News & Observer | newsobserver.com | Columns

Columns

Grabbing the digital TV transition by the rabbit ears

The way television is broadcast and received is about to change profoundly. Too many people in North Carolina and the Triangle are unprepared for what lies ahead.

Updated: May. 14, 2008 2:43 AM | Full story

A responsibility to protect

When a parent abuses or neglects a child, government steps in to offer protection. But who steps in when government abuses or neglects its people?

Updated: May. 14, 2008 2:43 AM | Full story

Smart voters say no, 20 times no

The land transfer tax's resounding defeat last week in politically progressive Orange County sent a message our political leaders too often refuse to hear -- stop hiding behind shadow taxes.

Updated: May. 14, 2008 2:43 AM | Full story

N.C. voters show evidence of real change

To understand the impact of what happened last Tuesday, it's worth noting what didn't happen for so long in North Carolina.

Updated: May. 13, 2008 2:20 AM | Full story

Stranded DNA bill finally arrives

Point of View:After a 13-year, off-again-on-again courtship, Congress has finally made an honest woman out of GINA.

Updated: May. 13, 2008 5:05 AM | Full story

Getting more of a grip on ethics abuses

Point of View:The General Assembly starts its "short session" this week. It is going to seem a lot like every other such session in the last 10 years.

Updated: May. 12, 2008 5:20 AM | Full story

Consider the context that sparks migration

Point of View:The assumptions that inform future discussions on immigration are intrinsic to the outcome, for they will serve to fix the parameters of policy. Premise will determine purpose.

Updated: May. 12, 2008 1:04 AM | Full story

Seeing blue in N.C.

Point of View:In last week's once-in-a-lifetime Democratic presidential primary in North Carolina, with repeated visits by the candidates and Bill Clinton to cities and towns that had never seen a presidential candidate, let alone a former president, turnout was heavy -- 36 percent, twice the norm for primaries.

Updated: May. 11, 2008 6:38 AM | Full story

Strong images from war's witnesses

Ford:Years from now, when the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are finally a memory dwelt upon chiefly by men and women in their 50s and 60s (dwelt upon with some as-yet-unknowable mixture of pride and regret), we can be sure those veterans will reflect on the images preserved by their digital cameras and video-capable cell phones.

Updated: May. 11, 2008 6:33 AM | Full story

Grading online election reporting

The North Carolina primary was a big test for the Democratic presidential candidates -- as well as for all the state and local candidates down the ballot.

Updated: May. 11, 2008 1:45 AM | Full story

Mississippi offers a test for the GOP

George Will:The 1st Congressional District, the northernmost in the most culturally Southern state, has given the nation William Faulkner and Elvis Presley, and on Tuesday will have a special congressional election that will test the Republican hope that Barack Obama and his former pastor can be the basis of a Republican strategy to nationalize congressional races to the disadvantage of Democrats.

Updated: May. 11, 2008 6:34 AM | Full story

As water bills grow, fairness dries up

Point of View:In his book "Fooled by Randomness," Nassim Nicholas Taleb points out that rare, random events do happen, and often more frequently than we expect.

Updated: May. 10, 2008 5:58 AM | Full story

Once again, the wrong response to a disaster

Point of View:As the estimated death toll in Burma from Cyclone Nargis climbs to terrifying figures, it is easy, alas, too easy to take potshots at the military government there for dereliction of duty.

Updated: May. 9, 2008 2:42 AM | Full story

That gas-tax holiday? Beats something worse

Both Sen. Hillary Clinton (D.-N.Y.) and Sen. John McCain (R.-Ariz.) say that we should suspend the 18-cent-per-gallon federal gas tax this summer.

Updated: May. 9, 2008 6:28 AM | Full story

She tried everything

Charles Krauthammer:By the time Hillary Clinton figured out how to beat Barack Obama, it was too late. When she began the race in 2007 thinking she was in for a coronation, she claimed the center in order to position herself for the real fight, the general election.

Updated: May. 9, 2008 6:27 AM | Full story

More Stories
Advertisements

Member of the
Real Cities Network

A subsidiary of The McClatchy Company