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Bridgewater is a small town in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Our town is home to Bridgewater College, varied industries and stores, and comfortable residential neighborhoods. bridgewaterva.com is a community website with an open discussion board, just below, called “Bridgewater Buzz.”

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Tilted Kilt and freedom

I’ve heard a lot of discussion about the Tilted Kilt, the new restaurant in Harrisonburg that features waitresses in skimpy outfits. Much of the discussion reflects a basic misunderstanding of liberty. You may not like the restaurant’s concept, but they’re free to operate within the constraints of law — and no one is suggesting that those outfits are illegal. Equally well, you may not like the restaurant’s critics calling on the community not to go there. The point is that all of those speaking for and against the restaurant are engaged in constitutionally protected speech. It’s not polite to tell your opponents to shut up, but even that is constitutionally protected speech. So, have at it — I have confidence that the right outcome will happen in the end.

Bridgewater businesses

I see that Anita’s bakery is having a grand RE-opening. When did it close?

The new chiropractor has signs saying open for business but every time I drive by there’s a small sign on the door that says “closed”.

Wonder what’s going on?

Argo??????

I read in the newspaper that Argo won best picture of the year. I watched it and if it’s the best, then it must have been a slow movie year. Fails greatly in comparison to real great movies like Field of Dreams, Ghost, Shawshank Redemption,The Green Mile, Outlaw Josey Wales and arguable the best movie ever………Cool Hand Luke. Even the really old African Queen was better.

Lay off food safety inspectors?

I truly sympathize with friends in Valley agribusiness, faced with being shut down for the lack of food safety inspectors if those federal budget cuts go through. They can’t operate without USDA inspectors.

But ask yourself: If you were the secretary of agriculture with over a year to prepare for a single-digit percentage cut, what would you do? Would you (a) seek authority to broadly define your program, so that you could cut convention travel and diversity training and bonuses, leaving food safety inspections in place? Or would you (b) do nothing, let the cuts approach, and do everything possible to maximize the pain of the cuts — that is, plan to lay off inspectors and shut down agribusiness?

If you picked (b), you get the way Big Government works. If you picked (a), you’re an old-school public servant and you have no place in government today.

Under the circumstances, I’m for paying the ransom and freeing the hostages. But I’m also for recognizing this for the game it is — and one day having the citizens retake control of their own budget, through the ballot box.