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Just Economics Open Letter to State Leaders: Urgent Rental Assistance Needed

Just Economics Open Letter to State Leaders: Urgent Rental Assistance Needed

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From GAP AVL:

“The State Senate and House voted to override Governor Cooper’s veto of the most recent “disaster relief” bill (SB382). According to an analysis by Buncombe County, the bill allocates $189,331 for rental assistance, which would be enough to support only 112 households in the County. According to our friends at Just Economics of WNC, over 158,000 households have applied for aid.”

Just Economics wrote a letter from WNC to send to our state policymakers. Sign onto the letter here as an individual or as a representative of an organization if you’d like to join in.


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Art As A Vehicle For Anarchist Ideas (ACAB 2024)

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This week, we’re sharing another presentation from the 2024 ACABookfair in so-called Asheville. If you’re listening to the radio edition, we’ve had to trim this for length but you can find the full presentation, plus Sean Swain’s segment at our website and on youtube you’ll find the audio sync’d up with the slideshow presentation from the bookfair by visiting youtube.com/@thefinalstrawradio.

The following is a recording from the 2024 Another Carolina Anarchist Bookfair in so-called Asheville, NC. You can find more info and recordings from this and other years at ACABookfair.NoBlogs.Org. This is a presentation entitled Art as a Vehicle for Anarchist Ideas with N.O. Bonzo, Des Revol, and Sugarbombing World. From the description:

“Three longtime anarchist artists—N.O. Bonzo, Des Revol, and Sugarbombing World—will explore the role that art plays in resistance and movements, along with remembrance of the past and visions of the future. They’ll look at ways that art brings people together, and can serve as a great tool, whether in organizing and agitating, and/or inviting people into anarchism.”

 


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The first anniversary of Medicaid expansion in North Carolina

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RALEIGH, NC – December 11, 2024 – About one year ago, on December 1, 2023, North Carolina officially became the 40th state to expand Medicaid, the federal program for health insurance for low-resource individuals. A state Medicaid expansion (ME) bill was passed by the General Assembly and signed by Governor Roy Cooper in March. ME was in the Affordable Care Act of 2010 and left to each state to decide in a subsequent Supreme Court ruling. ME increases health care access to eligible North Carolinians ages 19-64 and their families by relaxing the program’s strict eligibility requirements.

The latest update of the NC Medicaid Expansion Enrollment Dashboard was on December 3rd. There have been almost 590 thousand people in North Carolina who have been enrolled since the law took effect one year ago including more than 14 thousand residents of Buncombe County. It was estimated that 600 thousand North Carolinians are eligible for ME, with 15.5 thousand from Buncombe County. The state had predicted that it would take 2 years to achieve their enrollment. After 12 months of accepting applications, the state is more than 98% of the way to enrolling all eligible persons and Buncombe County is more than 90% of the way there.

North Carolina has been thrust into the national spotlight through the passing and implementation of Medicaid expansion. Its success was due to the strong grassroots support by many organizations and the efforts of Governor Cooper and both houses of the General Assembly.

In a recent interview with North Carolina Health News, Governor Cooper said, “When I ran for governor, one of my top priorities was creating a North Carolina where people were healthier and could get the care that they need to have lives of purpose and abundance.” He added, “We knew that Medicaid expansion was an important way of making that happen, because there were a lot of hardworking people in North Carolina who were making too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough money to qualify for subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.”

There are many ways to apply for NC Medicaid for eligible persons. Those who have not yet applied should visit Medicaid.nc.gov to see if they qualify. Buncombe County residents can apply for Medicaid online and at any time at ePASS.NC.gov. Applications can be done in-person at the HHS Building on 40 Coxe Avenue, by calling 828-250-5500, or by mail.

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]


More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour

Red Onion Prison Updates + Antifa-OST Case in Germany

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This week, we’re featuring two segments.

 

First up, Phil Wilayto of the Virginia Defenders talks about conditions at Red Onion State Prison in western Virginia where a number of prisoners have been self-immolating in order to escape longterm isolation and racist guard violence. You can find Phil’s article on the SF Bay View which includes a clip of Noelle Hanrahan on Al-Jazeera talking about this subject, and past interviews with and about Kevin “Rashid” Johnson at this link here.

Then, you’ll hear Jo, an anarchist from Germany, speaking about the recent building of conspiracy cases against antifascists known as Antifa-Ost, or Antifa East. You can find our prior interview about NSU Watch and Day X here.

The full podcast can be found at our website.

More info on Antifa-Ost and the Budapest Structure:

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Featured Track:


More Posts for Show: The Final Straw Radio

Peter Gelderloos on Memory, Community, Organization and Struggle

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This week, we’re airing an interview with anarchist author, Peter Gelderloos about two of his recent books They Will Beat the Memory Out of Us: Forcing Nonviolence on Forgetful Movements (Pluto Books, 2024) as well as Organization, Community, Continuity (Detritus, 2024). For this episode, we speak on movement memory, community, care work, organization and struggle.

To hear the another 30 minutes of discussion, plus Sean Swain’s segment, check out our blog post at TheFinalStrawRadio.NoBlogs.Org


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Abortion Beyond The State (with Jex Blackmore, ACAB24)

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This week, we’re sharing a presentation entitled “Abortion Beyond The State” by Jex Blackmore and Hydra Mutual Aid Fund, recorded at the 2024 Another Carolina Anarchist Bookfair in so-called Asheville, NC. You can find more audios, past schedules and more at ACABookfair.NoBlogs.Org.

From the description:

“Government control of reproductive capacity has long persisted as a tool to subordinate birthing people, women, people of color, people living on lower incomes, and other marginalized groups. The Supreme Court’s harmful ruling in Dobbs made clear that both the State, its actors, and the non-profit industrial complex have failed the people, giving rise to the urgent necessity for the movement to defend itself through direct provisions to community. This workshop will provide context to the current crisis surrounding bodily autonomy and reproduction and share a roadmap for subverting state control by building networks of support to provide safe and effective abortion regardless of legality.

The Hydra Fund is an independent mutual aid fund supporting access to reproductive care in Michigan. Their mission is to eliminate financial barriers to abortion access in Michigan by providing direct financial aid for purchasing abortion pills and obtaining in-clinic abortion procedures. Additionally, Hydra Fund is engaged in a community outreach education program to support access to evidence-based abortion information.”

For other abortion chats you can listen to from TFSR, check out this link

Other resources mentioned include:

Announcement

Phone Zap for Malik Muhammad

Malik Muhammad, a prisoner from the George Floyd Uprising has been on hunger strike against extended use of solitary confinement with no property and after a beating and tasering by staff. You can learn how to participate in a phone zap at MalikSpeaks.NoBlogs.Org

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Featured Track:

  • La Femme Fetal by Digable Planets from Reachin’ (A New Refutation Of Time And Space)

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