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Southwest Virginia Blogs » 2005 » November

Archive for November, 2005

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Revisiting a fire at 8th and Marshall SW

Wednesday, November 30th, 2005
Here is a picture of an A-shift fire I was on a couple of years ago. I had traded time with Rob Humphreys. I was on Engine 8 as part of the second alarm on the house that is on the ground behind us. The house beside it had a lot of fire damage as well.



Pictured sitting Clockwise from front left is FF Mike Pruitt, Capt. Gary Conners (Ret.), Lt. Bill West, FF Danny (moose) Hughes, 1st Lt. Chad Riddleberger, Capt. Scott Mutter, Lt. Tracy Blevins, Lt. Tom Mougin, Lt. Jamie Brads, FF Greg Fulton, and Capt. Willy Wines.

Standing in the back L-R are FF Barry Kincer, Lt. Rhett Fleitz, Lt. Richard Patterson (Ret.), Bat. Chief Audie Ferris, In the very back looking the other way is Lt. Carl Jones (Ret.).





I recieved this picture from Capt. Wines. He let us borrow a couple of things to make copies for The Maurice Wiseman Project. If you all have anything you would like us to have to copy, etc. please let me know. Likewise if you would like to assist in the collection of Historical data drop me a line. We could use some help.

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The Breezy Badger and Windows XP

Wednesday, November 30th, 2005
Well I have seen the enemy, and it is me. Never again will I multitask while I'm playing with a partition table. On the positive side of things, but actually it might be the negative side, I'm now somewhat of...

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Another case where I could be either counsel or expert witness

Wednesday, November 30th, 2005
Reason links to this report in the Atlanta paper about the next big thing - liability claims against soda makers.

I thought I was an expert on Big Macs, but I have even more experience drinking Coca-Cola. My opinion? The cola marketing has no effect on anyone, so I suggest that you have a Coke and a smile.

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After-acquired evidence as a defense to the merits in employment contract cases

Wednesday, November 30th, 2005
According to this post from one of the Branham & Day blogs, the Tennessee Supreme Court held in Teter v. Republic Parking System, Inc., that after-acquired evidence can be presented as a defense to the merits of a claim for breach of an employment contract, but the burden of proof is on the employer.

What this means is that where the employee can only be fired "for cause," even if the cause the employer had in mind is insufficient or can't be proven, the employer can take discovery to find some other cause that it didn't even know about at the time of the dismissal.

I have argued for something similar under Virginia law, citing some old cases. At one hearing, the other lawyer argued, oh, those cases are old. The judge asked whether counsel believed that the age of enlightenment had reached the Supreme Court of Virginia only some time after those cases were decided.

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Wordpress + Free Blog Space = Why Not

Wednesday, November 30th, 2005
It looks like I'm not the only one influenced by Kilo's reference to Wordpress' offer of late. Norm has a test ride going. I have looked at it, and am considering the options. But as Norm says there will be the consequences of transferring links and maybe even archives. Not to mention the "tens and tens" of readers. If I do make the switch it will have to come after things settle down some at

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Let’s play hide the poll

Wednesday, November 30th, 2005
Roanoke Times, 11/28/05, Pg A5: Many say criticism hurts troops’ morale. Very small print article on page 5 about a poll of Americans’ attitudes about the left-wing and Democrat criticism of the war.

70% say it hurts

44% say it hurts a lot

Even among Democrats the results are"

55% say it hurts

21% say it hurts a lot

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49% want troops to come home when job is done

16% want immediate withdrawal

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Wow! Would you believe these results after getting a steady stream of vindictive and hostile input from ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN or any of the major news organizations or The Roanoke Times?

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And they say that Pres. Bush is "out of touch" with the American people!

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Prior items:

http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2005/10/bush-poll_04.html

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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2005/11/fear-of-success.html

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Merk train-wreck

Wednesday, November 30th, 2005
Roanoke Times, 11/29/05, Pg Bus 8: Merck to cut 7,000 jobs and close 5 manufacturing plants.

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The Editor must be triply elated.

First: a capitalist corporation in trouble. What could be finer to see!

