Snapped Shot - Ye Olde Dominion

The Palin Family: 360° Coverage!

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 15:16:28 -0500

h/t Alton Foley, one of my Old Dominion Blog Alliance compatriots:

From the creators:

We believe that all fair-minded journalists were as shocked by some of the coverage as we were, and in that vein, we encourage you to republish and redistribute the cartoon. There are no royalties or restrictions involved.

Clearly, the attacks against Mrs. Palin and her family have gone far beyond the pale, and have no place in a mature discussion about the direction America is going in this year.

Sincerely,

Robert Romano
Editor
ALG News Bureau

Update: Did you know that Governor Palin vigorously supports the culling of wolves? One more reason for the mentally challenged to be outraged.

(h/t CY)

A: When Drug Smuggling Tunnels Have Air Conditioning!

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:35:37 -0500

Q: How Porous Are Our Borders?

That concludes our game of SnappedShot-eopardy for today.

Hey Barney: Stephen Gobie is fair game, too!

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 19:08:43 -0500

Barney Frank wants to make Republican candidates' families the issue now?

Perhaps he'd be pleased if we opened up a new investigation into his past associations, then.

Gerry Connolly's Ferfx Cnty

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 16:43:48 -0500

Fairfax County Public Schools has reported a "dramatic" increase in Virginia Standards of Learning tests over the past year. This news would be all the more exciting if the change weren't for such predictable reasons:

The percentage of students passing the Virginia Standards of Learning grade level tests went up by double digits in some categories, in part due to a change in the testing method for students who are still learning English.

Part of the VSOL tests, which have been an honored tradition in Virginia's public education system since long before I was born, is testing the student's proficiency in English; which, last I checked, was still the lingua franca of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

It comes as no surprise, then, to learn that Fairfax County, in Gerry Connolly's infinite wisdom, no longer feels that English proficiency is a requirement for Virginia's students to learn.

Corecttlee. [sic]

The Patchouli Curtain!

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:10:00 -0500

California, being one of the original Soviet members of the United States of America, has raised taxes on just about everything through the roof. Is it any surprise, then, when faced with the inevitable results thereof—there's a reason why so many Californians end up here in Northern Virginia, after all—that the legislators of that vaunted ~~State~~ corral of buffoons have come up with the ultimate solution:

Build a really giant wall around the State, and refuse to allow anyone to leave!

Oh wait, you say that didn't work in the past?

Alright then, the General Assembly has the next best thing in dictatorial sovietism:

Tax the ever-living heck out of anyone who leaves!

Brilliant, товарищи!

Who would dare to leave such a People's Paradise, anyway?

The Rise of Race-Based Produce

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:04:00 -0500

Both of these signs were found in the produce section of my local Shopper's Food Warehouse, which is a supermarket chain here in the D.C. Metro area:

I'm confused.

Notice that these signs were located within mere feet of each other. And while zucchini apparently fell under the category of "Hispanic" favorites, that dastardly lettuce, my eternal and mortal enemy, seems to be a "Latino" favorite.

Those far-sighted "diversity" managers over at SFW must really be bending over backwards to cater to the latest fads in American culture.

(By the way—If anyone can explain to me what the unimaginably subtle differences are between these two food types, I'm all ears.)

Aww shucks! Thanks for the link, Doug!

Virginians Love Grammar [UPDATED: Found the cached entry!]

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:34:00 -0500

Heh, you know, when I run into signs like this, I'm usually happy enough with taking a picture of it and e-mailing it in to the Park Service. Apparently, these guys aren't in with the latest "technology."

Two self-described “grammar vigilantes” were sentenced to one year of probation and have been banned from all National Parks after they were caught “correcting” a a historical sign at the Desert View Watchtower on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park.

Jeff Michael Deck, 28, of Massachusetts and Benjamin Douglas Herson, 28, of Virginia, pled guilty to conspiracy to vandalize government property.

The men were on a tour of the United States from March to May 2008 with a purpose to stamp out typos in public signage and other venues, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona.

