Politics, open government, and safe streets. And the constant incursion of cycling.

Category: Virginia Page 7 of 34

Loudoun County: Over The Line?

So I’ve been joking (sorta) about Northern Virginia seceding from the rest of Virginia since, oh, about a year after I moved to Arlington (this makes it many many years).  In my original formulation, I was all about reconstituting the original DC – it was going to be Arlington & Alexandria re-forming with the District.  Then a year or so later, I realized that Falls Church isn’t the sleepy ‘burb I thought it was, and it would be unfair to leave them suffering in Virginia, so I added them in.  And then – as all successful political strategies must do – my vision compromised a bit, and morphed to include Fairfax County.  It’s not really my kind of place (as best I can tell, anyway – I only ever see it from a bike path or Dulles Airport), but it seems to work for a lot of people, and any state I’m going to help form has to have an international airport.  So.  That’s the plan that I’ve been pushing at parties for the past decade.  Now?  Well, perhaps it’s time to consider another addition.* Loudoun County.

I know, I know.  Why would I want a place that is mostly low-tax-base horse farms** in a political unit that is otherwise urban/suburban?   And nevermind the political makeup, right?  I mean, the whole point of something like secession is being able to pick your friends, no?  For example, a friend in Loudoun recently wrote to tell me about a situation where:

A local committee was working to evaluate what to do with all the requests that come in throughout the year to use our County courthouse lawn here in Leesburg. They decided not to allow any use because there we so many applications for things such as bands. Many of the locals (many religious folks) protested because that would also mean no annual Christmas tree or nativity scene. Well the supervisors backed down to this protest and now are allowing up to 10 holiday “displays”.

Totally not the kind of place that would fit in with the new state, right?  Except, well, here are summaries for the seven applications pending for the 10 spaces available for display:

* The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1177, in Leesburg, has applied to put up a Christmas tree from Dec. 10 through Jan. 1. Post members would provide the tree.

* Along with the VFW, the Knights of Columbus Holy Family Council #6831, of Leesburg, is applying to place a Christmas tree from Dec. 10 to Jan. 1. The tree would be provided by the organization, which would also provide the installation and removal of the tree on the requested days.

* Leesburg resident Dennis Welsh has requested to place a crche, or Nativity scene, on the southwest corner of the grounds.

* Loudoun Interfaith Bridges has requested permission to put up an interfaith display to include a Menorah, crescent, and Sikh display to honor the Jewish, Muslim and Sikh holidays in December. The group is requesting that the display go up the week of Dec. 14 or Dec. 21, in the corner with the crche.

* Leesburg resident Richard L. Wingrove is requesting the placing of a six-foot banner provided by Freedom From Religion Foundation, saying “At This Season of the Winter Solstice, May Reason Prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural World. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.” Wingrove is requesting the banner be placed in same area as the Nativity scene.

* Sugarland Run resident Edward R. Myers is applying for three signs to be placed on the fence around the courthouse in time for the Leesburg holiday parade to commemorate the Dec. 15 anniversary of the signing of the Bill of Rights. Myers put together a parody of the “12 Day of Christmas” song to include “12 master debaters, 11 cunning linguists, 10 percent jobless, 9 niggardly noobs, 8-speech as gay tweets, 7 teabagger tools, 6-ting safety screws, 5 birther-control rings, 4 sucky health care, 3-dom disappearing, 2 many bills and a red FCUK to you too.”

Any place that can produce that last application? Has a place in my future state.

*No, no, not Prince William.  Are you crazy?  That nutjob county is welcome to form its own country, fence and everything.  I’ll help them build it.

**Actually, I don’t know if this is true.  Like Fairfax, 95% of my experience with Loudoun is from the seat of my bike.  And?  There’s a lotta horse farms.

Arlington Street Naming

Another interesting post over at GreaterGreaterWashington – an explanation of Arlington’s street naming methodology.

For Virginia’s Smokers

I present this in honor of the smoking ban that came into effect yesterday:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjgArB7PKTU[/youtube]

I suspect you don’t really need a translation for the piece, but in case you do . . .*

*And really, that’s not an exact translation.  If you want one, ask your closest Hindi/Urdu-speaking friend what bhenchod and maderchod means.  (You’re welcome.)

Jim Webb Disappoints. Again.

This time, Webb is hedging on the capacity of the American justice system to handle terrorists. It’s interesting. He’s wrong as wrong can be, but I believe it’s genuine. That is, he’s genuinely wrong, and not wrong because of political considerations.

You Asked For It, Virginia!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oppHeMlaLVM[/youtube]

Jim Moran Is Right

Moran’s not exactly my favorite congressman, but he’s quite right on this:

“I mean, if the Republicans were running in Afghanistan, they’d be running on the Taliban ticket as far as I can see,” Moran declared.

Republicans don’t like it?  Then stop putting hateful religious nutcases on your tickets.

Friday Notes. Sorta.

I was going to link to Mike@Blueweed’s excellent The Tyranny of Quaint with a bit of mocking about how he needs to write more, but I think I need to take some Windex to this glass house, first.  So, here goes:

Remember, no matter what happens next Tuesday, “it’s good for conservatives“:

There is nothing, nada, zilch, zero, nothing, that is bad news for conservatives. When they win elections, it proves we’re a conservative country. When they lose, it proves it. When we pass health care bills, it proves it. When we lower taxes, it proves it. When we raise taxes, it proves it. Everything proves it always.

Always.

