Circus Maximus
By Greg L | 3 January 2009 | Virginia Politics | 30 Comments
Although Virginia Republicans have long-ago settled on Virginia’s Attorney General Bob McDonnell as their candidate for Governor, Democrats are engaging in a sitcom style battle to figure out who is supposed to capitalize on what they think is a shift in the electorate and follow Tim “I promise not to raise your taxes” Kaine. It started innocuously enough with announcements by Creigh Deeds and Brian Moran that they would seek the nomination. Then things quickly started to get awfully strange. (more…)
It Must Be A Slow Newsday…
By Greg L | 2 January 2009 | Illegal Aliens, Prince William County | 104 Comments
You can tell it’s a slow news day when the Post runs an article on the Hysterical Housewives of Haymarket about six weeks after the article was written. Oh well, I guess having some stories sitting on the shelf for days such as this is what newspapers are all about. (more…)
Identity Politics Slammed
By Greg L | 2 January 2009 | National Politics, Prince William County | 15 Comments
The online edition of the Manassas News & Messenger allows readers to post comments in response to articles, and often is a source of amusement as a group of area residents will frequently trade charges and insults regarding the subject of a story. The reader commentary frequently demonstrates a need for some degree of adult supervision by the newspaper staff, as the commentary tends to degrade rather quickly, but sometimes that relatively unfiltered forum provides a rather unique insight into the mindset behind some of the political ideologies held by county residents. The reports on the deaths of Jean and James Smith last month were hardly an exception, offering an opportunity for one of the more disturbing examples to be seen in all of its glory. (more…)
Top Ten BVBL Posts of 2008
By Greg L | 1 January 2009 | Blogs | 5 Comments
This was quite a year for BVBL, setting a few records for daily bandwidth usage and blowing past the previous record for page views. Here’s a look back at the most-read posts for 2008, showing a few highs, but mostly the lows of 2008: (more…)
DMV: The Law Is For Other People, Not Us
By Greg L | 31 December 2008 | Illegal Aliens, Virginia Politics | 29 Comments
After concerns were raised that Virginia was issuing drivers licenses to illegal aliens, the General Assembly passed HB 1954 in 2003 which added a requirement in the Virginia Code § 46.2-328.1 to have license applicants prove their legal status. After that passed, I guess we thought we had this issue licked. But have we, really? No. (more…)
Get Ready For The New Soviet Woodbridge
By Greg L | 29 December 2008 | Prince William County | 32 Comments
After years of neglect under Supervisor Hilda Barg, Woodbridge has become a dysfunctional eyesore in Prince William County where vacant buildings compete with struggling junky retail shops and day labor sites along the Route One corridor to see which can make a community look the least attractive. In close proximity to the remarkable success of the Potomac Mills area, Route One is Prince William County’s community of failure. Supervisor Frank Principi has decided to take up the cause, and recently hosted a “charette” to bring various interest groups together to start laying out a plan for this troubled area, which he has released on his website. It’s an interesting read, especially when you start wondering what’s really behind the pretty powerpoint sales presentation that resulted. (more…)
Is Independent Hill A Suburb Of Chicago?
By Greg L | 29 December 2008 | Prince William County | 18 Comments
Did the Prince William County Schools throw out the rulebook, relevant provisions of the Virginia Administrative Code, and county policy in approving “Math Investigations” as the primary curriculum in the county’s fifth grade classrooms? According to a recent post on the PWC Education Reform Blog, it sure looks that way. We now have spent millions of dollars on a curriculum that doesn’t meet the Virginia Standards of Learning, and cannot legally be used in the county schools. How wonderful. (more…)
Merry Christmas!
By Greg L | 24 December 2008 | Uncategorized | 42 Comments
Merry Christmas to all! Here’s wishing that you still in Virginia are getting as white a Christmas as our family is. The girls really did enjoy the foot of nice powder at “Cookin’ Grandma’s” yesterday, and are really looking forward to Christmas carols at Church tonight, and of course the aftermath of Santa’s visit tomorrow morning. (more…)
We Deserve Answers
By Greg L | 23 December 2008 | Crime, Prince William County | 65 Comments
The murder of Jean and Jim Smith by a repeat juvenile offender in Dale City earlier this week has Jim Riley at Virginia Virtucon wondering how a known public safety threat like this was free to commit this crime. Police seem to have done a good job in quickly identifying suspects in this case and bringing them to justice, but somehow the justice system seemed to fail us, and in particular the Smith Family. (more…)
Slashing The Budget Defecit
By Greg L | 21 December 2008 | Illegal Aliens, Virginia Politics | 17 Comments
Virginia’s unemployment rate, while lower than most of the rest of the country, is still at a higher point than it has ever been in the past ten years according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The most recent figures released show that over 180,000 Virginians are out of work. At the same time, studies by the illegal alien lobby conservatively estimate that 300,000 illegal aliens reside in Virginia. Their estimates are that half of these illegal aliens do not pay their state or federal income taxes. If the jobs currently held, unlawfully I might add, by illegal aliens were held by citizens as they should be, it could amount to about $800 million in new tax revenue for the Commonwealth. What a way to rather significantly close a budget gap. (more…)
They’re NOT Immigrants
By Greg L | 20 December 2008 | Illegal Aliens, Crime, Manassas City | 21 Comments
You really can’t blame a defense attorney for doing his best to vigorously defend his clients, but this is patently ridiculous. Two of the three defendants accused of murdering Omar Florencio-Vazquez appeared in court recently, arguing that the trial should be moved from Prince William County because of local “anti-immigrant sentiment”. Instead of trying three illegal aliens for murder, the defense wants to try the residents of this county for not properly appreciating the contributions of criminal illegal aliens to our society. (more…)
Are You Smarter Than An Elected Official?
