I don’t claim to be the brightest bulb on the tree, but it looks like to me – I’m watching Channel 8. It’s 12:15, Wednesday – people standing out in the snow freezing cold, snow sticking on their face. It looks like to me that they could film that stuff from inside the car. We all know it’s snowing. And why they have to stand out there, I don’t know. I believe if the people that’s got stock in WGHP-TV needs to talk to producers a little bit and see if they could at least put them people under an umbrella instead of standing out.

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Just want to say thanks to the staff at the Rhino Times. Every time I have called The Sound of the Beep my concerns have always been printed. I really appreciate your Rhino Times, seeing it each week. And thanks again. Bye-bye.

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The answer is obvious. Colfax International Airport. CIA.

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This is to the person who called in and was bragging about their sensational, unforgettable Uber rides. Well, when I say that the city has sacrificed public safety but technological correct, what I mean by that is the insurance laws regarding taxis are ducked and dodged by Uber because they can’t afford to operate and pay the taxi insurance like you’re supposed to pay. Now those laws are put into effect to protect the consumer, which are the customers. If you have a wreck in an Uber car, there is no insurance to cover your liabilities. The insurance company is going to first recognize that the driver is using a personal car for commercial use, which is illegal, and refuse to pay the claim. Second of all, have you ever heard of all these different Uber drivers who have killed people, robbed people, broke in their house?

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Editor’s Note: First, Uber and other similar ride sharing services are governed by state law, not by city ordinance. Second, Uber has $1.5 million in insurance coverage on all the vehicles used by Uber drivers. Third, Uber exists because taxi companies insisted on having such a tight monopoly on the business. Greensboro regulates how many taxis can operate in the city. It doesn’t regulate how many grocery stores, funeral homes, attorneys or newspapers the city can have. Taxis benefited from that government protection for years and are now having to deal with competition like most people do in private industry.

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If there were no pennies, how would merchants add 6.75 percent sales tax to your purchase?   They would have to include tax in the purchase price, which would give government carte blanche to increase tax without suffering a political price, because consumers will always blame the merchant for an aggregate price increase, even if it is due to a sales tax hike.   Abolishing pennies is a sure fire way to see an explosive increase in our sales tax.  It would be a huge mistake – unless you’re a liberal.  Just sign me off as An Independent Thinker.

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Nobody on the City Council understands why no business wants to locate to Greensboro. Just look how the council doesn’t know the difference between an 18-foot, a 10-foot, and an 8-foot, 6-inch wide easement. Remember: You can’t fix stupid.

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Donald Trump is without a doubt the greatest president our country has ever seen. This man is transforming America to be the greatest country it has ever been. Right now, Apple is bringing back $282 billion from an offshore account, creating 20,000 jobs and giving out $2,500 bonuses because of his tax plan. And that is just one company of many who are jumping on the bandwagon saving money and giving the money and the savings to their employees in the form of bonuses, pay raises, and benefits and stock options. This man is the greatest president this country has ever seen, or will ever see. The Democrats and his critics are going to have to jump on the Trump wagon.

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Hello. I’m calling in regards to this government shutdown that’s going on on television that you’re watching because the Democrats do not want to participate in this budget bill because they want DACA. Well, I just want to say this to the Democrats: If you close down the government because of these illegal immigrants that are here because you want them to get amnesty, well, I got something to say about this. I am an independent voter. And I just want to say what’s going on right now in this country is a sad situation. And what the American people are watching on TV is very sad. Because all you’re doing is you’re not caring about the American people whatsoever. You just want voters in up there. We know this. We’re not stupid.

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You love Trump so much that you try to defend him for things that so many others consider to be wrong. I’m waiting to see if you tried to make something positive out of his vulgarity.

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I’m going to tell you a funny one. I’m here at the Dollar Tree. And I noticed they had done like Aldi. You have to put a quarter now into the – to get the buggy out like they do at Aldi. I asked the manager what the deal was with that. Get this. He said their buggies are ending up half way across town. People are putting product in their buggies. And, then, they’re pushing the buggies back to their house, or apartment, or hotel. And they’re getting sick of rounding them up. And some of them have just totally disappeared. They don’t know where they’re at. So now, to solve this problem, they are putting the quarter return and reject on every shopping buggy like they do at Aldi. So now you have to put a quarter in which means – well, buggies are still disappearing. They’re down at the bus stop down here off of Wendover Avenue and all over the place.

