Earth & Sky, a program that airs on NPR, featured a Virginia Tech chemist this morning. Karen Brewer is working to develop a hydrogen generation system “that’s energy efficient, inexpensive, clean and renewable.” Wonder what she thought of Larry Summer’s remarks on women and science …. Maybe some day we’ll be stuck in traffic in…

Does Jerry Kilgore, by naming Gilmore–an avowed future candidate–a co-chairman of his campaign, beholden himself to Gilmore down the road? How does he not do that? What does that say to his down-ticket friends? To Bolling? To McDonnell? Did Gilmore condition his support on the sell-out?

I don’t know how valid the results of this study are, but a telephone survey of 10,000 Virginians conducted by Auburne University Montgomery’s Center for Government found the following: “26% of command and line officers and 43% of citizens surveyed reported that bias-based policing was practiced in Virginia.” The study, underwritten by the Virginia Department…

Joel Kotkin, a prolific author and namer of trends in human settlement patterns (e.g. “white flight”), has written a new book. Kotkin’s latest idea–the dominance of “suburbia”–is trumpeted by the headline of the lead story in the Outlook section of Sunday’s The Washington Post: “Rule, Suburbia: The Verdict’s In. We Love It There.” The first…

I don’t see much merit in amending the state Constitution to ban same-sex marriage, as the state Senate voted 30 to 10 yesterday to do, but after reading Tyler Whitney’s account in this morning’s Richmond Times-Dispatch, I’m almost ready to endorse the darn thing out of pure contrariness. Said Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton: “It is…

The House version of the budget cut some of Gov. Warner’s proposed spending on economic development for Southside and Southwest. This Roanoke Times editorial assigns blame: Then there’s the “I got mine, Jack, and I want more” attitude among some legislators from thriving areas. Riding high on technology, services and federal spending, and with unemployment…

A few months ago Gov. Warner appointed me to the Virginia tobacco commission to fill the unexpired term of former Virginia Attorney General Mary Sue Terry, who resigned for business-related personal reasons. Like many of the thousands of appointments made by Virginia governors, this one is subject to confirmation by the Virginia General Assembly. Typically,…

Ever wonder why there is not enough affordable housing in functional locations? (At S/PI we call this housing “affordable and accessible.”) For an important part of the answer look no farther that the federal subsidy for the very rich. According to the bipartisan Joint Committee on Taxation the federal direct subsidy to homeowners is now…

The Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections defeated SB1072, a bill proposed by Sen. Ken Cuccinelli. It called for a voter referendum on the question “Shall the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors be prohibited from committing or appropriating County revenues and funds to the Dulles Corridor Rapid Transit Project?” (AKA Rail to Dulles) Many have…

Callahan and Chichester signaled Sunday a new, revisionist $63 billion state budget in the near-making that will spend most of a billion dollar surplus on one-time items and give Virginia Governor Mark Warner a second consecutive high-profile legislative victory as his tenure draws to a close. Says the Associated Press of the House and Senate…

“Experts” say that by 2030 there will be 2,000,000 more people, 833,000 new households (dwellings) and 1,600,000 additional jobs in the inner portions of what the US Bureau of the Census calls the “Washington Metropolitan Area.” This area is larger than the Washington Council of Governments membership area and smaller than the National Capital Subregion.…

Former Senator Chuck Robb hasn’t been heard from lately. Parade magazine reminds us today that he’s a co-chair of the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction. They will report on March 31. I suspect Rob will speak out after that date, although much of the Committee’s report…

The Washington Post reported today the passage of Del. Albo’s, R-Fairfax, bill (HB 1564) to impose new fines on speeders and reckless drivers. (“VA Delegates Add Fines for Driving Errors.”) Actually, it appears that the Post has it wrong, It’s HB 1563 that was voted out of the appropriations committee. This bill was sponsored by…

With as much political substance as splooge — that creamy white stuff inside a Twinkie — my favorite state Senator, Emmett “Taximaximus” Hanger, has backed off his legislation to stop negotiations between VDOT and STAR Solutions to expand I-81. He presented the bill to the subcommittee, but chose not to put it to a vote.…

After 40 years of relentless culling, I’ve accumulated a very modest libary of ‘keeper’ books. Few, if any of them, have any intrinsic value, being mostly bought on the cheap–some for pennies. But I’ve never catalogued, or even sorted them in any way, until today. My report: 403 works of literature (some multiple copies); 126…