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Friday, May 24, 2013
Southern Weather Radar


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    Remnant of Plantation Life

    Time to focus on Southern Crescent of Shame

    by | 0 | May 21, 2013
    Time to focus on Southern Crescent of Shame

    A few years back, Columbia public relations guru Bud Ferillo made a film about several economically distressed counties that he dubbed the “Corridor of Shame.” This area, which stretched along Interstate 95 in South Carolina from Dillon County to Jasper County, got a lot of attention when then-presidential candidate Barack Obama toured an old Dillon middle school in the run-up to the 2008 election. But did you ever wonder whether South Carolina’s Corridor of Shame was an anomaly — or whether something similar was happening on the other sides of our state borders?

    The Straw House I Built

    by | 1 | May 21, 2013
    The Straw House I Built

    Or rather, helped build. Partially.

    Last week I attended a straw bale house building workshop in West Virginia. The workshop was hosted by Andrew Morrison of StrawBale.com, who runs similar workshops all over the world where one can go and assist with the building of a bale house and learn all about it to go home and build one’s own.

    Southern Sounds

    The Swimming Pool Qs

    by | 2 | May 20, 2013
    The Swimming Pool Qs

    Anything characterized by high energy, originality, humor and intelligence is bound to get my attention. I was at an annual fund-raising party for an alternative art center called Nexus in about 1986. Touring the studios I kept being distracted from the visual art by some very interesting Rock ‘n Roll. I wasn’t the only one. A large segment of the crowd was gathered around the Swimming Pool Qs in the courtyard. Once in their vicinity I was there for as long as they would play.

    Less Than 6 Minutes

    A Sick and Broken Spirit

    by | 4 | May 20, 2013
    A Sick and Broken Spirit
    As it says in my by-line, in the several items I've posted previously on "Like the Dew," I recently ran for Congress.  But I am not a politician, nor possessed of ... Read on →

    New Book

    Music Legend’s Scott Joplin’s Fight Against Racial Discrimination

    by | 1 | May 19, 2013
    Music Legend’s Scott Joplin’s Fight Against Racial Discrimination
    When music publisher John Stark first heard Scott Joplin play his piano, he knew that ragtime was the music of hope for a new America. But Joplin would never be content with ... Read on →

    Scandalgate

    Scandalicious

    by | 0 | May 17, 2013
    Scandalicious
    My beloved colleagues in Teh Media sure get on my last damn nerve. Most of the time it's just from sloppy work or jumping on whatever bandwagon is rolling by at ... Read on →

    Instructions From the Top

    Heritage Inaction

    by | 1 | May 17, 2013
    Left to right: Eric Cantor House Majority Leader, John Boehner the 61st Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy the Republican Majority Whip.
    For some reason, a letter from the lobbying arm of the Heritage Foundation was characterized as having been received by NBC News, as if it were some sort of privileged communication. ... Read on →

    This Side Of The Rainbow

    The Power of Music in a Discordant World

    by | 0 | May 20, 2013
    The Power of Music in a Discordant World
    When I sat in that old church built in the Gothic style surrounded by the music that the organist was playing, I was thankful to be in such a peaceful setting, far away in body ... Read on →

    Interactive Journalism At Its Most Delicious

    Summer Sensations

    by | 2 | May 19, 2013
    Summer Sensations
    Last Thursday, just before I took my daily two-mile run/walk hunger struck. A few bites of watermelon did the trick. When I bit into that cold sweet watermelon a flood of summer memories rushed in. ... Read on →

    Law & Disorder

    Big government, little town

    by | 0 | May 19, 2013
    Big government, little town
    If you're a head of household in little Nelson, Georgia, you're about to be required to have a gun and ammo. If you want to, and if you can afford it. But not if you're ... Read on →

    With both hands

    Interpreting at the Free Clinic

    by | 3 | May 17, 2013
    Interpreting at the Free Clinic
    I had an interesting morning yesterday at the Free Clinic. Once a week I’m a Spanish interpreter in an organization supported by over 400 volunteers who give a few hours a week of their particular ... Read on →

