I don’t put much stock in the 2011 estimated return – way too much guessing going on there.

I haven’t had time to go through them all, but what quickly jumped out at me was the 13.9% effective tax rate (total tax paid of $3,009,766 divided by total income of $21,661,344). Let’s just say that my total income was significantly less than the total tax paid and my effective rate was higher than that – and that doesn’t include my contributions to Social Security and Medicare. That’s what happens when the source of income is from qualified dividends and capital gains, which receive a preferential rate over ordinary income, like wages and interest.

In last night’s debate, Romney questioned Newt Gingrich on his 0% rate for capital gains, which would virtually wipe out Ronmey’s tax liability. Gingrich says yes, he wants that rate for those people because they are the “job creators.” Looking at Romney’s tax return I see only one job created: they have a household employee that was paid a total of $20,603. Um, that isn’t much job creation to justify a zero tax rate, now is it?

I’ll look at the returns a little closer when I have more time. And as of this writing, none of the stories written about the returns are worthy of linking to since they all just repeat the same topline information.

Hirschbiel kickoff

Businessman Paul Hirschbiel officially announced his candidacy in the 2nd Congressional district today. The picture at left was taken from the campaign’s Facebook page and includes Sen. Mark Warner and former LG candidate Jody Wagner.

I was unable to attend but local TV station, WVEC, was there. Below is their report.

The first is a briefing on the five proposals for Waterside. Originally, the council was going to receive this briefing in closed session but it will now be done in the public, informal session.

The other is an update on the restructuring of the Community Services Board. It is not clear if this discussion will also be of where we are on the whole CSB employee thing.

The informal session of council is where a lot of the work of council gets done. If you can make it, the meeting starts around 5pm at 4:30pm in the 10th floor conference room of City Hall. If you cannot make it, you can watch the live streaming of the session from the city’s website. And if that doesn’t work, you can at least watch the recording later, a link to which will be provided on the city’s website.

The agendas for both the informal and formal sessions can be found here.

A quick look at some of the stories and other stuff from the past week.

VA Republican primary: still Romney v Paul
This was my lead last Saturday but it appears it is now final. Rick Perry appealed the judge’s ruling but the appeal was denied. Absentee ballots have been printed and voting has begun. Oh, and that stupid loyalty oath is gone.

Republican primary field narrows further
Perry was the originator of the lawsuit but Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Jon Huntsman, and Michelle Bachmann joined in. Bachmann was gone after Iowa. This week, two more Republican candidates dropped out: Huntsman on Monday and Perry on Friday. Santorum, despite his official Iowa win, will be the next to go. I expect he’ll finish a distant fourth in today’s primary in South Carolina. Gingrich, whose race-baiting is fueling this latest surge, is in it for a while, although I still expect Romney to the be nominee. Gingrich garnered Perry’s endorsement (for what it’s worth) while Huntsman endorsed Romney, as did our governor, Bob McDonnell. As for Ron Paul – well, he’s not going anywhere. I expect him to take it all the way to the convention.

Speaking of Iowa – having watched some of the coverage on caucus night, and then seeing that they lost some of the precincts’ ballots, I think it’s time for them to give up the “first in the nation” position.

Congressional redistricting headed to the governor’s desk
Both the Virginia House of Delegates and the Senate have passed the incumbent-protection congressional redistricting bill. A couple of tweets from yesterday:

Under GOP VA map, none of 11 CDs are between D+5 & R+5 in Cook PVI. #VA10 Wolf (R) goes R+2 -> R+5, #VA11 Connelly (D) goes D+2 -> D+6—
Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) January 20, 2012

Only non-solid incumbent in our VA ratings is #VA02 Rigell, who is Likely R. VA = perfect example of competitive state, uncompetitive lines—
Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) January 20, 2012

Yep. But at least I live in VA-02. Democratic candidate Paul Hirschbiel, already on the DCC’s Red to Blue list, will officially kick off his campaign Monday.

Uranium ban to stay in place
At least until regulations can be written. This might take a while.

Passenger rail coming to Norfolk
By the end of the year, passenger rail service from Norfolk will restart. I am really looking forward to this. I think it would be kinda cool to take the train to Richmond (although I haven’t figured out how I’d get from Staples Mill into downtown Richmond).

Taxes
No, not Newt Gingrich’s (pdf – the one I’d like to see is Gingrich Holdings, Inc.,  by the way) or Mitt Romney’s (no link because he hasn’t released them yet) but your taxes. It’s time to think about them. The IRS announced a new Free File option that is open to everyone, regardless of income: fillable forms. And the Virginia Department of Taxation has followed suit. Electronic filing of tax returns began this week. The federal tax filing deadline is April 17.

Goodbyes
Once a fixture in my childhood neighborhood, I distinctly recall an item my godmother purchased for me from Mugler’s: a plaid shirt-shaped jacket that was popular with the kids back then. It was one of the few times that I ventured into the store, although I walked past it daily, mostly prior to its move up the street. I really didn’t know that it wasn’t located in Phoebus anymore until I read that the store is closing. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

R&B singer Etta James died yesterday. Another beautiful voice gone. Here is a live version of her singing perhaps her best-known song, At Last.

Playoffs
After going 1-for-4 last weekend, I hope no one puts much stock in my football picks anymore Nevertheless, I’m picking the Patriots over the Ravens and the 49ers over the Giants. (Have I mentioned how much I dislike Eli Manning? )

The documents show unpaid taxes going back to 1998. They show the filing of federal tax liens from 2003 to 2008. These alone were enough for every media outlet in Hampton Roads to run a story about it.

What caught my eye, though, was the government’s claim of a fraudulent conveyance (p.8). Having been an IRS agent for six years and a practicing CPA for the past 26 years since, I know the government doesn’t throw around the word “fraud” very often. This is serious business.

Much of the commentary surrounding this issue (columnist Kerry Dougherty and the editorial board both weighed in today) is whether the lack of payment – combined with Riddick’s previous history – make him unfit to serve. I would argue that the majority of people in Ward 4, as evidenced by his re-election, disagree with that assessment. Further, I would argue, that the majority of his fellow council members, who have stood beside him as he faced re-election and who are quite aware of his past history, would disagree with that assessment.

But fraud? That is a step too far.

I have no doubt that Riddick – a very smart man, by the way – relied on the poor advice of some “professional” somewhere. Transferring property to avoid taxes is an absolute no-no. Even if somebody told him to do it, his ethical radar should have gone off to stop it.

I have, on many occasions, defended the actions of Councilman Riddick, both publicly and privately. But this I cannot defend.

To see some of the writings these days, you’d think spell checkers didn’t even exist So while this is all in good fun, the truth is I wish more people would learn to spell.

