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    <title>Editorials for Richmond Times-Dispatch</title>
    <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/</link>
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        <title>Editorials for Richmond Times-Dispatch</title>
        <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/</link>
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    <description></description>
    <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>Tibet, The U.S.: Part of China</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-TBET20_20091119-183204/306771/</link>
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President Barack Obama declined to meet with the Dalai Lama prior to his trip to China. Diplomatic pleasantries argue against offending the communists, we suppose. During his Asian trip, Obama said the U.S. considers Tibet a part of China and called on Beijing to confer with the Dalai Lama. His statement about Tibet&#8217;s status raised an eyebrow or two, including our own. Research into American policy toward Tibet found this:           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Sex Ed: Saying No</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-SEX20_20091119-183204/306770/</link>
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Abstinence-only speaker Pam Stenzel&#8217;s presentation at Douglas Freeman High earlier this week drew mixed reactions. Stenzel apparently hectored students with a mixture of shame and misinformation. That&#8217;s too bad, because her underlying message about the value of abstinence is right on the money. Practicing safe sex is better than practicing risky sex. But in no other arena of public health do adults send such a fatalistic message as they do when they portray teen sex as inevitable. One never hears, for instance, &#8220;Yes, it might be nice if teenagers refrained from using drugs, but we know many won&#8217;t&#8212;so let&#8217;s not preach &#8216;just say no,&#8216; and instead just teach them how to shoot up safely.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Health Care: A Flock of Pigs</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-REID20_20091119-183204/306769/</link>
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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has finally unveiled his own bill to further nationalize health care. It may be slightly better than House Speaker Nancy Pelosi&#8217;s. But that&#8217;s like saying it&#8217;s better to have leprosy than to get shot in the head. That might seem like an absurd analogy, but the entire discussion about health care reform passed the point of lurid fantasy long ago. Take the claim that Reid&#8217;s bill would cost nearly $900 billion but still reduce the deficit by $127 billion. Come again? That bit of nonsense reminds us of a salesman who once sold his goods at a loss, figuring that what he lost on profit margin, he could make up in volume.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Obama&#8217;s Trip: China Town Hall</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-TOWN19_20091118-181805/306510/</link>
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This week President Barack Obama held a &#8220;town hall&#8221; with college students in Shanghai. He took the opportunity to express his commitment to an Internet free of censorship. The U.S. has seen some lively, and chaotic, town halls recently, as constituents have challenged their representatives. The Shanghai students were polite throughout Obama&#8217;s appearance.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Death Penalty: Changing Times?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-DPEN19_20091118-181805/306508/</link>
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After the execution of John Allen Muhammad, The Times-Dispatch&#8217;s Frank Green reported that &#8220;little noticed amid the recent activity in the state&#8217;s death chamber is that there has not been a death verdict from a jury in the state since March 2008.&#8220; The news follows a trend that has seen fewer death sentences during the past several years. Experts attribute the news to various factors, of which the certainty of life without parole may be pre-eminent. Prisoners slated for execution remain on Death Row. Larry Bill Elliott went to the electric chair Tuesday night.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Jewish Book Fair (and Fare): Deli Mavens</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-DELI19_20091118-181805/306507/</link>
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Recognition as a deli maven confers high honor indeed. The title suggests taste, knowledge, attitude, and serious health issues. A trip to a genuine deli is not only an aesthetic experience but an exercise in nostalgia and, in an age of little hearts printed on menus, an assertion of social defiance. Pastrami lovers will not be cowed. They also want their chicken soup loaded with matzo balls as small as basketballs.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Palin Memoir: Blockbusters</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-SARA18_20091117-181203/306320/</link>
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Sarah Palin&#8217;s memoir officially has landed, and the American carnival continues. Going Rogue made the best-seller lists even before it appeared in book stores. The author&#8217;s gig on Oprah Winfrey&#8217;s TV show sealed the deal. Celebrity devours all. Partisans love Rogue or hate it, and likely reached their conclusions before they read it all the way through. The passions make reviews almost pointless. The Washington Post greeted publication with dueling critiques&#8212;one from the left, the other from the right. A clich&#233; count places the critics in a tie. Newsweek contributed a cover that redounds to the magazine&#8217;s abiding discredit.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Election 2009: A Model</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-LEFT18_20091117-181203/306319/</link>
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That did not take long. Bob McDonnell already has been touted as a candidate for national office in 2012. We have a hunch that he intends to devote his attentions to the governorship. He certainly will want to stay home during the coming years. Tim Kaine did not help his in-state reputation when he assumed a peripatetic lifestyle upon becoming chairman of the Democratic National Committee. His frequent absences did not prove popular. All things considered, Virginians would prefer that their governors not be hobos or vagabonds.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Tea Party: Not Cool</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-EFFI18_20091117-181203/306316/</link>
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Members of a Tea Party group in Danville recently announced plans to burn Rep. Tom Perriello in effigy, along with Nancy Pelosi. (Unfavorable publicity now has them reconsidering the idea.) The tea-partiers object, like millions of Americans, to the nationalized health care bill passed by the House earlier this month, with Perriello&#8217;s help. If the demonstration goes off as originally advertised, the tea partiers will have proved little beyond the increasingly obvious fact that right-wingers can stoop just as low as left-wingers can when expressing their displeasure with a particular policy&#8212;whether it&#8217;s the Iraq war or globalization or, now, the collectivization of health care. There&#8217;s still a high road in American political discourse, but it&#8217;s not in danger of wearing out any time soon.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Public Square: Healthy Debate</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-PUBS17_20091116-174403/306106/</link>
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It&#8217;s hard to recall an issue that has sparked as much heated debate as the current effort to reform the American health care system. Emotion has ruled much of the discussion. That&#8217;s no surprise. We are, after all, talking about making enormous changes to a system that not only accounts for one-sixth of the U.S economy, but also deals daily with matters of life and death. Both sides have too frequently resorted to exaggeration, misinformation, and wishful thinking.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:01:48 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>St. Joseph&#8217;s Villa: Living Love</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-VILL17_20091116-174403/306108/</link>
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The Daughters of Charity took seriously the commandment to love one another. In 1834 they established the St. Joseph Academy and Orphan Asylum at Fourth and Marshall. Today Central Virginia knows the institution as St. Joseph&#8217;s Villa on Brook Road in Henrico. For 175 years the villa has helped children and families in need. It resembles a garment whose hem is touched by people in search of healing and restoration. St. Joseph&#8217;s offers a variety of services, including camps, treatment programs, and emergency shelters. Children go there to learn and to become what they are. The campus projects peace.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:01:47 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Chesapeake Bay: A New Line</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-CBAY17_20091116-174403/306102/</link>
