Open Thread
By Greg L | 19 December 2008 | Uncategorized | 54 Comments
What’s on your mind?
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It’s the economy Stupid!
I think I will take up smoking, its Patriotic, right?
Thanks Greg L.
Why do you drive on a parkway, and park on a driveway?
Here is our future if we grant amnesty to criminals.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/dec/19/mexicos-cartel-war-year-three/
Decriminalize small amounts of marajuana, end the prison cartel, saving the state 1 billion each year.
The economy is fine. Nobama is going to fix it, remember? He’s going to pay everyone’s mortgages and car payments and not raise any taxes.
Well, that’s what the Demoncrats think anyway. Let them. Won’t they have a Merry little Christmas…..
Yet another compelte failure of financial regulators - madoff had a Ponzi Scheme of some sort that stole $50 Billion dollars - where did this money go? It is enough to more than bailout the autos. http://www.zimbio.com/Madoff+Investment+Securities/articles/81/Madoff+Sec+Investigation+SEC+Investigating
The SEC *investigated* the company, but failed to uncover that the auditor was a one man shop, while a hedgefund of this size needs a staff to perform an audit. All the red flags were there, but with reduced regulation and budget - nobody saw the flags.
How can that be?
Pat,
For the most part the SEC does what it is charged to do. The very fact this is an attention grabbing case speaks to that.
Harry’s right. Decriminalize drugs in the United States and do away with prescriptions. The Cartels will shrivel up and disappear with no income. Governments will change hands. Terrorism will greatly reduce it’s ability to carry out training or attacks. Keep that cash in the U.S. Look what’s happening with the price of oil, once the cartel figured out that we can and did reduce our use. Kick the illegals out and those jobs will be snatched up by legal residents. The rest of the world will follow our example, just like they follow our money.
com,
the madoff case is $50 Billion dollars - bigger than enron. If the SEC could not uncover the fraud after several investigations, several tips, and numerous articles stating that it was a ponzi scheme - well then, I do not have faith that they can uncover issues at other institutions.
Is it just me, or is anyone else out there sufferring from “economic bad-news fatigue”? I had a bit of a drive and was listening to WMAL. Every news teaser had to do with some economic indicator being up or down, both in the “bad” direction. Then, during the five minute news breaks at the top of the hour, it was just one bad economic news story aftr another. Alright. I get it. The economy is bad. What the government is duing doesn’t seem to be helping. People are hurting. Yes, it is news. However, is there nothing else going on? Nothing good, anywhere?
It’s starting to look a lot like Christmas…not.
Merry Christmas everyone!
I heard Frank Principi hung a stocking up for Hilda Barg, filled it with cans of Spam and the dog ate it.
Flavius,
Yes - I agree with you 24 hour news overload - they have nothing to say, so the same story gets repeated several times every hour. There are pundits that continue there career by repeating the same story day after day - natilee halloway*, caylee anthony*, oj, etc.
You can go numb if you do not switch the station.
**Yes, these cases touch the heart but if you were to listen to the story every day you will become insensitized to it.
Pat.Herve said on 19 Dec 2008 at 8:55 am: Flag comment
How can that be?
Illegal alien influx
Mortgage scams resulting in massive foreclosures
Wall Street meltdown
Trillions of dollars in bail-outs
Ponzi scam bilks investers of billions of dollars
UAW unions calling for Auto Company bail-outs
SEE A PATTERN?
Dolph aka Moon Howler said she has spotted fighting roosters (with their spurs on) running through Westgate. Think she is off her medication again. Anyone out there confirm her sightings?
Splash, glug!
dolph is a doofus for sure. Did she let the roosters out? You’ll know if you see a big fat woman chasing roosters, she cannot be too hard to miss. Keep an’ eye out
Pat,
This is not an everyday case with the SEC. They are not perfect, but I think you over do the drama.
Anonymous said on 19 Dec 2008 at 2:05 pm: Flag comment
Dolph aka Moon Howler said she has spotted fighting roosters (with their spurs on) running through Westgate. Think she is off her medication again. Anyone out there confirm her sightings?
Splash, glug!
I think you’re being a little hard on Dolph. She was too moderate for me, but why always attack her? We can disagree without being disagreeable.
