These Snarcophagic Times

Bring on the Vertical Farm!

2008-04-28T10:12:00.002-04:00

Earth Week just finished and one of the campaigns launched during it was the "Growing Food & Community" initiative, which takes off where "Buy Fresh, Buy Local" ends by creating an active network of localvores to promote our foodshed's resources, awareness and involvement. Some of the people involved in that campaign are looking at urban gardening options.

Now this is an urban garden... It's got to be one of the coolest things I've seen recently.

Water Supply In Cville

2008-03-25T08:49:00.001-04:00

Everyone is bleating about the cost of the SFRR-to-Ragged Mountain pipeline. Has anyone else noticed that in order to keep the current system working, we would still have to replace the failing pipeline from Sugar Hollow, or am I the only citizen out here that remembers that plank from the original "State of the Water Supply" reports in the planning process? Regardless of which method you choose there's a pipeline cost involved. So what are the comparative costs of the two pipelines?

The other costs in the system--repair & upgrade to two water treatment plants--would have happen no matter which method you choose as well. These are basic infrastructure costs that have to be done. You have to figure them into both plans, otherwise you are not comparing apples to apples.

All of this seems to me to be very misleading. Dredging isn't a silver bullet, if dredging costs $56 million yet has to be done over and over again. $56 million next year, $56 million 5 years from now, $56 million 5 years after that--not very cost effective. And let's face it, that suggested airport runway only needs to be built once.

For the South Fork to be viable as a long-term water supply plan, you have to figure in the costs of addressing the reasons for its excessive sedimentation. What are those? Does that happen because there's too much farmland and impervious surfacing around the waters flowing to it or are there other causes? If a study were done, it might be found that we cannot sufficiently impede the sediment continually filling up South Fork. Or it might be found that it's possible to do, but the cost of addressing the causes of sedimentation far exceed what we would be willing to pay as a community. Still, this is a plank that needs to be address when comparing possible plans for long-term water supply.

In which case, a Ragged Mountain upgrade would be vastly less expensive over both the near and long term, since that dam does not have a sedimentation issue, due to the limited open-water feeders to that reservoir.

Oh, and the reservoir running under 64? Isn't that a red herring argument? We already have a very long bridge on Earlysville Road which runs over the South Fork reservoir. We're already taking that risk with our water supply--we chose to take it many years ago.

I also want to see a comparison of the environmental cost of losing the trees around Ragged Mountain versus the environmental gains from releasing flows that would bring two streams back to their natural state. Every time someone puts in a new subdivision in Albemarle County, we lose that many trees--it's a cost we're familiar with. But what are the benefits of having natural flows, particularly in the Moorman's (which now runs, I think, at a mere 67%)? Does our natural habitat's biological diversity rest in the headwaters? If so, then restoring the Moorman's could have a greater impact in preserving our overall environment than saving the trees further south at Moore's Creek would. And what is the environmental cost of finding the acreage to dewater all that silt, time and time again? I know we covered this when we were going through the water supply planning process (for years), but those arguments have gotten lost in this kerfluffle. Someone please tell me the environmental gains from the Ragged Mountain plan again?

I'd like the Citizen's Water Supply group to address some of these, since they have chosen to take on the position "New dam = bad." If they want to sell me on their solution, they have to do more than give me a negative bill of goods on the solution that we all thought was so brilliant last year. I'm tired of negative campaigning.

Oh, and the arguments can't be based upon curbing growth. I already accept that growth will slow in the coming years. However, for 3 years running we've had water restrictions in place. It's not the 2002 drought I measure against. I measure against the number of months each year in which we have water restrictions based on lack of rainfall. Those months are increasing. We DO have a growing water supply problem and it's current--it has nothing to do with projected growth in my mind. Perhaps we should make those restrictions permanent--I think there's a strong argument for that. But can anyone prove to me with numbers that permanent water restrictions will address basic water supply over the next 50 years if, every year, we are taking more out of the system than is replaced by rainfall? And can anyone prove to me that there's the will on the part of our residents to permanently change their water use habits to meet those numbers?

Dredging Included

2008-02-29T08:04:00.005-05:00

Vis-a-vis the dredging issue and the credibility of the company that did the estimate, someone should set the record straight. Gannett Fleming does dredge, and they state as much on their website: http://www.gannettfleming.com/envmanagement/nepa.aspx

Anyone who went farther than the first 2 pages, or bothered to type "dredging" into their search engine, would have found that page.

Since the cvillewater.info group has made much of the fact that they didn't see dredging operations listed among the company's areas of expertise, I thought it would be a service to correct that.

And just to make sure the point carries, I did a Google search "Gannett Fleming dredging" to see if I could find verification from other sites that they've been connected with dredging:

IDSWater, which appears to be an industry supersite, lists them at http://www.idswater.com/water/us/gannett_fleming/ozone_technology/9089_0/directory_listing.html

Western Dredging Association's member directory lists a dredging expert from Gannett Fleming at http://www.westerndredging.org/member_directory.php?letter=s

They were involved in the North Park Lake dredging project in/near Pittsburgh, PA, and there's a report on that project online at http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:LZJiJtCiK54J:www.lrp.usace.army.mil/pm/append5_exh4.pdf+Gannett+Fleming+dredging&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=17&gl=us

I don't know about the general populace, but I personally have a really hard time believing the unsupported suppositions of 6 disaffected Charlottesvillians over these and 800 other sites on Google that specifically associate Gannett Fleming with dredging operations. At this point in time, I see no reason to believe their estimate was incorrect.

They just don't get the Western mindset...

2008-02-26T18:11:00.001-05:00

China View has an opinion on why Sunday night's Oscars show was the least-watched ever. You can read it at http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-02/26/content_7673967.htm.

Somehow, though, in all those implied criticisms of American taste and snobbery, they didn't notice the fact that the WGA writer's strike, which lasted slightly over 3 months and ended only 12 days before, had continually threatened the Oscars telecast. We watched the Golden Globes go down in flames as both writers and A-list actors picketed during the run-up. We watched as show after favorite show went dark, their previously entertaining hours doomed to rerun hell or filled with half-baked B-list pilots that had been previously rejected by the studios for primetime line-up.

Many of us turned off our TVs long before the Oscars. Funny thing about drying out from a drug like that--you find other, sometimes better, addictions to take its place.

Water Supply--The Combined Form

2008-02-21T21:29:00.001-05:00

The Progress, Cville, Hook, Cville Tomorrow, and Cvillenews.com have all covered the water supply debate. To buy wholly into the Cville Water Supply group's position throws out years of discussion and planning. I don't think that's wise. Furthermore, I am beginning to resent the "We should do this, not that" presentation of the arguments. For once, can we get beyond the "my way or highway" mentality surrounding this issue? The only two people I have consistently seen demonstrate an openness to amend plans backed up by practical knowledg of workable solutions are Ridge Schuyler and Tom Frederick. They've been getting short shrift from the media these days, and have certainly taken a pounding in the recent "debates," but they still remain open. For this, they deserve a lot more respect and better treatment than what they've gotten.

I cannot speak for all of us who support the Ragged Mountain Dam/South Fork pipeline option, but I can say that I see the dredging of the SFRR as a separate issue. And I support both.

Dredging the SFRR is, in my opinion, a short-term solution. The problem with the South Fork is sedimentation--specifically a high rate of sedimentation than an expert (and I am not one, but I talk with them frequently) would deem normal. That is true throughout our watershed, by the way. There is too much erosion, too much sediment in our watershed overall (my guess is that it's due to overdevelopment and poor stormwater management practices/systems), and it is silting in SFRR. Until we can get a handle on how to slow and eventually stop that process, the monies we spend dredging the South Fork now will need to be followed up with more monies to dredge it again. How soon, I do not know. But, again, I would guess that, without more monies spent on drastic, remedial buffer repair and streambank restoration, we would be shooting ourselves in the foot.

This I do know: Vegetation takes time to root, that means it will be a while before it can do its job of filtering sedmiment from a stormwater event before it hits an open watercourse like a stream or river. Whether we decide to do restoration work on the open courses that feed the SFRR or not, we will still have a sedimentation problem for years. To me, therefore, dredging the SFRR as a water-supply solution it does not sound like a great option for the near haul. For a 50-year plan, yes, but for a 10-year or 20-year plan, not so much.

As Kevin Lynch has so frequently pointed out, this is the kind of infrastructure project that has to be done in phases. What sense does it make to spend most of your front-end money working on a project that does not have a front-end return?

For that reason, I support raising the Ragged Mountain Dam and building the pipeline from SFRR. But what I would like to see is a combination of these goals. This could be produced by raising the RM dam 20-22 feet (not the full height) and building the pipeline in the first phase. As Tom Frederick has pointed out several times, to apparently deaf ears, this would also satisfy DEQ permits already received.

While that is going on, get a second estimate on dredging and let the Rivanna Basin Commission do its job by reporting back on what it would take to alleviate the sediment issues around the South Fork. Dredging the South Fork once makes sense, because the job might pay for itself given that the airport needs the dirt. Dredging it multiple times if the causes of sedimentation aren't addressed doesn't.

Then, if it seems that the sedimentation issues can be addressed, look into the costs of that project and incorporate them into the second phase of the water-supply project. If it can't be addressed, then look into raising Ragged Mountain the rest of the way.

This is a more nuanced position than I'm hearing out there from the cvillewater.info group. It's not a sexy option, it's a practical option. It allows RWSA to get on with its business of actually proving to the state we're going to do something about water supply while still keeping the dredging door open provided further information proves the project long-term viable.

Missing Mitch

2008-02-15T14:48:00.002-05:00

I tried to make it to Mitch Van Yahres's memorial service, which started 1 hour, 15 minutes ago. But even arriving at 1:54 pm with a line of only 5 cars in front of me and 15 behind, I could tell it was a no-starter. In the farthest lots, black-suited men with walkie-talkies were parking SUVs in the landscaped islands and bushes. After 10minutes of circling 3-4 lots, I didn't know what to do with myself, so I went back to work.

I wanted to go because I miss Mitch. I didn't know him well, but I enjoyed his company and his viewpoint every time I met him, usually through Dems functions. He seemed to me to be a fierce believer in the power of the common person to effect a positive change. I'd go further and say he absolutely expected it--of all of us--but I'm afraid of overstepping. After all, I'm a cynic who doesn't believe most people will get off their tukuses until forced to do so. It is difficult to believe that a man could live in this modern world to age 81 and still maintain such ideals and such ethics. But it wasn't difficult to believe in him--he had a double helping both.

Never mattered if I agreed with him on something (living wage) or not (the erstwhile Rivanna Parkway), I was always ridiculously pleased to see him, talk with him, take in his opinon. Judging by the faces of others around me, everyone else in the Democratic party had a similar reaction.

Who Is Mike Gravel?

2008-01-10T07:43:00.000-05:00

Just when I thought I knew who I was voting for...

91% Mike Gravel
89% John Edwards
88% Dennis Kucinich
86% Chris Dodd
86% Barack Obama
86% Bill Richardson
84% Hillary Clinton
79% Joe Biden
37% Rudy Giuliani
33% John McCain
25% Ron Paul
25% Mike Huckabee
21% Mitt Romney
21% Tom Tancredo
15% Fred Thompson

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz

I also matched Gravel 91% on a blind poll put up at VAJoe.com -- the cool thing about this one is you have simple choices, no prioritization, no slant to the questions, and no clue how it will come out 'til it's done. http://www.vajoe.com/candidate_calculator.html

Anyone I agree with 91% of the time hasn't a hope in Hades of actually winning at the federal level.

Video Ungeek

2008-01-09T13:38:00.000-05:00

I'm not computer illiterate, but I'm not a 22-year-old gaming fanatic either. This is why I was surprised when the video card in my 18-month-old system unexpectedly died with no warning last week.

My idea of built-in obsolescence is that the technology in question is doomed to deteriorate or become outdated within 5-7 years, not less than 2.

I looked all over the internet for consumer or customer reviews on the WinFast nVidia card I had in the machine, and all the initial, first-page reviews I found were glowing. Of course, when you read glowing reviews you wonder if it was something that you did which caused your machine to die on you. It took several sites and pages within them to find posts by people with the same expectations and difficulties that I had.

Apparently, when it comes to video card drivers, I shouldn't have been shocked. 2-3 years is a really good life-span for a card in the video gaming world and, even if your card could last longer, you will have upgraded it by then anyway.

This seems insane to me. We wouldn't buy or keep a car that required a new carburetor or radiator every 2-3 years. We wouldn't invest in any home improvement that was likely to break down after 18 months. Why do we accept this for computers?

I {heart} Huckabee

2008-01-06T13:28:00.000-05:00

... but I ain't voting for him.

As most people who know or read me are aware, I'm only "conservative" when it comes to things like green space, energy, and other environmental issues. Which means I'm even more progressive than Teddy Roosevelt. Which is why I was appalled to find Mike Huckabee doing so well in the polls.

After watching Stephanopolous this morning, I am no longer surprised that Huckabee won in Iowa. He's a personable guy, and more intellectually honest than many politicians at the federal level. It was refreshing to hear him calling George out on his lack of ability to recognize a nuanced stance--not once but twice. I like nuanced stances. It means the man has thought through several possible scenarios, has considered more than a bottom-line approach, integrates information well in his analysis of a situation. These are all good indications.

Nope, can't vote for him; he's too ideologically opposite from me. But it sure was nice to listen to a Republican candidate without wanting to throw something at the TV for a change.

Belle Meade Breaks Expectations

2007-12-14T14:08:00.000-05:00

Quite a while back, I blasted Al Gore for his home's personal energy consumption on this blog. Because of that, I feel obligated to note that, in the past couple of years, the Gores have been working on that 80-year-old energy pit, adding solar panels, stormwater retention systems, and switching out every bulb (even the ones on the Christmas tree) to CFLs or LEDs. Belle Meade is now a model of efficiency, even by modern construction standards. "Short of tearing it down," everything has been brought up to exceed expectations.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/13/gore.home.ap/index.html

Representivity

2007-09-14T15:10:00.000-04:00

I fully admit this is a mini-rant directly derived from the Board of Supervisors' inane approval of the Biscuit Run and Hollymead developments. And it's tangental, not on point. [If you want to get into a really good dissing of that newspiece, Cvillenews.com has a great convo going on here, which has spilled over to the convo on local supes races here.]

\begin rant

What I see in the Albemarle Board of Supervisors and in the Virginia General Assembly is a trend of elected officials who don't know what it means to represent. They spend so much time politicking at the golf course and schmoozing at the tailgate party that they have forgotten what it means to listen to their districts, and put the needs of their regions ahead of their own (or, worse, their friends') agendas.

Once you get into office, your job is to do right by all of the people in your district at whatever governmental level you hold position. If a proposal is (1) against the public good and/or (2) against the public's interest, and/or (3) against the public's will, it is your job to oppose it.

You were elected to listen to us so that you can represent us--all of us, equally and fairly, regardless of what party you adhere to, regardless of what party (if any) we belong to. It's really that simple. Now go do that job for a change.

