by Cathy Tourloukis. Our planet is in peril. Plastic is taking over our world exponentially. It's a crisis so serious that the United Nations has literally declared war on ocean plastic, with an unprecedented global campaign to eliminate major sources of marine litter:  micro-plastics in cosmetics, and the excessive, wasteful usage of single-use plastic by the year 2022. So far,…

by Meredith Rogers. It is true, and it happened. On September 5, 2017, Donald Trump officially decided to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy and has started to work on a plan to deport immigrants whose status is considered illegal by the homeland authorities. Even though the actual deportation would not happen for…

by Joan Sloane. Any person who runs for president of the United States is, of course, interested in the power afforded by such a position. And any person who becomes president of the United States realizes, quickly, that over and above the power, is the burden. The burden to understand, protect, and defend the Constitution at all…

by Joan R Sloane. In the midst of all we have to think about: A terrible aftermath of the confluence of three hurricanes in the US, especially Hurricanes Irma and Maria, on Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; A president who continuously foments racial divide, while ignoring 3.5 million American citizens in dire need of life-saving assistance; A…

By Bob Gatty. The Trump administration is close to rescinding Obama-era protections for elderly nursing home patients and their families, once again proving that what’s important to them is protecting big businesses even at the expense of some of the most frail and vulnerable among us. At issue is a regulation put in place under President Obama…

By Bob Gatty. The nation now has a new option to consider when it comes to covering the skyrocketing cost of health care:  a new Medicare for All proposal introduced Wednesday, Sept. 13, by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Backed by at least 15 Democratic senators, according to The Washington Post, the Sanders legislation would expand Medicare into…

by Rick Comfort. Rick Comfort recently responded to Bob Boland's letter to the editor, "Pawleys Island Liberal Promoting Fake News," published in The Sun News, during July: I had to chuckle a little as I read Mr. Boland's article about Trump and unemployment and how many jobs have been created since he took office. History is a great…

Vicki Bourus, Executive Director of the Family Justice Center of Georgetown and Horry Counties, spoke at our Westside Democrats monthly meeting on August 23, 2017. She has kindly provided us with a history of how the Family Justice Center came into being, as a response to the needs of domestic violence victims in our area: By…

by Stefan Varner Democratic LGBT Committee Chairperson Earlier in the week President Donald Trump issued one of his 'official tweets' that thousands of transgender service members would be banned from their jobs, and he did so under the premise that this was due to conversations with Generals and other military professionals. And then Press Secretary Sarah…

by Barbara J. Sloan, M.Ed. I treated and supervised the treatment of at least 7000 addicts and alcoholics during my career as an addiction and mental health counselor. This is a complex illness that manifests with the current drug of choice cycling as society reacts to the ill effects of one drug by moving on to…

Start to notice the plastic bags. They're in the trees. They're on the ground. They litter our streets. They blow on our beaches. They fill up our landfills and never leave. They're here forever and ever unless... WE stop. Stop Using, Stop Buying. Stop ignoring the facts. Start becoming aware. Look up at the branches. You'll…

By Nicole Angeleen. We hear it all the time. Every day. "Focus on Russia." We beat ourselves up over getting distracted. We grit our teeth. But then a whole new atrocity gets our attention and we get "distracted." I honestly had a hard time figuring out where to start my remarks. There are so many overt and…

By Stefan Varner. Recently, I was fortunate enough to witness the inspiring speech about the removal of the Jefferson Davis and other Civil War monuments in the great city of New Orleans, Louisiana. I say "great" not because of the geographical location or its physical beauty, but because of Mayor Mitch Landrieu, City Council Members, and other courageous leaders who, after…

By Barbara J. Sloan, M.Ed. Mental health is a key component of general health, yet mental illness is often stigmatized and underfunded in health insurance programs. I am a retired mental health and addictions counselor and treatment program developer and manager. Here’s what I have learned about treatment here since I moved back to Horry…

By Janet Lawrence. A couple of days ago, someone I care about very much asked me how I can be against capital punishment when it is condoned by Scripture. I was brought up in the Church, in a Parsonage, in fact. My parents were not Evangelicals or literalists, but they raised a woman of faith. So this…

by C. L. Branham. Nearly 60 years ago, I was born into a family of five children. Having four or five children was not unusual in the Fifties and we were fortunate, as my father was a medical professional and we were able to live comfortably. I knew many large families, and some perhaps did not…