SORRY, TOO LATE NOW

“Months before signing legal documents assuring federal officials they could build Norfolk's starter light rail for $232 million, Hampton Roads Transit leaders knew it would actually cost tens of millions of dollars more, a new state investigation reveals.

In fact, HRT senior officials at one time maintained a separate, internal accounting of light-rail costs that was intentionally kept "secret" from government entities footing the bills, documents show. Then bids came in, construction began and costs continued to climb, without notice to many stakeholders, state investigators said. The current price tag: $338 million. HRT's former leader, Michael Townes, was forced to resign earlier this year. Several other HRT employees with the project have left the agency. Light rail's champion on the City Council, W. Randy Wright, was defeated at the polls.”

From the Virgina Pilot.”

The point is that too often prominent citizens, those with money, influence, assumed or alleged expertise are elected or appointed to important commissions, committees, boards, or elected offices and later discovered to have been disingenuous, outright liars, or incompetent. Candidates are usually vetted by each other so there is ample room to believe it was not a thorough investigation. When problems surface it is too late like the example above.  It appears, by the numerous firings and resignations over the past years Suffolk has had its share of similar activity.  We will allow you, as interested citizens to point out the rights or wrongs where you had no part in decisions.

A COLORFUL DAY

A surprising number of persons showed up at the Horton Veterans Cemetery Saturday morning to respectfully create a sea of green wreaths and red bows. Nearly three thousand purchased with donated money to and by understanding citizens. It was a beautiful scene; a variety of groups assembled for the task, young and old, many in uniform, many others who once wore a uniform. Like most there I had not dressed properly for the cold that crept in, nor had those who addressed the crowd. Dave Parker, a local TV personality told a story about a Combat Engineer on Omaha Beach D-Day. I was bursting to tell him I was there at the same time. Later we did talk about that day and he knew more about it than I did. There were other interesting speakers; one had suffered years of prison and torture. But the usual highlight of a fighter jet fly over hadn’t arrived when I’d had enough weather.

I could not count all the carefully parked motorcycles owned by a contingent of Vietnam survivors who travel to these military events just to show their respect and help out. These are just nice guys who have seen hell in person. We saluted each other as survivors of different wars.  Others there that day were very young ROTC, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Blue Star Mothers, and Civil Air Patrol Cadets, all of them placing wreaths. A member of the Wreath Organization said their mission is “To remember, honor and teach: remember the fallen: honor those who serve; teach our children the value of freedom”    

DON'T GIVE UP

If only 24 show up at a meeting you held to show affected citizens why they should be against the proposed Four Farms development what would you think?  Are the rest of the nearby residents sufficiently educated, have  made up their mind, one way or the other, and need no help deciding. It must be frustrating to go to the trouble of organizing opposition and only a handful arrives to hear you. Suffolk Citizens For Responsible Growth know the monster development will take place if the Planning Commission says yes next time and Council does the same. You know both bodies are feeling tremendous pressure like they did when north Suffolk exploded. So what is next on your agenda, keep trying to warn your neighbors or close up shop knowing you gave it a shot? The idea of a new city springing from the earth is exciting. You can’t figure people, letting them know you are organized opposition might even cause them to be for it. Those who took the trouble to educate should be proud of their effort. It is not the end of it, developers will not  go away, traffic congestion is expected and acceptable .  Will it be good for our downtown or compete with it?.  Photo from SNH.

NAACP MEMBERS CHOSE YOUNG LEADERS

Lue Ward presents the appearance of a quiet, gentle, almost shy gentleman but the truth is he is an excellent choice to head the NAACP, powerful enough to recognize the real concerns of the organization. Mr. Gates, while President, accepted the challenge and convinced NAACP members to face the real problems of the organization. Mr. Ward will follow up and work to incorporate more of Suffolk’s young citizens into the important youth council. Lue is well known by many leaders of churches in the area and knows of their ability to work with younger persons that could be members of NAACP. We congratulate Lue Ward, Clinton Jenkins, and Anita Lewis for accepting the challenge and pray for their success.  

DEPENDS UPON HOW YOU LOOK AT IT

Interesting development at our Council meeting Dec, 8 when a Suffolk group approached the bench for money in the vicinity of $4,000. It appeared to be a last minute appeal by the group, money they needed  must be in their hands by tomorrow for due payment to others. They figured the city would immediately appropriate the sum and they would be on their way. Council was hesitant, the city was not obligated to pay but thought it a wonderful idea because the group in a way deserved the financing they needed, but not necessarily from the city funds. This led to discussion by Council concerning the city "contingency fund," or was it an emergency. Neither fit the dire situation and after several minutes of embarrassing to watch motions, seconds to motions, and withdrawal of motions a vote was taken. The group's appeal for money was turned down four to three. It was a correct decision but a painful one. The group probably deserved a favorable response for their admirable achievement but there are many groups that could use extra money. This particular group had come up short and unless money comes from somewhere there will be broken hearts. By the way, Gardy and Parr said they'd rather write a personal check than use the contingency fund. Brown agreed and said he was good for $500. There was no motion or second to that. The group's gentle spokesperson could have asked, but didn't, "How much have you given the SCCA?

