These guys tend to be psychotic. Perhaps narcissistic is a better word. Some male cardinals continually dance in front of reflective surfaces. We have one here to dances in front of the car mirrors, the stainless steel grill, and windows. He has also been known to fly into windows. I had to put stuff animals up there to scare him off.
Do robins still migrate south? How about mockingbirds? I think some robins hang back. I think I saw one about a week ago.
Monday Morning- PWC Schools have a 2 hour delay.
I’ve seen Robins and Bluebirds (both part of the thrush family) here in the winter. I don’t know whether they’re the same birds that we see in spring or migrants from farther north. Bluebirds will sometimes do the same crazy antics in front of car mirrors as Cardinals. I don’t know about Mockingbirds since we’re in too wooded an area to see them. We get catbirds instead. The Border Collie loves to chase them from bush to bush.
I have a hard time telling catbirds and mockingbirds apart. I think I have both.
I KNOW I heard a robin when I went out a frew hours ago.
People are surprised to see Robins in winter but they must stick around or are replaced by birds who figure they’ve travelled far enough south. The bluebirds I’ve seen have been in flocks – not many single birds.
Catbirds have the same silhouette but are darker (grey) and have a real dark cap. Ours like the nandina and mahonia for nesting. Once the leaves are off most of the shrubs and they’re visible, the dog chases them.
I thought this was south.
Seems as thought the county has a new local author. Hold your horses and put down your coffee cup, so you don’t spit on your screen. What a joke KooKinelli writing a book. Who in their right mind would pay one red cent to read his thoughts. Oh wait, the rabid Republicans will.
http://www.nbcwashington.com/blogs/first-read-dmv/Morning-Read-Cuccinellis-Writing-A-Book-187267031.html
Oh dear God. Maybe he will write a porn book. ho ho ho. Maybe he will be in touch with his inner self?
Stop me!
I can’t stop you. I’m having the same problem over here. 👿
His book is probably destined for the cheap heap right inside B&N’s door.
http://www.dmas.virginia.gov/Content_atchs/atchs/va-medprg.pdf
Del. Scott Surovell shares his district’s new Medicaid data on his blog
“The Dixie Pig”. Would be interesting to see the same information
for our area.
New York forgot to exempt on-duty police from the seven-bullet limit in their new gun-control law. That’s rich. You’d think they would have learned how important it is to read the bill. This is why laws should not be passed just for the sake of “doing something, anything!” and based on pure emotion and ignorance.
@Lady Emma
hahahahahaha
I saw that.
FYI:
– $7 trillion- U.S. consumer and business spending directed
by women, equivalent to China’s gross domestic product.
– 66% -approximate amount of U.S. personal wealth controlled
by women.
– No. 1- where the spending clout of “boomer” women ranks in
the U.S.
Kathryn Karlic
BARRON’S (1-21-2011)
Thanks Steve,
American women control their own reproduction. Woe be unto those who try to change that status!!!
We control our own spending on lingerie and “toys,” too. This new reality show, Double Divas, about two Georgia shopkeepers on Lifetime TV, makes me think of KKs Temptations, which has been thriving for two years now on Battle Street in Old Town Manassas.
http://jezebel.com/5975029/lifetimes-new-bra+fitting-reality-show-is-dare-we-say-uplifting
I typically have robins around my house in old town Manassas (Grant and Mosby) during most or even all of the winter. In particular we have two large holly trees in the front yard and there are always a few days in January when perhaps at least fifty robins show up and eat all the holly berries. That occurred last week. This year they also ate the winterberries, although usually a differenct species of bird gets those berry about a month late.
Thanks for the update, Rich. I still have my holly berries. My next door neighbors have quite an elaborate feeding system going all the time. Do you think that is what is keeping my holly berry’s safe?
I didn’t know they would eat holly berries but I have seen a flock of them strip a pyrocantha bush down in 15 minutes.
Cedar Waxwings will strip a tree of berries also. Not sure which months they’re most common here.
