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    <title>Opinion &gt; Columnists for Richmond Times-Dispatch</title>
    <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/</link>
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        <title>Opinion &gt; Columnists for Richmond Times-Dispatch</title>
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    <dc:language>en</dc:language>
    <dc:creator>Richmond Times-Dispatch</dc:creator>
    <dc:rights>Copyright 2009</dc:rights>
    <dc:date>2009-11-20T16:40:17-05:00</dc:date>

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          <title>Eminent Domain: City Held the Cards; Victims Hold the Bag</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLE20_20091119-183204/306766/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Jay and Stephanie Burkholder never had much of a chance, really. They held title to a building in Roanoke that housed a flooring company, where fewer than 50 people worked. And they were going up against Carilion&#8212;a $2 billion health system that wanted to build a biomedical complex on their land. They also were going up against the City of Roanoke, whose former economic developer was employed by Carilion to scope out locations for the center&#8212;not to mention Virginia Tech and UVa, each of which had a hand in the project, as well as the Commonwealth of Virginia, which kicked in $59 million in case Carilion ran short of cash.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Health Care: Pro&#45;Choice Advocates Don&#8217;t Connect the Dots</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLE17_20091116-174403/306103/</link>
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Pro-choice liberals are horrified that House Democrats made a deal with the devil by passing a health care bill that would expand the prohibition on federal funding of abortion. They are ap parently shocked to discover that putting politicians in charge of more health care decisions means more health care decisions will be made on a political basis.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:01:19 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>HEALTH CARE: Reform Tries to Fix What Washington Broke</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLE10_20091109-181203/304673/</link>
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If the preferences of congressional Democrats hold sway, President Obama eventually will sign a health care bill imposing an individual mandate to purchase insurance. If it survives court chal lenge, Uncle Sam will not only tax your paycheck, but also tell you how to spend what&#8217;s left. Americans who are not opposed to this measure might feel sanguine about what the Congressional Budget Office has termed an &#8220;unprecedented form of federal action&#8221; because they support the broader aim of health care reform, so-called. But some might support reform less if they knew it really amounts to Washington trying to clean up its own mess&#8212;with a dirty sponge.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:59 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>National Implications: McDonnell&#8217;s Win Is a Model for Conservative Revival</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-BOB04_20091103-210203/303448/</link>
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It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of Bob McDonnell&#8217;s comfortable win in the race for governor of Virginia&#8212;not because it necessarily portends a GOP sweep in the 2010 midterms, but because it serves as a model for conservative and Republican victories in battleground states across the country. McDonnell&#8217;s election last night&#8212;and his impressive coattails&#8212;are the product of personality and philosophy. McDonnell triumphed, in a state that Barack Obama carried by 6 percentage points, by running as an unabashed conservative&#8212;but never an angry conservative.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:01:26 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Injustice Dept.: Ruling Turns Voting Rights Act on Its Head</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLE27_20091026-183603/301722/</link>
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You would think that the Obama Justice Department, having badly embarrassed itself in a Philadelphia voter-intimidation case, would take pains not to smear any further egg on its face. But if the case of Kinston, N.C., is any guide, you would be gravely mistaken. In November the black-majority community of Kinston voted by a margin of almost 2-to-1 to switch from partisan to nonpartisan elections. That would have brought it in line with the vast bulk of localities in North Carolina, where only nine out of 551 hold partisan elections.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:01:42 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Miss Croatia Wins World Chess Championship</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/miss_croatia_wins_world_chess_championship/299299/</link>
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The World Chess Federation today announced that Barack Obama had become the world chess champion, nudging aside former undisputed champion Viswanathan Anand of India.
The news surprised some in the chess world, because Obama has never participated in tournament play. But FIDE officials said they felt certain Obama could become world champion if he ever decided to try.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:59 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Eminent Domain: Details Regarding Roanoke&#8217;s Kelo Redux</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLE13_20091012-180004/298952/</link>
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The seamier side of the story often gets left on the cutting-room floor. So the eminent-domain case related here a few days ago&#8212;involving Roanoke&#8217;s attempt to seize a building owned by a cou A. BARTON HINKLE ple of small business owners&#8212;merits revisiting, in order to give a fuller picture. The case, which looks remarkably like the Kelo v. New London case that united the political left and right in outrage four years ago, pits Roanoke authorities against Jay and Stephanie Burkholder, who own a building in part of the city targeted for redevelopment by Carilion Health Clinic. A lawyer for the city&#8217;s housing authority says the city wants to condemn the building in order to eradicate blight. This despite the fact that the Burkholders&#8217; building was not found to be blighted itself; it merely sat in an area that was called blighted.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Standing The Watch: Happy Birthday, U.S. Navy</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-BERES13_20091012-180004/298949/</link>
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In October 1775, the 13 American Colonies were in outright rebellion against the crown&#8212;a rebellion that would change the course of world history. Throughout the Revolutionary War, the ROBIN BERES tiny Colonial Army was plagued by shortages of gunpowder. Desperate to obtain supplies of the coveted substance, the Continental Congress authorized the &#8220;procurement, fitting out, manning, and dispatch of two armed vessels to cruise the waterways in search of munitions ships supplying the British Army.&#8220; That brief mission statement was the birth certificate of the United States Navy.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>As Team Names Go, &#8216;Yankees&#8217; Would Never Do</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLE08_20091007-180605/297961/</link>
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I hope you will not think me a presumptuous goldbricker for taking a few moments away from washing the team&#8217;s practice socks&#8212;they are drying on the line as I pen these words&#8212;to convey to you my solemn concern about the discussions regarding the new team name.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:01:57 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Amnesia</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/amnesia/297617/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Critics of the Obama/Joker poster seem to have rather short memories.            ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:02:52 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Politicians Need a Repudiation&#45;Demand Wizard</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/politicians_need_a_repudiation-demand_wizard/296813/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
If Microsoft and Google have not yet created a campaign-rhetoric wizard, they probably should. Heaven knows there&#8217;s a natural market in Virginia for one. 
