Op-Ed
By Charles Houston “What are you going to serve them?” Robert Rood asked his wife. “Barbecue. Collard greens. Black eyed peas. Pecan pie from Mom’s,” Byne answered. “They served us a Lyonnaise salad, consommé, lamb chops in cognac, leeks …There’s no way I’m trying to match that. Let’s eat outside. You go set the table.”…
By Joe Lafiandra With the passage of the $1.9 trillion dollar stimulus and the current $28 trillion national debt, don’t you think it would be important to really understand how much a trillion dollars is and why it is important to understand what these numbers mean? A trillion dollars is a lot of money by…
By Charles Houston Marvin Gaye’s lyrics are apt for Loudoun: “Hey, mercy, mercy me, oh Hey, things ain’t what they used to be What about this overcrowded land? How much more abuse from man can she stand.” Another of his hits was “What’s Going On,” in which he sang: “I’ll tell you, what’s going on.”…
By Joe LaFiandra The events in Texas last month show how vulnerable the electric power grid is. At one point over two million homes were without power. The cause was a relatively rare ice storm that knocked out at least 20 percent of the state’s generating power. The main reason for this loss of power…
By John P. Flannery Whatever one thinks of capital punishment, there must be general agreement that the state should never execute an innocent man or woman. Our criminal justice is so badly broken, no one should be sentenced to death. I’ve argued in and out of court to abolish capital punishment. Many have fought…
By Joe LaFiandra The new president has implemented a series of progressive executive orders. Other actions are in the wings, including asking Congress to enact an increased minimum wage of $15 an hour, from the $7.25 (in Virginia) an hour presently in effect. What I am going to present in this article are the consequences…
By Charles Houston ZOC – pronounced “zock” – is the County’s new Zoning Ordinance Committee, which is charged with helping to write a new zoning ordinance for the county. It’s important to you and I’ll explain why. Zoning Matters Zoning is generally a vague concept for people. They might be totally unaware of Loudoun’s 1,025-page…
Loudoun County’s rural villages are irreplaceable, and yet, somehow, we seem determined to let the present destroy their past. “Their buildings and settings document Loudoun County’s history, through war and peace, growth and decline, changes in commerce, agriculture, and transportation. The social and cultural heritage they represent, and their vitality today, make them a vital…
By Charles Houston Every publication will have a lengthy year-end retrospective on COVID and on 2020. This is a different story. Bubba was my father’s first cousin, and hence my second. Bubba had no siblings, no wife, no children. As a bachelor, his closest relations were my two brothers and me. We were very close.…
By Joe Lafiandra If you are a Democrat or Trump hater, don’t bother reading any further; this piece doesn’t apply to you. If you are a Conservative, Republican, or independently minded person who wants to see and hear the truth from the press and visual media, read on. Freedom of the press is guaranteed in the First Amendment to…