The Perseids are here!!!!

MoonHowler

From Smithsonian.org:

Although the Perseids can be seen any time in August, this weekend is supposed to be the best time to catch the display. According to EarthSky,

The earliest historical account of Perseid activity comes from a Chinese record in 36AD, where it was said that “more than 100 meteors flew in the morning.” Numerous references to the August Perseids appear in Chinese, Japanese and Korean records throughout the 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th centuries. Meanwhile, according to ancient western skylore, the Perseid shower commemorates the time when the god Zeus visited the mortal maiden Danae in the form of a shower of gold. Zeus and Danae became the parents of Perseus the Hero – from whose constellation the Perseid meteors radiate.

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This Love Affair with Novelist Ayn Rand

MoonHowler

There is some sort of love affair going on with some  Republicans and Ayn Rand.  I read Ayn Rand years ago during an era when selfishness was frowned on.  During this time we were told not to ask what our country could do for us but what we could do for our country.  It was a time when just 2 decade before, Americans had liberated Euope and discovered the horrors of the Holocaust.  We were in the middle of sacrificing nearly 60,000 of our own in a far-off land called Vietnam, austensibly to stop the spread of communism.

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SNAP: Changes in the Food Stamp Program

MoonHowler

For starters, it is now called SNAP which stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and it is administered by the Virginia Department of Social Services.  Right now, SNAP issues a debit card that is loaded up at midnight on the first of each month.  Food stores have had a difficult time being able to keep enough fresh food on hand for the recipients.  Soon this will all change and cards will be loaded on a staggered basis so stores can have fresh foods for folks.   According to the Richmond Times Dispatch:

Under Virginia’s current system, all SNAP — Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, as the program is now called — recipients get their debit card accounts replenished on the first day of each month.

But come fall, that no longer will be the case.

To improve recipients’ access to high-quality products, the Virginia Department of Social Services will stagger when the benefits will be available during the first part of every month.

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Voter ID: The Wizards of I.D.

MoonHowler

How much of a problem really is it?  An ousted moderate Republican from Florida tells us what is really going on.

You might not like Al Sharpton but he is just the host.  I have found he asks good questions and leads a good interview, regardless of how I feel about the Old Al.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

And let’s not leave Jon Stewart out. He has a good take on this voter ID issue that has become so all-fired important. If anyone thinks it isn’t to restrict Democratic votes, I have a bridge for sale. Shades of a poll tax in some states…..

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The Bloggers

MoonHowler

Geez.  I never felt so much a part of things and yet so reviled in my life.  Well, that actually isn’t true.  I was in a job for many years where I often was memorialized in unflattering ways with graffiti.  We don’t need to elaborate.

Now Elena and I are unintentionally part of a commando squad hated and reviled by THE County.  We have even embarrassingly been linked in with everyone else as “conservative bloggers.”  That last descriptor hurt the worst of all.  No, we aren’t conservative and proud of it.

The strange part about all of this is we are really the only ones who aren’t conservative.  I just don’t think that county business needs labels.  Last Tuesday night I saw a board of 6 Republicans and 2 Democrats give a way lots and lots of money without so much as batting an eye.  We were against some of this give away.  We also are part of the public outcry demanding that county business be done in daylight.  Surely that doesn’t wear a political label!

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Colonel Morris Davis–U.S. Military Scandal: A Culture of Rape? (UPDATED)

MoonHowler

Some background from aljazeera.com:

Two US air force trainers have been sentenced in connection with a widening sexual abuse scandal at one of the busiest military training centers in the nation.

Investigators say at least 38 female trainees were victimised at the Lackland Air Force Base in the US state of Texas. Fifteen instructors have been implicated.

Last year, nearly 3,200 rapes and sexual assaults were officially reported, but the Pentagon admits that represents just 15 per cent of all incidents.

A military survey revealed that one in five women in the US forces has been sexually assaulted, but most do not report it. Nearly half said that they “did not want to cause trouble in their unit”.

A former army nurse told a member of the US Congress that during her tours in Iraq and Afghanistan she was more afraid of being attacked by her fellow soldiers than she was of the enemy.

But many of those attacked are men. In 2010 nearly 50,000 male veterans screened positive for “military sexual trauma” at the US Department of Veterans Affairs.

