return and answer the charges against him in court. That's customarily a prerequisite for requesting a presidential pardon.

Rich didn't even submit the customary request for clemency. Instead, he hired Jack Quinn, a former Clinton counsel, to make a direct appeal to Clinton. And it worked, proving that under Clinton rules, billionaires never have to say they're sorry.

I was shocked and saddened to hear of the death Tuesday of editorial cartoonist Doug Marlette, a Greensboro native whose wit and artistic talent were among the very best in his craft.

Doug won a Pulitizer Prize for his work, which was edgy but funny, and could slice and dice power brokers of all political stripes with equal zest.

But if you're a News & Record reader, you probably already know all that. Marlette's cartoons have been featured regularly on our pages for years.

What you may not know is that, only a few years ago, Doug almost became a staff cartoonist for the News & Record.

Doug, who is nationally syndicated, was looking for a new "home" newspaper. At the time he was living in Hillsborough and teaching at UNC-Chapel Hill. He was interested in the News & Record and we were interested in him.

I remember taking him to lunch at Southern Lights and how both of us of smiled at the possibilities. Doug wanted to stay in North Carolina rather than move to a paper out of state. What better place to work than his hometown paper?

The prospects of Marlette, the Pulitzer Prize winner, also appealed to Van King, then the publisher of the News & Record.

I remember sitting in Van's office one Friday evening, and both of us repeating aloud the words that would adorn all of his nationally distributed cartoons, from one coast to the other, "Doug Marlette, News & Record."

Cool.

Problem was, the local economy was just beginning to go south. We couldn't make the numbers work. It frustrated us like to hell to admit it, but it wasn't going to happen.

So we daydreamed a little while longer. Then let the dream go.

Doug remained a good acquaintance. I'd call him occasionally for his insights on editorial cartooning.

He moved on to stints with the Tallahassee Democrat in Florida and, at the time of his death, at only age 57, the Tulsa (Okla.) World.

I still think about what might have been. I thought it about it Tuesday.

What you may not know is that

It was disappointing to see City Manager Mitchell Johnson blow off Matt Brown's possible connection to a City Council campaign as no big deal.

If all city employees and department heads are allowed to do as Brown allegedly has done -- recruiting someone to run for council and aiding one candidate -- a major mess would await.

At the very least the city should review and revise its code. Employees should be able to vote for whomever they want but not actively campaign. It's a conflict of interest that create all kinds of complications.

I have been asked to post today's editorial on the reading gap for blog commentary. Here it is:

When it comes to how well children learn, it matters where they live and with whom.
It also matters where they go to school and with whom.

That's an important conclusion drawn from a new study by UNC-Chapel Hill School of Education researchers. It bolsters arguments that racial and socioeconomic integration are good for students.

Will it also put some backbone into policymakers in Guilford County and throughout North Carolina who continually give in to demands for "neighborhood schools" attendance policies that increasingly isolate poor and minority students from the greater community?

Guilford Superintendent Terry Grier put it in softer terms: "To me the question is, are they all our children?"

If the answer is yes, better approaches must be found to teach those who fall further behind every day they sit in class.

The study of nearly 2,000 economically disadvantaged children by UNC's Kirsten Kainz and Lynne Vernon-Feagans noted plenty of reasons, including family habits and characteristics, that help explain why some children don’t learn to read in the early grades. They also acknowledged that comprehensive literacy instruction helps. But those extra efforts are negated when children sit in kindergarten and first- and second-grade classrooms where most students struggle to read. In those situations, few students advance quickly enough.

More dramatic than that is this key finding: "Children attending minority segregated schools -- schools where the minority population exceeds 75 percent of the student enrollment -- underperform even after controlling for the quality of their literacy instruction, the reading abilities of the classroom peer group, and characteristics of the students and their families."

The authors speculate that schools like this, usually located in low-income neighborhoods, reflect the problems that pervade the environment outside. So much for the benefits of neighborhood schools.

For Grier, the study reinforces long observation: It's difficult to educate poor children when they're concentrated in a school or classroom.

Remedies are hard to come by. They include smaller class sizes, recruitment of outstanding teachers to challenging schools, tutoring and other programs.

In addition, this research shows that children will fare better in a climate that's more conducive to learning. That means putting them in the company of more children for whom learning is the normal, expected behavior. Rather than share classrooms year after frustrating year with disadvantaged peers all likely to fail together, every child should attend a successful school.

