Oprah Winfrey already had become the most powerful bookseller in the world. Her endorsement – and an appearance on her show – guaranteed an author fame and fortune. Now she’s become even more powerful – by eviscerating (one report said “emasculating”) lying author James Frey on national TV. She also scolded publishers for publishing memoirs…

Well, there’s good news on corruption – sort of. The folks over at the Civitas Institute have taken a statewide poll and asked voters which party is more corrupt – Democrats or Republicans. So, who wins? Well, when it comes to corruption right here in North Carolina: 25% say Republicans are more corrupt (which puzzling…

Bush/Rove think they’ve turned some good political judo on the Democrats over the eavesdropping battle. (Political judo is when you turn your opponent’s strength into his weakness.) Washington Dems thought they had Bush on the run when the New York Times revealed the eavesdropping program. Now Bush/Rove have gladly taken up the fight. They’ve served…

Voters are hearing a lot of talk from politicians these days in Washington about lobbying reform. Both parties have presented packages to ‘clean up the mess’ and though the Democrats say they’re going a little further than Republicans, basically, both parties are saying the same thing, they want to curtail gifts and travel paid for…

Here’s a strange twist. The Morrisville City Council seems about to give Chinese computer giant Lenova $1 million in tax breaks – to relocate there. Giving tax breaks – even to a Chinese conglomerate – is not strange. But what’s unusual is that the federal government told Lenovo it had to leave the Research Triangle…

Friday, January 20, was the 25th anniversary of a dramatic example of events in the Middle East driving American politics: 25 years ago, Ronald Reagan was sworn in as President and Iran released the hostages. Same day, 2006, our news is dominated by Osama bin Laden’s latest threat against the U.S. Last time we heard…