HILLSBOROUGH BAR (AND CHAMBER) HAVE A PROUD BOY PROBLEM: Hot Tin Roof patron, Colin Dodd, sparked the controversy with a series of posts about a Hillsborough resident and known Proud Boy who had been frequenting the bar and occasionally bringing some of his friends with him. Kim Tesoro, a co-owner of the bar Hot Tin Roof, was hired as CEO of the Hillsborough/Orange County Chamber of Commerce in 2017. The issues surrounding the Proud Boys patronizing the bar “are in the hands of the ownership of Hot Tin Roof and their legal counsel,” the board said. Tesoro has referred questions to the bar’s attorney, Lynne Holtkamp, who issued a statement on July 7 but has not returned The N&O’s phone calls. I don't give AF about "diverse" opinions, Proud Boys are dangerous. They've attacked people in public several times, and took part in attempted coup of our elected government. They don't get a seat at the table, or the bar.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/orange-county/article252958883.html

"GUT & REPLACE" TACTIC HIDES LEGISLATORS' ACCOUNTABILITY TO VOTERS: House Bill 128 started as legislation to increase access to sporting venues in schools when it passed the state House on a 77-42 vote. In the Senate last month it was transformed into legislation to dealing with how much compensation unemployed workers could receive. Is that what the 119 representatives were voting on back on March 3? Not even close. House Bill 334 was clarifying tax relief to North Carolina businesses receiving pandemic PPP funds under the federal Cares Act. It was transformed in the Senate to legislation that cuts the corporate income tax rate to zero by 2028. Did House member know they were voting to eliminate business income taxes when they voted to approve the bill 111-2 on April 15? Absolutely not. This tactic makes things -- the good or bad of the legislation, what needs it meets or misses, who it benefits or hurts – irrelevant. It renders critical votes moving it along in the legislative process meaningless. I second that emotion.
https://www.wral.com/editorial-gut-replace-tactic-hides-legislators-accountability-to-voters/19785325/

PROUD BOY NABBED WHILE VISITING HIS NORTH CAROLINA BUDDIES: A man charged with joining alleged members of the Proud Boys in the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was arrested in Fayetteville last Thursday. Edward George Jr., 33, of Clearwater, Fla., was visiting North Carolina last week when he was taken into custody, Bill Miller, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, told The News & Observer Tuesday. George was named in a nine-count indictment dated July 7, alongside four other defendants: Kevin A. Tuck, Nathaniel Tuck, Arthur Jackman and Paul Rae. Jackman and Rae were originally charged in late March, and identified themselves as members of the Proud Boys, according to court records.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/crime/article252902618.html

ONE IN FIVE AMERICANS BELIEVE COVID VACCINES HAVE MICROCHIPS: Around 20% of Americans believe the government uses COVID vaccines to microchip people, according to a recent poll. An Economist/YouGov survey conducted July 10-13 based on a sample size of 1,500 adults found that 15% of respondents said it was “probably true” that vaccines contain microchips while 5% said it was “definitely true.” The poll found that believers of the conspiracy theory tend to be white men without a college degree. Twenty percent of white men without a college degree said the theory was “probably true” compared to 17% of white women without a college degree, and 16% of all Black and Hispanic respondents. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, said in a Friday briefing that more than 97% of people who are getting hospitalized with COVID are unvaccinated, CNN reported.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/coronavirus/article252883663.html

RACISM DOES EXIST, AND THE PUSH TO BAN DISCUSSING IT IS PROOF: The message state Senate leader Phil Berger sent on Wednesday was clear. It was NOT about accurately and completely teaching American history to North Carolina’s school children. It was about perpetuating the white supremacist myth that racism doesn’t exist in today’s America. Even more, anyone who entertains a discussion about it – not necessarily agreeing or disagreeing – is anti-American and in violation of teaching standards that he seeks to impose. Perhaps most astonishing is that Berger and fellow legislative leaders have perpetuated policies that have been defined by federal courts as racist. The federal Court of Appeals in 2016, said provisions in the legislature’s voter ID law “target African Americans with almost surgical precision.” That is intent. That is a clear definition of racism.
https://www.wral.com/editorial-racism-does-exist-latest-push-to-ban-discussing-it-is-proof/19775031/