Tom McLaughlin

One of the truly awesome reads on the Internet is Grantland.com, a production of ESPN, where sports and celebrity come together to provide an ongoing stream of enlightened amusement, or the other way around; it’s sometimes hard to tell. The content is a wonderful mix of highbrow, lowbrow and The Brow. (Grantland is ga-ga over the NBA’s Anthony Davis.) One of the best pieces I’ve read all year is “How ‘Selma’ Got Smeared,” a brilliant exposition by Grantland writer Mark Harris on the obligations of history and movies that purport to tell it without letting strict fidelity to the facts weigh down the drama. There’s all kinds of great stuff to be found there: http://www.grantland.com.

Since snow jobs are on everyone’s mind at the moment, can we go back to state Sen. Frank Ruff’s column on this page last week? Ruff took time out from his busy schedule denying health care to poor people to write about Senate Bill 1349, which also isn’t for poor people. Instead, the legislation is designed to meet the needs of Dominion Virginia Power, which is pretty much the antithesis of poor. Unless you buy what Sen. Ruff is selling, that is.

Last week in this space I mentioned — as an aside — how little I think of James Edmunds’ bill to create a ninth, at-large seat on the Halifax County Board of Supervisors.

It’s welcome change with the Mecklenburg County Board of Supervisors to be able to give credit where credit is due — however belatedly.

Following the extreme unpleasantness that raged previously in the evening, at some point late Monday or early Tuesday a feeling of serenity finally pierced the darkness of confusion and doubt.

Quick slant or bull rush up the middle? Either we’re debating the Super Bowl or contemplating the gist of the day’s news.

I can’t speak for anyone else, obviously, but this month’s dust-up among county supervisors has me feeling like a real dope — and I’m not even a member of the board.

So: Should our elected officials strive to reflect the will of the people, or take the politically riskier path of deigning to act in the best interests of the people?

If it’s the dawn of a new year, it’s time to sharpen a No. 2 pencil and try your hand at the Pop Quiz of the Future™ — brought to you by this publication’s resident master of prognostication, except for that bit where it was predicted a column of mine would run in this space last week.

If it’s the dawn of a new year, it’s time to sharpen a No. 2 pencil and try your hand at the Pop Quiz of the Future™ — brought to you by the world’s foremost master of prognostication, except for that bit where it was predicted a column of mine would run in this space last week.