Final UVA Report on Illegal Immigration Presented Tues. 11/16

MoonHowler

Tomorrow, Tuesday, Novemeber 16, the final  UVA Report on illegal immigration will be presented during the BOCS Meeting.   Dr. Guterbock of UVA will present the final report to the BOCS tomorrow afternoon. 

There are a few irregularies.  The report was not available at the time the agenda was published on the county website.  If one clicks on view, there is just the title sheet and no report.  As much as UVA  has been paid to do this report, not having at least a draft available is simply unacceptable. 

To add to the irregularities, a recess as been added to the order of business and a press conference  has been scheduled following the formal presentation by Dr. Guterbock.  Whoever heard of interrupting a Supervisors meeting for a press conference?  Perhaps Corey is afraid that the Chief is going to schedule one also and steal his thunder.  We feel certain Corey wants to put his own spin on things, especially if the UVA report says something he doesn’t like.  In Prince William County, the spin does not necessarily stop here. 

Why would a press conference be scheduled in the middle of a meeting?  Why was no draft available to preview?  Tune in tomorrow afternoon.  This ought to be quite a show.  Does Corey’s entire rule of law campaign hang on this report? 

CORRECTION:  The supervisors had a copy of the report delivered to their house on Saturday afternoon.  This is getting more mysterious.  Why was a copy NOT posted on the agenda?

Final Report

Evaluation Presentation

 

Cindy Brookshire: Manassas Woman of the Year

MoonHowler

Congratulations to Cindy Brookshire.  She was selected Manassas Woman of the Year!  Cindy will be riding in the open convertible in this year’s Christmas Parade and she certainly serves as a wonderful role model for us all.

Cindy is a leader in her church and her community.  She keeps everyone informed of all the good things about the City of Manassas.  She doesn’t stop her efforts at the boundary lines either.  She is more than willing to share her time and effort with Prince William County. 

Cindy has been very instrumental in making the Neighborhood Watch Program a pillar in many communities.  She has also worked closely with city officials and youth groups to do neighborhood cleanups and spruce ups.  Cindy doesn’t just camp on the phone, organizing these initiatives.  She is out there with everyone else and is generally the last to leave a clean up site.

Cindy is not afraid to step out of her comfort zone over things she believes to be right and just.  She doesn’t look around to make sure she is on the popular side of an issue.  We are all proud of Cindy Brookshire and wish her well during her reign as Manassas Woman of the Year! 

 

 

Westboro Demonstrates at WSHS–200 Counter-Protesters

MoonHowler

Five members of the extremist group from Westboro Baptist Church out of Topeka, Kansas showed up on Old Bridge Road to protest at Woodbridge Senior High School.  The Westboros were greeted by about 200 counter-demonstrators waving flags, signs with positive messages  and singing “God Bless America.”  The principal of WSHS had asked the school community to ignore Westboro.  Apparently he was ignored also.  Westboro was greatly outnumbered.

The message was clearly sent:  Don’t Mess with Woodbridge.

Apparently the activities stirred up quite a traffic jam and one can only imagine the sights the students coming in on buses got to enjoy.   

UPDATE:  Westboro did not make it to the Coast Guard Recruiting Center.  There were plenty of folks out on Smoketown Road for the counter-demonstration there also.

 

Insidenova.com  will have continuing coverage.

Cindy McCain takes aim at “political and religious leaders”

MoonHowler

While John McCain continues to  fight a repeal of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, his wife, Cindy McCain, seems just as determined to help the other side.  Of course John McCain has done a flip flop on this issue, like many others when he decided he wasn’t quite conservative enough to win re-election to his senate seat without a major make-over.

According to Politico.com:

“Our government treats the LGBT community like second class citizens,” the senator’s wife says later in the video.

 Though Cindy McCain has spoken out on behalf of gay rights in the past, the video still came as a surprise to some gay rights activists.

 “I’m astonished and impressed as hell,” John Aravosis wrote on Americablog Gay. “The woman basically accused her husband of sharing the blame for gay kids killing themselves.”

 Cindy McCain previously appeared in the NOH8 campaign, which opposed California’s gay-marriage ban.

