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    <title>Opinion &gt; Columnists for Richmond Times-Dispatch</title>
    <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/</link>
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        <title>Opinion &gt; Columnists for Richmond Times-Dispatch</title>
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    <dc:language>en</dc:language>
    <dc:creator>Richmond Times-Dispatch</dc:creator>
    <dc:rights>Copyright 2009</dc:rights>
    <dc:date>2009-07-09T18:50:48-05:00</dc:date>

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          <title>Food Cops: Coming Soon to a Restaurant Near You?</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLE07_20090706-174403/278342/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The food cops are back. With liberal Democrats running the two political branches of government, enthusiasts for the Nanny State are coming out of the woodwork. Chicago-and-Harvard law prof Cass Sunstein has been named the Obama administration&#8217;s regulatory czar. (He replaces Susan Dudley, who came out of George Mason University&#8217;s Mercatus Center, a free-market think tank.) Sunstein is the co-author of Nudge&#8212;the premise of which is that, because some people make stupid decisions, &#8220;choice architects&#8221; practicing &#8220;libertarian paternalism&#8221; should shape other people&#8217;s options so that the booboisie will make the type of choices smarter people, like Sunstein, think they should make.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:01:23 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Fourth Of July: A Holiday Dialogue Between Dude and Uncle Sam</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-ROSS03_20090702-182004/277678/</link>
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ROSS MACKENZIE Times-Dispatch Columnist A4th of July conversation between Dude&#8212;a teenager&#8212;and his Uncle Sam . . . Yo, Uncle. Wasup? Good morning, Dude. What am I doing? I&#8217;m getting into my suit for the parade. What&#8217;re you gonna be in a parade for? They gonna have a lot of hot chicks and cool floats? I don&#8217;t know about that, Dude. But I do know there will be many military people and ordinary citizens&#8212;and brass bands playing Sousa marches and songs about America. It&#8217;s our annual celebration of independence and liberty.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Listening: In Search of the True Self</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-CULBERT01_20090630-181805/277213/</link>
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Here at the age of 39, I began to be old,&#8220; says Charles Ryder as his revisit to Brideshead begins. For others, self-awareness arrives sooner or later, more or less. There are young fogies as well as old. Most learn age&#8217;s lessons only to forget or ignore them. Often indeed we need to remind ourselves of our true selves. The gatekeeper at Boston&#8217;s Museum of Fine Arts issues a ticket to a Richmonder and the price includes the senior discount, which the traveler neither requests nor is asked whether the rate applies. The mirror says he does not look a day past 90. Later that evening, during a stroll near Harvard, in an evening turning from sultry to soft, a twentysomething calls out, &#8220;Hey, Grandpa.&#8220; Ours is not to reason why.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Armed Citizens: Both Left and Right Could Use Second Amendment Refresher</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLE26_20090625-174202/276360/</link>
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There is always the danger that those inclined toward violence will incorporate it into their twisted worldview,&#8220; writes Bob Herbert of The New York Times in a recent column about right-wing ex tremism. Herbert has joined a chorus of liberal commentators who see a connection between (a) incidents such as the murder of abortion doctor George Tiller and James von Brunn&#8217;s attack at the Holocaust Museum and (b) the anti-government rhetoric issuing from conservative sources such as the National Rifle Association, talk-show host Glenn Beck, and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>. . . But Some Never Lost Theirs</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLE23_20090622-175804/275438/</link>
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Arecent news article about Food Lion pulling ahead of Ukrop&#8217;s in the grocery wars noted that the local chain is running the race with a couple of ankle weights. It doesn&#8217;t sell beer or wine, and it isn&#8217;t open on Sun day&#8212;the biggest shopping day of the week. And therein lies a lesson for both liberals and conservatives: Money isn&#8217;t everything.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Black Men, Let&#8217;s Rise to the Occasions</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HORTONOP18_20090618-182203/274607/</link>
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NORFOLK. As an African-American male of 68 years, I have a special message for Juneteenth (today) and Father&#8217;s Day (Sunday) for 2009. It has been said that nothing is as powerful as an idea whose time has come. And, do I have a great idea for Father&#8217;s Day and Juneteenth, or what? For over two decades, I have worked directly with young African-Americans, particularly inner-city and public-housing males. I have been a student and teacher of African-American history for more than 40 years. I have conducted countless workshops and classes on self-esteem, historical perspective, culture awareness, personal responsibility, youth empowerment, academic improvement, career development, effective parenting, family stability, and the like.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Government Spending: Should We Treat Health Care and Education the Same Way?</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLE12_20090611-184601/273281/</link>
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If you haven&#8217;t heard of the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care yet, wait. It is fast becoming the Book of Kells in the Washington policy world. The Obama White House has realized that Dartmouth&#8217;s research could enable it to pull off&#8212;or at least to sell&#8212;the big dream of health-care reform: affordable universal coverage. Under ordinary circumstances, broadening government involvement in health care would be a hugely expensive proposition&#8212;and the more generous the benefits, the higher the cost. But researchers at Dartmouth have compiled decades of data showing two things: (1) there are huge geographic differences in Medicare outlays (e.g., more than $16,000 per beneficiary in Miami, versus less than $8,400 in San Francisco), and (2) those differences seem to produce no difference in health outcomes.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>SENDUP: Thomas the Tank Engine &amp; Friends Come to Central Virginia</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLEOP09_20090608-183806/272624/</link>
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A. BARTON HINKLE Thomas the Tank Engine was excited. It was a busy time on the Island of Sodor. Percy had just told him that the Rail way Board had dropped a proposed eastern route for an express train between the nation&#8217;s capital and the Capital of the Confederacy. &#8220;Who needs that silly Buckingham branch line, anyway?&#8220; said Thomas to Percy.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>POLITICAL HYPERBOLE: Virginia Politicians Just Keep Getting Extremier and Extremier</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLEOP05_20090604-185602/271830/</link>
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A. BARTON HINKLE It&#8217;s not yet clear whom Virginia Democrats will pick on Tuesday to run against Bob McDonnell and Bill Bolling, the GOP candidates for governor and lieutenant governor. (The unopposed Democratic candidate for attorney general, Steve Shannon, will square off against Republican Ken Cuccinelli.) But this much is clear: Whatever the Democratic ticket looks like, it will be the most extreme, radical, wild-eyed bunch of borderline psychotics ever to campaign for public office in the history of the universe.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>SOTOMAYOR&#8217;S NOMINATION: Identity Politics Characterizes National Discussion</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE29_20090528-200302/270462/</link>
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A. BARTON HINKLE If you see a lot of people walking around in neck braces in the next few days, don&#8217;t be surprised. Most of them probably got whiplash trying to process the hoopla surrounding So nia Sotomayor&#8217;s nomination to the Supreme Court. From all the celebratory hullaballoo, one might conclude that the most important aspect of the nomination is that it breaks down barriers. And it certainly was heartwarming to see the nation&#8217;s first black president standing beside the woman who will almost certainly be come the nation&#8217;s first (or, perhaps, second&#8212;see below) Hispanic Supreme Court justice. Gotta love progress. Sotomayor&#8217;s life history (raised by a single mom, inspired by Nancy Drew) also is heartwarming in its own right. As Janet Murguia of the National Council of La Raza said, it &#8220;personifies the American dream for so many Latinos in this country.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 29 May 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Retreat Brings One Back to Reality</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/SSJECOLUMN_20090526-174501/270014/</link>
