And the next mystery park is????  Hint:  the weird shapes are called hoodoos.

Lots of night photography is done in this park.   The rock formations give everything an eerie look.  Some folks will be watching the transit of Venus from here. 

In Manassas, this weekend is supposed to be great weather. Not too hot and not too cold. Just right.

The discretionary fund vote is coming up this Tuesday.  All eyes will be on the BOCS.

131 Thoughts to “Open Thread…………………………………………………..Friday, June 1”

  1. Pat Herve

    Regarding the Soda Ban in NYC – if the Mayor has discovered something that is harmful to many people, causing disease, a life time struggle, and increased medical costs – should he not address it?? Example – Asbestos and Tobacco.

    What is the difference between Asbestos, Tobacco and Salt and Sugar? The size of the soda serving has increased, just a few years ago, it was the 12oz can, then bottle, then 16oz, now 20oz, now 2 20oz for $2.22. The big gulp was 16, then 32, then 64oz – they even have a 1.2 liter big gulp – http://www.gregisraelsen.com/2009/06/big-gulp/ . This excess sugar (same for salt) is causing our youth go grow up in a lifetime of obesity, increased diabetes and shorter life spans than their parents. And, increased medical costs – and the reason – ta da – salt and sugar. Bloomberg took on soda in the schools – and the private companies took notice, and supplied drinks that are not soda. Go to your local school at lunch time and see how many kids drink a soda (20oz) and a bag of chips for lunch.

    I would not think I would agree with Bloomberg on this, because the government should not be doing this, I agree that this is a nanny state type of thing – but the parents are not doing their job here – and the parents are just a guilty for buying the overly large drinks for themselves. We can sit around and watch our children grow up overweight, and do nothing – or our society for the health of everyone can do something to fight it. Just because a company thinks the serving size should always increase, does not mean that they are correct- ie – the cola company wants it to become a habit to drink more than you need.

    http://www.davidairey.com/the-coca-cola-conspiracy/

  2. Happy birthday, Marin.

  3. SlowpokeRodriguez

    Happy Birthday, Marin!

  4. SlowpokeRodriguez

    Remember how I said months ago that the job market won’t come back until Obama is out of office? Remember how I said just sit back and watch it? Well………

    1. The only people who will care about jobs are those without. Very few in our area are without.

  5. RE NYC drinks

    It isn’t a very well thought out plan. Juice is just as offensive in the calorie and sugar department. I have mixed feelings here.

    Meanwhile, the Sheriff of Notthingham has been a very busy beaver, calling out supervisors.

  6. marinm

    Thanks everyone. 🙂

    I think I’m turning my wife.. She’s gone from an almost radical progressive to a more centrist. She heard about the soft drink ban and was pissed. She was like; why is the government telling me I can’t drink soda? If I want to drink it – why can’t I – it’s MY body!

    But, then again I’m smiling over that ban because it’s NY and they deserve the big government they voted in.

    1. I think its more a ban on what you can buy in what size container than it is what you can drink.

      That’s the reason I am still mulling this one over.

      No one is saying you can’t buy a quart of coke at the store and take it home and chug it. You can’t buy over 16 oz in restaurants and movies.

      Will it help? Who knows. It is almost a packaging/commerce issue at this point.

  7. Cato the Elder

    marinm :
    Thanks everyone.
    I think I’m turning my wife.. She’s gone from an almost radical progressive to a more centrist.

    My wife took the same journey. The turning point for her was starting her own business several years ago. Now that it’s successful (she’s officially a “job creator”) and she’s making real cheddar she’s more or less a Republican vote, but one that will still swing to a guy like Mark Warner.

    The best way to turn moonbats is to help them make money.

    1. Mark Warner is no moonbat. Good for your wife for not forgetting her roots while she ….nah Moon, don’t say it.

  8. Cato the Elder

    My point exactly, Warner is about as down the middle as they come.

  9. @Moon-howler
    The stupid part….Bloomberg is supporting National Donut Day.

    Somehow there is money to be made in the soda size ban and somebody got to Bloomberg.

  10. marinm

    @Moon-howler

    Mr. Mayor, you can take my Starbucks Venti Frapacinno from my cold, dead hands.

