Monday, August 30, 2004
Give us choice: Parties don’t need to look just alike
The Democrats are doing all they can to win the presidency by claiming to be something the Republicans really are — strong on defense. Hence, Sen. John Kerry’s effort to create the image that he is a brave warrior. The...Published: Aug 30, 2004 11:44 AM Full Editorial
Saturday, August 28, 2004
Religious organizations should be treated equally
The right to choose one’s associates and the freedom of religion certainly are worth defending. A lawsuit that has been filed to assert those rights at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, however, is unwise, a waste of...Published: Aug 28, 2004 10:02 PM Full Editorial
Friday, August 27, 2004
Indymedia: A little rational, a lot of radical
You can learn some interesting things rooting around the Internet doing research. For example, you’re liable to run into the North Carolina Independent Media Center. According to its own description of itself, the NC-IMC is a “non-corporate, anti-authoritarian collective of...Published: Aug 27, 2004 11:52 AM Full Editorial
Thursday, August 26, 2004
Legacy: The spreading influences of one woman’s life
The influences of some lives seem to ripple across the earth in endless circles, like the water when a pebble is thrown into a pond. That’s the way June Kay Campbell’s life was. And it started so inauspiciously. June Kay...Published: Aug 26, 2004 12:16 PM Full Editorial
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
A firm denial: Judge puts matters in perspective in court
This is funny if you’re not a lawyer. President Bush’s difficulty in getting the Senate vote on some of his judicial nominees is well known. Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, in its scrutiny of the hapless hopefuls, will call...Published: Aug 25, 2004 11:18 AM Full Editorial
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
Kerry’s record: He should welcome close examination
A flap has developed over the authenticity of some of John Kerry’s Vietnam war heroics and Purple Hearts. Some other swift boat veterans, including one highly decorated admiral, have been critical of the circumstances involved in the decorations. One report...Published: Aug 24, 2004 11:59 AM Full Editorial
Monday, August 23, 2004
Guest editorial: Making elections less restrictive
Judge Frank Bullock of the U.S. District Court has struck down a law that would require unaffiliated candidates to collect over 90,000 signatures in order to run for statewide office. The law was no doubt passed to prevent anyone and...Published: Aug 23, 2004 12:00 PM Full Editorial
Sunday, August 22, 2004
Payback? Bringing troops home makes good sense
Many cities and towns in Germany have prospered because of the presence of U.S. military forces there. That will change gradually as the United States withdraws its military personnel and assigns them to other areas, including stations back home. It...Published: Aug 22, 2004 1:18 AM Full Editorial
Friday, August 20, 2004
Waylaid: Agency surprised by commissioner
When representatives of the Economic Development Commission appeared before the Wayne County commissioners Tuesday to present a proposal to restructure the EDC staff, Commissioner Arnold Flowers had his guns loaded and cocked. He fired at first sight. If ever there...Published: Aug 20, 2004 11:04 AM Full Editorial
Thursday, August 19, 2004
Absentee pay?: There’s another name for it ...
North Carolina has a “citizen legislature.” That means our lawmakers do not earn their livings by serving in the General Assembly. This is despite the fact that, in some years, they spend an inordinate amount of their time in Raleigh....Published: Aug 19, 2004 1:24 PM Full Editorial
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
High ranking: Business climate is good, and the other kind is, too
This should be of interest to anyone who might start a business or move one to more profitable and pleasant surroundings: Among communities that are smaller than the large metropolitan areas, Goldsboro ranks 12th most favorably in the country in...Published: Aug 18, 2004 10:23 AM Full Editorial
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
Feed the Hungry: An economical plan for preventing hunger
Economist Mike Walton has an interesting suggestion — that the government eliminate much of the bureaucracy that runs the so-called “entitlement” programs for the poor. The bureaucracy is there mainly to ensure that the money is spent as intended —...Published: Aug 17, 2004 10:52 AM Full Editorial
Monday, August 16, 2004
Hard lesson: If probation fails, don’t try it again
The murder of six young people in Florida demonstrates graphically the importance of parole and probation officers in our criminal justice system, and it drives home to us the manner in which probation is supposed to work. Probation is a...Published: Aug 16, 2004 1:33 PM Full Editorial
Saturday, August 14, 2004
Those infernal booming vehicles
You would probably get your head bashed in if you did some of the things that come to mind when you hear those loud car speakers. You know the ones. A bunch of cars will be knotted up at a...Published: Aug 14, 2004 11:25 PM Full Editorial
Friday, August 13, 2004
Safe havens? Mosque complexes are really fortresses
U.S. forces are engaging in an offensive against Iraqi insurgents in Najaf. The announced goal is to “defeat and destroy” the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army. The American people must hope that is not just a hollow echo of...Published: Aug 13, 2004 12:42 PM Full Editorial
Thursday, August 12, 2004
Puzzle: Should the tolerant tolerate intolerance?
