Virgil’s Supporters: “Goode Bless America”

I don’t begrudge supporters of the other candidate usually. But this was too good to pass up. I know it has been live for some time now, but what do we really know about “Goode Bless America”? (or as they call it, “Ain’t Nothing But A Republican”

Well, finally they have defined themselves. Go and see and write something to Virgil Goode. There is even a little button to submit called ‘I Believe in America” Imagine that.

Anyway, I am sure it is all in good fun (or ‘Goode fun’?) I personally have many questions for the Congressman. I plan on asking in emails about certain issues and the absolutely fluffy-like-marshmallow-creme “Goode News”.

It must make good copy though, it is in every paper of medium to small size in the 5th District. I am sure the editors of these papers read through to find what they are signing onto when they run these pieces unedited. They might find out that Virgil does not want to extend the same care to those citizens with a mental illness, because some of the most needy (severe psychosis, or as Virgil calls it ‘incest, transgenderism and gender orientation’.

Some of which are only compulsory visits to a mental health professional for those who are transgendered or other sexual/gender modifications. And which are not to be scoffed at, similar to the serious treatment of those who are either the perpetrator or the victim of incest.

Write him a little note. C’mon, you know you want to.

(Did I mention that the famous ‘muslim hater’ letter of December 2006 is reproduced there?  Make sure and check it out.)

‘Ain’t Nothing Like A Republican’

Cumberland High School: Students Misremember Administrators’ Remarks?

Last week, the freshman boys and girls at Cumberland High School had separate assemblies where speakers made remarks on several subjects.

According to my stepson, some of the remarks at the young men’s meeting were unnecessarily coarse and seemingly counter to good communication with young people. In addition, two speakers whose names I will not be using, made remarks that I would characterize as intemperate. Ill-advised, in my opinion.

According to the freshman student, and anecdotal reports from other sources, the two men in question made comments which I will paraphrase here, since I wasn’t there to hear them. In fact, I am giving you a paraphrased version straight from the student that was there.

(Paraphrasing)

You don’t deserve a new $36m school.

Don’t take these behaviors to the new school.

How many people are planning to go to college? (hands raise) Well, I see a lot of false hope in this room.

Cumberland used to have a bad reputation, but in years past, that has improved. Now you are messing it up again. (mentioned by teaching staff as well as administrators)

I will admit that the way these things were said might have something to do with the impressions students got, as people always do. However, these statements don’t seem like a good strategy to influence our young people, to inform them and to train them in the ways of society. It is especially not a good thing to be derisive about the educational plans of a high school class that is nearly 50% African-American.

Our student came in the door that day saying loudly, “I am going to college no matter what they say!” This is heartbreaking, because I know many students will not stand up mentally to the negative messages received that day. How many young men said to themselves, “He must be talking about me…”? How many of them felt that the negative reinforcement received that day was a self-fulfilling prophecy?

The response to our actions in calling a School Board member and discussing it, both with her and our student, is also very puzzling. The principal at the high school wrote in an email that the students must have misheard or otherwise confused the message of the presentation. Also, she mentioned in that email that my wife (who knows all too well the management style of our school division) has a problem with the School Division.

In fact, she does. She retired last year on disability after this vaunted management drove her crazy over the last several years. She is a 23 year veteran teacher at those schools, (the only place she taught after university) and she couldn’t fathom staying around to be abused like any warm body anymore. Their repeated bad decisions concerning Special Education and the schools in general wear on a teacher after a while. I have witnessed her working many more hours than she was ever expected to in order to complete work someone else had butchered horribly or hadn’t done at all, both above her in the supposed chain of command and below her.

The fact is, she deserves something better, and that’s why she left under medical advice.

But I digress.

What are the students to think now, with no official response to this outrage? Do they think that the school has their best interests at heart? I doubt it. What are the parents of other upset students saying and thinking? Did they call the school, or complain to their School Board representative?

We didn’t complain to our actual School Board member, because we knew it would do no good, him being part of the problem rather than part of the solution. You see, last year when Cumberland County elected its first School Board ever, he was the chair of the appointed board. He is no longer chair in the elected board and has been an obstructionist to the process of straightening out the mess that are our schools are in.

Of course, since he was elected, he can become un-elected as well.

On a final note, I will mention that one of the two administrators in question is part of the widely recognized and heralded “Call Me Mister” Program. The program provides resources for schools to provide good role models to young African-America men. The other administrator also is part of a similar program, as well as both men being involved in athletic coaching at the high school. To answer the question you must be asking yourself at this point, the two administrators are African-Americans. That fact has nothing to do with this complaint. It has everything to do, instead, with improper supervision of staff and an unclear message being put out that only serves to confuse the very people it is meant to help — young male students at our high school.

Campbell County Landfill Lawsuits Continue

We here in Cumberland County have had the spectre of a dump hanging over our heads for over two years. The Board of Supervisors and other county officials have done everything they think they needed to in order to bring this to our county.

