There might be a more complete coverage of this later. So, let me just point you towards the first story with video.

This artincle on new census data requires no comment, but I will state the obvious fact that those who still see North Carolina as a sleepy country state with no need for serious mass transit and other planninf solutions are living in a past decade:

Led by Raleigh and Myrtle Beach, 10 metropolitan areas in North Carolina and South Carolina were among the country's 100 fastest-growing cities and towns between 2000 and 2005.
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The Raleigh-Cary region, counted as a single Metropolitan Statistical Area by the federal government and including most of the Triangle, grew by 19.1 percent to a population of almost 950,000, the 18th-largest rate of growth.

Don't forget to go by Progressive Patriots and vote for Larry. He needs as many votes as possible. Go vote for Larry in Russ Feingold's Pick a Progressive Patriot.

Let's make the difference! Please email this to every single friend you have.

Ever since NC millionaire Republican Svengali Art Pope decided to take out Republican Steve LaRoque the race for the NC State House 10th District has been contentious. Willie Ray Starling, supported by Pope, was the apparent Republican primary winner by 11 votes but complaints of vote suppression led to a series of legal clashes resulting in a new Republican primary set for September 12th. The winner will face Democrat Van Braxton, a Kinston City Councilor for 12 years.

Kinston is also home to Ted Sampley a serial entrepreneur, character assassin and petulant self-appointed czar of veterans affairs. Sampley, a Vietnam veteran, is notorious for denigrating the military service of John McCain, John Kerry and John Murtha. He seems to have a problem with decorated veterans named John. Sampley has also attacked Jesse Helms when Congressional inquiries didn't go his way.

My foray into the politics of North Carolina's 10th State House District started out innocently enough. I had planned to do an interview with Van Braxton, the Democrat running for the seat as part of our Citizen Journalism project here on BlueNC. It has turned into a tour of a darker side of politics. Much of the darkness can be attributed to one man, Ted Sampley, who operates a 501c3 that is closely linked to political organizations, he is years behind on filing tax returns for this organization and he seems to have some creative ideas for financing projects linked to the non-profit.

First let's start with a little history of Ted Sampley so you can understand more about just how he works. Sampley himself provides some information on his different web sites, Vietnam Veterans Against John Kerry, The Last Firebase Archives, and U.S. Veteran Dispatch. Two of the best non-Sampley sites that provide information are IndependentsforKerry.com and MIAfacts.org.

Follow me over the fold...

John Boyle at the Asheville Citizen-Times wrote an excellent article describing the franking privelege and how Charles Taylor uses it:

Steve Ford's latest column in the N&O on the political calculations around Bush's Iraq debacle could have been provocative, but it wasn't. Not even close. In fact, by reducing Bush's War to a discussion of presidential politics, Ford makes light of the untold misery created by this administration's inability to learn from mistakes. The title of the column is creepy enough ... On war, can White House say 'Uh-oh'? - and it goes downhill from there.

From ThinkProgress:

35. Number of words the current issue of TIME magazine devotes to Judge Anna Diggs Taylor’s ruling that President Bush’s warrantless domestic wiretapping program is unconstitutional.

1,109. The number of words in the same issue on the extradition of John Mark Karr.

I saw this in the Hill and it provided another reason why I think Mel Watt should consider moving to a state-wide race. Name recognition, party power, and hopefully he can excite the base. The mention of Watt is in regard to something I wish he hadn't done maybe.

The Congressional Black Caucus is positioned to dramatically increase its clout next Congress if Democrats win control of the House.

The 43-member group, already one of the most powerful blocs among House Democrats, would control as many as five committee gavels in a Democratic House, including two exclusive panels, Ways and Means and Judiciary. Members of the group also would lead 15 subcommittees, six of them on exclusive panels. And Caucus Chairman Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) would be a contender for majority whip.

Earlier this year, many in the CBC, including Chairman Mel Watt (D-N.C.), vociferously defended Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) when Democratic leaders moved to oust him from the Ways and Means Committee.

  

Click on the picture and take a look at the list Council of State members who are throwing a shindig for Heath Shuler in Raleigh on September 11. It'll cost you a pretty $250 just to get in the door, and $1000 to sponsor the event.

I'm happy that the Council of State has finally awakened to the fact that there is a congressional seat up for grabs in the mountains, but I wonder why they can't chew gum and walk at the same time. Because unless I've been in the Twilight Zone, there's another seat up for grabs too.