A general rule: the more draconian a bill, the more it puts ideology ahead of common sense, the more likelihood it will pass.

Tomorrow should be a fun day for those of us oddly obsessed with the future of this far-too-holy port town they call Norfolk, Virginia…

One of the few barriers that have kept these hordes from having their way have been strong daily newspapers like the Virginian-Pilot once was and is struggling mightily, against all odds, (and against their own corporate bosses) to still be.

When you get behind the wheel of a car you are arming yourself with a potentially lethal weapon. If you kill someone with that weapon, you should be held responsible. “I didn’t mean to do it,” just doesn’t cut it.

CYBER MONDAY ALL OVER YO FACE! Local news, digestible and fun, just for you. Also suitable for framing.

If new taxes seem unfeasible ideologically, it’s because the billionaires among us have spent more on propaganda to convince us of it than they’ll ever pay in progressive taxation.

How the Northam race was won; Virginia Beach should be excited about John Moss; Beware Bill Bolling; Someone *please* challenge Barclay Winn; Norfolk whiffs on Occupy Norfolk; and more.

Dougherty speaks of “the rudimentary mastery of English that’s necessary to negotiate a ballot.” Call me lazy, or stupid, but somehow in three semesters of college Spanish I never learned how to say ‘maximum aggregate principal amount.’

And more in Addy Smith’s informative and fun If You Read the Paper for Monday, September 26, 2011.

Plus the possibility of tolls on I-95; Bobby Scott is a good, non-gay hating dude; Gov. McDonnell acting like a vice-presidential candidate; the VA Tea Party Alliance taking aim at state Dems; and more in today’s If You Read the Paper.

Suffolk considers ditching HRT, WHRO safe for now, average wages in Hampton Roads, and more from that lovable Addy Smith.

Good morning, all, and greetings on this brink of federal shutdown.

Obama, VCU, Save the Bay (next year), doling out road candy, and more.

It’s my birthday and I’m doing If You Read the Paper like this and nobody can stop me.

For today’s If You Read the Paper.

I’m so glad these headlines are next to one another. Juxtaposition is a fine vantage point in which to view hypocrisy.

The infuriating sham that is the Virginian-Pilot’s “Best of” Hampton Roads.

As a pragmatist and an optimist, my vote can be up for grabs by any politician or party who will make the effort to articulate clear positions and engage in meaningful discourse. It’s this last part where my path diverges so radically from the Tea Party’s.

Like other four letter words that begin F-U-, when we overuse a word we risk degrading its meaning.

Any cynic can ridicule Sarah Palin’s War on English, but let’s give the doll some credit: Below the surface, it actually looks like she’s trying to harness The Elements of Style. Plus yard sailing, cardboard boat racing, and collaborative consumption – oh my!

HR’s “Average roads” a “high priority;” foodbank in need; cottage for sale – lots of character* (*old, bad location, heaps of red tape).

Global warning semi-denialists, guns in restaurants, and gigantor budget cuts.

The Virginian-Pilot stories in today’s paper we found interesting, insightful, inspiring, incomprehensible (and any other word that starts with ‘i’).

An op-ed in support of Bill Fleming from The Naro’s Tench Phillips.

Cal Thomas has outdone himself. In a column published in the Oct. 14 edition of The Virginian-Pilot, he expressed a degree of hatred and hypocrisy that was surprising even for him.

Half the stories on Page 2 of the Pilot’s “Hampton Roads” section are about murders. Which makes me wonder… which one of us in next?!?!?

More than 120 U.S. newspapers have closed since Jan 2008. CNN reports: Newspapers fold as readers defect and economy sours.