uvAggravator2.0

Did you see the latest TV spot that our congressman tossed out?  In it, he's touting his vote in favor of Obama's stimulus plan ... uh ... his support for Obama's cap-and-trade jobs killer ... uh ... his opposition to a balanced budget amendment ... uh ... his support of Obama's acquiring General Motors ... uh ... his vote in favor of Obama's Cash for Clunkers program his effort to create jobs in Southwest Virginia?  One can only laugh at the chutzpah.  Laughter, of course, being a healthier response than rage.

You can view his ad here (courtesy of that loyal Democrat puppy dog, Brian Patton).

Here's what should chap everyone's backside.  Boucher makes the following statement in his 32 second fantasy piece:

"And today there are 41,000 more jobs in the district than when my work began."

Does that even pass the smell test?

Does Southwest Virginia look to you like its brimming with new jobs?

If we are prospering (because of this joker's efforts to bring employers to the region), how does he explain this?

Region may lose seats when legislative districts' lines are redrawn
By Michael Sluss, Roanoke Times

Richmond -- The boundaries of three congressional districts that cover parts of Western Virginia will change and the region's General Assembly representation could shrink after state lawmakers draw new legislative districts next year.

The region could lose at least one seat in the 100-member House of Delegates when the General Assembly draws new districts to account for a decade's worth of population shifts.

The boundaries of three congressional districts in the region could change dramatically. The 9th District represented by Democrat Rick Boucher of Abingdon, which already stretches from the coalfields to the Alleghany Highlands, is about 67,000 people short of ideal size. State Del. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, is challenging Boucher this year, fully expecting that his home will be in the 9th District by next year. [link]

Ask yourself: If Boucher's doing such a swell job of bringing jobs to Southwest Virginia ("41,000 more than when my work began ..."), why is the 9th District emptying out?

Only a fool would believe his claim.

And only a cynical Washington politician would have the temerity to make it.

For every entry-level-paying call center job that Rick Boucher has brought to his district, ten quality jobs have been lost.  For every Echostar or Cingular, there's a Mack Truck and an Ethan Allen and a Celanese Acetate and a Johnson & Johnson and a Lear Corp. and a Dan River and a Tultex and a Spring Ford Industries and a National Textiles and a Buster Brown and a Natalie Knitting Mills and an American of Martinsville and a Virginia Glove and a Virginia House Furniture and a Lea Industries and an  ArvinMerito and an Alcoa Wheels and a Rowe Furniture and a VF Knitwear and a Vaughan Furniture and a Webb Furniture and a Burlington Industries and a Renfro and a Hooker Furniture and a Bristol Compressors and a Stanley Furniture and a Dana Corporation and a Thomasville Furniture and a Sara Lee Branded Apparel and a Bassett Furniture Industries and a Pulaski Furniture ...

... and tomorrow brings the prospect of only more misery.

So quit jerking us around, Rick.  If jobs are your highest priority, you've failed.

It's time to let someone else try to turn things around.

"Heavenly Father, hold our troops in Your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us. Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in this our time of need. These things I humbly ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen."

Ever wonder why it is that America's unions (except for those dealing with government employees) are vanishing from this earth?  The main reason, it appears, is that their leaders aren't all that bright.  Get this (from a Morgan Griffith for Congress press release yesterday):

GOP candidate denied entry to union picnic
Coeburn _ Union organizers of an event in deep southwest Virginia today turned away several Republicans, despite inviting them a month ago. The group denied entry included the candidate for the Ninth Congressional seat, Morgan Griffith.

In a letter dated August 3, the Southwest Virginia Branch of the Western Virginia Labor Federation extended the invitation for Griffith and other delegates from southwest Virginia to the Coeburn picnic for their union membership. The Central Labor Council is made up of members from Associated Postal Workers Union, Communication Workers of America, National Coalition of Public Safety Officers, United Autoworkers, United Food Workers, United Steel Workers, and United Mine Workers of America.

The Ninth Congressional candidate was even invited to speak at the event for approximately 20 minutes by Valeria Castle-Stanley who is listed as the union group's District 9 Congressional Coordinator.

Griffith campaign officials had not received word that they had been denied access. Mick Bransfield, campaign manager for Griffith, says he had been in contact by phone but was never told not to show up. "We thought the picnic was open to us, and made an effort to drive from an appearance in Scott County and was hoping for an equal, fair opportunity like any other official."

James Gibbs, International At-Large VP of the United Mine Workers, and Mike Kennedy, the vice president of Local 2204 of the Communications Workers of America, both met Griffith at the gate. Kennedy has been outspoken in the past that President Obama is a friend of coal here in southwest Virginia.*

"I am very disappointed in their decision not to allow me an opportunity to speak to the group. We are at a very important time in the history in this country when dealing with the proposed Cap and Trade legislation of Obama and Pelosi. The bill will negatively affect coal production here in southwest Virginia," says Griffith.

What is ironic here, according to the Republican, is the fact that his opponent - the incumbent Democratic Congressman, Rick Boucher - was also invited and expected to attend. "He voted for and even helped write Cap and Trade - thus affecting these same people that turned us away today."

"The Congressman," says Griffith, "should welcome a friendly debate of issues especially when he is trying to distance himself from the D.C. group of Obama and Pelosi."

May God have mercy.

* Kennedy can say Obama is a friend of coal.  He's in the Communications Workers of America union.  It's not his employer that the president has threatened to bankrupt.

