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Friday, August 29, 2003The Idiot Son of an Asshole Not my words, but the words of the anti-Bush left. And this is only the top of the iceberg. You can't blame them really. Without vision or issues this is all they have left. . . the Dems are so much the minority that the activists are starting to become more radical as time progresses. Right off the deep end I say. . . and don't be surprised if we don't see this start springing up all over Downtown Fredericksburg, courtesy of the misguided few at our lovely Mary Washington College. Thank God for the land of Wahoowa. . . ACLU Attacks Councilman Turner  Now this sort of crap really gets me. Councilman Hashmel Turner received a letter from the ACLU notifying him that his prayer at the beginning of the council session was illegal - specifically because he mentions Jesus Christ:Ironically, the letter's author, Kent Willis, Virginia director of the ACLU, is a Fredericksburg resident who said he voted for Turner in the last election.What crap. I am a firm believer in the Public Square, or the idea that all beliefs should be welcomed and discussed on their merits regardless of their claims. For instance, if Councilman Tom Fortune decided to offer a Bhuddist prayer at council meetings, I would have no problems with that because those are his beliefs and they should be respected, not hidden away. So long as City Council isn't establishing one religion over another (e.g. by saying that only Bhuddist prayers should be offered) then I completely disagree with the position of the ACLU. Since Council is so fond of defending itself in court agianst a myriad of allegations, why not allow Councilman Turner to challenge the ruling on the basis of the 1st Amendment's non-restriction of religion? Surely "Congress can make no law," but we are talking about expression - not enshrinement. Wednesday, August 27, 2003Mars Up Close and Personal Take a good look at that red dot in the night sky recently? That's Mars folks, and if you have a pair of binoculars with a 75x magnification or more, you should be able to see Mars just as well as you would be able to see the moon. Now that's cool stuff! Mars usually averages about 140 million miles away from Earth, but on Wednesday its orbit brought it about 34.6 million miles away, reaching the closest point at 5:46 a.m. EDT. The planet will not be so close to Earth again until 2287. Council Offers $2.3mil for Land; Silvers Say Not Enough You knew this was going to happen. City Council has decided to make an offer to buy the land where the silt behind the Embrey Dam is being deposited for $2.3mil dollars. The Silver Companies have said no, and are still asking for the price set by the original agreement (about $2.9mil). What is amazing here are the very strong statements being made by City Attorney Jim Pates. Check this out: "We've said up front that we're willing to pay for the land," Pates said. "But we won't be intimidated by threatening letters and the fear of a lawsuit."Now that is surprising me, considering that many within the R.A.G. camp considered Jim Pates to be lock-step with the Silver Companies. IN OTHER CITY COUNCIL NEWS, Councilman Hasmel Turner has been harassed by none other than the ACLU for his mentioning of Jesus Christ in his prayers before the start of council meetings. In response, Turner has decided to honor that request and will stop offering prayer before Council meetings. What a shame that a man of faith be pressured and denied the opportunity to share that faith. . . just one more instance of the ACLU reaching too far. Monday, August 25, 2003Garnett Nails It: Council is Overspending Yet another City Council basher, and this time on an issue that Garnett is not quite known for. Garnett the anti-tax zealot, eh? The questions he put forward in his op-ed ["Will wasteful ways be legacy of this Fredericksburg City Council?" Aug. 8] concerning "Siltgate" and "Attorneygate" need to be answered. His prediction about the capital-outlay budget is already becoming a reality. The council is currently in the process of approving $13,886,000 for the 2004 budget. That's nearly triple what any council has ever approved before.First question, what mess? These are capital improvements that have been neglected (and some of them approved by the former Council of which Garnett was a member). Second question, how is spending $7.2 million on Cowan Boulevard an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars (yet another item that Garnett approved of while on City Council). Its not a question of dollars it seems, but rather priority. When Garnett spends the money on Celebrate Virginia, that's acceptable use of taxpayers dollars. But when this City Council spends the money on her citizens, it's magically becomes waste. Keep your eyes open folks. The Silver Companies may think that the citizens of Fredericksburg are mere sheep, but just a short overview of the background and the facts usually reveal the rhetoric for what it is. If Garnett were truly anti-tax, he would demand that the money be returned to the taxpayers of