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Days like this make me feel good about being a social conservative.
Equality [fill in the blank] members can eat crow here.
]]>First, background ... A young almost 14 year old girl is allowed to use an account on myspace, is monitored closely, and appears to have been the victim of an adult who created another myspace account specifically to gain the girl's confidence. The account was then used to dash the girl's esteem, which appears to have been the trigger event in the girl taking her own life. A newspaper article on the story is at:
http://stcharlesjournal.stltoday.com/articles/2007/11/10/news/sj2tn20071110-1111stc_pokin_1.ii1.txt
There are two issues I'd like to address. One, is how some people in society have hideously accused the parents of the girl who did monitor activities on the account of not doing so closely enough, and two, how the adults who perpetrated this are not guilty of any crime (at least not one with which they can be charged).
]]> First, let me point out that the mom in this case did keep the password for the account and only allowed access when the girl was monitored almost continually. That is what the story stated. In essence, the circumstances that came together to allow her access outside that particular time were strange and can only be described as a fluke. The parents were being careful, and even in that care they saw the initial activity as not being dangerous. What I find outrageous is people that believe that children should be prisoners -- their every move monitored, their every interaction watched -- as if the children of the world are the ones that perpetrate this kind of evil. 50 years ago, anyone who stalked a child like this would have been lynched. Now it is the parents of children that are being told there are bad people out there, so imprison your child. I think we have it backwards. We imprison children so perverts and criminals don't have their "civil rights" infringed.The second thing I would want to address is that the laws of our land cannot be perfect -- there aren't enough books to cover all the hideous acts a person could perform. Things that are wrong -- like the person that lured this girl into thinking a handsome young boy was taking an interest in her, knew she was under psychiatric care, and then dashed her to the ground. While it appears the acts violated no laws, these actions were clearly wrong. A reasonable society should have nothing to do with such a person. While the laws may not call those actions murder, it would appear the result was the taking of another's life.
]]>Bolling asks Kaine to reconsider abstinence-only sex-ed program cuts]]>Story by Chris Graham
newdominion@ntelos.netRepublican Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling has a problem with Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine's move to eliminate $275,000 in funding from the state budget that was to go to five nonprofit programs in Virginia that administer abstinence-only sex-ed programs.
"The only sure way to avoid unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases is abstinence outside of a monogamous marital relationship, and it is important that we clearly communicate this fact to parents and their children," Bolling wrote in a letter to Kaine that his office made public today.
Kaine last month submitted plans to eliminate the funding that is a matching grant for a federal program that provides funds to organizations and school systems that offer abstinence-only education programs.
Schools and organizations that do not receive federal funding for their programs will be able to continue offering locally-based abstinence-only sex education.
In an interview with The New Dominion on Wednesday, Kaine said his administration will "continue to focus our energies on abstinence-based programs - really promoting the ethical and moral values of abstinence. But you've got to give kids more information so that they make wise decisions."
"The goal is to all we can to delay youngsters from getting involved in sexual activity and ending unwanted pregnancy. Abstinence-only programs don't really do that," Kaine said.
In his letter, Bolling said that contrary to those assertions, "abstinence-only education programs have been proven to work in Virginia and throughout the nation."
"According to the Virginia Department of Health, from 1995 to 2005, the period during which abstinence education has received significant funding and expansion, Virginia saw an 18.5 percent decrease in teen pregnancies, while nationwide teen sexual activity fell from 54.1 percent to 46.8 percent," Bolling wrote in the letter.
"I encourage you to further review the efficacy of abstinence based education programs before eliminating state funding for these programs," Bolling wrote.
Chris Graham is the executive editor of The New Dominion.
On a housekeeping note, we are still in the midst of troubleshooting the technical problems here which have caused the huge issues with comments, made creating new posts dicey (sometimes you create two for the price of one) and have also made it difficult to make any changes to the templates (i.e. adding material to the sidebars). On the whole everything has gotten REAL slow performance wise. The Movable Type people are trying to help us figure out what has gone wrong the past few weeks, and I am confident we will soon be back in business here. Thanks to everyone for your patience. Once we get it all worked out, I expect to be posting regularly again.
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Guess I'll start considering who I'm going to support for President in '08 anew. Thoughts? (by thoughts I mean intelligent thought--Equality [fill in the blank] members need not apply)
]]>Sincere thanks to Ben and the entire Too Conservative gang for putting it on. You all did a really good job with this, everything to follow notwithstanding.
That being said, I must emphasize how deeply we all appreciate the Virginia State Police being invited to play such an integral role in the event. I mean, when I am invited to a "beer bash," just knowing the state police have been tipped off and are stationed nearby makes the suds go down a little bit smoother. Thankfully, the vast majority of attendees did have 4-wheel drive and most of us took the "back way" out of the Old Dominion Brew Pub via the power line easements and as far as I know everyone managed to slip the gauntlet.