Recall this weblog post from March 1st in which I detailed the starvation of a deer on my property as the direct result of the horrific winter we had just experienced.  In fact, when the spring thaw finally came and the snow receded, I found, in all, three deer carcasses on my property.  From their appearances I would suggest that all three died of exposure to the weather.  None had been brought down by a predator (their skeletal remains were pretty much in tact) and chances were good that none had been shot by a hunter the previous season as all three were just yearlings.

Three deer killed off on my little 22 acres.  22 acres that border the massive Jefferson National Forest.  How many might there have been in total?

I bring this up for a reason.  An article I came upon in the Wytheville Enterprise last night (that doesn't appear to be in its on-line edition but can be found here) got me to wondering if the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries needs to find itself some new "deer project coordinators."   From "Feeding Deer Illegal"):

Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VD-GIF) Deer Project Coordinators Matt Knox and Nelson Lafon noted when the regulation [prohibiting the feeding of deer under certain circumstances and depending on the locale] first took effect in 2006 that, for more than 20 years, the practice of feeding deer had expanded across the eastern United States among both deer hunters and the non-hunting general public.  The most common reason for feeding deer is to improve their nutrition and to supplement their habitat's ability to support more deer; in other words, to increase the carrying capacity for deer.

According to Knox, many people feed deer because they believe it will keep them from starving, but this is not a legitimate reason to feed deer in Virginia.  In Virginia deer die-offs due to winter starvation have been almost non-existent.  As a case in point, this past winter's harsh snowstorms apparently caused little deer mortality. [emphasis mine]

The only response I have to that is this: Maybe these "deer project coordinators" need to get out in deer country more often.  As mentioned above, three deer died last winter on my tiny piece of wilderness property alone.  Extrapolate from that the possible number of deer that succumbed across Virginia's mountain region to the terrible winter we had and you get an idea as to how bad the die-off was.

Besides, here in Bland (I live with the deer every day) the birthrate this summer was way down from past years (I regularly see only three fawns whereas in years past there would be at least a dozen roaming the countryside).  I can only attribute that to there being far fewer does to repopulate.

We can quibble over whether this deer, found just below my barn in February, died of exposure to the extreme cold or to starvation because of a lack of forage because of there being a foot of snow on the ground for weeks on end.  But there is no doubt in my mind that she died from causes that were directly related to the weather.

My suggestion?  These "experts" need to get out more.

Notre Dame defeated Purdue, 23-12, Saturday, with a performance more notable for what the Irish didn't do than what they did. In the first game of the season, they didn't burst out with big plays. They moved the chains. Other than one red-zone fumble, they didn't stop themselves. Notre Dame committed two penalties for 15 yards, both in the kicking game.See More here

Teachenor Clark can be found on Facebook

Nashville based songwriters Jamie Teachenor and "Banjo" Ben Clark team up for this exclusive release, aimed to raise-the-hair and boil-the-blood of every liberty-loving American ready to make a difference this fall...one vote at a time.

Please help the powerful voice of "We The People" ring through the halls of Congress by forwarding this to any and all who are fed up with the Elites in Washington who consistently ignore our cries.

If you're not registered to vote, PLEASE do so now, and may God bless America now and forever.

Rasmussen reports today that Democratic President Barack Obama's approval ratings are tanking at 42%.

Obama's "recovery summer" has not recovered his favor with the majority of the American people. Now he faces 9.6% unemployment figures and unrest across the nation as we head into the November elections....

Similar Posts:

• Ron Paul On The “Ground Zero Mosque”: The Facts Are Being Distorted
• Ron Paul On The Primaries, The Tea Party, And The “Ground Zero Mosque”
• Ron Paul On “Ground Zero Mosque”: Demagoguery Rules When Truth And Liberty Are Ignored.
• Rand Paul On The “Ground Zero Mosque”: I Won’t Interfere With Local New York Issues
• The Insane Hysteria Over A Planned Mosque Near Ground Zero

I'm not a lawyer. But my warning to all those who use the internet is simple -- RESPECT COPYRIGHT LAWS.

Don't copy entire articles from newspapers, without permission. There are papers going under who will sue you. One paper in particular, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, has come up with a business model which involvese suing their readers for small amounts.

They created a firm called RightHaven, whose sole purpose appears to be to file small suits against bloggers and others without enough money to defend themselves. This firm scours the internet for any references to articles from the LVRJ. If they find one, they will BUY the copyright from the LRVJ, and then sue the person who posted the article, or the host which allowed it to be posted.

Note that the newspaper is "no longer involved". So don't count on public opnion or a reasonable appeal to save you. This company is a lawyer-driven company with ONE PURPOSE IN MIND -- to get you to pay them money for violating copyright.

And to be clear -- it is unlikely that you would be able to justify a cut-and-paste of an entire article, even if you provide a link and a citation. (I wonder if the standard snark attack of quoting an article in little pieces with long responses to each part would be considered fair use?). Worse, even if you COULD win, are you ready to spend $50,000 defending yourself against a suit that apparently you can settle for $5000 or so?

The lawsuits all appear to be about the same: $75,000, plus surrender of your domain name. That appears to be a ploy, as the settlements seem much less, and the largest that has been reported publicly is $5000.

If you are a political candidate, don't think you are immune. RightHaven has gone after campaign web sites, which sometimes think they can simply cut-and-paste articles if those articles are about the candidate. They have gone after both democrats and republicans.

And for you blogger-user sites, they have gone after both left and right-wing aggregation sites like DU and FR. They've gone after indifivual bloggers. They sued a doctor for copying an article of interest to his patients. They sued a PR FIRM that does PR for the paper, for publishing an article about an event that they provided publicity for.