12/7/41 ALL BUT FORGOTTEN

A short battle between a handful of the Colonialists and a small company of England's best earned the name Lexington and Concord took place in what was to become the United States. In 1941 an island off the coast of the United States was overwhelmed by aircraft from Japanese  carriers. They named the battle Pearl Harbor.   Both of those historic "declarations of war" are all but forgotten. Both battles led to major changes in our world. 1942 in  America sixteen million joined the military from a  population of 140 million. Almost all those who lived then are gone and death has taken all but nine percent of those who put on uniforms. You won't hear taps played in our cemeteries today but all of us should remember events that shaped the  life and freedom  we enjoy today.

IT'S THE BEST WE CAN DO

The SCCA states things are looking up in the same way Obama said the recession is almost, nearly, just about, close to, approximately, practically over except for…. It is obvious the Director is turning every trick to lower expenses, keep his job, and reduce the embarrassment of the board after this many years attempting to amount to something. A contingent representing the SCCA shows up annually at Council to plead their case. Obviously the intent is to provide “culture” to a community they believe is short of it, or provide those interested a place where they are more comfortable. It is unfair to say the SCCA is primarily a watering hole for the local affluent...there is a very nice bar in the Hilton and it is not too crowded either. All those nice words by the mayor help get the tax dollars but that’s it. Just once, and we may have missed it, we would like to see an audit, even a balance sheet, understandable to the laymen showing how much of the tax dollars they don’t use. Show each year since the beginning so we may learn how much progress has not been made. It is a nice place and contributes to visible city assets but what else has it accomplished---really, isn't it very much like the Bureau of Tourism?

A BIG U TURN

This is a perfect example why many refrain from watching news on ABC, NBC, CBS, or MSNBC. Last week on a segment of the "Glenn Beck Show" on FOX (Fox Cable News) was the following: Even though President Obama is against offshore drilling for our country, he signed an executive order to loan $2 Billion of our taxpayer dollars (which we can't afford to loan since we're broke) to a Brazilian Oil Exploration Company  the  8th largest company in the entire world)  to drill for  oil  off the coast of Brazil! The oil that comes from this operation is for the sole purpose and use of China and NOT THE USA ! Now here's the real clincher...the Chinese government is under contract to purchase all the oil that this field will produce, which is hundreds of millions of barrels"... We have absolutely no gain from this transaction whatsoever! Wait, it gets more interesting. Guess  who  is the largest  individual stockholder of this  Brazilian Oil Company and who would benefit most from this? It is American BILLIONAIRE, George Soros, who was President Obama's most generous financial supporter during his campaign. For verification

 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203863204574346610120524166.html

IT IS TIME STATES GOT TOGETHER

Texans take their rights seriously.

A bill that has been filed for the 2011 state legislative session creates penalties of up to $5,000 in fines and up to five years in jail for anyone guilty of the "felony" of attempting "to enforce an act, order, law, statute, rule or regulation" of Obamacare, the president's plan that effectively nationalizes the health-care decision making process.

The plan by Texas Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, effectively would nullify the federal health care legislation in his state.

At least, that is what the bill that "relates to federal health care legislation" says:

The federal Act:
(1) is invalid in this state;
(2) is not recognized by this state;
(3) is specifically rejected by this state; and
(4) is null and void and of no effect in this state.

Get "Taking America Back," Joseph Farah's manifesto for sovereignty, self-reliance and moral renewal

The President’s power can be seen throughout levels of government whether it is used for good or bad and it affects the attitude of other departments of government and citizens. Presidential power is so great no mortal can handle it with humility and full attention as is described in the constitution. Most who seek the job have no idea that once the power is theirs they could use it to transform the nation to their own desired level of perfection and often attempt it. Our current President aspires to lead the nation to Socialism but is not sufficiently equipped; no president is intended to have such power. Our history indicates we as a people are not to be ruled or commanded, as assumed and written in history. Our President may not yet realize that he has not risen above us but merely one of us. He was voted in and will be dismissed at the proper time.

