Southwest Virginia Blogs

The Washington Post is reporting on Exxon Mobil’s second quarter earnings for 2008.

Exxon, that great behemoth of carbon fuel producers earned $11.68 billion (yes, BILLION) which factors out to about $1,500 per second over the last three months.

I have no problem with a business making profits. I own stocks so I like to see business make money. But when these oil-cartel-flunkies are decrying they have no control over the price of oil, then how can they produce such record profits? If their own costs have truly gone up, and they have raised their prices to protect their profits, then you would expect them to continue along a profit line, but this is blatant abuse of the American consumer.

This second quarter profit is “the biggest quarterly profit ever by any U.S. corporation” [emphasis added] according to the reporter. At a time when our country is suffering, people are losing their jobs due to company cuts, homeowners are losing their homes to foreclosure and hard-working citizens can’t afford to put gas in their cars, I call it criminal that a company like Exxon could produce a record profit like this one.

Where are our politicians/protectors now? (On vacation starting tomorrow…) We need to call them to task to regulate these abuses. There are some initiatives out there, but as usual, partisan lines are getting in the way. It’ll be a great day when our representatives actually look out for us, and not their party platforms. I don’t care what side of the aisle you’re on, when Americans and our economy are suffering, we need to come together.

You can read more here, here and here.

I’ve keeping my eye on newspapers and online commenting for a while. Letting people comment on the newspaper like a blog seemed like an interesting idea. My interest was that I thought that newspapers wouldn’t stay on top of controlling spam comments. I was wrong. Where they lost control was with the actual commenters. Without some sort of accountability, apparently people feel free to say anything they want in this sort of forum. Threatening and abusive language, insults, random and profane comments… Apparently it’s all OK, as long as nobody knows who you are. It’s time somebody with a brain took control. This sort of thing doesn’t help anything. You need a moderator, and you need some accountability.

My first thought was that requiring accounts would be my first suggestion. Putting a name to that filth would stamp most of it out pretty quickly. While I came up with one idea, Derek Powazek has has come up with 10 Ways Newspapers Can Improve Comments.

Here are ten things newspapers could do, right now, to improve the quality of the comments on their sites. (There are lots more, but you know how newspaper editors can’t resist a top ten list.)

How long before newspapers start taking these sort of measures? I’m betting it’s going to go downhill quite a bit further at most papers before it gets better. I don’t think the newspapers grasp the negative effects of this sort of thing. Sure their site numbers are going up, but is this the sort of traffic that’s going to make you money? I don’t think so.

Do you live in a rough neighborhood? Instead of getting a dog for you backyard have a look at this Paintball Sentry Gun.

Sure, I have no reason to own one of these, but I want one none the less. Having a bad day, set it up on the front porch and order a pizza… delivered. I’d likely get arrested, and I doubt I’d ever get pizza delivered again, but you have to admit it would be funny. Nice solution to that annoying neighbor’s dog too.

Roanokers love the Grandin Village. It’s a great place to have dinner (all local restaurants), catch a movie at the Grandin Theatre, shop at the Natural Foods Coop and stroll down the sidewalk.

And it’s the sidewalk that is the subject of this email. I was picking up a pizza from Grace’s Pizzeria (one of the two best pizza joints in Roanoke) and as I was walking out, I couldn’t help but notice this large SUV parked directly on the sidewalk. The hilarious part is the sign right beside the offending vehicle.

So all you bicyclists and skateboarders keep off the sidewalk. The SUVs need the space. :o)

Just got a mailing from Dave Foster of Arlington.  It is sort of an odd letter. 

Although I will not be making any official announcement until after the November election, I wanted you to know that I intend to seek the Republican nomination for Attorney General of Virginia next year.

Well, this letter pretty much is an “official” announcement it would seem.  A web site is mentioned, www.fostervirginia.org but nothing is up yet.

I have met Dave Foster before.  He led a training session held by RPV and GOPAC in 2007 in Abingdon on local elections.  He was a great presenter.  

However, I still do believe that John Brownlee is going to be the best choice for AG in 2009.

