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Another year gone. Wow. How does it happen so fast?

When you get some age on you, the years sort of blend together in your memory. But, a few stand out. Here are my best and worst:

Best

-- 1973-77: Student years at Carolina. What could be finer?

-- 1977: Graduate, start working at The Mountaineer in Waynesville (a really fun place) and marry Margaret -- all within a span of six weeks.

-- 1981: The firstborn arrives. Nothing more thrilling could ever happen.

-- 1982: Very eventful. In January, we move to Washington, where I take a job working as press secretary for Congressman Gene Johnston. That November, 6th District voters fire us. But in December, I land a press relations position in the U.S. Department of Labor. And the second son appears just in time for Christmas.

-- 1984: Having enjoyed all we can stand of the Washington experience, we return to North Carolina, settling happily in High Point. In general, the country is finally heading in the right direction again.

-- 2002: We take a terrific trip to Scotland and Ireland; in Ireland, we meet about 50 of my relatives and visit my late grandmother's homeplace, still occupied by her nephew.

-- 2004: Career highlight -- working for the N&R.

-- 2006: I'm an optimist.

Worst:

-- 1968: A year of turmoil, confusing for a kid of 12 or 13. Tet offensive in Vietnam, protests at home, MLK and RFK assassinations, riots. What kind of future was this country going to have?

-- 2001: My dad has cancer, suffers for months, then dies amid the horror of the 9/11 attacks. The most emotionally exhausting time of my life.

My list of "best" years is longer than my list of "worst," and the good years far outnumber the bad. I've been blessed.

I wish you all the best in '06.

Andrew Clark tells you what you really need to know about Kiswahili.

I have to say, for a mechanical engineer, he's a clever writer.

An in-depth study of the New Jersey lottery by the Newark Star-Ledger documents a totally unsurprising fact:

Ticket sales increase as income drops.

In other words, the poor play more.

That's exactly what will happen in North Carolina.

Do Gov. Easley and legislative leaders Jim Black and Marc Basnight give a damn?

After this, please don't tell me how much Democrats care about the poor. The N.C. lottery -- from its sleazy start to its detrimental social impact -- belongs lock, stock and barrel to the Democratic Party.

Also, an examination of N.J. lottery commission minutes over the past five years reveals a constant push to sell more tickets.

I hope the lawsuit by the N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law, joined by other groups, derails this embarrassing travesty.

How seriously are the Germans fighting the war on terrorism?

Not very, if they're willing to give up a terrorist murderer and hijacker in exchange for a German hostage in Iraq.

Muhammed Ali Hamadi supposedly was serving a life sentence for the 1985 murder of U.S. Navy Petty Officer Robert Stethem during the hijacking of a U.S. airliner.

Hamadi was arrested in Germany two years later. The Germans refused to extradite him to the United States, but tried, convicted and sentenced him there.

The Germans deny it, but it's crystal clear they traded Hamadi for a German archaeologist kidnapped in Iraq.

That's the way to deal with these thugs -- just give them whatever they demand.

What an insult to the family of Robert Stethem, the U.S. Navy and the American people.

1307 Tipton Street is four or five blocks from where I live.

So that's why there's so much traffic.

Ivan Saul Cutler continues his call for a Market Messiah.

He links to our Tuesday editorial, "Market needs leaders with the right vision."

The furniture market in High Point faces critical tests during 2006. The outcome is important to the economic well-being of the entire Triad.

Whom the market authority hires as the new president may be the most important leadership decision made in the Triad this year -- more so than any election results.

No candidates have surfaced publicly.

High Point University President Nido Qubein apparently has been approached informally, but he's just starting his second year on the job and loves it too much to leave.

I've mentioned Phil Phillips previously in this blog, but I don't think he's interested, either.

I would also suggest the consideration of High Point City Manager Strib Boynton and local attorney Jim Morgan.

Boynton is an exceptional manager who is deeply concerned about the furniture market.

Morgan, a former state legislator, has been heavily involved in business leadership as well as many other civic endeavors. Few people love High Point more than Jim Morgan does.

He and Boynton both are strong enough to pull together the many factions that comprise the furniture market.

The authority must hire someone who is committed to High Point and the market's success here -- not a hotshot outsider who wants to pad his resume on the way to bigger jobs somewhere else.

Will the furniture mini-market Jan. 16-18 start a trend?

If so, will that help or hurt the spring and fall markets in High Point?

Furniture/Today's David Perry thinks Lifestyle is making a smart move with its Forbidden City Furniture Show.

