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| The Colette |
| Political humor, satire, debate, news, and gossip from across America, with a particular focus on the haps around Virginia, and the District of Columbia. |
| Language: English |
| RSS Feeds for this Blog |
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| Teamsters Union to endorse Barack Obama |
| 2008-02-20 13:20:00 |
Just days after the Service Employees International Union endorsed Barack Obama for President he has picked up another important Union endorsement. According to the AP the Teamsters Union is now set to endorse Obama.
Union officials say the powerful Teamsters union will endorse Barack Obama.
The officials say the International Brotherhood of Teamsters is expected to make an official announcement later Wednesday. Teamster President James P. Hoffa plans to meet with Obama in Austin, Texas, before an announcement is made.
The Teamsters represent 1.4-million members, and are considered one of the largest and most powerful unions. They also are a potent source of campaign cash and get-out-the-vote workers for Democrats.
As we all know endorsements don't necessarily mean voters will follow, but it is important when it comes to building structure in your campaign and Unions especially are good at getting out the vote. Also, up until now Hillary has pretty much had the "blue collar" or "wo...
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| Why is Hillary trying to steal Obama's Virginia delegates? |
| 2008-02-19 14:29:00 |
If this report from Talking Points Memo has any truth behind it, Clinton could be trying to go after Obama's pledged delegates (NOT super delegates, but delegates who are supposed to represent OUR vote), including the 54 Obama won in Virginia's primary last week.
Via Roger Simon at Politico:
Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign intends to go after delegates whom Barack Obama has already won in the caucuses and primaries if she needs them to win the nomination.
This strategy was confirmed to me by a high-ranking Clinton official on Monday. And I am not talking about super delegates, those 795 party big shots who are not pledged to anybody. I am talking about getting pledged delegates to switch sides.
Wow, just wow.
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| Economics for dummies |
| 2008-02-18 11:05:00 |
Why a budget surplus is a good thing:
The House also recommends using only about $220 million from the state's $1.2 billion "rainy day" cash reserves to cushion the projected revenue shortfall on the current budget. Kaine had initially recommended about $261 million, but increased it last week to $423 million.
With "hard times" forthcoming ahead of an economic slow down within our state after the extraordinary growth over the past few years, isn't it nice to have the "luxury" of being able to rely on such a large supply of cash reserves thanks to the responsibility of Governor Warner? Who, much to the dismay of many on the right, was intelligent enough to realize that enormous economic growth does not continue forever, but rather in (generally natural) "peaks and valleys" and that we would need to rely on our "rainy day fund" eventually.
Next time those of you who have a conniption and begin hollering for a "refund" of "your" money every time the government is running a surplus, reme...
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| Blogger vs Wordpress |
| 2008-02-16 13:23:00 |
I know most people that use Wordpress say it's infinitely better than Blogger, except for the fact that Wordpress isn't very customizable (at least as far as Java apps and html go) unless you self host and use Wordpress.org. The lack of html customization options is the ONLY reason keeping me away from Wordpress for so long, but a friend recently offered to host my blog and set me up on Wordpress.org - so I am happy to announce that I will finally be moving to Wordpress in the next couple of months once I build the site out and get settled in over there. I'll keep updating as to my progress and when the switch will occur. Until then, I'll continue posting here on a regular basis. :)
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| Hillary goes after Obama over debates, again |
| 2008-02-16 12:54:00 |
She is obsessed! 18 debates so far and more to come and she's upset because he "won't debate the issues" in Wisconsin:
Hey Hillary, why don't you debate yourself (you can even do it with your friends over at at Fox News!):
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| Ron Paul followers attack teacher over blog |
| 2008-02-15 15:54:00 |
This is absolutely hilarious! Looks like the craaazy Ron Paul followers have gotten so upset over a blog posts from a school teacher that they've posted his name, telephone number and even his address on the Ron Paul forums on his web site of defeat. Check out the teacher's blog post:
This week my math students are working on graphs and charts. Since Virginia held its primaries on Tuesday, I decided to work a little social studies into the lesson by using election figures as the data. I'd have liked to use Virginia's figures but since people were still voting here that wasn't possible. Instead I used national delegate counts for both parties and made bar graphs and pie charts to show visually how Clinton and Obama were neck and neck (with Edwards way on the bottom) and McCain was kicking everyone's ass.