 John McCain is traveling overseas this week and his press secretary could not be reached immediately for comment.

What must it be like at the McCain dinner table these days?  Cindy works for equality for gals and young Ms. Meghan McCain works for The Daily Beast and is about as moderate of a Republican as one can get and still be considered a Republican. 

Young gays have the highest rate of suicide in the nation.  It is easy to understand why when one considers the messages they hear from our churches and politicians.  Do these messages increase the bullying that happens to these young people?

 

Tucker Carlson Joins the Sleazels

MoonHowler

Tucker Carlson has become a sleazel.   According to Huffington Post, he corresponded with Philadelphia Daily News columnist Stu Bykofsky posing as ‘Keith Olbermann. ‘   Fake Olbermann talked smack about his boss MSNBC President Phil Griffin and made all sorts of accusations. 

The incendiary emails seemed too good to be true — and they were. They were sent from [email protected]. That’s an address that is not owned by Olbermann, but by Carlson. In July, Carlson announced that he had purchased the domain name KeithOlbermann.com, and told Politico that people could email him at [email protected] — the same address that the emails to Bykofsky came from.

On Tuesday night, Yahoo’s Michael Calderone reached Carlson by phone. Carlson confirmed that he had, in fact, sent the emails posing as Olbermann

There is really no reason for anyone who wants to be taken seriously to do anything this dishonest and childish.  Tucker Carlson has totally blown his credibility in my opinion.  I hope Olbermann never lets him live it down.

 

 

NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia Renounces Unscrupulous Physician

MoonHowler

All who bought the line of BS being pushed by Attorney General Ken Cucinelli and Supervisor John Stirrup need to be aware of the following letter I received from NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia.  Without the AG’s ‘interpretation,’ Virginia has the tools, ways and means to regulate unscrupulous abortion providers.  Virginia always has retained the ability to stop physicians and clinical practices not in keeping with high medical standards. 

Dear Moon:

We recently learned that physician Steven Brigham, the owner of abortion provider American Women’s Services, which lists offices in Fairfax and Virginia Beach, has been accused of egregious medical misconduct in other states.

Dr. Brigham’s egregious and unscrupulous actions are wholly inconsistent with the excellent record of safety established by other providers in the field of women’s reproductive health care services.
 
We support the highest standards for women’s health, which is why abortion remains one of the safest surgical procedures performed in the United States. The charges against Dr. Brigham are serious, appalling and out of line with the values for which we stand. We call on state authorities to use the power of current state laws to ensure that Dr. Brigham is never allowed to provide services to women again.

Fortunately, in Virginia, abortion care is highly regulated through the Board of Health Professions, Board of Medicine, OSHA and other regulatory bodies and laws. We have seen the effectiveness of current Virginia regulations, as one of Brigham’s associates was recently denied a medical license in the Commonwealth as she had her license suspended elsewhere. The heinous actions of Dr. Brigham do not point to the need for further regulations targeting abortion providers, but for states to prosecute Dr. Brigham under current statutes.

We support the efforts of the National Abortion Federation over the years calling for investigation of Brigham and his clinics. NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia has worked and will continue to work to make sure Virginians have access to the highest standard of abortion care.

If you have questions about the situation or want to know how to talk about it with your friends, please contact us.

For choice,

Tarina Keene
Executive Director

Hopefully, our board of supervisors, the Manassas City Council, and Governor McDonnell will see Cucinelli’s gestures for what they are–an attempt to regulate abortion providers right out of business.  Those seeking further regulation need to familiarize themselves with current regulations rather than preying upon people’s fears and emotions. 

 

Tax Cut Speculations

MoonHowler

The Bush tax cuts are due to expire at the end of the year.  It sounds like President Obama is standing firm on tax cuts for the middle class and that reports from the Huffington Post were wrong.  He still feels it would be irresponsible to permanently extend tax cuts for the upper 2%. 

According to CNN:

Speaking Friday, Obama said his “number one priority” is extending tax cuts for the middle class. “I also believe that it would be fiscally irresponsible for us to permanently extend the high income tax cuts,” he said. “I think that would be a mistake, particularly when we’ve got our Republican friends saying that their number one priority is making sure that we are dealing with our debt and our deficit.”

