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.

Ever since the Iowa Caucus, when Barack Obama began his march to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., he ran on the theme of “change.”

Here’s what I learned this week in my day job as a small-town newspaper editor: Never, ever, under any circumstances, ever — I repeat, ever — accidentally leave the comics out of the newspaper.

Alexander Hamilton was, in my opinion, the founding father who contributed the most to the long-term development of the United States. Many will argue that George Washington or Thomas Jefferson contributed more. Although they contributed much toward American ideals and setting precedents for all presidents, Hamilton had a larger impact on the practical side of government.

I was thrilled to learn elephants are now dwelling atop a former landfill in Waynesboro.  Yes, they are made of fiberglass, but they are life-size, and I can visit them throughout April.  I am superstitious.  I expect the city to have good fortune during the month.  Citizens of Waynesboro, now is the time to launch those projects you have been dreaming about!  The elephants are bringing favorable conditions our way. 

If there is one question I am asked more than, “How on God’s green Earth do you still have a newspaper column?” it is, “Why no recent monkey news?”

Jake DeSantis, executive vice president of the American International Group’s financial products unit, quit his job.

Our house burned down.

One Thursday morning in December seven people showed up for their jobs in Richmond just as they always did.

My hound Oscar is no more.

A recent career change has proved enlightening. A past opinion has been altered, another reaffirmed and an analogy discovered.