Monica, The Musical
Tuesday, August 30th, 2005
For you theatre-goers, here's the latest news from somewhere near Broadway.
It's very, very disturbing.
Archive for August, 2005
On the late Judge Michael of the W.D. Va.
Tuesday, August 30th, 2005
The website of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia has this notice regarding the death yesterday of Judge Harry Michael, who served this district since his appointment by President Carter in 1980.
WeatherVA - Washington County
Tuesday, August 30th, 2005 . . . . . Severe Weather Map Link . . . .
http://www.emergencyemail.org/weathermap.asp
. . . . . Weather Radar Map Link . . . .
http://www.emergencyemail.org/weatherradarmap.asp
. . . . . Airport Closing and Delay Link . . . .
http://www.emergencyemail.org/remoteflight.asp
WINDY CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE THIS EVENING ACROSS THE AREA.
THE CIRCULATION CENTER OF THE REMNANTS OF KATRINA WILL MOVE
NORTHEAST THROUGH KY THIS EVENING. WINDS BETWEEN 20 & 30 MPH
WILL OCCUR ACROSS SW VA.EAST TN & EXTREME
SOUTHWEST NO. CAROLINA. WINDS FROM 30 TO 40 MPH WILL OCCUR ACROSS
THE CNTL & NE MTNS OF TN.MAINLY ABOVE 2500
FEET.
TNZ018-041-043-045-047-072-074-310100-
BLOUNT SMOKY MTN-COCKE SMOKY MTN-JOHNSON-SEVIER SMOKY MTN-
SOUTHEAST CARTER-SOUTHEAST GREENE-UNICOI-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF.COSBY.ERWIN.GATLINBURG.
MOUNTAIN CITY.ROAN MOUNTAIN.TOWNSEND
229 PM EDT TUE AUG 30 2005
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 900 PM EDT.
SOUTHEAST TO SO. WINDS BETWEEN 25 & 35 MPH WILL CONTINUE THIS
EVENING. HIGHER GUSTS WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH RAINBANDS.
A WIND ADVISORY MEANS THAT WINDS OF 31 MPH.OR OCCASIONAL GUSTS
IN EXCESS OF 45 MPH ARE EXPECTED. WINDS THIS STRONG CAN MAKE DRIVING
DIFFICULT.ESPECIALLY FOR HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES. USE EXTRA
CAUTION.
$$
NCZ060-061-TNZ012>017-035>040-042-044-046-067>071-073-081>087-
098>102-VAZ001-002-005-006-008-310100-
ANDERSON-BLEDSOE-BRADLEY-CAMPBELL-CHEROKEE-CLAIBORNE-CLAY-EAST POLK-
GRAINGER-HAMBLEN-HAMILTON-HANCOCK-HAWKINS-JEFFERSON-KNOX-LEE-LOUDON-
MARION-MCMINN-MEIGS-MORGAN-NORTH SEVIER-NORTHWEST CARTER-
NORTHWEST COCKE-NORTHWEST GREENE-NORTHWEST MONROE-NW BLOUNT-RHEA-
ROANE-RUSSELL-SCOTT TN-SCOTT VA-SEQUATCHIE-SOUTHEAST MONROE-SULLIVAN-
UNION-WA TN-WA VA-WEST POLK-WISE-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF.ABINGDON.ATHENS.BENTON.BRISTOL.
CHATTANOOGA.CLEVELAND.COPPERHILL.DAYTON.DECATUR.DUNLAP.
ELIZABETHTON.GATE CITY.GREENEVILLE.HAYESVILLE.JACKSBORO.
JASPER.JEFFERSON CITY.JOHNSON CITY.JONESVILLE.KINGSTON.
KNOXVILLE.LEBANON.LENOIR CITY.MADISONVILLE.MARYVILLE.
MAYNARDVILLE.MORRISTOWN.MURPHY.NEWPORT.NORTON.OAK RIDGE.
ONEIDA.PIKEVILLE.ROGERSVILLE.RUTLEDGE.SEVIERVILLE.
SNEEDVILLE.TAZEWELL.TELLICO PLAINS.WARTBURG
229 PM EDT (129 PM CDT) TUE AUG 30 2005
LAKE WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 900 PM EDT.
SOUTHEAST WINDS BETWEEN 20 & 30 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS WILL CONTINUE
TODAY. HIGHER GUSTS WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH RAINBANDS.
A LAKE WIND ADVISORY IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS ARE FORECAST TO
BE AT LEAST 25 MPH. PEOPLE SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION TODAY IF VENTURING
OUT ON THE LAKES. MOTORISTS IN HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES SHOULD ALSO USE
CAUTION IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS UNTIL THE WINDS SUBSIDE.
$$
17
To make changes to your email profile or to unsubscribe
Go to....
http://www.EmergencyEmail.ORG
click on the UPDATE E-mail Link
----
New Orleans devastated
Tuesday, August 30th, 2005
This is just heartbreaking.