Fredericksburg, and not spent on subsidizing commercial development. Chichester and the Anti-Anti-Taxers I have been keeping up with the recent Chichester blitz that has been going on in the Virginia press, most notably with the Free Lance-Star. After Chichester announced that the budget crisis was the fault of anti-tax Republicans and not the 50% increase in state expenditures over the past five year, the FLS printed an article that was a well-spoken (it was an adapted text) argument in favor of Chichester's position. In today's FLS, the editorial page took anti-taxers to task again: Partly because of Virginia's "pay as you go" tradition--a tradition, ironically, that the Republican Party, once known for its hard-headed business acumen, is sacrificing to anti-tax dogma--the commonwealth has enjoyed top marks from all three ratings agencies (Fitch Investors Service is the third) for decades. This is a proud achievement. At the moment, only six other states can boast across-the-board AAA ratings--Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Missouri, South Carolina, and Utah. However, Moody's latest report on Virginia carries the ominous footnote "negative outlook."Again, a very passive and well-framed argument against the anti-tax conservatives. But here is the problem, and it is indeed a philosophical issue rather than a policy one. For every tax increase, it is in every way shape and form a tax cut for working families who are impacted the hardest. Tax reform is desperately needed, we all agree. But we can't fix an antiquated tax code with antiquated solutions. Taxing services is not the answer, nor will raising taxes to pay for - not adequate facilities as this is all taxpayers seem willing to afford - but for top-of-the-line facilites that are second to none. Problem here is that it is a bottomless pit. Talk to any IT manager and technology is outdated in five years at best. Schools are much in the same light, as most schools begin to show stress at about 25 years. Any demands for a first-rate educational system will mean a first-rate tax hike on working families. There is simply no way around it. How do we fix it? For starters, we do need to give the private sector the attention it deserves, namely by contracting out road improvements away from VDOT and abolishing the property tax as the primary method of tax revenue for localities. Secondly, solutions for the cost of education must be found at the local level, for while the Virginia Department of Education can provide basic designs for new schools, localities should be given the latitude to allow room for charter schools and vouchers for private and parochial education. Thirdly, the SOLs need to be dramatically overhauled into a proficiency test that is "sprung" on students rather than a benchmark that comes with the do-or-die connotation. While that may seem to have little to do with the cost-effectiveness of our schools, the results allow for a freer development of our students rather than a rigid adaptation to a standardized test. In the end, creativity in the schools replaces the high cost of bright and shiny computer technology - as it should be. Any sort of tax reform that comes from Richmond has to be done in conjunction with a change in the way localities tax. If Virginia is to remain the "Silicon Dominion", a tax on services will only drive IT companies such as AOL away. There is a right way and a wrong way to go about tax reform, but turning to the taxpayers and finding creative new ways to milk the family budget is definitely not a service to hardworking families. Enzymes Found to Delay Aging Process COOL! It is too soon to say whether the latest findings will ever make the leap from the lab bench to the geriatrics clinic -- though some may choose not to wait: Of all the compounds the researchers tested, the one that boosted the anti-aging enzyme the most was resveratrol, an ingredient in red wine that has been credited with that beverage's ability to lower the risk of heart disease.Looks like I'm going to be drinking more red wine! Jason Kenney Plays Orbitz! Poor Jay. It was his first time back on stage in nearly a year, and after following up a bunch of MWC punks who started out with an aucoustic version of Sir-Mix-A-Lot's "I Like Big Butts" (a clear rip-off that amused the 19-year olds but pissed off more accomplished musicians), he did pretty well. The only problem was that the speakers were giving way too much feedback, but that's the name of the game I suppose. Jon liked it anyhow, regardless of the fact that he was plugging his ears during the performance. . . Friday, August 22, 2003Things Catholics Are Asked About This is a great resource if you are looking to know more about the Catholic Faith. . . . And the Beat Goes On Now this is what I like to see! California Senator Dianne Feinstein is slamming Schwarzenegger on his glamorization of guns: Feinstein came to the aid of her fellow Democrat, embattled Gov. Gray Davis, with a blistering thumbs-down review of Schwarzenegger's popular movies — which frequently show off high-powered weapons.Yeah, that's what Ahnold is