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In the late 90’s I continually fed N&R Editor John Robinson the news about declining water demand. He kept refusing it.
(Continued from above…)
A few of my press releases did get published in the N&R but in such a lukewarm fashion that readers would never catch on that water use was declining. Perhaps the local media has and will always be Pro-Randleman DAM and Pro-Growth because growth means more newspapers sales and more advertising sales. What business that profits from growth would oppose growth?
I know for a fact that N&R readers assume water use is always climbing because everything else is climbing. In 1999 I conducted an unscientific telephone poll of 25 citizens to satisfy my own curiosity. Water use had declined 3 years in a row and I knew that more declines were in Greensboro’s future. I asked each person I phoned, "Is Greensboro's water use increasing or decreasing?"
20 of the 25 people I called claimed Greensboro Water Use was rising, even skyrocketing---“That’s obvious because Greensboro is GROWING.” Even my pastor was certain that water use was increasing and there was no convincing him otherwise.
Everyone in a 40-mile radius had been affected by the City’s dishonest water-shortage propaganda and pictures of its intentionally lowered reservoirs every summer. That’s why citizens were pro-Randleman Dam---because they never knew water use was declining. If they saw a water use chart on the front page of the N&R instead of a food cost chart they may not have got scammed into the Randleman Dam. But the media was the megaphone for the City's propaganda and the Dam became a slam-dunk.
Once again I challenge the Greensboro News & Record to print the above water use chart on its front page. Let your readers see in a graph what was predicted and what actually happened. This CHART tells the whole story that's never been told. Even distant people with no dog in this fight view this CHART and immediately they can smell the muskrat. What will the citizens of Greensboro conclude if they see this CHART? Well, we both know that answer.
If “Food Costs Rising”--an expected event--is news, then certainly “Water Demand Declining”--an unexpected event--is genuine news for the front page. Everybody on the World Wide Web can easily see the emperor isn't wearing any clothes ....and the Greensboro News & Record is still reporting a fashioned show.
In 1999 after I was fired I held a press conference to reveal the City Scam to justify the Randleman Dam. The Greensboro News & Record sent reporter Andrea Ball---on her last day of work at the News & Record! The next day Andrea Ball began her new job in Texas with the Austin American. Why would the N&R send a reporter on her last day on the job?
If this Dam Scam story ever gets out, Greensboro’s media outlets may look like accomplices in a conspiracy. After all, they were handed detailed information of a scam-in-the-making and they never dug for the truth.
Because the Dam Scam story is being spiked by the local media it is imperative that you FORWARD it to all interested parties both near and far. Simply tell others to Google DAM SCAM.
Thank you for reading!
You may write to me at
mikejbaron@triad.rr.com
Posts
"Everyone in a 40-mile radius had been affected by the City’s dishonest water-shortage propaganda and pictures of its intentionally lowered reservoirs every summer."
ReplyDeleteAided and abetted by certain local bloggers who delight in posting pictures of nearly dry reservoirs.
It's standard procedure for those with an interest in promoting doom and gloom scenarios on many different topics in order to fulfill some political/social/economic agenda.
Can you please let me know why they devised such a plan? Did they profit from the dam in some way?
ReplyDeleteMy Answer to Travis;
ReplyDeleteThere are many participants in the Randleman Dam Scam conspiracy ….and an almost equal number of different motives.
The former Water Director’s dream was to build the Randleman Dam. His pride of accomplishment led him to deliberately “use up” Greensboro’s water resources to justify the dam (see Water Economics 101). Remember too that he is an engineer and he designs and builds things to earn a living.
Do I need to remind you how many “city fathers” there are in Greensboro who are obsessed with growth at any cost? Greensboro is #3 and it competes with Raleigh and Charlotte. City managers and officials get rewarded financially whenever they are pro-growth.
In the 90’s City managers and officials believed they could recruit northern industries to Greensboro if they had Randleman’s water. They knew the public would never fund such an extravagance so they orchestrated a water shortage to get it.
Real estate developers always sit on Greensboro’s City Council. They are all for GROWTH that translates into profit. For example, imagine how much the land in the 29 corridor shot up in value when Greensboro brought water to it. Somebody made millions of dollars turning cheap land into the Reedy Fork development.
The Randleman Dam’s projected cost was around $150 million. That’s a lot of money that somebody is going to earn for building it. You never really know who profits financially from such giant projects—including profit from taking money illegally by those who must give approval for a project. It is hard to follow the money trail. Imagine the money to be made developing the land around Randleman Reservoir. Try buying lakefront property sometime. That lakefront use to be farmland.
Suppose there was a call for a NASCAR track in Greensboro. Can you imagine any local media outlet like the News & Record being against a NASCAR track? …or against a coliseum?....or against ball park?....or against downtown nightlife? These issues represent BIG MONEY for the media. Just look at the full-page color nightclub ads in The Rhino and you don’t have to wonder about the media’s natural support for growth.
Many of the players have already profited from the Randleman Dam and Reservoir. And Randleman has not—and never will accomplish its objective—the recruitment of industry to Greensboro. Water-intensive US industry is relocating to the Far East and no longer to the Sunbelt.
The Dam Scammers are now re-defining the purpose of the Randleman Reservoir. Do you ever think the Dam Scammers will recant and admit, “We don’t need it anymore?” The Dam Scamming conspiracy built a dam and a reservoir that citizens will pay dearly for and never get any return on their investment.
All public works projects need extremely close scrutiny because they often get proposed, justified and built for wrong or dishonest reasons. The Randleman Dam is one such project.
Thank you Travis for asking your questions! Please spread this information and write a Letter to the Editor. —Mike Baron, April 22
I appreciate your explanation, I guess I was naive to this local corruption, and not being a long time resident, I was unaware of the history behind it. I know a few important people that I will forward this to.
ReplyDeleteA great community that you would I believe like a whole lot that focuses on these types of issues is the Triad Ron Paul Meetup. You can get in touch with us at http://ronpaul.meetup.com/749/
Travis
triadfreedom.blogspot.com
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