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billyball.bsky.social
Billy Ball
@billyball.bsky.social
1.8K followers 190 following 220 posts
Founder, TheLivingSouth.com; Senior Editor @CardinalandPine; Seen On: @TheAtlantic @washingtonpost @MSNBC, others. @UNCHussman grad. Journalism is the best job ever.
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billyball.bsky.social
Billy Ball @billyball.bsky.social · Jul 5
Why a lighthouse? Because it fits how I see thelivingsouth.com. I want it to be a beacon, illuminating a way home, a light on a stormy sea.

If you haven't signed up already for this free, independent journalism made for and by the South, hop on board. This should be fun!
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Reposted by Billy Ball
carlibrosseau.bsky.social
Carli Brosseau @carlibrosseau.bsky.social · 3d
Sixteen school districts in NC have no full-time psychologists, including three counties in WNC: Cherokee, Mitchell and McDowell. Avery and Madison counties only have one full-time psychologist each, @blueridgepublic.bsky.social reports.

www.bpr.org/education/20...
Are the kids alright? Mental health problems spike for students post-Helene
A year after Helene, students are wrestling with heightened mental health challenges, from anxiety and depression to an uptick in sleep issues and “externalizing behaviors” like aggression and substan...
www.bpr.org
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billyball.bsky.social
Billy Ball @billyball.bsky.social · 3d
It is an overwhelming statistical argument for the South. The region is much, much worse off without the federal subsidies that are at the heart of the shutdown.

That the gap between reality and the political debate is so large is a sign of the times. www.thelivingsouth.com/the-federal-...
The federal government shutdown hurts the South a lot more
When it comes to health care, which is what the federal government shutdown is about, some states will bleed. The South will gush.
www.thelivingsouth.com
billyball.bsky.social
Billy Ball @billyball.bsky.social · 3d
In Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia and West Virginia, ACA enrollment has tripled in the last five years.

Nearly all of the enrollees in Florida, West Virginia, Alabama, and Mississippi are getting subsidies.

www.thelivingsouth.com/the-federal-...
The federal government shutdown hurts the South a lot more
When it comes to health care, which is what the federal government shutdown is about, some states will bleed. The South will gush.
www.thelivingsouth.com
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billyball.bsky.social
Billy Ball @billyball.bsky.social · 3d
When it comes to health care, which is what the federal government shutdown is about, some states will bleed. The South will gush.

The number of people on the ACA marketplace has doubled since expanded federal subsidies were offered. More than half of that comes from Florida, Texas, Georgia, and NC
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billyball.bsky.social
Billy Ball @billyball.bsky.social · 3d
For my free, solo gig, instead of taking the bait and focusing on who's to blame, I wrote about who has more skin in the game.

Spoiler alert: It's the South. By a lot.

www.thelivingsouth.com/the-federal-...
The federal government shutdown hurts the South a lot more
When it comes to health care, which is what the federal government shutdown is about, some states will bleed. The South will gush.
www.thelivingsouth.com
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Reposted by Billy Ball
cardinalandpine.bsky.social
Cardinal and Pine @cardinalandpine.bsky.social · 3d
#Breaking in North Carolina:

North Carolina Democratic leaders have called on state Rep. Cecil Brockman to “resign immediately,” after news broke on Thursday that he’d been arrested and charged with raping a 15-year-old.

cardinalpine.com/2025/10/09/n...
NC Rep. Cecil Brockman charged with raping a 15-year-old; fellow Democrats demand he resign
Brockman, a Guilford County Democrat, was also accused in court documents of trying to contact the juvenile victim after the alleged rape. Democrats called the accusations “unconscionable and incompat...
cardinalpine.com
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Reposted by Billy Ball
cardinalandpine.bsky.social
Cardinal and Pine @cardinalandpine.bsky.social · 3d
The federal government shut down last week, and though it may take time to see the worst effects, time is ticking.

If the gov't doesn’t open in the next two weeks, a major federal program that helps mothers provide their young children nutritious food, could run out of money.

Keep reading 👇
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billyball.bsky.social
Billy Ball @billyball.bsky.social · 11d
A kid from Arkansas and two North Korean defectors make up a new K-pop group with a remarkable origin story. 👇

My latest at The Living South.
www.thelivingsouth.com/nathan-kouso...
Nathan Kousol is a budding K-pop star from, of all places, Arkansas
A kid from Arkansas and two North Korean defectors make up a new K-pop group with a remarkable origin story.
www.thelivingsouth.com
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billyball.bsky.social
Billy Ball @billyball.bsky.social · 16d
Hi y'all, we're rebooting "BB Explains NC." The goal is to make a difference over on YouTube, which is a male-dominated space for a lot of right-wing points of view and flat-out bad information.

Go follow @cardinalandpine.bsky.social there and watch my latest. 👇
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNGg...
The scary thing about Stephen Miller's speech at Charlie Kirk's memorial
YouTube video by Cardinal & Pine
www.youtube.com
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Reposted by Billy Ball
newsobserver.com
The News & Observer @newsobserver.com · 16d
Dallas Woodhouse, who led the state GOP from 2015 to 2019, will serve as the election liaison in Auditor Dave Boliek’s office.
NC auditor hires former GOP director in new ‘election integrity’ oversight role
Dallas Woodhouse, who led the state GOP from 2015 to 2019, will serve as the election liaison in Auditor Dave Boliek’s office.
bit.ly
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billyball.bsky.social
Billy Ball @billyball.bsky.social · 17d
"American media reported on the social media reaction to Iryna Zarutska and then social media responded to the reporting and then media reported on the reaction to the reporting on the reaction and we're all a little dumber now."

