There’s a growing chorus of voices in Prince William County from parents and teachers to make Inauguration Day a school holiday. This actually seems like a great idea. If we want our children to be civic minded then what better way then to have them be aware of the swearing in of the new President. It’s just one day every four years, so I don’t see a downside to this one. For more information, there’s an article in InsideNova.com.
Salute To Lori Piestewa
Three days into the Invasion of Iraq, in the wee hours before dawn, Lori Ann Piestewa (py-ESS-tuh-wah) knew something was wrong. The convoy had taken a wrong turn. They were not in the desert but just outside the Iraqi city of Nasiriyah. An ambush ensued. Eleven soldiers were killed and 9 wounded. Several, including Lori’s best friend, Jessica Lynch, were taken POW. Lori Piestewa was one who was killed. She was not only the first woman killed in the Iraqi War, but she was the first Native American woman killed in the Iraqi War.
Lori, a Hopi Indian, was born and raised in Tuba City, AZ which is in the Navajo Nation. Like many young Native Americans, Lori had been in the JR ROTC program during high school and after graduation, married, had 2 children, divorced, moved back home and then joined the military.
On March 23, 2007, The Lady Warrior was honored by the renaming of Squaw Peak near Phoenix, to Piestewa Peak. To think it took the death of the brave young Native American woman to get rid of the term ‘squaw’ when referring to a landmark is unconscionable. The highway that passes near the mountain peak was also named in her honor—Piestewa Freeway.
There has been much discussion on this blog of political correctness and the use of certain terms. I often think we gag ourselves over political correctness. Then again, 2007—Squaw Peak—how inappropriate—how insulting to women—Native women. Why should someone have to die to have the crap stopped? Is political correctness just good manners?
I went to Tuba City fairly shortly after Lori’s death, as a silent pilgrimage to a brave woman. Tuba City is worn. Like many Native American towns, it is rife with poverty and unemployment. The townspeople stared at my traveling companion and me. We do not look Indian. I am certain they wondered why we were there. I didn’t bother them. I just wanted to pay my silent respects to the Native Lady Warrior. Ray Powell does it with more class:
Lori Piestewa Memorial Fund
Wells Fargo
2625 N. 4th St.
Flagstaff, AZ 86004
Thinking of Our Friend, Bob Wills
Our friend from the BOCS meetings, Bob Wills, lost his 87 year old mother over the weekend.
Bob, our thoughts are with you at this sad time. We feel certain she was a very special lady because she had a very special son.
We offer you our heartfelt condolences.
“Drove My Chevy to the Levee and the Levee Was Dry….
Big 3 Auto Company Bailout
Good grief. You hear nothing else on the news lately.
Has anyone else sorted it all out?
Right to Work states like Virginia do not have the same problems that non-right to work states have. Unions have less influence and strangely enough, workers do not seem too disappointed that there isn’t a union boss hovering around every corner.
It seems that the unions have caused some of the problems. Retirees are living high on the hog and big 3 auto workers are making approximately 60 bucks an hour when the other non-union companies are making around $40 per hour. The terms of their contracts are very lucrative. Other auto plants located in the south east where unions do not have a foothold are prospering. Their workers make much less than their counterparts in the north. How much are union dues eating into paychecks?
On the other hand, what happens if the big 3 fail? How many Americans will be out work? How devastating will the failure be on this industry? Will the American car become a relic of the past? What about the peripheral industries such as dealers, service related jobs, parts, enhancements? What will become of these folks? How many people are we really talking about?
From listening to the news, many senators and congressmen are talking about a chapter 11 restructuring of these companies. It all seems very complicated to me. I tend to look at it as a real part of Americana disappearing. What’s worth saving and why should we save it?
“Drove my Chevy to the levee and the levee was dry….Bye bye Miss American Pie.
[Feel free to make corrections on me. I was free-wheeling in my head with things I have heard the past couple of weeks. My figures might not be accurate.]
