Batten down the hatches. It’s another windy weekend.

Don’t forget about the 1- year anniversary bash at Mama Mia’s in Gainesville Sunday from 1-4.

Lafayette promises red velvet cake–plus, you can drink beer, wine, meals, sandwiches, pizza.  

 

 

Mama Mias Pizza

7669 Limestone Dr # 110
Gainesville, VA 20155-4038
(703) 753-4605

150 Thoughts to “Open Thread………………………………………….Friday, February 25”

  1. clueless

    Judge Arthur Williams Sinclair passed away over the weekend. I had a chance to meet him and wish I had been lucky enough to know him better. An amazing man and citizen of our County.

    http://www2.insidenova.com/news/2011/feb/28/prince-williams-judge-sinclair-dies-96-ar-874289/

  2. Steve Thomas

    Elena :

    Steve Thomas :ever spoken with a rape victim?

    When I was working on my undergrad, part of my internship involved being trained as a rape crisis counselor for Victims Assistant Network (VAN). It was heartbreaking listening to these women, some of them so terrified to close their eyes, they just needed a human voice in the middle of night to stay their fears. I was an anonymous voice they could share with, they could be silent with, they could shed their tears to with no condemnation.

    Elena,

    When I began dating Mrs. T, and on into the first several years of our marriage, she would talk to me about the various cases she was working on (names and very specific details withheld of course). Many of these were rapes of both women and children. It so affected her that she needed to talk to someone, and she turned to her husband. After a while, it started to effect me, in various negative ways. After my daughter was born, I finally had to ask her to stop. If she needed to talk about it, I could only handle the “newspaper version”.

    I know these women, children, and the occasional man are indeed victims of the worst kind of criminal. To try to sanitize the legalese surrounding the justice process, as this misguided Georgia Assemblyman is trying to do, does a great unjustice to our society in general, and the victims specifically.

  3. Steve Thomas

    George S. Harris :http://www.comcast.net/articles/entertainment/20110301/US.Obit.Jane.Russell/
    Am I feeling OLD! Jane Russell died today. I don’t know how we did it but my friend Sammy Stewart and I managed to get in to see “The Outlaw”, her first picture that was supposedly so scandalous–she got in bed with Bkilly the Kid (Jack Buetel). Never really saw much of her sexy body, but for a 12 year old boy it was breathtaking!

    George,

    For me it was the “Bond Girls”. Good or Evil, didn’t matter.

  4. @Moon-howler
    I was talking about on duty. There have been instances lately of police seeming to turn a blind eye toward some troublesome activity.

    However, I was speaking in more general terms, instead of pointing out specific police forces. For instance, in my youth, the police went on strike during Mardi Gras, threatening the livelihoods of thousands and increasing the danger of literally a million people. The Mardi Gras crewes did the unthinkable. They canceled Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Or moved parades out of the city.

    In other cases, the police have been slow to aggressively enforce the law against union protesters. Or they are having sick outs, etc.

    Are unionized cops able to separate their duty from their solidarity with other unions? What would you think about the cops in Wisconsin going on sick out in support of the Teacher’s union?

  5. George S. Harris

    http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/radiation/index.asp

    Veterans who read your blog might want to look at this latest information from the VA.

  6. Cops have been known to turn a blind eye over lots of things. Good ones don’t. I would say no on-duty cop should be involved with demonstrations other than in a professional capacity. I think most good cops would agree with me.

    As to your question–I don’t like strikes. I suppose they are a necessary evil but they are pretty alien to my way of thinking, being a Virginian and all. The closest thing to a strike in my world is from my friend from WV and my state trooper friends who worked the coal fields during strike situations.

    Can I say I don’t know? Public safety is in a little different field than other lines of work. That is sort of like asking me if a firefighter can do a sick out during a fire. My gut impulse is to say no.

  7. Cargo, I know that is sort of a wishy washy answer. I don’t mean for it to be. I think it might just be something I have mixed feelings about. What makes a teacher or a transportation driver different than a cop or a firefighter? Public safety. If public transportation grinds to a halt or if schools must close, it is inconvenient and a pita. However, it isn’t a public safety issue like cops or firefighters going on strike.

    I still don’t like strikes.

  8. The Senate will vote shortly to defund Planned Parenthood. I sent the following letter to my senators and hope you will do so also:

    As you know, there is an out and out attack on women that is about to culminate in a vote to take away Title X funding and thus severly cripple Planned Parenthood. This organization does far more than just provide abortions services; it provides cancer screenings and birth control services to nearly 5 million women each year. I hope you won’t make the mistake that the General Assembly in Virginia has made by further denying women access to care.

    Please do not support this assault on women’s health care by not supporting the decrease in Title X funding.

    .

  9. @Cato, do I have to start making jaws noises?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCfWHqrYUqo

    I recognized the quote. :mrgreen:

  10. George, both Mr. Howler and I have called Sen. Webb and Warner’s offices. We were advised to call.

    Do you have the numbers handy?

    Sen. Warner 202/224-2023

    Sen. Webb 202/224-4024

    Found them. We called the Virginia offices per directions from PP

  11. PWC Taxpayer

    @Moon-howler

    The missus and I have also called.

  12. Big Dog

    FYI: Manassas City Manager Larry Hughes presented his proposed budget last
    night at a council meeting and Vice-Mayor Harrover has posted some observations on
    his blog My Side of The Fence. Hopefully, the manager’s budget will be on-line
    this afternoon.

    (Lafayette, thank you for the cake sent by Cindy B. It was very good.)

