In an effort to help build civic awareness and to help celebrate Constitution Day, the Dept. of Political Science will be holding it’s first annual Constitution Bee on Friday, September 17, from 9-Noon, in the student center’s Black Box theater.
The event will feature teams from John Paul II Catholic high school.
Future years’ events will hopefully include high school students from all Pitt County high schools.
More details will be forthcoming as the event draws closer.
(From “The Onion”) HOOPESTON, IL: “Whether it’s baked into a tasty bread, popped in oil as a savory treat, or enjoyed fresh and right off the cob, sources from across the nation agreed Wednesday that, whatever differences they may have, Americans still grow themselves some mighty good-lookin’ corn.
““Regardless of which part of the country we come from or what we may be arguing about at the moment, we can all of us share in the belief that no one grows a taller, sweeter, or purdier stalk of corn than we do right here in the ol’ U-S-of-A,” said Illinois native Grant Hardway, 56, who reportedly joined together with millions of Americans as they looked back and forth between one another and the seemingly endless rows of gorgeous, freshly sown corn that stretched beyond the horizon, bathing the countryside in a magnificent golden glow.
““Some folks say we’re more divided than ever, and I reckon there’s some truth to that. But this here—this handsome, buttered, homegrown cob you see in my hand—by God, it ain’t changed one bit. Be it raw, boiled, grilled, creamed, or extruded into a cheese-flavored snack puff, we here in the land of the free have got us some damned fine corn. Yes, sir.”
“At press time, an estimated 333 million U.S. residents nodded solemnly toward their neighbors as they sat on porches, patios, and stoops to begin shucking corn for their evening meals.”
From https://www.theonion.com/nation-agrees-that-despite-our-differences-americans-st-1847309651
On July 23, 1885, just after completing his memoirs, Civil War hero and former president Ulysses S. Grant dies of throat cancer.
“Calling it the surest path to avoiding catastrophic consequences for the planet, a new report by the Intergovernmental International Panel on Climate Change warned Monday that the only way to reverse climate change was for every person on Earth to share a single Chevy Volt. “Given the severity of the current crisis, our best hope for heading off runaway climate change is getting all of the Earth’s citizens to take turns using the same 2017 Chevy volt for the foreseeable future,” read the study in part, which explained that there would also be a Google Doc that allowed the world’s 7.1 billion drivers to coordinate carpools, grocery runs, and road trips across the planet’s seven continents.
“Our team looked into other possibilities, such as everyone sharing 200 electric scooters, but really the single Chevy Volt is the most practical solution for everyone’s needs. Thankfully, developed nations have budgeted enough to reserve a parking spot in Tucson that can be used as a convenient charging location. Now, the United Nations just need to save up enough to buy the thing.” The panel also recommended installing a tow cable on the Chevy Bolt to replace the entire global shipping infrastructure.
From https://www.theonion.com/new-study-finds-only-way-to-reverse-climate-change-if-e-1847320084
From Britannica.com: “On this day in 1848, the women’s suffrage movement in the United States was launched with the opening of the Seneca Falls Convention, which sought to gain certain rights and privileges for women, notably the right to vote.”
The ECU Center for Survey Research (CSR) released a new survey report of U.S. adults nationwide on public opinion of COVID-19 issues. The results of the report are part of the CSR’s Life, Liberty, and Happiness Project and can be found on the CSR’s website (or by clicking here: https://surveyresearch-ecu.reportablenews.com/pr/the-past-and-present-of-covid-19-mandates-and-vaccines-divided-republicans-unified-democrats).
The report received press coverage from WITN (https://www.witn.com/2021/07/07/new-survey-shows-republican-party-divided-covid-19-precautions/), WNCT (https://www.wnct.com/video/ecu-survey-finds-democrats-united-republicans-divided-on-covid-19-measures/6784775/), and The Daily Reflector (https://www.reflector.com/ecu-survey-finds-democrats-united-republicans-divided-on-covid-19-measures/article_6d89e30f-deb8-594c-b051-11e5f9293ae8.html).
“Parisian revolutionaries and mutinous troops storm and dismantle the Bastille, a royal fortress and prison that had come to symbolize the tyranny of the Bourbon monarchs. This dramatic action signaled the beginning of the French Revolution, a decade of political turmoil and terror in which King Louis XVI was overthrown and tens of thousands of people, including the king and his wife Marie Antoinette, were executed.”
July 14 is, of course, celebrated as France’s National Day.
Dr. Daniel Xu presented his joint research on state fiscal policy at the American Society for Public Administration Annual Conference, April 9-15, 2021. The study titled “Fiscal Policies, Financial Condition and Credit Rating: An Analysis of U.S. State Governments” examined the impact of tax and expenditure limits on financial condition and credit rating of state government. The research utilized the longitudinal financial data from the state government reports (2003-2018) and several other source and developed a new financial condition evaluation model. It found that stringent state tax and expenditure limits had a negative impact on both financial condition and credit rating. Different partisan control of executive and legislative branches also affected these two variables.
By Ed Gamble, originally published in 1992, in the Florida Times-Union. Is the message still relevant today?
Fresh from the pages of “The Onion”: “WILSON, WY—Following news that the military withdrawal had ramped up after U.S. troops pulled out of Bagram Airfield, former Vice President Dick Cheney was overheard Friday muttering “Someone’s gotta occupy Afghanistan” as he shoved a cache of firearms into a suitcase.
“It’s a dirty job, keeping those terrorists in line, but by God, I’ll do it myself if I have to,” said the 80-year-old former defense secretary, sticking a tactical knife into his ankle holster before placing C-4 explosives, grenades, and his travel neck pillow into a duffel bag. “I should’ve known this day would come. You think you’re all hunky-dory, just set it and forget it over there, but then these assholes go and screw everything up. Now I have to call Condi [Rice], Colin [Powell], and Bob [Gates] and tell them to cancel their plans and come help me. Christ, I’m getting too old for this shit. And where are my goddamn M16s? Well, it’s like I always say: Don’t send an army to do Dick Cheney’s job.” At press time, Cheney was reportedly cursing his late mentor Donald Rumsfeld “for taking the easy way out” as he drew up battle plans to reinvade Afghanistan by himself.”
From https://www.theonion.com/someone-s-gotta-occupy-afghanistan-grumbles-dick-che-1847220332