Fire chief: Chaplain is 1 of 5 NM shooting victims
By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN | Associated Press – 26 mins ago
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A 15-year-old boy remained in custody Sunday night as detectives tried to piece together what led to the shooting of five people, including three young children, who were found dead in a New Mexico home.
https://www.moonhowlings.net/index.php/2013/01/16/open-thread-wednesday-january-16/#comments
Another mass shooting
Moon, I’m FINALLY all caught up with Downton. It’s a fluffernutter of a show, but an addictive one!
I actually nodded off tonight…jolted myself awake and caught up. You have never seen anyone hit rewind so fast.
Big Love was addictive also, as was/is Boardwalk Empire.
http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/wb/319207
Remembering a great man today.
Remember that Gun Appreciation Day? The one that the press didn’t cover?
Apparently it was quite popular.
http://www.pagunblog.com/2013/01/19/welcome-to-tea-party-2-0-gun-rights-edition/
I saw something about it in the Washington Post, Cargo. GAD was in full swing in Annapolis, if I am not mistaken.
Annapolis? Wow. Maryland is almost as bad as DC on gun control.
Too funny that the president’s limo is nicknamed “the Beast.”
When I was a teenager I had an ancient car nicknamed “The Beast.”
Too funny. It was like a 1950 plymouth beetle back.
Is it just me or is the secret service just looking old?
Terry McAuliffee just shook hand with Joe Biden along the parade route. Good! Terry’s got cred!!!
What a neat family the Obamas are.
What a neat family the Bidens are.
The reviewing stand is burning up. All the Obamas are peeling off layers…sweating. If I were president I would be telling them to turn the damn heat down. I am just me and I tell people to turn the damn heat down.
The Obamas must not be a obnoxious as I am.
@Steve Randolph
MLK sort of got over-shadowed this year, didn’t he? I am sure he would think it was all for a good cause.
Indeed – it was a day of justice, peace and righteousness – all the things he was a drum major for. The National Day of Service rocked, too — so many service events, they took place over three days, not just one.
Only sad note, AP reports Va Senate votes 29-9 to reappoint embattled UVa rector, organizer of failed president ouster. The stated reasoning: they don’t want the Gen. Assembly to micromanage university decisions like job performance. House is up next.
Oh Cindy…..I am so sorry to hear she was reaapointed. This situation was more than interference.
The University of Virginia is worse off with her involvement.
billion pixel picture of the capital with zoom in capabilities.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/local/inauguration-2013/pano/d/?hpid=z2
Very neat!!!!
BOCS Meeting today @2 pm
No night meeting
The Corey show is beginning.
Watch out folks, about 20 people in the county are watching all of you all very carefully.
Great to see Mayor Parrish and Council Member Jon Way there to support a possible partnership on a new firing range with the FBI and the county. The city’s police officers have to go to Orange to use a firing range – the city doesn’t have one.
Corey is singing the praises of the new redictricting that was sneaked in yesterday. I guess so. Don’t be misled. It is a trick to regain permanent control of the State senate.
Shame on your Corey for being such a disingenous story teller.
@Cindy Brookshire
The County barely has one. I think only 12 of them can go at a time. It is extremely inadequate for the number of police officers who have to use it.
Two suspects detained after shooting on Texas college campus
By Erwin Seba | Reuters – 20
HOUSTON (Reuters) – Three people were wounded, one critically, on Tuesday when gunfire erupted during an altercation between two people on a community college campus near Houston, police said, the latest in a series of shootings on U.S. college and school campuses.
Two people “of interest” in the Lone Star College shooting were detained for questioning, including one with a student identification, according to authorities. “We are questioning them now,” Harris County Sheriff’s Office Captain W.K. Melacon told a press conference at the scene.
Two people “of interest” in the Lone Star College shooting were detained for questioning, including one with a student identification, according to authorities. “We are questioning them now,” Harris County Sheriff’s Office Captain W.K. Melacon told a press conference at the scene.
Authorities said the two people involved in the argument were in hospital. A maintenance worker who had been standing nearby was shot in the leg, and a woman with a student ID was taken to a hospital with a medical issue that was not a gunshot wound, they said.
