A Great Staycation

If you have followed this blog for any period of time, you know that I have traveled all over the United States and parts of Canada as well as Mexico and the West Indies. I have traveled all over the state as well as the region and know this area pretty well-

But these days, I'm hacked off if I have to drive to Norfolk for any reason and if I can't buy it in Virginia Beach, before I travel anywhere else to get whatever else, I'll ask myself if I really need it in the first place or, can I combine it wth another reason to visit wherever. I think it's safe to say I have become the "stay at home" type.

I saw a movie once called "Gods and Generals" wherein the opening had some prose that preceded the movie- I found that these words spoke directly to me-

A human life, I think, should be well rooted in some spot of a native land, where it may get the love of tender kinship for the face of the earth, for the labors men go forth to, for the sounds and accents that haunt it, for whatever will give that early home a familiar unmistakable difference amidst the future widening of knowledge. The best introduction to astronomy is the think of the nightly heavens as a little lot of stars belonging to one's own homestead.

George Eliot

I think it was after reading these words I started feeling the irresistible pull towards the only place I've ever really called home-Virginia Beach. I begain looking at the next run as just another mindless, needless delay or place to go before I could start heading home and every person I had to deal with as another hinderance to getting back where I felt I belonged-When I finally GOT home, the companies I drove trucks for really didn't want you to get too comfortable and I learned early on that if the phone rang and it was anything approaching a "work" number, you didn't pick up the call. I use to joke that there were scratch marks on my floor because I didn't want to go back to work as an Over-the-Road trucker.

You see, reading those words of Eliot, I began to realize all of the things I was missing out on by actually being a part of a community and let me tell you, being a roaming nomad has it's appeal, but only for so long. And the things you give up, Birthdays, weddings, funerals, celebrations, holidays, graduations and other life-marking events had no meaning because I wasn't going to be around, instead hauling some load of freight to someplace I really didn't want to visit and wondering where or if I'd find a place to park and sleep for the night.

Who needs that brain damage?

So I'm off the road-I don't make as much money to be sure, but I got to do something today that I haven't done in way, way too long-I got to have a "staycation" and I really surprised Miss Scarlett by asking her to go with me and spend all day at the Beach-don't believe me? We have the sunburn to prove it!

We arrived at the 31st Street parking garage at 9:37 am, found a parking spot on the 4th level right at the elevator, unloaded our gear which included a cooler, towels, a bed-sheet to spread out and lay upon as well as a twin, folding lawn chair and headed to meet with King Neptune at 31st Street.

We rented an umbrella for $15.00 and when the young man from the vendor planted it into the sand, we began to enjoy a pretty nice time at the Beach-unplugged, out of touch (we left our phones at home) and spent the day doing exactly nothing but sitting on the Beach, enjoying the time together. Did I think about any of the thousands of my former-fellow truckers who were, as I was just a few short years ago, stuck at some run-down truckstop for two or three days, not being paid for having their time wasted and paying too much for everything? Nope. Didn't think about them at all today. Not my problem anymore.

For a long, long time I was pretty bitter and jealous of those office-pukes who handed down orders to us that made no sense, gave us time-tables that were nearly impossible to meet, made promises to shippers and receivers that I couldn't or simpy wouldn't be able to keep and afterward, they hustled out the door at 5pm. Of course, most of them enjoyed holidays such as Memorial Day or Labor Day off and were able to do as they pleased with no one from the office calling to bother them, but if a driver had time off over a holiday, well, all of our plans are subject to change as a requirement of the customer service department.

Miss Scarlett was beside herself all day and thanked me many times for suggesting this plan-she likes the idea of taking some time for ourselves and spending it at one of her favorite places. She often calls me a workaholic but I've always seen myself as rather lazy and have always believed that "Tomorrow" is the greatest work-saving invention ever.

 

I guess if anything, today was the day I chose in my own way to "strike back at the man" by putting down the cell phone, stepping away from the keyboard and go see for myself why tourists flock here each and every year.....

 

I really enjoyed our day at the Beach-so I think they may be on to something.

 

Copernicus Goes to Prison

It has been a long, difficult road but we are finally ready to take the next turn-Copernicus has been ordered to prison. Apparently, there was much we did not know before last Friday at the sentencing hearing, but knowing this young man as I have come to know him since that cold, rainy night back in October of 2009, there's always so much more to the story than was ever told by him.

Yes, Copernicus and his two friends robbed the Citgo on Military Highway and later, the 7-11 on Azalea Garden Road was robbed by them at knife-point.

But here's how things shook themselves out:

Copernicus and his sweetheart were rather desperate for cash since Copernicus had been fired form him job at a pizza restaurant right around the corner from the first target. Acting with his knowledge of the restaurants operation and perhaps with a little more malice towards the very person who fired him, Copernicus and his friends planned to rob him when he made his nightly deposit at a local bank. This manager arrived at the bank and apparently saw or heard one of the trio hiding, got back into his car and took off.

