Be Kind to Your Fine Feathered Friends…

MoonHowler

 

 

Because the duck could be somebody’s mother…. (Sung to the strains of John Phillip Sousa)

Some fool went into Tim’s Rivershore carrying a sidearm.  He arrived at the bar pre-drunk, was refused service, got POed, went outside and shot up a bunch of domestic ducks who were swimming nearby.  Onlookers were horrified as a mother duck gasped her last breath, leaving a bunch of orphan ducklings.   The duck assassination was caught on video by a customer who just happened to be outside filming the duck and her babies.

 

The drunken fool sped away in his car, eventually crashed his car, refused a breathalyzer and was arrested and charged with DUI, reckless handling of a firearm and refusal to take a breathalyzer test.  Unfortunately, he could not be charged with killing the duck. 

 

According to News and Messenger:

 

There were also no charges regarding the carrying of a firearm. In Virginia, it’s legal to have a gun in plain view in a restaurant unless the establishment’s owner prohibits it.

Efforts to change state law to allow concealed weapons in restaurants that serve alcohol have thus far been turned back, but the issue came up in the recent Democratic primary for governor.

Eventual party nominee R. Creigh Deeds, a state senator from Bath County, was hammered by primary opponents Terry McAuliffe and Brian Moran for voting to allow concealed guns in bars.

 

 

Now I don’t know about you all, but I don’t want to go to bars where drunks have guns.  I don’t care if the gun is concealed or unconcealed.  I don’t think alcohol and guns are a good combination.  They certainly aren’t good for ducks. 

More story and pictures from channel 4.

So who has the REAL facts on immigration, legal and otherwise?

Elena

NEW AMERICANS IN THE OLD DOMINION:
Virginia’s Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians are a Political and Economic Powerhouse

June 16, 2009

Washington D.C. – The Immigration Policy Center has compiled research which shows that immigrants, Latinos, and Asians not only wield tremendous political power in Virginia, but are also an integral part of Virginia’s economy and tax base. As workers, taxpayers, consumers, and entrepreneurs, immigrants and their children are an economic powerhouse. As voters, they are a potent political force. Yet anti-immigrant groups are exaggerating the alleged fiscal “costs” imposed by undocumented immigrants, and are completely discounting the many economic benefits which immigrants, Latinos, and Asians bring to the Old Dominion.

Highlights of the research include:

Immigrants make up about 10% of Virginia’s total population and nearly half of them are naturalized citizens who are eligible to vote.
New Americans (naturalized U.S. citizens and their U.S.-born children) represent 6.4% of the voting population.
The purchasing power of Virginia’s Latinos totaled $13.5 billion in 2008 and Asian buying power totaled $14.7 billion.
Asian-owned businesses in the state generated sales and receipts worth more than $7.7 billion annually and Latino-owned businesses generated $3.4 billion in 2002.
Virginia’s undocumented population earned between $2.6 and $3.1 billion in 2007, and paid between $260 and $311 million in state income, excise, property, Social Security, and Medicare taxes.
There is no denying the contributions immigrants make and the important role they play in Virginia’s political and economic future. Virginia’s budget deficit was not created by immigrants and it won’t be filled by attacking them. For more data on the contributions of immigrants, Latinos, and Asians to Virginia’s economy, view the IPC fact sheet in its entirety.

It’s Not the Deed, Its the Hyprocrisy

MoonHowler

“This is yet another reminder as to why the American people have chosen new management for the foreseeable future,” said John Weaver, a former senior adviser to  Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). “Nothing is shocking in Washington, of course, except the audacity of politicians who believe rules don’t apply to them.”

Today, as Senator John Ensign (R-Nevada) confessed to maritial infidelity, one can’t help  but remember that the good senator had called upon President Bill Clinton to resign in 1998.  Speaking of Clinton at the time, Ensign stated:

 “He sent taxpayer-paid staff out to lie for him, and that is a misuse of office,” Ensign said, adding that the president had “no credibility left.”

Additionally, he led the charge against Senator Larry Craig after the infamous Minneapolis bathroom incident, calling him a disgrace.  He led an unsuccessful campaign to force Craig’s resignation. 

Senator Ensign is a rising star in the Republican Party.  Probably most voters can forgive infidelity.  I am not so sure they can buy into the ‘do as I say, not as I do’ mentality that has been exhibited by Ensign. 

Will this incident hurt Ensign’s career?  Will voters forgive him?  Will John Edwards be able to continue his political career?  In the post-Clinton years, how damaging are affairs to politicians?  Is the Republicans  harsher about such behavior than the Democrats? 

 

Full story in the Washington Post.  The veterinarian turned senator has led a rather interesting life.

[***UPDATE FROM WASHINGTON POST 6/20/09: see below]

Three days after confessing an extramarital affair with a campaign aide,  Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) yesterday accused his former mistress’s husband of trying to extract a financial payout from the Nevada Republican.

 

Ensign’s office released a statement Friday charging that Douglas Hampton sought a large payment from Ensign, although the senator’s office refused to say how much money Hampton was seeking and whether there had been any negotiations over a payout.