Which Wolf Do You Feed?

There is a story, thought to be of Cherokee origin, quoted in today's New York Times. It goes like this:

A girl is troubled by a recurring dream in which two wolves fight viciously. Seeking an explanation, she goes to her grandfather, highly regarded for his wisdom, who explains that there are two forces within each of us, struggling for supremacy, one embodying peace and the other, war. At this, the girl is even more distressed, and asks her grandfather who wins. His answer: “The one you feed.”

The Intentional Destruction Of Public Education

I recommend everyone concerned with public education to read Jonothan Kozol's review in the New York Times of Diane Ravitch's new book:

This Is Only a Test

‘Reign of Error,’ by Diane Ravitch

By JONATHAN KOZOL

Published: September 26, 2013 

I also recommend following education issues Diane Ravitvh's blog: http://dianeravitch.net/

She also has a web site at  http://dianeravitch.net/

I recently tried to recall when I first heard newspaper commentary about how our schools were failing. I can't pin it down exactly, but my best recollection is that the drumbeat of criticism began about 1970. That was when, across the South, public schools began to integrate as required by the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954. [Some may recall the Supreme Court's order that this be accomplished with "all deliberate speed."]  I had a few words to say about this back in June.

Across the South, White parents began removing their children from public schools to "home school" them or to enroll them in "Christian" academies. 

Now, across the land, wealthy Americans are engaged in a vast struggle to destroy public schools and replace them with corporate, for profit undertakings. 

One element in the attack on public schools is "Teach For America." The premise of TFA is that bright, committed college graduates can do what trained, experienced teachers cannot. In short, it is an attack on American public education. This recent article in Atlantic calls that whole enterprise into question.

What's The Health Care Fight All About?

"The Republican Party is bending its entire will, staking its very soul, fighting to its last breath, in service of a crusade to....
Make sure that the working poor don't have access to affordable health care."

Kevin Drum

Another way to put it:

When the exchange opens, 1,346,603 uninsured and eligible North Carolinians will have access to affordable care.
Up to 95,000 young adults in North Carolina can now stay on their parent's health insurance until they're 26 years old.
People from North Carolina with Medicare saved nearly $209 million on prescription drugs because of the Affordable Care Act.
Up to 4,099,922 non-elderly North Carolinians with pre-existing conditions, including 539,092 children, can no longer be denied coverage.

And this is what Republicans are trying to take away.

By the way, this is the party that claims to be "Christian" and to reflect "family values."

Someone has to explain that to me.

Voter Suppression In New Bern

They are at it again! Today's Sun Journal highlights an e-mail campaign by the Craven County Republican Party to stir up concern over a supposed need to purge the county's voter registration rolls. The article, by reporter Sue Book, makes it clear that the e-mail is contrary to provisions of North Carolina general statutes governing elections. The restrictions of NC election law that the article describes concerning voters presumed to have moved are dictated by federal election law, namely the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. Craven County election officials got it right.

It seems worth mentioning that the State Board of Elections, now dominated by its republican members, also got the law right when they overturned county actions in the case of a student who filed to run in the Elizabethtown municipal elections. Neither that county board action or the one in Boone, NC closing a precinct at Appalachian State University, relied on recent changes to state election laws.

Stand by for more of the same.

Voter Suppression In NC: More Than Just Voter ID

Professor Dan Carter of the University of South Carolina has written a very illuminating article explaining what has happened in North Carolina in the past two legislative sessions. The article is here. It is plain from this and other sources that the voter suppression legislation in North Carolina is part of a national GOP scheme to suppress voting by African Americans, college students, women, the poor, and democratic voters in general. Carter explains clearly how this is done.

Representative Speciale Doesn't Want Military Retirees To Vote

On Friday the 13th of this month, state representative Michael Speciale assured a public gathering in Pamlico County that, unlike some of his colleagues, he reads every bill. I take him at his word.

That's why I conclude he doesn't want military retirees to vote.

He explained that voters shouldn't worry - there are seven different kinds of photo ID's acceptable to vote, in addition to a North Carolina driver's licence. One of them is a United States military identification card. The problem is, what House Bill 589, the "Voter Information Verification Act,"("VIVA") provides with one hand, it takes away with the other.