So, DON'T cut-and-paste articles. Purge your sites of any you have. THink hard about fair use, excerpt judiciously, include links and citations. I AM NOT A LAWYER, so don't think that I'm saying that if you do this, you will be OK. I can't say, but it is clear that you will be targeted if you just copy an article to your web site.

The days where a blogger can steal news stories, and get money from blog pimping advertisements, is over.

Governor Bob McDonnell plans to continue the bizarre practice - sprung from Prohibitionist piety run amok - of rationing booze in the Great Commonwealth of Virginia.  Whereas the rationing was done up to the present through a plan that only Joseph Stalin could love - "state stores" - McDonnell proposes rationing through licensing.

What could go wrong?

McDonnell's push to privatize Va. liquor stores could add tax on drinks in bars
By Anita Kumar, Washington Post

Richmond - Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R), scrambling to make ends meet in his plan to privatize Virginia's 332 state-run liquor stores, is considering adding a fee on alcoholic drinks sold in restaurants or bars to help make up the $250 million in annual taxes and profits that state stores currently generate, according to Richmond sources familiar with the still-evolving plan.

Under the version of the proposal discussed with industry officials Friday, the drinks surcharge, which would be imposed either as a tax on customers or on restaurants' liquor receipts, would be part of a package of new fees including a per-gallon charge to wholesalers.

McDonnell is considering auctioning up to 1,000 licenses to the highest bidders. The proposal, which would privatize alcohol sales from wholesale to distribution to retail, would allow Virginians to buy liquor at private liquor stores, grocery and convenience stores, and big-box stores such as Wal-Mart and Costco.  [link]

Would his plan privatize it?  Yes.  Free it from the heavy hand of government?  No.  Why license booze vendors?  Why limit the marketplace?   Why 1,000 government-approved business establishments and not 1,001?

Dream with me:

Did the proliferation of fast-food restaurants come about because the government limited their numbers and locations?  Doesn't the state of Virginia benefit greatly from tax revenue generated by sales taxes coming from all those McDonald's eateries on every other street corner?  How about the government follow the fast food model and allow proliferation wherever the profit motive allows?

No.  By God, we're going to have 1,000 liquor stores and 1,000 only.  So says the politburo.

Now McDonnell (if this story has any truth to it; it is coming from the oft-wrong and politically skewed Washington Post) has run the numbers and determined that the possibility exists that our government's continued but altered choke-hold on the liquor business won't generate enough tax revenue.

Who'd have guessed?

Me?  I'm for the free exercise of free enterprise, baby:  Hey, want some Black Jack with that Big Mac?

The government would have to build a bigger money storage box to hold all the tax revenue.

Better hurry:

Customers get last taste of City Market Building favorites before renovations
The food just won't be the same.

Next weekend the upper Shenandoah Valley will turn back the hands of time to 1862 when America was at war with itself, brother fighting brother, with reenactments of the Battle of Front Royal and Fisher's Hill. It's an "up close and personal" history lesson for those who want to know their American history.

What: Civil War Reenactments of the Battles of Front Royal and Fisher's Hill
Where: Luray Valley Museum at Luray Caverns
When: Saturday, Sept.11 (Front Royal) and Sunday, Sept. 12 (Fisher's Hill)
Cost: $10 for adults (age 13 and Up) and $5 for children (ages 6 thru 12) each day. Includes admission fee for Luray Valley Museum

The Luray Valley Museum at Luray Caverns will host reenactments of the pivotal Civil War battles of Front Royal (which took place on May 23, 1862, during Conf. Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson's legendary Valley Campaign) and the Fisher's Hill (which took place on September 22, 1864, during U.S. Gen. Philip Sheridan's Shenandoah Campaign).

Luray Caverns will donate proceeds of this event to the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation for battlefield preservation.

Reenactment of the Battle of Front Royal
Saturday, September 11, 2010
9:00 – 11:30: Camps open to public
9:00 – 4:00: Medical demonstration
2:00: Battle of Front Royal
Dusk: Fireworks

Reenactment of the Battle of Fisher’s Hill
Sunday, September 12, 2010
9:00 – 11:30: Camps open to public
9:00 – 1:00: Medical demonstration
10:00: Church services
2:00: Battle of Fisher’s Hill

Who has Sarah Palin endorsed? Which of her chosen candidates have won, lost, or are currently in a campaign battle? Check out the graphics and information from this Sarah Palin endorsement tracker.

It's a fad.  And fads come and go.

Speaking of global warming, Investor's Business Daily:

Just as fears over Alar toxicity, destruction of the Amazon rain forest, a new ice age and other apocalyptic warnings lost their relevance, the global warming scare is destined to fade entirely from the public mind.

The editorial could have added acid rain, spotted owls, and ozone hole depletion to the list of dire warnings that came and went.

Not that those who came close to destroying civilization will ever admit that they were wrong.  They'll simply migrate to a new apocalypse.  That's what fads are all about.

I can't wait for the next cosmic cataclysm.  Life is so boring otherwise.

The civilized world begins to worry about government instability and about food getting to where there is a dramatic shortage.  For the love of God:

U.N. Raises Concerns as Global Food Prices Jump
By Neil MacFarquhar, New York Times

United Nations — With memories still fresh of food riots set off by spiking prices just two years ago, agricultural experts on Friday cast a wary eye on the steep rise in the cost of wheat prompted by a Russian export ban and the questions looming over harvests in other parts of the world because of drought or flooding.

