Page 127 of the Oct. 20, 2003 edition of BusinessWeek. It quotes my husband Charlie. We talked to this reporter for ten minutes, and she chose a quote that makes SC look skeptical of Dean -- how frustrating. So be careful what you say to reporters, 'cause they'll print it!
Dean's smiling picture in A.J.'s bar is on the front page of the article, which is entitled "South Carolina Shakeout."
Here is the quote. It comes at the end of essentially a 2-page article ALL ABOUT SC POLITICS on page 129 of BusinessWeek:
In Charleston and at the church, he [Dean] delivered a toned-down version of that line. "South Carolina has voted Republican for 30 years," he shouted. "Tell me what you have to show for it."
Even some of Dean's ardent supporters were skeptical about how that would fly with most South Carolinians. "I don't know if they'll take too kindly to it," chortled Charlie Gaddy of Rock Hill, who with his wife drove three hours to see Dean. "But the economy is so bad that maybe people will at least listen."
True, says Emory University political scientist Merle Black, they may listen, but South Carolina voters are unlikely to flock to Dean. "If [he] wins Iowa and New Hampshire, I think South Carolina could be a place for another candidate to emerge," says Black. Naturally, almost all of Dean's rivals are spinning fantasies about who that person might be.
- article by Alexandra Starr
Friday, October 10, 2003
I got this story from a friend who works for a Peace & Justice group in NC.
1 in 7 North Carolinians lives below the poverty line.
It's hard facts like this that make me so annoyed when people insist to me that everyone in America is equal and/or has an equal chance at succeeding in life. They say this because everyone they know, everyone they associate with, has done so. The ones who don't, they figure, must be lazy... too bad for them.
Can you imagine life on $18,500 a year -- let alone raising kids and having a car and health insurance? Would you live at that level if you had an alternative? I made about $16,000 (ten years ago) at my first full-time job (kinko's). I had a college degree, all paid for by my parents, and a good healthcare plan from kinko's, and I knew I would make a lot more at my next job. Meanwhile, some people can afford to pay $18,000 a year for their kids' private college tuition -- some even without taking out loans. It's just unbelievable, the gap between have and have not.
And the majority of us middle class people are of course in the middle, torn between aspiring to keep our money to improve our own status and save for unforeseen future disaster, or helping those who have less.
Friday, October 3, 2003 12:00AM EDT
POINT OF VIEW
_____
Looking right past the poor
By GENE R. NICHOL
CHAPEL HILL -- Last week, the U.S. Census Bureau released its most recent study of income and poverty. For the "second consecutive year, the poverty rate and the number living in poverty rose." Almost 35 million Americans (12.1 percent) made less last year than the extraordinarily modest federal poverty threshold of $18,500 for a family of four. About 17 percent of the nation's children are poor. The numbers are even worse for black (24 percent) and Latino (22 percent) kids.
The North Carolina story was particularly disheartening. Our median family income is now almost $5,000 below the national average. We are one of 10 states whose median income actually fell from the year before -- in our case by 4.4 percent. About one in seven Tar Heels lives below the poverty line.
The Bush administration says the recession ended in November 2001. You'd have a hard time proving it in North Carolina.
Newspapers gave the poverty report fairly prominent play. Headlines read "State's median income dips." But, as is typically the case, it was essentially a one-day story. No expressions of outrage appeared. No emergency proposals followed. The Congress stood mute. The executive branch was unmoved. No electoral campaigns took up the mantle. No state legislative initiative was launched.
Once each year we learn that the wealthiest nation in human history countenances shockingly high levels of poverty. We discover, yet again, that -- despite our vaunted rhetorical commitment to equality -- America leads the industrial world in wealth disparity and concentration. We shrug our shoulders, and we go on.
And income differentials hardly present the whole picture. Over 43 million Americans have no health care insurance. In North Carolina, 15.6 percent lack coverage. Of households earning under $25,000 a year, about a quarter are uninsured. We stand alone among the major industrial nations in failing to provide universal coverage. We spend more per capita on health care than any country in the world. But we also leave more of our fellows outside the system, in the shadows.
