Once More Into the Breach

Finding Nonsense and Beating it Sensible

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Location: Virginia

I used to watch TV news and yell at the box. Now I jump up from the couch, sit at the computer and begin to type laughing maniacally saying "Wait until they read this." It's more fun than squashing tadpoles



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Thursday, June 21, 2007

Fauquier County Tire Tax


I don't know about your dump but here in Fauquier County, Virginia the cost of disposing tires has gone up considerably. One used to bring a tire to the dump and pay a dollar. The tire stores charged that so it was not a big deal. Then the cost went up to $2.00, now it's $3.00. Lately they raised the price of truck tires to $12.00. Give me a break! Oh, they whine that it cost the county to have the tires taken away yadda yadda yadda. That is true. It costs $70.00 a ton.

There are waste tire centers throughout the region. I called one in Appomattox, VA. The woman I talked to was very nice explaining when and how I could bring my tires to her facility. I did some figuring to see if it was to my advantage to haul my tire to one of these places. They came out as follows:

$70.00/ ton comes out as $0.035/ lb.. A 25 lb. tire would cost $0.875. A $12.00 tire would have to weight 342. 86 lb.. A large truck tire such as comes off a tractor trailer weighs about 75 - 100 lb. A 100 lb. tire would cost $3.50. At $12.00 the county is making a $8.50 profit for each truck tire and $2.10 per car tire. If a private company makes a profit it's no big deal, that's what they are supposed to do. When a government which is supposed to serve the citizens makes a profit it is a tax. We pay some pretty stiff taxes already in Fauquier Co. Yet our public servants seem to think any excuse to pick our pockets is justified. It won't take long before unscrupulous people begin leaving tires by the side of the road or just let them pile up somewhere. Then the county will have to have a tire amnesty day and take them free of charge.

My point is just skip the aggravation of going to the county landfill and take your tires to one of the waste tire centers and save yourself some money. Here is a list as of the writing of this post.

Amarjit Riat
Fairfax County (I-95 landfill)
9898 Furnace Road
Lorton, VA 22079
Permit # VA PBR 510
(703) 690-1703

Ron Kimble
RTOP/Frederick County
280 Landfill Rd.
Winchester, VA. 22602
Permit # VA 040
(540) 665-5658


Jeff Ford
SPSA Landfill
1 Bob Foeller Drive
Suffolk, VA 23431
-or-
P.O. Box 1346
Chesapeake, VA 23327-1346
Permit # VA PBR 072
(757) 539-9373, extension 302

Christopher Kuhn
Virginia Recycling Corp.
P.O. Box 359
Providence Forge, VA 23140
Permit # VA PBR 039
(804) 966-5159

Allen Morris
City of Bristol
2125 Shakesville Rd.
Bristol, VA. 24201
Permit # VA. 500 & 588
(540) 645-3791

Jackie Darter
Wise County
P.O. Box 570
Norton, VA 24293
Permit # VA 513
(540) 679-0515


William Strauss
Emanuel Tire of Virginia
3476 Atlantic Lane
Waverly, VA 23890
Permit #562
(804) 834-1130


Barbara Martin
Emanuel Tire of Virginia
State Rt. 632-Landfill Road
P.O. Box 2559
Appomattox, VA 24522
Permit #86
(434) 352-8889
Vanlue Morgan
Accomack County
P.O. Box 388
Accomac,VA. 23301
Permit # VA 91
(757) 787-1468


Larry McDorman
Tire Energy Corporation
499 Industrial Park Drive
Ridgeway, VA 24145 23301
(276) 638-3800


Or visit the website Virginia DEQ



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Wednesday, June 13, 2007

If Noah Lived Today


Got this in the email:

Very real for those in the building process!! Well almost...They call it red tape!

Noah in America

In the year 2005, the Lord came unto Noah, who was now living in the United States, and said, "Once again the earth has become wicked and overpopulated, and I see the end of all flesh before me. Build another Ark and save 2 of every living thing along with a few good humans, thy sons and their wives."

He gave Noah the blueprints, saying, "You have 6 months to build the Ark before I will start the unending rain for 40 days and 40 nights."

Six months later, the Lord looked down and saw Noah weeping in his yard -- but no Ark.

"Noah!" He roared, "I'm about to start the rain! Where is the Ark?"

"Forgive me, Lord," begged Noah, "but things have changed.