Food prices rose 5 percent globally during August, according to the United Nations, spurred mostly by the higher cost of wheat, and the first signs of unrest erupted as 10 people died in Mozambique during clashes ignited partly by a 30 percent leap in the cost of bread.

“You are dealing with an unstable situation,” said Abdolreza Abbassian, an economist at the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome. [link]

Unstable indeed.  But forget that bit about "questions looming over harvests in other parts of the world because of drought or flooding."  As this very same article makes clear: "The wheat crop this year globally is also the third highest on record, according to the F.A.O. ...  If you look at the numbers globally, the Americans, the Europeans and the Australians can make up the supply ..."

The problem has to do with irrational decision-making on the part of the Russian government (a ban on exports on rather dubious grounds) and with an erratic supply chain - which is overseen by governments.

Does that ban (and its purpose) sound familiar?  Can you say "Obama suspends offshore exploratory drilling"?  The Heritage Foundation provides this graphic prediction (click on the image to enlarge it):


How will those 41 million Americans who are living off of food stamps afford to put fuel in their cars?

Those in government don't know.  They don't care.

So, because of government intrusions into the marketplace, the price of food - FOOD! - is skyrocketing in areas of the world that cannot afford it, and experts are predicting that, because of the U.S. government's temporary ban on off-shore oil exploration, the price of gasoline will explode, forcing even more Americans to become dependent on a handout.

There are still a lot of people out there who believe that government can solve problems.  I'd be happy if government would simply stop creating them.

In Virginia's 9th Congressional District Democrat Rick Boucher still leads Repubican Morgan Griffith.  This according to the latest poll results from SurveyUSA.  But the lead is shortening:

Democrat Boucher Keeps VA-09 Blue: In an election for US House of Representatives in Virginia's 9th Congressional District today, 09/03/10, incumbent Democrat Rick Boucher defeats Republican State House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith 50% to 40%, according to this latest exclusive WDBJ-TV poll conducted by SurveyUSA.

Compared to an identical SurveyUSA poll released 6 weeks ago, little has changed; Boucher is down a nominal 2 points, Griffith is up a nominal 1 point. The contest remains tied among men; among women, Boucher leads by 22 points, essentially unchanged. 1 in 4 Republicans continue to cross over to vote for the Democrat. Independents remain divided. A third party candidate in the race, Jeremiah Heaton, gets 9% of the vote among Independents, 5% of the vote overall. 

Two things: (1) When has Boucher ever polled 50% or under? (soon to be under.)  Never. (2) Heaton is nothing more than a spoiler and he knows it.  His support will remain around 5% - until election day when adult decisions have to be made.  Most all those Heaton voters will break for Griffith.  There's no way they'll go back to Boucher.  Too many bridges have been burned.  That in itself will make this a nail-biter.

There's a lot of time left.  And a lot of undecided voters to win over.  This is going to be fun to watch.  Stay on him, man.  Don't let go.

Congressman Eric Cantor, Republican Whip from Virginia, warned in Friday's USA Today of tax increases from the Democrats and President Barack Obama.

In an op-ed for the newspaper, he wrote:

Listening to the Democrats this summer, you're unlikely to hear about an impending tax increase. In an effort to sanitize their historically irresponsible decision to raise tax rates in the midst of a struggling economy, President Obama and the congressional majority say they are merely "allowing the Bush tax cuts" to expire.

Skillful messaging perhaps, but cold comfort to the millions of Americans and small businesses who aren't concerned with what their effective tax rate was in 2001. For them, on Jan. 1, one of two things will happen: Taxes will go up, or taxes will stay the same. Coming to grips with this reality will be crucial to jumpstarting the economic recovery. Decisions on whether to buy an appliance, invest in a company, or expand a business are made by taking into account after-tax returns in the future — not in the past.

Read it all here.

Barack Obama yesterday (from "Unemployment climbs to 9.6 percent"):

As I've said from the start, there is no quick fix to the worst recession we've experienced since the Great Depression. The hard truth is that it took years to create our current economic problems, and it will take more time than any of us would like to repair the damage. Millions of our neighbors are living with that painfully every day.

Barack Obama back when he was planning to keep unemployment from hitting 8%:

First, we've got to act now to create good paying jobs. We've already lost three-quarters of a million jobs this year, and some experts say unemployment may rise to 8% by the end of next year. That's why I've proposed a new American jobs tax credit for each new employee that companies hire here in the United States over the next two years. That's how we'll create good, new jobs here in Virginia and all across America.

These are the steps that we must take - right now - to start getting our economy back on track.

Questions: 3.8 million Americans who have lost their jobs since Obama began taking those steps - right then - want to know: What might have happened had he done nothing? Could it be any worse?

As Obama moves to ban the importation of 850,000 guns that collectors would otherwise snap up in a heartbeat, a ban whose foundational principle seems to be that one of them might fall into the wrong hands, it's worth remembering this, from the NRA:

This week, Fox News reported that it couldn't get a straight answer from the State Department about its decision in March to disapprove the importation of more than 800,000 M1 Garand rifles and M1 carbines from South Korea.

According to Fox, the State Department claimed that the rifles might be used "for illicit purposes."

But when asked to explain, State passed the buck to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which passed it to the Department of Justice, which passed it back to State.

The anti-gun Brady Campaign didn't hesitate to give Fox an answer, however. "Guns that can take high-capacity magazines are a threat to public safety," the group's Dennis Henigan told reporter Maxim Lott.