Well, having your own mini-market is one way to avoid the jacked-up prices at hotels and restaurants and beat the traffic and parking problems that come with the twice-yearly megamarkets.

If the idea catches on, could High Point ultimately benefit from a multitude of mini-markets that bring a few thousand furniture folks to town 20 or 30 different weeks of the year, even if some business at the main markets is lost?

Or is this a sign of fatal fragmentation?

The market authority, and its new president, will have to study the implications. If they can find a way to make mini-markets pay off for High Point, they should embrace this innovative development. If not, they'll have to impose some discipline and put an end to renegade scheduling -- if they can.

I was flabbergasted yesterday when our courts reporter, Eric Collins, told me Doug Albright had been sworn in as an emergency judge and was preparing for his first assignment in Union County.

I have a great deal of respect for Albright, so I'd wanted to believe him when he said he was retiring as a Guilford County Superior Court judge a year before his term was to expire not to clear the way for the appointment of his son, Stuart, but for health reasons.

It seems his health will allow him to work some more after all. So why couldn't he continue in office here?

Sure, as an emergency judge, he can accept assignments or turn them down. He can carry as light a workload as he wants.

Still, the sequence of events was just too neat. Stuart Albright gets the appointment to his father's seat and a leg up in running for a full term in this year's election.

Not that Stuart, district attorney for the past five years, isn't qualified to serve as a Superior Court judge. He'll probably do fine.

But why him as opposed to anyone else who might have been qualified?

It doesn't help, as we noted in an editorial Wednesday, that our mystery-enshrouded governor's office won't even say whether it gave so much as a moment's thought to any other candidate. That creates the impression it was Stuart Albright all the way.

I'd wish Doug Albright all the best in his retirement if I knew when it will begin.

Give N.C. Treasurer Richard Moore high marks for courage. Speaking to business groups this week, he called for an increase in the state's minimum wage.

Moore, a Democrat, may run for governor in 2008. If he does, maybe he'll make the minimum wage one of his main issues.

That's fine. It will stir some good campaign debate.

Whatever the merits of Moore's argument, I was bothered by one comment he made Tuesday about raising the minimum wage: "Our morals demand it."

Sorry, I don't like a politician telling business people that "our" morals depend on them paying their employees more. They may be paying employees what their work is worth in the marketplace. Are they morally bound to pay more than what the work is worth? If so, is it morally permissible for businesses to raise prices beyond what their products or services are worth so they can afford to pay higher wages? And if that causes their sales to decline, is this whole approach to economics morally bankrupt?

Well, never mind.

The minimum wage debate may resonate throughout the whole country. Not only does it pop up in Congress regularly -- where immoral Republicans keep voting down an increase -- and in state legislatures -- where immoral Republicans and Democrats in North Carolina buried it last year -- but it may be put to referendum in several states.

Here's a proposal in Arizona.

The New York Times comments about the state initiatives here.

Molly Ivins also wrote on the subject (in our Dec. 31 print edition; online at Creators.com here).

Ivins touts the referendum approach as a way for Democrats to trump Republicans. Let the people decide. That also could draw more voters to the polls who are likely to favor Democrats.

No doubt. Anytime people can vote themselves a pay raise, they're likely to do it.

We'd all like to do that. You can have referendums on raising pay for teachers, police and firemen, college professors and basketball coaches at major universities.

Although, if voters think they might have to pay more taxes to fund raises for public sector workers, they might say no.

Sticking it to businesses is much better, until you stop to think about the eventual cost to consumers. Well, never mind about that, too.

Too bad North Carolina's constitution doesn't allow such a referendum here. If the state's minimum wage goes up, the legislature -- perhaps prompted by a new governor -- will have to do it.

Someday, I expect God will "punish" Pat Robertson in a very similar way.

Someone's been trying to worry High Point water customers, for profit.

The following media advisory came from City Hall today:

The city of High Point has received reports from city utility customers that a company is representing itself as the city’s agent and offering to sample the customers’ water. Then, the company tries to sell the customers water purification systems.

The city’s drinking water is safe and pure and needs no purification beyond the city’s own treatment process. Customers with questions should call the Customer Service Phone Center at 883-3111.

So, don't pay attention to those reprehensible scam artists.

As someone who ingests city-processed water daily, I believe it is safe. It doesn't taste bad, either.

But pure?

If it were, the city should bottle and market it, maybe as: Oak Hollow Pure

But that claim might not quite stand up to close examination.

