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Gary Gaddy: Losers -- in the losers' bracket
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My wife is a loser. Or at least she is since she met me. (Which may explain why we have grocery bags full of tennis trophies in our basement, very few of which have a date of 1994 or beyond. This may be explained, in part, by the fact that her high school boyfriend, and sometime tennis partner, was at one time ranked in tennis in the state of Florida, while her current husband, and sometime tennis partner, is at times rank in tennis in the state of North Carolina.)
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Pat Lewis: Remember to say 'I love you'
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11.18.2008 : 5:37 pm
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When I was in ninth grade, my friend Thomas died from encephalitis. At the time it made little sense to me that he could die from going to sleep. What made even less sense was that someone so young, with so much promise ahead of him, was suddenly gone.
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Vicki Wentz: The older the fiddler, the sweeter the tune!
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11.16.2008 : 7:59 pm
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It's almost Thanksgiving. And it's almost my birthday. I was actually born on Thanksgiving (in 19-none-of-your-business) and each year I give thanks that I'm a year older ... and still not dead.
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Susan Gladin: Shh, don't be afraid
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11.15.2008 : 7:23 pm
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"The Tibetans don't know what to do with us," says American Buddhist teacher Pema Chodron. She is referring to the typical American response to the Buddhist list of 10 virtuous and non-virtuous acts. Not unlike the 10 commandments of the Hebrew Scriptures, this Buddhist list includes actions to guide us in peaceful living.
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Pat Lewis: Coping with teenspeak
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11.14.2008 : 5:45 pm
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Each year the editors at Merriam-Webster add new words to the hallowed pages of their famous dictionary. In 2008 they initiated edamame, mental health day, webinar and pescatarian (a vegetarian who eats fish), among many others. A self-proclaimed logophile, I enjoy staying current with these and other new insertions into the American lexicon.
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Dolly Hunter: Working together on the plan
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11.13.2008 : 4:49 pm
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For more than one year I've served on the steering committee of the Orange County Comprehensive Plan Coalition. The coalition consists of nine local organizations that represent citizen activists, social service providers, community volunteers and business owners living and working in Orange County.
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Gary Gaddy: Leaving at the top of his game
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11.12.2008 : 6:12 pm
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Satan announced today that he is stepping down immediately as the primary force for evil in this world. No word has been given on any of his possible replacements.
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Brad Broadwell: An opportunity before us
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11.11.2008 : 6:10 pm
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Well, there seems to be a consensus. It does not matter whether your favorite national political news source is FOX, CNN, MSNBC, the networks, Comedy Central or the Internet. It was reported by each that last week's exit polling showed us that well over 60 percent of the voters felt the economy was the most important issue facing the United States in this election.
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Vicki Wentz: The fix is in!!!
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11.9.2008 : 6:37 pm
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Well, the votes have all been counted. The absentees are in, the early birds have flown, the tabs have been tabulated and the provisionals are ... uh ... not, presumably, provisional anymore.
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Stanley Peele: The unfinished experiment
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11.8.2008 : 5:45 pm
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As an emergency judge I travel to many places in North Carolina. And over the last year I have heard people talk about the election of '08.
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Keim: Chatham's natural capital
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11.7.2008 : 4:22 pm
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In my last column, "Taking Stock," I mentioned wild mushroom hunting as a favorite autumn pastime. Two weeks ago, with trusty pugs, Ginger and Amy at my side, I took such a fungal foray into the local woods of Pittsboro along Robertson's Creek.
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Robert Seymour: Rewarding the risk takers
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11.6.2008 : 6:36 pm
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Despite the current financial crisis and failing economy, there may be some hope of changing the culture of corporate America. Some attempt may be made to regulate or rein in the excessive salaries given to CEOs.
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Gary Gaddy: A blue blood feud
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11.5.2008 : 7:47 pm
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I hate to open old wounds -- but, hey, we are heading fast into basketball season -- and I always was bad about picking at a scab.
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John Hood: The importance of precision
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11.4.2008 : 5:07 pm
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There's great mischief lurking in fuzzy definitions.
In politics, the mischievous -- and most certainly the villainous -- prefer to employ ill-defined words that hide their true intentions and reduce their exposure to investigation and refutation.
