Fatcow Icon
Opinion
Mercer
Your View for May 13, 2012
“I don’t know, but I hope it does.” Gloria Mercer, Lumberton “I guess. A lot of people are low-income. The school should help them afford it more.” Dakota Winstead, Lumberton “Sure. Having the availability and the knowledge, people will be more aware of dental issues.” Aren Hall, Lumberton “Yes. Discounts would help, especially around here.” Allyson Stoddard, St. Pauls “Yeah. That’s one of our biggest problems in this county, ...
full story
The slum lords of Facebook
The Victorian era gave birth to a very unpleasant custom called slumming. Parties of swells in London and New York would descend on impoverished neighborhoods as a form of entertainment. In addition to breaking up the tedium of their posh lives, the adventure made them feel superior. A much updated version of slumming has been taking place in Manhattan, where Facebook is arranging its initial public offering. This time, though, it’s the sup...
full story
Don’t just say no
Gov. Bev Perdue will try again to convince legislators to approve a three-quarter-cent sales tax that she wants to generate a revenue stream to enhance education, but the proposal will probably go as far as it did last year with the Republican-controlled General Assembly, which was nowhere. Perdue thinks less than a penny on the dollar isn’t too much to ask from this state’s residents to give teachers a raise for the first time in four year...
full story
Obama’s low blow on Romney
Mitt Romney went into the wrong line of work. If only he had been a lecturer in constitutional law, he wouldn’t have a business record vulnerable to distortion by a desperate incumbent president. Barack Obama’s hands, in contrast, are clean. He taught at the University of Chicago Law School and didn’t make the mistake of attempting to start, acquire or turn around companies. He has no business failures because he has no business successes —...
full story
County should allow residents to haul items off from dump sites
To the Editor, While I was at the county dump-site on Lamb Road recently, I noticed an old wheelbarrow sticking out of one of the Dumpsters. It was in great shape except for one broken handle. I asked the attendant if I could take it home as it would be an easy fix and we could use another one. She said, “No, it belongs to the county.” I said, “But the county doesn’t even know they own it.” She countered with, “Sorry, that’s the rules.” W...
full story
Visit to Dr. Osborne’s office helps patient conquer fear of dentists
To the Editor, I know that I am not alone when I say that going to the dentist is not something anyone really looks forward to. I have been scared of the dentist since I was a small child, avoiding the office as much as possible and in turn neglecting my dental health. I recently decided that I would bite the bullet and get some preventative work done as I am not getting any younger and having a healthy mouth is important to me. I looked ...
full story
Election yawner
About one in three eligible Robeson County voters went to the polls on Tuesday, a more robust turnout than predicted, but hardly deserving of a slap on the back. The inspiration was to preserve the sanctity of marriage by amending the state Constitution to define it as between one man and one woman as local preachers succeeded in shepherding their flocks to the polls. The argument that gay marriage is the new civil-rights cause didn’t reson...
full story
When Americans tire of lies
While, in William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” Mark Antony said that the evil men do lives beyond their deaths, we now also see how quickly mean spirits can be exposed in the wake of the wickedness they have committed. The result is “Hell to tell the captain,” as they used to say down South. In jangled visions of entitlement, former New York Rep. Anthony Weiner, former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer and those of President Barack Obama’s Secr...
full story
Gay marriage is not inevitable
President Barack Obama insists that he didn’t announce his support for gay marriage out of political considerations. He’s right. He did it out of self-regard. How it must have eaten away at him to be the first African-American president, yet not associate himself with what has been deemed the foremost civil-rights issue of the age. To be a progressive in favor of all things “forward,” but retrograde on marriage. To know that his stance was ...
full story
A better path to education
On the HBO series “Girls,” Hannah asks her boss at a publishing house for a salary. The 24-year-old has been working as an unpaid intern for over a year, and her parents will no longer support her. When the boss responds in the negative — “I am really going to miss your energy,” he coldly says — Hannah notes that another young woman hired as an intern is now getting paid. “Joy Lin knows Photoshop,” he says. Education and the tech skills e...
full story
North Carolina’s double-edged sword
More than a third of voters turned out for North Carolina’s primary elections, far higher than the normal turnout in a presidential year and almost as high as the record turnout for the Hillary Clinton-Barack Obama slugfest in 2008. But this year’s primary electorate was quite different from the one that turned out four years ago. It overwhelmingly placed a marriage amendment in the state Constitution, winnowed several crowded congressional...
full story
Where is the outrage concerning 40 years of abortion in this country?
To the Editor, 2012 marks 40 years of pregnancy termination through fetus euthanization. How nice and sterile that sounds. It offends no one, stirs no sympathy and arouses no ire. It’s a medical procedure. There’s nothing to fear; it’s not open-heart surgery or chemo for cancer. Let’s just call it a safe-distance type of word like pro-choice or abortion. How can an educated, civilized God-blessed people be conditioned to kill its little b...
full story
Brooks’ legacy
The first words to a story we published Friday about the death of Alton “Tunney” Brooks were written in the fall of 2009, when this newspaper was told that the longtime coach and athletic director at Lumberton High School was suffering with cancer and was near death. But Brooks put those words away for another day, adding two and a half more years to a life well done — a time during which he found out how important he had been to generation...
full story
A reason to smile
The establishment of a dental school in Lumberton would be a big step in filling a cavity, not only Robeson, but also in surrounding counties. According to the East Carolina School of Dental School of Medicine, Robeson and the five adjoining counties — Cumberland, Hoke, Scotland, Columbus and Bladen — all rank in the top 25 percent in the the state for the percentage of residents who don’t have regular access to dental care. That is hardl...
full story
Smoking moms should celebrate Mother’s Day by quitting habit
To the Editor, Mother’s Day is a wonderful time to celebrate and acknowledge the contributions made by mothers throughout our community. We know the power of a mother’s love … and the power of her actions. Unfortunately, there are too many mothers who smoke or use other forms of commercial tobacco products. More than 650,000 women in North Carolina smoke. Each year more than 4,600 women in North Carolina die of smoking-related diseases. W...
full story
Weather
Sponsored By:

Lottery
Sponsored By:

Stocks
Sponsored By:

Gas Prices
Sponsored By:

Featured Businesses
Recipes
Sponsored By: