#north carolina duke

[catdotjpeg]

Dozens of students walked out of Duke University’s commencement ceremony as some chanted “free Palestine” to protest against the guest speaker, comedian Jerry Seinfeld, for supporting Israel throughout its war on Gaza, Reuters reports, citing videos of the event on social media. The American actor visited Israel and has vocally supported it since October 7. The walkout was the latest manifestation of pro-Palestine protests that have roiled US campuses as students call for universities to divest from arms suppliers and other companies profiting from the war and amnesty for students and faculty members who have been disciplined or fired for protesting.

-- "Students walk out of university ceremony in protest at Jerry Seinfeld’s support for Israel" by Mersiha Gadzo for Al Jazeera, 12 May 2024 16:55 GMT

I think most people on here know this, but to be clear, Seinfeld has been a zionist his entire life, not just since October. He worked on Kibbutz Sa’ar in the western Galilee when he was 16, performed in Tel Aviv in 2015, took his family to a fantasy anti-terror camp located in the illegal settlement of Efrat in the West Bank in 2018, and visited the Ramon Airbase in the Negev during the same trip. His December 2023 visit to Kibbutz Be’eri in the Negev and his wife’s $5k donation to the zionist rally that was created to intimidate the UCLA encampment are just two of the most recent examples of this.

[that-scorpio]

Snap seen it first 🏀

[faguscarolinensis]

Agave x 'Kissho Kan' / 'Kissho Kan' Agave at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University in Durham, NC

[davidnajewiczphotography]

Red Bridge - Duke Gardens, Durham NC

[bobdylan-n-jonimitchell]

Joni Mitchell "Traveling (Hejira)" Cameron Stadium, Duke University, Durham, NC, February 7, 1976.

[queenlua]

i keep meeting people from North Carolina, & every time i casually ask "oh are you a UNC fan or a Duke fan," instead of NOBLY AND LOUDLY STIRRING TO DEFEND THEIR TEAM, they get a hunted, panicked look in their eye and mutter "oh i don't really follow basketball"

and ok sure that might be true for some of them, but. for the record, i am treating that & other non-answers as "they're a Duke fan, and a coward about it" until further notice

[rjzimmerman]

North Carolina Town Sues Duke Energy Over Climate Change. (New York Times)

Excerpt from this story from the New York Times:

A North Carolina town filed a lawsuit on Wednesday accusing Duke Energy, one of the nation’s largest utility companies, of deceiving the public about climate change and contributing to the warming of the planet.

The mayor and City Council of Carrboro, a town next to Chapel Hill, said in its lawsuit in North Carolina Superior Court that Duke Energy had known for decades that its operations contributed to the climate crisis but failed to curb its emissions of greenhouse gases. Instead, the lawsuit argues, the company increased its use of fossil fuels, often in disadvantaged communities.

“Historically underserved and marginalized communities are facing disproportionate impacts and health risks that are associated with climate change,” said Barbara Foushee, Carrboro’s mayor. “This was not an easy decision to make, but I believe that we must be courageous as we call out these injustices and seek change and accountability.”

The town said Duke Energy’s actions were costing its residents millions of dollars because climate change had increased damage from floods and other extreme weather. Duke Energy, which is based in Charlotte, N.C., provides electricity to more than eight million customers in six states and natural gas to almost two million customers in five states. The company is one of the biggest operators of coal and natural gas power plants in the United States.

Duke Energy said Wednesday that it was reviewing the complaint and that it would “continue working with policymakers and regulators to deliver reliable and increasingly clean energy while keeping rates as low as possible.”

Allegations that energy companies covered up what they knew about climate change and misled the public have formed the basis of more than two dozen lawsuits by state and local governments across the United States since 2017. The claims include violations of consumer protection, public nuisance and fraud laws.

Duke Energy has been rated the nation’s third-biggest emitter of gases responsible for climate change on the Greenhouse 100 Polluters Index, by the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

[hova-35mm]

downtown Durham, NC

Shot on Fujifilm.

[coochiequeens]

I've taken many jabs at the ACLU for defending perverted freaks now here's the HRC following their lead.

By Reduxx Team February 16, 2024

A registered child sex offender was welcomed at the Human Rights Campaign’s North Carolina Dinner gala last week, just months after a controversy involving him being awarded a top LGBT advocacy prize. Chad Severance-Turner, a former youth minister, is currently the Chief Executive Officer at the Carolina LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce.