As things stand now, every time a political organization wants to take a shot at the other side, it is forced to write the whole thing out from scratch. This wastes immense time and energy, given that most of the daily attacks essentially recycle the same material over and over.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:01:10 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Roanoke: Eminent&#45;Domain Case Looks Like Kelo Redux</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLE29_20090928-174807/296057/</link>
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When the Supreme Court handed down its disastrous 2005 ruling on eminent domain in Kelo v. New London, Justice Sandra Day O&#8217;Connor made a prediction. &#8220;Any property may now be taken for the benefit of another private party,&#8220; she lamented, &#8220;but the fallout from this decision will not be random. The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms.&#8220; Kelo, in effect, took away David&#8217;s slingshot and gave Goliath a bigger club.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:01:29 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Ideology and Intellect: For the Community Organizer, Peanut Farmer Simpatico?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-ROSS27_20090925-195003/295496/</link>
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Barack Obama has rescued the nation&#8212;verily, the world&#8212;from economic collapse. He stands on the cusp of achieving higher quality health care at lower cost&#8212;for every American. Now he ROSS MACKENZIE is moving to extend his magic to matters foreign. Let&#8217;s see . . .   At his direction, his secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, is doing her best to compel the new leaders of Honduras to violate their own constitution, under which the Honduran Congress and Supreme Court have removed the Castro and Chavez acolyte who was about to impose Fidelism on the Honduran people. Secretary Clinton et al. want the deposed president restored to power&#8212;after the fashion of American practice in, for instance, Haiti.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 27 Sep 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Health Care: Does the GOP Mean What It Says About Choice?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLE25_20090924-201009/295259/</link>
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Republicans, says Mitt Romney, &#8220;believe in allowing people to have a choice in their health care.&#8220; Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell concurred a few days ago, when he said &#8220;Americans have A. BARTON HINKLE been . . . clear: People want more choice.&#8220; Virginia&#8217;s Eric Cantor agrees that choice is good. The House minority whip says the GOP&#8217;s health care plans &#8220;are designed to . . . protect Americans from being forced into a new government-run health care plan that would . . . limit your choice of doctors and medical treatment options.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Agitprop: Hey, Let&#8217;s Get the Artists to Defend Abu Ghraib!</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLE22_20090921-201403/294499/</link>
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As historians begin to sift through papers from the Bush administration, the extent of its nefariousness is slowly but surely coming to light. We already knew U.S. attorneys were sacked for holding the &#8220;wrong&#8221; types of political views. We knew the EPA censored technical papers on climate change. We knew, from Imperial Life in the Emerald City, that job applicants seeking work in the Iraq-reconstruction effort were asked for their views on Roe v. Wade.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:01:28 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Liberty Seminar: Why Does Government Grow?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLE18_20090917-182003/293591/</link>
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Last weekend tens of thousands of fired-up Americans gathered in Washington to protest the most rapid inflation of government since WWII. Meanwhile, in a hotel conference room in Old Town Alexandria, a group of journalists and academics wrestled with a related question: Why does government grow? The discussions were sponsored by the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University in partnership with the Liberty Fund. Here are some questions and insights that emerged from the weekend.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Beauty at Harvard</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-RLHARV09_20090908-181007/291389/</link>
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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. Last Thursday night something beautiful happened at Harvard. In great anticipation a congregation gathered amid flickering light in Memorial Church&#8217;s Appleton Chapel. With the onset of the academic year, Compline resumed. Members of the University Choir opened with &#8220;Lord, We Beseech Thee,&#8220; by Adrian Batten, a less remembered composer from the glory years of Renaissance church music. &#8220;The Lord Almighty grant us a quiet night and a perfect end,&#8220; said the minister with the clear voice of a New England divine. &#8220;Come unto me, all who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light,&#8220; he continued. &#8220;Thanks be to God,&#8220; the people responded, with candles in their hands. The choir sang again. The congregation, standing, joined in the hymn, &#8220;All Praise to Thee, My God, This Night,&#8220; by Thomas Tallis.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:01:51 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Hinkle: Pre&#45;K Education = National Security Equation Doesn&#8217;t Compute</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLE908_20090907-190805/291218/</link>
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Last week a group of retired military leaders held a press conference to make a novel pitch for a surprising cause: early childhood education. Noting that roughly 70 percent of military-age young people are ineligible for enlistment, the warriors warned (as a retired Air Force general put it) that &#8220;we cannot allow today&#8217;s dropout crisis to become a national-security crisis.&#8220; Virginia Attorney General Bill Mims, who joined the press conference, called &#8220;dollars spent on early-childhood education&#8221; a &#8220;force multiplier.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 08 Sep 2009 00:01:55 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Random Walk: On Apologies, Chavistas, Ethics, the First Lady&#8217;s Staff, etc.</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-ROSS06_20090904-202408/290707/</link>
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Queries on curiosities in the news . . .   In enthusiastically supporting the kooky health care measure approved by Madame Pelosi&#8217;s House Democrats, how can the gargantuan AARP&#8212;so often cited blandly as an advocate for senior citizens&#8212;be anything but a hard-left lobby?   Which does contemporary American culture value more&#8212;merit or celebrity?           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 06 Sep 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Satire: McDonnell Thesis Barely Scratches the Surface</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLE4_20090903-202808/290455/</link>
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 Editor&#8217;s note: The following excerpt from &#8216;Dyspeptic Dominion: A Political History of Virginia&#8217; (Copyright 2024) is reprinted by permission. . . . [GOP gubernatorial candidate Robert F.] McDonnell&#8217;s fortunes took a sharp turn for the worse Aug. 31, 2009, when The Washington Post ran a lengthy, front-page article on a grad uate thesis McDonnell wrote while at Regent University, a school founded by televangelist Pat Robertson. The thesis&#8212;dubbed McDonnell&#8217;s &#8216;Macaca Moment&#8217; by some in the press&#8212;was critical of feminism and working women, and argued for government policies that would privilege &#8220;traditional&#8221; (i.e., male-female) married couples over &#8220;cohabitators, homosexuals, or fornicators.&#8220; The thesis immediately became Topic A of the campaign.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>U.S. Economy: Your Taxes May Have to Go Up</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLE01_20090831-175803/289537/</link>
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Word is going around Washington that the president might not be able to keep his promise not to raise your taxes, much as he would like to be able to do so. News reports say his economic advis ers have &#8220;refused to rule out&#8221; a tax increase. But take heart: &#8220;Democrats say Obama is highly unlikely to break the pledge before next year&#8217;s congressional election, and observe that it would be safer to wait until his second term if a tax increase becomes unavoidable.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:01:41 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>U.S. Economy: Michigan&#8217;s Troubles, Recession&#8217;s Effects</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-NUECH01_20090831-175803/289539/</link>
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CHARLOTTESVILLE Arecent visit to my ex-home state of Michigan convinced me that Virginia, for all its current budget problems, is far better off than this cradle of America&#8217;s auto industry. July&#8217;s unemployment rate in Michigan stood at 15.6 percent, well above the national average, while Virginia&#8217;s jobless figure was 6.9 percent. Michigan&#8217;s projected budget deficit for 2010 exceeds $2 billion, while Virginia&#8217;s is half that. Michigan&#8217;s governor, Jennifer Granholm, has cut many worthy programs and released prison inmates.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Regulation: Want to Hold a Yard Sale? Show Us Your Papers</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLE28_20090827-182404/288756/</link>
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During WWI, the federal government&#8212;believing, as Herbert Hoover put it, that &#8220;wheat will win the war&#8221;&#8212;sought greater control over the nation&#8217;s food supply. The result was the Food Administration, whose minions spread across the land issuing decrees such as this one (recorded in a newspaper at the time, and recounted in Robert Higgs&#8217; Crisis and Leviathan):           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>STATE SPENDING: The Bottom Has Fallen Out&#8212;What Now?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLE25_20090824-181003/288027/</link>
