Memorial Day VBC

You should have already done so, but if you haven't, you need to get over to Spank that Donkey (what a great name) and check out the Memorial Day VBC (Part I and Part II).

Haven't blogged in an eternity

At least it feels that way. Work has been busy, have been working outside a lot, and we were in Ohio over the weekend. At least 99% of our landscaping is done now and there are no trips to Ohio in the near future.

We went to Ohio over the weekend because my wife's sister graduated high school. One interesting thing. The class had 147 people. There were 13 (THIRTEEN!) valedictorians and 3 (THREE!) salutatorians. Hmmm. Sounds like they pass out A's at that high school like my zoology teacher in HS passed out insults. There was a test that I got the best grade in the class on. He said it was like a paraplegic winning a marathon. Ouch.

Anyway, the thought of splitting the "honor" of valedictorian 13 ways is absurd. I imagine picking one (or perhaps making the courses more difficult) would not be an option. Someone might get their feelings hurt.

Free Beer

Two times this week (Monday or Tuesday and again today) during lunch I went to a nearby Food Lion to grab a few things. Both times there was a couple in front of me that paid for their groceries with food stamps. After paying for their groceries with the food stamps they then wrote a check for a case of beer. They can afford two cases of beer within five days, but they are having their groceries paid for by the taxpayers.

Drink up y'all, it's on the taxpayers this week. Priorities? Who needs 'em. Pride? Throw it out the window. After all, who needs pride when you can get your beer subsidized.

Tim Kaine - American Idol

My wife and I worked outside until after 9 this evening and when we came in we turned on the tv and flipped around until we got to American Idol. They were showing Elliot Yamin in Richmond and none other than our Governor, Tim Kaine, was shown with Elliot. Unfortunately, Elliot's mom voted for Kaine, but I won't hold that against Elliot. I would have preferred to see Elliot or his mom scold the Governor for wanting to raise our taxes. That would have made for much better television.

Are toothpicks next?

Via the Tax Foundation comes the news that China has put a tax on chopsticks. It should be interesting to see what happens to the chopstick market in Japan. As the post from the Tax Foundation notes, we could see more forks in Japan.

Environmentalists are happy with the tax as it is aimed at slowing deforestation in China. Are there better ways to encourage preservation of forests than slapping a tax on something? I suppose they could give tax credits for not cutting the trees. Or they could outlaw chopsticks all together (but then only outlaws would have chopsticks). Or is it the business of the government what a private business does with its land? What's the answer?

Taxes as a percentage of GSP

Something I have been meaning to blog about for a while is the argument that Virginia is a low tax state based on the taxes as a percentage of income or the gross state product (GSP). About a month ago Jim Bacon posted about Tax Freedom Day and he discussed the same topic. What Jim said bears repeating:

When ranked by total dollars exacted, Virginia has become a high-tax state. The Axis of Taxes points out, with some legitimacy, that Virginia is a moderate/low-tax state when ranked by taxes as a percentage of income. In other words, because Virginians have higher-than-average incomes, the tax burden isn't as heavy.

I don't find that riposte particularly consoling. The harder I work to make more money, I can be assured that my state and local governments will be soaking up their "fair share" of my income. I'd prefer to see state/local governments that committed themselves with unremitting zeal to boosting productivity, re-engineering processes and re-imagining services to meet core needs more cost effectively. That's something we did for two years of the Warner administration while the state was in financial "crisis." Now we've reverted to a multi-year phase of aggressive expansion -- which will last as long as the current economic expansion does.

I agree 100% with Jim. If Virginians make more money than another state, should it cost more to run government? Are there additional "core" services the government needs to provide when the taxpayers are more well off? Or are they spending for the sake of spending - building schools that look like the Taj Mahal, taking trips to Hawaii, spending, spending, and spending?

They are spending for the sake of spending. Whether it is a state politician telling me how low taxed we are in relation to the GSP or Karl Rove telling me spending is lower in comparision to the GDP, I don't care. You can tell me until you are blue in the face. The bottom line is the total amount of money spent, regardless of how much the people make or produce.

Suppose I made $1,000,000 a year. There is nothing that requires me to buy a big house, fancy car, and nice clothes. I could very well live in a shack if I wanted. I could drive a 15 year old car (look at the IKEA founder). Government should live in a shack. Government should drive a 15 year old car. Government should be frugal.

Do Blues Records Exist Only in Public Libraries?

I suppose I should have posted this on Jan. 1, but I hadn't listened to the Blues Brothers in a while. In the Opening: I Can't Turn You Loose of Blues Brothers - The Definitive Collection Akroyd says the blues will only exist in the classical records department of the local public library in 2006. Was he right? Any good, new blues out there? Not that the Blues Brothers were ever great blues artists, but they are kind of fun to listen to. And the movie is a classic.

