Wine: Yalumba Y Series Riesling 2008
  Winery: Yalumba, Barossa Valley, Australia
  Composition: 100 percent Riesling
  Description: Another excellent summer wine that also is a great introduction for those not in the habit of drinking Rieslings. Citrus aromas and flavors—lime, grapefruit—abound. Light-bodied and crisp with excellent acidity. 12 percent alcohol

A Richmond man was convicted yesterday for fatally beating one man in an abandoned house and for beating another man nearly to death behind the Golden Food Market the same day. Jose Raul Gaitan, 27, entered an Alford plea to a charge of second-degree murder, meaning he does not admit guilt but acknowledges there is enough evidence to convict him. He also pleaded guilty to malicious wounding.

“Today I’m pledging to cut the deficit we inherited by half by the end of my first term in office,“ Barack Obama said a while back. Politicians say many things while campaigning, of course, so perhaps Obama found himself in the position Mark Warner claimed to have found himself in when he broke his no-new-taxes pledge: Maybe he just didn’t realize how really badly the government needed to spend more money.

Before we get too giddy about any U.S. economic “recovery,“ we should remember that the preceding economic collapse was global. No recovery can succeed unless it, too, is global. Will that happen? The world can no longer rely for growth on free-spending Americans, who are overburdened by debt and sobered by trillions of dollars of losses on homes and stocks. Without a substitute for American buying, any global revival will be feeble, because the United States needs export-led growth and other countries must somehow offset their lost sales to our market.

Members of the Shah-Berry Dance Academy stepped and twirled to a beat yesterday at the Cultural Center of India in Chester during a commemoration of India’s independence from Britain 62 years ago. Janahavi Giribhattanav (left) from the Shah-Berry academy performed the Kathak Salaam, a classical Indian dance, and Bina Shah (right) celebrated during the children’s parade. In addition to the performances, there was food and an appearance by Bob McDonnell, the Republican candidate for governor. For more images from yesterday’s India celebration at the Cultural Center of India in Chester, go to TimesDispatch.com keyword: slideshow

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has declared Goochland County’s Hidden Rock Park soccer fields safe for play after a new gas-extraction system was installed to bring methane levels from the landfill beneath the fields into compliance with state standards. A letter sent last week from the state agency to Goochland County Administrator Rebecca T. Dickson stated that meter readings at the park since the new system was installed in March were satisfactory.

No single topic drives the health care reform debate like the number of uninsured Americans, variously numbered in speeches and ads at 45 million, 46 million, 47 million, or even 50 million. Unfortunately, most of what we think we know about the un insured is wrong. For the record, according to the latest figures from the Census Bureau, 45.6 million Americans currently lack health insurance. This is actually down slightly from the 47 million that were uninsured in 2006. However, those numbers don’t tell the whole story.

Tax-Free Weekend Deprived State of Money
Editor, Times-Dispatch: The tax-free holiday could not have occurred at a more inappropriate time—when the state has no money to spare. Virtually every state agency, from VDOT to our schools, has been forced to make cuts—not in discretionary spending, but in human labor. As a result of so many consecutive years of budget cuts and poor revenue streams, there is nothing left to be eliminated but human salaries and livelihoods.

The Kaine administration’s quick fix for guiding the troubled Virginia information technology agency - allowing the secretary of technology to simultaneously serve as interim computer czar - is illegal, the attorney general ruled yesterday. William C. Mims, the state’s top lawyer, said the dual roles for Leonard M. “Len” Pomata violate a law that separates the jobs of technology secretary and chief information officer in order to shield the CIO from politics.

The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), while aimed at recapitalizing the banking sector, has produced some unintended consequences, and the potential for similar harmful consequences exists in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The government’s investment of more than $350 billion in bank preferred stock, with more government funds to follow, immediately provided needed liquidity in the banking sector. It was believed that this increased liquidity would ensure the survival of problem banks and allow banks to extend loans to businesses and individuals. These funds would then be used for investment and consumption, which would in turn help revitalize the economy.

Forty-seven passengers recently spent the night stranded in a plane on a tarmac. The Inferno seems incomplete. Dante needs to add a 10th to his nine circles of suffering. The incident occurred when a thunderstorm diverted a Houston-to-Minneapolis flight to a smaller airport in Rochester. The passengers were not allowed to deplane because security details had left the terminal for the night. Only in the morning did the weary receive respite.

Science Museum IMAX “Dolphins”: 4 p.m. Thursday-Wednesday. $8.50.  “Sharks”: 11 a.m., 2, 5 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 2, 5 p.m. Sunday; 11 a.m., 2, 5 p.m. Monday-Wednesday. $8.50.  “Coral Reef Adventure”: noon, 3 p.m. Thursday-Wednesday. $8.50.

Wine: Pollak Vineyards 2007 Estate Grown Cabernet Franc
  Winery: Pollak Vineyards, 330 Newtown Road, Greenwood (about 25 miles west of Charlottesville on I-64, Exit 107), http://www.pollakvineyards.com
  Composition: 100 percent Cabernet Franc
  Description: Another example of the excellent Cabernet Francs being made in the state, this medium-bodied wine has berry and black pepper aromas followed by raspberry and cherry tastes and a velvety finish. 13.2 percent alcohol

Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation to the Supreme Court wrapped up a foregone conclusion. Conservative interest groups and senators played their appointed roles during the confirmation hearings, as did those on the other side of the aisle. But the outcome never was in serious doubt. Sotomayor replaces David Souter. The evidence from their respective records suggests she will not greatly change the high court’s ideological composition. That was one of the principal reasons opposition to her appointment was fairly tame. (The other, of course, was her twofer status as a female Hispanic.) If Antonin Scalia were hit by a bus and President Obama were to replace him with someone such as the Ninth Circuit’s Steven Reinhardt, perhaps the most liberal judge on the most liberal court in the land, debate would reach Borkian levels—and deserve to.

Charlie, a 7-month-old boxer, may have had the best seat along West Cary Street yesterday. At the least, it was the wettest. The young yet stocky pooch immersed herself in a small, round swimming pool filled with water during the 26th Carytown Watermelon Festival. She was doing her best to stay cool from the oppressive heat that beat down on the estimated 100,000 people who traversed a six-block stretch during one of the hottest days of the year. Temperatures reached a high of 97 degrees, with the heat index even higher.