My latest. Sign-up is free. 👇
www.thelivingsouth.com/iryna-zaruts...
Iryna Zarutska and the doom loop of social media and politics
In 21st century America, our politicians take their cues from social media, and not the other way around. It's made debate more performative, less nuanced, and much, much dumber.
www.thelivingsouth.com
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billyball.bsky.social
Billy Ball @billyball.bsky.social · 17d
My latest:

In 21st century America, our politicians take their cues from social media, and not the other way around. It's made debate more performative, less nuanced, and much, much dumber.

The right-wing debate around Iryna Zarutska is a perfect example.
👉 www.thelivingsouth.com/iryna-zaruts...
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Reposted by Billy Ball
cardinalandpine.bsky.social
Cardinal and Pine @cardinalandpine.bsky.social · 17d
The state will cut Medicaid reimbursement rates on Oct. 1 without additional funding, and though the General Assembly unanimously passed two separate bills to try and solve the problem, Republican infighting derailed the effort.

Click 👇
cardinalpine.com/2025/09/24/h...
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Reposted by Billy Ball
cardinalandpine.bsky.social
Cardinal and Pine @cardinalandpine.bsky.social · 19d
Take a trip to Mayberry, race a wooly worm, or hit up the rodeos at Benson's Mule Days. Here are eight of our favorite autumn festivals in North Carolina. 🔗 below to read.
cardinalpine.com/2025/09/22/m...
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billyball.bsky.social
Billy Ball @billyball.bsky.social · 19d
Check out the article below. As always, no paywall. Sign-up is free.

www.thelivingsouth.com/the-case-for...
The case for breaking social media in America
Social media is breaking us in America. You could argue it already has. But there is a solution.
www.thelivingsouth.com
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billyball.bsky.social
Billy Ball @billyball.bsky.social · 19d
Most of us know bone-deep that there is something wrong with social media.

I wrote about what we can do about it recently for my pet project, The Living South (link in the thread), and tonight, I'm on Spectrum News' "Capital Tonight" talking about it. Show airs at 7 pm.
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billyball.bsky.social
Billy Ball @billyball.bsky.social · 24d
This is the White House using regulatory power to pressure a company into removing someone (Jimmy Kimmel) because they don't like what they said.

There's been a big pushback against people referring to Trump and his allies as "fascists" but this is textbook.
www.vox.com/politics/461...
Let’s be clear about what happened to Jimmy Kimmel
Trump’s most brazen attack on free speech yet.
www.vox.com
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billyball.bsky.social
Billy Ball @billyball.bsky.social · 24d
Also agree that on the right, the violent/angry stuff comes from the institution itself, that it's run from the top down by people with a lot more power and reach than the fringe people on the left.
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billyball.bsky.social
Billy Ball @billyball.bsky.social · 24d
I like to differentiate between corporate media and the rest of it.

Corporate media's coverage has been utterly incompetent.
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billyball.bsky.social
Billy Ball @billyball.bsky.social · 24d
I just think the "tit for tat" stuff isn't helpful and we should focus on the problem, which (to me) is social media converting our political passion into full-on hate.
billyball.bsky.social
Billy Ball @billyball.bsky.social · 24d
I get it.

As a left-leaning writer, most of the awful stuff I get is from the right. And the right has been fetishizing violence for a long time.

But more and more, I'm also seeing folks on the left who crush on Luigi Mangione or make fun of the Charlie Kirk assassination.
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billyball.bsky.social
Billy Ball @billyball.bsky.social · 24d
If you agree, I wrote about one way to make social media better and (hopefully) make our democracy better.

No paywall.
www.thelivingsouth.com/the-case-for...
The case for breaking social media in America
Social media is breaking us in America. You could argue it already has. But there is a solution.
www.thelivingsouth.com
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billyball.bsky.social
Billy Ball @billyball.bsky.social · 24d
There is a problem with the left's rhetoric. And there is a problem with the right's rhetoric.

And folks needs to drop the "one side is worse than the other" mess because it's:
1. Not true.
2. Not helpful.
Full stop.
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billyball.bsky.social
Billy Ball @billyball.bsky.social · 25d
Social media, the way it is constructed in 2025, is malignant. It is a civilizational succubus, a meta-sized Munchausen's syndrome, the guardian who gives you a spoonful of poison every day to keep you sick.

But there is a solution. Google "Section 230."

www.thelivingsouth.com/the-case-for...
The case for breaking social media in America
Social media is breaking us in America. You could argue it already has. But there is a solution.
www.thelivingsouth.com
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billyball.bsky.social
Billy Ball @billyball.bsky.social · 27d
This weekend, I thought about a lot of things and wrote about it.
One of the few things left and right can agree on right now is that we're being played by social media companies.

There is a solution. 🔗 below.
www.thelivingsouth.com/the-case-for...