In the wake of the 15-8 decision last weekend by the Sixth District Republican Committee to recognize Kurt Michael as Augusta County GOP chairman, against the recommendations of a fact-finding committee, Dr. Larry Roller filed an appeal to the Republican Party of Virginia. In a lengthy column that was published in Thursday’s News Leader, he explained his reasons for doing so. First, he recounted in plain, matter-of-fact terms, repeated instances of Kurt Michael’s refusal to cooperate in the mass meeting itself, and in subsequent mediation efforts. Then he noted the flagrant bias of the Sixth Di

Continue reading " Dr. Roller explains his appeal "

the L.A. Times has an interesting article on partial DNA searches, prompting three posts by Patterico (so far) and others by Eugene Volokh and Radley Balko. In a nutshell, John Puckett was convicted in 2004 of raping and murdering Diana Sylvester in 1972, mostly on account of a partial DNA match. Like [...]

Continue reading " DNA and Guilt "

“Biologist Sam Wilson Sets Traps and Shoots Critters Threatening the Corn Crops”

If you see this “hard-squinting” cold blooded killer, DO NOT APPROACH HIM! He may mistake you for a pig and smash your head in with a rock, stab you in the heart, or catch you in a trap made with toy-car parts. (It happens, trust me.)

Just look at this Unabomber-esque police sketch:

[Happy Anniversary, Sam!]

Continue reading " “Hired Killer Stalks the Wild Pigs Plaguing Nebraska” "

Not much excitement. Contested races for Elector and Delegates to the RNC Convention.

I was elected to go back on State Central Committee.

Candidates for state-wide elections spoke. I took the four minutes they gave me to support my choices. Here is my 4 minutes to the 1CD convention.

Twice before this body has elected me to represent itat State Central. I’m grateful and honored to be your representative again. Most meetings in Richmond are exercises in cheerleading. We say ‘Aye’ a lot and clap. Yet, in the one or two votes a year that really matter to this political party my vote has been voice of the majority of our 23 city and county leaders. Every single time. I serve to represent the will of the majority of the rank and file Republicans through our elected chairmen. Thank you for another opportunity to do so again.

Governor Gilmore is the Conservative to trust – on every social, fiscal, defense issue. I trust Jim Gilmore as our quiet champion. Vote for Jim Gilmore to be the Virginian to serve Virginia in the U.S. Senate.

More comments later.

Continue reading " 1st Congressional District Convention "

Considering all the lame accusations by Obama supporters that Hillary and her bloggers care nothing about the Democratic Party because we continue to insist that Michigan and Florida be counted and continue to support Hillary against all odds until she…

Continue reading " WaPo on Obama, Hope & Hate Talk from Obama Supporters "

Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms, especially Mrs. Curmudgeon, Library Lady and Stepmom N!!

Continue reading " HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!! "

Our drought in Northern Virginia, and probably most of Virginia, is over after the 2-3 additional inches of rain we had Thursday night and into Friday, with another quarter inch thrown in for good measure early this morning.But nooooooooo, that’s not e…

Continue reading " When It Rains, It Pours "

TIME Magazine asks an interesting philosophical question, whether a nation has the unilateral right — or obligation — to offer coercive humanitarian aid: That’s why it’s time to consider a more serious option: invading Burma. Some observers, includin…

Continue reading " Is It Time to Invade Burma? "

TIME Magazine asks an interesting philosophical question, whether a nation has the unilateral right — or obligation — to offer coercive humanitarian aid: That’s why it’s time to consider a more serious option: invading Burma. Some observers, includin…

Continue reading " Is It Time to Invade Burma? "

Recently the Virginia Education Association posted an important action diary entitled Virginia’s Children: A Wise Investment  The item discusses how 54 members of the House of Delegates tried to cut state funding for public schools by an astounding $175 million, which would have seriously damaged the quality of Virginia’s schools, which are among the nation’s best, especially thanks to the commitment to public education of our last two (Democratic) Governors.  And had they succeeded