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Hi.   I’m calling in regards to all this racism and stuff going on.   You know, people cannot change their race because that’s the way God made them.   You know?   If you are against one race or another, you need to take that up with God.   You know?   Because that’s the way God made everybody.   God made whites, blacks, Latinos, Asians and that’s just the way it is.   And, you know, everybody goes to church on Sunday, and they sit in there and they hallelujah, and this, that and the other.   And then, on Monday, they get out there and they start in this racism stuff.   You know?   It’s against the Bible to be racist.   And, so, this is for all the reverends out there that are preaching, and all the preachers, too, that are preaching.   They need to talk about this.

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This is not a scientific study, but during the recent snow event it was interesting to see how the local TV stations reported on it.   WXII and WGHP sent their trucks out into the thick of it, reporting from the scene and providing good video of conditions in different parts of the triad.   WFMY seemed to spend their time reporting from their warm studio, while making a big theatrical show of their weatherman standing in their back yard.   And as I just tuned in, they had a reporter driving up highway 29 in her personal vehicle, telling us that it was pretty clear on that road, which is 100 yards from WFMY’s location.   So if you only need to know the situation in northeast Greensboro, tune in to WFMY.   For the big picture, try another station.   Just sign me off as An Independent Thinker.

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Yes, I was listening to a radio show. I think the guy is – it was late at night – and the host got a breaking news story that at 7:19, I believe it was on Wednesday evening, all CNN personnel that were on the air were told that they were to use the sh** word as many times as they could. And they did. And it was recorded. They used it 36 times. And the only thing that they did was to say to ask some of their announcers if they didn’t want to say it, it was OK, but they had to emphasize it, and that all the banners of the news media on CNN when they started their show had to say that word and had to have that word included. They were in such a mad frenzy. But, you know, omitted from all the news on CNN, and all these other news channels, is the Jeff Goldberg article in the Atlantic back in 2016 when then President Obama, the hero of the left, never utters a foul word, used the sh** word nine times in that article.

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Well, I just got back in town a few minutes ago. Been at the coast. Boy, it’s a big difference down there from up here. They obey the laws pretty good. They give tickets if they don’t. They get stopped. I know it’s unusual for somebody to say that. Yeah, they write tickets on the coast down there. Not like up here. Got back on Yanceyville. Had to go to the store for my wife. A man came by me flying with two kids in the backseat. Don’t do nothing about no red lights or nothing. That’s our police department for us.

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Our buffoon-in-chief claims to be a genius. If he were half as smart as he thinks he is, he would know he embarrasses us in the eyes of the rest of the world. But maybe he doesn’t care.

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Just want to make this comment about the supposed comments about President Trump made about African-based nations. I’m sure Clinton and Obama did the same thing. They were just too scared to tell it when they were in the Cabinet meeting, you know? They need to get on. The media and the liberals need to get on and address what the real issues are and get to the root of the problem. That’s the corruption in the Clinton/Obama era so decent American taxpayers can get some peace about what went on and know that they’re held accountable as well.

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Hello. I’m American and I’m a US citizen. I was born and raised here in America. And I sat here and I watched the news, and I’m very disgusted. It’s a shame that these Democrats will not pass a budget bill to get this government working because they’re holding it hostage for these DACA people. If the Democrats do not pass a budget bill to keep the government opened because of the DACA people, they will not win in 2018. It will be a shellacking for them, period. Every single Democrat will lose their seat because American people are so sick of what’s going on with these DACA people. They’re not putting America people first, and that is a shame. American people put you in office, and you’re not helping the American people. You’re putting these DACA people ahead of the American people.

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Today as I call in there are five godless ultra-liberal Democrats that have said they will boycott the State of the Union address. My thought is simply this – good riddance. Two of them are from the extreme left coast. So that’s par for the course. If President Trump discovered a cure for cancer or Alzheimer’s, they would find something to criticize him for that. Unbelievable. But par for the course.

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Our politicians like to hunker on the corner trolling for customers. These people will do anything for a vote. I say DACA, no citizenship, no vote, but they can apply for citizenship after the specified normal time. Oh, but no preferences and no Social Security. By the way, what happens to all the money that these hardworking individuals are paying in supposedly to Social Security? What are the people that they’re working for doing with that money? The next question would be, what happens when they do get to retirement age and they have Social Security? Who’s going to support them? It will be the American citizen. It’s just not right. Build the wall.

