NOVATOWNHALL

It’s only the first round, but my money is already on the Redskins.

This came across in the comments:

[And yes, Firefox and Wordpress are suddenly not playing together nicely. You may need to switch to Internet Explorer to watch the video, or else Just click here to watch it on the Youtube site.]

UPDATE: “Alcohol, sex, and cigars…” (I think I have died and gone to blogger heaven.)

I would like to say, right here, right now, that I am willing, anytime, anywhere, to hold this debate with Sally Kurtz. Obviously, I will be taking the “For-” position.

Supervisor Kurtz, please have your people contact my people.

UPDATE II: New motto: “Loudoun County takes looking a gift horse in the mouth to the next level.”

This, my friends, demonstrates why the work of professional academics is so essential to understanding the world we live in.

Middle-aged men want younger women, often touting their intelligence and their high income. This is shown in research at Gothenburg University and Oxford University that studied 400 lonely hearts ads to see how men and women choose partners.

Research in the theory of evolution includes a number of accepted theories about how men and women choose their partners. Among the more established ones is that men place more emphasis on attractive appearance, whereas resources and social status are more important to women.

Thank you, Department of Zoology.

And as long as money is flying around for such critical research studies, let me be the first to float the notion there’s a rumor of men watching sporting events preferring to be served refreshments by females who look like Barbie rather than males like Alfred the butler. Where to start investigating this one? Who knows … I’m flailing about hopelessly, but I guess that’s why I never made it further than a B.A.

I heard an advertisement on the radio recently … for what I do not know, but it mentioned the Democans and the Repulicrats. Both of them fitting monikers for the parties that used to have principles. It used to be that Democrats were all about the little guy, well at least that is what they purported to be, and would not compromise on issues to the little guy. The Republicans used to be idologically conservative and would not compromise either moral or fiscal conservativism — the party started over the idea of slavery being wrong, and it only recently backed off there are real morals that need to be encouraged within society.

Both parties are lost and wayward at this point. Democrats have long since abandoned the Southern  core of their party in favor of the coastal extremes. The Republican have long since abandoned the ideology of morals are more important than victories. The only thing either party considers is how to get “their people” elected, and who cares about any issue.

I do.

I think a lot of people actually care about issues as well, and neither party serves those people any more. Neither party seems to care about the people they know they feel have no option but to vote for them. I haven’t voted for a presidential candidate in a very long time. I probably did vote for Reagan, and considering the victory of the cold war, I think that was probably a good thing. He stood for things that I could stand behind. I have not voted for a president since.

It is a tragic thing that the parties think winning is more important than ideology. Power more important than principle. Both have adulterated their historic positions in order to either obtain or to keep power. Some of the reason is that we have a government that supports essentially just two parties. The way the government works, we could not have five or six parties that have to form coillisions in order to govern.

The few minor parties that are out there have zero power. The libertarians are a joke, the green party an after thought. Those that support them throw away their votes. The Repulicrats and the Democans depend on that fact, and that people want their vote to count — so they can push what neither “core” group wants, and still win elections.

I’m not sure that anything can change that. It certainly isn’t what the Republicrats or the Democans want … they want power, and they certainly don’t want that power structure to change to limit their power. Yet I have to believe that is what our founding fathers intended (including the “gentleman/statesman” as the model for elected official, which is no longer the case.)

To get back to that kind of model, a radical thing would have to occur … the constitution would have to be changed so that nobody could make a living from being a politician … and that nobody that did not have to make a living could remain in politics for more than say, ten years (you don’t want the independantly wealthy to be able to just stay in politics even if they don’t need to make a living).

Reagan thought term limits were a bad idea at the end of his second term … but I would propose that term limits for *every* politician should be enforced, and that a politician could not serve a total of more than 20 years (though no more than 12 years in any office). It would totally change Washington … a lot more than what Obama will change Washington. If working as an elected official had no better pay than the mean salary of the country, it would also make term limits have teeth. Public servant would mean just that: to serve the public for the public’s good, not because it was a good paying job.

…just like the rotation of the Earth could play a role in tomorrow’s sunrise.

This came up in the lively thread at Too Conservative and also at Operative Word (well worth reading them both): Ya think anyone might be gearing up to use today’s vote as a campaign issue?

I’m gonna say … probably.

Check that: What I meant was, OH GODALMIGHTY YES!

