One day, deep in the pit of my midlife angst, I saw a job notice on a bulletin board at the Merrifield postal facility. It was for a part-time EEO Investigator. It was 1990, and for five years I had been moving mail in this enormous mail processing center in the DC Virginia suburbs. I … Continue reading Going Postal
Yes, I admit it. I have often called North Carolina Senator Richard Burr a lazy & unresponsive legislator. I mean, don’t you remember the landmark Burr Act to clean up hog waste & coal pollution in the state? Me neither. Because there is no such thing. I used to think that Burr’s main ”landmark” on … Continue reading An Apology (not quite) to Senator Richard Burr
First, from the Raleigh NC News & Observer: A wild horse that roamed North Carolina’s Outer Banks has died, a group that manages her herd says. The mare, nicknamed Dusty, died at age 25, the Foundation for Shackleford Horses wrote Saturday on Facebook. She was “one of the grand dames of the wild herd” that … Continue reading The Island Ponies & The Real Mustangs
Negro. There. I said it. You were expecting that other N-word? The unspeakable? Nope. But it’s timely to take note of this one. Over time, words change meaning & status. Ninety-one years ago, on March 7, 1930, Negro became a thing. Or rather, a proper noun. Such changes are often mysterious. Supreme Court rulings don’t … Continue reading That N-Word. I’m Going to Say It. Right Now. It’s time.
Quote of the Weekend: Here’s the part of the COVID Relief Bill we’ve all been waiting for (in case you nodded off listening to it being read aloud in the Senate): “subsection (a)(1) of such section 314 shall be applied by substituting ‘91 percent’ for ‘89 percent’” and “without regard to requirements in sections 658E(c)(3)(E) … Continue reading Do You Speak legislativ-ese? Me Neither.