Given the dominance of conservative groups at schools, I was somewhat worried about a group that claimed to be starting a Conservative Law Journal at UNC Law School. Boy was I worried over nothing!

First some background. UNC Law, much like other Law Schools, has a number of accredited academic journals. These journals publish a combination of professional and student pieces on discrete points of law. The journals range in breadth of the subjects they cover from the Law Review, which covers any issue, to issue specific journals such as the First Amendment Law Review. Substantively these articles are very intense studies on discreet, timely legal issues. The pieces are heavily edited, heavily footnoted, and well respected. In fact, these journals serve as the main method of communication between law professors, are well circulated, and do a great deal to advance the law in many areas.

For the battle cry of high costs levied against the proposed Triangle Rail Line, there is counterpoint being conveniently ignored: Roads cost a ton of money themselves. In fact, the cost of building roads is artificially lowered by not considering the long term costs to maintain the roads. Those of us in the Triangle have seen the results of those costs being ignored with a plethora of potholes, which increase wear and tear on a car, reduce traffic speed, and are a general hassle.

Potholes are caused by neglect of road surfaces over years. The best way to get rid of them is repaving the road. But repavement costs money to perform, wastes productivity by increasing traffic jams, and creates a hassle for every commuter. For a visual effect, I have pasted a list of repaving projects scheduled for this year in just Durham, Wake, and Franklin counties (from Crosstown Traffic):

The Book Tour for Jerome Armstrong of MyDD and Markos of DailyKos is getting organized. However, North Carolina is not on their schedule. They are asking for recommendations on where to go at their website above, and I sent them an e-mail about coming to the Triangle. They are asking that when people send them suggestions on destinations that they include a specific event, so I am putting it to our readers to:
1) Come up with some event that Markos and Jerome can come speak at;
2) Leave a comment here telling us your idea; and

I have been watching the debate and negative response to the TTA's proposed 18 mile diesel train route between Raleigh and Durham, and before they can even get anything together, China announces that they are building a train to travel over 1,300 kilometers at over 350 km/hr. The train will use magnetic levitation technology to reduce friction.

So, the supposedly tech-rich Triangle cannot get a diesel train going while China can build a super-advanced high-speed train. This is just one more example of America losing its competitive edge. Of course, we cannot produce engineers to supply large companies when we do not provide the funding that projects that would encourage advances in engineering. I am sure that we will be the world's leader in building roads (a technology as old as history) but we need some imagination, vision, and commitment to progressing toward a better society.

The Daily News (Jacksonville, NC) has an interesting article detailing the lack of interest in running for the North Carolina Legislature. Their reasons for half of the races for the legislature only having one candidate are: time commitment, small pay, gerrymandered districts, and the expense of modern campaigns.

Regardless of the reasons, it is a shame that 50% of the races are unopposed (we have a list of races with only one candidate here). If we are going to get any traction for progressive reforms in the legislature we need new blood and heated campaigns to get the ideas off the ground. As we move through this campaign cycle, I am starting a challenge to get our readers interested in advancing progressive causes to find out who is running in your district, and if there is no Democrat, consider running yourself.