April 25, 2016

This is our concern, Dude

Over 1000 very poor West Virginians are about to lose SNAP food assistance. Many of these may be homeless or living in isolated rural areas or may be dealing with diagnosed mental and physical health issues. I guess the good news is that the number of such people is probably much smaller than it would have been without public pressure and media scrutiny.

SO THIS MUST BE MY WEEK FOR RADIO. The latest Front Porch podcast from WV Public Broadcasting features my friend Pastor Matthew Watts talking about racial disparities in WV's prison system.

The Front Porch podcast/program, by the way, won 2nd place in the Associated Press broadcasting awards for Virginia and West Virginia. The category was editorial or editorial series.

And while we're at it, the multi-state public broadcasting program Inside Appalachia recycled a Front Porch segment in a program on "Appalachianism," Appalachian dialects, prejudices against hillbillies, and the politics of language. I  never said I was not a potty mouth in case you listen.

OFF TOPIC. Some big political news in WV is a planned visit by democratic socialist presidential candidate Bernie Sanders to my home county. You won't find any endorsements here, but a friend sent me this article by writer and WV native Jedidiah Purdy. To be exact, he proposes 11 theses on Sanders.

I have no knowledge of this topic whatsoever, nor would I be disposed to discuss it if in fact I did, but I'm pretty sure the 11 theses is a riff on the same number of theses written about philosopher Ludwig Feuerback by the young Marx.  That's what I heard anyway.


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