I told my daughter they don’t, but that was just another in a long line of whoppers that roll easily off the tongues of moms and dads, according to new research from the University of Toronto and the University of California, San Diego.

Recently I went to visit the ATM at my local bank, and something was different. The ATM had been moved down a few feet, and the drive-up windows were gone.

Let’s face it. Neither candidate in the fast-approaching Virginia gubernatorial election would win any major awards for smarts or charisma, but they are what they are, and we voters are stuck with them.

When I visited my grandparents in rural North Texas as a boy, I answered nature’s call sitting atop a compost heap that was surrounded by an outhouse.

Where have you gone Chris Brown and Mike Riley?

For all the claims of opponents, political advertisements rarely contain absolute falsehoods. When they do, even the most biased news outlets feel compelled to call out brazen lies. 

I saw the other day that Google Earth had added a new feature that allows users to dig a virtual hole from any spot on earth and see where they would come out on the other side.

When I think of guns, I think of hunting or protecting myself, my family or my property. The last thing I think of is the Virginia Rail Express (VRE). 

Lately I have been thinking about what I take for granted.

A reader in Alabama fired off an e-mail telling me in no uncertain terms that he’s against the federal government meddling in his health care and his future Medicare.

It was the first day of autumn — the early evening, actually — when I was called home to investigate a disturbance.

I generally arrive to school in the morning way before any students. My son is a high schooler and, since his school is on the way to mine, I drop him off and then continue on.

Got a couple of issues to discuss today — small business office space and a solution to traffic on Smoketown Road.

Now I know why people bring their hammer to Comcast offices in a last-ditch effort to improve their customer experience.

If Virginia in any way resembles a microcosm of the country (an arguable point, but we do have that internal “North and South” thing going for us), we also live in a world of increasing contradictions that compete for our time, money and resources.

Last Tuesday, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors voted to create an Animal Advisory Board to focus on ways to improve the Prince William Animal Shelter.

For the first time in its history, the Federal Reserve created $2 trillion of assets and debts during the past year so it could rescue banks from the unparalleled leverage that brought the world’s biggest economy to a collapse unlike anything since the Great Depression

When it comes to a free press, Americans still like the idea —  but after that, well, there are questions.

Just when I was wondering if they were still in vogue, I received a call to participate in a political poll last week.

As John Keats famously wrote . . .

If I had to tell you all of the stores in Old Town Manassas that have disappeared since I moved here in 2006, I probably couldn’t do it off the top of my head. 

A lot of British men are going to brow bars to get threaded.

Recently I received a letter from the Prince William County Service Authority — the people who bring you water and flush toilets — proudly announcing that customers could now pay their bill online.

As lawmakers in Richmond continue searching for creative ways to save money in this fitfully cantankerous economy, let’s hope one of their stunts doesn’t replicate the irresponsible gesture that the
District of Columbia just committed.

Despite a maiden voyage that took nearly twice as long as anticipated, Prince William County officials are still considering support for a commuter ferry that could link Quantico and/or Woodbridge with Washington, D.C.

It seems like just last year Metro was raising rider fares.  Oh wait a minute; that was last year. 

I think it is fascinating when a social trend reverses itself, especially when that reversal is for the better. Take walking and running for exercise as an example. 

In the spirit of Woodstock and the return of Beatlemania, here’s another blast from the past: “Don’t trust anybody over 30!”

I may be signing my own pink slip with this column, but here it goes anyway.

Note: Inspired by President Barack Obama’s recent speech to the nation’s school children, columnist Scott Hollifield decided to give his own back-to-school address.