House passes Farm Bill, kills food stamp program

foodstamps-2

Washingtonpost.com:

House Republicans narrowly passed a farm bill on Thursday that was stripped of hundreds of billions in funding for food stamps, abandoning four decades of precedent to gain the backing of conservative lawmakers.

The 216 to 208 vote was a victory for a Republican caucus that has struggled to pass the most basic of legislation, but it also set up weeks of acrimony and uncertainty as House and Senate leaders must reconcile two vastly different visions for providing subsidies to farmers and feeding the hungry.

Against that backdrop, the two chambers must hash out a farm bill by the end of September or policy will revert to a 1949 law that could lead to steep price increases on everyday items such as milk.

How in the hell do we, as a nation, separate out farms from feeding the hungry?  The farm bills in the past have all been coupled with  food stamp programs that feed the the poor.   Step over women, there is also a war on the poor, especially the most vulnerable Americans, the children.   Approximately 80% of past farm bills have been for the food stamp program.  Around 48 million Americans rely on this program for nutrition.

A few Republicans voted against this farm bill.  No Democrats voted for it.

One can’t help but wonder how a party that claims to be so pro-life can justify cutting off nutritional resources to the poor children of America?  The hypocrisy is simply overwhelming and staggering to contemplate.  Shame!

Sarah Slamen tells the Texas Legislature how she really feels

Yes, Sarah Slamen was removed for speaking her mind to her government. Sarah spoke for  the women of Texas. She got her chance to finish telling the Texas lesgislature on the Lawrence O’Donnell show.

Here is the text of what Sarah said on the Senate floor:

[Sarah Slamen]
Thank you, Chair Committee, my name is Sarah Slamen. I’m a constituent of Senator Whitmire. I’m here to testify against SB1, because I’m tired of Republican primary politics, misogyny, and greed dominating the state I was born, raised, and schooled in.

And you know, I had some really eloquent remarks written out, but you guys have just worn me down all day. With all this terrible science, and glad-handing, and to be frank I get to move to New York next month, so I don’t have to live in fear of you Texas legislators anymore and what you’re going to do to my education system, or my healthcare system, ‘cause I’m going to a state that doesn’t kill its own inmates. That’s how pro-life it is, up there.

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Governor Ultra-Sound or Governor On-the-Take?

Washingtonpost.com:

RICHMOND — A prominent political donor gave $70,000 to a corporation owned by Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell and his sister last year, and the governor did not disclose the money as a gift or loan, according to people with knowledge of the payments.

The donor, wealthy businessman Jonnie R. Williams Sr., also gave a previously unknown $50,000 check to the governor’s wife, Maureen, in 2011, the people said.

The money to the corporation and Maureen McDonnell brings to $145,000 the amount Williams gave to assist the McDonnell family in 2011 and 2012 — funds that are now at the center of federal and state investigations.

Williams, the chief executive of dietary supplement manufacturer Star Scientific Inc., also provided a $10,000 check in December as a present to McDonnell’s eldest daughter, Jeanine, intended to help defray costs at her May 2013 wedding, the people said.

Virginia’s first family already is under intense scrutiny for accepting $15,000 from the same chief executive to pay for the catering at the June 2011 wedding of Cailin McDonnell at the Executive Mansion.

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Manassas Tea Party attempts to snare a Wolfe

arts building                      ballet                    symphony

 

 

Washingtonpost.com (Jeremy Borden):

A Manassas City Council member who is the executive director of the Manassas Ballet Theatre voted again Monday to fund the non-profit with $23,000 of city money.

Mark D. Wolfe (R) is the unpaid executive director of the ballet, and his wife, Amy, is paid $50,000 per year, Wolfe said. Last month, Wolfe did not disclose his position in the ballet — although he is well-known locally for that role — before a vote that gave a total of $142,500 to arts and human-services groups, including the ballet.

Wolfe said there was no reason that he could not vote on the funding package. At the request of Mayor Harry “Hal” Parrish II (R) the council took the vote a second time in order to discuss the issue and so that Wolfe could properly disclose his role in the ballet.

The 4-2 vote Monday was the same as in June, with members Marc Aveni (R) and Ian Lovejoy (R) voting against the allocations.

Parrish, who does not generally vote, and other members of the council said Wolfe had made a mistake by not disclosing his position on the ballet.

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Roswell: Happy 66th Anniversary

-RoswellDailyRecordJuly8,1947

Tired of hearing and reading about Egypt and Korean airline crashes?  I have just the thing for you.  Its loaded with consipiracy theory even if  we want to bring a little tin foil to the table.

Roswell, New Mexico–July 8, 1947.  It was right after WWII and people were settling down to normal…or perhaps I should say the new normal.   Then came the crash.

Movies and TV shows have been made about Roswell.   Much of the Xfiles was rooted in Roswell.  Roswell today is synonymous for alien.

wikipedia:

The Roswell UFO incident took place in the U.S. in 1947, when an airborne object crashed on a ranch near Roswell, New Mexico, on July 7, 1947. Explanations of what actually took place are based on both official and unofficial communications. Although the crash is attributed to a U.S. military surveillance balloon by the U.S. government, the most famous explanation of what occurred is that the object was a spacecraft containing extraterrestrial life. Since the late 1970s, the Roswell incident has been the subject of much controversy, and conspiracy theories have arisen about the event.

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Armed ABC agents apprehend college students buying sparkling water

NBC29 WVIR Charlottesville, VA News, Sports and Weather

dailyprogress.com:

The voices of the women are panicked.

