Sparkling Diversity

Sparkling Diversity provides a unique view of Hampton Roads, Virginia through the eyes of Archie Whitehill, a long-time resident of Norfolk. Politics, places, events, ideas and people are explored in sometimes provocative ways.

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Category: Local Life

■ 24 May 2012 | 9:55 AM

My Sincerest Hope Regarding Our Next Vice President of the United States

I fervently hope our next Vice-President is not Joe Biden.

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■ 23 May 2012 | 10:17 PM

News Stories That Disgusted Me Today

In reading today’s news, I am disgusted over some of the things people do. Here is a short list of the things I’d like to happen as a result of the actions reported in the stories:

The lady who only got two years for stealing food should get more. Her previous criminal record was atrocious, and she stole 4 cans of oysters and a jar of horseradish sauce. Hardly staples. Put her away for more than two years. Read Story

The man who tried to kill a police officer was charged with attempted murder and a good number of related charges. The officer is still in bad shape. I hope the man, if found guilty, never sees freedom. Read Story

Pakistan has sentenced the man who helped the CIA find bin Laden to 33 years for helping the U. S. Pakistan is not our friend. Let’s stop sending them weapons and money, and let’s stop all trade with them. Read Story

·Ex-Legislator Phil Hamilton believes he deserves to win an appeal on his corruption charges. Claims he thought his work computer deserved privacy from investigators because he was writing to his wife. He actually got off easier than he could have. Next strike and he should be wearing prison dungarees for a long time. There should be another trial, by the way, one for his wife because of her complicacy in his crime. There should also be a trial for the ODU staff members who were his accomplices. Read Story

I can see giving some criminals a second chance, only one, and then strike the hammer hard.

What are your thoughts on these stories? Are there other stories in the news that disgusted you?

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■ 23 May 2012 | 6:43 AM

Movement to Expand LRT is OnTrack

Little by little, Virginia Beach is moving toward expanding Light Rail into their borders (Click Here). That is a good thing to be happening.

In reading comments to the above referenced story, I note that there are few against the project, although they cry loudly and shrilly. Interesting to me is that many of those are against taxing in general. That is puzzling, since everything needs money to operate, light rail, schools, police, fire departments, city streets and highways, and, well, everything else we demand from out governments at all levels.

Light rail has been a boon to Norfolk, and it will be a boon to Virginia Beach.

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■ 20 May 2012 | 8:52 AM

Battle Cries of the Inane

There are so many people in Hampton Roads holding diverse opinions and gathering together in demonstrations against all matter of things. Everyone wants "the good life," but no one wants to pay for "the good life."

Here are a few mob-induced, no-rational "battle cries" of the peasants, or should I call them minions? I call these the battle cries of the inane:

No new taxes!
No to Light Rail!
No tolls!
Unions, Yes!
Lock 'em up; throw away the key!
Right Wing Fascists!
Left Wing Communists!
Throw the Bums Out!
Love it or leave it!
Those are the sounds of freedom!
It's for the children!

There are many more such inane, or nonsensical battle cries of the clueless mobs who gather to denigrate one thing or another. What is so sad about these phrases of the inane are that they establish a "black & white" thought pattern; there is no intermeidate grey, nor is there a chance of diversity of color, and depth. It is either "Yay" or "Nay." There is no middle ground.

Notice that such mobs of minions are never for something, always against, nor do they ever offer solutions to the problems their leaders have perceived and foisted upon them. Such herds of humanity never allow opposing voices to speak. To do so would be dangerous, perhaps force them to think of other points of view, of real solutions, if there even is a problem.

There is no thinking involved when one takes a stance with such strident thoughtlessness. What little thougth that takes place occurs outside the minion minds; the "thinking," and that term is used loosely, takes place withing the executive committees of unions, political parties, and special interest groups. They, the executive committees, come up with the black & white slogans, the thoughtless, albeit cute, sayings, and they feed this inanity to the minion masses who await word regarding what they think. They, the people who fear original thought, who support special interest groups, who support unions, who support political paqrties unthinkingly, cherish the opportunity to carry signs someone else has made and shout slogans someone else has thought up. Such are the diversely deficient thinkers.