The city's Web site lists FAQs on its public services page. Among them:

What chemicals do you add to the water and why?

Fluoride for dental care
Caustic for pH control (acidity and alkalinity)
Polyphosphate for corrosion control
Bleach (chlorine) for disinfection
Alum for coagulation

So much for purity.

Here's the city's consumer water report.

And we haven't started drinking water from the Randleman Reservoir yet.

I just grazed through the Golden Corral breakfast buffet earlier this morning, my first time there since the restaurant went no-smoking.

I'm happy for the change, as was my waitress who no longer goes home with her clothes smelling like smoke.

"They still smell like food," she added.

Well, food is why you go out to eat. I don't go out for the secondhand cigarette smoke.

We had a different experience last night at a Mexican cantina. I distinctly asked to be seated in the nonsmoking section. Somehow -- maybe because the host didn't understand English -- my party of five ended up in the smoking area.

Actually, we didn't notice this until we were about halfway through our meal. "It's smoky here," my wife commented. No wonder -- people at nearby tables were puffing away.

But that gave me an idea.

"We ought to organize a group of people to fill up the smoking section and then NOT SMOKE," I said. "Even if we're in the smoking section, they can't make us smoke. We have a right NOT TO SMOKE!"

I was starting to get carried away.

But my plan would clear the air, at least for a while. Anybody out there with me?

By the way, my Golden Corral waitress said she's lost some customers as a result of the smoking ban, which she regrets. But more people seem to approve than disapprove of the new policy.

I'm one.

To the smokers: Come on back. Surely you can survive for an hour without a cigarette. And you won't be fouling the air for anyone else.

A salute to the National Association for Music Education and its National Anthem Project.

My wife is a member, and is incorporating study of "The Star-Bangled Banner" into her middle-school music classes.

What's amazed her is that most students knew nothing about the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key and how he composed the poem that would be put to music and adopted as our National Anthem.

Teaching "The Star-Spangled Banner" is teaching history -- which seems to be a largely neglected subject, at least in elementary and middle school. (No wonder. It's not included on the end-of-grade tests used to evaluate schools under the state's ABCs of Public Education program.)

Kids should learn our National Anthem and its story.

The first verse of the song, anyway. Verses 2, 3 and 4 ... well, it might go beyond patriotism to have to listen to them sung before a ballgame.

In Washington, it's the Republicans.

In Raleigh, the Democrats.

When one party and certain individuals within that party stay in power for too long, corruption seems to be a byproduct.

It shouldn't have to take people going to jail to put an end to this. ...

Not if the voters do their job.

Wait. I forgot. Those in power hold so many advantages at election time -- such as favorable districts and overwhelming amounts of money -- that being voted out of office isn't much of a risk.

Some democracy we've got here.

Our editorial today about David Wray's resignation as police chief.

There's much, much more to be said about this.

Feel free to begin ...

Interested in Bible study?

I highly recommend the lectures of Dr. James M. "Mickey" Efird, retired professor of biblical interpretation at Duke Divinity School.

Correction: Dr. Efird won't retire until December.

He's a brilliant scholar and marvelous speaker, whose homespun humor resembles Andy Griffith's.

Tonight he begins a series of four Tuesday night lectures on "The Neglected Letters of Paul" at High Point's First Presbyterian Church, 918 N. Main Street, from 6:45 to 8:45. There's no charge.

I'll give up watching a Carolina basketball game to attend.

Efird, who's a rabid Blue Devils fan (his only fault), would doubly approve.

Angela Davis will speak at UNCG next week.

One of her top issues these days is prison abolition.

At the Harvard lecture (see above link), an audience member who lived in a high-crime neighborhood challenged Davis and was cautioned against thinking "myopically."

Maybe if we lived in a Marxist paradise, there would be no crime.

After all, Lenin, Stalin and Mao never locked anyone up, did they?

James P. Cain, U.S. ambassador to Denmark, was scheduled to visit High Point University today.

Cain, who once lived in High Point, probably is best known in North Carolina from his time as president of the Carolina Hurricanes hockey team.

As a young man, Cain worked with the Jesse Helms-affiliated National Congressional Club and was instrumental in the 1980 election of John East to North Carolina's other U.S. Senate seat.

There's word around the state's political circles that Cain, a Republican, might run for governor in 2008.

Cain is a brilliant guy, but running a statewide campaign from Denmark seems like a stretch. He'd have to find many more opportunities to visit North Carolina.