Virginia Blog Carnival

Good morning/afternoon/evening/night ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the latest edition of the Virginia Blog Carnival. I apologize for getting this up a little late. I was on my way into work early this morning to finish this up before the work day, but a lady in front of me spun out, went across the road, and into a ditch. Fortunately she was ok, but I waited until someone came to help get her car out until I left.

This week’s carnival is a good one. Probably the best ever, no, wait, definitely the best ever. Well, maybe not, but it is another excellent showing by the Virginia Blogosphere. Some blogs, I admit, were new to me, but that is what makes this so great.

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Our first entry comes from MaxPower at Haduken and is titled How Patchwork Collective can save Richmond. It is an excellent article talking about Patchwork Collective and what they are doing to bring the arts (music) downtown.

Right here, in our city, is a group innovating, changing, and growing the local music scene. You don’t need a performance hall to hear stunning music in Richmond — it already exists and you are missing it. You don’t need to move to New York, or even go there, to see superior musicians preform live — it’s happening here. In the last year PC has hosted a famously talented clarinet soloist, a ten piece brass band, a twelve piece chamber orchestra, and a world renowned jazz musician. Exactly the type of things the Mayor’s Performing Arts Committee would love (and you would love too, I promise). The Committee’s suggestions will cost you $45 million while PC’s splendid offerings will cost you 5$. Your call though …

Read the whole post, you won't be disappointed. Another post from Haduken I found very interesting was about Garbage Pail Kids. Remember those? I never even knew they had a movie, but I did have some of the cards, much to parents dismay. Looking back, I'm not sure how I ever got those things. Maybe my parents didn't pay much attention to them, who knows.

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Up next from Lynchburg is corndog whose blog is Corndog's Flex-fuel Chevy News. Corndog's post is THE BRAZILIAN MODEL-WHAT IT DOESN'T TEACH US. It's an excellent post. It talks about why we cannot do things the way the Brazilians have done it.

I'm SO in favor of persuing renewable fuels, as you can probably tell, but we have to do it differently than Brazil did, and we should realize this and quit lying to people by presenting the Brazilian model as something we could emulate. We have to do so much more to accomplish what Brazil has done, but that doesn't mean we can't do it. We are going to have to rely on hybrids, flex-fuelers, ethanol, methanol, bio-diesel, corn, switchgrass, orange peels, soybeans, bio-engineered enzymes, bio-conversion, syngas methodology, and technologies which haven't even been invented yet, to get to where we have to go.

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Up next is Charlottesville's Bob Gibson from the Daily Progress with another top notch post titled How helpful is bipartisanship? Former Del. Paul Harris (who I happen to like a lot) is mentioned in the story as promoting more bipartisan discussion. Of course, as Mr. Gibsion mentions, he has his eyes on a statewide office and when trying to appeal to a large audience I suppose it is what one should say.

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Next on our stop is Rocinante's Burdens. Roci gives us An Agenda for the Next Election Cycle. I wish politicians would listen to Roci. Here is the list of what is important to America:

1. Finish the war against terrorists.
2. The national budget must come under control.
3. Immigration. Fix it. Stop jerking us around.
4. Energy policy. Supply and demand. It is a reality. Embrace it.

Outstanding list. Number 2 is my personal favorite.

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Our next stop takes us to Extra Innings, the blog of Delegates Bob Brink and Kris Amundson. Before I go any further I would like to thank the Delegates for blogging. We are on different sides of the political aisle, but I have a great deal of respect for them both for entering the blogging world and trying to get their message out.

Delegate Brink has a post this week titled WWTDD? I would tell you what it stands for, but you should read it and find out for yourself.

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Our next entry comes from Spank That Donkey. Chris submits a post this week titled First President - First Female President. Good reading. Something I have yet to do is visit Mount Vernon. I should be ashamed.

Another excellent post from Spank That Donkey is National Police Week 2006. Make sure you read that too.

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Another Charlottesville blogger, Rick Sincere from Rick Sincere News & Thoughts brings us his recap of the Kennedy Center Spring Gala. Good work Rick! Angela Lansbury was the Honrary Chair of the festivities. As an aside, my uncle went to high school with a guy (I don't know him) who did the music for Murder She Wrote.

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From Pittsylvania County RomeoCat brings us Weekly walks with Uncle Charles. Some very nice pictures included, despite the fact that Kat's camera is on its last leg. Uncle Charles reminds me a lot my great Uncle Henry. He was a pastor at a church and loved teaching about the bible.