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Abide with me, fast falls the eventide.&#8220; Soft voices fill sacred space. &#8220;Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping.&#8220; Compline closes the day. Prayer proceeds without ceasing. The words are chanted and sung at the Society of Saint John the Evangelist, a monastic community of the Episcopal Church. Its monastery lies in Cambridge along the Charles River, adjacent to Harvard University. The premises include a guest house, quarters for the brothers, and the Chapel of Saint Mary and Saint John, and are open for retreats that are not withdrawals but re-entries into the real. Visitors include groups and individuals, friends and strangers&#8212;although in the truest sense there are no strangers here. Silence predominates. In a world of noise, it is a welcome sound. &#8220;Elected silence, sing to me.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 27 May 2009 00:01:36 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>America&#8217;s Servicemen Live Life on the Grenade</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE25_20090524-171304/269709/</link>
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Petty Officer Michael Monsoor, a Navy SEAL, was part of a security detail in Ramadi, Iraq, on Sept. 29, 2006, when an insurgent lobbed a grenade at his position. Mon soor, 25, threw himself on the grenade to shield his comrades from the blast. He died a half-hour later. &#8220;He never took his eye off the grenade,&#8220; said one of the men there that day. &#8220;His only movement was down toward it. He undoubtedly saved mine and the other SEALs&#8217; lives, and we owe him.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 25 May 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Do State Democrats, Too, Have a Purity&#45;Test Problem?</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE22_20090521-190614/269101/</link>
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Virginia&#8217;s Republican Party has taken a lot of heat for zealotry in recent months. Critics say the GOP&#8212;particularly under its recently deposed chairman, Jeff Frederick&#8212;has spent more time worrying about whose heart was not pure enough to belong than it has spent reaching out to potential converts and inviting them to come join the party.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 22 May 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>The Constitution According to President Barack Obama</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE19_20090518-180005/268470/</link>
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Article I All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, at least for the sake of appearances. Article II Section 1 The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. Section 2 Woe betide any Person who dare suggest the preceding Section shall be interpreted to mean &#8220;the limited Power to carry out the Laws passed by Congress&#8221; and not &#8220;the unbounded Prerogative to do whastoever the Current Holder of the Executive Office may please.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 19 May 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>On the Basics, Hackers, Golf, Silence, Etc.</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL0517_20090515-213421/268003/</link>
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Additional stops on a random walk through a garden of issues currently in the news . . .   A study of student performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress test (NAEP) since the early 1970s reaches dismal conclusions. On a scale of 500, test scores by today&#8217;s high schoolers average a pitiful one point higher in reading and just two points higher in math.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 17 May 2009 00:01:31 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Right or Wrong, the GOP Sure Is Brave&#8212;Isn&#8217;t It?</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE15_20090514-182308/267740/</link>
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According to liberal orthodoxy, Virginia Republicans are a tremendously courageous lot. How so? Because, in opposing an extension of unemployment benefits, they are standing up for their convictions in the face of popular opinion. That is the brave and noble thing to do, right? When the subject is taxes, the answer almost always seems to be yes.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 15 May 2009 00:01:15 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Energy&#8217;s Future Leaves Left and Right in a Muddle</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE88_20090507-182704/266351/</link>
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Liberals and conservatives are of two minds about energy policy. Wait&#8212;make that four minds. When the subject concerns oil exploration and extraction&#8212;off Virginia&#8217;s coast, in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or in the Bakken formation in Montana and North Dakota&#8212;conservatives trumpet optimistic reserve estimates indicating huge opportunities that will wean us from dependence on foreign suppliers and boost the economy in the process.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 08 May 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Everybody&#8217;s a Potential Terrorist. Yes, You Are Too.</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE5_20090504-171010/265665/</link>
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Several recent reports by law-enforcement agencies have awakened the American public to a terrorism threat far broader than previously imagined. The first, from the Missouri Infor mation Analysis Center, focused on the militia movement. It identified the warning signs of potentially violent anti-government ideology: association with third-party political groups, enthusiasm for minor-party candidates such as Ron Paul or Bob Barr, hostility to immigration, and opposition to abortion. Brandishing a bumper-sticker was considered a dead giveaway.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 05 May 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Virginia Is Blazing A Green Trail</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/KAINEOP_20090421-170414/261647/</link>
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Virginia has been blessed with an unsurpassed treasure of natural resources and beauty, and it is the responsibility of each Virginian to ensure that future generations will enjoy the treasures we have enjoyed for more than 400 years. On Earth Day 2009, I am encouraged to see that more and more Virginians are awakening to the fact that sustainable economic development, and the cultivation of a &#8220;green economy,&#8220; will enhance not only the commonwealth&#8217;s mountains and rivers, but its bottom line and continued economic viability. There is common ground to be found between environmental leaders and business leaders, and my administration will continue to develop a strong and healthy environment and economy.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:01:31 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>William &amp; Mary Should Adopt the Wren as Mascot</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/GRAYSONWRENS_20090420-175608/260862/</link>
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rouge, c&#8217;est la France!&#8220; Fellow legislators realized that red pants were France, and killed the gambit quicker than un g&#233;n&#233;ral could say, &#8220;I surrender.&#8220; This brings us to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which among its core values cites &#8220;respect for institutional autonomy.&#8220; Such high-flying rhetoric aside, the NCAA&#8217;s political correctness snipes have been all over William &amp; Mary like a peeping-Tom at a nudist colony.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:01:22 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>What They&#8217;re Saying About Iraq</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/SAYINGIRAQ_20090413-174409/255470/</link>
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Jeff Jacoby, The Boston Globe: &#8220;Markets without bombs. Hummers without guns. Ice cream after dark. Busy streets without fear.&#8220; So began Terry McCarthy&#8217;s report from Iraq for ABC&#8217;s &#8220;World News Sunday&#8221; . . . as the war in Iraq reached its sixth anniversary. In another report two nights later, ABC&#8217;s correspondent characterized the Iraqi capital as &#8220;a city reborn: speed, light, style&#8212;this is Baghdad today. Where car bombs have given way to car racing. Where a once-looted museum has been restored and reopened. And where young women who were forced to cover their heads can again wear the clothes that they like.&#8220; . . .           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>P.C.U.?</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/EDTECH_20090410-203708/253844/</link>
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Virginia Tech has been receiving some unwelcome but necessary scrutiny of late over the emphasis its college of arts and humanities has been giving to a divisive issue: diversity. The Virginia Association of Scholars, the National Association of Scholars, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, and the American Council of Trustees and Alumni all have voiced concerns about an apparent attempt to mau-mau professors into toeing an ideological line.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 12 Apr 2009 00:01:17 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>United States&#8217; Military Must Evolve&#8212;But How?</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE10A_20090409-190102/253036/</link>
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Secretary of Defense Robert Gates&#8217; proposal to reshape the American military has generated a lot of discussion. But it has not generated much surprise&#8212;and for good reason. In an important September speech, the president called for what he termed &#8220;a revolution in the technology of war.&#8220; Future conflicts, he said, would be won or lost not by massed might, but by speed, stealth, and mobility. The military, he went on, must be reorganized along such lines&#8212;and he promised to give the secretary of defense &#8220;a broad mandate to challenge the status quo and envision a new architecture of American defense for decades to come.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 10 Apr 2009 00:01:02 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>What Others Are Saying About Afghanistan</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/SAYINGAFGHAN_20090409-190102/253038/</link>
