So what will this week bring? I am scared to ask. Is this the last full week that kids have off of school? Are they dreading the reopening or looking forward to it?
Reminder that the open thread appears for contributors to add their own topics of concern.
I won’t waste my time drafting an application to secede from Gainesville as under county rule 6.9 (initiated by Ed Wilbourn), “You can check out anytime you like but you can never leave”.
I would caution against secession. Manassas and Manassas Park might not be forthcoming in recognition, and there could be a “Stewar’ts march to the Bull Run”. Suggest rather, a petition for annexation by CoM, once the moratorium expires.
I was sort of hoping to get picked up by Coles or Brentsville District. Any chance of that?
I had my chance! However, I chose to work on keeping our neighborhood in the same district.
Steve,
I’m sure the CoM would love to annex WG/Sudley. When’s that expiratation date? You may very well be on to something. 🙂
I lobbied for reassignment. My efforts were thwarted.
I once heard it was 2015, but it keeps getting extended.
All you PWC “squirrel” people should perhaps try falconing as a hobby. Guaranteed for squirrel-free property.
While I don’t know who is telling the truth aboutr coordination of the president’s request to speak to a joint session of Congress, I find it difficult to accept the speaker’s telling the president to buzz off and call me tomorrow. At what might be a very critical speach, the speaker has basically given the president the finger. Can you imagine this happening with any other president? I can’t. Perhaps the president should address the Senate and those House democrats who wish to show up and screw Boehner and the republicans.
It turns out now that the president caved and he gets to give his speech during the first football game or something.
He should not have caved and Boenher is insincere and disingenuous about wanting to get a jobs package out there.
Obama should have said screw you, watch it on television and addressed congress from the White House. I am totally offended. A Republican debate in California can get put on hold, not the president of the United States.
Anything I hear about the Republicans and J-O-B-S and I will start laughing.
@Starryflights
Oh yes and be sure to buy the disaster food kits Beck is touting at prices that are absolutely ludicrous. He is a commercial whore–period.
Perhaps most other presidents, being fully aware of a scheduling conflict with that debate at the Reagan Library, would not have tried such an obviously partisan thing of deciding to try to pre-empt it. Transparency here beyond belief. And a joint session to boot! A real sense of urgency, my eye. All this time, and we are finally going to get some job creation proposals. Could it be that the urgency comes from his poll numbers going into the tank. You think maybe?
Moon, I would guess, then, that you have split your sides with laughter over the mere mention of POTUS and jobs over the past couple of years.
The original deal about City of Manassas doing annexation of any additional County area had a fixed date of July 1, 1982 (Shared Services Agreement between City of Manassas & Prince William County dated April 12, 1976; Page 9).
The GA got into the midst of things and locked the moritorium of any locale doing it effective January 1, 1987 with experiation of either July 1, 2018 or after the bienniums running from 1998 to 2010 (Virgina Code 15.2-3201).
Of course, keep in mind of the dreams of the West Sudley or Gainesville folks coming part of CoM – the legal battle over the “donut hole” (aka Courthouse Complex) started in 1975 and did not get finalized until 2005. A 30-year battle it was…grand and glorious keeping lawyers employed!
@Wolverine
Actually, I have been waiting since November to see those jobs you guys kept talking about. Where are they? You knew all the answers and made all the promises.
Didn’t think so……
The bottom line is, its real easy to mimic and make fun of someone else until you are in that seat. I don’t see any Republican created jobs. However, I knew it was all BS and blather so I didn’t have high hopes.
It always takes twice as long to pull out of an economic downturn when the downturn is brought about by the financial sector.
i would be all over some major infastructure repair nationwide. That would put an awful lot of people to work. But that would require postponing bringing down the debt. Gasp!!
The repugs don’t want to help Obama create jobs because it would help his chances for reelection and hurt their candidate’s chances. The repugs would rather leave people out of work if it means helping their political chances for winning the 2012 elections.
If the president has a solid and substantive plan for job creation, why has he been holding back until now? I smell another “study commission” as part of the “solution.”
I’m sure the 2012 election is the FARTHEST thing from his mind.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-jobs-speech-creates-conflict-with-gop/2011/08/31/gIQAWfsGtJ_story.html
Spending programs? Where will the money come from for these spending programs? The administration should more truthfully call them “borrowing programs.”