Or at least how to use a spell-checker. I did the quiz without one, by the way

Your Common Spelling Mistake Score: 100% Correct

Your spelling is excellent. You don’t fall for common spelling pitfalls, and you spell almost everything correctly.

Guess this elementary school spelling champ still has it How about you? Do you make common spelling mistakes?

The other thing is that with Richmond Sunlight, we citizens really don’t have to wait for somebody to tell us what bills are out there. We can do it ourselves. Yes, there are organizations that do it for us – organizations who rely on individuals like me to review all of the bills – but that’s really the easy way out. We can all watch Richmond – and hold our legislators accountable.

I’ll be back at it this weekend, although it will be a little easier: only 52 house bills and 24 Senate bills have been introduced since I wrote my column Tuesday.

The University also presents an award each year to a community member whose lives mirror the principles of equality and humanity. The award is named for Hugo Owens, a long time champion of civil rights in the area and the first black rector of the ODU Board of Visitors. Receiving the Hugo Owens Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Award this year was Jane Batten, widow of Frank Batten, former chairman of Landmark, which publishes The Virginian-Pilot. Jane Batten is a community activist in her own right, serving on the board of Smart Beginnings and other organizations.

Now I agree that groups need to have a policy about social media to protect from actions that might result in a lawsuit on an entity. It is sad but a reality that they have to put in writing that employees can not blog or tweet about their students. However this policy goes way beyond most general policies.  In fact,  Hampton’s School Board policy pretty much assures that the city will be eventually sued.  The problem arises with the restrictions it places on employees in their off time and on non-city equipment systems. ( full policy here)  What is so worrisome is employees can be fired if their comments  “Harms the goodwill and reputation of Hampton City Schools “.  Now not only does this infringe on the freedom of speech but it would also seem to cross Virginia’s Fraud and Abuse Whistle Blower Protection Act  (Chapter No. 340, 2009) .

On top of that consider that the School Board in Hampton is elected not appointed. Therefore, if someone who currently works with the schools wishes to run for office they have to speak about what they would change.  If this policy goes into effect then they could be fired. This is not just censorship but also an infringement on citizens being able to participate in civic involvement to better the school system.

Of course this will eventually lead to a lawsuit which Hampton will have to defend. I have heard in the past elected officials tell me something is legal till someone sues you.  However, when you knowingly doing something that will take you to court it is not the elected officials who pay but the citizens. This is similar with another case in Hampton where the Sheriff fired all officers who supported his opponent in the last election.  The Sheriff refused to settle as he says his officers “serve at his pleasure” ie they are required to support him . So this case is going to court and who will pay? The citizens because it is his pleasure but not his money.

What it comes down to is if the citizens will care enough to stop this policy or will they just agree to pay off another lawsuit waiting to happen.

Effective? Time will tell. But for now, it seems some in Washington are listening.

The “Stop Censorship” ribbon will remain on the site. If you click on it, you will be taken to a site that allows you to contact your Senator about the January 24th vote.

Censorship is not an American trait.

UPDATE: Forgot to mention that the site will be blacked out for just 12 hours, from 8am to 8pm. We will not be off-line; rather, the fine folks here at wordpress.com have designed a wonderful front that includes information about the bills.

In fact, I’d say the chance that those who are elected to represent us in Richmond are less likely to do so today than ever before. They just can’t stop playing politics long enough.

Take a look through the nearly 2,000 bills that have been introduced so far. Show me where the bills are that are about governing this commonwealth. Yes, there are a few. But the large majority – excluding the commemorations and celebrations – are about advancing a political agenda.

What has happened in Washington is happening here in Virginia.

And through their lack of attention, the people are allowing it.

Throughout its history, Virginia has always prided itself on being different. Even in the hated heydays of the Byrd machine (which I will argue still exists in many localities throughout Virginia, and certainly exists in the Code of Virginia – constitutional officers, anyone?), we stood apart from other states.

Now, it’s all about politics. Forget doing what’s best for the Commonwealth.

If they were doing what is best for the Commonwealth, we wouldn’t have the transportation mess we have.

If they were doing what is best for the Commonwealth, we wouldn’t have the education mess we have.

The list is getting longer and longer every day.

We have systematically replaced those who put Virginia first with those who put party first.

On both sides.

So, no, Virginia. We aren’t going to fix transportation, because that would require actual governing, instead of political posturing. And it might include compromise, another dirty word these days.

And so no, I won’t waste my energy on putting out a legislative agenda.

When I see articles like this, I am reminded that our only hope for better government at the top lies with better government at the bottom.

The two are from South Norfolk but are running to bring equality and a voice to all parts of Chesapeake, they said.

Both are independents.

Amick, a Navy veteran who works for the Department of Veterans Affairs, said voters this year will be able to choose candidates who will vote on the issues, not the party line.

“We are independent thinkers without directed ideology,” Hill said.

Hayes, who was present at the announcement, said there is not a “D” or “R” next to their names, but a “C” for Chesapeake.

“These two want to see what’s best for Chesapeake,” Hayes said.

Yeah.

It sure would be nice to see a V – for Virginia – next to the names of our state representatives.

Well, most of the nation, anyway. For some it’s like other holidays – simply a day off. And lately I’ve noticed stores advertising MLK sales.

Some would like this to be a day of service, an opportunity to give back to the community, which I think is a fine idea. Anything that encourages civic engagement is.

Some students, though, are not off today. Washington & Lee is holding classes today. The reason is that the school has founders’ day later this week, but the university doesn’t close for Labor Day or Veterans’ Day, either. W&L isn’t alone: VMI is also holding classes.

While I appreciate that there is a holiday honoring Dr. King, in some ways it has become just another holiday. And that’s sad. Because the lessons of his life and the legacy which he left are still pertinent. I’m old enough to remember a bit of King – especially his death – and the impact he had on our country. His words, some of which grace my favorite quotes page, remain an inspiration.

A couple of earlier posts of mine you might be interested in are here and here.

A quick look at some of the stories and other stuff from the past week.

VA Republican primary: still Romney v Paul
The week started off with a ruling by Judge John Gibney to delay the printing of the ballots for the March 6 primary. When he put the ruling in writing the next day, it appeared that his final order might be in favor of the plaintiffs. (Rick Perry had filed the lawsuit but was joined by Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Jon Huntsman and Michelle Bachmann, the latter three having not even bothered to turn in any petitions.) That was not to be. Friday, the judge heard the arguments in the case and ruled that Perry, et al, had waited too long to fight the rules (pdf).