    So, I’m poor and overweight. Your (Bloomberg’s) solution is to charge me more for my soda because instead of paying only $0.25 more for the 32oz vs. the 16 oz. now I have to buy 2 16 oz. drinks to get the same qty of drink. Nice little regressive tax. Btw, the environment is a big fan for all those extra cups..

    The Mayor thinks people are dumb. He knows better than us all. Government is the answer. Big Brother sayith; so it shall be.

  11. marinm

    @Cargosquid

    Ding ding. You buy 2 sodas you get taxed twice…. The effective tax rate is doubled for the ‘same’ quantity.

  12. SlowpokeRodriguez

    Moon-howler :
    The only people who will care about jobs are those without. Very few in our area are without.

    I see the Obama-Biden 2012 Bumper Sticker!!

    1. @pokie, and tell me what it says…I know you are dying to.

  13. Watching

    Obesity is a national health epidemic in our society. You can stick you hide your head in the chip bag, but obesity is a form of malnutrition and we have a whole generation of malnourished kids. Maybe we are dumb.

    While I don’t agree with the ban, I applaud him for having the guts to try and lead on an issue that no one seems to want to face up to.

    Sorry to be the wet blanket, but I wish people would offer suggestions rather than just criticize. It is so easy to criticize.

  14. marinm

    Watching, will you applaud me for standing up and saying fat people shouldn’t be allowed to have babies cause they might breed fat kids that become fat adults?

    I mean if a person is genetically predisposed to weight gain maybe we remove those genes from the gene pool..

    I don’t see much of a difference between Bloomberg’s plan and ‘mine’.

  15. @Watching
    Here’s my suggestion.

    If you’re fat, stop drinking soda. If you don’t care…then it doesn’t matter.

  16. Watching

    @marinm I think his plan is more measured, acceptable and realistic. Kind of like the early bans on smoking that had everyone up in arms.

    @cargosquid It does matter that we have generation of malnourished children. At least to me. I really care. But you are probably laughing at that.

  17. punchak

    @marinm

    Now there’s a stretch / from sugared drinks to fat-genes!
    You don’t have much say about inherited genes, but you can certainly abstain from sugared drinks.

    I don’t agree with Bloomberg; actually thought it was a joke when I first heard it.
    Fruit juices; smoothies, milk shakes, ice cream – them things have a lot of calories.
    Of course, there’s beer … Try to stop the selling of beer at sporting events to anybody who shows up with a beer belly!!! Sorry, buddy, you’ve had enough calories; can’t sell you any beer!

  18. It does matter that we have fat kids. THAT is the responsibility of the parents.

    If soda is such a problem, if the problem is fat kids, then ban soda, sugar, fructose additives, etc.

    OR

    educate the parents. Banning the size of a drink will do nothing…. free refills.

    Really want to get kids skinny again? Ban TV and video games.

    If a problem is so bad that a government entity has to involve itself, then any related causes for that problem are ALSO dangerous. Otherwise the action is frivolous.

    Bloomberg is control freak lunatic that keep his nose out of things that don’t concern a freaking mayor. When he gets NYC turned into a paradise…..THEN he can turn his attention to petty concerns.

    1. It is the first responsibility of the parents but I don’t think it stops there. Do you not see any national responsibiity?

      If most of the parents do nothing, at what point to we extend beyond that ifrst line of defense?

  19. I keep posting before editing… I apologize….

    “Bloomberg is control freak lunatic that SHOULD keep his nose out of things that don’t concern a freaking mayor.”

    FIXED

  20. Ray Beverage

    Considering preparing for next Tuesday for the BOCS discussion on the “Supervisor District Office Expense Funds” and proposd resolution (Item 11D of Agenda)??? Want to prepare to speak at Citizens Time???

    Then grab your goatskin flask filled with wine, and wander to Nottingham to visit with the Sherriff and enjoy his compounding tale he writes with quill and parchment on the many facets of said money purses.

    1. Indeed. I have been very careful what I have said. People will have to form their own opinions. I am rolling my eyes here. 🙄

      @Ray

  21. Morris Davis

    The DC Circuit released its decision on the appeal by my old boss in my lawsuit against him. I lost 2-1. An article on NPR summarizing the decision is pasted below. Now that part is done my case against the Library of Congress can proceed.

    http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=154172756

  22. marinm

    @Morris Davis

    The NPR article is better than the AP. when I get some free time I’d like to read the decision if I can find it online.

