Opinion: Columns

A Near-Death Experience Brought New Life and Joy

"If we do nothing, you will die tonight," the doctor told me. "Even if we operate, your chances of surviving are not very good. Is there someone you can call? Would you like to see a priest?"

You Can Make This Stuff Up

I've often said in these pages that the hardest part of writing satire is staying ahead of reality.

Let's Bring Back Sunday Blue Laws

I t was only a few nights ago that I was sleeping so soundly, the details of my dreams could not be described in mixed company. Yet, in the midst of my unconscious joy, I felt first a sharp "love tap" from my partner-for-life. It left only a minor bruise.

We, the People, Are Losing Our Freedom

In recent news are a few disturbing tales that should help to galvanize voters of all stripes. Well - maybe not those on the far left.

Will Legislature's 'Routine' Session Stay That Way?

The next special session of the General Assembly convenes Thursday at noon. House Speaker Thom Tillis said in an email to members of the House this past week that it will be a skeletal session only, that no votes will be taken except the procedural one to approve the House Journal and to adjourn the session.

Two Clunkers by Obama Defeat From the Jaws of Victory?

As George Washington Plunkett, denizen of Tammany Hall, famously said, “Politics ain’t beanbag.” Indeed it ain’t.

Protect the Fabric That Is Our County

Fabric is textural and takes many forms, from close-knit silks to knobby woolens. To become fabric, yarns are skillfully connected to determine the character of the fabric being created. Many fabrics are prized for the beautiful way the knitter has crafted the fabric from different yarns to create a useful bolt of cloth.

Come Back, Pat McCrory, for the Good of the State

This editorial is reprinted from The Charlotte Observer.

When Tolls Toll Only For Some

Raleigh

Politics Turns Into a ‘Reality TV’ Show

It took me a while to figure out what was so gratingly familiar about the old-yet-new Republican presidential battle now being waged all over the tube.

Liberal Sound Bites Obscure a Danger to Risk-Takers

I recorded the recent State of the Union address to have a full and accurate transcript of President Obama's policy proposals. Actual words count.

The Day The Democrats Died?

Raleigh

'My Coach Did Not Spit on Anybody's Hand'

It is too bad that sports reporters and historians at Atlantic Coast Conference headquarters are not reading "ACC Basketball." This UNC Press book by Sam Walker was published last year and chronicles the game during the conference's first 20 years.

Poverty, Right Before Our Eyes

This is reprinted with permission from The News & Observer of Raleigh.

Some Things in Politics Still Matter

"R epublicrats," loosely translated, means "a pox on both your houses." It is a colloquialism that expresses the frustration of people for whom politics as it is practiced today is supercilious to the interests of working people.