One: I'm delighted to see someone finally use the correct form of "pled," instead of the usual "pleaded" nonsense.

Two: I do have to hand it to them, that's a pretty awesome "tour" they had planned.

Well, except for the whole "breaking the law" thing, that is.
Continue reading "Virginians Love Grammar [UPDATED: Found the cached entry!]"

On the Higher Education Moneymaking Machine

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:00:00 -0500

The billion-dollar "Liberal-Unintelligence Complex," if I may use a play on that age old bogeyman.

Consider this wonderful case of selectively "unselective" admissions, in which a Christian seminary waxes poetic on accepting a Muslim student onto its all-Christian campus:

"My prayer is that having Salih on campus will help deepen the Christian faith of our other students and that his faith will also deepen [Ed.:—i.e., his faith in Islam will be deepened... at a "Christian" university] as a result of his immersion experience within an unapologetically Christian community," said the Rev. Robin Gulick, interreligious officer of the Center for ******** ********** Studies. "I believe this will result on both ends from the informal dialogue and conversation that will take place during his residency here."

Can you guess which denomination's seminary this is, without clicking through to the full article first?

(I'm betting on "yes," incidentally.)
Continue reading "On the Higher Education Moneymaking Machine"

Gerry Connolly's Fairfax County Town of Herndon

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 22:28:00 -0500

Celebrate diversity:

Our future.
The Herndon Police responded to a stabbing in the 1200 block of Springtide Place just before 11 p.m. on Wednesday August 20.

Officers found a 40-year-old Herndon woman had been stabbed in the upper torso. The victim was transported to INOVA Fairfax Hospital and was treated and released. "This stemmed from a domestic dispute," said Lt. Jeffrey Coulter of the HPD.

Police detectives have obtained warrants charging Fredy Zuniga-Casceres, 27, with Burglary and Malicious Wounding. Zuniga-Casceres has no fixed address and also goes by an alias of "Illiny," according to police.

Failpandering in the Old Dominion

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 11:05:18 -0500

I'm sure that the "genius" reporter from CBS NEWS is to blame for this, but the attempt at pandering is rather funny in and of itself, too:

(MARTINSVILLE, Va.) Would you vote for your cousin if he or she ran for president? Barack Obama hopes so.

Today, he told a small group of supporters in Virginia that he may be related to them.

While describing his family’s background, he said, “You trace back my family on my mother’s side: Scots Irish. There are a whole bunch of those folks here in Virginia,” he said. “All right. So ya'll didn't know, but we may be cousins.”

"Ya'll?" What the heck kinda language is that?

More importantly, when can we expect an EPIC video of Obama a la Clinton to be released?

Update: Upon further reflection, it's occurred to me that this spelling just might be intentional. As in, perhaps Our World's Annointed President was using a bit of his masterful German to make his point.

John Edwards: I Did It

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 15:14:13 -0500

... but I didn't do it.

Ah, to be in the party of morality, virtue, and lying through your teeth.

(I still say the Enquirer photos are fake, though!)

From the Mouth of Babes

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:20:12 -0500

A 7-year-old tells Michelle Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee for First Lady, that we need to "finish what we started in Iraq."

Makes me proud to be a Virginian, I tell ya!

(h/t drillanwr)

Fire at Springfield Mall?

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:32:26 -0500

The Mrs. just reported that the fire alarms at Gerry Connolly's Springfield Mall are going off right now, and that she saw smoke.

Not sure what's going on yet, but will keep you posted. Nothing much surprises me about that dump any more.

Holy Mackerel!