General Assembly back in session: Republicans in charge
The General Assembly convened Wednesday. To the surprise of no one, Republicans in the Senate claimed control of that chamber. With the large majority in the House, Republicans are now in complete control of Virginia’s government. Despite the exhortation of Gov. Bob McDonnell in his State of the Commonwealth address that Republicans not “be arrogant” and not “overreach,” I simply don’t see that moderation coming to fruition. Elections have consequences, and how Republicans act with their control might just come back to bite them in November.

Republicans in charge: fast-track for congressional redistricting
I have to say I didn’t see this one coming, although I mentioned it as being on the table in my op-ed this week. I just didn’t think they would get to it as quickly as they did, with the first committee vote coming on the opening day of session. The bill has passed the House, but not without some division amongst the members of the black caucus. I have seen the memo – and my first response was that was something that needed to be spoken to the members of the VLBC, not committed to writing, simply because I knew it would end up in a story somewhere. The black caucus is a minority within a minority – and the need to stick together on the big issues cannot be overstated. But next time, I hope this kind of conversation takes place in the caucus meetings.

Bob Marshall is in!
Delegate Bob Marshall, author of HB1, the personhood bill, is running for the U.S. Senate. Marshall, who nearly pulled off an upset in the 2008 Republican convention for Senate, is entering an already crowded primary field. If nothing else, it’s going to be fun to watch Marshall debate front-runner George Allen.

Transparency? Um, no
The finance committee of the Portsmouth School Board canceled its meeting on the budget, rather than allow a Virginian-Pilot reporter to attend. When those who are supposed to represent us are afraid of the media, something’s very wrong. “Stop treating residents with contempt.” And the media, too.

Missing
The latest addition to the Virginian-Pilot editorial board, Michelle Washington, wrote a nice piece earlier this week about the lack of women in public life. Women, as I learned during the 2008 Democratic presidential contest, can be our own worst enemies. The sentiment of that woman she quoted in the story was one I heard far too often from women who would not support Hillary Clinton. If you substituted black for women in the article, you’d find a similar sentiment. There’s a name for it: internalized oppression.

Missing, part 2
Speaking of missing, I attended the Norfolk Forum Tuesday night and the speaker was University of Richmond president Dr. Edward L. Ayers. Ayers is a historian and an expert on the Civil War, the topic of his remarks. I don’t recall a speaker ever not having received a standing ovation before, but Ayers didn’t. Perhaps his blunt talk on the causes of the war made his overwhelmingly white audience uncomfortable.

Playoffs
My picks for the NFL playoffs this week: Saints over the 49ers, Patriots over the Broncos, Texans over the Ravens and Packers over the Giants.

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct!

Whew! I feel all better now So, can you pass 8th grade math?

Not many details are available, but Mr. Estes at one time was making $285,000 a year for representing this county of 10,000 residents. In recent years, the county has fallen on hard times, and is $50 million dollars in debt. Mr. Estes was present as the County Attorney during most of the adding to that debt.

No one at the Cumberland County government had any comment for this story. It is unknown if this development has anything to do with the swearing in of 4 new Supervisors this week. The Board is comprised of 5 members.

People often ask me how I keep up with what’s going on in Richmond. The live streams are the only way – and that’s assuming I have some time. Otherwise, I’m left to catch up on Twitter later on. I follow enough folks that are either in the legislature or cover the legislature that I get a pretty good idea of what’s going on. (And I use the best Twitter client available: UberSocial, which remembers the last tweet read.)

One thing I didn’t see yesterday, although I mentioned it as upcoming in my article, was the House
P&E committee vote on congressional redistricting. For that, I had to rely on a text that I received, which let me know the vote. I was proud of Del. Lionell Spruill, Sr. who joined Del. Mark Sickles in voting against this plan. Thumbs down to the other Dems on this committee who voted in favor.

There will be plenty of opportunity to watch the show that is the Virginia General Assembly this year. I hope more tune in and see it.

The text of the speech as prepared is here. I still find it ironic that the governor eliminated funding for public broadcasting last year, including money to our local PBS affiliate, WHRO, and yet his speech was carried on that very station.

The Democratic response was provided by Senators George Barker and Donald McEachin. In light of this afternoon’s acrimony regarding Senate control, I found the speech quite conciliatory. The entire text of the prepared remarks is below.

Senator McEachin: Good evening, I’m Senator Donald McEachin, Chair of the Senate Democrats.

Senator Barker: And I’m Senator George Barker.

We’re happy to be with you to discuss our future as Virginians. We have challenges. We have opportunities. And, most important of all, we have responsibilities.

Governor McDonnell presented some lofty goals tonight. We embrace challenges and will work with the Governor, Republicans in the legislature, and all Virginians to meet many of them. Two years ago we adopted a bold plan to restore Virginia’s pension system to fiscal health. We are pleased that the Governor’s proposed budget restores funding as promised, honoring our commitment to teachers and State employees.

Over the past decade, under Governors Warner, Kaine, and McDonnell, Virginia has received many accolades: Best State for Business, Best Managed State, Best State for Children. We have achieved such recognition by working together, Democrats and Republicans, in the interest of all Virginians.

Although our economy struggled recently, Virginia has done far better than most states, with unemployment well below the national rate. Over the past two years, we have partnered with the Governor and our Republican colleagues to help create more jobs in Virginia. We worked with Governor McDonnell to increase funding and improve targeting of money to bring businesses and investment to Virginia. We have put your interests and problem-solving before partisan bickering.

Over the last several years we cut 6 billion dollars and balanced the budget without raising taxes. We also did it without decimating support for education, public safety, and services for children, the elderly, and those with disabilities. We look forward to working with the governor to pass a budget that is best for all Virginians.

But we are concerned that aspects of the budget Governor McDonnell has put forth will damage Virginia and our economy by cutting hundreds of millions from public education and critical initiatives for children and families. Rather than making such cuts, we should be meeting our legal and moral responsibilities to our children and families.

In the past Virginia has met many needs with limited state funds by partnering with local non-profit agencies. However, the Governor’s budget would eliminate funding for teen pregnancy prevention programs and centers protecting victims of child abuse, and slash support for free clinics and community health centers, among others. We and our children need these programs.

Particularly short-sighted are cuts to pre-Kindergarten programs that put disadvantaged children on a path to success. These programs serve children who need to catch up to their peers before starting kindergarten. Studies have shown that children who come to kindergarten well-prepared are more likely to graduate high school, have higher earnings, and are less likely to be arrested. We all have an interest in continuing Virginia’s tradition of investing in our children.

The governor is also short-changing our kids by proposing to eliminate so called “cost-to-compete” money for our local school districts. This fund allows our localities to keep the best and the brightest school personnel here in Virginia, instead of losing them to higher paying states. This amounts to a nearly 65 million dollar cut to Northern Virginia schools alone.

And now I’d like to re-introduce Senator Donald McEachin.