/end rant

Warrantless Search & Seizure ?!?!

2007-08-19T09:40:00.000-04:00

From the NY Times:

Broad new surveillance powers approved by Congress this month could allow the Bush administration to conduct spy operations that go well beyond wiretapping to include — without court approval — certain types of physical searches on American soil and the collection of Americans’ business records, Democratic Congressional officials and other experts said.

Way to go, Dem Congress. You handed a lame-duck president with a Napolean complex and an abysmal record on violating Constitutional rights and claiming executive privilege carte blanche to spy on and terrorize his own citizens.

Given our past issues with this administration on precisely these types of surveillance violations, when did you decide it was not a good idea to read the bill before passing it?

RCS -- Water Conservation Kits for Sale

2007-08-16T15:27:00.000-04:00

If anyone is looking to buy a water conservation kit for indoor or outdoor use, the Rivanna Conservation Society has both varieties available on their website store at http://www.rivannariver.org/rcsstore.html.

Drought Warning--Official Restrictions

2007-08-16T15:00:00.000-04:00

Effective immediately, the City of Charlottesville has issued a drought warning for our area. The required water use restrictions are at http://www.charlottesville.org/Index.aspx?page=635&recordid=535.

Below the mandatory restrictions is a good list of tips for water conservation in your home or office, both indoor & outdoor use.

My favorite: Buy a few gallon jugs of spring or drinking water at your grocer of choice. Use that water for filling up pet bowls, making the morning coffee/tea, etc. Keep the empty jugs for near-future use. Install a large bucket in the shower or bath and use the gray water from that to fill up the empty jugs. That gray water can, in turn, be used for

(1) watering plants
(2) cleaning the house
(3) doing the dishes in the sink
(4) wiping down outdoor/patio furniture/decking

When the restrictions are over and you want to get rid of the extra jugs, they are recyclable w/ curbside pickup or at McIntire Center. The large bucket can be stored or used for other purposes until needed again. Thereby, you've closed the cycle in nearly all aspects.

Going Underground

2007-07-11T14:32:00.000-04:00

It's been a couple of months since I've blogged. I've been taking a deliberate hiatus from all activism and politics, for several reasons. (1) Wanting to have quality time with my significant other, Eryn; (2) Tired of everyone feeling they had the right to demand my time and attention--probably my own fault since I've been overgenerous with those things in the past; (3) Putting some distance between myself and some of the many egos in my "field" (as well as dusting off my own).

My hiatus feels like it's coming to a close now. I'm still as much in love as I was when I began my vacation, but life intrudes. More specifically, certain issues intrude. When you have been a part of civic life, eventually someone will come along and push the right button to activate your immediate concern again.

This time it was RCS's Angus Murdoch who relit the fire by bringing up a Glen Oaks-style groundwater issue that's of concern to some FluCo members.

I don't spend a lot of time on sprawl and rural development issues. After all, Charlottesville's 10 sq. miles are already developed, and now we're just trying to maximize our use of the space. But I've always been interested in advancing ways and means of using a lack or limited amount of natural resources to set the rules and regs for development. So, hearing that FluCo is having similar growing pains to Albemarle's re-engaged my attention. I think it's time to go underground, sift for clues, figure out how to create the right kind of levers so that localities are no longer at the mercy of by-right development.

Really, if we can accept that our economy is globally interdependent, it shouldn't be so far a conceptual leap to accept that the natural resources on which that economy is based are also interdependent, and that economic health naturally depends upon ... well ... you get the idea without the redundancy.

A funny thing happened...

2007-05-10T11:07:00.000-04:00

... on the way to the forum Mar. 2. I was introduced to someone who is changing my life.

One of the many luxuries of being single is not having to think about how the ways in which you spend your time effect others. Where there was one, there are now two. And with two, I have to actually think about his schedule and interests before I commit a lot of my time to something I would have enjoyed as a solo act.

At some point, I'm sure my deep interest in politics will resurface, but for now I'm content to let it wash over me. I am just very ... content. I apologize to my erstwhile discussion-mates for the unintended hiatus.

Eco-Cheek

2007-04-25T13:00:00.000-04:00

According to MSN Fashion and Lucky Magazine, vegan clothing is becoming the new must-have closet-space waster. The new trend, started by designer Stella McCartney, is called "eco-chic." According to the MSN article, to be designated "vegan fashion," the clothing or accessory cannot be made with any animal products, including animal-based glues and dyes.

But what does that leave? If you look at the websites cited, you'll find a lot of naturally-tinted organic cotton. And you'll also vinyl and other "faux croc" and "faux leather" products--in other words, petroleum-based synthetic materials.

So, if you have to choose, which is more eco-friendly? Wearing the hide of the cow you ate steak from last night and, thus, closing the circle? Or eschewing the cow altogether while wearing vinyl created from the same fossil fuel production that eats up most of our planet's natural resources?

Buy organic cotton, buy hemp, buy natural fibers with as few intermediate steps from plant to pants as possible. That's cool. But vinyl? Plether? PVC? These are not acceptable substitutes if you want to be conscientious in your idealism.

I'll take the cow any day. At least it's a renewable resource--just add bull.

Earth Week Opens Today

2007-04-20T12:20:00.000-04:00

April 20-29 Earth Week 2007 Events

More info at www.earthweek.org

April 20-22, Earth Day Weekend Tree Plantings, City Parks. A great activity for all ages and groups, especially schools studying our watershed.
Four planting sessions: Friday afternoon 3-5pm, Saturday 10am - noon and 2-4pm and Sunday 2-4pm. Call Susan Pleiss at 970-3585 or email pleiss@charlottesville.org to sign up.
April 21, Schenks Branch Clean-Up, LEC, 9-11 am. Prepping for the City's Arbor Day celebration on April 27. Meet by the McIntire Recycling Center and be done in time to enjoy the Dogwood Parade! Bring gloves and waterproof footwear. For more information, call the Living Education Center at 971-1647.
April 22, Abrahamse & Co., Builders' Grand Opening--ALA Healthy Homes Project, 1-4 pm. A very special open house event is at 1012 Druid Ave., Charlottesville. Discover the difference in air quality an ALA home can make!
April 22, Earth Day Tree Planting, 2 pm. Celebrate Earth Day w/ the Sierra Club by helping to plant a shade tree on the beach at Chris Green Lake in northern Albemarle County. Meet on the beach. Call John at (434) 973-0373 for
more information.
April 22, Larry Gibson, of Mountainkeeper.org, Gravity Lounge @ 2 pm, a special presentation & discussion on mountain top removal. Free/whatever you can give--all donations to benefit Mountainkeeper.org
April 26, Kate Starr Rocks Gravity Lounge, 8 pm, CD Release party -- $1 of each CD purchased benefitss Earth Week! The Naked Puritans open.
April 27, Arbor Day Celebration & New Trail Dedication, City of
Charlottesville. McIntire Rd., 11 am. Celebrate Arbor Day by attending the
ribbon-cutting ceremony of the new trail along McIntire Rd. between the
Recycling Center and Cville Coffee.
April 27, Earth Day at Fridays After Five, 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm, we'll be pulling the taps with both hands to benefit Earth Day. Stop in for a brew and listen to the soulful tunes of King Wilkie and don't forget to pick up some green info at our literature table!
April 27, Arts for Bike Paths Art Show at The Bridge, 7 pm - 10 pm, 209 Monticello Rd. Opening night reception with silent auction. All proceeds will benefit a community fund managed by ACCT for biking improvements.
April 28, Earth Day Festival at McIntire Park, 10 am - 5 pm, our annual eco-fair with tabling, booths, and activities led by local environmental groups and agencies, featuring a solar panel exhibit, hot-air balloon rides in the morning, an open drum circle led by Drum Call at 2 pm, and trail adventures with RTF. For more info, see the separate flyer.
April 28, Robin Wynn Band Takes Starr Hill -- CD Release Party -- $1 of each CD purchased benefits Earth Week! The Dirty Dishes open.
April 29, Natural History Day @ Ivy Creek -- 1-3 pm, Ivy Creek Natural Area. Ivy Creek Foundation's celebration with informational tables and the
Virginia Native Plant Society's annual spring sale!
April 29, Stream Daylighting Tour in the Dell with Kennon Williams of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects -- 1:30 pm, The Dell next to the pond across from Newcomb Hall parking garage. Come learn how a empty field and a stream buried for many years were brought back to life using modern sustainable design techniques. There will be a drawing for free plants to start your own wetland garden.

Homelessness w/ LaTrina Neal

2007-03-20T15:18:00.000-04:00

VA Book! Event:

Faces of Homelessness & Hope with La Trina Neal (author of "He Gave Me Shelter"). The former Howard University student who experienced homelessness and wrote about her journey will be sharing her experiences alongside local advocates and service providers Dave Norris and Erik Speer, as they discuss their struggles, strengths and success stories in putting an end to homelessness.

The event is Sunday, March 25th, 1:30 pm at Gravity Lounge, and is being sponsored by PACEM and Compass.

Photog Exhibit @ Satellite, Thursday

2007-03-20T11:09:00.000-04:00

David Plowden will be critiquing 4 local photographers at the Satellite Ballroom on the Corner from 2-6 pm this Thursday, March 22. I remember seeing a show of Plowden's work in Muskegon back in the day I was working for Stannards Music up in Grand Rapids, MI and it was pretty dramatic stuff. If I recall correctly from my years in the biz, he was regularly featured in Modern Photography and Shutterbug, and that was over a decade and a half ago. I'm sure he's an even bigger name now, so getting his attention can be a deal.

Bill Emory is one of the four photographers being reviewed by Plowden. The show is free and open to the public. If you've got the time, swing by Satellite to view it and support our local artists.

NJ Sup. Ct. Supports Condemnation For Slowing Growth

2007-03-08T13:19:00.000-05:00

In Mount Laurel Township v. MiPro Homes, L.L.C., 188 N.J. 531, 10 A.2d 617 (2006), the Supreme Court of New Jersey upheld a governing municipal body's desire to slow residential development by ruling that such is a permissible motive for condemning a developer's land. (Mount Laurel made headlines three decades ago for two landmark affordable housing decisions involving land-use planning, Southern Burlington County NAACP v. Township of Mount Laurel, 67 N.J. 151, 336 A.2d 713 (1975), and its companion case at 92 N.J. 158, 456 A.2d 390 (1983).)

In Virginia right now, we can't even condemn on the solid, scientific basis of lack of supporting natural resources, let alone on something as nebulous as a "master plan" or "public will." But wouldn't it be nice?

In light of the buzz re: growth issues which effect Albemarle and many other state jurisdictions [{cough} Loudoun {cough}]), I'm hoping this take-notice will motivate local anti-growth activists to take a look at New Jersey's growing body of case law, find from that the particular NJ Code §§ which allow for such scope of municipal power, extrapolate the changes needed to mirror those rights and powers, and petition the Virginia state legislature to make the suitable changes.

Obviously, this would be a campaign that would take more than ASAP, but could possibly be accomplished were ASAP to team up with other regional and statewide groups with similar ends.

Stepping Down from Step-It-Up

2007-03-07T10:47:00.000-05:00

Ok, I admire Bill McKibben. Like every other environmentalist on the planet, I have read his stuff for decades and support his e-zine, Grist. I own multiple copies of his The End of Nature to loan out to unsavvy friends and acquaintance. But, Dammit, Bill, WHY did you have to choose a day in April, of all months, to launch your national campaign on Global Warming?

Step-It-Up may become a much-needed, much-valued grass-roots campaign--or it may become a way for enviros to blow off steam before the 2008 elections and die an early death. Whatever else it may be, it's destined to become a thorn in my side.

Here's just a short summary of what's already going on locally from April 7 to May 6:

Opening of City Market (a weekly event)

Opening of the new Transit Center

The Dogwood Festival (a 2-week series of events w/ a nightly carnival and a golf tourney all of which ends with a parade & ball)

Historic Garden Week

Opening of Fridays After Five (a weekly event)

Opening of the Pavilion concert series

Earth Week (a week-long series of enviro events and fundraisers, including seminars, volunteer work days, an eco-fair, and a couple of benefit shows & concerts)

Arbor Day

Foxfield

Buy Fresh/Buy Local Campaign

Clean Commute Day

Bike Week

We. Do. Not. Need. Any more public events in April. The competition for air space and public attendance is already stiff. Who picks these freakin' dates?

That rant made, if anyone in the Cville area does want to pick up this ball and run with it, Earth Week will publish the event with its calendar. Just contact me with the deets.

An Office with a View

2007-03-06T13:16:00.000-05:00

Sometimes, working at my firm isn't so bad. The view is consistently nice. This is from last fall; I had to enhance the contrast in order to do justice to the brilliance of the oranges and reds in the distance. It made the grass too green, but I like it anyway.

I'm always just a little in love with the Virginia countryside. It makes up for Virginia politics.

Al Gore's Own Truth

2007-03-05T16:12:00.000-05:00

Inconvenient though it might be, Al Gore had to expect that someone would call him to task for not walking his talk. It seems that the Presidential poster boy for global warming is melting under home energy bills that almost reach $30,000/year. Yep, that's all just for his residence near Nashville. It doesn't factor in his transportation fuel and energy consumption while on tour/business.

I'm not sayin' he should put up or shut up, but, Mr. Gore, it's hard to respect your position when you are using 200 X more electricity than the average American household. It's not like we're good at conservation to begin with, as you've justly and ironically pointed out.

DIY Rain Barrels

2007-03-05T09:55:00.000-05:00

We are coming up on Charlottesville's "monsoon season," which will be quickly followed by another drought (my guess -- no I haven't become a weather psychic, it's just been the predominant pattern for the past few years). So, here's a ancient green tip on using the one to survive the other: Get or make rain barrels.

Now, you can buy RCS's rain barrels at Eltzroth & Thompson in Cville, The Garden Barn in Advance Mills, and Pennington's Nursery in Rochelle (on 29 South). RCS's rain barrels are cheap compared to prices I've seen online, which can run up to a $300 bucks a piece. OR you can make them yourself.

The DIY Network has a nice step-by-step guide, with all the pertinent warnings and even some pictures.

Green Girl recommends Aquabarrel's free downloadable DIY Rain Barrel instruction manual, and I note that they'll even send it to you in CD form for $5.

Patrick Hamilton's DIY rain barrel project in the Twin Cities Green Guide is my favorite, thus far, for its cheapness and ease though. I particularly liked his entrepreneurial way of acquiring the barrel. Finding a food-grade barrel around here sounds like it should be a cinch. There are 2 dozen vineyards and breweries within easy driving distance, and castaway oak barrels might be the way to go. After all, you aren't trying to ferment fine wine with it, just capture rain.

So make one of your spring garden & home improvement projects a rain barrel system. It saves water, money, and frequently your lawn, and you will rarely have to worry about power outages and droughts again.

If you decide to go with a DIY kit or method, there is little that is more ironic than a conservationist going to a big-box store like Wal-Mart or Lowes to pick up supplies for a conservation project. Please support your locally-owned businesses by trying Martin's Hardware, Meadowbrook, or Southern States in Cville, Tru Value in Crozet, or Paulett's ACE in Scottsville first.

