Short-Changing Babies
… I thought that women and doctors insisting on early births for nonmedical reasons lived only in cynical imaginations and television soap operas. Turns out that, in the last decade, the main stream has effectively reduced ‘full-term’ to 37 weeks…
Durham’s New Sinkhole: It’s Past time for a Joint City County Watershed Improvement Committee
In 2014, Durham's city-county Environmental Affairs Board considered forming a Joint City County Watershed Improvement Committee, to provide a holistic plan for *sustainable* stormwater management that will benefit all citizens in the long run… It’s time to try again.
Durham is Run By Developers
A Jun 22, 2024, article in the Durham Dispatch summarizes a persistent and historical problem in Durham: the unfair and societally and environmentally damaging influence of developers on Durham governance:
#LifeTurningMoment
I was talking to a very well-dressed, frail old woman, with perfectly styled white hair, when she became physically distraught about the horrible state our country was in.
Supply Trumps Demand
Just had one of those lightbulb moments
re why the haters (wealthy or wanna be)
think immigrants are the country's problem.
The algorithm is this:
Suka’s Farm by Ginger and Frances Park
Suka's Farm is a quietly reflective children’s picture book that offers a glimpse into the life of a poor Korean family during the Japanese occupation of Korea in 1941…
The State of Our Beaches and NC Gerrymandering
Even NC's beloved summer beach economy isn't enough for the state to *allow* localities to implement the protections necessary to keep our water safe. ..
Bigger Buffers Better
… It is well known that erosion, sedimentation and pollution from industrial and agricultural activities or sewage is reduced by “maintaining forests in riparian zones along watercourses” (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations).…
Mengwe Wapimewah Gives a Broadway-Caliber Performance in Dominique Morisseau's Confederates at PlayMakers Rep
Set in two distinct periods -- during the American Civil War and in the modern day -- Confederates moves seamlessly between a one-room slave cabin on a Confederate plantation and a prestigious university professor's office in the current world. What could easily become preachy or overly sentimental instead feels strikingly personal and intimate…
#VIMH: Social Security Was Always A Tax (?)
About 25 years ago, shortly after I moved to Australia, I met an American expat who ranted about the farce of Social Security in America. She insisted it was nothing more than a tax -- or would be, in the end -- and resented being forced to pay it, which is one of the reasons she left the country…
History of Bullying/Unsafe Behavior at DPS Middle Schools
My letter to Durham Public Schools Superintendent and the DPS Board of Education today. in response to a student death by suicide at one of their middle schools.
Why Not Free Choice?
… if the school system is broken, let’s fix it, not undermine it by creating alternatives that compete on an unlevel playing field. If charters receive public funds, they should have the same requirements, for better or for worse, of other publicly funded schools…
What the Constitution Means to Me by Heidi Schreck Champions Truly Equal, Inclusive, and Just Governance
…From the legal definition of "penumbra" to positive verses negative rights to the Town of Castle Rock versus Gonzalez and other frightening Supreme Court decisions, every American should experience the lessons contained in What the Constitution Means to Me.
Mail Order Ministers
… As long as exceptional financial benefits and protections exist for churches and religious leaders, a person shouldn’t be eligible for legal ordination simply because (s)he can click a mouse.…
Homeowners Hung Out to Dry
… The legalities surrounding stormwater issues are gray at best. Apparently, the state owns the water, the city owns the pipes and streams (though even that is debatable), and the property owners own the land. So who is accountable when stormwater redirected by private developers damages property downstream?…
Rewriting America’s Tax Code
What a mess. The US needs to rewrite its tax code from scratch in order to root out all the loopholes enabling the ultra wealthy to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. #NotHoldingMyBreath
Lessons from Down Under
… Last month we returned to Melbourne with our kids. I couldn’t help comparing Melbourne and Durham, and in the process Australia and America, and noting things that would improve our county and country. I have a two-page list but have space here for only two of the most far-reaching comparisons …
Will the East Coast Learn Anything from Hurricane Florence?
In the wake of Hurricane Florence, one question plagues me (again): Are we going to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in FEMA and other public emergency funds to rebuild homes along the hurricane-battered coast, only so we can do it all over again when the next hurricane/tornado hits? Or will we finally adopt the common-sense, economically sustainable long-term solution: Don't Build/Rebuild Along the East Coast?
Discrimination Against Edible Plants
An article about an HOA’s attempts to force a Durham family to remove the edible garden they planted in their side yard.