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Karin von Hippel and Frederick Barton, Center for Strategic and International Studies: America may not be losing the war in Afghanistan, but it is also not winning. Neither is the U.S. approach in neighboring Pakistan making friends or preventing new recruits from crossing the border to kill U.S. and other NATO troops. What then is the best way to promote peace and security in the greater South Asia region? . . .           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 10 Apr 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Think Before Forwarding That Inspiring E&#45;Mail</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE7_20090406-173615/250197/</link>
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The Internet is a glorious technological leap forward that has brought the world a host of blessings. Let&#8217;s stipulate that at the outset. But one of its many downsides is the persistence of the e-mail glurge: the tug-your-heartstrings story that will be passed on from one mailing list to the next until, apparently, the heat-death of the universe.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 07 Apr 2009 00:01:34 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE7_20090406-173615/250197/#When:04:01:34Z</guid>
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          <title>Virginia Sets the Standard for Dropout Reporting</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE3_20090402-183811/247602/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Here is a thought experiment: Imagine what life would be like if all rulers were relative. One person measuring a table might say it was 4 feet long. Another, using a different ruler, might say it was 11 feet long. Who&#8217;s right? Both, or neither? It would be impossible to say. Now imagine two other people measuring a different table across the country with two more unique rulers. Is the second table bigger than the first, the same size, or smaller? Again: impossible to say.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE3_20090402-183811/247602/#When:04:01:00Z</guid>
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          <title>Obama Administration Outrages</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL0329_20090327-191605/242737/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
David Letterman updated the old game of &#8220;Can You Top This?&#8220; with his reverse lists of the 10 best or worst or most bizarre&#8212;whatevers. Here&#8217;s a listing of 16 outrages from Barack Obama and his two-month-old administration, each new outrage seemingly topping&#8212;outdoing in idiocy and insult&#8212;the one that went before . . . (16) Naming as treasury secretary, with oversight of the Internal Revenue Service, a man who had failed to pay his income taxes. Were Timothy Geithner a mere IRS hireling, his tax issues would have landed him in the unemployment queues at light-speed.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 29 Mar 2009 00:01:19 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL0329_20090327-191605/242737/#When:04:01:19Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Gov. Kaine Proposes a Sensible Cul&#45;de&#45;Sacre Bleu!</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE27_20090326-213703/241963/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The Kaine administration recently rolled out new regulations that may change the face of the commonwealth. Future subdivisions, it says, must have cut-through roads that connect their interiors to the larger roads beyond; no longer will single-entrance access suffice. That is, at least not without considerable cost. At present Virginia pays the freight for maintaining subdivision streets. That policy adds a couple of hundred new lane miles to the Transportation Department&#8217;s maintenance inventory every year&#8212;a factor that accounts in part for the diversion of construction money to maintenance needs. (By state law, maintenance takes precedence over new road-building.)           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE27_20090326-213703/241963/#When:04:01:00Z</guid>
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          <title>What They&#8217;re Saying About AIG</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/SAYINGAIG_20090323-184502/238973/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Steven Pearlstein, The Washington Post: At the end of the day, the thing to get outraged about is not the $440 million in bonuses at AIG or the $10 million that Citigroup is spending to redesign its shrunken executive suite. These may seem like princely sums, but they are almost insignificant compared with the real outrage: the hundreds of billion dollars of taxpayer funds that have been put at risk to keep AIG and Citi from failing and taking the whole financial system down with them. Let&#8217;s keep our attention on the elephant rather than the pimples on its behind . . . .           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:01:21 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/SAYINGAIG_20090323-184502/238973/#When:04:01:21Z</guid>
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          <title>There&#8217;s Good Economic News; Here&#8217;s Some of It</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE24_20090323-184502/238971/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
It is a well-established fact that bad news drowns out good. You flick the light switch a thousand times, the lights come on a thousand times, and you never pause to thank Dominion Virginia Power for the good service. But flick the switch to no avail just once, and you head for the phone, muttering curses. Tell your spouse a hundred times that he or she looks fabulous. Then ask, just once, if he or she has put on weight.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE24_20090323-184502/238971/#When:04:01:00Z</guid>
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          <title>Bring &#8216;Em On</title>
          <link>http://static.mgnetwork.com/rtd/slideshows/opinion/20090317guant/index.html</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
What&#8217;s the big deal about moving enemy combatants from Guantanamo to the continental U.S.? There&#8217;s nothing to fear, says today&#8217;s videotorial.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:00:59 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://static.mgnetwork.com/rtd/slideshows/opinion/20090317guant/index.html#When:04:00:59Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>If Bush Had Done What Obama Is Doing . . .</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL0315_20090313-212305/231260/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Herewith some questions about contrasts and double standards&#8212;and how the leftists comprising the nameless &#8220;they&#8221; who rule the world would react to what Barack Obama is doing if Obama were George Bush. For instance . . . If Obama were Bush, what would their reaction be to the president&#8217;s failure&#8212;even now&#8212;to submit a plan to salvage the nation&#8217;s banks?           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 15 Mar 2009 00:01:54 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL0315_20090313-212305/231260/#When:04:01:54Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>GARY BROOKINS CARTOON: Crop dusting</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/gary_brookins_cartoon_crop_dusting/231487/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Richmond Times-Dispatch editorial cartoon.            ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 13 Mar 2009 23:52:02 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/gary_brookins_cartoon_crop_dusting/231487/#When:03:52:02Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Put Accused Terrorists in Virginia? Sure, Go Ahead</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE10_20090309-170812/227124/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
With the Obama administration&#8217;s plans to shut down the Camp Delta detention facility at Guantanamo Bay presumably moving forward apace, some detainees might end up in the commonwealth&#8212;perhaps in a detention facility in Northern Virginia to await trial there. Last week Virginia Reps. Eric Cantor, Frank Wolf, and Randy Forbes called on Gov. Tim Kaine to join them in opposing the idea of moving any detainees to any facility in Virginia.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 10 Mar 2009 01:01:19 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE10_20090309-170812/227124/#When:05:01:19Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>On Gay Marriage, the Right Was Right (and Wrong)</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE6_20090305-180904/222790/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The religious right was right after all. Civil unions have weakened the institution of marriage. But gay people aren&#8217;t to blame&#8212;straight people are. Here&#8217;s the deal. Gay marriage is banned in France. But about a decade ago, France&#8217;s Socialist government created a compromise&#8212;a civil solidarity pact, known by its French acronym PACS&#8212;as a form of quasi-marriage for homosexual couples. Conservatives in France denounced the measure as a threat to traditional morality, just as conservatives in the U.S. have denounced gay marriage, civil unions, and similar arrangements here. Couples entering into PACS agreements can take advantage of various tax, inheritance, and similar benefits without getting wed. The bonds of PACS unions are also easier to sunder: Rather than having to go through a divorce, one or both partners can end the arrangement by submitting a written request in court. No alimony, no property claims&#8212;no muss, no fuss.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 06 Mar 2009 01:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE6_20090305-180904/222790/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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          <title>Obama&#8217;s Grand Plans Will Reverse Reagan&#8217;s Legacy of Liberty</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/BOB301_20090227-201444/217911/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Barack Obama is an honest man. He promised change that would shake the heavens. The American voters endorsed his vision and handed him a resounding mandate to go forth and shatter the many weak institutions of mere mortals. And he intends to deliver. Who would have guessed&#8212;even a year ago&#8212;that mortgage brokers passing out easy money, that families moving into four-bedroom homes years before they dreamed, that Wall Street CEOs admiring stout profits and soaring bonuses, that Republicans pushing the American dream deeper into the populace were in fact creating a great storm that would allow one man the power to create an entirely new economy&#8212;an economy directed not by the emotional and unreliable masses but by a highly educated, coolly calculating, visionary elite elected by their fellow citizens to fix this mess.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 01 Mar 2009 01:01:58 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Fat Tuesday Budget Promises Nasty Hangover</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/BERES0103_20090227-201444/217909/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