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For many years, the federal government has been insisting that states in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, including Virginia, clean up their act. For many years, states have failed to do so. Deadlines have come and gone without consequence. Each time the federal government has behaved like the timid schoolyard bully who can&#8217;t quite muster the courage to back up his threat: &#8220;OK, I dare you to cross this line!&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:01:39 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Communist China: Chiang Won</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-CHIN16_20091115-173209/305886/</link>
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Sixty years ago, Mao Zedong&#8217;s communists triumphed in China. Chiang Kai-shek&#8217;s nationalists withdrew across the strait to establish the Republic of China on Taiwan. Both Chinas presumed to represent the one true kingdom. Mao inaugurated a reign of terror that reached its apotheosis during the Cultural Revolution. Man-made famines and other enormities placed Mao alongside Hitler and Stalin in the annals of ideological perversity. After decades of state-induced shabbiness, the party, under Mao&#8217;s successors, imposed market reforms. China&#8217;s economy took off. Especially along the coast, flourishing cities boasted skylines that rivaled those in the United States.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:01:46 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Turnout, Turnaround: Which One?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-ELEX16_20091115-173209/305887/</link>
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Last year Barack Obama became the first Democratic presidential nominee to carry Virginia since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. His almost 2 million votes translated into 53 percent of the popular total. He carried six of the state&#8217;s 11 congressional districts. This month Republican Bob McDonnell won the governorship in one of the biggest landslides since the rise of two-party politics in the commonwealth. His 1.1 million votes translated into 59 percent&#8212;and an 18-point lead over Democrat Creigh Deeds. McDonnell took nine congressional districts, losing only the 3rd and the 8th, both of which would vote for any Democrat not in a federal penitentiary.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:01:39 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>State Spending: A Better Way</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-SPEN15_20091113-203407/305539/</link>
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As state officials wrestle with harsh cuts in the commonwealth&#8217;s budget, it&#8217;s worth pausing to note that during the past decade, the state&#8217;s budget has increased 74 percent. (This according to the latest figures from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.) That&#8217;s a big increase&#8212;though it doesn&#8217;t exactly translate into profligacy. For one thing, inflation during the same period was 23 percent. For another, the state&#8217;s population grew from 7.1 million to 7.7 million&#8212;an 8 percent increase. That means more kids to teach, more driver&#8217;s licenses to issue, more services to render. Adjust for those factors, and the state is now spending, in constant dollars, 28 percent more per resident than it did 10 years ago.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:01:51 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Health Care: Bureaucrazy</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-CARE15_20091113-190802/305519/</link>
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The count is finished, the total is in: Nancy Pelosi&#8217;s health care bill would create a whopping 111 new boards, commissions, bureaucracies, and programs. That&#8217;s not a typo. One hundred and eleven. They include everything from the Health Choices Administration&#8212;which would make your health choices for you&#8212;to the National Medical Device Registry. There would be a &#8220;No Child Left Unimmunized Against Influenza&#8221; program, and a Community Prevention Stakeholders Board&#8212;not to be confused, of course, with the Clinical Prevention Stakeholders Board, which should not be confused with the Prevention and Wellness Trust. (Though of course it would be.)           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:01:48 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Eminent Domain: A Sorry End</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-KELO15_20091113-203407/305535/</link>
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File this one under &#8220;Life&#8217;s Little Ironies, Dept. of&#8221;: On Monday, the same day Germans celebrated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Pfizer announced that it was closing its R-and-D headquarters in New London, Conn. That plant, you might recall, was the central element in a redevelopment scheme dreamed up by the grand poohbahs of New London. To carry it out, they needed to remove the modest homes of residents in the Fort Trumbull area. Suzette Kelo preferred not to sell. So New London decided to seize her property by force. She fought back, and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court&#8212;where a narrow majority ruled that the Fifth Amendment&#8217;s requirement that private property could be taken only for &#8220;public use&#8221; really meant it was OK to seize anyone&#8217;s house so long as you gave the property to someone with more money. (Little Pink Houses, by Jeff Benedict, tells the whole sorry tale about the expropriation of Suzette Kelo and the destruction of her neighborhood.)           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:01:06 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Week in Review</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-WEEK14_20091113-184402/305514/</link>
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WEEK&#8217;S END The rains proved prolonged but not persistently heavy. Many drivers put their windshield wipers on intermittent. Many also failed to turn on their headlights. Regardless of the intensity of rain, it is prudent to drive with the lights. When the wipers are working, the law says the lights must be on. Weather such as this week&#8217;s tends to turn all vehicles into a hard-to-see gray. Friends, turn on the headlights. We want to run into you in the coffee shop&#8212;not in the turn lane.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Terror Trials: Listen to Webb</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-WEBB14_20091113-184402/305513/</link>
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The Obama administration intends to try terror suspects in civilian courts. Yesterday Sen. Jim Webb said: &#8220;I have never disputed the constitutional authority of the president to convene Article III courts in cases of international terrorism. However, I remain very concerned about the wisdom of doing so. Those who have committed acts of international terrorism are enemy combatants, just as certainly as the Japanese pilots who killed thousands of Americans at Pearl Harbor. It will be disruptive, costly, and potentially counterproductive to try them as criminals in our civilian courts.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>It Came Down</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-WALL13_20091112-180811/305318/</link>
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The Berlin Wall resembled an ideological scar and not only severed a city but symbolized the failure of an evil system. In free societies fences and walls protect property and keep intruders out. The communists erected the Berlin Wall to lock people inside a city they otherwise would have fled. The wall&#8217;s presence vividly served as a reminder that communist states were prisons.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>In&#45;Kind</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-MOVE13_20091112-180811/305317/</link>
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The hard-left advocacy group MoveOn is taking to the airwaves to blast some of the Democrats who voted against the Pelosicare measure in the House. Among the targets: Glenn Nye and Rick Boucher, who represent Virginia&#8217;s 2nd and 9th congressional districts, respectively. As one astute observer commented: &#8220;If you were a Democratic House member from a relatively conservative district . . . how much would you pay MoveOn to come into your district and publicize your vote where you stood up to Pelosi and Obama on government-run health care?&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>An Education</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-CITY13_20091112-180602/305312/</link>
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Richmond traces its roots to the 1600s when, shortly after the landing at Jamestown, Christopher Newport explored the falls of the James. William Byrd is credited with founding the settlement that grew into the Richmond of today. The first debate regarding school buildings probably occurred between Richmond&#8217;s 1742 incorporation as a town and its 1782 incorporation as a city.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>State Taxes: Second Looks</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-TAXB12_20091111-174806/305049/</link>
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A new report from the Commonwealth Institute, a liberal Virginia think tank, makes an excellent point. Virginia has enacted many special tax breaks over the years, but it does little in the way of follow-up. Why not? Government programs ought to undergo periodic review. They should not simply fly along on autopilot for decades, long after their original justification has outlived its usefulness. (Think of the national helium reserve or the mohair subsidy, both of which got their start in wars that ended decades ago. Does anyone expect the U.S. to conduct future air combat missions using blimps?)           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Subprime Meltdown: Saw It Coming</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-SUBP12_20091111-174806/305048/</link>
