"A Virginia House of Delegates committee on Monday defeated proposals to bring early voting to Virginia, likely ending serious discussion of the issue for the year."
RedStormPAC has changed its website's look and we've got our eyes on 2009. Check it out, please let us what you think, and start supporting candidates for this pivotal year.
RedStormPAC is an independent political action committee (PAC) whose mission is to support conservative candidates with an avenue for small dollar donations, organized by committed conservative activists who want to help fellow conservatives utilize the "long tail" of online fundraising.
100% of every contribution is passed directly to the candidate or organization. You donate $100, the candidate will get $100 and RedStormPAC processes the transaction at-cost to itself.
For more information or to start helping keep Virginia right, visit RedStormPAC at http://www.redstormpac.org.
Tomorrow Virginia holds its primaries. This is the first time in a long time that, you know, our area's votes actually count for something, so please take the time to go do your civic duty. And if you're looking for extra credit, check out your county's specific other issues and local elections, do a little research, and add your voice for civic pride.
At the state Capitol today the Virginia General Assembly begins a 60-day legislative session.
Key issues in the session will include Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's two-year $78 billion budget proposal and his proposed fixes to the state's mental-health system nearly nine months after the Virginia Tech slayings.
Tonight: At 7 p.m., Kaine presents his State of the Commonwealth Address to a joint session meeting in the House of Delegates chamber.
"Attention Virginians: The cost of bad driving is about to go up. Way up.
"Say you are driving 78 mph on the Capital Beltway and a state trooper tickets you for 'reckless driving - speeding 20 mph over.' You will probably be fined $200 by the judge. But then you will receive a new, additional $1,050 fine from the Old Dominion, payable in three convenient installments. So convenient that you must pay the first one immediately, at the courthouse...
"As part of the plan to fund the annual $1 billion transportation package approved this year, state legislators endorsed a new set of 'civil remedial fees' for all misdemeanor and felony traffic violations, such as speeding 20 mph above the limit, reckless driving and, in some cases, driving with faulty brakes. Drivers with points on their licenses - a speeding ticket usually earns four points - will be hit for $75 for every point above eight and $100 for having that many points in the first place."
Governor Kaine proposes statewide smoking ban, vetoes five bills set to expand the state's use of the death penalty, and vetoes a bill to require the HPV vaccine in girls.
Frustrated that the state legislature failed to ban smoking in bars and restaurants, Alexandria officials have come up with a maverick plan of their own that would prohibit smoking in all new eateries and make it more difficult for existing establishments to allow people to light up.
The unusual proposal would use the city's zoning authority to mandate smoke-free restaurants.
If successful, Alexandria would become the first jurisdiction to bar restaurant smoking in Virginia, where the state legislature severely limits local authority. That means individual governments do not have the power to institute outright smoking bans in restaurants and bars, such as those adopted in the District and several Maryland jurisdictions.
Fairfax Schools Could Lose Millions for Defying 'No Child' [WP] "The U.S. Education Department threatened yesterday to withhold more than $17 million from Fairfax County schools if the system continues to defy a federal mandate to give reading tests to thousands of immigrant children."
The Sudan divestment bill (SB 1331) not only made it out of the Virginia Senate Rules Committee but was passed unanimously by the Virginia Senate yesterday. This is pretty much wonderful. Many thanks to any of you who called. :)
Ten minutes of your time (yes, yours!) on the phone this weekend can help Virginia end the genocide in Darfur, which has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions.
The truth apparently has a liberal bias in the Virginia State Legislature these days, according to ABC:
Anger over Republicans killing bills without recording the vote, Democratic operatives began videotaping early morning and late-night statehouse proceedings and posting them on their assembly's blog and the Internet-based video site YouTube.
"We're providing openness and access to Virginia government," said Mark Bergman, spokesman for the Virginia Democratic Party.
Bergman argues that the videos are the only way for Virginians to see these committee proceedings because the Republican majority changed the rules in 2006 to allow off-hour committee and subcommittee votes to go unrecorded.
Last week, House Republicans in Virginia defeated a Democratic measure without recording the vote that would have raised the state's minimum wage.