I recently was showing a foreclosed home to a client in the Hollins area when we walked into the master bathroom and noticed the toilet was in the bathtub. Okay, a little strange but not too crazy for some of the foreclosures out there. We peered down the round hole in the floor where the toilet used to be and what did we see? The basement. (Normally you’d expect to see the all black interior of a pipe.)

Wow we said, what happened to the pipe? Of course I went downstairs and started poking around and every bit of copper pipe that used to be in the house WAS GONE! Someone had used a hacksaw (and a very poor hack job it was) and cut out all the copper lines. The only thing left were the ties that had held the pipe to the floor joists and some scorch marks where someone had done some soldering in the past.

What a disaster for the selling agent who hadn’t noticed it!

What’s the point? Caveat emptor.

When buying a foreclosed home, it’s extremely important to have an experienced foreclosure agent on your side to not only represent you but also to look for problems (like this one) that rear their heads with these homes. AND bring on board an experienced home inspector who spends more than 30 minutes in the house.

The results of a fascinating study of the design of the top 50 blogs is available at Smashing Magazine. Some interesting results, but I was most interested in the ratio of fluid to fixed width layouts. 92% used fixed width. That seemed a little high to me, but I have noticed a strong trend that way in design lately. I was even more surprised to note that the writer describes the other 8% as “uses fluid elements”, but none used “used an elastic layout”.

I’ve always thought that a fluid width layout was a better design solution for most websites. Defining a minimum width for a site isn’t a bad thing, but a full fixed width layout is just too rigid. It doesn’t take the viewer’s preferences into account. You’ll also note that 56% of blogs surveyed used a site width of 951-1000 pixels. I don’t know about you, but that means if I’m viewing the site with my feed reader open, then I have to scroll left and right. Annoying! I’m sure I’m not the only person who dedicates less than 1000 pixels of screen width to their main browser window.

My favorite statisctic though was about the percentage of the layout used for main content.

“on average, 58% of the overall site layout is used to display the main content.”

The most important part of thelayout only deserves 58%? That’s the best you could do? That’s just sad, it really is.

A Small Design Study Of Big Blogs | How-To | Smashing Magazine

It is truly remarkable that among 50 top blogs not a single one used an elastic layout (width of layout grows with the growing font size) and only a small fraction uses fluid elements (layout changes depending on the size of the browser window). Here are the exact findings:

* 92% of top blogs used a fixed layout,
* 8% used a fluid layout or a hybrid layout with fluid layout elements
(Engadget, Smashing Magazine, Gigazine, Coorks and Liars).

Who, I ask, should be Obama’s VP?
Probably someone from the military.
He should have a résumé that’s pretty lengthy,
Or maybe it’d be better if he were a she.

How ’bout that Republican from the state of NE?
But two Senators on a ticket is far too risky.
A Governor’s needed for a Democratic victory;
One from a swing state whose votes will be key.

He must be a blue dog (that’s a necessity);
Not some bleeding heart Liberal like John Kennedy.
That’s what we need to rack up EVs,
And recapture the power in the thick of D.C.

Just don’t let Katherine Harris announce the final tally.

Larry Godwin and the City of Memphis have issued AOL with a subpoena to reveal the owners of the blog MPD Enforcer 2.0. This police whistle-blower blog is of course making plans to fight this subpoena.

In what could be a landmark case of privacy and the 1st Amendment, GODwin has illegally used his position and the City of Memphis as a ram to ruin the Constitution of the United States! Some members of the Enforcer 2.0 have contacted their attorneys and we are in the process of filing a lawsuit against Larry and the City of Memphis.

A quick look at comments on a local news story suggest, that Mr. Godwin isn’t getting much public sympathy. I somehow doubt the increase in the traffic at MPD Enforcer 2.0 due to this subpoena is going to put him in a better mood.

h/t Instapundit.com

I attended the Warner vs. Gilmore debate at The Homestead yesterday, and, I’ll be honest, it was predictable and a bit dry. Before I go into full detail, I’ll touch on some of the major elements of each candidate’s debate performance:

Warner: Gov. Warner emphasized his bipartisan record as Governor, and mentioned by name (on more than one occasion) some of his high-profile Republican supporters. He talked of the need for a coalition of “radical centrists” in the Senate. He talked about the growth of Virginia under his leadership, and its decline under the leadership of Gov. Gilmore. Warner referenced and admonished the vitriolic tone of Gilmore’s campaign so far, and accused him of “name calling.”

