Virginia Libertarian

DailyProgress.com | Spanish speakers grow in numbers
Nearly one out of every 12 people in the Charlottesville area speaks a language other than English in the home, according to figures released today by the U.S. Census. Of those speaking another language, 40 percent – more than 5,000 – are speaking Spanish.

Now, I’m not against immigration, far from it, I am for much more relaxed immigration laws, but I feel that the people who are immigrating to the country need to integrate into the country as well, otherwise they are not really citizens of the country. For integration, you need to speak the language of the country, not just your native language. There should not be the expectation by immigrants that government will provide things for them in their native tongue. Now, if a privately owned broadcast station wants to have it’s programming in Spanish, or Portugese, or Mandarin, that’s up to them, and if the population is there to support it, wonderful. But we shouldn’t have to be providing road signs or government forms in anything other than the official language of the country, which is de facto English.

DailyProgress.com | Biscuit Run: The latest hot spot for homes
Biscuit Run is planned to bring nearly 5,000 residential units to 900 forested acres south of the Mill Creek South neighborhood, between Old Lynchburg Road and Route 20.

The property, sold for $46.2 million to Forest Lodge LLC last year, long has been viewed as an oasis of natural life a stone’s throw from suburbia, providing nearby residents with views of forest and wildlife. Development plans have it slated to become a large-scale example of the county’s “Neighborhood Model,” meaning it would include a mixture of housing types, parks, commercial space and offices tied together into a walkable community. “We think it implements the Comprehensive Plan objectives as well as the ‘Neighborhood Model’,” said Steve Blaine, a lawyer who represents the investor.
[...]

“I had no idea it was even in the growth area,” Mill Creek South resident Joe Cantu said. “I didn’t even know anything about growth areas until this came up.”

Residents of Mill Creek South, Lake Reynovia, Mill Creek and other nearby communities are the newest active residents on the block. But they face perhaps the most daunting battle – they are fighting the construction of the largest development project proposed in Albemarle’s history. They take with them the lessons from other growth-area residents who have been fighting battles elsewhere, and they hope their effort, in light of its size, can inspire others to get involved.

“We’re fighting for the quality of life for people throughout [the area],” Weeks said. “This fight is not just ours.”

Now, maybe it’s just me, but if I want to be provided “with views of forest and wildlife”, then I will buy the land around me and provide myself with those views. Why do these people expect that a private developer owning this land should have to comply with their wishes to keep the land the way it is? They don’t own it, and should have no expectation as to how it is going to be used. If they wanted to control the land, they should have bought it.

DailyProgress.com | Teen’s friends: Bomb plot a joke
Statements a 13-year-old boy made to classmates and to police are at the heart of his conspiracy trial involving an alleged plot to blow up two local high schools.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I never joked about blowing up my school.  Now, I know many people who have said something like “I’m gonna kill you” over just about anything they didn’t like doing, but you could always tell it wasn’t meant seriously.

A Jack Jouett student who rode the school bus with the boy testified that the defendant told him that he and others planned to “blow up Albemarle by setting up explosives at school and have a shoot out.”

Three more girls testified that while chatting online with the boy in early January, they teased him about a fight he’d gotten into earlier that night at a school dance. They said the boy first threatened to kill them and then revealed that an attack was planned for April 20 and warned them not to go to school that day.

This doesn’t sound to me like someone that was joking around, especially not considering what they found at one of the co-conspirators houses:

The boy, his 13-year-old friend, 16-year-old Alan Newsom and 17-year-old Dominic Hawranke were all convicted in a closed trial in March of conspiring to commit murder and use explosives to destroy a schoolhouse.

[...]

It was the first time that the public has had a good look at evidence in the bomb plot case, which included the confiscation of fireworks, a smoke bomb, two guns belonging to Newsom’s father, ball bearings, photos of Hawranke holding a shotgun and a drawing Hawranke made for police of a propane bomb.

This is something that has to be taken seriously.  If I were to make threats against my fellow employees, and threaten to blow the place up, you can bet your ass I’d be in jail before I was done making the threats.  Actions have consequences, and the sooner kids learn that the better.  I don’t know that this kid needs to spend time in jail for it, but I definitely think counseling is at least in order, probably for his parents to, if they haven’t taught him that joking about killing someone is not OK.

The Daily News Record: Top News
Disruptive

Camera phones, as far as Harrisonburg High School Principal Irene Reynolds is aware, has not been a problem.

“It’s going to be hard to monitor,” she conceded. “But at least we have done our part in trying to protect students having their pictures taken and not know it,” she told board members.

I really don’t see the need to be wasting time on implementing a separate policy for cell phones.  Isn’t the norm to confiscate anything that is causing a disruption in the classroom?  How is being in a public school any different from any other public place regarding having your picture taken unknowingly?

The News Leader – www.newsleader.com – Staunton, Va.
Dream can’t compare with American reality

Whew, some people do have an active imagination.  Ok, first grant the article it’s delusion that Gore won in FL, as the main thrust of the article is to compare Bush’s presidency with a fantasy of what a Gore presidency would have been like.

Upon taking office, President Gore created an energy oriented “Manhattan Project”, where our best scientists worked to develop alternative fuels. In 2004 they had a major breakthrough. It is projected by 2008 a majority of our cars will be running on hydrogen and American manufacturers will be producing the majority of the automotive engines for the world. This engine does not produce carbon monoxide, and it is anticipated that by 2010 we will start to see a decline in carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere.

The writer neglects the fact that a “Manhattan Project” style push on energy research would have to be approved by Congress.  Also, where does the money for this project come from?  Let me guess, Gore being the tax-loving democrat that he is.  Can you say economic depression anyone?  I knew you could.

In August 2001 President Gore received an intelligence briefing that Osama Bin Laden was planning a terrorist attack on the United States. President Gore increased security on airlines. It is not clear if this threat was real, but on Sept. 11, 2001, 13 Saudi citizens were discovered carrying box cutters on several airlines.

Yes, the Dems are noted for their concern with terrorist plots.  Like the one that put a big hole in the USS Cole.  And the one where a car bomb blew up in the world trade center parking area.  And the one on the U.S. Military complex and Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia.  And the U.S. Embassy in Kenya.

Having come so close to a Palestinian/Israeli agreement in 2000, President Gore arranged a Middle Eastern summit with all involved parties. President Gore always felt that it is important to maintain communication with adversaries and friends. As a result of this meeting, all land issues were resolved, and the participating counties created an economic development program for Palestine. It was quite successful and the standard of living in Palestine is now equivalent to Israel. A couple of former terrorist organizations, Hamas and Hezbollah, are now recruiting members for their respective soccer teams.

What is this guy smoking that he thinks that Gore is going to be able to resolve the conflict between Israel and the Arab nations in four (or even eight) years when nothing has been resolved in the past sixty years?

Saddam Hussein is no longer in power in Iraq. After it was discovered that he was using the “Oil For Food” money to build palaces, the majority Shiite religious sect overthrew his regime.He is now residing in Libya. It is suspected that the revolt was aided by the United States.

Oh, yes, we’ve seen how effectively US run revolts in the Middle East have worked in the past, but for some reason, this time it will turn out different.

George Bush returned to Texas where he led several more companies into bankruptcy.

Now this, I can completely belive, considering how Bush has been running the country’s budget, I don’t find this at all fantastic.

After waking from my dream I compared “what is” with “what might have been” and ran to the bathroom and threw up.

Hmm, must be a bad reaction to whatever hallucinogen that made you conjure this dream up.