WHAT is going on around here?

MoonHowler

What is going on around Manassas and Prince William County?  Did someone put something in the water? 

We have had a young man murdered on the way home from school.  He wasn’t a gang member or anything other than a popular kid, according to all I have read.  The murder took place a block from Baldwin Elementary School, not in some remote area, surrounded by his peers.   What is going on around here?

We had a strange white powder substance come out of an envelope at the courthouse.  The courthouse was locked down and 5 people underwent decontamination.  Others are being watched for signs of illness. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force  has been called in to help with the investigation.  There is no confirmation of what the substance in the envelope was.   What is going on around here?

The Manassas Park Community Center was under lockdown today also.  No one was allowed in or out.  A warrant was being served in the vicinity.  What is going on around here?

The Gainesville Lazy Boy had a sniper on the roof and there was a suicide in the Hampton Inn in Gainesville. What is going on around here?

Some driver strung out on PCP and booze careened across the median strip just south of Gainesville and killed 2 innocent people and seriously injured others.  What is going on around here?

Last week a young bear was mutilated and its gall bladder had been removed.  Supposedly the bear gall bladder is used in Chinese medicine.  That hardly explains something that happened in Prince William Forest Park.  Animal cruelty is animal cruelty.  What is going on around here?

There are bad things going on.  Sadly, people still clamor on about KK’s in the newspaper while children are being killed by gang violence.  Bloggers myopically focus on immigration status rather than looking at the big picture.   The Manassas area needs a break.   I feel like I missed something.  What else has been going on out of the ordinary?

 

Richard Cohen: Attack on Michelle Obama shows Palin’s ignorance of history

MoonHowler

Richard C0hen has a scathing op-ed  regarding Sarah Palin and her lack of knowlege about other Americans, in particular, Michelle Obama.   From the Washington Post, in its entirety:

When I was 11, my father thought it was time to show my sister and me the nation’s capital. I have only vague memories of that trip – the heat, the expanse of the White House’s grounds, the Jefferson Memorial. I do remember we took Route 1 through Baltimore (no I-95 yet) and it was there that I saw my first sign with the word “colored” on it – a rooming house, I think. This was 1952, and the United States was an apartheid nation.

It is Sarah Palin who brings back these memories. In her new book, she reportedly takes Michelle Obama to task for her supposedly infamous remark from the 2008 campaign: “For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback.” Instantly, Republicans pounced. Among the first to do so was Cindy McCain, who said, “I have and always will be proud of my country.” It was a cheap shot, but her husband’s selection of Palin for the ticket and plenty of cheap shots from Palin (“death panels,” etc.) were yet to come.

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Dogs are Smarter than Cats and other stuff…

MoonHowler

Today is a mixed bag of news.  Nothing is long enough for its own thread, but is definitely worthy of discussion.

Scientists have done a study and have concluded that dogs are smarter than cats.  Well, no duh!  We need to waste money on that one?  At any rate, because dogs are more social animals, their brains develop more.  Any arguments?

North Korea has attacked a South Korean island, killing 2 South Korean marines.  Others are injured.  This country is a problem.  What do we do about them?

The Park 51  developers  who want to put the Islamic Center 2 blocks from ground zero.  Now we find out they are applying for a $5 million dollar federal grant to pay for part of it.  What are they thinking?  Isn’t it controversial enough?  What are they thinking?