north carolina

April 15, 2006 - Building on the galloping momentum of immigrant rights protests around the country, advocates have called for May 1 -- celebrated world-wide as International Worker's Day -- for a general strike:

April 5, 2006 - This week, a coalition of groups -- including ACORN, AFL-CIO, NAACP, NC Council of Churches, NC Justice Center, and Institute for Southern Studies -- are launching a new coalition: North Carolinians for Fair Wages. The coalition's immediate goal is to pass an 85 cent increase in the state minimum wage in 2006, which has a very good chance of passing.

March 28, 2006 - Our local newspaper here in Knoxville (home of TVA) ran a lengthy article yesterday defending TVA which I posted about at my blog. Here's an excerpt:

March 20, 2006 - Rob Christensen, political reporter for the Raleigh News & Observer, had an interesting column yesterday on how North Carolina has largely spurned religious-right politics that have overtaken other states:

March 14, 2006 - It's not just for broadcast media any more. With their acquisition of Knight Ridder, McClatchy will control most of North and South Carolina's major daily newspapers:

February 3, 2006 - One of North Carolina's own, Mr. Robert Stein, is now in federal court where the former U.S. occupation official in Iraq "is expected to plead guilty to bribery, conspiracy, money laundering and other charges ...

January 25, 2006 - Scandals in Washington often overshadow the dozens of smaller scandals that unfold at the state level each year. In North Carolina, Democratic House Speaker Jim Black has been a magnet for dubious dealings, the most recently of which is described here by NC Policy Watch:

January 18, 2006 - Chris Fitzsimon of North Carolina Policy Watch notes that momentum is gaining for a hike in the state minimum wage. There's a "live" bill carrying over from the 2005 legislative session, which would boost the lowest wages by 85 cents over the federal minimum.

January 9, 2006 - If you work hard, you shouldn't live in poverty. A simple idea, it seems, but for millions of workers wages have stagnated or are in decline, and Congress refuses to raise the floor by increasing the federal minimum wage.

November 5, 2005 - I'm off to present a workshop on "The Social Cost of War" at a NC Council of Churches conference in Fayetteville, N.C. (home of Fort Bragg). If you're in the area, come on by!