Flavius Maximus,
Heaven forbid we hear something good. That can not happen. This is a bad time for everyone and the news wants to make sure we all know it. If they were to run good news, people might start to have hope, but until BO gets into office, you will hear nothing but bad news. Once BO is in office, you will start hearing how things are changing for the good, just watch and see.
“SEE A PATTERN?”
Yes, on a global scale, like dominos: TEOTWAWKI
[Ed note: TEOTWAWKI = The end of the world as we know it. (wictionary is my friend…)]
Anonymous,
can you share your thoughts on the pattern as you see it?
What is going on with our Sheriff’s Office?
Last year deputy sheriffs let a prisoner escape simply by the prisoner reaching out the open window and opening the back door to the cruiser he was riding in causing schools to be locked down during a 3 hour manhunt to return him to custody. Now they are trading pictures of naked kids on the internet?What’s next?
Now, Medic. Change is good. Say it 10,000 times, tap your heels together three times and you will sell all of your guns and start looking for that check in the mailbox from Congress. It will cover your mortgage and car payments until the next election.
Anonymous-
Apparently, Congress and the Executive Branch decided that in order for the economy to grow,(and their donors could contribute to their campaigns) we needed more people. Since the ones we already had weren’t producing enough new consumers of cars and houses, we let illegal aliens in to build houses, keep food prices down and produce more consumers of consumer goods. Then, we gave them loans to buy the houses that we sold to buy the houses that they built. Then, when they stopped paying the loans because they weren’t really invested in their own future, much less ours,(hey,they abandoned their own countries, didn’t they?) the economy went to hell. All in the name of diversity! Don’t we all have a warm, fuzzy feeling?
I hope that the sarcasm wasn’t TOO excessive. Standard apologies.
P.S. Did I mention that their country is run by drug lords?
Good news on the enforcement front:
IFCO paying record-setting $20 million fine to settle illegal hire case
Penalty tops $11 million Wal-Mart paid in immigration case
In the largest worksite enforcement settlement on record, a German-owned pallet-making company agreed to pay $20.7 million to settle criminal allegations that it systematically hired illegal immigrants at its plants here and around the country.
http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=752295&TextPage=1
Timmy should get a law passed that would fine a business for each illegal they employed. Then Timmy could get the staties to go to each fast food joint and hotel/motel up and down Sudley and pretty soon we wouldn’t have a budget deficit anymore.
“What’s on your mind”, huh?
Sorry, but it’s Nigella Lawson as usual.
Actually, I was just thinking that not all gun accidents are “tragic.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GV3s669Sn20&feature=related
BattleCat-
I think that activity is referred to as “thinning the herd”. It’s a shame that there’s no intelligence test for gun ownership. But, then again, dangerous and stupid behavior is not restricted to firearms, is it?
jfk said on 19 Dec 2008 at 2:20 pm: Flag comment
Anonymous said on 19 Dec 2008 at 2:05 pm: Flag comment
Dolph aka Moon Howler said she has spotted fighting roosters (with their spurs on) running through Westgate. Think she is off her medication again. Anyone out there confirm her sightings?
She made a statement so foolish it was laughable. Just wanted to see if anyone else had the same sightings.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Everyone.
Lets all Pray for the Jean Smith Family. What a lovely family they were.
Our hearts are broken to lose a gal and her son in their early years.
God Bless Everyone and Keep Us Safe.
Another hanger on from the Lee Stroffregen administration I see. No matter what you say the current staff at the sheriff’s office is 10 times better than your hero Lee’s.
“Anonymous said on 19 Dec 2008 at 7:06 pm: Flag comment
What is going on with our Sheriff’s Office?
Last year deputy sheriffs let a prisoner escape simply by the prisoner reaching out the open window and opening the back door to the cruiser he was riding in causing schools to be locked down during a 3 hour manhunt to return him to custody. Now they are trading pictures of naked kids on the internet?What’s next?”
Dave, please wake up. As you should be aware if you were awke for the past 12 months there were several bills presented last year in the General Assembly that would punish employers for hiring illegals, as you should also be aware the business crowd told Speaker Howell (R-Stafford) to not allow those bills out of Rules, which he did, they were never voted on in the GA, in Commoittee nor in subcommittee, due to Bill Howell’s “pocket veto”, Howell is the illegal immigrants best friend in the General Assembly, he worships at their doors.