Council Criteria

2007-02-28T23:03:00.000-05:00

We've gotten a bit of a news dump regarding Charlottesville City Council lately. First, Kendra Hamilton announced she will not seek a second term (Daily Progress, 2/23/07). This was followed by Democratic Central discussing who will run. And Waldo picked up that blog post and ran with it on CvilleNews.

In all this talk about how many seats might come open and who might be on the November slate, I'm not hearing jack about what makes a good Councilor--just who everyone likes or doesn't like. Maybe I need to turn my hearing aid up a bit. If I had one, I would.

There have been a handful of elected officials I have genuinely liked, and many more than that for whom I have voted. IMO, "like" shouldn't come into the equation nearly as much as "respect" should.

There are some things I believe are self-evident regarding people who run for public office. One of those things is that everyone who runs for public office has an agenda. They have issues they feel strongly about, changes they want to make. That's the freakin' common denominator among anyone who bothers to vote, let alone campaign.

Once the ballots are counted, that person takes on a job, and every job has a job description--duties that must be fulfilled. If you do not think a candidate has the ability to perform the duties, does it matter whether you agree on the issues or whether you like him/her?

IMO, not so much. There are some basic personality characteristics I look for: Integrity ranks high, as does responsibility. I want a candidate who balances principled conviction balanced with flexibility of mind, so that conviction doesn't become an excuse for arrogance or laziness. Beyond that, it comes down to what each candidate brings into the office.

So, here are my criteria for the job of City Councilor:

Understanding of and dedication to the actual job of being a public servant;

Willingness to do the background research into the issues brought before the dais, so that each vote made is informed as much by hard knowledge as it is by personal belief in "the right thing to do";

Desire to go beyond the parameters set by staff, which necessarily entails doing more analysis than just reading staff reports, although those are an important tool in decision-making;

Active solicitation of opposing points of view on any potentially controversial issue, and not just from friends, or at public hearings, or through the charlottesville.org e-mail inbox;

Ability to identify and prioritize the greater good;

Knowledge of structural/organizational systems, and how to work within one to change it; and

Time management, time management, time management.

That's my wish list, and I'm hoping our November slate has people who, individually or combined and working together, possess all of them.

What Price Clean Water?

2007-02-22T07:46:00.000-05:00

Today's Daily Progress reports on a wastewater treatment upgrade proposed by RWSA which could end up costing Charlottesville-Albemarle residents another $77 per year. If the State won't foot the bill, that is. Considering that the State has recently decided to downsize its Water Control board, and has consistently cut funds from wastewater treatment for the last couple of years in order to fund other pet projects, I'm not hopeful that RWSA will get all of the funds its seeks from the State.

So that leaves it, once again, to the localities, to pay for what we want through our utilities and property taxes. Tell me--what do my State taxes get me nowadays? (Other than non-responsive government.)

The price tag on the upgrade might cause some residents sticker shock, coming on the heels of the proposed and approved new water supply plan. The Moore's Creek treatment plant which is getting the upgrade serves the urban area.

The public water system includes separate stormwater and wastewater drainage. Stormwater drains directly into the Rivanna and her tributaries; wastewater from sinks, toilets and baths is directed to the treatment plants. The stormwater system hasn't been upgraded since the late 1970s, and the wastewater system was taken over by RWSA in the 1980s. Many of the pipes are older than that. DEQ water quality standards have risen in that time, as has the public demand for cleaner water.

So, before the residents rail against the possible price hikes, it might want to consider just where on its priority list clean water comes, and what price it deems reasonable to pay for it. As densely populated as our area is, $77/year doesn't seem like a high price to pay for this staple of life.

Grass-Fed Beef -- Alert!

2007-02-19T10:51:00.000-05:00

I've noticed that few things make such a huge difference in taste as grass-fed cattle. Whether it's cream in my coffee or milk on my cereal, ground beef in my chili, or a roast or a steak, I notice a 300% increase in taste when I use happy, healthy, grass-fed cow products. My favorite local provider is City Market regular, Wolf Creek Farm.

Wolf Creek Farm will be making its last winter delivery to Charlottesville this Saturday, Feb. 24, from 9:00AM to 10:30AM in the Water Street parking lot, where the Charlottesville City Market meets. They will bring pre-ordered items as well as a few extra cuts for spur of the moment buyers, but, to be sure they have what you want, it's best to place your orders beforehand so they can bring your preferred cuts to market.

They've got retail price lists by cut, and by quantity on their website. How cool is that?

They are currently out of stock on all the round cuts, beef chuck and blade chuck roasts, stew meat, flank steak, tongue, and oxtail. If you aren't sure whether they'll have what you need, or want to order, you can shoot them an e-mail inquiry at info@wolfcreek-farm.com.

Charlottesville City Market opens in April, so this will be the last delivery for a couple of months. Might want to stock up.

HB3113: Reprised or Reprieved?

2007-02-14T10:36:00.000-05:00

According to my LIS tracker, HB3113--the House of Delegates version of the environmental board consolidation bill--made it through the Senate subcommittee and pass with no "nays" on the floor vote yesterday.

The House bill is the one which had the review ("re-enactment") clause which gave a year's time before the citizen review board merger and resultant changes in DEQ procedure would take effect. The Senate version of the bill, SB1403, didn't roll out of the House subcommittee, so I am hoping that these facts indicate that it is the House version which will be going to Tim Kaine for official signage.

Caveat: I haven't read the full text of what the Senate passed yesterday, so I can't say for certain the "re-enactment" clause wasn't stripped out. I'm just really, really hopeful that I'm right.

Changing the Dream

2007-02-13T10:35:00.000-05:00

The anticipated winter storm has been drizzling on us since I woke up this morning. The forecasters say the system will stick around for over 24 hours. Last I heard (11 pm news) they think we might get 2-4 inches of something—a rain, ice and snow mix. Virginia has pretty mild winters, which makes such storm systems Events. In Michigan, where a single winter storm can dump a foot of snow on us overnight, we would call this negligible. Still, while I'm Michigan born, I'm mostly Virginia bred; so I have already laid in the water supplies in case the pipes freeze tonight, and have charged up the small camping generator in case the power goes out.

There are worse places to be in a winter storm. Out on the street is one of them.

Those who know me may have noticed that I don't talk about my family or my past much. I talk a lot about my busywork. I don't say why I fill my hours with meetings. I talk about my issues. I don't say why I am so passionately connected to them. But lately, it seems to me that we all need to talk about the whys. You can't forge a relationship with a statistic. A statistic has no feeling, a statistic has no story. We need to take the statistics, and the soundbytes that go with them, out of civic interaction and bring back the humanity.

Of all my sprawling, extended family--my mother was the eldest of 8, my father the youngest of 9--the only two who still live in Virginia are my mother and me. We moved here in 1972--my mother, my father, my half-sister, and me. One of my maternal uncles joined us for a couple of years in the mid-70s and then, again, six years ago. Of our teensified, 5-member, family twig, two of us have become homeless in this state, my half-sister and my uncle. And one of us (me) has felt helpless both times to be of any use in the face of their need. With my sister, I was admittedly too young to do anything but bear witness until she died before age 21 (I was 14 at the time). With my uncle, I was an adult, and still limited--by my lack of resources, by my temperament, by my inability to provide a stabilizing foundation for him.

There is a lot more to each of their stories--maybe I'll share them some day, maybe not--but my experiences with them informed my desire to be involved in some institution, some edifice, some place, that could have helped them in ways that I personally could not and still can not. The inability to help someone we love sharply defines our powerlessness in this world. We try sympathy, we try tough love, we do what we can, we pray to God. Sometimes it isn't enough. One person can not be an entire support network.

They are why I write about affordable housing and homelessness so often. They are why I'm involved with Compass.

Once, the extended family was the basis for our societal structure. Cousins to the third degree all lived within the same geographical area, everyone knew everybody else's business, and the family had the combined resources to take care of its own. Now, isolation rules. Broken families living hundreds of miles apart can not and will not provide the support an individual may need when their life comes crashing down around them. They may not even know when support is needed or what kind of support to give. People who have a large, connected, concerned family are blessed--and increasingly rare.

Homelessness, I sometimes think, is the natural result of the way we've chosen to focus the American Dream upon a small nuclear family living in a large, single-family home. That dream leaves no bulwark in the face of a rising divorce rate. That dream keeps us from really knowing our neighbors and our extended relatives because the literal space between us has created a much larger, metaphorical space. That dream keeps us isolated at times when isolation can only hurt us more.

Isn't it time we changed the dream?

Hamstringing the Locals

2007-02-09T13:50:00.000-05:00

Once again, the State Legislature, in its infinite wisdom, is setting about hamstringing local government. Goddess forbid that the people be allowed to decide anything for themselves, except who to elect as their masters.

Sponsored by John Cosgrove (R-78 (Chesapeake)), the bill

[r]equires each locality to lower its real estate tax rate for the forthcoming tax year, to produce no more than 101 percent of the previous year's real property tax levies when any annual assessment, biennial assessment or general reassessment of real property by the locality would result in an increase of 1 percent or more in the total real property tax levied.

Great. First, the State won't fund any of the mandates it hands down. Then, it refuses to let the Municipalities figure out how to fund those mandates in lieu. Wait.... I think I've made that very same bitch before on this blog. Seems to be a recurring theme.

Is it too much to ask that the friggin' taxophobic eejits in the House keep their psychosis in Richmond and out of municipal government? I'm not saying I favor taxes. I'm saying let us decide whether they are needed and what kind would serve us best. That's all I'm saying. This may be another one for the Randy Pat School of Politics.

Drafting Al

2007-02-09T13:18:00.000-05:00

The Draft Al Gore site has remade their soundbyte to match the currents of today's political waters:

He's eloquent, passionate, relentless, undaunted. The first political figure to oppose the Iraq war, Al Gore is also the lead champion in the fight against global warming, a passionate defender of our Constitution, and an unyielding voice against the Bush Administration's abuse of power.

A far cry from "wooden" and "uncharismatic," which were the two predominant adjectives to describe Gore's 2004 run. The petition already has 27,228 signatures.

What are the chances?

Moments of Nirvana

2007-02-09T10:27:00.000-05:00

June 2005, the family cottage at Clear Lake, MI

Stress is there as a test to see if you can distinguish the good in life. These lilies are good. A moment out of time to appreciate the beautiful, not just the absurd. Jon Stewart doesn't aim high enough.

Three Meetings and a Funeral

2007-02-07T01:19:00.000-05:00

Sunday, Earth Week had its third meeting of the year, and as excited as I am about our line-up of activities, I surely wish ya'll would plan some activities for mid-week. We don't so much have an Earth Week as we have 2 overbooked Earth Weekends with time off for napping in between.

Monday, sometime after everyone said his piece on traffic issues, City Council approved the special use permit so that Compass, the homeless day center, can move into its new home. Congratulations, Compass!

Tuesday, the Rivanna Conservation Society had its board meeting, during which I drank a pot of coffee while we discussed improvements to Schier Natural Area, finding sponsors for the 2007 Rivanna River Days Calendar Brochure (click if you would like to list a river event or become a partner), the best procedure for sharing information from our own proprietorial research with the new Chville Commission on Environmental Sustainability (being both Advocacy chair for RCS and a Commission member, I shook hands with my inner schizophrenic for 20 minutes of discourse), and our Third Thursdays Brown Bag Lunch series on watershed issues (and about 2 dozen other topics).

Then I came home and looked up the results of today's roll call vote in both chambers on HB3113 and SB1403. Both passed. I'm appalled at the short-sightedness of the decision to merge all 3 citizen review boards into 1 entity. It is impossible to find 11 people to sit on the new "Environmental Quality Board" who are expert in all three media: Waste Management, Water Control, and Air Pollution. The new board will not be able to provide the same level of specialized knowledge, attention to detail, and competency that the individual boards had. Furthermore, by taking the permitting authority out of the board and handing it to DEQ, the General Assembly has completely cut the public out of the process. Is anyone else out there feeling that closed government love yet? Doesn't seem like anyone outside the enviro community cares, even though this bill--soon to be law--will effect municipal-level voices in land use, industry, and economic development as well as natural resources.

So, I'm hoping that enough people out there read this and call their state representatives to demand that the House bill's "re-enactment clause" stay in the final, reconciled version of the bill. If the Senate's version ends up on Gov. Kaine's desk, I'll be planning a funeral (or at least a memorium) for the last bastion of public voice in the regulatory process. Let me know if you'd like to come. Rum and tequila will be required; black armbands will be optional.

Warner Filibusters, Jams Own Bill

2007-02-06T11:02:00.000-05:00

Last Friday, the Senate GOP threatened to filibuster the resolution to oppose Bush's additional troops to Iraq. Ironically, the bill was introduced by our own Republican Senator, John Warner, who ended his conflict of interest in favor of being a stand-up party guy. Warner voted with 48 other Republican Senators to block the bill from being debated and voted upon until 3 alternate versions of the bill--one of which actually supports Bush's surge--could be included in the free-for-all.

Uh... Come again? What measure are we voting on?

Landes, Striking a Pose, Strikes the Public

2007-02-01T16:25:00.000-05:00

As reported by Waldo yesterday, Del. Steve Landes (R-25) introduced HR45, a bill doomed to failure because it threatened to address accusations of closed government, back-room dealing on the part of the House Republicans, who apparently object to the public's right to know what happens on the House floor and in its subcommittees.

We thought Landes struck a blow, exposing a rift between sensible, responsible Republicans who view themselves as representatives of their constituents, and the manipulative, controlling arse-wipe Republicans who believe the people who elected them should be treated like preschoolers and fed an unbalanced diet of all the state government news that they think is fit.

Instead of a blow, Landes struck a pose. Enter House Bill 3113, on which Landes is also listed as Chief Patron. HB 3113 consolidates the State Air Pollution Control Board, the State Water Control Board, and the Waste Management Board--all of which are appointed, expert, citizen oversight boards--into one eleven-member board called the "Virginia Board of Environmental Quality," which will have absolutely no power to issue permits and licenses, nor to hold public hearings on any issues with which it deals. Those duties will be streamlined and given to the DEQ, which has no valid citizen input mechanism and which is not beholden to an electorate for its position and authority.

In other words, Landes, yesterday's darling for defying his fellow House Republicans by asserting John Q. Public's Right to Know about his state government, has done a complete about-face and is now asserting that John Q. Public should have no authority nor voice in the very critical matters of air and water quality and waste control; in fact, no authority in anything having to do with state natural resource distribution, conservation, and protection, including, apparently, land use and industrial placement and discharge.

The only way that I can interpret this 180 is that Landes was lying about wanting to institute a House deliberations broadcast and, instead, was proposing HR45 to save face for himself and/or his party.