This may be blasphemous to suggest, but the correlation between the state of our economy and the onset of the Lenten season is too striking not to comment upon. Lent is&#8212;and has been since the days of the very early Church&#8212;a time of penance through prayer, fasting, and alms-giving as Christians prepare themselves spiritually, physically, and mentally for Easter. The 40 days of the Christian ritual begin on Ash Wednesday and end at sundown on Holy Thursday.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 01 Mar 2009 01:00:59 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/BERES0103_20090227-201444/217909/#When:05:00:59Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Some Confusion About Dems&#8217; Thinking on Charter Schools</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE27_20090226-181137/216844/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
IIn a recent sit-down with the Editorial staff of this newspaper, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe was asked for his thoughts on education. McAuliffe heaped praise on Gov. Tim Kaine&#8217;s efforts to expand pre-kindergarten. He advocated smaller class sizes in kindergarten through the third grade. Spending more money on the front end, he said, would save money in later years. He noted that teacher salaries in Virginia lag behind the national average, and suggested higher pay&#8212;along with assurances of teacher quality.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 27 Feb 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE27_20090226-181137/216844/#When:04:01:00Z</guid>
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          <title>The High Cost of the Obama Stimulus</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL0222_20090220-200823/211901/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Type_webhead_here On precisely the day Barack Obama signed into law the most gargantuan economic measure in the nation&#8217;s peacetime history (White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel termed it &#8220;the most major, sweeping, comprehensive legislation as it relates to economic activity ever&#8221;)&#8212;at almost precisely the moment of his penstrokes&#8212;the stock market&#8217;s hope balloon went &#8220;bang!&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 22 Feb 2009 00:01:11 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL0222_20090220-200823/211901/#When:04:01:11Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Sic the Thought Police on Radio. And College. And . . . ?</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE20_20090219-174806/210890/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Type_webhead_here Fed up with the success of right-wing talk radio, several prominent senators and representatives recently have voiced a desire to bring back the Fairness Doctrine&#8212;a regulation requiring radio stations to present opinion in a &#8220;fair and balanced&#8221; manner, to borrow a term. The regulation was imposed in 1949; Ronald Reagan revoked it in 1987. The Rush Limbaughs of the world soon flourished. Liberals first ignored, and then tried to emulate, conservative talk shows. The results have been less than stellar. So in recent months, interest in the Fairness Doctrine has revived: If the liberal talk format can&#8217;t make it on its own, then by God, let&#8217;s make radio stations carry it. That&#8217;ll show &#8216;em.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 20 Feb 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE20_20090219-174806/210890/#When:04:01:00Z</guid>
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          <title>At Virginia Tech: A Day Without a Script</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/CPONTECH_20090213-200809/206251/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
It is so easy to get sucked into the if-only game, and playing it is a short and slippery slide into despair.&#8212;&#8216;The Shack,&#8216; by Wm. Paul Young For the longest time I couldn&#8217;t put my finger on it, but this is what has made me so uncomfortable about recent scrutiny of the Virginia Tech tragedy, now approaching its second anniversary. It isn&#8217;t that the newly opened archive of documents is not a good idea. Different perspectives will come to light when fresh sets of eyes examine the thousands of notes and e-mails, piecing together, minute by minute, what transpired April 16, 2007. Such reviews may yield new guidelines for coping with&#8212;God forbid&#8212;a comparably horrific event in the future.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 15 Feb 2009 00:01:55 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/CPONTECH_20090213-200809/206251/#When:04:01:55Z</guid>
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          <title>Obama Galvanizes Republicans and Raises the Blinds</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL0215_20090213-200910/206265/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The past week has confirmed&#8212;among many things&#8212;this: that as John McCain warned repeatedly, Barack Obama consists of leftist essence pure. We are not talking Republican/ Democratic partisan politics here so much as conservative/liberal ideology, though ideology greatly informs partisanship. Both parties used to be big-tent operations, with liberals and conservatives in both. Now liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats are endangered species&#8212;just about extinct.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 15 Feb 2009 00:01:48 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL0215_20090213-200910/206265/#When:04:01:48Z</guid>
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          <title>Candidates Split (Sort of) Over Capital Punishment</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE13_20090212-180505/205136/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Virginia&#8217;s down-ticket races inevitably get the short end of the stick. But they often bring up some of the most interesting issues. A case in point is the Republican contest for attorney general&#8212;whose candi dates include John Brownlee, a former U.S. attorney, and Ken Cuccinelli, a state senator. (A third candidate, Dave Foster, is a former school board member from Arlington.)           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 13 Feb 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE13_20090212-180505/205136/#When:04:01:00Z</guid>
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          <title>On Smoking, Puritanism Triumphs Over Tolerance</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE10_20090209-174208/202081/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
So it is going to be that kind of campaign. Over the weekend, former DNC chairman and current gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe fired off an e-mail blast at Bob McDonnell, the fellow he&#8217;ll square off against in the general election if he wins the Democratic nod. McAuliffe&#8212;a well-heeled and wellconnected former head of the Democratic National Committee&#8212;is not exactly playing Cincinnatus, the Roman yeoman pressed into reluctant service. He already has hit the airwaves with TV spots. On Saturday he showed up at Virginia Democrats&#8217; annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner accompanied by a high-school drum line.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 10 Feb 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE10_20090209-174208/202081/#When:04:01:00Z</guid>
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          <title>We Are in &#8216;the Winter of Our Discontent&#8217;</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL0208_20090206-204502/200340/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
It&#8217;s an hour of hope. Yet you don&#8217;t seem especially hopeful about the grim gray economic scene or the ability of the new administration&#8212;and the stimulus package&#8212;to give it color. Good observation. Though hope never dies, a large hunk of hope went out with the lights. But there&#8217;s a rarefied ethical atmosphere in Washington now, and surely the trillion-dollar package Congress is bestowing will make everything economically right. A new day is coming. I can see it now . . .           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 08 Feb 2009 00:01:38 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL0208_20090206-204502/200340/#When:04:01:38Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Why Not Root for an Outrageously Ambitious Plan?</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/BOB205_20090204-191205/198298/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