I wonder what effect these video clips will have on advertising for Virginia's 2007 General Assembly elections.
A General Assembly committee has approved a measure that would require Virginia to slowly phase out the touch-screen voting machines on which most Virginians vote.
The measure would require localities to replace the machines with optical scan machines when they wear out or when additional voting equipment is needed.
The Senate Privileges and Elections Committee approved 13-2 the phase-out measure, sponsored by Sen. Jeannemarie Devolites Davis.
Barbara Cockrell, deputy secretary of the State Board of Elections, said 104 of 134 Virginia localities use the touch-screen machines. Those localities include Richmond, Henrico County, Fairfax, Virginia Beach and Norfolk.
In the Richmond area, Chesterfield and Hanover counties use the optical scan equipment.
The touch-screen machines have run afoul of a nationwide, grassroots movement to require paper trails in balloting. The optical scan machines leave paper, the touch-screen machines do not.
RICHMOND, Va. -- A state legislator's statement that black people "should get over" slavery and questioning whether Jews should apologize "for killing Christ" caused furious and tearful denunciations Tuesday before stunned lawmakers.
Del. Frank D. Hargrove, in defending himself, told one of his critics, a delegate whose Jewish ancestors immigrated from Nazi-occupied Poland, that "your skin is a little too thin."
Current Music: The White Stripes - The Union Forever
"Virginia's U.S. Senate race turned nasty Wednesday as Republican Sen. George Allen launched a character attack on his Democratic opponent's past views toward women in combat, signaling the start of a two-month barrage of negative campaigning in what has become a close race."
Arlington, VA – In an unprecedented development in Virginia’s U.S. Senate race, a senior Democratic State lawmaker today strongly endorsed Senator George Allen’s campaign for reelection to the U.S. Senate. State Senator Benjamin Lambert lauded Senator Allen in a letter, specifically highlighting his efforts for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
“We have worked together for the past 20 years: when we served in the House of Delegates together, during your tenure as Governor, as a Congressman and now as Virginia’s junior Senator. Because we have worked well together over the years on many issues, and especially because you have delivered on your promises to support Virginia’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities, I am pleased to support you in your re-election to the U.S. Senate,” Lambert wrote in the letter to Senator Allen.
Senator Lambert, a Richmond Democrat, has served in the Virginia General Assembly for the past twenty-eight years as a member of the House of Delegates and a State Senator. One of his primary missions in the General Assembly has been the advancement of HBCUs, a goal that Senator Allen shares. In the U.S. Senate, Allen sponsored legislation that would provide $250 million for technology upgrades at HBCUs and other minority serving institutions. The legislation passed in the Senate and is still awaiting action in the House.
"Only a decade ago, as governor of Virginia, [George Allen] personally initiated an association with the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), the successor organization to the segregationist White Citizens Council and among the largest white supremacist groups."
"How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way" by John Buscema.
I think drawing "The Marvel Way" isn't supposed to be tracing copyrighted work but to each their own. Isn't tracing akin to outsourcing the actual work of doing the drawing? Hmmm...
In one of the lowest turnout elections in Virginia's history (3% of registered voters voted today), Jim Webbwon the Democratic nomination for US Senate to run against George Allen in the fall. He beat Harris Miller, 53-47%.
EDIT: A map!
In this map, cities and counties were given a value of 0-100 on a gradient based on the percentage of the vote for one candidate (Webb in this case); I then used a gradient map to make counties with a 0% vote for Webb blue (B=255) and counties with a 100% vote for Webb red (R=255). Counties with an exactly 50-50 split would therefore be R=127, B=128.
NOT ONLY HAS JOHN KERRY</> ENDORSED JIM WEBB FOR SENATE BUT SO HAS ALSO BEEN ENDORSED BY CHUCK DOLAN, PRESIDENT CLINTON'S VIRGINIA CAMPAIGN CHAIR AND CLOSE FRIEND.
COME ON JUNE 13TH GET HERE SO WE CAN KICK ASS AND THEN WE CAN KICK ALLEN'S ASS OUT!
