Archive for March, 2006

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John Edwards on the House Plan

Wednesday, March 29th, 2006

Senator John Edwards (from Virginia, not North Carolina) offers some information about the House and Senate budget plans in this commentary.

Edwards lists a few examples of what we lose with the House plan:

[T]he House would take $259 million in higher education capital funds to pay for one-time transportation projects. Because the House relies on tax-supported debt to finance the higher education building projects, many would be put in jeopardy if there is an economic downturn.

And the cost of projects financed by debt would surely increase, probably by 50 percent over 20 years.

Virginia Tech could lose $7.6 million appropriated for the liberal arts and biology buildings. The $16.7 million appropriation for Virginia Tech’s Institute for Critical Technology and Infectious Disease Research Center would be replaced by debt financing.

Virginia Western Community College’s $15.8 million for Anderson Hall could potentially be lost. The $25 million cash for the Clinical Cancer Center planned at the University of Virginia would be replaced by debt. And $9.1 million for Smiddy Hall at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise might not be funded.

To pay for transportation, the House would also cut $82.4 million in operating funds from public and higher education, the community college system, natural resources and public safety.

More specifically, the House plan does nothing for Southwest Virginia, while providing heavily for Northern Virginia and Tidewater.

Posted in Politics, Virginia | Comments Off

Jerry feels Violated

Wednesday, March 29th, 2006

You Gotta See This!

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True leadership

Wednesday, March 29th, 2006
I mowed the yard for the first time this year. It's always a good time to think. Earlier in the day, I had gotten a glance at an article Can entrepreneurship be taught?, in Fortune Small Business. The prevailing wisdom...

Posted in Work | Comments Off

Free software I use every day

Wednesday, March 29th, 2006
I got a three year-old computer for $50 for my dad who gave it to his brother, who is learning how to use it mostly from his grandson.

Dad says the spam, spyware, and viruses are a problem. I said try the free stuff.

Here's the short list of free programs I use every day, either at home or at work:

AVG Anti-virus
ZoneAlarm firewall
Ad-aware and Windows Defender
Firefox and Thunderbird
Spambayes
Copernic Desktop search
Evernote, for taking notes and clipping weblinks and whatever
pdf 995

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Dick Wadhams taking over

Wednesday, March 29th, 2006
I meant to post this the other day: Dick Wadhams, the chief of staff for Sen. George Allen (R-VA) will take a leave of absence from Allen's congressional office to manage his tougher-than-expected re-election campaign in Virginia. He'll start on 4/10. Allen faces Democrats Harris Miller (D), a lobbyist, and James Webb, a former Republican and Navy Secretary. [...]

Posted in 2006 Senate campaign, Allen for President, Virginia politics | Comments Off

DJ AG

Wednesday, March 29th, 2006
Fun article in the Lynchburg News-Advance today about AG Bob McDonnell and his internet outreach efforts: Turn on the radio, sign onto the Internet or get out an iPod, the state attorney general has something to say. In his first months in office, Attorney General Bob McDonnell has turned to new and established media to connect with [...]

Posted in Virginia politics | Comments Off

Tim Kaine Eyebrow Watch

Wednesday, March 29th, 2006
Wonkette has yet another edition of the Tim Kaine Eyebrow Watch.

Posted in Dumb stuff, Virginia politics | Comments Off

UPDATED George Allen on Hardball followed by Jarding and Mudcat UPDATED

Wednesday, March 29th, 2006

I just finished watching Sen George Allen on Hardball. I hope you watch the repeat on MSNBC at 7. He was very strong on immigration...Very! He also said he did not share the Presidents views and would not support amnesty. His views on our borders are strong and clear. Born Leader.

After Allen came Jarding and Mudcat. While Chris showed a picture of Webb during the intro, there was no mention of him in the interview. None. I found that very odd. Born Fighting. Chris grilled the two about the democrats being weak on immigration and our borders, while Allen was crystal clear. This is a must watch and I cant wait to see the transcript.