For all sane people, there&#8217;s only one proper reaction to the passing into history of another Super Bowl: Just a few more weeks until spring training! Yes, baseball fans, the long wait till next year is almost over. Except in Richmond. Virginia&#8217;s capital city will be without professional baseball for the first time in 44 years. We&#8217;ve parsed endlessly the reasons why. So let&#8217;s look to the future.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/BOB205_20090204-191205/198298/#When:04:01:00Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>World Is Heading for an Apostrophe Catastrophe</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE3_20090202-182105/196206/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The dwindling number of grammatical sticklers in the English-speaking world suffered a shock over the weekend when they learned that Birmingham, England, has formally done away with the possessive apostrophe on street signs. The precipitating occasion was a debate over whether to apostrophize the suburb of Kings Heath&#8212;or King&#8217;s Heath, as the sticklers would have it. Since the heath no longer belonged to the king, the reasoning went, the apostrophe no longer obtained.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 03 Feb 2009 00:01:21 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE3_20090202-182105/196206/#When:04:01:21Z</guid>
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          <title>Hospitals&#8217; Health Now Relies on the Cougher Curve</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE30_20090129-175302/192530/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Members of the General Assembly confront many issues that are simple and clear-cut. Gov. Tim Kaine&#8217;s proposal to raise the cigarette tax is not one of them. The governor has linked the tax hike to Medicaid funding, effectively using hospitals and poor Virginians as hostages: Either raise the tax, or both will suffer. State lawmakers might create a third option by shifting money from other programs to prevent deeper Medicaid cuts without raising cigarette taxes. But doing that risks angering some other constituency, such as teachers and parents of schoolchildren.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE30_20090129-175302/192530/#When:04:01:00Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Keep the Arts Safe From More Federal Interference</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE27_20090126-182414/189243/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Let&#8217;s take a straw poll: All those in favor of putting Dick Cheney in charge of the nation&#8217;s arts and culture, please raise your hand. Anybody? Okay, how about Mike Huckabee? Pat Robertson? Rick Santorum? Thought so. The ascension of Barack Obama to the Oval Office has been accompanied by a growing chorus clamoring for the creation of a Cabinet-level arts overseer.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 27 Jan 2009 00:01:17 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE27_20090126-182414/189243/#When:04:01:17Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>By Obama, Bush, Cheney, C. Kennedy, Etc.</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL0125_20090123-210812/187275/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Before they recede too far into the rear-view mirror, quotations sublime and ridiculous from the political game . . . President Barack Obama, immediately following his election to the Senate in 2004: &#8220;I can unequivo cally say I will not be running for national office in four years . . . .I am a believer in knowing what you&#8217;re doing when you apply for a job, and I think that if I were to seriously consider running on a national ticket, I would essentially have to start now, before having served a day in the Senate. There may be some who are comfortable with doing that, but I&#8217;m not one of those people.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 25 Jan 2009 00:01:15 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL0125_20090123-210812/187275/#When:04:01:15Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>State Budget Can Wait; Here&#8217;s a Real Emergency</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE23_20090122-182708/186087/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Now that all the hoopla surrounding Barack Obama&#8217;s inauguration is over, can we get back to serious business? Really, truly, seriously important stuff? Please? Virginia has a gigantic budget shortfall. The national economy has fallen into the tank, cracked the ceramic bottom, and is seeping through the hole into the ground below. The Mideast is in flames, as usual. Climate change has imperiled species around the globe.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE23_20090122-182708/186087/#When:04:01:00Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>What Sort of Change Does Obama Have in Mind?</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL18_20090116-205911/180629/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
In the contemporary environment of all Obama all the time, who does not know that come Tuesday the nation will have a new president? Barack Obama arrives at the presidency bearing the goodwill of many (including your correspondent) and the messianic hopes of many more. The latter group has elevated him above criticism. Jesse Jackson sees in him &#8220;theological qualities.&#8220; Congressman Bobby Rush, who once opposed him, regards his election as part of God&#8217;s plan. A press that Obama does not particularly like accords him a reverence comparable only to media adulation of JFK.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 18 Jan 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL18_20090116-205911/180629/#When:04:01:00Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>. . . Case Points to Larger Issue of Homelessness</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/PANHANDLEOP_20090115-181010/179408/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The Jan. 9 Richmond Times-Dispatch article, &#8220;Homeless Man Guilty in Panhandling Case,&#8220; illustrated how at least one long-established, albeit inefficient, means of sur vival continues to exist in our region. Robert Reynolds lost his panhandling case in Henrico County. In his defense, he claimed that a law against panhandling threatens our community&#8217;s ability to support the poor. Not only are there many ways to support those struggling in these tough economic times, but now more than ever, we can ensure that our assistance makes a real difference in the lives of those experiencing homelessness in our community.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 16 Jan 2009 00:01:15 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/PANHANDLEOP_20090115-181010/179408/#When:04:01:15Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Bill of Rights Doesn&#8217;t Exempt the Poor and Unkempt . . .</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE16_20090115-180813/179403/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Richmond City Councilman Bruce Tyler is right about one thing: The down-and-out can get plenty of help, if they want it. Dozens of Central Virginia organizations have devoted themselves to aiding the homeless and people on the edge. Nobody needs to go without three hots and a cot if he&#8217;d rather not. Folks who are asking for a handout on the street either don&#8217;t know how to reach those groups, or would prefer to get hard cash for booze or drugs. Homeward&#8212;an umbrella organization created to act as a clearinghouse of services for the hard-up (Web site: http://www.homewardva.org)&#8212;has a sheet full of phone numbers for everything from Commonwealth Catholic Charities to Travelers Aid. Good Samaritans who want to help without enabling people to stay stuck in addiction would be smart to print some phone numbers from the Homeward Web site and hand those out in lieu of cash.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 16 Jan 2009 00:00:59 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE16_20090115-180813/179403/#When:04:00:59Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Put a Price On Carbon</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/WEEDSUBGREEN_20090114-183958/178323/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
CHARLOTTESVILLE All of us who recognize that man-made emissions are creating the climate crisis also realize that the surest way to reduce and, ultimately, eliminate the problem is to put a price on fossil carbon itself. For the past eight years the only solution deemed politically viable was a cap-and-trade system because Americans aren&#8217;t thought to be mature enough to use the term &#8220;taxes&#8221; in debates about public policy. Well, much has changed since Nov. 3, 2008.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/WEEDSUBGREEN_20090114-183958/178323/#When:04:01:00Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Obama&#8217;s National Security Man Appreciates Small&#45;Town Pleasures</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/JONES111_20090109-194917/174009/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
When Gen. James L. Jones Jr. parked in front of Westbury Pharmacy in early 2007, none of the regular customers could have known they were witnessing the arrival of the next national security adviser to the president of the United States.            ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 11 Jan 2009 00:01:42 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/JONES111_20090109-194917/174009/#When:04:01:42Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Help Wanted: Executive Position&#8212;Honesty Is Absolutely Essential</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/CORDEL111_20090109-194807/174005/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Hearing from readers is, bar none, the best part of writing for The Times-Dispatch. And, boy, did I hear from the wonderful folks who buy this newspaper after penning a column about Jim Gilmore&#8217;s record of service to the commonwealth and nation&#8212;which I concluded, despite its well-known faults, is admirable and deserving of respect.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 11 Jan 2009 00:01:40 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/CORDEL111_20090109-194807/174005/#When:04:01:40Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Even in Hard Times, Private Colleges Remain Affordable</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/LINDGREN111_20090109-194917/174011/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