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Never waste a good crisis,&#8220; said Hillary Clinton back in March. Virginia&#8217;s political leaders should keep the advice in mind as they wrestle with yet another round of budget cuts. The current fiscal dilem mas present them with an opportunity to reposition the state for more prudent governance in the years ahead. Take forecasting, which seems to need an overhaul. Republicans have lambasted the Kaine administration for overly optimistic revenue projections, and rightly so. As far back as 2005, when the state ended the fiscal year with a half-billion-dollar surplus, House Appropriations Chairman Vince Callahan warned: &#8220;I think the consensus is to not have new programs that we might not be able to pay for in six years. I&#8217;ve been through too many of these cycles, and I&#8217;ve seen the bubble burst before.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Choice Proponents Play a Solid Game</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLE21_20090820-183007/287285/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Del. Chris Saxman has been championing school choice for years, so he answers the standard criticisms of choice proposals with the celerity of a chess grandmaster going through the motions of the Ruy Lopez. Don&#8217;t vouchers and tuition tax credits drain money from the public schools? No&#8212;carefully constructed, they would actually increase per-pupil funding for public K-12, he explains.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Letters to the Editor: Japan Was Defeated; A&#45;bomb Wasn&#8217;t Needed</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-BUSH13_20090812-180402/285563/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Japan Was Defeated; A-bomb Wasn&#8217;t Needed Editor, Times-Dispatch: Philip True&#8217;s Commentary column, &#8220;August 1945: Ending the War,&#8220; touches upon the traditional defenses of our use of atomic weapons against the Japanese&#8212;saving lives and preventing a bloody invasion&#8212;while ignoring compelling evidence arguing against its necessity. The revisionist historians True dismisses have much to teach us by drawing upon the abundant historical record.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Personal Story: Innovation: As With Moon Landings, So With Medicine</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-ROSS09_20090807-194601/284678/</link>
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Space and health, seemingly disconnected, join to provide important lessons about the nation. (In violation of a longtime columnar stricture against the first-person singular&#8212;in this age of the rat-trap of me, a stricture violated in columns and blogs and on television every day before breakfast&#8212;today&#8217;s column includes some personal references.)           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 09 Aug 2009 00:01:07 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Planning for Page One</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/NV-VIEW09_20090807-194809/284692/</link>
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The most memorable line from the mostly forgettable 1980s television series &#8220;The A-Team&#8221; was uttered at the end of each episode by ringleader Col. John &#8220;Hannibal&#8221; Smith: &#8220;I love it when a plan comes together.&#8220; That&#8217;s a sentiment I sometimes repeat, aloud or to myself, as we put together each day&#8217;s Richmond Times-Dispatch. My job, as night editor, is to lead the discussion about which stories we use on Page A1. That discussion can continue all through the evening, as events warrant.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 09 Aug 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Late Deliveries Will End Once Press Upgrades Are Complete</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-LATE09_20090807-194809/284685/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Alittle more than two years ago, I wrote a column to explain the work we were doing to recover from the June 23, 2007, fire at our Hanover production plant. Fast forward 692 days and here I am again. This time I&#8217;ll explain what&#8217;s behind some of the late deliveries many of our customers have experienced recently. We&#8217;ve got a major press upgrade project under way.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 09 Aug 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>OUR ABCs: Rationales for Liquor Monopoly Don&#8217;t Hold Up</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLE07_20090806-190608/284457/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Given the recent contretemps surrounding Northrop Grumman&#8217;s information-technology contract with the commonwealth, this might not be the most auspicious hour for Bob McDonnell to propose privatizing the state&#8217;s liquor stores. But the GOP candidate is not the first to raise the idea. It has become a hardy perennial, chiefly because its merits are not subject to the changing political climate.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 07 Aug 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>LAND USE: Neither Gubernatorial Candidate Has the Transportation Fix</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLE24_20090723-184203/281744/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell deserves credit for rolling out a transportation policy package chock-full of ideas&#8212;some of which are new, most of which are sensible. Most. Virginia probably could do without yet another blue-ribbon task force, for instance. And a VDOT audit&#8212;while not objectionable&#8212;is not going to solve the state&#8217;s road-money woes no matter how much waste it uncovers. (It might not uncover much; the recession likely has done as much as any audit could to squeeze inefficiency out of the system.)           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 24 Jul 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Satire: Henrico County Dress Code for Teachers (Revised)</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLE21_20090720-180003/281077/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
DRAFT GUIDELINES Statement of Purpose In order to maintain an effective learning environment, HCPS teachers and administrators are expected to conduct themselves at all times in an appropriate manner, to include the wearing of proper attire. An individual&#8217;s appearance that is distracting, disruptive, or that presents a potential safety hazard to oneself or others is hereby prohibited. The following guidelines shall be in effect during all regular school hours and at all school functions except as specified.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 21 Jul 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>From the Newsroom: Restaurant reviewer considers many angles</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/NV-VIEWW19_20090717-204001/280624/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Friends who go out to eat with Dana Craig have learned the hard way: Everybody has to order something different, she&#8217;ll demand bites of food from around the table, and she&#8217;ll make discreet notes on how tangy the vinaigrette is and whether the steak is grilled to her satisfaction. Craig is The Richmond Times-Dispatch&#8217;s restaurant reviewer, and her pieces appear Thursdays in the Weekend section. You won&#8217;t see her photo there or with this column because staying anonymous ensures that she gets treated like any other paying customer.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 19 Jul 2009 00:01:54 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>BENT OUT OF SHAPE: Commonwealth regulations tie yoga schools up in knots</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE14_20090713-212601/279781/</link>
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Virginia routinely receives awards for good state management, and now we know at least one reason why: The state has been remarkably proactive in protecting its citizens from the lurking men ace of unlicensed yoga schools. This past December the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia (SCHEV) sent out letters to yoga academies that teach people to become yoga instructors, informing those academies that they must obtain state certification to continue to operate.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 14 Jul 2009 00:01:35 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Hey There! Herman Melville Is Using Twitter!</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLE11_20090709-222603/279142/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Call me Ishmael. 2:48 PM December 17th from web Have decided to go see watery part of world. Wish me luck! 4:09 PM December 17th from web Rooming for night at Spouter Inn. Nice place. Popular, too. Needs better lighting tho. 6:21 PM December 17th from web Dumplings for supper!           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:01:20 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Food Cops: Coming Soon to a Restaurant Near You?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLE07_20090706-174403/278342/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The food cops are back. With liberal Democrats running the two political branches of government, enthusiasts for the Nanny State are coming out of the woodwork. Chicago-and-Harvard law prof Cass Sunstein has been named the Obama administration&#8217;s regulatory czar. (He replaces Susan Dudley, who came out of George Mason University&#8217;s Mercatus Center, a free-market think tank.) Sunstein is the co-author of Nudge&#8212;the premise of which is that, because some people make stupid decisions, &#8220;choice architects&#8221; practicing &#8220;libertarian paternalism&#8221; should shape other people&#8217;s options so that the booboisie will make the type of choices smarter people, like Sunstein, think they should make.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:01:23 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Fourth Of July: A Holiday Dialogue Between Dude and Uncle Sam</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-ROSS03_20090702-182004/277678/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