The plan was foiled.

So a backup target was chosen which turned out to be the Citgo. They pulled up around midnight, watched and waited for their opportunity to strike. Once the "beer rush" died off, once that happened, they ran into the store,  seized the clerk, placed the knife to her neck and robbed her or approximately $60.00.

After leaving our three amigos realized that they hadn't stolen enough, they set their sights on the 7-11 and stormed it, robbing the store in the same manner as the first.

They were well-prepared for their adventure. They all had masks, latex gloves, black clothing and a rather large knife to wield. But apparently they had not taken every precaution-an outdoor video camera caught the image of a Ford Probe the Police Detectives believed was the getaway vehicle was captured. An inquiry to the DMV revealed that there are few on the road in Virginia anymore, fewer in Hampton Roads and even fewer still left in Norfolk. The Police found the car they were looking for, pressed the owner of it and he was the first one to crack, implicating the other two. Copernicus claims that the police broke in the door, threw them on the ground and held guns to their heads-the Detective told me no door was forced open, the love of Copernicus's life let them in and he was found hiding in a closet.

Not quite as dramatic as the version Copernicus tells, but I guess it makes him feel cool.

Miss Scarlett and I had a conundrum-what do we do about this? We have been to visit Copernicus and at every opportunity he has told us he's getting out at his next hearing and he's only going to get probation-the problem is he was ON probation already when these crimes took place, so I didn't think they'd give him a re-do, but on the other hand, Copernicus has demonstrated a Teflon-quality wherein he always seems to get away with the lightest slap on the wrist and then goes on to a more serious or brazen crime.

Miss Scarlett and I were of the opinion that the next stop on this train would be a murder-either one he committed or one in which he is the victim so one way or the other, we had to do something to bring this to a stop. If the system failed as it has so many times in the past, there wasn't anything we could do about that, but we thought that society needed to be protected from our son and our son needed to be protected, as much as is possible, from himself. Miss Scarlett and I talked, argued, bickered, pleaded and lobbied each other but finally came up with the solution I thought might alienate Copernicus from us for the rest of his life, but at the very least, he would HAVE the rest of his life to hate us-we reached out to the Norfolk Commonwealth Attorney's Office and asked them to hear what we had to say.

We exchanged e-mails with the Commonwealth Attorney handling the case and he was taken aback. He told us he has been called names, cussed, threatened, and taken to task by angry parents or family members, but in the 15 years he has served as a Commonwealth Attorney, he couldn't recall any defendants family offering testimony to help HIS case before.

Miss Scarlett and I sat down and wrote the Commonwealth Attorney a letter outlining the problems Copernicus has had since arriving here and how we were concerned that should things continue as they are, someone was certainly going to end up dying as a result of Copernicus's actions. We were of the opinion that a prison term of not less than 10 years but not more than 15 was appropriate.

We also cautioned them that they will see a very polite, respectful, contrite and apologetic young man with a beguiling personality-the exact same charms that he used to convince his friends to throw in with him that fateful night. But we also cautioned in our letter not to believe a word of what this boy had to say because we could point to any one of numerous times he would tell you what you wanted to hear to avoid punishment for himself. We warned that he could turn his tears on and off at will and would very likely use his now three children as an excuse for mercy-and that he has never done anything to help raise these boys, never sent child support, never taken much of an interest in them at all after they were conceived.

The Judge took his statement and as if comparing it side-by-side with our letter, tears? Check. Children? Check. Found the Lord? Check. Yea, these parents know their kid pretty well.

Copernicus didn't even give us anything new in his performance.

The Judge pointed out that he was very polite, respectful and apologetic now that he was standing there in handcuffs and shackles, but he wasn't so remorseful the night he committed this robbery and did the exact same thing within an hour of the first and that this crime called for a sentence that was well in excess of the guidelines.

Copernicus was handed a 22 year prison term, 12 suspended and good behavior from this moment until a period of 5 years after his release. As they led him from the courtroom, he couldn't or wouldn't look at his mother or myself which is just as well. I'm sorry that he hs to spend the rest of his 20's in a state pen but I sleep a lot better knowing he's off the street, our families are safe and Copernicus has yet another chance to turn his life in the right direction. He may come out of prison a changed man, he may come out a bitter one, he may come out hoping for vengeance against those he perceives as his tormentors who are responsible for putting him there in the first place-I just don't know.

Copernicus hasn't really been interested in visiting with his mother since being arrested nor has he been interested in much of anything else aside from calling his girlfriend who ran off to Pennsylvania to have another child that will be provided for by the taxpayers. His first son he hasn't seen/had contact with/supported since the baby was a few months old. His second son is now in the custody of the maternal grandmother and the third one is with the birth mother, but who knows if that will last?