My column today:

Candidate Rachel Lea Hunter calls for the impeachment of President George W. Bush. She opposes the war in Iraq. And she believes the big oil companies are manipulating the price of gasoline.

The strange thing is, Hunter isn't running for Congress.

"I have no ambition or desire to be a legislator," she told me last week.

Instead, the Durham lawyer wants a seat on the N.C. Supreme Court.

At the moment, she's the most glaring example of the potential politicizing of judicial elections in North Carolina -- and makes no apologies. ...

Congratulations, Virginia Foxx, on your re-election to Congress.

I don't blame Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines for declining to challenge the first-term Republican. He had an uphill fight in the conservative district. The fact is, most congressional districts are safe for incumbents. But he certainly disappointed Democrats, who thought North Carolina's 5th District offered a rare opportunity for them to pick up a seat.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has been hammering Fox for months, trying to soften her up for the campaign -- not very effectively, obviously.

Now, without a candidate of Allen Joines' stature, there won't be much of a campaign.

At confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, Jan. 11, 1906:

"Judge Alito, will you affirm that Plessy v. Ferguson is settled law?"

"With all due respect, senator, I'd rather keep an open mind about that question in case the issues involved ever return to the court for further consideration."

"Radical!"

"Extremist!"

"We're going to filibuster!"

Of course, no such ridiculous exchange would have occurred in 1906. It's only today's senators who have to posture for the special interest groups that fund their campaigns.

It's ironic that the liberal senators bedeviling Samuel Alito this week about the supposed sanctity of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision generally hold that judicial interpretations should change over time as society's values evolve. They celebrate the ability of a Supreme Court that issued Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896 to produce contrary decisions a few generations later, including Brown v. Topeka Board of Education in 1954.

Yet they seem to insist that Roe v. Wade is the unassailable epitome of jurisprudential wisdom.

But, isn't it possible, especially as scientific knowledge about fetal development increases, that society's view of abortion will shift so much that at some future time Roe v. Wade will be held as much in contempt as Plessy v. Ferguson is today?

Alito should not be forced to declare "settled law" what someday may be discarded as a product of a less enlightened age.

It's just a cartoon image, but when I imagined Mitch Johnson opening up David Wray's office, I got this picture.

The Pope Center's report on free-speech limitations on UNC campuses is a fun read.

The policies that, in essence, prohibit speech that might hurt someone else's feelings seem pretty silly.

I certainly can't imagine the rules are actually enforced -- although maybe at UNCG they are. Two students there were cited for holding a "free speech rally in a non-free speech area and refusing to move when given a directive from an official."

Non-free speech area?

UNCG's Policy on Discriminatory Conduct also states: "UNCG will not tolerate any harassment of, discrimination against, or disrespect for persons."

I wasn't aware that "disrespect" was a "conduct." But it will be interesting to see what might happen when Angela Davis speaks on campus next week. Surely she won't betray any "disrespect" of President Bush, for example.

If she does, university speech police might have to step in and shut her up.

Here's our editorial today regarding the police chief developments.

Our primary points are that Mitchell Johnson had good reason to take the steps that led to David Wray's resignation, but much more remains to be discovered and disclosed to the public.

As someone who does not know the Greensboro Police Department well, I've been surprised by this. In three or four meetings with Wray, I had the impression that he was a man of integrity who went to great lengths to do the right thing. One example was his handling of the incident involving the elderly Egyptian woman who said she was mistreated by a police officer. The city's Muslim community was in an uproar, and I thought Wray acted with a great deal of sensitivity in response. So it was a shock when, in speaking to me about all this, a very knowledgeable observer compared Wray to Gerald Hege, the ousted sheriff of Davidson County. Although their outward personas differed markedly, both were said to be autocratic in their leadership styles. In this day and age, even in a quasi-military organization like a law-enforcement agency, it's better to make decisions through a consultative process rather than dictatorially. When you meet resistance, the worst thing to do is dig in your heels or counterattack.

Wray's treatment of Lt. James Hinson appears to have been spiteful, and the "black book" allegations are very troubling. The real story about the book and its uses isn't yet known, however. Two very different accounts have been given so far.

In my last meeting with Wray, Jan. 5, he and I had a chance to talk about personal interests and found some things in common. We're about the same age, share a similar dedication to jogging and both are big fans of Larry McMurtry's "Lonesome Dove."

In our conversation, he mentioned the character of Jake Spoon, a former Texas Ranger who made some bad decisions and ended up being hanged by his old friends. I wonder now if he was trying to tell me something.

