No surprise here...

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No surprise here…
It was reported in some newspapers, but not the Staunton NewsLeader which is another “No surprise”, that gun charges have been dropped against Senator Webb’s aide, Phillip Thompson.
Now it is no big surprise that the Senators aide did beat the charge for it is obvious that the “Capitol Hill Elite” do not have to answer to the same laws as you and me.
http://wtop.com/?nid=116&sid=1098412

If one of us had been stopped in a Federal building in the District of Columbia with a fully loaded handgun and two full spare ammunition magazines it’s pretty darn sure we wouldn’t be taking a Summer break with the rest of the Democratic gang… Just get stopped within the District with a loaded handgun that’s registered and accompanied with a neighboring states Concealed Weapons Permit, and your still looking at doing time in the Big House…

An interesting aspect of this story is how it was treated by the media. At first junior Senator Webb jumped out of the gate claiming he was a strong supporter of his 2nd amendment rights, which may not have been to popular with upper Dem management, but then backed away and said he did not give Thompson the gun as claimed by Thompson. Webb stated that he carries heat for protection but never stated, or was asked by the media, if he carried his loaded handgun within the District. He also would not confirm that the weapon Thompson claims he gave him was actually his handgun and danced around the issue that the media did not push hard at all.

Imagine if the Junior Senator had an (R) behind his name instead of the (D) he has? Would the media have followed up on the story more aggressively instead of letting it slip away like it has?
My local paper here in the valley, The Staunton NewsLeader, chose to ignore the story\issue altogether. Numerous other local papers here in the area provided the AP stories as well as their “Stories” about the incident. Once again the majority of information available to the public on a story like this was found on the internet, blogs, and links to reporting done by newspapers who still report the stories no matter how it portrays the “Progressive” ones…

RightsideVA did a post on this “Selective” coverage back when the incident first happened and showed how many of the local as well as national newspapers found “Newsworthiness” in this incident. http://rightsideva.blogspot.com/2007/03/confirm-deny-ignore.html#comments

One of the editors of the NewsLeader responded with the following post to my statements:
“The News Leader has completely switched its focus to local/state and community news. We run only one page of national/world news in our print edition now since folks can get their glut of national/world news in so many other places it's no longer our franchise”

While other newspapers reported the incident the NewsLeader failed to even mention it on the “one page of national/world news in our print edition”.

It also seems to reason that with Webb being the Junior Senator representing the Citizens of Virginia, this would make it a story that fits into the “focus to local/state and community news” section of the new format over at the NewsLeader…

Yup.
No surprise here at all…

General H. Norman Schwarzkopf at WorldSailfish 2007...

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General H. Norman Schwarzkopf

US Army (Ret.), Tampa, FL

"A charismatic American leader, General Schwarzkopf captured the hearts of people everywhere when he led his troops to victory during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf War. Throughout his 35 years of service in the United States Military, the General was awarded many prestigious honors including three Silver Stars, three Bronze Stars, two Purple Hearts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Author of the best-selling autobiography, It Doesn’t Take a Hero, General Schwarzkopf is a senior analyst with NBC News."

http://worldsailfish.com/2005/celebrity_sightings.htm

The General has been a important part of the WorldSailfish Tournament for many years and is an avid fisherman. He has represented the charity group which he co-founded "Camp Boggy Creek" for many of the Tournaments history and has become a focal point of the Tournament Charity events... In fact the painting in the above photo to the right of the General was painted on-site by Marine Artist Guy Harvey who is famous for his paintings related to Marine Sportfishing. Each year Guy Harvey paints an exclusive painting for the charity auction and last years painting brought in $61,000 for the charity event. This year the above outstanding painting of Sailfish balling and chasing baitfish was auctioned off for an incredible $200,000 for the charity group...

The General went on to describe the Camp Boggy Creek program with the help of Hall of Fame Catcher Johnny Bench...

"We are a year round camp for seriously ill children and offer weeklong summer sessions for the children and family retreat weekends for the whole family. There is no charge to the children or families who come to Boggy Creek. We invite you to explore this site and open your hearts to the magic of serving these brave children. Once you do, we hope you'll join us."

http://boggycreek.org/2006/home.asp

The General also enjoyed spending time with the staff during "Pirates Night" and made several rounds of the event tent during the night...

I had the opportunity to meet and talk with the General and found him to be a very interesting and powerful man. He took the time to listen to my request and was very interested when I asked to take a photo of him with the above flag. I explained to the General that the flag had been sent to a local Virginia Hero Ssg. Herb Harman who was serving his country in downtown Baghdad with his squad, the "Four-One Element" of the 654th MP CO., and each Squad member had signed the border edge of the flag. The General stated "It would be my honor" to have his photo taken with this same flag...
http://fromrhearts.blogspot.com/2006/03/note-from-baghdad.html

"Challenge Coins" that were issued to each member of the 110 fishing teams that took part of the WorldSailfish Tournament 2007...

Johnny Bench at WorldSailfish 2007...

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Hall of Fame Johnny Bench served as the Master of ceremonies at the WorldSailfish 2007 events this past week in Key West...

Here he is opening the Charity auction which raised over $501,000 for charities supported by the tournament...

Each year marine artist Guy Harvey paints a Sailfish related painting onsite for the auction and last year the painting went for $63,000...

This year the painting by Guy Harvey which is next to Johnny Bench in the photo, went for $200,000 pushing the total for this years auction over the $501,000 mark...

WorldSailfish 2007...

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The "Get-Lit" boat out of Coral Gables Florida took 1st place in the 2007 WorldSailsih Tournament this week in Key West Florida...

The "Get-Lit" did it with 14 Sailfish Catch & Releases in a tournament that saw 538 Sailfish Caught & released over 3-Days of fishing with 92% of the 110 boats catching fish.

The Crew and Anglers of the "Get-Lit" took the First place winnings of $100,000 along with several trophies for their numerous Sailfish releases...

Numerous other teams have returned to the Worldsailfish Tournament including the team from Vitamin Sea Too who have won the tournament in the past...

Each night after fishing and including the "Lay Day" had dinners, concerts, and shows to fill out the tournament schedule...

Numerous Celebrities were on hand and Wade Bogg's is well known for fishing in the Florida Keys over the years...