ROSS MACKENZIE Times-Dispatch Columnist A4th of July conversation between Dude&#8212;a teenager&#8212;and his Uncle Sam . . . Yo, Uncle. Wasup? Good morning, Dude. What am I doing? I&#8217;m getting into my suit for the parade. What&#8217;re you gonna be in a parade for? They gonna have a lot of hot chicks and cool floats? I don&#8217;t know about that, Dude. But I do know there will be many military people and ordinary citizens&#8212;and brass bands playing Sousa marches and songs about America. It&#8217;s our annual celebration of independence and liberty.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Listening: In Search of the True Self</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-CULBERT01_20090630-181805/277213/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Here at the age of 39, I began to be old,&#8220; says Charles Ryder as his revisit to Brideshead begins. For others, self-awareness arrives sooner or later, more or less. There are young fogies as well as old. Most learn age&#8217;s lessons only to forget or ignore them. Often indeed we need to remind ourselves of our true selves. The gatekeeper at Boston&#8217;s Museum of Fine Arts issues a ticket to a Richmonder and the price includes the senior discount, which the traveler neither requests nor is asked whether the rate applies. The mirror says he does not look a day past 90. Later that evening, during a stroll near Harvard, in an evening turning from sultry to soft, a twentysomething calls out, &#8220;Hey, Grandpa.&#8220; Ours is not to reason why.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Armed Citizens: Both Left and Right Could Use Second Amendment Refresher</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLE26_20090625-174202/276360/</link>
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There is always the danger that those inclined toward violence will incorporate it into their twisted worldview,&#8220; writes Bob Herbert of The New York Times in a recent column about right-wing ex tremism. Herbert has joined a chorus of liberal commentators who see a connection between (a) incidents such as the murder of abortion doctor George Tiller and James von Brunn&#8217;s attack at the Holocaust Museum and (b) the anti-government rhetoric issuing from conservative sources such as the National Rifle Association, talk-show host Glenn Beck, and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>. . . But Some Never Lost Theirs</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLE23_20090622-175804/275438/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Arecent news article about Food Lion pulling ahead of Ukrop&#8217;s in the grocery wars noted that the local chain is running the race with a couple of ankle weights. It doesn&#8217;t sell beer or wine, and it isn&#8217;t open on Sun day&#8212;the biggest shopping day of the week. And therein lies a lesson for both liberals and conservatives: Money isn&#8217;t everything.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Black Men, Let&#8217;s Rise to the Occasions</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HORTONOP18_20090618-182203/274607/</link>
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NORFOLK. As an African-American male of 68 years, I have a special message for Juneteenth (today) and Father&#8217;s Day (Sunday) for 2009. It has been said that nothing is as powerful as an idea whose time has come. And, do I have a great idea for Father&#8217;s Day and Juneteenth, or what? For over two decades, I have worked directly with young African-Americans, particularly inner-city and public-housing males. I have been a student and teacher of African-American history for more than 40 years. I have conducted countless workshops and classes on self-esteem, historical perspective, culture awareness, personal responsibility, youth empowerment, academic improvement, career development, effective parenting, family stability, and the like.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Government Spending: Should We Treat Health Care and Education the Same Way?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLE12_20090611-184601/273281/</link>
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If you haven&#8217;t heard of the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care yet, wait. It is fast becoming the Book of Kells in the Washington policy world. The Obama White House has realized that Dartmouth&#8217;s research could enable it to pull off&#8212;or at least to sell&#8212;the big dream of health-care reform: affordable universal coverage. Under ordinary circumstances, broadening government involvement in health care would be a hugely expensive proposition&#8212;and the more generous the benefits, the higher the cost. But researchers at Dartmouth have compiled decades of data showing two things: (1) there are huge geographic differences in Medicare outlays (e.g., more than $16,000 per beneficiary in Miami, versus less than $8,400 in San Francisco), and (2) those differences seem to produce no difference in health outcomes.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>SENDUP: Thomas the Tank Engine &amp; Friends Come to Central Virginia</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLEOP09_20090608-183806/272624/</link>
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A. BARTON HINKLE Thomas the Tank Engine was excited. It was a busy time on the Island of Sodor. Percy had just told him that the Rail way Board had dropped a proposed eastern route for an express train between the nation&#8217;s capital and the Capital of the Confederacy. &#8220;Who needs that silly Buckingham branch line, anyway?&#8220; said Thomas to Percy.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>POLITICAL HYPERBOLE: Virginia Politicians Just Keep Getting Extremier and Extremier</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLEOP05_20090604-185602/271830/</link>
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A. BARTON HINKLE It&#8217;s not yet clear whom Virginia Democrats will pick on Tuesday to run against Bob McDonnell and Bill Bolling, the GOP candidates for governor and lieutenant governor. (The unopposed Democratic candidate for attorney general, Steve Shannon, will square off against Republican Ken Cuccinelli.) But this much is clear: Whatever the Democratic ticket looks like, it will be the most extreme, radical, wild-eyed bunch of borderline psychotics ever to campaign for public office in the history of the universe.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>SOTOMAYOR&#8217;S NOMINATION: Identity Politics Characterizes National Discussion</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE29_20090528-200302/270462/</link>
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A. BARTON HINKLE If you see a lot of people walking around in neck braces in the next few days, don&#8217;t be surprised. Most of them probably got whiplash trying to process the hoopla surrounding So nia Sotomayor&#8217;s nomination to the Supreme Court. From all the celebratory hullaballoo, one might conclude that the most important aspect of the nomination is that it breaks down barriers. And it certainly was heartwarming to see the nation&#8217;s first black president standing beside the woman who will almost certainly be come the nation&#8217;s first (or, perhaps, second&#8212;see below) Hispanic Supreme Court justice. Gotta love progress. Sotomayor&#8217;s life history (raised by a single mom, inspired by Nancy Drew) also is heartwarming in its own right. As Janet Murguia of the National Council of La Raza said, it &#8220;personifies the American dream for so many Latinos in this country.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 29 May 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Retreat Brings One Back to Reality</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/SSJECOLUMN_20090526-174501/270014/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Abide with me, fast falls the eventide.&#8220; Soft voices fill sacred space. &#8220;Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping.&#8220; Compline closes the day. Prayer proceeds without ceasing. The words are chanted and sung at the Society of Saint John the Evangelist, a monastic community of the Episcopal Church. Its monastery lies in Cambridge along the Charles River, adjacent to Harvard University. The premises include a guest house, quarters for the brothers, and the Chapel of Saint Mary and Saint John, and are open for retreats that are not withdrawals but re-entries into the real. Visitors include groups and individuals, friends and strangers&#8212;although in the truest sense there are no strangers here. Silence predominates. In a world of noise, it is a welcome sound. &#8220;Elected silence, sing to me.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 27 May 2009 00:01:36 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>America&#8217;s Servicemen Live Life on the Grenade</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE25_20090524-171304/269709/</link>
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Petty Officer Michael Monsoor, a Navy SEAL, was part of a security detail in Ramadi, Iraq, on Sept. 29, 2006, when an insurgent lobbed a grenade at his position. Mon soor, 25, threw himself on the grenade to shield his comrades from the blast. He died a half-hour later. &#8220;He never took his eye off the grenade,&#8220; said one of the men there that day. &#8220;His only movement was down toward it. He undoubtedly saved mine and the other SEALs&#8217; lives, and we owe him.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 25 May 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Do State Democrats, Too, Have a Purity&#45;Test Problem?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE22_20090521-190614/269101/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Virginia&#8217;s Republican Party has taken a lot of heat for zealotry in recent months. Critics say the GOP&#8212;particularly under its recently deposed chairman, Jeff Frederick&#8212;has spent more time worrying about whose heart was not pure enough to belong than it has spent reaching out to potential converts and inviting them to come join the party.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 22 May 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>The Constitution According to President Barack Obama</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE19_20090518-180005/268470/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Article I All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, at least for the sake of appearances. Article II Section 1 The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. Section 2 Woe betide any Person who dare suggest the preceding Section shall be interpreted to mean &#8220;the limited Power to carry out the Laws passed by Congress&#8221; and not &#8220;the unbounded Prerogative to do whastoever the Current Holder of the Executive Office may please.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 19 May 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>On the Basics, Hackers, Golf, Silence, Etc.</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL0517_20090515-213421/268003/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Additional stops on a random walk through a garden of issues currently in the news . . .   A study of student performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress test (NAEP) since the early 1970s reaches dismal conclusions. On a scale of 500, test scores by today&#8217;s high schoolers average a pitiful one point higher in reading and just two points higher in math.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 17 May 2009 00:01:31 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Right or Wrong, the GOP Sure Is Brave&#8212;Isn&#8217;t It?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE15_20090514-182308/267740/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
