NORTH CAROLINA OPEN THREAD Sunday, October 17, 2021
335th Weekly Edition
This is a weekly feature of North Carolina Blue. We hope this weekly platform gives readers interested in North Carolina politics a place to share their knowledge, insight and inspiration as we work on taking back our state from some of the most extreme Republicans in the nation. Please join us every week. You can also join the discussion in four other weekly State Open Threads.
Colorado: Mondays, 7:00 PM Mountain
Michigan: Wednesdays, 6:00 PM Eastern
North Carolina: Sundays, 1:00 PM Eastern
Missouri: Wednesday Evenings
Kansas: Monday Evenings
Something you want to highlight? kosmail or email at randalltdkos at gmail. Twitter: @randallt
Covid data 10/17/2021 1:00pm EDT
Click here for Covid-19 data from Worldometer Real Time World Statistics.
USA
NC |
Total
Cases |
New
Cases |
Total
Deaths |
New
Deaths |
Total
Recovered |
Active
Cases |
1,446,881 17,456 1,371,830 57,595
WRAL.com, 10/12/2021
They are our sisters, our brothers, our parents, our children and our neighbors. But to North Carolina’s Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, they are “filth.”
“Yes, I called it filth. And if you don't like it that I called it filth, come see me about it." That is what he said. What he means about “transgenderism” and homosexuality is clear (hear it here) .
Like other bullies called to account for their actions, he dodges, deflects and doesn’t, as he promised, take responsibility. He doesn’t explain why he said those people are filth. He does exploit the controversy and hate he ignited with a video that includes sexually explicit images on his campaign Facebook website. He used it to send an email fundraising appeal.
At best, it is a cynical ploy to find a way to profit, at least politically, from his divisive rhetoric. Is this the kind of behavior that should be coming from a member of the State Board of Education and state Community College Board?
BlueNC,10/12/2021
ROBINSON GETS A TONGUE-LASHING FROM RELIGIOUS LEADERS: On Monday night, some liberal religious leaders from around the Triangle gathered outside Robinson’s office to give three demands: They said he needed to apologize, make himself available to the faith and community leaders for a conversation, and, if he didn’t meet the first two requirements, that he needed to resign. “Any person who chooses to be a leader of humankind, by seeking election to public office, knows that their words and their actions have the power to make life better or worse for the people they serve,” said Rev. Vance Haywood, pastor of St. John’s Metropolitan Community Church in Raleigh. “Those words and those actions can even put the lives of people at risk.” Rep. Cynthia Ball, a Raleigh Democrat, said she has asked several fellow N.C. House members in the Republican Party if they’d be willing to talk about Robinson’s comments, but none responded. “For them, I think it’s some kind of party politics,” Dahle said. It always is.
www.newsobserver.com/…
In a defiant Facebook video Saturday, Robinson said: “Let me tell you plainly right here and right now: I will not back down, I will not be silent, and I will not be bullied into submission.” Robinson’s office did not immediately respond to messages Tuesday. Criticism of the lieutenant governor has extended beyond the state and reached national levels. Deputy White House press secretary Andrew Bates called Robinson’s words “repugnant and offensive.” “The role of a leader is to bring people together and stand up for the dignity and rights of everyone, not to spread hate and undermine their own office,” he said in a statement. The Human Rights Campaign, one of the largest gay rights groups in the country, released a statement saying Robinson’s rhetoric reinforces the need for the Equality Act, a bill that would outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation. “This is not the first time Robinson has shared his discriminatory views, but it should be the last time he gets away with it as an elected leader,” said Joni Madison, interim president of the organization. “North Carolinians deserve better than these dehumanizing comments.” Of course he didn't answer messages about this, because he knows he's wrong and now the whole world knows what a jackass he is.
BlueNC
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/north-carolina-republican-gay-rights/2021/10/12/793e444c-2b6…
News&Observer, ANNA JOHNSON and JULIAN SHEN-BERRO, 10/14/2021
More than 100 Raleigh police officers, firefighters and other city employees are threatening legal action over vaccine requirements they say are discriminatory.
City of Raleigh Freedom to Choose, a coalition of 53 Raleigh police officers, 48 firefighters and 17 other city employees, has hired attorney James Lawrence to fight the city’s policies, according to a letter sent by Lawrence to Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin on Monday.
In the letter, Lawrence cited the weekly testing requirement for non-vaccinated employees, cash bonus and paid leave incentives and a policy limiting promotions to those who are fully vaccinated as examples of a “discriminatory COVID-19 mandate.”
NC Policy Watch, Lisa Sorg, 10/15/2021
Three facilities in North Carolina could be required to report their use of a cancer-causing chemical to the EPA, the agency announced yesterday.
