Opinion
Our technology made us resilient
Without tech-enabled working from home, our gross domestic product would have fallen about twice as much during the first few months of the pandemic.
Opinion
It is logically inconsistent to not support COVID-19 vaccination mandates?
Argument: If you are for the school system requiring students to be immunized against diseases, and COVID-19 is just another disease for which a reliable, safe vaccine is readily available, then you should not be against mandatory COVID-19 vaccines in schools. Readers may recognize that this is a syllogism—that is, it is an argument consisting...
Opinion
COVID numbers improving, but Cooper’s failure to lead divides us even further
Emergency orders, local mask mandates, and COVID restrictions at large have gone from nonsensical to outrageous. This is not to argue on the efficacy of masks or their use in the throes of the nascent pandemic some 18 months ago. Instead, this is to make a common-sense case showing the so-called leaders purporting to care...
Opinion
Throwing money at poverty doesn’t work
It is difficult to read arguments for or against policies when the premises are not aligned with the facts or the measures. In a recent piece published by our friends at NC Policy Watch, author Susan Demas, editor-in-chief of the Michigan Advance, attempts to persuade readers to adopt the belief that poverty can be eliminated...
News
Cary drops masking rules, even as Cooper maintains two-year-old emergency order
COVID-19 numbers are down across the board, yet the governor and health secretary continue to encourage people to wear masks and to follow a two-year-old emergency order. But one Wake County city appears to be using common sense as its guide. Cary, the seventh-largest city in the state, voted Thursday, Oct. 29, to rescind its...
News
Cooper refuses to lift executive order, implies new redistricting maps are unfair
Six hundred days and counting. Gov. Roy Cooper has ruled North Carolina with a proverbial iron fist since unilaterally enacting a state of emergency March 10, 2020. The order came without following statutory mandates to consult with the North Carolina Council of State, as Rep. John Bell, R-Wayne, wrote recently for Carolina Journal. But Cooper,...
Opinion
A perpetual state of emergency: NC governor’s unilateral power must be limited
North Carolina has now been under Gov. Roy Cooper’s unilateral statewide state of emergency for over 33% of his entire tenure in office – or nearly 600 days. The current order was impressed upon the citizens of North Carolina on March 10, 2020, without following statutory mandates to consult with the Council of State. In...
News
Wake principal denies face mask exemption for kindergartener with disabilities
A Wake County principal has denied a mask exemption request for a kindergartener with disabilities, according to a recorded phone call released by the anonymous parent. The child involved in the case had an exemption from a doctor for a face mask due to a sensory processing disorder. Wearing a mask causes the student anxiety...
Opinion
We must call it what it is…child abuse
I live in Stanly County, and freedom-loving people in my community have been fighting for months to push our all-Republican school board to make masks optional in schools. Unfortunately, we have yet to effect change. But given that 108 of 115 North Carolina school districts still require masks in schools, I know we’re not alone. Words...
News
Ebbs and flows: We need to adjust, learn to live with the virus, experts say
COVID-19 cases in North Carolina may actually be decreasing, even as media hysteria and local mask mandates rage on. Cases, based on the seven-day rolling average, says Jon Sanders, appear to be dropping, considering rates in North Carolina and neighboring states. Sanders is a senior fellow in regulatory studies and research editor at the John...
Opinion
Is college football the death knell for COVID hysteria?
The mammoth crowds for college and many NFL games signal that a large chunk of the nation trust the vaccine or their natural immunity.
Opinion
Income and poverty facts matter
According to the Census Bureau’s supplemental poverty measure, 9.1% of Americans were poor in 2020, a big drop from the 11.7% rate it reported in 2019.
