Author: Elena

What happens when a natural disaster hits?  Do the States have the capacity within their own budget to just deal with it on their own?  How many times has the state of Virginia requested Emergency status from the Feds?  Hmmm, I believe we are in a State of Emergency right now!  What does that mean exactly to have emergency status? Well, it a nutshell it means you can qualify for money, cold hard cash.  Now, as a Virginian, I would prefer to dip into the big pot of resources as opposed to the small state pot.  Republican governors don’t mind asking for federal assistance, certainly Governor McDonnell has done so on more than one occasion.

If Romney were President, what WOULD happen to FEMA. Well, let’s listen, shall we.

During a CNN debate at the height of the GOP primary, Mitt Romney was asked, in the context of the Joplin disaster and FEMA’s cash crunch, whether the agency should be shuttered so that states can individually take over responsibility for disaster response.

“Absolutely,” he said. “Every time you have an occasion to take something from the federal government and send it back to the states, that’s the right direction. And if you can go even further, and send it back to the private sector, that’s even better. Instead of thinking, in the federal budget, what we should cut, we should ask the opposite question, what should we keep?”

We will depend on the private sector in an emergency?  What does that mean?   A state in financial crisis, possibly dealing with millions, possibly billions of dollars in crippling infrastructure damage needs to appropriate the money before it can helps its people?   Does this sound like a good idea to anyone?

So for states that are the most impacted by any one natural disaster, there is no shared sense of responsibility as a nation, everyone is on their own!  Great, sounds like  good plan for economic success…….NOT.  Can you imagine the state of Louisiana attempting to recover from Katrina with no Federal help?

I hope Republicans understand exactly what they voting for when they cast their ballot for Romney.  Those pesky unintended consequences and all.

Could it be that Corey is hopeful, under the guise of this secret committee, he will be able re-animate, from the dead,  the  immigration crisis, thus bringing attention to himself.  He reminds me of Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein, hoping to piece together the odd parts of dead people to create the monster!

Lest we forget, Corey is dreaming of bigger and better (i.e. more powerful)  elected offices, first the Lt Gov office and then he’s on his way up and out to POTUS!

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Pete Candland has organized a committee to help make improvements to Silver Lake.  There will be general clean up, planting of flowers, fixing of benches, etc.

Lunch will be provided to volunteers.

I commend the citizens for taking their own time to help organize this clean up and general maintenance service day.  It is unfortunate that so little county tax payer dollars have been invested in this “jewel”.  I look forward to the day that citizens will not be responsible for the care and upkeep of their parks.

What an amazing day!  As usual, the people I meet at Obama events are so wonderful.  From all different walks of life,  from very young to the wise seniors, I made many new “friends.”  The diversity was a true respresentation, not only of this county, but the United States itself.

People were courteous and helpful, being short, it was truly challenging getting any pictures, so this very nice young man was more than happy to offer to take pictures for me (he was at least 6 feet tall!)  Originally from the Richmond area, he moved to Loudon County after graduating with his MBA.  He was raised by his hard working mom who was, from his description growing up, one of those 47% that Romney dismisses, the working poor.  He was really such a nice young man who understood the meaning of hard work and sacrifice.

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So, I was driving my kids to their respective after school activities yesterday, when all of a sudden, I see, in the bleakness of crabgrass growing on the easement, a sign, white background, bold red print and it says “OBAMA OUT, G-D IN, VOTE ROMNEY .”  I was so irritated I couldn’t stand it, I had to yell out in the car, “Kids, THAT is offensive, to suggest that people who vote for Obama vote against G-d.”  I continued my explanation that G-d is neither Republican or Democrat, and certainly  NOT interested in political parties ,but, instead, concerned about about our own personal behavior towards one another.

Apparently these signs were all over the Haymarket area, by the entrance to the Boy Scouts Camp, Camp Schneider, all along route 15, even lining James Long Park.

Do people actually believe this kind of exclusionary message works?   Do people believe it will draw more votes?

My ten year old son said it best last night.  He said, “Mom, listen, when people say mean things it pushes other people away.  Maybe that is why John McCain lost, he said things that pushed people away.   I don’t even think Mitt Romney would approve of those signs.  You should be glad they are up, all it does it make those people look bad and make people not want to vote for Romney.”

Whether those signs will have that effect, I don’t know, but, as I contemplated my son’s grown up words, I realized, even more importantly than this election, I have a wise and thoughtful kid.

Out of the mouth of babes……..

http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday2.htm

Rosh Hashanah occurs on the first and second days of Tishri. In Hebrew, Rosh Hashanah means,  literally, “head of the year” or “first of the year.” Rosh Hashanah is commonly  known as the Jewish New Year. This name is somewhat deceptive, because there is  little similarity between Rosh Hashanah, one of the holiest days of the year,  and the American midnight drinking bash and daytime football game.