Second: It's the Vioxx manufacturer who obviously marketed drugs that they knew in advance might possibly hurt some people (maybe).

Third: A US drug manufacturer that makes way too much money and charges too much for drugs that The Editor can get cheaper from Canada.

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Following The Editor’s logic and rhetoric, as soon as the US drug manufacturers go broke and close shop we will all be richer, safer and more healthy.

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Wonder where Canada will buy their drugs when this all happens? I know where they get them now!

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Prior items:

http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2005/08/vioxx-jury.html

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New Orleans “Mess”

Wednesday, November 30th, 2005
Roanoke Times, 11/29/05, Pg Va 9: A long way from healing from Katrina by Dean Lindsey pastor of Salem Presbyterian Church.

"An African American pastor stating to Pastor Lindsey: I don’t want to go back to that mess." "It may be hard for an outsider to understand, but the ‘mess’ he was talking about far transcends the destruction brought by Katrina. For generations, corrupt and ineffective local and state governments have plagued the city with predictable results: streets in disrepair, schools that do not perform and, tragically, levees that do not provide adequate flood control."

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Wow! Never hear stuff like this on ABC, CBS, NBC or CNN. They told me that the only problem in New Orleans was Mr. Brown and his FEMA organization!

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And all this from a local minister! Perhaps The Roanoke Times owners could get this fellow onto the editorial staff. What a breath of fresh air that would be!

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Thank you Pastor Lindsey.

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Prior items:

http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2005/09/gov-blanco-takes-virtual-5th.html

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Bush and Kyoto (Again)

Wednesday, November 30th, 2005
Roanoke Times, 11/29/05, Pg A 6: Bush declines to join global warming treaty.

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Once again The Editor makes an issue of Bush’s refusal to sign-on to the Kyoto Treaty on green house gases without pointing out that when Clinton brought the treaty back for senate approval it was voted down 99 to 0.

Perhaps that means that there was a consensus (like unanimous) to not ratify this flawed anti-American contract.

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Why doesn’t the Roanoke Times comply with all the provisions of the Kyoto Treaty starting tomorrow! As a major industrial complex with a huge environmental footprint the Roanoke Times could set the example for Virginia and the US on how to live responsibly. Good opportunity to put up or shut up!

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Prior items:

http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2005/08/plant-emissions.html

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Black eye for VT

Wednesday, November 30th, 2005
I found this piece in the Roanoke Times. It seems that 19 VT football players and other assorted VT students, are living in Section 8 housing. So the football players get a scholarship, receive a housing stipend as part of their scholarship, and still manage to get housing for the needy.



Check out Eric, the person mentioned by name in the article. His apartment has a big screen TV, his mom is a professor at Old Dominion, his dad is a loan officer, and yet he qualifies for needy housing? These guys make money, but send it home. According to Eric, it "doesn't cost him or his roommates anything to live in the apartment."



This could become another black eye for VT.

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Blogging-Mcdonalds Stand

Wednesday, November 30th, 2005

I should of added this long ago, but the ole mind here is still foggy.

Mcdonalds Stand is a Virginia blog by Flora Mcdonald .

Her son is serving in Iraq and her blog is tops. Check it out and be sure to leave a comment.

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Help Me Jog My Memory

Wednesday, November 30th, 2005
I admit it. Time (and a somewhat misspent youth) has diminished my memory. But does anyone remember the ACLU or another liberal organization suing a school board because of a requirement of parental notification before administering aspirin? Maybe they sued The Piercing Hut or some such shop because they require parental permission before piercing the ears of a minor. No? Then maybe they joined

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On the writers and the Baseball Hall of Fame

Wednesday, November 30th, 2005
This column from the Norfolk paper explains that the ballot for this the last year when the baseball writers could vote in Pete Rose to the Baseball Hall of Fame does not have his name on it, and so he's left with the veterans if he is to ever get into the Hall.