"I needed a building permit. I 've been arguing with the inspector about the need for a sprinkler system! My neighbors claim that I've violated the neighborhood zoning laws by building the Ark in my yard and exceeding the height limitations. We had to go to the Development Appeal Board for a decision.

"Then the Department of Transportation demanded a bond be posted for the future costs of moving power lines and other overhead obstructions, to clear the passage for the Ark's move to the sea. I told them that the sea would be coming to us, but they would hear nothing of it.

"Getting the wood was another problem. There's a ban on cutting local trees in order to save the spotted owl. I tried to convince the environmentalists that I needed the wood to save the owls -- but no go!

"When I started gathering the animals, I got sued by an animal rights group. They insisted that I was confining wild animals against their will. They argued the accommodation was too restrictive, and it was cruel and inhumane to put so many animals in a confined space. I am required to apply for 834 different licenses to keep wild beasts on private property.

"Then the EPA ruled that I couldn't build the Ark until they'd conducted an environmental impact study on Your proposed flood. Further, the pitch to water-poof the ark has been banned by the EPA as inimical to the environment.

"I'm still trying to resolve a complaint with the Human Rights Commission on how many minorities I'm supposed to hire for my building crew.

"Immigration and Naturalization is checking the green-card status of most of the people who want to work. The scaffolding to build the super structure is not OSHA-approved and is forbidden to use except for private structures less than 5 cubits.

"The trades unions say I can't use my sons. They insist I have to hire only Union workers with Ark-building experience.

"To make matters worse, the IRS seized a ll my assets, claiming I'm trying to leave the country illegally with endangered species.

"So, forgive me, Lord, but it would take at least 100 years for me to finish this Ark."

Suddenly the skies cleared, the sun began to shine, and a rainbow stretched across the sky. Noah looked up in wonder and asked, "You mean You're not going to destroy the world?"

"No," said the Lord. "The government beat me to it."







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Sunday, June 10, 2007

Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth in the US Senate.


Slap yourselves on the back people. The immigration bill is dead and you killed it. Much to the dismay of the politicians the immigration "reform" bill could not bribe enough Senators the convince them it was worth the anger of their constituents to vote for a bill granting greater privilege to illegal aliens than the citizens enjoy.

The New York Times was predictably blaming talk radio, the Internet and those pesky conservatives.

Supporters of the legislation defended it as an imperfect but pragmatic solution to the difficult problem of illegal immigration. Public opinion polls, including a New York Times/CBS News Poll conducted last month, showed broad support among Americans for the bill's major provisions.

But the legislation sparked a furious rebellion among many Republican and even some Democratic voters, who were linked by the Internet and encouraged by radio talk show hosts. Their outrage and activism surged to full force after Senator Jon Kyl, the Arizona Republican who was an author of the bill, suggested early this week that support for the measure seemed to be growing. The assault on lawmakers in Washington was relentless. In a crucial vote Thursday night, the bill's supporters, including President Bush, fell short by 15 votes. While there is a possibility the legislation could be revived later this year, there was a glow of victory among opponents on Friday.

"Technologically enhanced grass-roots activism is what turned this around, people empowered by the Internet and talk radio," said Colin A. Hanna, president of Let Freedom Ring, a conservative group.


Now we all know that the politicians are only concerned about reelection. If, as the NYT poll claims, there was a majority of voters in support of this bill, the need to bribe a majority of the Senate to vote for it would have been unnecessary.

Just minutes before that meeting, Senate Republicans in the middle of the immigration fight had ended an hours-long huddle at which they argued over what demands they would make in exchange for agreeing to cap the debate time. But they could not see eye to eye among themselves and ultimately filed empty-handed out of the office of Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader.


It must be a difficult thing to fool the voters into giving away their citizenship to a bunch of foreigners who snuck into the country illegally. .

President Bush, Ted Kennedy and Harry Reid all chimed in with their threats and laments.

"I urge Senator Reid to act quickly to bring this bill back to the Senate floor for a vote, and I urge senators from both parties to support it," Mr. Bush said in his weekly radio address. The address is usually aired on Saturday, but the White House released it a day early to insert Mr. Bush, who is traveling overseas, into the public debate over the bill.


Mr. Reid fired back at the White House yesterday, saying the immigration bill failed because Mr. Bush couldn't persuade his own party to support it.

"The White House has so far failed to rally Senate Republicans behind tough, fair and practical immigration reform. I will bring the immigration bill back to the Senate floor as soon as enough Republicans are ready to join us in moving forward on a bill to fix our broken immigration system," the Nevada Democrat said.


