The late Walt Disney made a name for himself, and a fortune, by excelling in fields crowded with other high performers: cartooning, publishing, filmmaking, marketing, and storytelling. “I have been up against tough competition all my life,” Disney once said. “I wouldn't know how to get along without it.”
North Carolina has been politically competitive for a long time. It will remain so for the foreseeable future, although the structure and focal points of that political competition have always been subject to change.
Do you think felons should lose their right to vote? If so, do you think they should be able to regain that right after getting out of prison or should they have to wait until they complete any probation or parole requirement that follows prison? Or do you think a felony conviction should forever block someone from participating in elections?
During each election cycle, we are treated to an endless parade of politicians extolling freedom. Given how many of them subsequently vote to restrict our freedom in myriad ways, we have ample reason to be skeptical about politicians.
From July 2020 to July 2021, there was a net inflow of 637,729 Americans into these top-five destination states: Florida, Texas, Arizona, North Carolina, and South Carolina. During the same period, there was a net outflow of 918,443 Americans from these top-five exporter states: California, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Louisiana.
When I set out a couple of years ago to write my first novel, a historical fantasy called Mountain Folk, I decided to set most the action during the American Revolution. It’s my favorite period in American history. After all, I’m a native North Carolinian — which means I grew up surrounded by reminders of our nation’s founding era.
With the recent announcements of a new Toyota battery plant in Randolph County, a new Fujifilm Diosynth drug plant in Wake County, a large MasterBrand cabinet facility in Kinston, and a big White River Marine operation in New Bern for making saltwater boats, among other projects, North Carolina’s manufacturing sector appears to be thriving.
On this matter, I’m inclined to believe the company (now called Meta by its CEO and nearly a dozen other human beings). That doesn’t make my latest encounter with the social-media giant any less frustrating, however.
Is the purpose of a university education to prepare graduates to get jobs? I’ve never thought so. But then again, I’ve never thought that going to college should be a near-universal experience.
Can I let you in on a not-so-little secret? The Democrats in Washington don’t really mean it. The Republicans don’t, either.
When Carolina Journal first reported first-term U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn’s intention to abandon his current district next year to run in an adjacent one, CJ quoted Cawthorn as saying his decision was part of “a strategy to increase conservativism in North Carolina.”
As they witness rapidly escalating costs for building, buying, and maintaining homes, the vast majority of North Carolinians clearly want their leaders to do something about affordable housing.