Then I talked about how those were national results but every state voted on its own and every state was different. I talked about how Obama crushed Hillary in Illinois and Hillary s...
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| GO GREEN! |
| 2008-02-14 11:41:00 |
Hundreds of reasons to go green. Enjoy!
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| A warning to all religious fundies!! |
| 2008-02-13 15:56:00 |
STOP PLAYING POLITICS WITH RELIGION!
I have long wondered whether this law was ever actually enforced, especially after Mike Huckabee made an appearance/campaign stop at Jerry Falwell's church in Lynchburg earlier this week.
Southern Baptist pastor Wiley Drake said Wednesday that he is being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service for endorsing GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee in a press release written on church stationery.
Under federal tax law, church officials can legally discuss politics, but they cannot endorse candidates or parties without risking their tax-exempt status. Most who do so receive a warning.
Drake, a prominent pastor in the Southern Baptist Convention, said he received a 14-page letter from the IRS on Feb. 7.
On Aug. 11, Drake wrote a press release on letterhead from the First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park that announced his personal endorsement of Huckabee and asked all Southern Baptists to get behind the candidate.
Americans United for t...
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| Voting today in Virginia |
| 2008-02-12 15:01:00 |
I voted today around 1:30pm at the Wilson School in Rosslyn. I was number #465 to vote and didn't have to wait but a couple minutes. However, my friend in Ballston voted this morning and said there were about 300 people in front of him and he waited just under two hours to be able to vote.
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| SurveyUSA: Obama 60, Clinton 38 |
| 2008-02-11 19:32:00 |
Here's a look at the latest polls just out from Virginia and Maryland:
Virginia Democratic Primary (SurveyUSA) Obama 60, Clinton 38
Maryland Democratic Primary (SurveyUSA) Obama 55, Clinton 32
And on the Republican side:
Virginia Republican Primary (SurveyUSA) McCain 48, Huckabee 37, Paul 7
Maryland Republican Primary (SurveyUSA) McCain 52, Huckabee 26, Paul 10
We all still need to get out and vote tomorrow!! Hopefully the crazy evangelicals come out in support of Mike Huckabee too. The longer he stays in this the weaker McCain looks (if that's even possible after the hack job Conservatives have been doing on him) going into the general election.
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| Ron Paul supporters are nuts (Part 3!!) |
| 2008-02-11 19:30:00 |
Oh it just keeps getting more and more hilarious! Paultards have actually declared today "Bury Wonkette day!" Hooray! Nevermind organizing GOTV efforts or anything like that, we'll just sit at home "donating" our time to bury Wonkette stories in order to save the PAULTARD empire from having to read satire!! Next thing you know they'll be knocking down the doors at The Onion.
Wonkette.com — Wonkette is one of the trashiest blogs on the internet, replete with gutter language and irrational/mean-spirited diatribes, many aimed at Ron Paul. Their subscribers are among the most obnoxious on the web. Take an hour of your time to bury all Wonkette stories as "SPAM". Do it for Ron Paul! Here's a URL to help you out: http://tinyurl.com/2o55rs
Oh that's rich. Ron Paul supporters calling someone else obnoxious. Valleywag does a pretty nice job of summarizing my thoughts on this:
Really, you'd think they'd be out rigging Diebold machines or something. But no, soreheaded Ron Paul supporters ...
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| Hillary Clinton on gay rights |
| 2008-02-11 19:01:00 |
I'd hardly say that either Democratic candidate has done a great job addressing issues of equality. But who could blame them? John McCain has already said he would seek out the advice of Karl Rove, and we all know how the Republicans (and particularly Karl Rove) will have no problem using such issues against to "divide and conquer" the electorate in this election just like they did in 2004, and just like they did in 2000.
