Author: Bob Rayner
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Public Health Covid Rules Were Nothing But Voodoo
by Kerry Dougherty We tried to tell you. Those of us with common sense were attacked for it though. Back in 2020, when we were being accused of wanting to kill grandma because we knew the “rules” coming from our public health officials were — for lack of a better term — unconstitutional bullshit, we…
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Virginia Bill Could Define Student Bullies by Race
by Hans Bader Should students be defined as bullies partly based on race? A confusingly-worded bill just introduced in Virginia’s legislature seemingly classifies students as bullies partly based on racial differences between “the aggressor” and the victim, such as a “real or perceived power imbalance between the aggressor or aggressors and victim, including on the…
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Congress, Commission Renounce Reconciliation
by Donald Smith ‘In passing the 2021 William M. “Mac” Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act, the United States Congress determined that Confederates and the Confederacy no longer warrant commemoration through Department of Defense assets.’ *** At such a time and under such conditions I thought it eminently fitting to show some token of our feeling,…
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Republican Rock Star Campaigns with Kiggans
by Kerry Dougherty An enthusiastic, overflow crowd crammed into a ballroom at the Marriott Oceanfront on 42nd Street Sunday afternoon to kick off Rep. Jen Kiggans’ re-election campaign. I’m not good at crowd estimates – plus I’m short and didn’t have a good vantage point – but there had to be 500 or more people…
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Rent Control Bill Introduced in Virginia
by Hans Bader A just-introduced Virginia bill, HB 192, would limit rent increases to “one percent over the Consumer Price Index” in places where the rental vacancy rate is “less than 10 percent,” if the “Consumer Price Index … is greater than five percent.” Virginia has a rental vacancy rate of about 4%, well below…
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Richmond’s Meals Tax Disaster
by Jon Baliles (These reports were published first by RVA 5×5 and are republished here with permission.) Starting about 25 years ago, Richmond’s restaurant scene began its ascent into the local consciousness as our region’s favorite (and only) professional sport. Offerings expanded and ventured into new directions and opened peoples eyes and expanded our tastes;…
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Surprise Findings About Metro Derailment
by Bill Tracy In Northern Virginia on Friday, the National Transportation Safety Board released a scathing final report on the Washington area Metro’s derailment problem with its newer. 7000-Series railcars. The NTSB’s media presentation by Chair Jennifer Homendy can be found on YouTube. NTSB also faulted Metro’s safety culture. My prior layman’s understanding, from local…
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Hey Virginia: Hands Off Those Cake Pops
by Kerry Dougherty There’s a reason Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s approval rating in the latest Mason-Dixon Poll perches at a lofty 58 percent in this once-blue state, despite Republicans losing control of the legislature in November’s election. Youngkin gets it. On X, he wrote: “We’re going to fix this, Virginia will always be the best place…
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Not Every Teacher’s Salary Can Be Above Average
by Hans Bader In the mythical Lake Wobegon, all the children are above average. But in real life, half of all people have to be below average, by definition. Half of all people are paid below average, especially in counties with very low living costs, where the vast majority of people are paid below the…
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Virginia Army National Guard Switches from Red to Blue
by Thomas. M. Moncure Jr. Confederate statues have come down and in some cases – to assure they will never rise again – have been melted down. Schools and roads have been purged of Confederate references. Army bases likewise are renamed in this cultural cleansing. This rewriting of history – Soviet style – would make…
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Virginia’s a Frequent Battleground in the Expanding Culture War
by Nelson Fegley To discuss this subject properly we first need to define the phrase “Culture War.” With the help of Wikipedia, it may be described as “a cultural conflict between different social groups to impose their own virtues, beliefs and practices over society. Culture wars often delve around wedge issues, often based on values,…
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Keep Carytown Safe for Cars
by Jon Baliles The debate about making Richmond’s Carytown a car-free zone is edging closer to the forefront in recent months with strong opinions, interesting suggestions, some good ideas, and some bad ones. The Times-Dispatch Editorial Board weighed in with its opinion, and it was vocal. It’s worth the entire read and filled with stats…
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Fairfax School Board Chair Takes Oath of Office on Stack of Porn
by Kerry Dougherty Ah, December. That marvelous holiday month, when Jews and Christians celebrate joyous holidays. Of course it’s also the season when those who loathe religion spring into action. This is their moment too. This year’s crop of religion haters is especially ugly. According to the New York Post, Harvard University officials — who…
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The Mailman Did It
by Jon Baliles They say bad news comes in threes, and this week is no exception for news from the City of Richmond’s Finance Department. This week wasn’t just raining; it has been a monsoon when it comes to sloppy administrative work, penalties, interest, and deflecting blame. Madison McNamee with NBC12 filed a story last…
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Racism Comes in All Colors
by Kerry Dougherty What follows here is fiction. Totally imaginary. Still, picture this with me: The mayor of Virginia’s largest city — that would be Virginia Beach, population 458,000 — decides to hold a holiday party for city council members on city property. The mayor — and let me remind you this is hypothetical, it…