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An alert reader recently sent us a copy of a news story that reported:    &#8220;In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders.&#8220;    &#8220;Fannie Mae, the nation&#8217;s biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton administration to expand mortgage loans among lowand moderate-income people and felt pressure from stockholders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Fort Hood: Reluctance</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-HOOD12_20091111-174806/305046/</link>
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Soon after the Fort Hood massacre, President Barack Obama advised citizens not to jump to conclusions&#8212;which is to say, he urged them to ignore the obvious. Subsequent reports regarding the alleged assassin have proved more troubling than initial suspicions. Obama&#8217;s sentiments represent the jump. Jason Zengerle, a senior editor at The New Republic, says it well:           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>What Is a Vet?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-VET11_20091110-181003/304855/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
War makes strange giant creatures out of the little routine men who inhabit the Earth.&#8212;WWII correspondent Ernie Pyle.   . . .  Some veterans bear visible signs of their service: a missing limb, a jagged scar, a look in the eye. Others may carry the evidence inside them: a pin holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg&#8212;or perhaps another sort of inner steel: the soul&#8217;s alloy forged in the refinery of adversity. Except in parades, however, the men and women who have kept America safe wear no badge or emblem. You can&#8217;t tell a vet just by looking.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Empty Seats</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-GAME11_20091110-181003/304852/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Diehards who tuned in Saturday&#8217;s game between UVa and Miami saw not only a drubbing but a sea of empty seats. Now, the Wahoos may not be the biggest draw when they play on the road, but the dismal attendance is not an isolated experience. South Florida is not a prime market for spectator sports&#8212;except, that is, for the sport of ogling glistening bodies, whether made by God or perfected by surgery, on the beach. The University of Miami is a school in Miami yet not of Miami; despite winning national titles, and notoriety, it lacks the zealous base of, say, Alabama and Clemson.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Onion Skin</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-CULT11_20091110-181003/304851/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The following story from the cultural front caught our eye: &#8220;The reigning Miss England has relinquished her crown after being accused of a fight in a bar. Pageant organizers say Rachel Christie has also withdrawn from next month&#8217;s Miss World competition in South Africa. They said in a statement that the 21-year-old heptathlete will now focus on clearing her name and training for the 2012 Olympics.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Faith: Stout Hearts</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-BEER10_20091109-181203/304671/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
When Stephen Mansfield discerns manifestations of grace, he writes about the experience in books that beguile. If some might find his work rather earnest, at his best he describes the enactment of faith. Titles such as The Faith of George W. Bush, The Faith of the American Soldier, and Benedict XVI: His Life and Mission won him many admirers, especially among the flocks.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:01:46 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Charter Schools: Only Four</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-CHAR10_20091109-181203/304672/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell supports charter schools. So does President Barack Obama, who discussed them with McDonnell during a brief chat the day after McDonnell&#8217;s victory. You&#8217;d think any reform touted by both a solidly conservative Republican and a staunchly liberal Democrat would face good odds in a purple state like Virginia. But not necessarily. Two major obstacles stand in the way: misperception and the forces of reaction.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:01:25 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-CHAR10_20091109-181203/304672/#When:05:01:25Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Soak the Uninsured</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-PREM09_20091108-165605/304467/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Here&#8217;s a dirty little secret about health care reform that Democrats in Washington would prefer you didn&#8217;t know: They&#8217;re counting on people to stay uninsured. The financing for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi includes $167 billion in penalty payments to the federal government. About $135 billion of that money would come from private employers who don&#8217;t offer insurance to their workers; those employers would have to pay a tax equal to 8 percent of payroll.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:01:31 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-PREM09_20091108-165605/304467/#When:05:01:31Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Right About &#8216;Left&#8217;</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-AARP09_20091108-165605/304463/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
A couple of months ago, retired Editorial Page Editor Ross Mackenzie described AARP as &#8220;a hard-left lobby.&#8220; The local rep for the national seniors&#8217; group took exception. &#8220;If [Mackenzie] had done his homework he would have known that AARP has a long history of working with both parties whenever a piece of legislation is in the best interest of our members,&#8220; wrote AARP&#8217;s Bill Kallio in a letter to the editor. He cited several pieces of legislation, principally &#8220;the creation of a new prescription drug benefit in Medicare that was pushed by President George W. Bush with strong Republican support.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:01:02 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Bench Press</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-DEMS09_20091108-165605/304464/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Our cousins in monarchial realms say, &#8220;The king is dead, long live the king!&#8220; As good republicans, American political groupies prefer, &#8220;The election is over, may the next one begin.&#8220; Here we go. Who will run for governor in 2013? Will the GOP see a contest between Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli? Will the Democrats have anyone?           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:57 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Strike Soon</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-DIST08_20091106-202008/304123/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Democrat Tom Shields challenged Republican incumbent John O&#8217;Bannon in the 73rd House of Delegates District. In the weeks prior to Tuesday&#8217;s election, yard signs promoting Shields proliferated in the West End. They were impossible to miss along Patterson, Three Chopt, Forest, and other roadways. Their multiplying numbers suggested a competitive race. O&#8217;Bannon won in a landslide. It turns out that everyone who voted for Shields must have displayed a sign. Oh well.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:01:32 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Judicial Activism</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-JURY08_20091106-202008/304128/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The Virginia Supreme Court recently made a wise decision to step back from a proposal to make all criminal-trial juries anonymous. The proposal was a misguided case of judicial activism. Last year the General Assembly passed a law permitting anonymous juries if a judge found good cause for keeping jurors&#8217; identities secret in certain circumstances. The legislature instructed the Supreme Court to promulgate rules for putting the law into effect.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:01:18 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>History Maker</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-HIST08_20091106-202008/304127/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Doug Burford has always been a dreamer. The local ad man&#8217;s latest flight of fancy is a plan to promote Richmond as the nation&#8217;s most historic city. He knows it&#8217;s an audacious claim that is sure to be challenged by other burgs, from Boston to Philly. But that&#8217;s OK; the point is to start a dialogue that &#8220;will create millions of dollars&#8217; worth of free publicity.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:01:01 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Fort Hood: Routine</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-HOOD07_20091106-192404/304103/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Hannah Arendt wrote of the banality of evil. Good God almighty, mass murder threatens to become routine. The initial dispatches from Fort Hood were as chaotic as the scene itself. Reports of multiple gunmen proved false. The name of the alleged assailant confirmed the assumptions of many and the fears of others. An individual committed the enormity, yet Muslim Americans collectively anticipate a state of siege. The Fort Hood bloodshed was followed by yesterday&#8217;s shootings in Orlando. More will come.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:01:52 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Weekly Review</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-WEEK07_20091106-192404/304109/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