[T]he "public safety" fear of these guns is irrational. Today, Americans own more Garands and carbines than ever before. We also own more semi-automatic rifles in general than ever before, and more self-defense handguns with standard magazines that hold more than 10 rounds than ever before. Yet despite gun ban groups' predictions, the nation's violent crime rate is at a 35-year low.

The words "the Brady Campaign" and "irrational" often seem to make their way together into stories like this, don't they?  To that mix we can add the word "Obama."

But then we already knew that, didn't we?

You want to know why so many Americans are uncomfortable with the 9/11 Victory Mosque being planned for Ground Zero?  It's mostly, I think, a regular dose of this kind of headline in the news - "Muslim cleric calls for beheading of Dutch politician" - coupled with a total lack of outrage and denunciation from the American Muslim community when such terrorism - and its advocacy - are perpetrated.

When they get their house in order, we'll talk about a 9/11 mosque.

As if the sordid tale of Carlos Martinelly-Montano killing a nun wasn’t shocking enough, now comes a story from the Washington Post about how instead of deporting this habitual drunken driving illegal alien, the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement instead provided him with an Employment Authorization Card and set him free.  As an illegal alien awaiting a deportation hearing, Martinelly-Montano had no legal right to this kind of “soft amnesty”, but despite what the the law says the Obama administration facilitated this illegal alien’s continued unlawful presence, making it far easier for him to continue to violate the law, and resulting in the death of innocent Americans.

This isn’t what I expected from “hope and change” at all.  I’d have never thought this sort of insanity possible. (more…)

Tweet This Post 

In the years when we Virginia natives lived at the Brushy Mountain foothills of northwest North Carolina, we constantly explored as much as we could in that part of the world. A short three-hour drive from our home was Dollywood in the Smokey Mountains of eastern Tennessee, a trip we were to make many times over the years.

As someone who grew up in Richmond with Kings Dominion an hour drive north on I-95, Dollywood was a more down-home amusement park, small and tucked into the mountainside on the edge of Pigeon Forge. We would stay at a favored family-owned cottage in nearby Gatlinburg and drive the short distance to Dollywood where we had season tickets.

When Dollywood opened 25 years ago, we were there to enjoy the festivities. Formerly known as Silver Dollar City, it had been bought by Dolly who was a native of the area, and she updated and changed the name, and added lots of entertainment including many members of her talented musical family. And it was fun because Dolly wanted it to be fun ... everyone was happy, everyone welcomed you, and your spirits lifted just seeing so many smiling faces.

SWAC Son was one year old and in a stroller for the grand opening. We met Dolly as she walked the park greeting folks, and got photos of her ... photos that are tucked away somewhere ... the down-to-earth hostess welcoming children of all ages to forget their cares and play for a while.

Dollywood is special all seasons of the year ... spring when there was still frost on the ground as we stood in line waiting for the gates to open ... summer when it was so hot in those humid Smokey Mountains that you just stood still and sweat popped out on your forehead ... fall with harvest decorations of pumpkins and corn stalks and a nip in the air ... and my favorite of all -- Christmas.


Christmas at Dollywood is magical, full of tiny white lights, wreaths, decorations, and the steam engine train that goes up the mountain playing, "I'll Be Home With Bells On," my favorite Dolly Christmas song. The train is outlined in white lights ... the cold winter air hits you in the face as your bury deeper into your winter coat and wrap your scarf tighter around your neck, and enjoy the merriment. Hot chocolate was a welcomed warm-up.

Dollywood. I haven't been there since returning home to Virginia 14 years ago so maybe it's time to head south to the hills of Tennessee and get drenched in down-home hospitality from Dolly's crew.

Happy anniversary, Dollywood!

"What you see most clearly in the academic world are people who don't think that this country is a great country." ~ Thomas Sowell (Just another hayseed, reactionary rube?)

Something many readers may not know about Dr. Sowell - he grew up in Harlem and shares that, during the time he attended public schools in Harlem, they "were among the best in the country."

Once again, piercing, insightful, revealing, and damning. Sowell is a treasure.

http://oldvirginiablog.blogspot.com/

Could Democrats lose it all in November? My thoughts at the Washington Examiner....

9,600 applications received for 1,500 jobs at $15-20/hour

Remember the big "megasite" battle in Augusta County about four or five year ago when it was rumored that Toyota wanted to build a car manufacturing plant in Weyers Cave, and a woman at the opposite end of the county protested to the Board of Supervisors? That began a huge battle that pitted the large land owners in the southern and southwestern areas of the county against residents who were looking for jobs.

As a result, Toyota gave up and reportedly moved to Mississippi where they were welcomed with open arms. This week, even as the plant is still under construction, they received 9,600 applications from across the nation for 1,500 jobs that will pay between $15 and $20 an hour.

The nation's unemployment rate came out today at 9.6%. Local folks are looking for jobs and need employment ... companies have laid off workers and some have gone out of business. If the Toyota plant had located in Augusta, those jobs would have been available for local residents.

From Autoblog:

According to Edmunds Auto Observer, applications came from 33 different states in the Union, with 8,000 of the applications originating from the state of Mississippi. David Copenhaver, vice president of administration at Toyota, reportedly told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger newspaper that the majority of the jobs will go to applicants who reside within 100 miles of the facility.

The megasite battle caused a split on the Augusta County Board of Supervisors as well as the community. At the time, an article in the Roanoke Times reported some of the opposition:

In Augusta County, rumors about Toyota have circulated since at least December 2004. The most mentioned site there is in Weyers Cave, a community on the north end of the county. And in the past year Augusta County commissioned a study to identify the site's infrastructure need to draw a major industrial employer.

