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Wednesday, October 30, 2002
The recent invitation by certain activist groups in the Fredericksburg area to bring consulting firm Concordia into the realm of city politics has produced a letter from Paul Lewis of Rappahannock Area Grassroots.
Now I'm no expert, but isn't this exactly what the former city council said about RAG et al.? Just wondering. . . Tuesday, October 29, 2002Tom Byrnes wrote an excellent op-ed in the Free Lance Star today on Fredericksburg's potential to become a regional tourist hub. Sounds good to me, but in a city that already complains about transient college students, I wonder how well voters here would appreciate it if Fredericksburg did become a nerve center for tourism? Of course, there is a tasteful way to do it that will benefit all concerned, but how many thousands of tourists will cramp our limited infrastructure? Such a course almost mandates a tourist campus at Celebrate Virginia, does it not? To complicate matters more, why should City Hall subsidize downtown businesses with free advertising and infrastructure improvements when we just waged a war against the special interests building Celebrate Virginia? No one wants to trade the Disneyesque art deco world of Central Park for a vision of Colonial Silverburg. Pitfalls abound without a clear direction of just where the city is going. That drumming sound is the fingers of city residents waiting for a clear direction, even if it is just a rational, pragmatic approach to America's Most Historic City. Time will tell the tale. More important for our immediate future, City Council should determine the status of Idlewyld before we begin talking about tourism strategies. No matter what the potential gain is for tourism, it will be completely lost to the infrastructure requirements that Idlewyld will bring. . . not to mention the loss of a valuable green belt between the city and the sprawl of Four Mile Fork. Thursday, October 24, 2002
For those of us who are in the know, Susan Greenbaum and Bob Gramman are performing at the Songwriters Showcase behind Pickers Supply in Downtown Fredericksburg at 8:00pm on Friday night. Come see! More importantly, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is also at 8:00pm at St. Mary Catholic Church. Come see this first! And my brother seems to have discovered the Information Warfare Site. Impressive to say the least - you can sign up for their newsletter fairly easily to stay in the know. Wednesday, October 23, 2002Here we go again. Thanks to the sniper attacks, there has been a recent wave of "me too"-ism reminiscent of the thrity million people who saw the plane slam into the Pentagon on September 11th. Now obviously this is nothing that I can write about to any degree, but I am getting tired of it already. I remember one commentator last year talking about how long it would take for us to revert back to our pre-9-11 mentality. Not too long, unfortunately. . .
Do I sound angry? You bet I do. Enough is enough. How many people have to die or experience real trauma before we quit trying to identify with every tragedy? Wednesday, October 09, 2002
Marvin Bolinger announced that he would resign as Fredericksburg City Manager as of 15 January, a decision that seems to have been made with the implicit threat of having him removed if Bolinger did not do so voluntarily. More tomorrow. . . Mary Washington College is holding a concert at the Battleground Complex on Marye Heights this Saturday, 12 October at 6:00pm. Fireworks are scheduled to be displayed at 7:30pm, so if you are in the neighborhood check them out. The band you ask? carbon leaf - a cheap imitation Irish rock band from Richmond of all places. They don't even sound Irish. Fresh from the Voters to Stop Sprawl e-mail string is a discussion on the Idylwild tract. Is it sprawl? What should VSS do about it, if anything at all? Positions about, and I sent this solution out that seems to have received a good amount of attention. Let me know what you think:
Thursday, October 03, 2002
In a matter of less than 100 days, the new Fredericksburg City Council is proving to be just as interesting as the old one. My opinion piece on the current e-mail lawsuit was printed in the Free Lance-Star on Tuesday, 01 October. It was immediately followed by a surprisingly critical editorial in the Thursday edition of the paper. My apologies to the editors, but in 100 days the current councilmen have not only been hamstrung by recalcitrant staff and frivolous lawsuits, but have grappled with the Thurman Brisbane Homeless Shelter over their relocation issues - a topic that the city honorably involved itself in while the leadership in Spotsylvania and Stafford folded their arms. The laundry list given in the paper will take time, not to mention co-operation from the very individuals sponsoring the lawsuit. When the opposition extends an olive branch, one doesn't quite expect to get beaten with it. Time will tell the tale, but the patience of city residents hasn't been strung that tightly just yet. Wait for them to raise my taxes. . . In other news, the chairman of the Stafford Democratic Committee would now like to inform you that the Democratic Party is not pro-abortion. I'm sure this is news to Camile Paglia and her friends at NOW and NARAL - not to mention myself. Dr. Timothy Noone was one of my earliest professors at the Catholic University, and a terrific lecturer and scholar. During my freshman year (Philosophy 202, Enlightenment to Neitzche), he was just completing his doctorate in philosophy. Dr. Noone will be giving a lecture on "Truth, Creation, and Intelligibility in Anselm, Grosseteste, and Bonaventure" at the Life Cycle Institute at 2:00pm on Friday, 11 October. Additional lectures of interest are Professor John Milbank's lecture entitled "Truth as the Bond of Being" at the Catholic University on Friday, 08 November at 2:00pm, and David Solomon's lecture entitled "Truth in Twentieth Century Ethics" on 22 November at 2:00pm, both at the Life Cycle Institute. If you're looking for something more local, the Mary Washington College Symphony Orchestra is holding a free concert at Dodd Auditorium on 08 October at 8:00pm.
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JEFFERSONIAD POLL: Whom do you support for Virginia Attorney General?1) John Brownlee2) Ken Cuccinelli AboutShaunKenney.com is one of Virginia's oldest political blogs, focusing on the role of religion and politics in public life. Shaun Kenney, 30, lives in Fluvanna County, Virginia.ContactThe Jeffersoniad
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