I know, everyone is wondering: DID WE FIND OUT? As in, did we find out who are the real people behind the notorious Too Conservative pseudonyms?
Well, the answer is, yes and no.
Yes in that we DID find out who every single one of them was. And no, in that I don't remember, dammit. It was a "beer bash" after all. Sorry about that. I suppose it will all come back to me in a dream someday. I vaguely recall shots of vodka and ancient Polish drinking songs, but that is all.
Linda B. and I had a very nice conversation with Lori Waters and her husband, and I must say I'm glad we will have Lori in office for another four years. I truly wish Phyllis Randall had run for another office.
MY major excitement of the night was my Quest for Stevens Miller, and boy was it more than I bargained for!
Y'see, I was told by several people that newly elected Loudoun Supervisor Stevens Miller was a "moderate Democrat" whom I should really talk to about the illegal hiring issue. I was intrigued because it seemed like "moderate Democrats" always turned out to be simply "Democrats" - but something about this fellow rang true. He turned in a very thoughtful candidate survey to Help Save Loudoun, and his public statements were not half bad - better than many Republicans, in fact. So I wanted to meet this fine gentleman.
Well, on account of either the spite toward me being on the losing side of some of these recent elections, or my opponents being cruel swine, some folks decided to have a little fun with old Joe and send me on a good old-fashioned snipe hunt for this Stevens Miller. Jonathan, the heartless bastard, was ringleader, and pointed me towards busboys, sous chefs and other patrons - "THAT'S Stevens Miller" - and after about five of these fruitless interviews I began to catch on to the fact that Jonathan did not have my best interests at heart.
I had a fascinating, 45-minute policy discussion with an exceedingly polite, well-groomed "Stevens Miller" who, when I began to pin down dates for specific Board appearances, revealed "Oh no, I am not a Supervisor, I am Glenn Maravetz!"
"Augghh!" I exclaimed. "MARAVETZ!! Most evil of my many evil nemeses!" This was like learning your long lost "uncle" was in fact the man who had killed your father.
I was about ready to give up when Jonathan informed me that "Stevens Miller" was in fact a soccer ball whom I have since named "Spalding" and who I have been conversing with here in the dining room. So that whole confusing incident worked out just fine in the end.
I did get to talk with a couple of the newly-elected supervisors, which was enlightening. I asked them if there would be any common ground between Help Save Loudoun - which had proposed an "Honest Business Initiative" - and their own commitment to reduce rampant development in the county. On the face of it, one might assume we DO have some common ground, because we are all skeptical about developers' profits and how they make them.
Unfortunately, the answer I received was that Help Save Loudoun PAC's endorsement of Eugene Delgaudio was a bit of a dealbreaker - even though we also endorsed Lori Waters, which presumably was not a dealbreaker. I tried to explain the pragmatic aspect of a single issue group that only looks at VOTES but I got the sense that, on this evening, that narrative was not going to resonate. Story of my life.
I think we have a new crop of supervisors who do not think illegal immigration is a problem they can solve - and possibly a problem that does not even really exist here at the local level. This is going to create a very interesting dynamic in the relationship between the supervisors and their constituents. Specifically, the residents of Sterling are going to find themselves disenfranchised if they don't get a few supervisors from other districts to join Eugene Delgaudio in championing their concerns.
After seeing the unabashed disdain for Eugene, I am quite intrigued about how the new Board will respond to the citizens of eastern Loudoun.
But at least the conversation has been started. I think the new Board members are approachable, and I think they have the citizens' best interests in mind. The ones I spoke with do not seem at all like elitists, and though I think their antagonism toward Eugene is misplaced, I think their animus is meant to benefit the legal residents. This is a very good sign.
BRAVO, LI - bravo.
]]>The people in power think the party is them. "I've been working for you in the trenches" is one of the things I heard at the convention -- and I couldn't think of anything that is more anti-Republican in principle. Do we really want power without substance? No. What is really sad, is that I see no any real difference between the Republicans in Loudoun and Democrats (in many cases, not all -- Eugene, Guerin and some others are solid issues and hard workers, not just figureheads).
What do I want to see out of this? I'd love to see the party reborn. If the old dead blood can get out of the way, admit defeat, and retire, we might just be able to get the right people running, get unity within the ranks, and work to get what we all wanted.
]]>Here is the Post's running results page.
Our two Republican Loudoun supervisors who took the strongest positions on local immigration enforcement, who stuck their necks out the furthest and also took the most heat for it - Lori Waters and Eugene Delgaudio - won.
They are also the supervisors in whose districts Help Save Loudoun PAC had the heaviest coverage with the lit drop project. In Sterling and Ashburn, the citizens spoke.
The rest of the Republican board candidates, if the numbers hold, got their asses handed to them.