Some of my friends are passionate about Pete, I am not. Years ago, there was a Pizzeria Uno on King Street in Old Town Alexandria, and upstairs they had a life-sized picture of Pete from the 1975 World Series, with one arm slung around Fred Lynn of the Red Sox, happy as a clam, and with the other hand giving the photographer the finger. That sums him up for me: great baseball man, poor impulse control.

Among those who actually are on the ballot, with not much chance of success, is Dave Parker, who would get my vote just for his throw from right field to home plate during the 1979 All-Star game in the Seattle Kingdome that was shown every week during the closing credits of Mel Allen's This Week in Baseball, with that great violin and horn music in the background (a six second snippet of which can be heard here, where they are selling it for downloading to cellphones). He did it in slow motion, a strike from 300 feet, every Saturday.

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Study: Sexy Attire Works Against Businesswomen

Wednesday, November 30th, 2005

Attractive people may sometimes have a leg up in climbing corporate ladders. But sexy presentation on its own can work against women who are already well up the ladder.

In a new study, men and women were shown videos of a businesswoman discussing her background and hobbies.

In different tests, she played the part of either a receptionist or a manager. And in one round she wore flat shoes, slacks and a turtleneck, all considered typical professional attire. In the other, she donned high-heels, a tight skirt and a low-cut blouse.

The test subjects rated the businesswoman on competence and guessed at her college GPA and the quality of her alma mater.

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Governor?s Car Struck

Wednesday, November 30th, 2005

According to this report from the RT-D Governor Warner’s vehicle was involved in a fender bender. Warner’s suburban was struck by a state employee who had cut across three lanes of traffic looking for a state government building.

Governor Warner was in the vehicle and apparently got out and spoke with the state employee to make sure she was fine. No injuries were reported.

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You’re doing a great job, Brownie?

Wednesday, November 30th, 2005
I never knew or had forgotten until I read this Post article on the McConnell-Deeds race that the head of the State Board of Elections in Virginia is named Michael Brown.

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On my youthful appearance

Wednesday, November 30th, 2005
I am 41, and have greying hair, but people think I am younger.

A while back, someone called me to help them out with a small project, because they had been told by their regular lawyer that I was "the expert."

When we met, the client contact was surprised by my appearance. You're not at all what I expected, the contact said, I thought you were about 60.

Perhaps they were expecting "the expert" to look more like this.

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On the efficacy of federal mandatory minimum sentences

Wednesday, November 30th, 2005
The Roanoke Times reports here: "A Roanoke County man who ordered child pornography through the mail was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison, the mandatory minimum for a previously convicted child molester. But U.S. District Court Judge James Turk told prosecutors that he would have levied a lighter sentence if he could, because he was unconvinced that Dennis Marco Mills, 48, had molested more children since his last conviction."

An expert for the government testified "that watching child pornography is the first rung on a ladder to molesting again." The U.S. Attorney argued "that someone would get a life sentence . . . and that the prosecution hoped it was Mills, a three-time convicted sex offender, rather than some future victim of his."

This is an interesting case, as the issues raised go the heard of what is sentencing all about. To what extent is the goal of sentencing to punish the accused for what he has done, as opposed to preventing him from doing what he might do? Also, the case is interesting from the point of view of mandatory minimum sentences, fixed by the legislature. From Judge Turk's comments, it appears that reasonable minds could disagree widely as to what sentence is appropriate in this case. Is society better served when the legislature makes a blanket decision about the minimum jail time for such cases, or should someone in the position of the judge be able to fashion an appropriate sentence based on the particular evidence in each individual case?

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Alito?s Ouestionnaire

Wednesday, November 30th, 2005

Found via Confirm Them.

Judge Alito’s Senate questionnaire is out. You can find a copy of it here curtesy of the National Review.

From just looking over it very briefly, I do believe that the hearings are going to be great. Teddy the killer Kennedy is going to have to be careful, Judge Alito will make him look like a idiot on national TV. But first we have to be able to have hearings which Senator Specter refuses to have until January.

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Local boy does good

Wednesday, November 30th, 2005
Good for Billy Wagner, who just signed a huge contract to pitch for the New York Mets. Wagner, of course, is from Tazewell, down here in Southwest Virginia.

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