No one seems to have followed our advice. Although we warned that the temptation is to read too much into elections rather than too little, national experts of all inclinations have discerned transcendental meaning in Virginia&#8217;s 2009 results. Although the outcome represented a major triumph for Bob McDonnell and the GOP, low-turnout elections tend not to be watersheds. Although the turnout&#8212;the worst in a gubernatorial election since the rise of two-party politics in Virginia&#8212;may have serious implications for future races, it seems unlikely to indicate partisan or ideological realignment.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:01:37 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Health Care: Where Are They?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-MAND07_20091106-192404/304106/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The other day a reporter asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about where the Constitution grants Congress the power to require Americans to buy health insurance. It&#8217;s a fair question; even the Congressional Budget Office has said an individual mandate &#8220;would be an unprecedented form of federal action.&#8220; Yet Pelosi seemed dumbfounded: &#8220;Are you serious?&#8220; she replied. Apparently the idea that the Constitution might not permit Congress to do anything it wants is foreign to her.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:01:24 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Showtime!</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-UPNY06_20091105-183403/303892/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
New York&#8217;s 23rd Congressional District borders on Canada. It has elected Republicans since the times of the late Rutherford B. Hayes and has attracted scant national attention during that glad span. This year its special election made headlines. The rumpus started when Barack Obama named John McHugh, the 23rd&#8217;s Republican incumbent, to serve as secretary of the Army. The move created an open seat. Republican sachems nominated Dede Scozzafava, a state legislator with a record that crossed the line separating moderate from liberal. Democrats nominated Bill Owens, an earnest businessman. The Conservative Party&#8212;a New York fixture for many decades&#8212;nominated Douglas Hoffman.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Taxing Questions</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-MEDI06_20091105-183403/303890/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Among the vast array of mandates, taxes, fees, and directives in Nancy Pelosi&#8217;s health-care bill is a 2.5-percent tax on the makers of medical devices. That works out to a $2-billion-a-year drain on innovation. The price tag is only the explicit cost. There could be an implicit cost: the pain and suffering of individuals who might go without new treatments they would have benefited from, if medical-device manufacturers had been able to use the money for research and development instead of paying off Uncle Sam.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Lodging Beefs</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-HOTL06_20091105-183201/303887/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Two national groups have weighed in on the contentious question of a new hotel at Fort Lee. The National Restaurant Association and the American Hotel and Lodging Association have written a letter expressing dismay that &#8220;a hotel of this magnitude will usurp business from local lodging and restaurant businesses which have spent years investing in the local community . . . .&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Videotorial: Pelosi&#8217;s Folly</title>
          <link>http://static.mgnetwork.com/rtd/slideshows/opinion/20091105health/index.html</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The House Speaker&#8217;s health-care bill is a bureaucratic monstrosity.            ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:59:14 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://static.mgnetwork.com/rtd/slideshows/opinion/20091105health/index.html#When:17:59:14Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Snack Attack</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-VEND05_20091104-175608/303628/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Nancy Pelosi&#8217;s gargantuan health care bill&#8212;it includes 111 new boards, commissions, bureaucracies, and programs&#8212;has not overlooked the menace behind the glass panels of vending machines. Section 2572 would require vending-machine operators to post the nutritional content of snack foods on the outside of machines, so munchers can review the info before making a purchase.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Parks in Drive</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-PARK05_20091104-175608/303626/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Richmond government has taken a lot of hits for poor management (and less savory characteristics). So it&#8217;s worth highlighting one of the city&#8217;s accomplishments: the restoration of Forest Hill lake, an urban gem that had grown choked and fetid from neglect. The restoration is good news. What makes it even better: Project overseers finished the work early and under budget. Metropolitan Environmental Services, the Ohio firm that did the spade work, gets much of the credit. But city officials merit praise for putting the project in motion and making sure it got done well.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Coloring Book</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-ELEC05_20091104-175403/303623/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Bob McDonnell won nine of the state&#8217;s 11 congressional districts; only the 3rd and the 8th went for Creigh Deeds, and they are Democratic bastions. The GOP ticket prevailed from top to bottom. Bill Bolling easily won re-election as lieutenant governor. If one year ago an expert had predicted Ken Cuccinelli would be elected attorney general in a landslide, he would have lost his license to practice punditry.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>McDonnell Wins: Message Politics</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-ELEX04_20091103-215004/303478/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
One word applies to yesterday&#8217;s election in numerous ways: message. Bob McDonnell stuck with his; Creigh Deeds did not have one; the results send several. But first, a primal wow: One year after going blue at the presidential level for the first time since 1964, Virginia produced its reddest election in more than a decade. Last night Virginia Democrats learned again that glory is fleeting. Giddy Republicans would be wise to remember.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:01:49 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-ELEX04_20091103-215004/303478/#When:05:01:49Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>The Departed</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-SOUL03_20091102-181203/303212/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The human interest stories on National Public Radio&#8217;s Morning Edition remain unsurpassed in broadcast journalism. The episodes inform and delight, often most vividly when the topic focuses on customs overseas. Yesterday, for instance, NPR reported that while Americans were trick-or-treating, the French&#8212;of all people, presumably&#8212;were going to cemeteries to honor their dead. Visitors to graveyards paid their respects not only to buried family members but to interred greats.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Grotesque</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-CARE03_20091102-181203/303207/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
There is poetic irony in the fact that Congress will be debating Nancy Pelosi&#8217;s hyperstatist vision of health care in America while Germany celebrates the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. As Paul Hollander, a sociology professor emeritus, recently observed, the fall of Communism &#8220;confirms that humans motivated by lofty ideals are capable of inflicting great suffering with a clear conscience.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-CARE03_20091102-181203/303207/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>What&#8217;s Your Plan?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-PLAN02_20091101-170402/303023/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