Regardless, Clinton has said she would work to repeal "Don't ask don't tell" and to extend federal recognition to same sex couples.
She called for extending federal recognition to same-sex couples, repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell†and rejected claims that she doesn’t speak forcefully enough on gay issues — something that supporters of rival Sen. Barack Obama have asserted during the campaign.
“I talk about gay issues frequently,†she said. “I’ve been a longtime friend of the gay community — I’ve been talking about these issues since 1999 w...
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| Ron Paul is [still] insane |
| 2008-02-11 13:27:00 |
Day two of the Paultard assault on my blog over this post where I re-posted a letter from Ron Paul to his supporters where it seemed as though he was preparing to drop out of the race. Yesterday we took a look at some of the inane comments and even death threats I received. Today, I'll re-post some of the more hilarious ones I've received since then:
Anonymous said...
First of all Ron Paul is no lunatic, the lunatics are Hillary Clinton, and Mr 100 years in Iraq, John McCain. I don't know what is so lunatic about following our constitution, trying to help our country not collapse economically, whats so wrong with letting us keep our money, no income tax, bringing our troops home from insane wars. Look at our National Debt, our children have to life with this. Ron Paul Supporters are not fringe lunatics, all the people I know that support Ron Paul, love this country, serve in our military, work hard, and just want our country back from the corrupt powers that be, what a crazy dream hu...
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| Ron Paul supporters are lunatics!! |
| 2008-02-10 14:48:00 |
Trolling the internet making threats and inane comments wherever their "Ron Paul" Google search takes them!! In response to this post yesterday they flocked here to hurl juvenile insults and even make death threats because I speculated that it appeared Ron Paul was dropping out of the race (and I still maintain that he is). Let's have a look at what some of the PAULTARDS had to say!
Anonymous said...
Are you living in a box go back to watching fox news with all the other cows ron is going all the way to the convention get your finger on the pulse and quit paying attention to the MSM.
Click here to read all of my posts on Fox News. Doing actual research before they speak is something Paultards don't specialize in.
Paul said...
Maybe Ron Paul supporters would not be so hostile towards you if you did not call them "retards" and "paultards". Frankly making comments and generalizations like that is downright ignorant.
Apparently speculating makes you ignorant according to Paultards!
Ca...
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| Obama crushes Clinton in Washington and Nebraska; Louisiana polls closing momentarily |
| 2008-02-09 19:58:00 |
Barack Obama has won, and won big already tonight in Washington and Nebraska. The polls in Louisiana are scheduled to close in about two minutes at 9pm. While the Democratic delegates are proportional, Obama has won so big in both Nebraska and Washington (around 70% or so so far) that Clinton likely won't get too much out of either state. Obama is expected to win Louisiana as well.
UPDATE: CNN reports that based on exit polling Barack Obama is ahead of Hillary Clinton in the LA primary.
UPDATE II: NBC news is reporting the Republican Louisiana primary is "too close to call."
UPDATE III: Mike Huckabee leading John McCain in Louisiana 44% to 38% with 11% reporting while Obama leading Clinton 52% to 38% with 10% reporting. In Washington state McCain is leading Huckabee 27% to 26% while Ron Paul is pulling about 21% with 16% reporting.
UPDATE IV: MSNBC projecting Obama will win Louisiana. Still waiting on results from the U.S. Virgin Islands, but Obama is projected to have taken t...
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| Ron Paul drops out? |
| 2008-02-09 18:04:00 |
Sounds like it to me. Anyone think he might run as an independent? I mean let's be honest, he never really had a chance to win the Republican nomination, but he does have a fairly large (and slightly retarded) following, who have demonstrated their support with several "money bombs" breaking daily fundraising records for political candidates. Regardless, here's a letter sent via email to Ron Paul supporters:
Whoa! What a year this has been. And what achievements we have had. If I may quote Trotsky of all people, this Revolution is permanent. It will not end at the Republican convention. It will not end in November. It will not end until we have won the great battle on which we have embarked. Not because of me, but because of you. Millions of Americans — and friends in many other countries — have dedicated themselves to the principles of liberty: to free enterprise, limited government, sound money, no income tax, and peace. We will not falter so long as there is one restriction o...