Thanks to evil_erato for the reminder - it's primary time! June 13th. Who's up? - your US House and US Senate reps. Check out the VA State Board of Elections for more info on your district - search for the 6/13/06 elections, then by your county/city to see who's running. You have to pull up Reps and Dems separately, and you can only vote in one or the other primary.
GEORGE ALLEN'S RACE PROBLEM. Pin Prick by Ryan Lizza Post date: 04.27.06 Issue date: 05.08.06
George Allen is the oldest child of legendary football coach George Herbert Allen, and, when his father was on the road, young George often acted as a surrogate dad to his siblings. According to his sister Jennifer, he was particularly strict about bedtimes. One night, his brother Bruce stayed up past his bedtime. George threw him through a sliding glass door. For the same offense, on a different occasion, George tackled his brother Gregory and broke his collarbone. When Jennifer broke her bedtime curfew, George dragged her upstairs by her hair.
George tormented Jennifer enough that, when she grew up, she wrote a memoir of what it was like living in the Allen family. In one sense, the book, Fifth Quarter, from which these details are culled, is unprecedented. No modern presidential candidate has ever had such a harsh and personal account of his life delivered to the public by a close family member. The book paints Allen as a cartoonishly sadistic older brother who holds Jennifer by her feet over Niagara Falls on a family trip (instilling in her a lifelong fear of heights) and slams a pool cue into her new boyfriend's head. "George hoped someday to become a dentist," she writes. "George said he saw dentistry as a perfect profession--getting paid to make people suffer."
It was the night before a major basketball game with Morningside High. The mostly black inner-city school adjacent to Watts was coming to the almost entirely white Palos Verdes High to play. When students arrived at school on game day, they found graffiti spray-painted on the school library and other places. All five people who described the incident say the graffiti was racially tinged and meant to look like the handiwork of the black Morningside students. But it was actually put there by Allen and some of his friends. "It was something like die whitey," says Campbell. The school administrator, who says he is a Republican and would "seriously consider" voting for Allen for president, says the graffiti said, "burn, baby, burn," a reference to the race riots.
So Tom Davis (US Rep), Wally Covington (PWC) and Sean Connaughton (PWC) are going to be at the Braemar clubhouse in Bristow tonight, at 7:30pm. 12300 Iona Sound Dr, Bristow VA 20136.
According to Tom Davis' website, his district includes: # Annandale # Bristow # City of Fairfax # Clifton # Dale City # Fairfax County # Fairfax Station # Haymarket # Lake Ridge # Montclair # Nokesville # Oakton # Occoquan # Prince William County # Springfield # Town of Vienna # Woodbridge
So lets get on it and ask him so hard questions eh?
"These are the beginnings of a statewide political campaign not for an individual candidate but for an idea. The groups represent the two sides of the debate over the proposed amendment to the Virginia Bill of Rights that would ban same-sex marriages and civil unions and will be on the ballot statewide Nov. 7."
As you have probably heard multiple times this week TODAY is the deadline for the 1st quarter fundraising period for the Senate race. If you were considering donating to the campaign soon, I would encourage you to do it by TONIGHT CONTRIBUTE HERE
Our opponent had a large head-start fundraising wise and will perhaps out fundraise us this quarter, but there is one other important number to consider and that is the number of individual donors. This number is equally important to the total amount raised and speaks volumes to the potential Jim has to draw in unprecedented numbers of donors to a Virginia Senate race. Please help increase this number by donating yourself if you haven’t already, encouraging your spouse/significant other to also donate in their name, and encouraging your friends, family and co-workers to do the same – even $10 will go a long way to helping show the strength of the campaign.
Join myself and several other Virginia bloggers as we team up to raise $2,000 in the next 12 hours by going here to contribute: CONTRIBUTE HERE From that same page you can follow our progress live with our fundraising thermometer and also start your own personal fundraising page to continue the success.
In the past month Jim has gotten financial support from hundreds if not thousands of individuals from across the U.S. donating $10, $20 or $50 – the small dollar donor. Let’s continue that trend.
George Allen has less than half the vote (48.9%) according to Zogby. Democratic contender James Webb trails Allen by only 7.2% after less than a month of campaigning, and almost no spending.
sore
geeky
excited
blah