As it is the night before the night before Christmas, and all through the political house, not a creature was stirring, not even Mike Easley, I thought it might be a good idea to take time out for some Carolina Journal housekeeping items.
First, we will not be updating Carolina Journal Online until Friday, December 27. If you find you can’t wait until Friday to get your fix of North Carolina political news and commentary, then take a good look at yourself in the mirror. You need help.
Second, who is “we,” you might ask? Which insomniacs are responsible for putting together Carolina Journal Online? Well, as the web site of the John Locke Foundation’s monthly public affairs newspaper, Carolina Journal, you might say that the entire JLF staff has a hand in this project. Then again, you might be more accurate and say that Carolina Journal writers Paul Chesser and Erik Root have the most to do with it. They’re the ones doing most of the scanning of news sites and the uploading of information. I chip in a few links here and there from the smaller newspapers and out-of-the-way web sites I peruse, plus I send them my Daily Journal column, mostly regularly, mostly at an annoying hour of the night.
Third, what’s the purpose of Carolina Journal Online? There are several, but primarily we are trying to give North Carolinians with a high degree of interest in government and politics a one-stop shop of news each weekday. We try to link the timeliest and most intriguing stories and columns we see throughout the universe of state and national web sites, while adding in an exclusive story from Carolina Journal virtually every day. If you think we’re doing a good job, please let us know. Ditto if you think we are missing something, or just generally wrong-headed and unctuous (my recent favorite word of opprobrium used against me in print).
And be on the lookout for a newly redesigned version of Carolina Journal Online, which we hope to have up before too long. We’re working to improve the user interface, to provide a more useful list of standing links and resources across the media and political spectrum, and to upgrade and expand the original content on the site. For a glimpse of the future, you might take a gander at our redesigned archival site for the John Locke Foundation, which can be found at www.JohnLocke.org.
May you and yours have a wonderful holiday season and a happy and productive New Year. We’ll be updating intermittently through New Year’s Day, and then get back to business in earnest.