OP/ED
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Ernest H. Pitt
Elaine Pitt
T. Kevin Walker
i Publisher/Co-Founder
Business Manager
Managing Editor
Governor's Delusion
Pat McCrory is coming to town.
The Forsyth County Republican Women have announced that our first-term
governor will speak at their annual holiday event on Dec. 10. His appearance will
surely pack them into the Forsyth Country Club and flood nearby sidewalks with
protestors.
The McCrory Administration was supposed to be free of scandal, a unifying
force, but it has been anything but. The exorbitant salaries being paid to political
hires may be just the tip of the iceberg. A bigger issue for the governor is his seem
ing difficulty in simply telling the truth; he can't just tell it like it is.
During a nationally-televised inter
view on MSNBC last week, McCrory
demurred when political reporter Chuck
Todd asked him about the decision he
and his Republican cohorts made to cur
tail voting rights. He insisted that the
bill to reduce the early voting period to
10 days from 17 days was not a shorten
ing of the voting calendar, just merely a
more "compacted" voting calendar.
Really, Governor?
McCrory and the GOP had the
temerity to efface early voting, so the [
governor should have the courage to
admit as much. Not only has the early
voting span been nearly slashed in half,
same-day registration was kicked to the
curb, as was early registration for teens
who will turn 18 before Election Day.
With a straight face, McCrory told
the nation that these changes weren't
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changes will make the voting process better for election workers and residents.
(Shockingly, a bolt of lightning didn't descend from the sky, nor did the governor's
nose grow longer after he made these claims.)
More than half of the North Carolinians who voted in 2012 did so early. The
governor probably owes his victory to a great deal of folks who went to the polls
before Election Day. But early voting statistics don't favor Republicans. Women and
minorities - groups not usually receptive to conservatives - tend to vote early more
often. The GOP knows this and has made destroying early voting a key priority.
McCrory has been busy during his first year in the Governor's Mansion. In
between the massive remodeling project (using tens-of-thousands in taxpayer
money), the governor is mastering the art of the spin. His circumfluence was on full
display on MSNBC. He is determined to convince the victims of the bad laws he and
his lot have passed that the voting changes, education budget-slashing, etc. were
really done for their benefit.
McCrory vowed to be a straight-forward and straight-talking leader, but he is the
very epitome of a politician.
Immigration reform stalling
Chris
Liu-Beers
Guest
Columnist
U.S. House Speaker
John Boehner recently stat
ed that there will not be any
conference committee in
order to find a compromise
on the bipartisan Senate
immigration reform bill.
The American people are
hearing one excuse after
another about how immi
gration reform is too com
plicated and how there isn't
enough time for a vote.
After months of dithering,
it's clear that House leaders
are hoping to run out the
clock on immigration.
If it holds true that the
House doesn't vote on any
other immigration bills,
then an amendment to
deport young people eligi
ble for the Deferred Action
for Childhood Arrivals pro
gram - which passed with
overwhelming GOP sup
port in June - will be the
only immigration measure
to have received a vote on
the floor of the House in
2013.
That track record stands
in stark contrast to the U.S.
Senate, which passed
bipartisan comprehensive
immigration reform in late
June. Since then, more than
150,000 people have been
deported. The human cost
of inaction on immigration
reform by the House of
Representatives is extreme
ly damaging to communi
ties here in North Carolina
and across the country.
That's why immigrant
rights, faith and labor lead
ers announced the launch
of "Fast for Families: A
Call for Immigration
Reform and Citizenship"
(www.fast4families.org)
taking place on the
National Mall, steps away
from the Capitol. Leaders
and immigrant members of
the community are fasting
every day and night,
abstaining from all food
except water-to move the
hearts and compassion of
members of Congress to
pass immigration reform
with a path to citizenship.
The fast in Washington.
DC is being held in con
junction with dozens of
local and solidarity fasts,
events, and actions already
underway in key congres
sional districts across the
country. Fasters are joined
nationwide by groups and
activists who are prepared
to make sacrifices for the
passage of immigration
reform with a path to citi
zenship.
The truth is that passing
immigration reform isn't a
matter of the calendar, it's a
matter of will. In fact, there
are enough votes to pass
immigration reform with a
path to citizenship today.
The House has forty days -
the rest of November and
December to find time to
schedule it. Despite the
grave urgency of the situa
tion, however, there are
only eight days left on the
legislative calendar to cast
votes, and many pundits
agree that the House lead
ership is content to run out
the clock without any real
progress. Even with the
holidays approaching and
the never-ending cycle of
political fundraisers, the
leadership could easily
clear the calendar and make
it happen if it were truly a
priority.
In a letter addressed to
Speaker Boehner, a group
of fasters said: "While we
understand and appreciate
your wish to work part
time for the rest of the year
while receiving the benefits
of full-time employment,
immigrants and working
people don't have that lux
*ury. We have to show up
and do our jobs every day.
lest our pay get docked or
be fired for dereliction of
duty. Like us, working peo
ple, we need the House to
show up and do its job.
Again, as you [Speaker
Boehnerj have eloquently
said [about immigration
reform], 'inaction is not an
option."