going to do. . . he's going to give the State of the State Address, whip out his semi-automatic rifle (hopefully one that she banned) and start gunning down both houses of the state legislature. Get real! Does Feinstein even live remotely close to reality?! I know one thing that Feinstein and Ahnold think is healthy for a society, and that is TAXES!!! I dunno, maybe Feinstein can cozy up to Ahnold on raising taxes, which Schwarzenegger seems to have courted the idea then promptly dropped it. So much for conservative values! Thursday, August 21, 2003California - The New "Job Free Zone" Normally I don't read Ann Coulter. Anyone who describes themselves as a polemicist and revels in it should be immediately questioned. But I couldn't resist reading this piece on how sitting Democratic Governor Gray Davis has mismanaged and gutted the California economy: Democrats governed their petri dish as they always govern. They buy the votes of government workers with taxpayer-funded jobs, salaries and benefits -- and then turn around and accuse the productive class of "greed" for wanting their taxes cut. This has worked so well nationally that more people in America now work for the government than work in any sort of manufacturing job.If you can't tell quite yet, Coulter is no fan of Huffington. I recall watching the two of them debate during a show on HBO featuring the long forgotten host of Politically Incorrect, and civility was not the word I would use to describe the conversation. Read on. . . the last paragraph shocks me most: Most touchingly, Democrats claim to be shocked at the exorbitant cost of a recall election. They were not such penny-pinchers when contemplating Enron-style pensions for school crossing guards. Nor did their fiscal conservatism kick in when Davis announced this week that he would sign legislation providing "intolerance and hatred control training" for all California schoolteachers. Yeah, this is the guy who wants another crack at straightening out the budget.SCHWARZENEGGER?! You mean the guy who stands for nothing?! Gimme a break! Note to Californians, the rest of the country is rooting for Tom McClintock. Slick website and a great conservative to boot. Just Say No to Cold Showers Which is exactly what I did this morning thanks to Columbia Gas, which came to the new place promptly at 10:00am to hook up the gas for the water heater. Yep, for the past few days, it has been nothing but ice cold showers, which wouldn't be so bad if we were in the old place with no A/C, but at the new place it is bitter cold. In any event, we should be getting cable internet service sometime within the next few days. That should allow me to get back into the general harassment of the leftists et al. Wednesday, August 20, 2003MOVING STILL!!! Well, I have returned for the moment. We should be getting a cable modem hooked up sometime in the forseeable future, but for now I am winging it. The new place looks nice, boxes are being unpacked, and furniture is slowly but surely organizing itself into some semblance of order. The only bad thing is that my office doesn't have a phone hook-up, and the closest line is upstairs. Hopefully all of these problems will go away once the cable modem gets installed. In any event, it was nice to be disconnected from the world for four days or so. The world hasn't changed all that much, but it is so relieving to be away from the constant feed of information. Kinda like when you go on a hiking trip for a week or so and you come back without knowing what has been going on. Life is much simpler when you are staring at the trail and the trees. Of course, I was staring at boxes and more boxes, but you get the general idea. Stafford Supervisor Puts Politics Ahead of Education? Now I consider myself to be a fairly seasoned political type. So when I see a letter to the editor that reads like this, my ears perk up a little: My son represented the George Washington District, and he e-mailed Supervisor Pete Fields from that district for help. As my son explained, "It is my job to ask questions and vote on one of these proposals after they are presented by the students.I would very much appreciate your help."Now most folks are going to read this letter and say "Gee, Pete Fields really did a disservice to that poor kid. Shame on him!" and go along their merry way. But somehow I get the feeling that Pete saw this request, thought about the fact that his opponent was heading up the classroom asking for the information and smelled a rat. In short, Fields did the right thing, and Coen as the teacher in that class should have explained the reasons as to why Pete answered the way he did. In short, rather than saying that Pete failed in his capacity as a public servant, it would be entirely appropriate for one to say that Coen didn't lead his student in the proper direction. Instead, someone (not saying who) decided to make political hay out of a rather inoccuous situation. Gonna have to do better than that, and flyers that explain county politics (and then generate attaboy letters like this) are what we should be focusing on. Coen. . . don't try