On February 10, the Human Rights Campaign in North Carolina held its annual dinner gala, with a number of top LGBT activists in attendance. Among the speakers at the Bank of America-sponsored “Without Exception” event was HRC Press Secretary Brandon Wolf and Democrat State Senator Lisa Grafstein.

But among those featured in attendance was Chad Severance-Turner, a registered child sex offender who has managed to rise to prominence as an LGBT advocate in North Carolina.

As previously reported by Reduxx, Turner was first accused by three boys of sexual abuse in 1998.

According to a GoUpstate report on the case from 2000, all of the victims who had come forward had met Turner through his position as the music director at the New Harvest Church of God in Gaffney, South Carolina. The cases were tried separately due to the nature of the charges, and Turner was ultimately only convicted on one offense. 

Of the incidents Turner was convicted on, a 14-year-old boy had testified that Turner had invited him to spend the night at his house in the nearby community of Bessemer City, North Carolina. The victim stated that during the visit, Turner had questioned him on how he’d feel about a man performing oral sex on him. 

Turner, wearing a silver vest, at the February 10 HRC Dinner.

“I thought he was joking,” the boy told the court. He explained that Turner frequently questioned him about sexual acts between men and women, which upset him because of the man’s position in the church. The victim continued that, following a revival meeting, he and Turner stayed overnight at the home of one of the other alleged victims. 

The teen says he awoke to find Turner fondling his genitals, but didn’t immediately report it due to shame.

The second minor, who said he was 15 when the incident occurred, stated he was invited to Turner’s home where the older man showed him a pornographic video of a man and a woman having sex. He then said that later that night, after he and Turner went to sleep in the same bed, he woke up to find Turner fondling him.

The third alleged victim, who was also 15 at the time, said Turner had made the same advances to him over a three-week period when he stayed in the boy’s home. The minor said Turner had fondled him several times. 

“He told me if I ever told the pastor, he’d make me look like a fool and a liar,” the boy said.

Turner’s registration with the North Carolina Sex Offender and Public Protection Agency.

During the trial, Turner’s defense attorney, Thomas Shealy, accused the boys of perpetrating a “witch hunt,” and asserted that it was suspicious that there was a few month delay between them being sexually abused and them going to their parents. 

Turner was ultimately convicted on the charges related to the first victim, and sentenced to 10 years in prison for committing lewd acts on a minor under the age of 16. He served 2 years behind bars before being released on parole and being ordered to the sex offender registry.

Since being released from prison, Turner has become an active and notable member of the Charlotte LGBTQ advocacy community. 

In 2012, Turner was elected the president of the LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce, immediately heading efforts to push for an expanded “nondiscrimination” ordinance which many complained would have prevented businesses from maintaining spaces such as washrooms as single-sex. 

He was named “Person of the Year” by LGBT news outlet QNotes in March of 2015, but would resign from his Chamber of Commerce post in 2016 after his history as a child sex offender came to light. He would once again join the LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce as its inaugural CEO in 2021, a position he has held since. Under his leadership, the Chamber has secured partnerships with prominent organizations like Fifth Third Bank, NASCAR, Duke Energy, Wells Fargo, Sonoco, and Novant Health. He was also recently appointed by Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles to serve on the city’s Business Advisory Committee.

Turner has previously been awarded an honor by the Human Rights Campaign at their annual gala, though at the time, HRC officials refused to state whether they were aware of his child sex offender status prior to giving him the award.

Most recently, Turner was honored with the Harvey Milk Award by Charlotte Pride in a controversial move that was quickly reversed after Reduxx reported on his pedophile past.

[michael-massa-micon]

Squirrel - June 2024 This squirrel was on the campus of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. He is in such a perfect pose in such a great background that it almost looks like a painting. MWM

[that-scorpio]

Although we lost, here’s the fit from Saturday

[faguscarolinensis]

Hemerocallis fulva 'Barbara Mitchell' / 'Barbara Mitchell' Daylily at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University in Durham, NC

[davidnajewiczphotography]

Duke University - Durham, NC Entryway to campus building.

[runs-4-pinkcupcakes]

Go Heels! Beat Duke! 🏀🏀🏀

[fruitbasketball]

she's from north carolina so ig it depends on what she wants

oh THAT’S why she got two nc schools on there