She's Unstoppable!

Once again, Arlington's Sonya Thomas has taken another title in competitive eating. This time, it's crabcakes, Hon! Of course, as a native Baltimorean, I am desperate to know if she had crackers and mustard too...

Resources, Resources

I love the Internet. Over the past dozen years or so it has never ceased to entertain and inform. One of the greatest things about it is the breadth of information we can now access with such ease. Here are a couple of neat resources you might find interesting. First, here's the splash page for the Library of Virginia, which can point you in all sorts of directions. For example, did you know that current Virginia lodging figures are up 4% over last year? (from the VTC Tourism Dashboard Newsletter) You can check out photos from the Virginia Room at the 1939 World's Fair. Or read summaries of legislative petitions that were recorded in your county between 1776 and 1865. Okay, maybe you aren't a history buff. That doesn't mean you don't want to find your own buried treasure on the Internet. Here's the site for Virginia's Unclaimed Property. I hope you get a windfall! Just remember to share...

Decode This, Jerry...

I read a really disturbing piece in the Politics section of Leesburg Today on Friday about how the Kilgore campaign was handing out plastic "Tim Kaine decoder rings" which are supposed to draw attention to some kind of issue they have with "code words" they perceive in Kaine's language. Decoder rings. Right. I thought it was a mistake, but then I read about them again in several other papers, including the Washington Times and The Free Lance-Star.

How is anybody supposed to take Jerry Kilgore seriously when he comports himself like this? Resorting to cheap metaphors. Nitpicking an opponent's word choices rather than addressing constructive ideas. Projecting and cultivating negativity. It's like he's running for Senior Class President, not Governor of a diverse and complicated Commonwealth. If you've given money to his campaign, I hope you are delighted that he spent it on cheap plastic.

The debates are coming. One televised, one not. I hope that Mr. Kilgore is ready to have every aspect of his discourse scrutinized. One has only to view the videos posted by the VFW to get scary a taste of that Gomer Pyle meets slightly-crazed hypnotist delivery of his. Of course, having a lousy speaking voice isn't such a big deal, it's his level of discourse that never reaches beyond 5th grade level that truly concerns me. We are adults here, looking to improve our quality of life. Sometimes that means making the hard choice and taking the difficult path to get the reward later. I'm not confident he gets that.

In addition to state management (an activity which Mr. Kaine can say he has been a part of, quite successfully) our Governor represents Virginia on the national stage and rubs elbows with high level corporate business interests to stimulate the economy. It's important that Virginians look beyond party affiliations to choose the person they think will be more effective at doing those things. Since it appears that Jerry Kilgore would rather play with toys than focus on the serious issues that face Virginians, since he consistently chooses to take the low road, I don't think it's him.

Why Virginia is Special # 3

Sonya Thomas from Alexandria must have an amazing metabolism, if she's able to eat 11 lbs. of lobster, when she's only 98 lbs. herself! Read more about her triumphs here on her website and find out why they call her the Black Widow.

Educating Virginia

I have been interested in the education plans that have recently rolled out from the Kilgore and Kaine campaigns. I'm providing some links before so you can read them and judge them for yourself. Personally, I think that Kaine's plan is more comprehensive. It's a little disturbing how everything that comes out of Kilgore's office has a Cliffs Notes kind of approach. A page or two of bullet points. Lots of white space. I guess it's easier to just skim the surface and not stick your neck out.

Kilgore's Plan

Kaine's Plan

From Manassas to Mars...

A Manassas-based company is expanding to develop an aircraft that can fly in the atmosphere of Mars. Pretty cool! Read about it in the Washington Business Journal.

How About Something Constructive, Mr. Kilgore?

Today's Washington Post covers Jerry Kilgore's decision to come out against subsidizing sites for day laborers. He also said he supports legislation that would allow authorities to detain illegal immigrants who are arrested and turn them over to immigration. Illegal immigration is obviously a very sensitive and complex issue. to which there are no easy answers. Unfortunately, Mr. Kilgore's comments do not offer any kind of constructive solution. It's worth noting the irony that Loudoun County Supervisor Eugene A. Delgaudio (R-Sterling) appears to agree with Mr. Kilgore's position, since one would assume that day laborers are needed to complete all of those housing developments he and his Republican cronies have approved across the county.

Virginia Museum Receives Donation

TheArtNewsPaper.com reports that the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond has received an amazing donation -- an art collection worth $100 million dollars. It comes from Frances and James McGlothlin (Chairman and CEO of Virginia's United Company). Read the story.

Interesting Interview with the Gubernatorial Candidates

Style Weekly is running a fascinating series of interviews with the three candidates (yes, Jerry, there are three). They each answer the same questions in the format. This week's appears here.

Whoops!

Looks like the Kilgore campaign's slip is showing. I don't know political strategery, but sending the press your private communications and using terms like "ammo" seems a little over the top. Interesting story in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Why Virginia is Special # 2

The Government Performance Project recently released their state report cards, grading state management in the areas of Money, People, Infrastructure and Information. Virginia received excellent marks, with an overall grade of A-. Take a look at the study.

Gas Prices

Gas prices appear to be climbing again in Northern Virginia. A glance at VirginiaGasPrices.com shows the disparity between folks in the southern and northern parts of our state. From what I have read, the Energy Bill recently passed by Congress does nothing to address pricing issues in the short term. While there does appear to be a small tax credit coming for those purchasing a hybrid vehicle, it appears that President Bush would rather chew off his leg and feed it to Barney than discourage a single American from buying a vehicle that's best suited to accommodate the needs of The Partridge Family.

Why Virginia is Special # 1

We have a state bat...and you don't...so there!

This little guy eats moths, so remember him well when sweater season rolls around again.

Virginia-pedia?

Look for plans the New Virginia Encyclopedia on the Internet at the end of 2007. It should be a terrific resource for information about Virginia, similar to sites operated by other states. The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities project, which will cost $2.2 million, is being funded by federal and state funds, as well as private sources.

Listen Up

It was big news a couple of weeks ago when Jerry Kilgore had his big ticket fundraiser, featuring President Bush. Now it looks like some of the money might be going to pay legal fees. From the Daily Progress in Charlottesville, here's an interesting article about GOP eavesdropping that resulted in big settlement against them, some big legal fees, and now a lawsuit so they can get somebody else to pay for it. Should be interesting to Republicans and Democrats alike.

More Power!

Energy consumpion in VA has been up over the last few weeks, occasionally hitting record levels for Dominion Power.

Dominion Power's Outage Map is interesting.

Earth911 has a comprehensive collection of energy saving tips here.

Welcome to the 10th State

On June 25, 1788, Virginia became the 10th state to ratify the constitution. I have lived in Virginia since 2001 and am always interested to learn new things about its past, present, and future.