~

Of course, Democrats do have a pretty solid claim on the suckage:

D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) has proposed a variety of ideas on how to advance the [DC voting rights] bill. But the reaction from party leaders, as the Web site Politico reported, seems to be “forget it.” No doubt Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), looking ahead to his own tough reelection battle, sees no gain in irritating the powerful gun lobby. In fact, Mr. Reid voted for the Ensign amendment, making it easier for other Democrats to follow suit. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says that she’s looking for opportunities to pass the bill, but to date that hasn’t involved pressing members to put principle ahead of political interests. President Obama, who sponsored voting rights legislation as a senator, has done nothing on the issue.

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This man built a Pan Am 747 First Class cabin in his garage.  I’m not saying it’s okay, but I understand.

~

There are, in fact, clever people with a sense of fun in DC.

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Aww, are “good white people” are under threat in the US?:

Here’s one of the “questions” asked in the poll, tailor-made for Fox News Channel:

Federal Communications Commission Chief Diversity Czar Mark Lloyd wants the FCC to force good white people in positions of power in the broadcast industry to step down to make room for more African-Americans and gays to fill those positions.  Do you agree or disagree that this presents a threat to free speech?

It’s worth noting that this question only elicited 51 percent support.

Hilarious.

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The willingness of Redskins fans to support an organization that does this continues to be beyond my grasp.   I’m not a football – or really even a sports – fan, but I moved to DC right after Jack Kent Cooke died in 1997, and haven’t been able to escape Redskins news since then.  And you know?  It’s been uniformly shitty the entire 12 years.  Why, people?

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Former Murky Coffee owner, tax cheat, and douchebag extraordinaire Nick Cho finally got booked on tax charges.

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If you ever leave me again,
I’ll down a bottle of
baby aspirin:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqBWMUMhIGE[/youtube]

Update: Wait, forget that crap copy.  Go here and enjoy the extraordinary talents of Subtle Sexuality’s  fabulous KELLY KAPOOR (and erin hannon).

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Readability helps with exactly that.  I like it.  Very much.

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How the public lost out on the battle between Big Pharma and generics.   It’s a short but informative look into one of the many battles with big consequences for the costs of health care.

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I find my stuff in the most interesting places.  (Okay, it’s probably not that interesting to too many people beyond me, considering the dearth of entries.  But still.)

~

I know it’s supposed to be satire, but I kinda wonder if Ken Cuccinelli wrote this.   Cuccinelli is the GOP candidate for Virginia Attorney General, and is such a bigot that even the normally spineless VA Log Cabin Republicans not only won’t support him, but are calling for his defeat.  That link also helps illustrate why I think libertarian support for GOP candidates is misplaced (and that’s putting it very kindly):

No real libertarian has a record (like Mr. Cuccinelli does) of
· Opposition to repealing the state sodomy law, even though it was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court
· Opposition to allowing private companies to offer health and life insurance benefits to domestic partners of their employees
· Opposition to prohibiting employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation for state and local government employees
· Opposition to allowing local governments to choose what benefits they give their local employees
· Opposition to any kind of legal protections for gay and lesbian couples, even the limited rights embodied in domestic partnerships or civil unions
· Support for banning gay/straight alliances in public high schools
· Support for state funding of abstinence programs

Each one of those stupid little Gadsen flags ought to have an asterisk at the end of “Don’t Tread on Me”, leading to a “Tread On Him, Instead.”  That would be a far more honest and accurate portrayal of the beliefs of the vast majority of “libertarians.”

Ads Occasionally Surprise

This shockingly useful gadget is running as an ad on TPM:

Bike DC Photo Contest

From the folks at BikeDC:

On Saturday, October 17th, thousands of area bicyclists will take over the streets of downtown Washington, DC, and Arlington, VA, as part of Bike DC, a celebration of both bicycling and our community. Bike DC, the Washington and Arlington Community Bike Ride, is a noncompetitive ride offering miles of car-free biking past some of the nation’s most famous landmarks.

Bike DC is celebrating the beauty of our city with a photo contest sponsored by Penn Camera. Whether you’re riding with your friends and family, or enjoying car-free site-lines at DC’s most scenic monuments, we encourage you to capture the two-wheeled spirit of our cycling community with your camera.

There are many great photo opportunities on the Bike DC routes this year, including the Key Bridge, the Iwo Jima Marine Corps Memorial, the Capitol Building, the White House, the Air Force Memorial, and countless others! After the event, upload your photos to the “Bike DC Community Ride” group on the free photo-hosting site Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/groups/1232071@N20/).

Winners will be selected by the Bike DC event organizers on Monday, November 9th, giving you plenty of time to upload your photos after the ride. 3 photos will be selected to receive: 2 Finalist Prizes of complimentary registrations to the 2010 Bike DC ride; and 1 Grand Prize of a $50 gift card plus $50 in photofinishing services from Penn Camera.

Penn Camera has been serving the photographic needs of our nation’s capital for over 50 years. From its origins as a single storefront along historic Pennsylvania Avenue in downtown DC to its current chain of nine stores throughout the Washington, DC- Baltimore metropolitan corridor, Penn Camera has steadily grown to become the premier supplier of photographic goods in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Follow Bike DC on Facebook (www.facebook.com/bikedc <http://www.facebook.com/bikedc> ) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/bikedc <http://www.twitter.com/bikedc> ) for more photo contest announcements. Check our official web site (www.BikeDC.net <http://www.BikeDC.net> ) for route information or to register for Bike DC.

More Clowning From the Arlington Sun Gazette

Remember the Arlington Sun Gazette?  The same brilliant mind(s)* that endorsed George Allen over Jim Webb, told citizens to suck it up over the Marshall-Newman amendment, and helped distribute this hateful bullshit?  Yeah, well, they’re still at it.  This time, it’s Bob McDonnell for governor.   Shocker.

*Still can’t figure out whether it’s just Scott McCaffrey all by his lonesome, or not.

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