There is, however, one important similarity between the Jewish New Year and the  American one: Many Americans use the New Year as a time to plan a better life,  making “resolutions.” Likewise, the Jewish New Year is a time to begin  introspection, looking back at the mistakes of the past year and planning the  changes to make in the new year. More on this concept at Days of Awe.

For my family, I try to create an opportunity for all of us to remember the wonderful things we did this past year, and the things we did that, well, looking back, we should have made different choices.

We play a CD with the sound of the Shofar, a rams horn, that sounds the beginning of high holidays and begins the process of repentance.   I love this opportunity to really contemplate the past year.  The kids and I take croutons, throwing them into the pond, we “cast off our bad deeds”.

We pray G-d will forgive us, we pray to accept forgiveness from others, we remember to give to those in need.

Moon and I simply refuse to allow a generalized hate towards Muslims on this blog.

I choose to believe, as Ann Frank did, that “people are really good at heart”.  I am reminding people that post here, actions of a few vocal and violent people do NOT represent an entire people.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/09/does-not-represent-us-moving-photos-pro-american-rallies-libya/56803/

update:meeting will be held at Piney Branch Elementary School on Thursday evening at 7:00 pm

Lets rewind, back to 2006,  to a little ole, 7,000 thousand home development called Brentswood in the Gainesville/Brentsville District.  If I close my eyes, I can still see this amazing convergence of Republicans and Democrats coming out, officially, to oppose the first incarnation of Brentswood.  Who was at the forefront leading the charge to oppose THAT massive rezoning?  Well, my dear friend, Corey Stewart, who, at the time, was only an Occoquan Supervisor, not the big powerful Chairman that he is today.

Get ready people, October 9th might be go time!

Citizens knew that Wally Covington was making promises during his close primary with Jeanine Lawson.  One of them was to the residents of Victory Lakes.  What was the promise you may be asking?  A new high school.  Who cares if you have to screw an entire county to get it, a promise made is a promise kept during election season!

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There was a very interesting article in Inside Nova a few days ago.  Let me refresh everyone’s memory.  The Mayor of Occoquan and Supervisor May,  along with many many residents, opposed the rezoning of Oaks III back in January.  Here is the fabulous op-ed written by the Mayor Porta.

The developer cites two features of his proposal in particular.  First, he notes that he is setting aside a portion of the parcel in a conservation easement.  On closer inspection, however, this appears to be mostly window dressing, as the conservation easement basically covers the portion of the property on which RPAs, slopes, and other features essentially preclude development.  Second, the developer asserts that his project will actually improve storm water management in the area.  What only becomes clear with further analysis, however, is that this assertion is based in part on his offer to fix the problem created by inadequate storm water management on his adjoining commercial property.  In fact, poorly-planned prior projects by the developer are the catalyst for this entire rezoning effort.  By his own admission the developer was originally interested only in purchasing a small piece of the Oaks III parcel to solve the problem of insufficient parking, again on his adjoining commercial property.  Unfortunately, the property owner has insisted on purchase of the entire parcel, which has in turn led the developer to attempt to cram an office building on the site in the hopes of subsidizing his purchase costs.

Let’s fast forward to the present, with the desired rezoning, the Developer has put the land up for sale. So, the Mayor, a multitude of residents, and the district Supervisor were all ignored by a majority of the Board, inlcuding Corey Stewart, who, in his great knowledge of environmetnal stewardship (NOT), approved this development that is now in the process of being sold shortly after it was rezoned.  Apparently, it appears, as though the developer, Ken Thompson, was seeing dollar signs instead of following through with committments he made to the concerned citizens of Occoquan.

There you go, business as usual in PWC.  I always find it interesting that when citizens oppose development for valid reasons, they are always ignored.  I wonder what Mayor Porta is thinking now?

Let’s have a little reality check shall we.  First of all, the editing in this clip is soooooooo false, its embarrassing.  Isn’t there enough real stuff the Republicans could throw at Obama without making up BS?

Before we continue, let’s start first with the actual transcript.  I know, I know it so much more fun to just make it up, but for this exercise in truth, I invite you to just play along for my amusement.

“If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help.  There was a great teacher somewhere in your life.  Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive.  Somebody invested in roads and bridges.  If you’ve got a business–you didn’t build that.  Somebody else made that happen.  The Internet didn’t get invented on its own.  Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.”

Really, does anyone with at least an 8th grade education not under what “THAT” was referring back to?  Was it the best grammar use, probably not, maybe President Obama just figured that WE were smart enough to understand that THAT meant roads, bridges, etc etc.

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