Gilmore: Gov. Gilmore did a lot of talking about trust. He kept stressing that Virginians will have a choice this fall between a candidate who does what he says he’s going to do (I assume Gov. Gilmore was talking about himself), and a candidate who said he wasn’t going to raise taxes when he ran for governor and then did it anyway. He also tried his best to make the majority of the debate about energy policy, with emphasis placed on offshore and ANWR drilling. Gilmore accused Gov. Warner of intentional mischaracterizations several times throughout the debate, and kept calling him a typical Washington politician.

As I just mentioned, the big issue of the day was ANWR and offshore drilling. Health care was touched on only briefly, and I can recall no discussion at all on educational policy or social security. Even the Iraq War, which is normally an attention magnet in debates, took a back seat to drilling. This was to be expected, of course. Gov. Gilmore’s campaign believes quite firmly that they can use the issue of domestic oil drilling to their own advantage. If they can frame the issue just right, they’re hoping that they will seem considerate of Americans being robbed at the pump while making Gov. Warner seem like an out-of-touch tree hugger.

Here’s the essence of the oil drilling arguments presented yesterday:

Gilmore: I support a comprehensive energy plan that includes wind, solar, biofuels, coal, and nuclear. But, I also support off-shore drilling and ANWR drilling, because those are the two things that will offer the most immediate benefit to Virginians in distress. Oil prices will go down if it’s clear that there’s more on the way! Mark Warner doesn’t want to drill!

Warner: I also support a comprehensive energy plan, but, unlike Jim Gilmore, I don’t think that drilling is the primary solution. I agree with John McCain’s plan to lift the federal moratorium on offshore drilling and leave that decision up to the states. ANWR should remain protected and off-limits from the impact of oil drilling. We need sensible energy policies that emphasize fuel efficiency and renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and biofuels (but not corn-based ethanol).

Gilmore: That’s a mischaracterization! I don’t believe that ANWR and offshore drilling is the primary solution, but it has to be part of the mix, and will yield the most immediate benefit. Mark Warner agrees with radical Democrats on ANWR and has changed his position on offshore drilling!

Warner: Have not. I have the same position on offshore drilling that I’ve always had! The states should decide!

Gilmore: Have, too! You can’t be trusted! *sticks out tongue*

While I may have exaggerated the above discourse a little bit, most of it is pretty true to what was actually said. I didn’t think that either candidate emerged from debate on the issue of drilling as the winner. It was more like a long and bloody dagger fight with no coup de grâce. This was one of those times during the debate when both candidates were unimpressive simultaneously.

Obviously, Jim Gilmore failed to impress on the issue because he actually believes that drilling for more oil at the expense of the environment is good policy if we want to… um… move away from using oil and save the environment.

Mark Warner failed to impress because he didn’t speak strongly enough about how truly ridiculous Gilmore’s drilling plans are. Instead, he gave a pretty vague answer as to why he doesn’t support ANWR drilling and then he made clear to everyone in the room that he agrees with John McCain’s plan: we should lift the federal moratorium on offshore drilling and then let any states that want to drill do so. It was a very mild answer on a subject that I, for one, feel passionately about. I’m sure most readers of this blog feel the same way.

That said, I’d like to take a moment to run through the highs and lows of the debate as a whole.

Jim Gilmore’s high points were:

1. Channeling the debate and post-debate coverage onto the infernal issue of oil drilling, which is what he had wanted to do all along.
2. Remaining on the offensive for a larger portion of the debate than Gov. Warner.
3. Avoiding any huge gaffes (In other words, not saying anything more crazy than usual).