GOP opposition to Democratic health care proposals, says a recent news account, exposes Republicans to the charge that they are &#8220;political obstructionists with no policy agenda of their own.&#8220; The charge is false&#8212;the GOP has advanced several ideas, of varying degrees of merit, about how to improve the delivery of medical care. (For example, Republicans have suggested allowing buyers of health insurance to purchase policies across state lines, just as buyers can do with car and life insurance, in order to foster genuine competition in the health insurance marketplace.)           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:01:29 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-PLAN02_20091101-170402/303023/#When:05:01:29Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>GOP Challenges</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-GOPS02_20091101-170402/303020/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Although tomorrow may prove a banner day for Republicans, the GOP still confronts long-term challenges. Trends do not look good. Follow us: In 1980, Ronald Reagan won 55 percent of the white vote and won the presidential election decisively. In 2008, John McCain won 55 percent of the white vote and lost decisively. The different outcomes reflect the changing face of the citizenry and of the electorate. Diversity is not a politically correct word or concept but a reality. Demography translates into destiny.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:59 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-GOPS02_20091101-170402/303020/#When:05:00:59Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Readership: Food for Thought</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-MAGS01_20091030-203609/302658/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The trials and tribulations of the newspaper industry have been well documented&#8212;typically by print journalism itself. Other mediums have been less forthcoming regarding their travails. Even among print products, newspapers are not alone. Serious magazines have fallen under stress. Newsweek is trying to reinvent itself. U.S. News &amp; World Report exists primarily as a college ratings guide (which has deleterious influences, by the way). Fortune recently announced a reduction in publication frequency. The New Republic previously forfeited its status as a weekly.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:01:34 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-MAGS01_20091030-203609/302658/#When:04:01:34Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>2009 Election: Traditional Value</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-ELEC01_20091030-203609/302656/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
In what is certainly one of the oldest traditions in the Western Hemisphere, Virginians will go to the polls on Tuesday to elect their leaders. Not everyone will be pleased with the results, but even the disappointed can be comforted by the knowledge that the process was free, fair, and open to all who chose to participate. That is a more recent tradition&#8212;and one worth celebrating.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:01:23 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Week in Review</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-WEEK31_20091030-194403/302635/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
WEEK&#8217;S END This week Chesterfield let die a proposal for rental-property inspections. The idea&#8212;which would have allowed county officials to inspect the exterior and interior of rental properties, and to charge a fee for the courtesy&#8212;raised questions regarding property rights and privacy. The Board of Supervisors made the right call.&nbsp; Midlothian Supervisor Dan Gecker asked good questions about another topic. Bow-hunting is one way to thin a rapidly growing deer population. Gecker wants to see if &#8220;the safety statistics&#8221; justify restricting the practice in certain residential neighborhoods. We agree with him. If facts indicate that restrictions would be wise, then enact restrictions. But if facts say problems with safety do not exist, then leave things as they are.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Election 2009: Post It</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-POST31_20091030-194403/302634/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
An endorsement from The Washington Post played a crucial role in Creigh Deeds&#8217; victory in the Democratic primary. Many observers say it played the crucial role and propelled Deeds to the win. Support from The Post clearly legitimized Deeds, especially in Northern Virginia. The newspaper&#8217;s backing reminded voters they had an alternative to the bickering duo of Terry McAuliffe and Brian Moran. The editorial&#8217;s preference for a rural candidate over two Northern Virginia swanks enhanced its credibility.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Ticked Off</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-TECH30_20091029-194811/302405/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Last night Virginia Tech&#8217;s Hokies played North Carolina&#8217;s Tar Heels. Thursday kickoffs at Tech and other schools tick off various professors and perhaps even a few young scholars. Academics often come to a halt early on game days. Although Tech does not formally cancel afternoon or evening classes for Thursday night football games, yesterday&#8217;s Washington Post reported that professors say they feel implicit pressure to shut their classrooms. Fans covet parking spaces, you see; students do not mind free passes to attend tailgate parties, we suspect.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Extra, Extra</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-NEWS30_20091029-194811/302403/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The news is in the news.   This week The Times-Dispatch&#8217;s Wes Hester reported that two student journalists at James Madison University face school charges for entering a dorm in search of comments for a news story for publication in The Breeze, the campus newspaper. Tim Chapman and Katie Hibson sought to interview students regarding allegations of a peeping Tom. The school claims the two violated regulations applying to residence halls. Chapman and Hibson say they followed proper procedures.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Evil Empire</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-CHIN30_20091029-194811/302402/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Here&#8217;s a thought experiment: Find an empty room and go sit in it for an hour. While doing so, try to imagine not coming out for the next 10 years&#8212;while your children grow, your friends age, and the world moves on. Now imagine being locked up for 10 years for no greater crime than supporting democracy. To Americans, the idea seems nearly inconceivable. But that is the fate of Guo Quan, a former professor and judge in China who has been sentenced to hard time because he founded a political party and challenged the authority of the Communist Party&#8217;s regnant goons. Guo was convicted of &#8220;subversion of state power&#8221; simply because he advocated letting his fellow citizens have a say in who will rule them.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Don&#8217;t Seek</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-BUSI29_20091028-191006/302121/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The Virginia Chamber of Commerce&#8217;s 2009 Conference on Virginia&#8217;s Future heard a ringing defense of free markets. Publisher Tom Silvestri described the event in Sunday&#8217;s Commentary section. Unfettered markets remain not only generators of prosperity but guarantors of liberty. Although pure laissez-faire does not exist, an economic and political system that keeps state intervention to a minimum is a system most likely to produce happiness.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Obama in Norfolk</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-BAMA29_20091028-191006/302120/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Last year Barack Obama became the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry Virginia since Lyndon Johnson won the state in 1964. On Tuesday, he led a Norfolk rally to boost the flagging gubernatorial campaign of Creigh Deeds. Deeds confronts a curse that has seen Virginia elect a governor from the party opposite the president in every election since 1977. It has not elected a Democratic governor when a Democrat occupied the White House since 1965. Yet even at this late hour, fate might side with Deeds. Consider the LBJ precedent. The polls show Deeds losing ground, nevertheless.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>The Night Game</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-BALL29_20091028-191006/302119/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The World Series was slated to start last night. On paper, the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies offer a compelling match-up. Both teams have pitching and hitting&#8212;and stars. The Yankees are loved by many, hated by more. Despite decades of futility, the Phillies never achieved the cult status enjoyed by the Red Sox and the Cubs, teams either jinxed or cursed or, more likely, year in and year out simply not good enough. The Phillies won their first World Series in 1980 (and waited 28 years for their second). The Yankees win a Series every week or so. The title of a history of the Phillies earns the National Book Award for integrity: Occasional Glory. The Yankees erect monuments.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Election 2009: Down Ticket</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-AGLG28_20091027-180804/301904/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Candidates for lieutenant governor and attorney general struggle for attention in a scene dominated by the gubernatorial race. The down-ticket nominees run as members of a team yet manage their own campaigns. The frustration is compounded by the point that neither the lieutenant governor nor the attorney general ought to be subject to direct popular vote.