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Happy July 4th weekend!!!  May you sizzle and flash. 

108 Thoughts to “Open Thread………………………………………….Saturday, July 2”

  1. Big Dog

    http://historicmanassas.mymediaroom.com/wire/events/viewevent.aspx?=11023

    This gets better every year. Plus, it is close by and no charge.

  2. Big Dog

    http://historicmanassas.mymediaroom.com/wire/events/viewevent.aspx?id=11023

    You can check the Historic Manassas website for info and updates on
    Fourth of July activities/fireworks in Old Town.

  3. marinm

    Everyone, have a great and Happy Fourth. We may disagree and bicker but on the 4th we’re all Americans.

    I’m looking forward to a good fireworks show over Libya. 😉

  4. …with liberty and justice for ALL.”

    b

  5. You all bring up such great points. Happy, safe 4th.

  6. Wolverine

    Just some advice to pass on for the holidays and for Summer through Fall. Those of you who love to garden or to trek through natural areas like the Rural Crescent, please read the 1 July 2011 article by Dusty Smith at the Ashburn Patch newsletter website. It seems that John Andrews, former chairman of the Loudoun County school board and currently a resident of Lansdowne in Loudoun County, discovered and killed a two-foot copperhead in his garden. Also turns out that, some time before, his five-year-old daugher was bitten in the yard by a baby copperhead. Not fatal usually but extremely painful. Her finger turned black and crooked, and she need physical therapy to fix the finger.

    These snakes hang out in piles of debris, gardens, and elsewhere in search of mice and other food. They can be a handful to deal with when found. The bite doesn’t usually kill if your health is good otherwise, but I understand that the result is real agony. Another good reason to put great pressure on any of your errant neighbors who may be careless about storing and handling of household trash which may attract the rodents on which copperheads like to feed.

    My late father-in-law once owned a cattle spread out West. That spread was loaded with prairie rattlesnakes. When the old “cowboy” encountered one, he would pick it up by the tail and snap the snake like a bullwhip. This apparently caused the rattler’s head to detach and fly off. The father-in-law had a very large jar of rattesnake rattles to show to visitors.

    In his later years, he moved to a retirement community in Arkansas, where he had a large vegetable garden. One day while I was there, he found a huge copperhead in the garden; and he and his wife killed it with a shovel and a hoe. When I joshed him about not picking up that snake by the tail, he looked at me like the ignorant city guy I was and said: “If you knew anything about snakes, you would know that a copperhead is a lot faster and craftier than a rattlesnake. You NEVER mess around with a copperhead!”

    Just sayin’ — watch where you step out there in Mother Nature and keep safe.

    1. Thanks for those serious words of warning, Wolverine. Watch where you walk, folks and watch your kids when visiting the wild.

  7. Cargosquid

    The City of Lynchburg is trying to give the planning commission (building permits, code enforcement, etc) the ability to issue search warrants if they suspect “code” violations.

    And of course, Officer Friendly will be along for the “inspection.”

    http://redstatevirginia.com/2011/07/declaring-independence-from-police-state-lynchburg/

    Um,….is it just me, or are attacks against the 4th Amendment becoming more and more common?

  8. Cargo, they might just be checking out property code enforcement on illegal immigrants. Stranger things have happened.

  9. Morris Davis

    Cargo mentions the erosion of 4th Amendment protections. There is a feature on Justice Thomas in the L.A. Times. In 2009, the Court ruled it was a unreasonable search when school officials ordered an 8th grade girl to remove her shirt and pants and then pull her bra and panties out so school officials could see if she was concealing 2 Advil (Ibuprofen). Eight Justices said the 4th Amendment prohibits such unreasonable searches. One Justice, Thomas, dissented and said that such searches are just fine. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-clarence-thomas-20110703,0,650851,full.story

  10. Big Dog

    “A startling 71%, including a majority of every major demographic group
    other than Afro-Americans, see the U.S. as worse off than it was a decade
    ago. Americans blame their leaders and politicians for the decade of decline.
    The Bush II Administration takes the most heat – 23% – closely followed by
    Obama (20%) and the U.S.Congress (16%). In contrast, only 6% blame
    Wall Street.”
    Time Magazine (July 11, 2011)
    The Pessimism Index by Mark Penn

    BOTH parties had a hand in this mess. The George W. Bush Adninistration
    will not be treated kindly by history – nor should it. The jury, for most of us,
    is still out on Obama’s but it isn’t looking good right now. Will see if he
    manages to be another “Comeback Kid”.