Miss Scarlett is beign strong and I'm right here for her-she might break down at some point or, she might be so disgusted that she simply has no tears left to cry for this child anymore. I don't have and may never have the right answer but sometimes I forget that I don't have to have the right answer all the time-that's an unreasonable expectation I have of mysef. It's hard to watch her keep this inside, but as I am no one's parent, I just don't understand the child/parent bond just as people who cross that line into parenthood land no longer can relate to those of us who never had children.

It's a strange place to be, but this much I know:

Our lives are like a pebble dropped in a pond and the ripples go out in all directions. Copernicus has been like a boulder dropped in the same pond tsunami's are sent out in all directions. One of the character witness's who was on the stand advocating for one of Copernicus's co-defendants said that he "had fallen in with the wrong people." and I realized in that moment that one kid had run through this community and caused a lot of mayhem and a lot of hurt in the lives of people he didn't even know. Copernicus IS the "wrong people." Because of what he talked his friends into doing, lives would be changed, and not necessarily for the better, for many years to come.

Should it Come to the Beach?

A billion dollars is a LOT of money.

That's about what it would take to bring "The Tide" all the way to the Virginia Beach Oceanfront which I don't understand because it's just about a straight shot all the way to Birdneck Road.

The matter is being discussed as a possible item on a November ballot in a non-binding referendum and that's one vote I'd like to cast.

Now, before my friends decide to rip me apart for "turning" on them, let me preface my comments by saying I'm not TOTALLY in support of bringing "The Tide" to Virginia Beach, but when I look down that long piece of Real Estate that's just sitting empty, I have to wonder myself why we don't just build it?

Here are a few questions some might ask or statements you might here:

Can we afford it? I don't know. I have no idea where we'd have to cut, where we'd have to raise taxes or where else the money could possilby come from. Those who support it claim that the taxes collected on the "Transit Oriented Development" would pay for it but I'm not entirely sold on that idea-especially since the TIF around Town Center has had to grow in order to pay it's debt service.

Do we want it? Some folks would like to have another way to get back and forth along the I-264 corridor and having ridden the #20 bus from Laskin and Regency Drive all the way to Downtown Norfolk, I can certainly see why people would want another way to get off of the bus. If I had to choose between riding an HRT bus every day and shooting myself in the head, well, the Magnum would have some appeal to me.

Will it change Virginia Beach? I think Virginia Beach will change regardless if the Light Rail comes out here or not.

Will I ride "The Tide?" Probably, I already do from time to time, that's why I really can't oppose it because I do find myself using it and in fact have even asked myself when I have to go to Norfolk, "I wonder if 'The Tide' would be a viable option?" Sometimes it has, other times it hasn't.

Will it bring crime to Virginia Beach? I hope against hope that a criminal DOES ride the train because they'll be on camera from the moment they step onto the platform to the moment they leave. Remember, most of these guys are none-too-bright and don't usually take a long term view of things or think three-dimensionally. That's why they're criminals-and we already have them in Virginia Beach anyway, I saw some of them out cutting grass the other day so I know they're here.

Will it make money? I don't know of a public transit system in the United States that does, but then schools don't make money, the people the city hires to cut grass don't make us money and neither do libraries.

It will bring an undesirable element to Virginia Beach! If you mean African/Americans, well, I hate to break the news to you but we already have African/Americans here and most of them are nice people, just as there are many nice white people, Asian people and Hispanic people. You have an "undesirable" element in all populations and just because they ride public transportation doesn't mean they're up to no good.

It will cause unwanted development! It's called "Progress" or "change" and like it or not, it's a fact of life. I use to be young, strong and not too terriably unattractive-so looking in the mirror recently, I can tell you that time changes EVERYTHING. It might be the best thing or it might not, we don't know and speculating about it is as pointless as speculating about the outcome of the next election which I have done far too many times-you don't know until the polls close and the votes are all counted so you can't say what "will" or "won't" happen.

 

This is going to be a BIG project and it will mean many different things to many different people. Meaning no disrespect to our elected leaders at City Hall, but since this is the case, I think we all have some skin in the game-it's not about some of us, it's about ALL of us and that's why I think this is too big of a decision to entrust to just 11 people. We need to vote on the matter so we can have a collective say in the direction our city will take and what we will be in 10, 20 or 50 years.

If you're for Light Rail, state your case and tell me how you're going to pay for it. What will have to be cut? Who will have to pay more? Where will the money come from?

If you're against Light Rail, state your case and tell me why it's a bad idea. What else do you propose? Why will that idea be better than Light Rail?

Then let me and the other thousands of voters who are my fellow Virginia Beach residents make our way to the ballot box and let's all agree to respect the results of the referendum as well as respect our fellow Citizens for their points of view.

Like it or not, this project might have a positive effect or a negative effect, I don't know what will happen and I think that anyone who tells you what will happen is guessing as good as I can.

 

But I would like to take a vote on the matter and see what we all have to say at this moment in our history.

Just as I suspected....

