Since 2013, NC lawmakers have enacted one tax cut after another, which now cost our state nearly $18 BILLION each year.
That’s equal to more than HALF of the entire General Fund budget — $$$ that could have gone to schools, hospitals or childcare.
Amid scary news, this stands out for uber-Orwellian overtones. “Some diplomats and former staff say they are unsure what the building is used for now.” (Gift article) wapo.st/4iHmUt8
Houlahan: "I'm just continually stunned by the fact the commander in chief, the president, has called for my death. And that's something that should be chilling for everybody, and everybody should be worried about their safety in this nation when the president can yield that sort of statement."
"[A]s for stops of those individuals who are legally in the country, the questioning in those circumstances is typically brief, and those individuals may promptly go free after making clear ... that they are US citizens or otherwise legally in the United States" 🙄 #KavanaughStop
Print journalists , especially page designers and desk editors, of a certain age may recognize this. Note, also, the matchbooks and manual typewriter.
Not my first words but some inspiration from the late poet and novelist Fred Chappell. My own first line to arrive later.
For my #fiction #novelwriting friends – and interested others. For the record, my first novel does not start like this. Painted on a wall near UNC Charlotte’s uptown campus.
The photo is strikingly metaphoric about what he's doing to the whole government. Campaign ad material for Dems?
This is a joke, right? The GOP-heavy #NCLeg mastered this years ago. In some elections, more votes are cast for Democratic NC reps, yet the GOP is firmly in the majority. #ncpol www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/arti...
Sadly – because there are still some Republicans who aren’t ready to don Klan hoods – this is completely on-brand for today’s GOP. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Welcome to NC and Charlotte! You have some big shoes to fill but it sounds as if you can fill them well. Condolences on your kittie. Mine died this year at 23. And, as the former editor for Ames Alexander, Karen Garloch,
and others, I have some story ideas for you if you need!
Hillary Clinton referred to SOME Trump supporters as”deplorable,” and the political media had a meltdown. Trump refers to all Democrats as anti-American radical communists and “the enemy within,” and it’s no big deal. His reckless and dangerous demonization has been fully normalized.
Has anyone of the "lock em all up" persuasion talked of the cost to local and state taxpayers to build more jails, prison cells and courtrooms, hire jailers, prosecutors, judges, public defenders, etc.? Because "lock em all up" = raise taxes. #ncpol
National Review is all in on the invalidity of the Comey indictment AND the Halligan appointment. This case could be thrown out soon.
www.nationalreview.com/bench-memos/...
Never gets old.
Brylin Hollyhand—the Christian nationalist trying to take over as youth MAGA leader from the late Charlie Kirk—calls the murderous assault on the LDS Church in Grand Blanc, MI an attack on Christianity.
Except the shooter was a fundamentalist Iraq vet MAGA diehard who saw the LDS as the Antichrist.
Probably the most heinous is characterizing Iryna’s killer as an animal.
I don’t hear the same about the hurting veterans who attacked peaceful places over the weekend. Or the Garner guy who killed his sons.
In the larger world of threatened press freedom, it's good a judge dismissed Trump's $1B lawsuit against the NYT. But I confess I was really looking forward to what would be revealed about DJT during discovery
"I don't care that he's dead."
"He's not a hero."
"He's a scumbag."
"He shouldn't be celebrated."
No, no. I'm not saying that about Charlie Kirk. Charlie Kirk said that about George Floyd.
Just in case anyone's interested in what he thought was fair to say about someone who was killed on camera.
I cited actual Kirk quotes where he calls Black women less intelligent, demonizes me for being Muslim, & dehumanizes LGBTQ people—& his supporters are upset at me for “speaking evil of the dead.”
If quoting him is “speaking evil” maybe ask yourself why you followed someone who believed evil things.
Report from NC state auditor (elected Republican) finds no wrongdoing in CLT city govt payment to ex-police chief, but recommends more transparency, better public disclosure procedures. www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politic...
“Scientists Are Flocking to Bluesky. Academics once loved Twitter—but in the age of X they’ve abandoned it in droves.” Via @wired.com
Urbanists too.
Check out #UrbanistShoutOut.
In Plaza Midwood in Charlotte, sitting outside sipping a cortado at Undercurrent listening to someone strumming a guitar at the public bench-swing across the street. Doesn’t get much nicer than this.
Sounds like a plot line from the show VEEP. We need a new law, for not just bribery attempts but really clumsy and stupid bribery attempts.
www.thecity.nyc/2025/08/20/w...
Editorial Cartoon depicted a stylized version of several of the museums on the Washington Mall by Mike Luckovich. White "sky" with approximately 2/3 of the image existing as a green "grassy" campus with stylized buildings arranged along it (together approximating the Mall). Upper left hand corner = signature Mike Lukcovich AJC ©ajc.com 8-21-25 clockwise from upper left of picture: 3 Statues: one a mounted equestrian statue on a high podium wtih someone wearing a hat and holding a sword in the air; one a profile statue on a plinth with a bearded fellow holding a revolver as though pacing off for a duel; a third with a mustachioed person in what looks like a Fidel Castro or Hitler or Mussolini style bulky epauletted jacket with the right arm in the air with hand upward in a stylized Nazi or Fascist salute. In front of the three a sign reading "Confederate Statuary Garden." In the Center: a Black stylized version of the National Museum of African American History and Culture with yellow letters on the central level reading "Make Slavery Great Again Museum." In the Upper Right: A stylized version of the Smithsonian castle with a white banner utilizing black lettering across it reading "Gallery of Under-appreciated white Guys." In the lower right, two stylized figures viewing the scene with a text bubble reading: "The Smithsonian's changed since Trump became President . . . " In the bottom foreground overlapping (and partially obscuring the ground level of) the African American Museum, a stylized version of the wing of the National Portrait Gallery with one side rendered pink and the black lettering "White Artists Portrait Gallery." In the lower left paralell to the stylized Smithsonian castle diagonally opposite, a gray building, non-descript, with a white banner with black lettering on the side reading "Caucasian History Museum" A lone, evergreen looking tree between the Caucasian, Portrait, and Slavery Museums.
@mluckovich.bsky.social
Is that one of the costs of privatization? Hiring consultants, not using government staff because “small government” offers (mythical) cost-effectiveness ? Or does that not apply for NYC’s MTA?
Shows how not with-the-times East CLT and Matthews are. BRT can be a welcome way to have effective mass transit. indyweek.com/news/durham/...