Landes is the delegate for the 25th District, which includes western Albemarle, Augusta, Waynesboro, and Rockingham. He comes up for reelection in 2008. May I suggest to concerned Albemarle citizens that you replace him? I don't care if you elect a Republican or a Democrat, or a Libertarian. Just, please, elect someone who thinks that constituents should have a say in government.

Will the State Scrap Its Citizen Advisory Boards?

2007-02-01T11:35:00.000-05:00

Consolidating the state water control, air quality, and waste management boards and handing their decision-making powers over to DEQ may make getting permits easier, but it sure won't help the environment. (Times-Dispatch)

Advisory boards are a primary way for citizens to participate in the regulatory process on natural resource issues. DEQ, as a number-crunching organization, may be able to tell you whether a particular construction will have some detrimental effect on the surrounding environment, but DEQ does not always know what's best for a community as a whole. Moreover, and DEQ staffers are not elected to their positions--which means they have no reason to care what a particular community wants and or needs. All they will need to know is whether a plant or farm or special use variation meets their guidelines. In such a system, there would be no balance between what a developer/industry deems possible to do and what the region receiving that development/industry wants done.

This seems to me an excellent plan for short-circuiting any public input in and control over basic natural resource distribution and quality, if that's your goal. It seems that that is Landes's goal.

Gingered

2007-01-30T20:50:00.000-05:00

The news that true red heads may become extinct by the end of this century is pretty old, but selective breeding may cure the problem. It's just a matter of compounding the recessives.

Being of mostly Celtic extraction, I've been highly amused at how popular bottle red has become in the past decade. It seems every woman I know under 40 has gone auburn, strawberry, or copper at some point. In my family, it's been a while since we produced a true carrot top, although most of us come by our highlights naturally, the stereotypical white skin prevails, and freckles can be found all over the family tree on both sides.

What I find most interesting about the phenomenon is how, well before science pinpointed and published the (lack-of) genetic trend, popular culture seemed to sense it--going red was (and still is) the haircolor version of getting couture swag. Much like bustles and corsets were popularized to make skinny girls look Mae West voluptuous around the turn of the last century, and the heroin-waif look is popular today precisely because we have, as a nation, finally grown into the Mae West figure. These trends in looks point up what is rare, instead of what is normal, as being more desirable. No wonder we're called a culture of death--we always idolize what few can reasonably achieve, whatever end of the pendulum it is.

It's simply too bad we can't harness all that obsession into idolizing a new model of society and community. It seems wasted on looks. Can you imagine the world if we truly valued rarity instead of imitating it? Here are some fashion-forward soundbytes I'd like to hear on the street:

"Buying clothes made from organically grown fibers is all the rage because, dang, are they expensive and hard to get!!"

"Scrap the Nikes--Eccos are sooo much hotter!"

"I'll be gingered, is that real flax?"

and my fave,

"Hemp--it's not just for smoking anymore."

Red Hot Funding: Election 2008 Goes Private

2007-01-22T22:35:00.000-05:00

Updated just 3 minutes ago, the New York Times reports that Senator Hillary Clinton has elected to eschew public funding of her 2008 Presidential campaign, fully confident that she can raise far more in private monies than the $150 million that would be granted her by the public election funds without those pesky spending limits.

Word on the street has it that Senator John McCain, Hillary's opposite member from the Republican line-up is seriously considering doing likewise. The former champion of campaign finance reform just took his name off a bill that would expand the presidential public financing program.

Now that's interesting...

McCain Opposed to ... Bush?

2007-01-22T12:51:00.000-05:00

It's rare that I speak out on military matters in general or the Iraq war in particular, but this tidbit from the Post got me riled. Apparently John McCain, frontrunner for the Republican 2008 nod, has decided he doesn't like Gen. George W. Casey Jr.'s nomination as Bush's new Army Chief of Staff because Casey has presided over a "failure of policy" in Iraq.

My question to Senator McCain: If you think Gen. Casey is unfit to command on those grounds, it is logical to presume you equally think the Commander-in-Chief who devised and instituted that failed policy is unfit to lead. So, why are you still supporting George W. Bush, you flaming hypocrite?

Barack Not an Island

2007-01-22T11:00:00.000-05:00

According to the League of Conservation Voters, Barack Obama's senatorial record on environmental issues is nearly perfect. At a time when most congress members were ignoring inconvenient truths, Obama made speeches about how global warming was a reality we needed to address sooner rather than later. Then why is Grist saying, "Not so much" to his new energy plan? [In a sick twist, they praise Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), notorious for having a hissy fit on the floor when a fellow Senator tried to block his Bridge to Nowhere, for his "progressive" fuel economy proposal this session.]

The love affair between enviros and Obama ended over his introduction of a new coal-to-liquid proposal which would benefit downstate Illinois at the price of adding a lot more CO2 emissions. The Coal-to-Liquid (CTL) Fuel Promotion Act of 2007 is an ill-thought piece of green-wannabe legislation designed to appease some of Obama's squeakiest home-state wheels. According to the Senator's spokesman, Tony Vietor, "Illinois basin coal has more untapped energy potential than the oil reserves of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait combined."

The coal industry says that converting coal into diesel engine fuel would reduce dependence on foreign oil through a new, home-mined fuel that burns as cleanly as gasoline. The environmentalists say that's nice, but it's still coal. Coal-mining doesn't meet any standard for environmental protection nor does it lower overall emissions and the United States shouldn't be using South Africa as a model for going green.

The Presidential mantle flaps in the breeze, and it will be interesting to see whether Obama decides to go with his demonstrated principles, which would gain him the national eco-vote, or with his downstate demands, which would gain him a monied interest in his 2008 campaign.

The Richardson File

2007-01-21T20:39:00.000-05:00

The Santa Fe Free New Mexican actually has a file on Presidential hopeful, Gov. Bill Richardson, to help all us non-Westerners find local coverage on his NM works and deeds. Bookmark!

Richardson in the Ring

2007-01-21T10:13:00.000-05:00

When it comes to '08 candidates, I like Hillary. I really like Obama. But after this morning's interview with Stephanopoulos, I got to thinkin' I might have to look more closely at Bill Richardson, the Dem governor of NM (a/k/a Vips' Big Boy). Why should I bother looking at this long-shot dark horse? Because he came across on TV as competent, sensible, funny, and down-to-earth--all personality traits that appealed to swing voters who went for Bush because he "spoke the people's language."

And because Bill's got the resume from hell, which means that, regardless of his salt-of-the-earth attitude, he probably owes lots of people and, equally probable, lots of people owe him.

It'd be nice, for once, if the United States didn't pick a President based on photogenics, charisma, spin, and sound bytes. I don't have high hopes for it; I'm just sayin' -- it would be nice.

First stop on the Bill Richardson tour was to the Free New Mexican. I found an interesting article there from Feb. 2005, in the run-up to the Gov's election. What makes the article interesting isn't the content. It's the comments section. You want to know whether to vote for a guy, ask the people he's been governing.

Update: To track what New Mexicans think of Bill Richardson now, keep an eye on the Free New Mexican's comments to this morning's announcement.

Update #2: If Richardson was president... (Hardball interview on MSNBC)

Green Plaidie Scotsman

2007-01-21T08:11:00.000-05:00

Don't you find that it generally helps perspective to dive into foreign newspapers every once in a while?

Today's Scotsman has a great article on reducing your individual carbon footprint, which is all the rage on the other side of the pond.

Retail giant Marks & Spencer is dedicating more money than our federal government to overhauling its energy plan, is seeking local suppliers, and has made a pledge to become carbon neutral by 2012. Several major blue-chip Brit companies, including Sun Microsystems and BP, have instigated a task force tasked with producing an industrial agenda for going clean and green. Senior politicians have been ordered to take the bus to work instead of their stretch limos. Prince Charles canceled a ski trip due to media razzing over his waste of jet fuel. Even Tony Blair will be hip deep in dirt, planting trees, thanks to a fracas with his top advisor on environmental sustainability.

Next, the Great Scot tartan will be changin' from black and blue to green and brown. I'd buy a length o' that!

"Service Fodder" or Valued Employee?

2007-01-18T19:34:00.000-05:00

(Wow! I was reading an ongoing debate on George Loper's site and responded to George with some of my thoughts. He actually posted them. I feel honored. So, here it is, reprinted from George's blog, for those of you who don't follow it.)

Dear George,

According to the Washington Post, the minimum wage bill passed the House of Representatives, 315 to 111. The proposed new minimum is $7.25. So, it looks like William Lyster will be firing employees relatively soon.

In his analysis, Mr. Lyster finds it ironic that the Living Wage campaign will necessarily result in fewer jobs. In his response, Mr. Foster finds irony in the concept that Mr. Lyster would bother to keep an incompetent employee on the payroll at $5.15, but wouldn't at $7.50. [Read whole ping-pong exchange at minimum wage index.]

I find irony in the whole debate. Mr. Lyster complains of disaffection among low-income workers, especially in the service industry, characterizing them as either new, uneducated, or possessing addiction problems which result in a lack of concern for and loyalty to their jobs.

I find the opposite to be generally true--disaffection comes not at the beginning of the job, but after the employee has been poorly managed, devalued, and/or mistreated. The term "cannon fodder" refers to footsoldiers put on the frontline in harm's way because they are considered expendable. In the workforce, we are creating "service fodder" by treating our entry-level workers as expendable. Both customers and employers show a jaw-dropping lack of respect to anyone earning poverty-level wages in the service industry.

If an employer invests in his/her employees--and investment can come in many ways, e.g., higher wages, increased educational opportunities, perks and benefits, kindness and consideration, competent management, positive work atmosphere, flexible scheduling, creative scope--then s/he will earn their loyalty and concern, which will, in turn, increase their happiness and involvement in their workplace regardless of their pay scale. Happy, involved workers generally give better customer service.

And since "loyalty" seems to be a buzzword for Mr. Lyster, I should add that loyalty is earned--it can not be taken for granted when most jobs are "at-will" contracts. It might be useful to think of each rung of employees as the "customers" of the next level above--what are you doing to keep them?

Just my two cents.

Tatyanna Patten (electronic mail, January 11, 2007)

Energy to Go

2007-01-18T15:34:00.000-05:00

The new CLEAN Energy Act of 2007 is developing it's own fan club; even the most pessimistic enviros praise its long-reaching effects. In this case, CLEAN stands for "Creating Long-Term Energy Alternatives for the Nation" (you can see why they wanted an acronym).

What makes this particular bill interesting is the related bill H. Res. 66, put forth by James McGovern (D-MA-3) of the House Rules committee, which calls for H.R. 6 to hit the House floor for a 3-hour debate before a vote. IOW, they have bypassed the Committees on Energy & Commerce, Natural Resources, and Sci-Tech, all of which might have had claim to tie this bill up for months. Instead, the House Dems, who have a clear majority, are passing that job to the Senate.

This bill calls for a shift of $14 billion from gas & oil tax breaks to renewable, alternative, and efficient energy. Gas & oil has become the most deep-pocketed, entrenched industry lobby in D.C. In this energy bill, I see the first hard test for the now allegedly Democratic Senate: Are the new conservatives Dems, who were responsible for turning that congressional house blue, willing to put $14 billion where their mouths were last year? If it passes the Senate, Bush will likely exercise veto power, and it will depend entirely upon the margin of the Senate vote whether that veto can be overruled.

So... does the Senate have the will to change our energy future, or will the Senate Dems find a moderate perch on the slippery slope between the left and the right?

House Passes Minimum Wage Bill

2007-01-11T09:04:00.000-05:00

In a 315 to 111 vote, the House of Representatives passed an act increasing the federal minimum wage from $5.15/hour to $7.25/hour. That 315 tally included 82 Republicans who refused to toe the party line. 54 Republicans even abandoned ship and voted against a motion to add business tax breaks to the bill.

I'm guessing these guys are up for reelection in 2008.

Economic Caste as a Way of Life

2007-01-05T14:34:00.000-05:00

MSNBC reports that December saw the creation of an additional 167,000 new jobs which left the year-end unemployment rate unchanged at 4.5%. However, the article also examines the growing divide between the graduate-degree haves and have-nots.

Once again, skilled, blue-collar jobs left the country in droves in 2006. They were replaced by positions in the education, health-care, and professional services industries at equal or higher average salaries. The problem is, of course, a skilled factory worker with a HS diploma or even Bachelor's education can not find work as a nurse, high school teacher, lawyer, or publicity manager without undergoing several years of retraining at the college and graduate level.

So, these middle-income workers, who often earned up to $22-25/hour for their specialized skill sets, are now taking minimum-to-low-wage jobs because you don't need a related degree in order to become a supervisor at Burger King or a meter reader for the gas company, but you do need to pay your bills on time and feed your kids.

The problem faced, time and time again, is that poverty breeds poverty. No one designs anything of quality for poor people because they can't pay for it. Therefore, what little income they have often goes out as soon as it comes in, not just because their debt-income ratio is so high, but also because they have to buy substandard goods and are constantly replacing or repairing them. This trend runs from housing (which I've brought up many times) to groceries to clothing and transportation.

The manufacture of toxic clothing can be addressed by lawsuits and regulation. Cheap mass transportation issues can be solved on a regional and state level, and benefit more than just the poor. But, by far, the most dangerous of these are the housing and food nexuses. Substandard housing, as we've seen even locally [1, 2, 3], comes with a nightmare of health issues in addition to the costs of reconstruction and/or finding a new place to live. The hidden cost in eating low-cost foods is in decreased health and increased medical costs. Yet, unfortunately, most people living below a living wage have no or minimal health insurance to help them address such health concerns as they arise. Instead, those health problems have to fester, unaddressed, while they continue work, until the problems cannot be avoided, by which time their care and treatment is financially exponential.

Really, poverty is big business, but it is definitely not a good quality business. It becomes a Catch-22, as the health issues mount and the work and income floods out the door, creating an abyss from which whole cultures still haven't risen, in spite of the health of their government's pockets (and here I'm talkin' Appalachia as well as Nigeria).

Enter Acumen Fund, which is a philanthropic venture capital group dedicated to identifying and giving financial boost to the best entrepreneurs and organizations focused on delivering critical, affordable goods and services--such as healthcare and housing. The Acumen Fund's goal is to improve livelihoods, health and opportunities for the poor, while proving there's money in doing it.

Looking for a fiscally savvy yet socially progressive firm to invest your money and/or time with? Check them out. They are trying to break the economic caste cycle permanently.

Hunting the Snark

2007-01-05T12:24:00.000-05:00

In Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark, a group of wayward adventurers follow the lead of a mad Bellman in pursuit of a legendary (read: nonexistant) beast.

In Cville, strong argument could be made that our personal snark is affordable housing, and the posse gathered to pursue it has grown to an army over the last few years. The Daily Progress reported on the City Council meeting I mentioned previously in this blog.

What I find most interesting about Tuesday night's debate, however, was Kevin Lynch's discussion about the need to address the wage side of the equation. I don't disagree with his statements. But I doubt that employers will ever find basic burger flipping to be worth $10.50 or more per hour.