Harry is correct… Speaker Howell is in the pocket of the Chamber of Commerce and the pro-illegal alien crowd. Speaker Howell is just another Republican in Name Only (RINO).
We have the best Sheriff’s office around. If all the Stoffregen people will just forget that they LOST and get on with their LIFE DOING WHAT IS RIGHT.
And forget about the hand outs. They are gone.
We have an outstanding Sheriff and his Deputies and they run an outstanding office of honesty, respect and financially responsible.
It’s time for the gimmies to get busy and work and quit complaining.
I just hope the Republicans can win the sheriff’s office in the next election and clean it up.
Here we are! said on 21 Dec 2008 at 11:58 am: Flag comment
” We have an outstanding Sheriff and his Deputies and they run an outstanding office of honesty, respect and financially responsible.”
In 2003 and again in 2007, Glendell Hill ran for county sheriff on the promise of cutting public safety services to the people of Prince William County and he has kept his promise.
What are the benefits to the people of Prince William County?
1) Less public safety services.
2) 13 full time deputies have been added to beef up the sheriff’s office.
3) 2.2 million dollars has been added to fatten up the sheriff’s office operations budget.
It’s a Republican’s dream?
Less work, increased staff, increased spending of taxpayer money and the voters don’t know the difference between a Democrat and a Republican.
Hangers on of Lee Stoffregen have nothing to do with the incompetence
going on in the sheriff’s department, and “Here We Are”, I don’t know
where you have your head but I have a pretty good idea. If you think
this sheriff’s dept is so good, you haven’t been listening to some deputies
talk about their sheriff.
With all the talk about cut-backs and trimming the budget, nothing is
being offered up to trim the sheriff’s budget. He just manipulated a nice
big raise this year. Yeah, real financially responsible, right? And honesty??
The sheriff is the biggest liar who ever came down the pike. Get your
head out of your butt.
If you want to go this route again and attack Glen Hill, at least do us the courtesy of coming up with new lies. These old ones have been debunked, and frankly, I’m tired of hearing them.
Better yet, come up with a decent policy debate. The question of what the proper role of the Sheriff’s Department should be in the larger law enforcement effort is ripe for a lot of discussion, but that never happens because all the old Stoffy hangers-on get all caught up in garbage personal attacks based on little more than horse puckey. That tactic prevents discussion of real issues, and just ends up pissing me off. I’m tired of it.
And based on the results of the last primary election, it would seem that’s EXACTLY where the vast majority of the electorate is. Get a clue.
Greg,
Pull your head out of the sand, take off your rose colored glasses and look at the incompetence in sheriff’s office. That’s what I am talking about, I couldn’t careless about Stoffregen. Looking at Glendell’s record, do you really think he is a Republican? Or maybe you don’t know the difference between a Democrat and a Republican is the problem.
Does the idea of “Don’t get stuck on stupid” ring any bells for you here? Just keep it up. Ask Mike Messier how this kind of garbage worked out for him. His campaign was chock-full of this crap, and he got absolutely crushed as a result. Messier outraged so may people with this that I saw six year old volunteers out with their parents putting up door hangers for Hill before the election. A lot of folks didn’t care who Messier was running against, they just couldn’t stand his utterly disgusting campaign.
All this seems disturbingly similar to your comments.
Six year olds? Does Glendell know the child labor laws?
Greg, how utterly horrible that this sheriff thing pisses you off!!! Yeah, I
guess all this crap about the pervert deputy is just your usual case of
“horse puckey”, like you said. If it had been a Latino instead of the
deputy, you would have been howling your head off. I guess you’ve
answered the question as to whether he is a friend of yours. Holy Cow.
Maybe he has some photos of your little girl. Why don’t you ask him?
Real nice. What a class act you are.
You wanna attack anyone else’s children, or just mine?
My only question of Glen Hill is why he immediately suspended radar enforcement, and removed radar eqyipment, and ticket books from road deputies who were properly trained to enforce violations they observed while conducting civil process duties. Cost of enforcement couldn’t have been the issue. Duplication of services (an argument created by Charlie Deane) couldn’t have been it. The PWCSO was reporting all radar enforcement planning, and results to PWCPD Special Operations Bureau. There is clearly a need for greater traffic enforcement in PWC. I travel though PWC frequently on both ends and rarely see patrol officers engaged in active enforcement.