UPDATED: After watching the show again I am even more impressed with Sen Allen. I share his same view on immigration and our borders. Mathews is a hard interview and Allen took it in stride. His answers were fast and on subject. Mathews did not accuse him of waffling like he did Jarding. Another interesting thing is that Sen Allen's mom immigrated here after WW2 from Tunisia, Africa. That gives him a great view. I also give him credit for taking a stance that does not agree with the president. His talk about not rewarding Illegal behavior rings true. Amnesty rewards illegal behavior and that is not the answer. I look forward to seeing him speak more about this subject. I would have thought Mudcat and Jarding would have touted Webb at any chance they got. They had many chances to add his name and views or reason they support him. Instead they never mentioned his name-his policies-his web site, nothing. Thats real support guys. Am I the only one who finds this very odd? They admit the democrats have no plans and no hope of taking back the south for some time. This was a revealing interview to hear these men admit the party is in trouble. Again they could have said Webb would unite..they could have said anything, but they did not. I wonder why? I would venture to say this interview will be left off the lefty blogs for sure...with good reason. First it showed the strength and leadership of our Sen Allen, and the weakness and lack of support for Webb by his own people. I will link the transcript as soon as I get it.



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Endorsements-Why do we do them?

Wednesday, March 29th, 2006

In response to an earlier post, Lewis asks a question we often get: Why do endorsements?

Truly, my life would be easier if we didn’t. But good newspapers have, I think, an obligation to help voters determine who would best lead their governments and courts. So we try to sift through the same information voters get - and talk to as many folks as we can - to figure out who might be the best steward of a public office.

We make mistakes. Every newspaper has endorsed someone who later turned out to be a real loser, if not a crook. Sometimes we endorse the same folks the majority of voters ultimately support. Sometimes voters go in a completely different direction. What is important is that the newspaper foster a discussion of credentials, provide a fair portrayal of abilities and then make a recommendation that we can defend.

Posted in , Journalism | Comments Off

La Shawn Barber on Illegal Ingrates

Wednesday, March 29th, 2006

Illegal Ingrates:

I’ve got your rights right here: You have the RIGHT to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you…

Hear hear.

Read entire. And if you can handle the extra blood pressure, check out the flag display in this post by Michelle Malkin.

Posted in Not Space | Comments Off

Immigration

Wednesday, March 29th, 2006
Yeah, I've been sick, had my computer upgraded, and tennis season has started.  Blah, blah, blah... Yeah.... anyway...

Immigration.... hmm....

Here goes President Bush trying to dictate the great masses of Hispanic influence there is in this country.  I support the Kennedy/McCain proposition, and I'm sticking to that.  For those of you who do not know, their idea is to give illegals 7-year temporary work visas, then give them a chance after that to earn permanent citizenship.  The United States was put here for freedom.  I believe that these immigrants crossing the border are just looking for freedom and a better life than they have in Mexico.  "Land of the free, home of the brave."  I still hope that rings true.

--
jf

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Loading Coal

Wednesday, March 29th, 2006

The Red Queen has this great play by play of loading a train with coal. She includes some great pics with her narrative. Check it out!

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What was really said.

Wednesday, March 29th, 2006

The hoopla made over Sen Allen's bored statement has been proved false. Is anyone surprised? I'm not.

From the AFP .

"For the record, Allen was not quoted in the Times piece as saying that he was bored with life in the Senate. The word came up in a summation of Allen's feelings toward the senior federal legislative chamber put to paper by the author of the piece. Allen's chief of staff, Dick Wadhams, said on Monday that the author of the story, Sheryl Gay Stolberg, confirmed to him that the senator did not use the word "bored" in their interview. "It is correct that Sen. Allen has expressed his frustration in the past with Democratic obstructionism that holds up important legislation in the Senate. But there's a far cry between being bored and being frustrated with a body that takes a long time to get things done. Because he wants to get things done for the people of Virginia," Wadhams told the AFP."

Read the Raising Kaine spin here . So all those lefty blogs retelling this story shows a great example of misinformation, if not Fear. Thats right, the word is fear. That seems to be the democrats wonder word this campaign. Allen fears Webb-Allen fears Miller. Heh. I was accused of fearing Webb winning the primary in the comments on a thread over at NLS a while back. Hey Josh-The only things I fear are the sounds of roof bolts popping and a 70 year old woman that I call Mom. For the record I dont care who Allen faces. I feel he will win over Miller the lobbyist or Webb the...whatever Webb is.