@ Moon: “Actually, I have been waiting since November to see those jobs you guys kept talking about. Where are they? You knew all the answers and made all the promises.
Didn’t think so……”
I agree–all they have talked about is cutting, cutting, cutting. How does that create jobs? The Re/Teapublicans have yet to put anything else on the table.
Speaking from the White House would have worked as well, probably better since it would deny the Republicans an opportunity to sit there with blank faces or for someone to again yell out some uncomplimentary remark. Now, caving in and interrupting the NFL will piss of more people than just the Republicans in the House. I don’t know who is doing his scheduling, but the president needs to have a talk with them or, better yet, get someone who can read a calendar.
Raymond,
Thanks for the information. I think about the donut hole everyday I visit the courthouse. Honestly 30 years to get the issue resovled….Yep, got keep those lawyers gainfully employed. I think it would be much easier to just move to the CoM. However, you know what the house values are like around here.
@Raymond Beverage
Emma, where have you been? Missed you. (and your sunny remarks :evil:)
Schools closed down in Acupolco because of gang threats. The teachers have just refused to show up because of the danger.
Wondering where Cargo is now and if he ever got the power back on. He mentioned that his internet was broken also. Let us know if anyone sees him traveling about in cyberspace.
CoM will only annex if it makes economic sense for CoM. Will the
area provide more in tax revenue than it cost in services? In almost every
case, commercial works and residential doesn’t.
@Lafayette
You think about the donut hole everyday you visit the Courthouse??!!??? Everyday????
Dang, makes one wonder why the frequent trips! 🙂
The Information: in case anybody read it and wonders how I know about it, it grew out of an issue in PWC back in 2007 that ticked me off, and I proceeded to find out what, when, where etc…amazing how politicos toss around things, but nobody bothered to read the history or items of record.
I remember a few years back, there was rumbles out of Gainesville area about wanting to be part of CoM. Of course, when you looked down the area and opportunity for commercial development bringing in local sale taxes, it made sense since part of the turf would have been where Virginia Gateway is. Alas, that movement died for multiple reasons.
http://www.roanoke.com/news/breaking/wb/297524
Anyone remember in 1995 when CoM but up Japanese flags
all over Old Town? They were trying to encourage Toshiba leaders,
who wanted to build a proposed IBM-Toshiba computer chip plant
in Asia, to instead, agree with IBM and construct it in Manassas.
(We even had a “Peace Jubilee” to note the 50th anniversy of the end
of WWII and friendship between our countries).
CoM leaders caught some flack from a few older local residents who didn’t
like displaying Japanese flags, but the plant opened here, and after
ownership changes, became Micron, now a key business and employer in our area.
Someone is going to have to explain the Chaz Bono DWTS controversy to me. Why are people mad about Chaz being on DWTS? Just don’t watch it! Can’t figure it out.
I think someone has concluded that DWTS is “family entertainment” and caters to a more traditional (read conservative) crowd. The fact that they have a transgender contestant on the show is supposed to be contraversial. It’s all for ratings. Gotta have that contraversial “edgy” contestant. Delay, Bristol Palin, now Chaz Bono. Not sure I buy it, but then again, I don’t watch the show either.
@Big Dog
I am so glad my mother didn’t know about it. She would have had a “kinipshun.” She never got over WWII.
@Pokie, I don’t know either.
Whatever happened to our transgendered contributor here? He disappeared.
Earthquake news from my teacher friend in Louisa County.
Who pays for this? County insurance? Will the state or FEMA help out?
This school is in Eric Cantor’s district, I think.
@Moon-howler on vacation, which of course meant a hellish week at work right before and after. But I still pop in regularly to see what everyone’s talking about.
Save the date…Sunday, Sept. 11th. We hope you will be able to come.
Moon — Since the Repubs only control one-third of the levers of power, tell you what: Give them the Senate and the Oval Office in 2012 and then, if the jobs do not appear, you get to beef as loud as you want. Deal?
No deal. They wanted what they got. I want to see miracles.