"Weyers Cave is strategically located," said Wendell Coleman, chairman of the Augusta County Board of Supervisors. "It's located strategically off I-81. It's right by the hub of Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport. And the railroad goes right by it."

The site has water and natural gas service, Coleman said. And although the land ownership is fragmented -- the largest landowner holds about 800 acres -- it's in a predominantly agricultural area, with most of the land still undeveloped.

The agricultural character may work against the chances of Toyota locating a factory there. Kay Frye, the supervisor who represents the Middle River district, which includes Weyers Cave, said she's opposed to the idea.

"We're very fortunate here in Augusta County to have everything in balance," Frye said. "We've got a nice mix of manufacturing and jobs. ... And our population is not growing real fast but it's on the high end of the estimates. When you get that kind of development that fast, you get a lot of costs, and eventually the cost of providing those services outstrips what you get."

Frye said state economic development officials have touted the potential of 1,000-acre "megasites" for attracting large employers, but "all they're telling us is all the gravy about it."

State Del. Steve Landes, R-Augusta County, represents the area in the General Assembly. He's heard the rumors about Toyota, and has his own set of concerns.

"The other thing about the automobile industry is it's a very volatile business right now," Landes said. "We're losing the Ford plant in Norfolk. I would think from a business standpoint, localities would be a little bit skittish about the industry in general being that stable. Obviously some of the international companies have done better in the marketplace, but it's not as stable as it used to be."

One has to wonder if the Toyota plant could have been a bigger help to Augusta County than the negatives proposed by those who fought to keep it out.

The comments in the post below got all off track on the proposed Chesapeake Bay Ordinance.  I’ve copied the Ches Bay comments here – please continue this discussion in this thread.  I’ve been busy busy busy lately – little time for TC!

Tweet This Post 

Some conservatives like Mark Levin (who I love) are incerdilous in their support of Delaware conservative Christine O'Donnell in her quest to take down Rep. Mike Castle in the US Senate race.  Anyone who knows me or knows this blog knows that i generally root and endorse all-things conservative.  But you will also know that I'm not afraid to call out corruption and idiocy when I see it - I've supported Mark Kirk, questioned David Vitter's fitness for office, and blogged consistantly against JD Hayworth's fitness for office, among other things. 

It was always a long shot for O'Donnell to beat Castle, but the Joe Miller win has opened eyes.  But comparing Joe Miller - accomplished judge, lawyer, and soldier - to O'Donnell is like comparing Tom Brady to JaMarcus Russell.  But I was trying to find the words for this, then I saw Erick Erickson's post on RedState and it simply said everything I wanted too about this race.

But I’m moving on.

If Christine O’Donnell wins it’ll be inspite of the help she has gotten. What has ultimately set me off is the “Mike Castle is gay” stuff, which is nothing more than the Will Folks hour come to Delaware. The failure of the O’Donnell campaign to deal swiftly with this tells me all I need to know.

As I noted in my original post on Eric Odom, parts of his American Liberty Alliance website became a site for Christine O’Donnell advocacy.

Subsequently, a number of the affiliated individuals went and worked directly for Christine O’Donnell’s campaign. A few weeks ago they left. Around that time I began hearing rumors the O’Donnell campaign was imploding.

The gang that left resurfaced at Liberty.com. The launch day spectacular at Liberty.com was to announce that Mike Castle is having a gay affair on his wife with no proof whatsoever.

When it was pointed out that all the people behind the accusation were O’Donnell campaign staffers, the response was “not any more.”

After a year of direct and indirect advocacy for Christine O’Donnell, it is pretty doggone hard to now stand apart and say “Nope, not campaign related.”

Baloney.

Christine O’Donnell’s campaign did distance her from the video, but the damage is done. These were the people she hired for her campaign. That’s a judgment issue. Likewise, to my knowledge, neither Christine nor her campaign distanced herself until the next day when asked about it on a radio show. In doing so, the Hotline notes, “O’Donnell . . . call[ed] it an “insult” to both Castle and his wife. In the process, though, she repeats the rumor several times.” [Emphasis added]

In the meantime, we have another problem.

The tea party movement has largely been about fiscal issues and the state of the country going forward. While the press has done its best to drag the tea party movement into the culture wars, the movement has wisely stayed above the fray, focusing on a handful of issues.

Racism, homophobia, bigotry, etc. have all been leveled at the tea party movement. There’s been no evidence. It’s all been lies.

And now we have this. A website billing itself as a hub for the tea party movement using something called “Tea Party HD” to boldly make accusations that Mike Castle is gay and having an affair.

This is Will Folks all over again. I don’t care if Mike Castle is meeting up with Larry Craig at Stallknockers.com for some Union Station visitation — without proof it is meaningless and even with proof it is a distraction from the issues and not helpful to tea party activists or Christine O’Donnell.

It’s amateur hour.

And I DO want to win elections, and I understand that not every state can give us Marco Rubios or Joe Millers.  But for Christine O'Donnell's supporters to be calling a 72 year old man gay is completely out of bounds and, like Erickson pointed out, forces the Tea Party to defend itself from the accsattions of racism and homophobia. 

I can and will gladly go to battle for a conservative even in an uphill struggle.  But we need candidates with ideas, with brains, and with honor.  O'Donnell seems to have none of those, instead running a phantom smear campaign against Mike Castle - who though clealry a lib-to-moderate is an honorable man who has been serving Delaware in public office since the 1960s.  He deserves to be treated with more respect, and so does the Tea Party that O'Donnell claims to represent. 