Some of our neighbors to the north like to think of Canada as a more perfect society than the United States. They like their country’s socialized medicine, despite its waiting periods and its relative paucity of modern diagnostic machines. They...Published: Aug 12, 2004 12:18 PM Full Editorial
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Hospital rates: Charges are increasing, but relatively, they are low
Wayne Memorial Hospital isn’t going to be quite the bargain for patients that it has been, but it still won’t be a bad deal. Starting in October, average rates at the hospital will be 6.3 percent higher. The hospital is...Published: Aug 11, 2004 11:07 AM Full Editorial
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
War record: Is it above a challenge, or grist for the political mill?
Sen. John Kerry should respond more fully to statements that some of his former Navy comrades have made about what he did in the Vietnam War. So far, the primary response has been that challenging a candidate’s war record is...Published: Aug 10, 2004 12:48 PM Full Editorial
Monday, August 9, 2004
Reich’s folly: Ex-Cabinet secretary warns against religion
Robert Reich, who was labor secretary for President Clinton, appears to have lost his mind. Let’s hope his fellow travelers in liberal politics are not equally insane. While sensible Americans are concerned about religious conflict between Islam and the West,...Published: Aug 9, 2004 12:47 PM Full Editorial
Saturday, August 7, 2004
Where school money could come from
The General Assembly might have to revisit the order of its priorities when it reconvenes in January. The reason is explained well in the article to the right of this one on this page. In it, two experts — Dr....Published: Aug 7, 2004 10:04 PM Full Editorial
Friday, August 6, 2004
Cleaning up: Broken-window theory might be at work
Goldsboro and Wayne County officials have said increased efforts would be directed at making us a cleaner city and county. There could be a crackdown on litterers — those who trash our highways and vacant or unattended areas. The results...Published: Aug 6, 2004 12:16 PM Full Editorial
Thursday, August 5, 2004
Documentary? ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ fails miserably
The national media —ABC, CBS, NBC, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Associated Press, etc. — invariably refer to Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” as a “documentary.” It is no such thing, and to refer to it as such...Published: Aug 5, 2004 12:37 PM Full Editorial
Wednesday, August 4, 2004
Rape trial: Already, there is a loser in the Kobe Bryant case
Whoever wins that infamous rape case in Colorado — basketball star Kobe Bryant or the woman who has accused him — there already is one big loser: the Bill of Rights. The Colorado Supreme Court has ordered the news media...Published: Aug 4, 2004 12:22 PM Full Editorial
Tuesday, August 3, 2004
Planes, trains and rivalry: Goldsboro vs. Fayetteville?
Charles Broadwell asks if Goldsboro and Fayetteville, two cities with similar interests, are on a collision course. Broadwell would be attuned to that because he began his career as a reporter for the News-Argus and then went home to Fayetteville...Published: Aug 3, 2004 11:20 AM Full Editorial
Monday, August 2, 2004
Raper: He certainly kept the weeds down
Dr. Burkette Raper has announced his plans to retire in November. He has devoted 50 of his 77 years to Mount Olive College, most that time as its president. For the last nine years he has served as director of...Published: Aug 2, 2004 11:35 AM Full Editorial