Just a quick reminder that the NoVA Regional Farm Team meeting is Sunday, December 7 at 1:30pm at the Broadway 502 West Broad Street (entrance on Lee Street) in Falls Church. RSVP to Leslie Byrne.
      

Continue reading " Reminder: NoVA regional meeting Sunday "

Check this out.

He who hesitates is lost.
      

Continue reading " Dueling BlueCommonwealth "

In my analysis of Fliergate, I mentioned that there were 17 precincts in which the winners were Barack Obama, Meyera Oberndorf and Georgia Allen. I call them “The Democratic Ticket” precincts. Let’s look a little closer at them.

#votes
# reg.
Obama
McCain
Oberndorf
Sessoms
Allen
Wilson

16
Aragona
2,696
4,299
1,528
1,114
870
856
1,123
685

21
Davis Cnr
1,893
2,940
1,421
450
669
658
878
396

29
Holland
2,494
4,557
1,553
911
799
797
733
644

36
Win Oaks
2,445
4,184
1,406
1,003
832
818
789
740

41
College Pk
1,509
2,357
1,058
428
660
465
522
377

43
Bellamy
1,853
3,055
1,138
695
739
588
659
465

45
Timberlake
2,039
3,155
1,390
625
763
606
731
466

46
Green Run
2,535
4,088
1,567
928
902
772
899
639

54
Cromwell
1,313
1,925
693
603
500
454
465
383

55
Mag Hollow
2,260
3,903
1,434
795
742
741
909
547

61
Baker
2,079
3,237
1,824
244
906
695
1,112
302

71
Round Hill
2,775
4,478
1,636
1,110
1,051
831
1,046
651

74
Buckner
1,752
2,865
1,113
618
634
552
631
458

80
Reon
1,309
1,998
958
340
486
420
548
273

81
Rock Lake
2,074
3,246
1,208
828
813
648
742
592

84
Tallwood
2,069
2,923
1,037
1,002
796
676
609
522

93
Newtown
1,223
1,852
1,092
116
430
394
577
175

Totals
34,318
55,062
22,056
11,810
12,592
10,971
12,973
8,315

%
62.33%

65.13%
34.87%
53.44%
46.56%
60.94%
39.06%

These [...]

Continue reading " Fliergate: A closer look (part 2) "

The Virginian Pilot is reporting that the City Council in Suffolk is set to approve some changes to its personnel code. The last time the chapter was updated was in 1998. This part caught my eye (emphasis added):
The revised chapter also includes an entirely new section titled “Separations” that says all employment with the city [...]

Continue reading " Suffolk changes to personnel code "

The moon, Venus and Jupiter came together Monday evening in a rare conjunction that was visible to the naked eye. This picture was taken outside my house. We missed the tightest conjunction which, according to this article, was supposed to look like a frown.  (Click to enlarge)
      

Continue reading " Sky show "

Unless you’ve been under a rock, you know that President-elect Barack Obama has designated former rival Hillary Clinton to be Secretary of State. I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I think she will make a great S of S. On the other hand, I think this marks the pinnacle of her [...]

Continue reading " Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State "

In my analysis of Fliergate, I mentioned that there were nine precincts in which the winners were Barack Obama, Will Sessoms and Georgia Allen.  I call them “The Flier Ticket” precincts. Let’s look a little closer at them.

# votes
# reg.
Obama
McCain
Oberndorf
Sessoms
Allen
Wilson

5

Seatack
1,959
3,363
1,283
642
564
807
753
471

12

Plaza
2,147
3,485
1,228
887
674
734
737
648

15

Old Don.
2,108
3,452
1,053
1,008
699
722
741
653

50

Oceana
1,224
2,324
852
343
330
437
357
271

69

Shell
1,804
2,816
1,122
663
649
651
711
490

73

Dahlia
2,599
4,448
1,538
1,033
884
958
827
714

76

Village
1,623
2,812
1,102
503
507
561
534
421

79

Pl. Hall
1,618
2,467
1,068
536
547
593
612
433

91

Lexington
1,596
2,310
900
676
539
582
496
432

Totals
16,678
27,477
10,146
6,291
5,393
6,045
5,768
4,533

%
60.70%

61.73%
38.27%
47.15%
52.85%
55.99%
44.01%

Citywide, there were 201,720 votes cast out of 288,141 registered voters, [...]