Guilford County leaders must find a way to make this happen.

The NAACP has funeralized the n-word. Good for them.

Question is, will that hateful -- often self-hateful -- term rest in peace?

I would like to say I'm optimistic.

In a welcome stroke of good sense, state lawmakers have passed a bill that forbids school bus drivers from talking on their cell phones while behind the wheel -- except in emergencies. The governor ought to sign it.

The good news is that the bill has been approved. The bad news is that it was needed in the first place.

This week's column:

Boeing last week unveiled the 787, its new environmentally friendly, fuel-efficient passenger jet with the "carbon-fiber reinforced composite" fuselage.

Sounding giddier than Paris You-Know-Who set free from the hoosegow, Boeing VIPs gushed that their"Dreamliner" will go faster on less fuel than comparably sized aircraft.

Uh, that’s all well and good. Now could someone please unveil a passenger-friendly jet plane?
To be fair, the Dreamliner is supposed to offer roomier cabins, smoother rides and better air quality. It certainly can’t do worse.

In terms of general discomfort, aggravation and cheap frills (peanuts and a soda, if you’re lucky), air travel has overtaken buses, camels and hitchhiking as the least desirable mode to get from Point A to Point B.

While planes remain the only practical means to travel long distances in a short time, sometimes I'd still just as soon walk.

The Pulpit Forum has asked the U.S. Justice Department to stop the recall election against Councilwoman T. Dianne Bellamy-Small on the premise that the campaign is rooted in "coded racism" and violates the Voting Rights Act.

With all due respect to all the people involved, who, I hope, mean well, what a dumb idea.

The recall is an unnecessary and wasteful exercise, given that it falls so close to the November election, when voters in her district will have the chance to keep Bellamy-Small in office or show her the door anyway. They'll also have at least two other candidates from which to choose, probably three.

Most significantly, the recall effort occurs in a predominantly black district. I can't see any valid arguments here that the recall disenfranchises black voters or candidates in any way.

Finally. If Bellamy-Small has served her constituents well, they should know it and express their appreciation at the polls. She should have nothing to fear.

An update: The Justice Department has ruled that the recall election can go forward.

I am no big fan of John Edwards, who began running for president before he'd barely had time to warm his Senate seat.

But I believe those who attack him because of his focus on poverty are taking one humongous leap in cynical illogic.

Um, let's see ... Edwards is a rich guy who live in a really big house and gets $400 haircuts; therefore he has no right to talk about the plight of poor people.

That's what some of Edwards' most vehement critics are saying.

Edwards, calling poverty "the great moral issue of our time," has made the 37 million Americans living in poverty the keystone of his presidential bid.

To draw attention to that reality, the former senator from North Carolina is in the midst of an eight-state tour of impoverished communities.

For all of his trouble, he's being called a hypocrite ... because, well, he's a rich guy discussing poverty..

To take this thnking a step further, then it stands to reason that only other poor people should care about poor people. And that rich people should merely pretend poverty does not exist (unforunately, some do).

I could be wrong but I don't if it's all that terrible to care about the plight of the poor, even if you're well-off yourself. Nor do I think there's a rule that if you happen to be rich and care about the poor, you are obligated to give up all you own.

Bill Gates hasn't, nor has Warren Buffett, but both have exhibited an admirable sense of social consciousness.

I've noticed Greensboro's First Presbyterian Church is sponsoring a "drive-by" campaign to collect food for the less fortunate.

As most of us know; the congregation at First Pres is relatively affluent. I'm not mad at 'em for that. And I'm impressed they still remember those people who are not so well off.

For those who thought my Sunday column about the travails of air travel were just the ruminations of a grumpy old guy, The Wall Street Journal reports that:

1. June was one of the worst months in U.S. history for flight delays, according to the FAA.
2. Cancelled flights last month more than doubled versus the same time span last year.
3. More than 30 percent of all the planes scheduled to land in U.S. airports for the largest 40 airlines were late in June.
4. The average delay was 62 minutes.
5. "Hundreds of thousands" of air travelers were left stranded for hours, if not days.
6. The problem isn't simply weather; it's crowded skies, overtaxed and obsolete air traffic control systems, and airline industry cutbacks

Our newest editorial page blog, "Your Voice at the Table," debuts today.