After visiting with
activists in DC, Salt Lake
City Catholic Bishop John
Wester said: "I'm very
grateful because I'm hop
ing that it will communi
cate to our people in the
United States the need for
immigration reform - that
it's not just politics. This is
a human issue that calls for
courageous action on the
parts of our elected offi
cials. And for every day
that they dally and dither
and don't do anything, peo
ple are suffering."
This fight is personal to
us. Every day the House
fails to act on immigration
reform is another day when
1,100 families are ripped
apart by senseless deporta
tion. This holiday season,
when we hold our families
close; let's pray that our
elected officials will finally
do their jobs.
Chris Liu-Beers is a
program associate at the
North Carolina Council of
Churches.
Ghana
from page AT
Shegog said Daniel
convinced him to take part
after the 12-year-old heard
a presentation at school
about another service trip
to Ghana students took to
aid a different school -
Fayef International in
Kokobrite. The younger
Shegog became preoccu
pied with helping
Ghanaian kids, so much so
that he asked his dad and
mom (Wake Forest Baptist
Health's Dr. Jamehl
Demons Shegog) to
donate to the cause in lieu
of giving him Christmas
gifts.
Daniel said he was
moved by the Ghaqian stu
dents' unwavering dedica
tion to learning and their
lack of technology, elec
tricity and running water.
He is ecstatic that he and
his dad are taking an active
role in helping to make a
difference in their lives.
"I wanted to see the
kids," said the sixth-grad
er. "I've heard so much
about them, I wanted to
see them for myself."
The Bridge Project
evolved out of the work of
Dr. Medge Owen, an
obstetrician professor at
Wake Forest Medical
School, who, through her
nonprofit Kybele, recruits
other obstetricians to train
doctors and other medical
professionals in impover
ished nations around the
world. Owen's efforts have
greatly reduced the num
ber of mothers and babies
who die during childbirth.
During one of her
Kybele-related trips to
Ghana, Owen saw that the
schools were sorely lack
ing essentials. She raised
money to have a computer
lab and outhouse built at
Fayef International
School, and last year, she
took her daughter. Jozy
Unal, and a group of
Forsyth Country Day stu
dents to the school to
install the lab's computers,
which FCD, an acclaimed
Lcwisville-based pre-K
through 12 private school,
donated.
It was Owen who gave
the presentation at FCD
that so enamored Daniel
After her talk, she often
saw Daniel making a bee
line to her when she'd pick
Jozy up from school. He'd
always want to talk about
Ghana.
Owen said she knew
Daniel had to come on this
trip.
"I cannot let that pas
sion I saw in that little boy
go undone." she said. It's
going to change his life.
Shegog, a former FCD
computer teacher, served
as an advisor for the first
trip, helping student Chris
Hawley select the comput
er equipment the school
donated.
His knack for comput
ers will come in handy as
the group sets up the lab at
Odoi Atsem.
"It feels good, its grati
fying to know my skills
can be used more than just
where they were," he said.
"...The fact that 1 can go
someplace else and help
someone else is definitely
gratifying."
Owen said she expect
ed the trip to go smoothly.
Ghana is politically stable,
and English is the primary
language. She said the stu
dents she took last year
took to the Ghanaian stu
dents immediately.
"The kids were like
magnets to each other.
There was no barrier of
color, no barrier of poverty
or wealth; it was just kid
on kid." she said
The group will stay at
Ghana Health Services,
which will also provide
them with transportation
and food Owen, whose
Kybele work acquainted
her with the organization,
worked out the arrange
ments. '
Locals have already
donated several hundred
pounds of books to Odoi
Atsem. They, like the com
puter lab, will occupy the
school's new library,
which was constructed
with Bridge Project funds
The group has also funded
efforts to bring running
water and electricity to the
school and purchased lap
lops for the computer lab
The team of volunteers
who departed last week,
stuffed their luggage with
clothing. Beanie Babies.
school supplies and books
for Oboi Atsem students.
In addition to individ
ual donations, the Bridge
Project held a yard sale to
raise funds and turned to
fundraising site
Indeogogo. Local non
profits have also chipped
in. They included
Hopscotch Adoptions and
Lovell's Little Bits, the
non-profit wing of Cash
Lovell Stables, whose
owner, Parker Lovell, is
returning to Ghana with
daughter Cashlyn after
taking part in last year's
effort.
FCD students were
expected to use the live
video chatting service
Skype Monday to commu
nicate with their class
mates and Oboi Atsem stu
dents. FCD music teacher
Beth Frack. who is among
the group of volunteers,
was also slated to conduct
a song performed simulta
neously by Odoi Atsem
and FCD students in
Lewisville.
Aside from their work
at Odoi Atsem. the group
of volunteers are sched
uled to visit Fayef
International, a local
chieftain, and the slave
castles along the Ghanaian
coast.
The Shegogs say they
will miss their family and
the traditions of
Thanksgiving; however,
they believe this opportu
nity is well worth the sac
rifice.
"I'm looking forward
to it because it's a com
pletely different way of
giving thanks and honor
ing all that I've been given
and giving back to others,"
Shegog said.
For more information,
visit www.thebridgepro
jectMS.
Photo by Todd Luck
Don Shegog and his son, Daniel.
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