The latest poll shows Allen stomping either candidate Webb or Miller by well over 20 points. That is damn good speaking Allen has not started campaigning yet. The Mason Conservative reveals here that Dick Wadhams will head Allen's campaign. It is a good read. Chad has this post saying "The only way Miller can beat Allen is if Allen resigns." The Republican bloggers have been pretty mush silent so far. Allen is a super strong candidate with a good record. He is well liked in all parts of the state. Yes it is still early, but as the democrats fight and scratch , we watch taking notes and silently get stronger. Allen's campaign will begin soon and I am looking forward to it.

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Wednesday, March 29th, 2006
Straight Talk Express Rolls On

Back in the pre-911 world, during the new millennium's very first Republican primary season, John McCain was not a fan of our boy in Lynchburg. He had harsh words for Jerry Falwell and his ilk who "call me an unacceptable presidential candidate. They distort my pro- life positions and smear the reputations of my supporters." And why did they do that? "Because I don't pander to them, because I don't ascribe to their failed philosophy that money is our message."

Now, with his status as front-runner for the '08 nomination, look who's pandering to "the agents of intolerance"!

McCain will be speaker at Falwell's university

Checking the Lynchburg News & Advance to get our Falwell quotes, we find that Jerry isn't endorsing McCain - yet.

“I was in Washington with him about three months ago,” Falwell said. “We dealt with every difference we have. There are no deal breakers now. But I told him, ‘You have a lot of fence mending to do.’”

As Paul Harvey would say, "Page two..."

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Break in the Stalemate? Did Somebody Blink?

Wednesday, March 29th, 2006
One Man's Trash has some hot off the press news about the General Assembly's budget negotiations.

Posted in 2006 Gen. Assembly session, Virginia politics | Comments Off

Talisman

Wednesday, March 29th, 2006

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P.K. Hundley Retires After 30 Years of Service

Wednesday, March 29th, 2006
Preston K. Hundley was hired on as a firefighter on January 19, 1976 (merely a year before I was born). P.K. has spent the last several years assigned to Ladder 1 C-Shift. He is retiring with 30 years on the job. It is good to see another one of Roanoke's Bravest retire with good health. Good luck in retirement. P.K.'s last day was March 27, 2006. L-R Eddie Carter, P.K. Hundley, Richard Carter,

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VW designs sensible car interface

Wednesday, March 29th, 2006

Car maker Volkswagen has introduced a new user interface for its automobiles, called Gypsy. Some VW models have a large LCD screen in the center console, and will not only display the usual car information, but also knows how to talk to devices like an iPod or a Palm PDA.

This means you can view your iPod playlists on the big LCD screen, rather than squinting at the little iPod screen while you drive (uh, I mean while you are safely parked by the side of the road). It will also let you view your address book and calendar from your Palm or Treo on the big screen.

All this is nice, but I do think having a TV in the car is going to cause accidents. We need to realize that's what these "information systems" are that are showing up in so many cars--television, with the iPod channel, the Treo channel, the weather channel, the gas mileage channel, the DVD player channel, and so on. It's bad enough that half of America is already driving one-handed while talking on the phone, but now we'll be driving, talking on the phone, picking out music, looking up a phone number, and having the talking GPS/map system telling us to turn left NOW!

Right into a tree, because we forgot to update the map software.

But wait, it gets worse. It won't be long before a built in cellphone is added that allows you to access the Internet while driving (think OnStar on steroids). Not only will we be doing way too many things while driving, we'll be downloading the latest viruses while we surf the 'net. And then we will be buying virus protection for our cars! Hackers will be writing software that makes the radio controls increase the engine speed, window buttons will work backwards, and all the GPS maps will be inverted.

I think I am going to start looking for a nice, vintage '67 Mustang--no electronics, no GPS, no digital anything--just good old American analog driving machine. At least I'll have a virus free car.

Posted in Hardware and gadgets | Comments Off

Choosing reality over ideology

Wednesday, March 29th, 2006
Though the city of Roanoke looks a little unreal in this picture, I know there happens to be lots of concrete and steel downtown so I'm not worried about the city disappearing when the mists burn away this morning. I'm...

Posted in Current Affairs | Comments Off

Space Waste

Wednesday, March 29th, 2006
I've always thought Gregg Easterbrook was one of the best science/environmental writers out there, but I haven't seen any recent writings until today. He's posted a Slate article on the NASA budget. Everyone should be able to find something disturbing in his analysis. My pet disturbance is the lack of any viable asteroid-blaster, or, to express [...]

Posted in Misc | Comments Off

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