South Carolina Pride 25: I Love My Red Gay State
South Carolina Pride held their 25th festival today in downtown Columbia. Â At least twenty thousand rainbow-bedecked people were there. Â Latta, SC police chief Crystal Moore spoke about her recent...
View ArticleHow do I make a radical difference?
I just finished reading Naomi Klein's new book, which was profoundly disturbing. Â If you haven't read it, why are you still here? Â Go and download it at once. Â You see, I thought that things were less...
View ArticleWhy isn't election day a holiday?
People not voting is a problem. Â A young person asked me today why people don't vote, in light of everything that is America today, and I had a million answers but not any one very good one. Â I think...
View ArticleContemplating the Noise Machine
In Daniel Quinn's excellent book Ishmael the gorilla asks the narrator to think about what Mother Culture has been whispering to him all his life. Â The myths of our culture. Â And the narrator says that...
View ArticleHey Y'all! I'm back!
A lot has changed since my last diary SO long ago. When we last spoke back in October I bitched about being a cashier for The Man. I said I wanted out. Â I'm still a cashier at a grocery store, but now...
View ArticleAnger Towards the Rich
A couple of ladies were chatting near my cash register the other day after their lunch, as one admired the other's wallet. "Oh, it was only five hundred dollars," she said to her friend. "I wish I'd...
View ArticleVox Poverty: I won the race to the bottom
I am very poor, and I live in a red state. I make eight bucks an hour and work thirty hours a week. Half my income goes to rent; I'm barely eating. I have very limited access to health care and at my...
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Bad News Bernies
Last night I went to my first meeting of Columbia SC People for Bernie. There were six of us. I was the youngest, and I'm...not young. Every time someone mentioned young people, everyone looked over...
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Bernie: The Power of Potluck
It was easy to #feelthebern at Sunday's picnic because it was a hundred degrees here in Columbia! The picnic was well-attended with people from all over the state. We left early but there were about...
View ArticleSomebody Taught Him to Hate
This was posted on Charleston shooter Roof's Facebook page by Christian musician Marcus Stanley:I don't know you, but when I searched for your name from the news outlets it led me here. You're not...
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The Hate Flags Are Coming Down
Young South Carolinians play under the hate flag this May The people of South Carolina, most of whom are good, decent, compassionate people, are changing their minds about the Confederate flag. Many...
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"Take it Down" Rally in Columbia
Local residents at the #takeitdown rally in ColumbiaCOLUMBIA, SC More than 1,500 people gathered Saturday evening at a hastily organized rally to demand the Confederate flag be taken down from South...
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Thanks! but Hate Flag Still Flies
Gov. Haley and some CEO Thank you to everyone who called or emailed or blogged or commented or talked to their friends. What we do matters! I will be having a drink to celebrate Governor Haley's...
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Advice from my elders? Help please!
Hey y'all! I do not have parents or family to speak of, and I find myself in a situation now that is very, very bad. If I had a home to go to, I would go there now, but I don't. What I need is a...
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The Kossacks Who Fixed Me
When I posted a diary asking for advice, I was in a bad place. I'd been trapped in a whirlpool for so long, my brain wasn't working. Now I have clarity; I am able to plan and gather information and...
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Why I'm Leaving the South
I've come to the painful decision that in order to preserve my life, I must leave the land that I love. I was born in Mississippi, grew up in Virginia, and lived most of my adult life in South...
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Speechless, Crying, Thank you!!!
I don't know what you guys were up to while I was at work! But whatever it was, it worked. You have given me freedom, serenity, peace, strength, and $9400. I don't even know what to think, I glanced...
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I Went to the Doctor Today! +update
Health care is awesome! I decided that it would be a good idea to go ahead and see a doctor and at least get back on my regular meds. I went to a doc-in-the-box and the doctor and nurses there were...
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Move to a Red State!
What if we flooded the South with progressives? A point that is being drowned out in my excitement over escaping my red state is that there are very good reasons for liberals to live in red states. It...
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Social Isolation
As a person with Asperger's, social isolation has always been a problem for me. It's a lot easier to just be alone, and I need alone time to be healthy. But I've had to learn that I do need other...
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