In spite of the massive amounts of smoke, flames and damage that occurred yesterday when the F-18 crashed off of Birdneck Road, this photo I took of the Virginia Beach City Hall building this morning is a reminder for today and the days to come when the debate will be raging that the Sun did come up the day after this accident and very probably will continue to do so.

But wow, what a mess, huh?

As of this writing, there have been to the best of my knowledge no reported human fatalities which tells me that henceforth, we shouldn't waste another dollar on buying a lottery ticket because if it is ultimately determined that no one lost their life in yesterdays crash, as a community we have pretty much used up our good luck.

As we all have our own "Where we were" stories when we heard the news, I was at work when one of my co-workers asked me "Did you hear about a plane that crashed?"

I asked her "what plane" but that was all she had heard was that a plane had crashed, but no other details were known. Then I happened to call a friend of mine who answered the phone and said, "Yes, Jimmy, an F-18 had crashed and was burning down off of Birdneck Road, the Pilots had ejected and were injured and it's on the news!"

I said "Waverly, what are you talking about?"

Waverly said, "Oh, my God, you mean I got the news before YOU did? That's unbelievable!" So as soon as I was able, I got to a television and as I looked at the wreckage I thought to myself, "There's no way a score or more of people didn't lose their lives."

Glad it seems I was wrong on that account. Very glad, indeed.

But for all of those who ask why we need all of the expensive Rescue equipment, Fire equipment, communications gear and First Responder Training, we got our answer on Friday, April 6th, 2012.

For all the complaining I tend to do about our local government (Which is a lot these days), I must give credit where credit is due and freely give out all of the kudos currently in my possesion to our First Responder Community who planned, planned and planned, trained, trained and trained so they could deal with the train-wreck that dropped in from the sky yesterday.

Of course, I have to wonder what part this will play in the next round of BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) hearings and what, if anything it will mean to the developer community who are now pushing for high-density housing wherever they can fit it in order to maximize their profits? I also have to wonder what effect this might have on those who live around the base or have a business nearby, do we dare tempt fate again?

Interesting questions all and there won't be any easy answers-if you've lived here for as long as I have, this is just something that you knew would one day happen-we rolled the dice and sooner or later, our number was going to turn up. It's happened before and very probably will happen again.

But it's a risk that I'm perfectly comfortable with because since I was a child, I have always lived with those jets flying over my head and have simply learned to accept it as a fact of life. Of course, the noise can be annoying from time to time and yes it's true that sometimes as I look up and see a multi-million-dollar fighter jet screaming overhead, I do have regrets that I never earned the opportunity to fly one myself. Yes, I guess I am a little envious of those who get to zoom around in an F-18 for a living, but I'm at an age where you start to come to terms with what you have spent your whole life becoming and learn to be happy FOR those who have such an exciting job.

I am also content that for all of the minor annoyances living here includes, Virginia Beach IS my home, the Navy IS a part of our life's fabric, I most certainly AM determined that I will stay here, live, work and one day die here for one simple reason-this is home.

I don't know about birds...

One of the pleasures my long-deceased Grandmother enjoyed while she lived here in Hampton Roads was sitting in her front yard listening to the birds sing.

It has taken me YEARS to come to appreciate this past-time.

You must understand, this morning I attended a breakfast meeting wherein Virginia Delegate Bob Purkey painted a very gloomy picture of the coming financial trainwreck our country is facing with our ever-mounting debt, then a kiss for Miss Scarlett and I was off to video the Norfolk Republican Party's Mass Meeting.

This was a very contentious meeting to say the very least and I must say, I told Miss Scarlett that if I ever decided to run for elected office or for an office within the Republican Party, or the Democratic Party or ANY political party, she should shoot me with my own shotgun, repeat as necessary until I was dead. I feel myself reaching the age where I just don't want to deal with the brain damage of who's "out of order," what is an appropriate motion, what this candidate's policy is or what that party is interested in accomplishing anymore. I do it because it's something that has helped me find work and make a little extra money, but aside from that maybe I just overdosed on it today.

Politics is a messy business at it's core and that's on either side of the aisle. Suffice it to say that after the morning/afternoon I experienced, the petty differences among men (and women) was one of the many things I wanted farthest away from my mind.

You know, after my deep involvement in local politics, I told Miss Scarlett just the other day that I remembered a time when I was pretty much care-free, I didn't know about all of the crazy things government was doing and the deals they were trying to get past the voters. Of course, it would help the local population a LOT if our local paper did more actual news reporting, because nowadays, we need to be informed more than ever. I find myself wishing I could go back to that time of blissful ignorance because I feel as though I have opened a Pandora's Box of knowledge that I'd have preferred not to know-like the Virginia Beach City Councilwoman who is going to use the taxpayers as her stepping stone to becoming a millionaire under the guise of an "Agricultural Reserve" program.

That's political grift if you ask me, but these are the things you find about about a week or so before they ever hit the papers if they're ever printed at all.