Senator McEachin: Overall in this, his first budget, the governor is cutting Pre-K and K through 12 public education by hundreds of millions of dollars. His proposal to take more sales tax revenue to fund transportation is perhaps where we have our strongest disagreement. Governor McDonnell’s program would take 110 million dollars out of the General Fund, which is money that pays for our schools.

And taking money from education is a terrible approach to transportation funding. The governor needs to work on a real long-term solution to funding transportation instead of treating public education as a piggy bank to be raided. Taking money out of our classrooms to pave roads doesn’t help build Virginia’s future. It doesn’t help our children and it doesn’t solve our transportation problem.

We also oppose another Republican pet project, giving big corporations tax breaks for donations to private schools. We need to educate all of our children, not just the select few who can afford private schools. We strongly believe taxpayer dollars should be used for public education, not for rich private academies.

Weakening our public schools will not only hurt our children’s ability to compete in a cut-throat global economy, but also will make our state a less attractive place to do business. Last year, as in several years past, Virginia was named the “Best State for Business.” We earned that title for a variety of reasons, including education, a category in which received one of the highest ratings. Businesses will choose to come here if they know their employees’ families will be happy and their children will get a good education. We want to be a first choice for businesses so we can offer good-paying and numerous jobs.

This past November the voters of the Commonwealth elected 20 Democrats and 20 Republicans to the Senate, so to pass a budget we need to work together. We will work with the governor and with senators and delegates of both parties toward putting Virginia on the right track to economic growth, but we will not agree to short-changing our children and our future. Short-term band-aids are not a real solution to problems. Public education, transportation, a well-run and efficient state government-these are important priorities and all of them will determine whether Virginia is a state that leads the country with a robust economy in the next decade, or whether we fall behind.

We have obligations to future generations, and I hope we can all keep that in mind this session.

So I say tonight to the governor and his party, we share many of the same goals; let’s work together to make progress this session. That is what the people of this great commonwealth voted for and that’s what they deserve.

Thank you, and God bless the Commonwealth of Virginia and the United States.

~

The General Assembly opens tomorrow. This AP story says a fight might break out for control of the Senate. Um, no. One need only read the words of the Democratic leadership to know that no such fight is coming. The Republicans will get their committee chairmanships and control of the committees. And the Democrats will end up going along. Honestly, I doubt there will be many 20-20 ties. There are a couple of Dems who are all too willing to vote with the Republicans on certain issues.

~

The congressional races in Virginia have been rather quiet so far. But not for long. Paul Hirschbiel, who is challenging Scott Rigell in the 2nd CD, is having his campaign kickoff in a couple of weeks. The special guest will be none other than Sen. Mark Warner. This is going to be an interesting race to watch – and an expensive one.

~

On the local level, don’t forget that the first organizational meeting of the Norfolk Citizens for An Elected School Board is this coming Saturday. While not a fight, it’s going to be a battle to get the nearly 12,000 signatures needed by July 18. I suspect this article about the $20 million shortfall may prod some to get involved. Sure would be nice if the legislature would reduce the number of signatures required to a more manageable level.

There very well might be.

Democrats are claiming that Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling can’t vote on organizing the Senate. Republicans claim that vote gives them the majority. Ironically, the two parties are taking the opposite positions that they took the last time the Senate was deadlocked 20-20, in 1996. At that time the lieutenant governor was a Democrat, Don Beyer.

A judge refused to grant an injunction against Bolling casting the tie-breaking vote because the issue was not “ripe,” since he hadn’t yet done so. The lawsuit filed by Democratic Caucus Chairman Sen. Donald McEachin is still in front of the court. If, really when, Bolling casts his tie-breaking vote, the Democrats could go back to court. Of course, that would require them to walk off the floor, denying a quorum in the Senate until the issue could be resolved. And that’s complicated by the fact that Bolling, like the governor or a member of the legislature can’t be compelled to answer to a civil suit during the General Assembly session.

So chaos could ensue.

But it’s not necessary. Because there could be a deal that gives both sides part of what they want.

Bolling put out a well-reasoned memo dealing with what issues he believes he can cast a tie-breaking vote on and which he cannot. He believes that he can vote on organization, but not on issuing debt, constitutional amendments or final passage of the state budget. I think his analysis is right.

Which could cause problems for Republicans, as well as Democrats. They now need consensus with Democrats on the budget and they are unlikely to get it if Democrats feel that Republicans are trying to grab power they didn’t win at the polls.

But there would seem to be a deal out there.

In recognition of their victory at the polls and Bolling’s tie-breaking vote, Republicans would be recognized as the majority and control the floor. Sen. Tommy Norment would be the Majority Leader and Republicans would chair every committee.

But, reflecting what each side earned in November, instead of the 10-6 majorities Norment has talked about on committees, each side would have an equal number of seats on committees. This would allow Democrats to kill some bad social issues bills coming over from the House in committee, which probably wouldn’t really make Norment, Bolling or Gov. Bob McDonnell — who could avoid having to sign nutty social issues legislation while auditioning for the vice presidential nomination — unhappy either.

Democrats would probably also want a pledge that Norment will not, as he’s threatened, “revisit” last year’s legislative redistricting. From a good public policy perspective, that’s a good thing. Redistricting shouldn’t be on the line in every election, to be engaged in whenever the majority changes.

In return, Democrats could probably agree to pass the incumbent protection Congressional redistricting plan that all the incumbent representatives signed off on last year. True some think that would lock in the current 8-3 Republican edge. I don’t, because that edge isn’t natural anyway. Virginia’s not a 75% Republican state so there’s no way the GOP will hold that kind of advantage long term. In the incumbent protection plan the 2nd District and, to a lesser extent, the 5th would remain “swingy.” The 10th would also probably become a swing district once Rep. Frank Wolf retires. The Democrats could probably get a better deal out of the federal courts. They might still have that opportunity. Just because the “incumbent protection” plan passes the legislature doesn’t mean it will clear the Obama Justice Department, which could very well prefer the Democratic plan which offered the possibility of electing another African-American to the U.S. House.

This is a deal that could satisfy both sides. Nobody gets everything they want. Nobody gives up everything. That’s sort of the point of a “power sharing” agreement. And it’s the best both sides can probably get and still get on with the people’s business. Democrats will have to recognize that they have lost the majority. And Republicans will have to recognize that 20 seats in a 40-member body don’t justify 63% of the committee seats.

Both sides will have to recognize that they will have to compromise and cooperate to handle the range of complex issues, from the budget to uranium mining to highway funding to support for public and higher education that constitute the real work of the 2012 legislative session.