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| Two more polls show Obama leading McCain |
| 2008-02-08 11:35:00 |
In case you needed another reason to vote for Barack Obama, here's a look at two recent polls showing Obama leading McCain in a head to head match up:
McCain vs. Obama (Rasmussen) McCain 42, Obama 47, Undecided 11
McCain vs. Obama (Time) McCain 41, Obama 48, Undecided 6
By comparison:
McCain vs. Clinton (Rasmussen) McCain 46, Clinton 43, Undecided 11
McCain vs. Clinton (Time) McCain 46, Clinton 46, Undecided 8
While I have no doubt that both Obama and Clinton could beat McCain, it's still nice to go into it with a lead!
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| Florida and Michigan to hold special primary? |
| 2008-02-07 15:21:00 |
That's what I've been told by several people "in the know." Really, I guess it makes sense from all sides too. Hillary and Obama both get a fair shot at the delegates, and Florida & Michigan get to be represented at the convention. Perhaps most importantly, though, is this solution will prevent the Republicans from swaying voters in those states by saying the Democrats "disenfranchised" them by taking away their delegates.
Thoughts?
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| Mitt Romney drops out |
| 2008-02-07 11:18:00 |
It's official, Mitt Romney will "suspend" (code for drop out) his campaign according to three GOP sources. I totally called this on Tuesday. Romney is scheduled to speak at the creepy CPAC conference that has DC crawling with conservatives today. Won't this just put a nice little damper on their conference? Coming face to face with the reality that John McCain will be their nominee...
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| Clinton staffers working without pay |
| 2008-02-06 18:03:00 |
BREAKING: NBC News is reporting that due to a "cash crisis" in the Clinton campaign, several members of the campaign staff are now working without pay.
More information forthcoming.
UPDATE: The campaign claims this is a result of over spending in Iowa. IOWA! Where Clinton placed third!
Some of Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign staff have voluntarily chosen to work without pay this month, NBC News confirmed Wednesday.
Clinton faced a serious cash crunch going into Tuesday's multi-state vote due to overspending in Iowa, a source within the campaign told NBC News. Staffers blamed campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle, who was among those working for free, the source said.
Clinton acknowledged Wednesday that she loaned her campaign $5 million late last month as Obama was outraising and outspending her heading into Feb. 5 Super Tuesday contests.
Meanwhile, Obama raised $32 million in January, and raised $3 million on the internet today alone.
UPDATE II: Obama has raised $4.2 million on...
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| VIDEO: Barack Obama's Super Tuesday speech |
| 2008-02-06 00:53:00 |
Watched the returns at a friends house over in Ballston tonight and couldn't get the wireless internet working. I'm home now though and (somehow) still awake, at least for a bit longer. Here's Obama's speech from earlier this evening:
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| Mitt Romney preparing to drop out? |
| 2008-02-05 14:55:00 |
Looks like it's gonna be down to John McCain, Ron Paul and Huckles after tomorrow, assuming neither of the latter drop out too.
One of my friends here in DC just received a phone call from a friend in Iowa who has been working for the Romney campaign and she is "upset" and said she will hear tomorrow if (but really more like when) she'll be getting laid off." Also, our favorite Mormon who will never be President Mitt Romney has scheduled meetings for the entirety of the day tomorrow....
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| Hillary Clinton agrees to debate on Fox News |
| 2008-02-05 14:20:00 |
Agreeing to appear on a ratings grabbing, and therefore rather profitable debate program on a network known for being an undeniable "media arm" of the Republican party? Unbelievable.
A few weeks ago I was planning to vote for her but then the whole thing about her sitting on the board at Wal Mart, and now she agrees to a debate on Fox (FAUX!) News? Way to drive me (and I'm sure many others too) completely over the edge towards Obama.