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 10:19:52 -0500

The Brian you're trying to reach is unavailable right now. He just passed out after discovering that he is in agreement with Erin Brockovich:

Gardasil, as you should know by now, is an HPV vaccine sold by Merc [sic], a vaccine with a flawed marketing campaign targeting young girls. The premise is that the vaccine will protect young girls from cervical cancer, as well as a couple of varieties of HPV. But the vaccine is NOT a cancer preventative, and it has not been thoroughly tested. Not only does Gardasil not protect everyone, it does not prevent all types of cervical cancer. According to current science, there are fifteen types of HPV associated with cervical cancer but Gardasil only counters HPV types 16 and 18. The vaccine requires three doses to start and scientists don't even know how frequently boosters will be needed. They don't know because they did not adequately research this before putting the vaccine out on the market using our young girls as guinea pigs.

Merc was even pushing to have this untried vaccine REQUIRED by states. Governer Perry of Texas--who bypassed the state legislation with an executive order--has ties to Merck. Mike Toomey, Perry’s former chief of staff is one of the drug company’s three lobbyists in Texas. The governor also received $6,000 from Merck’s political action committee during his re-election campaign. "Merck is bankrolling efforts to pass state laws across the country mandating Gardasil for girls as young as 11 or 12." As a mother, should I have to sign a waver to protect my daughter from having a potentially dangerous vaccine forced on her?

What makes this vaccine so terrible? It's not just the fear that some parents have that administering a vaccine against stds to nine year olds will encourage sexual activity. The concern is based on much more concrete issues than that. 7195 of them, in fact.

The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) now has 7195 individual adverse reactions listed--and as it is a database not everyone knows about, not all of the adverse reactions are being reported. The Centers for Disease Control report over 9,000 adverse reactions for Gardasil. There is a rising total of deaths connected with the administration of this vaccine; as well as have been reports of seizure activity, tingling, numbness and loss of sensation in the fingers and limbs. There is serious question about girls initially having short-term health problems associated with getting this vaccine that could turn into long-term neurological or immune system disorders; and there is serious question about administering this vaccine at the same time as others.

Previously: Wow!, More on Merck's Virginian Money-Grab, An Assembly of Errors.

Thanks for the spelling correction to a most polite troll.

Not that I mind—I'm sure this troll talks to his mother that way, too.

Imitation is the Highest Form of Flattery

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 07:16:00 -0500

... And boy, am I truly humbled to see a legendary Virginia blogger like Greg Letiecq using one of my "patented" headlines to promote a story!

Thanks for the subtle nod, Greg—I'm glad you were able to put it to good use! If it weren't for bloggers such as yourself, our Commonwealth would be in far worse shape.

Previously on Snapped Shot: Gerry Connolly's Fairfax County, an Illustrated History.

Reading, Writing, Re-education?

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:23:08 -0500

Personally, I think Virginian students deserve better than this Soviet-era indoctrination:

ABINGDON, Va. – After an in-service training session last week, some Washington County, Va., school teachers are preparing to implement a curriculum on climate change and environmental stewardship.

Developed by a group of educators, the program is aimed at teaching children about the connection between their actions and the wider world – so they can help save the planet.

“More and more information is coming towards these kids every day,” said Deni Peterson, who runs the Learning Landscapes program that has brought educational gardens to county schools. “These are depressing issues, these are hard issues for these kids, so I just try to plant some hope in there.”

When our first public schools were created, their mission was to teach the children of this grand Commonwealth the skills they needed to succeed in life.

They should be able to read, in order to be able to independently discover knowledge.

They should be able to count, so that they can avoid being cheated.

Why then, when our modern system has become so expensive to maintain, do we continue to branch the curriculum out into areas that are so obviously political? Shouldn't we be concentrating our resources on the things that matter the most, as our ancestors so wisely proposed?

Or could it be that the entire notion of a "public" school system can no longer survive the fragmented country that we've become?

Gerry Connolly's Fairfax County

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 21:07:02 -0500

I don't really have anything to add to this one:

Fatal crash in Lorton

A Woodbridge man has been charged with aggravated involuntary manslaughter and drunk driving in a two-car crash that left a 53-year-old Groveton man dead.

At about 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 3, Robert L. Thomas was driving northbound on Route 1 at the intersection of the ramp to Interstate 95 in Lorton. At the same time, Alfredo Martinez Rivera was driving in the southbound lanes of Route 1. Rivera lost control of his 2006 Pontiac and drove over the concrete median and straight into Thomas' 1996 Saturn, police said.

