VA Democratic Delegate Paul Nichols "Over sixty Need-Not-Apply"...

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Looks like Virginia Democratic Delegate Paul Nichols D-57 pretty much stepped in it when he insinuated that Virginians over the age sixty may not be that productive in the workforce anymore.

The Democratic Delegate took the floor down in Richmond and was speaking in opposition of a bill that would raise the retirement age of judges from 70 to 73 years.

There is a video clip of his speech over at the Virginia GOP Caucus blog at:
http://vagopcaucus.blogspot.com/2008/02/democrat-del-nichols-insults-virginias.html and they provided several interesting quotes of the Democratic Delegate…

“they have lost their desire to work hard,” and “tend to pass their work” onto other people, or “that they really don’t care?”…

I found it interesting when the Democratic Delegate said:

“But they really don’t have anyplace to go” and
“They stay right to the bitter end, And those last 5-8 years are Painful”…

“Delegate Nichols, Senator Byrd on line two for you”…

Virginia Presidential Primary Voting Information...

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Numerous requests for information about the upcoming Virginia Presidential Primary on February 12th, 2008...

The following information was retrieved from several election websites with some links provided…

Information on the Dual Presidential PrimaryFebruary 12, 2008
(A dual primary is actually two primary elections conducted concurrently.)

When you get to the polls, you will be asked "Do you wish to vote in the Democratic Party Primary? OR Do you wish to vote in the Republican Party Primary?"

Why do I have to state a party preference to vote in this election? Under Virginia law, a dual primary consists of two separate elections conducted on the same day for the same office or offices. There are separate pollbooks, separate ballots and/or ballots boxes, and results for each primary are tallied separately. Virginia law only allows you to vote in one of these two separate elections. See Codes below…
All persons qualified to vote may vote in either primary. (§ 24.2-530)
But, the voter may not vote in both primaries held on the same date, even if the desire is to vote for candidates running for different offices. (§ 24.2-530)
No voter may be challenged on their choice of a primary. (§ 24.2-530)
The choice to vote in a party's primary does not mean that the voter will be "registered" with that party.
Is this party registration? No. Voter registration by political party does not exist. Your name will be marked in the pollbook for the party in whose primary you choose to vote, and that information will be available to that political party after the election.

Why can’t I vote in both primaries or vote for candidates from different parties?Virginia is an open primary state which means that any qualified voter can vote in either party's primary election. Virginia does not have party registration in its voter registration process. In other words, citizens do not designate a political party affiliation when registering to vote in Virginia. Virginia election law stipulates that while any qualified voter may voter in either political party's primary election, no voter may vote in more than one political party's primary on the same election day.

http://www.sbe.virginia.gov/cms/



Voter ID RequirementVirginia voters are reminded that legislation adopted by the 2000 Virginia General Assembly requires them to provide identification (ID) at the polls (or to sign an Affirmation of Identity) in order to vote. Acceptable forms of identification include the following:
Virginia Voter Information Card

Virginia driver's license or special identification card issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles

Valid United States passport
Military ID card
Any Federal, state or local government-issued ID card
Employer-issued photo ID card
Social Security card


Any voter who forgets to bring acceptable ID to the polls may still vote but, will be requested to sign, under oath, an Affirmation of Identity form affirming that he/she is the voter he/she claims to be. A voter who requires assistance to vote by reason of physical disability or an inability to read or write may, if he so requests, also be assisted in completing this statement.
New ID Requirements for Certain Voters
For persons who registered to vote in Virginia by mailing their registration applications on or after January 1, 2003, the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002 requires those persons to show identification (ID) when voting for the first time in a federal election if they did not send a copy of one of these IDs with their voter registration applications. Any of the following types of ID are acceptable:
A current and valid photo ID (for example a driver’s license);
or a current utility bill, bank statement, government check or paycheck that shows name and address;
or another government document that shows name and address (for example a voter card).
This new federal ID requirement applies the first time a person votes in any federal election, either on the day of the election or by absentee ballot. If the voter does not present one of these forms of ID at the polls, that person can still vote, but must cast a conditional ballot. This is a paper ballot that the local electoral board counts the day after the election, after it verifies the person was qualified to vote in that precinct.
When the person votes in other elections after his or her first federal election, the regular Virginia ID requirement will apply, as it does to all other voters.


REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY
February 12, 2008

CANDIDATE NAME
WEB AND/OR E-MAIL ADDRESS

Ron Paul http://www.ronpaul2008.com

John McCain
http://www.johnmccain.com

Mike Huckabee
http://www.mikehuckabee.com

Mitt Romney
http://www.mittromney.com

Campaigning for the wife?...

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"Clinton's back-to-back appearances at four churches in the Los Angeles area's historical black heartland appeared intended to smooth over perceptions that the former president injected race into last month's Democratic primary in South Carolina".

Campaigning for the wife, or catching up on sleep?...

VA Democratic Party Delegate calling for ... Civil Disobedience

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Sounds like the Virginia Democrat Delegates had second thoughts when it came for their votes to be recorded and known to the citizens of Virginia...

The new "VA GOP Caucus" blog has some interesting video and discussion on this matter...

http://vagopcaucus.blogspot.com/2008/02/republicans-for-democracy-democrats.html

"House Bill 852, sponsored by Democrat Del. Adam Ebbin, would have made it legal for government employees to collectively bargain with labor unions."

"This bill would have destroyed Virginia’s Right to Work law, which House Democrats have been attacking for years. Del. Armstrong and the Democrats know Virginians would not be happy if they knew how committed the Dems are to labor unions. It’s clear that Democrats want the light of open government to shine on Republicans, but when it’s shone on them, they will hide in the shadows."

