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This, That, and the Other: North Carolina Edition

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Tuesday, 18 March 2025

Written by Margaret Dickson

As a Fayetteville native and a North Carolina resident all my life, I have been interested in and have absorbed a fair amount of information about our community and our state. Even as a young child, I believed my destiny was to solve the mystery of what happened to the Lost Colony and baby Virginia Dare. No luck so far, and I may have to leave that puzzle to another historical sleuth.
Millions of Americans have passed through our community with the military, and many are here now. So, for them, and for the natives, here are some North Carolina facts that say a lot about from whence we have come and where we are now.
Historically, we are a national force and always have been.
Joining the tribal peoples in what became North Carolina were first English settlers, the first being the Lost Colony along the Outer Banks in the 1590s. Later came Europeans, with Germans and others settling in the Piedmont region. We were the first state to vote for independence from England, the 12th state to join the 13 states that became the United States, and the last state to secede to form the Confederacy. Our nation’s first state university, now known as the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was chartered here. Today, we are the 9th most populous state with 11M residents and the 28th largest state in area. Our own Fort Bragg is the nation’s largest military base and believed to be the largest
in the world.
Today, our strong suits are science and technology, although increasingly industrialized agriculture remains a major force. We are blessed with both mountains and an ocean coastline, which generated our former license plate slogan, “Variety Vacationland.” According to the financial website SmartAsset, we are decidedly middle class with incomes between $47,000 and $147,000. We are the sweet potato capital of the universe and have more poultry and pigs than people. We love our college sports and have rivalries that go back generations.
We take our food seriously and are known around the world for our barbeque (a noun, not a verb), which comes in two versions. Eastern barbeque boasts a vinegar-based sauce, while western barbeque comes with a tomato sauce. Both Pepsi and Cheerwine were invented in North Carolina. And, sadly, while we take our pimento cheese seriously—some call it “southern caviar,” it was invented in New York. We don’t advertise that, of course.
Cumberland County is no slouch in the history department either. Early on, Fayetteville was briefly the state capital. Legend has it that the Wake County legislative delegation plied the Cumberland County delegation with drink the night before the vote to locate the capital. Supposedly, a local legislator missed the vote the following day, and the rest is Raleigh history. North Carolina’s first elected Governor died in Cool Spring Tavern in downtown Fayetteville. Our city was named for the French general, the Marquis de Lafayette, as were about 150 places around the nation. Our Fayetteville is the only one he visited himself. The Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry has been marching since 1793. More recently, Babe Ruth hit his first professional home run downtown, Fayetteville resident Don Clayton invented Putt Putt golf, and Army brat turned Grammy-winning rapper, J Cole, is enjoying a successful musical career.
Like one of North Carolina’s famous sons, James Taylor from Chapel Hill, Carolina is always “in my mind.” I suspect that is true for many of those who have passed this way as well.
We leave a little tar on everyone’s heels.

