North Carolina has the dogwood as the state flower, the cardinal as the state bird, the plott hound as the state dog, the Fraser Fir as the state Christmas tree, and the emerald as the state gem. We also have the channel bass (red drum) as the state fish. But a couple of those need to … Continue reading North Carolina’s New State Bird and State Fish – The Ravenous Lame Duck and the Red Herring
Voter ID
“As Clear As The Setting Sun” – Sen. Phil Berger Should Not Be Re-elected
To be or not to be: that is the question. Whether to suffer under Berger more, Or elect someone who works for us all And not swim against a sea of troubles. If Shakespeare has taught us anything about human nature and our lives (actually he has taught us much), then we would certainly know … Continue reading “As Clear As The Setting Sun” – Sen. Phil Berger Should Not Be Re-elected
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Billy Pilgrim and the Sermon on the Mount – The Differences Between the Beatitudes and the Me-atitudes
I miss Kurt Vonnegut. Lived through the Great Depression. Fought in WWII. A POW and a social critic. Truly a leading voice for the twentieth century. Fifty years of writing – 14 novels, 3 short story collections, 5 plays, and 5 works of nonfiction. Slaughterhouse Five is a must read for anyone (and on my suggested list … Continue reading Billy Pilgrim and the Sermon on the Mount – The Differences Between the Beatitudes and the Me-atitudes
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FrankenMoore and BergerStein – Uncle Victor Was Telling You Something
“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.” And nothing is so detrimental to the health of a great commonwealth as a great and sudden misuse of law. The preceding quote comes from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the first great dark romantic / Gothic novel. It was written at the … Continue reading FrankenMoore and BergerStein – Uncle Victor Was Telling You Something
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Why Pat McCrory Has Already “Lost” This Election
If the current numbers pan out, Pat McCrory will be a one-term governor. But more glaringly apparent is that his defeat came in a year of another GOP wave of victory in the nation. If the numbers are correct, over 60,000 people in North Carolina who voted for Donald Trump as POTUS DID NOT CAST … Continue reading Why Pat McCrory Has Already “Lost” This Election
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Map It And It Becomes Very Apparent That Medicaid Expansion Refusal Affects Schools
On Sept. 5th, I constructed a post concerning the high correlation between poverty, school performance grades, and the gerrymandered districts within North Carolina. Yesterday, NC Policy Watch referenced a study by the North Carolina Poverty Research Fund in Chapel Hill entitled “Putting a Face on Medicaid Expansion in North Carolina.” You can reference it here: http://www.law.unc.edu/documents/poverty/publications/medicaid_report_final.pdf … Continue reading Map It And It Becomes Very Apparent That Medicaid Expansion Refusal Affects Schools
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Priceless – Lt. Governor Dan Forest’s Mercurial Moral Compass
“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’” – Matthew 25:45 When the NCAA made its decision to pull seven championship game/matches out of North Carolina in response to the discriminatory nature of HB2, Kami Meuller, the spokesperson … Continue reading Priceless – Lt. Governor Dan Forest’s Mercurial Moral Compass
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Open Letter to Kami Mueller Concerning the NCAA, HB2, and “Political Peacocking” – Sorry, the Political Peacocking Bit Makes Me Laugh
Dear Ms. Meuller, I read with great feigned interest your statement on behalf of the NCGOP concerning the NCAA’s decision to remove all championship athletic games from the state of North Carolina because of their stance on HB2, otherwise known as the “bathroom bill.” It reads, “This is so absurd it’s almost comical. I genuinely … Continue reading Open Letter to Kami Mueller Concerning the NCAA, HB2, and “Political Peacocking” – Sorry, the Political Peacocking Bit Makes Me Laugh
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Rep. Paul “Skip” Stam’s Ridiculously Below “Average” Op-Ed on Teacher Pay – I Mean, It’s Not Even Average
Rep. Paul Stam’s recent op-ed in EdNC.org entitled “Teacher Pay: Rhetoric vs. Reality” is yet another example of the strong confirmation bias that the senior Wake County representative suffers from in his explanation of teacher pay. And there are many different aspects of his meandering argument that could be rebutted with ease. Such as the … Continue reading Rep. Paul “Skip” Stam’s Ridiculously Below “Average” Op-Ed on Teacher Pay – I Mean, It’s Not Even Average
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Map It And It Becomes Very Apparent That Poverty Affects Schools
Political leanings and lenses aside, sometimes data can create a picture so vivid that it is really hard to argue against the conclusions. Last week, the state of North Carolina released its school performance grades for the 2015-2016 school year. With pretty much the same parameters kept in place, the results really did nothing but … Continue reading Map It And It Becomes Very Apparent That Poverty Affects Schools
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