“The High Cost of Harsh Words” a NYTimes editorial
Recently, a tragic story, has come to epitomize the need to find common ground and solutions for comprehensive immigration reform. There has been talk on AntiBVBL, round and round, about what constitutes hate, how racism is defined, and how words contribute to hate and a growing sense of anger and resentment toward Latinos as an immigrant population. This editorial from the New York Times sheds some light on a community, enveloped by fear and anger until the final culmination, an innocent man’s death, requires us all to acknowledge the truth. There is a dangerous outcome that lurks beneath the surface of misleading people believe that Hispanics are somehow deserving of punishment.
I am sad to say the description below of Suffolk County executive Steve Levy reminds me of our own Corey Stewart and his rhetoric — rhetoric I urged him numerous times to alter, and bring some healing to our community. He ignored me, as he ignored many others during the most volatile times in Prince William County.
Words have consequences. Steve Levy, the Suffolk County executive, is learning that the hard way during a horrible week. Seven teenagers were arrested and charged in the fatal stabbing last Saturday of Marcello Lucero, an Ecuadorean immigrant, on a street in the Long Island village of Patchogue.
Mr. Levy’s past harsh words and actions against undocumented workers have now left him cornered with a tragically limited ability to lead the county in confronting a brutal act that surely pains him as much as anyone.
Local lawmakers often complain about immigration, but Mr. Levy went much farther than most. He founded a national organization to lobby for crackdowns. He went on “Lou Dobbs.” He tried to deputize county police to make immigration arrests and to rid the county work force of employees without papers. He sought to drive day laborers from local streets, yet rigidly opposed efforts to create hiring sites. Even as tensions simmered in places like Farmingville, a hot spot for anti-immigrant resentment, Mr. Levy would not budge.
He parroted extremist talking points, going so far as to raise the alarm, utterly false, that illegal immigrants’ “anchor babies” were forcing Southampton Hospital to close its maternity ward. He denounces racist hatred, yet his words have made him a hero in pockets of Long Island where veins of racism run deep.
All that came back to haunt Mr. Levy this week, when an evil act underscored the need to draw together. Immigrant advocates assailed him for having poisoned the atmosphere. Some called for his resignation. With tactless self-pity, Mr. Levy complained to Newsday that the killing would have been a one-day story anywhere but his home turf. He laments that people overlook his recent, far more measured tone on the issue. He insists that people have a distorted picture of him. Mr. Levy needs to realize that distortions cut both ways.
Americans, Europeans Share Immigration Worries According to the Washignton Post
Today’s Washington Post discusses immigration fears both in the United States and in Europe.
Americans and Europeans share deep concerns about immigration, with a large percentage worrying that it can bring crime and displace workers, even though a majority agree that it does not increase the risk of terrorism, according to an opinion survey sponsored by the German Marshall Fund.
People on both sides of the Atlantic express sharply negative views of illegal immigration, and roughly half of respondents said they think immigration in general is “more of a problem” than an opportunity for their societies. The European nations surveyed were the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands.
“Real anxiety about legal immigration exists, but it is dwarfed by concerns about illegal immigration,” the fund said in a statement yesterday. At least 80 percent of respondents in all surveyed countries called for stronger border controls, and more than 73 percent in all the countries called for tougher sanctions on those who hire illegal immigrants.
This video has been around a few years but it gives an overall synopsis of how many Brits feel immigration to their country. Loss of culture, cost, and granting of asylum when unwarranted seem to be chief beefs. Do we see any similarities between the sentiments expressed here and the ones we see expressed in the United States?
Notice where the Brit ‘escape boat’ is headed.
I will ask my Brit friend to drop by and give his opinion.
Warning: Some may find the accompanying video offensive.
Kids on a Rampage
Prince William County Police should be commended for the quick crime-solve of the Sudley Place vandalism. Kids can do some mighty stupid things but residents should not have to bear the cost and time that go into fixing the damage. Hopefully, the group who did this vandalism will receive very inconvenient, stiff sentences that teach a lesson.
Some of us were talking about what causes this type of behavior. We seem to have had a rash of it with young adults here recently. Houses in Gainesville were vandalized. Cars and a few homes were vandalized in Sudley. Why do young adults (who basically are still kids in my mind) and kids go on rampages like this?