    Enough Is Enough

    A Public Service—Business Writing 101

    by | 5 | May 15, 2013
    A Public Service—Business Writing 101
    None other than the Harvard Business Review reports that the ability to communicate is the number one trait top executives possess. The ability to communicate trumps ambition, education, sound decisions, and a capacity for ... Read on →

    The Fire Next Time

    Rising From the Ashes

    by | 2 | May 14, 2013
    Rising From the Ashes
    In this day of anonymous email trashings, un-informed blog posts, and you tube mistakes that last forever, we rarely see political second chances. But last week a disgraced public servant rose like a Phoenix ... Read on →

    Southern People

    The poet’s house

    by | 0 | May 13, 2013
    The poet’s house
    U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey isn’t the first nationally acclaimed wordsmith to make her home in Decatur, Ga. Between 1892 and 1916, Charles W. Hubner (1835-1929), the “Poet Laureate of the South,” lived  at ... Read on →

    What Democracy?

    Sanford win pre-determined by gerrymandering

    by | 0 | May 13, 2013
    Sanford win pre-determined by gerrymandering
    If state Democrats want to win big elections like the one they lost Tuesday on the coast, they’re going to have to get busy and retake control of the state Senate. Click for larger image Why? Because ... Read on →

    Lurking In The Dark

    Evil In A Demon Haunted World

    by | 6 | May 11, 2013
    Evil In A Demon Haunted World
    I still remember attending a logic class when the university reopened a week following the assassination of President Kennedy. The angry graduate student instructor that I had been assigned to was part of a ... Read on →

    Lurid Theatrics

    Barbarians inside the gates

    by | 1 | May 11, 2013
    Barbarians inside the gates
    We are barbarians. I can't take credit for saying that, although I completely agree. My friend did that, just after I posted this video on my Facebook page: I was all set to write about ... Read on →

    The Dirt

    Could it be that you and your children may be too clean?

    by | 1 | May 11, 2013
    Could it be that you and your children may be too clean?
    Modern mankind may be too clean, that is, not dirty enough. That may surprise you. Today we take personal hygiene to be a standard in the developed world, not only healthy, but also a state ... Read on →

    SC Writers' Essays

    A New Book—Favorite Places

    by | 7 | May 9, 2013
    A New Book—Favorite Places
    Your favorite place ... For many it would be home, that safe harbor we have shaped to our own needs and likes, that refuge from the world’s ills, stresses, and bothers. Home makes for ... Read on →

    Irish Holiday 2013

    The Gathering

    by | 5 | May 9, 2013
    The Gathering
    I can recommend a few days in Ireland to reset your clock: geographically, politically, economically and culturally. For those hazy about geography, Ireland is on the northwest edge of Europe.  Clouds traversing the ocean ... Read on →

    Streams of Moted Light

    You Can Go Home Again

    by | 0 | May 7, 2013
    You Can Go Home Again
    I glanced up on the top of my dresser recently and caught the eyes of my dear Aunt Dolly, gone now so many years. I keep her there in close view for a number ... Read on →

    Business As Usual

    Drifting Toward the Waterfall

    by | 2 | May 7, 2013
    Drifting Toward the Waterfall
    Does it drive me careening ca-razy when I see O'reilly, Beck, Hannity etc; with books on the bestseller list? That would be a yes! These (mostly) white (mostly) guys capitalize on their positions in ... Read on →

    Reasoned Talk

    Guns

    by | 10 | May 5, 2013
    Guns
    Just saying that word is usually enough to trigger an onslaught of Teh Crazy. So I'll wait while you get it out of your system. For the rest of us, here's a video about ... Read on →

    Here's Something Different

    A celebrity publicly admitting a mistake

    by | 1 | May 5, 2013
    A celebrity publicly admitting a mistake
    Every now and then, stars of stage and screen, the sporting world, and sometimes even politicos, get into trouble. As do average citizens. The incident itself may be of major or minor importance. The significant ... Read on →

