Author: opinionstogo

The aforementioned is all about infrastructure and recovery and sad optics—as well as literal relief and reassurance. But there’s another kind of relief. You can call it #TogetherWNC. Or just Ashevillian folks, “weird” in so many pink-haired, tattooed, nose-ringed, artsy ways, helping each other out—including “free hugs” at the local CVS.

There were staging areas for food, water and empathy. Accompanying signage included: “You Are Loved: Glad You’re Here,” We Rise By Lifting Others” and “Unite With Love.” Not unusual to see a large apartment building at a major intersection with a prominent, ad hoc cardboard sign saying “Thank you: grocery workers, nurses, first responders & truck drivers.” A nearby restaurant was giving away free vegan food, and Sam’s Club, Fresh Market and Whole Foods were providing free meal kits. A YMCA was offering showers, the American Red Cross set up a 150-bed shelter at what used to be a Gold’s Gym and a community garden harvest was well timed. Local residents continued a tradition of putting out extra food curbside, and those with power shared a “free charge” extension cord with powerless neighbors. The Register of Deeds developed a web-based form to assist people in finding and connecting with friends and relatives. There were free stays for the displaced at Airbnbs.

Around downtown, it looked tourist-challenged as various open businesses catered to locals. A prime example: The Mellow Mushroom offered free pizza and someone waiting in line even shared free “dabs,” which are puffs of an illegal herb. Celebrity chef Jose Andres and his acclaimed World Central Kitchen opened a free food-distribution center. Nearby was one of several laundry relief zones.

None of which surprised Alice Helms, 72, who has experienced the neighborly vibe since moving here from Connecticut 19 years ago. “My feeling is that everyone is always going to help–be nice, stop and chat,” says Helms. “Now we’re turning it up a few notches. It’s an amazing, caring community. The first day, my eight neighbors knocked on my door to see what I needed. I live alone, but I’m not lonely.

“What’s really special is the camaraderie,” added Helms, a past president of her neighborhood association, a volunteer with Asheville City Schools pre-K, a quilting community member and a self-described “busybody around town.”

“I’ve had some incredible conversations with people just standing in lines,” she said. “It’s an oddly intimate thing to be talking to strangers about toilet flushing.”

That’s Asheville.

• Reflect back to the presidential debates of 2016.

Trump is still arrogant, prevaricating and unhinged. But now he’s eight years older and looks—and sounds—it. A delusional macho man vs. a deus ex machina. He is split-screen juxtaposed to Harris, someone who is younger, articulate, attractive, smart, poised and prepared. Think Hillary without emails, paid speeches to bankers, inner-party, Bernie distractions and Bill.

• As to the Walz-Vance debate, we knew what was in store early on when Walz bluntly asked Vance: “Did Trump lose the 2020 election?” Vance’s non-answer: “Tim, I’m focused on the future.” Too bad Walz didn’t pursue this line of democratic and constitutional inquiry about a future with a felon who still won’t concede the peaceful transition of power.

 

• “The schedule (of President Joe Biden) will be robust.  And he plans to leave it all on the field.”—White House Communications Director Ben LaBolt.
• Kamala Harris has called for raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%.
• Team Harris-Walz raised $361 million in August—nearly triple Team Trump’s fundraising haul. Nearly 3 million donors contributed. It was the best grassroots fundraising month in presidential history.
• President Biden has called on Congress to increase funding to the Secret Service. We know what prompted that.
• A New York Times analysis shows Trump’s crowds are typically smaller than those of Harris. That—and Trump’s ego-driven fixation on HUGE rallies—are part of a “Crowd Size” ad airing nationally.
• Montana’s Democratic Sen. Jon Tester has declined to endorse Kamala Harris. That’s, alas, political reality in a hard-core red state. His senatorial opponent is a former U.S. Navy SEAL (Tim Sheehy) who has been endorsed by Trump.
• “We all saw the stark contrast (in the debate). An unhinged, wannabe autocrat and a candidate who cares about the American people and America’s role in the world.”—Anthony Scaramucci, former Trump communications director.
• No surprise that Trump GOP allies have supported ballot access for third-party spoiler candidates Jill Stein and Cornel West.
• Trump supports Mark Robinson, the sleazy and weirdly racist (“black nazi”) North Carolina Republican lieutenant governor, for governor of that key state. As a result, the Harris campaign has directly tied Trump to this down-ballot race.
• Police Leaders for Community Safety, a non-partisan organization of law enforcement leaders, has endorsed Kamala Harris for president. Hardly coincidental is a recent FBI report showing a (3%) drop in violent crime in 2023. So, no, violent crime didn’t go “through the roof,” as claimed by Trump.
• Getting-the-vote-out help: More than a dozen states could consider abortion-related amendments to their constitutions this election year.