The arrest of Ricky Odell Yow is eye-opening.

Known publicly -- and often honored -- as an "AIDS activist" in Alamance County, he allegedly led a much darker private life.

This week, he and his partner, Douglas Wayne Murphy, were charged with sexual offenses against a 13-year-old boy.

Today, the Burlington Times-News reported that Yow spent a year in prison for taking indecent liberties with a child -- under a different name.

Yow legally changed his name from Ricky Odell Duncan in 1998.

Duncan/Yow's previous offense occurred before the creation of North Carolina's sex offender registry in 1996, so he is not listed under either name.

His Department of Correction record is available under the name Ricky Odell Duncan, but you can also call it up by typing in the name Ricky O. Yow on the offender search page. So changing his name was not a very effective way of hiding his background, if that was his intent. But I wonder how many of the people who applauded Yow's work as an AIDS activist knew or cared about this aspect of his past, anyway.

Yow reportedly has AIDS, creating intense worries about the alleged victim in the recent case.

Maybe he did some good by educating the community about AIDS.

But if these new charges are true, he did a lot more harm.

I've known Austin Carty since he was in kindergarten. He and my son, Andrew, went through elementary school together.

I've seen him a few times in recent years. Actually, the last time was Sept. 19, the day my wife and I dropped Andrew at PTI when Andrew was leaving for his Peace Corps tour. Austin was catching a flight somewhere.

It turns out Austin has landed a role on the next Survivor series.

I hope he does well, but I'm a little worried. I'm not a fan of the show, but I understand it brings out the cutthroat nature in some of the contestants. I don't doubt Austin is physically and mentally strong enough to handle whatever's thrown at him, but he's such a gentle, deeply religious young man that I can't picture him stabbing anyone else in the back for his own gain. We'll see. Maybe he won't have to.

Austin is billed as an author. As a matter of fact, he asked me to read and give him feedback on his novel, "Somewhere Beyond Here," when it was published in 2003. It was a nice story with an interesting twist, but I told him he was poorly served by his editors, who let far too many errors slip into print, and his publisher, who overpriced the slim paperback book.

He might have a tale with a harder edge after "Survivor."

Pat Robertson gets nailed, deservedly, every time he says something nutty about the wrath of God.

Now New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is due the same derision for his Martin Luther King Day speech yesterday.

From the CNN.com story:

"In his speech, Nagin also said 'God is mad at America,' in part because he does not approve 'of us being in Iraq under false pretenses.'

" 'He is sending hurricane after hurricane after hurricane, and it is destroying and putting stress on this country,' Nagin said."

That must be comforting to the stricken residents of New Orleans: Their mayor thinks God singled them out for punishment on account of the country's foreign policies.

I doubt I'd vote to re-elect that guy.

Tracie Fellers wrote our editorial today about High Point University President Nido Qubein.

She, Allen Johnson and I spent close to half a day on campus last week. For Tracie and Allen, it was their first meeting with Qubein.

I have known him for years but never have been more impressed with the man. What he's done at HPU in a year's time is astonishing. The place is being transformed every day.

Qubein was known primarily as a "motivational speaker" before his selection as president, which raised eyebrows in academic circles. Maybe some people underestimated him.

In truth, he had exactly the right qualities for the job. He was a successful businessman, a philanthropist and a community leader, in addition to having the ability to inspire people.

He has a vision for HPU: to have it become "a shade of Davidson" -- one of the finest small colleges in the country.

There's a long way to go, but much progress has been made so far.

First, Qubein started raising big money -- making the initial $1 million contribution himself. He quickly sold others on the idea that their donations could make an impact in the lives of young people and in High Point by building a strong local university.

Money enabled Qubein and university trustees to form plans for major campus improvements, including new and renovated buildings, landscaping, accessories. Within three years, HPU will be one of the most attractive colleges in the state.

He also embarked on a campaign to enhance the quality of life for students, in ways big and small. Big: better living space, improved security, better meals. Small: plasma TVs all over the place, free snacks on campus, leather furniture in lounges, live music in the cafeteria.

Qubein calls all this "intentional congruence." Prospective students visiting campus are impressed with what they see; more apply and decide to enroll. This also allows the university to become more selective in admitting students. The student body increases in quantity and quality. Overall academics improve. Better facilities are also appealing to faculty. Alumni and community pride increases. The university builds more bridges to the community, particularly as Qubein stresses community service as part of the students' university experience.

