Saturday News: NC's culture of racism

BLACK HENDERSONVILLE HOSPITAL EMPLOYEE THREATENED WITH "50 LASHINGS": When Jackson wore her hair naturally to the office, the complaint says a white colleague asked her “oh my god why would you wear your hair like that?” “God made me this way,” Jackson reportedly responded. Jackson told her supervisor, but she said nothing was done about it. Instead, on two separate occasions, her supervisor threatened her with “50 lashings” if she didn’t perform her job duties as mail room manager correctly, the lawsuit said. When Jackson told the company’s CEO, the complaint alleges her supervisor began retaliating against her by rifling through her belongings “looking for something to try and accuse plaintiff of wrongdoing.” Jackson is seeking a jury trial, compensatory and punitive damages and attorney’s fees.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article248538895.html

Justice is (finally) coming for Flint residents

Water is the source of life, or death:

After a criminal investigation that stretched close to two years, prosecutors in Michigan on Thursday announced 41 counts — 34 felonies and seven misdemeanors — against nine officials who once worked in the highest echelons of state government.

Prosecutors said the officials failed to protect the safety and health of the residents of Flint, who were sickened by increased levels of lead and by Legionnaires' disease after the city’s water supply was switched to the Flint River in April of 2014. At least nine people died of Legionnaires’ in the Flint region from June of 2014 through October of 2015; two of the officials on Thursday were charged with nine counts of involuntary manslaughter.

The Flint River was already nasty decades before Michigan officials decided to make the switch. They knew it, and so did everybody else. But they did it anyway:

Friday News: State-wide campaign

EFFORT TO BRING EQUITY TO COUNTY VACCINE DISTRIBUTION HAS SLOWED NC ROLLOUT: As the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services ramped up its vaccine distribution, Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen put an emphasis on equity. She wanted to make sure at least some doses got to all 100 counties in the state. But not all health departments have the same capacity to carry out the final step. As a result, some counties told DHHS they would be OK taking smaller shipments, while other counties will see their allotments increase. Cohen acknowledged the emphasis on geographic equity contributed to the delay. Now, the state will push for speed. “There is a tension between speed and equity,” Cohen said. “And we were trying to find that right middle ground.” State health officials announced this week they were setting up 10 “high-throughput” sites around the state which will receive a combined allocation of 45,000 doses.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/coronavirus/article248501115.html

Friday fracking video

Chapel Hill passes non-discrimination ordinance

Equality is not just a slogan:

Tonight the Town Council of Chapel Hill, North Carolina voted to pass an ordinance broadly protecting members of the LGBTQ community from discrimination. The ruling comes in the same week that Hillsborough and Carrboro passed similar ordinances. Municipalities regained the freedom to pass such measures on Dec. 1, 2020, following the expiration of a key prong of HB142.

Kendra R. Johnson, Executive Director of Equality North Carolina, says that it was past time for the vote. "North Carolina has lagged behind the rest of the nation when it comes to protecting LGBTQ folks and creating a culture where our most vulnerable can thrive. The tides are changing, and we hope other cities and towns across our state will be encouraged by these victories and do the right thing for their own citizens in the weeks ahead."

Just gonna throw this out here and see if it sticks: Charlotte has been battling an image problem for some time now, with overzealous policing and support for Trump's RNC debacle. Now would be the perfect time to set an example for the entire Southeast by enacting another NDO to protect all citizens, regardless of their sexual orientation. If the Queen City fails to do this, the ghost of HB2 will be running the show and making the City Council appear ineffectual and timid. Like this kinda does:

Thursday News: Clear and Present Danger

TRUMP BECOMES 1ST PRESIDENT TO BE IMPEACHED TWICE: President Donald Trump was impeached by the U.S. House for a historic second time Wednesday, charged with “incitement of insurrection” over the deadly mob siege of the Capitol in a swift and stunning collapse of his final days in office. With the Capitol secured by armed National Guard troops inside and out, the House voted 232-197 to impeach Trump. The proceedings moved at lightning speed, with lawmakers voting just one week after violent pro-Trump loyalists stormed the U.S. Capitol, egged on by the president’s calls for them to “fight like hell” against the election results. Ten Republicans fled Trump, joining Democrats who said he needed to be held accountable and warned ominously of a “clear and present danger” if Congress should leave him unchecked before Democrat Joe Biden’s inauguration Jan. 20.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/article248470850.html

Articles of Impeachment for Donald John Trump

High crimes and misdemeanors is putting it lightly:

In the months preceding the Joint Session, President Trump repeatedly issued false statements asserting that the Presidential election results were the product of widespread fraud and should not be accepted by the American people or certified by State or Federal officials. Shortly before the Joint Session commenced, President Trump addressed a crowd at the Ellipse in Washington, DC. There, he reiterated false claims that ‘‘we won this election, and we won it by a landslide’’. He also willfully made statements that, in context, encouraged—and foreseeably resulted in—lawless action at the Capitol, such as: ‘‘if you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore’’.

The evidence is overwhelming that Trump caused the attack to happen. Even before the election he was priming his lunatic followers to violently reject election results if he did not win, but that pre-attack rally was the straw that almost broke democracy's back. A pep rally before the big game, and that game was insurrection:

BlueNC