Archive for June, 2009

Fourth Circuit en banc upholds Virginia’s partial-birth abortion statute by 6-5 vote

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

Find an online degree, TED talks

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

Here is an interesting site that just started up--it provides a quick way of finding online degree programs. Whoever is running probably hopes to eventually get some advertising income from it, but nonetheless, it's a useful site. The site also has a blog, with only a few entries, but it has a list of 25 TED talks "that will change your life." I don't know about life changing, but some of the TED talks I've watched have been really good. TED stands for "Technology, Entertainment, Design," and is a small, invitation only conference held annually. The conferences tries to have a wide range of interesting people each year that are prepared to share ideas freely, and as I noted above, some of the talks can be quite good--the kind of lectures you wish you had in high school or college but rarely got to experience.

Band of Brothers Shifty Powers on the 2nd Amendment

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

Spark it Up Movie Review - Gran Torino

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

Lowell Feld - Clairvoyant or Dumb Ass?

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

Obama ABC and New Pravda

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

Why I dont ride…

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

Cops Shoot Dog - What say You?

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

Duncan Hunter - Eye on 2010

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

Our Absent Gov Kaine makes Drudge

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

DemocracyUpsideDown 2009-06-23 12:24:00

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

UVa-Wise - groundbreaking for Convocation Center

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

A Growing Urgency to End Mountaintop Removal

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

DemocracyUpsideDown 2009-06-22 17:23:00

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

Obama: America not a Judeo-Christian Nation

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

Obama Honeymoon Winding Down

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

With a little luck, a great crop of tomatoes

Sunday, June 21st, 2009

Extend Party ID to Local Elections

Saturday, June 20th, 2009

It is time that party ID on the ballot be extended to local offices like Board of Supervisors and Constitutional Offices in Virginia.

Under current Virginia law, only indicators for political party candidates (or independents) for federal, statewide, or General Assembly positions are printed on the ballots.  Local office candidates such as those for Constitutional Offices (circuit court clerks, Commonwealth’s Attorneys, sheriffs, treasurers, and commissioners of revenue) and Board of Supervisors nominated by a political party do not have any indicators beside their names on the ballot.  Yet, of course local political parties can nominate and place on the ballot candidates for these offices.  As a party chair I have to fill out and return a certification form for our local candidates for these offices to allow them ballot access.  Seems that after that, there isn’t anything in the official processes that designate them as party candidates.

As with most local political parties, we spend a considerable amount of time seeking out candidates for offices, holding meetings to nominate those candidates, assisting them with their campaigns, along with providing money and resources.  Yet, when the election comes a voter who wanted to vote a Republican ticket could be faced with two or more names for an office and be unsure of who is the Republcian candidate.  Granted, a voter should be better informed on their own and know the candidates before hand.

I’m glad that the 2009 Republican Party of Virginia Convention adopted a resolution in support of extending party ID to local elections.

Bottom line is that if the law provides for the ability of a local political party to nominate candidates for local offices, the ability for that candidate to be identified on the ballot as a Republican or Democrat should be there.  Contact your General Assembly member and encourage them to fix this problem.

Shifty Powers - Another Eagle Has Soared…Video

Saturday, June 20th, 2009

WeatherVA - Washington County

Saturday, June 20th, 2009