According to liberal orthodoxy, Virginia Republicans are a tremendously courageous lot. How so? Because, in opposing an extension of unemployment benefits, they are standing up for their convictions in the face of popular opinion. That is the brave and noble thing to do, right? When the subject is taxes, the answer almost always seems to be yes.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 15 May 2009 00:01:15 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Energy&#8217;s Future Leaves Left and Right in a Muddle</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE88_20090507-182704/266351/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Liberals and conservatives are of two minds about energy policy. Wait&#8212;make that four minds. When the subject concerns oil exploration and extraction&#8212;off Virginia&#8217;s coast, in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or in the Bakken formation in Montana and North Dakota&#8212;conservatives trumpet optimistic reserve estimates indicating huge opportunities that will wean us from dependence on foreign suppliers and boost the economy in the process.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 08 May 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Everybody&#8217;s a Potential Terrorist. Yes, You Are Too.</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE5_20090504-171010/265665/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Several recent reports by law-enforcement agencies have awakened the American public to a terrorism threat far broader than previously imagined. The first, from the Missouri Infor mation Analysis Center, focused on the militia movement. It identified the warning signs of potentially violent anti-government ideology: association with third-party political groups, enthusiasm for minor-party candidates such as Ron Paul or Bob Barr, hostility to immigration, and opposition to abortion. Brandishing a bumper-sticker was considered a dead giveaway.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 05 May 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE5_20090504-171010/265665/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Virginia Is Blazing A Green Trail</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/KAINEOP_20090421-170414/261647/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Virginia has been blessed with an unsurpassed treasure of natural resources and beauty, and it is the responsibility of each Virginian to ensure that future generations will enjoy the treasures we have enjoyed for more than 400 years. On Earth Day 2009, I am encouraged to see that more and more Virginians are awakening to the fact that sustainable economic development, and the cultivation of a &#8220;green economy,&#8220; will enhance not only the commonwealth&#8217;s mountains and rivers, but its bottom line and continued economic viability. There is common ground to be found between environmental leaders and business leaders, and my administration will continue to develop a strong and healthy environment and economy.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:01:31 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/KAINEOP_20090421-170414/261647/#When:05:01:31Z</guid>
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          <title>William &amp; Mary Should Adopt the Wren as Mascot</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/GRAYSONWRENS_20090420-175608/260862/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
rouge, c&#8217;est la France!&#8220; Fellow legislators realized that red pants were France, and killed the gambit quicker than un g&#233;n&#233;ral could say, &#8220;I surrender.&#8220; This brings us to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which among its core values cites &#8220;respect for institutional autonomy.&#8220; Such high-flying rhetoric aside, the NCAA&#8217;s political correctness snipes have been all over William &amp; Mary like a peeping-Tom at a nudist colony.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:01:22 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/GRAYSONWRENS_20090420-175608/260862/#When:05:01:22Z</guid>
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          <title>What They&#8217;re Saying About Iraq</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/SAYINGIRAQ_20090413-174409/255470/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Jeff Jacoby, The Boston Globe: &#8220;Markets without bombs. Hummers without guns. Ice cream after dark. Busy streets without fear.&#8220; So began Terry McCarthy&#8217;s report from Iraq for ABC&#8217;s &#8220;World News Sunday&#8221; . . . as the war in Iraq reached its sixth anniversary. In another report two nights later, ABC&#8217;s correspondent characterized the Iraqi capital as &#8220;a city reborn: speed, light, style&#8212;this is Baghdad today. Where car bombs have given way to car racing. Where a once-looted museum has been restored and reopened. And where young women who were forced to cover their heads can again wear the clothes that they like.&#8220; . . .           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/SAYINGIRAQ_20090413-174409/255470/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>P.C.U.?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/EDTECH_20090410-203708/253844/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Virginia Tech has been receiving some unwelcome but necessary scrutiny of late over the emphasis its college of arts and humanities has been giving to a divisive issue: diversity. The Virginia Association of Scholars, the National Association of Scholars, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, and the American Council of Trustees and Alumni all have voiced concerns about an apparent attempt to mau-mau professors into toeing an ideological line.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 12 Apr 2009 00:01:17 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>United States&#8217; Military Must Evolve&#8212;But How?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE10A_20090409-190102/253036/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates&#8217; proposal to reshape the American military has generated a lot of discussion. But it has not generated much surprise&#8212;and for good reason. In an important September speech, the president called for what he termed &#8220;a revolution in the technology of war.&#8220; Future conflicts, he said, would be won or lost not by massed might, but by speed, stealth, and mobility. The military, he went on, must be reorganized along such lines&#8212;and he promised to give the secretary of defense &#8220;a broad mandate to challenge the status quo and envision a new architecture of American defense for decades to come.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 10 Apr 2009 00:01:02 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>What Others Are Saying About Afghanistan</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/SAYINGAFGHAN_20090409-190102/253038/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Karin von Hippel and Frederick Barton, Center for Strategic and International Studies: America may not be losing the war in Afghanistan, but it is also not winning. Neither is the U.S. approach in neighboring Pakistan making friends or preventing new recruits from crossing the border to kill U.S. and other NATO troops. What then is the best way to promote peace and security in the greater South Asia region? . . .           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 10 Apr 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/SAYINGAFGHAN_20090409-190102/253038/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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          <title>Think Before Forwarding That Inspiring E&#45;Mail</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE7_20090406-173615/250197/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The Internet is a glorious technological leap forward that has brought the world a host of blessings. Let&#8217;s stipulate that at the outset. But one of its many downsides is the persistence of the e-mail glurge: the tug-your-heartstrings story that will be passed on from one mailing list to the next until, apparently, the heat-death of the universe.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 07 Apr 2009 00:01:34 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Virginia Sets the Standard for Dropout Reporting</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE3_20090402-183811/247602/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Here is a thought experiment: Imagine what life would be like if all rulers were relative. One person measuring a table might say it was 4 feet long. Another, using a different ruler, might say it was 11 feet long. Who&#8217;s right? Both, or neither? It would be impossible to say. Now imagine two other people measuring a different table across the country with two more unique rulers. Is the second table bigger than the first, the same size, or smaller? Again: impossible to say.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Obama Administration Outrages</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL0329_20090327-191605/242737/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
David Letterman updated the old game of &#8220;Can You Top This?&#8220; with his reverse lists of the 10 best or worst or most bizarre&#8212;whatevers. Here&#8217;s a listing of 16 outrages from Barack Obama and his two-month-old administration, each new outrage seemingly topping&#8212;outdoing in idiocy and insult&#8212;the one that went before . . . (16) Naming as treasury secretary, with oversight of the Internal Revenue Service, a man who had failed to pay his income taxes. Were Timothy Geithner a mere IRS hireling, his tax issues would have landed him in the unemployment queues at light-speed.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 29 Mar 2009 00:01:19 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Gov. Kaine Proposes a Sensible Cul&#45;de&#45;Sacre Bleu!</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE27_20090326-213703/241963/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The Kaine administration recently rolled out new regulations that may change the face of the commonwealth. Future subdivisions, it says, must have cut-through roads that connect their interiors to the larger roads beyond; no longer will single-entrance access suffice. That is, at least not without considerable cost. At present Virginia pays the freight for maintaining subdivision streets. That policy adds a couple of hundred new lane miles to the Transportation Department&#8217;s maintenance inventory every year&#8212;a factor that accounts in part for the diversion of construction money to maintenance needs. (By state law, maintenance takes precedence over new road-building.)           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE27_20090326-213703/241963/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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          <title>What They&#8217;re Saying About AIG</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/SAYINGAIG_20090323-184502/238973/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Steven Pearlstein, The Washington Post: At the end of the day, the thing to get outraged about is not the $440 million in bonuses at AIG or the $10 million that Citigroup is spending to redesign its shrunken executive suite. These may seem like princely sums, but they are almost insignificant compared with the real outrage: the hundreds of billion dollars of taxpayer funds that have been put at risk to keep AIG and Citi from failing and taking the whole financial system down with them. Let&#8217;s keep our attention on the elephant rather than the pimples on its behind . . . .           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:01:21 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>There&#8217;s Good Economic News; Here&#8217;s Some of It</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE24_20090323-184502/238971/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