Michelle Malkin has much, much more, including this.
Billy Wagner
Tuesday, August 30th, 2005
This is a great analysis of the wonderful career of native (Southwest) Virginian Billy Wagner, currently a pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies. I'm a big fan.
The end of VCEDA?
Tuesday, August 30th, 2005
First, Dickenson County declares it wants out of the Coalfield Economic Development Authority. Now, the Coalfield Progress reports here that Wise County might do likewise.
This doesn't make sense to me.
Here is the VCEDA chapter of Title 15.2. It begins with these findings of fact:
"The economy of Southwest Virginia has not kept pace with that of the rest of the Commonwealth. The economic problems of Southwest Virginia are due in large part to its present inability to diversify. The Southwest has suffered, and continues to suffer, widespread unemployment in great disproportion to the rest of the Commonwealth.
The Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority will assist the seven county and one city coal producing areas of the Commonwealth to achieve some degree of economic stability.
It is hereby further declared that the foregoing is a public purpose and use for which public moneys may be spent and such activity will serve a public purpose in providing jobs to the citizens of the Commonwealth."
This doesn't make sense to me.
Here is the VCEDA chapter of Title 15.2. It begins with these findings of fact:
"The economy of Southwest Virginia has not kept pace with that of the rest of the Commonwealth. The economic problems of Southwest Virginia are due in large part to its present inability to diversify. The Southwest has suffered, and continues to suffer, widespread unemployment in great disproportion to the rest of the Commonwealth.
The Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority will assist the seven county and one city coal producing areas of the Commonwealth to achieve some degree of economic stability.
It is hereby further declared that the foregoing is a public purpose and use for which public moneys may be spent and such activity will serve a public purpose in providing jobs to the citizens of the Commonwealth."
Blacksburg parents sue to challenge Virginia law on registration for the draft
Tuesday, August 30th, 2005
According to this Roanoke Times article by Kevin Miller and Tonya Moxley: "An anti-war couple from Blacksburg is challenging the constitutionality of a Virginia law that blocks young men from obtaining a driver's license unless parents pre-register their sons for the military draft."
The article notes that the Virginia law passed in 2002 "requires males younger than 18 to have a parent or guardian authorize the DMV to forward their information to Selective Service, which will register the men once they turn 18. A parent's signature is required for a learner's permit, driver's license and photo ID."
Strangely, the suit was filed in state court in Montgomery County, which seems an unlikely venue. The Commonwealth is represented by Jasen Eige, formerly a SW Virginia lawyer himself.
The article notes that the Virginia law passed in 2002 "requires males younger than 18 to have a parent or guardian authorize the DMV to forward their information to Selective Service, which will register the men once they turn 18. A parent's signature is required for a learner's permit, driver's license and photo ID."
Strangely, the suit was filed in state court in Montgomery County, which seems an unlikely venue. The Commonwealth is represented by Jasen Eige, formerly a SW Virginia lawyer himself.
More on VCEDA and Dickenson County
Tuesday, August 30th, 2005Here is some more on the pending grudge match, styled Dickenson County v. VCEDA.
Dickenson County’s request to leave the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority could make the region’s coal severance tax enticing to the rest of Virginia, some authority officials said Monday.
“It’s very dangerous to go down this path,” said Michael Quillen, VCEDA member and president of Alpha Natural Resources, one of the region’s largest coal companies.
The only thing I question about this and other articles is why members of the county’s Board of Supervisors are not giving any comment. Looks like I am going to have to call them up myself.
Cohorts in Cahoots
Tuesday, August 30th, 2005
This is what cohorts do when one is having a birthday and she and her friends are celebrating at Floyd’s Oddfellas Cantina. One friend in the group introduced herself to another friend’s new boyfriend as “a cohort,†which then triggered the game we, women of a certain mature status, frequently find ourselves playing. It’s called “Let’s all try to think of the word that no one can remember.†It’s hard to think of anything else until one of us remembers the forgotten word. The game can go on for hours, and in this case it went on for days.
After hearing the word “cohort,†the birthday girl told us about another similar word that her college professor had called her and her friends, but she couldn’t remember it. “Companions?†someone guessed. No. “Comrades?†No. “Colleagues?â€
She shook her head and said, “It’s a stranger word than that, one that I wasn’t familiar with.â€
The next day, feeling sure I had it, I called and left a message on her answering machine, “It must be compadre,†I said into the phone.
But later in the day, while shopping at the Harvest Moon, where she works, she informed me that compadre was not the right word. We grabbed one of the owners walking by. “Tom’s Irish. He loves words. Maybe he’ll know it,†we both said.