It was nice to know that the birds didn't know or seem to care about these important events or happenings and when I got home, I muted the television and simply listened to the birds engage in a very lively conversation of their own.

I think the birds I was listening to were Robin's by the chirp, but that's nothing more than a guess, I never saw the birds that were chatting away (because I was cat-napping) and I didn't have to know what they were to simply sit back, listen and enjoy.

 

Grandma was a wise old bird herself and seemed to understand that some of the greatest pleasures in life were the simple ones. Now I am starting to understand these things myself, is it wisdom or just age creeping up on me?

 

Don't answer, just listen to the birds.

 

The Things People Throw Away

I stopped by the site of the old Great Neck Middle School today, which was at one time Cox High School-I went there briefly as a student and with the destruction of this building, well, I'm sure that a lot of people have fond memories of their days as a student there, but I don't.

The only thing I hated worse than Cox was Lynnhaven Jr. High School and with both places, the fondest memory I have of them is of the day I left.

So unlike others, I feel no particular loss with this buildings destruction and I can't wait to see it gone, so much so that I stopped to take photos of the site.

I try to carry a camera with me all the time so if the opportunity comes around, I can take some "stock" photos for my web design work. You may need a photo to illustrate a point and if you don't have it, you have to buy them from one of these stock picture services-I prefer having my own.

So with that, I headed down towards the new Great Neck Middle School as it was empty, pretty new and a great photo op. As I was snapping photos, I heard what I thought was a dog bark-probably from the neighborhood next to the school. I snapped a few more photos and heard the bark again, then another. I walked towards the building and another bark and then another. I focused in on where the sound was coming from and there she was, stuck.

I promise you, this photograph is NOT staged-this is the photo I took of this animal as I walked up to the trash can.

Apparently, she had used the bench next to the can to get into it, she probably smelled some food that she was after and because she was such a small dog, she couldn't jump high enough to get back out.

So I picked her up, whew, she STUNK but I held her close to my chest because well, she looked like she needed it and I walked her over to my car. She didn't protest, she didn't bite and she seemed to be pretty calm with being handled after spending God-knows how long trapped in that can.

I called Animal Control and the dispatcher got all my information, but when I asked her about how long it'd be, she told me the Officer working in that zone had three cases ahead of me-so I told them that I would take her to the shelter myself.

There was another woman there photographing the destruction as she was a student at Cox in the 70's and was amazed at how someone "could just leave that poor doggie in that trash can!" She also heaped praise and accolades upon me for being so kind to this poor animal-but what was I supposed to do, turn around and walk away?

I put in a call to the Beach SPCA to file a "found" report and headed on down to the new shelter, turned her in and thought no more about it.

I liked school when I was a kid going to Shelton Park back in the early 70's but then we moved. I had to go to Alanton Elementary and hated just about every moment of school from the day I set foot in Alanton to the day I walked out the door of Career Development Center for good, never to return. I had some friends while attending school, not many.

I often wonder if my life would have turned out differently had I stayed at Shelton Park instead of being thrown into the utter chaos of the class I was assigned at Alanton. At Shelton Park, I attended school with other "military brats" who understood something about discipline and standards of behavior. The teacher taught, the students learned and that was that. At Alanton, many of my new "classmates" were from broken homes, many of them bartered "lunch tickets" as though they were currency (I guess this was the necessary training to become a street hustler), there was no discipline instilled in them at all and believe me, it showed from the moment they arrived. I remember having to fight off three of them over a new wristwatch my parents had given me for a birthday present-and as was usual, those who perpetrated the act escaped any punishment at all and would pretty much receive the same treatment all through school until their first encounter with law enforcement. I recall one instance wherein a boy had gotten into an argument with one of "the girls", he removed the belt from around his waste, chasing her across the playground and lashing her with it. I remember to this day the large, purple welts she had and just as was the case with me, the offending party wasn't disiplined at all. I have to tell you, I learned then what "outrage" was all about and a lot of us felt that had we done the same thing, we would have been expelled.

There were two very different standards for disipline in the schools I attended, that's for sure.

Unfortunately, fate saw to it that I had to attend school with many of these future "persons of interest" for years to come but these days, if I'm feeling nostalgic and wonder whatever happened to some of these "classmates," I need look no farther than the Virginia Department of Corrections Inmate Locator.

So I guess I stopped to photograph the destruction of someplace I really won't miss at all but in so doing, was able to help this animal out of the trash can she'd gotten herself into. I have to wonder if all of those bad experiences were somehow directing me towards this moment on this day? Had I stayed at Shelton Park, might this animal still be trapped in a trash can? Might she have died there? If I'd had a good experience while I was in school, might I have never even stopped, instead opting to avoid seeing the destruction of "my old school?"

I'll tell you this-I was glad to help this animal get out of the fix she was in and get her to the place that can help her start off a new life-but for some of my old "classmates," if they'd been the ones stuck in the trash can, I probably would have left them right there and let them figure it out on their own.