A good compromise would be to push the upper limits a little higher.  Perhaps only those making $500,000 and above should not be have tax cuts extended.    No one ever wants to be that person who has their taxes raised.  However, those making over a half million dollars annually can sure afford it more than the children of the lesser gods.

Mississippi Coach Beats Students for Blowing Basketball Plays

MoonHowler

Basketball Coach Marlon Dorsey  of Murra High School in Jackson, Mississippi has been temporarily suspended from his job for beating students with a 5 pound weight belt when they failed to run basketball plays to his satisfaction.  Nearly all the students have been beaten at one time or another.  One student received belt beatings almost daily.

The students did not rat out the coach for fear of being benched or removed from the team.  The team discipline was discovered by a parent (seen in the video) who stopped by the gym to watch practice.  The father was outraged.

Coach Dorsey has submitted a written explanation, but not an apology.  According to the Washington Post:

“I took it upon myself to save these young men from the destruction of self and what society has accepted and become silent to the issues our students are facing on a daily basis. I am deeply remorseful of my actions to help our students.”

 

Would apologizing really even help? Three of the sets of parents have filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of their sons. Other parents have defended the coach and are working to help retain his job:

“He has made them go to study hall, makes them turn in their homework and makes them give weekly reports of their school work,” Gary Love, whose son plays for Dorsey, told the paper. “It’s been all positive with one bad incident. He made a huge mistake, but he is human.

“It was poor judgment, but he is an outstanding person, determined and driven to make those kids better. I think we all need to step back and give him his job back”

Poor judgement?  Were Coach Dorsey coaching in this area, he would be a goner and would probably have had criminal charges filed against him by now. Should he lose his job, even if he were trying to ‘help’ the boys?

 

 

 

 

 

Glenn Beck Draws Ire of ADL for Anti-Semitism

MoonHowler

Fox News’ Glenn Beck has drawn the ire of the Daily Beastand the Anti-Defamation League for his remarks about billionaire George Soros. Beck, in a week-long attack on Soros, has gone over the top by accusing the billionaire of anti-Semitism and actions against Jews during WWII.

According to the Daily Beast:

To inoculate himself against charges of anti-Semitism, Beck hurled them at Soros, pointing out that he’s an atheist and a critic of Israel. He accused Soros of helping Nazis steal Jewish property as a teenager and of feeling no remorse about it. In fact, when Soros was 14 in Nazi-occupied Hungary, his father bribed an agriculture official to pretend that the boy was his Christian godson. Soros once had to accompany his protector to inventory a confiscated Jewish estate. Asked by 60 Minutes if he felt guilty about it, he said no, because he wasn’t at fault. The slander that he was a Nazi collaborator has proliferated on the right ever since.

Meanwhile, while airing all these charges, Beck made stupid faces and mimicked Soros and his organizations that provide food and shelter to desperately poor people. To date, there have been 3 shows devoted to Soros-bashing. Beck has not hold back. He calls Soros “The Puppetmaster,” and has puppets Beck handles himself.  The Anti-Defamation League has weighed in on these shows.

Read More

Social Security Healthier Than We Were Led to Believe

MoonHowler

For the past 30 years I have been hearing how I will never see a penny of social security and how it will be bankrupt  long before I ever got there.  The doom and gloom has been a slow drum roll.  All the boomers thought they were paying in to a system that was giving all our money away to various groups who weren’t old people. 

Now in the Huffington Post:

Social Security, according to its annual report, is expected to pay out slightly more in benefits than it receives in payroll tax this year, for the first time since changes were made in 1983. But payroll taxes are only one source of income for the program, and with the others — including interest income on its $2.5 trillion trust fund, held in special issue U.S. Treasury securities — the program is expected to continue to run a surplus until 2024.