In a previous incarnation, I was a secondary English teacher in Philadelphia. I came in right out of college at mid-year to replace a teacher who was let go because of poor discipline in her classes. So, I knew what challenges I faced in the classroom. Hell, I had been a discipline case as a student, and I knew something about handling wise guys to help facilitate learning with order, humor and empathy.

But what I didn’t realize were other aspects of being a teacher. Schools, for example, are also a unique microcosm of adult society within a juvenile context. And no place represented that better than the faculty lounge.

It was an eclectic atmosphere: a variety of disciplines, personalities, politics, jokes, ages, genders, races and Philly accents. Plus, a seniority hierarchy. And a lot of ashtrays.

There was also a sense of sanctuary—from the routine of teaching and monitoring kids all day long.

I soon learned of a popular lounge game: “Famous Books I’ve Never Read.” Mine was “The Last of the Mohicans” by James Fennimore Cooper. Boring. Thank you, again, Cliff’s Notes.

I decided to get more involved and better known by suggesting a new category: “Famous Books In My Subject Area That I Never Read.” Everybody laughed. Yes, I had been accepted.

Then I went too far. I suggested yet another category: “Famous Books I’ve Taught That I Never Read.” Nobody laughed.

 

• “Hello, this is Microsoft security. If this voice is easily understandable, you must be from Bangladesh.”
• Change how you see—not how you look.

• “Hello, Suicide Hotline. Please hold.”

• Amtrak has announced daily, direct, round-trip travel between Miami and Chicago—with a stop in Tampa. It begins Nov. 10.
• “Uhurus Guilty of Conspiracy” was the TBT headline. The bottom line: Never a good time to be a Russian ally. Another bottom line: “Useful idiots” is still a post-Soviet strategy.
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Edward Glazer is a major donor to the Trump campaign.

• Ron DisAstrous wasn’t available for a presidential phone call regarding Hurricane Helene. He didn’t try to call back, let alone join the president in assessing Florida damage and federal aid. Likely reason: He knows that then-Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie took some GOP backlash for meeting with President Obama to thank him for federal help after Hurricane Sandy.
• “I will be voting no (on Florida’s amendment to codify abortion access).”—Donald Trump.
• “In Florida, we’ve seen the state and the presidency decided by 537 votes, so any group can potentially sway an election or the presidency.”—Miami-based, Democratic pollster Fernand Amandi.
• No, there is no vaccine against Surgeon General Joseph La-dope-o.
• According to the Brennan Center for Justice, voter impersonation is virtually non-existent. Apparently, Florida’s “Election Police” never got the memo.
• DisAstrous’ Agency for Health Care Administration has created ads and a website to oppose (the abortion-permitting) Amendment 4. Outtake: “Florida is protecting life: Don’t let the fearmongers lie to you.”
• A new law provides for the creation of several potential new license plates—such as “Margaritaville.” But, no, “Freedumb” and “Anti-Woke” are not in the running.
• The “Swifties for Kamala” Instagram page has more than 55,000 followers.

• Twenty-five million Americans—one in four—saw “Birth of a Nation” in the first two years of release, the most ever for any picture without sound.
• Edison Research recently reported that the number of Americans who say they use Twitter (X) has dropped from 27% to 19%.
• Meta, Instagram, WhatsApp and You Tube have banned RT, the Russian state-owned media network. RT remains extremely popular in Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

 

• The repressive regime of Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega has been in power for 28 of the past 45 years.
• While most refugees lose refugee status when they acquire citizenship elsewhere, Palestinians do not.
• Canada is the largest foreign owner of U.S. land—14.2 million acres. China holds about 250 acres.
• Relative presidential ageism: The president of Cameroon, Paul Biya, is expected to run again for president this fall. Biya, 92, has been president for 42 years. If re-elected—and it’s all but assured—he will rule until 2032. If he lives out the term, he would be 98.