The blog's mission is to create a "virtual editorial board" -- to invite you inside our daily editorial board meetings by sharing highlights of our discussions (and disagreements) and by giving you a heads-up on the topics we're working on.

We'll also use "Your Voice" for input into other areas -- for instance, what you consider the top issues in the upcoming city elections and what kinds of questions you'd like for us to ask the candidates.

Pull up a chair and let us know what you think.

In an effort to keep people us to the movies, more and more major studios are experimenting with 3-D technology, a throw-back to a 1950s gimmick used in such B classics as "The Creature from the Black Lagoon."

Given the big, noisy glut of long, loud movies this summer, I'd settle for a good script, better acting and three-dimensional characters.

Filing for the Nov. 6 election ends at noon today.

At last count, 30 candidates were seeking seats on the Greensboro City Council, including two formidable contenders, Yvonne Johnson and Milton Kern, for mayor.

No fewer than 11 people have filed to run for three at-large seats on the council.

In fact, every single race, from the top of the ballot to the bottom, is contested, including three in District 5, where former County Commissioner Trudy Wade is one of two candidates challenging incumbent Sandy Carmany. So far.

As of now, five people are running in District 1, where incumbent T. Dianne Bellamy-Small, also faces an Aug. 21 recall election.

Five also running in District 3.

However the eleciton turns out, the council will undergo an extreme makeover this election, with Mayor Keith Holliday and incumbents Tom Phillips and Florence Gatten choosing not to seek new terms.

Maybe more voters will care this election. Only 12 percent turned out in 2005.

I believe in second chances.

I also believe in accountability, fairness and consistency.

That's why I have so little sympathy for Atlanta Falcons star quarterback Michael Vick, who has been indicted on charges involving dogfighting and incredible acts of animal cruelty.

Not only did Vick allegedly sanction dogfighting on his property in Virginia, but sadistic executions of dogs who didn't meet expectations in the pit.

These dogs reportedly were electrocuted, shot, hanged and slammed to death.

Some argue that Vick deserves to be treated differently from other, lesser talented NFL players who have been suspended by the NFL even though they, like Vick, have not yet been convicted of crimes.

If the league truly plans to get tough on player misconduct, its rules ought to apply to everyone.
Or to no one.

This week's column.

Two years ago a popular incumbent, Keith Holliday, won his fourth consecutive term as Greensboro's mayor against Nobody, a first-time hopeful from Nowhere with no previous elective experience.

To no one's surprise it was no contest.

And while that nonrace at the top of the ballot may have borne testimony to Holliday's genial personality and tenacious work ethic, it was not a healthy development for a city of this size.

Greensboro needs a competitive mayoral race between quality candidates. It creates interest for the entire election. It sparks constructive debate. And it keeps even a heavy favorite like Holliday, a good guy and a good mayor, on his toes.

This year it has one.

Yvonne Johnson, a councilwoman since 1993 and a former mayor pro tem, faces Milton Kern, a downtown developer, contractor and (true story) former fashion model.

Johnson has had her sights on the mayor's seat for a number of years and was waiting for the right time.

Kern was a surprise, a center-city booster who had considered elected officials a necessary evil. Now he wants to be one.

The plot thickens.

Thirty-three, count 'em, hearty souls have filed for city offices.

So many candidates ...

There's something for almost everyone in this year's election: a contested mayor's race between two very serious candidates.

A contested race for every seat in every district.

A controversial (and patently unnecessary) recall election in one of the districts.

An at-large field containing thousands (well, actually only 13; it just seems like more).

The promise of new voices and new faces on the City Council. The return of a few familiar faces from the past to make things even more interesting.

And a boatload of important and sensitive issues to address.

Now all we need is voters.

Only 12.4 percent of the county's registered voters cast a ballots in 2005 and even fewer, 12 percent, bothered to vote in Greensboro.

Current council member Tom Phillips, who is not seeking re-election, suggested that meant voters were generally happy. I'm betting they were bored. Or at the least, not energized.

Now Greensboro may see one of its most compelling elections in years.

... So many subplots
Among the highlights of the city filing period, which closed Friday, is the at-large race, which contains more than enough warm bodies to field a football team, plus a pair of reserves.

The lone incumbent, Mayor Pro Tem Sandra Anderson Groat, faces 12 challengers for three available seats.

Among those challengers is a former council member, Robbie Perkins, who stepped down two years ago after representing District 3 from 1993 to 2005.