The program will need to start spending from its trust fund in 2025, with that fund becoming exhausted in 2037, which is consistent with last year’s estimate. But at a press conference Thursday, Social Security Commissioner Michael J. Astrue, one of the government trustees releasing the report, begged reporters not to scare the public by exaggerating the significance of trust fund exhaustion

“That does not mean that there will be no money left,” Astrue said. At that point, even if Congress took no action, Social Security could still pay out 78 percent of expected benefits from annual revenues. “That would be a bad result, but it is a far cry from having no benefits at all,” he said.

Inaccurate reporting on the topic tends to “make young people despair about Social Security,” he said.

The program, signed into law in 1935 by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, has served as an economic lifeline for millions over the past 75 years. “I’m excited about the next 75 years of Social Security, and you should be too,” Astrue said.

So who has been the social security grim reaper all these years and why?  Has it been a way to control seniors?  Do we need to look to the future?  Of course.  But social security is not at critical mass and we need to stop the panic reaction.

Drastic Debt Reduction Plan

MoonHowler

The next steps are unclear for the deficit commission’s drastic debt reduction plan. Many people have simply said what has been proposed in the draft is unacceptable on many levels.

 

Perhaps a plan this draconian is a place to start discussion. Right now it seems that senior citizens and federal works are heavily targeted and that the wealthy will be impacted the least.

 

Ten Flash Points in the Fiscal Commission Chairmen’s Proposal

The Story Behind Veterans Day

MoonHowler

When we are at war, Americans observe days of commemorance such as Memorial Day and Veterans Day just a little more carefully and with a little more reverence.  We have been at war since Fall of 2001. 

 

From the US Navy Seals Website:

 

The Story Behind Veterans Day

Posted November 7th, 2010 by USNavySeals

November 11 is celebrated annually as Veterans’ Day, a day when we honor the brave men and women who serve our country.

The story of Veterans Day is shared on the Department of Veterans Affairs website. The significance of November 11 goes back to the First World War, which officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, on June 28, 1919.

veterans dayThe war, however, had already ended even before that date. Seven months before, an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, between Germany and the Allied countries, commenced on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month: November 11, 1918.

November 11 was proclaimed by President Wilson in 1919 as Armistice Day, saying: “To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations.”

November 11 was declared a legal holiday in 1938. After the Second World War and the Korean War, the 83rd Congress, in 1954, declared November 11th as a day to honor American veterans of all wars. On October 8, 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first Veterans Day Proclamation; he then designated then Administrator of Veterans’ Affairs, Harvey Higley, as the Chairman of the Veterans Day National Committee.

 

In Honor of All Veterans–Thank you for your service!

MoonHowler

In honor of all American veterans:

Credits to fivemumaw | November 09, 2007 on youtube.com
who states this is a:Tribute to his late father who served in Vietnam and to all who’ve served in the U.S. Military… Past and Present:  A Veterans Day Montage

 

 

 

 

 

From Guitar Guy 41503 on youtube.com:

Veterans Day is to honor all those who have served in an American branch of the armed services.

Please use this thread to remember friends and family members who have put on the uniform both in times of war and in times of peace.

Palin and Gingrich Begin the Ben Bashing

MoonHowler

Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich have both turned their sites onto to Federal Reserve and its leader, Ben Bernanke.  Both Palin and Gingrich have started taking their shots via Twitter.  The 2012 Wannabes are expected to follow suit.   Attacks on The Fed, before September 2008, were pretty much confined to the gold bugs, conspiracy theorists, and the financial press.

Post election 2010 much has changed.  According to the Huffington Post:

The tea party itself — judging from its 10-point “Contract From America,” at least — did not make the Fed a top concern; they were focused on spending issues.

But the tea party tide also swept in numerous libertarian hard-money types and fellow travelers, a cadre soon to grow. They hate the very idea of the Fed, not to mention Bernanke’s activism in running the place.

Hopefully Benanke will put on earplugs and blinders and do what he has to do.  The Fed is an independent agency.  Bernanke  is appointed.   He will not run for election or re-election.  And meanwhile,  Sarah Palin, the eternally ill-informed candidate who should not have run,  continues to be mean as a snake.  Maybe she will put a sock in it.  I can’t imagine anyone whose advice I would be less likely to take.   Palin witch hunts just about everything.  She Ben Bashes but offers nothing positive.