PORT TRAFFIC

Virginia port traffic continues to slow and port bonds losing some value. May affect Centerpoint if it continues.


http://www.joc.com/node/411373

WE ARE LETTING THEM DOWN...HARD

Anyone following the world news realizes Europe is now addicted to big government with its unaffordable entitlements and cradle to grave welfare. Now, thanks to liberals, this country, the last holdout, is on the way down that same road. Obama, the 44th president, has created a multi-trillion-dollar budget that will add to the national debt more than the other 43 presidents combined. Imagine a $3.600,000,000,000 budget and a debt of $1,841,000,000,000 for future generations to pay. Combined with almost total welfare is the very best way to harm the relationship between citizen and government. We have always stated we want the best for our children…sorry folks, apparently we don’t mean it.

Economists Predict Economy Will Take Years To Recover.

The Wall Street Journal (5/15, Izzo) reports, "Economists in the latest Wall Street Journal survey see an end to the recession by autumn, but say it will take years for the economy to fully recover." On average, the 52 economists who participated in the survey "project that the recession will end in August." They expect GDP "to contract 1.4% at a seasonally adjusted annualized pace in the current quarter, compared with the 6.1% drop recorded in the first quarter." The survey was conducted "before the Commerce Department's report this week that retail sales fell 0.4% in April from the previous month, which left some economists questioning whether consumer spending is ready to rebound." The depth of the downturn "means it will take years to eat up the slack created by the recession. Nearly half of the economists said it will take three to four years to close the output gap, while more than a quarter say it will take five to six years."


Seems like the rosy scenarios some are discussing just might not be founded in reality. As our economy erodes further, what impact is it having on you? With more people seeing the possible horror of losing their homes due to higher taxes and in many cases scary mortgages that will reset in 2011/2012, it now looks like the pain has not ended by any means. The latest assessment situation seems to highlight the unbelievable claims made of value due to the prices assessed and seem to have little to do with the real market (as required by law). This situation may be twisted further, as the real market that includes foreclosures and short sales are not even included and that skews the assessment data that sets our taxes. This kind of "Smoke and Mirrors" defrauds the truth and shows that distrust in the process is warranted. The new claim by the assessors is that: "There just is not market data in Suffolk to support a price reduction on your home..." This is true when they exclude the short sales and foreclosures that make the market today... The assessment system is based on truth and suffers when it is manipulated, especially when you can't even sell if you wanted too............
Roger A. Leonard...

STUFF HAPPPENING FAST

HR 1388 was passed yesterday. That is the bill that supports and brings Hamas refugees to this country on our taxes. Obama will dump Israel as an ally in due time. It figures this way; he was at one time going to let Gitmo detainees free in this country and even provide money for them. Now he is reversing his stance on that but will allow Hamas refugees into the country and give them the money. Is there a difference?

MISSING INFO ABOUT OUR PRESIDENT

Occidental College records --not released. Columbia College records --not released. Columbia Thesis paper --not available. Harvard College records --not released. Selective Service Registration --not released. Medical records --not released. Illinois State Senate schedule --
not available. His Illinois State Senate records --not available. Law practice client list --not released. Certified Copy of original Birth certificate --not released. Embossed, signed paper Certification of Live Birth --not released. Record of his baptism --not available. Any articles he published as editor of the Harvard Law Review, or as a Professor at the University of Chicago.

So what do we really know about his experience prior to successfully running for President? Well, OK, he is a smooth talker.

IS COUNCIL UP TO OLD TRICKS

The city is trying to unload the Sleepy Hole golf course but will not reveal part of the deal concerning Obici House. Does it surprise you that important city officials prefer not to have ordinary citizens involved for fear they will do exactly as they are doing? A few interested people are concerned the transfer could include the destruction of the old home of Amedeo Obici and want to know now. The house has great Suffolk historical significance and may deserve to be restored where it is located or moved, at great cost, to a better city site. A serious wrangle could stall or end any ongoing discussion with a potential new owner whose interest is primarily profit. Most taxpayers want the best arrangement for the city coffers and believe what the Obici family did for Suffolk is already memorialized by the hospital. Council has been challenged by those would preserve Obici House and are waiting for answer.

http://www.suffolk.va.us/bids/files/982_sleepy_hole_RFQ.pdf

THIS SHOULD SCARE YOU

"Barack Obama's vision of America is one in which a President of the United States can fire the head of General Motors, tell banks how to bank, control the medical system and take charge of all sorts of other activities for which neither he nor other politicians have any expertise or experience. The Constitution of the United States gives no president, nor the entire federal government, the authority to do such things. But spending trillions of dollars to bail out all sorts of companies buys the power to tell them how to operate. Appointing judges to the federal courts -- including the Supreme Court -- who believe in expanding the powers of the federal government to make arbitrary decisions, choosing who will be winners and losers in the economy and in the society, is perfectly consistent with a vision of the world where self-confident and self-righteous elites rule according to their own notions, instead of merely governing under the restraints of the Constitution." --Hoover Institution economist Thomas Sowell

MAYBE ONE DAY IN AMERICA

Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law in Australia were told on Wednesday to get out, as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks. Separately, Prime Minister Rudd angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques. Quote: 'IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians.' 'This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom.''We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society learn the language!''Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.' 'We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us.''This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom, 'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'.' 'If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted.'