Not a great year to have an "R" next to your name.
I think the growth issue and general Republican fatigue were major obstacles for these candidates to overcome.
In the Sheriff's race, Steve Simpson won reelection, which shows the undeniable problem posed when the party departs from its candidates. Greg Ahlemann won the nomination in June, and a powerful segment of the party swiftly went to work for the losing candidate who ran as an independent. Three months after the Convention, the party did run a full page newspaper ad supporting Greg Ahlemann and Lori Waters - the candidates beset by newly "Independent" challengers. It might have been helpful if the party had acted sooner. A united Republican party could have produced a victorious Republican Sheriff.
Patricia Phillips lost the Senate race, apparently by about 5,000 votes - a significant margin. Patricia did not run on the immigration enforcement issue in the general election - the issue which won her the primary. I am going to suggest running to the middle on this issue was not a winning strategy.
I think these two races provided an opportunity for Northern Virginia residents to demonstrate their desire for more local immigration enforcement. There were a number of issues in play, however, with both of these contests. The Sheriff race, in particular, evolved into a rabbit's warren of side issues. Greg Ahlemann truly had a mountain to climb to win this election.
Delegate Bob Marshall and Senator-elect Jill Holtzman Vogel won their races, and these were two of the top immigration enforcement candidates for the next session in Richmond. These are two more huge victories.
I don't have results on any of the other Richmond contests.
It appears the GOP lost the Virginia Senate, which is not a great development. On the other hand, the GOP-controlled Virginia Senate in 2007 managed to kill almost every good immigration-enforcement focused bill that passed the House of Delegates last session. So, it's not entirely evident how the next Senate could necessarily be worse with the Dems controlling.
More to come.
]]>Silver lining: Jill Vogel is now a Republican state senator. She will prove us all proud.
That is all.
]]>Today I come home and find one of my 3 yard signs (different candidates) pulled up and in the street. No, the wind didn't do it as I plant them deep and allow them to swing in the frame. Upon my door I found a hanger soliciting votes for Poison and Red Herring. Coincidence? I think not. The sign is private property and the yard is also. This in turns tells of the candidates. Like minded people tend to stick together like glue and it is a cop-out to deny to know what your staffers/help are doing. After all, don't the candidates come up with (or okay) the strategies and give the marching orders to their minions. Had I witnessed this act first hand I guarrentee that the person that didn't show respect for my property would have been shown no mercy for his/her physical well-being. That is just criminal pure and simple (I wonder if not-knowing-right-from-wrong David would agree with me?)
I'm sure you have voted by now. If not, do it. It is all the little things that these people pass off as "what's the big deal, anyway" that builds up to a manure pile so large that you can never dig yourself out of or get rid of. We don't need this lack of integrity ANYWHERE is the state of Virginia and if it means starting locally and working upward, then that's what needs to be done.
You know me. I hate signs. I hate a lack of respect and integrity more. Act now!
]]>WTOP reports that, based on absentee ballots, tomorrow's turnout is not going to set any records.
The crummy weather we are having will undoubtedly not help the situation, especially with just the third early-dark evening of the year and morning and evening temperatures that will approach freezing out here in the hinterlands of Loudoun. Election Day will also be "Welcome to Winter Day." It will be tempting to get home from work and stay home.
Based on the weather, and the fact that so many of the issues in the various races are ones which make most voters' eyes glaze over, I think there could be a really low turnout on Loudoun. On the face of it, I think this scenario benefits the Democrats because there will likely be an even mix of political activists from both sides voting, plus the obligatory sprinkling of actual citizens - and this year, I think the latter will break Dem.
LI has a nice prediction thread going, I recommend you check it out.
I don't have a feel for any of the other Supervisor races, but I think Eugene Delgaudio is going to win Sterling District in a landslide. After this is all over, I will share some scans of the direct mail pieces his campaign has sent out. Pretty effective stuff.
I think the Sheriff and 33rd District Senate races will be the most telling. The wild card is the illegal immigration issue, and whether it motivates a sufficient number of citizens - especially in the voter-rich Broad Run and Dulles districts.
If not for the latest iteration of the local GOP weenie wing, Greg Ahlemann would have clear sailing to election as our next Sheriff. Unfortunately, former Republican Steve Simpson decided to play spoiler and make that victory a wee bit harder to attain, and make a Democrat Sheriff that much more likelier.
My personal preference - no surprise - is that all voters pay close attention to the immigration enforcement issue, and vote up or down on that one alone. Lots of other questions can be discussed and hashed out after we've ascertained whether we will still have a country or not.
If the issue has been solidly framed in the sphere of public opinion, that certain candidates are for and others against local immigration enforcement measures, I think the HSL-PAC "ticket" will achieve 90% success and particularly Greg Ahlemann will be our next Sheriff. However, this is by no means assured, because the immigration enforcement message has primarily been expounded on the Web and in various blogs, which are to the votership as a whole as Joe's Home Brew is to Budweiser.