And here is how it just might start. 6″ x 9″ folded size, 4 pgs, glossy card stock, entire piece flooded in dark burgundy ink full bleed (all text reversed or in reversed boxes), opens to a spread with photos (names in captions) of each of the five Supervisors who voted against the co-branding project, perhaps a quote from Andrea McGimsey that she has a football signed by “Redskins Quarterback Frank Herzog,” a summary of what Loudoun County missed out on, “logo”-type gold text representing “Redskins Hall of Fame” facility with wording to the effect of “What Loudoun County Just Lost.” Back cover is mailer portion on the bottom, and on the top something like: “Five Supervisors killed the deal to make Loudoun County the ‘Home of the Washington Redskins’ and instead sent the money for HOSPITALITY TRAINING for the ‘Journey Through Hallowed Ground’” - with an inset photo of Rt 15 south of Leesburg during rush hour.

This might be the cover:

But that’s all probably just crazy talk, so please disregard.

It’s looking very good for Saxby Chambliss to become the 41st Republican senator in the upcoming session.

Click here to follow the results at the AJC blog. Just keep hitting F5.

He’s running much stronger than he did in the general election.

If Chambliss does win in a landslide, let me be the first to say: Thanks, Sarah.

UPDATE: at 9:00 pm Chambliss leads by over 250,000 votes - more than 60% - with over half the precincts reporting.

UPDATE II: … and at 9:05 pm, AP calls the race for Chambliss. Thanks, Sarah.

Some of our readers have gotten their wish: Five members of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors told the Washington Redskins to f— off, and are instead sending the marketing dollars for “hospitality training” to support the Journey Through Hallowed Grounds.

I’m sure that is going to pay off in spades, because all sorts of people must be chomping at the bit to take a driving tour of Rt. 15 when they come to the DC area. If I had my druthers I would just drive up and down the road over and over, buying bag after bag of corn and tomatoes and many bottles of expensive wine.

And Loudoun has money to burn, so why not send it out west where people are really suffering.

The Washington Redskins have been a thorn in Ashburn’s side for years and maybe now they will take the hint. The last thing we need is a major tourist attraction in Loudoun County.

Thanks to the Board for helping to preserve our status as Fairfax County’s bedroom community.

Read all about it at TC.

UPDATE: Here is a thought. I think the supervisors from eastern Loudoun who voted to send the money to JTHG Hospitality Training instead of a marketing initiative that would have allowed Loudoun to brand itself “Home of the Washington Redskins” and indicate receptiveness to the Redskins Hall of Fame facility, have just telegraphed they do not plan to run for a second term.

Firearm quick hits:

Not too shabby. Go over to Classic Arms right now and you’ll see that freedom is alive and well in America.

Of particular note, in my view, are the AR-15s for $719.95 - I got to shoot ACTivist’s (which he purchased for a tad better price about two months ago, but that’s life in the big city) and I can vouch that these are excellent rifles.

Also, the Romanian .22 for $99, and the M91/59 Nagant for $129.95.

That’s not all, scroll down the page. Some great items are available for very reasonable prices.

The AK inventory has dwindled almost to zero across the country, but I think that is going to change once everyone realizes that President Obama is going to have much bigger fish to fry than attacking the Second Amendment - at least in his first term.

Another quick-hit potential conversation starter:

If President Obama overreaches, we should pummel him for it and march on Washington if necessary. But he is our QB now, so as Americans we must allow him to begin his presidency with assurance that we have his back.

Prior to the 2008 elections, progressives projected onto Barack Obama their hopes and we conservatives projected our fears. From his initial steps as President-elect, it appears we have all had our expectations dashed.

Having your fears dashed, it turns out, is a pretty cool thing (with hopes, however … it’s not so great.) I said a couple times I would love to be proven wrong about my assumptions that Obama’s past statements and affiliations portended dark days for America’s future. It is looking like I was wrong.

AND I, FOR ONE, AM GLAD ABOUT IT.

I think there is a real danger and missed opportunity for conservatives if we go into the 2009 federal government period poised to reflexively trash the Barack Obama presidency. He seems to have a strong pragmatic streak. Not saying he doesn’t have some important issues to work out, but I plan to give him the benefit of the doubt for a long while.

Jeez Louise, fresh content is going to be a serious struggle here for the next few weeks because I have a real-world project taking up all my time.

Music videos are getting boring, so let’s try a run of short and sweet conversation starters this week and see if any of them take off.

First up: All good things must come to an end.