"There is an enormous interest in these debates an clamoring on the part of the Democratic Party for them," said Clinton's spokesperson Howard Wolfson. "We have not had a large number in which two people have participated. We've had multi-candidate debates... the fact is Senator Clinton has enjoyed the opportunity to debate and get her message out. Certainly as we move to the next exciting day of this nomination calendar, voters want the opportunity to see these two candidates compete against each other."
Though Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama have fre...
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| Virginians showing up at the polls today |
| 2008-02-05 13:06:00 |
I'm really not quite sure what to make of this.
People are showing up at polling places across Virginia expecting to vote in presidential primaries that are still a week away.
By noon Tuesday, the State Board of Elections received about 400 calls, and many callers wanted to know why their polling places were closed.
Officials say that's double to triple the normal volume of calls.
On the one hand, I guess it shows that people are excited to vote. On the other hand, though, it worries me that people coming out to vote can't even pay attention enough to know which day to vote on.
HAHA, also, here's an idea - someone should go check the candidate's web sites to see how many people are posting claims of "voter fraud" because their precinct was closed (when in reality it's just not their day to vote).
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| John McCain tops other candidates in media coverage |
| 2008-02-05 13:00:00 |
But not all media coverage is good.
Sure it may be true that 492 term Senator Mccain">John McCain is receiving more media coverage than anyone else in the race for President, but it seems to me he's not getting very favorable coverage either (being constantly bashed by members of his own party and all). Remember Ann Coulter claiming she'd rather vote for Hillary? Then there's Michelle Malkin who's been railing on and on about how "liberal" he is for weeks on her blog. Also, questions about McCains bad temper. And more on McCain's temper.
In the last week, Senator John McCain has surpassed even Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton in the amount of news coverage he has received.
The media effectively anointed Mr. McCain as the Republican front-runner after he won Florida. At the same time, reporters were writing up a storm about how conservatives were trying to deny Mr. McCain the crown. All of this made for a frothy brew of coverage for the week of Jan. 28 to Feb. 3.
Last we...
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| Mitt Romney caught in a lie (again) |
| 2008-01-17 19:26:00 |
Watch Mitt Romney dance around the fact that he does, despite his denial, in fact have lobbyists working for his campaign by saying that the staffer is "only an advisor and friend." Seriously. Also, if you listen carefully you can hear another reporter ask "well who does have lobbyists working for their campaign by that definition?" Which Romney chooses to totally (and conveniently!) ignore.
But wait! It gets better! At the end of the video a campaign staffer tells the reporter he was unprofessional and rude. Right, because it's sooo professional for the reporter to just let the candidate sit there and tell a bold-faced lie to voters, isn't it?
And even better yet! You can hear an ignorant bystander (equipped with one of those annoying southern accents) call the reporter "rude and ugly." HA HA. So standing up for the truth makes you "rude and ugly" by southern Republican voter standards. How nice! Now we all know why they continue to vote for a party that constantly screws them and the rest of the country over. But mostly just them, because the rest of us are at least smart enough to keep the party that continuously gets it right in office at the local levels.
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| Federal Transit Administration to block Metrorail extension? |
| 2008-01-17 12:03:00 |
Well this certainly is news I'm having a hard time forming an opinion on. Being a resident of Arlington county, I, along with virtually everyone else familiar with the project favor the underground option as opposed to the above ground rail. However, the fact that the FTA is threatening to reject it because they are "reluctant to promote large scale transit projects" kind of makes me sick.
Officials on Capitol Hill, in Richmond and at the airports authority's headquarters have speculated in recent days about what the problem might be. Some say the FTA has long been skeptical of expensive rail projects; in recent years, it has more often championed bus rapid transit projects.
Others point to a long-standing desire in the Transportation Department to move away from public investments in infrastructure. Peters, the transportation secretary, for example, refused to endorse a report published Tuesday by a bipartisan national commission on the future of the nation's transportation system. She instead issued a dissent decrying wasteful spending and the federal government's large share of the investment. She said she favored private investment and more tolling to control congestion.
I would hardly call a "bus" rapid transit, first of all. Second of all, isn't it great how we're spending trillions in Iraq to "build" (destroy) their infrastructure but projects like this within our own country remain in limbo decades after they are needed.