Visiting Greek mythology: Heck hath no fury

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Tuesday, 11 March 2025

Written by Pitt Dickey

Some of you may recall the old Chiffon margarine commercial’s warning that “It is not nice to fool Mother Nature.”
Mother Nature had nothing on the Goddess Circe who was the original liberated woman. Helen Reddy might have been thinking about Circe when she warbled “I am Woman/ Hear me roar!” Today we shall ponder Circe, Greek Mythology’s Lady of the Island.
Circe was the daughter of Helios the Sun God. As an adult Goddess, she rode in Helios’ chariot of the Sun to the island of Aeaea. The island of Aeaea had no consonants in its name because consonants had not yet been invented. Being part Sun God, Circe had flashing sunbeams from her eyes with hair that shoots out fiery rays. It is likely that Circe’s eyes were the inspiration for The Association’s 1967 big hit Windy who “has stormy eyes/ That flash at the sound of lies.”
Circe was an outdoorsy gal who gave her heart too easily. She shows up in Mythology swimming in the sea surrounded by beasts who are part man and part animal. Jason and the Argonauts spot her and seek absolution for a recent murder. Circe slits the throat of a suckling pig.
She dribbles its blood onto Jason and his posse which purifies them of their murderous act. She still doesn’t much cotton to them. Shortly thereafter she orders them off her island.
Meanwhile, Glaucus, a sea God, has fallen for the beautiful mortal Scylla. Unfortunately, Glaucus loves Scylla, but she doesn’t love him. Glaucus is part fish which may account for Scylla’s body shaming of him. Glaucus goes to Circe to ask for Love Potion #9 to make Scylla fall in love with him. Unfortunately, Circe falls in love with Glaucus.
He doesn’t love her back, or even her front for that matter. This makes Circe angry at Scylla. You would not like Circe when she is angry. Circe knows about magic wands and potions. She mixes up a potion which she slips into the pool where Scylla takes her daily bath.
When Scylla gets into the water, the potion turns Scylla into a man-eating monster with a human upper torso but six dog heads on tentacles growing out of her lower body. She is an angry mess.
On another day, Circe ran into King Picus who was out hunting boars. Circe immediately fell in love with Picus who was married to Canens, a sprightly wood nymph.
Picus remained loyal to his wife, rejecting Circe’s romantic overtures. Circe did what any spurned Goddess would do, she turned Picus into a woodpecker. (Author’s note: Picus never played for the Fayetteville Woodpeckers). Canens, grief-stricken at being married to a bird, threw herself like Ophelia into a river and drowned.
Circe enjoyed her ability to transform men into animals. Rumor has it that the ability to turn men into animals remains viable in some lady persons of the female persuasion. Odysseus was on his way home from the Trojan War when he stopped on Circe’s island for supplies. He sent a scouting party onto the island which ended up at Circe’s house.
Her house was surrounded by wild beasts like wolves and lions who were just lounging around while Circe was inside singing. Circe came outside and offered the men wine which had the equivalent of ancient Roofies in it. The wine turned the men into pigs with men’s brains.
Circe put them into her pig sty to keep for an old-fashioned Eastern North Carolina BBQ pig picking. The Scout who had been watching all this occur skedaddled back to Odysseus on his ship to warn him.
Odysseus, while on his way to save his men, ran into Hermes who gave him a magic flower that makes him immune to Circe’s powers. Odysseus pulls a sword on Circe to make her swear not to hurt him and to turn her pigs back into his men. After complying, Circe naturally falls in love with Odysseus. He chills with her for about a year.
Odysseus finally tires of his fling, realizing he misses his wife Penelope. He goes back to Greece but slips back to see Circe several times who becomes the Baby Momma for three of his kids.
What have we learned today? Men are not far removed from being pigs. Pouring alcohol on a problem can always make it worse. Helen Reddy was right when she sang: “Yes, I’ve paid the price/ But look how much I’ve gained/ If I have to, I can face anything/ I am strong/ I am invincible / I am woman.”
Moral: Mess with independent women at your own risk.

(Illustration by Pitt Dickey)

North Carolina fails Telehealth Exam

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Tuesday, 18 March 2025

Written by John Hood

North Carolina has become a national leader in such policy areas as tax reform, school choice, and transportation funding. Unfortunately, we lag far behind in providing telehealth options to patients.
That’s the finding of a new study written by Josh Archambault for the Cicero Institute. Archambault, a longtime health-policy researcher and former legislative staffer, graded all 50 states on the policies they’ve enacted — or failed to enact — to foster telehealth innovation.
The report gave North Carolina a failing grade. There’s a regional dynamic, it seems: the four lowest-ranked states on the list are Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
Before exploring the findings further, let’s define our terms. Telemedicine is the practice of delivering services through telecommunication that would normally be performed in a clinical setting. Digital health is an emerging sector of software, hardware, and online platforms that keep patients informed and empower them to improve their health in a variety of ways, including diet, exercise, and treatment compliance. Telehealth is a broad term encompassing telemedicine, digital health, and related fields.
None of this is entirely new. As my former John Locke Foundation colleague Jordan Roberts explained in a recent policy guide, physicians began using the telephone soon after it was invented in the 1870s. It was a handy tool for checking on patients and offering timely advice during emergencies.
More than a century later, the introduction of personal computers, databases, and the Internet changed the behavior of both medical providers and patients. Because most payment systems assumed in-person services, however, the changes fell far short of revolutionary.
The COVID-19 pandemic was the turning point. Compelled to move interactions online, providers, patients, and, to some extent, payment systems had to adapt. Telehealth is no panacea and has some inherent limits. Barriers remain, only some responsive to policy reform. Still, there’s no rewind button to push. Telehealth is here to stay — and it should be.
In his report, Archambault identified four state policies that maximize its benefits and minimize the costs. First, state laws and procedures should reflect a broad understanding of telehealth, a trait he calls “modality neutral.” That means both synchronous (real-time) delivery of services as well as asynchronous (recorded) content and interactive systems to assist patients. It also encompasses audio, video, online text, and other formats.
Second, state laws and procedures shouldn’t compel patients to begin their consumption of telehealth in just one way. “Imagine someone experiencing a behavioral health crisis in the middle of the night,” Archambault wrote. “They might strongly prefer to start communication by text or in an asynchronous manner before being comfortable switching to a video call or in-person visit. Providers should be able to accommodate that preference so long as the standard of care can be met.”
Third, states shouldn’t impede the ability of patients to obtain telehealth services from providers who live in other states. “As Americans become increasingly mobile,” he observed, “being able to stay in touch with providers who know the patient’s history and have their trust is imperative to better health outcomes.”
Finally, the promise of telehealth will never be realized as long as nurse practitioners lack the legal right to deliver services as independent providers. Scope-of-practice reform is a longtime interest of mine, and properly included in Archambault’s grading system.
Because our laws are among the nation’s most hostile to nurse practitioners, it’s no surprise that he gave us an “F” here. Unfortunately, we fare little better on the other three criteria. Archambault recommended that North Carolina rewrite telehealth laws to define the relevant terms more clearly, expand the practice beyond mental health, and specify that the provider-patient relationship can start in any mode. He also suggested either making it easy for out-of-state professionals to register as a service provider here or adopting a reciprocity policy that treats other states’ licensures as sufficient qualification.
Which states are doing telehealth right? Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Utah, and Florida top the list. North Carolina should join them there.