Farmers face ruin as Amsterdam alters image

City authorities in Amsterdam are bracing themselves for a weekend of hallucinogenic bingeing as dozens of so-called “smart shops” that specialise in fresh psychedelic mushrooms sell off their stock before the trade becomes illegal on Monday…

It is going to be one hell of a weekend in that town. If some pranksters were to project something like this on the side of a building in the heart of Amsterdam the terrified wailing would be audible in Copenhagen.

I discern from his comments in the music discussions this story will have no resonance whatsoever with my friend Zimzo, but to some of the rest of you it may evoke a wistful melancholy.

In the greater Washington DC metropolitan area there is no more potent brand name than the Washington Redskins. But it goes further than that. For decades in our nation’s history, through the Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations - before most of the Baby Boomers had entered kindergarten - the Redskins were the preeminent “local” professional football team throughout the American southeast, with a fan base extending from Maryland through Florida and as far west as Texas. East of the Mississippi and south of the Mason-Dixon line, you can find communities of Redskins fans whose roots go back for generations.

That is why the Redskins are an NFL franchise like none other (and I say this, begrudgingly, as a lifelong Dallas Cowboys fan). That is why, despite a record of often chronic mediocrity since the early 1990s, the burgundy and gold has grown into one of the two most profitable franchises in all of professional sports (the other being a certain silver and blue team in Texas).

Little known to much of the “Redskins Nation” is the fact the Redskins spend the vast majority of their time in Loudoun County, with the main offices and training facility at Redskins Park located off the Loudoun County Parkway. But Loudoun has gotten precious little PR or money for that matter as a result of this silent partnership.

Now, Loudoun County, the area’s residential mega mart with homes as far as the eye can see and a commercial tax base consisting of seven motels and a roadside custard stand (and some massive corporations asked only to provide beer money for the Board of Supervisors’ summer picnic), has an opportunity to co-brand with the Washington Redskins - and serve as home for the future Redskins’ Hall of Fame museum. The price tag for Loudoun County’s share of this joint marketing effort is $250,000, which would be drawn from money already allocated to promote tourism here. This would appear to be a no brainer, because the Redskins brand is only going to get stronger, and our county desperately needs the revenues that would accrue from becoming a destination with more emotional buy-in than the airport is currently affording us.

For an excellent introduction to this issue, please click here to go read Loudoun Insider’s story at Too Conservative. Then come back here, please, to read the rest.

Unfortunately, there is a contingent on the Board of Supervisors who contend the money would be better spent educating hospitality workers about the Journey Through Hallowed Ground (JTHG) which is a stretch of road in western Loudoun that is being preserved from future development.

So either the $250,000 will be spent on a marketing initiative to allow Loudoun County to formally co-brand itself with the national powerhouse franchise Washington Redskins and open the door for the Redskins to build their Hall of Fame here, or the $250,000 will be spent on literature, receptions and meetings for personnel from wineries, antique shops, restaurants and bed and breakfasts in western Loudoun to tell them all how wonderful the JTHG project is so they can pass the information along to customers … at some point in the future, this educational effort is supposed to benefit Loudoun County.

It appears one of the main interest groups advocating to get the $250,000 spent on western Loudoun is the same group that funded many of the Democratic supervisors’ recent campaigns on the “slow growth” agenda. Read into that what you will.

I have also heard that at least one of the Democratic supervisors, Andrea McGimsey, is opposing the cross-marketing project with the Redskins in part because she has a problem with the “Redskins” name. Frankly, I have trouble believing this, because Ms. McGimsey’s district is practically ground zero for the Redskins Nation - portions only a few miles from Redskins Park - and from my brief conversations with her she seems reasonable and honestly concerned about her contituents. But the rumor is out there that she finds the name of the team offensive. Let’s hope this is not true and, in any case, that Supervisor McGimsey would have a bias for economic growth in Loudoun County.

Regardless of the hearsay, the fact of the matter is the Board of Supervisors may well vote against the Washington Redskins project and send the $250,000 to promote tourism in the western part of the county. I think this would be a major opportunity lost.

The public hearing will be tomorrow night, Monday, December 1, 6:30 pm, in the Board Room of the Loudoun County Government Center, 1 Harrison Street, S.E. in Leesburg. The matter will be voted on by the Board of Supervisors Tuesday morning. If you are a Redskins fan, or concerned about the lack of commercial tax revenue in Loudoun County, please show up at the meeting Monday evening and sign up to speak (arrive at 6:30 pm and walk down to the right front part of the room and ask to have your name put on the speakers’ list. They will call you up and you can speak for up to three minutes saying why you think we should spend the money on the Redskins project).