It is a well-established fact that bad news drowns out good. You flick the light switch a thousand times, the lights come on a thousand times, and you never pause to thank Dominion Virginia Power for the good service. But flick the switch to no avail just once, and you head for the phone, muttering curses. Tell your spouse a hundred times that he or she looks fabulous. Then ask, just once, if he or she has put on weight.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE24_20090323-184502/238971/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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          <title>Bring &#8216;Em On</title>
          <link>http://static.mgnetwork.com/rtd/slideshows/opinion/20090317guant/index.html</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
What&#8217;s the big deal about moving enemy combatants from Guantanamo to the continental U.S.? There&#8217;s nothing to fear, says today&#8217;s videotorial.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:00:59 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://static.mgnetwork.com/rtd/slideshows/opinion/20090317guant/index.html#When:05:00:59Z</guid>
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          <title>If Bush Had Done What Obama Is Doing . . .</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL0315_20090313-212305/231260/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Herewith some questions about contrasts and double standards&#8212;and how the leftists comprising the nameless &#8220;they&#8221; who rule the world would react to what Barack Obama is doing if Obama were George Bush. For instance . . . If Obama were Bush, what would their reaction be to the president&#8217;s failure&#8212;even now&#8212;to submit a plan to salvage the nation&#8217;s banks?           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 15 Mar 2009 00:01:54 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL0315_20090313-212305/231260/#When:05:01:54Z</guid>
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          <title>GARY BROOKINS CARTOON: Crop dusting</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/gary_brookins_cartoon_crop_dusting/231487/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Richmond Times-Dispatch editorial cartoon.            ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 13 Mar 2009 23:52:02 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/gary_brookins_cartoon_crop_dusting/231487/#When:04:52:02Z</guid>
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          <title>Put Accused Terrorists in Virginia? Sure, Go Ahead</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE10_20090309-170812/227124/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
With the Obama administration&#8217;s plans to shut down the Camp Delta detention facility at Guantanamo Bay presumably moving forward apace, some detainees might end up in the commonwealth&#8212;perhaps in a detention facility in Northern Virginia to await trial there. Last week Virginia Reps. Eric Cantor, Frank Wolf, and Randy Forbes called on Gov. Tim Kaine to join them in opposing the idea of moving any detainees to any facility in Virginia.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 10 Mar 2009 01:01:19 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE10_20090309-170812/227124/#When:06:01:19Z</guid>
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          <title>On Gay Marriage, the Right Was Right (and Wrong)</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE6_20090305-180904/222790/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The religious right was right after all. Civil unions have weakened the institution of marriage. But gay people aren&#8217;t to blame&#8212;straight people are. Here&#8217;s the deal. Gay marriage is banned in France. But about a decade ago, France&#8217;s Socialist government created a compromise&#8212;a civil solidarity pact, known by its French acronym PACS&#8212;as a form of quasi-marriage for homosexual couples. Conservatives in France denounced the measure as a threat to traditional morality, just as conservatives in the U.S. have denounced gay marriage, civil unions, and similar arrangements here. Couples entering into PACS agreements can take advantage of various tax, inheritance, and similar benefits without getting wed. The bonds of PACS unions are also easier to sunder: Rather than having to go through a divorce, one or both partners can end the arrangement by submitting a written request in court. No alimony, no property claims&#8212;no muss, no fuss.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 06 Mar 2009 01:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE6_20090305-180904/222790/#When:06:01:00Z</guid>
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          <title>Obama&#8217;s Grand Plans Will Reverse Reagan&#8217;s Legacy of Liberty</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/BOB301_20090227-201444/217911/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Barack Obama is an honest man. He promised change that would shake the heavens. The American voters endorsed his vision and handed him a resounding mandate to go forth and shatter the many weak institutions of mere mortals. And he intends to deliver. Who would have guessed&#8212;even a year ago&#8212;that mortgage brokers passing out easy money, that families moving into four-bedroom homes years before they dreamed, that Wall Street CEOs admiring stout profits and soaring bonuses, that Republicans pushing the American dream deeper into the populace were in fact creating a great storm that would allow one man the power to create an entirely new economy&#8212;an economy directed not by the emotional and unreliable masses but by a highly educated, coolly calculating, visionary elite elected by their fellow citizens to fix this mess.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 01 Mar 2009 01:01:58 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/BOB301_20090227-201444/217911/#When:06:01:58Z</guid>
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          <title>Fat Tuesday Budget Promises Nasty Hangover</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/BERES0103_20090227-201444/217909/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
This may be blasphemous to suggest, but the correlation between the state of our economy and the onset of the Lenten season is too striking not to comment upon. Lent is&#8212;and has been since the days of the very early Church&#8212;a time of penance through prayer, fasting, and alms-giving as Christians prepare themselves spiritually, physically, and mentally for Easter. The 40 days of the Christian ritual begin on Ash Wednesday and end at sundown on Holy Thursday.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 01 Mar 2009 01:00:59 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/BERES0103_20090227-201444/217909/#When:06:00:59Z</guid>
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          <title>Some Confusion About Dems&#8217; Thinking on Charter Schools</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE27_20090226-181137/216844/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
IIn a recent sit-down with the Editorial staff of this newspaper, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe was asked for his thoughts on education. McAuliffe heaped praise on Gov. Tim Kaine&#8217;s efforts to expand pre-kindergarten. He advocated smaller class sizes in kindergarten through the third grade. Spending more money on the front end, he said, would save money in later years. He noted that teacher salaries in Virginia lag behind the national average, and suggested higher pay&#8212;along with assurances of teacher quality.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 27 Feb 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE27_20090226-181137/216844/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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          <title>The High Cost of the Obama Stimulus</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL0222_20090220-200823/211901/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Type_webhead_here On precisely the day Barack Obama signed into law the most gargantuan economic measure in the nation&#8217;s peacetime history (White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel termed it &#8220;the most major, sweeping, comprehensive legislation as it relates to economic activity ever&#8221;)&#8212;at almost precisely the moment of his penstrokes&#8212;the stock market&#8217;s hope balloon went &#8220;bang!&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 22 Feb 2009 00:01:11 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL0222_20090220-200823/211901/#When:05:01:11Z</guid>
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          <title>Sic the Thought Police on Radio. And College. And . . . ?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE20_20090219-174806/210890/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Type_webhead_here Fed up with the success of right-wing talk radio, several prominent senators and representatives recently have voiced a desire to bring back the Fairness Doctrine&#8212;a regulation requiring radio stations to present opinion in a &#8220;fair and balanced&#8221; manner, to borrow a term. The regulation was imposed in 1949; Ronald Reagan revoked it in 1987. The Rush Limbaughs of the world soon flourished. Liberals first ignored, and then tried to emulate, conservative talk shows. The results have been less than stellar. So in recent months, interest in the Fairness Doctrine has revived: If the liberal talk format can&#8217;t make it on its own, then by God, let&#8217;s make radio stations carry it. That&#8217;ll show &#8216;em.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 20 Feb 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE20_20090219-174806/210890/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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          <title>At Virginia Tech: A Day Without a Script</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/CPONTECH_20090213-200809/206251/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