Chained rowers of ancient sea going ships were replaced when they died or performed badly. That has been the voter trend in our congress for eons with nearly imperceptible change. This time it was a tsunami and surely our sprint toward Socialism is ended.

IT IS CALLED MARKETING

Vonage, a phone company, has excited vulnerable consumers with a simple TV commercial showing absolutely brilliant buyers agog over the fact they can deal without a contract, imagine, without a contract. Eager customers, according to the commercial,  believe a no contract deal is an economic miracle. The first thing they bump into is that the “no contract” is for three months only at $14.99 but then jumps to $25.99 plus taxes and fees. That is not mentioned in the commercial. And there is the fact you must hook up to a high-speed computer, a problem if you don’t have one and a pain if you do. If there ever was a need for caveat emptor it is now that too many retailers are phasing into gimmick sale practices. The tactic might be coming from “home office” leaving the retailer and customer as victims. So what else is out there we should be warned about?  

A MAJORITY NOWADAYS MEANS NOTHING BUT GOVERNMENT DOES

I am motivated by Greg Cowles’ brave opinion in the SNH where he is states his objection to the meaningful word “Christmas” being pushed aside by liberals in favor of the word “holiday” that is so non-descriptive it is unworthy of a capitalized first letter. It is still the Halloween Parade, Easter Parade, and Fourth of July Parade. Changing the name of the Christmas Parade is nothing more than cowardly bowing to the progressives who want us all to avoid any connection to Christ. The same people want “prayer” tossed out of all public events, schools, and weddings will be next. My faithful dictionary was copyrighted in 1916 when “Christmas” was an acceptable word in almost any language. But for very definite reasons it is being pried out of the American lexicon.

Who, for example, in this city, decided to make the change and why? Was it because other nearby cities had already capitulated and we dared not be a holdout? Did the city manager decide, or perhaps the city attorney fearful of the tsunami caused by liberals? Was it on the city agenda and decided during a closed meeting or was part of a taped Council meeting? Do you remember having a say in the matter? Perhaps it was just a decision made by whoever puts the Christmas parade together. Some of us would like to know.  And I'd bet the majority will still call it Christmas Parade.

MAKE MINE AN OAK

We sympathize with anyone who mourns the loss of a tree, especially one that has seen generations go by and provided joy to those that have noticed the trees existence. We have oaks here in the remains of Milner Town that have competed with surrounding growth that includes a dozen species; maple, beech, “tulip,” ash, hickory, cedar, pine, some black walnuts nearly a hundred feet tall. Many stand firm with gaping holes at the bottom but are still good for a decade or two. But like the oak at Cedar Hill those elder oaks eventually drop rotted limbs that weigh enough to kill a human. The paths through our woods are often littered after a thunderstorm with brute dead limbs several inches in diameter and you wonder if they ever fall when there is someone close enough to hear them thump the ground. A tornado, some years ago snapped 27 huge pines as it roared through our woods but turned at the last second enough to our home. The oaks survived. There is an oak at our former home in Michigan I climbed as a boy. From the top that moved with the wind I could see the whole town. The tree is still there and growing but Cedar Hill has lost a friend.   

ILLEGALS GIFTED $55 BILLION ANNUALY BY LIBERALS

11 Billion is spent annually on welfare to illegal aliens by state governments. $2.2 Billion dollars is spent on food assistance programs such as food stamps, and free school lunches for illegal aliens. $2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens. $12 billion is spent on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English! $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education of the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies. 11 Billion a year is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens. Kinda adds up, don’t it? Thought you'd like to know.

SUFFOLK IS HORSE COUNTRY

 Leila Roche tells how Suffolk horse business is growing  in the SNH  "Suffolk Living" section. I was more than interested because most of her coverage was about HORSESPA, a farm started and owned by one our three daughters, Wendy Parker. If you read it you'll learn that her first move was steel fences dividing many pastures followed by a twenty stall all steel very expensive "barn" with lounge, tack room, feed room, and believes it unfair to keep a  horse in a stall unless it is in poor health.  She was not enjoying her Masters in Nursing at Leigh Memorial Hospital where she was  responsible for operation and staffing of both Critical Care and Intensive Care units. Spurning promotion she spent four years obtaining a law degree at William & Mary. But the outdoors kept humming to her and one day she said to us, "I bought a farm in Chuckatuck". I was allowed to drag the12 foot mower around the pastures and help install  fences  for a year or two while the place filled  up with horses and their deposits. But the place got too modern for  me when they started picking up the poop in the pastures. When you finish Leila's article click on the below email address and check out the many pictures. It is quite a place. Nothing else like it this side of Kentucky. 

http://www.horsespafarm.com/