Dr. John Mark Dean has passed away

With both sadness and joy, I share the news that my father-in-law, Dr. John Mark Dean, passed away yesterday. He was in hospice care at home surrounded by loved ones. Sadness for having to say goodbye to a deeply loving father. Joy comes from knowing that he was ready to move on and was surrounded by love.
Scott and I were able to visit two weekends ago. John was in a positive state of mind and said repeatedly, “I am so fortunate.”
We are planning a memorial event for some weeks in the future. It will take place in the Dean’s retirement home of Laurel Crest in Columbia, SC.
John, a professor and marine biologist with the Baruch Institute, was a popular teacher at University of South Carolina where he influenced and inspired many students to combine the science of our coast with whatever major one had – English lit, Political Science, Law, or other majors, as well as inspiring generations of graduate students in the sciences.  He has an extraordinary list of former students who combined coastal and ocean sciences with their careers in national and state policy, academic and business positions.  Their home hosted numerous graduate students, international students, visiting musicians, and other visitors from every corner of the globe and as well as from this country.  He left a wonderful legacy in his wake.
 In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you make a contribution to the South Carolina Environmental Law Project (scelp.org), the Alzheimer’s Association (donorservices.alz.org), or the Laurel Crest community (https://www.laurel-crest.c/donate).
If you would like to send a card, please email me for the mailing address: orangesophie AT gmail DOT com.

Gender In Government Work

Federal Government work is hindered by the unhealthy obsession some officials have with other people’s gender. WHY DO THEY CARE SO MUCH??? Why can’t they prioritize the work they need to do instead of spending time in the fight over other people’s gender and how they present themselves? Why is it so important to them that they chose to shut down meetings?

I wish getting business done for the American people was more important than arguing about a colleague’s gender. See this Associated Press video.

https://apnews.com/video/house-hearing-abruptly-ends-after-dispute-involving-republican-transgender-lawmaker-3c5b8d8699f143e18a5d7f668e250764 

“A House subcommittee hearing abruptly ended on Tuesday when Texas Republican Rep. Keith Self introduced the first openly transgender lawmaker in Congress as “Mr. McBride.” Rep. Sarah McBride responded by referring to Self as “Madam Chair.” The hearing was adjourned after Democrat William Keating asked Self if he had “no decency.”

How does one person’s gender affect another person? It does not!! It sure as heck does not negatively affect another person enough to get in the way of holding a meeting. To let it get in the way is childish.

Why are our elected officials spending ANY TIME on this bizarre obsession with other people’s genders?? They might as well be ending meetings based on comparing each other’s shoe sizes.

Town Halls and Fear

My Senator, Mr. Tillis, a Republican and T supporter, has not responded to my many voicemails and Facebook messages. His office has my name and street address. They know I’m a constituent that’s vocal and against what Mr. Tillis is doing on many topics. I have no way of knowing if my actual Senator understands what I’m saying. I have doubts about whether my messages are getting to him at all.

My Congresswoman, Deborah Ross, a Democrat, has very polite staff who answer my calls and clearly listen, take notes about what my opinions are, and let me know I have been heard.

An in-person town hall is one of the few ways elected officials can really let their constituents know they’ve been heard, they are understood, and their needs, opinions, etc, have been taken into account.  The Republican members of the US House of Representatives have been directed to NOT hold town halls. Below is a quote from the NY Times article on this topic from March 4, 2025: Read the whole article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/04/us/politics/gop-town-hall.html 

“Representative Richard Hudson of North Carolina, the chairman of House Republicans’ campaign arm, issued a stark message to the G.O.P. rank and file on Tuesday: Stop having in-person town halls with your constituents.”

 

Here’s why according to him: “Democrat activists who don’t live in the district, very often, will show up for these town hall events and they’ll go in an hour early and they’ll fill all the seats,” Mr. Johnson said. “Now I’m not saying everyone in these town halls that you’ve seen on television were not from the local area, but look, there are people who do this as a profession. They’re professional protesters. So why would we give them a forum to do that right now?”

 

I’ll tell you why. Because elected officials are required by law to listen to their constituents and represent them. The number of protesters who are not constituents in any given town hall compared to those who are constituents is an UNKNOWN number. Using that argument to hide from constituents is using fear to avoid doing the job of an elected official. In short terms, it means the elected official is caving in to fear like a coward.

 

This paragraph is from the AP News article linked below on a NC town hall recently: “After a rowdy town hall in Asheville, NC, the Republican Congressman, Chuck Edwards, who listened to his constituents boo and yell at him during the meeting said “I take away from what I heard today that we’re doing exactly what the American people sent us to Washington D.C. to do,” Edwards said, as several protesters pounded on the doors nearby.”

 

That says to me that Congressman Edwards doesn’t care that so many of his constituents are angry. That says to me that he’s given up on working to serve all his constituents. He’s only going to care about the ones who voted for him and the rest get blown off. That’s DIVIDING our communities, not working together.

 

https://apnews.com/article/republicans-town-hall-north-carolina-trump-ba90438a9265bc868cf1e3ade150a943

 

This is my interpretation of information published by the Associated Press and NY Times. I use this to inform my calls and voicemails left for my elected officials. 

 

I suggest my readers use the 5 Calls app to help them make calls to their elected officials. Read my blog post here about the 5 Calls app:  https://sophia.scottandlara.com/2025/02/14/using-5-calls-app-to-support-democracy/