Editor’s note: John Hood is a John Locke Foundation board member. His books Mountain Folk, Forest Folk, and Water Folk combine epic fantasy with American history (FolkloreCycle.com).

Who do you think you’re fooling?

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Tuesday, 04 March 2025

Written by Margaret Dickson

In one of my all-time favorite songs, Loves Me Like a Rock, Paul Simon poses the rhetorical question, “Who, who do you think you’re fooling?” Well, I would like to ask weekend news anchor turned fledgling Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth who the heck he thinks he’s fooling by renaming Fort Liberty (nee Fort Bragg) Fort Bragg all over again. Exit the original 1918 honoree, Civil War General Braxton Bragg, and enter World War II honoree Private First Class Roland Bragg.
It is a fair bet that most Americans will never know that and will not care if they do realize what has happened.
The situation is that now President Donald Trump made changing the name of the most populous military base in the country back to Fort Bragg a campaign issue. He did so because the millions of people who have passed through the base think of it by that name and because “lost cause” and white nationalist supporters in his base were upset when Confederate Braxton Bragg was stripped of that honor.
A little history here. In 2021, Congress mandated the renaming of all military bases honoring Confederate soldiers, and 9 bases were indeed renamed in 2023. Change is hard for most people, and these changes were no exception. Layer on the political and racial tensions still swirling around the Civil War 160 years later with a hard-fought, highly divisive Presidential race and here we are.
Historians and scholars debate the question of renaming buildings, monuments, military bases, and such for people who are later disgraced in some way, in this case for supporting slavery and attempting to divide our nation. We cannot erase history, they argue, so it is better to focus on explaining it accurately and teaching it to future generations. It is a reasonable argument.
In addition, we seek to erase Braxton Bragg and the 8 other Confederates honored with military bases named for them, but we continue to honor others who also supported positions and realities we now find repugnant and unworthy. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were both slave owners, but have you ever heard anyone advocating renaming or destroying the Washington Monument or the Jefferson Memorial? Is renaming just for those lesser than a Founding Father?
But back to the various Braggs.
Out of the millions of United States veterans, Roland Bragg was one of at least 5 soldiers named Bragg considered for the renaming. The list also included a US Ambassador and Congressman and a woman pilot who helped open flight training for black pilots at 5 locations, including the famed Tuskegee Institute. The operative word here, of course, is Bragg, because the whole idea was to go back to the future.
That said, Roland Bragg, was a hero in a way the mediocre Braxton Bragg was not. As 21-year-old paratrooper from Maine, Roland Bragg earned the Silver Star and 2 Purple Hearts for his service, which included stealing a Nazi ambulance, loading up 4 wounded US paratroopers, and driving them 20 miles through active gunfire to an allied hospital. Bragg believed that all 4 died of their wounds until he received a letter from one of them in 1993 and they reunited.
However worthy this enlisted man is, it is hard to get around the deep cynicism of this renaming. It is less to honor a hero than to wink at and perpetuate history and ways of thinking that millions of Americans find increasingly offensive and a violation of the spirit of the law passed by Congress in 2020. It is a sleight of hand that most Americans will never know happened.
So, “who,” Pete Hegseth, “who do you think you’re fooling?”