As a writer for the conservative John Locke Foundation in Raleigh, Rick Martinez is used to receiving nasty e-mails from readers on the left. Although he doesn’t label himself a conservative, his opinions on topics such as the war in Iraq (Martinez wrote an op-ed piece last spring backing the Bush Administration’s actions there) have […]
Barbara Solow
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Not enraptured
Mel Gibson’s film, The Passion of the Christ, which opens this week on Ash Wednesday, has already gotten a lot of ink. Most of the negative buzz has focused on whether the movie’s violent depiction of Jesus’ last hours feeds the view that Jews are responsible for his death. But it’s not just Jews who […]
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Film portrays AIDS as a human rights issue
A film screening at UNC-Chapel Hill last week about the global AIDS epidemic sparked some thinking about the limits of altruism. More than 200 people showed up at the Carolina Union to see the documentary A Closer Walk–the first in a series of films and discussions organized by the schools of public health, medicine and […]
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In global awareness
When Anton Zuiker first saw the documentary A Closer Walk about the global AIDS crisis, he was hit by the film’s emotional punch. “It wasn’t about the science of AIDS,” says Zuiker, who’s a graduate fellow in medical journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. “It raises feelings and the moral imperative to care about the thousands of […]
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To celebrate it, live it
Talking with local artists, educators and community activists about how they celebrate Black History Month, one thing becomes clear: Observances shouldn’t be limited to just one month a year. Almost every person in our sampling of Triangle arts and cultural leaders is moved to emphasize right off that they don’t view Black History Month as […]
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Southern showdown
It’s midmorning on the Saturday after Christmas and Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards is busy answering questions about his “Southern strategy” at an upscale Waldenbooks in historic downtown Charleston, S.C. His appearance–part of a two-day string of events the North Carolina senator is staging in the Palmetto state before heading back north to Iowa and […]
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On the media bus
I was not born, raised or schooled in the South. And though I’ve lived in the region for a decade now, I’m still aware of my outsider status. But after spending some time watching the national press on the campaign trail in South Carolina, I swear I can feel the weight of that regional chip […]
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Lost in translation
“Did somebody just join us?” the campaign aide asks. The phone line clicks as if it’s bugged. Those of us already “signed on” to this early January tele-conference with Howard Dean try to limit any audible rustling, as new arrivals check in: reporters from the Associated Press, the South Carolina News Network and The State […]
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Rebellion in the ranks
Florence Soltys didn’t hesitate for a second. When the UNC-Chapel Hill clinical social work professor heard last month that the American Association of Retired Persons–the nation’s powerhouse lobbying group for the elderly–was backing a controversial Medicare prescription drug bill, she promptly ripped up her membership card. It’s not that Soltys is opposed to prescription drug […]
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The bugman cometh
I always knew you had to be a character to work in a field like pest control. But when our bugman showed up recently to take care of a nagging ant problem, I was reminded of just how singular folks in the profession can be. He was stocky, with a blond ponytail tucked up neatly […]