I think it’s always good to hear what candidates would do if elected, not that most of these guys have a snowball’s chance of that happening. Truthfully, I expect the field to winnow rather quickly. At some point in the not-too-distant future, the anti-Romney’s are going to figure out that only one of them can actually carry that mantle. Sorry, Max, but that person is not going to be Ron Paul, although as one of two candidates not in the running to be ABR, I expect him to hang around for a while.

The other candidate not in the running to be ABR is Jon Huntsman. I think Huntsman is actually the best candidate on the Republican side. Except for his embrace of the Paul Ryan budget, he seems to really get it. But I’ll be surprised if he makes it past Florida. (The 2012 primary calendar is here.) Look for him to make another run in 2016, though.

So that leaves Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Rick Perry. Will Perry even make it to Florida? I don’t know. But he’s incapable of being ABR. Santorum had his moment in the sun in Iowa – and I expect that will be his high water mark.

Speaking of Santorum – I found his remarks Sunday on secularism to be quite interesting. On the issue of Pakistan, Santorum said:

They are not a theocracy. And we’re very hopeful of — of maintaining a — a more secular state than — than is in place today.

But when speaking of the U.S. and President Obama, Santorum said:

… he knows works because he has a secular ideology that is against the traditions of our country and what works.

So Santorum hopes that Pakistan is secular but doesn’t want that for us? Color me confused.

Anyway – Santorum is soon to be gone, leaving Gingrich as the standard bearer.

And that’s where things are going to get interesting. I think Romney and Gingrich are going to slug it out for a while – although not in Virginia.This trailer is just the beginning:

Ouch!

Once we get past March, the proportional allocation of delegates gives way to winner-take-all. Romney, who I expect will win the nomination, won’t have it locked up by then. The prize on April 3 is Texas – and Rick Perry will be relevant again. Who he endorses may very well influence the outcome there.

I can tell you: it’s a heck of a lot more fun watching the primaries from this side than it was in 2008.

• A newspaper article from 1965 which mentioned the 255 signatures Rockwell turned in. At the time, the requirement for governor was a mere 250 signatures. (I found a number of sites claiming that Rockwell paid a fee in lieu of signatures. That does not appear to be the case. I found no reference to a fee in lieu of signatures.)
• This short article about the 1965 results, in addition to discussing Rockwell, reminded me that my good  friend’s father – “a militant segregationist and member of the John Birch Society” – was also on the gubernatorial ballot that year. Also interesting was the use of the term “right-wing Virginians.”
• A William & Mary Law Review article (pdf) on election law reform from 1970, which explains the differences between the then-existing law and the new law. I note there is no mention of the signature requirements by Congressional district. It seems no one knows for sure when that crept into the law. The legislative history, although cited (like here), doesn’t go back far enough. Clicking on the 152 at the bottom brings up this bill, which shows the signature requirements being increased from 200 per CD to 400.
• I discovered a new source of info – The Virginia Elections and State Elected Officials Database Project, 1776-2008 – at the University of Virginia Library. This allowed me to see the results of the 1965 election, including how much money the candidates each spent, both in 1965 dollars and in 2007 dollars. (For comparison, look at the 2005 and 2009 gubernatorial races. Yes, a lot more voters but a LOT more money spent.)

I do believe Virginia’s 10,000/400 signature requirements are going to be reduced to a more manageable level. Del. Jennifer McClellan introduced a bill in the 2011 session that would have reduced the signature requirement to 5,000. Her bill was incorporated into this one by Del. Mark Cole, which didn’t have the reduction in the number of signatures. Cole’s bill passed.

But that was only the latest effort to reduce the signatures. Back in 2003, Del. Marian Van Langingham introduced this bill (identical Senate bill introduced by Benny Lambert) which would have cut both the overall signatures and per CD signatures in half – to 5,000 and 200, respectively. The bill passed – but without any changes to the language in section 24.2-545.

Opening up Virginia’s ballots to more candidates is the right thing to do. But, as I mentioned in my article, it may very well mean that people like Rockwell gain access; thus, the op-ed’s title (which I didn’t write, by the way). I don’t see that as a problem – after all, Rockwell only got about 1% of the vote.

It was a bit mind-boggling to note that we’ve not had four candidates for governor since 1965. So while I can’t prove the connection between Rockwell and the 1970 election law changes, it sure does make a lot of sense.

Bottom line is that Virginia survived Rockwell’s run in 1965.

It’s past time to change the law.

The frustration probably stems from when people ask for money to fix needed items in the city and there is just not the budget for it.  Cities as well an taxpayers personally should be watching the bottom line in these economic times.  However, one can get really frustrated when they can’t spend a couple thousand to fix something that is needed but can spend millions for something frivolous.  Especially when these items are things on someone on councils wish list.

The author in the above letter to the editor was addressing the City of Hampton. Now Hampton has a lot of items that need to be done that people are pushing for like :  schools, dredging the waterways , dealing with flooding,  revitalizing down town  and of course Fort Monroe. However, in this economy most groups are told they have to wait. However, Hampton is not waiting on its issues like 29 million on the new courthouse, buying old section 8 housing for  $15 million (13.4 million and $2 million to tear them down) , and now they are looking to buy another area of land.  They recently came out with their 5 year plan Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) for 160 million dollars. It included such items as 10 million to extend a road, 3 million for an overpass near town center and multiple sidewalks near developers projects.

The problem is when people come forward and need items done they have to wait years. This was the case  with some sidewalks in old North Hampton. Those people waited for years walking through the water where the storm drains flooded the streets trying to get from the bus to their homes. When I say waited I mean more than 10 years because they were asking when I first moved to Hampton.  However, if a developer wants sidewalks apparently it is fast tracked because there were 3 in the CIP which I had never heard mentioned before.  The pedestrian cross over for the town center is another example. Is it necessary, I don’t think so because I  drive past there everyday. Not that many people are walking to the mall. When they are they have no trouble with the timed lights. So yes it is nice but not necessary like some of the items that must wait because of the economy. Is it such an issue that they need to spend 3 million dollars on it?

So I can relate how the citizens of Hampton could become frustrated with this whole process.  But when they ask who gave you the right to spend taxpayer money. The answer is you , the taxpayer, did. Hampton recent presentation for input from citizens for the 160 million proposal only drew 7 people. The meeting was advertised multiple ways but only 7 people cared to show up.  Only 7 people of over 140,000. Then people get indigent about why no one voiced their displeasure about how money is being spent. If they really cared they would pay attention to council meetings , the budget and the CIP. To be fair a significant amount showed up several years ago. They made the citizens go around and dot the top three projects. There was one that was far and away the project considered most needed. However, when the plan was presented to council it was not on the list.  They did end up doing the project but at the time I remember many of the attendees saying that was just for show, a waste of time and they would never participate again. However, not to do so only allows for the pet projects to be approved.  People need to know what the city is proposing and hold them accountable. This is not an isolated incident in Hampton I see this happening in many cities.

