When the pink and maroon Club Nova apartment building on Main Street in Carrboro opened, David Hamblet’s life changed. Upon moving in, his rent dropped from 59 percent of his monthly income, not including his Duke Power bill, to one third of his income. After 15 years as a Club Nova member, Hamblet was finally […]
Blair Goldstein
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Women’s projects expanding across N.C.
For the past decade, 56-year-old Sandy Fitzgerald has worked as a psychiatric nurse in Research Triangle Park. But one Saturday a month, Fitzgerald trades medicine for handywork, taking on the role of a painter, builder, or landscaper. Fitzgerald is a co-founder of the non-profit organization SWOOP, Strong Women Organizing Outrageous Projects. The group emerged during […]
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Dees-Thomases, from top 10 lists to Million Moms
On Aug. 10, 1999, Donna Dees-Thomases heard about the shooting. A man entered a Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills, Calif., and opened fire on a room of Jewish children. At the time, Dees-Thomases’ children, ages 4 and 6, attended a JCC daycare near their home in New Jersey. As she watched the breaking news […]
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Public Allies celebrate a decade of activism
“You never know where a good idea will end up,” Claudia Horwitz, executive director of N.C. stone circles, said gesturing to the white and pale green walls of the newly renovated Community Youth Cooperative in Durham. A crowd of young adults lined the conference room and sat cross-legged on the floor to listen to speakers […]
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NRC mum on safety plans at Shearon Harris
“Oh, and the next time terrorists launch an attack on American soil, they will find their task made much easier by the administration’s strange reluctance, even after 9-11, to protect potential targets.” –Paul Krugman, The New York Times The Nuclear Regulatory Commission comes to town once a year with its public forum designed to address […]
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War profiteers?
Why are people saying all those terrible things about Research Triangle Institute? Last month, about three dozen protesters massed at the busy intersection of Cornwallis Street and NC-55 in the Research Triangle Park with signs that said, “RTI No! Democracy Yes!” One woman held a sign above her head that said, “Tell RTI Elections Not […]
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Tikkun offers healing route to Mideast peace
Initially, the idea of being both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian seems contradictory. However, Rabbi Michael Lerner, founder and editor of Tikkun magazine, says this state of mutual understanding is the only clear path to peace. “The two counties are really inextricably bound,” Lerner says. “Each can only get what it really needs with the help of […]
Posted inElections
Soros on Bush, Iraq and unchecked power
“Power should be checked with power.” –Montesquieu America’s preemptive attack on Iraq was an act of unchecked power, George Soros says. Riding the wave of patriotism that followed 9-11, President Bush was able to unleash his political agenda and the nation’s military might to make the invasion happen. Not only did he use the emotion […]
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‘Sonovabitch’ on George Bush’s tail
Greg Palast did not seem like a dangerous man when he approached the microphone in the UNC-Chapel Hill auditorium last weekend. He walked casually to the front of the room and opened his speech with offbeat jokes. With a slight grin, he said Bush’s “no child left behind” policy should be renamed “no child behind […]
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Making lemonade
Editor’s Note: It’s one thing to read a news story about a particularly damaging Bush Administration policy. It’s another thing to understand it from the point of view of the people who are affected by those decisions every day. To help understand the true ramifications of actions the Bush Administration has taken in the last […]