In today&#8217;s uncertain economy, families are struggling. They are concerned about their jobs and their mortgages. Retirement funds are slipping, and home equity loans are less available. Struggling parents now have the added stress of wondering how they&#8217;ll be able to afford a college education for their children&#8212;and in particular, a private liberal arts education.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 11 Jan 2009 00:01:22 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/LINDGREN111_20090109-194917/174011/#When:04:01:22Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Most Consequential President Since Reagan</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL0111_20090109-194917/174017/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The left and the media and the ever-expanding blogosphere, and of course the Democrats, never permitted George Bush to recover from the circumstances of his 2000 election. They deemed him unacceptable, accidental, illegitimate, likely a conniver in the national outcome&#8212;and so took to lobbing their hateful commentaries one after another without end.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 11 Jan 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL0111_20090109-194917/174017/#When:04:01:00Z</guid>
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          <title>More National Spotlight For Virginia&#8217;s Politicos</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/RAYNER111_20090109-194917/174014/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Virginians absorbed more national political limelight in 2008 than in most of the previous half century combined. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton battled for the state&#8217;s Democratic Convention dele gates in February. In the fall, Obama and sidekick Joe Biden faced off against John McCain and Sarah Palin for the commonwealth&#8217;s 13 electoral votes.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 11 Jan 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/RAYNER111_20090109-194917/174014/#When:04:01:00Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>GAZA CONFLICT</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/IMMANUEL111_20090109-194917/174008/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Another Israel-Arab war has erupted and again Western supporters of both sides have divided into predictable camps. Israel supporters cite the indisputable fact that missiles launched from Hamas-controlled Gaza have been slamming into Israeli towns at increasing distances and with increasing accuracy. Palestine supporters cite the continuing siege of the Gaza Strip, which is dependent on Israel for electricity, fuel, and even basic foods.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 11 Jan 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/IMMANUEL111_20090109-194917/174008/#When:04:01:00Z</guid>
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          <title>For Israel&#8217;s Detractors, It&#8217;s No Fair Fighting Back</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE9_20090108-181108/172898/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
If there is anything more dispiriting than the monomania of terrorists bent on the destruction of Israel, it is the perspective of those in the West who behave as though some moral equivalence existed between the two sides.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:01:08 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE9_20090108-181108/172898/#When:04:01:08Z</guid>
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          <title>New President Can Set Precedents</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/BOOMER0108_20090107-175521/171567/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
It was a big story in the gossip journals last November: Marian Robinson, Michelle Obama&#8217;s 71-year-old mother, was moving into the White House with the first family.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:01:29 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/BOOMER0108_20090107-175521/171567/#When:04:01:29Z</guid>
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          <title>Israel Wants An End To Suffering</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/WEINBERGGAZA_20090105-181108/169334/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The possibility for reconciliation between Israel and Palestinians, based on two states living side by side in peace and security, suffered a serious setback when Hamas ousted the Palestinian Authority from Gaza and re jected prior agreements regarding Israel&#8217;s right to exist. No matter the root causes, we mourn the suffering and loss of life that is occurring on both sides in the present conflict.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:01:06 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/WEINBERGGAZA_20090105-181108/169334/#When:04:01:06Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Keeping Travelers Amused on 12&#45;Hour Trips</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE6_20090105-181108/169331/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
When you cross the border into Maryland on Route 15, a sign welcomes you to the state and informs you that a guy by the name of Gov. Martin O&#8217;Malley runs the place. It seems like a bit of a waste, doesn&#8217;t it? The people who live in Maryland already know; if they don&#8217;t know, then they don&#8217;t care; and the people who don&#8217;t live in Maryland probably don&#8217;t care, either.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE6_20090105-181108/169331/#When:04:01:00Z</guid>
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          <title>President Bush as Voracious Reader? Well, Could Be . . .</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/MERCER05_20090104-204448/168589/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Karl Rove, trying to polish the tarnished image of his former boss, wrote last week in The Wall Street Journal, &#8220;In the 35 years I&#8217;ve known George W. Bush, he&#8217;s always had a book nearby.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 05 Jan 2009 00:01:48 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/MERCER05_20090104-204448/168589/#When:04:01:48Z</guid>
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          <title>Obama&#8217;s Ride Was Not 2008&#8217;s Top Story</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL0104_20090102-204308/167614/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The Associated Press ranked Barack Obama&#8217;s political ride the top story of 2008. It wasn&#8217;t. The top story had to be the implosion of the economy&#8212;here and across the globe.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 04 Jan 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL0104_20090102-204308/167614/#When:04:01:00Z</guid>
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          <title>Tragedy Recalls Holocaust Stories</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/LOFTONGAZAOP_20090101-165718/166892/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
A half-dozen years ago, Rania Kharma of Gaza was my classmate. In October 2007, Rania wrote me and others she knew at Eastern Mennonite University to ask for our help in breaking &#8220;the siege on Gaza.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 02 Jan 2009 00:01:12 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/LOFTONGAZAOP_20090101-165718/166892/#When:04:01:12Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Will Good Ship Richmond Sink or Sail?</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/MOESERRICH_20090101-053539/166400/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
This year ushered in some of the most climatic events in U.S. history. We&#8217;ve experienced profound progress as well as record-setting losses. Chief among the former, of course, was the election of our nation&#8217;s first African-American president. Equally astonishing was that Virginia, the birthplace of Massive Resistance, was key to the Obama victory.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 01 Jan 2009 01:00:36 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/MOESERRICH_20090101-053539/166400/#When:05:00:36Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Citizens Can Fill The Philanthropy Gap</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ARTSOPED_20081230-173809/164924/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Today&#8217;s financial crisis is global and it means significant struggles for businesses right here in our community, resulting in layoffs, mergers, bankruptcies, closings, and game-changing cutbacks in corporate philanthropy to our cultural arts organizations.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 31 Dec 2008 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ARTSOPED_20081230-173809/164924/#When:04:01:00Z</guid>
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          <title>Richmond&#8217;s New Mayor Makes Education a Priority</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/DJONESOP_20081229-193210/164145/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Iremain very grateful for the incredible privilege to serve as Richmond&#8217;s next mayor. Since Election Day, my staff and I have been working very hard to implement plans that will bring our great city to a better quality of life for all citizens ..           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 30 Dec 2008 00:01:10 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/DJONESOP_20081229-193210/164145/#When:04:01:10Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Why Dump the Secret Ballot?</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE26_20081225-175705/162123/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
