Cardinal and Pine
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AI invades North Carolina
Plus: Remembering the Greensboro sit-ins Share with a friend Hey, it’s Billy. This newsletter was not written by artificial intelligence. Why? Because computers are a lot more intelligent than I am. But for my money, I’d rather hear a human voice any day. Speaking of AI, data centers are going up across the state of…
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🤯 NC life expectancy data will blow your mind
Plus: The late Jesse Jackson, NC A&T alum Share with a friend Hey, it’s Billy. In the US, we have maybe the best physicians in the world. But the system that gets us in to see them is a mess. It’s one of the reasons why in rural Halifax County, North Carolina, the life expectancy for…
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🏅 NC athletes showing out at the Olympics
Plus: Name this North Carolina market Share with a friend Hey, it’s Billy. Happy Friday the 13th, or for the not superstitious Cardinal & Pine readers, happy Friday. We begin, as we often do on Fridays, with our Good News Friday roundup. We started making these columns weekly around the time that COVID-19 and the…
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This NC street newspaper is made by homeless folks
Plus: Primary election dates you need to know Share with a friend Hey, it’s Billy. None of this matters very much if we don’t vote. My take: Voting is the thing that makes powerful people give a damn about basic “Joe Schmoes” like me. They might not want to listen to us, but when we…
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3 new ICE facilities in NC?
Plus: Bull fighting in Raleigh Share with a friend Hey, it’s Billy. The big news today is ICE, the federal agency in charge of enforcing immigration laws. Republicans funded a massive increase in the agency’s budget. But their aggressive tactics, including here in North Carolina, have cost them a lot of support in the last…
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Lost Obamacare subsidies hitting in NC
Plus: Buddhist monks’ journey nears its end. Share with a friend Hey, it’s Billy. A few years back, I covered the prominent civil rights leader Bishop William Barber II when he came to eastern NC. Barber was speaking on behalf of the Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. He talked about the enormous changes that we’d…
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❤️ 8 viral animal stars in NC
Plus: Last days of the Dambo trolls Share with a friend Hey, it’s Billy. This newsletter should do more than tell you the news. It should help you prepare for the week, too. Every week, we publish “3 things happening in NC” with that in mind. This week, Cardinal & Pine contributor Ryan Pitkin checks…
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The NC maestro who just won a Grammy
Plus: Name this historic NC downtown Share with a friend Hey, it’s Billy. Art is the lie that tells the truth. I’m paraphrasing a quote attributed to Pablo Picasso. Today’s “Good News Friday” column celebrates a ground-breaking piece of art that’s telling a lot of truth. This week, Charlotte Symphony Orchestra director Kwamé Ryan took…
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NC’s prisons are in crisis mode
Plus: Another arctic blast is heading our way. Share with a friend Hey, it’s Billy. In 2017, five prison employees in North Carolina were killed in two separate incidents. It was the deadliest year in state history for NC corrections workers. Afterward, state investigators pointed the finger at prison understaffing. It’s apparent that our state…
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Social media is broken. How to fix it.
Plus: What our readers think about ICE Share with a friend Hey, it’s Billy. I’m going to say something that we can all agree on: Social media is a disaster. It’s addictive, misleading, vindictive, very often wrong, and designed and operated to make us hate each other. But it is not unfixable. If you’ve been…
