Let’s be perfectly frank

Chris Graham

Another thing that stinks about government – your congressman can spend your tax dollars on a full-color mailer full of made-up numbers about a highly-tinged policy issue, and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it. It’s called the franking privilege, it dates back to 17th century England, and it can show up…

Bolling camp corrects record on Opportunity Fund

Chris Graham

“During her trip to the Valley and as you reported during her stop in Waynesboro, Wagner accused the LG of only recently supporting the Governor’s Opportunity Fund. However, Jody Wagner is dead wrong.” That was the message to me from Randy Marcus, the chief of staff for Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, pulling double duty in…

Earth Talk | Water-powered cars?

Roddy Scheer

Dear EarthTalk: I’ve heard that cars can be modified to run on water. How is this possible? – Diane McMorris, Rockport, Maine There are a number of online marketing offers of kits that will convert your car to “run on water,” but these should be viewed skeptically. These kits, which attach to the car’s engine,…

Haresh Daswani | The Burger King marketing strategy: Offending cultures for more attention

Contributors

I was browsing through a few interesting articles writing about how Hindus got offended about the latest Burger King ad campaign. Honestly, it was offensive, and what I have realized, is that this was purely intentional on the side of Burger King.  Every marketing campaign always has to go through a process review to ensure…

News from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Chris Graham

Friday, July 17 – Press briefing by Tony Blinken, national security advisor to Vice President Joe Biden, on the vice president’s upcoming trip to Ukraine and Georgia Thursday, July 16 – Press gaggle with Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton – Vice President Biden highlights Recovery Act progress in Virginia – Statement from the president on…

Newsworthy

Chris Graham

Friday, July 17 – Virginia Bioinformatics Institute researchers present systems biology as a clinical approach to cancer Thursday, July 16 – eVA passes $20B purchase mark – ACLU praises Newport News for action allowing tea party Thursday, July 16 – eVA passes $20B purchase mark – ACLU praises Newport News for action allowing tea party…

Shepherd Bliss | 3-year-olds and cell phones

Letters

“The 3-year-old just walked right past me,” the Santa Rosa, Calif., pediatrician reported, “talking into a cell phone.” That stark image of toddler attached to machine has troubled me. “I was amused at first,” the physician continued. “Then I felt sad. She was learning how to relate to people through a machine. It was so…