Desperate to salvage a measure in which he and others had invested months, Senator Edward M. Kennedy headed to the secluded Capitol suite of Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, to make one last personal plea.


If the Republicans had voted against the bill for the right reason, namely that amnesty will not solve the problem, They could reap the benefits of the blame for its defeat. Some may wake up to the voter's consistent demand that the border be secured first and current law be enforced before any new ideas be considered. While they are considering that they could also stop the prosecution of border officers for doing their jobs. With such a lage pool of future voters eager to be bought off I don't see the politicians considering any of this.







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Wednesday, June 06, 2007

A Carefully Crafted Plan


Mary went to her pottery class in Manassas, I would later meet her at my Mother's house for lunch. In the meantime I planned to let the horses into the barn for the day and mow the lawn along our long driveway. Both of these activities involves opening the gates. Not wishing to be delayed by a Tucker escape I formed a plan to accomplish these chores without him knowing I was going out.

Normally I just let him come with me and he is OK with not wandering or trying to escape. But I normally have Mary to help and don't have someplace I need to be right away. Tucker has shown an uncanny ability to judge when we are scheduled to be someplace, then thwarting any effort to be on time by going on a walkabout. When we do leave we lock the door and slip out by going down to the basement to exit out the back. He is wise to this and immediately begins to look for us to leave if we just open the basement door. All this is necessary because he can open the door on the porch and let himself in and out at will.

Tucker was sound asleep in the bathroom. I opened the door to the basement and just left it open while I went back to putting around the kitchen. He never flinched. I went out and opened the front gate so when I was ready to mow I could start the mower and be out before Tucker could come out of the house. I went back in and he had not moved. The horses came up so I snuck out again figuring I could let them in and then get on the mower. All was looking good . I was at the barn and no Tucker. I opened the gate the horses came in. I closed the gate and turned to find the Big White Dog was watching me from the barn door. He seemed content to lye in the shade of the barn so I made my move to hop on the mower and get out the open gate before he realized it was open. No luck as soon as I got to the mower he was right there with me. Slowly I walked to the gate to close it before he took a mind to dash out. As I write this he is at the door. Plan B to leave will be hatched soon.








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Friday, June 01, 2007

Mad as Hell and Not Taking It Anymore


This is what you call a clue. The Republican National Committee is not getting the donations from the base that they have enjoyed in the past. The drop off is as much as 60%. Why? People are tired of the stampede by politicians toward amnesty for illegal immigrants.

"Last year, my solicitations totaled $164,000, and this year the way they were running for the first four months, they would total $100,000 by the end of 2007," said one fired phone bank solicitor who asked not to be identified.
There has been a sharp decline in contributions from RNC phone solicitations, another fired staffer said, reporting that many former donors flatly refuse to give more money to the national party if Mr. Bush and the Senate Republicans insist on supporting what these angry contributors call "amnesty" for illegal aliens.
"Everyone donor in 50 states we reached has been angry, especially in the last month and a half, and for 99 percent of them immigration is the No. 1 issue," said the former employee.


Unfortunately the Republicans remain clueless. Rather than take the hint, the Republican National Committee has fired all of its phone solicitors. Shooting the messenger will not make people vote Republican. The problem with the party is they sacrificed foundational principle for the "big tent". Now they have a party that stands for nothing. The only vestige of the party's conservatism are the incessant references to Reagan by candidates looking to fool the base. In light of such spinelessness one has to marvel at their dogged instance on conferring rights and privileges to people who are breaking the law to remain here.

Situations such as this do not exist in a vacuum. An organization that routinely caves in on its principles doesn't risk the anger of their base without some perceived benefit. In this case I see two very real possibilities. The most obvious is the prospect of new voters the politicians can buy with giveaways. If this is their thinking they are just plain fooling themselves. The Democrats are more dedicated to populist socialism that the Republicans couldn't begin to compete. The other less obvious is the crippling fear of the impending collapse of Social Security. All attempts at solving this problem have been half hearted, inadequate and demagogued by the Democrats, so rather than fight it out with the Dems the issue has been swept under the rug. Sucking FICA from 12 million illegal immigrants would hold off the inevitable long enough for all the current members of Congress to live out their status and privilege without having to deal with this issue.

A new phone system and more polished solicitors won't end the anger over amnesty. Firing the politicians and replacing them with vertebrates would go a long way to regaining a majority in Congress. Never happen.









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