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| Former Republican Congressman indicted for ties to Al-Qaeda |
| 2008-01-16 13:56:00 |
Former Republican Congressman Mark D. Siljander of Michigan has been indicted for his involvement in a terrorist fundraising ring which raised money for Al-Qaeda.
Developing...
UPDATE: Via CNN/AP:
A former congressman and delegate to the United Nations was indicted Wednesday as part of a terrorist fundraising ring that allegedly sent more than $130,000 to an al Qaeda and Taliban supporter who has threatened U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan.
The former Republican congressman from Michigan, Mark Deli Siljander, was charged with money laundering, conspiracy and obstructing justice for allegedly lying about lobbying senators on behalf of an Islamic charity that authorities said was secretly sending funds to terrorists.
A 42-count indictment, unsealed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Missouri, accuses the Islamic American Relief Agency of paying Siljander $50,000 for the lobbying -- money that turned out to be stolen from the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Siljander, who served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, was appointed by President Reagan to serve as a U.S. delegate to the United Nations for one year in 1987.
Also, let's not forget that this isn't the first time Republicans have been linked to terrorist in the past year.
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| Kucinich campaign pays for recount in New Hampshire |
| 2008-01-16 13:23:00 |
I'm all for counting votes accurately, and I like Dennis Kucinich, but seriously, WTF!
CONCORD, N.H. -- The state on Wednesday began the process of recounting the Democratic ballots cast in last week's primary.
Shortly before 8 a.m., the ballots that had been stored in Manchester were loaded onto hand trucks to begin the journey to Concord. The recount was requested by candidate Dennis Kucinich, who paid $27,000 to the secretary of state to begin the recount.
"The big thing, I think, is to determine if the paper ballot count, the hand count, matches the machine totals," said Emmanuel Krasner, and observer for the Kucinich campaign.
First of all, WHY? Less than two percent of the vote and, I'll "boldly" predict right now that this recount won't shift the balance more than a couple hundred votes (if that, because after all, this isn't Florida or Ohio). Second of all, I'd be interested to see how much cash the Kucinich campaign has on hand. They're not running advertisements, they're not really doing anything to get his message (which is one I actually like) out. Why not spend this money towards ads instead of trying to gain a couple of votes in New Hampshire?
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| The Braves have finally had enough |
| 2008-01-15 15:46:00 |
And who could blame them!?
The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners has reached a 30-year agreement with the Atlanta Braves that will send Richmond's professional baseball team of 42 years to the suburban Atlanta county.
Last year, the Braves signed a short-term lease with the Richmond Metropolitan Authority, the regional body that owns The Diamond, to keep the ball club here at least one year and up to three. The team can opt out of the contract after each season but must give notice to the authority by Oct. 1 of each year if it plans to leave.
However, negotiations stalled over a long-term lease for the Braves to occupy a new or renovated stadium, despite reported concessions by the team to greatly increase the rent it would pay.
In October, Richmond Mayor L. Douglas Wilder's administration hired a national real estate consultant, The Staubach Co., to fashion a plan for The Diamond and roughly 60 acres the city owns around it.
Late last month, Plant told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that the Braves were working with the city and its consultant, even though he would have preferred a faster timetable.
Uhm, ya think? Wilder has seemingly been determined to drive the team from the city since he took office following the 2004 elections.
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| An understatement of epic proportions |
| 2008-01-15 15:41:00 |
A little late, yes, but better late than never:
"We must continue to look for strategies to promote safety on the road," said Kaine, who has been under pressure from fellow Democrats to end the fees. "The abuser-fee idea has flunked with voters, and we should acknowledge it and move on."
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| Bill Richardson drops out |
| 2008-01-09 18:17:00 |
Nothing really surprising about this. I knew it was coming any hour/day now the minute I saw on CNN this afternoon that Richardson was reportedly going to be "taking some time off to go back to his day job and reassess the situation" (whatever that means). Regardless, Richardson is out and the field is essentially down to Clinton, Obama, and Edwards. Kucinich still remains but, while I like him, he really never had a chance.
