Month: November 2013

The trees are getting bare and the yards are getting full of leaves.  I am hoping a kid will come along and rake my yard.  There sure are a lot of leaves out there.  I thought about getting out there with the leaf blower, and then thought again.  The leaves always go every place but where you don’t want them to go.

The election is over, but it isn’t really.  Is 2013 going to turn Virginia into hanging chad Florida?

Who has winterized their plants and house?  My winterizing consisted of getting the winter pansies put in.  Nothing cheers me up like winter pansies.  Well…rosemary Christmas trees come pretty close.

Washingtonpost.com:

The Internet has been blamed for the death of the mail, but now it’s offering hope to the beleaguered U.S. Postal Service.

Amazon announced Monday that it will begin Sunday deliveries using the government agency’s fleet of foot soldiers, office workers and truck drivers to bring packages to homes seven days a week.

To accommodate the online retailing giant, the Postal Service said it will for the first time deliver packages at regular rates on Sundays. Previously, a shipper had to use its pricey Express Mail service and pay an extra fee for Sunday delivery.

The initiative will begin immediately in Los Angeles and New York and spread to the Washington area and much of the rest of the nation next year, Postal Service officials said. The partnership should help the turnaround effort underway at the financially strapped Postal Service, they said.

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Wishing the very  best to our Veterans.  Thank you for your service.

Is there a special vet you would like to recognize?

Moonhowlings blog  would like to recognize special vet Bill Golden, a fellow blogger.

Politico.com:

(Alan Crawford)

 “Senator John McCain called on National Security Agency chief Keith Alexander to quit over the damage done to U.S.-German relations by revelations that the NSA may have tapped Chancellor Angela Merkel’s mobile phone. The disclosures and allegations meant it was time for a ‘wholesale housecleaning,’ including a personal apology to Merkel by President Obama, and repercussions for Alexander, McCain said in an interview with the German news magazine Der Spiegel published [Sunday]. ‘Of course he should resign, or be fired,’ McCain said when asked if Alexander should quit. It’s ‘conceivable’ that Obama didn’t know about the eavesdropping, ‘but the fact remains that he should have known it. Responsibility always stops at the president’s desk … Knowing how angry Angela Merkel was, he should have apologized.’”

I don’t disagree with McCain.  I know there is a lot that the non-intelligence community doesn’t know or understand about how we spy on our friends and enemies but…somehow, it just doesn’t seem kosher.  I believe that the President already did apologize to Ms. Merkel but if he hasn’t, he should.

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Washingtonpost.com:

Fairfax County election officials said Friday that they believe nearly 2,000 votes went uncounted after Tuesday’s elections, a technical error that could affect the outcome of the still unresolved race for Virginia attorney general.

The error stemmed from problems with a broken machine at the county’s Mason district voting center, officials said.

The machine, known as an optical scanner, recorded 723 votes on election night before it broke down, election officials said. Its memory card was then placed in a working machine, which recorded 2,688 votes.

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As if Republicans don’t have enough problems, they are devouring their own.  Case in point–how many republican leaders have dissed newly elected Chris Christie?  His victory wasn’t a day old before Rand Paul criticized him publically for appearing in the ads featuring the song  “Stronger than a Storm”  which were made to promote tourism along  the storm-ravaged  coast of New Jersey.  

Marco Rubio, rather than congratulating the re-elected governor sniped from within and spoke of different elections with different people.  A congratulations would have sufficed.
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Looking over election results today, several races caught my eye.  First off, Atif Qarni came  a little less than 500 points of unseating Delegate Bob Marshall.  Bob Marshall has heretofore been invincible.  Atif had a lot endorsements and the environmental, educational, and women’s groups poured a fair amount of money into this campaign.  Atif had a well organized campaign. They covered their bases.  Should Marshall be worried?  No one has gotten this close over the past 2 decades.

Jeremy McPike got close to upsetting Delegate Scott Lingamfelter.  He was just under 300 votes short to pass Lingamfelter.   Lingamfelter garnered some criticism railing against the appointment of Tracey Thorne-Begland as a circuit court judge.  Thorne-Begland is openly gay and was a well-respected Richmond prosecutor.  Lingamfelter grandstanded against his appointment. 

John Bell came even closer to unseating Delegate Dave Ramadan.  Bell was less than 200 votes shy of unseating the state delegate.  Was it Ramadan’s anti choice position or his delay in standing against the bi-county parkway?  Who knows?  Bell actually won in Loudoun County.  However, Ramadan had enough votes in Prince William County to hold on to his narrow lead. 

Three races with very close results.  Does it mean anything?  I think it does.  All the candidates need to look carefully at demographics and the changing tide if they want to stay in office.  Any advice for the 3 republicans who came close to getting wiped out?

UPDATE:  DISCREPANCY FOUND IN FAIRFAX WITH ABSENTEE BALLOTS

Washington Post

When I went to bed, Obenshain was ahead by a few hundred votes.  When I woke up, Herring was in the lead.   All precincts are not in yet.  Whatever end result there is today, there will be a recount.  The vote is simply too close to declare a winner.

As I made the rounds on Facebook last night, I saw many of our local politicians crowing about the win.  I wonder how they feel this morning?

It’s over when the last vote is …recounted.  I am keeping my fingers crossed.  However, the old adage, “don’t count your chickens before they hatch” is a really good thing to remember.  3 precincts are missing.  2 in Mecklenburg and 1 in Rockingham.  Both counties are heavy republican fortresses.  Rockingham County surrounds Harrisonburg, where Obenshain is from.  It might be better to hold out for the re-count.

I will not be a sore winner!

I will not be a sore winner!

I will not be a sore winner!

That is my version of clicking me heels three times and not ending up in Oz.

I don’t feel like thanking everyone for running.  They all ran for some sort of self-aggrandizement.  There was a lot of ego involved.

I don’t feel like saying good race to anyone.  All of the races were obnoxious and I grew tired of the stuffed mailbox and the stupid phone calls.

I never want to see another political ad.

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Final home stretch 2013.  Terry McAuliffe ads tell voters that he has his eye on business, growth and bi-partisan solutions to common problems.  He also trusts women to make their own health care choices.  Works for me.

Cuccinelli and his supporters tell voters that this election is a referendum on Obamacare and higher taxes.    I am not sure how a state election will have any outcome on a federal law.  I think once again, the Republicans are off their mark.  They need to be telling us what they are going to do for our state.  My taxes went up quite a bit under the current Republican administration.  The extra 1% sales tax jolt because I live in Northern Virginia really pisses me off.  I would gladly share part of that with the rest of the state, rather than Northern Virginia taking the hit.  I also paid for car licensing which is a tax and I now pay sales tax on purchases from Amazon.  That is a huge hit.

There are 8 (yes that is eight) delegate positions in Prince William County.  That is totally absurd.  The fact that there are 8 positions says someone did one hell of a job of Gerrymandering.  I just wonder what party was in charge of that debacle?  I live in the 13th so naturally I support Atif Quarni who is a math teacher, veteran of the Iraq war, and a personable guy who is not a culture warrior like his opponent.

Then there are the down-ticket candidates.   I haven’t heard much out of E. W. Jackson.  I am sure he is a nice man, just not Lt. Governor material.  I support Senator Ralph Northam.  Mark Herring is the obvious choice for Attorney General.  No more personal agendas in that office.  If the ads are to be believed, Mark Obenshain carries his own agenda and is another culture warrior.  No mas!

Disclosure:  I am not even going to pretend to be bi partisan tonight.  This independent is pushing the Democratic Ticket in Virginia.