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Alton, in Collinsville, from I'm Not Emeril is up next. Alton had quite a scare and tells us But I Really Like Eggs! I love eggs too, but I usually only eat the whites. I hope he is able to get eggs back in his diet. If I had to give them up completely I would be "deeply saddened."

Fortunately Alton went to the hospital right away. It should prove as a reminder that ignoring health scares is foolish. And if you haven't had a phsyical or your cholesterol checked lately, what are you waiting for? Get on the phone and make an appointment.

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Adam from Creative Destruction has a post up titled Gay Marriage; or We Are all Traditionalists. Certainly a tough topic to discuss and one that all voters in Virginia will be deciding on in November.

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Our next entry is from Kilo at Spark It Up!!!. Kilo talks about his Family Cemetery. Good for Kilo and his father for taking care of the resting place of his family. Kilo wonders who will take care of the place when his time has come. It always makes me a little sad when I see an overgrown cemetery.

This isn't something I usually talk about, but I really like the idea of a family cemetery. There is something comforting about knowing you will be resting next to your loved ones.

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This week's final entry comes from One Wise Girl at Spark It Up!!!. We end this week with something that makes my mouth water - Baked Ziti with Sausage and Veggies. That sounds really, really good. Although I think I would side with OWG and go with hamburger. I can almost taste it now. I will be making this soon.

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Thanks to everyone for submitting. I had hoped to round up some other posts from the past week, but due to time constraints it didn't happen. Sorry for getting this up so late. Have a great week y'all!

****UPDATE****
For some reason I received an email today that was sent on Friday from Riley, Not O'Reilly of Virginia Virtucon. My sincerest apologies to Mr. Riley. Riley has good stuff this week, as usual. Riley recalls hearing Paul Harvey talk about World War III.

On that day, he was talking about terrorism and he stated, without a doubt in his voice, that if we were not already that we would soon be in a global war against terrorists.

The most amazing part is that this was in 1988.

Next installment of the VBC

I am fortunate enough to be hosting the Virginia Blog Carnival next Monday. Please send me your submissions or risk having me pick one for you.

If you’d like to make a submission, send it to nickfinity[at]yahoo[dot]com by Sunday, May 14th, at 8:00 p.m. ET (but earlier if possible!).

1. Identify one of your posts that you’d like to publicize.

2. Include the following information:

* Name of your Blog
* URL to your blog
* Your name (or the name you blog under)
* Where in Virginia you live
* The title of your post
* Permalink to your post
* Trackback to your post (optional)
* Brief summary of your post (also optional)

3. Make sure the subject line clearly identifies your submission as related to VBC.

Come on people, let's get those submissions coming!

Bonjour!

I have not blogged recently due, mostly, to being in Montreal. I was there for a conference where most of the attendees are government employees from around the US and Canada. And despite the fact that there are those who would call me a xenophobe for wanting our immigration laws enforced I was not fearful at all.

Xenophobe - A person unduly fearful or contemptuous of that which is foreign, especially of strangers or foreign peoples.

In fact, the only thing that I was fearful of was the driving downtown. The only city where I have heard more horn honking is NYC.

My wife and I flew into Burlington, VT and drove to Montreal. It was interesting once we crossed the border the English signs stopped. We did not stop until we got to our hotel and everyone there seemed to speak both English and French. Our rental car only had MPH and, of course, Canada has KPH. I think for the most part we stayed around the speed limit.

The big shocker was when my wife bought a coat (it can be cold up there this time of year). Two taxes - one 7% and the other 7.5%. As the saying goes - if you think healthcare is expensive now, wait until it's free.

A few other interesting things. At the conference everyone had name tags that had where they were from. Originally being from Ohio I would comment to someone from there that that is where I grew up. One guy started going off on Ken Blackwell and the "ultra conservatives." He says if Blackwell is elected and gets his proposals passed they will destroy local government.

From what I understand Blackwell wants to make it very difficult for local governments to raise taxes and limit their expenditure growth to 3.5%. Sounds ok to me. One of the arguments the guy made was that if a pristine piece of land became available the city would not be able to buy it. Huh? Why would a city need to buy it? Of course, I was not going to argue with the guy as he could be a potential client, but he did not realize at all that I was one of the "ultra conservatives" he was bashing.

Another lady from Colorado went off on TABOR. It is amazing to me that these government employees really think they are entitled to our money. Unfortunately it goes beyond that, not only are they entitled to our money, but it should be at their discretion how much we give them. By golly, if they need money we should provide it. Why, there might be land the government should buy. Or a bridge or railroad to no where. Or some other legitimate need of the government. The government says jump and the taxpayers should say "how high?" Disgusting.