    Daily Rituals

    The Writing Life

    by | 4 | May 5, 2013
    The Writing Life
    So how do you explain how you’ve written ten good essays in ten days or why you haven’t written a damn thing for over two weeks? Are you so glib that all you have ... Read on →

    Cyberstalkers

    Tearing down buildings and people in a small Southern city

    by | 1 | May 4, 2013
    Tearing down buildings and people in a small Southern city
    At 8:15 AM March 20, 2013, I snapped an iPhone photo of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., and posted it to my Google Plus profile along with a brief caption. Less ... Read on →

    Bickering & Backbiting

    The key that is causing all the partisanship in Washington

    by | 1 | Apr 30, 2013
    The key that is causing all the partisanship in Washington
    One reason our country seems stuck with many issues unresolved is because of the intense partisanship we see and hear about in Washington, D.C. It seems to divide the nation as nothing else. If a ... Read on →

    Friends

    Tender Mercies: A Dog’s Life

    by | 0 | Apr 30, 2013
    Tender Mercies: A Dog’s Life
    There’s a special kind of sadness to watch an old dog who has been with you many years begin to fade before your very eyes. Our senior Goldie, Hank (the Hunk), is showing his ... Read on →

    Jeff Being Jeff

    Warren Zevon & The New Mind Of The South

    by | 4 | Apr 30, 2013
    Warren Zevon & The New Mind Of The South
    Thoughts of Warren Zevon’s “Play It All Night Long” are stirred when reading The New Mind of the South , the recently published book by journalist Tracy ... Read on →

    Pass The Rice Please

    Carolina Gold Conquered The World

    by | 1 | Apr 30, 2013
    Carolina Gold Conquered The World
    "The past is never dead. It's not even past." —William Faulkner Early this spring I spent two days in ricefield country over near Georgetown. Working on a new book, Reflections Of South Carolina, Volume II, ... Read on →

    Shadow Economy

    Labor Force Participation

    by | 0 | Apr 28, 2013
    Labor Force Participation
    Yes, labor force participation is back to what it was when the contributions of most women to the economy weren't counted. That people aren't getting paid doesn't mean they aren't contributing. Sometimes it's just ... Read on →

    Marriage Equality

    Can’t go home again

    by | 0 | Apr 27, 2013
    Can’t go home again
    I don't wanna get married. Never have, never will. OK, I know. Never say never. How 'bout this: I seriously doubt I'll ever want to get married. That work? Good. I tell you this because ... Read on →

    When Folks Made Do

    Genuine, Original Survivors

    by | 4 | Apr 27, 2013
    Southern Crabapple - Malus angustifolia (Steve Harwood CC)
    An old grocery store (Janice Waltzer CC) A crisis or two from disaster ... That’s how most folks live. Modern conveniences have spoiled the self-reliance right out of us. Thanks to stores like Kroger and ... Read on →

    Southern People

    The inspiring, heroic story of William Pinckney

    by | 2 | Apr 27, 2013
    The inspiring, heroic story of William Pinckney
    You want someone like William Pinckney on your side. The Beaufort County South Carolina native, who would have turned 98 tomorrow, is such a hero that the U.S. Navy named a destroyer after him, the USS ... Read on →

    In What?

    We’re Number One

    by | 4 | Apr 24, 2013
    We’re Number One
    What are we to believe about the size of government and the level of government spending? Republicans say that the U.S. government has become way too big and that Americans are grossly overtaxed. Is that ... Read on →
  • The Dew”s Tumblr

    • Why isn't New Orleans Mother's Day parade shooting a 'national tragedy'?

      historyintheworks:

      A telling excerpt:

      Unforunately, though, I’ve learned to redefine what constitutes an American tragedy. American tragedies occur where middle America frequents every day: airplanes, business offices, marathons. Where there persists a tangible fear that this could happen to any of us. And rightfully so. Deaths and mayhem anywhere are tragic. That should always be the case. The story here is where American tragedies don’t occur.