An ambulance dispatcher said his company had transported three people to local hospitals. One of them was in critical condition and the other two were in “urgent” condition, he said.
The campus was searched and the all clear given, sheriff’s officers said. Classes were expected to resume on Wednesday.
The shooting at the community college with some 10,000 students was the latest incident at a U.S. school since a gunman massacred 20 children and six adults in Connecticut in December.
http://news.yahoo.com/two-suspects-detained-shooting-texas-college-campus-002200039.html
I guess incidents like these are just the price of freedom.
No one ever shot anyone else when they were armed with nothing more than shotguns. You almost never saw anything about shootings on the internet back then.
@Lady Emma
Lady Emma,
I don’t understand what you said.
Hunters shoot each other all the time… not on purpose usually but accidentally.
Rand Paul was a real AH to Hillary. He told her he would have fired her. Maybe the people of Kentucky will fire him.
McCain also was a jerk to her. So were a few others.
Typical bullies. Let’s see if the house committee has better manners.
From the NYTimes:
@Moon-howler
Yep… I bet the Senate follows the law now and passes a budget.
The same guy that authored this “asinine” state bill defended Helen Dragas’ reappointment as the rector of the Board of Visitors at UVa.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-state-of-nova/post/fairfax-senators-asinine-bill-to-protect-cyclists-from-dooring-passes-va-senate-easily/2013/01/23/9c277158-651f-11e2-85f5-a8a9228e55e7_blog.html?hpid=z5
Not saying it’s okay to get “doored” but is this why the important work doesn’t get done in Richmond? Can’t they come up with a priority list and do the tough stuff first?
@Cindy Brookshire
I was surprised that Chap Peterson defended Dragas. I am wondering how much it had to do with urging from Mark Warner.
As for the “dooring,” It is actually a fairly serious problem in urban areas and a danger not only to cyclists but also to other drivers.
The object is to smack a cyclist off his/her bike by slamming them with a car door. A past principal of one of the local high schools was intensely disliked and he rode all over NoVA on his bike. This bearded fellow, nick-named “Moses” was carried a bounty for being doored. I don’t know if they ever got him or not. Even my brother knew about it and he lived in Fairfax at the time.
Maybe Moe or Andy can tell us more about the practice.
Women are finally people?
NY times:
Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta is lifting the military’s ban on women in combat, which will open up hundreds of thousands of additional front-line jobs to them, senior defense officials said on Wednesday.
@Moon-howler
Yep. He did it. Now…let’s see what happens. Will the Rangers be forced to take women no matter the qualification or will women be subject to the same qualifications that men are required to meet? The Marines opened up the Infantry Officer’s Training course to all female Marines. Only two female Lieutenants applied. They, along with 26 male Marines failed to complete the course. So…will the politicians soften the requirements now?
If women are allowed into infantry units, are we ready for the reduced capability that brings?
One Marine’s opinion: http://www.mca-marines.org/gazette/article/get-over-it-we-are-not-all-created-equal
She as some valid concerns.
Clinton forcefully defends handling of Benghazi attack
By Arshad Mohammed and Tabassum Zakaria | Reuters – 2 hrs 27 mins
2 hrs 58 mins ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday forcefully defended her handling of the September 11 attack on the U.S. mission in the Libyan city of Benghazi and denied any effort to mislead the American people.
The attack by armed militants that killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans threatens to stain Clinton’s legacy as secretary of state and could cast a longer shadow should she decide to make a White House run in 2016.
http://news.yahoo.com/clinton-defends-her-handling-benghazi-attack-testimony-142554865.html;_ylt=AhnPjDyWAYMc5MUf4OSTL3Ks0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTQyYW9hZWp2BG1pdANTZWN0aW9uTGlzdCBGUCBVUwRwa2cDMjQ2NGFmMDItZmJjYS0zZWUzLTkyMTItODIwODk5YjY3NDRkBHBvcwMyBHNlYwNNZWRpYVNlY3Rpb25MaXN0BHZlcgM5YWRkMTRhNC02NWE3LTExZTItYmM5ZS0zNmY4NzcwNDE3MDM-;_ylg=X3oDMTFpNzk0NjhtBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3
Clinton is absolutely right. Wtf difference does it make whether there was a protest there or not? None. Repugs are beating this dead horse for all it is worth
Conservatives Have Their Worst Week Ever
POSTED: January 23, 12:23 PM ET
So to recap: The gun lobby’s response to Obama’s inauguration was to organize a “Gun Appreciation Day” on Martin Luther King Day that left five of their own gun-loving members accidentally shot. Then they responded to Obama’s inaugural speech by doubling down on the “elitist hypocrite” ad that earned them near-universal condemnation previously. So how could things get worse?