Economics also drives opportunity. We countenance rich and poor public schools. Not just private schools, mind you; rich and poor public schools. As if were acceptable to treat some of our children as second- or third-class citizens. Higher education magnifies the inequality -- though UNC-Chapel Hill's new "Carolina Covenant" is a hopeful step in the right direction. Only 3 percent of the students at the nation's 146 most selective universities come from the bottom economic quartile. An astonishing 74 percent come from the top quarter. Twenty years ago, children from parents in the top quarter were four times more likely to get a college degree than those at the bottom. Now it's 10 times.
The legal system also prices out a huge segment of the community. Study after study finds that about 80 percent of the legal need of the poor and near-poor goes unmet. Less than 1 percent of our total national expenditure for lawyers goes toward services for the poor. We carve "equal justice under law" on our courthouse walls. The sentiment stops there.
Even our political system rewards those who can pay in order to play. The private financing of campaigns systematically skews the outcome of our political processes toward the interests of the economically powerful. The halls of power are increasing off limits to those without significant economic resources. Across a broad array of enterprises, we have allowed the deck to become stacked against those lodged at the bottom. And we know it.
Yet, decade after decade, in cultural arena after cultural arena, in election after election, these crushing problems are barely discussed. In law, in politics, in philosophy, in the humane letters, we simply turn our gaze away. We have come to think that a regime of economic apartheid is both unavoidable and untroubling.
A couple of months ago, I was asked to give the convocation address at Chapel Hill. Given the brouhaha over Barbara Ehrenreich's "Nickel and Dimed," there was a tad of tension in the air. I remember thinking that we would explore Enhenreich's book from a stunning array of perspectives. Is the book balanced? Does it represent good journalism, or first-rate literature? Is UNC leftist? Are we open to dissent? Do legislators have the right to ask for faculty members' political affiliations? Should remarkably underpaid campus workers be allowed to participate in the discussions? Do we practice anything like what we preach?
My own fear, though, was that, in all of the hullabaloo, we would miss the central, irrefutable premise of "Nickel and Dimed": that "the poor have disappeared from the culture at large, from its political rhetoric, its intellectual endeavors, from its daily entertainment." In American life, formal equality has become submerged in a torrent of disadvantage. By accepting it, we turn our backs on our best selves.
(Gene R. Nichol is dean and the Burton Craige professor of law at the UNC School of Law.)
_____
1 in 7 North Carolinians lives below the poverty line.
It's hard facts like this that make me so annoyed when people insist to me that everyone in America is equal and/or has an equal chance at succeeding in life. They say this because everyone they know, everyone they associate with, has done so. The ones who don't, they figure, must be lazy... too bad for them.
Can you imagine life on $18,500 a year -- let alone raising kids and having a car and health insurance? Would you live at that level if you had an alternative? I made about $16,000 (ten years ago) at my first full-time job (kinko's). I had a college degree, all paid for by my parents, and a good healthcare plan from kinko's, and I knew I would make a lot more at my next job. Meanwhile, some people can afford to pay $18,000 a year for their kids' private college tuition -- some even without taking out loans. It's just unbelievable, the gap between have and have not.
And the majority of us middle class people are of course in the middle, torn between aspiring to keep our money to improve our own status and save for unforeseen future disaster, or helping those who have less.
Friday, October 3, 2003 12:00AM EDT
POINT OF VIEW
_____
Looking right past the poor
By GENE R. NICHOL
CHAPEL HILL -- Last week, the U.S. Census Bureau released its most recent study of income and poverty. For the "second consecutive year, the poverty rate and the number living in poverty rose." Almost 35 million Americans (12.1 percent) made less last year than the extraordinarily modest federal poverty threshold of $18,500 for a family of four. About 17 percent of the nation's children are poor. The numbers are even worse for black (24 percent) and Latino (22 percent) kids.
The North Carolina story was particularly disheartening. Our median family income is now almost $5,000 below the national average. We are one of 10 states whose median income actually fell from the year before -- in our case by 4.4 percent. About one in seven Tar Heels lives below the poverty line.
The Bush administration says the recession ended in November 2001. You'd have a hard time proving it in North Carolina.
