Are we waiting for our Tahir moment?

Al Jazeera seems to be the one of the few sources drawing parallels between what's going on in the Middle East and here at home. This essay offers some insight into the global changes afoot.

Jobs? That's just luxury!

The new GOP General Assembly budget slashers have stumbled upon the hog that's got to be slaughtered ... jobs, job training and job recruitment.
Didn't somebody campaign on bringing real jobs to NC last year? Oh, that's the dudes proposing cutting jobs, job training and job recruitment. That makes perfect sense.

Grab your partner, do si do

Looks like everybody in North Carolina's congressional delegation has found a sitting partner for tonight's State of the Union address. Well, almost everybody. Rep. Patrick McHenry reckons he'll just find any old seat and Sen. Burr didn't disclose his reservations to the press.

Rep. Virginia Foxx reported she'd be sitting with Rep. Yvette Clark, a Democrat from Foxx's hometown, Brooklyn, NY.

Half the interest tonight will be on whether everybody still applauds and boos on the same page as their party. Maybe they'll have cue cards for the Congress?

And so it goes...

Just when we expected Jonathan Jordan to go all Reagan Revolution on us, he reads from former Democratic Virginia Gov. Doug Wilder's blog after he's sworn in on Sunday afternoon.

Gabriel warming up his horn...

Birds dropping out the sky were bad enough. (Luckily the USDA has taken the fall for this freaky phenomena in South Dakota, at least.)

And then Keith Olbermann stunned us last night by leaving the airwaves.

Now, they tell us we'll have two suns in the sky as early as next year.

Maybe the end will come quicker than we thought.

Planning? That's a novel idea...

Our brethren to the south last week discussed planning for growth along U.S. 421 in the Deep Gap community. Leaders in Watauga County are already looking toward how water and sewer infrastructure could be expanded to meet the growth that 's likely to happen in the corridor, especially with the planned widening of U.S. 221 to West Jefferson in the coming decade.

Watauga took time to develop an impressive planning report two years ago that identifies the opportunities and challenges facing the county in the future.

Ashe County leaders don't like to hear it, but they could learn something from their neighbors. Ashe has no such planning tool. A blue ribbon panel appointed to study land use issues three years ago completed an extensive study of the county's needs but Commissioners shelved all that hard work without so much as a thank you.

Six years ago, Ashe Commissioners were asked by Watauga counterparts to participate in a regional water cooperative with the Deep Gap area as a focus. Both counties could have benefited from such a regional effort. Alas, Ashe leaders gave this offer the cold shoulder and now Watauga will go it alone.

With the current lull in economic activity and the likely dead stop in any progressive policies from Watauga Commissioners following the November election, now is the time for Ashe to actually plan for the future. When the local economy gets going again, there will be no time for planning, only regrets for time squandered.

Scoff not, lest ye be scoffed

Franklin Graham is apparently the new self-appointed policeman of prayer, alleging the speakers at the Arizona memorial service last week "scoffed" at Jesus.

If by scoff, the luxury-jet-flying, Sarah-Palin-pal means to laugh at and jeer with contempt and derision, Graham should rest easy knowing we only scoff at his hypocrisy.