There is no more "voice of the people." Instead, we have the many voices of left-wing and right-wing pundits; we have the authoritative, though under-informed voices of news anchors. Our real leaders come from the ranks of talking heads, from the lips of talk-radio hosts, and from grass-roots organizations which are really national, sometimes multi-national organizations posing as the voice of the people.

How can this be true?

It is true because we have stopped thinking. We no longer participate in critical thinking on the issues of the day. We join personality cults, believing our candidate can do no wrong, and the opposing candidate can do no right.

Inane slogans have replaced rational thinking

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■ 19 May 2012 | 9:43 AM

God: The Disposable Governmental Entity

Take God out of government.

God, any god, or goddess, should not be involved in government. Actually, since none really exist, they are not directly involved in government. The involvement is in the minds of those who believe in or accept the existence of supernatural beings, such as gods, goddesses, demons, and the like.

There are a list of law categories that rest solely on the religious beliefs of people rather than rational thinking of established facts. Here are a few areas where we needlessly suffer because of “deities” allowed to infringe on legislation:

Marriage laws. This is a hot, recent area of violent disagreement. God is quoted so often on this that his hears must burn. Actually, there is no religious reason to deny anyone’s marriage to anyone else, regardless of gender or sexual orientation.

ABC laws. These laws that control our use of alcoholic beverages are probably among the most convoluted laws in the Commonwealth of Virginia. I found out last week that one may not put his or her head down on the bar or table in an establishment serving alcohol. Dancing among guests is apparently a big problem in bars. And, you will find yourself in deep trouble, as will the establishment’s owner, if you happen to have an alcoholic beverage, in a closed container even, in your possession. There are so many stupid restrictions that I’ll not take up more space, but refer you to the horse’s mouth (Actually, the other end of the horse!) (Click Here)

Separation of Church and State. More convoluted laws fill this category, and no one knows what is or is not legal. We have supposed educators who want to teach creation theory as a science! How amazing is that? And the posting of the Ten Commandments is considered non-religious by those who want to post them. Amazing! If you want children to learn religious junk, teach them at home. Leave schools alone and allow them to teach factual matter only. Oh, and the policies regarding prayer in schools are ludicrous. No one says a student cannot pray. It is when the school supports or advocates for any prayer that you tread on anti-constitutional prayer. For instance, a student, on his or her own, may pray for a good grade on a test. But, when the teacher leads a prayer, or suggests a prayer, or prays in front of the class for good test performance, which is where the problems arise. Teachers and administrators, keep your godliness out of the classrooms and auditoriums, and stadiums, and hallways of public schools.

Invoking God at meetings. How stupid is this? Supposedly intelligent “leaders” invoking imaginary creatures to help lead a meeting. Most of this is done because our “leaders” are spineless and fear public reprisal from “god-fearing” citizens who demand gods be a part of every aspect of life. What losers!

Blessings at official dinners are mostly funny because of their real motivation to show gods are in favor of this meeting, or this candidate, or this official in the performance of official duties. The implication is that the official needs guidance from some god in order to perform his or her official function. If they can’t perform on their own, without some imaginary god, they should not be in office.

Look around you folks. The natural world exists with no evidence of divine intervention at any level from creation through day to day activity. If you see the “hand of god” in anything, you should perhaps talk to your doctor about increasing the level of medication you are taking.

Take responsibility for your own actions and demand that those working for you, i.e., elected and appointed officials, do their work on their own, without invoking fairytale, imaginary creatures. To move into a society without god would move us into a society that can devote all its resources into building and improving what we have, using resources that, until now, have been wasted on religious shrines, events, and extravagances.

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■ 14 May 2012 | 6:05 AM

OPSAIL 2000 Memories

To whet your appetites for OPSAIL 2012, let's look at some photos taken at OPSAIL 2000. Looking forward to a marvelous celebration of sail, history, and Hampton Roads. If any of you attended OPSAIL 2000, feel free to reminisce in the comments, below. The rest of you will get a very small glimpse of what is to come.