  11. Where does Clinton stand in the pessimism index?

  12. Morris Davis

    First, Happy 4th of July to everyone.

    Good news! CEO pay increased 23% (exceeding the increase in profits for their companies) in 2010 to a median of $10.8M. Viacoms’ CEO led the way at $84.5M for the year. While CEOs enjoyed the rewards of their hard work, more than 9% of Americans are unemployed and not working and ordinary people with jobs that demand less of them than CEOs saw their pay rise 0.5% for a slight dip in earnings after inflation. The median for the nations 100M wage and salaried workers was $39K. If the wise leaders on Capitol Hill can find a way to cut the fat out of the perks lavished on the unemployed, the disabled, and the $39K a year fat-cats then they could reduce the excessive burden that rests on the shoulders of CEOs and the uber-wealthy who would then trickle down on the rabble in the 98% below them.

  13. Holy cow. Peces gordos. $39k national average in pay for the peons. Millions for the boss.

    Remind me again why we are protecting the salaried filthy rich? They aren’t giving back. They are takers.

    Happy 4th Moe.

  14. Big Dog

    http://www.time.com/nation/article/0,8599,2080607,00.html

    M-H, Clinton was apparently not included in the survey.
    (Despite Horn Dog’s failings, he did preside over the last
    presidency to balance the budget and maintain relative peace
    and prosperity.)

    1. @big Dog,

      Then he should have been included in that survey. Did Horn Dog have failings? I am a great fan of the Old Horn Dog. Best president in my life time.

  15. Cato the Elder

    Another solid performance from the City of Manassas.

    Best overheard conversation: “Look honey, those are our tax dollars going up in smoke.”

    A bit of a buzzkill, but I take the point.

  16. Starryflights

    Moon-howler :Where does Clinton stand in the pessimism index?

    The 1990s were a time of great peace, prosperity, economic growth and government surpluses. Taxes were raised only on the wealthiest Americans while the middles class tax burdens were low. Sadly all that has changed for the worse. How we miss those good times today.

  17. Wolverine

    “Did the Old Horn Dog have failings?” “…good times….”? You must be joking.

  18. Starryflights

    Not at all.

  19. Starryflights

    Bareheaded motorcyclist dies in helmet protest
    By Nina Raja, CNN
    July 4, 2011 10:20 p.m. EDT

    (CNN) — A bareheaded motorcyclist participating in a ride to protest mandatory helmet laws was killed when he was thrown over the handlebars in Onondaga, New York.

    Philip A. Contos, 55, of Parish, New York, was on a ride organized by the Onondaga chapter of American Bikers Aimed Towards Education (ABATE), state police said Sunday.

    Contos hit his brakes, began fishtailing and lost control of his 1983 Harley Davidson. He shot over the handlebars, hit his head on the pavement and was taken to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, New York, where he was pronounced dead.

    State police say evidence at the scene plus information from the attending medical expert indicated Contos would have survived had he been wearing a helmet as required by state law.

    http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/07/04/new.york.motorcyclist.death/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

    Stupid idiot. I guest he made his point.

  20. Second Alamo

    And what exactly is the president giving back?
    @Moon-howler

  21. Second Alamo

    But I bet he could spell ‘guess’ correctly!
    @Starryflights

  22. Chris

    Cato the Elder :Another solid performance from the City of Manassas.
    Best overheard conversation: “Look honey, those are our tax dollars going up in smoke.”
    A bit of a buzzkill, but I take the point.

    Excuse me Cato, but if you were watching fireworks in the CoM that was NOT anyone’s tax dollar. Those fireworks are made possible by a very generous ANONYMOUS DONOR and they are much appreciated by me and my family. I hope you let the Mrs. know the facts now that you have them.
    Lafayette seems to be getting hung up in moderation. Yet I had NO trouble about an hour ago.

    **Moon, DELETE the Lafayette posts that are in moderation. Hopefully Chris will work.***

  23. Cato the Elder

    @Chris

    Interesting. FYI it wasn’t my Mrs. running off at the mouth, just a random woman in the crowd. We were too drunk to care how it was paid for.

    A public thank you to whomever picked up the tab, and if you’re privy to information on how one might go about making a donation toward next year’s festivities please advise.

    1. I thought you were moving by then? Plans chainged? @Cato

  24. Cato the Elder

    @Moon-howler

    Nope, I’ll be gone but will still have family around to enjoy the show. I’ll remain a fan of the City of Manassas from afar.

