by Pat McGeehan, former Hancock County House of Delegates member
Too often when elected officials approve infrastructure projects they do not plan for the long-term cost (the life cycle budget), which leads to wasteful spending at all levels of government.Read more
by Rene A. Henry (A Charleston, WV native remembers....)
Seattle, WA (HNN) – I love trains. And, because I love riding trains I wish the senior management of Amtrak, the people responsible for passenger train service in our country, Congress and some of our governors would just get their acts together.Read more
The expression, “Bursts of Expression” came from one of my readers, Margaret Light, who wrote to me after reading my column, “Does Being On Time Mean Anything Anymore?” Read more
The voluble and aggressive new Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives has made it clear -- even using the elder George Bush’s warning “Read my lips” -- in his quest to slash billions of dollars of federal spending.Read more
Many former slaves left a political legacy that’s been ignored or completely forgotten by their descendants -- even during Black History Month.Read more
GOP Governor’s candidate Betty Ireland made news repeatedly during her four years as Secretary of State for her insistence that West Virginia needed to move forward with electronic voting machines.Read more
It’s not often that a book about parenting will grace the cover of TIME magazine, but the storm of reaction to “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” by Amy Chua, the so-called Tiger Mom’s book is unprecedented.Read more
With six Democratic candidates vying to be West Virginia’s next Democratic nominee for Governor, Democratic primary voters may be hard pressed to decide whom they like best.Read more
There should be lawsuits piling up all over the state. The Pharaohs of Charleston are now violating the 'Rule-of-Law' and defying the 'Will-of-the-People' with impunity. Their collective abuse of power is now deafening.Read more
Too many of you are using legal rights as a cover for selfishness and whim, pretending to be righteous just because you are 'legal'. Please, no more pretending. You can't use legal cover to mask a moral failure.Read more
Republican Governor’s candidate Betty Ireland was asked straight up on Hoppy Kercheval’s Statewide “Talkline” radio program whether Ireland was pro-life.Read more
After a stirring discussion with the publisher of Huntington News Network about a documentary film on Iran's desire to be a nuclear power -- a prospect that scares the you-know-what out of dozens of nations in the Middle East and Europe -- I swore to him in an e-mail that I would stay away from controversial subjects, and concentrate on book reviews and other non-controversial subjects.Read more
If West Virginia Republicans were looking for a Reagan-like outsider for their next nominee for Governor, they may have to bypass the campaign of Betty Ireland.Ireland’s campaign released the names oftheirtop staffers this week, and the list looks like a cavalcade of insider types.Read more
The events in Egypt of late have captured the attention of the world, as many thousands of Egyptians take to the streets both in opposition to and in favor of the current regime. We watch from a distance hoping that events do not spiral further into violence, which will destroy lives and threaten the livelihoods of average Egyptians caught up in the political turmoil. Read more
In West Virginia politics, there is a strange kind of creaturethat may not be as prevalent in other states. This kind of politico inhabits both parties and can only be explained as an attempt to pump up one's positives so much that thenegatives the public clearly sees are somehow made hiddenfrom view.Read more
Some people were surprised and others weren't by the vote for Obamacare by the new junior U.S. Senator from West Virginia, Joe Manchin.Manchin, who was dogged by his early support of Obamacare throughout his recent U.S. Senate campaign by Republican John Raese, finally changed his tune towards the end of that race.Read more
Grand and promising commercials will run all during the Super Bowl game... costing an estimated $3 million per 30 seconds of air time.
Every possible unique and creative way to "sell" a product will be displayed in hopes of catching the eye and pocket book of billions of people all gathered to watch this one sporting event.Read more
When is a whistleblower not a whistleblower? When he’s a scapegoat. Pfc. Bradley Manning is an unfortunate – and a challenging – case in point, and to understand why we need to see it in context.
As Egyptian citizens and human rights defenders, we have been on the streets here, including in Tahrir Square, since Jan. 25 to demand dignity and freedom for all Egyptians. There is nothing we want more than an immediate end to the Mubarak era, which has been marred by repression, abuse and injustice. We are heartened by the international community's shift from demanding "restraint" and "responsiveness" to echoing our call for Hosni Mubarak to step down and for an immediate transition toward democracy. Read more
This is the really big disappointment: When Joe Manchin was a candidate for U. S. Senate he stood shoulder to shoulder -- arm wrapped around her waist -- with Karen Cross of the West Virginians For Life -- in an ad promoting his solidarity with the citizens of this state who opposed the health care bill that is anti-life -- especially for the elderly and unborn. Read more
America's Prohibition is as murderous as the last. Recall the murders all across America from 1919 to 1933, and the most infamous, the 1929 Saint Valentine's Day Massacre.Read more
More Violence Should Prompt Suspension of US Military Assistance
(Cairo) - The Egyptian government should stop what appear to be organized attacks on pro-democracy demonstrators, which resulted in three deaths and several hundred injuries, and hold all those responsible to account, Human Rights Watch said today. The Egyptian security forces failed to protect those peacefully assembling in Tahrir Square in Cairo on February 2, 2011, from pro-government provocateurs armed with petrol bombs, sticks, and whips. Read more
When Betty Ireland was letting everyone know all over again that she was interested in running for Governor, she had an interesting interview with the Wheeling News-Intelligencer which was published on New Year's Day of this year.Read more
I came upon Confettie, an aged Shetland pony mare, at a local auction. Ponies were a part of my childhood, and I longed for another as an adult.I had two horses, but something was missing.Read more
Blind faith, adhering to a proposition with no reasonable justification of its truth, is more dangerous for politicians than it is for religionists. Read more
Back on January 22, 2007, the online magazine "Government Technology" ran a profile with Betty Ireland, then the Secretary of State for West Virginia. The article traced Ireland's efforts to bring West Virginia "up to par with the digital age," with technological efforts like e-signatures on government documents.Read more
We salute the civic spirit of Delegates Mitch Carmichael (R-Jackson),Tim Armstead (R-Kanawha), and Troy Andes (R-Putnam) in their possibleinterest in running for Governor in the upcoming GOP Special Primary Election.All three, especially Carmichael and Armstead, are wizened veterans ofthe legislature and have served honorably for several years. Read more
