WELCOME TO THE NORTH CAROLINA OPEN THREAD FOR SUNDAY, may 21st, 2017
105th Weekly Edition
This is a weekly feature of North Carolina Blue. We hope this regular 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 as we try to Connect, Unite and Act with our North Carolina Daily Kos community. You can also join the discussion in four other weekly State Open Threads.
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Thanks for contributing, please jump the fold for a few stories you might find helpful.
Hurricane Matthew non-response sets a new low when it comes to basics of governing
With the increasingly precarious situation in which he finds his presidency vis a vis the inquiries of the Senate Intelligence Committee, one would think that Donald Trump might well be taking any and all steps available to cozy up to the Committee’s chairman, North Carolina’s Richard Burr. Weirdly, however, no such actions were in evidence last week when it came to one of the most basic components of running the federal government – meting out disaster relief funds.
As multiple North Carolina and national news outlets reported, the Trump administration has largely denied the state’s request for federal assistance in responding to Hurricane Matthew. This from an article in Newsweek magazine:
“After Hurricane Matthew slammed into North Carolina last October, triggering evacuations and killing more than 20 people, state officials went to the federal government for help. The state asked for $929 million, most of which would go toward initiatives like fixing homes damaged by flooding, supporting farmers who lost livestock and funding mental health services for survivors.
This week, the state discovered it was likely getting $6.1 million—less than 1 percent of the amount requested.”
The last week has featured some of the most offensive, belligerent, and vindictive behavior by elected officials in generations—and that is not a reference to President Trump and his associates in Washington, though the characterization fits there too.
No, this startling episode came in the middle of the night last week in Raleigh when furious Republican leaders of the state Senate interrupted a debate on the state budget with a recess to meet with legislative staff.
They returned from the break with an amendment to the budget to punish Democratic senators by slashing funding for education projects in their districts and cutting the budgets of other programs and institutions represented by Democrats, from the N.C. Museum of Art to downtown revitalization efforts.
About the reported information that the Israelis shared some highly sensitive terrorist intel with Trump, and Trump promptly shared it with the Russians, the Trump White House has put out two different stories. First, it never happened. Second, it happened, but Trump had every right to declassify highly classified intel with any Tom, Dick, or Ivan he pleases.
Senator Dick Burr of North Carolina, chair of the Senate Intel Committee (which is currently rustling the covers of the Russia investigation), said almost immediately that he wanted a transcript of what was said in that Trump confab with the Russians. The American press had been barred, so Burr put in a call to the White House, which went unanswered. (According to reporting in the Boston Globe, the White House was not returning calls to "Republican allies," which is never a good sign.) When he hadn't heard a peep out of the White House for hours, Burr said, lamely, or maybe facetiously, "Maybe they're busy." (Not making this up.)
Burr continued, as quoted by Annie Linsky: ‘‘My major concern right now is that I don’t know what the president said. I’d like to think somebody from the White House who was in the room is going to get on the phone and tell me what they said.’’
Really, Dick? Hearing it from the White House is going to clear it all up?
The preceding Bodie Island lighthouses actually stood south of Oregon Inlet on Pea Island in an area now under water. The first was built in 1847 and then abandoned in 1859 due to a poor foundation. The second, built in 1859, was destroyed in 1861 by retreating Confederate troops who feared it would be used as a Union observation post during the Civil War.[4] The third and current lighthouse, with its original first order Fresnel lens, was completed in 1872. This lighthouse was moved further North and further inland to a 15-acre site. In 1932, the Bodie Island Lighthouse became automated (and the light was upgraded to an electric lamp by using oil-fueled electrical generators), and by 1953 it had been transferred into the care of the National Park Service.[5] It remained manned until 1940, when the lighthouse was fully automated. In 1953, the generators were disconnected and power was supplied from the commercial electric grid.
While some people (including North Carolinians not from the Outer Banks) pronounce the name with a long "o" sound, it is traditionally pronounced as body. This is derived from the original name of the area, which was "Bodies Island", after the Body family from whom the land was purchased. Folklore would have you believe it is due to the number of dead sailors washed ashore from this portion of the Atlantic Ocean, which is known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic. Local gift shops sell maps of the shipwrecks on the ocean floor. An impressive array of ships have been sunk due to storms, shoals, and German U-boats in World War II. This lighthouse appears in the background of the 1963–1964 Federal Duck Stamp.
After years of raising funds and postponement, work to restore the cast iron and other parts in need of work began on the lighthouse in August 2009. As of March 2010, the outside scaffolding was 100% complete while interior scaffolding was 50% completed.[6] The restoration was stopped in spring 2011 after significant new structural integrity issues were found in many of the main support beams under the balcony. The additional repairs needed were too costly to finish in the original restoration project. In August, 2011 Hurricane Irene blew out some of the newly restored lantern room glass and tore away a protective shroud covering the lantern room. Flooding caused buckling of the floors in the Bodie Island Light Station Double Keepers Quarters.[7] Additional funding was obtained to continue the restoration, which was restarted in 2012 and completed in March 2013.[8] There was a re-lighting ceremony on April 18, 2013, and the lighthouse was opened for the general public to climb the following day for a fee.[9]
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