to be so smart - just run your campaign as you were! Fredericksburg City Council Announces Capital Plan More from the "do-nothing" City Council. . . A new police station, renovations to Maury School and finishing the Dixon Street recreation center top the list of capital projects the Fredericksburg City Council plans to fund this year.How embarrassed does the FACT crowd have to be? I'm sorry fellas, but this is far from a do-nothing council headed up by do-nothing councilmen. Friday, August 15, 2003MOVING! Yep, this weekend we will be making the move from Fredericksburg to Spotsylvania County. I resigned as Fredericksburg GOP Chairman on Wednesday and handed the gavel over to former MWC College Republican Chairman Matt Huerl who will fill out the remainder of my term. As for myself, I will be running precinct co-ordination for the Spotsylvania GOP (a monolithic task, but a necessary one) and moving boxes upon boxes of books. You really don't want to know how many books I have - I shudder to think how many hungry kids could have eaten with the money I spent on books. But. . . I shudder even more when I realize how many more kids could have eaten if North Korea wouldn't spend its energies building and smuggling entire Scud assembly lines. That should make your weekend! In any event, blogging will be light, so everyone enjoy your weekend. Go to the beach - its better than moving boxes. Thursday, August 14, 2003Massive Blackout Hits Northeast Cities Not that anyone is going to be able to read this thanks to the blackout, but we'll note it anyway. . . Mike Saltzman, a spokesman for New York Power Authority, a state-owned utility in White Plains, N.Y., said its two largest hydroelectric plants, including Niagara Falls and St. Lawrence-FDR, were operating. He said he did not know the status of 18 other smaller plants. Wednesday, August 13, 2003It's a F.A.C.T. - Rename Yourselves O.M.I.F. That's right, on the very day that Fredericksburg Area Citizens for Truth (FACT) emerged on the city politics scene, two articles come out in the paper - one on a Memorandum of Understanding on Maury School that will drastically move plans forward, another article on the downtown riverwalk that is inviting bids and will be completed within two years. So much for a do-nothing council. FACT should change its name to Open Mouth, Insert Foot (OMIF). Such timing almost deserves an op-ed. . . almost. Gary Thompson Resigns as Virginia GOP Chairman Gary Thompson pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge yesterday as part of the fallout from the Matricardi wiretapping scandal and resigned shortly thereafter: In a prepared statement, Thomson said he "was not aware then that what I did was, in fact, technically a misdemeanor.Shawn Smith, the RPV communications director, sent out a series of public statements explaining the circumstances of the resignation, and Ken Hutchinson was very quick to start campaigning and collecting endorsements for Kate Obenshain Griffin, a Northern Virginia GOP activists with deep roots in the party. Other names such as Del. Chris Jones, Del. Kirk Cox, and party treasurer Richard Neel have been mentioned, but nothing has come across my desk in their favor one way or the other. If endorsements mean anything, then Kate Griffin has two very powerful endorsements in AG Kilgore and Senator Allen. The Virginia GOP will elect a new chairman in September. Monday, August 11, 2003Expecting the Catholic Exodus: Catholics in the Democratic Party Sounds like the title of a research paper, but why write all of that when a simple commentary from The Hill's editor-in-chief Hugo Gordon will do. Posting this article in its entirety, but here is the link just in case: A profound and lasting realignment is likely soon to take place in American politics. Catholics, who for historical reasons have largely voted Democrat, will abandon the party in droves (just as social liberals have been, and are, abandoning the Church). Rafael Furcal Turns an Unassisted Triple Play! If you get a chance, check out ESPN for the playback on this one. For only the twelfth time in MLB history, Atlanta Braves shortstop Rafael Furcal turned an unassisted triple play against the St. Louis Cardinals last night: Furcal single-handedly snuffed out a Cardinals rally in the fifth for the first unassisted triple play in the majors since Oakland second baseman Randy Velarde did it against the New York Yankees on May 29, 2000. Sunday, August 10, 2003Donnie Johnson Strikes Again!  