Let's say you work in Cville and you had to move to Nelson or Louisa to find a rent or mortgage you could afford. At some point, looking for work in Amherst, Waynesboro, or Richmond suburbs like Short Pump will be very attractive, just because of the shorter traveling distance. The lower-skilled your job, the more incentive you have to look close by, because, let's face it, gas is expensive.

I can not say it frequently enough, apparently: We need economic diversity in this town. Not this regional area, because there's a lot of bleedover to other metro regions once you are living 45 minutes from Downtown in a geographic section designed only for car transit. This. Urban. Area.

I know it seems unfair to ask Charlottesville City to bear the brunt of affordable housing and it certainly makes sense to address the Board of Supervisors for Albemarle County--but, beyond that, really, who else can we ask to take the lead in this kind of urban design? The outlying rural counties are equidistant to other city and town centers. It is our growth which is causing their headaches, not the other way around. So, IMO, we--meaning Charlottesville and Albemarle--have to be the ones who hunt the snark.

SWF Refugee

2007-01-04T17:30:00.000-05:00

SWF refugee, mother of 2, new to area, seeks affordable 2-BR house close to floes, fishing.

[A friend sent me this photo--I don't know to whom it should be accredited, but I liked it so much I gave it a caption. If you know the photographer, please let me know. I'd like to at least acknowledge and link to him/her.]

New Conservation Series Starts Jan. 18

2007-01-04T16:39:00.000-05:00

The Rivanna Conservation Society will be hosting a new brown-bag lunch series that focuses on watershed issues. The presentations will take place on 3rd Thursdays from 12 noon to 1 pm, at the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library on Market Street. All meetings are open to the public. If water quality and streambank conservation are topics of interest to you, this will be a can't-miss series.

The first presentation will be on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2007, in the Madison Room of the library. John Murphy, director of Streamwatch, will be talking about the results of the 2006 Streamwatch report and its implications on development within our basin.

RCS looks forward to seeing you there!

Best in Show

2007-01-03T14:11:00.000-05:00

Best in Show for the freshman Congressional class of 2007 goes to Rep. Keith Ellison, who has asked the the Library of Congress for the use of Thomas Jefferson's Q'ran for his swearing in.

Thomas Jefferson was the most illustrious person to live in Virginia's 5th Congressional District, which is currently represented by noted Ellison detractor Virgil Goode. TJ would surely be pleased and, if still alive, would have loaned Ellison his copy himself. Talk about a keen sense of enlightened demogoguery. Wish Ellison were my representative instead of Goode.

Reassessment

2007-01-03T10:31:00.000-05:00

Bill Emory put his finger on exactly what I feel has been missing these past 2 weeks. All the rumination I've done individually on the passing of the year and my hopes for 2007 has no audience (unless you include my cat). It's a truism that, as you age, the years shorten and the individual days mean virtually nothing--they become seconds compared to the span of your life. Entire eras eventually become condensed to brief descriptive paragraphs divulged to auld acquaintance at reunions.

When I was a kid, I did as kids did: Christmas was for buying (and receiving!) lots o' prezzies, constantly visiting people, and flitting from one social event to the next. New Years was for partying with a whole bunch of people I didn't know well but called friends. In a fun and superficial sense, they were friends. They didn't mind that I invariably spent January 1st hungover. Some would crash (read: pass out) and help with the trash in the morning. "Morning" began no earlier than 10:30 a.m. Others would join for a late breakfast (read: lunch) consisting of Bloody Marys, aspirin, and all the eggs we could eat. Anyone who is willing to put up with your binge-drinking and come back the next morning for cleanup duty is a friend, even if you don't know their hometown, their life dreams, or the names of three family members. But it was indicative of a simple, youthful outlook--one in which time is for spending, not for cherishing.

That was then, this is now. Now I feel the passage of time less, but feel a need to remark it more. There is a hurdy-gurdy quality to the end of the year that shellacks the passage of time, reflecting our hectic modernity in both style and content. One year you are 21, the next you are 41. 50 is the new 30, blah blah. But it isn't true. Just because we have the ability to cheat and ignore time, to play truant and play God until the average expected life span is 110, doesn't mean we should take for granted the time that is given us.

As Bill said, the passing of a year is a weighty thing. Perhaps a time for reflection and good, quiet company. For reassessing who you are and who you want to be when you grow up. For we are all, still, growing up.

Affordable Housing Future--TONIGHT @ City Council!

2007-01-02T14:28:00.000-05:00

Tonight City Council takes up the affordable housing proposal report. Background information can be found at my last entry on this topic in my blog.

Where: City Hall, Council Chambers
When: 6:45 pm (meeting starts @ 7)
Agenda available online (Hint: if you click on the "with background material" option, it will include a printable copy of the CAHIP Investment proposal)

Anyone can sign up to speak on the subject prior to the meeting's start time. Sign-up sheets are in front of the dais; there's a 3-minute limit per speaker. (This section is called "Matters by the Public" on the agenda.)

5 Things You Never Knew About Me

2007-01-02T10:10:00.000-05:00

Picked up from Waldo's blog, who was tagged by Book of Joe. Like Waldo, I'm not going to tag in turn, but if you read this post choose to participate in 2007's first tagging mania, it would be cool if you left me a link in the comments.

I've been in, from, and around the area since 1972, so I sometimes feel my life is an open book that's been read by the entire population. But lately I've come to realize that, even in this microcosm called Charlottesville, one's current incarnation tends to wipe out the past. So, here are five things most people don't know or remember about me:

(1) As a child growing up on Rt. 795 in Albemarle county, I wanted to buy Morven stud farm and turn it into a wildlife preserve. Kluge bought it instead and thus ended the dream.

(2) I was once a card-carrying member of the Music Teachers National Association, back when I was a group education director on keyboard instruments. Why didn't I become a concert pianist? Because in 1983, Hyun-Sook Park moved here and became a friend of mine at AHS. It's rough when you think you might be good at something and then someone so brilliant moves into your territory, competing against you at every level. She wiped the floor with me at regionals our senior year; my musical self-esteem and classical ambitions never fully recovered.

(3) In Summer 1986, I worked as an apprentice at the Williamstown Theater Festival, under the direction of Nikos Psacharopoulos. There was an underground betting pool in the UVa theater department's GSO as to whether I'd get into the excessively competitive summer stock that had previously apprenticed such luminaries as Chris Reeve and Santo Loquasto. Everyone I knew bet against me.

(4) Just like every photographer in a 40-mile radius, I supplemented my college income by shooting for Chuck Lane. My first 3 jobs post-college were in photography.

(5) The first political campaign I ever worked on was Gary Hart's run for the 1984 Democratic candidacy for President. The Donna Rice photos ended his 1988 run, but it's nice to know we were shocked by something as simple as a photo of a leggy blonde sitting on a Senator's lap--a picture that could probably be taken at a thousand D.C. Xmas parties and wouldn't even cause Wonkette to snigger. Nowadays, our greed for grist and threshold of intolerance is much higher.

The Randy Pat School of Politics

2006-12-28T12:04:00.000-05:00

We are Virginians. Once we strove for political greatness. We burned with a vision of enlightened, democratic self-government. Our land was home base for Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe. Our Constitution was a model for other states as they joined the new republic.

That was then, this is now. Now, many our elected officials' behavior and ideology is humiliating on so many levels. I won't raise the ghost of Allen's macacagate. I'm not going to crack on Goode's bigoted gaffe. I don't need to go to Washington in order to prove how far we have fallen from our heritage. I need only to go to Richmond.

Evidence #1: Delegate Scott Lingamfelter (R-31/PW) attempts to take away the state Senate's right to propose new taxes. Introduced on 12/15/06, HJ 580 reads:

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); bills raising revenue must originate in House. This proposed amendment is similar to the origination clause of Article I, § 7 of the United States Constitution. Amendments by the Senate would be subject to the same limitations generally applicable, such as the single object rule of Article IV, § 12.

The House Republicans wouldn't be introduced to a tax bill if it were wearing an Armani tux shaking hands at a black-tie reception. So if the Senate doesn't propose them, pray tell, who will?

[This is gonna have to be an ongoing series, so TBC...]

Effervescence!

2006-12-27T17:13:00.000-05:00

Looking for that special bottle for New Year's Eve? Want something good under $40? Kick Korbel to the curb and pick up one of these local vintages instead:

Kluge Estate 2003 SP ~ $38

Ingleside Virginia Brut Rose ~ $27

Horton Vineyard's Sparkling Viognier ~ $25 (the one I'm popping next Sunday)

Barboursville Brut ~ $15

There may be others out there too -- as I find, I will post. Support your local vintners!

E Notes from the Holidays

2006-12-27T14:40:00.000-05:00

Well I took an inadvertant vacation over the holidays and came back to my desk with a bushel and a peck of environmental stories to skim through. Here's the best of the best from the Lost Days of Christmas:

Robert Novak whined about industry having to take a few for the team after a century of preferential treatment and government subsidization. I tell ya, I'm just cryin' for all those coal, auto, and gas executives who won't be able to afford the 2007 Hummer.

After 6 years of steady dismemberment, the Endangered Species Act is making a comeback, thanks to both polar bears and orcas.

Yes, Virgilia, there IS an green take on the immigrant issue, and you can read about it here.

The Best Unintended Irony Award goes to EPA Administrator Steve Johnson, attending the US-China Economic Dialogue, who asserted that "our governments can lead by creating good environmental policies that yield positive economic results." (If ya need it explained, you need to watch the Wal-Mart movie or read No Logo.)

Affordable Housing Alert!

2006-12-27T13:25:00.000-05:00

Courtesy alert re: Post-Holiday Cville Council Agenda

City Council to Decide Fate of Affordable Housing Investment Proposals on Jan. 2

WHAT: Next Tuesday, Jan. 2, Charlottesville City Council will take into consideration a comprehensive set of proposals to consolidate, dedicate and expand funding for the development of affordable housing in our area. Citizens have repeatedly said that affordable housing is a major unmet need in our community, and this is our chance to make sure that Council gets the message that it's time to INVEST IN HOUSING!

WHEN: Tuesday, Jan. 2 -- arrive by 6:45pm in Council chambers (2nd floor of City Hall).
The Council meeting starts at 7:00pm and there will be a public comment period at the beginning of the meeting. Supporters can either sign up to speak (limit: 3 minutes each), or just sit in the audience and wear one of the "INVEST IN HOUSING!" lapel stickers that will be handed out at the door. The more people who turn out, the bigger impact we'll have.

WHAT IF I CAN'T MAKE IT TO THE MEETING, IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE I CAN DO TO HELP?
Absolutely. Just shoot a quick e-mail to all Councilors (via council@charlottesville.org) and let them know that you want to see more dollars invested in affordable housing. Encourage them to adopt the recommendations that they'll be considering at their Jan. 2 Council meeting.

WHAT WILL THE PROPOSALS DO?
In a nutshell, the proposals that Council will be considering would:

* double the amount of local funding available for affordable housing
development (which would still amount to less than 1% of the City's budget!)
* create dedicated, ongoing sources of financing for affordable
housing
* target a variety of unmet housing needs in our community, from
supportive rental housing for the very low-income elderly and disabled, to
revitalization of public housing, to homeownership opportunities for low-income
residents, to workforce housing for moderate-income families
* institute measures to promote environmentally-friendly construction
and protect low-income neighborhoods from gentrification
* support a regional approach to affordable housing and encourage
greater City-County cooperation in this regard

BACKGROUND:
In September 2006, Mary Brooks from the National Housing Trust Fund Project came to Charlottesville to lead a workshop for two dozen community leaders on strategies for creating a dedicated local fund for affordable housing (as hundreds of other localities have already done -- see http://www.policylink.org/EDTK/HTF/default.html). In November 2006, City Council's Housing Advisory Committee (comprised of representatives from affordable housing organizations, neighborhood advocates, business leaders and real estate professionals) unanimously adopted a proposal to create such a fund.

The Committee's full proposal can be downloaded here -- https://www.onlinefilefolder.com/index.php?action=getshare&type=0&user_num=13905&share_id=96604&hash=dafdee21db0ce6de60e1d9ba929ff8d6

A Daily Progress article on the proposal can be found here -- http://www.dailyprogress.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=CDP/MGArticle/CDP_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149191908352

City Manager Gary O'Connell subsequently incorporated all of the provisions of this proposal into his recommendations to Council on strategic new directions for the City. Council reviewed the housing portion of these recommendations at a work session on Dec. 14 and agreed to take them into official consideration at a regular Council meeting in January. This discussion is the main item on the agenda for the Jan. 2 Council meeting.

Dandy-lion break

2006-12-21T17:31:00.000-05:00

Ok, the whole Virgil Goode/anti-Muslim/racist/immigration policy thing is making my gut ache and my head explode. So I needed to take a little break

I visited the sea lions.

U.S. v. Them

2006-12-20T13:48:00.000-05:00

Not content with letting Senator-unelect George Allen get all the negative attention, Rep. Virgil Goode (R-Va, 5th Dist.) has put his ass on his shoulders by sending an anti-Muslim letter out to various constituents.

There aren't too many people, even Republicans within the 5th District, who are willing to go as far as Goode did in claiming that "American citizens [need to] wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration" to prevent a crimson tide of Middle-Easterners from taking over control of our nation. The only thing this letter proves is that Goode is a racist, a xenophobe, and, possibly an uneducated hack, since the Muslim representative from Minnesota has every right (and quite good reason) to request a Koran rather than a Bible--for that matter he could legally swear on Oxford's Unabridged Dictionary if he so wants.

No, I'm not proud to call Virgil Goode my representative--I worked for his opposition. But the stink being raised by leftists on some blogs has predominantly ignored the underlying need for immigration reform, and the reasons why Goode's immigration position finds traction with Americans from all walks, from George W. Bush to Bubba George Spradlin.

Folks, individuation is a well-known psychological process engendered by physical necessity and has documented by such great minds as Nietzsche, Freud, Jung, Darwin, Stiegler, Bohm, and Erikson. It starts when we're babies learning to differentiate between ourselves and our mothers once we're out of the womb. In the effort to define who we are, we define a lot of who we are not. Similarly, every tribe or nation since the dawn of human socialization has had to define who "we" are compared to "them" when faced with other people. We use a lot of different measures to come up with those definitions: physical characteristics, language and artistic skills, geographical location, ancestry, religious beliefs, cultural values, ethics and activities are just some of the variables that get thrown into the mix.

To repeat: Every tribe or nation since the dawn of human socialization has had to define who "we" are compared to "them." That is what immigration policy is about--setting the standards that create the definition of "us." Or, in this case, U.S.

The problem as I see it is that we are stuck thinking of ourselves as a "nation of immigrants," and, thus, unlike most western hemipshere countries which are also nations of immigrants, we've never put a premium on our own national culture. A lot of people would be surprised to think of the United States as having a national culture. The basis of our culture is not built on the 20th-century marketing of McDonald's, Coca-Cola, and Hollywood. It's built on the Bill of Rights, and we've been developing it for over 225 years. The freedoms granted under that document are what have allowed the McCokeywood popular culture to develop.

