Aid should be based on need — case-by-case — and not on one’s race.

The purpose of government is to efficiently direct the operation and finances of one county, as well as to unite the citizery toward common goals and respect.

Any decision by one county which places priority of one’s race over another is self-destructive and creates both anger and animosity.

Hurricane Helene was a huge tragedy for all of us in Buncombe County. 

Hurricane relief for homeowners and businesses was poor, at best, the idea that government would deliberately pick and choose in such a situation was abhorrent!

When I moved to Asheville 42 years ago from Michigan, as a “Northerner,” I was accepted with open arms. Asheville seems very different now.

Oh, Elon, whatcha doin’, bro? Your data mining needs to stop!

I’m outraged by Elon Musk’s accessing the personal data of Americans that we’re required by law to turn over to the Treasury Department. 

Who is policing what he’s doing with this vast storehouse of information ripe for data mining? 

Is he putting together a new mailing list for Tesla’s next “Cybertruck” release, hopefully less ugly than the first one? 

Seeing who has the money for a Space X spring break on Mars? 

Is he selling it on the dark web? Who knows? 

Those who’ve dared to challenge him, the federal security guards who did their job of trying to stop his minions from accessing a secure room inside USAID without proof of proper security clearance, got “put on leave”(which sounds suspiciously like a prelude to termination) for their trouble.

I find it deeply ironic that I can’t go to a new website to buy a pair of socks without having to click on seven different options to acknowledge the website’s privacy policy and limit their use and storage of my private information, like my very secret sock size, but First Lady Elon Musk can roll around in the private information of American citizens, like my Social Security number, address, income, tax payments, bank information, etc., etc., just because he’s the president’s buddy. 

 That just doesn’t make any sense. And it needs to stop.

Decades ago, the late (Hendersonville) Times-News columnist Stephen Black and I agreed that it is fundamentally wrong for America’s seniors to have to relocated into a nursing home or an assisted living facility — if they were neither physically nor cognitively ready to... simply because they can’t afford to financially live independently in their communities any longer.

American’s should be supported financially by their federal and state governments, so that they can financially support living outside a congregate living facility in their home and community until they are ready for a nursing home or assisted living!

Stephen Black and I, at that time, also discussed how cold-blooded it is for society to protect and shield autistic kids from sensory issues, but then cold-bloodedly — when they get old — lock them up and throw away the key ... and imprison them in a nursing home with no escaping constant noise and hustle and bustle and a busy environment with florescent lighting and flickering lights and constant and chronic sensory overload and sensory meltdown.

But in our country, money is the bottom line.

And reform is futile!