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Knock, Knock</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-INSP27_20091026-183603/301723/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The ACLU is rightfully skeptical of a plan by Chesterfield to begin a rental-inspection program of single-family homes. The program seems needlessly intrusive&#8212;and needlessly punitive. It would establish a once-a-year interior inspection that homeowners would have to arrange, at an out-of-pocket cost of $100. Owners could refuse&#8212;but then they could face a fine of up to $2,500.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:01:52 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Hannity&#8217;s Spin: Even He</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-SEAN27_20091026-183603/301727/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The other day Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) criticized the Obama administration&#8217;s reliance on &#8220;czars.&#8220; Sean Hannity seemed to consider the news a big deal. He bellowed that &#8220;even Russ Feingold is turning on President Obama and his &#8216;czars.&#8216;&#8220; And: &#8220;You know things are going bad for Barack Obama when even Russ Feingold is out to get him.&#8220; Hannity does not do nuance or subtlety or, for that matter, intelligent discourse, but &#8220;even&#8221; he ought to understand that disagreement does not necessarily correspond to &#8220;out to get him.&#8220; Feingold also has expressed reservations regarding Obama&#8217;s approach to the war against jihad. Feingold remains a supporter, we suspect. He certainly will vote for Obama against a Republican challenger in 2012.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:01:47 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>What&#8217;s the Charge?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-COST27_20091026-183603/301719/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Virginians with health insurance who review their statements often look at the bottom line and ask, &#8220;How much?&#8220; The fact that they ask that question so often after receiving treatment largely reflects the fact that they do not bother to ask it beforehand. Many simply have no incentive to: When the employer-provided health plan is picking up the tab, why bother? Even high deductibles don&#8217;t create much of an incentive. Once a patient has shelled out the first $400 or so, it doesn&#8217;t matter&#8212;to him&#8212;whether the final bill is $800 or $8,000. His out-of-pocket cost remains the same.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:01:11 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Election 2009: For the House</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-DELE26_20091025-171003/301546/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Central Virginia covers about 15 districts in the House of Delegates. Over the years, few have proved competitive. Republicans and Democrats enjoy electoral locks in constituencies designed to suit the interests not of citizens but of politicians. The parties seldom challenge each other. When races occur, the general election results are not close. Nomination in the spring usually translates into victory in the fall.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:01:11 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Endorsement: Why Virginia Needs Bob McDonnell</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-ELEX25_20091023-210409/301245/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Virginia&#8217;s roads are clogged. Health care costs are climbing, as are expenses at colleges and universities. Too many public schools fail too many students. Unemployment continues to rise, and&#8212;complicating each of these challenges&#8212;the state budget almost certainly will require more cuts. The results of this year&#8217;s election for governor will have consequences&#8212;for the next four years. Voters face a heightened civic responsibility to elect a gifted leader who is also an able manager.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 25 Oct 2009 00:01:12 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Week in Review</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-WEEK24_20091023-181004/301224/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
There is no silver lining to news that International Paper will close its plant in Franklin. The mill employed about 1,100 workers. As the company explains, the closure has nothing to do with the quality and dedication of the work force but is a consequence of market conditions. Situations such as this inflict pain wherever they occur; they prove particularly devastating for communities such as Franklin and Isle of Wight. The IP mill forms a cornerstone of the local economy. The lost jobs will not be readily replaced. Businesses that depend on the patronage of International Paper&#8217;s employees will suffer.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:01:39 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Righting Wrongs</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-TRIB24_20091023-181004/301223/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The news that Congress is moving toward official federal recognition of Virginia&#8217;s Indian tribes is welcome, albeit woefully overdue. Rep. Jim Moran and Sen. Jim Webb deserve credit for carrying the measures and shepherding them toward passage. The federal failure to recognize the tribes compounded historical injustices and was itself the result of another injustice, Virginia&#8217;s attempt in the past century to expunge American Indians from the state&#8217;s vital records.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Election 2009: Chicago Style</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-DEED24_20091023-181004/301220/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Although The Washington Post endorsed Creigh Deeds for governor last Sunday, yesterday&#8217;s editions did not report happy news for the Democratic nominee. According to a Page One story, White House insiders already are blaming the Deeds operation for what they see as an inevitable defeat. The goal is to shift blame from the Obama administration to the Deeds team, which, the high-hat schemers assert, did not follow advice from the Obama apparatus or, for that matter, from Tim Kaine, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee who moonlights as governor of Virginia. The unnamed sources cowered behind anonymity.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Out of Towners</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-TOUR23_20091022-181806/301021/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The weekly Travel section of The New York Times typically includes a page detailing 36 hours in, say, Capri, Novosibirsk, Fez, Saskatoon, Hong Kong, Belo Horizonte, or some other world-class destination. After consuming the advice, imaginative globetrotters head for recommended spots&#8212;only to find, at the next table, not a rustic or a Bollywood star but a former broker with Bear Stearns.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Going to Pot</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-MPOT23_20091022-181806/301019/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The Obama administration deserves credit for backing away from one of the Bush administration&#8217;s more ill-considered policies: the pursuit of medical-marijuana sellers. A number of states have passed laws permitting the medicinal use of pot. But the Bush administration would have none of it. It zealously used federal law to go after dispensaries&#8212;in contravention of common sense, right reason, and the principles of federalism conservatives generally hold dear.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Dropping In</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-DROP23_20091022-181806/301016/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Richmond&#8217;s public-school system has developed a new program aimed at reducing the dropout rate. That&#8217;s a commendable step, made all the more commendable for being taken with no extra money in hard economic times. The big question is whether it will work. We certainly hope so. But area residents should bear in mind the uphill climb the school system faces. Dropouts are, almost by definition, the most difficult kids to reach.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Bill Wasson: Beat Reporter</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-WASS22_20091021-191007/300773/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
