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A very telling White House briefing

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By Monica Chen Maybe it was because she was in a good mood because the cast of “The L Word” were there, but Karine Jean-Pierre let many things slip at Tuesday’s White House press briefing. The biggest being this eye-opening exchange: Will the president serve all eight years? A reporter asked, referring to President Joe Biden’s age. He is 80. “I’m just not gonna get ahead of the president. That’s something for him to decide. I’m just not gonna get ahead of it.” What? Decide what? Did Biden not announce his re-election bid and launched a slick campaign ad earlier that day? Jean-Pierre threw the public and the media into confusion with that response. Why did she say that? Her answer made no sense. But then people might recall, as I did, the news from a couple months ago: Ah. How is Biden’s health now? Was it just a lesion? Has the cancer spread? Has he, as we watch him stiffly bumble from event to event, declined? Jean-Pierre’s answer would make sense in this context …

The ACLU’s silence on NCDHHS and the Durham jail lockdown speaks volumes

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By Monica Chen The ACLU of North Carolina recently refused to condemn, or even comment, on the state health department’s inspection report of the Durham County Jail that showed the NCDHHS couldn’t care less that it’s in an illegal COVID lockdown keeping all inmates in solitary confinement. Instead, the director of the organization, Chantal Stevens, opted to give a canned response on solitary confinement and staffing problems at the jail. And the spokeswoman, Keisha Williams, amazingly said, “We do not have any additional information or comments to provide at this time, as this is not an issue we are actively work on.” That is incredible because the ACLU-NC has been using incarcerated people’s plight for their marketing for years. But when it comes to an immediate problem of hundreds of inmates stuck in solitary confinement and clear signs of corruption at the state level that’s keeping them there, the ACLU cannot be bothered. To sum up what’s been happening at the Durham County Jail, Sheriff Clarence Birkhead continued the COVID lockdown there even after local …

NCDHHS report found “No deficiencies” amid Durham jail lockdown

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By Monica Chen The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services found “no deficiencies” at the Durham County Jail in September even though the jail was continuing a COVID lockdown after mandates were lifted statewide. The Division of Health Service Regulation’s inspection report of the Durham jail, mailed to Sheriff Clarence Birkhead on Sept. 28, stated: “This inspection found no deficiencies, no corrective actions is necessary, and no further action on your part is required.” That division of the NCDHHS conducts semi-annual inspections of county jails. Gov. Roy Cooper ended the statewide COVID emergency in August. Durham ended its mask mandate in March. Because of the continued COVID lockdown, all inmates at the Durham jail are being held in conditions equal to solitary confinement. For some of the inmates who were incarcerated on or before March 2020, that means their solitary confinement has lasted now three years. When reached for comment recently, DHHS spokeswoman Kelly Haight would not say if the agency was aware of the COVID lockdown at the Durham jail. “NCDHHS was not …

Mark Robinson: Not “based,” not MAGA

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By Monica Chen Last summer, I drove to Greensboro for the first time in years and the way city had changed made me sad. It was listless. A blanket of exhaustion draped over the city, including UNC Greensboro, wasting the energy of the people. The city had become comatose thanks to Democrats who had taken from it and benefitted from it so much for decades, then kept it trapped under their falsehoods when young people were ready to turn over a new leaf. After Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson announced his campaign for governor for 2024, I wondered what he has said about Greensboro, which is his hometown and where he still lives. Has he been calling attention to the racism in downtown businesses? Has he been saying some of the traffic changes are unnecessary and add to confusion? Has he been lauding the city’s history, such as its International Civil Rights Museum? No, he hasn’t done any of that. In fact, shockingly, Robinson has tweeted just once about Greensboro, to gloat about the gun …

Movie review: Katie Holmes’ “Rare Objects”

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By Monica Chen Early on in “Rare Objects,” Katie Holmes’ third directorial foray, we see Benita, the protagonist, sitting on a subway. She is pale, and her hair is coarse and disheveled. She’s surrounded by people wearing masks, but she’s not wearing one. Later, as Benita becomes confident and happy at her job, we see her with her hair up, wearing earrings and bouncing around running errands at work, reminiscent of Anne Hathaway in “The Devil Wears Prada.” Much later in the movie, after a big loss, she reverts back to being pale and dishevelled — but with the clothes of a working woman, not a college student. Such attention to detail add up to a finely made film that shows great respect for the precarious journey people make from damaged and traumatized back to wholeness, and the family, friends and work that sustain them along the way. Benita, played by Julia Mayorga in her feature film debut, is a college student who has just been released from a mental institution at the start of …

Durham Health on jail lockdown: “The health department does not mandate COVID-19 safety protocols”

