Pope Francis is Time magazine’s Person of the Year for his exhortations against unfettered capitalism and the “idolatry of money.” I’m torn, for person of the year, between the pope and Nelson Mandela, whose death reminded us that the greatest among us are those who sacrifice for the common good. Mandela, tried for the capital […]
Bob Geary
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Sen. Rucho, who compares Obamacare to Nazi atrocities, is in the GOP mainstream
By now, you’ve read about Sen. Bob Rucho, the Charlotte Republican who claimed in a tweet that Obamacare poses a worse threat to the country than the Nazis, Stalin or terrorists ever did. If not, here’s an overview. Sen. Bob Rucho So you’re probably thinking, who is this nut and why is he embarrassing the […]
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Tallying Gov. McCrory’s many fibs and their toll on jobs
Following the first meeting of the McCrory administration’s Medicaid Reform Advisory Group last week, one thing became clear. Medicaid in North Carolina is not “broken,” despite the governor’s frequent statements to the contrary. Indeed, the Medicaid program is in good enough shape that the “reform” group had trouble figuring out what it was supposed to […]
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Back from Iraq and helping homeless vets: John Turner
Bands4Good hosts a benefit concert with its seven finalists and some others on Sunday, Dec. 8, at the Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh. Doors open at 12:30 p.m. For info, visit the Bands4Good website. VLC-NC-Cares is soliciting donations for naming rights to various facilities at Butner. For details, visit the VLC-NC-Cares website. They’re on a mission, […]
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The assassination of John F. Kennedy: What I remember
I believe I’m the only Indy writer who is old enough to remember the Kennedy assassination. I was in the 8th grade in 1963, in Fair Haven, NJ, and I was vice president of my class. I mention that because I recall feeling that, as an elected leader, I ought to rise to the occasion […]
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Obamacare: a symptom, not the disease
My wife and I recently celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary in Charlottesville, Va., near where our presidents lived from 1801 to 1825. Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe were neighbors, fellow revolutionaries and founding fathers. Madison and Monroe were Jefferson’s protégés. Visiting their homes, we revisited the promise of the Age of Enlightenment. In […]
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In Wake County, a plan sputters
If “Transit Makes $ense,” and virtually all of the 250 people who attended a forum by that name in Raleigh last week agreed that it does, then why isn’t it happening? Why is it stalled on the Raleigh-Cary side of the Triangle? The short answer came from Jeff Merritt, a member of the board and […]
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Saturday: “The hottest local fashion show” and for a good cause
courtesy, Activate Good ‘Tis the season* and one of my favorite causes in Raleigh at the holidays is Activate Good. They promote volunteerism and match volunteers with nonprofits that need them and will be compatible — kind of like online dating except less pressure. From scratch when she was an N.C. State student, our 2010 […]
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Teachers fed up with GOP blows against public education
Public school teachers have had it with the Republicans who are running our statenotice I don’t say Republican “leaders.” Take Vivian Connell. She teaches English as a Second Language in two Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools. On Monday, as teachers staged “walk-ins” at their schools to protest Republican policies, Connell used a break between her two assignments […]
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N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper must declare election law unconstitutional
Richard Hasen is the nation’s leading scholar on elections law as political weapons and constitutional fights. A University of California-Irvine political scientist and law professor, Hasen was in Raleigh last week speaking at N.C. State University. His topic: “Race, Party and Politics: North Carolin’s New Front in the Voting Wars.” Naturally, I thought of our […]