Is this new behavior? Is it reflective of the community? Is it reflective of the times? Is it more rampant than it used to be? Do kids have more freedom? Is it part of a hate crime tendency?
With this type of crime occurring as frequently as it does, is this the time to be cutting back on police on street? As the economy grows worse, should we expect theft to increase, vandalism to increase because unemployed people have too much time on their hands?
What county services would you be willing to give up to keep the PWC police force at its current levels rather than it suffering the same cut backs as other county agencies are going to have to do?
These are tough questions for tough times. Give us your opinions.
See full story at the Washington Post.
Hate Vandalism in Sudley
This article in the Washington Post tells of a hundred cars that were vandalized in the Sudley area with anti-gay & ethnic slurs. Luckily, the police have caught the 4 perpetrators. This is yet another example of how hate is on the rise. Crimes against latinos are skyrocketing. Early last year I spoke to someone who issued me a warning that hatred is rarely focused at one particular group that once it takes hold it has a tendency to spread. Apparently, that is what we are witnessing. And Supervisor Stirrup who refuses to denounce this hatred is partly to blame. Just as Elena described in the board meeting, there appears to be a cancer in our community and we need leadership to address it.
Is Perception Reality?
Apparently Pat Herrity is rather contemptuous of PWC’s handling of
According to the DC Examiner, Fairfax Chair-hopeful Pat Herrity pretty much relegated illegal immigration to a less than important position on the Fairfax County political spectrum. An economic crisis and a $500 million dollar budget shortfall seem to be taking up all the attention of the leadership of our neighbors to the north.
Herrity was rather critical of PWC.
Herrity on Thursday criticized as “mean-spirited” the policies of Prince William, which in fiscal 2008 turned over more suspected
Illegal immigrants to federal authorities than any other government in the region. The measures led to an exodus of Hispanic residents.“I don’t think they looked out for the legal immigrants,” Herrity said Thursday. “They were perceived as attacking immigrants period, versus making the strong distinction between illegal and legal.”
At the same time, he leveled charges of inaction at his own board. Herrity said illegal immigration has brought about “significant budget impacts,” and he criticized supervisors for taking years to begin combating illegal boarding houses.
Not to be upstaged, Corey Stewart, Chairman of PWC BOCS retorted, calling Herrity’s comments disappointing and surprising:
“He’s got to do what he thinks he’s got to do in order to win,” he said. “That’s kind of an ignorant statement to make, frankly.”
>
While I don’t necessarily agree that the Immigration Resolution had that much impact on the situation in PWC, I find it disturbing that other jurisdictions have the perceptions that they have.
How odd that this article should appear today, in light of the debate raging on Anti. Here’s a new thread for its continuation. Do you feel the Resolution did, in fact, drive off Hispanics, legal or illegal, or was it the economy and the jobs drying up? Did PWC fail to distinguish between legal and illegal in their operations?
[Thanks to Censored for sending the article my way.]
Register Now for City’s Nov. 15 Neighborhood Conference
Thanks to Chris for submitting this announcement:
Regina “R.J.” Blair, an upbeat and motivating Neighborhood Coordinator from Fort Worth, Texas, will be the keynote speaker at the City of Manassas’ Second Annual Neighborhood Conference on Saturday, November 15, from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Carteret Mortgage Boys and Girls Club, 9501 Dean Park Lane, Manassas (behind Jennie Dean Elementary School).
Blair, who says of city employees, “We should picture ourselves standing in the driveway and seeing things from a citizen’s point of view,” holds three degrees in architecture and city planning and leads the Sunrise Edition Redevelopment Organization, a non-profit capacity building organization in Fort Worth.
