Author: Peter Galuszka
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Rethinking Afghanistan
By Peter Galuszka On Feb. 15, 1989, I was standing amid reporters and people waving red flags and holding flowers at the northern end of a metal bridge linking Uzbekistan with Afghanistan. A row of Soviet BTR armored personnel carriers streamed home as their crews waved and smiled. These were the last troops to withdraw…
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S&P Global Slams Dominion for Gas Plants
By Peter Galuszka International financial analysis firm S&P Global has issued a scathing report criticizing Dominion Energy Virginia for over emphasizing future electricity demand and proposing unneeded natural gas-fired generating plants. According to S&P: “An examination of State Corporation Commission, or SCC, records; Dominion’s past integrated resource plans, or IRPs; campaign finance documents; and independent…
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How Influence Is Played in Richmond
By Peter Galuszka It helps to have an influential father, especially if you are Peter Farrell. The 36 year-old former Republican delegate and financial investor has been named to the Board of Visitors of Virginia Commonwealth University by Gov. Ralph Northam. Northam, a Democrat, has accepted thousands of dollars in political donations from Thomas Farrell,…
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How No Regulation Toasted Vaping
By Peter Galuszka There’s a mighty disconnect between being innovative in developing new products and putting the buying public in danger. We are often lectured about the benefits brought by industrial creativity unfettered by regulation on this blog and elsewhere but that isn’t always the case. In fact, doing so without meaningful regulation can spell…
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BEELZEBUB!
By Peter Galuszka The Lord of the Flies is upon us! We have been plunged into the darkness by a tsunami of moderate to progressive Democrats who have taken both the House of Delegates and the state Senate for the first time since 1993. This means that Democrats now control everything from the offices of…
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Send in the Carriers! What Carriers?
By Peter Galuszka The stunning slaying of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the ultra-violent Islamic State terrorist leader, on Oct. 25 by U.S. Special Forces in northwestern Syria was the most spectacular such endeavor since Osama bin-Linden was dispatched in Pakistan in 2011. President Donald Trump, under attack for withdrawing most American forces from war-torn Syria, got…
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Today’s Matchup: Clown Versus Clown
By Peter Galuszka It’s a sign of the times. Today’s Clown versus Clown matchup is Donald Trump, president of the United States, against Alec Baldwin, Saturday Night Live. The latter has been canvassing in seven electoral districts around the state, including Fairfax and Stafford Counties and in Chesterfield, where Baldwin went door-to-door this week in…
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Bye, Bye, Smokey Stacks
By Peter Galuszka Many years ago, when I was a young cub reporter at The Virginian-Pilot, I had a lonely assignment that had me spending some of my mornings watching big ships come and go into Chesapeake Bay. I worked a night police beat until at least midnight with Wednesdays and Thursdays off, ruining my…
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Two More More Book Reviews: This Time C-Ville
By Peter Galuszka I was impressed with Dick’s thoughtful take on Margaret Edds’ book on early civil rights leaders that I thought I’d point readers to two reviews of books on the Unite the Right Movement that ran in this week’s Style Weekly:
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More in the Nefarious Hunt for DARK MONEY!
By Peter Galuszka Sound the klaxon horn at Bacon’s Rebellion! More DARK MONEY is coming to pollute the state’s glorious electoral process. Emily’s List, a PAC supporting female Democratic candidates, has announced that it is planning on donating an extra $1.5 million to help flip the GOP-controlled Virginia General Assembly. Along with another $600,000 Emily’s…
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The Last of The Pistol Packin’ Mamas?
By Peter Galuszka Part buffoon, part populist, state Sen. Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield, has for years represented white resentment against modern times, Tea Party-style. She’s picked up on every bad feeling out there and amplified it, including pent-up anger against minorities, immigrants, government workers, women’s rights and gun control advocates and more. She’s had a weekly…
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Mayberry on Acid
By Peter Galuszka In a bizarre case for a small Virginia locality, 14 former and current local leaders of Warren County and Front Royal — including the entire Board of Supervisors — have been charged with misdemeanors relating to a major embezzlement case that involves the local economic development authority. The Sept. 24 charges by…
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Bad News at Richmond’s City Hall
Back in 2015, the City of Richmond was a managerial mess. Accusations flew of incompetence, conflicts of interest and revolving chair style management. One big problem was the deeply flawed installation of a financial computer system crucial to keeping the municipality functioning. Then-Mayor Dwight Jones’s solution was to hire a ringer, Selena Cuffee-Glenn, who had…
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Politico’s Juicy Tale of Liberty and the Falwells
by Peter Galuszka Jerry Falwell Jr. is hitting the news big time following a Politico investigation that alleges self-dealing and sexual misconduct by the powerful head of the evangelical Christian school Liberty University. More than two dozen Liberty officials and Falwell associates working for Falwell as a “dictatorship” where people are afraid of discussing issues…
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Richmond’s World of Secrecy and Collusion
by Peter Galuszka There’s long been the “Virginia Way” of ruling oligarchs making decisions in backrooms while leaving the public out of the picture. But then there’s also the “Richmond Way,” which is the same thing on steroids. The key focus today is the so-called Navy Hill District Corporation, a group headed by Dominion Energy…