In many ways, Bill Wasson was a walking caricature. He was gruff and cynical and big-hearted. He was a sloppy dresser but as fussy as a schoolmarm when it came to tight writing and accurate reporting. Wasson&#8217;s dry, piercing wit masked his compassion for the underdog. He was a born storyteller and an old-fashioned reporter in the very best sense&#8212;someone who pursued facts, worked his beat, cultivated sources, and wrote straight. Good luck finding any clich&#233;s in the thousands of stories he wrote during nearly 40 years as a reporter for The News Leader and           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:01:24 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Gardasil for Boys?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-GARD22_20091021-191007/300770/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Three years ago a hefty lobbying campaign by Merck, the pharmaceutical giant, led some states&#8212;including Virginia&#8212;to require Gardasil vaccinations for girls and young women. Gardasil can help prevent the spread of HPV, a sexually transmitted pathogen that causes cervical cancer. Social conservatives objected to a costly mandate that is based on the presumption a teenager will be promiscuous, but even in Virginia their objections carried little weight against the counsel of prudence: Talking about what people ought to do, said vaccination advocates, was fine in theory, but less relevant in the real world. The commonwealth approved a Gardasil requirement in early 2007. (Parents have the ability to opt out if they do not want their daughters vaccinated.)           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>After the Fox</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-FOXN22_20091021-191007/300769/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The Obama administration&#8217;s strident assault on Fox News seems not only strange but unpresidential&#8212;and counterproductive. Politicians often have lashed out against the press, but seldom with such specificity and such public bile. The late William Safire, for instance, made his name and launched what would prove a lucrative career by writing words emitted by Spiro Agnew. As vociferously vivid as &#8220;nattering nabobs of negativism&#8221; may have been, however, Safire did not cite networks or anchors by name. He knew better. (Richard Nixon did not, as his enemies list suggests.)           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Chesterfield: Means and Ends</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-NETB21_20091020-195606/300500/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Technology is a marvelous thing, and the world would be much poorer without it. Chesterfield&#8217;s intention to spend $13 million on faculty and administration netbooks, an electronic portal, and similar whiz-bangery probably will usher in a number of benefits, planned and unplanned. It probably also will usher in a number of headaches, many of them unforeseen. Henrico&#8217;s experience with iBooks proved a double-edged sword.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:01:51 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Health Care Reform: Wise Words</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-REGI21_20091020-195606/300503/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Last month the Commentary section published a guest column by Regina Herzlinger, the first female professor to receive tenure at the Harvard Business School. The piece discussed consumer-driven health care and appeared on the eve of The Times-Dispatch Public Square in which Reps. Eric Cantor (R-7th) and Bobby Scott (D-3rd) addressed health care reform.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:01:22 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>The New Reality: Balloon Boy</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-BBOY21_20091020-195606/300496/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The story seemed made for cable &#8220;news&#8221;&#8212;and indeed it was. A Colorado family reported that an errant balloon with their small son aboard had disappeared into the vastness of the skies. CNN and its peers gave the incident coverage worthy not only of presidential inaugurations but of missing blonde syndrome. The reports proved bogus, of course. The police had misgivings almost from the start, but played along until they could establish what was really going on. It now appears the family staged a stunt to win a coveted appearance on reality TV. Every philosopher laying claim to the mantle of Thales spoke of the ironic (or whatever) connection between the fake and the real. Once again distinctions were blurred, lines were breached.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:01:10 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>City Traffic: Circular Questions</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-CIRC21_20091020-195606/300497/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The City of Richmond is considering whether to create an additional four roundabouts at various traffic choke points in the city. Such traffic circles make good sense as a general rule. They are not appropriate everywhere. Roundabouts tend to be much safer than four-way perpendicular intersections and old-fashioned traffic circles. Roundabouts involve one-fourth as many vehicle-to-vehicle conflict points, and one-third as many vehicle-to-pedestrian conflict points, as four-way intersections. Because they require slowing down and yielding to enter the flow of traffic, they are safer than the old-fashioned traffic circles such as the Lee Circle on Monument Avenue. Roundabouts tend to reduce congestion as well.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:01:04 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Neda of Iran</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-NOBE20_20091019-171405/300289/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
As it had done with various previous prizes, the Nobel committee recognized aspiration when it awarded the 2009 peace prize to President Barack Obama. The circumstances continue to generate mild controversy. As The Washington Post says, the award seemingly has conferred more embarrassment than honor. The Post gently considers the recognition premature.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:01:56 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Rush to Judge</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-RUSH20_20091019-171405/300290/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Rush Limbaugh should not be surprised. As someone who stokes controversy&#8212;often via personal ridicule&#8212;surely he expected the reaction to reports he belonged to a group interested in buying football&#8217;s St. Louis Rams. He should not be surprised by the outcome, either. The affair qualified as farce from the get-go. Given the cast of characters, how could it not? Limbaugh probably will receive a ratings boost.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:01:32 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Voting Wrongs</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-VOTING20_20091019-171405/300293/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The failure on the part of state election officials to mail absentee ballots to overseas servicemen and residents in a sufficiently timely fashion violated federal law. District Court Judge Richard Williams has correctly insisted that the votes be counted. They will make no difference to last years&#8217; presidential outcome, but that is beside the point. The votes should be counted to uphold the rights of the citizens abroad and to ensure the integrity of the electoral system.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:01:08 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Under&#45;Tow</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-TOWING19_20091018-165603/300120/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The Richmond City Council may raise the rate towing companies can charge for hauling off improperly parked vehicles, as well as the daily rate for storing vehicles in an impound lot. That&#8217;s a good idea. The rates haven&#8217;t been changed in a decade; they&#8217;re due for a hike. The city&#8217;s proposal would raise the towing fee from $65 to $125, the maximum allowed by state law.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>The Old Switcheroo</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-SWITCH19_20091018-165603/300119/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Whether Bob McDonnell still believes everything he wrote in his 1989 thesis is a fair question. So is this one: Should Creigh Deeds be the one to ask it? As The Washington Post noted in a recent profile, Deeds often calls himself a &#8220;work in progress.&#8220; And indeed, he is notorious for switching positions on several hot-button issues, from gay marriage to the gun-show loophole.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Public Options</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-PUBLICOP19_20091018-165603/300117/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
According to the clich&#233;s of political discourse, the Obama administration is trying to &#8220;move the country forward&#8221; by, for example, overhauling the health care system. The president&#8217;s agenda includes a &#8220;public option&#8221; for health insurance, the purpose of which is to &#8220;keep the industry honest&#8221; and hold down costs. Is that idea as progressive as progressives believe? Perhaps not.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Guantanamo Cases</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-GUANT19_20091018-165603/300115/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Many Americans likely were surprised, and perhaps even outraged, to learn of the comfortable conditions in which the enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay are kept. As a recent news article reported: &#8220;For up to four hours a day, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, can sit outside in the Caribbean sun and chat through a chain-link fence with the detainee in the neighboring exercise yard at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Mohammed can also use that time to visit a media room to watch movies of his choice, read newspapers and books, or play handheld electronic games. He and other detainees have access to elliptical machines and stationary bikes . . . .&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Make It Work</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-GRUM18_20091016-203809/299801/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
