Shaming nonvoters into voting

Roger Chelsey, associate editor of the Virginian-Pilot's editorial page, relates in his op-ed piece today the story of a case of an attempt to shame nonvoters into casting ballots: In Tennessee recently, a black weekly newspaper took a page from that classic and affixed another "A" - for apathy - on individuals who didn't cast … Continue reading Shaming nonvoters into voting →

OTR 12/3/06

This week's On the Record features an interview with Michael Fafard of the 1970s cover band Right On. The band was featured in a story in Thursday's Virginian-Pilot. Fared, who has adopted the stage name Nigel Holland, is legally blind, In keeping with the arts theme, Michael Bollinger, director of the new Suffolk Center for … Continue reading OTR 12/3/06 →

2006 telephone tax refund

OK, so I generally don't post about tax stuff on this blog but I'm making an exception. If I've gotten one, I've gotten 20 phone calls or emails in the last day or so about the Telephone Tax Refund that will be on the 2006 tax returns. I actually wrote about this briefly back in … Continue reading 2006 telephone tax refund →

Friday afternoon stuff

Just some stuff: NCDC breakfast. Tomorrow morning, 8:30am, Friendly's, 5764 East Virginia Beach Boulevard. Be there! Nancy Pelosi names Reyes to lead Intelligence Committee. Whew! I'm glad that's over. She wouldn't pick Harmon because they don't get along and she couldn't pick Hastings because of his baggage. Guess we'll learn a lot about Reyes soon. … Continue reading Friday afternoon stuff →

1895 Eighth Grade Final Exam

I received the following via email. Figured I'd share! Remember when our grandparents, great-grandparents, and such stated that they only had an 8th grade education? Well, check this out. - - - This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in Salina, KS, USA. It was taken from the original document on file at the … Continue reading 1895 Eighth Grade Final Exam →

Taking the oath using the Koran

A couple of nights ago, I was forwarded an American Family Association (AFA) Action Alert about the decision of Keith Ellison, a newly elected Democrat from Minnesota and the first Muslim elected to Congress, to use the Koran for his swearing-in ceremony rather than the Bible. The email reprints the entire text of an article … Continue reading Taking the oath using the Koran →

Spotlight on business doing good work

Too often, what we get from the news is all gloom and doom. Sometimes, it's nice to read an article that is about someone doing a good thing. Such was the case with an article that appeared in yesterday's Virginian-Pilot: In an industrial park near railroad tracks and a union hall lies one of the … Continue reading Spotlight on business doing good work →

VPB and WordPress

An increasing number of Virginia political bloggers are abandoning Blogger (yea!) and heading over here to WordPress for their blog hosting. (For anyone who is looking to change over, be aware that WordPress offers an import function, so you can bring all of your posts over from Blogger. Howver, you cannot import your posts from … Continue reading VPB and WordPress →

Ford hourly workers upset with changes

The closing of the Norfolk Ford plant is expected to take place in the third quarter 2007. In the meantime, Ford is offering severance packages. Yesterday was the deadline for the hourly workers to decide which package to choose: education, lump sum payment or early retirement. The problem was the timing of the deadline. Workers … Continue reading Ford hourly workers upset with changes →

GOTV

For those of us familiar with campaigns, the acronym GOTV is known. A casual reader may not be so familiar with the term, but GOTV - or Get Out The Vote - is a critical component of a successful campaign. Appropriately, long-time activist Alice Marshall has a blog named GOTV. Alice has been posting a … Continue reading GOTV →