On close reading, I believe representative Speciale's own retired military ID does not qualify under VIVA as a valid photo ID for voting. Why not? His ID has no expiration date. In the block for "expiration date" it says "indefinite." No problem. Section 163-166.13 (e)(4) of VIVA says "there is no requirement that it [a military ID] have a printed expiration or issuance date." But above that, in section 163-166 (e), the bill says "in the case of identification under subdivisions (4) through (6) of this section, if it does not contain a printed expiration date, it shall be acceptable if it has a printed issuance date that is not more than eight years before...voting."

I looked at my own retired military ID and discovered it does not meet the new NC photo ID requirement. Had Mr. Speciale, who retired in 1995, examined his own retired military ID, he would possibly have discovered the problem. His military ID doesn't qualify, either.

Was Speciale intentionally misleading his audience or does he just not exercise care in his reading of draft legislation? In addition to a North Carolina driver's licence, VIVA authorizes the following forms of identification:

1. Identification card for nonoperators issued by DMV. But that requires two forms of identification under DMV rules and the name on those ID's must be precisely the same. Some older women will have difficulty with this;

2. A United States passport. Outside of Oriental and Arapahoe, few residents of Pamlico County will have such a document. This is something middle and upper class people have, it is expensive to acquire, and not something the poor or working people are likely to have;

3. A United States military ID. There will be problems with retirees, as I have noted above;

4. Veterans ID issued by VA. I have examined a number of these and find they have neither date of issuance nor date of expiration. They don't meet the requirements of VIVA;

5. A tribal enrollment card issued by a federally recognized tribe. I checked with my grandsons, who are enrolled in a federally recognized tribe. Their enrollment cards issued when they were accepted into the tribe have neither a photo, a date of issuance nor a date of expiration. Why would they? Tribal membership doesn't expire until the member does. One of my grandsons has a photo identification issued by the tribe. It has a duration of ten years. Renewal requires a visit to the reservation. The eight-year limit does not match with tribal practice;

6. A tribal enrollment card issued by a tribe recognized by North Carolina, that has the same identity requirements as DMV;

7. Driver's license issued by another state, but only if the voter's voter registration was within 90 days of the election. 

The bottom line is, the list of other accepted photo ID's is useless as a practical matter. The requirement is really for a NC driver's license or DMV-issued identification. More important are the omissions: the law rejects student IDs, public-employee IDs, or photo IDs issued by public assistance agencies.

but rejects student IDs, public-employee IDs, or photo IDs issued by public assistance agencies. - See more at: http://southernspaces.org/2013/north-carolina-state-shock?fb_action_ids=673615692650253&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%22673615692650253%22%3A577690535627400%7D&action_type_map=%7B%22673615692650253%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D#sthash.rGk7k2ir.dpuf

but rejects student IDs, public-employee IDs, or photo IDs issued by public assistance agencies. - See more at: http://southernspaces.org/2013/north-carolina-state-shock?fb_action_ids=673615692650253&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%22673615692650253%22%3A577690535627400%7D&action_type_map=%7B%22673615692650253%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D#sthash.rGk7k2ir.dpuf

but rejects student IDs, public-employee IDs, or photo IDs issued by public assistance agencies. - See more at: http://southernspaces.org/2013/north-carolina-state-shock?fb_action_ids=673615692650253&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%22673615692650253%22%3A577690535627400%7D&action_type_map=%7B%22673615692650253%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D#sthash.rGk7k2ir.dpuf

Then why the long list? To give the illusion of options.

By the way, Pamlico County has no DMV office. A mobile facility visits the county for one six-hour period each month. A preliminary estimate is that nearly 600 registered voters in Pamlico County have no Driver's license. How is the DMV van going to meet this need along with their regular business?

Oriental Town Board Whines About Wal-Mart

At a spirited special meeting last night of the Oriental Town Board, a standing-room only crowd voiced overwhelming opposition to the planned Wal-Mart Express to be built just outside Town.