  13. Lafayette will be home in a few…she is on the road as we speak.

    The kind with the cherries was the box cake. The other was from scratch.
    @ Big Dog

  14. Lafayette

    @Big Dog
    You are most welcome! I hope you are feeling better. I’m really sorry you couldn’t make it Sunday. I don’t believe I’m the only that missed seeing you. 🙂
    Chris

  15. No sound….again…for the BOCS meeting.

    How long does it take to get it right.

    If you ask me, we have cut the budget way too much when employees do twice the word and haven’t had a raise in three years. We also have lost the school resource cops at the middle school level.

    Apparently times are so tight we have to take in dumping in our parks. Who were the clowns dumping mud inside the gates of Silver Lake? Did the county get paid a fee for that or was it illegal dumping?

  16. I think I have no sound for my tax dollars. (and I am not better than a wino–they also pay taxes)

    I see Corey clapping. I either say he is a seal or something about the clap. I bet that comment should get the sound fixed. 😈 👿

  17. I wonder what is going on at the BOCS meeting today that they don’t want us, the taxpayers, to know. Typing people is shorter since everyone is a taxpayer.

  18. Mom

    Nice “Experiencing Audio Difficulties” graphic that popped up when the video feed started, this being at least the third BOCS meeting in a row that has not had the audio/video feed working properly, would lead the more cynical among us to believe they don’t want anybody to hear what they have got to say. It is budget season after all and I guess the less we know, the less we can use against them.

  19. Need to Know

    How many times is this now that we’ve had no sound during the BOCS meeting?

  20. Need to Know

    Maybe if we hadn’t lost $8+ million in the OIT bid-rigging scandal (thank you Craig and Melissa) we would have some money to fix the audio system.

  21. Mom

    Doh, how could I have been so close-minded. It’s not poor staff management or that they want to hide anything, they are trying expand our cultural horizons. It part of their continuing effort to transform us into the French, no more Meeting-in-the-round, we have Meeting-in the-Mime. Come on Corey, you should have slapped on some white facepaint so the slower amongst us would have caught on earlier.

  22. Need to Know

    Maybe it’s an effort to have all of us learn lip-reading? Oh, maybe not. Remember how that worked out for Frank and Dave in 2001.

  23. Low bid. You get what you pay for. If you want sound, go down there.

    After all, we are broke! Whine!!!

    How was that? Do I get the big picture?

    This is a new system. It shouldn’t be broken all the time. It needs to go back and we need to learn that cheap isn’t always better.

  24. Frank and Dave…lets see…did they make ice cream?

    Reminder: we are county employee friendly here at Moonhowlings.

    Politicians are fair game (as long as it is truthful fair game). County employees are not.

  25. Lafayette

    Let there be sound!! Finally. Enough of this week after week.

  26. Need to Know

    Frank and Dave from 2001, the movie. Remember HAL the computer did not respond well to the idea of being unplugged.

  27. Need to Know

    Come on, Moon. Can’t we discuss a screw-up of the magnitude of the OIT bid-rigging scandal?

  28. Lafayette

    They need to go back over the advertised tax rate Item 6B again. Many residents DO watch the reruns of the meetings and listen to it online. The citizens have every right to hear the discussion regarding OUR advertised real estate tax rate.

  29. Someone just sent me this message from Supervisor John Stirrup’s office:

    Dear Gainesville Express Subscribers,
    Supervisor Stirrup wanted to share this exciting news with you. The long-awaited tickets for the 150th Anniversary Commemoration of the Battle of First Manassas/Bull Run scheduled for July 23rd and 24th are now available for purchase. *Please note, Prince William County, the City of Manassas and the City of Manassas Park can receive a 10% discount on their tickets.

    Ticket Sales
    Tickets for the Reenactment of the Battle of First Manassas/Bull Run are on sale now! You can purchase tickets for one or all of the events commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the American Civil War.

    *10% discount for residents of Prince William County, City of Manassas and the City of Manassas Park!
    Prince William County, City of Manassas, City of Manassas Park residents please call 703-396-7130 to receive a discount code valued at 10% of your total ticket price (prior to ticket processing fee). Offer good until midnight on March 31, 2011. Discount is valid for 150th Reenactment tickets, Prince William County Historic Landmark Tours, City of Manassas, and the 150th Commemoration Package

  30. NTO, lets move forward. There is enough to dust up currently without moving back in time. Dont I sound like a den mother?

    We have too many county friends to get down and dirty with county employees. Remember, all employees have bosses.

  31. Lafayette is correct. I have put in my request through the grape vine to have that issue revisited.

  32. Lafayette

    Glad to hear John Jenkins addressing the issue of 6 foot high fences in the front yards of older subdivisions. There are two houses within walking distance of me with this problem. One of them is on a major cut through road. The rules are clearly stated in the restrictive covenants for subdivision such as WestGate of Lomond, Loch Lomond, Fairmont, Dale City, etc. The restrictions are crystal clear and that are to remain in effect and renewed ever 10 years unless there are two-thirds of the residents signatures to remove/amend the restriction.

  33. Lafayette

    Here’s the local paper’s coverage of the advertised real estate tax rate of $1.21. Lovely, my hood is named specificallly in the article as having a marginal increase this year. Mr. Lafayette is right…We are NEVER leaving Lafayette, but not for the reasons he claims. It’s not me, it’s the house value.
    http://www2.insidenova.com/news/2011/mar/01/prince-william-will-advertise-tax-rate-121-ar-876158/

    Don’t forget to checkout your 2011 Real Estate Assessment at.
    http://www04a.pwcgov.org/realestate/LandRover.asp

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