Editor’s Note: From a July 12 floor speech by Fourth District U.S. Rep. David Price (D-Chapel Hill) on The Responsible Redeployment from Iraq Act (H.R. 2956), which would initiate an exit from Iraq beginning within 120 days of enactment and requires a full redeployment of U.S. troops by April, 2008. The bill passed the U.S. House 223-201, but was defeated by a Republican filibuster in the Senate on Wednesday.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2956, which would compel a responsible exit of U.S. troops from Iraq.

I voted against giving the President the authority to go to war in Iraq. Two years ago, Brad Miller and I introduced legislation to terminate the authorization and require of the President a comprehensive exit strategy. The President has responded to calls for change by stubbornly adhering to a failed strategy that has cost our nation severely, in blood, treasure, and moral authority. He has rejected Congress’s constitutional role in determining policy and he has ignored the will of the American people. This obstinate, irresponsible, destructive course cannot continue. More »

 By Jeremy J. Collins

Though most experts have long dismissed any measurable deterrent effect from the use of the death penalty, a recent AP story helped spark new discussion on the topic.

According to the report, some academic studies have purported to find such a deterrent impact. The story cited a 2003 Emory University study which concluded that each execution deters an average of 18 murders. To read the story, one might believe that new life has been pumped into what had largely been a settled argument.

More »

By Kirk Ross 

The 0.4 percent horror
I was just a kid when it happened, and I can’t imagine what it was like to experience it, let alone live through it. But driving through what is left of Cary, with its dark, crumbling cul-de-sacs and boarded up split-levels, you get a feel for the devastation of 2007.

Like Smoot-Hawley, the impact of the real estate transfer tax had consequences far beyond the reckoning of politicians and it brought down a surging, vibrant economy in one swift act of legislation. It’s not like they weren’t warned. I got a glimpse of the beginning of the end times at Ray’s Number Two, a little dive in a corner of a former Bed, Bath and Beyond in an almost deserted mall.

More »

Ounce of Prevention
For the moment, Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton is a victim of the septic-cynicism toward the impeachment of Bush and Cheney. The septic system of the Bush/Cheney administration is just too deep to reach the bottom of it, and provide accountability for their malfeasance, before their terms expire in January, 2009, assuming the deciders allow their terms to expire at all.

Mayor Chilton was quoted in the Chapel Hill Herald, “I think the fact is that Congress is not likely to take any action on this topic. The president deserves probably something worse than impeachment, but I think we can all see that’s not really going to happen.”

More »

(Please note that in the print edition we neglected to credit the wonderful Chatham County Line for this article.)

By Illana Dubester

America, we can’t have it both ways. We can’t pretend to be for family values and impose uncanny barriers on immigrants reuniting with their loved ones. We can’t be pro-business and drive underground a large segment of our labor force. We can’t favor a living wage and allow businesses to exploit undocumented workers. We can’t be part of a global economy and shun bilingualism. We can’t be proud of ourselves as a nation of immigrants and continue to vilify and ostracize immigrants. We can’t have food on our tables and a roof over our heads while ignoring the rights of hard-working immigrants who harvest our crops and build our homes.

More »

By Mike Nelson

As a member of the Orange County Board of Commissioners, I voted against this year’s county budget out of a belief that we are not treating our schoolchildren equitably in this county. We have an obligation to ensure that all children, regardless of where they live in the county, receive adequate educational resources. We pay lip service in Orange County to equity and justice, but when the pedal hits the metal we choose to perpetuate a system that provides some children with more educational dollars than others.

More »

Roy Elmer Sommerfeld passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family, at UNC Hospitals, 11 July 2007.  He was born 8 May 1914 in Benton Harbor, Michigan.  His parents were Conrad Lewis and Amelia (Maikowski) Sommerfeld.  His siblings, Kenneth W. (Aina), Elmer A. (Margaret) and Irma L. Rode (Ed, deceased) all predeceased him.

Roy received his bachelor’s degree from Western State Teachers College (now Western Michigan University) in 1937.  He began his teaching career at Edwardsburg High School, Edwardsburg, MI.  He moved to Ann Arbor, MI, in 1940 to begin graduate studies at the University of Michigan.

More »

Dr. John George Keller, 78, formerly of Olney, Maryland, passed away suddenly at the home of his youngest daughter, Michele S. White, on Wednesday, July 11, 2007 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  He is predeceased by his father, George K. Keller, and mother, Louise Tognetti Keller Vachon.  He was a devoted husband to his wife of 56 years, Consuelo Puente Keller.  He was also a loving father to his six grieving daughters, three sons-in-law and nine grandchildren.  Dr. Keller was well known in the field of General Toxicology and his professional career spanned over 50 years.

More »

Robert “Pete” Leon Blitchington, Sr. died Tuesday, July 11th at his home on the Womble Farm, Damascus Church Road in Chapel Hill.  He was 71.

Pete was born in Augusta, Georgia on December 21, 1935 to the late James and Thelma Davis Blitchington.  At age 17 he enlisted in the U.S. Navy where he served for 20 years.  Pete was a veteran of both the Korean and Vietnam wars.

Pete retired from military service in 1972 and worked in the commercial insurance industry.

More »