I don't fear Muslim input because Muslims are a very small percentage of the population--on par with Hindus, Buddhists or Jews--and Islam is not easily reconcilable to our principles of democratic government. But Judge Smails' points and mine from the afore-linked Waldo debate are born from the same set of reasonable doubts: Does American immigration policy threaten the fundamental rights guaranteed to every United States citizen by allowing those who do not share our governing principles and ideals to take part in our political system and, thereby, giving them the power to change it?

Goode's plan and attitude both blow technicolor chunks, but liberals taking irrelevant potshots at xenophobia do nothing to address the fundamental issues of immigration policy debate. A lot of the people with whom Goode's immigration ideas have traction aren't actually xenophobic--they are voters whose voices are being marginalized by new demographics within their districts and who have therefore become reasonably worried about whether these cultural differences will result in substantive changes in the laws which grant their freedoms and rule their lives. No one assuages such worry or converts anyone by using brute force and name-calling.

And, lest anyone think there's nothing to it, any part of the Constitution can be changed by a significant percentage of the voting population. It's a breathing, flexible document, so, yes, it could be strongly amended and sections repealed and replaced. If such events happen, will we still be the United States, or some other nation?

I see language as one of the issues, because 400 years of American history and centuries of law upon which these defining documents are based are written in English--how could a Spanish-speaking U.S. possibly understand the richness and depth of that legal heritage enough to respect and build on it?

Smails [and Goode] sees religion as one of the issues, because Islam does not respect cultural diversity--it does not tolerate religious freedom and it does not honor "equal rights" for all citizens in the same way we Americans understand and use that phrase. Could a politically-connected, predominantly Muslim group gain enough pull in the halls of U.S. power to use our separation clause against us by forcing us to condone their intolerance in the name of tolerance?

I invite everyone who is willing to consider the possible ramifications of open-door immigration and discuss policy measures that address it without fearmongering and fingerpointing to continue our debate here and give Waldo a well-earned rest. (51 posts! Is that a new one-day record for a single topic?)

Brand Name Goodness

2006-12-19T09:23:00.000-05:00

Charlottesville's new logo is causing a bit of a stir among area blogs. My favorite para in the article is the second one:

“This brand is our personality, our values,” said Mark Shore, director of
the Charlottesville-Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau, which
spearheaded the new branding initiative. “A community’s values are the same by
which a brand’s values must convey.”

Yes, Charlottesville, we have a Brand Name and it conveys "creativity, history, and elegance." I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm feeling about as elegant as Roseanne Barr on a night out at McDonald's. However, considering that both Roseanne and McDs are brands in themselves, perhaps I shouldn't diss our decision to Go Commerical.

This is exactly the kind of idiocy that cries out for a culture jam. (Seriously. 22 months to come up with that logo? Seriously.) Ironically, though, since we're also going to be marketed for our "creativity" any jamming or busting will probably just get played up as part of our innate, elusive, laid-back counterculture mystique and make us that much more wildly hip. IOW, the only way not to play into the Charlottesville label is to be so uptight or far-right that Donna Reed wouldn't want to live here. And that would suck.

Personal Waste

2006-12-15T09:49:00.000-05:00

Here in America, we live in a disposable society--paper cups, plastic razors, polyester clothing. Disposable diapers, disposable people. As a whole, we have a pathological need to bypass the process and get to the result--whatever result--as quickly as possible. A lot gets thrown out--both literally and figuratively--and not even half of the trash is chaff.

Ever asked yourself just how much you (and your family) throw away in a day? Set aside a designated wastebasket this weekend and use only it. Hide all the other trash cans from yourself for 48 hours. Watch how much you accumulate. Then ask yourself, is this the way I dispose of the other things in my life as well -- the messy relationships, the untidy feelings, the whimsical goals and dreams which don't fit my chosen lifestyle or would offend my friends or family?

Then get a recycling chart and go through your trash and see how much of your waste can actually be reduced and reused if you separated it out, made room for it in your recycling bin, and took it to the center. I'd bet that there's a proportional relationship between what you toss literally and what you toss metaphorically. At the very least it would make a useful, self-reflective exercise.

We live in a disposable society. It's not our fault--it's the way we were raised and what we were taught to value. But we can change our own selves and our own habits once we become conscious of them. And if enough of us make that change, then the world will change with us.

Conservation--Thought for the Day

2006-12-07T12:20:00.000-05:00

An interesting practical conundrum always arises when trying to conserve anything: At what point can conservation of natural resources become detrimental to human development? Ecologically, we are aware that everything we do impacts our environment and yet we are a natural consequence of the organic evolution of animal life. Balancing what we need with our supporting planet's needs can become an exercise in tightrope-walking, and too much conservation inarguably results in humans losing mobility and access--regressing our quality of life to an earlier state of cultural development.

Historic conservation has to play a dicier game, mincing designations about what stages and kinds of cultural development are worth preserving. Such conservation essentially provides a 3D record of human history, much like the geological strata of the Grand Canyon describes earth history in rock and minerals. Now Albemarle County has to answer the question: At what point can conservation of historical resources become detrimental to human development?

Article at: County takes over church fight

A Woman's Beard

2006-12-05T15:36:00.000-05:00

Usually, I do not digress into the strictly personal in this blog. This time I just need to. I'm sure you've been there yourself.

There are dates, which are events when you go out with someone with whom you share a mutual attraction with the implied purpose of getting to know each other to determine your levels of compatibility and exclusivity. Then there are undates, which are events when you go out with someone whose personality and/or company you enjoy just to have fun together, but without the compatibility/exclusivity component. Then there are beard dates, which are events when you go out with someone who is a friend specifically to give you the appearance of having a compatible, exclusive companion when you know you are facing an awkward social situation.

The purpose of having a beard is obvious to anyone who has been forced to to fly solo at a cousin's wedding where obnoxious relatives invariably spend half the reception trying to matchmake you with hopelessly inappropriate partners from the vast, gathered network of friends of the family. A beard means you do not have to deal with dirty Uncle Sal's hand on your bottom in the waiting line. A beard means you do not have to please your mother by dancing with the pimply college freshman son of her former college roommate. A beard means you do not have to suffer the indignity of making nice over the buffet table with last year's jerk who ran off with cousin Amy, sister of the bride & maid of honor, because she invited him as her date but she is currently parked next to the wedding cake posing for an hour's worth of formal pictures.

Beards are necessary and good. Beards are the lubricant that make being single tolerable when singles are forced into sticky, intolerable social situations. But not all beards are created equal.

Being a good beard requires three things:

Being socially adept in strange situations,

Being a good enough friend to read your date's feelings and provide the support she needs to get through the day/evening, and

Being loyal to your date for the entire date.

An undate, by definition, means that either or both of you are free to scope the scene for future real dates, invite other friends to join you, and generally behave as friends do--pretty much anything goes as long as you're having fun and you know your friend has a safe ride home. A beard date, by contrast, must put the comfort zone of his date before his personal pursuit of fellowship and sexual company. After all, the whole point of asking a friend to be a beard is to avoid being left alone with people with whom you don't want to be left alone.

I know that last seems like a no-brainer, but for some reason, in practice, it isn't. I should know. I spent a very peculiar evening recently in the company of a beard friend who spent all his time hitting on another woman, which left me to be preyed on by a short, porcine, over-cologned salesman with pick-up lines circa 1979. Brown. Leisure. Suit. Hell.

I think I have identified something the Cville single scene sorely needs: Not an [wink] escort company, not speed dating at Rapture, not 3,000 adults surfing Match.com -- rather, a Professional Beard Service. All I need is a grant to get it operational.

The Return of Voodoo Economics

2006-11-22T10:41:00.000-05:00

A rash of headlines from today's papers makes me think it is time to bring back the National Debt Clock. If we do it, though, can we please place duplicates on the lawn at the White House and the front steps of the Capitol?

George W. Bush considers plans to hand Asian free trade nations the keys to the U.S. treasury in exchange for forgiving his narrow-minded focus on oil, thus letting us rack up even more debt with them. (NY Times)

The lame-duck Republicans have a snit over budget cuts when they are asked to control their spending, and decide to leave the entire mess to the new Democratic Congress, thereby tying up the Dem agenda for 2007 while they reinstitute the pay-as-you-go policies that worked so well at reducing national debt until dismantled in 2002. (Seattle Times/AP & The Hill)

The unemployment rolls expanded by another 12,000 jobless this last week before Thanksgiving. (Richmond Times-Dispatch/AP)

Can She Get the Daily Double?

2006-11-21T16:37:00.000-05:00

From Wonkette's Yeas and Nays: "Education Sec. Margaret Spellings was on 'Celebrity' Jeopardy, set to air today. It will settle definitively and objectively whether she’s purposefully mendacious or just dumb."

I tried to find a way to say it better, but failed. Air time: NBC-29 @ 7:30 pm. This may be the one night to tune into a game show. Bring popcorn.

Livid with VSL

2006-11-21T11:33:00.000-05:00

I hope that the Daily Progress article entitled "Law may cost city $1.2 million" has not escaped anyone's attention today. One alternatively appropriate title could be: State flushes local revenues down toilet.

Are there a few other local citizens are as outraged as I am over the Virginia State Legislature's predilection for using the localities as whipping boys? According to the report,

Charlottesville could see a $1.2 million drop in communications tax revenues beginning Jan. 1 when a new state law takes effect.

Instead of Charlottesville collecting the taxes from landline telephone and cable television service providers at a 10 percent rate, the state will collect the taxes at a new 5 percent rate and remit the proceeds to the city. That means a savings for local landline and cable customers.

I've lost count of the number of unfunded mandates the State government has passed down to the localities. Too often, Council has had to explain from the dais how we (the local gov't and the property taxes that prop it up) are responsible for picking up the tab on everything from social services to educational testing to public works repairs to transportation improvements because the State has cut its funding for this or that program and refuses to raise taxes in order to pay for its necessities. Now those narcisstic, impotent wannabe brokers in Richmond are messing with our ability to get the money to do so. I am livid.

The situation is untenable. If certain lobbies or interests don't like the way in which we try to close the gap between what we have been ordered to handle and what we can raise the money to pay for, they merely have to go to Richmond and scream "Dillon Rule!!" until our chain gets yanked by greasy, pig-eyed politicians who are more concerned about who is screwing whom than who they themselves are screwing over. There is a sick, S&M quality to our state versus local dynamic which needs to end.

Cville Budget 2008 Begins

2006-11-20T09:09:00.000-05:00

A recent discussion on City infrastructure in the Cville News blog led to a mini discussion on the City budget.

For all of you who want to voice your opinions and concerns on capital improvements, I recommend you go to tonight's City Council meeting, 7 pm, Council Chambers in City Hall. The first report on tonight's agenda is the 2008 FY Budget Guidelines. Get into the process on the ground floor to effect the changes you want to see.

UN Climate Change Talks in Nairobi

2006-11-17T15:14:00.000-05:00

From The UN Climate Change Conference:

Kenya hosted the second meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP/MOP 2), in conjunction with the twelfth session of the Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention (COP 12), in Nairobi from 6 to 17 November 2006.

The conference also included, from 6 to 14 November, the twenty-fifth session of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA 25), the twenty-fifth session of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI 25), and the second session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG 2) including an in-session workshop.

Kyoto Protocol enthusiasts can get the best of the blogging from the Nairobi talks at Calvin Jones's Climate Change Action

Hoyer -- The Sensible Choice

2006-11-17T12:14:00.000-05:00

Democrats Pick Hoyer Over Murtha for House Majority Leader (Washington Post)

I don't know why Nancy Pelosi thought that she had enough pull in the modern climate to install Murtha to begin with. The Democrats won their majority because several key races featured conservative/moderate Democratic candidates, not because the public has recently decided, in some political American Idol vote, that Pelosi's agenda is The Bomb.

The most telling paragraph from this article is:

Pelosi's aggressive, last-minute campaign for Murtha in the face of overwhelming support for Hoyer left many Democrats worried that she has become too reliant on a tight inner circle, too reluctant to listen to the broader Democratic caucus and mistakenly convinced that she can dictate the direction the caucus must take.

I applaud the House's choice of Hoyer; he has the authority and presence of mind to counterbalance the fears of some moderates and recent Dem-returnees brought on by overblown liberal rhetoric. We got in because the majority of Americans thought/wished/hoped that we could bring common sense back to Washington. Having a Democratic insiders' clique controlling Congress would not be a valid way to prove that our party is more mature or better able to meet the needs of the country than the insider's clique which still controls the Executive Branch.

Debunking a Myth

2006-11-16T12:20:00.000-05:00

Another NY Times:

NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov. 15 — Secretary General Kofi Annan on Wednesday put the blame for global warming on “a frightening lack of leadership,” saying the poorest people in the world, who do not even create much pollution, bear the brunt of rising temperatures.

“The impact of climate change will fall disproportionately on the world’s poorest countries, many of them here in Africa,” Mr. Annan said in a speech to a major climate conference here. “Poor people already live on the front lines of pollution, disaster and the degradation of resources and land.

“For them,” the United Nations leader said, “adaptation is a matter of sheer survival.”

Story continues here....

Annan clearly hasn't bothered to talk with fellow laureate Wangari Maathai on this subject. The noted ecologist and winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize is on record--in a critically acclaimed film, no less--stating that often it is the very poor, especially in third-world nations, who have the worst ecological practices, because they are too willing to strip off and sell or trade their natural resources without the tools, knowledge, or technology to replace them.

Perhaps it's just the difference of 3 years (Annan won the NPP in 2001). Or perhaps it's just the difference between Ghana and Kenya. Or perhaps -- just perhaps -- Maathai is correct. How many times in world and even US history have we seen it happen where those who control an area's natural resources end up controlling the power and the wealth as well? Isn't that what our Civil War was about?

DNA Test Yields Clues to Rt-Wing Extremists...

2006-11-16T12:07:00.000-05:00

From the NY Times:
New DNA Test Is Yielding Clues to ~~Obsolete Fundie Thinkers~~ Neanderthals

If we give them enough time with this double-helix thing, maybe they can figure out what causes regressive, species-destructive behaviors in our race too.

Seriously, though, it's an interesting article and I am always amazed at how much information scientists in this field can extrapolate from so little material.

Wake-Up on Sunday

2006-11-15T15:08:00.000-05:00

WNRN's Rick Moore will be featuring two local watershed activists -- Pat Calvert from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Chris French from Rivanna Conservation Society -- on his Sunday Morning Wake-Up Call.

Topic: The Chesapeake Bay clean-up and how our region is effected.

Station: 91.9 in Charlottesville (88.1 Staunton; 89.9 Lynchburh/Amherst/Sweetbriar)

Seasonal Taster's Choice

2006-11-13T12:36:00.000-05:00

'Tis the season for Pumpkin brews!! I know most of you are familiar with Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin Ale, available at grocers nearly everywhere now, but if you are looking for something a little different to curb your cucurbita cravings, here are some other brews you should explore:

Stone Cat Pumpkin Porter, spicy, hoppy, and dark with hints of butternut with that pumpkin.