UPDATE: Richardson will officially announce the decision tomorrow.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson ended his campaign for the presidency Wednesday after twin fourth-place finishes that showed his impressive credentials could not compete with his rivals' star power.
Richardson planned to announce the decision Thursday, according to two people close to the governor with knowledge of the decision. They spoke on a condition of anonymity in advance of the governor's announcement.
The Richardson campaign would not comment on the governor's decision, reached after a meeting with his top advisers Wednesday in New Mexico.
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| Can Tim Kaine focus on the more important issues at hand, please? |
| 2008-01-08 09:30:00 |
Tim Kaine was in Virginia Beach yesterday where launched a second attempt at getting legislation passed that would ban smoking in all restaurants and night clubs in the Commonwealth. According to an article in the Pilot Online, Kaine spoke at the Hot Tuna Bar & Grill, a smoke-free restaurant on Shore Drive.
Flanked by lawmakers who said they will sponsor smoking-ban bills this year, Kaine made the announcement at Hot Tuna Bar & Grill, a smoke-free restaurant on Shore Drive.
“This year, we can make a meaningful resolution that we’re going to live healthier,” he said.
The proposal, which came two days before the start of this year’s General Assembly session, probably will spark “healthy debate” among legislators, said Del. Kenny Alexander, D-Norfolk. Alexander said he would support a compromise such as allowing people to light up after posted nonsmoking hours.
A bad choice of venue if you ask me. A more convincing picture may have been one with the governor in some smokey saloon coughing up a lung. The fact that he was in an already smoke free restaurant just drives home the point I tried to make yesterday when I said the Governor should leave it up to restaurant owners to decide whether or not they want their business to be smoke free, especially in the case of night clubs and bars.
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| Governor Kaine pursues smoking ban, again |
| 2008-01-07 11:12:00 |
According to an article in today's Richmond Times Dispatch, Governor Tim Kaine is once again pursuing a smoking ban in Virginia restaurants.
Governor Timothy M. Kaine today proposed legislation for a statewide ban on smoking in restaurants, including dining establishments in public and private clubs.
Kaine's bid for such a ban passed the state Senate in 2006, but failed in the House of Delegates. In October 2006, Kaine signed an executive order banning smoking in all state buildings and vehicles.
The ban classifies a restaurant as any establishment including public and private clubs where food is served. Since Virginia requires food to be available in any establishment where alcohol is served, the ban would essentially apply to EVERY night club and bar in the commonwealth, on top of traditional restaurants.
Personally, I feel the government should stay out of matters such as this and leave it up to the business owner to decide, especially when it comes to night clubs and bars. We've got far more pressing issues than this, and Tim Kaine should work on solving those because so diligently pursuing a smoking ban. And for the record, no, I do not smoke. :)
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| Arlington to continue welcoming immigrants in 2008 |
| 2008-01-01 16:30:00 |
Lowell has a post up debunking the myth that high(er) immigration rates lead to an increase in violent crimes, and it looks like Arlington will continue to welcome immigrants according to it's 2008 agenda.
Arlington will continue to welcome immigrants even as more Northern Virginia communities look towards turning them away.
"While others were making scapegoats of immigrants and promoting divisive polices of exclusion," in 2007, J. Walter Tejada, the county's first Hispanic Chairman, said, "Arlington took a stand for justice and inclusion. This will not change in 2008." The newly named Chairman unveiled his three-pronged "Agenda for Progress" Monday during the Board's traditional New Year's Day organizing session. He is promising to eliminate smoking in public places and trans fats from restaurants, promote affordable housing, and improve cultural diversity by working towards policies of inclusion.
Tejada, who immigrated to the U.S. from El Salvador when he was 13, is pledging to promote better personal understandings across the County's diverse cultures. He said the County will work with non-profit organizations to expand opportunities for immigrants to pursue U.S. citizenship. He also wants to provide more assistance for English language training.
Arlington, which I'm proud to call my home, is one of the most diverse counties in the nation and it's no coincidence that we're also one of the most educated.
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