Well, you could have a spokesman for Political Media, which organized “Gun Appreciation Day,” tell the Hollywood Reporter that Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained is the perfect argument in support of gun rights. Political Media’s Larry Ward said he’s conssidering a “What Would Django Do?” campaign as part of this new rhetorical line they’re thinking of trying to sell, particularly to the black community. The idea is, get this, that there wouldn’t have been slavery if slaves had had gun rights.
Hey, dipshit: Before anyone allowed slaves to have guns, they would have had to have other rights, like for instance being considered human beings. Are you people completely stupid? You’d have to have hoovered more coke than even Quentin Tarantino to imagine a world where white slave owners denied black people freedom of movement, denied them education and freedom of speech and dominion over their own bodies, but then for some reason also allowed them to buy guns. Jesus Christ! The whole point of slavery is that slaves didn’t have any rights, much less the right to bear arms.
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/conservatives-have-their-worst-week-ever-20130123#ixzz2IrUbky00
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook
Hahahaha!
@Starryflights
Clinton is absolutely right. Wtf difference does it make whether there was a protest there or not?
One was a lie. The other the truth.
@Starryflights
Actually, the negligent shots were at GUN SHOWS, not at the Gun Appreciation Day events that occurred at capitols across the country, involving thousands of people. One problem is that people bring guns to gun shows KNOWING that they will have to unload and show clear, and don’t do it before hand. The other is that the existing rules make owners screw with their guns. Leave them in the holster.
Maybe if the blacks had had guns, they could have broken their chains. Maybe THAT was the message, that its hard to enslave an armed populace. If they had had guns, they would not have had their other rights denied. The NRA was one of the FIRST civil rights organizations, supporting the right of black people to be armed. Perhaps, instead of crowing about slaves not having rights, maybe you can think outside of the box.
Now, the idea of using that movie as a publicity stunt IS stupid. But, really, Taibbi? He’s a hack.
If the NRA was trying to win over moderates, they failed miserably with their gun-hugging events. I mean, really, these are the guys who want to patrol our schools with arms, and they can’t even handle their own weapons without shooting somebody? Come on!
General Dynamics blames $2 billion loss on defense cuts
By Jim Tankersley and Marjorie Censer, Published: January 23
One of the nation’s largest federal contractors reported a $2 billion loss Wednesday and blamed it on defense cuts, a sign that the government spending that provided the rocket fuel for the metro area’s decade-long economic expansion is now dissipating.
General Dynamics, based in Falls Church, said it was devaluing its information technology business by $2 billion amid falling government demand. The announcement was particularly worrisome because IT contracting is the key ingredient to the metro area’s government-powered growth.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/general-dynamics-blames-2-million-loss-on-defense-cuts/2013/01/23/b748e57a-658d-11e2-85f5-a8a9228e55e7_story.html
This is austerity, folks.
Prince William County Schools and City of Manassas Schools are back to playing reindeer games about opening schools during inclement weather.
Prince William did not update their website until well after 5:20 am. The TV stations didn’t get it for quite a while after that. The notifier didn’t go out to the email recipients until after 6:30.
I tried to find out information regarding the City after PWC announced to no avail.
Every other jurisdiction had announced long before PWC or Manassas.
Parents need to make plans. The further out you live, the sooner the decision needs to be announced.
School systems- when in doubt, err on the side of caution.
@Starryflights
That is serious. I know several people who lost their jobs last fall because of looming sequestration. All worked for defense contractors.