If the turnout is ridiculously low, all bets are off. The only non-aligned people who bother to vote may indeed be those who care about immigration enforcement. The HSL-PAC lit drop campaign, which reached 30,000+ households, might bring an extra 3,000 voters to the polls countywide. It could make the difference.
]]>Allen visits Winchester to support Republican ally Holtzman Vogel
By Elizabeth Wilkerson -- Daily Staff Writer
WINCHESTER — Former Governor and U.S. Senator George Allen was in Winchester Saturday to help Republican Jill Holtzman Vogel commence the final 72 hours of her state Senate campaign.
Holtzman Vogel, along with independent Donald Marro and Democrat Karen Schultz, is seeking to succeed retiring Sen. H. Russell Potts Jr., R-Winchester, in the traditionally Republican 27th District.
"You have no idea how exciting it is" to have reached the Saturday before "the Tuesday," Holtzman Vogel told a group of supporters and volunteers Saturday morning at the start of her campaign's 72-hour "Get Out the Vote" effort. "We will reach our people, and we will turn them out."
Allen, who was accompanied by his wife, Susan, and daughter, Brooke, said "the leaves are all beautiful," but that he really liked the "blue and white Vogel signs" outnumbering others along his route into Winchester.
"Every team needs everybody pitching in," and those who "show up" Tuesday will control the outcome of the election, Allen said. "The world is controlled by people who show up," he said.
Allen said Holtzman Vogel "understands the issues," such as education and illegal immigration.
"We're for legal immigration, but we're also for the rule of law," and lawmakers should not be rewarding illegal behavior with amnesty, he said. Also, Holtzman Vogel knows the importance of training local law enforcement to work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he said.
Violating immigration law is a federal offense, "but guess what, bank robbery is a federal crime, as well," he said, adding that local law enforcement wouldn't ignore a bank robbery and, instead, "have someone call the FBI." Law enforcement agencies work together, he said.
"We need leadership [at the state level], because, at the national level, they're not doing the job," he said of illegal immigration.
The next 72 hours are the "final two-minute drill," and "all of you need to execute," he told the group. The volunteers need to reach Holtzman Vogel's target group, he said, which includes anyone who pays taxes, works for a living or cares about their children and the community.
Allen presented Holtzman Vogel a $1,000 campaign donation, and she thanked him and the crowd for their support.
"I truly believe we will win on Tuesday, but it's every door and every person we can find," she said.
Cries of "Go, Jill!" broke out before the group headed into the streets of Winchester to visit businesses and knock on doors in hopes of drawing more supporters to Tuesday's polls. A truck circling the area encouraged passers by to "Vote Vogel Now."
Along the way, Allen popped into several businesses on the walking mall, including Bartley's Shoe Repair, where he once had his trademark cowboy boots repaired. As Allen and Holtzman Vogel chatted with owner Rick Pomenta, 7-year-old Elizabeth Price ran into the store to tell her that supporters outside had just gotten her another vote.
"That's how we're going to get them — one at a time," Holtzman Vogel told Elizabeth. Holtzman Vogel's husband, Alex Vogel, said Elizabeth has been one of his wife's "most fervent supporters."
Jeanne Price, Elizabeth's mother, said she has been involved in Holtzman Vogel's campaign since January. Price, of Stephens City, said she volunteered because she "believes in everything [Holtzman Vogel] stands for."
Both Elizabeth and Price's other daughter, Kate, who is 9 years old, were involved by their mother. Though they are young, they "understand what a lot of the issues are," Price said.
Mike Spellings, a spokesman for Holtzman Vogel's campaign, said about 50 campaign volunteers were roaming the streets Saturday, and that a total of about 70 would work during the 72-hour program. Volunteers were also hitting the streets in Warrenton and Loudoun County, he said.
]]>Help Save Loudoun PAC's "Immigration Enforcement Ticket" focuses on a number of northern Virginia races in which voters have a clear choice between candidates with very difference conceptions of local and state governments' role in immigration enforcement.
Those who are in favor of a strong local and state role will help put us on the road to fixing the problem. Those not in favor of such a role will help ensure the problem is never solved.
You can download a copy of the "Ticket" here - and please circulate it to everyone you know in Loudoun, Fairfax, Fauquier and Prince William Counties who may have the opportunity to vote for one of these candidates.
To read the educational flyer from Help Save Loudoun PAC which has been hand-delivered to many thousands of households in Loudoun County over the past five days, click here.
I don't know whether a single lit drop to a portion of this county's residences can make a difference in such a geographically massive area, but rest assured more voters now understand how to solve this problem than did a week ago.
Please pass along the above links to every voter you know and encourage them to VOTE TOMORROW, NOV. 6.
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