Tomorrow, Saturday, July 4, we celebrate American independence! During this time I hope that Americans will take a few minutes to reflect on how we gained our independence.

Vice-Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson was famous, among other things, for his contention that “No man is married South of Gibraltar.” But before South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford adopted the Nelson philosophy and began his Argentine Adventure, he should have checked to see if his wife was a nautical woman.

In my 24 years in this precious space, if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s simply this: If you really want to see if folks are paying attention, just try misquoting the Roosevelts!

As of today, it’s illegal to text while driving in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The U.S. immigration system is “broken and needs fixing.” So confirms President Obama after meeting with Republican and Democratic leaders last Thursday.

There’s lots of stuff to write about these days . . .

Reforming health care this year may not be the calling of our generation but it’s surely a test for our generation.

Reporting from the Arctic North.

The fading greatness of Ford and General Motors.

Madelyn Dunham was 86 and her grandson, Barack Obama, was running for president when she was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

When I first moved to Raleigh, N.C., it was nothing but trees and concrete roads. There were few shopping centers and fewer stores.

As the crow flies — or more appropriately as the snake slithers — the Savannah River Ecology Lab in South Carolina is roughly 200 miles from my house.

If Virginia Republicans need any further example of why they’ve been on the ropes these days,  they need look no further than some of their leaders’ strident cries for the president to become more verbally entrenched in the Iran crisis.

While sifting through the wreckage of election night last year, I had some small comfort in the knowledge the election of Barack Obama proved once and for all that the United States had moved past prejudice, overcome the legacy of Jim Crow and was at last a post-racial society.

Arizona gets tough on illegal immigrants.

Why do I have the “Sanford & Son” theme song in my head every time the federal “Cash for Clunkers” program is discussed?

Last week, Joseph Wescott, 67, a clerk at a Georgia liquor store, was working when a robber attacked him with a knife.

I was talking to a few teens last week about what they planned to do this summer. A couple said they were going to hang out, some where going on vacation.

Under a headline that read “Bunny Goes Bugs” was a smaller one, “Rabbit Attacks President.”

On this Father’s Day, I dedicate my column to my dad, Juan Granados.

My dad moved to a local retirement facility over a year ago.

And in underwear news, Brooksville, Fla. officials have mandated that all city employees wear drawers to work.

America Online (AOL) was once the largest Internet company in the world. It rivaled, and even threatened, Microsoft’s dominance — just as Google is now doing.

It’s a sad state of affairs when your own wife won’t bring you a pen and paper for your last will and testament.

It’s been an odd and deadly spring so far, and I’m not just talking about the weather.

For the last several years, many U.S. employers have been forced to utilize a risky approach to filling open positions within their organizations. The strategy in question involves the H-1B visa program.

The Biddlecomb family made the digital switch last weekend and I must admit that the hype-to-reality ratio ranks somewhere between New Coke and the Edsel.

I was driving up Va. 234 past the speedway today and saw a billboard announcing that the Prince William Hospital is the top-rated orthopedic center in the region.

The other day my wife and I were doing what most parents do: talking in code around their children when they don’t want them to know something.

The other day my wife and I were doing what most parents do: talking in code around their children when they don’t want them to know something.