  23. @Ray Beverage

    The citizens, from whatever point of view about how tax dollars are spent or what limits are reasonable on discretionary spending, should rise up and speak at the June 5th BOCS meeting.

    If not, we will empower the baffoons to continue their errant ways.

    The Sheriff

  24. Morris Davis

    @marinm

    Here’s link to the opinion on the court’s website: http://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opinions.nsf/834A1AA1F51CDFB085257A100050A6B6/$file/11-5092-1376529.pdf

    It’s a pretty dense legal issue, but see what you think. The decision illustrates my aggravation with Rep. Gerry Connolly. I contacted his office back in 2009 when all this first started. The response I got was he couldn’t do anything because it was a matter for the courts. If you read the opinion you’ll see that 2.5 years later the court says this is an issue where it’s up to Congress, not the courts, to create remedies for constitutional rights. So, I’ve got a congressman pointing to the court and a court pointing to Congress that leaves a right without a remedy, which is really more of a wrong than a right.

    1. You could drop off the decision and have a face to face with him and watch him squirm.

  25. Morris Davis

    @Moon-howler

    I emailed a copy to the member of his staff who said he could not get involved. So far not even a form letter reply. Starting next session I’m about 200 yards inside Wolf’s district. Maybe he’ll be more responsive than the Dems have been.

  26. SlowpokeRodriguez

    Sorry, Zimmerman, but you just screwed yourself there.

  27. SlowpokeRodriguez

    So Axelrod and Holder had to be separated during a meeting in the Casa Blanca. Man, who do you put your money on there? I guess for sentimental reasons, I gotta root for Axelrod.

    1. What was that tift over? There is something likeable about Axelrod. I am not sure what. Does Holder even talk? I can’t recall seeing him speak but once or twice. I have nothing against him, I just don’t feel like we know him like we do Axelrod. We also knew the A man during the Clinton years.

  28. Pokie, are you feeling any better?

    Zimmerman does sound like he screwed himself. Not a smart move.

    Morris, Wolf has town hall meetings on the phone. He is actually fairly responsive. You should contact him early. He might not notice you aren’t his until jan.

  29. marinm

    @Morris Davis

    If you had waited until after probation had ended would they have had a case?

    It’s an interesting read and based on the content — I can understand your anger towards the Distinquished Congressman from Fairfax…

  30. SlowpokeRodriguez

    @Moon-howler
    Axelrod claimed that Holder complained publicly about attempts to install White House operatives into the Justice Dept. Valerie Jarrett broke it up. I’m better. Fever broke Saturday night, now it’s just tonsils. I got exactly one thing from my oldest, and now exactly one thing from my youngest. That’s really not too bad! But for 24 hours, I was curled up on the couch and the angel of death of sitting right beside me. 🙂

  31. @SlowpokeRodriguez

    Am I the only one picturing a sissy slapfight between them while “Mom” Jarrett breaks it up?

  32. @SlowpokeRodriguez

    Glad you are on the mend. Something nasty was going around about a month ago…I caught from MY daughter. It lasted about a month. Kept going to different body parts-tonsils, throat, nose, lungs, ears….Just riding the circuit. Glad you won over the angel of death.

    I would probably be on Axelrod’s side myself. Isn’t Valerie Jarrett that little short woman? How did she break up anything? Pick axe?

  33. @Moon-howler

    Yes. I can’t see either of them doing a sissy fight slap.

  34. Scott Walker has raised over $30 million dollars. That is obscene. Barrett, the Democrat has raised about 4 million. Most of Walker’s money poured in from out of state. He has become some sort of conservative iconoclast.

    He stripped collective bargaining from union workers. He was recalled because people objected to how he took after the public union folks and he bragged about it.

    He has been very divisive.

  35. The Diamond Jubilee continues. The queen is just remarkable. This British display of patriotism and love of the Queen and royal family is just amazing.

  36. @Moon-howler
    Scott Walker united the people who were tired of the unions taking all the money. He balanced the budget without firing anyone. He enabled those that did not want to be in the union to keep their money and leave. His state has a net increase in employment since he took office.

    The unions that spent millions and bussed in thousands to protest and organize against a governor that defeated them divided the state.

    Walker isn’t the problem. He was the solution to an out of control budget problem and over-reaching unions. Unions are now losing members there because the members are no long required to pay the mandatory union fees taken directly from their paycheck by the government.