If the 54 had prevailed on school funding, we’d see results like these:

    > Lower student achievement

    > Overcrowded classrooms

    > Cuts in school programs

    > Higher teacher turnover and greater difficulty attracting high-caliber teachers to Virginia

     >Bigger real estate tax bills for you, as the state passes its responsibility to your locality

I have a few comments of my own below the fold.
Public education has been an important part of the history of the Commonwealth, going back to the time of Thomas Jefferson.  In recent years we have seen a number of school systems around the state ranked among the nation’s bests by a variety of criteria.  The quality of our public schools is one reason Virginia has been able to attract new business investment - people are concerned about the future of their children.   That quality of education is also a major reason why Virginia is considered the best state in the nation in which to raise a child.

But all of this, and of the other high praise received in recent years by the Old Dominion, would have been severely threatened had the 54 delegates gotten their way.  And it is not unreasonable to believe that we will in the next session see further attempts to cut educational funding.

It is of critical importance that we put these Delegates on notice.  To quote again from the VEA piece:

Take action today! Don’t let the 54 members of the House take their budget axe to your public schools in the next session of the General Assembly. Click one of the links below for individual information on your Delegate’s actions, and what those actions would have meant for public school funding and quality in your locality. Then take the next step and contact your Delegate. Let him or her know how important public education is to you, and that you’ll be watching their votes in the next session.

The VEA piece has hot links for all 54 Delegates, which you can use to follow their intructions.  Again, you can go to this link to see what your delegate did.

I know transportation is critical to the future economic health of our state, but so is education.   Please, take the time and make the effort to make a difference.

Peace.

Continue reading " Virginia Schools - action is needed "

John McCain continues to court the support and endorsement of people with a messianic view of the endtimes which advocates world war between America and everyone else. When you combine his endorsements from Rod Parsley and John Hagee with his too-candi…

Continue reading " John McCain’s Apcalpytic Friends "

After every vote is counted, Democratic party leaders will gather the children of Israel and anoint their party candidate.Who will it be? The candidate with the most pledged delegates? The candidate with the lead in total popular vote, including, exclu…

Continue reading " New Math = Electability "

Fellow blogger Kenton Ngo has brought to my attention that one of my favorite people, John Edwards, is still on the ballot in West Virginia. So this contest is to see how many votes he gets in the upcoming primary, without going over. Whoever wins gets…winning.
My guess is 2. I’m quite the pessimist.

Continue reading " WVA Primary Fun! "

I have a bit of a dilemma. I’m a John Edwards fan, and even voted for him in the VA primary. Obama and Clinton both drive me crazy for their own respective reasons, and it’ll be a cold day in hell when I vote for insane John McCain. I like Nader, but think he may [...]

Continue reading " Who should I vote for? "

The headline at Stars & Stripes reads: “In battle over GI Bills, Webb still holds high ground.” And indeed he does.Last year, Sen. Jim Webb introduced a new GI bill that increases military educational benefits to equal benefits soldiers from World …

Continue reading " Stars & Stripes for Webb "

Lots more photos on the “flip.”  Any favorites?

Continue reading " Bush+McCain= Best Friends Forever! "

Some say the Illinois senator has even “lengthened” the size of his already prodigious lead.

Continue reading " Barack well-endowed with super-delegates, yet Hillary campaign fails to reach climax. "

On Wednesday, I was down in Richmond at the meeting of what Delegate Oder hopefully called the “new urban majority.” Legislators from NoVA & Hampton Roads (HR) got together to talk about transportation.
Let’s just say that thinking out of the box wasn’t happening.
It seems that only one solution could be conceived of by [...]

Continue reading " We don’t have to reinvent the wheel… "

We’re still a long ways from making social media work. Beyond political campaigns, most online fundraising doesn’t seem to work without a strong earned media component. Hence the reasons why political types and people who jump in front of the train (…

Continue reading " The Challenge Dividend: Facebook Ads Don’t Rock "

I love this town.  More photos here.

Continue reading " Arlington Neighborhood Day Photos "