It is so easy to get sucked into the if-only game, and playing it is a short and slippery slide into despair.&#8212;&#8216;The Shack,&#8216; by Wm. Paul Young For the longest time I couldn&#8217;t put my finger on it, but this is what has made me so uncomfortable about recent scrutiny of the Virginia Tech tragedy, now approaching its second anniversary. It isn&#8217;t that the newly opened archive of documents is not a good idea. Different perspectives will come to light when fresh sets of eyes examine the thousands of notes and e-mails, piecing together, minute by minute, what transpired April 16, 2007. Such reviews may yield new guidelines for coping with&#8212;God forbid&#8212;a comparably horrific event in the future.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 15 Feb 2009 00:01:55 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/CPONTECH_20090213-200809/206251/#When:05:01:55Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Obama Galvanizes Republicans and Raises the Blinds</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL0215_20090213-200910/206265/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The past week has confirmed&#8212;among many things&#8212;this: that as John McCain warned repeatedly, Barack Obama consists of leftist essence pure. We are not talking Republican/ Democratic partisan politics here so much as conservative/liberal ideology, though ideology greatly informs partisanship. Both parties used to be big-tent operations, with liberals and conservatives in both. Now liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats are endangered species&#8212;just about extinct.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 15 Feb 2009 00:01:48 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL0215_20090213-200910/206265/#When:05:01:48Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Candidates Split (Sort of) Over Capital Punishment</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE13_20090212-180505/205136/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Virginia&#8217;s down-ticket races inevitably get the short end of the stick. But they often bring up some of the most interesting issues. A case in point is the Republican contest for attorney general&#8212;whose candi dates include John Brownlee, a former U.S. attorney, and Ken Cuccinelli, a state senator. (A third candidate, Dave Foster, is a former school board member from Arlington.)           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 13 Feb 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE13_20090212-180505/205136/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>On Smoking, Puritanism Triumphs Over Tolerance</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE10_20090209-174208/202081/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
So it is going to be that kind of campaign. Over the weekend, former DNC chairman and current gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe fired off an e-mail blast at Bob McDonnell, the fellow he&#8217;ll square off against in the general election if he wins the Democratic nod. McAuliffe&#8212;a well-heeled and wellconnected former head of the Democratic National Committee&#8212;is not exactly playing Cincinnatus, the Roman yeoman pressed into reluctant service. He already has hit the airwaves with TV spots. On Saturday he showed up at Virginia Democrats&#8217; annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner accompanied by a high-school drum line.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 10 Feb 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE10_20090209-174208/202081/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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          <title>We Are in &#8216;the Winter of Our Discontent&#8217;</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL0208_20090206-204502/200340/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
It&#8217;s an hour of hope. Yet you don&#8217;t seem especially hopeful about the grim gray economic scene or the ability of the new administration&#8212;and the stimulus package&#8212;to give it color. Good observation. Though hope never dies, a large hunk of hope went out with the lights. But there&#8217;s a rarefied ethical atmosphere in Washington now, and surely the trillion-dollar package Congress is bestowing will make everything economically right. A new day is coming. I can see it now . . .           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 08 Feb 2009 00:01:38 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Why Not Root for an Outrageously Ambitious Plan?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/BOB205_20090204-191205/198298/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
For all sane people, there&#8217;s only one proper reaction to the passing into history of another Super Bowl: Just a few more weeks until spring training! Yes, baseball fans, the long wait till next year is almost over. Except in Richmond. Virginia&#8217;s capital city will be without professional baseball for the first time in 44 years. We&#8217;ve parsed endlessly the reasons why. So let&#8217;s look to the future.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/BOB205_20090204-191205/198298/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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          <title>World Is Heading for an Apostrophe Catastrophe</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE3_20090202-182105/196206/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The dwindling number of grammatical sticklers in the English-speaking world suffered a shock over the weekend when they learned that Birmingham, England, has formally done away with the possessive apostrophe on street signs. The precipitating occasion was a debate over whether to apostrophize the suburb of Kings Heath&#8212;or King&#8217;s Heath, as the sticklers would have it. Since the heath no longer belonged to the king, the reasoning went, the apostrophe no longer obtained.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 03 Feb 2009 00:01:21 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE3_20090202-182105/196206/#When:05:01:21Z</guid>
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          <title>Hospitals&#8217; Health Now Relies on the Cougher Curve</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE30_20090129-175302/192530/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Members of the General Assembly confront many issues that are simple and clear-cut. Gov. Tim Kaine&#8217;s proposal to raise the cigarette tax is not one of them. The governor has linked the tax hike to Medicaid funding, effectively using hospitals and poor Virginians as hostages: Either raise the tax, or both will suffer. State lawmakers might create a third option by shifting money from other programs to prevent deeper Medicaid cuts without raising cigarette taxes. But doing that risks angering some other constituency, such as teachers and parents of schoolchildren.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Keep the Arts Safe From More Federal Interference</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE27_20090126-182414/189243/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Let&#8217;s take a straw poll: All those in favor of putting Dick Cheney in charge of the nation&#8217;s arts and culture, please raise your hand. Anybody? Okay, how about Mike Huckabee? Pat Robertson? Rick Santorum? Thought so. The ascension of Barack Obama to the Oval Office has been accompanied by a growing chorus clamoring for the creation of a Cabinet-level arts overseer.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 27 Jan 2009 00:01:17 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE27_20090126-182414/189243/#When:05:01:17Z</guid>
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          <title>By Obama, Bush, Cheney, C. Kennedy, Etc.</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL0125_20090123-210812/187275/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Before they recede too far into the rear-view mirror, quotations sublime and ridiculous from the political game . . . President Barack Obama, immediately following his election to the Senate in 2004: &#8220;I can unequivo cally say I will not be running for national office in four years . . . .I am a believer in knowing what you&#8217;re doing when you apply for a job, and I think that if I were to seriously consider running on a national ticket, I would essentially have to start now, before having served a day in the Senate. There may be some who are comfortable with doing that, but I&#8217;m not one of those people.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 25 Jan 2009 00:01:15 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL0125_20090123-210812/187275/#When:05:01:15Z</guid>
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          <title>State Budget Can Wait; Here&#8217;s a Real Emergency</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE23_20090122-182708/186087/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Now that all the hoopla surrounding Barack Obama&#8217;s inauguration is over, can we get back to serious business? Really, truly, seriously important stuff? Please? Virginia has a gigantic budget shortfall. The national economy has fallen into the tank, cracked the ceramic bottom, and is seeping through the hole into the ground below. The Mideast is in flames, as usual. Climate change has imperiled species around the globe.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>What Sort of Change Does Obama Have in Mind?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL18_20090116-205911/180629/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
