I hear daily, as do most of you, that the “government” is the enemy. Conservative radio talking heads, most leading Republicans and conservatives and a great many Independents all complain about the government interfering in their lives.

To quote the great philosopher Alice Cooper, “School’s out for summer.”

I am tempted to take a vacation from the news.

Recent reports indicate gun sales are going through the roof.

Newspapers are in trouble.

There are a lot of jobs I know nothing about. I am not talking about astrophysicist. I am talking about jobs that are right here where I live. I have known people in law enforcement, but I have never known personally a bail bonds person. I don’t even know exactly how that business works. I have known people who managed restaurants, but I have never known a person who owned a fast-food franchise. My maternal grandfather was a foreman for road building crews before I was born, but I have never known anyone in road building or paving. I have known people who wrote books, but I have never known anyone in the publishing industry. I have had students who worked as cashiers in grocery stores, but I have never known anyone in grocery store management despite spending a ridiculous amount of time shopping for food. Never until today, that is.

When George W. Bush was selected president (elected if you’re a conservative or a Republican), I was displeased, to say the least. Even so, I resisted immediately criticizing him. I figured he deserved at least a year’s time in office to get his bearings and feet wet.

I love a good auction, especially when they clean out a dead guy’s house, haul his stuff into the yard and let his friends and neighbors fight over it.

I got a pair of snow tires that way.

Every once in awhile I decide to eat everything in my refrigerator except the mustard, chow chow and salad dressings so I can start fresh. It is spring, so I decided a spring cleaning of the refrigerator was in order.

One of President Barack Obama’s campaign pledges was to close the terrorist prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He’s since kept that pledge and recently requested $80 million from Congress to do so. The U.S. Senate’s 90-6 vote, in a rare bipartisan effort, refused to provide funding for Gitmo’s closure thus handing him his first major political setback as president.

Will a midday shower at work result in more creative, productive (and fresher smelling) employees?

People who pay their credit card bills every month feel aggrieved, because if the restructuring of the credit card industry goes through, they will mostly likely be required to pay annual fees. They say it’s unfair to punish the “good” people who pay every month. Now the responsible people will be punished while the irresponsible people will pay less.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the NAACP and every once in awhile somebody questions the relevance of that great organization. Its name originated those many years ago when African Americans were referred to as Colored People and the organization aimed to level America’s economic opportunity and equal justice playing fields.

When Arlen Specter announced that he was leaving the Republican Party, it seemed first and foremost like an attempt at self-preservation. He didn’t think he could win the Republican primary in Pennsylvania because his party had moved too far to the right to elect him, so he became a Democrat. Simple. Or maybe not so simple.

I anxiously awaited the comments and opinions of former Vice President Dick Cheney on Sunday morning on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” What he said ran the gamut – predictable, stubborn, unapologetic and non-forgiving. One of his emanations, though, if true, indicates that his boss and America’s former president was a liar.

I should cut the cord, but I’m finding it difficult to do so.

Americans are so competitive!

Springtime is upon us and directs our imaginations and minds toward vacations.

Developers seldom inspire public esteem perhaps because their purpose is principally to make money, which once was a socially acceptable objective in a free-market society but in recent decades has devolved into Hollywood caricature.

May 11-15 is National Etiquette Week, and this year’s theme, “Catch the Manners Virus!” was undoubtedly selected before the global outbreak of swine flu.

A perennial has poked up its little shoot in the last week. This one is not in my yard. It is in my newspaper. Song lyrics are back in the news. A concerned parent raised the issue after hearing offensive music being played at a middle school dance (“Parent: Lewd songs played at school,” April 27). No matter what the school decides, there is no escaping toxic pop culture. It isn’t just song lyrics. It is the anorexic models on the television show “Project Runway.” It is clothing for girls that makes them look like hookers. It is a culture that celebrates money and fame over character. I could go on, and so could you.

A couple of weeks ago I suggested that Virginia should take some of President Barack Obama’s stimulus package money to educate state youth. This week I’ll again urge Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and the state General Assembly to take its part of the stimulus package to also educate Virginians of all ages, especially those who aren’t using and don’t like computers.

In these uncertain economic times, can America afford to fall behind in the international goat-cloning race?

There is no shortage of work to be done in this country.

About three months ago there was a discussion on the creation of a joint Augusta County and Staunton committee that would work to get economic cooperation between the county and city.

The headline on the U.S. News & World Report story said this: “Having Children Adds Stress to Marriage.”

I was walking across the Mary Baldwin College campus late one windy afternoon when I spotted a kite flying high above Cannon Hill. When I got closer, I saw a man I had never seen before holding its string. I stood for a while watching the soaring, multicolored kite, its fabric rattling in the stiff breeze. My curiosity got the best of me, and I decided to strike up a conversation with its flyer.

I don’t know if other African Americans feel as I do about the anticipated changes we thought President Barack Obama’s election would bring, but I’m disappointed. I’m disappointed in the lack of diversity I thought his election would bring to television news reporting and shows.

First lady Michelle Obama, in her recent European visit, briefly touched Queen Elizabeth in what appeared to be a simple act of mutual affection, setting off a firestorm of controversy about whether or not it is an unspeakable breach of royal protocol to briefly touch Queen Elizabeth in what appears to be a simple act of mutual affection.

The day after my father died I went with my mother and my son to the for-profit cemetery where my father had purchased eight plots in the 1950s. Buried there are his parents; his sister, her husband and their child; my brother, who was stillborn; and now my father. Although my family had owned plots there for more than 50 years, this was the first time I had ever had any dealings with them. It was a rude awakening.