Another is former county commissioner Mary Rakestraw, who had briefly considered running for council in 2005.

Meanwhile, in District 5, former commissioner Trudy Wade will challenge Sandy Carmany for her District 5 seat, as will Angela Carmichael.

Carmany is a solid, conscientious council member. Wade was equally hardworking as a commissioner.

If her early statements are any indication, Wade is planning an aggressive siege.

"We need to bring honesty, integrity and accountability back to city government," Wade said last week
.
Them's fightin' words, if you ask me.

In an ideal world, the perfect theme song for our lawmakers would be something patriotic and uplifting, like "God Bless America."

Or a bittersweet tune about the gap between the America's aspirations and imperfections, such as Springsteen's widely misunderstood and misappropriated "Born the USA."

Back in the real world, given recent headlines, it'd probably be "Lady Marmalade."

An mean-spirited, juvenile video made a brief but auspicious run on YouTube Monday.

It featured photos of Greensboro Police Chief Tim Bellamy and was set to the theme song to a 1970s blaxploitaion movie, "Nigger Boss."

That's all I'll say about it. That's more than it deserves.

Meanwhile, a commenter, Steve Flynn, did not take kindly to our Sunday editorial cartoon on the Pulpit Forum.

He wrote in the comment thread on my Sunday column:

"Allen, Sorry this is off-topic but unsure where to vent my concern. Does the N&R believe it helps this community to move forward when editorial cartoons are published like today's 'pulpit forum' race card business. I'm ashamed."

I replied that "cartoons by their nature are rarely subtle and tend to offend someone."

Then I asked Steve to be more specific about his concerns. Did he disagree with the point of the cartoon or its execution?

Here is what he wrote:

"As a white guy seeking community dialogue, I wonder why the n&r would totalize in this fashion the Pulpit Forum's motives in that "race card" cartoon.

"Do I disagree with the point of the cartoon: absolutely. That said, if it spurs decent dialogue throughout the white and black community and not simply reinforce views of one group, that could be useful. I'm skeptical. My experience tells me that the N&R represents the status quo.

"Now that you have printed that cartoon, where is the space to debate it as a community?"

We did not mean to offend by publishing the cartoon. But, as I replied to Steve in the thread,

I told Steve I would provide that space. Here it is.

Some readers were offended by a letter to the editor that they considered mean and disrespectful toward Northerners.

I thought briefly about the letter's suitability before choosing it for publication, considering it, in the end, primarily tongue in cheek. Others did not agree.

One reader cited the use of the term "Yankee" as offensive and pejorative as "redneck" or the n-word.

The letter said in part:

"This influx of Yankees, or, as I call it, Yankification, will bring more money and development to our state at the expense of Southerners losing hold of Southern identity. Consequently, Yankees will no longer be satisfied with expensive Northern containment communities like Cary."

What do you think?

Read the entire letter here.

I really ought to buy a digital camera and post photos to this blog.

Among the first would be the imposing backdrop the new City View Apartments in Southside offer to The Depot.

Downtown Greensboro is starting to look like a real CITY.

I know I gush a lot about Southside, but for good reason.

Check it out sometime. But get out of your car and walk around. Stroll the alleys. Venture past the newer brick townhouses into the neighborhood of renovated and new homes.

Now if the city can just help make Murrow Station happen, we'll be cookin'.

.

This week's column.

Hypothetically speaking, a city department head is well within his rights to place a "Recall Mayor Holliday" sign in his front yard.

Or to hand out campaign buttons for her favorite City Council hopeful at a campaign fundraiser.

Or to lead the Electric Slide at a rally for a bond referendum.

As inside-out and upside-down and even destructive as all this might seem, it's legal. You can look it up.

So long as the city employee doesn't engage in such activity on city time, using city equipment, the rules say, more power to him. Choose sides. Take your stand. It's not only permitted, it's encouraged.

The city code strictly prohibits employees from becoming "a candidate for nomination, election, or appointment to political office." The code also frowns on city employees using their positions to coerce other employees to support candidates or issues "while on duty or in the workplace." (Does that mean coercion is OK away from work?)

The inherent illogic and potential danger of this policy came to light recently in the case of coliseum Director Matt Brown. Brown's suspected support of an at-large City Council candidate, Kevin Green, and his implied recruitment of another, is over as an issue. For now.

But there is an election in the offing, with nine offices, 33 candidates and a significant shift in city leadership at stake.