Here is the story in Loudoun Times earlier this month.

“Wouldn’t that be something to say, ‘Redskins Park at Loudoun County?’” said Supervisor Lori Waters (R-Broad Run), who chairs the Board of Supervisors’ economic development committee. “This is exciting news.”

The partnership would allow Loudoun to place its name throughout all Redskins-owned media outlets. A county banner advertisement would appear on the team’s Web site, and mention of the county would be made regularly on Redskins-owned radio stations and television programs. Also, “Home of the Washington Redskins” would appear on the county Web site and on other county material.

If you cannot make it to the hearing, send an e-mail with your thoughts on the matter to the entire Board of Supervisors at bos@loudoun.gov. Or you can go to this page on the Loudoun County Web site and click on the name of each supervisor to contact them individually.

I know after the blitzkrieg we fell under conservatives are aghast, wondering “Who were those guys and what are they going to do next?”

Is there anything Moveon.org can’t accomplish?

Well I hate to be the bearer of terrifying news, but Moveon is not going away. They are moving forward!

This video was captured by a New York Magazine crew two weeks after the election at a Moveon meeting in Manhattan.

And by moving forward I mean revving up to kick ass, take photos and eat brains.

The money quote:

“Moveon is not about an issue, it’s about the issue being that you guys cannot organize, and that we need to figure about how to f-cking do it, because …”

“Can you spare us the obscenities?”

“Sorr .. Are you? .. alright, so anyway, thanks and I’m done.”

Be afraid, be very afraid.

These will be frightening times to be a moderate in America, with this progressive behemoth coming straight down the pike. To be a conservative, for goodness sake, will be like butter waiting for the hot knife to slice into us.

How interesting is this? That tool bag that one of the astronauts dropped into space while doing repairs to the International Space Station (ISS) is now being followed by amateur astronomers using binoculors and small telescopes.

You can join in the fun by typing in your zip code here. Unless you live in a missile silo, you will get the coordinates necessary to see the ISS tool bag this evening.

I will let everyone know when the Facebook fan page is all set up.

It has been a busy Friday in the city of Mumbai, India following a night of arrests and continued fighting.

Latest photos and video at India Times.

Much of the Taj Heritage Hotel has been cleared but gunshots continue and at least one terrorist is reportedly holed up with hostages in one of the buildings.

The Indian Navy has a thousand reasons to be embarrassed.

The Army has reportedly taken control of the Oberoi Trident Hotel, freeing 148 hostages.

A father and daughter from Virginia are still missing.

Who is behind the attacks? No one has a clue if Pakistan was involved although the accusation has been made, unsurprisingly. Others suspect the terrorists are homegrown.

The “Deccan Mujahideen” or Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, or someone else? No sure answers likely to be forthcoming soon.

Rediff reports it looks like Lashkar-e-Tayiba. (Read the Wikipedia entry on this group).

WashPost reports: “…the attacks bore the hallmarks of Lashkar-i-Taiba and Jaish-i-Muhammad.”

The Mid-Day Home Page is as good a place as any to keep abreast of current developments in Mumbai.

UPDATE: BBC has up to the minute coverage (thanks, Lovisa).

Also check the top left on Drudge.

We all have much to be thankful for.  Just living in the United States makes us some of the most blessed people in the world.  Today, give thanks to God, who has provided us such blessings in this life and who has promised us blessings greater than we can imagine in the next.

Some eccentric flavors. I am turning the dial back before the Internet and, really, before the video age. There was not much video recorded by any of these, which is a real shame.

Ry Cooder. His “Paradise and Lunch” should be on any top ten list of American folk blues albums.

Leon Redbone. Master of the craft of throat tromnet. (Not shown in this video - he probably needs to be a future Music Wars segment on his own.)

Tom Tom Club. Heads alumni. Goshalmighty did I love this group. After the Talking Heads dissolved Tom Tom Club toured for a few years in the early 1990s.

Happy The Man. Any of y’all remember these guys? An incredible 70s progressive band. Almost nothing they did made it to video.

Root Boy Slim and the Sex Change Band. I saw Root Boy lots of times in the 1970s, there have not been many like him before or since. Not a lot of Root made it to video, either, unfortunately. Classics were “Boogie Till You Puke” and “You Broke My Mood Ring.”

I still don’t know what diddy wah diddy means.