Roanoke Journal Talk

A little over a year ago, I wrote an article entitled " Donald Seis Murder- One Year Later". Having received a letter from Chief Gaskins about the Roanoke police and their effort to find the killer over the last year, and the "teaser" about some possible new evidence, and the need for us to spread the word in the neighborhood for any information. At the time, many in the neighborhood, and at the church I attend, felt that not much was really being done. I tried in that article to tow the line, and support co-operation with the Roanoke city police, despite the feeling most of us had. I still have the letter from chief Gaskins, and hope he has an explanation, not for me, but for the residents of OSW, and the Donald Seis family. The January letter stated, and I quote, "there has been viable, and positive action very recently". I find this interesting, considering that the crime scene evidence from over a year past, has STILL not been sent to the State crime lab.
I received a phone call this morning from Scott Leamon at Channel 10 news. He told me there was a break in the Donald Seis case, and wanted to tell me about it and do an interview. When we met, he had a copy of the court document. There were two immediate and lasting impressions. One was that it was a DNA hit, and that seemed conclusive. The other was the time line on the document. The murder was in January of 2006, the evidence was not sent to the Virginia crime lab until Feb. 2007. Why a 13 month gap? It struck me as odd and out of place that a lot of murder evidence was not sent for 13 months. This is how I know the crime scene evidence was not even sent to lab in January 2007. I have spoke to some different reporters, and law enforcement officials during the day, and each of 7 have stated this seems irregular in police work. I hope chief Gaskins has a plausible explanation. I do know he is going to be ask by press, and many of us citizens for that explanation. The DNA data bank hit was April 4th of this year, and the long delay would not have affected the ultimate outcome. The question is still, why the long forensics delay? Many folks I have talked to think it's the "priority" system. Donald did not have much family, and there are higher priorities in the police department. If this murder had been a City Councilman, or business leader, when would the evidence have been sent? Again, another question to answer. There are more questions than answers. Channel 10 did a great job of finding and making this public. Channel 7 caught the crux of the situation with their headline "State crime lab produces lead in an unsolved Roanoke murder case" I am just glad the RPD finally got the evidence in, and we are still awaiting an explanation. More later.

I was glad to see an editorial in The Times I could agree with. The one on Bath County's exaggerated real estate tax rates was good. Bath county is not the only place affected. Here is my online reply: On property taxes, Bath County is not the only place that has problems. I spoke to City Council three years ago about the "compounding" of property values, and the ramifications. According to CNN/Money magazine, Roanoke is on their list of most overvalued real estate markets nationwide. 17% in 2005, and 11% in 2006. My actual experience was cited in even higher valuation rates in Old Southwest. According to compound interest, at 17%, your monthly tax rate doubles in 4.2 years. At 11% your tax rate doubles in a little over 6 years. Are salary rates increasing this much? No, the driver is city spending. The property valuations are the dirty little thief that funds Roanoke's out of control spending and debt. There is an effect going on now in Roanoke, and it's only going to get worse. According to US News and World Report: "The fact that this number of metro areas – representing such a large percent of the total single family market–is extremely overvalued should be a cause for concern," said Richard DeKaser, chief economist for National City. Another worrisome sign is that the 50 most overvalued markets at the end of last year were again the biggest winners at the start of 2006. Indeed, the 50 hottest markets saw a 10.1 percent increase in home prices, on average, in the first quarter. Roanoke has had a steady rise since before 1999 of real estate over valuation. US News came to the same conclusion today, that I warned about three years ago. I quote from them: housing markets can't be overvalued for too long, as imbalances in residential real estate prices will eventually lead workers to relocate to more affordable cities. In a city with a population decline, or at best leveling of the negative growth, can we afford another negative impact? Most know the obvious answer. The Bath county example was a gross exaggeration of a small market, sometimes the double digits can kill an area just as bad.
We have been told for years by many in the Roanoke City administration, and Council that the old $2000 per head debt limit was archaic. We could borrow more, and still keep our credit rating. If we buy a $50,000 car, and can only afford a $30,000 car, if we continue to make the payments, we can keep our credit rating. The only way to keep making payments you can't afford is to steal the extra money from someone. The net effect according to US News and World Report is to drive workers out of the city. These are the workers that make this city run! If that happens, then perhaps the de facto government of Carilion will get the glut of homes it needs for it's "clinic" personnel. Then Roanoke will have to import thousands of illegal Mexicans to do the jobs that American workers now do in Roanoke. Many think this is the "vision" for Roanoke. Drive the working class, and retirees out by artificial real estate evaluations, replace them with higher median income clinic workers, and bring in cheap Mexican labor. Personally. I just think it's spend like drunken sailors and put it on the taxpayers backs. Either scenario produces the same result, a vision of Roanoke that most of us don't want. It's just that our alleged "leaders" don't have the guts to admit that vision.

