So let’s talk about HB 2. It’s safe to say the GOP was blindsided by the backlash, especially PayPal’s decision to pull out of a planned $3.5 million expansion in Charlotte that would have created over four hundred jobs. So they went on the attack: Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest put out a statement saying, “If […]
Paul Blest
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McCrory Wants to Save His Re-election Bid, Proposes a Teacher-Pay Hike
Hey, so you know how House Bill 2 has basically turned North Carolina’s reputation into the smoldering ash of a blue-hot dumpster fire? Governor McCrory would like you to not think about that so much. In a thinly veiled effort to save his re-election campaign and distract from the ongoing HB 2 debacle, McCrory made […]
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McCrory’s HB 2 Executive Order Doesn’t Actually Change HB 2
Governor Pat McCrory’s executive order on Tuesday was intended as a way to walk back the effects of the bill, which have has already caused big hits to local economies, as well as 650 jobs between planned Deutsche Bank and PayPal expansions that have been canceled. The problem is that, contrary to various headlines about […]
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Rep. Billy Richardson, Democrat Who Voted For HB 2: “I Made the Wrong Vote”
Back when HB 2 passed, we called eleven House Democrats to ask why they voted for the bill. One of them was Rep. Billy Richardson (D-Cumberland), who represents a Fayetteville-area swing district that Barack Obama won narrowly in 2012. Richardson didn’t return any of our calls. In the weeks since, however, it seems that Richardson, […]
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B Corporation Annual Retreat Pulled From N.C. Because Of HB 2
In an email to certified B corporations throughout the country, B Lab – an organization dedicated to promoting them – announced it was pulling its annual retreat later this year from North Carolina because of HB 2. From the email: Due to HB2, the global B Corp community will withdraw its October Retreat and related […]
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The Morning Roundup: No Surrender
Morning! The good news is that it’s supposed to be a little warmer this week. Here’s what’s up:1. Yup, HB 2 is still extremely bad. On Friday afternoon, Bruce Springsteen announced that he was canceling his Greensboro show on Sunday due to HB 2. As you, my fans, know I’m scheduled to play in Greensboro, […]
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Senator Burr Introduces Encryption Bill, Is Denounced by Encryption Experts
Along with Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-California, Senator Richard Burr released a bill today aimed at forcing smartphone manufacturers to hand over data to the federal government “in a timely manner responsive, intelligible information or data, or appropriate technical assistance to obtain such information.” The nine-page bill, which is called the “Compliance with Court Orders Act […]
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Totally Real YouTube Vid: Dr. Phil Takes Pat McCrory to Task on HB 2
From the same guy who brought us that McCrory HB 2 remix, here’s a totally real and completely unedited conversation between everyone’s favorite TV crank and our esteemed governor. Daniel Cook, who made the video, said that it was his wife’s idea to make it an interview with Dr. Phil. He adds, “My intent isn’t […]
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The Carolina RailHawks Have Been Plagued by Mismanagement, But Their New Owner Is Optimistic about Their Future
Steve Malik is nothing if not blunt. Take, for example, his answer to a question about whether he’s thinking of moving his newly acquired soccer franchise, the Carolina RailHawks, out of WakeMed Soccer Park, the Cary stadium the team has called home since its inception, maybe to downtown Raleigh or somewhere else in the Triangle. […]
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Raleigh Dodges the Question of Who Will Get to See Police Body-Cam Footage
Two weeks after Akiel Denkins was shot and killed by a Raleigh police officer under disputed circumstances on February 29, the city council unanimously approved the purchase of six hundred body cameras and instructed Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown to develop a plan to put them to use over the next three years. The city expects to […]