By Greg L | 19 December 2008 | Patriotism | 27 Comments
Take this quiz and find out. The score you have to beat is 44%. Before you scoff at that score, you may want to take the test yourself. (more…)
Open Thread
By Greg L | 19 December 2008 | Uncategorized | 54 Comments
What’s on your mind?
McDonnell Beats Back The Tax Hike
By Greg L | 17 December 2008 | Virginia Politics | 17 Comments
Governor Kaine is predictably calling for tax increases to help address a biennial budget shortfall, along with spending cuts. Increasing the burden of government on the citizens during uncertain economic times when many of us have less is utterly ridiculous. Given the choice between forking over an increasing amount of our declining incomes, or telling our government that they have to do with less just as we are, Virginians should be outraged at the notion that it’s time for us to pony up more. Attorney General Bob McDonnell makes no bones about his distaste for this foolishness, albeit in more diplomatic language than I am inspired to use. (more…)
Yet More Illegal Alien Crime
By Greg L | 16 December 2008 | Illegal Aliens, Crime, Prince William County | 30 Comments
And yet again, another story of an illegal alien enriching our nation with the diversity they bring. The victim in this case is a twenty four year old developmentally disabled woman.
At approximately 1 p.m. Monday, the police began investigating a rape that occurred at [Brayan Migdanio Bustillo] Fuentes’ address . The investigation revealed that the victim was walking in the neighborhood when she passed the accused’s residence.
The accused, who knew the victim, coerced her to go with him and then raped her. An illegal immigrant from Honduras, Fuentes has a scheduled court date of Feb. 10.
No Breaks For Osbourn High School
By Greg L | 16 December 2008 | Manassas City | 24 Comments
One tragedy comes to a conclusion for Osbourn High School, and another begins. On the same day former teacher Ted Johnson is sentenced to twenty years in prison with all but four years suspended, there are reports that another student — I believe the fifth this year — is dead. School officials sent home a letter with students announcing this tragedy and the availability of counseling at school tomorrow, but further information is not officially available, although the rumors are flying. Tragic rumors. (more…)
Manassas News & Messenger Wins The Scrooge Award
By Greg L | 16 December 2008 | Prince William County | 16 Comments
Ten days before Christmas, a sanitation worker in Woodbridge was killed in an accident leaving behind a wife and three young children. The Manassas News & Messenger decided to really get into the spirit of the holidays and splash a picture of the deceased being given the last rites by the Fire Department’s chaplain on the front page of of today’s edition. Merry Christmas, kids. Here’s your dead daddy being hawked as a means to sell fish wrap.
And to think that some wondered why I called this outfit the Manassas Urinal-Massager before they changed their name. (more…)
Fewer Guns, More Crime
By Greg L | 16 December 2008 | Crime | 26 Comments
The London Times wrote about the tragedy at Virginia Tech and the notion of gun control recently. You might expect them to decry the barbaric and unenlightened Americans whose lust for guns fuels death and violence, but in this case at least you’d be mistaken. As least some subjects have come to realize that banning guns simply emboldens the lawless while it restricts the lawful, fueling rather than abating violence. After banning guns in Britain, they now have a level of crime several times higher than we, and some are starting to understand why.
Lest we ever take seriously the notion of following the horrible path they blazed, this should be required reading for anyone developing public policy. (more…)
Bipartisan Information Technology Lies
By Greg L | 15 December 2008 | Virginia Politics | 4 Comments
Our government bureaucrats and elected officials must think that we’re just plain stupid. When these idiots are getting heat for screwing something up, it seems that the new “out” is to say something utterly vapid about information technology, figuring that the unwashed masses will simply buy the BS and forget how badly they’re screwing up. This week we are blessed with not one, but two perfect examples. (more…)
Residential Market Update
By Greg L | 12 December 2008 | Local Economy | 21 Comments
Our local residential real estate market started a remarkable turnaround starting last June that is still going strong. The chart at left shows the change in the supply of houses on the market in Prince William County, Manassas and Manassas Park starting in May which has steadily declined through December 1st. The number of houses for sale now is approximately the same number that was available in March of 2006, and at this rate will arrive at back pre-bust inventory levels in about six more months.
The number of homes that are available and not under contract has been dropping by an average of 9% these past six months, and this will soon contribute to a stabilization and recovery of residential prices as the huge advantage that buyers now have in the market evaporates. The problem over the past several years has been too few buyers chasing too many properties and foreclosures have only exacerbated the problem. (more…)
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