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By Monica Chen Durham County Department of Public Health is refusing to decry the continued lockdown at the Durham County Jail that has resulted in inmates being held in solitude confinement for three years. When reached for comment, spokeswoman Alecia Smith brushed off the department’s responsibility for COVID lockdown mandates for all of Durham County. “The Health Department does not mandate COVID-19 safety protocols for other agencies or departments,” she said in one e-mail. The Spring Magazine had asked during the week of March 20 if the department was aware of the jail lockdown continuing despite local and state mandates ending last year. We also asked if they have helped the Durham County Sheriff’s Office implement it, and if they had a reaction to inmates being held in what equates to solitary confinement. In response to those questions, Smith first said: “The Durham County Sheriff’s Office and Durham County Detention Facility set COVID-19 safety protocols are determined internally, and not by the Durham County Department of Public Health. For more information about DCSO and Detention …

Why do Durham leaders oppose the Parents’ Bill of Rights?

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By Monica Chen Durham leaders could not give reasons why they oppose the Parents’ Bill of Rights that passed the N.C. Senate in February. The bill, SB49, mostly codifies long-standing, basic practices in education, such as giving parents access to what their children are being taught. But in February, both the Durham City Council and the Durham County Commissioners passed resolutions condemning the bill as well as HB43, which bans “gender-affirming care” for minors.   The Durham leaders reached all could not answer this question: What is wrong with banning talk of sexuality and gender in K-4? Here is that section in SB49: Commissioner Heidi Carter drew up the resolution at the county commissioners. She pointed to the requirement that schools notify parents of a different name or pronoun for their child as one of the reasons for her opposition. Critics of SB49 have highlighted that for why they are calling it North Carolina’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Councilwoman Jillian Johnson spearheaded the city council’s resolution, which passed after a brief discussion on Feb 20. …

The Biden administration’s heartless response to Nashville

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By Monica Chen This past week was another reminder that the Biden administration has no interest and is incapable of responding to real crises, to real victims. And Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre made the situation even more dangerous, with her every statement on Nashville seeming to want to push the country into civil war. Jean-Pierre is the worst person to have at the front of the White House talking to the country during a crisis. Here’s a rundown of the administration’s truly awful — disgusting — behavior after a trans shooter in Nashville killed three kids and three teachers last Monday. President Joe Biden, immediately talking about ice cream and “good-looking kids”: BREAKING: Fox News cuts to Joe Biden expecting him to speak on the Nashville shooting, instead finds him ranting about eating Jeni’s chocolate chip ice cream.pic.twitter.com/6rJsFL2dAN — Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) March 27, 2023 First Lady Jill Biden managed to eke out only this tweet: Another school shooting. I am truly without words — our children deserve better. We stand — all of us …

Sheriff’s 180: No lockdown at jail, claims spokeswoman

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By Monica Chen The Sheriff’s Office claimed last week there is no lockdown at the Durham County Jail, and there is no solitary confinement. That’s contrary to Sheriff Clarence Birkhead and spokeswoman AnnMarie Breen’s previous statements to the media since January, when news of the jail’s conditions broke. After numerous attempts to reach the Sheriff’s Office for comment over the past two weeks, Breen responded last Wednesday over e-mail: “You are misinformed. The facility is not now nor has it ever been on ‘COVID lockdown.’ Additionally, the Durham County Detention Facility does not utilize ‘solitary confinement’ as that is a form of punishment. I believe that you are referring to the fact that at our current occupancy each detainee is assigned a private cell and does not have to share,” she said. “As COVID cases develop at the facility, procedures are in place that help prevent the spread of the virus. This changes day to day and does not typically impact the entire facility,” she added. When it was pointed out to her that Sheriff Birkhead has …

What’s going on at the Durham County Jail?

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By Monica Chen The Durham County Sheriff’s Office is still using COVID lockdown protocols at the jail, and activists are sounding the alarm about the conditions amounting to solitary confinement for the hundreds of inmates. In fact, for some of the inmates at the Durham County Jail who were incarcerated on or before March 2020, that means their solitary confinement has lasted now three years. Activists Marcia Owen and Andrea “Muffin” Hudson sent an open letter in December to local officials, including Sheriff Clarence Birkhead, District Attorney Satana Deberry, Chief District Court Judge Clayton Jones and Police Chief Patrice Andrews. They called for the urgent need to alleviate conditions at the jail. The letter has been signed by hundreds of people and organizations. Owen and Hudson also have met with Birkhead and others to discuss their concerns. “Muffin and I understand from our meeting with the sheriff on Nov. 16 that the jail has sustained the 21-23 [hours] alone in cell for every incarcerated person since late March 2020,” Owen said in an e-mail this …