Newspapers gave the poverty report fairly prominent play. Headlines read "State's median income dips." But, as is typically the case, it was essentially a one-day story. No expressions of outrage appeared. No emergency proposals followed. The Congress stood mute. The executive branch was unmoved. No electoral campaigns took up the mantle. No state legislative initiative was launched.
Once each year we learn that the wealthiest nation in human history countenances shockingly high levels of poverty. We discover, yet again, that -- despite our vaunted rhetorical commitment to equality -- America leads the industrial world in wealth disparity and concentration. We shrug our shoulders, and we go on.
And income differentials hardly present the whole picture. Over 43 million Americans have no health care insurance. In North Carolina, 15.6 percent lack coverage. Of households earning under $25,000 a year, about a quarter are uninsured. We stand alone among the major industrial nations in failing to provide universal coverage. We spend more per capita on health care than any country in the world. But we also leave more of our fellows outside the system, in the shadows.
Economics also drives opportunity. We countenance rich and poor public schools. Not just private schools, mind you; rich and poor public schools. As if were acceptable to treat some of our children as second- or third-class citizens. Higher education magnifies the inequality -- though UNC-Chapel Hill's new "Carolina Covenant" is a hopeful step in the right direction. Only 3 percent of the students at the nation's 146 most selective universities come from the bottom economic quartile. An astonishing 74 percent come from the top quarter. Twenty years ago, children from parents in the top quarter were four times more likely to get a college degree than those at the bottom. Now it's 10 times.
The legal system also prices out a huge segment of the community. Study after study finds that about 80 percent of the legal need of the poor and near-poor goes unmet. Less than 1 percent of our total national expenditure for lawyers goes toward services for the poor. We carve "equal justice under law" on our courthouse walls. The sentiment stops there.
Even our political system rewards those who can pay in order to play. The private financing of campaigns systematically skews the outcome of our political processes toward the interests of the economically powerful. The halls of power are increasing off limits to those without significant economic resources. Across a broad array of enterprises, we have allowed the deck to become stacked against those lodged at the bottom. And we know it.
Yet, decade after decade, in cultural arena after cultural arena, in election after election, these crushing problems are barely discussed. In law, in politics, in philosophy, in the humane letters, we simply turn our gaze away. We have come to think that a regime of economic apartheid is both unavoidable and untroubling.
A couple of months ago, I was asked to give the convocation address at Chapel Hill. Given the brouhaha over Barbara Ehrenreich's "Nickel and Dimed," there was a tad of tension in the air. I remember thinking that we would explore Enhenreich's book from a stunning array of perspectives. Is the book balanced? Does it represent good journalism, or first-rate literature? Is UNC leftist? Are we open to dissent? Do legislators have the right to ask for faculty members' political affiliations? Should remarkably underpaid campus workers be allowed to participate in the discussions? Do we practice anything like what we preach?
My own fear, though, was that, in all of the hullabaloo, we would miss the central, irrefutable premise of "Nickel and Dimed": that "the poor have disappeared from the culture at large, from its political rhetoric, its intellectual endeavors, from its daily entertainment." In American life, formal equality has become submerged in a torrent of disadvantage. By accepting it, we turn our backs on our best selves.
(Gene R. Nichol is dean and the Burton Craige professor of law at the UNC School of Law.)
_____
Thursday, October 09, 2003
Who irons the pants in your family?
I can’t iron clothes without thinking of my parents. For me, this is a pleasant association. The hot hoof of the iron releasing great whoofs and chuffs of steam, my parents taking pride in clean and stiffened clothing.
Mom did most of the ironing in our house, but Dad showed me how to do it elegantly, flattening clothes with an almost fond touch, the iron gliding across the starched sleeves of his blue dress shirts. He would give me 25 cents for each shirt I starched and ironed well for him, a rate that could yield several dollars a week if I kept after it.
One day, years after this, I was ironing while Mom was in the room folding other clothes. I mentioned slyly that Dad seemed to be better at ironing than Mom, and she scoffed. She actually scoffed. “That’s because he doesn’t have to do it.”
“Oh…” I murmured. This was a clue about the dynamics of married life that I hadn’t expected and felt embarrassed about exposing.