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Bogle: Review board unnecessary
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11.3.2008 : 6:49 pm
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An open letter to the Mayor, Town Council and residents of Chapel Hill:
As a former federal prosecutor, private practitioner and judge, I know complaints about the law enforcement community are commonplace. Most are baseless, more often reflective of an unwillingness of the accused or disgruntled to admit misconduct, poor judgment or personal contribution to their problem, while others are outright fabrications.
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Wentz: A quick prayer never hurt any party
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11.2.2008 : 7:30 pm
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Tuesday is Election Day. You might not have known that. Maybe I'm the only one in the universe who has been driven around the bend by the barrage of commercials, debates, yard signs, phone calls, mailings, speeches and photo ops. I may be the only one who almost doesn't care if Daffy Duck is our next president, so long as all of this is over!
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Susan Gladin: Free cupcake with every donation
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11.1.2008 : 6:18 pm
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Sometimes a person can't move quickly enough. Maybe indecision stalls our muscles. Opportunities are lost, as I discovered last week on the MAX train in Portland, OR.
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Pat Lewis: Our children are watching
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10.31.2008 : 4:28 pm
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You may not recognize the poet, but chances are you'll know her work. In 1972 Dorothy Law Nolte wrote, "Children Learn What They Live." Her 19 lines of anaphoric verse remind us that a child's attitudes and behaviors often spring from a parent's practices.
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Randy Kabrick: About OWASA's increase
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10.30.2008 : 5:47 pm
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In June, the OWASA board made the difficult decision to raise monthly water and sewer charges about 17 percent on Oct. 1. With current economic conditions and their effect on our customers, this was a painful choice, but one we had to make to ensure the sustainability of our services.
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Gary Gaddy: Good news for football fans
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10.29.2008 : 7:17 pm
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To reach those who have become too far removed from the language, culture and ethos of the ancient Middle East, a new translation of the Holy Bible tailored for the academic community, is being released today.
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Brad Broadwell: When politics turns ugly
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10.28.2008 : 5:23 pm
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I am sorry for my transgression. I know I should be writing about issues dealing with our economy. Certainly there is enough going on to comment.
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Michelle Lewis: A place like no other
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10.27.2008 : 5:55 pm
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If you woke up tomorrow and learned that you were moving to a bucolic town on the shores of Lake Geneva, what would your first thought be?
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Wentz: The most wonderful time of the year
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10.26.2008 : 9:10 pm
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It's the end of October, and looking back I have no memory of September arriving, much less leaving. (This must be what happens when you're over 45. Not that I would know.)
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Tim Keim: Taking stock
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10.24.2008 : 7:03 pm
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The calendar is not my reference when I look for evidence that the seasons are changing. It may display a month and a date that tells me when summer ends, but sensing the turn in the weather, the behavior of animals and permutations of vegetation, those are the guideposts I look for. The October sun is softer as the northern hemisphere tilts away from our star. The White-Throated Sparrow has come South again to winter in the Piedmont and bless us with its spare, plaintive call. And it's time to head into the woods, breathe the bracing autumn breeze, be dazzled by the kaleidoscope of brilliant leaves, hunt for my favorite mushrooms and listen to the now languid chirp of crickets slowed by cooler temperatures.
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Stanley Peele: Should dropout age be changed?
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10.23.2008 : 6:18 pm
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At present, North Carolina schoolchildren are required by law to remain in school until they are 16.
At the Oct. 6 meeting of the Orange County Board of Education, the members discussed whether they want to support a change in this law and increase the requirement to 17 or 18 years of age.
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Gary Gaddy: Price gouging for fun and profit
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10.22.2008 : 4:51 pm
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The other day, while perversely listening to Air America, conservative little me, I tried to think of something they and I could agree on. My thought: price gouging; now that's something we certainly could all agree on -- except for maybe me. I'm for it. It's called free enterprise.
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John Hartwell: Our ballots aren't fully secret
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10.21.2008 : 5:48 pm
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Did you know all ballots cast in North Carolina's "early voting" process are marked so that can be traced? In this sense they are not completely secret ballots.
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