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As more information about the devastation caused by the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan becomes available, many people want to assist in some way. In addition to horrific deaths, injuries, crumpled buildings, destroyed infrastructure and threats from failed nuclear power plants, the earthquake has the potential to create yet another disaster: scams to defraud…
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“Don’t tell me about your doubts, I’ve got enough doubts of my own. Tell me something you BELIEVE in,” goes a line in a sketch from the late standup comedian Dave Gardner (1926-1983). “Brother Dave” served up a strange mix of offbeat, socially-aware humor delivered in a stream-of-consciousness Southern storyteller style. I was introduced to…
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Hard numbers are hard to come by, but the anecdotal evidence suggests that Waynesboro has a growing homeless population, with limited resources to be able to assist those in need of a hand up. “There might not be another time such as this when there is this much concern and support for action to do…
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The new Staunton Senior Center still has that new-car feel. The Senior Center moved into its new home in Gypsy Hill Place on Churchville Avenue in October, but there are still some finishing touches to be made to get the location fully operational. The “last piece of the puzzle,” director Lynn Harris said, is the…
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Liberals are pointing the finger at conservatives, who are jabbing right back at liberals. Well, you’re the guys using crosshairs to point out your political hit lists. Oh, yeah, well, you did it back during the Bush years. Both sides are missing the point. It’s not if one or the other side is wrong or…
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I have had enough of hearing about death panels for the elderly and the sickly in the new health-care law. There is so much to try and understand. Each political organization has a different take in the outcome of this legislation. I believed it was removed, but it made headlines again during Christmas. Gee, how…
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Rampant speculation continues over what Sarah Palin’s plans regarding 2012 might be. The conventional wisdom: She’s running, no question about it, yep, she is, damn the torpedoes, or she’s not, because she’d rather be a conservative celebrity, because being a conservative celebrity pays more than being a presidential candidate. I’d like to throw in a…
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Last week, Congress took an important step to make sure that our senior citizens can continue to see their doctors for care by protecting the reimbursement rates for doctors who participate in the Medicare system. The House passed bipartisan legislation that blocks the 25 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors that could have gone…
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At first glance, Virginia has flipped, big time. The Old Dominion was blue in 2008, and has been bright red since, with Republicans sweeping the 2009 state races and taking three of the six seats held by incumbent Democrats in the 2010 congressional midterms. Not so fast, says Quentin Kidd, a political-science professor at Christopher…
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I was a Reagan Democrat and Republican activist from ’80-’06. My views have changed as this new-age, anti-Reagan Republican Party has devolved away from the Constitution into a party of extreme hatred and racial, religious and ethnic bigotry, claiming they’re the only “true” patriots and “real” Americans: everyone else is somehow un-American and “liberal” (as…
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