In the contemporary environment of all Obama all the time, who does not know that come Tuesday the nation will have a new president? Barack Obama arrives at the presidency bearing the goodwill of many (including your correspondent) and the messianic hopes of many more. The latter group has elevated him above criticism. Jesse Jackson sees in him &#8220;theological qualities.&#8220; Congressman Bobby Rush, who once opposed him, regards his election as part of God&#8217;s plan. A press that Obama does not particularly like accords him a reverence comparable only to media adulation of JFK.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 18 Jan 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>. . . Case Points to Larger Issue of Homelessness</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/PANHANDLEOP_20090115-181010/179408/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The Jan. 9 Richmond Times-Dispatch article, &#8220;Homeless Man Guilty in Panhandling Case,&#8220; illustrated how at least one long-established, albeit inefficient, means of sur vival continues to exist in our region. Robert Reynolds lost his panhandling case in Henrico County. In his defense, he claimed that a law against panhandling threatens our community&#8217;s ability to support the poor. Not only are there many ways to support those struggling in these tough economic times, but now more than ever, we can ensure that our assistance makes a real difference in the lives of those experiencing homelessness in our community.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 16 Jan 2009 00:01:15 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/PANHANDLEOP_20090115-181010/179408/#When:05:01:15Z</guid>
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          <title>Bill of Rights Doesn&#8217;t Exempt the Poor and Unkempt . . .</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE16_20090115-180813/179403/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Richmond City Councilman Bruce Tyler is right about one thing: The down-and-out can get plenty of help, if they want it. Dozens of Central Virginia organizations have devoted themselves to aiding the homeless and people on the edge. Nobody needs to go without three hots and a cot if he&#8217;d rather not. Folks who are asking for a handout on the street either don&#8217;t know how to reach those groups, or would prefer to get hard cash for booze or drugs. Homeward&#8212;an umbrella organization created to act as a clearinghouse of services for the hard-up (Web site: http://www.homewardva.org)&#8212;has a sheet full of phone numbers for everything from Commonwealth Catholic Charities to Travelers Aid. Good Samaritans who want to help without enabling people to stay stuck in addiction would be smart to print some phone numbers from the Homeward Web site and hand those out in lieu of cash.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 16 Jan 2009 00:00:59 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE16_20090115-180813/179403/#When:05:00:59Z</guid>
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          <title>Put a Price On Carbon</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/WEEDSUBGREEN_20090114-183958/178323/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
CHARLOTTESVILLE All of us who recognize that man-made emissions are creating the climate crisis also realize that the surest way to reduce and, ultimately, eliminate the problem is to put a price on fossil carbon itself. For the past eight years the only solution deemed politically viable was a cap-and-trade system because Americans aren&#8217;t thought to be mature enough to use the term &#8220;taxes&#8221; in debates about public policy. Well, much has changed since Nov. 3, 2008.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/WEEDSUBGREEN_20090114-183958/178323/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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          <title>Obama&#8217;s National Security Man Appreciates Small&#45;Town Pleasures</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/JONES111_20090109-194917/174009/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
When Gen. James L. Jones Jr. parked in front of Westbury Pharmacy in early 2007, none of the regular customers could have known they were witnessing the arrival of the next national security adviser to the president of the United States.            ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 11 Jan 2009 00:01:42 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/JONES111_20090109-194917/174009/#When:05:01:42Z</guid>
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          <title>Help Wanted: Executive Position&#8212;Honesty Is Absolutely Essential</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/CORDEL111_20090109-194807/174005/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Hearing from readers is, bar none, the best part of writing for The Times-Dispatch. And, boy, did I hear from the wonderful folks who buy this newspaper after penning a column about Jim Gilmore&#8217;s record of service to the commonwealth and nation&#8212;which I concluded, despite its well-known faults, is admirable and deserving of respect.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 11 Jan 2009 00:01:40 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/CORDEL111_20090109-194807/174005/#When:05:01:40Z</guid>
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          <title>Even in Hard Times, Private Colleges Remain Affordable</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/LINDGREN111_20090109-194917/174011/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
In today&#8217;s uncertain economy, families are struggling. They are concerned about their jobs and their mortgages. Retirement funds are slipping, and home equity loans are less available. Struggling parents now have the added stress of wondering how they&#8217;ll be able to afford a college education for their children&#8212;and in particular, a private liberal arts education.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 11 Jan 2009 00:01:22 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/LINDGREN111_20090109-194917/174011/#When:05:01:22Z</guid>
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          <title>Most Consequential President Since Reagan</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL0111_20090109-194917/174017/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The left and the media and the ever-expanding blogosphere, and of course the Democrats, never permitted George Bush to recover from the circumstances of his 2000 election. They deemed him unacceptable, accidental, illegitimate, likely a conniver in the national outcome&#8212;and so took to lobbing their hateful commentaries one after another without end.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 11 Jan 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL0111_20090109-194917/174017/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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          <title>More National Spotlight For Virginia&#8217;s Politicos</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/RAYNER111_20090109-194917/174014/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Virginians absorbed more national political limelight in 2008 than in most of the previous half century combined. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton battled for the state&#8217;s Democratic Convention dele gates in February. In the fall, Obama and sidekick Joe Biden faced off against John McCain and Sarah Palin for the commonwealth&#8217;s 13 electoral votes.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 11 Jan 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/RAYNER111_20090109-194917/174014/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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          <title>GAZA CONFLICT</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/IMMANUEL111_20090109-194917/174008/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Another Israel-Arab war has erupted and again Western supporters of both sides have divided into predictable camps. Israel supporters cite the indisputable fact that missiles launched from Hamas-controlled Gaza have been slamming into Israeli towns at increasing distances and with increasing accuracy. Palestine supporters cite the continuing siege of the Gaza Strip, which is dependent on Israel for electricity, fuel, and even basic foods.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 11 Jan 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/IMMANUEL111_20090109-194917/174008/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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          <title>For Israel&#8217;s Detractors, It&#8217;s No Fair Fighting Back</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE9_20090108-181108/172898/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
If there is anything more dispiriting than the monomania of terrorists bent on the destruction of Israel, it is the perspective of those in the West who behave as though some moral equivalence existed between the two sides.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:01:08 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE9_20090108-181108/172898/#When:05:01:08Z</guid>
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          <title>New President Can Set Precedents</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/BOOMER0108_20090107-175521/171567/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
It was a big story in the gossip journals last November: Marian Robinson, Michelle Obama&#8217;s 71-year-old mother, was moving into the White House with the first family.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:01:29 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/BOOMER0108_20090107-175521/171567/#When:05:01:29Z</guid>
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          <title>Israel Wants An End To Suffering</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/WEINBERGGAZA_20090105-181108/169334/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The possibility for reconciliation between Israel and Palestinians, based on two states living side by side in peace and security, suffered a serious setback when Hamas ousted the Palestinian Authority from Gaza and re jected prior agreements regarding Israel&#8217;s right to exist. No matter the root causes, we mourn the suffering and loss of life that is occurring on both sides in the present conflict.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:01:06 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/WEINBERGGAZA_20090105-181108/169334/#When:05:01:06Z</guid>
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          <title>Keeping Travelers Amused on 12&#45;Hour Trips</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE6_20090105-181108/169331/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
When you cross the border into Maryland on Route 15, a sign welcomes you to the state and informs you that a guy by the name of Gov. Martin O&#8217;Malley runs the place. It seems like a bit of a waste, doesn&#8217;t it? The people who live in Maryland already know; if they don&#8217;t know, then they don&#8217;t care; and the people who don&#8217;t live in Maryland probably don&#8217;t care, either.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE6_20090105-181108/169331/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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