Dogfish Head's Punkin Ale, from the makers of the incomparable Midas Touch Golden Elixir, a brown ale with a touch of brown sugar and malty pumpkin.

Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale, their Old Brown Dog Ale provides the base with added pumpkin and other gourds as well as pie spicing.

Yo-de-lay-ee-hoo

2006-11-09T16:52:00.000-05:00

Of the Nations in the Top 10 Highest Standard of Living, 6 are in Northern Europe:

1. Norway
2. Sweden
4. Belgium
7. Iceland
8. Netherlands
10. Finland

It's interesting to note that these 6 countries are also listed in the Top 10 Nations with the least percentage of population living in poverty. The United States, while listed in the former, is not listed in the latter.

Looks like I know where I'm emigrating to, if and when I need to emigrate.

Allen Concedes

2006-11-09T15:24:00.000-05:00

Congress is officially bluer than a clear sky on a summer day. Catch the video at the Washington Post's home page.

[PS: Has anyone else noticed that our little Senate race rated a mention on the front page of The Times, Le Monde, and the Int'l Herald Trib? Not bad. Guess that makes us international celebrities now.]

Cville's Future: A Long-Term Investment

2006-11-09T10:00:00.000-05:00

One of the issues that has been brought up frequently in the past year is how to grow our economical base here in Cville. It's an issue tied in to the growth of Albemarle County and resultant sprawl, and anyone who has sat in on a Board of Supervisors session or gone to an Advocates for a Sustainable Albemarle Population meeting--or even read the local papers more than once a week--is aware of how anti-growth our area is becoming.

It's not all growth that most Cvillians object to. In particular, it is the wasteful retail sprawl growth that rips up our beautiful rural character while providing very little for our long-term economy that is most offensive to us. To address that, both the Albemarle BoS and the Charlottesville City Council have had an informal, ongoing dialogue with the public and with the organizations that matter (e.g., Chamber of Commerce, Planning Commissions, Darden, etc.) about what kinds of development and business we should be trying to attract. Often, casually (in public at least), biotechnology and other, similarly high-end industry has been suggested.

Buried beneath the election & Rumsfeld snapshots in yesterday's Daily Progress is a great article on just that kind of industry, and the investment/commitment level attracting it would require. According to interviewee Steven Burke,

Smart places and smart policy leaders will work to apply the technology appropriately to their dominant natural or economic resources, and not just work to gain another drug company. The technology has application to far more than human health. The engine, then, will be sector and regionally driven. For that reason, the North Carolina Biotech-nology Center has established five regional offices across the state of North Carolina, to both target and capture specific areas of application.

It's time for a clear assessment of our potential economic strengths as a region, beyond that of Colonial Tourist Mecca, and I am very much looking forward to that discussion.

Pombo Flushed

2006-11-08T15:35:00.000-05:00

From The New Republic's article, "A roundup of House races that defied the odds.":

Biggest Rematch K.O.: Jerry McNerney defeats Richard Pombo in California's 11th.

This cycle saw many, many rematches between candidates who faced each other in 2004, and, for the most part, those who lost in 2004 lost again this year. Republican Max Burns in Georgia's 12th district looks like he will fail to retake the seat he yielded to Democratic Representative John Barrow two years ago; Pennsylvania's Jim Gerlach is fending off a strong challenge by Lois Murphy, the Democrat he barely defeated in 2004 (though the final decision is still pending). In this strangely-shaped San Joaquin Valley-Bay Area district in California, McNerney, a wind engineer who's never held public office, was a write-in candidate in 2004, and arch-conservative local boy Pombo crushed him by more than 20 points. This year, however, McNerney overtook Pombo 53-47.

Ok, fellow tree-huggers, I promised champagne for this one. I'll let you know when we break out the bubbly (and other forms of fermented fruit).

Gin Rummy

2006-11-08T13:44:00.000-05:00

The Dems call gin, and Rummy's out!

From CNN:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush announced Wednesday that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is stepping down from his post.

"The timing is right for new leadership at the Pentagon," Bush said in a White House statement Wednesday afternoon.

....

"I recognize that many Americans voted last night to register their displeasure with the lack of progress being made" in Iraq, Bush said.

ar·tic·u·late

2006-11-08T13:27:00.000-05:00

As a footnote to last night, I'd like to articulate my thoughts on how articulation effects public election.

IMO, Al Weed was, by far, the most articulate candidate in the state of Virginia, but I've been naysayed by many people (and not just at yesterday's polls), who thought that either Goode or Oddo were more articulate. So, for an exercise in semantics, I thought I'd analyze their stylistic differences under this one word's usage.

First, we need an agreed-upon definition -- we'll use Merriam-Webster's:

Function: adjective
1a: divided into syllables or words meaningfully arranged : INTELLIGIBLE
b: able to speak
c: expressing oneself readily, clearly, or effectively (an articulate teacher); also: expressed in this manner (an articulate argument)
2a: consisting of segments united by joints : JOINTED (articulate animals)
b: distinctly marked off

Function: verb
1a: to give clear and effective utterance to : put into words (articulate one's grievances)
b: to utter distinctly (articulating each note in the musical phrase)
c: to give definition to (as a shape or object) (shades of gray were chosen to articulate different spaces -- Carol Vogel)
d: to give shape or expression to (as a theme or concept) (a drama that uses eerie props to articulate a sense of foreboding)
2a: to unite by or as if by means of a joint : JOINT
b: to form or fit into a systematic whole (articulating a program for all school grades)

Weed: IMO, he was the most articulate orator because he was the best of the 3 candidates at fitting his various platform planks into a systematic whole (verb, def. 2b) and therein communicating to the voter a strong sense of his overriding policy and ethics.

Goode: Others have said Goode was the most articulate orator because he gave the strongest expression of his individual points (adjective, def. 1c): E.g., Immigration = hates; Gays = hates; Earmarks = likes.

Oddo: Surprisingly (to me), a couple of people have even remarked that Oddo was, ITO, the most articulate of the 3 candidates, because his speeches were concise, stayed on message, and were united in theme (poss. adjective, def. 1a or verb, def. 1a/2a).

I guess articulation depends on how much the individual expects from a candidates' communication skills. Fortunately, votes themselves are more black and white.

Folly

2006-11-08T11:51:00.000-05:00

As I'm sure everyone knows by now, Virginia passed the marriage amendment. Want the news on it, you can find stories in the Times Dispatch, Washington Times (yes, occasionally I check the Times--it reminds me why I became a progressive activist), The Pilot Online, and just about every other paper in our regional virginity, oops, I mean, vacinity.

I work in a law firm and see a lot of civil litigation come through, much of which will be effected by the "unintended" consequences of this amendment. Every time I find an example from which I can extrapolate a logical extension of how the new law will effect practice, I will post it here. As an exercise in and demonstration of what is now at stake due to our state's folly.

Here's Example #1:

The elderly widow who made a contractual arrangement with her nephew who lived nearby that he could work the family farm and receive ownership of it once she passed, in exchange for taking care of her in her home in her final years. He did and the agreement was obliquely referenced in the will, though the specifics were not written into the testamentary document. She had 2 children, neither of whom lived anywhere near her, who inherited the remainder of her estate. They contested the agreement, on the basis that the homestead was the bulk of her estate and surely she didn't mean to leave them so little. They wanted to sell the farm and split the profits. Under this amendment, they would conceivably win.

Election Insanity

2006-11-07T15:07:00.000-05:00

I voted. First thing this morning. Webb, Weed, no, yes, yes, in that order. The rest of this day -- at least, up until I can sit down with a beer and the election results -- is going to be insane.

Is anyone else having a tension meltdown?

Marriage Amendment on Council Agenda

2006-11-06T15:42:00.001-05:00

Tonight's Charlottesville City Council agenda includes a resolution to oppose the Marshall-Newman amendment.

Are we the coolest city on the East Coast or what? Not only will this be a great municipal demonstration of what "Virginia values" really are (pro-independence and pro-tolerance, contrary to the Allen & Goode ads), it will give this topic a much-needed awareness boost in the news tonight and tomorrow as we head to the polls.

I encourage all citizens to get down to City Hall tonight at 7 pm and weigh in on it.

Punching the One-Way Ticket

2006-11-02T17:39:00.000-05:00

Another little-seen article, this time from the Daily Progress:

Businesses and insurance companies are starting to eye the potential savings of outsourcing health care from the world's richest country to the developing world.
. . . .
With an estimated 45 million uninsured Americans, some 500,000 trekked overseas last year for medical treatment, according to the National Coalition on Health Care. Asian hospitals in Thailand, India and Singapore have long been swarmed by medical tourists looking for tummy tucks and face lifts, but many glitzy, marble-floored facilities are now gaining reputations for big-ticket procedures including heart surgery, knee and back operations.

More article at Businesses May Move Health Care Overseas

Are there any other Boston Legal fans out here who recognize this plot? Oh, that's right. It's for real. So, raise your hand if you want to be packed off to the Pakistani border for your open heart surgery. If you do, you might want to rethink buying the round-trip ticket.

Aqua morte

2006-11-02T14:14:00.000-05:00

We interrupt Mid-Term Madness for a little-seen Washington Post article:

A perennial and pernicious Russian problem -- death by vodka -- has taken on alarming dimensions in recent weeks as dozens of people have died and thousands more have been hospitalized after drinking bootleg liquor laced with brake fluid, lighter fuel, disinfectants and other poisonous agents.

Tainted Vodka Kills Dozens as Russians Turn to Bootleg Liquor

It seems that ours is not the only nation returning to Depression-Era tactics.

Legislating "Normal"

2006-10-30T16:12:00.000-05:00

On November 7, Virginia will ask its voters to cast their ballot on the following question:

Shall Article I (the Bill of Rights) of the Constitution of Virginia be amended to state:

"That only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage valid in or recognized by this Commonwealth and its political subdivisions.

This Commonwealth and its political subdivisions shall not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance, or effects of marriage. Nor shall this Commonwealth or its political subdivisions create or recognize another union, partnership, or other legal status to which is assigned the rights, benefits, obligations, qualities, or effects of marriage."?

This is the innocuously labeled "Marshall/Newman Amendment," more dangerously called the "Marriage Amendment." Why is its popular name dangerous? Because most of us are for marriage -- therefore, we don't mark the widespread implications of that second paragraph.

This legislation attempts to codify what "normal" is in American society, but we haven't seen that kind of "normal" since 1958. Families are not nuclear anymore -- in a single home, you can find half-siblings, step-siblings, and foster kids, sometimes with or without 2 parents of the opposite sex. Not to mention, the occasional relative or friend who is helping out a single mom or dad by moving into the house. There are also hard-luck adults who move in with various family members until "he gets on his feet." And elderly widows and widowers living with their children, grandchildren, or younger siblings.

Voting "yes" on this Ballot Question could destroy families in the name of saving marriage for heterosexual unions. How? Because it undermines a household's ability to support itself by taking away its right to claim dependents as dependent, dispose of its monies and personal property as necessary, and make agreements with other adults in the household for the care and feeding of all residents.

Before you vote, ask yourself this: What are the "effects of marriage"? What are the "rights, benefits, obligations, [and] qualities" of marriage?

Right #1: Your spouse is automatically listed as a member of household for all insurance purposes.

Under this amendment, foster children, step-children, and other extended family members who may be living with you in your house, either permanently or semi-permanently, will lose all insurance protection that they may have been able to naturally claim as members of your household.

This will effect presumed coverage in all auto, health, fire & disaster, life, personalty, house and rental policies.

Why? Because that right will no be longer extended to "other legal statuses" between unmarried persons. If you think that insurance companies' lawyers will not use this clause to deny coverage of claims, then you do not know insurance companies or lawyers.

Right #2: Your spouse is automatically a dependent or member of household for all tax purposes.

Under this amendment, your right to claim deductions for step-children, foster children, and elderly relatives in your full-time care as dependents on your taxes could be challenged.

Why? Because that right will no longer be extended to "other legal statuses" between unmarried persons. Do you think the IRS or VA Dep't of Taxation will let this slide?

Right #3: By right, your spouse has holds a property interest in all assets and personalty you acquire as a household.

Under this amendment, all property and business agreements and any disposition of assets that are made with someone who is not your spouse can be challenged in a court of law.

Why? A court could not enforce any such agreement or disposition because to do so would recognize a partnership that is not marriage and accord it a legal status on par with marriage. The proposed amendment makes it unconstitutional for a Virginia court to do.

If you are in business with your brother, you cannot make arrangements to give or leave your half of the business to your brother.

If you are elderly and have help in taking care of your needs and property, you can not make arrangments to leave that property or other compensation to your assistant.

You can not have a living will enforced on your behalf by anyone other than a spouse. If your spouse predeceases you, too bad.

Your right to put any land into a conservation easement can and will be challenged by the heirs of your body.

If you have a family business run by you, your mother, 2 of your kids, a cousin, and a nephew, you can not dispose of it according to each person's interest in the company because to do so would approximate the rights of marriage.

If you believe you have a right to own your property and manage your personal business without reference to or fear of a court system unable to enforce individual contracts you make. If you believe you have the right to protect and support all the children and elderly in your household and be compensated for that protection. If you believe that you have the right to die with dignity and leave your assets where you designate, then please VOTE NO to No. 1 on Nov. 7.

Dom & Jerry

2006-10-30T14:01:00.000-05:00

From Grist:

A year ago it was virtually unthinkable that Rep. Richard Pombo (R-Calif.) -- right-wing darling, fundraiser extraordinaire, champion of polluting industries, and enemy No. 1 of the environmental community -- could be unseated by any Democrat, much less one with zero political experience to his name. But now, a week and a half before Election Day, the rookie Democratic challenger in California's 11th District, Jerry McNerney, is giving Pombo a run for his (prodigious amounts of) money.

Story continued at http://www.grist.org/news/muck/2006/10/26/pombo_race/index.html

W00t!!! If Jerry knocks that lard-arsed land baron off the Congressional map, the Dom Perignon is on me!

Stranger than Webb Fiction

2006-10-29T15:08:00.000-05:00

From the Washington Post:

Virginia Sen. George Allen (R) has accused his Democratic opponent, James Webb, of writing inappropriate sex scenes and demeaning descriptions of women in his fictional books, the latest character attack in a close and nasty campaign.

Full story at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/27/AR2006102701000.html?nav=rss_email/components?nav=slate

Just to make sure I am reading everything correctly, Allen actually thinks that what is written in fictional books should count against a candidate's character? By that rod of assize, shouldn't Allen's character be judged on the basis of his sister's "fictionalized" memoir, Fifth Quarter, in which she relates stories of her eldest brother's abuse of her and her other siblings?

George, when it comes to domestic violence and disrespect of women, I find your truth to be stranger and more disturbing than Webb's fiction.

Obama '08 !!!

2006-10-23T11:39:00.000-04:00

From the Chicago Tribune: Obama Reconsiders Presidential Run
Oh YES! On the heels of Mark Warner's withdrawal from '08 nomination contention, I dreaded being stuck with Senator Clinton. But hope is renewed, and the Dems may have a contender I can vote for instead of just with. Frabjous day!