Out of all of the columnists at the Free Lance-Star, my favorite has to be Donnie Johnson:Bottled water! I never thought I'd live to see the day. Within three decades, my generation went from lying naked in the grass and drinking from the same stream as pigs to wearing double-breasted suits, discussing their stock portfolios and sipping bottled water after every yuppie breath.Now I think someone needs to thank the inventor of bottled air first before they go running off with the copyright. Anyone remember "Perri-air" from Spaceballs? I bet Mel Brooks will. Hilarious. Affordable Housing in the Fredericksburg Area On Rappahannock Review (which will air again Monday on Ch.3 at 8:00pm), I challenged Stafford Supervisor Gary Pash on this very issue concerning a tax on new homeowners mortgages to support public services such as schools. I argued that it was simply another tax that drives up the cost of housing, while Gary ultimately defended it as something other than a tax. . . a "benevolence fee" perhaps? Now comes this article from the Free Lance-Star highlighting the twofold problem of affordable housing in the Fredericksburg area. Problem #1 is that there simply isn't any affordable housing, and problem #2 is that there will never be any affordable housing so long as NIMBYism is seen as an ally of smart growth. At the moment, supervisors are content to force growth to "pay its own way," which is all well and good. The problem is when you start focusing all developments as inherently bad for Stafford and Spotsylvania Counties, which forces supervisors (and in the case of Idlewyld, our own Fredericksburg City Council as well) to approve high income housing which generates higher levels of property tax income. In short, there is no incentive for developers to build low income housing, nor is there any incentive for supervisors to approve of residential development that "doesn't pay its own way". It's a rock and a hard place. But there are some factors that exacerbate the problem. One is focusing taxes on new developments and first-time homeowners. Sure the smaller developments take their toll, but that is why large-scale town concepts that fuse commercial and light industry together are the solution (something that Chancellorsville has unfortunately thrown a wet blanket upon). Secondly is the rash of NIMBYism (Not-In-My-Back-Yard) that has swept over Spotsylvania County Democrats over the past few years. Encouraged by their recent phyrric victory over Chancellorsville, they intend to take their no-growth approach countywide. Such an approach only drives up the cost of existing housing, and futher impacts working families. So what is the solution? Large-scale town concepts are a start, followed by a serious look at the true costs of each new resident and promoting cost-effective alternatives. School construction is the first enemy of the new homeowner, so promoting solutions such as public/private partnerships is a start. Pushing for a top-down re-evaluation of the School Board is another, followed by fiscally sound designs for new school buildings that can be used repeatedly, student vouchers for private and parochial schools, and an examination of charter schools in Spotsylvania and Stafford. Those are solutions. Hopefully the issue of affordable housing will bring itself to light in the 2003 county elections. Saturday, August 09, 2003Britain to produce new evidence on Iraqi WMD This is a notable report coming from the British government, because it should be the last stake in the heart of the anti-Bush left's criticism of the reasons why we went to war. Robert Novak also has a great article on a report due to be released in mid-September on Iraqi WMD, most importantly documents on the Ba'athist attempts to hide its biological weapons capacity: Former international weapons inspector David Kay, now seeking Iraqi weapons of mass destruction for the Pentagon, has privately reported successes that are planned to be revealed to the public in mid-September. Friday, August 08, 2003Hear Me Now and Believe Me Later Rush Limbaugh has been blasting Conan the Governor on his talk-radio program, and for good reason: [H]e spoke in generalities and banalities about his plans for the state. To the extent that he said anything, he sounded not like a fiscal conservative but a moderate Democrat. He said that he wanted businesses to come back to California so that the state government could collect enough tax revenues to provide social programs. This is the sort of obtuse comment middle-of-the-road Democrats always make, forgetting that businesses are leaving the state because they are tired of paying high taxes for those big government social programs.I wasn't impressed either, especially when he starts going after the "special interests in Sacramento" that both parties are presumably captives of. Reminds me of a Jimmy Carter/Jesse Ventura kind of candidacy to me, where just as much will get accomplished. Republicans would be better off voting "no" on the recall and ditching the circus for an election that follow process rather than resembling a circus. Thursday, August 07, 2003Britain losing new Afghan opium war Should have defoliated the damn country when you had the chance!!! Here's to another round of see-I-told-you-sos. . . Afghanistan supplies 70% of the world's heroin and 90% of the British market, making the success of the Afghan harvest a key determinant of the street price of British heroin.Gee, ya think? In 2001, we were begged not to defoliate the poppy seed crop. . . just let them collect this year's harvest and next year they'll plant something reasonable like cotton or soybeans. Wrong answer, guys! The 2002 figures showed an increase to 74,000 hectares (185,000 acres) from the low of 8,000 after a Taliban-imposed ban in 2001. The 2002 production figures appeared to exceed the 1999 record yield. A quarter of the 2002 harvest was destroyed, the UN estimates.DEFOLIATION DAMMIT!!! Find the poppy fields and exterminate them! Find fields where poppies are growing amidst viable crops and defoliate them too. You can't tolerate illegitimacy while attempting to establish a legitimate government! No wonder the Taliban are still holding out hope. . . 