Southwest Virginia Blogs

I love this game. Being able to watch tonight’s big comeback win by the Reds was worth every dime I paid for the MLB Extra Innings package on DirecTV. The ol’ Redlegs are back in first place. Life is good.

I love this game. Being able to watch tonight’s big comeback win by the Reds was worth every dime I paid for the MLB Extra Innings package on DirecTV. The ol’ Redlegs are back in first place. Life is good.

That is right, it is time for link dump 2. The concept is simple. Click the links that I have provided for you. Virginia Sales Tax Holiday August 4-6, 2006 New age Pompier Ladder Race? Roanoke Gamewell Fire Alarm Pull Box - Remember this one? Does your Department Recruit Here? Are you in touch with Reality? South Carolina's Fire Classified Ads Firefighters are never really "off-duty" are

That is right, it is time for link dump 2. The concept is simple. Click the links that I have provided for you. Virginia Sales Tax Holiday August 4-6, 2006 New age Pompier Ladder Race? Roanoke Gamewell Fire Alarm Pull Box - Remember this one? Does your Department Recruit Here? Are you in touch with Reality? South Carolina's Fire Classified Ads Firefighters are never really "off-duty" are

This article via Law.com says that of the unfilled vacancies on the Fourth Circuit, the Maryland senators want a Marylander to succeed Judge Murnaghan, the North Carolina senators want dibs on Judge Luttig's seat, the Virginia senators are not letting go of Judge Luttig's seat, and nobody knows when there will be votes on Judge Boyle and Mr. Haynes.

Regarding the latter two, the article concludes:

"Boyle was voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee exactly one year ago and is set to go to the floor of the chamber, but it’s anybody’s guess as to whether Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) will actually bring up the nomination. Earlier this month, Republican Judiciary Committee staffers held eight half-hour briefings a day for nearly a week to help staffers respond to charges that Boyle had violated federal law by issuing orders in at least nine cases involving corporations in which he had stock holdings.

'We found five cases in which there were strict technical violations in which Boyle should have recused himself,' says a Senate GOP staff counsel. 'But they were administrative oversights. He ruled in over 16,000 cases; these five slipped through the cracks.'

Most Democrats, however, aren’t buying that argument. 'A conflict of interest is a conflict,' says a staffer for one Democratic member of the 'Gang of 14,' the group of seven GOP and seven Democratic senators who vowed not to block any judicial nominations unless there were 'extraordinary circumstances.'

Haynes, who was first nominated in September 2003, is even more problematic. 'There’s no way they want him discussed right now,' says a senior Republican aide, referring to both the White House and Republican senators up for re-election. 'They don’t want to talk about Abu Ghraib during election season.' Besides, Haynes’ nomination won’t get to the Senate floor without another hearing in the Judiciary Committee. Asked last week about holding another hearing on Haynes, committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) was carefully ambiguous. 'I’m considering it. I’m considering it,' he said."

This article via Law.com says that of the unfilled vacancies on the Fourth Circuit, the Maryland senators want a Marylander to succeed Judge Murnaghan, the North Carolina senators want dibs on Judge Luttig's seat, the Virginia senators are not letting go of Judge Luttig's seat, and nobody knows when there will be votes on Judge Boyle and Mr. Haynes.

Regarding the latter two, the article concludes:

"Boyle was voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee exactly one year ago and is set to go to the floor of the chamber, but it’s anybody’s guess as to whether Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) will actually bring up the nomination. Earlier this month, Republican Judiciary Committee staffers held eight half-hour briefings a day for nearly a week to help staffers respond to charges that Boyle had violated federal law by issuing orders in at least nine cases involving corporations in which he had stock holdings.

'We found five cases in which there were strict technical violations in which Boyle should have recused himself,' says a Senate GOP staff counsel. 'But they were administrative oversights. He ruled in over 16,000 cases; these five slipped through the cracks.'

Most Democrats, however, aren’t buying that argument. 'A conflict of interest is a conflict,' says a staffer for one Democratic member of the 'Gang of 14,' the group of seven GOP and seven Democratic senators who vowed not to block any judicial nominations unless there were 'extraordinary circumstances.'

Haynes, who was first nominated in September 2003, is even more problematic. 'There’s no way they want him discussed right now,' says a senior Republican aide, referring to both the White House and Republican senators up for re-election. 'They don’t want to talk about Abu Ghraib during election season.' Besides, Haynes’ nomination won’t get to the Senate floor without another hearing in the Judiciary Committee. Asked last week about holding another hearing on Haynes, committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) was carefully ambiguous. 'I’m considering it. I’m considering it,' he said."

This post discusses federal court opinions that have cited Wikipedia.

I cite Wikipedia mostly because I am too lazy to find better links.

I have been plotting to write some Wikipedia articles but never quite pulled it off.

This post discusses federal court opinions that have cited Wikipedia.

I cite Wikipedia mostly because I am too lazy to find better links.

I have been plotting to write some Wikipedia articles but never quite pulled it off.

Mission Accomplished...

after "Bill Dancing" (bass pro fisherman) the first trophy of the day and losing it I finally landed the biggest fish of my life....a trophy, slightly over 20", Rainbow in a spring.  I still can't believe it.

The big one was for Martin....he has so very much wanted me to land trophy.

Our Annual Vacation in Montana photograph....(we have one framed for every year.)

Jay Dixon, our guide and pictured above with me really is an expert fisherman and if you decide to try a day or week of fly fishing he's a good choice.  After I started actually listening to him I did get the big one.   Aside from that Jay really shows you a nice time.

Do you see the big M on the side of that Mountain?  That M for Missoula is above the University of Montana and right behind our hotel.  This evening, having some quiet time Rollie made a decision.