“Communist?†he guessed. NO! “Constituent,†I countered. NO!
Later, in one last attempt and after a Thesaurus search, I typed and sent an email, “Could it be concomitants: existing or occurring together or in connection with another; accompaniment?"
“You know, concomitant may be very close or could be it. Would she have said concomitancy in reference to people, though?†she wondered.
I guess we’ll be calling ourselves cohorts, unless we hear otherwise. Maybe someone out has a good guess for the mystery word.
Nature’s Wrath
Tuesday, August 30th, 2005Kerry me back to old Virginny
Tuesday, August 30th, 2005
Forgive me for shamelessly pilfering the title of Powerline's post yesterday, but it seems more appropriate than ever.
There was an article printed some time ago in the Courier-Record (Blackstone, Va.). It was written by the editor, Billy Coleburn, and it was delightfully titled "Chicken & Politickin'." Unfortunately, they don't have a working website [...]
Game of the Year
Tuesday, August 30th, 2005
Who: Detroit Tigers at Chicago White Sox
When: Friday, September 2, 2005 -- 7:05 pm
Promotion: Mullet Night
Got Mullet? Celebrate a classic American hairstyle, the Mullet.
PREGAME:
Shake your mullet to the beat of the band Identity Crisis.
Let your mullet loose as you jam with the band Backstage Pass.
Don't have a mullet? Have a stylist at [...]
Seasonally Adjusted
Tuesday, August 30th, 2005
The deer have discovered, as they seem to do at the end of the gardening season, that our small electrical fence is easy to jump over. Daily, my patches of greens and hopeful beds of Buttercrunch lettuce and Chinese Cabbage are punctuated with deep cloven craters. It will be survival of the lucky, if any survive both treading and munching. Ah well. So it goes. Another sunflower here.
The sunflowers, though, are now above deer browse level and are in their final days of glory. I'll harvest the heads of the smaller sunflowers before they drop seed and take over the place next year with their offspring. I'll hang the seedheavy heads over in the tree branches beside the creek for the migrating birds. Won't be long.
I planted buckwheat as a cover crop in unused rectangles like the one where the corn failed to grow. I'd never used that seed before, but I like it. It's white flowers attract pollinators. THe seeds are large and three-sided like tiny beech nuts and I suppose it would reseed itself several times if left along. The stems are soft and succulent and will turn easily back into the soil as a green manure. So I've learned at least one new trick this lackluster gardening year.
We have a heaping five gallon bucket of Brandywine tomatoes to can today after the girls catch the plane back to South Dakota. And grass to mow, sheets to wash, and life goes on. And I must make an effort at the transition from summer's free agent to autumn's indentured educator, from gardener to wood lot manager, from answering the question WHY a hundred times a day this last week with Abby here to asking the question myself to no one in particular and become adjusted once more to the sound of silence again.
Knowing Good From Bad
Tuesday, August 30th, 2005
Some people probably have a tough time determining who is the good guy and who is the bad guy in the Arab/Israeli conflict. There are, for those folks, some telltale indicators. This from the New York Post is one of them:
There is no better reason to take sides in this war. Some of you believe the concept of "good and evil" is too harsh in this modern era. I say, embrace it. And support Israel's right to exist.
GAZA ARABS EVACUATE TO ISRAELArabs seeking shelter - and protection - in Israel because those Arabs fear being murdered ... by Arabs.
By URI DAN
JERUSALEM — Most residents of a Gaza Strip Arab village were transplanted to Israel yesterday because they feared Palestinian retaliation for alleged collaboration with Israeli security.
The 250 residents of Dahaniya feared they would be killed once the Israeli army completes its pullout from Gaza in about two weeks. ( link )
There is no better reason to take sides in this war. Some of you believe the concept of "good and evil" is too harsh in this modern era. I say, embrace it. And support Israel's right to exist.
Let’s Not Make It Something It Wasn’t
Tuesday, August 30th, 2005
Having a different take on history is one thing; altering it is another. Henry Blodgett, writing in the New York Times, likes to think of the internet investment madness that swept Wall Street in the late 90's as being more a matter of trial-and-error than of "irrational exuberance," as Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan labeled it back then.
Here's Blodgett's take:
Henry Blodgett poses the key question (and provides an answer) in the Times article:
I don't know but my mama taught me to stick with the companies that have a strong track record of growth and solid earnings. That's why you can never go wrong with GE.
