1.) Deficit commission gets no respect during SOTU address — “Wait for the deficit commission.” That’s what the White House told Reuters’ James Pethokoukis whenever he asked about Pres. Obama’s strategy for dealing with America’s debt problem. “Obama’s panel has come and gone,” Pethokoukis wrote after the SOTU address. “And in his speech last night, he failed to explicitly endorse any of its budget-cutting recommendations.” After 10 months of deliberation and town halls across the country to the tune of $500,000, and a contentious fight over which commission faction’s proposal was the best proposal, Obama has essentially scrapped the whole thing. “I don’t agree with all their proposals, but they made important progress,” Obama said last night. “To put us on solid ground, we should also find a bipartisan solution to strengthen Social Security for future generations.” Never mind that Obama has endorsed exactly zero of the commission’s ideas, but as Pethokoukis points out: “Did Obama not check his in-box? His bipartisan commission gave him a Social Security fix.” (more)
Just days after the National Enquirer reported that John Edwards proposed to his mistress, Rielle Hunter, People magazine, the Daily Beast, and ABC News are reporting that their sources say the engagement is merely a rumor. (more)
Author David Sedaris is a writer whose success story is one of the most unlikely you could imagine. CBS’ Serena Altschul reports:
David Sedaris, playing to a standing room only crowd at New York’s fabled Apollo Theater, is not a rock star, but don’t tell that to his fans. (more)
YADKIN COUNTY, N.C. — Authorities in Yadkin County said they discovered a methamphetamine lab inside a room at the Yadkin Inn. (more)
Freshman Kyrie Irving scored a season-high 31 points and No. 1 Duke beat No. 6 Michigan State last night in Durham, N.C., 84-79, in the marquee matchup of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. (more)
A COUPLE OF kids figure to add even more juice to the North Carolina-Duke rivalry, a Hurricane hit the Great Wall of China and the Wall hit back, and does anybody know how to get to Iowa City? Watch those elbows, fellas. The annual college basketball primer is coming through. (more)
Americans living in the most industrialized regions of the country have a special stake in the outcome of a California ballot initiative that would suspend implementation of that state’s global warming law until after unemployment drops, according to policy experts who favor a free market response to energy needs. (more)
How would you like to see an honest-to-goodness witch flying by your place at midnight this Halloween? Just put your clothes on inside out, start walking around backward, and it’ll happen. (more)
“But how do the hash tags work, exactly?” “How can I link my blog to my Facebook page?” The questions were directed at me and came from a retired female cop from upstate New York. Our dining companions, seventysomethings from North Carolina, listened eagerly for my professional media expertise. They hadn’t yet joined Twitter but planned to after all they’d heard about it at the Smart Girl Summit, a recent conference of conservative—mostly Tea Party—women. They listened eagerly to my answers, then even more eagerly as featured speaker Michele Bachmann told the group that 61 percent of independent voters distrust the “lamestream” media, that the media are even angrier than the Tea Party. The ex-cop blogger clapped loudly and politely passed the rolls my way. (more)
Authorities looking for a disabled N.C. girl searched a wood chipper and mulch piles overnight in perhaps a dismal sign of the case’s shift since it was declared a murder investigation Tuesday. (more)
A watchdog group is questioning whether Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer could have been more transparent over a year ago in voluntarily disclosing the extent of her past mortgages with the company Countrywide. (more)
There were probably at least two people who shouldn’t have been allowed to fire fully automatic weapons at the Knob Creek machine gun shoot. And we were standing before the menu board on the lower range, our eyes and smiles as wide as kids’ on Christmas day. (more)
“Waiting for Superman” is a new documentary about our public education system that is already stimulating a lot of discussion about how to fix our ailing public schools. (more)
New Hampshire is the state with the highest median income in the nation, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s report on income, poverty and health insurance. (more)
Republicans in November will win control of more state legislatures than previously projected, according to a report released Thursday, which could lead to more Republican drawn U.S. House districts during redistricting next year. (more)
Beware the green police. They don’t carry guns and there’s no police academy to train them, but if you don’t recycle your trash properly, they can walk up your driveway and give you a $100 ticket. (more)
You know how bad things are for Democratic political figures these days? Even Andy Griffith’s poll numbers have seen a significant decline in the last 2 years. (more)
Looks like Sarah Palin won’t have to worry about passing her political torch to Levi Johnston after all. (more)
Hurricane Earl came and went. There were fisticuffs in the bleachers. An accountant was arrested for scalping tickets NEXT TO THE WILL CALL BOOTH. There were concussions, repercussions. There was oppressive heat and digressive wind. And, oh yeah, they played some, too, at the U.S. Open. Herewith, our midterm grades through Saturday. All marks handed on the North Carolina football program’s grading curve. (more)
Every day is a special day for freedom loving people everywhere. (more)
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