Continue reading " Fliergate: A closer look (part 1) "

An article written by my father, the Rev. C. Thomas Paige, as it appeared in the Tri-State Defender on the date shown.
“For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water; whoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he [...]

Continue reading " The Pulpit Speaks: November 10, 1962 "

This Sunday’s On the Record will feature a discussion about the possible location of the Navy’s latest nuclear carrier in Jacksonville as opposed to Norfolk. Joining host Joel Rubin will be Frank Roberts, who heads the Hampton Roads Military and Facilities Alliance, and Mal Branch, a former carrier commanding officer who now runs the [...]

Continue reading " OTR 11/30: Ship to FL, charities "

The comment by LittleDavid reminded me about the civic quiz that has been making the rounds. The quiz is here.
The average score for all 2,508 Americans taking the following test was 49%; college educators scored 55%.
Interestingly enough, the American public scores better on this quiz than do elected officials (which probably explains some of the [...]

Continue reading " Test your civic knowledge "

The Oberndorf campaign for mayor in Virginia Beach has filed a formal complaint in regards to the distribution of fliers showing now mayor-elect Will Sessoms and president-elect Obama.
Bruce Williams, a consultant who was hired to help the Sessoms campaign with black voters, said this week that he didn’t ask for permission to hand out the [...]

Continue reading " Fliergate update "

Totally unrelated items I’ve run across
“Next president” isn’t on local ballot - I’ve been getting emails about this for a while.
The Top 10 Political Turkeys of 2008 - Pretty good list.
VA School Board sued over in-class haircut - $1,000 in compensatory damages for something that grows back?
Cleaner who turns in $20K can keep it - [...]

Continue reading " Random stuff "

Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book, deserves recognition as the Mother of the American Thanksgiving. The following editor’s column was part of the long campaign by Sarah Josepha Hale to get Thanksgiving accepted as a national holiday in the United States.
From Sarah Josepha Hale, “Editor’s Table,” Godey’s Lady’s Book
OUR [...]

Continue reading " Our National Thanksgiving "

I started cooking Wednesday and will be preparing stuff right up until dinner time The menu this year is pretty much the same as before, except no Brussell Sprouts this year. The sweet potato dish will be Praline- Topped Sweet Potatoes and the spinach dish will be Threadgill’s Spinach Casserole. Both of those were [...]

Continue reading " Thanksgiving 2008 "

So it appears.
I’m confused - why is the “d” small and in quotes?
I’ll bet he doesn’t have a helicopter, though.
      

Continue reading " A “d”emocratic candidate in the 81st? "

You Are Boggle

You are an incredibly creative and resourceful person.
You’re able to dig deep and think outside the box to get things done.
You are a non linear thinker. You don’t like following directions
You draw your inspiration from the strangest places sometimes. You’re constantly inspired.

What Board Game Are You?
      

Continue reading " Friday fun stuff on a Wednesday: Boggle "

From Ginny Peters:
You are invited to join a bunch of us at Lynn Miller’s home (4551 Forest Drive, Fairfax) for a fund raiser for Jody Wagner.  It is Tuesday, December 2nd, from 5-8 pm .
Lynn has a lovely home, back in the woods off of Shirley Gate Drive.  It is $100 [...]

Continue reading " Invite for NOVA Farm Team members "

The Virginian Pilot announced in today’s paper the retirement of editorial page editor Dennis Hartig.
Hartig, who grew up in the Ocean View section of Norfolk and graduated from Norfolk Catholic High School, joined The Pilot in 1979 as editor of the Virginia Beach Beacon. He later became deputy managing editor, acting editor and, in 1997, [...]

Continue reading " Pilot announces Hartig’s retirement "

In the years before this current political season, there were women who paved the way for our success.  They taught us to be doers, not just observers.  And Charlotte S. Schooler was one of those women.  Many of you may know her as Susan Swecker’s “Aunt Charlotte.”
It is with great sadness [...]

Continue reading " A tribute "

Except for this story, which I wrote about here, little has been said about the effect of the fliers distributed on Election Day on behalf of now mayor-elect Will Sessoms. As you can see, the fliers showed Sessoms, a Republican, with an image of Obama.  And, in violation of the law, the fliers did not [...]

Continue reading " Illegal fliers’ effect on VB mayoral election "