The theme of the conference is “Neighborhood Power – Building Community Connections & Partnerships.” Participants can choose to attend two of these workshop sessions:
· When Sparks Fly – Resolving Neighborhood Conflict
· Gangs, Graffiti and Good Neighbors – Starting a Neighborhood Watch
· The Future of Your Neighborhood – The Manassas Next Initiative
· Stand Up and Be Heard – How to Communicate With Your City Leaders
· Know Your Rights – Fair Housing to Traffic Stops
· Show Me the Money – How to Get Funding for Your Neighborhood Projects
Enjoy a Block Party box lunch and vote for your favorite “Divine Desserts” from local churches. Luncheon remarks will cover “Fair Housing is Everyone’s Right.” A Marketplace of exhibits and booths will be open all day. Talk with Special Guest – News & Messenger columnist and “Short Cuts” Cookbook Author Mary Ann Kauchak, from 12 noon to 1:30 p.m. Girl Scouts and other local youth will be helping with this program, from on-site registration and speaker introductions to offering children’s activities for ages 6 and older. There is also a special technology room for teens. Stay to the end for the Best of Neighborhood Awards, door prizes and free apples and pumpkins to take home. Register now at www.manassascity.org or call 703-257-8240. If you live or work in the City of Manassas or Prince William area, you are welcome to attend. Cost of admission: Free, but everyone is encouraged to bring a can of food to donate to the SERVE food pantry.
Press please contact: Kisha Sogunro, Neighborhood Services Coordinator, City of Manassas, 703-257-8240
Stirrup’s Quarterly Townhall Meeting Update
I attended the Gainesville District Townhall meeting and here’s a quick update.
- Transportation projects include the widening of 15, widening of 66 and the Linton Hall Corridor Project are all on track to be completed either early or on-time. And let me just say, I stand in awe of these transportation engineers who are able to squeeze a lane out of nothing. Unfortunately, new project funding is in doubt because of current economic conditions and funding issues related to the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority and Bob Marshall’s lawsuit where the Virginia Supreme Court ruled the collection of the funds unconstitutional.
- There was literature available concerning the Journey thru Hallowed Ground designation.
- Transmission Lines have been approved by the Virginia State Corporation Commission conditional on West Virginia and Pennsylvania. West Virginia has given the go ahead while Pennsylvania has not. Also, there’s this interesting article in today’s Washington Post about Maryland regulators requesting electric utilities to draft conservation plans.
- USDOT representative reports federal highway funding legislation runs out at the end of September 09 and will need an overhaul.
- Stirrup again refuses to answer question about his membership in ‘Help Save Manassas’ instead decides to call me an ‘illegal alien apologist.’ Okay, if you think McCain and Reagan were apologists then so be it.But I did seem to learn who’s Stirrup’s spin meister is – Mr. Murphy. By the way, you were not his first choice for the job, greater men with more integrity declined this position. Better get back to crunching those numbers since ER visits have not decreased.
Puppy Love!
Sometimes after you have worked hard, given it your best shot, and done all you can do, it is time to just sit back and smell the roses, or…in this case, watch the puppies.
These puppies are Shiba Inu pups, a Japanese hunting breed. Their names are Autumn, Ayumi, Amaya, Aki, Akoni, Ando–3 boys and 3 girls. The video occassionally goes dark but it comes back fairly quickly.
So, no roses but a puppy fix is in order. Please enjoy. This thread doesn’t have one iota of political thought on it. We aren’t even going to recommend one of these doll-babies for the Obama family.
Link to full story. If the puppies aren’t playing, they are asleep. If you don’t see puppies, they are out playing.
[update: I have only seen 1 puppy since this morning. I guess most have gone to their forever homes, although 5 weeks on NOv 11 seems awfully young.]
[* All 6 chaps are back now. I have no clue where they were.]
Man killed, Saturday, simply for being Hispanic….another tragedy
This, this is what happens when you allow hatred of one segment of our population to grow and fester like a cancer. Marcello Lucero, 37, was stabbed to death Saturday, November 9th. His crime, you may ask? He was Hispanic. Seven teenagers, living in a county where the County Executive, Steven Levy, is known for pushing tough anti illegal immigration enforcement, even to the extent of raiding apartment buildings, demanding documentation from the inhabitants, all of whom were Latino. Apparently these teenage boys were looking for any Hispanic to attack, and Marcello was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. The reality is, when you have elected officials, standing silently by, while hatred and racism grow towards one group of people, violence is bound to happen. What is worse though, when I think about it, is that I can only imagine that Suffolk County mirrored PWC in many ways, in ways that refused to acknowledge there was a growing dislike towards the Latino community. However, we had Greg’s blog to document the growing hatred, hatred that Corey and John, to this day, continue to deny knowing about or admitting that there is a division growing in our county. Geez, you even have Corey saying, out loud, “did you ask the Spanish speaker if they were legal citizens”, when he was inquiring about the citizen satisfaction survey.
