Michael R. Shannon

Standing Up to Adversity, Both Foreign & Domestic

Recent events prove if your travel plans include countries where government is both unstable and hostile to the USA, your chances of escaping a long prison term are much better if you work for Google, than if you work for Obama.

You Can’t Be a Little Bit “Private”

Who would have thought lawbreakers would have an effective lobby and among Republicans at that! What’s more, it’s not the expected Wall Street miscreants; it’s mean street miscreants. Red–light runners now boast renewed influence in the Virginia General Assembly; starting with my own county’s Del. Scott Lingamfelter who just introduced a bill that halts the installation of new “photo red” traffic enforcement cameras.

Time for an Intervention

I’m concerned about Virginia’s Gov. Bob McDonnell. He seems to be embarking on a white–whale situation involving his obsession with privatizing the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC). This unnatural focus is a damaging, negative influence on his administration.

All the News That’s Good for You

One of the reasons newspaper circulation and TV news ratings are falling is because people no longer trust journalists. They are tired of being mislead as reporters select and distort news coverage to conform to the media’s ideology.

Guns Don’t Kill People, Rhetoric Kills People

I’m a very chastened conservative this week. In looking over last year’s columns I find I’ve used the words: jewelry, sneeze, impatient and grab. By my calculations — assisted by Chris Matthews and those helpful people at MSNBC — I’m responsible for one burglary, a swine flue scare, two fire–zone parking violations and a groping on the Metro.

No Wonder Henry Ford Said “History Is Bunk”

It’s surprising that so few parents are concerned that some of Virginia 4th grade history teachers don’t appear to know much more about the subject than their students.

Help ‘Public’ Broadcasting Kick the Habit

It’s time for tough love in Virginia. We’ve got a group of squatters living in the basement, enjoying a subsidized lifestyle paid for by hard–working adults. And at a time when even former DC Mayor Marion Barry has come to the conclusion there should be an absolute time limit on the collection of welfare benefits, there is no excuse to continue supporting the Culture Queens.

The Cathedral of Can’t We All Get Along?

This Christmas brings another “can’t we all just get along“ story that once again demonstrating how the media fails to understand committed Christians.

The First Rule of Holes

The first rule of holes is simple: when you’re in one, stop digging.

Ratchet Effect – How the Old Maximum Becomes the New Minimum

The Oxford Dictionary of Economics defines the Ratchet Effect as: “A tendency for a variable to be influenced by its own largest previous value…the ratchet effect implies that variables are more sticky in one direction than the other.” Think of it as one of those notoriously unreliable DC Metro escalators that only go in the direction conservatives don’t want to travel.

Why Are Schools of Education Such an Oxymoron?

Most of the problems of modern public education originate outside the school building. The locus of the worst influences are schools of education that turn out teachers and administrators who have absorbed four to six years of fantasy–based theory and practice.

Bend Over & Experience 21st Century Air Travel

Visiting grandma’s house is going to be a lot different this holiday season. Instead of “Grandma, what big teeth you have!” It’s going to be “G–man what cold hands you have!” as thousands of unsuspecting travelers undergo their first enhanced airport “pat–down” at the hands of TSA.

Shannon Post How to boost the TEA Party’s Caffeine Level

Once you start bossing people around it’s really hard to stop — just ask Janet “No Toner for You” Napolitano. Last week it was instructions the new Congress, this week the benefit of my wisdom goes to real victors: the TEA party and independents not ready for Obama’s socialism lite.

New Congress To–Do List

Tuesday voters placed the House of Representatives under new management and put the fear of God into what remains, temporarily, a Democrat Senate. Now it’s time for a resuscitated GOP to deliver.

Is Anyone Not Offering Flu Shots This Year?

I’ve been forced to get my flu shot early. Normally I wait until November for my vaccination, unless the federal government declares an influenza emergency. Then the resulting vaccine shortage means I get left out entirely, since I’m just a taxpayer and not on the priority list for survival.

Are Newspapers This Hard Up?

The most remarkable thing happened last week. The Wall Street Journal tried to pick my pocket. I assumed when Titans of Wall Street selected victims they focused on businesses that actually had money, but I suppose the Great Recession has lowered everyone’s sights.

Another 18th Century Infestation Courtesy of the EPA

Normally it would be cause for great joy when “socially–conscious progressives” are literally bitten on the behind by the results of their bad ideas. In this case it’s unfortunate that the conservatives who should be enjoying a nice gloat, are instead forced to scratch their own rear ends simply because you can’t rely on bedbugs to exercise judgment before biting.

Why the GPS Is Magellan and Not Columbus

1492 was a big year for Christendom. The fortress of Granada fell to the combined forces of King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile. Driving the last of the invading Islamic horde out of Spain and returning the peninsula to its original owners.

Call 1–8700–Ask–A–Lawyer

In a recent Washington Post story, University of Virginia Law Professor A.E. Dick Howard ruled it is not unconstitutional to ask your lawyer a question. This is a load off my mind, because when it comes to constitutional questions one never knows where a law professor is likely to alight.

Death Is Cheapened in VA

Last week Teresa Lewis was Virginia’s only woman on Death Row (although she has permanently vacated the premises by the time you read this). Lewis earned her death sentence by conspiring to murder her husband and stepson for insurance money with the help of her backwoods lover and his trusty sidekick.