There is nothing prettier than the night sky when you can see it without leaf obstruction. The weather is warmer for a while this week so perhaps you can take a good look at the rapidly approaching winter sky. Orion is always beautiful this time of year.
Sequestration continues to be a particular worry for Northern Virginians. We dodged so much unemployment and don’t want it here.
Are you shopping more in stores or online? Just call me Amazon Girl.
I have been declared a wuss (on a certain blog by someone who blogs here.) because Elena and I don’t allow county employees to be beaten up here. They can’t fight back–not the way you want to fight back.
Now Corey can fight back. He can say we are from the land of fruits and nuts (and he has) all he wants. So has at least one other supervisor. Not so much the county employees. They have to ignore us, regardless of what we might say about them.
Speaking of Corey, I understand Corey is the talk of Virginia and I don’t mean in such a good way. Core-man, did you forget your manners recently? I have gotten a couple of emails tattling on our young man!
I only left my computer for one store on Black Friday, and that was the Tractor Supply Store. The online deals were great, and not one line to stand in!
A woman after my own heart!
@Moon-howler
MH-there are worse things than being a wuss. No one has said you are evil yet.
I don’t know how I missed this. O. M. G.
Sec. of State Clinton feels that there is more that the Israelis “NEED to do to demonstrate that they understand the pain of an oppressed people…”
Really….the Jews need to demonstrate this….?
http://youtu.be/oBONzCBI0eM
Says that that there is “a lack of generosity, a lack of empathy that goes hand in hand with the suspicion”
SUSPICION? They aren’t suspicious of HAMAS and Fatah. Those organizations have state bluntly that they want to kill every Israeli that they find.
Let’s get Susan Rice in there as soon as possible….she can’t be any worse.
Wouldn’t I love to see the entire speech. That was conveniently parsed.
In the first place, yes, the Israelis need to be mindful of an oppressed peoplAe. Cargo, who lived in that region say before 1945?
All Palestinians aren’t Hamas. Your dislike of Arabic people shines through once again.
Meanhile, find the entire speech. I have followed Hillary a long time. She is a fair minded person.
Is it not possible to see 2 sides of an issue? I sure can.
This Bob Costas thing is going viral. FOX is in a murderous mind. Super right winger, Lars Larson, calls for Costas firing for “suggestiing that we do away with the 2nd amendment”,
That’s not even close to what he was saying. Most likely, this will be on FOX for the rest of the week.
But he is a dope. During the Olympics he was cracking jokes about Idi Amin when the Uganda team entered the arena. He should be writing memoirs somewhere off screen.
@Moon-howler
Um…the Jews. And the Arabs.
My dislike of Arabic people? Because I mention Fatah and Hamas? You know, the murderous regimes ELECTED by the “Palestinians.”
I don’t have a dislike of Arabic people. There you go again, assigning motive.
I dislike people who support murderous regimes and ideologies.
Of course its possible to see two sides of an issue. But the use of that phraseology is problematic.. And what other side is there in the Israeli/Arab conflict.
Please, tell me. The Arabs in what is known as Palestine, murder Israeli civilians on purpose. They target women and children and kill them in their sleep and those killers are celebrated. The Arabs danced on 9/11. Israel left Gaza, leaving behind great wealth in farms. Those were destroyed and rockets set up.
So, I’m having trouble seeing the other side. One side has negotiated for peace and the other side rejects it and goes to war. Every. Time. The charters of Hamas and Fatah do not recognize the right of Israel to exist and vows to destroy the nation and push the Jews into the sea.
On the other hand, I have no problem with the Arabs that I worked with in Kuwait and Qatar. Fine people. They don’t seem to want to kill anyone.
So…really? The Jews don’t know what its like to be oppressed?
You know…the more I think about the “two sides” the more confused I get.
What two sides are YOU talking about?
Because in the Israeli/Arab conflict, the entire thing boils down to:
Palestinian position: Israel goes away. The more dead Jews, the better
Israel position: Stop shooting at us. We’ll live together in peace.
How does one compromise on that?
@Cargosquid
Yea I really am assigning motive because literally everything you have said on this blog leaves that impression. Now if you want to say you love Muslims and Arabs here is your chance. All ears here.
The problem is, I have no idea what Hillary said before or after that small snippet of video. I am not even sure what the subject is. You seem very comfortable wanting to push Hillary aside based on something that really doesn’t paint the full story.
You want to put some time/place tags on your remarks? All I see is broad brushing.