Andersen Products in Haw River, Andersen Scientific in Morrisville, and Sterigenics in Charlotte are among 31 facilities nationwide that the EPA is considering to require reports on their usage of ethylene oxide, a hazardous air pollutant. Data about emissions and usage would be reported to the EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory. Also known as TRI, this is a public database of facilities, the chemicals the use, their emissions and discharges to the environment, and other information.
Some of these facilities, including Sterigenics, are also being considered for ethylene glycol reporting.
Ethylene oxide is a flammable, colorless gas used to make other chemicals that are used in making a range of products, including antifreeze, textiles, plastics, detergents and adhesives. Ethylene oxide also is used to sterilize equipment and plastic devices that cannot be sterilized by steam, such as medical equipment.
Long-term exposure to ethylene oxide has been linked to lymphatic cancer and breast cancer. It can irritate the eyes, skin, nose, throat, and lungs, and harm the brain and nervous system, causing effects such as headaches, memory loss and numbness, according to the EPA.
UNC Media Hub, October 14, 2021
Offshore wind — clean renewable energy produced by turbines taking advantage of wind speeds — has recently seen an uptake at federal and state levels, including in North Carolina. A new offshore wind project has been approved for the Outer Banks, and another is proposed off the coast of Wilmington.
The state has one fully functional onshore wind project, a 104-turbine Amazon Wind Farm in Pasquotank and Perquimans counties, which was completed in 2017. The new and proposed projects parallel government efforts to expand offshore wind. In June, Gov. Roy Cooper signed Executive Order 218, committing to the development of offshore wind projects.
The Kitty Hawk Offshore wind project off the coast of the Outer Banks is being developed by Avangrid Renewables, the third-largest wind generator in the U.S. Avangrid Renewables also developed the Amazon Wind Farm.
The mega-donor’s ‘hush-hush homecoming’ reignites concern among faculty members
When Walter Hussman returned to UNC-Chapel Hill this week, he hoped to begin mending relations with the journalism school that bears his name. But that proved to be difficult, given the mega-donor’s lobbying against the hiring of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones.
The episode, which culminated in Hannah-Jones declining a tenure offer this summer in favor of Howard university, generated national headlines. It also sparked an ongoing debate about race, journalism, academic freedom and donor influence at the university. It strained the relationship between Hussman and the journalism school, prompting faculty and students to consider deeper questions about whether his values align with those of the school.
This week, as the school begins its search for a new dean and faces evaluation by an accrediting association, Hussman continues to stir controversy.
Newsweek, Aila Slisco, 10/14/2021
An expert on U.S. militias has accused Representative Madison Cawthorn, a Nort Carolina Republican, of not listening to her testimony at a House hearing on extremism before offering a discordant condemnation of her views a short time later.
Dr. Amy Cooter, a Vanderbilt University professor, testified during a House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing on extremist militia members recruiting veterans on Wednesday. During the opening statement of her testimony, Cooter noted that she was a gun owner and had extensively interviewed militia members.
Cooter said that her research had found "the majority of militia members are law-abiding citizens" before expressing concerns about violent "extremist units" seeking recruits that include "some disenchanted veterans." Minutes later, Cawthorn condemned what he called a "disgusting" hearing while singling out Cooter's testimony for allegedly "attacking the idea of having militias."
Asheville Citizen Times, Joel Burgess, 10/14/2021
Right-wing Congressman Madison Cawthorn has been accused of bringing a weapon to another education facility — the fourth in a month — despite outcry from political opponents and a warning from law enforcement.
Cawthorn, who represents Western North Carolina's 11th District, appeared to bring a switch-blade "combat" dagger in his pocket Oct. 5 to the private Veritas Christian Academy classroom in Fletcher, according to photos that were on Cawthorn's Twitter account but then were taken down, said a Patrick Drollinger, of Raleigh, who once lived in Asheville and uses the Twitter handle "Denali12."
North Carolina's freshman Congressman in the mountain west, Republican Madison Cawthorn, has been dogged by controversy since the day the inexperienced 24 year-old first declared his run for Congress. From his 'stolen valor' false claim of being accepted to the U.S. Naval Academy (he was rejected) to multiple accusations from Patrick Henry College alumni that he was a notorious sexual predator during his single semester at the Christian conservative college, it's clear that Cawthorn has no moral foundation. From his perverse fondness for Adolph Hitler to his many calls for violent insurrection, it's all too obvious he's a clear and present danger to our democracy. And with his outspoken opposition to masking, vaccination, and other common-sense public health measures, he's even a danger to the very lives of his district's residents. (Learn more...)
Thank you for reading and contributing, I hope you have a safe week.