I can’t iron clothes without thinking of my parents. For me, this is a pleasant association. The hot hoof of the iron releasing great whoofs and chuffs of steam, my parents taking pride in clean and stiffened clothing.
Mom did most of the ironing in our house, but Dad showed me how to do it elegantly, flattening clothes with an almost fond touch, the iron gliding across the starched sleeves of his blue dress shirts. He would give me 25 cents for each shirt I starched and ironed well for him, a rate that could yield several dollars a week if I kept after it.
One day, years after this, I was ironing while Mom was in the room folding other clothes. I mentioned slyly that Dad seemed to be better at ironing than Mom, and she scoffed. She actually scoffed. “That’s because he doesn’t have to do it.”
“Oh…” I murmured. This was a clue about the dynamics of married life that I hadn’t expected and felt embarrassed about exposing.
Monday, July 07, 2003
We've been living in our current house for just over a year now. I alternately complain about the apparent un-neighborliness of our neighbors, who haven't made the effort to meet us, and express guilt at not having made the effort myself. I have met the next-door neighbors but could not tell you their names nor pick them out of a lineup of college girls.
July 4 I was off work and C wasn't, so I walked down the block with my dog, hoping to perhaps run into someone new. And it worked!
First was a woman about my age who was gardening. The fact that she has a very pretty English-style garden gave me an opportunity to compliment her, and we were soon talking. She has two small children, her husband is a landscape architect, and she seems nice enough. Later in the day I went back by her house with an Internet-gathered info sheet about a flower that both she and I have but couldn't name. I then discovered that she has a china cabinet full of collectable dolls. I've spent a few minutes trying to imagine myself becoming friends with the kind of person who buys and displays collectable dolls, and so far, snake eyes.
Next I met some neighbors about my parents' age who live diagonally across the intersection from us. Amazingly, they are liberal Democrats, and they were equally astounded to discover some younger people in the neighborhood (us) who were also liberal Democrats. Isn't life interesting? So I think we'll be hanging out with them some. I feel happier now that I know a few neighbors. I want to meet more.
July 4 I was off work and C wasn't, so I walked down the block with my dog, hoping to perhaps run into someone new. And it worked!
First was a woman about my age who was gardening. The fact that she has a very pretty English-style garden gave me an opportunity to compliment her, and we were soon talking. She has two small children, her husband is a landscape architect, and she seems nice enough. Later in the day I went back by her house with an Internet-gathered info sheet about a flower that both she and I have but couldn't name. I then discovered that she has a china cabinet full of collectable dolls. I've spent a few minutes trying to imagine myself becoming friends with the kind of person who buys and displays collectable dolls, and so far, snake eyes.
Next I met some neighbors about my parents' age who live diagonally across the intersection from us. Amazingly, they are liberal Democrats, and they were equally astounded to discover some younger people in the neighborhood (us) who were also liberal Democrats. Isn't life interesting? So I think we'll be hanging out with them some. I feel happier now that I know a few neighbors. I want to meet more.
Wednesday, June 25, 2003
TAP: Web Feature: With Interest. by Michael Tomasky. June 25, 2003. Hmmm, this article reminds me of the post I made earlier today. Good ideas about how Dems should present the argument against the tax cut.
Libertarians have some good points, but it seems like the ones I meet lately think that they shouldn't have to pay any taxes and that poor people are every one of them lazy. They think that even a Republican government is "too big." I think they are every bit as idealistic as the Green Party, just the other way!
Here's a question: are there any existing Libertarian countries in the world? And if so, how's that working out for them?
One can't ignore the fact that a lot of people in this country are living check to check, barely getting by, and basically one shred away from total lawlessness. If you cut back on government, it just puts the rich in charge and makes the poor liable to riot, steal, to do whatever they can to get by.
On one hand I DO feel very compassionate toward people who are having hard times, single mothers, uneducated people, people who are growing up with role models like Snoop Dogg and Eminem. I don't think we should give these people a complete free ride, but I don't think we should say, too fucking bad, you were born into the wrong family.
And on another level, I know LOGICALLY that a person who is able to get a decent job, make a real wage and feed their kid is a person less likely to shoot somebody (me) in a petty robbery. A person who has the help to actually graduate from high school is more likely to become the kind of neighbor/voter/worker I want beside me. So that is partly selfish, right?
