mbo123go's blog
Listening to conservative talk radio is painful. The right wing radio hosts should be required to read Surgeon General warning labels because their programs are hazardous to our mental health.The radio hosts on these programs don't just express their ignorance. They celebrate it. Unfortunately for me, I am too curious. I often wonder about how they will creatively distort reality to match their audience expectations. This week I listened to Rush Limbaugh and his clone-in-the-Triangle, Bill Lemay of WPTF radio. I can listen for only a few minutes at a time (see Surgeon General warning). Therefore, the following is just a sampling of comments about Obama and his inauguration from the right wing radio perspective:- True conservatives should hope that Obama fails.
- Obama's goal is to implement a "socialist agenda."
I have heard that Jesse Helms once described Chapel Hill as the “North Carolina Zoo.” I am pretty sure he was not trying to be flattering. However, for many people who lived here at that time it was a compliment. It was evidence that Chapel Hill was an interesting and unique place. Too bad Chapel Hill is no longer so interesting.
Perhaps it is time to consider a radical New Year’s resolution. In 2009 let’s raise Chapel Hill’s interest quotient (IQ). The first step in this process may be the hardest. We will have to break through our collective denial and admit that we have become the least interesting point of the three major communities that form the Triangle.
One of the panhandlers on 15-501 recently returned to our area following 12 month sabatical. He spent the time away in a federal prison in South Carolina for cashing a few bad checks and for resisting arrest. I asked him, "What was it like down there in prison?" He said, "It was really easier than livin' out here. I got medical treatment and they fixed one of my teeth and it wasn't so cold."
I have not asked him why he returned to our area but I am curious about it. What is so attractive about homelessness and panhandling in our community? What would motivate a person to travel back here to live in the woods and beg for money on the highway? I wonder if it is a positive or negative reflection on our community that this homeless man and so many others in similar circumstances want to make this place their home.
Michael B. Owen
Every afternoon I stop at the light at the intersection of 15-501 and I-40 and I talk to the men who panhandle there. It is usually the only interesting moment in my daily commute.
This week I asked one of the panhandlers if he and his friends needed anything. I said, “With the holiday coming up do you guys need anything for Christmas?” The man paused and tilted his head as people often do when considering a question. After a few seconds he smiled and said, “Nope. We’re good.”The light changed and I drove away thinking about the irony of panhandlers who do not need anything.
I am new to this Internet community and surprised that there appears to be no conversation about human service needs or human service programs in Orange County. We certainly seem to have many examples of both.
Last month Orange County government sponsored a day long retreat for the directors of all non-profit human service agencies that receive partial funding from the County. The purpose of the event was to facilitate discussion among non-profit leaders regarding the impact of the economic downturn on the non-profit sector and on the people it serves. The organizers hoped that non-profit leaders would discover new ways to anticipate future challenges and to collaborate on common goals. The meeting was facilitated by experts from the UNC School of Government.
I think this meeting was an example of excellent leadership from County goverment. Orange County makes a consideration financial contribution each year to non-profit human service agencies but, this retreat demonstrated a contribution beyond money.
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