Gilmore’s low points were:

1. Making a group of applauding spectators feel stupid when he didn’t enter the room until about 15 minutes after his introduction.
2. A less-than-convincing argument in favor of oil drilling: Common sense says that If you’re going to frame an entire debate around your opponent’s opposition to domestic oil drilling, you’d better be able to effectively sell your own position in favor of it. Someone forgot to tell that to Jim Gilmore.
3. Repetition: Gilmore sounded a bit like a broken record. He accused Mark Warner of mischaracterizations more times than I could count, he tried on multiple occasions to paint Mark Warner as the typical politician in the race, and he kept talking about “trust.” His debate performance was just not dynamic.
4. He may have alienated some moderate Republicans by harshly dismissing Warner’s crossover appeal, and suggesting that Gov. Warner’s Republican supporters were all “big-spending” politicians who supported Warner’s “big-spending” programs.
5. His decision to speak in favorable terms about President George W. Bush.

Warner’s high points were:

1. The “more successful Governor” debate: Gov. Warner did a very good job contrasting his own governorship with Gilmore’s. His message was that both men running for Senate have been elected Governor by the people of Virginia. One proved himself to be an incompetent leader in that capacity; the other made Virginia the “best-managed state in the nation.” He conveyed this message pretty well.
2. The children’s health insurance debate: Warner asked Gilmore at one point during the debate why his administration dropped the ball on SCHIP, which coaxed Gilmore into a diatribe against SCHIP and the irresponsible Liberal welfare mentality that it represents. The result was that Gov. Warner looked caring, while Gov. Gilmore looked like a total creep.
3. Successfully tying Gilmore to Bush: Warner was presented with an opportunity to do this when Gov. Gilmore was asked about his view of President Bush’s policies. Warner seized the opportunity, which resulted in what may have been the hardest hit from either candidate in yesterday’s debate.
4. Consistently parrying Gilmore’s attacks well enough to avoid any hard hits or lasting damages.

Warner’s low points were:

1. A tenuous attempt at rebuking Gilmore’s loopy energy policy.
2. Making some Liberal Democrats in the audience feel a little bit alienated by openly agreeing with John McCain on domestic drilling, appearing to distance himself from the Obama health care plan, and flatly rejecting Al Gore’s latest environmental challenge.

Overall, I’d say Warner had the better day, but nobody in the room was blown away by him. Gilmore did nothing at the debate that was of any real benefit to his campaign, but, as I said, he also didn’t shoot himself in the foot (although, look for the bit about George W. Bush to end up in a pro-Warner ad later this year).

The debate won’t be remembered as a key point in this campaign, but, then again, if the debate were meant to be high-stakes in the first place, it wouldn’t have been held in Bath County, and it would have been televised. It was intended primarily to cap off the Virginia Bar Association’s annual summer meeting, with its secondary intent being to provide political junkies with something neat to do on a Saturday morning. I’d say it did both.

On a personal note: After the debate, I was walking through the halls of The Homestead on my way out, and I suddenly realized that David Broder was walking right behind me. I’ve watched Meet The Press every Sunday since I was 14 years old, so I’m quite familiar with his work, as well as his prestige as a journalist. As you can probably imagine, spotting him in my home town of Hot Springs was surreal.

With a review like this, I might have to go to a theater to see this. While I’m a big fan of movies in general, and Batman in particular, I haven’t seen a movie in the last decade that I’ve felt worth going to a theater for. There’s been a few movies that I’ve regretted missing on the big screen sure, but there been so many I’m happy to have missed that it makes up for it.

Before the movie I thought Heath would be the sentimental favorite to win an Oscar. Now I don’t see how you can logically choose anyone else. The man owns this film in the same way De Niro owned Raging Bull. He devours the part and the part IS the film, full and complete. Ledger’s Joker is terrifying because he makes decent points upon occasion and you never know his true motivation for wanting to tear everything down. He’s smart, driven, and fully lethal.

I always thought Ledger was one of those actors who screamed potential. He was fun to watch in a movie, but you always wondered how much better he was going to get. Tragically, we’ll never know, but it looks like at least some of that potential came out in this movie.

