General
Dwane
Dwane Powell was an Arkansas farm boy who became a North Carolina institution. Politicians knew they’d made it when Dwane skewered them. Framed Powell cartoons decorate walls all over the state. People treasure doodles he did on napkins in bars and restaurants. For those of a certain age and mindset, he was Mad Magazine come…
Read MoreDuking it out, Round 3
Last week I posted a back-and-forth about the state ordering Duke Energy to clean up and move coal ash. A guest blogger charged that Duke has lost touch – and clout – with powerful people in Raleigh. A Duke exec asked me to take down the blog. Instead, I let Duke respond. Today let’s talk…
Read MoreDuke it out
No, this is not more bashing of Duke basketball, Coach K and Zion. These are observations sent along by a veteran of Raleigh’s utility-regulation wars, who shall remain nameless: The headlines today should terrify anyone who remains a shareholder of Duke Energy because it confirms the utility’s political clout in the state is zero. Duke…
Read MoreShedding Stars
Maybe The News & Observer can cut its way to survival, but the hemorrhage of great journalistic talent is disheartening to readers and probably demoralizing to the newsroom. The latest losses include familiar reporters and a photographer and lesser-known editors who have kept the place together and the quality high against all odds: Jane Stancill,…
Read MorePolitics Today
Debt’s piling up. Congress just voted for an ‘Omnibus’ Bill spending more. Cries –Trump’s a racist, Steve King’s a white supremacist, Representative Ilhan Omar’s anti-Semitic – echo through Congress but at the mention of spending cuts the room falls silent. Welcome to the Swamp.
Read MoreWacky
The first story I read said Democrats in Congress struck ‘so help me God’ from a key House Committee oath. The second story told how a legislator ended a prayer in the State House by saying, ‘In the name of Jesus Christ’ – and asked, Will more diverse members change who they pray to? A…
Read MorePelosi Saying No
Last month in an internet ad run by his campaign during the shutdown President Trump said: ‘I want to be able to show Senate Democrats a list of the many American voters that will NOT be happy if the Wall isn’t built. I need YOUR NAME on the list. Sign our official petition to the…
Read MoreMoving Pelosi
Before the government shutdown President Trump, defying the Democrats, walked out of a meeting and announced he’d continue the shutdown “for months or even years” – but Nancy Pelosi didn’t budge and then Ann Coulter, aghast when Trump folded and reopened the government, tweeted Trump was a ‘wimp’ and the Daily Caller added ‘Trump Caved.’…
Read MoreWrath
Forty-six years ago J.I. Packer wrote, ‘If you want to see proof of the wrath of God just look at the world around you.’ Packer’s point was subtle: He wasn’t saying the world we see around us is a punishment caused by God’s wrath; he was saying when people ignore God, God lets them build…
Read MoreForgiving Errant Tweets
President Reagan threw the Russians into a somersault with two words – Star Wars – but then the Berlin Wall fell and the two words vanished. Thirty years later when North Korea started testing nuclear missiles I assumed we’d built Star Wars but no one knew about it because it was top secret – but…
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