While a dump is one person’s tax base, it is also the citizen’s nightmare scenario if the officials in the county act in secret and use conflicting figures to scare the populace into not challenging their actions.

Also, there is ample evidence for where and how dumps get placed in locations. As a matter of economic justice, there should not be a continuation of looking for counties that are 1) high poverty, 2) little organized resistance, 3) low education rate to allow the lies to take hold, and 4) cash-strapped.

If the trash business was not profitable Allied Waste would not be able to throw around millions of dollars in our community and convince the naive and the gullible that our pot of gold at the end of the rainbow has arrived.

Someday, Cumberland County will need to deal, be forced to deal, with the aftermath of this dump. This is where the story gets interesting. Let’s go to Campbell County and see what’s going on with their dump.

By Chris Dumond and Sarah Watson
The News & Advance
Published: April 5, 2008

After three years of legal wrangling, several lawsuits about who is responsible for groundwater contamination from the Campbell County landfill still hang in limbo.

Millions of dollars are at stake between potential damages and ongoing cleanup costs.

Claude and Virginia Royal, owners of the 165-acre Twin Oaks manufactured home park near Yellow Branch, discovered in 2002 that well water serving their residents had elevated levels of volatile organic chemicals, according to a Department of Environmental Quality consent order to the county.

After three years of discussions with the county, the Royals filed several lawsuits in 2005 and 2006 charging that the county operated the landfill in a manner that caused a plume of toxic chemicals to pollute their water and land.

[...]

Remediation and expense

As of last month, Campbell County has spent more than $3.5 million on design, engineering and construction to start cleaning up the groundwater. As of March 2007, the county has spent more than $140,000 in legal expenses to Shreve, according to county documents.

The county also paid a $14,000 fine to DEQ in 2003.

The groundwater remediation started in 2006 and there’s no end in sight, said county public works director Clif Tweedy.

The county installed 24 remediation wells on the landfill property and the Royals’ property, which pump 20,000 to 30,000 gallons of groundwater per day to the landfill through 24 pipelines.

The water is then filtered to remove the volatile organic compounds, such as benzene, vinyl chloride and acetone, and is discharged into a stream on the landfill property, Tweedy said. “(The discharge is) very clear water and we have to test it on a regular basis to make sure it doesn’t have any (volatile organic compounds) in it.”

The idea is to pump all the contaminated water out of the ground, treat the water and clean it up, Tweedy said.

The county tests for about 50 chemicals and since the cleanup started, some levels have dropped, some have increased and some stayed the same, Tweedy said. However, he added, it’s too early to tell if the process is working.

The remediation does not have a set time frame because it depends on when the pollution levels drop below state standards, Tweedy said. “Until the levels get below the standards, we’ll have to continue to operate. No one really wants to hazard a guess.”

This is Cumberland County’s future. Granted, there was no liner in the Campbell County Dump. Industry officials swear that new methods and materials will ensure that this will not be repeated here. Since they have not been very open so far, I am not holding my breath in this case either. After all, these are the Supervisors who claim that three of them can go tour the new $33m schools, have their picture in the paper, and still claim that no county business was being discussed.

My children, step-children and grandchildren will have to deal with the aftermath here. I will be too old or gone already.

We Won’t Change Congressmen Unless We Change Minds

Changing minds is not easy.
It’s all well and good to talk about fundraising, and how much money candidates have. It is only half the equation in my estimation. I am thrilled with the fundraising here in the 5th Congressional District race. However, Democrats need to change a lot of minds for a Democrat to be elected President, Congressman, Senator or Governor.

There is a general misconception that the 5th District is unwinnable, due to Virgil Goode’s hold on the District and the history here. I do not agree with that, although it would make things a lot easier for Democrats in this district. No campaigns, no fundraising, you get the idea.

There are lots of problems disseminating information in the district. Overall, there is one of the lowest usages of the internet in the entire state. Poverty and illiteracy are higher than average here. The district itself is huge, encompassing a land mass area the size of some states.

The biggest job we have of changing minds is that people sometimes vote the way they do because they know nothing different. Families vote one way sometimes. Also, the attitude is out there that it doesn’t matter if we vote or not, and/or ‘they’re all crooks anyway’. I would much rather know for myself what the character of someone is without Chris Mathews or any of the pundits or talking heads telling me what to think.

I want to see for myself what the differences are in candidates, what they stand for or against, their voting record if they have one, and their comportment in the community. Better the crook you know, if you insist on thinking that way.

I don’t know how successful voter registration drives will be this summer and fall. If Pennsylvania and Texas are any indication, there should be more people voting this fall. As I write this, I am wondering what the special problems would be if 70-80% of registered voters came out on Election Day . It would be bedlam.

I guess what I am saying in my own rambling way, is that people should have gotten the idea by now that things are totally messed up in government. If they vote their self-interest, maybe things will change for the better.

I don’t care who you vote for, just vote.