'I have denounced violence but I am going to continue the resistance by words' Very good words from a former Hamas activist recently freed from Israeli prisons. Taking dirt roads to avoid army checkpoints, Ahmed and another prisoner from Surif were carried home in a procession of cars flying green Islamic flags. There he saw the family's new home for the first time: the old one was destroyed in 1997. "You look older than 23," said an uncle, looking at his long beard and wrinkled brow.To which the Israelis probably wryly comment that it saves them seven-days rations. What a mess. . . Ahnold for Gohvanah That's right. . . Arnold Schwarzenegger has decided to toss his hat in the ring officially and make a run for California governor, to the surprise of virtually every pundit in the nation. "The politicians are fiddling, fumbling and failing," he said. "The man that is failing the people more than anyone is Gray Davis. He is failing them terribly, and this is why he needs to be recalled and this is why I am going to run for governor."Yeah, probably because they are too busy wetting themselves (or packing) to bother. Wednesday, August 06, 2003Scientists Achieve Unexpected Success With Ebola Vaccine Now this is cool for a number of reasons, most importantly because the Ebola virus mimics HIV in the sense that it mutates in much the same way. A breakthrough here could mean a medical breakthrough in HIV is not too terribly far off: So far the vaccine has been proven to work only in monkeys, which were completely protected against death from Ebola infection when they were exposed to the virus a month after being inoculated. But vaccine results in monkeys usually translate well to humans, and government scientists hope to launch human tests of the vaccine by sometime next year. If all goes well, the vaccine could enter government stockpiles in large quantity as a safeguard against Ebola outbreaks, natural or man-made, as soon as 2006, a decade sooner than many scientists once thought it would take to get an Ebola vaccine. SHAVING INDUSTRY LIES Heck yeah! Tired of looking at the commercials that show these guys shaving with eight blades and getting a clean shave every time - while in your heart knowing it is a lie??? Time to look for an alternative. . . So what are we to do? Fear not, for I have discovered the perfect solution for us hairy bastards.Good idea! *nods* Spinobifida and Babies I just finished watching one of the most horrific shows on television I could ever imagine. A family performed fetal surgery on a 24-week fetus to repair the damage caused by spinobifida. The surgery was successful, but they had to cut the sides of the poor fella in order to close the hole. . . What a terrible experience. The family and baby made it out allright, but gosh what a horrible experience to have to go through. 24-weeks gestation. . . very disheartening to see a little fella in that kind of position. Watching stuff like that just rips my heart out. I didn't even change the channel because I was afraid that if I did, the poor fella would get hurt. Irrational to the extreme, I know. . . but I just couldn't contemplate being in that position. The little guy was so tiny and helpless. . . and I absolutely hate watching those real-life ER room shows. Its invasive and involves a lot of stuff I simply have no knowledge of. But the poor little guy! Not cool. Glad he and the mother made it out allright (and dad too). See, mean ol' nasty conservatives have a heart after all! Sorry to post this, but it just really had an effect on me this evening. Poor guy! Tuesday, August 05, 2003U.S. Episcopal Church Approves First Openly Gay Bishop Well, that does it. 62 - 45 in favor of the installation. Whether it leads to a schism is now up to the conservatives, although as one liberal dryly remarked on Monday, the Episcopal Church seems to have a disdain for splits. Maybe the conservatives will return to the Anglican Catholic Church (not affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church, but you get the idea). Who knows? Worldwide, however, the fight still seems to be on: Conservative Anglicans, representing more than one-quarter of the global 77-million-member denomination, issued a statement expressing regret at Robinson's installation and signed by church leaders from Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America and followers from England, India and elsewhere. I Don't Recall Signin' the Geneva Conventions. . . The justices referred to the findings of foreign courts this summer in their own ruling that states may not punish gay couples for having sex.Now this should send a chill up and