When stories of troubles involving the Virginia Information Technologies Agency and Northrop Grumman first broke, we suspended judgment. We preferred to wait until the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission investigated the situation and issued a report. Last week JLARC released findings. The partnership is not living up to expectations. Although responsibility for the glitches (and worse) is shared, Northrop Grumman bears the greater burden.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:01:51 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Popularity, Security</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-DIPLO18_20091016-203809/299799/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
&#8220;Barrels of Good Will for Obama, but Few Foreign Policy Benefits,&#8220; read a recent New York Times headline. Polls show that foreigners generally feel better about the U.S. since the change in administration. Obama&#8217;s Nobel reinforces the impression. But this has not translated into tangible diplomatic gains. There are two reasons for that. The first: Governments&#8212;even democratic ones, and many are not democratic&#8212;are not mere mechanisms for translating popular opinion into official action. The second: With few if any exceptions, nations have interests, not friends.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:01:30 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Smarts</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-MULTI18_20091016-203809/299805/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Intellectuals, Bill Cosby once said, are those who study what people do naturally. Here is proof that he is right. Researchers at Stanford University have been studying multitaskers. The researchers&#8212;who had originally been trying to find the &#8220;unusual cognitive gifts&#8221; that made multitaskers &#8220;so successful at multitasking&#8221;&#8212;found out that, in fact, multitaskers actually do worse on a variety of tasks than non-multitaskers. Concentrating on one thing at a time, it turns out, improves performance. Who knew?           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:01:20 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>The Road Worriers</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-INFRAST17_20091016-190204/299773/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
According to an organization whose members make money from building public-infrastructure projects, Virginia needs to spend a lot more money on public-infrastructure projects. The American Society of Civil Engineers gives Virginia a grade of D+ for the condition of its roads, bridges, dams, water systems, schools, and so on. That puts Virginia slightly ahead of the national curve, which gets a D from the organization. It wants to see a five-year investment of $2.2 trillion.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:01:44 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Power&#45;Hungry</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-TVS17_20091016-190204/299776/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
California appears poised to ban energy-sucking big-screen plasma TVs, despite vigorous lobbying by the Arlington, Va.-based Consumer Electronics Association. The ban will be imposed by executive fiat, courtesy of the state&#8217;s energy commission. The reason for banning the big boob tubes is the same as the one behind the push to switch from incandescent to compact fluorescent light bulbs: It&#8217;s good for the environment.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:01:26 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>WEEK&#8217;S END</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-WEEK17_20091016-190204/299777/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The incidents dismay. This week vandals disfigured Henrico&#8217;s Three Lakes Park with racist and anti-Semitic graffiti. This was Central Virginia&#8217;s fifth such occurrence in recent weeks; three of the crimes have happened at parks, presumed places of joy. This does not represent a resurgence of hate groups such as the KKK, yet it reflects the mean streak in certain human hearts. If the offenders are caught, punishment ought to include more than &#8220;public service&#8221; stints of washing graffiti off public and private property.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:01:05 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Paying for Roads</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-ROADS16_20091015-180603/299551/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
&#8220;The administration has inherited a system that can no longer pay for itself,&#8220; according to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. He was talking about an expected shortfall in the federal highway trust fund&#8212;a problem the administration has actively been seeking to make worse. The trust fund gathers revenue principally from gasoline taxes. Like Virginia&#8217;s own gasoline tax, the federal tax of 18.4 cents per gallon is not pegged to inflation, so it has lost purchasing power over time. If it had kept pace with prices generally it now would stand between 25 and 30 cents per gallon.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Pres. Xerox</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-PATRIOT16_20091015-180603/299550/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Extraordinary rendition. Guantanamo. Warrantless wiretapping. State-secrets privilege. Military commissions. Indefinite detention without trial. For a president who promised heaping helpings of change, Barack Obama seems remarkably devoted to carrying forward the policies of his predecessor. Comes now word that the administration has signified in favor of extending three controversial provisions of the Patriot Act: the power to access business records, to track &#8220;lone wolf&#8221; terrorists, and to conduct roving wiretaps. (The first of those provisions is the one that authorizes Uncle Sam to find out what books you&#8217;ve been checking out of the local library.)           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Go, Squirrels!</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-TEAM16_20091015-180409/299547/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Well, so much for that. Richmond&#8217;s new ball team will officially be known not as the Generals, the Ravens, or any of the other spiffy monikers suggested by area residents. They are now the Flying Squirrels. That name might not strike anyone outside the franchise as ideal, but&#8212;as we noted yesterday&#8212;on the bright side, they could have done a lot worse.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>He Must Go</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-RANG15_20091014-173804/299314/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
When he defeated the legendary Adam Clayton Powell in a 1970 primary, Charles Rangel ran as something of a reformer. Voters weary of Powell&#8217;s flamboyant indiscretions rallied to him. Rangel rose in the House and proved himself to be an effective legislator. His rhetoric occasionally takes sharp turns, but he makes friends easily and appears to be a personal delight. Although McSorley&#8217;s lies outside his district, we happily would stand him a round. His family has Virginia roots.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Today&#8217;s the Day</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-HUSH15_20091014-173804/299312/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Far be it from us to second-guess the philosophers who chose the name &#8220;Hush Puppies&#8221; as a finalist from among the thousands of suggestions for Richmond&#8217;s new ball club that poured in to CNBC. We certainly would not want to question the intelligence of the popinjays who rejected the scads of entries that actually made sense, such as the Generals or the Ravens. No doubt they had their reasons, and we are in no position to critique them.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Deserving Credit</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-CRED15_20091014-173804/299310/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
You wouldn&#8217;t expect former Virginia Democratic Party chairman Paul Goldman and former GOP governor and senator George Allen to team up on too many projects. But then few might have expected Goldman and former GOP Rep. Tom Bliley to make common cause, either. Yet the Bliley-Goldman combo (with a big assist from Doug Wilder) helped shepherd Richmond&#8217;s new mayoral system to passage.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Censorship: New Craven, Conn.</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-YALE14_20091013-174202/299111/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Four years ago a Danish newspaper published cartoons that mocked the Prophet Muhammad. The newspaper did so to push back against a growing tendency toward censorship and self-censorship of material offensive to tender Islamist sensibilities. As the newspaper&#8217;s cultural editor, Flemming Rose, explained before and after publication: &#8220;The modern, secular society is rejected by some Muslims. They demand a special position, insisting on special consideration of their own religious feelings. [This] is incompatible with contemporary democracy and freedom of speech&#8221;&#8212;and &#8220;The cartoonists treated Islam the same way they treat Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and other religions. And by treating Muslims in Denmark as equals they made a point: We are integrating you into the Danish tradition of satire because you are part of our society, not strangers . . . .&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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