It&#8217;s a pretty good indication that an idea has gone too far when one of the voices shouting &#8220;Stop!&#8220; is Al Sharpton&#8217;s. On his radio program, Sharpton recently expressed reservations about the duplicitously named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA)&#8212;better known as the card check bill. It&#8217;s a top priority for labor unions and their congressional friends, and next year it stands a good chance of reaching the president&#8217;s desk&#8212;where Barack Obama has said he would sign it.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 26 Dec 2008 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE26_20081225-175705/162123/#When:04:01:00Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Entertaining Angels on Christmas Eve?</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/SUMMERSTINA_20081223-182405/161073/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
It was the worst weather on a Christmas Eve I had ever seen. The rain was steady, and just above freezing.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 24 Dec 2008 00:01:47 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/SUMMERSTINA_20081223-182405/161073/#When:04:01:47Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>How Make This One the Merriest for Everyone?</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOLM1228_20081223-182405/161072/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
It&#8217;s Christmas time, and if you were Santa Claus&#8212;well, let&#8217;s see . . . Would you tuck something under the tree of the Obama administration now forming up ...            ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 24 Dec 2008 00:01:08 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOLM1228_20081223-182405/161072/#When:04:01:08Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Democrats Know How to Fix Economy: Take It Over</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE23_20081222-205320/160304/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Remember the windfall profits tax? Not that long ago, Barack Obama was proposing to tax the &#8220;excessive&#8221; profits of energy companies. Hillary Clinton endorsed a windfall profits tax&#8212;as did just about any Washington liberal within shouting distance of a microphone.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 23 Dec 2008 00:01:40 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE23_20081222-205320/160304/#When:04:01:40Z</guid>
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          <title>No one&#8217;s sure of cost, value of anything</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/no_ones_sure_of_cost_value_of_anything/159544/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Hey, did you hear? Santa Claus is laying off Rudolph after the big night. Like other employers, Claus has to, ah, rein in costs. He can&#8217;t afford to keep and feed nine reindeer, even if they are tiny, for another whole year.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 21 Dec 2008 21:16:21 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/no_ones_sure_of_cost_value_of_anything/159544/#When:01:16:21Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Is This Obama&#8217;s &#8216;Bimbo Eruption&#8217;?</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL1221_20081219-204451/158431/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
David Mendell, Barack Obama&#8217;s biographer, notes that regarding Chicago&#8217;s corrupt political machine, &#8220;Obama, to his credit, got through this system with very little mud on his suit.&#8220; Still&#8212;and still. Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich now finds himself mired in an unpretty place. From wiretapped telephone conversations it seems Blago tried to auction to the highest bidder the Senate seat Obama relinquished Nov. 16 following his election to the presidency. And so&#8212;in re Obama&#8212;we come to variations on the question Howard Baker made famous about Richard Nixon in the aftermath of Watergate:           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 21 Dec 2008 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL1221_20081219-204451/158431/#When:04:01:00Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>On Climate, Obama Must Hurry</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/BRYANTOP_20081216-181831/152753/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
President-elect Barack Obama recently unveiled a massive infrastructure spending package that includes new federal investments in energy efficiency.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:01:20 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/BRYANTOP_20081216-181831/152753/#When:04:01:20Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Virginia Will Never Be World&#45;Class at This Rate</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE16_20081215-174312/151802/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Virginians have a tendency to put on airs. Last week&#8217;s news put them in their place. Residents of the Old Dominion boast that many of America&#8217;s greatest historical moments transpired here. Heck, we fondle the past like a used-car salesman who still wears his varsity football jacket.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:01:20 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE16_20081215-174312/151802/#When:04:01:20Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>What&#8217;s wrong with Illinois? Well, some things are right</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/whats_wrong_with_illinois_well_some_things_are_right/150934/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
A reporter in Chicago asked President-elect Barack Obama, &#8220;What&#8217;s wrong with politics in Illinois?&#8220;&nbsp; Good question. Gov. Rod Blagojevich is the latest of several Illinois governors to run afoul of the law.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 15 Dec 2008 00:01:20 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/whats_wrong_with_illinois_well_some_things_are_right/150934/#When:04:01:20Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>No, Government Control Would Foster Mediocrity</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HOLLANDEDOP_20081214-173142/150871/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
High standards are desirable in education as in any enterprise or endeavor. However, the overwhelming evidence is that government control does not raise standards but instead fosters mediocrity.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 15 Dec 2008 00:01:20 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HOLLANDEDOP_20081214-173142/150871/#When:04:01:20Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Illinois to Wall Street to Wal&#45;Mart &amp; Beyond</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL1214_20081212-200835/149683/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Brief comments, direct or implied, on items in the news . . . The brazen Rod Blagojevich, governor of Illinois, stands (if guilty) in a long line of corrupt Illinois pols&#8212;Otto Kerner, Dan Walker, George Ryan&#8212;all of whom did, or are doing, jail time.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 14 Dec 2008 00:01:20 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL1214_20081212-200835/149683/#When:04:01:20Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Let the Sun Shine On Votes</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/AFPOP1214_20081212-200659/149670/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
A movement toward greater openness and transparency in government spending is sweeping the country. Everything from voting records, to campaign finance disclosures, to government spending and contracting information is moving onto the Internet.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 14 Dec 2008 00:01:20 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/AFPOP1214_20081212-200659/149670/#When:04:01:20Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>A New Prohibition Won&#8217;t Work Either</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/PROHIBITIONO_20081212-175011/149532/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
WASHINGTON Seventy-five years ago this month, one of the most unpopular laws in American history was repealed. With the ratification of the 21st Amendment on Dec. 5, 1933, the now-infamous Prohibition Era came to an end. The Prohibition story is a familiar one, perhaps more than many Americans realize. After decades of incremental successes in local governments, the dry &#8220;temperance&#8221; movement finally pushed a national beverage ban through Congress in 1919. The Prohibition rationale appealed to safety, morality, and a desire to protect the youth. But before long it was clear that Prohibition was accomplishing the exact opposite.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 13 Dec 2008 00:01:20 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/PROHIBITIONO_20081212-175011/149532/#When:04:01:20Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>The World Knows U.S. Is Special</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/KLINGSUB_20081212-175011/149531/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Whenever I need to hire a cab, I call my favorite driver, Hamad. He moved alone to the U.S. from Sudan 20 years ago to earn money to send back to his wife&#8212;a common arrangement among Ameri can immigrants from poorer countries. Hamad owns his own taxi and earns a good living, but he misses his wife and school-age children. Fortunately, he returns to see them for a few months every year. During a recent trip, he saw that people can now make a good living in Sudan, but there is no going back for Hamad&#8212;America is home now.