“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. We’re really sorry,” the caller says in a 911 recording released Thursday by the regional emergency communications center for the Charlottesville area.

The caller was one of three women confronted by plainclothes Alcoholic Beverage Control agents at about 10:15 p.m. April 11 outside the Harris Teeter store in the Barracks Road Shopping Center.

Agents suspected one of the women was underage and carrying a case of beer, ABC said. Instead, it was LaCroix sparkling water. The women said they didn’t know the agents were officers. Six agents closed in at the height of the incident. One drew a gun.
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Delusions of Grandeur: The final American revolution

Well, lock and load there, A-hole.

Washingtonpost.com:

U.S. Park Police and the D.C. police are investigating the authenticity of a video that surfaced Thursday morning that appears to show activist Adam Kokesh loading a shotgun in Freedom Plaza and describing himself as part of the “final American Revolution.”

The police said in a joint statement on Thursday that they are aware of the video posted by Kokesh, which “appears to have been taken in Freedom Plaza.”

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Happy 4th of July!!!!

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Careful of the big weiner!  Don’t get hamburgered!

Have a great 4th of July.

City of Manassas and Manassas Park have great fireworks.  I have too many trees to see them.

Hopefully it won’t be too hot and it doesn’t rain.

 

 

 

 

Cuccinelli spurns the AARP/League of Women Voters Debate

Washingtonpost.com:

The debate over debates in Virginia’s race for governor escalated Wednesday as Terry McAuliffe’s campaign pounced on Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II’s unwillingness to participate in one of the state’s best-known face-offs.

While Cuccinelli (R) has called for holding 15 debates all over the commonwealth, McAuliffe (D) has said he would do five — a number typical of recent statewide contests — including an event to be hosted Oct. 14 in Richmond by AARP and the League of Women Voters.  The two groups sponsored debates together in the 2009 governor’s race and 2012 U.S. Senate race, and they have sponsored other debates separately going back more than a decade.

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287(g) Program extended in PWC

The 287(g) program which has been in effect in the county for about 5 years has been extended for another 3 years, according to BOCS chairman, Corey Stewart. The program was thought to be in jeopardy last fall when the Obama administration announced it was moving away from this type of enforcement of immigration law.

PWC applied to have the program extended and were granted the green light. The program features specially trained local officers to deal with the peculiarities of immigration. All arrests have immigration status checked while in custody. Those who do not have legal status are either reported or turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.)

This is a good thing. Prince William County has a great deal of money tied up in this program. Community safety is always a plus, regardless of issue.  Not everyone appproves of 287(g).   Prince William County is unique in that it screens every person arrested.  This policy minimizes any implication of profiling.

Cuccinelli lags behind in fund-raising

Washingtonpost.com:

Many of the most generous donors to past Virginia Republican campaigns are holding back in the heated race for governor, underscoring Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II’s challenge as he tries to keep financial pace with opponent Terry McAuliffe.

Cuccinelli (R) is specifically having trouble luring many of the key contributors who backed the 2009 bid of Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R), according to an analysis of the most recent campaign-finance records. For months, Cuccinelli has lagged in fundraising behind McAuliffe (D), a businessman with a long history of raising millions for the Democratic National Committee and Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Through May, Cuccinelli has raised nearly $4 million less than McAuliffe and $3.3 million less than McDonnell had at the same point in the 2009 gubernatorial contest. Although Cuccinelli has prevailed in races in which he was outspent by opponents, his fundraising deficit is a significant obstacle in what is likely to be a prohibitively expensive campaign.

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FACTS about Prince William County Government

PWCLogo

It’s time.  I was going to wait until July 16 to put up a thread about budget woes of the county because I believe in working with facts rather than with rumor and gossip.  I will continue to wait.  However, a lot of people have something to say about this latest event which as I understand it, is a matter of under-budgeting.  You know, one of those nasty little mathematical human error types of mistakes.  No one has stolen anything or tried to gip the taxpayers out of their hard earned dollars.

There is a certain contingency in the county who want to fry various county employees and supervisors.  There is another contingency who hate a witch hunt and who want facts.  This is a spot for facts about the county and how you want it governed.

Please, send us you FACTS.
From Channel 4 News 11:00 PM 7/2/13

View more videos at: http://nbcwashington.com.

 

19 hotshot firefighters perish in Arizona wildfire

What a horrible way to die. I can’t imagine anything worse. The nation is sadden by the loss of these brave souls, doing what ordinary Americans probably can’t do. Let’s talk about wildfires, range fires, and forest fires.

I have been up close and personal with them twice in my life, both times in Utah. The first time was terrifying. I had never seen a range fire. No one is really sure how some of these fires start. Lightening strikes are blamed for many of them. I saw one start. I never saw lightening at all. It was sunny. I just saw an evergreen tree spontaneously combust. I have never seen anything like it before or since.

There is a strong argument made that if a wildfire isn’t endangering populations or homes, then just let it burn. Some scientists think it is all a part of  the cycle of nature. Some evergreens need fire to reproduce.

Then there are those who want all forest/wildfires put out.  Extinguishing a fire means there is no chance for the fire to run away and spread to population areas.  Wildlife is saved.  The environment is saved.  Putting out fires sometimes extinguishes human life.  There is a cost to preserve nature.  Such was the case over the weekend when 19 Arizona firefighters lost their lives.  Not since 9/11 have this many firefighters lost their lives in a single incident.   RIP

firefighter