After a dozen citizens spoke, all but one opposing Wal-Mart, the Town Board considered an eight-page resolution drafted over the previous 36 hours by Commissioner Venturi. Commissioner Summers, in the only sensible move of the evening, moved to "table" the resolution until the Board's next meeting. His resolution didn't pass. The Board then recessed for fifteen minutes to read the resolution they had just refused to table.

After the recess, Commissioner Bissette moved to amend the resolution by deleting approximately two pages of the resolution. The amended resolution, essentially a lengthy whine asking Wal-Mart to play nice, was adopted.

If you think my characterization a bit harsh, you can read the resolution here:  http://www.townoforiental.com/vertical/sites/%7B8227B748-6F08-4124-B0ED-02789B9A2F82%7D/uploads/Too_-_Wal-Mart_Resolution.pdf

I agree with the commissioners who pointed out the Town has, at best, only limited powers in this case. Why is that? It is the result of decades of dithering and refusal to look aggressively to the future.

Examples:
Six years ago, the Long Range Planning Committee refused to even mention the possibility of expanding the Town by annexation. Such a move would be very much more difficult now;

In the 1990's, the Town sold its sewage treatment plant, rather than seeking state and federal funds to repair and modernize it. Result: the Town lost control over its future;

Six years ago, the Town made a poorly-conceived effort to remove a restriction on Extra Territorial Jurisdiction in Pamlico County. We wasted the support of our representatives in the state house and senate by a very clumsy approach;

And on and on.

We have an important municipal election coming up. Let's put some people in office who want to DO things.

Pamlico County State Legislators

Last Friday I attended the Town Meeting with Pamlico County's State Legislators at Pamlico Community College's Ned Delamar Center.

First the good news. Both State Senator Sanderson and Representative Speciale have become more polished in their presentations since being elected to the state legislature.

I'll get to the bad news in a minute.

I don't know Michel Speciale at all, but I do know Norm Sanderson. He has always been completely courteous in his dealings with me, despite disagreements on policy matters. Now that I have heard the two legislators explain what they view as the significant accomplishments of the General Assembly in the recent session, I have many more policy disagreements.

Most of all, I am disappointed that neither elected official seems to inquire very deeply into the truth of matters affecting their constituents. That is, the voters in their districts.

One example: Michel Speciale's explanation of one provision of the bill making vast changes to election law in North Carolina. The legislature did away with same day registration of voters during one-stop, Speciale explained, "because there was not enough time to review and certify the voter before the election." He did not cite a single case where this had been a problem.

His statement is false in several dimensions:
1. It may not look like it, but votes cast at one-stop sites are actually absentee ballots. They are processed exactly the same way. They are reviewed by the county board of elections weekly during one-stop and either verified, rejected or set aside for further examination. Like any other vote, they don't count officially until the tenth day after the general election in even-numbered years or the seventh day after the general election in odd-numbered years.
2. Every ballot cast at a one-stop site, every provisional ballot and every absentee ballot is retrievable. (That isn't true for ballots cast election day). I don't know of a single case where a county board of elections was unable to determine validity of any such ballot by the time they completed the canvass.
3. Because ballots are retrievable, votes cast at one-stop, including those cast by voters using same-day registration, could be challenged right up to the time the board of elections completes tha canvass of votes cast.

Why does this matter?
a. It makes it possible for voters to correct any errors in their voter registration information even after the registration deadline. Voters often don't review their information until voting begins at one-stop.
b. It provides a safety valve against voter registration scams. In 2012, both in North Carolina and Virginia, "helpful" persons conducted voter registration drives in African American, Hispanic and College neighborhoods. They then tossed all the registration forms for categories they didn't want to vote.

This scam worked in Virginia, where thousands of discarded registration forms were found in dumpsters after registration closed. It was too late for the scammed voters to correct the record and vote.

The scam didn't work as well in North Carolina, where more than half of the voters cast ballots at one-stop sites. Because of same day registration, North Carolina voters were better protected from an insidious form of GOP election fraud.

Our state legislature has now made North Carolina safe for a particular form of targeted election fraud designed to suppress the vote in certain neighborhoods.

I don't know whether the legislators who voted for this change are dishonest or just gullible. I prefer to think they are just gullible.