This is taking a tremendous amount of work, but Qubein and other administrators seem to be thriving on it. He seemed to be having the time of his life driving us around campus in his stretch-golf cart, greeting students, staff and an army of construction workers along the way.

During his first President's Seminar class last week, he even had a rousing gospel number -- "Great Day" from the "Quick" cd by Eddie From Ohio -- piped in for the 180 students in the auditorium of the Hayworth Fine Arts Building. It's kind of his anthem.

Fitting. This is a great day at HPU.

It's reassuring that reason prevails at UNCG.

At this point, is there any question that Samuel Alito should be confirmed as associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court?

He has the ABA's highest rating and his 15 years of service as a federal appeals court judge are exemplary. Democrats on the Judiciary Committee tried to make hay of some of his personal views expressed before his tenure on the bench but didn't generate much heat. Justices aren't supposed to decide cases according to their personal opinions anyway, and Alito probably won't.

Democrats don't have to support him, but they should let the nomination proceed to a confirmation vote on the Senate floor.

Is there any chance the state will give up its monopoly on liquor sales? Most businesses that sell beer and wine do so responsibly and probably could be trusted with liquor, too.

There are exceptions, but the High Point ABC Board's negligence shows that the state system is far from perfect, too.

Of course, the state is proceeding in the opposite direction. It's moving into the gambling business next.

After that, how knows? Maybe payday lending. Profits could support the legislative leaders' slush fund.

Gov. Mike Easley today made the reasonable but risky selection of Sarah Parker as chief justice of the N.C. Supreme Court.

She'll replace I. Beverly Lake Jr., who reaches the mandatory retirement age of 72 at the end of this month.

The choice is reasonable because Parker is the senior associate justice on the court and is certainly well-qualified for the promotion.

She also happens to be the court's only Democrat. The judiciary may be officially nonpartisan, but this Democratic governor would never name a Republican to an appellate court position.

The choice is risky because Parker gives up a seat she could have kept until January 2013. She won re-election to an eight-year term in November 2004.

Now, if she wants to remain chief justice, she must win a new election this year. The filing period hasn't opened yet, but she'll have competition.

Parker's move also vacates her seat as associate justice. Easley will fill that by appointment -- possibly by elevating someone from the Court of Appeals, like Wanda Bryant or Robin Hudson -- but Parker's replacement won't inherit her term. Instead, the new justice also will have to run for election this year.

If it's Bryant, she likewise would give up the remainder of an eight-year term she won in 2004 for the chance of finding herself out of a job come November. Hudson was elected in 2000. She may be the more likely pick because she already plans to run for a Supreme Court seat.

Next, the governor would name someone else to fill any vacancy on the appeals court he might create with a Supreme Court appointment.

Is this getting confusing?

The bottom line is that Easley and state Democrats, not pleased that Republicans have held a 6-1 majority on the Supreme Court, want to change that balance. Lake's retirement gives them one additional seat, but the gain might be temporary. Unless their judicial candidates do well, they could end up with no one on the high court. After all, voters have shown a decided preference for conservative judges at the Supreme Court level.

Yet, Parker was a winner in 2004. Bryant also won a statewide race that year, and Hudson prevailed earlier. Easley is counting on Parker to win again this year, and maybe he'll take a chance on Hudson or Bryant, too.

These are important offices -- and they're the top statewide races on the ballot this year. It should be a very interesting election.

Charter school advocates complaining they've been left out of lottery funding can only blame themselves. They neglected to make "campaign contributions" to legislative leaders.

How else do special interests get looked after in Raleigh?

More major league plans are progressing in Charlotte -- and they could threaten Greensboro's ability to attract a fair share of Atlantic Coast Conference basketball tournaments.

It has to do with Charlotte real-estate developer Jerry Reese's dream of a huge uptown renaissance project and the city's interest in attracting the Florida Marlins Major League Baseball team. ...

I wonder how many Americans will say we should accept Osama bin Laden's offer of a truce.

I hope none of them intends to run for president.

"I have never voted on a bill or taken a position on any issue due to a campaign contribution" -- Jim Black, speaker of the N.C. House of Representatives.

So this must be a coincidence.

And this.

And this.

And this.

And this.

And this.

And so on.

Herman White was heard from again today in a letter to the editor of the High Point Enterprise (full text printed below).

He was writing on the approximate occasion of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson's birthdays and laments that the lives of the Confederate generals aren't celebrated much anymore, for political reasons:

"But alas, a jihad has been declared by the radical socialist groups against all that has anything to do with the symbols and monuments of the South's heritage. Hate-filled individuals spew out spurious statements to inflame others to help in their efforts to destroy our heritage. They claim the symbols of their heritage are divisive, when in truth their hate-driven harangues are the real cause of any division."

