Author: Bob Rayner
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The “Chanukah Dilemma”: Is the Menorah a Religious or Political Symbol?
by Ken Reid Thursday night is the final night of Chanukah, the eight-day Festival of Lights that I (and millions of Jews across the world) celebrate, to mark the miracle that occurred when the 2nd temple was restored following a rebellion by religious Jews against secular Hellenistic Jews and their Greek-Syrian allies in the 160’s…
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Sorry, Senator. Zalenskyy is No George Washington
by Kerry Dougherty Tim Kaine jumped the shark. Get a load of the nonsense this United States Senator – from VIRGINIA – Tweeted on Tuesday: President Zelenskyy spoke to the Senate today about the critical role of American support for Ukrainian democracy. He stood beneath a portrait of George Washington, who helped birth an America…
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A Brief Case for Giving Virginia Legislators a Raise
by Gordon C. Morse I thought it would be worthwhile to pursue further the subject of legislative compensation in Virginia. A report I’ve referenced before is dated December 1998 – 25 years ago – and offers the following rationale for increasing the amount paid to Virginia lawmakers holding these posts, attending the annual legislative sessions…
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Online Porn Star/Democrat Candidate Continues to Play Victim
by Kerry Dougherty Let me get this straight. A married mother of two, a Democrat, who engaged in smutty livestream sex for money with her husband, is still playing the victim card because she lost her bid to represent Virginians from the 57th House District. Politico just featured a laughable Q and A with the…
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The Plain Truth about Climate Change in Virginia
by Nelson Fegley Climate change is real. Major climate fluctuations have occurred over hundreds of thousands of years, and the future will be similar. The changes are both anthropogenic (human caused) and due to natural causes. The magnitude of natural changes in temperatures and sea levels have far exceed those from anthropogenic causes. It is…
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Asleep at the Switch in Harrisonburg
by Joe Fitzgerald At some point while on the Harrisonburg City Council, I quit worrying about or getting angry about being misquoted by the Daily News-Record, and I got used to the people I met saying I wasn’t anything like what they expected. The expectations the paper created were just part of the gig. And…
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Proposed Reproductive Freedom Amendment Could Eliminate Limits
by Emilio Jaksetic House Joint Resolution 1 (HJ 1) and Senate Joint Resolution 1 (SJ 1) have been prefiled for consideration of the Virginia General Assembly to propose an amendment to the Virginia Constitution captioned “Article I, Bill of Rights, Section 11-A. Fundamental right to reproductive freedom.” A copy of HJ 1 is available at here…
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Dem Shrouded in Controversy Announces Gubernatorial Run
from The Republican Standard It’s official. Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney (D) is running for governor of Virginia in what’s set to become a free-for-all primary. Stoney has courted controversy in the past as former Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s chief strategist. Critics, including former Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D), accuse the ambitious politician of being a hatchetman.
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Hardest Job in Virginia: Making Aaron Spence Look Good.
by Kerry Dougherty We tried to warn you, Loudoun County. We told you that Virginia Beach School Superintendent Aaron Spence was trouble. That he was one vote away from being sacked by the newly elected Beach school board when he decided to bolt for greener pastures. That he was a devoted wokester. We even pointed…
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Norfolk Hipsters & Lefties Try to Block a Military-Themed Brewery
by Kerry Dougherty Now is the time. If you believe that cities ought to be open for business, regardless of the viewpoints of the business owners, if you support the military and don’t consider flag-waving a provocative act, you might want to let Norfolk’s City Council hear from you. On December 12th it is scheduled…
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Daughter of Heroines
by Margot Heffernan The year is 2023 but it feels as if the calendar has rolled back a hundred years for women and girls in Virginia, and just about anywhere else in the Western world. Hyperbolic? Over the top? Sadly, no. Each day women are censored, denigrated, and erased; called bigots for speaking biological fact;…
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Williamsburg Street Festival Engages in Ugly Antisemitism
by Kerry Dougherty A monthly street fair in Williamsburg is making national headlines for all the wrong reasons: over the weekend news broke that the organizers banned a rabbi from a menorah-lighting ceremony. Unless the rabbi would light the candles under a banner demanding a ceasefire in Israel, that is. Which raises the question, what…
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Slasher Ordered to Reimburse Medical Bills of his Victim
by Kerry Dougherty Several things strike me about this crime and restitution story out of Patrick County. First, after Larry Puckett nearly stabbed Justin Hawkes to death in the fall of 2019, Mr. Hawkes incurred about $120,000 in medical bills. Because the injured man was indigent, Medicaid stepped in and negotiated the price down to…
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While Harrisonburg Slept, a Gadfly Arose
by Joe Fitzgerald Laura Dent is not a stupid person. She’s probably an honest person. But those aren’t qualifications enough to help run a city. You also have to know what’s going on. Frankly, she’s missed that boat a couple of times. Two issues I’ve written about repeatedly are uncontained school growth, which the Harrisonburg…
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Open House Races in NoVa Already Crowded
by Jeanine Martin Here are the candidates so far in the 2024 election for open seats in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 7th District, currently held by Democrat Abigail Spanberger, and in the 10th District, currently held by Democrat Jennifer Wexton: Virginia’s 10th district Del. Michelle Maldonado (D-Manassas) is the latest to announce…