 

Estate Planning-Virginia Beach Style

You have to hand it to Virginia Beach City Councilwoman Barbara Henley-she certainly takes a long-term view of things.

I about popped a fuse when I learned last week that Mrs. Henley was all set to sign up for an Agricultural Reserve Program sponsored by the taxpayers that is designed to encourage those select few who own farmland in Virginia Beach not to sell their land for development.

Basically the way the program works is, if you have land that qualifies, you sell your development rights to the City of Virginia Beach-you get to keep the land and continue to farm it, you still own the property and the public can't set a foot on it without your permission while you receive taxpayer money as well as tax advantages like avoiding capital gains taxes. Here are some of the "advantages" listed right off the City's website:

Property Owner Advantages

Well, isn't THAT special? So tell me again, how many millions of dollars will our public schools be short this year? I think the number I heard was somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 million dollars?

The ironic thing here is, Mrs. Henley by her own admission helped to create this program and I'm sure she knew full well that some of her land certainly qualified, but since I can't do the Vulcan mind-meld, I couldn't tell you if she saw herself down the road kicking back and enrolling in the very program that you, the Virginia Beach taxpayers funded in order to provide herself with a little political grift in her "golden years."

As it was with the recent mess over the Headquarters Hotel at the Beach, I'm betting that it was hoped this would sneak itself onto the Council's Agenda, be quietly voted on, approved and Mrs. Henley would start seeing rather large checks in her mailbox without you ever having noticed. It's certainly nice to know that Mrs. Henley's heirs have the kind of matriarch who looks to the future in such a way as to assure they will have a comfortable little stipend at taxpayer expense to insure their family farm can continue on after her passing. But when that financial security is provided by the hapless taxpayer is where I start having a problem with this entire idea.

Now I've done some figuring and believe me, this is all "ball-parking" the numbers, but if you take the 2.2 million dollars she (or her estate) is due to get over the next 20 years, that's right around 110,000 per year. When you divide that number by a homeowners tax bill of, again, ball-parking here, $2000.00 that means that 55 homeowners entire tax bill will be dedicated to paying Mrs. Henley and her heirs for simply not developing their land.

Now, if preservation is her goal, Mrs. Henley can simply stipulate in her will that her land is never to be developed, but that wouldn't provide any cash incentive for the heirs to keep on farming.

This entire program is simply political grift. If the city doesn't want certain areas of this city developed, all they have to do is refuse to issue any permits for a new development of any kind in much the same way the city can (for the moment) decide to take your property under the rules of eminent domain and award ownership of said property to another party and allow them to develop it. But here we have a system wherein farmers are awarded money they did not earn to simply keep farming so Virginia Beach can keep it's "rural" sections of the city rural, but even though you're being required to pay for the development rights, you can't set foot on this land because it's still owned by someone else.

So I wonder if Mrs. Henley can make a rational argument as to why the taxpayers of this city should even begin to consider making any sacrifice for the good of us all, especially in education, while she retains full ownership rights to her land, plus a little extra for the taxpayers that she did not earn.

 

Barbara, what say you?

When In Doubt, Play the Race Card

Dear Readers-I've had about all I can take.

Lt. Governor Bill Bolling cast a tie-breaking vote in what is commonly referred to as a "Voter ID Bill" which would require that you present some form of acceptable identification when you arrive at the polls to vote. Should this bill become law, if you arrive at the polls without proper I.D., you will be permitted to cast a provisional ballot.

I cannot begin to tell you how many times I am asked to verify my identification in the course of a day, I was even required to show my I.D. in order to gain access to the campus of Hampton University on the day I took this photograph. However, I wasn't even approached by campus security when I was up the road at Christopher Newport University snapping photos there so I guess the reason I was carded at Hampton University and not Christopher Newport was because I'm white.

Actually, the reason I was carded at Hampton University was because I had to pass through a security checkpoint and at Christopher Newport had no security present (that I saw) at all. But you know what? Had anyone from Christopher Newport asked me for identification, I would have gladly presented it to them, allowed them to inspect my camera and it's contents to see that yes, I was only there taking pictures of buildings, not people and my intentions were purely (such as my abilities are) artistic.

The bottom line is, these security people have a job to do that helps (to whatever degree) keep the campus, the students and the staff safe and I have no problem with that at all. If the security people are not comfortable with me being there or there is some rule that I needed to comply with such as getting the permission of the administration to be there, I'm not going to argue with the guy because it's easier to comply and move on to someplace and take another picture of something else.