Here's Blodgett's take:
Blodgett goes on to outline the maturation of the internet, which is fine, but moves away from the argument that he raises about the internet investment boom. To me, having studied the phenomenon in depth back in graduate school as the saga was unfolding, I and an army of others began to argue that the irrational runup of stocks like Webvan (1999-2001), Pets.com (2000), Kozmo.com (1998-2001), Flooz.com (1998-2001), eToys.com (1997-2001), Boo.com (1998-2000), MVP.com (1999-2000), Go.com (1998-2001), Kibu.com (1999-2000), and GovWorks.com (1999-2000) should indeed be "viewed as a sort of financial kindergarten recess, a regrettable free-for-all of idiocy and greed." I even wrote up a lengthy study of the dot.coms and particularly of Amazon.com's miserable financial showing at the time for a finance class and entitled it, "If Amazon.com Can't Do it, Can It Be Done?"Irreplaceable Exuberance
By HENRY BLODGETTEN years ago this month, the initial public offering of the Internet pioneer Netscape set off a dot-com boom that today is usually viewed as a sort of financial kindergarten recess, a regrettable free-for-all of idiocy and greed. Although this view does capture an aspect of the period - the arrogance and punch-drunk frivolity that come with easy money - it misses the big picture. It also implies that had we only been smarter and more disciplined in the late 1990's, we could have spared ourselves the pain and embarrassment that followed. History suggests otherwise.
The growth of the Internet has paralleled that of most industries based on revolutionary technology. Canals, railroads, telegraphs, telephones, cars, radios, personal computers - all progressed (or are progressing) through four phases of development: boom, bust, mature growth and decay. ( link )
Henry Blodgett poses the key question (and provides an answer) in the Times article:
If the boom-and-bust pattern is so common, the obvious question is: why don't we learn the lessons of history? Why do we overpay for thousands of doomed upstarts (Netscape, eToys, Webvan) and underpay for future giants (Microsoft, Google, eBay)? Why do so many investors plunge headlong into the fray, only to later lose their shirts? The answer, in part, is that stock prices and strategic decisions are based on predictions, and predicting the future in an industry's early days is hard.That's true. Nobody knows how a stock is going to perform in the future. But don't ever discount two other factors; greed and stupidity. A big reason people invest in stocks that have never earned a dime is because they expect others to continue to invest in that same stock (eToys.com) which continues to increase the per-share value of that stock (ever heard the term, "hot stocks"?). I continue to argue that Google.com has no foundation. There is no there there. But people see it as a good investment ... because other people see it as a good investment. Are they all stupid or just greedy? So far they are certainly wealthy.
I don't know but my mama taught me to stick with the companies that have a strong track record of growth and solid earnings. That's why you can never go wrong with GE.
Who is Tim Kaine?
Tuesday, August 30th, 2005
A man of conscience and contradictions, says Bob Lewis:
Tim Kaine leaned forward in his chair, irritation simmering beneath his gentle demeanor, hoping to settle an issue that keeps dogging him.
"I've answered the simple question: I'm against the death penalty," Kaine, the lieutenant governor, told a panel of Associated Press journalists during a 90-minute interview.
"I have [...]
Americans for Prosperity
Tuesday, August 30th, 2005
Too Conservative has a report on an event that I wish I could have attended:
The event went really well, and many familiar Virginia faces were present , including: Speaker Bill Howell, Delegate Bill Janis, Delegate Chris Saxman, and Herman Cain who ran for Senate in Georgia this past election cycle.
Rob Whitney did a great job [...]
The Race
Tuesday, August 30th, 2005Blue evening in Roanoke
Monday, August 29th, 2005
Sunday evening was a beautiful night to have dinner on the deck. There was a warm wind blowing across the mountain. It was one of the nicest evenings we have had. It's hard to believe only a few hundred miles...
Out of the mist…..
Monday, August 29th, 2005- HARDY, Va., Aug. 26 -- Wearing a loose-fitting black shirt and with a 12-gauge shotgun at his side, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Timothy M. Kaine emerged from a rolling field with several fellow skeet shooters and a message for Virginia's rural voters.( Read all )
Those million mom's a marching are proud of you Tim! He offers these well planned words:
- "I'm committed to not violating the Second Amendment or infringing upon the gun rights of law-abiding citizens," Kaine, the lieutenant governor, said to a handful of supporters and local reporters who were on hand to watch him shoot. "I'm committed to protecting that constitutional right to hunt and fish. . . . I value the traditions that Virginians value."
That's lawyer talk at it's best. I wont violate your right to hunt and fish...
-
Amendment II
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
It is not about hunting and fishing Tim. The Tim Kaine Metamorphosis continues. That F rating from the NRA is hard to ignore.
A reporter should of asked Tim: " On your many hunting trips what have you shot? Did you eat it?
- "You want to have a shooting contest? You want to go hiking? Give me a pocketknife and a set of matches and I'll go up against anybody," he said, standing behind an orange and black "Sportsmen for Tim Kaine" sign.
Be sure to wear your black shirt and bring the 12 gauge. This is funny stuff.....Survivor at
The HOMESTEAD...
LOL
Chad Dotson the big CC has this.