You say that Arabs danced in the streets on 9/11. I saw some video showing that. I could also show you some video of white people dancing in the street the night Martin Luther King was shot. That doesn’t mean that all white people did that or were glad he was dead.
Now I might agree or disagree with Hillary but i sure can’t make that determination without hearing her entire speech. I can also disagree with Hillary without wanting her out of office.
The above is one reason your just seem bogus to me. They are based on partial fact.
I find it difficult to discuss sides with you also. There are two groups of people with very different goals living side by side in a very small area. Both live in democratic societies where the majority wins. Not all Israelis want all Palestians dead and vice versa.
Isn’t Hillary’s speech really about Israeli settlements?
@Cargo
Probably if only the women were involved and the hot heads all sent off for about 6 months the entire situation would be settled, sign sealed and delivered. Women don’t want to send their men folks off to be killed.
Solution to problem:
1. Corps of Engineers constructs 50 foot wall around entire region with one door.
2. All inside of wall are afforded the opportunity to leave the sandbox through said door.
3. All choosing to remain inside are issued one AK-47/M-16 and one full clip.
4. Last man standing wins area within wall.
5. Problem solved.
Mr. Brown had the following to say on the Sheriff’s blog: (A friend lifted it for me,)
It sounds like Mr. Brown needs to make a trip over to KK’s so he can get his naughty on.
Doug, don’t worry about Mistress Moon. She is just fine knowing she got under your skin. You never know who you are talking to, do you?
Employees can certainly do wrong. Howevaaaaaa—all employees answer to someone. You take the problem to their boss. At least that’s how it works on this blog.
Call it standards. Call it what you want. Tell me, is that the kind of talk you use around your ladies or just around other men’s wives?
Meanwhile, you can’t even handle things over in the City from what I am told. Leave Prince William County to the big dogs.
The Golden Rule is a pretty good measure on how to treat others. Now I can sit behind a computer and write whatever dog crap I want to about people, or….I can try to treat people fairly. I don’t have as much buzzard dung on the wall but I can look any one of those people in the eye the next day and know I have done my level best to represent the case honestly.
Can you honestly make that claim?
In most versions of Robin Hood, the Sheriff of Nottingham is portrayed as a cowardly schemer trying to gain control. Fiction or reality?
Those comments are worse than some that have not appeared on that site based on information forwarded. Smutty remarks, really? This should work against them.
@Moon-howler
The Israelis don’t want the Palestinians dead. The Palestinians seem to want the Israelis dead. How does one compromise with people that want only your death?
Cargo, not all Palestineans want Israelis dead. Why can’t you understand that its the broad-brushing that I am having a fit over.
I am sure that there are some Israelis that want the Palestinians all dead. But that doesn’t describe everyone and I think we need to be careful to not state otherwise.
@Moon-howler
Except for the women celebrating the idea of their children growing up to be martyrs.
There is very little of that. Most mothers don’t want that for their children.
” Now if you want to say you love Muslims and Arabs here is your chance. All ears here.”
That, too, would be broad brushing. I don’t love “Christians” either. I said what I dislike. Take it or leave it. I can’t make you accept what I say. Assign all the false motives that you like.
Cargo, your bias on this subject is obvious to everyone but you. Using words like “some” as modifiers would make discussion possible.
Where should I use the word “some” when I speak of Hamas and Fatah? Please, point to the Palestinians that don’t support those groups. I will applaud them. And grieve over them. Because, as soon as they show up, HAMAS and Fatah kills them.
Ok. Fine. Some Arabs don’t want the Israelis dead. However, I have seen no evidence of this. If you have seen it, please…point it out to me. I see indiscriminate terrorism being committed by Hamas. I see Hamas get elected by 99% of the Palestinians. I see murders being wildly celebrated by people in the street, by their government, and by their press. I see blatant calls for the murder of Jews in Israel on their TV. I see the brainwashing of their children into accepting that suicide bomber is a career choice.
Where are these Palestinians that don’t want to push Israel into the sea?
We werent speaking just of Hamas and Fatah. We were speaking of Palestine.
You look at what people in that region want you to see.
Consider it the MSAM. A = Arab
I think you exaggerate what you see.
Here is my perception of what Mrs. Clinton was saying. I am going to deduce that she was addressing the new settlement that Israel approved.
When I listened to her speech, for me, as Jewish person, I “heard” her calling upon Jews to remember their own history of being oppressed. Let’s not forget, Passover is all about oppression, as is Chanukkah. Jews know alot about being oppressed. Which, I believe, is exactly WHY, given the events in the 20th century, there aremany Jews who would rather be on the giving end of oppression than recieving.