The Democrats have nominated a good candidate in Chris Coons, a young county executive with smarts and energy.  If Delaware Republicans could find a legit conservative - Bill Lee or Patrick Ballentine   - then yes, all hands on deck lets knock Castle out.  For me this isn't an argument about who can win and who can't, though clearly Castle can win this seat and O'Donnell more than likely cannot.

A cool new photo gallery has been released of never before seen photos of Muhammed Ali has be released.  I'm not the biggest Ali fan in the world.  As a fighter he was mesmorizing, but as a person he was a habitual womanizer and created the sh*t-talking athlete who demeans and marginalizing his opponents.  I don't know who any one could call Joe Frazier an uncle tom and live with themselves.  But as it is, these photos are cool and a reminder of a bygone era in sports when boxing was king, the best fighters actually fought each other, and a big fight was a national event.  Now, its the sport of the few who can afford pay per view and a frustrating sport to be a fan of because the top fighters rarely fight each other (see Pacquiao-Mayweather).  There is a reason why the UFC will overtake boxing as the top combat sport, Dana White can put together the top fighers card after card.  

Here is my favorite picture - Ali with Sugar Ray Leonard and Sugar Ray Robinson.

In 1990, I was about to get married, and I knew there was something wrong with me, but didn't know what. I went to see old Dr. Shaffer, who referred me to a gastroenterologist, who figured out that I have Crohn's disease, and who has been my good friend and doctor for twenty years. The Crohn's diagnosis was more than confirmed in November 1996 or thereabouts when a Bristol surgeon removed eighteen inches of bad guts, that were tormenting me.

Over the years, I've taken some medicines that were gentle and did nothing, steroids that made me gain a pound day, other medicines that say on the label they can kill me, I've endured iron shots with the big needle, given myself B-12 shots with the little needles, munched on chewable children's vitamins, shared yogurt with my dogs almost every day. So far I've taken a pass on Remicade and Humira; maybe I get too many advertisements for plaintiff's products liability seminars.

Probably the last 150 pizzas have given me cause for regret, but I'll eat one every now and then. Green peppers, raw onions, orange juice, chocolate, bearnaise and hollandaise are all taboo, but I break bad and have some sometimes. My weight has fluctuated between 145 and 205, and so there are both fat boy and skinny man suits in my closet. I eat too fast, and often have dessert. On the upside, my blood pressure and cholesterol levels are no problem at all.

I've met some lawyers and witnesses with the same problem, and they are always relieved to find out what we have common. "Oh, I don't have to tell you about it," they say - about for example the perils of sitting around in a deposition for hours. Say, I flew to Europe and back a couple of times, imagine that. They could. One of my cousins has it. She and her lawyer husband Steve just flew to China and back to meet their new baby. When I heard this news, I thought about that plane ride.

I've been to a few meetings where the stomach rumblings were so loud I was surprised they were not made a part of the official minutes. ("... and Mr. Minor said grklbklmrkmogl.") One such occasion was at a VBA board meeting, when I was seated by Cheshire Eveleigh, who merely turned and gave me her broadest, crinkliest smile, leaving me no choice but to smile back. In this (and all matters, by the way), I recommend following her example.

A lot of my lawyer buddies or courthouse friends or even clients whom I see just every once in a while keep me up to date on how I'm doing, or at least whether I look better or worse than the last time they saw me. My assistant generally schedules my hearings and depositions for the afternoons, since the mornings are the iffiest part of the day (and I was a night owl even before). When I heard that a friend of mine's son was diagnosed with Crohn's, I said tell him it hasn't been fun but it hasn't held me back from doing what I wanted and going places. There are still some days though when the bad guts flat out betray me, like last November, and today, which gave me the notion to write this post.

I don't know.  I have to wonder if the reason global warming theory has crashed and burned - as it most assuredly has - has less to do with the findings that are exposing the slipshod, amateurish, and hyper-partisan methods used by the IPCC to declare warming (or "climate change") (or "the greenhouse effect") (or "the inconvenient truth"), and more to do with the fact that the head of the IPCC - the point man for the global warming enthusiasm crowd - looks way too much like the lead character in the the movie Machete:


I don't know about you but I wouldn't want to meet either one of these goons in a dark alley.

Believe in global warming or I'll cut your eyes out and pee on your brain!

Not a way to influence the debate, I don't think.

Now that he's voted for it and it has become law ...

Wyden Defects on ObamaCare
... Ron Wyden is against it.

For the love of God.

That, unfortunately, was long ago.  Today?  He dines in the company of America's loony left and seems quite comfortable in doing so.  You'll want to remember that when he comes to you with hat in hand in 2012.

And he's not above working to keep the worst of them in office with him either.  You know that PAC that he created back in 2006 that he calls the "Born Fighting PAC"?  Check out this list of politicians who received campaign contributions from our once-mainstream senator (as reported by OpenSecrets.org).  It's a Who's Who of leftist Washington:

Yup, that's Harry "The war is lost" Reid at the tail end of that list.  Accompanied by fellow socialists Barbara Boxer, Patrick Leahy, and Patty Murray. (You know the name Martha Coakley from the Senate campaign that took place in Massachusetts to replace the departed Ted Kennedy in which she got her ass handed to her by Scott Brown.  You will also recall that she's as leftist as they come.)  I'm not sure why Brad Ellsworth was graced with a Webb campaign donation.  Perhaps it has to do with the fact that the Indiana Democrat needs it bad, having voted the Obama/Webb agenda, and now finds his election prospects in big trouble.