I don't want a country run by Microsoft and McDonald's and Disney, I want one where there are protections for small, local businesses too, and one that is run by a government that we the people put together. I am willing to pay part of my income to ensure that America is, not an EVEN society, but a more pleasant one overall. If that's a third of my income, so be it, as long as everyone else is having to pull their share and everyone else reaps benefits from it.
I don't sit there at the end of the day and say, well, I don't have kids in school -- why should I have to support the school systems? Well, because I have kids on my block, and neighbors and friends with kids, and I don't want those kids to grow up completely directionless and moronic.
It's ironic to me that some of the very same people who talk about how GREAT and how FREE this country is are so stingy when it comes to helping their fellow Americans ... with time, with money, with whatever!
Here's a question: are there any existing Libertarian countries in the world? And if so, how's that working out for them?
One can't ignore the fact that a lot of people in this country are living check to check, barely getting by, and basically one shred away from total lawlessness. If you cut back on government, it just puts the rich in charge and makes the poor liable to riot, steal, to do whatever they can to get by.
On one hand I DO feel very compassionate toward people who are having hard times, single mothers, uneducated people, people who are growing up with role models like Snoop Dogg and Eminem. I don't think we should give these people a complete free ride, but I don't think we should say, too fucking bad, you were born into the wrong family.
And on another level, I know LOGICALLY that a person who is able to get a decent job, make a real wage and feed their kid is a person less likely to shoot somebody (me) in a petty robbery. A person who has the help to actually graduate from high school is more likely to become the kind of neighbor/voter/worker I want beside me. So that is partly selfish, right?
I don't want a country run by Microsoft and McDonald's and Disney, I want one where there are protections for small, local businesses too, and one that is run by a government that we the people put together. I am willing to pay part of my income to ensure that America is, not an EVEN society, but a more pleasant one overall. If that's a third of my income, so be it, as long as everyone else is having to pull their share and everyone else reaps benefits from it.
I don't sit there at the end of the day and say, well, I don't have kids in school -- why should I have to support the school systems? Well, because I have kids on my block, and neighbors and friends with kids, and I don't want those kids to grow up completely directionless and moronic.
It's ironic to me that some of the very same people who talk about how GREAT and how FREE this country is are so stingy when it comes to helping their fellow Americans ... with time, with money, with whatever!
Wednesday, June 18, 2003
Tuesday, June 17, 2003
Going to see the White Stripes tonight. I know about five of their songs. They're pretty good, but they are not the Kings of Rock that they're made out to be. (I may change my mind on that after I see them) Wow, I just noticed it is raining and sunshiny right now, so gotta go look for a rainbow. Byee.
Monday, June 16, 2003
Which flock do you follow?
this quiz was made by alanna
Wednesday, June 04, 2003
Do you lean Republican or Democrat? - Quizilla I made a quiz! Ha, ha. Not very scientific. I tried not to make it completely biased, but you know me.
Monday, June 02, 2003
C and I saw Bladerunner this weekend. Both of us were surprised that we'd never seen it before, and both of us were impressed by it overall. The ending kind of lost me -- due in part to the fact that Rutger Hauer kept reminding me of Billy Idol -- and the rooftop chase scene seemed a bit much. Why was it that Harrison Ford was such a badass Bladerunner when it came to blowing away female Replicants, but he was a complete wimp when confronted with the guys?
Also, it seemed like the Replicants were looking to extend their four-year lifespans, and then the scientist just basically said, "Nope, can't be done" and they took that news pretty well -- apart from killing the scientist, that is. I would think they would either go on a killing spree, upset that they are limited and enslaved by humans, OR, would have done everything possible to find some scientific solution. I mean, they came all that way for nothing.
Also, it seemed like the Replicants were looking to extend their four-year lifespans, and then the scientist just basically said, "Nope, can't be done" and they took that news pretty well -- apart from killing the scientist, that is. I would think they would either go on a killing spree, upset that they are limited and enslaved by humans, OR, would have done everything possible to find some scientific solution. I mean, they came all that way for nothing.
