Bring a calculator to McDonald’s

Anyone who dines at McDonald’s should remember one number: 2,000. That’s about how many calories a moderately active adult needs in a day. Now that the fast food chain is posting calorie counts next to its menu items, diners can figure out what percent of their daily need a fast-food lunch represents. …

Caring isn’t enough for wildlife

Human empathy extends beyond our fellow homo sapiens to other animals. Alas, sometimes people’s desire to help exceeds their capacity. Dorothy Runion and the rest of the folks at Roanoke Wildlife Rescue wanted to help animals in Roanoke County. They did, but things got out of hand. …

Virginia can elect better

Bob Woodward’s new book “The Price of Politics” pulls back the curtain on negotiations leading up to last year’s grand bargain on the debt ceiling. Americans know well where the story ends. The White House and congressional Republicans agreed to draconian spending cuts so terrible that both sides would have to agree to something better to prevent them. They haven’t reached an agreement yet, and those cuts loom larger by the day.

Woodward’s book shows how America wound up with that bargain in the first place. We haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but from all accounts, no one comes off looking good, least of all Virginia’s Eric Cantor. …

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