down every American's spine, because now certain justices on the Supreme Court - a body that is to interpret the Constitution - is now taking free reign to decide what the Constitution means through the light of laws and lawmaking traditions that Americans have never consented to. Poor jurisprudence indeed. Not to sound too much like the ugly American, but since when are Americans bound by laws they never assented to in the first place?! Arrgh. . . this is almost the "last hurrah" of the left. They know they are outmoded and unlikely to be replaced, so why not do as much damage as possible before their time is over? Scalia was right. Fire Destroys Beam Ky. Bourbon Warehouse NOOOO!!! Flames engulfed a seven-story bourbon warehouse Monday, sending alcohol-fueled flames more than 100 feet in the air.What about those precious 19,000 barrels of bourbon?! *sob* Bourbon from the warehouse ran off into a nearby creek and caught fire. Firefighters began to dam up the area, said Fire Chief Anthony Mattingly.Yeah, I'll bet they are trying to dam up the area. Save every drop fellas! Hmm. . . maybe there is an upside to this story yet. Anyone want to make a trip to Kentucky? Monday, August 04, 2003New warning: Electronic devices are suspect The Department of Homeland Security will issue a new terrorist warning Tuesday, advising commercial airlines and federal law enforcement officials of a potential threat posed by terrorists concealing weapons or explosives in small electronic devices.Not a surprising release from Homeland Security. What bothers me more is the idea that a terrorist could use CD's, cell phones, and other electronic equipment to bring a plane down as it messes with the electronic navigation equipment (hence the reason why they tell you to turn off all electronic devices). Don't be surprised if it gets to the point where you are being asked to leave such devices with your luggage. Episcopalian Vote on Gay Bishop Postponed More hullabaloo than what is generally necessary, but it seems as if websites are just the tip of the iceberg for the proposed installation of Rev. Gene Robinson as Bishop to the Episcopal Church: "We have two concerns: one, his relationship to the Web site of Outright.org, and two, an e-mail accusation of inappropriate conduct circulated to a group of bishops," New Hampshire Bishop Douglas Theuner told his fellow bishops after the vote was called off.Now if this were a Catholic Bishop, there would be calls for his head. But an Episcopalian? No no no no. . . love and kindness for the Episcopalian, suspicion and contempt for the Catholic. The double standard is overwhelming to say the least. Yes yes, I know Robinson isn't being accused of half of what Catholic priests are being accused of these days, and yes I know that he has a right to a fair hearing. But I really wish that same courtesy were extended to others. That's all. . . Ayman al-Zawahri: America cannot defend itself Al Qaeda (or what's left of it anyhow) reminds me of the Monty Python sketch with the black knight, especially when thier #2 man makes comments to this effect: Let every prisoner held by the infidels be sure that his release is a debt hanging from the neck of every mujahedeen [fighter], and that the end of the ordeal is close, God willing. [And let every prisoner] know that his brothers, the mujahedeen, have not forgotten that they will avenge him from the new Crusaders. When America shackles the Muslim prisoners and tortures them, it is torturing itself. When it puts them on trial, it is putting its children on trial, and when it convicts them it is convicting its people.Come back here, I'm not finished with you yet! Even Google Can't Find Saddam! Wow, and you thought the 101st had it bad. Go ahead, see for yourself. Lots More Papers to Come Soon! This time I have a bunch on intelligent design theory and such as a result of a biology class. I should have them online just as soon as I can convert them. Disdain for Bush Simmers in Democratic Strongholds Boohoo. What I want to know is just how much credence this gives to GOP claims that Democratic opposition to Gee Dubya is more anti-Bush than pro-active. Where the heck have I been? Well, after doing lunch with Senator Allen and a focus group of Virginia Republicans, I headed out to the Shenandoah River for the weekend. Of course, this doesn't mean that I wasn't keeping one ear to the ground, namely Governor Warner's ridiculous statements after President Bush's radio address: Gov. Mark Warner of Virginia, who gave the Democratic radio address Saturday, blamed Bush's "massive tax cuts" for the rising federal deficits and for forcing states to cut vital services.Heck yeah, no question about it. Set aside the reality that Warner has done even less proactively than the president concerning Virginia's economy and you have what is the most inept and short-sighted grab for the Democratic Vice-Presidential nod I have ever seen. Dean-Warner. I like that ticket!
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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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