Friday, May 30, 2003
Salon.com News | What the Bush tax cut could have bought ?That $330 billion could have covered every uninsured child in the country and paid for millions of teachers and child-care workers. Instead it's going to the richest Americans."
Argh.
Argh.
Thursday, May 29, 2003
I think this is a GREAT idea.Greens Consider Standing Behind Democrats in '04 (washingtonpost.com) I was just thinking yesterday that the Greens could tip the scales in the Democrats' favor, if they would realize that it would make an enormous difference to their agenda to have a Democrat in office, rather than the current admin.
Every time I take an objective political interest survey, I turn up more aligned with Greens than Dems, but nevertheless I live in the real world. A Green will not be elected President in this century, and I am content with casting my vote with the more socially and environmentally responsible party.
I heard a lot of talk in the 2000 election to the tune of "Democrats and Republicans -- there's no difference." Given the events of the past three years, I bet a lot of people are re-thinking those comments. You can't tell me that if Gore were in office right now, EVERYTHING would be JUST the same as it is right now. Bush has done so much to set back environmental law that it astounds me.
Every time I take an objective political interest survey, I turn up more aligned with Greens than Dems, but nevertheless I live in the real world. A Green will not be elected President in this century, and I am content with casting my vote with the more socially and environmentally responsible party.
I heard a lot of talk in the 2000 election to the tune of "Democrats and Republicans -- there's no difference." Given the events of the past three years, I bet a lot of people are re-thinking those comments. You can't tell me that if Gore were in office right now, EVERYTHING would be JUST the same as it is right now. Bush has done so much to set back environmental law that it astounds me.
Wednesday, May 28, 2003
I'm going to compile a list of things I learned from my mother. I think it would be a great way to appreciate her, and also, it's a super way to have a head start if I ever have a kid myself. I'll have a reference.
It would include:
1) how to make hospital corners on a bed
2) that there's good reason to sort laundry into lights and darks
3) the names of dozens of plants and shrubs
4) naps are key
5) it's important to smile a lot, and sometimes smiling makes you feel happier than you did a minute ago.
The list goes on and on...
It would include:
1) how to make hospital corners on a bed
2) that there's good reason to sort laundry into lights and darks
3) the names of dozens of plants and shrubs
4) naps are key
5) it's important to smile a lot, and sometimes smiling makes you feel happier than you did a minute ago.
The list goes on and on...
The Geek Test says that I am 21.69625% and therefore in the category of Geek. Not Major Geek, Extreme Geek or Geek God. But still a pretty decent showing.
Everyone lists on their blogs what music they are listening to, so I guess I will go with the flow... today it's "World of Morrissey" and also a little NPR. Heard a program earlier today with the author of "Fast Food Nation." He's got a new book out called "Reefer Madness" about sex, drugs and migrant workers. Interesting.
The Secret Garden Have you ever wondered what an x-ray of a flower would look like? Uh, probably not. But now you can find out anyway! Really beautiful.
Tuesday, May 27, 2003
This weekend in Atlanta was fun. I'm too busy at work right now to keep up with my blog. Maybe I'll get re-inspired but who knows? Today I'm listening to Echobelly, "Lustra." I can't believe this album's been in my own house for over three years (Charlie had it) and I've never heard it. It's right up my alley.
Monday, May 19, 2003
CNN.com - Fleischer resigning White House post - May. 19, 2003 I can't stand Fleischer and his arrogance. Not to mention the lies and half-truths he stands there with a straight face and spouts. I say, good riddance. We'll see if McClellan is any worse.
Friday, May 16, 2003
Limaxaphobia: Fear of slugs. Anyone who's been around me when I've spotted one of these creatures knows that it is no joke. I am not myself. I squeak, I shriek, I flee -- and if I've been unlucky enough to come into any contact with the thing, I shed clothing as I bolt into the house.
Don't bother handing me the lame argument that they can't hurt me. Of course I know they can't hurt me. Other people are afraid of roaches, which are equally as harmless. That's why they call it a "phobia" and not a "rational personal preference."
Don't bother handing me the lame argument that they can't hurt me. Of course I know they can't hurt me. Other people are afraid of roaches, which are equally as harmless. That's why they call it a "phobia" and not a "rational personal preference."
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