    1. Yea, Walker is the problem. He is a union buster. I don’t care who they bussed in. Why did they bus anyone in? To fight Walker.

      Cargo, I don’t think you have read anything that has been written from their point of view. You are aware that they had agreed to all concessions and then he railroaded through losing collective bargaining. That was a big deal to them. If you don’t have collective bargaining, you don’t have a union.

      Union membership has really fallen off, as one might expect. That was the point. Union membership drops off, you weaken the Democrats in that area of the country.

      The unions aren’t taking all of anyone’s money other than their members. Why should anyone care? Its all an attempt to get rid of the Democrats. It was a direct attack on public employees. Additionally its a way to cheap out of paying benefits for public employees.

  37. Here’s an interesting quiz.

    I scored 10/10 on basic, 44/50 on advanced, and 42/50 on expert. Virginia as a whole scores higher on the quiz than the national average.

    http://www.constitutionfacts.com/

  38. If union membership was so valuable, why did the unions have mandatory unions dues, paid directly from paychecks? Why couldn’t members pay dues themselves?

    Because the unions know that if Wisconsin was right to work, they would lose members. This was about unions losing money.

    Just think how much money would have been saved if they had just allowed him to serve his term and then voted in a Democrat in a few years. But, the unions over-reached. Even Walker’s opponent, Barrett, is not a union favorite. HE got picked by NOT backing the unions.

    They lost collective bargaining ONLY on benefits, not ALL bargaining.

    Personally, I don’t think public unions are a good idea. They donate directly to the candidates that will give them more money, repeat as needed. And Walker isn’t the only state doing this, but the unions thought that Walker was the most vulnerable, unlike some of the Democrat governors fighting unions.

    1. @Cargo,

      it is payroll deduction, that’s all. Standard practice for contributions, dues, etc coming out of employees checks. The employee is still paying his own union dues. I am sure it is done the same way in your county.

      It really isn’t about unions losing money. Unions are made up of people. The people should decide, not Walker. I am a right to work kind of person and he made me jump in on the side of unions. Now that takes some doing. He was obnoxious and he was a bully. More importantly, he was disrespectful of public employees and spoke as though they were trash. That is why the country is siding with the public employees of Wisconsin.

      You refuse to accept that people make up unions. The unions didn’t over-reach, perhaps the people did. perhaps the colonists over-reached also when they wanted independence from Great Britain. I suppose it is all a matter of from whose perspective. Think of how much money would have been saved if the colonist hadn’t revolted.

      Union members know that if they lose collective bargaining their union is weakened. Republicans in those midwestern states know that if unions are busted, democrats diminish. Let’s be honest here…its really about doing away with the opposition.

      In the south it didn’t matter because everyone was a democrat anyway.

      Public unions should be donating pac money rather than from union dues but I cant speak to that directly. The people pay their own dues so what difference does it make if they are public or private? Public employees have as much right to form unions as everyone else.

      I am tired of this attitude that public employees are somehow just not as good as private employees. It simply isn’t correct.

      If I had to vote tomorrow as an individual, I would vote to remain right to work. But that’s me. Union members have every right to vote to keep their unions. I don’t blame them. Without collective bargaining they are nothing.

  39. Why should the state be collecting payroll deductions for a union? Unions are supposed to be a private contract. And the unions did lose alot of money when they could not force union dues out of people. The unions ARE people. And now, those people have a choice. And they are voting with their feet….and their votes. Walker will win and his opponent was not a fan of the unions either.

    Heck, even FDR didn’t think that public unions were a good idea.

    Yes…the union IS weakened. They were CONTROLLING one party in Wisconsin and the public is, apparently, fed up. This is the SECOND time that a majority of people in Wisconsin have voted against the unions. I don’t want the unions controlling either party. I’m perfectly fine with unions and businesses not contributing money to politicians. BUT, if one does it..then so does the other.

  40. Blue

    My sense is that we should not lump all unions together. That is wrong. Private sector unions, for the most part at least, have an incentive to make sure that the company remains profitable and – and – attractive to investors so as to protect competitive postion, which in turn works to maintain membership, wages, benefits and pensions. Unfortunately, that did not apply to the auto industry, who never learned the lessons of the steel or airline industries, because they believed that they could and then did go to the Congress and Treasury for relief, and got it in the form of a Demogoge controlled managed bankruptcy versus a market driven and stockholder / investor managed bankruptcy. Union membership and the garnishment of their wages for dues should be on a voluntary basis, whether they are in a right to work state of not.

