“I would not even mention this piece of sad fiction except for the fact that the accumulated weight of fictions just like it, when added up, form a picture of a place that never was, and a time that never happened.” –Memoirist Nasdijj, in a 2001 News & Observer essay criticizing cowboy author Louis L’Amour’s […]
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Young Duke grad aiding Tanzanian orphans
October isn’t the best month to be fund-raising for a good cause. Generous Triangle residents are doubtless feeling tapped out by all the Katrina relief efforts, which continue to dominate the benefit landscape. Local charities are feeling the pinch as the holiday season approaches. Generating interest in needs far from our shores is always a […]
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Race clouds Durham debt deal
Leave it to Durham to let racial politics cloud what would ordinarily be a wonkish debate on municipal finance. After eight months of study, the City Council voted Monday to proceed with a proposal by the New York-based firm Rice Financial Products to swap $106 million in municipal debt, a deal that will potentially yield […]
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Duke blood test put on hold
Just when it seemed as though Duke would launch its trial of a controversial blood substitute, PolyHeme, a little problem arose. Duke’s Institutional Review Board approved the PolyHeme study last year despite questions about whether the research had to be conducted on subjects without obtaining their consent (see “Bloody Mess,” July 28, 2004). Under the […]
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Burtman
The announcement that N.C. State cops would begin conducting random vehicle checks to thwart would-be terrorists will no doubt relieve thousands of Triangle residents reeling from the omnipresent threat of a terrorist attack. RBC Center security forces were on high alert at the March 21 Bon Jovi concert, running fans through metal detectors and searching […]
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Burtman
The rhetoric has been escalating in the battle between doctors and lawyers over the problem of soaring medical malpractice insurance premiums. “What’s behind this?” asked a former American Medical Association president last year. “Excessive awards in liability suits. More and more, America’s courtrooms are becoming casinos for jackpot justice… In short, a few lawyers may […]
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Burtman
Schools and high emotion go hand in hand. No surprise there, because debates about education wrap together all the fundamental cultural conflicts of modern society. Resolution of such hot-button issues as funding and curriculum is often sidetracked by personal and political agendas that are submerged in rhetoric about the good of the children. And who […]
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Silence of the Lambs
The election of Republican Ed Brady to the North Carolina Supreme Court has caused much hand-wringing among members of the legal community and the Democratic Party. Brady, a Fayetteville defense lawyer, had no judicial or appellate experience. Yet he narrowly defeated respected Republican appeals court judge Ralph Walker in the primary, then whipped incumbent G.K. […]