It is like voting on the local level. People feel they have the right to complain about elected officials but can’t be bothered to vote. So we get ourselves in this mess and when we want to blame someone we need to just look in the mirror.

Wait, he is voting on abortion bills that will go nowhere, while his constituents lose their houses and have lost their livelihoods and can’t afford even the necessities?

Welcome to the 112th Congress, where the Republicans stonewall everything but socially conservative legislation in the House. Bills that will go nowhere, that Robert Hurt has voted affirmatively on, bills that deal mostly with abortion, contraception, women’s rights to determine her health decisions, and more.

Lots of time has been wasted, and unless they are putting on a show, the Republicans seem to scratch their heads and wonder why all those bills die in the Senate, and then vote and pass more of them (going nowhere).

While people in Martinsville, Danville and many other localities suffer at the hand of this cruel economy wrought by Bush, Robert Hurt and his colleagues have decided to do nothing to improve job creation. They say that the bills they pass are “jobs bills”, but they are 100% centered around business and what the House can do to make it easier for businesses to do business.

This is a nice idea, but totally wrong and totally misguided.

Right now, we don’t need Ned to start a cabinet shop and hire two people. We need large, well established businesses to open locations in the 5th District. For instance, IKEA has a factory in the southern part of the district.

We need 20 more IKEA-sized business to come to the 5th District and provide hundreds of jobs. 15.6% unemployment is inexcusable. This climate is tearing at the very fabric that makes the localities, the 5th District, and Virginia a great place to live and raise a family.

When Virgil Goode promised all those great jobs in Martinsville early in the last decade, people believed him and made decisions accordingly. MZM turned out to be a bust, and Goode himself was found to have taken boatloads of money from Mitchell Wade (now a convicted felon) and his employees. (straw donations, company requirement)

Do we really have to wait now and see what another Republican who just follows orders will do to improve the plight of all the residents of the 5th District? We have an opportunity in November to go back to the kind of independent thinking and unbought representation we had before Robert Hurt. What I mean of course, is electing a Democrat to that seat.

After all, we can’t afford to wait for another MZM or other calamity brought on by Robert Hurt. We need help now.

In addition to the website, the group has set up a Facebook page. More information is in the press release, below.

Norfolk Citizens for an Elected School Board

Organizer Representing Norfolk Citizens Files Paperwork to Initiate School Board Referendum

Norfolk, VA – At 10:30am on Tuesday January 3rd, Patrick Smith, a parent with children in Norfolk schools and a retired Air Force Veteran, filed the necessary paperwork with the Clerk of the Court to begin collecting signatures to place the issue of an elected school on the November 2012 ballot.

According to the Virginia State Code, valid signatures from 10% of the city’s registered voters must be turned in 111 days prior to the election in order for the question to be placed on the ballot.

To organize the petition drive, we will be hosting 2 organizational meetings in the month of January.

The first will start at 10am, January 14th at the Pretlow Library in Ocean View and will be primarily for those looking to take a lead role in organizing the operation.

The second meeting will be held January 28th at the same time and place for those interested in volunteering to collect signatures from their friends, family, neighbors and co-workers.

For more information, please visit our website at www.electedschoolboard.com or contact Patrick Smith at 757-284-0022 or at patrick@electedschoolboard.com.

It was a hoot to watch the folks count the caucus votes, all handwritten on slips of green paper. The votes were tallied on a legal pad, by hand. They punched the numbers into a calculator, as they calculated the percentages that each candidate received. At one point, there was a minor disagreement over what the calculator results meant: is that 3% or point 3%? Reminded me of my students

Then I watched them call in the results to the headquarters. The woman on the other end obviously had the candidates listed in alphabetically order, which seemed to trip up the caller a bit. When the woman asked for the vote totals for Herman Cain, he looked truly confused, as no one in his caucus had voted for Cain.

All in all, I’m glad the hype over Iowa is done. Now to move on to the next hype: New Hampshire

Miller’s announcement read:

The upcoming session of the General Assembly will deal with a variety of issues that will affect you. From budget cuts to gun laws, from lifting the ban on uranium mining to deciding how to improve our transportation infrastructure. Senator Miller wants to hear your views. Join him for his Town Hall meeting.

Williamsburg           Jan 3rd at 7 pm at the library

Hampton                  Jan 4th at 7 pm at the Northampton Community Center

Newport News         Jan 5th at 7 pm at the Ferguson Center

Suffolk                       Jan 7th at 2 pm at the fire station #5

This is an excellent opportunity to have your voice heard on the budget priorities. I encourage all of Norfolk to attend one or more of the meetings.

See you there!

Note: RSVPs are due by tomorrow, January 3rd.

This will be a great time. With the legislative session starting on January 11, no doubt most of the legislators will be in town for this. I’ve attended them in the past and it’s a nice opportunity to hang out with the legislators, not all of whom will be members of the VLBC.

“Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man.” - Benjamin Franklin

As we roll into a new year, here’s a quick recap of the top posts viewed on this blog over the last year.

1. American Idol results 03/31/11: two eliminated
2. “It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.”
3. DYK…Virginia is a Dillon Rule state?
4. Concert review: Elton John
5. Trailer trash?
6. Tailgating in Virginia Beach: why the disparity in ordinances?
7. BCS championship: the halftime show
8. Political map of Virginia
9. Minority status
10. What happened to the Democratic Party?

Happy New Year!

UPDATE: Can you say “oops”? Cuccinelli reconsiders changing 2012 Virginia ballot

However, after working through different scenarios with Republican and Democratic leaders to attempt to make changes in time for the 2012 Presidential election, my concern grows that we cannot find a way to make such changes fair to the Romney and Paul campaigns that qualified even with Virginia’s burdensome system

In other words, he didn’t have the support in the legislature for his idea.

Round 1 goes to Bolling.

I guess it’s true that a broken clock is right twice a day

I have been to Central Park, though, which, for purposes of today’s quiz, is close enough

You Are Deeply Thoughtful

You believe that there’s an interesting story behind everything and everyone. And you’re fascinated by these stories. You think a lot about the past. You believe that history has a lot to teach us. You are original and expressive. You can make poetry out of anything. You are a spiritual soul who sees into the future. You are also good at interpreting dreams.

Take The Central Park Test

Newt Gingrich has done a whole lot of huffing and puffing but has yet to actually file any legal action to be included. I suspect he won’t; after all, he already looked like an idiot by saying he was going to pursue a write-in campaign – which he can’t do under Virginia law. He followed up that “oops” with another – claiming that “fraud” on the part of one signature-gatherer cost him a place on the ballot. A number of reports coming out of the RPV during the counting process indicated that Gingrich petitions lacking addresses were tossed. Is that “fraud”? Or a simple misunderstanding of the process by the State Board of Elections, the RPV and those gathering signatures?