All anyone has to do is Google "Voter Fraud" to see that yes, even in our Republic it DOES happen here and four people were recently convicted of committing voter fraud in Troy, New York. There is even a film called "We Will Not Be Silenced" that documents voter fraud committed on behalf of the Obama campaign, so the evidence is out there-all you have to do is look for it. On the other side of the aisle, Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White (a Republican) was also convicted of voter fraud and should probably be doing a "perp-walk" to his new home in a state prison somewhere. And for having done that, I say good riddance. An election isn't about YOUR opinion as to who should be representing us, it is about OUR opinion, ALL of our opinions and I am glad that their punishment for attempting to tamper with the outcome of an election isn't up to me because I think I'd probably be a little more severe than the law allows.

I support a citizens right to vote for whomever they choose to represent them and in fact, I put forth a little extra effort on behalf of the residents of the senior apartments I work at to make absolutely certain that each and every resident has transportation available to get them to the polls. On primary election day as well as the general election, if it means working a little later in the day, so be it. If any of "my residents" encounter any problems at the polling station, I have the cell phone number of the 2nd District for the Republican Party Chairman as well as the Chairman of the 2nd District Democratic Party stored in my phone and I will call them immediately should a problem arise and I've got a hair-trigger-finger should one of my residents have a "situation."

This is exactly why I fail to see the point of people like Senator Yvonne Miller of Norfolk when she opined "I will say to you that this is another day of shame for Virginia,"

And why IS that, Yvonne?

As hard as the African/American community fought for their votes to be counted, I should think that you of all people should appreciate the idea that in order to have a vote counted as their own, any citizen should want to identify themselves to a polling official to say "This is who I am, I am entitled to exercise my right to vote and I want my vote to count." So I guess people like Yvonne Miller are perfectly okay with leaving a gaping hole in the process in which anyone, Democrat or Republican, could take it upon themselves to commit an act of voter fraud and hey, the vote that is stolen could be your own.

When people like Yvonne Miller start opposing the laws requiring people to show I.D. to buy cigarettes, alcohol, prescription drugs and even over-the-counter cold medicine (or apparently, in her myopic view, African/Americans don't get the common cold) then maybe I could see where she has a point. Otherwise, she's doing nothig more than race-baiting.

I personally think that any politician who opposes a mandatory I.D. check to insure the integrity of each and every vote to help thwart voter fraud is probably a politician who couldn't otherwise win an election without voter fraud......

But that's just MY opinion.

Do Something SAFE for a change....

"I like him" I remember telling Miss Scarlett after meeting my neice's husband, Tyler. He's been a soldier and by all accounts, he's been an exceptionally good soldier for over 10 years. He is currently serving in Afghanistan.

Personally, I care about Afghanistan about as much as they care about me. I don't care about it's people, it's culture, it's problems, none of it. I think we were justified in taking down the Taliban and hounding Mullah Mohammad Omar out of power and I think we were justified in capping Osama Bin Laden, but there the list ends. I care not at all about how Afghan men relegate the women of their country to a status to somewhere just above livestock nor do I care about their religion. I think Afghanistan will probably always remain as it is today and that's not a great deal different than what it was 700 or 800 years ago.

A friend of mine who is even more "warlike" than I called me after the 9-11 attack and said that he thought we should "nuke them back into the stone age!"

I said "Jason, this is Afghanistan we're talking about, you'd only be setting them back about what, 10 or 15 minutes, maybe?"

By remaining an occupying invader, the United States will accompish nothing more than Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, the Romans, the English, the Russians or anyone else foolish enough to think that they could impose their will on the Afghans.

These people apparently don't WANT to live in the modern age, they don't WANT a democracy or any of the other trappings of the modenr world.

It's also important to point out that none of the aforementioned powers ever had to deal with the political correctness that currently hamstrings our forces. I dare say that our enemy isn't as concerened about our "feelings" as we seem to be about theirs, so I think in that regard, we're doing ourselves a disservice by trying to respect people who hate us about as much as we'd hate anyone who invaded our country.

If my parents fondest dream were to have ever become reality and I stood of our country after the 9-11 attacks, if it was determined that the Afghan government was behind it or they were giving aid and comfort to those who were responsible for the September 11th attacks, I think I would have very strongly considered making a call up to one of our Air Force Bases in Minot, N.D. and asking them to expend a Minuteman III on Kabul to vaporize the Taliban leadership.

Horrible? Perhaps, but I'd rather see it all done in one, fell-swoop than the 10-year struggle that has cost us thousands of promising American lives taken one, by one, by one. In the end, it's probable that the same amount of people would die either way you go, but one way would be a lot quicker than the path we're currently on right now.

I was informed yesterday that my Neice's husband was in a Humvee that was hit with an I.E.D. (Improvised Explosive Device) and thanks to the improved armor, timing and dumb-luck, he escaped serious injury-this time. It's also worth noting that this isn't the first time he has been hit with an I.E.D., it is the fourth time-I asked my neice, "So, I hope you're not wasting your money playing the lottery, right?"

My neice agreed with me that perhaps it's time for her husband to find a new line of work and even her husband is having second thoughts. As she related what he said to her, "This time, all I could think about what you and Abby (Their newest addition to the Frost clan)"

I suggested that perhaps it was time for her husband to try a career that is a little safer, like being a police officer?