Virginia House of Delegates GOP Caucus blog

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Heard that this was coming on-line soon and looks to be a good place to go for Virginia Republican House of Delegates information...

http://vagopcaucus.blogspot.com/

A Strong GOP Team in Virginia...

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Very good opportunity to meet with local Virginia bloggers yesterday at Lt. Governor Bill Bolling’s ~2nd Annual Bloggers' Day~ in Richmond and discuss current \ future events.

This type of gathering with political bloggers always leads to the next upcoming election and what the parties will do. Several of the guest speakers during the day provided data concerning which party held what seat during each changing political environment. It was interesting to see which way the trends went because of what the conditions were at that time. For myself it is much easier predicting future football game results even months into the future. My football team is the Chicago Bears and it’s pretty safe\easy to say there are going to lose their next game. Unfortunately this tactic is pretty reliable as evident in the Bears 2007 season…

The 2009 Virginia race will be for the Governor spot and with that the Republican party has two very strong candidates in Lt. Governor Bill Bolling and Attorney General Bob McDonnell.

In conversation it came up that the Lt. Governor is already doing an outstanding job in the Senate and the importance of keeping the Dem’s and their one-vote majority in check… It is evident that both the Lt. Governor and the Attorney General have their sights set on the top spot and the Democratic Party will be hard-pressed to find somebody to go up against either of our strong candidates.

The tough decision\selection of which GOP candidate to take the Governor’s seat will be made for the good of the party and both of these guys are qualified and willing to do the job.

When it comes time for that tough decision I might just have to be fishing that day!!!…

Sailfish are still running in Key West and boats are reporting impressive catch & release numbers...

Lt. Governor Bill Bolling ~2nd Annual Bloggers' Day~

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Took the opportunity to attend the "2nd Annual Bloggers' Day at the State Capitol" along with 25 other Virginia area bloggers in Richmond today that was hosted by Lt. Governor Bill Bolling...

The Lt. Governor conducted a quick introduction meeting before going to preside over the Senate session...

The Lt. Governors staff then provided the opportunity for us to view the Senate session in progress.

Afterwards the bloggers met with the Lt. Governor again to listen to speakers including a Senate member, a Delegate, and individuals specializing in voter programs and history with Virginia state government...

Senator Stephen Newman serves as Chairman of the Senate Republican Caucus and spoke of recent activities going on in the Republican Party in Richmond...

Delegate Jackson Miller represents manassas and discussed the importance of several local bloggers in his district. He took several questions and provided informative and interesting issues going on in his area...

Frank Atkinson is chairman of McGuireWoods Consulting and focuses on state and local government relations, economic development, privatization and public-private partnerships, education, and elections and voting rights. He provided interesting facts regarding voting history in different areas of Virginia and demographics....

Ron Butler is President of Creative Direct, LLC, a direct mail firm located in Richmond, Virginia specializing in voter contact direct mail. Creative Direct created numerous winning direct mailing strategies resulting in several impressive Republican victories...

The Lt. Governor and his staff extended and included invitations to bloggers from the "LeftSide" of the Virginia blog-world making it interesting to meet and talk with bloggers from the other side of the aisle...

Several of the bloggers said that they will be posting about today's activities in the next day or so. More to follow here as soon as I find some time after work to write more.

How Cold is it?...

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As soon as the 12 degree air hit my face this morning at 5:30am while in the dark and on my way to work, memory recall kicked in and thoughts of a Sailfish Tournament in Key West this past April came into focus...

I had the opportunity to work the World Sailfish Championship Tournament this past April where over 335 Sailfish were caught and released in three days of fishing...

Istiophorus platypterus is the scientific name for the Atlantic Sailfish...

Several of the Top-placing boats in the tournament...

Favorite "Watering-hole" of a frequent visitor to RightsideVA....

Visitors to one of the many tournament events...

You need to be a Tournament fisherman to understand and appreciate this ...

This tournament is a "Catch & Release" only format...


Again, you need to be a tournament fisherman in Key West to appreciate this one...

Pierre-Auguste Renior

General H. Norman Schwarzkopf

"Hey Boss, running a little late"...

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Ran a little late getting to work yesterday due to the weather conditions along 81 but at least I did make it...

Solutions....

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Just as Thomas Malthus, Ehrlich did not understand the power and initiative of the free market system to solve global problems.

In his book “The Population Bomb”, Ehrlich stated “The battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970’s and 1980’s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now”.

Peter Huber in his book “Hard Green” provides examples of how mankind, with the freedom and ability to address problems through the free market, has provided solutions to the dire forecasts…

“To grow more food, you can add more oil instead of more land. Oil, packed with (fossilized) solar energy, can be used to produce fertilizer, which makes crop yields soar”… page 4...

Huber provides more examples of dire predictions such as the 1972 study by the Club of Rome who stated in The Limits of Growth “Humanity was scheduled- almost as precisely as a Swiss train-to run out of gold by 1981; mercury by 1985; tin by 1987; zinc by 1990; petroleum by 1992; and copper, lead, and natural gas by 1993.” page 4...

Huber then shows how many of those from the “Sky is Falling” crowd tend to make no real allowance for mankind to find solutions to problems such as noted above. Many like those with the above bumper sticker will state that there is only a finite amount of any one natural resource and it will be consumed in a given time at the rate of consumption now…

Unfortunately they do not understand how the free market system, supply and demand, and the allocation of valuable resources, have solved many of the problems predicted by some…

The Club of Rome predicted that copper supplies would be depleted by 1993 due to world demand. “They never imagined that pounds of sand might soon displace tons of copper. Corning Glass did, and gave us fiber optics”… Page 11...