There will be events and sights and experiences to be enjoyed by all ages throughout Hampton Roads. OPSAIL 2012 promises to be a most diverse extravaganza.

See you there!

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■ 13 May 2012 | 6:59 AM

Happy Mother's Day!

Mothers come in all sorts of types, to use the title of one of my favorite movies, “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.”

We choose a day in May, this day; this Sunday we honor our mothers. Most of these mothers are deserving of honor, a few are not. Let’s concentrate on the good, the inwardly beautiful, the mothers who are deserving of our love, our honor and our respect.

When I was small, much smaller than I am now, we had a pillow, one of those gaudy, decorative pillows found in gift shops throughout the world. It had the word “MOTHER” printed vertically, with each letter standing for a quality attributed to mothers everywhere. Today I share one of my own; an acrostic that may or may not match your mother. If you would like a template to create your own, Click Here.

M is for the Multitude of tasks a mother must perform.

O is for the Ornery behavior of us kids she had to put up with.

T is for the Tenacity mothers must possess.

H is for the Harrowing experiences we put mothers through.

E is for Everything mothers must give up to take care of a child’s needs.

R is for the Respect mothers who care for children deserve.

To all the mothers of Hampton Roads, a diverse group, indeed, have a happy Mother’s Day, and thank you for all the time, tears, love and respect you have given us. May your children return to you the time, love, and respect that you have given us.

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■ 09 May 2012 | 7:59 AM

You're Missing the Point, Paul Fraim

I laughed aloud as I read the article about Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim asking Norfolk City Council members to remain civil. (Read It Here) It's kind of like an FAA inspector at the site of a plane crash commenting on the airline's choice of colors for its planes rather than on the cause of the crash.

Mr. Fraim, you have a member of "your" council who has flaunted the law by not paying taxes, repeatedly; who has physically attacked others, and who feels he is a gift to his constituency; well, maybe he is the booby prize. Yet, you say nothing, do nothing, and you're upset about raised voices? Come on Mr. Mayor, where do you keep your backbone?

Grow one or get out of the way.

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■ 05 May 2012 | 9:47 AM

Loafing -- A Primer

Don’t let this grey hair and beard fool you. I don’t know as much as I’d like you to think I know. Older folk are like vehicles. I started adulthood as a Maserati, full of vim and vroom. I ended up a golf cart.

Senior citizens, aka older folk, have it good these days – no more criticism – free fart opportunities. I fart and I get knowing nods and smiles from others as they move away and leave me alone. I deserve the solitude. There are books == “Getting Old for Dummies; The Elder Bible. A quote from The Elder Bible: ^“

As a senior citizen it is my turn to rest – to loaf.

Do any of you know how to loaf? When I loaf, my cats sit around me taking notes on their paw-pilots – I have been honored with a number of 21-meow salutes and when I go out into the neighborhood, cats point at me and meow in awe. Loafing is a solvent – able to dissolve employment and relationships. Loafing makes me into a god – every day is my Seventh Day. It takes aged experience to loaf well – hit 60 and you are the expert. Yes, I do loafing seminars. Wear slippers.

My generation worked hard; we brought our kids into this world . . . . . . Well, you may have. I am happily childless. Having children is work, at least keeping them is.

Speaking of kids, I’m allergic. Don’t want ‘em. How do I know? I was a kid once and I don’t want to put up with the likes of that kid. Kids are solvents – they dissolve relationships – they dissolve bank accounts – they dissolve freedom of movement – and they are always whining – gimme! Gimmee! Gimmee! Gimmee! Gimmee! Gimmee! Gimmee! Geeze! I don’t need that. How do you all kid herders out there put up with that? It certainly explains many psychiatric malfunctions, doesn’t it?

Granted, I have missed some of the important things in life: useless purchases of diapers, milk, clothes, earplugs; daily disrespect; back-talk; whining, “are we there yet”; and delivering unto this world the anti-Christ.

Loafing is so much easier, and more pleasant than having children.