NEW SCCA DIRECTOR HUNKERS DOWN

Paul Lasakow, new boss at the Cultural Center found a way to live with a reduced budget, they had requested $600,000 and allowed $450,000, an amount many thought was inflated. There are still thousands who believe SCCA should survive with no financial help. Sadly three employees had to go and were replaced by the Director who apparently is capable of handling more responsibility than he of the purple shirt who recently moved on to better things. Lasakow calls it “organizational shifting” stating that remaining staff will be picking up duties of the people moving out.

THE HONEST TRUTH

Once beer was discovered, it required grain and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can were invented yet, so while our early humans were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery. That's how villages were formed. Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to BBQ at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known as the Conservative movement. Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned to live off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly BBQ's and doing the sewing, fetching, and hair dressing. This was the beginning of the Liberal movement.

From the Net

New Tax for Bulk Refuse

The Council voted to approve the budget which did include a fee for bulk trash removal.

This fee, also called a TAX, may have unintended consequences.

• "Illegal" piles of trash that our Public Works Director will make sure gets picked up anyway.
• A treasured service that allows us to stand out from other cities - now TAXED.
• A service that has a new TAX imposed, but does not include details related to who will determine the fee and how we know it will be administered consistently and fairly across the city.
• Further concern for citizen dollars that are spent on nonprofits - such as the SCCA and others. Citizen dollars are going to nonprofits while TAXING citizens to help make this happen. (The money that is earmarked for nonprofits, by my estimation, is anywhere from $700,000 to a million dollars. The bulk refuse TAX is expected to bring in about $600,000.)
• Further concern that the Council has not directed staff to make all of the cuts it can to live below the means of the city's budget. Instead, additional TAXED dollars will come out of citizen pockets.
  

Just a gentle reminder - and one that we keep on our website: The Council's first duty is to its citizens - not its administration.

WILL WE LOSE OUT AGAIN

High Speed Rail is the wave of the transportation future, and President Obama is pushing it forward. California is prepared to grab the opportunity with federal assistance. Where is Virginia? More important to Hampton Roads, are we once again bickering among ourselves and missing the boat? It seems Hampton Roads is destined to be a cul-de-sac … again. That’s what happened to us with the Interstate Highway System in the 60s. Originally, Interstate 85 from Atlanta was aimed our way, but when it crossed into Virginia it was bent up to Petersburg, redirecting north-south traffic through Richmond. Hampton Roads was left as a dead end on I-64. Now the state has done it again, planning to run the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor (SEHSR) from Washington through Richmond and Petersburg direct to Raleigh, leaving Hampton Roads to twist slowly at the end of one limb or another. Petersburg to Suffolk along existing rail lines would be better and then to Raleigh. Hampton Roads must not be shunted aside by Virginia again.

FIRST SIGN OF ALZHEIMER DISEASE

In December 2007, after a report in The Post that she had knowledge of these procedures and did not object, she admitted that she'd been "briefed on interrogation techniques the administration was considering using in the future." Today Pelosi protests, "we were not -- I repeat -- were not told that waterboarding or any other of these other enhanced interrogation methods were used." She imagines that this distinction between past and present is exonerating. On the contrary it is self-indicting. If you are told about torture that has already occurred, you might justify silence on the grounds that what's done is done and you are simply being used in a post-facto exercise to cover the CIA's rear end. But Pelosi did nothing, no protest, no move to cut off funding, no letter to the President or the CIA chief, or anyone else saying not to do it. That makes ner spectacle of self-righteous condemnation not just cowardly but hollow. And she could be your next President.

THIRTY YEARS AGO HE SAID

“The American people will never adopt Socialism. But under the name of “Liberalism” they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program, until one day America will be a Socialist nation without knowing how it happened. I no longer need to run as a Presidential Candidate for the Socialist Party. The Democratic Party has adopted our platform.“ So said Norman Thomas in a 1944 speech, America’s leading Socialist, Pacifist, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party. He died in 1968 but….

WHAT THE HECK ARE THEY AFTER

I’ve never seen such a fuss over credit reports. Every time I log on to the internet some pop up ad or E-mail message is admonishing me to get a free credit report; why? Somebody is up to something. I have managed 84 years without knowing or wanting to know if my credit is good or bad and I could not care less about the number. So a score of 750 is good for what? And it is suggested I get all three reports, apparently there are three different organizations that already know. They make it seem as important as a good relationship with my maker. Could it be they want my E-mail address for some bad reason, like I don’t get enough spam-junk already? This has been going on for months and years as though they are trying their best to keep me from being unsophisticated. I wonder just how many fish fill out those forms; knuckle under to such obvious pressure. I have never had a problem borrowing money for this or that, lenders seem only interested in the interest. I am going to hold out the rest of my life against signing up for the reports…do you suppose the undertaker will want to know?