Read More
Election Disaggregated Data: Obama Wins Moderate Vote
The Pew Research Center has released some interesting data on the demographics of the election. The teaser is here on the blog with a link to more info to those who want it, via the blue Pew Research Center.
An important bit of data revealed that Obama won the moderate vote. While Democrats have captured the moderate vote for the past 5 elections, this past election the results were dramatic and significantly more moderates were identified as the swing vote. What does all this tell us? Are moderates sick of some of the conservative social values the Republicans always seem to mire in? Are people just voting against the Religious Right?
Inquiring minds want to know and the anti group is never shy about sharing their respective opinions.
[ed note: The chart is small. I attempted to make it larger. It got blurrier. If the print is too small use the link to the original site.]
Civitas Institute Interview: John Stirrup
This overly embellished interview has been unearthed.
It seems like Mr. Stirrup left off the neutering process. What services are illegal immigrants denied now? How has crime dropped 19%? I thought I read where it had increased.
There is so much misinformation in this interview that I am embarrassed for John Stirrup. Either he is not being honest or he honestly does not know. Someone is feeding him bad information and it is his duty to know.
Prince William County has some immigration issues. Let’s examine them honestly rather than try to impress our friends and colleagues with doing something we haven’t really done.
It sounded to me like Forked Tongue of the State.
Editor’s Note: This is a rehash of a thread posted at the end of September. I’m including my original comments.
Apparently Gainesville Supervisor – John Stirrup made an appearance in the town or Raleigh, NC to spread outright lies. One has to wonder what his true motivation are in perpetuating these lies. Here in PWC we have had a tumultuous time since the initial adoption of our ‘Immigration Resolution’ which most likely is now being marketed as ‘The Rule of Law Resolution’.
Not having been there but having heard Stirrup’s on a couple of occasions, these facts might give you a more balanced observation of what has occurred here in PWC.
PWC County Schools has 700 fewer ESOL students
** These were the forecasted numbers which haven’t come to fruition, and some neighboring jurisdictions have had a greater percentage drops than PWC without implementing any policy.
Crime Statistics dropped 20%
** Actually, the crime rate has been dropping over the past 4 years, each year by approximately 20% even during the time frame where we had the “influx of illegals”.
Hospitals are less overcrowded
** Actually, emergency room visits have remained at the same levels but we have had about 500 less uninsured births combined with losses in L&D nurses.
What I’m sure he didn’t mention.
1. We have DOUBLE the foreclosure rates of surrounding jurisdictions that supposedly have MORE of an illegal problem than we do.
2. We have lost 25-40% of our home values, again this is DOUBLE the losses of surrounding counties
3. Our program has only identified 1.6% of those arrested as ILLEGALS
4. We have had to cut vital services to fund this program like our Senior Citizen Day Center, no new tiles in our libraries, close a health clinic, and the list goes on and on…
5. According to our County’s ‘Citizen Satisfaction Survey’, minorities including Blacks now have the lowest confidence ever recorded in our Police Department which ALSO has been cut for next year. How convenient.
6. 5% of those handed over to ICE have ended up being RE-ARRESTED in our community which makes you wonder where the other 95% really are. I suspect the majority of them were simply released by ICE and are back on our streets.
Obviously, John is now taking talking points from Corey as they try to convince the residents of Durham, North Carolina to follow in our ill-conceived footsteps. Funny how he outright LIES about emergency room visits even after receiving a report to the contrary. And, again, those crime stats being touted as if they actually had some sort of significance.