Don't remember Herman White? He was at the center of the hubbub over the Civil War course taught at Randolph Community College back in 1998. (Here's a good synopsis.) It led to a book by Jerry Bledsoe, "Death by Journalism?" which was highly critical of the News & Record's coverage of the RCC course.

I was working at the High Point Enterprise at the time, and Bledsoe included a couple of unfavorable mentions of me. I don't hold it against him; I'm a fan of Jerry and was flattered he noticed anything I wrote.

The premise was that shoddy, sensationalistic reporting contributed to the heart-attack death of the teacher of the course, Jack Perdue, who was by all accounts a fine man. He was also an expert on the Civil War from the Confederate point of view.

The class that drew all the attention, however, as you can read in the synopsis, was not taught by Perdue but by Herman White.

Today's letter in the Enterprise gives you some idea of Herman White's thinking. Draw your own conclusions as to whether he should have been entrusted to teach a class in a public college.

Please don't get the idea that I'm against Southern heritage. I was born up North, but as I've written before I aspire to be a Southerner.

I just happen to think there's a lot more -- and a lot better -- about Southern heritage than the Civil War. That was not a proud time for the South, in my opinion, and the symbols of the South's secession from the Union -- notably the Confederate flag -- do not deserve to be honored today. Part of what that flag stood for was the preservation of a slave-based society. Expressing disdain for such symbols, and for that "cause," does not make one a hate-filled individual out to create division.

I think Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson were fine, Christian men. They certainly were great generals. The war would have been over in a year if they had served the U.S. army. But they were sadly fighting for the wrong cause, and it would have been better if they had not done so -- just as it would have been better if Herman White had not taught that class at RCC.

I'm happy that so many Muslim leaders in Iraq and elsewhere are calling for the release of American journalist Jill Carroll.

But why don't those same people also demand an end to the terrorist killings of men, women and children? Do they think those murders serve their cause?

I pray that Carroll is spared. But if she is, I won't give Sunni leaders like Sheik Abu Nasser credit for it. They're fostering a climate where murder and kidnapping have become a way of life.

H.W. Brands' biography of Andrew Jackson presents a lot of information I didn't know about the Battle of New Orleans.

Old Hickory was there to win a war, not to worry about civil liberties.

As soon as he and his troops arrived in late 1814, Jackson declared martial law, prohibiting anyone from entering or leaving the city without permission and setting an overnight curfew. He also took charge of the Louisiana militia.

Even after the battle, a resounding victory achieved on Jan. 8, 1815, Jackson refused to immediately return control of the city to civilian authorities. A British fleet and the remains of the enemy's army still posed a threat.

"By now the Louisiana legislature was back in session, and most of its leaders thought they, rather than a general from Tennessee, ought to be making law for Louisiana," Brands writes. "One of its members, Louis Louaillier, published an article complaining of Jackson's 'abuse of authority.' Jackson thereupon had Louaillier arrested. The prisoner appealed to the civil court system, which likewise sought to reassert its authority. Federal judge Dominick Hall upheld Louallier's appeal and sent Jackson a writ of habeas corpus regarding Louallier. Jackson seized the judge for abetting mutiny and exiled him from the city."

Jackson explained his actions:

"Whenever the invaluable rights which we enjoy under our own happy constitution are threatened by invasion, privileges the most dear, and which, in ordinary times, ought to be regarded as the most sacred, may be required to be infringed for their security. At such a crisis we have only to determine whether we will suspend, for a time, the exercise of the latter, that we may secure the permanent enjoyment of the former."

Jackson's military triumph, Brands notes, made him "in the eyes of most of America ... the greatest hero since Washington."

He went on to serve two terms as president and is remembered as one of the great figures in U.S. history. While his heavy-handed methods in New Orleans caused consternation within the Madison administration in 1815 (but drew no punitive action from the president), they've been largely forgotten or overlooked in the nearly two centuries since. What mattered, ultimately, was defeating the enemy and defending national security by whatever means were thought necessary at the time.

CNN reports that only 30 percent of Americans oppose the confirmation of Samuel Alito, according to a poll concluded Sunday.

One hundred percent of the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which votes Tuesday, oppose Alito.

Let's see ... 30 percent vs. 100 percent. Yeah, those Democrats are right in line with the public on this.