Disgusted with my vacationing body and no real strenuous exercise this week, and always wanting to try....Rollie climbed that path to the M.  all by myself.

I almost passed out.  My knees were knocking so badly when I reached the top that I wondered if others could tell I was trembling.  Lack of air and fear of heights combined this was one goal I seriously cannot believe I achieved. 

What a day for Rollie!  I survived and am really proud of myself! 

I am going to sit here and enjoy my view for the last night, having my last Trout Slayer Ale (that you must catch a trout to be worthy of drinking), saying goodbye and looking so forward to being back home.

Mission Accomplished...

after "Bill Dancing" (bass pro fisherman) the first trophy of the day and losing it I finally landed the biggest fish of my life....a trophy, slightly over 20", Rainbow in a spring.  I still can't believe it.

The big one was for Martin....he has so very much wanted me to land trophy.

Our Annual Vacation in Montana photograph....(we have one framed for every year.)

Jay Dixon, our guide and pictured above with me really is an expert fisherman and if you decide to try a day or week of fly fishing he's a good choice.  After I started actually listening to him I did get the big one.   Aside from that Jay really shows you a nice time.

Do you see the big M on the side of that Mountain?  That M for Missoula is above the University of Montana and right behind our hotel.  This evening, having some quiet time Rollie made a decision.

Disgusted with my vacationing body and no real strenuous exercise this week, and always wanting to try....Rollie climbed that path to the M.  all by myself.

I almost passed out.  My knees were knocking so badly when I reached the top that I wondered if others could tell I was trembling.  Lack of air and fear of heights combined this was one goal I seriously cannot believe I achieved. 

What a day for Rollie!  I survived and am really proud of myself! 

I am going to sit here and enjoy my view for the last night, having my last Trout Slayer Ale (that you must catch a trout to be worthy of drinking), saying goodbye and looking so forward to being back home.

My first adventures into the technology world were actually as a reseller. It was 1982, and I had purchased one of the first Apple II+ computers to land in Eastern Canada. The reseller that I bought it from was actually...

For those who haven’t heard, Roanoke and Blacksburg now have their own craigslist!

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Copyright © 2006 Roanoke Virginia Real Estate. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is probably using it without permission. Refer to the originating site for more information- http://blog.roanokehousehunter.com/

For those who haven’t heard, Roanoke and Blacksburg now have their own craigslist!

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Copyright © 2006 Roanoke Virginia Real Estate. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is probably using it without permission. Refer to the originating site for more information- http://blog.roanokehousehunter.com/

Fun time, again. Let’s have another Weekend Caption Contest. Here is this week’s picture: Submit your best captions below!

Are you attending the SWVA Young Democrats meeting?

Heck yeah!

No way.

Wish I could, but can't.

View Results

Polls Archive

Hope you can attend the Southwest Virginia Young Democrats‘ first meeting, this weekend, on July 2, 2006, at 5:00 PM.

The meeting is being held at Los Arcos, in the old Stringer’s Building.

Are you attending the SWVA Young Democrats meeting?

Heck yeah!

No way.

Wish I could, but can't.

View Results

Polls Archive

Hope you can attend the Southwest Virginia Young Democrats‘ first meeting, this weekend, on July 2, 2006, at 5:00 PM.

The meeting is being held at Los Arcos, in the old Stringer’s Building.

Are you attending the SWVA Young Democrats meeting?

Heck yeah!

No way.

Wish I could, but can't.

View Results

Polls Archive

Hope you can attend the Southwest Virginia Young Democrats‘ first meeting, this weekend, on July 2, 2006, at 5:00 PM.

The meeting is being held at Los Arcos, in the old Stringer’s Building.

Today is Larry Summers' last day as president of Harvard University.

He resigned from the top post at the Stanford of the East (see my bio for my declared bias) in February. His five years of leadership at the institution have been controversial, to say the least.

He clashed with celebrity faculty like Cornel West, who later left for Princeton, as did K. Anthony Appiah, another well-known black studies scholar. Summers made national headlines when he was quoted as saying that inherent gender differences may be one explanation for the dearth of women in math and science. And he generally wrangled with the greater faculty, who were used to having more say in the direction of the university.

But many undergraduates say his departure is a great loss to current and future students. They seemed to think the place needs to be reformed and redirected in just some of the ways that Summers did.

So, what about powerful but controversial university presidents? What can they do to repair their missteps -- with faculty, students or whomever they might offend? What do you all think of the president of your university? How hard is it to make change in the academy?

This blog entry from Harold Feld is a little dramatic, but not much, considering how high the stakes are. Congress, with special attention to Senator "Bridge to Nowhere" Stevens from Alaska, has crafted a bill cleverly called the "Community Broadband Act of 2006." This little piece of wolf in sheep's clothing purports from its name to be pro-community, but basically prohibits communities from making direct investments in broadband.

I'm told by people that know a lot more about the politics of this bill that it will probably never get passed, but I'm somewhat less worried about it than many others, mainly because I think there are other options to complete municipal ownership. A regional nonprofit or broadband coop offers a lot of advantages, especially for communities that do not have a public electric utility.

What does concern me is the lack of attention that Congress has for the users of broadband. This bill is essentially a sellout, with a complete lack of balanced dialogue in Washington about the long term implications of the policies embedded in this bill. As my good friend Gene Crick remarked once about Texas ("...Texas has the best laws money can buy"), this bill represents the best law that money can buy. A short note to your elected representatives would be in order.

Here is an update on the legislation from Feld, who is tracking this closely. Some changes have been made that move it a bit closer to what communities need (but not close enough, in my opinion).