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Column: All Aboard!
The buzzards are circling again! They see a struggling Phase II of the Dulles Metrorail Silver Line and are ready to swoop in to clean the bones of the project.
Column: General Assembly Goes Off a Cliff
The General Assembly adjourned sine die last week with a great sigh of relief from most everyone who participates in or follows its deliberations. Pre-session survey and hearing results suggested that the session would be about traffic congestion relief, expanding job opportunities, and strengthening the economy.
Commentary: Children and Outside Learning
Research highlights the benefits of outdoor and environmental education for children—ranging from increased academic achievement, improved social skills and interest in school, and boosted health, according to environmental education leaders who have organized NoVA Outside: An Alliance of Environmental Educators (www.novaoutside.org). I attended their School Environmental Action Showcase last week at George Mason University, and I was impressed by the students and their projects. The showcase is like a science fair but with the emphasis on environmental science.
Commentary: Balancing the Budget
One of the responsibilities of the Governor of Virginia dictated by the State Constitution is to propose a budget for a biennium.
Commentary: Being Among the Happiest
Technologists have applied their big data and computer-crunching to determine where in the world and where in the United States are the happiest places to live.
Column: Protecting Our Families
Commentary
In the week that I was in Chicago for the annual Legislative Summit of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), there was a record 100 people shot in the city in less than a week.
Opinion: Commentary: Legalizing Pot
When settlers to the Virginia colony in the seventeenth century discovered that they would not be able to walk about and pick up gold as some had been led to believe, they had to look around to find a way to make the colony economically sustainable.
Thanks, Coach…
…my Certified Holistic Health Coach, Rebecca Nenner, that is. (Visit www.healthcoachdiva.com for information leading to a healthier lifestyle.) More than a coach, Rebecca is my friend – and has been for many years. A former co-worker at the Connection Newspapers, Rebecca is as passionate about health and fitness as I am about the Boston Red Sox. She has been my guiding hand now for over five years, most especially when I was first diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer back in February, 2009. Although there are no whistles involved in her coaching, there are phone calls, e-mails, YouTube videos, Webinars and miscellaneous other advisories regularly landing in my in box. To say Rebecca has saved my life might be an overstatement, given that I am being treated by an oncologist; however, she has given me an alternate perspective on what I can do to help my body survive my treatment and live like I have a present and a future, a gift if ever there was one.
Election Year Shaping Up
Election Year Shaping Up
Marriage Equality Moves Forward
As one who has worked on human rights issues for many decades, I am excited about the positive changes that are occurring at such a rapid pace in laws and in peoples’ attitudes about sexual orientation, especially same-sex marriage. Most of the people I talk to under age 30 don’t understand why this is even an issue. Unfortunately because of some of my colleagues in the legislature, action by federal courts will be necessary to bring about changes in the law. As time passes there will continue to be residual harsh and discriminatory feelings on the part of a minority who cling to the past as there has been with every advance in civil rights, but most will look back in bewilderment over what people were thinking in refusing to grant the same rights to all people.
Legislative Crossover
Legislative Crossover
Commentary
Where Is the Outrage?
Aaron Alexis exercised his constitutional right to bear arms when he carried his shotgun and pistols to work with him at the Washington Navy Yard where he proceeded to shoot 12 other people before the police shot him in what the Washington Post termed a “rampage.” The pattern is becoming all too familiar: You get ticked off at someone or something; you get yourself a really big gun that a lot of people are spending a lot of money and time to ensure you can purchase as easily as possible; you vent your anger by shooting a lot of people; and you get put out of your misery when the police shoot you. If it sounds like a familiar story line, it’s because you’ve heard it many times—Virginia Tech, Fort Hood, Tucson, Aurora, Newtown, and now the Washington Navy Yard to name just a few of the sprees in recent years.
Learning from Others
Learning from Others
A Place at the Table for Everyone Born
Some catchy phrases that led to success at the ballot box resulted in some terrible public policies.
Apples, Oranges, and Cherries
Apples, Oranges, and Cherries
Opinion: Column: Night and Now Daze
That wasn't so bad. Approximately 29 hours in the hospital in a private room and all I had to do was drink as much water as possible and shower half a dozen times.
Column: Symptoms or just Sometimes
Making the best of a bad situation, that’s how I roll (I’m a Red Sox fan after all). Some days are easier than others, some symptoms/treatments/results are better than others. And some columns make more sense than others. But that’s cancer for you: an equal opportunity “screwer-upper.”