Property Rights Conference Call

I was fortunate enough to be on the call last week with Joe Waldo - the prominent property rights attorney, Norm, and I am not exactly sure who else. Mr. Waldo did an excellent job of covering property rights and many instances of property owners being taken advantage of by VDOT or local government, some of which are on the "Top 10" list. I encourage everyone to take a look at the list and read a little further into some of the cases.

The point was made that it is a lot harder to get people mobilized in a fight like this because a relatively small number of people actually have their property taken. Perhaps I was as guilty as the next guy, but no more, it is no excuse. Read the stories of people having their businesses or homes taken. Think about the people battling the government and what an uphill battle it must be. And I can only imagine the arrogance of the government officials who think it is the proper thing to do. Property rights are at the very core of what makes our country great. And if you think you are safe in Virginia, think again. The Institute for Justice has ranked Virginia in the top 10 when it comes to eminent domain abuse.

It honestly blows my mind that there was not a bill passed this year to help protect property owners. I believe, like many others, that no bill was better than a bad (Senate) bill, but it amazes me that there are elected officials that believe government should be able to take private property for the purpose of creating jobs, increasing tax revenue, or some other load of garbage.

From my understanding the Senate bill would not have allowed land to be taken for the purpose of increasing tax revenue. However, it would have allowed property to be taken for job creation. Talk about setting up a law to be sidestepped. I can hear government now - "Oh no, we're not taking your land for tax revenue, we're taking it for job creation."

A few other interesting points. Sen. Stolle should have recused himself from this discussion. Outside of the legislature the law firm at which he works (including himself, from what I understand) represents clients who take land from property owners. I guess that would be local government or government agencies, I am not exactly sure. A slight conflict of interest, don't you think?

Something else that was brought up that I have been meaning to post about for a while is that fact that there are government agencies, VDOT is the one I always hear about, who have people on their staff (whose salaries are paid by you and me, the taxpayers) who lobby the General Assembly for more money. Norm also mentions this. So, basically, we are paying people to try to convince the GA to take more of our money.

During the property rights debate there were roughly 60 lobbyist (most, if not all, from government) for allowing government to take private property. There was 1 on behalf of the property owners. Not very good numbers. Shows how important it is to contact our legislators so they hear both sides of the story and are not too heavily influenced by lobbyist. Of those 60 government lobbyist many were from local government, Fairfax, etc.

Property rights will come again next year and it is important that we get a bill passed that really protects property owners and does not simply pay lip service to the idea. There should be no excuses from our legislators.

RIP Louis Rukeyser

In the event you had not already heard, Louis Rukeyser passed away after a battle with a rare bone marrow cancer on Tuesday. I did not start watching Lou until 2001, but I thoroughly enjoyed his show. His dry sense of humor and wit were always something to look forward to. When he was out the show was barely worth watching, not that the guest was any less knowledgeable, but Rukeyser made the show great.

As a bit of trivia, there is a scene in the movie "Uncle Buck" where "Wall $treet Week" is on in the background.

Rest in peace Mr. Rukeyser, you will be missed.

Live blog with Delegate Saxman.........and 24

In the event you missed it Delegate Saxman live blogged over at Too Conservative earlier today (he actually started last night). He did an excellent job and you should go read what he has to say. Comment #7 was certainly one of the best comments. I am obviously biased, but I really wish more elected officials would take the time to reach out to bloggers. Kudos to you Delegate!

Yesterday evening Delegate Saxman took a break to watch 24. I know there are many out there who love 24. I had never watched it until last season (last season had the nuclear meltdown, right?). Based on the recommendations of others my wife and I decided to watch it. I enjoy a far fetched plot as much as the next guy, but 24 takes it a little too far.

What initially pushed me over the edge was the idea that a nuclear power plant could be controlled remotely. My uncle happened to see an episode where that was being discussed. He is/was (do they expire? I'm not sure) a licensed nuke plant operator and spent 20 years doing work in the nuclear power business, including running various plants. He did not finish the episode.

I am a fan of nuclear power. As I enjoy wearing t-shirts with a message I have one that says "Another environmentalist for nuclear power." I have also seen one that says "REJECT GREEN PROPOGANDA - NUCLEAR POWER NOW."

One other thing I recall is a scene in the desert. Two cars are driving away with a helicopter overhead. One car gets taken out. What happened to the other one? Were they able to outrun a helicopter? It seems like a bit of a stretch that they are in the middle of the desert and a car gets away from a helicopter.

My wife and I did finish watching the season and Jack Bauer is a bad man (but my money is still on Chuck Norris), but I wish it were slightly more realistic. It is definitely suspenseful and keeps the viewer interested, but when it was over I was always left shaking my head and wondering why I spent an hour of my life watching it. Of course, the same goes for most of what is on tv.