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Shooter at Sikh Temple known to hate group watchers

MoonHowler

Washigntonpost.com:

OAK CREEK, Wis. — The gunman who killed worshipers at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin on Sunday had become deeply embedded in the white-supremacist music scene and was well known to anti-hate watchdog groups, one of which said it had been tracking the 40-year-old for more than a decade.

In 2000, Wade Michael Page, an Army veteran, sold everything he owned aside from his motorcycle and journeyed from Colorado, eventually settling in rural North Carolina. He joined prominent “white power” rock bands. And over time, he became frustrated with what he viewed as “people’s apathetic ways” and the lack of “strict discipline in our sick society,” according to an interview he conducted with his record label.

Who are the hate-group watchers?  Anti-Defense League (ADL), Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) all are hate group watchers and you do not want to get on their list.    These hate group watchers do watch and they continually alert law enforcement about those who seem to target others with literature or speech.

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Rover Curiosity: The best new thing in the world!

MoonHowler

“Touchdown confirmed,” said engineer Allen Chen. “We’re safe on Mars.”

“The wheels of Curiosity have begun to blaze the trail for human footprints on Mars,” said NASA chief Charles Bolden.

The Rover might very well unearth secrets that man has wanted to know for centuries.  Here is our chance to discover that we are not alone.

Talk about unbridaled enthusiasm!  Go Team Curiosity.

From The Sun Chronicle:

Over the next several days, Curiosity is expected to send back the first color pictures. After several weeks of health checkups, the six-wheel rover could take its first short drive and flex its robotic arm.Read More

What is Conflict of Interest? Let’s have a lesson, shall we!

Elena
Are some people in PWC purposefully obtuse?  One can volunteer for ANY organization they want, however, one cannot then direct taxpayer money, in large sums, to their personal non profit.  It’s called special interest for a reason!
 I am shocked at the level of purposeful denial regarding a very basic principal of what constitutes political financial favoritism.  Having friends with family members connected to the pot of tax payer cash IS what constitutes favoritism and special interest.  THAT relationship is what CREATES the conflict of interest.
 FYI, not such a smart idea to high five each other on Facebook.  It appears EXACLTY as though there is special interest being favored due to “friend” status, one even might say, a conflict of interest.
 As more partnerships are formed with government, PWC should get ahead of the curve and establish clear guidelines.  We all have our issues that we feel are paramount for the good of the community.
I am a firm believer in volunteering for your community, I have volunteered my entire adult life.  However, having a direct connection to the county coffers, creates the impression of  preferential  treatment, how can it not.  To suggest that the wives of politicians should not be singled out is simply not realistic.  What would happen if Mrs. Obama served on the Board of Planned Parenthood, imagine the uproar that would ensue!

Post-Mortum of the BOCS Meeting

MoonHowler

Its time to do a post-mortum of the fuster cluck that was the BOCS meeting of August 7, 2012.

I have never seen such a display of bad taste in my entire life.  Things just went from bad to worse.  Parents were encouraged to bring their disabled children out to perform to play on emotions.   A supervisor’s wife addressed the supervisors but she was really talking to the blogosphere.  Her martyred words were biting, direct and angry.  Her husband will have to own that one.  It should not have happened. [posts morphed–remarks removed]

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BOCS: I don’t want my money back

MoonHowler

 **UPDATE**  The Sheriff indicates there will probably not be a vote on conflict of interest.  I guess its ok to ignore the people.  More indelible horse manure will stick to more boots. 

**UPDATE 2**  Sheriff thinks there will be a second but it will get voted down. 

Click to here to get to the agenda

Today is the much awaited BOCS meeting where carry over funds are decided and where Pete Candland’s Conflict of Interest Resolution is supposed to be codified.  County attorney Horan, many think at the direction of Chairman Corey Stewart, has advised that his Resolution would violate the law.  Many citizens are crying FOUL over this suggestion.

Conflict of interest discussions have dominated the county landscape ever since Supervisor Wally Covington  attempted to slide $100k to Rainbow riding where his wife served in a leadership capacity until very recently.  Even though Covington pulled back his request after the blogosphere went wild over his audacity, it was like he had stepped in indelible horse manure and he simply has not been able to get it off his boots.  The horsey stuff has also wafted over to the other supervisors and it has been behind most of the discussion about conflict of interest.