Not that politicians should necessarily follow the polls. Sometimes polls show that the American people don't know what they're talking about.

Take this poll, for example. While only 30 percent said they oppose Alito's confirmation, 38 percent said the Democrats would be justified in filibustering!

That means to me that 8 percent, at least, have no idea what a filibuster is.

What is clear, however, is that Democrats couldn't produce anything of substance to bolster their case against the nominee.

Wouldn't it be nice if they decided to vote on Alito's merits -- 15 years on the federal bench and the ABA's highest rating -- rather than voting to appease the liberal special-interest groups? Doing so would go a long way toward taking the politics out of the process.

My column today:

"Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son" -- Dean Wormer to Flounder in "Animal House."

High Point's ABC system was run like a renegade fraternity. Bluto, Otter, Flounder and Pinto played loose with the rules, found themselves on double secret probation and finally were expelled by the dean.

Now, at last, Alpha Beta Gamma is being put under adult supervision. ...

Armed men in Mexican military uniforms held off Hudspeth County, Texas, sheriff's deputies at the Rio Grande River Monday, the El Paso Times reports.

The deputies were chasing drug-traffickers, who escaped across the river.

This isn't the first incident of its kind. There have been other reports of men appearing to be Mexican soldiers operating on the U.S. side of the border. This is national security?

While we've got 150,000 troops fighting a war in Iraq, our law-enforcement officers are outgunned along our southern flank.

Can an addiction be so powerful that the drug is worth more than the life of one's mother?

And how much of this stuff is around?

Heaven help us.

The best college basketball conference this year is ...

... not the ACC.

The Big East is getting the better of its match-ups with ACC teams lately.

The Big East is committed to basketball.

The ACC wants to be a football league.

By the way, when's the last time the Big Four schools all lost their most recent regular season game? Ouch!

Hamas is frightening and dangerous. The fact that Palestinian voters chose this radical terrorist organization to represent their views douses hopes for progress toward peace.

True, the alternative -- the late Yasser Arafat's Fatah Party -- was corrupt and ineffective. But it was at least willing to deal realistically with Israel.

Now that it's in power, will Hamas modify its founding principles? No one should count on it.

And what does this say about Arab democracy?

The Palestinians, just like Iraqis and everyone else throughout the Middle East, deserve the chance to choose a representative government in free and fair elections. Yesterday's Palestinian vote was a good thing.

But the outcome? There won't be progress in the region until the people who live there decide they want peace. The Palestinian people said yesterday they want more conflict and violence.

State Rep. John Blust from Greensboro responds to a column about Richard Morgan by Southern Pines Pilot editor Steve Bouser.

There's no love lost between Blust, an advocate of legislative reform, and Morgan, whom Blust identifies as a part of the problem in Raleigh.

Morgan, Blust huffs, has referred to him as "nuts" and a "lizard." Now he's firing a shot at Morgan in Morgan's local newspaper.

We're here, if Morgan wants to return the favor.

Update, Jan. 27: Sorry, the link to Blust's response has broken and I haven't been able to find another.

It looks like there might have to be a criminal probe into the High Point ABC system after all.

A private sale of state property to parties with inside connections would be a very serious matter.

The local board apparently rubberstamped the sale after the fact, then gave the general manager a $2,500 bonus for working it out.

Talk about dereliction of duty.

Oprah's endorsement propelled James Frey's supposed memoir, "A Million Little Pieces" to big sales.

Even after Frey's fabrications were exposed by thesmokinggun.com, Oprah stood by the embattled author.

Then, stung by criticism of her indulgence, Oprah "shreds Frey in a million pieces," to borrow the Chicago Tribune's headline.

The talk-show diva is so brutal that some observers feel a bit sorry for the disgraced writer.

It seems the me, as far as Oprah was concerned, the story no longer was about the fact or fiction of Frey's book.

It was about her own credibility.

And she was going to defend it fiercely.

North Carolina's Cherokees want permission from the state to offer live poker in their casino.

When you're playing with Gov. Easley, you'd better keep both hands on your chips.

Key phrase in this story: Easley, who has the authority to change the compact, has hinted that he wants to explore sharing some of the tribe's gambling proceeds.

Please! The casino is already the biggest tourist attraction in Western North Carolina. What more does Raleigh want?

Those gambling proceeds, by the way, are supposed to help the Cherokee people, not the state's revenue line.

If the state can't get a direct kickback, maybe it can at least require the Cherokees to sell lottery tickets to casino patrons.