Author: Dick Hall-Sizemore
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Impersonal Medicine, But There Are Bright Spots
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Eye exam Many years ago, I went to Benny Lambert for my regular eye examinations. His optometry office was in a small building in Jackson Ward across the way from downtown Richmond. No one was ever in the small waiting room when I got there. There was one receptionist. Behind the receptionist’s desk, there was…
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Another Power Struggle Between Youngkin and General Assembly
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Another dispute between Gov. Glenn Youngkin and the General Assembly, one that has faint echoes of one occurring north of the Potomac, has taken on a larger life with parties turning to the Virginia Supreme Court. Before going into the details, some background would be helpful. The Virginia Constitution provides, “The Governor shall…
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My Soapbox: Dorm Rooms
by Dick Hall-Sizemore A common complaint, on Bacon’s Rebellion and generally, is about the high costs of colleges. I am usually sympathetic to such complaints. I see the projected costs of the higher ed institutions my grandkids are going to or are considering. But, then, I run across articles like this and this and I become very…
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Be Careful What You Wish For
by Dick Hall-Sizemore President Trump has directed the Secretary of Education to expand the reporting requirements of institutions of higher education in order to determine if any of those bodies are still using race as an admissions criterion. Accordingly, the Secretary has directed the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to collect the following data…
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A Cautionary Tale for Republican Appointees
by Dick Hall-Sizemore In a surprise move, Todd Gilbert has resigned his position as acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia. Gilbert, a stalwart conservative Republican and former Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, had been in the position for a little over a month. Gilbert offered no explanation for his resignation.…
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Maybe Ryan Should Have Toughed it Out
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The Trump administration has found that George Mason University (GMU) has violated federal law with its DEI policies. A spokesman for the Dept. of Education said, GMU “waged a university-wide campaign to implement unlawful DEI policies that intentionally discriminate on the basis of race.” The penalty? The president of the university, Gregory Washington, must…
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Another Violent Immigrant Caught
by Dick Hall-Sizemore On August 8, ICE officers arrested and detained another violent immigrant in the Richmond area. Arman Momand, a 19-year old rising senior at Henrico’s J.R. Tucker High School, had been charged by Henrico police with reckless driving, evading police, and driving without a license following a driving incident last December. However, the…
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Crime, Bloodshed, Bedlam, Squalor in D.C.
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Now we know what qualifies as a serious crime for the Trump administration. On January 6, 2021, a violent mob attacked the United States Capitol. Several law enforcement officers were assaulted, some seriously injured. In January 2025, President Trump pardoned them all. On August 10, 2025, as reported by the Washington Post,…
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Off the Interstate: A Whale of a Museum
by Dick Hall-Sizemore In Southern Virginia, where the Piedmont region begins to become the Blue Ridge, is the city of Martinsville, the home of the Virginia Museum of Natural History. The building and its contents are impressive. The museum’s mission is “to interpret Virginia’s natural heritage within a global context in ways that are relevant to…
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What Goes Around, Comes Around
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The Richmond Times-Dispatch had an interesting article about Mark Christie. Christie served a member of Virginia’s State Corporation Commission for 20 years until Trump appointed him to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in his first term. In January, Trump named Christie to head FERC. Then, in June, Trump fired Christie without…
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To Boldly Go Where No One Has Gone
by Dick Hall-Sizemore A Virginia corporation is one of a handful of companies involved in developing an energy alternative that, if successful, will render the debates over solar, wind, and fossil fuels moot. The alternative is miniaturized nuclear power. Not to be confused with the small modular reactors (SMRs) being explored by Dominion Energy, these reactors,…
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Oops! We Forgot About That.
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The Republican National Committee (RNC) and Winsome Earle-Sears have attacked Abigail Spanberger for receiving a $50,000 campaign donation from an individual whom they claim is a member of the Chinese Communist Party. There is one little detail that the Republicans fail to mention. The individual, Pin Ni, has also donated to a long…
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Off the Interstate
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Here are some notable signs from my travel through parts of Southside Virginia last week. No, I was not in California. This is advertising a Martinsville movie theater at the top of a hill, known locally as “Hollywood Mountain.” I passed up getting lunch here. (Outside Martinsville) Yard sign in Mecklenburg County.
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“A Weak and Ineffective Republican”?
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Todd Gilbert may be having mixed feelings today. The U.S. Senate has a custom whereby a member can veto a presidential nomination for a district court judgeship or U.S. Attorney in his or her state. It is called a “blue slip” and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee…
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A Word of Caution
by Dick Hall-Sizemore It irritates me a great deal to have an AI “answer” appear whenever I try to search the internet for information. AI is so notorious for misinformation that I wonder that the Googles of the world put it out there. I customarily ignore the AI “information” that appears. However, it was impossible…