Ballot Spoilage in Va?

2006-10-22T18:47:00.000-04:00

Recently and for reasons relating to this November's election, a little birdie told me I should check out spoilage statistics in Virginia.

For those not familiar with the term in this context, "spoilage" is decaying green stuff in the polling booth. All those hanging chads in Florida in 2000? Spoilage. All those provisional ballots that got tossed out in Ohio? Spoilage. Any time someone who is legal to vote, wants to vote, has taken the time to vote, and has his or her vote discarded, it's spoilage. There are hundreds of creative ways to spoil an electoral count and we've seen most of them in the past 3 elections. But have we seen them in Virginia?

Two of the most vile ways to spoil a vote, IMO, are caging lists, which are technically illegal, a fact which did not stop Katie Harris from using them in Florida in 2000, and discriminatory placement of equipment and staff, a more subtle voter purging method used by Blackwell in Ohio in 2004.

[For the record, it's not just the Reds that plays the ballot rigging game -- Boss Daley in Chicago kept IL staunchly Blue by soliciting the votes of the undead.]

What infuriates me about both of these methods is the blatant discrimination of the disenfranchisement. These tactics are designed to target black and hispanic voting precincts. I'm fairly sure that the Powers that Spoil don't care about the actual skin color of the people whose rights they violate. These voters could Scandanavian, Siamese, or Scottish -- as long as they were in Blue-voting districts, they wouldn't care and the results would be the same. But these 2 ethnicities are experiencing this form of discrimination precisely because they have experienced other forms before: They are the least educated, financially solvent, and upwardly mobile demographics, and thus tend to live in the lower income precincts. The intentional discrimination our society metes out has led to a computer statistics program essentially taking away their rights to vote, and eliminating their communal voice. Voting is basic to empowerment, and I'm incensed by tactics designed to hit those who need the most empowerment.

We need electoral reform -- not just campaign finance reform, but process & ballot accountability reform.

To get back on point: I have not managed to dig up any proof of spoilage in the last few election cycles here in Virginia, but I have looked at a set of statistics from FedStats and the State Board of Elections that make me curious. I learned something new: Most of the counties & cities in the 5th Congressional District of Virginia have a much higher percentage of blacks than the rest of the state. Virginia's average African-American demographic percentage is 19.9%. The 5th District's average is 26.9%. The 5th CD is made up of 18 counties and 5 cities and, in spite of having a reputation for being White Redneck World, only 5 of those 23 municipalities are more than 5% below the state average.

There are 7 counties and 1 city in the 5th CD where the black population is significantly greater (more than 10%) than 19.9%, yet they've consistently voted Republican: Buckingham, Charlotte, Cumberland, Halifax, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, and Pittsylvania Counties, and Lynchburg City.

The 5th CD areas with an even higher percentage of blacks (e.g., Brunswick with 56%, Danville with 44%, and Martinsville with 42%), are all bluer than sky. It seems very strange to me that counties like Buckingham, Mecklenburg, and Lunenburg which are 38% black are not showing at least a purple tinge in their ballot tallies.

I also noted that Fluvanna & Greene counties have voted consistently Republican, although a high percentage of their residents commute to and, thus, take part in the liberal Charlottesville/Albemarle culture. We have always been a strong Democrat seat but, due to gentrification, there has been a mass exodus of the lower and middle lower income residents to Fluvanna & Greene. It seems unnatural that our former population, which voted Democrat while living here, started voting Republican when it fled to cheaper housing in the surrounding counties. Are they voting? Are their votes being uncounted or discarded?

I know the CW about Virginia politics: If we vote Democrat at the state, we'll vote Republican at the federal and vice-versa. It keeps the balance between our parties Since most of our governors have been Dems, no one thinks to question it. But that old truism hasn't held true: the increase in state Republicans (Delegates and Senators) as well as the split vote in the 2005 Gubernatorial election indicate that Virginians, if on form, would have voted for more Democrats in the federal Senate, Representative, and Presidential elections.

This could all be BS, OR there could be some teeth to it. What has been reducing the effectiveness of the black vote in this district? Is it apathy or is it something much less natural? What has been preventing any evidence of purple tinge in our state-wide federal voting? Is it just not our color anymore? I'm suspicious. I want to hear some other peoples' thoughts and theories.

Green Evangelism

2006-10-20T16:11:00.000-04:00

God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
— Genesis 1:28

Word on the street is God is pro-environment. Who knew?

Apparently, Bill Moyers did. In the first of a series of Grist articles, Moyers was interviewed regarding his new PBS special Is God Green?. In one of the interview's choicest statements, Moyers said:

The next film I do should be about how environmentalists view religion ...

The fact of the matter is, progressive Christians and mainstream churches and the environmental movement have had a lot in common for some time now. It's the conservative evangelicals who have been, and I use this word advisedly, brainwashed by the political right and the political right's religious allies.

The James Dobsons, the Pat Robertsons, the Jerry Falwells have demonized environmentalism as the work of Satan or Hollywood wackos or treehuggers. Orwell was right: you can change the language until you change behavior. By demonizing good, serious, sincere environmentalists, the political right and its religious allies were able to make it impossible for people in the pews, people in the churches, people in the local congregations to hear environmentalists.

Whoa. These sentiments echo a "debate" I had recently on the cvillenews blog about Phillabaum's ELF arson plea. [ELF = Earth Liberation Front] I call it a "debate" because the position of nearly everyone was that "Yes, Virginia, extremists do get lots of media attention and thereby benefit moderates by making them seem, well, moderate." The only difference of opinion was actually whether such attention-grabbing behavior thus served some Greater Good.

To get back to Moyers's purported next topic, this environmentalist views religion in a very different way than most. As the evangelists fear, I am indeed a pagan. I don't practice or preach my religion. I live it, and part of my manifestation of my religion is my environmental work and advocacy. Contrary to evangel opinion, I've met extremely few other pagans doing the kind of hands-on, community-minded, politically active environmental work that I do. In fact, I left public worship within the "pagan community" precisely because they weren't putting their energy where their beliefs were. I have found a lot more satisfying friendships, acquaintances, and working colleagues among the Christians in the eco-field than I do from any other religious group.

As an active treehugger, I'm pleased to see the green wave hit more moderate and conservative Christians. Perhaps it will lead to a better interfaith understanding.

PAChydermia

2006-10-20T11:49:00.000-04:00

Another from the Washington Post, Politics section, GOP Aims to Scare [Up] Voters:

With top Republican strategists now privately predicting substantial House losses, President Bush and top GOP officials plan to spend the final days of the 2006 campaign attempting to rally partisans and limit conservative defections with dire warnings about the consequences of a Democratic Congress.

Amid predictions that demoralized conservative voters might sit out the election, Bush and other senior Republicans will escalate charges that Democrats will raise taxes, weaken national security and liberalize social policies. Bush struck those themes in campaign appearances yesterday in Pennsylvania and Virginia, and White House senior adviser Karl Rove said he "will consistently refresh that message" between now and Election Day.

Both Bush and Clinton campaigned yesterday in Virginia for Allen and Webb respectively. (Isn't it nice to be so important?) So, let's compare Presidential records:

The worst scandal to rock the Clinton Administration was an adulterous affair. The worst scandal to rock the Bush Administration thus far is an out-of-control war funded by a out-of-control debt.

After 8 years, Clinton left us with a checked North Korea, a limited bin Laden, no war, and a $237 billion surplus. After merely 6 years, Bush has allowed Kim Jong Il to build his bomb, has increased the likelihood of anti-American terrorism, wasted our international political capital on an unsupportable war, spent all of the surplus and created $8.54 trillion in debt.

Who in their right mind thinks that's a fair trade? So why should anyone fear Democrats?

Daisy Cheneys

2006-10-20T10:47:00.000-04:00

From Michael Abramowitz on the Washington Post's Front Page:

The growing doubts among GOP lawmakers about the administration's Iraq strategy, coupled with the prospect of Democratic wins in next month's midterm elections, will soon force the Bush administration to abandon its open-ended commitment to the war, according to lawmakers in both parties, foreign policy experts and others involved in policymaking....

Ah, Iraq.... As much as I hate the war, it is so satisfying to see Big Oil and the Neo-Cons going at it like WWF SmackDown contenders. The only thing spoiling my view of this match-up is the knowledge that both groups are backed by Dick Cheney. Which means no matter who wins control over Iraq & its oil, the Cheney White House is set to make another multi-trillion dollar fortune by the end of Fiscal Year 2006.

After 6 years of cataloging his political mayhem, I'm quite sure I like him almost as much as he likes Hugo Chavez.

Reboot!

2006-10-18T13:34:00.000-04:00

I fell off the political commentary wagon for a year, but it's time to reinhabit my blogger home again, if only because it's election time and I need some kind of residency in order to vote.

We will return to our regularly unscheduled venting tomorrow!

Blogging v. Logging

2005-10-19T17:43:00.000-04:00

Cyberland is a rarefied environment. Here we can bitch and moan about anything that comes to mind without being called on it. (Imagine trying to get away with that at work or in society.) Sometimes we even kid ourselves that what we type on here matters--that our method of venting serves some greater information dissemination purpose. We pat ourselves on the back and tell ourselves we've at least gotten the word out. Cyberpundits and deskchair activists make the media go 'round.

I like to think I'm a little more self-aware than that; my readership is probably 20 on average. If I were a newspaper columnist, I'd've been bankrupt before my fourth editorial. But this time I'm hoping for the best this medium has to offer, because I'm reporting on one of the worst events for our national and local environment. I'm willing to put in the time to connect the dots. Please think about them and, if they move you at all, act on that impulse.

Energy Policy Act of 2005 was introduced in the House by Joe Barton (R-TX), and co-sponsored by my favorite whipping boy, Richard Pombo (R-CA) in April. It was passed to the Senate in June, where Pete Domenici (R-NM) did the honors of pushing it through until it was signed by Bush on August 8 and became Public Law No. 109-58.

There are a lot of things wrong with Public Law No. 109-58, and not much right. Let me enumerate:

Titles 3, 4 & 8 give new and improved incentives for burning coal, oil and gas and dramatically increase air pollution, all of which will increase the rate of global warming. Virginia is a coal state. Mountaintop removal and strip-mining will increase, and what little air and water quality we have, most of which comes from the formerly-protected Nat'l Forest regions in the western portion, will diminish. Do I have to use Hurricane Katrina to remind you that global warming is a Bad Thing? It appears that the Republicrats learned that global warming rate estimates had seen a slight decrease, and decided to spend this as quickly as Bush is spending his alleged "political capital" since November 2004.

Title 2, sec. 231-234 does not restrict the definition of "biomass" to wood waste or renewable resources. This means federal, public and Indian lands are up for grabs should the newly empowered Secretary of the Interior wish to grant a company license to them. Equally damning, there are no designations that protect roadless areas, endangered forests, or critical habitats within the definitions given in this law. This means that a logger who wishes to pave a road into the heart of the once-protected George Washington National Forest in order to cut down rare native and old-growth trees for "biomass fuel" can apply to the Dep't of the Interior and receive permission to do so.

Title 3, sec. 321 creates unprecedented authority for the Department of Interior to permit new energy projects in the Outer Continental Shelf without adequate oversight or standards. That means that the fragile and embattled Chesapeake Bay can be drilled and pipelined by a Texas-owned company with a permit from the Bush administration. To back this up, Title 3, sec. 387 limits any say that Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and DC might have in that process by weakening states' abilities to monitor and appeal such projects, as was previously given to them in the Coastal Zone Management Act.

The list could go on. For more details, I urge you to read the law in full. A copy of the Senate version passed on to Bush is still available online at Thomas at the LOC. Go to http://thomas.loc.gov, enter S.10 into the search engine, and make sure to check the 'Enter bill number' radio box below the search query before clicking on the button.

If you live in Virginia, I hope you have been convinced to get active on the state level to make up for this horrendous federal rape of our collectively-held land.

Public Land Enemies #1 & #2

2005-10-08T12:44:00.000-04:00

Attention All Environmentalists!!

It is long past time we recgonized we are beseiged. We are at war. And the opposing general's name is Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA-11th Dist.). His primary field commander is Joseph Gibbons (R-NV-2d Dist.). Take note of these names and suspect everything they introduce or sponsored in the House of Representatives.

Better yet, get yourselves informed. Do a Thomas engine search on the Library of Congress website under their names at http://thomas.loc.gov. Look up the bills they've proposed. Read them. Then fight them. This is the clearest primary directive I can give the environmental community. Do it before they sell our public lands out from under us.

A-Rotation

2005-10-07T19:20:00.000-04:00

We pause for this announcement from my Personal Broadcasting Company. A-rotation (in my head or on the computer or on the stereo) for the past 2 weeks consists of:

Radiohead: The Bends
The Killers: Hot Fuss
Franz Ferdinand: Franz Ferdinand + the single "Do You Want To"
Jane's Addiction: Ritual De Lo Habitual
Sisters of Mercy: Floodland
Talking Heads: Stop Making Sense
Nirvana: In Utero
Martin Gore: Counterfeit
David Bowie: Heathen

For those of you who know my moods, you know what this means. For those of you who don't, take a guess.

Representing Whom?

2005-10-07T13:05:00.000-04:00

I am disturbed. Virgil Goode, my Representative in the House, has co-sponsored the following bill (found on Thomas [http://thomas.loc.gov]):

HR 1070 IH

"Sec. 1260. Matters not reviewable

`Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the Supreme Court shall not have jurisdiction to review, by appeal, writ of certiorari, or otherwise, any matter to the extent that relief is sought against an entity of Federal, State, or local government, or against an officer or agent of Federal, State, or local government (whether or not acting in official or personal capacity), concerning that entity's, officer's, or agent's acknowledgment of God as the sovereign source of law, liberty, or government.'."

The way I read that section is that the Supreme Court is not allowed to review or accept any appeal to that court on any matters of separation of Church and State in which a branch of government (e.g., public schools teaching creationism instead of evolution, courts like Moore's in AL which post the 10 commandments, public bodies like Chesterfield Cty. which are sued for prayer discrimination, etc.) is the named defendant.

Does this man have no sense? He represents one of the geographically largest regions in the state and he is sponsoring an unconstitutional law? Has he nothing better that he can do for his constituency? I can think of a number of things he should be putting his time and energy into that have nothing to do with violating the Constution in the name of "restoring" it. Fortunately this law, like all others, will also have to come under review and it will get struck down, even if House, Senate, and Bush all pass it. BTW, there's a similar bill that was introduced in the Senate (S.520), but which is not, fortunately, co-sponsored by John Warner or George Allen. They are obviously much smarter than Virgil Goode, even if they are also Republicans.

Miers' Thrifty Acres

2005-10-03T16:24:00.000-04:00

It's usually a Bad Sign when a narrowly-elected President suffering an all-time popular low, a man who is already in the hot seat for perceived cronyism, nominates his very own favorite White House Counsel to SCOTUS.

Yahoo!: Bush nominates crony insider to Supreme Court