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Let me start off by saying I’m a Republican, have always been a Republican. I’m 62 years old. My father was a Republican. His father was a Republican. My family are Republicans. But I have never been more disgusted about being Republican than I am right now because of these foolish so-called Republican leaders that are, the only reason is they dislike Trump and want to go against everything he says is because they have been politicians their whole lives. They’ve had it handed down to them from their fathers and grandfathers. And they’ve ran for president and have never gotten it. John McCain and all you, you ran for presidency and you didn’t get it. Here this man has never been a politician, runs for presidency and wins it. And that’s the only reason you’re mad at him.

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Merit-based immigration is the only system that’s equal and just for everyone. And that means DACA needs to stand in line with the rest of humanity waiting at our embassies and consulates. I don’t say deport DACA, but I say you need to get back in line with everybody else, fill out an application and put in your record. And if you’ve got assets and skills and abilities that other people don’t, well, you just got a leg up. Your compatriots, countrymen from Mexico that don’t have the benefit of knowing English, you’ve got a leg up on top of them. But all of DACA, you have to stand in line with the rest of humanity.

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You know what? I don’t understand this. I’m a Republican. And I can’t figure out why there is a Tony Wilkins’ sign still sitting out in front of the Republican headquarters in the ground. You know, if I ran for office and I did that, they would be all over me for still leaving my signs up. You know? Tony’s got signs in some places that are just right out in the open. You know? Why don’t he, or his wife, or both of them ride around and collect the signs? You know, it’s four years before he can even run for anything again. What’s he going to leave, the Tony Wilkins’ sign out there for the next three years? Come on, Tony, pick these things up.

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I don’t know too much about politics. Barely did get out of school. But this part I do know. Eight years of Obama never did get the economy over 3 percent growth. Borrowed a trillion dollars a year. Actually, a little more than a trillion a year. And the Democrats say put us back in and we’ll straighten this country out. I tell you right now, it’s going to be like sending the fox to guard the hen house. Them women need to quit marching. Get in the house and start cooking supper because their husbands. And be thankful that Donald Trump is up there making this country great again.

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Any citizen in this country who is a registered Democrat should lose their citizenship. Democrats are against any value that the country was built on. These people are nothing but obstructionists. They want to bring the country down. They are anti-American. If they will get out of our president’s way, and quit being such a nuisance and obstructionist, he will move this country forward. He’s already starting to. Over 100 companies are giving their employees raises and bonuses because of the tax break. The Democrats want to stop him simply because he is not a liberal. The Democrats are not for the American way of life. They are for holding people down, throwing them a little tidbit every now and then to try to woo their votes.

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Here it goes. I shop at a discount store weekly. It’s close to my house. Come up here last week. Bought groceries. Spent $100 some dollars. It was a nice lady standing at the end of the aisle with her little yellow vest on smiling, looking around. Doing nothing. Well, come up here this Sunday. There she is. Same person. Same little yellow vest. Same smile. Doing nothing. I bet she’s real tired. A bet a lot of them associates are tired when they get home, because, you know, standing around all day long doing nothing will wear you out. The store would save a lot of money if they would just get a bunch of mannequins and put them around the door and dress them up in them little suits and make them smile, because that’s all them people do. And then you got to stand in line 15 minutes to get up there where you check your groceries out. That place is a joke. This is another thing. That guy that called in and said about the women didn’t have no position in management, no place. He’s a fool. And I’m a man. Probably more of a man than he is.

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I’m calling about the person who left the message about the Downtown Greenway right there at Elm and Eugene Street. I agree with you. I go to that Morehead Trail Center right under the bridge where it’s all painted and colorful. I’m scared to walk down there. There’s a homeless tent to the left. Right under the bridge I’ve walked by, and there’s been poop under the bridge. You come out, you got to cross Elm-Eugene. You get down behind the Urban Ministry, and then no way you’re going to go past over there on – well, I’m talking about Gate City Boulevard first. You get to Elm-Eugene, no way you’re going to cross right there because that goes down into uncharted territory that only some unknowing person would go, because if you go during the summertime, there’s always people sleeping on the grass, hanging out. I looked up online. Where is this Downtown Greenway? There’s a section here or a section there. It is just crazy to me. And that trailhead is just stupid.

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