If deputies are clear of service of civil papers early during the work day, what do they do now? Deputies under Stoffregen were ticketing violations they observed during light service days. I’m not a Glen Hill basher. The exposure I had to him was always pleasant, and I was impressed with the level of cooperation he offered other law enforcement agencies.
But I thought loading his staff with Charlie Deane’s police supervisors, and falling in line with Deane’s “duplication of services” election spin showed some leadership weakness. Citizens of PWC do not get more “bang for the buck” with Hill as your Sheriff. Additionally, the Chief of Police has become more powerful by helping Glen Hill get elected. He clearly stated he was “protecting his turf ” by trying to limit the enforcement initiatives established by Stoffregen. Convincing Hill to hire police supervisors as staff members only adds to the high level of control that Deane has over future enforcement of laws in PWC.
This wouldn’t be an issue if honest citizens in PWC were safer now than they were 20 years ago, when Deane became the C.O.P. We now have deputies riding around the streets of PWC putting in 8 hours, wearing a gun, and a badge, with the authority to enforce the same laws as our police department…..while watching common violations, and minor criminal violations occur with no ability to enforce them. PWC tax payers are not getting the best efforts from deputies. And it all points to the top. I would like to see Sheriff Hill change his enforcement policies.
Good Time Charlie…..Bingo!! Hill is not going to change any policies
without the permission of King Charlie. Deputies have been told that
termination will be the result of any arrest they make. What kind of
law enforcement is that???
No, Greg…I wasn’t picking on your children. I’ll leave that one to Mr
Staples.
Good time Charlie said it best Glendell Hill doesn’t have the leadership skills necessary to head this office and that’s what it’s all about.
I am still amazed at the number of experts who first fabricate, then quote as fact, statistical data about the Sheriff’s Office. (eg. budget increases, manpower increases, etc)
Greg is right, it is the same old same old crap by, might I add the same old losers.
It is a real fact, that close to 90% of the people who voted in the county, City of Mannassa, and Manassas Park. believed that Hill does have the ability to manage the Sheriff’s Office.
I would like to see some real discussion about just what the duties and responcibilities are, and how the cooperation is or isn’t working. Greg - maybe you can start that thread since the only 3 people in the world who don’t get it can only glum to this one. -
henry, your right, people do think Hill is a good “manager.” The problem is the Sheriff needs to be a leader as well as a manager and Glendell lacks leadership skills necessary to run the sheriff’s office.
This doesn’t mean he is a bad manager, he just needs a leader to guide him.
henry…..you think only 3 people???? Get real. Perhaps only 3
people bother to go on this site and express their opinions.
Did anyone notice the Potomac News today endorsed the Rule of Law? Absolutely shocking.
http://www.insidenova.com/isn/news/opinion/article/a_deputy_arrested_our_trust_betrayed/26607/
“Our society is one driven and maintained by the rule of law. Obedience to the law and punishment for those who break the law are the cornerstones of our functioning society. And we expect the
guardians of that law to be its strictest adherents.”
Whoa….
Come on, now. That obviously doesn’t mean EVERYBODY. What would our country be like if all of us obeyed the law?
As a law enforcement officer, don’t hold me to a higher standard than yourself. Not fair. Everyone should be treated alike.
Harry,
Guess I should have put the sarcasm flag on when I spoke about Timmy doing anything to get rid of the illegals. I’ve been in the county now for almost four years and been lurking and posting on this blog for about three years now.
Why would Bush pardon a Real Estate Fraudster, and contributor to the forclosure mess??
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-litous2412301111dec24,0,5331488.story
The fact that he and his family donated heavily to the GOP wouldn’t have much to do with it, would it? No matter, King George, in yet another presidential “firsts”, has recinded the pardon.
http://www.nowpublic.com/tech-biz/who-isaac-robert-toussie
Not to mention the time he spent in prison for his crime was a joke in it’s own right.
The fact that history repeats itself might have something to do with the fact that it is so profitable for so few, and so many pay for it. Time and again.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savings_and_Loan_crisis
An article on a sad topic. There is one sentence in the article that stands out. Can anyone find it?
http://www.insidenova.com/isn/news/local/article/county_health_officials_infant_mortality_rate_on_the_rise/26917/