I get that dynamic, but the problem is, that is counter to so many deep held beliefs in Judaism about freedom, about how we treat our fellow man with empathy, about how we are suppose to follow the 613 commandments , not just in our homes, but outside our homes (i.e. the significance of the mezuzah on our doorposts). When Israel oppresses the Palestinian people they are now behaving like those they despise.
I believe that Abbas is an honest negotiator, I believe there is real promise in his leadership. A two state solution is the only path to a future where real change is possible and peace a reality. Who would have EVER thought after the Yom Kippur war that Egypt and Israel would ever sign a peace treaty. But it happened because the alternative is simply unsustainable long term.
There are crazy people everywhere, in every religion. Islam is having an identity crisis and by only addressing the nuts, we forget to support the Muslims who strive for freedom and happiness. We don’t lift up those who risk their lives to stand up to extremists in their own country.
@Elena
Well said.
I don’t agree with your belief about Abbas, because he’s stated that he and Fatah will not recognize Israel’s right to exist, but,…..well said.
from CNN:
While Hamas will not even discuss recognition of Israel’s right to exist, Abbas has repeatedly stated his commitment to a two-state solution and to a secure Israel alongside an independent Palestine.
I could find no examples of Abbas saying he didn’t support Israel’s right to exist.
Israel would be wise to try to work with this man. The alternative is just not acceptable.
@Moon-howler
I hope the infamous Terp Taxi gave you their tip of shrimp salad. 😉
He told me it was there. It sounds like a good breakfast to me. Thanks Laf!
Here is a little background on the volunteer fire departments whose mismanagement of fire levy funds still has fall out today, in Prince William County.
http://www.insidenova.com/news/article_3bc79f91-2533-5b29-90a3-4bb05ab9c111.html
Buy local first! Great train ornaments at The Manassas Museum. I was there for a Book Talk on Sunday by Manassas native J.M. Duke, who now lives south of here. She was signing her book, “Yes’m,” which she said is fictional, but partly based on her memories of growing up here (Osbourn High School, Class of 1969). I started reading it and my husband “borrowed” it so I know it’s worth a read. If the museum doesn’t stock it, you can buy it online.
Thanks, Cindy. Too bad it isn’t on any of the e-readers.
@Moon-howler
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og-PgdMv8NQ
http://www.palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=381&fld_id=381&doc_id=1143
The Palestinian Authority refuses to recognize the right of Israel to exist. Its in their charter.
Again, we are talking about Abbas. That is a clip taken out of context. I would need to hear what else went with it.
Sort of like that Hillary snippet.
@Cargosquid
He said he rejects calling it ‘the Jewish State.’ He said they call it “the State of Israel.”
Hmmmm…that casts the question in an entirely different light doesn’t it?
Just out of curiosity, doesn’t Israel refuse to acknowledge statehood for them? Of course.
Breakfast of CHAMPIONS!! I had some for a mid-night snack and breakfast. 🙂
RG III !!!
RG III !!!
Go long! Virginia Dems should start courting “RG for LG”.
Who is GRover Norquist? Why are Republicans so afraid of him? His beard reminds me of a caterpillar. Why are Republicans allowing him to speak for them?
He seems to have not heard about the election. He is saying that Obama is over-playing his hand and that he will get tea party-ed again. I am so tired of seeing this wooly caterpillar.
Its time for the R’s to stop taking the economy to the brink again. Do they really want to own raising taxes on 98% of the middle class? I don’t think so.
@Steve Randolph
He would do a better job than the field we have running, that’s for sure.
@Moon-howler
He said that he would reject it no matte what they call it.
And no, Israel has NOT rejected statehood for Palestine. They first have to stop trying to kill Israelis and recognize their right to exist.
@Moon-howler
I actually agree with you about Norquist.
But its not the R’s taking the economy to the brink. The sequstration was signed by the President. And the Democrats have not offered a realistic deal for stopping it. If the sequestration goes through, it belongs to EVERYBODY who thought it was a good idea to write the damn thing.
Since Americans voted for more taxes and more spending, I hope they’re happy when their taxes go up. Neither the GOP under Boehner or the Democrats actually cuts any spending and both are promoting higher taxes. The sequestration is the only thing that is actually realistic. It cuts actual spending and forces all those that want more and more spending to pay for it.
Instead of blaming the GOP, maybe you had better look to your own voting record. The conservatives are the only ones trying to stop us from going over the unsustainable spending cliff.