Anyway, file this information in the memory banks for future use.  We'll be reviewing this bit of history - along with Webb's close working relationship with Barack Obama - come 2012.

Naaaaah.  Let's go after the sheriff who is the only person on the planet actually doing something about the lawlessness that pervades the entire country:

Feds sue Arizona sheriff in civil rights probe
Guess that shows you whose side Obama's on.

When I saw that TV ad the other night, I knew it was an act of desperation on the part of 5th District Congressman Tom Perriello.  (A side note: Why is it liberals consider the act of raising taxes a bad thing when they're out scrounging for votes, accusing their conservative opponents of ... preparing to raise our taxes!, but find no problem with tax increases when they are - the rest of the year - raising them like madmen?)

So why the desperation?  Why is Perriello resorting to scare tactics all of a sudden?

Here's why. From SurveyUSA:

No Purchase for Perriello in VA-05, Another Democratic Incumbent Congressman in Trouble: In an election for US House of Representatives in Virginia's 5th Congressional District today, 09/02/10, Republican State Senator Robert Hurt defeats incumbent Democrat Tom Perriello 61% to 35%, according to this latest exclusive WDBJ-TV poll conducted by SurveyUSA.

Compared to an identical SurveyUSA poll released 6 weeks ago, little has changed; Hurt is up a nominal 3 points; Perriello is flat. Hurt has increased his lead among men, younger voters, independents, and lower-income voters, and now is at or above 62% among each of those groups.

Perriello, who defeated 6-term Republican Virgil Goode by 727 votes in 2008, today is above 50% only among blacks, Democrats, moderates, liberals, those with unfavorable opinions of the Tea Party movement, and pro-choice voters -- none of which are majority groups among likely voters in Virginia's 5th district. 

Perriello, the incumbent, finds himself falling further behind!  If that's possible.  It's now 61% to 35%.  That's beyond a rout.  But will it hold up?  We'll see.

In the meantime, one has to wonder if Tommy Boy is having second thoughts about now for having voted - way too gleefully - for the Obama agenda, lock, stock, and barrel.

One has to wonder.

Here's to Robert Hurt.  Stay on him, man.  Don't let go.

Here’s a project I recently completed for Historic Manassas that readers might enjoy, focused on the Civil War events and re-enactors as we prepare for the 150th anniversary of the Battle of First Manassas. One of the really special things about living in this area is how we are so connected with our local history. History isn’t an abstract and minor facet of this wonderful place, it is something that defines us. We enjoy the rare privilege of being the present-day custodians of this ground, and it is our responsibility to ensure that the legacy of our past carries towards the future, informing future generations of the nature and value of sacrifice, honor, dedication and ultimately reconciliation that makes where we are so unique and priceless.

God has certainly given us all a rare and undeserved gift by bringing us to this special place on earth.

If you want to understand intellectuals, academic elites, and the current ruling class, watch this very interesting interview with Dr. Thomas Sowell. He shares keen insight into the mindset, arrogance and, ironically, the stupidity of many modern intellectuals. Sowell also discusses a concept which many intellectuals seem to be ignorant of - "consequential knowledge." The brief discussion about Harry Truman's (who had no college degree) and Ronald Reagan's (who did have a college degree, yet was not encumbered with what Sowell refers to as "the nonsense he would have been taught in a very prestigious institution") educational backgrounds and how their respective administrations bracketed the demise of the Soviet Union is worth more consideration and thought.

If you are at all interested in this debate and how academia and intellectuals view themselves, as well as what often motivates them, this is a must see. Sowell is brilliant and rather witty at times as well. Of course, Sowell's criticisms are at a "general pattern" in academia and we realize there are exceptions. The discussion is, nonetheless, quite fascinating and damning.

Here's a teaser quote that contradicts what some academic history bloggers are saying:

"We're becoming a nation of people who are propagandized from elementary school right on through to graduate school in a certain vision of the world."



Yes, this video will also dovetail very nicely into an upcoming post on how many intellectuals ("experts"), often have no idea what they're talking about and should never be given the benefit of the doubt.
http://oldvirginiablog.blogspot.com/

It’s always such a treat when “enlightened” leftists drop by to comment after seeing or reading something about me and have their comments immediately snapped up by the comment filters that do their best to keep BVBL somewhat family-friendly.  Every once in a while it might be worth it to share with readers these pearls of loving wisdom coming from the extreme other side of the aisle, even if they aren’t quite consistent with the editorial policies I’ve maintained here, and this is one of those times.  So soon after an eco-terrorist who spoke so eloquently about “stopping the human race from breeding any more disgusting human babies,” folks “awakened” by the 9500 Liberty monstrosity are eager to share…

Warning: vulgar language follows. (more…)

Captain George Kosco
It’s one of the most widely recorded moments in history. Search the internet and you’ll easily find black and white images from Sunday, September 2nd, 1945. That’s the day the Japanese surrendered at Tokyo Bay, formally ending World War II.
But one man on the USS Missouri that day captured something on film seen by few people until now.
“It was my father’s film. So, it was in his basement until he passed away,” says retired Army Colonel Bill Kosco. Kosco’s father is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. When retired Captain George Kosco died in 1985 he left behind mementos from his time as a meteorologist and navigator in the Navy. “This is an album my father put together, files and photographs he obtained on board the USS Missouri.”


H/T Breitbart and MyFox