Thomas was pronounced dead at the scene.

Rivera, of 13102 Kumar Road, was treated for injuries not considered life-threatening. He is now being held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.

This is the 11th traffic fatality in Fairfax County this year. There were 33 fatalities at this time last year, police said.

Gerry Connolly's Fairfax County

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 15:23:49 -0500

A man was arrested in Annandale for assaulting a 1-year-old child yesterday.

That's okay, though. Gerry Connolly and the rest of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors won't even bother to consider that Mr. Castellon is anything less than a truly multi-cultural denizen of our esteemed County of Blight:

George Washington is the past. Could this be our future?
A 25-year-old Fairfax man is in custody for allegedly sexually assaulting a 1-year-old infant after her christening party at the Annandale Boys and Girls Club.

On the early morning of Sunday, July 27, the victim's family were cleaning the party room, when a stranger to the family, Juan Miguel Sejas Castellon, allegedly picked up the infant and assaulted her.

Castellon was "at the party, but was unknown to the family," said police spokeswoman Shelly Broderick.

The crying child was taken from Castellon's hands by her mother, who later found undisclosed injuries on her body. The child was treated at Inova Fairfax Hospital.

Castellon, of 3894 Bradwater Drive, was later charged with one count of animate object penetration and one count of abducting an infant child with intent to defile.

No word from the Fairfax Times on Mr. Castellon's immigration status. One imagines that he's a member of the genetically pure race known as a "Native" American. (Pronounced: "Illegal Immigrant.")

In the twisted race-baiter's definition of the term, that is.

Welcome to Gerry Connolly's America.

They're Gonna Need It, Too

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 22:25:52 -0500

What with all of the increase in "diversity" we've been seeing around Gerry Connolly's Fairfax County as of late—yes, largely due to "La Migra" from the increasingly pleasant Prince William County—I'm thinking that the County could rake in a cool half billion dollars from the Franconia area alone:

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is considering adopting state law changes that will give its strike team more leverage in enforcing overcrowding and other zoning violations. One change reduces the amount of time to appeal a violation notice to 10 days for certain types of offenses, and the other allows civil penalties totaling more than $5,000 to be prosecuted as criminal misdemeanors.

Finally, an abuser fee I can strongly support.

"People's" Democrat Says $90,000 Salary "No Big Deal"

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:03:41 -0500

Party of the Peeeeeople, man.

Nice to see Democrat Del. Lionel Spruill is so in touch with his constituents, as he downplays his $90,000 salary working for fellow Del. Brian Moran.

Gerry Connolly's Fairfax County Town of Herndon

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:02:08 -0500

And here I thought it would've been self-evident that releasing people from prison who are obvious flight risks isn't exactly the most stellar idea:

One of Gerry Connolly's preferred "Virginians."
Herndon police are searching for a Honduran man accused of sexually assaulting a Herndon woman after being released from jail, where he had been held since April on charges of assaulting the same woman.

On July 11, police say Wilmer Lopez-Mejia, 29, snuck up behind a Herndon woman believed to be a girlfriend, in front of her home in the 400 block of Virginia Ave.

According to police, Lopez-Mejia forced the woman into her home and sexually assaulted her at knifepoint overnight. "She was cut a few times with a knife," said Lt. Jeffery Coulter of the HPD.

Lopez-Mejia fled the residence the following morning.

He was reported to be in the 1200 block of Elden Street on Saturday night, where police executed a search by canine and helicopter, but to no avail.

The victim's injuries are not considered life-threatening, according to police. Lopez-Mejia was originally arrested on April 17 for "running a car into the front of the victim's house and trying to abduct her," Coulter said.

Releasing dangerous criminals back into the streets of Herndon—What else would you expect from the Culture of Diversity?

I have no doubts that Lopez-Mejia will turn up soon. Most likely in a sanctuary city near you.