The section of Virginia code relating to the presidential primary is § 24.2-545. While the code says that the SBE is charged with designing the petition form, nowhere in that section is there a requirement that addresses be included. It does appear in § 24.2-506, but that section clearly does not apply to presidential primaries – note that the office is not listed there. If the RPV did toss Gingrich petitions because of the lack of addresses, I believe they erred.

The truth, though, is that the petition deadline and requisite certification was poorly timed. There is no reason why this process was scheduled to take place over the Christmas holiday. It wasn’t the number of signatures that created this problem – after all, as this editorial points out, it’s going to take 12,000 petition signatures to force a vote on elected school boards in Norfolk – it was the timing. There was no time, for example, for a candidate to challenge the reasons the petitions were discarded.

And maybe, just maybe, one person would not have lost her life.

In all honesty, I expected the Republican Party of Virginia to find a way to put these two on the ballot, despite their failure to obtain the necessary signatures. After all, the certification lies with the RPV, and what constitutes sufficiency is left in their hands. The RPV has, instead, dug its heels in. There is no time, as others have said, for legislative action, despite efforts on the part of some to pursue it.

As the result, only Mitt Romney and Ron Paul will appear on the March 6 primary ballot.

To add insult to injury, the RPV has decided to invoke the “loyalty oath” provisions allowed under the code. Supposedly, State Central voted on December 3 – just days outside of the 90-day window – to include this, even though the SBE didn’t vote on it until yesterday. Personally, I find that rather curious, because if this was the case, how come we are just hearing about it now? Rare is the occasion where a bombshell like this escapes notice of everybody. But I have confirmed with someone that I trust who was there that the vote did occur. Guess they were good about keeping it quiet.

Even worse, though, is that the provision even exists in the code. How can you ask all Virginia taxpayers to pay for a primary and then only allow some to participate? I have no problem with closed primaries – as long as the parties pay for them themselves.

I know this isn’t the first time that loyalty oaths were required: they were also used in the 2000 Republican presidential primary. While I don’t remember signing it, I must have as I did vote in that primary. And as long as I’m paying for it, I intend to vote in this one, too.

I’ve heard all the arguments about Republicans choose their own candidate – and I ain’t buying them. My reason for voting in March 2012 is the same as my reason for voting in 2000: somebody is going to win the presidency in November and I’d like that person to be the best choice possible.

No, my vote will not go to the candidate I think is the easiest to beat. That’s not my style. Without knowing what things will look like in November 2012, my vote will go to the candidate who I think is best suited to be president of all of us.

I believed in 2000 that John McCain as president was preferable to George Bush, even though I hoped that Al Gore was going to win. Had he made the ballot, my vote in March would have gone to Jon Huntsman, because of the entire Republican field, I believe him to be the best choice.

I don’t know how I’m going to vote in March with just Romney and Paul on the ballot. But, loyalty oath be damned, I intend to. Because the possibility exists that one of those guys could be elected president. And as a taxpayer in Virginia, I intend to have my voice be heard in the process.

UPDATE: Since writing this, I have received information that the Gingrich petitions were tossed for reasons other than just addresses. In fact, my sources say that it was fraud, that names and addresses were copied from some source – maybe a phone book – all in the same handwriting. In addition, I’m told that Perry turned in maybe 2,000 signatures, not the 6,000 he claimed in his lawsuit nor the 11,911 first reported.

In the spirit of the holiday season, I’m going to try to locate and post a link to a story every day that I find that makes me smile.

Judge withdraws from piracy case in Norfolk

A federal judge has recused himself from the case of the hijacking of a yacht that left four Americans dead after learning that the vessel is now being stored at a Portsmouth marina partially owned by his brother.

Ethics is not something to be taken lightly, yet far too many fail to recognize when the appearance of a conflict exists. Kudos to U.S. District Judge Mark S. Davis for seeing it and acting on it. You made me smile today.

The relevant code section allowing this is here.

But wait! The code says:

The requirements applicable to a party’s primary shall be determined at least 90 days prior to the primary date and certified to, and approved by, the State Board.

Given that the primary is March 6, it seems that would mean that this should have been done by December 6 or so.

So not only is it unenforceable, it seems to be illegal.

UPDATE: As NotCatherineCrabill mentions below, the Republican State Central Committee approved this at their meeting on December 3. Further, I am told that the SBE parses the sentence above to mean that the 90 days applies only to the party’s action, and not theirs. So while the oath remains unenforceable, it appears to be legal.

In the spirit of the holiday season, I’m going to try to locate and post a link to a story every day that I find that makes me smile.

When the picture of the gay couple kissing made the front page of The Virginian-Pilot, I knew it would generate some negative letters to the editor. Sure enough, Christmas Eve brought a couple of letters (1, 2), the first one of which was written by a minister, even though the online version doesn’t show that.

Today’s paper included not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, but SEVEN LTEs that refuted the rantings.

And if that wasn’t enough, a Walt Taylor cartoon (click to enlarge).

Heck yeah, I smiled.

First we have an editorial calling out council for acting on The Palace so quickly:

Perhaps Kenny Bullock is qualified to serve as a manager for his restaurant, The Palace on Plume Street.

But the people of Norfolk don’t know that, because the City Council approved his request to serve as manager of the club without a single word of public discussion.

In other words, business as usual in our fine city.

Even bigger was this story on the separation of school superintendent Richard Bentley. As quoted from the termination contract:

“The board agrees that the termination is an ‘involuntary separation not for cause,’ for internal, VRS and contract purposes. For public relations purposes it will simply be characterized as a separation ‘by mutual agreement.’ “

In other words, they lied.

At some point, the citizens of Norfolk are going to wake up and realize that those elected to represent us aren’t dealing fairly with us. I hope it is sooner rather than later.

But Gingrich wasn’t the only candidate who failed to make the ballot. Texas Gov. Rick Perry, whose campaign thus far had seemed to be deficient in brainpower, charisma and debating skills, but not in money or organizational expertise, also failed to turn in enough signatures to qualify.

Michele Bachmann, John Huntsman and Rick Santorum didn’t bother to turn in any signatures. Not much of a surprise for the latter two. They’ve just been hanging around. Neither has gotten a bump as the Republican’s “flavor of the month” to be the Not-Mitt Romney candidate. Hell, even Donald Trump got a bump and he never got in.

In fact, only Romney and septuagenarian Libertarian Ron Paul made the ballot. The first is the definition of the smooth, well organized, Establishment Republican. Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling heads his campaign in Virginia and there wasn’t much chance he wouldn’t get the necessary signatures. The second is a cult figure who has never won much besides straw polls, but his Paulistas can manage a signature gathering campaign.

