According to the Commonwealth of Virginia, a deadbeat dad is anyone who falls behind or fails to pay child support as instructed by a court order. Harsh consequences follow: Wages are garnished, tax returns withheld, and driver’s licenses revoked.

The assumption by child support agencies and the general public is that these fathers have willfully and intentionally avoided taking parental responsibility. They’ve likely skipped town, purposefully remain unemployed, and don’t even care to fulfill their visitation rights. (more…)

Our region’s law enforcement officers are our first line of defense in coping with emergencies in our communities. These individuals are generous members of our society who risk personal safety for the public good. It is important to protect the safety of these individuals by providing the best equipment and training possible. (more…)

A valuable lesson that I learned long ago is that a top-notch referral marketing education does not guarantee success. Applying a top-notch referral marketing education, however, to top-notch referral partners can produce desirable results. Sarah Owen, Master Franchisee with Referral Institute in the UK, took me through an exercise to help me begin to identify my Referral Dream Team. Here is a similar exercise with a few personal touches: (more…)

I’m not sure what to call this. I think it is an aura or an air. Maybe it is good karma or a positive vibration. Even the word energy will work.

It is what I sense, feel, and observe at New River Valley Metaphysical Chapel. Whether you know it or not I think about our congregation nearly all the time. I stand in front of the congregation to speak. I look around the room. I see some things directly, I see other things out of the corner of my eye, and I hear reports about others. (more…)

Creating new jobs for Southwest Virginia residents is my highest priority. I actively work with local officials to achieve this goal in a number of ways, including attracting new companies to our region through my Showcasing Southwest Virginia program.

In order for our region to attract the technology-based companies that can bring 21st century jobs, locations with the infrastructure necessary to accommodate those businesses must exist throughout our region. (more…)

Near the top of my ever-growing litany of grievances is the delusional reverence people hold for the past. There were no “good ol’ days,” and never in this world history have there been “more innocent times.” From day one, when Adam violated a chimpanzee and transformed the Forbidden Fruit into the world’s first diarrhea, people have been perverts and scoundrels.

The chief difference between the past and present is that today, it’s a lot harder to live in a bubble. In the 1950s, there were no such things as homosexuals or pedophiles, Commies were scum, and most women were perfectly content to lives as housewives. All these assumptions were false, but deprived of mass communications, people didn’t know any better. Moreover, they didn’t want to know any better. (more…)