The council of any city or town may by an ordinance passed by a recorded affirmative vote of a majority of all the members elected to the council, petition the circuit court for the county in which any territory adjacent to the city or town lies, for the annexation of such territory. The circuit court with which the petition is filed shall notify the Supreme Court, which shall appoint a special court to hear the case as prescribed by Chapter 30 (§ 15.2-3000 et seq.) of this title.
Yes, sure, if the last agreement that said city or town signed with the adjacent county didn’t have a clause denying annexation for 25 years. PWC likes to put that in their agreements.
@Raymond Beverage
Suffice it to say, I work for a living. I don’t go there on the weekends. However, I do usually enter the DH on my weekend visits to the Farmers’ Market and other errands.
@brianl
Hi Brian!! Notice there no mention of seceding to the City of Manassas Park. 🙂
Perhaps, I should consider one of the townships in the county. I’d still be in the county and paying two jurisdictions in taxes. Also, one town has that pesky meals tax.
City of Bedford, VA, will be holding a public meeting on Sept 14th to present the plan to revert from an Independent City back into being a town within Bedford County. Three years of discussion with the County, and now ready to reveal the plan.
http://www2.newsadvance.com/news/2011/sep/01/bedford-publicly-discuss-citys-reversion-plan-sept-ar-1280250/
You’re really making a huge leap of faith thinking that Obama is going to say anything important. I hope he does, but I’m not counting on it. Any talk of “investment”, “stimulus”, or “jobs” from Obama and we’ll be laughing, too!
@pokie,
I don’t recall mentioning Obama. Where are the jobs the new comers campaigned on? Just checking.
If the Republicans think they can create jobs, then they haven’t learned their lesson. Progressives are not capable of learning past a rudimentary grunting capability, so naturally they will look for government to “create jobs”. I feel certain that the Republicans know what we all know…jobs won’t come back until Obama and his entire administration are a memory. Until that day, all they can hope to do is keep things from getting too much worse. That is why we voted for them….to just stop the bleeding!
Here I am, to save the day! Have no fear! Underdog is here!
I am currently without intertubez access at home. However, I are now a colegde stoodent. Am at the computer center doing homework and thought I’d drop by. I see all is well and y’all are still fighting nice. I’ve discovered that an enforced holiday of a few weeks of no politics is quite refreshing and puts things in perspective.
To answer your question about the jobs that the GOP was supposed to bring about…its in process because the programs can’t get past the Dems. Also, they campaigned on bringing back jobs by reversing Obama’s and the Democrat’s idiotic programs that are forcing businesses to hold onto their money. So, we’re working on it. Of course, if Obama wants to step down for the good of the country………improvements would occur much faster. So, you keep on looking for those jobs and giving Obama and the Dems a pass. We expect that now.
I’m interested in the new many studies on job creation – evidently there is a theory that the structure needed for jobs creation is missing or has been erroding in the USA. The ablility to increase jobs has been declining for almost a decade – So, is is really going to be better solved by either party or by someone who simply thinks and their agenda is to solve the problem or identify the factors and not win an election – and who is the best person to vote for that will listen. Remember when listening was a valued skill?
VIRGINIA FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2011 – LATEST UPDATES!!!!!
Since often the FOIA is discussed here at MH, thought I would post the link to the VA FOIA Advisory Council website which has the updates, plus their workshop materials. They have a series of roadshows going on, and our local one is September 9th in Sterling (info on their website). The link for the material is:
http://foiacouncil.dls.virginia.gov/2011_workshopmaterials.htm
@Juturna
You are absolutely right. However, if the reason for the decline is governmental actions, past and present, the solution is to elect those that will remove the impediments, whatever they are.
However, that will meet with great resistance from every quarter because each and everyone of those programs is “necessary” and if we don’t have those regulations or conditions in place, the sky will fall and we will all die.
And the ability to increase jobs, depending upon the type of job you seek, has been declining for much longer than a decade. We replaced an industrial society with a service society, stating that we had “moved on.” Now that service society is being outsourced. Now what?
From Two-Four: http://www.two–four.net/weblog.php?id=P5170 (If you think I’m radical, read this guy’s stuff.)
“If cigarette packs are required to have pictures of diseased lungs, college brochures should be required to have pictures of graduates working at Starbucks.”