While Gingrich and, to a lesser extent, Perry and Bachmann have been whining about how tough Virginia’s ballot access laws are — they require 10,000 signatures, including 400 from each of the state’s 11 congressional districts — the fact is everyone knew what the rules were from the jump.

And how hard can it be? In 2008 Democratic candidates like Al Sharpton and Dennis Kucinich, neither of whom were exactly at the crest of a rising tide, made it onto Virginia’s ballot.

They had help though. The Democratic Party of Virginia gathered signatures for all of the candidates at various events. The Republican Party of Virginia didn’t make that kind of effort this year. They aren’t required to, of course, but it might have helped.

Republican incompetency has taken a good deal of fun out of what could have been a very exciting year in politics here.

Because, if all the candidates — of at least the ones with some following (sorry Huntsman and Santorum) — had made it on to the ballot, the Virginia Republican Primary might have been very important.

Because, if Romney has some early defeats — and poll numbers in Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina suggest that he might — Virginia, where the Lt. Gov. Bolling chairs his campaign, might have been the state where Romney rallied and took control of the race. Virginia played that role for George W. Bush in 2000 and John McCain in 2008.

It can’t play that role this time because, with only the quirky Paul n opposition, nobody will pay much attention to Virginia. The only thing of consequence that could happen here now is an embarrassing Romney defeat. That’s unlikely. But remember Paul’s cultists are going to vote no matter how hopeless the situation looks. And Virginia is an open primary state and, with an incumbent Democratic president in office, Virginia Democrats really don’t have anything better to do on Primary Day than go out and vote for Paul in an attempt to humiliate the Republican front-runner.

And, through the rise and inevitable fall of each “Anti-Mitt” candidate, Bachmann and Perry and Herman Caine and Gingrich and maybe even Paul, Romney has been unable to seal the deal with more than 25 to 30% of Republican primary voters.

Gingrich put on a brave front and promised a write-in campaign. Until someone told him Virginia doesn’t allow write-ins in a primary. Then, there was talk of legislation in the General Assembly to change that.

I doubt that will happen for three reasons:

1. It would require emergency legislation that would require the consent of a super-majority of the General Assembly. Democrats — and Republicans supporting Romney or Paul — don’t have any reason to do Gingrich and company any favors.

2. In the unlikely event it passed the General Assembly, Gov. McDonnell would have to sign it. I’m pretty sure Bolling would take up permanent residence in the governor’s outer office to make sure that didn’t happen.

3. There’s a reason that Virginia has a rule against write-ins in primaries. We’re an open primary state, with no registration by party. Suppose we allowed write-in votes next year. Suppose 400,000 Republicans show up and 40% of them write in Gingrich and Romney gets 30% of the vote and Paul gets 15% and Perry gets 10% and Bachmann gets 5%. Then suppose 200,000 Democrats, who don’t have anything better to do that day, show up and all of them vote for Barack Obama. Obama wins the Virginia Republican Primary.

Is that going to happen? No.
We’re just going to have a barely-noticed contest between Romney and Paul.
And we could have been a contender…if any of the other Republicans were as well-organized as the Dennis Kucinich campaign in 2008.

From The Virginian-Pilot comes this gem: Chesapeake father creates app to navigate autism

The application essentially allows children to create simple sentences by selecting from a row of virtual flashcards that represent nouns and verbs.

What an awesome idea! And a big kudos to Norfolk-based firm We Are Titans for continuing the project when the money to fund it ran out.

From The Virginian-Pilot:

When cyclists gather on New Year’s Day in dual-location rides, it won’t be the first time they’ve rallied to benefit an old friend. Or the second.

Isn’t giving what this holiday is about?

#Santa just took off from the North Pole! See the video @ ow.ly/84Cti #NORAD is tracking #Santa!

—
noradsanta (@NoradSanta) December 24, 2011

You can track Santa here. Smartphone users can use the Google Maps mobile site and seach for [santa] to track. And you can get updates over the phone by calling 877-HI-NORAD (877-446-6723) from 6am today to 5am Christmas Day.

So – what’s Santa going to leave you? Have you been good or bad this year?

’Twas right before Christmas, and all through the Capitol.
Few politicians were stirring, their consciences unflappable;

Head over and read the whole thing. I think it might make you laugh, too

From The Virginian-Pilot:

Christmas these days involves lots of fussy preparations and overspending on overpriced gadgets. But if we went back in time, way back to the early 1600s, we’d find no tech-savvy gifts, no decorated trees and certainly no neighborhood light displays to rival Vegas.

This story just makes me grateful that I’m not living in the early 1600s No gadgets? No way

There are numerous arguments for and against an elected school board. At the end of the day, it is accountability that is important.

A couple of weeks ago, I received a copy of the following letter that the Legislative Committee of the Larchmont Elementary School PTA sent to the Norfolk School Board:

Two years ago, the Larchmont Elementary School PTA formed a Legislative Committee. This committee took on the task of supporting our schools by connecting with a variety of city officials and community leaders. Our top priority is to explore funding solutions to maintain the quality of our children’s education in the face of continuing local, state and federal budget cuts. Today we find ourselves and our children faced with a far bigger problem than a multi-million dollar budget shortfall. The premature departure of the superintendent gravely concerns our committee. It comes at a great cost to the morale, continuity and credibility of the school division.

Communications from NPS via an automated phone call and a division-produced video on its website have only described the leadership transition. We are concerned about the impact that this change will have on teacher retention, the ability to select another qualified superintendent, and the perception of NPS in the community. Focus in the press on short-term issues, including immediate improvement of test scores, on-time graduation rates and school accreditation, has not given us the clarity we need.

Therefore, we respectfully ask the board to describe its vision for our children’s schools. We want to know what short-term solutions are being sought, and more importantly, the long-term vision of the board. We need the opportunity to understand the board’s vision, the plan for its implementation and the timetable for accomplishing its plan.

As stakeholders, we believe that understanding your vision will enable us to continue our support of NPS.

Thank you in advance for devoting the time necessary to address our concerns.

We are all stakeholders in our public schools, whether or not we have children there. I believe our future depends on a well-educated populace. And part of that requires that those who are responsible for overseeing that education be accountable to all of us.

It’s a time-honored tradition at Navy homecomings – one lucky sailor is chosen to be first off the ship for the long-awaited kiss with a loved one.

Today, for the first time, the happily reunited couple was gay.

Accompanying the article is a couple of photos. Here is one of them:

Brian Clark | The Virginian-Pilot

UPDATE: In case you haven’t seen the video, here it is.

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