    That is different from the public employee unions, who have absolutely no, zero incentive to work with manangement at any level. Its all about their influence before the legislature to affect everything from locations of work, facility and equipment purchases, operational budgets, membership (employee caps or not), wages, benefits, pensions and, increasingly, even the work rules. And in the case of public employee unions it is without any responsbility for their actions to taxpayers or to their members and without regard to revenues. And then if you are a wage grade or in many other cases – like teachers – the wages are garnished as a condition of employment without any action on the part of an employee.

    All Walker did, in my view, is to try to level just a little the playing field between the two union groups.

    1. Blue, I find myself in quite a conundrum over unions, both private and public. I am not really a strong union person, although I believe they have a right to form. Private unions have always been very associated with crime and the influences of organized crime. I don’t care much for the idea of having to belong to a union if you are driving a school bus or working in the school cafeteria or teaching or nursing, or ….name it.

      By the same token, I understand the attachment those public employees had to their unions and they made many concessions. Basically, Scott Walker was a bastard and a bully. My contempt for him overruled any misgivings I had over public sector unions. I think many people were affected that way.

      I prefer right to work. That allows people who want organized labor the right to join whatever it is they want and those who don’t want to join, don’t have to.

  41. Blue

    In a Detroit News article today it is being reported that’
    As part of the government’s GM bailout, the U.S. Treasury still holds a 26 percent stake in the Detroit automaker, and has been sitting on that share for 35 months.

    “There is no reason for the government to continue to hold (its GM stake),” Romney, a Detroit native and son of an auto executive, said Friday. “The president is delaying the sale of the shares to try and avoid the story that the taxpayer took another loss. I would get the company independent from government and run for the interests of the consumer and the enterprise and its workers — not for the political considerations of government officials.”
    At GM’s Monday closing price of $21.11 a share, the government would lose $16 billion on its $49.5 billion bailout. So in this case, the unions have the White House as a source of influence

    From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120605/POLITICS01/206050364#ixzz1wwNI2khq

  42. marinm

    Holy crap. This would be funny if it were on The Onion. But, it’s not. It’s true.

    http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jun/4/forest-service-hit-for-border-patrol-call/

    “A federal department ruled last week that the Forest Service violated a Spanish-speaking woman’s civil rights by calling the Border Patrol to help translate during a routine stop, saying it was “humiliating” to Hispanics and an illicit backdoor way to capture more illegal immigrants.”

  43. Morris Davis

    @marinm

    I was about a month away from completing the probationary period. After that unless you murder someone during duty hours in the workplace it is hard to get fired (that’s a bit facetious, but not much). Having spent 25 years in the military, I know how to follow rules. Part of my aggravation here is the organization had (and still has) an official published rule encouraging speaking and writing and an unwritten unofficial policy that no one should follow the official rule.

  44. marinm

    @Morris Davis

    As a person who has been offered a position in the civil service and has worked with them I know all to well that once the probation period is over the feet go up on the desk and the employee hits the cruise control button..

    What really irks me off is that it looks like you tried to do the right thing. You gave your boss a heads up as a courtesy. No good deed goes unpunished, eh?

    We are encouraged to publish and do conferences in my current capacity but I doubt they’ll want to stick the company logo on some of my “extreme right wing” or libertarian ideas (dealing with cyber security and cyber in general).

    1. I would say you are probably correct, marin. I would keep that all quieter than a mouse.

      Even govt employees can be fired if their politics get too loud.

  45. Here too

    http://venustransit.nasa.gov/webcasts/nasatv/

    They just used composite pics turned into a short vid close up of Venus approaching the sun

  46. SlowpokeRodriguez

    For my liberal friends, in honor of the Walker Recall election tonight. Especially for Starry, here is “the sniper”.

    http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1527396

    1. The recall also sent a strong message….not to come along and be a bully. While his challengers were not successful, it had to be a huge pain in the butt to fight a recall. So… it was predictable.

  47. SlowpokeRodriguez

    I pains me to say this, but HuffPo has the best online election coverage.

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