@Cargo, the sequestration was signed by the Prez as a compromise. He has made his offer. Boehner better not blink.
Cargo, who will be hated if we go to sequestration? Yup. Your boys in red waving their trunks.
Hey Moon,
What’s YOUR idea for what the Congress and Obama should do? What should go up and how much should be cut and where? You keep criticizing the GOP, and I’ve put forth my ideas,….what are yours?
Obama has made his offer. You got 98% of what you want.
Sorry Moon, this may edge up to your line in the sand but Peacor just cheap-shotted Candland. Her actions this afternoon are on her and nobody else.
Why did she cheap shot him. Details please. Its find to describe behavior.
She’s looking pretty frustrated.
She should be, she tried to bushwack Candland and got caught, she didn’t deliver on Wally’s FTE request and Prinicipi and Jenkins are riding to her defense. Jenkins is so far off base on his take of the process its no wonder the county is in the state it is. The five year plan is just that, a plan, nothing more, nothing less. Plans change, a concept John appears unfamiliar with.
Its probably just because he is a Democrat Mom. No one knows that budget better than Jenkins does. Don’t let him fool you.
As nasty as people have been to her I really don’t care if she did bushwack someone. I will have to see for myself though.
“We assume that it stays the same”. Hmm.
I’m not sure I can listen to this much longer.
I think she realizes that much of what she is saying is generating a “No Sale” response with some of the Board. I don’t think she’s prepared for what appears to be a bloody budget fight this year.
Now she has resorted to rationalizing things.
Let me get this straight, because she overbudgeted each department in the past years, those departments were able to operate without employee impact because they knew there would be a surplus at the end of the year because it was built in. But, if she is to budget appropriately for the department, they would have to cut positions because there would be no surplus at the end of the year. What bizarro world does she hail from and are any board members buying this.
She said she did that about 3 months ago. It shouldnt be a surprise.
Aaargh, there’s a tradeoff and an expensive one for buying that $300,000 house in PWC and not Arlington in the form of transportation and commuting costs both monetary and timewise [redacted].[redacted by the management]
MoM–to the woodhsed!@!!!!!! Woodshed even!
You are talking to employees.
Thank God, Candland’s actually pointing it out to the [redacted]. That’s the first time this discussion has ever happened at the BOCS.
@Mom
Agree, but I understand where she’s coming from. This is really detailed stuff. You can’t budget salary and pass an audit “-assuming” there will be a balance because someone quits or croaks during the upcoming year just because it happened last year.
What is my bill going to be and what services will I conitinue to have or NOT have. This will be a pi$$ing contest before long.
Well, I’m skeptical too, Pete! How ’bout you mom?
@Mom
Agree, but I understand where she’s coming from. This is really detailed stuff. You can’t budget salary and pass an audit “-assuming” there will be a balance because someone quits or croaks during the upcoming year just because it happened last year.
Could you even get a SFH in Arl Co for $300K. I think not. Or if you can it’s a real fixer upper.
.
Laf:
Yeah I’m skeptical of anything that comes out of her mouth or that she puts on the screen.
You can’t get a vacant lot in Arlington for $300K.
Lyssa:
The problem she is having is one she created by artificially inflating the budget over time. The numbers are so far off, thus the the Carryover Fund process, that I don’t think they’re capable of putting together an honest budget at this point as I suspect a lot of fat and waste would be uncovered in the process. I believe that’s why she’s fighting so hard.
I think that is an outcome of budgeting where budgets are created and submitted 10 months before opening day and must carry the agency 22 months from submission. Agencies have to submit budgets in most jurisdictions by fall before the adoption. Balancing contract pricing, general increases and so forth with such a lead time can be problematic. Remember the actual savings from departments was far less than the $20M. All of IT carryover is just savings to manage replacement, maintnenace and development of IT. That can’t be done 12 months to 12 months when dealing with Motorola, Verizon, Comcast and so forth. Maybe IT ongoing costs, debt should not be bundled in and called carryover?
“Who’s who of liberals in the county”. geesh.
Where is whose who of liberals? Did I make the list? Please tell me I am on THAT list and not the other. Please.
@Lafayette
Don’t laugh so loud, Moon is listed twice, under “M” and “H”, since they had such a hard time finding enough to account for each letter of the alphabet.
Where am I listed twice?
@Mom
“I want to keep my powder dry”~Corey
Didn’t I hear these words recently when calling you out of the woodwork. I’m really laughing now.