  25. Raymond Beverage

    @Cato Thank you for considering a donation for next year. Give the City Manager’s Office a call at 703-257-8212 and the nice ladies there will help you out to make a donation toward next year!

  26. Big Dog

    http://www.roanoke.com/columnists/casey/wb/291959

    FYI: Another “gift” for you from the Virginia GA.

    Warning: use extreme caution before entering your backyard.

    1. The Rogue needs to go to the outback. Geez

  27. Big Dog, Do you think we might get a few good days out of the stock market this week?

    I am busy doing the dance. You know…go bulls, go bulls,

  28. Big Dog

    M-H,
    My hope is a gradual upward trend (some down days, but
    more upward ones) — loved last week, but would be naive to
    expect that to happen all the time.
    The huge train wreck waiting to happen is the debt limit
    crisis. Two passenger trains are on the same track and headed
    at each other full speed and we will be among the ones badly
    injured if they collide.

  29. Steve Thomas

    Moon-howler :The Rogue needs to go to the outback. Geez

    Most guns (gun-powder and pneumatic) are banned in Australia, to include the outback.

    1. @Steve, why on earth wouldn’t guns be allowed in the Australian outback? Why is that? How do they shoot wild animals that might gobble up the cattle?

  30. Move over, OJ. It looks like Casey Anthony found not guilty of first degree murder. It looks like she was not found guilty of anything.

    How sickening.

  31. Correction, she was found guilty of lying to investigators.

    There will be a special Hell for her, I am convinced.

    And I want to stuff a log in Geraldo’s mouth just to shut him up.

  32. Big Dog

    http://scottsurovell.blogspot.com/

    FYI – Del. Surovell’s blog The Dixie Pig has two good threads up this week.

    “Uranium Mining: The Coming Battle”

    “New Census Data Highlights Virginia Changes”

  33. Emma

    The prosecution did next to nothing to prove Caylee’s cause of death. Too hard to pin first degree on Casey if they couldn’t even convince the jury of how she died. So no justice for an innocent child.

  34. @Emma, too bad she was charged with first degree murder. I expect if she had been charged with manslaughter she would be looking at 4 walls with bars for a few years.

    This is where we hope that bad Karma kicks in. Do I think Casey did something to cause that child to die? Absolutely. Intentional? I don’t know.

    This was pretty close to the perfect crime. I also got very tired hearing that it was a disfunctional family. There was one dysfunctional, morally bankrupt person–Casey.

  35. marinm

    @Emma

    This proves to you that the best and brightest don’t go into government service they go into the private market (defense attorneys).

    She’ll need to settle this with her maker.

    MH, you need to go through a lot to be able to be granted the privilege of owning a gun in AUS.

    Big Dog, Mr. Casey is a riot. Didn’t he predict shoot-outs at Denny’s when concealed carry passed? Funny guy.

    Marin, that is a very offensive statement to make, especially in this area where so many people are involved with govt work or contractor work which is only a side step away from being a govt. worker.

    Why don’t you just call us all bottom feeders and be done with it. Then I will ask you to not make those statements any more.

    I expect if you collected all the private workers and came up with a central value for their IQ and pitted it against the IQ of all the public employees, you might be very surprised. [Ed. note:] Marin is correct. I inadvertently responded on top of his comments. I will clean it up. My apologies.
    I intended to quote him and and comment.

  36. EDSmith

    Coming from a guy that relies on a government contract in order to have a job. The distance to a government worker is near zero. There are many very smart government workers. Schwartzkoff and Patreus come to mind.

  37. marinm

    My comments in #41 look to have been adjusted after the fact and don’t show an Editor tag.

    As I’ve not called anyone a bottom feeder I would not like to be misquoted.

  38. Big Dog, Mr. Casey is a riot. Didn’t he predict shoot-outs at Denny’s when concealed carry passed? Funny guy.

    Marin, that is a very offensive statement to make, especially in this area where so many people are involved with govt work or contractor work which is only a side step away from being a govt. worker.

    @marin,

    Why don’t you just call us all bottom feeders and be done with it. Then I will ask you to not make those statements any more.

    I expect if you collected all the private workers and came up with a central value for their IQ and pitted it against the IQ of all the public employees, you might be very surprised.

    This fixes #41 and leaves the ‘remains’ to show what Marin is talking about. Again, my apologies.

  39. There is a new show that isn’t reality. Channel 7 10 pm on Tuesdays. Combat Hospital. Sort of MASH without the humor. Lots of sub plots. Afghanistan or Iraq. I didn’t look that closely, but it was a decent show. There are so few.