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 13 Dec 2008 00:01:20 EDT</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Obama Should Reverse Bush&#8217;s Kafkaesque Policy</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE12_20081211-180019/148353/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Barack Obama has an opportunity, and an obligation, to reverse one of the most dangerous precedents set by the Bush administration: the indefinite detention without charge of Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri. Al-Marri was a legal resident of the United States, studying as a grad student in Illinois, when he was arrested three months after 9/11 for credit-card fraud and similar offenses. Just before he was to stand trial, President Bush declared him an enemy combatant and ordered that he be handed over to military authorities. He has been held in isolation for more than five years.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:01:20 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE12_20081211-180019/148353/#When:04:01:20Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>What About Homeland Security?</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/what_about_homeland_security/145105/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Talk about tall orders. When he chose Janet Napolitano to head the Department of Homeland Security, President-elect Barack Obama said, &#8220;She will be a leader who can reform a sprawling department while safeguarding our homeland.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 08 Dec 2008 01:39:55 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/what_about_homeland_security/145105/#When:05:39:55Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>On Change, Warming, U.S. Cars, Pre&#45;emption, Palin, Etc.</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL1207_20081205-202315/143502/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Quotations on a variety of topics currently in the news . . . Barack Obama, discussing the many Clinton-era alumni he is selecting for his administration of &#8220;change&#8221;: &#8220;Understand where the vision for change comes from first and foremost. It comes from me. That&#8217;s my job . . .&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 07 Dec 2008 00:01:55 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ROSSCOL1207_20081205-202315/143502/#When:04:01:55Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>India Carnage Hits Close to Home</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/MOHTAMUMBAI_20081204-182652/139830/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Because I grew up in the bustling city of Mumbai&#8212;what used to be known as Bombay&#8212;the carnage unfolding on Nov. 26 hit close to home.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:01:55 EDT</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>State Government Needs Some Fresh New Ideas</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE5_20081204-182652/139828/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Terry McAuliffe&#8217;s remarks at the annual AP Day for state-capital reporters seemed to suggest that a lack of experience in state government might be a qualification for leading state government.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:00:59 EDT</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Education Makes the Difference</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ISENHOUROP_20081202-173030/127720/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
NORFOLK Driving from the airport to our hotel in Cape Town, South Africa, we saw the 80,000-seat soccer stadium under construction for the 2010 World Cup on the right side of the road and a shantytown of tens of thousands of poverty-stricken citizens on the left. Our guide told us that the government was building cracker-box houses for the poor so that the site would not be so dismally dramatic when international visitors arrived in 2010.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:01:55 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ISENHOUROP_20081202-173030/127720/#When:04:01:55Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Finding the Perfect Replacement for Sen. John W. Warner</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/FAULK1130_20081128-203238/123782/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
John William Warner is one of the greatest national-security senators this nation has ever elected to serve in Congress. He has led a life devoted to keeping America safe&#8212;and not just as a member of the world&#8217;s greatest deliberative body.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:01:47 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/FAULK1130_20081128-203238/123782/#When:04:01:47Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Christians Anticipate the Coming of Christ</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/RLJAMESADVEN_20081128-203023/123776/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
What is Advent? It&#8217;s that time of year again when nifty Advent calendars, temptingly positioned at child&#8217;s-eye view, are stacked on shelves in almost every store just waiting for the day when each of the 25 window covers will be pulled back and the surprise hidden within will be revealed.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:01:47 EDT</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Just In: Murder Mystery, James River Journal, T&#45;D Photo Cards</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/NV-VIEW30_20081128-203448/123789/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
We&#8217;ve got some special series running in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, so we&#8217;re taking a special approach to telling the stories. One series started in today&#8217;s paper and will continue for the next four days. Another is run ning once a month on Mondays. And, at the end of this column, there&#8217;s information about creating your own greeting cards using           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:01:28 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/NV-VIEW30_20081128-203448/123789/#When:04:01:28Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>New Authority Might Diminish Elected Officials&#8217; Influence</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/NYFELERTRANS_20081128-203448/123790/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
State funding for transportation projects across the Commonwealth of Virginia has been falling behind over the past several years. Budget deficits are making the problem even more of a challenge.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:01:19 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/NYFELERTRANS_20081128-203448/123790/#When:04:01:19Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>A Report Card</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/WEST1130_20081128-202504/123770/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
One of the things that drove me to run for the Richmond School Board was curiosity. We&#8217;ve all seen the numbers and heard the stories of waste and incompetence in the school system, and I wondered, &#8220;Is it really so bad and what can be done to fix the problems?&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:01:07 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/WEST1130_20081128-202504/123770/#When:04:01:07Z</guid>
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          <title>Obama Agenda Targets Fundamental Rights</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ADAMS1130_20081128-203238/123778/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Since Election Day, gun shops around the nation have experienced double-digit sales increases compared to the same period a year ago. What is driving this increase in sales?           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:01:04 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>In Washington, Experience Is &#8216;In&#8217; Again</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/MERCER21_20081128-195441/123729/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
President-elect Barack Obama&#8217;s picks for his Cabinet are reassuring because they have Washington experience&#8212;unless they&#8217;re disappointing for that very reason. It depends on where you&#8217;re standing. Inside-the-Beltway types are relieved to see a familiar cast of characters returning to power, even if they disagree with some previous policies.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 29 Nov 2008 00:01:41 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Obama: Obliged to Negotiate</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/NUECHOP30_20081128-172809/123687/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
When George Bush played host two weeks ago to the G-20 gathering of the world&#8217;s leading economic powers, it was apparent that they believed America&#8217;s economic power in the world has declined. Their question was: Can Barack Obama restore America&#8217;s financial health and regain its commanding international position?           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 29 Nov 2008 00:01:06 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/NUECHOP30_20081128-172809/123687/#When:04:01:06Z</guid>
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          <title>&#8216;Free Choice&#8217; Act Subverts Both Freedom and Choice</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE1128_20081127-180914/123023/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Mark Warner ran for Senate proclaiming himself a &#8220;radical centrist.&#8220; He will soon have a chance to prove it. Battle lines are forming over one of the most radical&#8212;but least centrist&#8212;proposals to come down the pike in a long while: the Employee Free Choice Act.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 28 Nov 2008 00:01:42 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/HINKLE1128_20081127-180914/123023/#When:04:01:42Z</guid>
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