(attributed to Daniel Lin, posted to Facebook by Jim Davidson)
If they worked at Starbucks they might have a good shot at having health care and having someone guard their education. Starbucks has one of the best track rcords in the industry for offering health care to part time employees.
That cigarette pack stuff inexcusable.
Well, we’ve replaced it with a service society and and a poorly trained technology society. I say bring back vocational schools and technical schools. That link between education and industry died, unfortunately. Not everyone should be in an AP class. 30% of Americans have a bachelors…there’s a lot of vocational/technical talent out there actually a lot of potenital out there going to waste.
I totally agree with Juturna about vocational and technical schools. 100% agreement. The vocational talent is going to waste. I think American education devalues people who are master craftsmen, etc in favor of college graduates. What a shame. Some real smart people aren’t been trained to maximize their God-given talents.
Job creation requires new industry in my opinion. what new jobs have been created in the last decade? Well, IT for sure, but our defense industry had boomed and so did housing creation. I firmly believe we need a public private partnership. We need energy innovation, what about grants to applicants looking to create new technology? How about the government fitting building with solar panels in areas of the country best suited for this technology? We would LOVE to put solar panels on our roof, but they are soooooooo expensive. Create the demand and prices will surely come down. Govt takes the lead and private follows. Jobs to make the panels and jobs to fit the panels on roofs.
Ahhh, now we’re on to something! I wouldn’t even try to give it a description, but there is some fundamental rot in our education and skills training. I think it is very broad-based (I can only describe it in very general terms like that). I feel as though we are weakening in the skills we need more strength in.
@Moon-howler
Not until we have parents proud to tell people that “my son is one heck of a plumber, and my daughter is a specialist on heat pumps” will there be respect for craftsmen. Master electrician is a title one doesn’t come by easily.
And you know, after each natural disaster, those who work for the power companies are, IMHO, real heros. They go out there, risking their lives, so that we can sit by our computers and turn on our lights etc. I don’t care what you think abt the power companies, but the people who do the work for them are heros, at times. But have you heard anyone saying that they’d really like to have their kids doing that kind of work?
@Slow,
I don’t disagree with you. Not all bricklayers need to study Shakespeare in depth. A bricklaying class with certification would encourage kids to stay in school rather than becoming part of the drop out crew.
When leaders agree that not all kids are college material or even want to go to college and that artisan jobs that require skills and training are valued, then the drop out rate will reverse its trend.
It has to start at the top. Good schools need to be recognized for the number of vocationally skilled graduates they produce, rather than just SAT scores.
@punchak
They are the heroes. And they are skilled or they don’t last. Core training in that kind of work could take place in high school.
Power company workers also give back in other ways. Some from Dominion Power donated their own time to fix up Silver Lake and make it ready for its grand opening.
@slowpoke,
Here is the nadir of educational BS
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/technology/technology-in-schools-faces-questions-on-value.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2
@Moon-howler
CBS did a good piece this morning about the fact that there are a lot of jobs out there, but they are high skill jobs that our schools are not training people to tak advantage of. It seems that everyone wants their son or daughter to be a doctor or a lawyer (God forbid) but nobody wants their children to work at “technical” jobs, what we used to call “blue collar” jobs. Have you asked a master plumber or electrician how much they make an hour? Or how about the people who build, maintain and operate the robots that have replaced so many jobs? The Tech Tuesday show on NPR last week discussed the whole new field of Apps writing/building.
Oh, and BTW, there were 91, 000 jobs created last month, but there were more jobs lost so the end result on No Job created, which is not exactly true.
I suppose all those kids who went back to school counted as job losses also.
Thanks for that information, George.
Nothing wrong with technical jobs although I never thought of plumbing as high tech. Plumbers are the ones driving the cadillacs aren’t they?
“The society that scorns excellence in plumbing and tolerates
shoddiness in philosophy will have neither pipes nor theories
that hold water.”
John Gardner
My son the plumber is not without a job. That’s what needs to be said. Our friend is a mechanic with a nice business in Alexandria. After he finishes getting his five through college, he’ll retire sooner than we will….and two of them now work for him on cars.
Many would be better off with a trade skill, then get their MBA’s so they can run their self built business well.
People need to stop watching TV to determine their self worth.