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Prince William Franken-County: Waste Behind the scenes in County govt.

MoonHowler

 

 

People in Prince William County government report that if Prince William County were an actual business, it would have gone bankrupt because of pure inefficiency and refusal to modernize. That sure paints a different picture than El Jefe the chairman paints.

Corey Stewart tried to tell us, in his recent letter to the editor in the News & Messenger, that Prince William County ranks above all others; so much so that the federal government ought to follow our model.  Why is he crowing, blowing and bragging? He wants the supposed county accomplishments on his personal resume for his bid for Lt. Governor. Corey wants us to believe that our taxes haven’t risen and that government is acting responsibly, all while forking over tax payer money to his power broker buds heading up pet projects.  In turn, his war chests are filled.  Deepthroat tells another story.

Corey tries to sell the taxpayers a bill of goods based on tooth fairy money and spending. He tells us rubes what he thinks we want to hear. In the first place, if you lower the tax rate and raise the real estate assessment, you haven’t lowered taxes. Money talks and we know what walks.

We all know what bulls do!

 

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A Broken Government Process, What Must Change………

Elena

What  happens on Tuesday will not change the broken process in PWC, no matter what the Board does in the end.  Whether Rainbow Riding gets its funding along with other numerous recipients, what citizens can count on for sure, is that we will continue, BAD  business as usual in PWC.

It has come to my attention that the “process” for non profits to attain tax payer funds are quite backwards.  Here is how it works.  Non profit asks for money, county gives money, THEN, behind closed doors, said non profit agrees upon a “memorandum of understanding”.

Well, here is my first most obvious question, how the heck can the county GIVE money BEFORE you understand WHAT how the money is being spent.  My next question is,  within the context of this supposed process, where does the non profit list the deliverables expected from this money?

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The Pragmatic and the Tone-Deaf: What’s become of the War Museum?

MoonHowler

Guest Post:  The Derecho

de·re·cho/dāˈrāCHō/

Noun:
A line of intense, widespread, and fast-moving windstorms and sometimes thunderstorms that moves across a great distance

 

Disclaimer: All guest posts are the opinion of the poster and do not necessarily represent the views of moonhowlings.net administration.

M-H

 

Two articles published in the morning papers demonstrate the stark differences between the pragmatic and the tone-deaf, the realistic and the desperate.

The Prince William Extra of the WAPO carries an article by Jeremy Borden that details the reason nobody can find funding for the Americans in Wartime Museum.  Allan Cors, unlike county staff and the BOCS, demonstrates that he and the museum’s leaders recognize the current political climate and increased scrutiny of the County budget.  They have decided not to ask for an additional $1 million from Prince William because of the ongoing controversy surrounding allocations to nonprofit groups.  Regardless one’s position regarding the museum and non-profit allocations, one must give credit to Mr. Cors and the museum’s directors for recognizing current circumstances and withdrawing their funding request.

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Open Thread………………………………………………..Sunday, August 5

MoonHowler

UPDATE: 

opening of the Manassas Office of the 2012 Obama/Biden campaign 

Time: Saturday, August 11, 2012 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Location: Trusler Hall, 9411 Main Street, Suite 101, Manassas, VA 20110 (next to Philadelphia Tavern)

The Romney event begins at 3:45.  I heard a rumor that there will be an Obama Shadow bus coming to town also.  Everyone ought to be good and stirred up. 

The LOVE sign will stay.

The Olympics have been thrilling for the United States.  We are ahead in number of medals in all and number of gold medals.

Last week was exciting.  We had a full week of Olympics, hot weather, and news that the BOCS plans to raise its middle finger at all of us and do what they damn well please.  We have every indication that the Candland Conflict of Interest Resolution will be shot down like a wounded quail by the County Attorney.  Somehow it is against the law to tell supervisors they can’t vote on things that ….oh never mind.  Ms. Horan says it best:

“To the extent that the proposed amendment would bar a member of the Board of County Supervisors from casting a vote on an issue when that member is otherwise fully empowered by the Code of Virginia to vote, the amendment exceeds the Board’s legal authority and should not be adopted.”

Let us not forget, Ms. Horan is an employee.  Employees are supposed to do what they are told.  Hmmmm…I wonder who told her to make that outrageous statement?  Did she just make conflict of interest invisible?