I just want Christopher Nolan to keep making movies. I’m willing to start some sort of fund if necessary.

Can’t get a much better review than that can you?

Now this is just weird, but very funny. Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. Put together by Joss Whedon and starring Neil Patrick Harris, Felicia Day, and Nathan Fillion among others. Harris’ maniacal laugh at the beginning of Act 1 is hilarious. It’s a strange comic book story filmed as a musical. If I understand it correctly, all three acts will go offline in a few days. A short term project.

Update: Episode III just came out. An unexpected ending. I shouldn’t have been surprised because it’s from Joss Whedon, and he’s known for going in unexpected directions. Is it actually possible to be unsurprised by a surpise ending you didn’t see coming?

I would recommend reading Baekdal.com on a regular basis, but there have been two posts lately that are especially interesting to me. He posted about had GINA last month, this month you need to go take a look at the BMW Museum’s Kinetic Sculpture. I’m not normally a big fan of BMW, but both of these concepts are fascinating. Great design mixed with clever uses of technology.

What exactly is the point of the game Guitar Hero? Spending tens or even  hundreds of hours learning to play a fake guitar? Why don’t they actually  learn to play the guitar? With the time commitment some of these people make for the game, learning the actual guitar isn’t really out of line. They won’t play like Bonnie Raitt or anything, but they’d be learning something real.

It’s not going to happen of course. They’ll continue to flock to stores to buy fake guitars so that they can spend hundreds of hours learning to pretend to play the guitar. I just don’t get it.

Public service announcement:

The second annual Roanoke Arts Festival, re-timed this year to help celebrate the opening of the new Taubman Museum of Art, will be held Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 8-9 with free and ticketed events and activities to appeal to a wide range of audiences.

The 2008 Roanoke Arts Festival will complement the museum’s grand opening weekend and once again pay tribute to arts of the region and beyond with a host of rich offerings capped by a performance by Country-music legend Crystal Gayle. The Festival will include a free downtown rock ‘n’ roll concert, great Bluegrass music, a musical puppet show, an exposition of the culinary arts, theatrical performances, classical music and more.

The Festival will also serve as the grand finale to “40 Days and 40 Nights,” a celebration of arts and culture with daily activities and exhibits coordinated by the Arts Council of the Blue Ridge.

“This year’s Festival – timed for the museum’s opening and this historic moment for the arts and culture for our region – is a great way to celebrate all facets of the arts,” says Susan Jennings, Roanoke’s public art coordinator. “The 2008 Roanoke Arts Festival will extend this excitement onto the streets of downtown Roanoke and into venues in Roanoke Valley.”

“With the Taubman Museum opening its doors as one of the most impressive museums of its kind, we felt the Arts Festival should tie into that spirit and welcome visitors to explore not just the visual arts, but music, drama, film – even the culinary arts,” adds Festival manager Rick Salzberg.

As the final touches are being made to this year’s schedule, planning already is under way for the third annual Roanoke Arts Festival, scheduled to be held next fall.

“With strong interest and broad audience appeal from our inaugural Festival last year, we’ve heard from fans of the arts from throughout Virginia urging us to offer even more choices in years ahead,” Salzberg says. “That’s why we’re already looking ahead to next year, when we will resume a four-day Festival.”
The 2007 Arts Festival was recognized as one of the year’s best festivals by the readers of City Magazine, and even nationally renowned performers lauded the Festival.

Visit the website for more information: www.RoanokeArtsFest.org/

What can Jack do for you?

Well, it’s July, life is good and summer is in full swing. The waves are calling, folks are traveling (maybe not as far as normal with the price of gas!) and I’m back from a “blogging break” with a new site look and some new features coming down the pike for the site.

Every time I turn on the television, there’s bad news about the economy, real estate and the foreclosure crisis. There is truth amongst all the scare mongering, but it’s not all doom and gloom. Houses are still selling. If you’re looking to sell your home and buy a new home, it’s a good time. If you’re a first-time buyer with decent credit and income, it’s a great time to buy! So what are you waiting for?