________________

^*Loafing is good, no matter how you slice it.

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■ 29 April 2012 | 8:59 PM

Here is a candidate who will improve the City of Norfolk

After a face-to-face meeting with Norfolk City Council Candidate, Jesse Scaccia, I submitted a short list of questions for him to answer. After reading Scaccia's responses, be sure to watch his short video. Then get out and vote for Jesse Scaccia for the Norfolk City Council Superward 6 seat. We will not regret this.

1. What sets you apart as a candidate for Norfolk City Council?

I'm an innovative thinker. When I'm confronted with a problem I always seek out low cost/high impact solutions. Far too often with our current Council they deal with problems by throwing money at them, when there's a more common sense solution right under their nose.

I'm honest, accessible, and I always will worry about the interests of the needy before the interests of the powerful. Unfortunately, that differentiates me from a lot of the current mindset we have on Council. I bring an element of common sense and cultural sophistication that I haven't seen enough of on the Norfolk City Council.

Moreover, I see myself as a bridge between generations in this City. I love our history, our neighborhoods, and everything that has made us great for decades. But I see so many ways that we can do better, just with a shift in perspective. I'm the right leader at the right moment for this city.

2. How do you propose to ensure transparency in City government?

If you wouldn't mind, may I direct you to an action plan I wrote on the subject:

A Post-FOIA Norfolk is Within Our Reach

3. How can Norfolk improve city finances?

First of all, I'd work to increase the tax base. For far too long we've looked at Downtown as the only economic driver in the City. Wards Corner and Ocean View are primed to be major contributors to the tax coffers, they just need a little help from Development. I also want this to be the most small business friendly city in all of Hampton Roads. It should be easier to start a business, and the City should do more to celebrate and foster the great small independent businesses we have. A Small Business Task Force would also be a step in the right direction.

I'll also take a page from one of my challenger's playbooks and say that we should audit the government. He wants to do it himself; I say that we should *all* get the chance to audit the government. The City should be open and transparent about its finances. With a whole City looking over the City's shoulder it won't be long before we find redundancies and other ways to save taxpayers' dollars.

I would also think regionally, and look for ways that Norfolk can share services with our neighbors. This would decrease cost while also likely increasing customer service.

Finally, all the basic quality of life improvements I'd want to implement would make us a more attractive city in general, more of a destination for businesses, tourists, and folks looking for a city call home--all of these bring in revenue for the City.

4. What can City Council do to improve Norfolk citizens' quality of life?

We need to be thinking in terms of complete neighborhoods. Our neighborhoods should all be walkable, bikeable, well-lit, within a short distance of a good grocery store and a favorite neighborhood restaurant. Quality of life doesn't always come from major developments; it comes from smaller things like inspiring public art, soulful community gardens, good schools, and a high-functioning public transport system that makes the whole city accessible to everyone.

It's not the first thing people think of in discussions of quality of life, but we love our cities more when we trust our governments. With increased government transparency I believe we'll have more civic engagement, and people who are active and involved tend to be happier where they live, all the studies show.

5 What is your stance on public/private partnerships?

We need to encourage the private sector to step up as much as possible. Wherever we can be using private resources (money, in-kind donations, expertise) we should. The City is better for it, and it opens up money for essentials like better roads and schools.

6. As a council member, what will you expect of your constituents?

I'm going to put them to work! Look, when I think of government--especially at the local level--there's no *them*, only *us*. We create the community in which we want to live. That doesn't happen from the couch. It happens on the ground, with our hands and hearts. It happens when we volunteer in the schools and with the needy, when we beautify our down-trodden neighborhoods, when we don't just complain about a problem but insert ourselves as part of the solution. That's the ethic I'll try to instill in this great city of ours.

I'll also expect to be held accountable. I made this video here to give people a check list of my campaign promises. Please hold me to them.

Jesse Scaccia: 15 of my top priorities for Norfolk City Council

Beyond that, I expect my constituents to speak up when there's a problem or when they have an idea for making the City better. Being a leader on the local level is much more about listening than it is taking the reins yourself.