      American tragedies don’t occur on the southside of Chicago or the New Orleans 9th Ward. They don’t occur where inner city high school kids shoot into school buses or someone shoots at a 10-year old’s birthday party in New Orleans. Or Gary, Indiana. Or Compton. Or Newport News. These are where the forgotten tragedies happen and the cities are left to persevere on their own.

      So, once again, New Orleans will survive. And move on. Because, really, we’ve been here before.”

      -David Dennis

    • photo from Tumblr

      fuckyeahfeminists:

      Costco CEO Craig Jelinek supports raising the minimum wage.

      Costco announced record profits today, averaging $10,000 in profit per employee compared to $7,400 at Walmart. 
      The secret to Costco’s success is paying employees well, providing benefits, and giving them an opportunity to unionize.

      So large corporations’ excuses that treating & paying workers well would damage profits are all a crock of shit.


    • Daily Kos: Florida lawmakers, who rejected Medicaid, have really sweet health insurance deal

      tartantambourine:

      Being a member of Florida’s House is a pretty sweet gig. This group, the ones who went against the will of their governor, their citizens, the health care community and common decency in refusing to expand Medicaid in their state, voted themselves a smoking good deal on their own health insurance.

      House members will pay just $8.34 a month for state-subsidized health care next year, or $30 a month to cover their entire family.

      Well, everyone in Florida should have known the gist of this story. But the details are even more appalling than we might have imagined. Read the whole story.

    • photo from Tumblr

      doctorswithoutborders:

      MSF Mother’s Day E-Cards

      Still looking for something special for Mother’s Day? Honor a mother in your life with a gift that saves lives. Your tribute will help deliver urgently needed medical care to people—including pregnant women and new moms—trapped in crises around the world. And you’ll have the opportunity to send a beautiful eCard to your mother, letting her know about your meaningful gift (well in time for Mother’s Day).


    • photo from Tumblr

      thepeoplesrecord:

      On the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s poor people’s campaign: ‘We will march to ignite the revolution King called for’
      May 11, 2013

      Happening now! - The Poor Peoples March #PPCmarch2DC is entering the Baltimore center city. March to WashDC 40 miles. Source

      Historically (wikipedia):

      The Poor People’s Campaign was a 1968 effort to gain economic justice for poor people in the United States. It was organized by MLK Jr,  the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and carried out in the wake of King’s assassination.

      The Campaign demanded economic and human rights for poor Blacks, Chicanos, Native Americans, and Whites. After presenting an organized set of demands to Congress and executive agencies, participants set up a 3000-person tent city on the Washington Mall, where they stayed for six weeks.

      Along these lines, Melissa Harris Perry will be hosting a two hour conversation tomorrow on her MSNBC show about poverty. The conversation will be starting from the presumption that poverty can be abolished, and will be focused on tactics for accomplishing that extremely important goal. I don’t usually recommend programming on corporate media (& I’d bet they’ll dance around actually saying the word ‘capitalism’ in the conversation tomorrow) but Melissa Harris Perry’s show is usually packed full of meaningful analysis and useful facts for discussing the week’s current events.


    • photo from Tumblr

    • photo from Tumblr

    • Bill Cheng’s Novel is ‘Southern Cross the Dog’ - NYTimes.com

      From its opening pages, “Southern Cross the Dog” has all the markers of a novel written in the finest Southern gothic tradition. The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 sweeps in, taking a few unlucky characters with it. There are references aplenty to race, poverty, the blues, voodoo and an ill-fated brothel.

      It’s no wonder the Southern literati have raised an eyebrow at its author: Bill Cheng, a 29-year-old Chinese-American from Queens who has never set foot in Mississippi.

      “I was highly suspicious of this book when I first started it,” said Richard Howorth, the owner of Square Books in Oxford, Miss., and a revered authority on Southern literature. “I was won over.”

    • Truly, South Carolina politics is a gift that just keeps on giving.
      Gail Collins in her column,  Guess Who’s Back! - NYTimes.com

    • photo from Tumblr

      Making the scene at Zoo Atlanta.


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