So at this point and again, if my parents fondest dream had been realized, I think I would call the President of Afghanistan into my office and tell him straight up, "Your so-called country is now YOUR problem. We have made a good-faith effort to help you and your people, but apparently your people like living in the stone age-so be it and enjoy your flight to your donkey-ride home, we can't do nothin' for ya anymore."

I would then turn to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and tell him, "Pack them up, bring them home and don't leave anything that they can use behind-bring it back or destroy it in-place."

I'd turn next to Hillary Clinton and say (in my best impersonation of Bill Clinton) "Hillary, you red-hot mama, close the embassy, evacuate all American personnel and haul down the colors, we're outta there!"

 

It would grind the nerves of a lot of people to have to say it, but the next words out of their mouth had better be "Yes, Mr. President."

I Just Don't Care

Roger Chesley get's it right sometimes-and other times he get's it wrong, WAY wrong. In Roger's latest article, he decries the proposed drug testing of welfare recipients as "insensitive" and I have to tell you, I just couldn't care less about hurting the feelings of "the poor." Every year I drove a tractor/trailer I had to submit to random drug screening and it didn't bother me at all-why should it? I wasn't doing anything illegal, the Supreme Court had their say in the matter and drug testing for commercial drivers became the law of the land.

Case closed.

I didn't like it, I didn't have to and nobody asked me, but as they say, "it is what it is" and in this case, the (pardon the pun) highest court in the land weighed in on the subject and there wasn't anything I could do or say that was going to change the outcome.

I also operated with the knowledge that if I used illegal drugs, even if I was out of the country on vacation, those pesky old drug tests would probably catch me and I'd be out of a job. So, there I was, faced with a choice-I was in Jamaica, having fun, PARTYING my rather large posterior off in a tropical climate while by brother and sister truckers were socked in the teeth with a blizzard that I was watching on CNN when someone passed a joint to me-I held up a hand and said, "Can't do it, man-I'd love to, but I get drug tested for work, but thanks anyway." I had to leave the area so as not to get any "contact" high and went to find something else to do. Found my way over to the hot tub, started throwing down Red Stripes (it's like the national beer of Jamaica) and we had ourselves a good ol' time. Nobody faulted me for it, I wasn't ashamed of it and hey, I even got a date because she said that she "admired a man who knows the meaning of responsibilities." I was wondering why she showed up at the hot tub  few minutes after I did, why she sat next to me and why she really started "liking" me (this was WAY before Facebook)-women, especially cute ones have never been known to follow me around unless they were either mad at me or working on some sort of study, so it took me a while to pick up on the vibe. Of course, she DIDN'T refrain when the J passed her way, so maybe there's your answer right there.

The date didn't lead to anything significant but I still had my job after I returned to the U.S., climbed up in the cab and started rolling again.

I made the choice my responsibilities REQUIRED me to make. I didn't really like having to say "no" but I knew that for this decision, there would be consequences should I have "done what (I) wanted to do." Well, sometimes being a responsible adult means you have to make the right decisions or, live with the bad things that can happen if you don't.

While I was working for KLLM Transport out of Jackson, Mississippi we had a guy at our Greensboro Terminal who got popped for a random and the results came back, "Specimen not human." Apparently this guy had submitted something that the lab said didn't come from a human being so when they told him he'd have to re-test, he quit. It was his opinion that it wasn't anyone's business what he did in his off-time and the Terminal Manager agreed with him to the extent that the law allowed-only problem is a commercial driver is NEVER allowed.

I got my results back, too-clean & sober = it isn't drugs that make him the way he is.

That's my attitude on drug testing, WHATEVER.

 

My opinion is, if we make "the poor" take a drug test, it's going to force them to make some kind of choice and I'm not at all sorry that they feel humiliated, singled out, put upon or humiliated. If you're getting a handout from the government then I think you should have SOME responsibilities or requiremented placed upon you and if asking you to be clean and sober is one of them, then so be it. The taxpayers have every right to have every possible assurance that their hard-earned money, taken from them under threat of force by the government isn't going to support anyone's drug habit and that the money you say you need to survive is going towards your survival-not your personal drug habit.

If that creates a hardship on you, then too bad.

Of course, the bleeding-heard types will weigh in with their cries "what about the CHILDREN, it isn't THEIR FAULT, why should THEY suffer?" Well, maybe you should ask their parents taking drugs that question because as tough as it is to say, if they're taking drugs they're not being responsible parents and I don't think it's really my problem-but I think that if someone is getting a portion (however small) of the money I worked for and earned simply because they show up at some government office with their hand out, I have the right to expect something in return.

And hey, maybe this idea will help get people OFF drugs instead of teaching them that they can do what they want with no expectations at all-which is exactly what got us into this mess in the first place.