  40. marinm

    MH, no worries.

    It was actually just a sarcastic remark (lowbrow humor)

    While I think that the public market has both more degrees and advanced degrees I don’t think an IQ test of the public vs. the private space would show you much of anything.

    I would however point out that in these ‘big cases’ where the prosecution is put under the microscope (the OJ trial is a handy example) it just seems that the government folds easily under pressure. It makes you think how many other people are prosecuted successfully for nothing else but lack of public interest (to shine a light on poor cases). That is something I do find interesting.

  41. Starryflights

    Marinm, most successful defense attorneys are former public prosecutors.

  42. Starryflights

    Michele Bachmann’s husband shares her strong conservative values

    By Jason Horowitz, Wednesday, July 6, 4:02 AM

    Michele Bachmann has called gay marriage “probably the biggest issue that will impact our state and our nation in the last, at least, 30 years.” In 2005, she ran screaming from a bathroom at a constituent forum, claiming that a lesbian had attempted to keep her there against her will. (The woman said she was merely questioning Bachmann about her position on gay marriage.) As a state senator, she was seen crouching behind hedges to observe a gay rights rally. (She has explained that she was checking the turnout.) Dr. Bachmann’s views on homosexuality have likewise earned him the ire of gay activists and liberal critics.

    He is a major focal point of the Dump Bachmann blog, created by the former head of a local gay Republican group that has become the go-to archive for all things negative about the congresswoman. In 2006, City Pages, a Minneapolis alternative weekly, reported on a 2005 presentation that Dr. Bachmann delivered at the Grace Church in Eden Prairie titled “The Truth About the Homosexual Agenda,” during which he introduced three people as “former homosexuals” as proof that sexual orientation is a choice. That same article also reported that Bachmann & Associates, the Christian counseling center he runs, practiced “reparative therapy,” a method of converting homosexuals to heterosexuality often called “praying away the gay.”

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/michele-bachmanns-husband-shares-her-strong-conservative-values/2011/06/21/gIQAyNmvzH_story.html

    She is bat-crap crazy!
    1

  43. I think Pat Buchanan has had a make-over. He has dyed his hair and had some botox it appears.

    @Starry, maybe she knows something I don’t know. I have yet to see how gay marriage hurts me. She certainly positionss it higher on the list of things to worry about than I do.

  44. Big Dog

    http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/wb/292042

    M-H, you asked about the direction of our 401k’s?

    This could turn ugly in a hurry.

  45. Slowpoke Rodriguez

    @Cargosquid
    And it gets even more interesting when you look at what they’re saying today about our near future. I was reading about some of the ways they are managing to fight off the aging process. Absolutely blows your mind. They’re hinting that the first person to live to 1000 maybe already be 60 years old today. And to really analyze or think about some of the major paradigm shifts in communication and productivity that have happened with the advent of the Internet is really fascinating. The pace and acceleration of man’s progress is staggering. Now if we could get governments out of the way, our heads would really spin.

  46. Slowpoke Rodriguez

    Morris Davis :
    First, Happy 4th of July to everyone.
    Good news! CEO pay increased 23% (exceeding the increase in profits for their companies) in 2010 to a median of $10.8M. Viacoms’ CEO led the way at $84.5M for the year. While CEOs enjoyed the rewards of their hard work, more than 9% of Americans are unemployed and not working and ordinary people with jobs that demand less of them than CEOs saw their pay rise 0.5% for a slight dip in earnings after inflation. The median for the nations 100M wage and salaried workers was $39K. If the wise leaders on Capitol Hill can find a way to cut the fat out of the perks lavished on the unemployed, the disabled, and the $39K a year fat-cats then they could reduce the excessive burden that rests on the shoulders of CEOs and the uber-wealthy who would then trickle down on the rabble in the 98% below them.

    Of course, you forgot this:
    http://gawker.com/5818310

  47. Second Alamo

    Ref: #3, That’s why they have to tax the wealthy, so that they can create a new group of wealthy, their own. Does the word CARPETBAGGER come to mind? Spreading the wealth…………amongst themselves. Well, they better enjoy it, because it will probably be their last raise.

  48. Cargosquid

    @Slowpoke Rodriguez
    http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2011/07/kewl-top-100-illinois-teachers-union.html

    100 people. 887+ Million dollars.

    That’s a nice pension…… Somebody’s union had a good negotiator.

    I wonder what else Illinois could do with almost 1 billion bucks……..

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