Every time we have a tragedy where a horrific crime is committed, in retrospect we see a warning sign moment. Whether it is the guy who knew John Hinckley heard voices, or those that knew the Columbine killers talked about doing it, the warning sign moment happens. Usually it is always in retrospect that this happens. I think my moment happened before the fact. Last Wednesday, my daughter had a man in his 30's ask her leading questions, and try to entice her into his car. She immediately walked briskly home as the car had another car come up behind it. He turned around and came up beside her again. Thank God that my next door neighbor and her fiance' were coming out of the house. My daughter then called to them in a nice way, and the car left. Again, I thank God that they were there, and Taleb got a good description of the car. Once home behind locked doors, she called me, and I came home immediately. This all happened 1/2 a block from our house. She had walked a friend one block through a PUBLIC PARK. There were many things that fell in line in a positive way. The police had a presence in that park, the response by Roanoke police was swift. There were witnesses, and all turned out right. As Wednesday became Friday, the car was spotted again, and the one missing piece of the license was found. Neighbors helped each other, looking out for the car. Then Sunday came, and a neighbor called me said the car was coming down Walnut, at fourth street. surely cruising the park as we thought. The car turned before the park, and I ran to the corner. You can see four blocks down the road. I saw nothing. The only conclusion was he turned down one of the first two streets. Where I live, we are bordered by train tracks, the interstate, and there is only so many places to go. Monday evening, my older daughter and I went dog walking, to look for the car. We went down one street for a block to the tracks, no car. We crossed in front of two apartment buildings, and went up the next street. Two houses up the street, the car passed us, and pulled into the small parking lot. We watched where he finally went into, and went home to call the police again. This morning, the officer told me he encountered and talked to the man. I want to say upfront, that officer C.D. Tinley (hope I got it right) was excellent. I have been a frequent critic of Roanoke City police in instances passed, but the response, professionalism, and work was just above and beyond the call of expected duty. The police did everything to help identify, and catch this man. They also did all they could let the man know that folks in the neighborhood knew what he did, and were watching. Herein lies the problem. There is nothing more the police can do, nor the prosecutor's office. There are only two real possibilities here. One is the man was culturally confused, and made a mistake. The other is he was trying to what seems apparent to many. His command of English, and thought progression would eliminate any cultural dissonance. Does this mean we need another law? No it does not. We have handled it in our own way. He knows many know what happened. 9-12 neighbors have enlisted to "point" at the man his last two blocks going home. We now know where he works, and his schedule. No violence, no retribution, we will point to him to merely point out his sin, and his conscience, or lack thereof, will determine the rest. Will this work? I do not really know yet. I do know that violence does not always work. I do know prayer works. I'll let you know how pointing and prayer work.

If you are reading this, then we are back online. We will have this blog and a video commentary both up very soon. Doing Roanoke Journal with multiple pages was very time consuming on a daily basis. With a blog and video, We can still keep news, analysis, and opinion on a timely basis. See you soon.

Iranian President Ahmadinejad has been told by close advisers of the total impact of the U.S. led goods embargo. After the financial embargo was subverted by doubling the price of oil, it looks like President George W. Bush finally found a way to punish Ahmadinejad. Bush included Ex-Lax in the Iranian embargo. As is is well known throughout the world, Ahmadinejad is a notorious anal retentive, and this very often results in chronic constipation, that can only be relieved by the chocolate laxative compound, made in the U.S. Iranian officials say the President was making a big "push" to stop his habit, but he did not give a "big crap" about the embargo otherwise. More as this story develops.


President Bush punished Venezuelans with a total cut-off of all free internet porn to the country. Showing America's technological superiority, the "PornoPayola program script caused all free porno to cease going to the South American country. When Socialist economic advisers warned Chavez that the balance of payment scenario could drain all the extra revenue from the latest oil increases, Chavez reacted angrily. "Besides", he stated, "now I have to pay for my porno, and the wife monitors the debit card, what am I to do"? Chavez pounded the table, and raised his fists when he realized that he would now lose all his Tila Tequila viewing chances.

I found a few things that have pushed me to a newer understanding of some green issues we can all live with. First ,Newt Gingrich's book "A Contract with the Earth", and then Fast Company magazine. The article from Fast Company I cite is: Mechanic Messiah.
In my previous blog "Whose fault is global warming", I talked about the minority extremists hijacking the issues, and shutting out the majority of us who are for common sense and creative solutions to fix a problem. Through two methods, that are non intrusive, green, do not hurt the economy or endanger jobs, we can surpass the Kyoto goals, and the newer more stringent ones, and add to the US economy and prestige. Sounds impossible doesn't it? Well it can be done rather easily. First, read the Mechanic Messiah article above, just click the link. While extremists scream for an almost doubling of Miles per Gallon (MPG), Jonathan Goodwin can quadruple your mileage, double horsepower, push emissions to almost zero, and use french fry grease if you would like. Even the best hybrids are now rated at 48/45/46 MPG (Toyota Prius) with the new ratings New EPA Ratings. How about a Hummer that gets 60 MPG, and goes 0-60 in 5 seconds. The CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards were to go to 35 MPG in the next 10 years. Why wait? With the $5,000 bolt on kit Goodwin invented, you can double a diesel car's mileage , reduce emissions by 80%, and recover the initial cost of the kit in less than a year! What would the impact be of an average MPG of say 80 MPG, instead of the 25 now required? Reduce oil imports by over 60%, reduce out of country cash payments and keep the money here, and have more disposable income for Americans. This technology exists now! The second method is even easier to implement. The French produce their electricity primarily with nuclear power. " France derives over 75% of its electricity from nuclear energy. This is due to a long-standing policy based on energy security. France is the world's largest net exporter of electricity due to its very low cost of generation, and gains over EUR 3 billion per year from this. France also reuses spent fuel through "fast breeder" technology. This enables them to get paid to take others fuel, then use it to produce more energy see:French Nuclear Push. With this in mind, Newt Gingrich's statement of 'I think it's an interesting fact that if we produced the same percentage of our electricity from nuclear power as the French, we'd take almost a third of U.S. carbon production out of the atmosphere and we'd be 15 percent below Kyoto", ring true. see: Washington Post Interview He goes on to say that when demand is down during the night, it can be used for hydrogen production, to go into Jonathan Goodwin's multi fuel cars and trucks. Lets review here. Cheaper power, no acid rain, no oil, recycling built in, and hydrogen capabilities built in. With these two mutually beneficial moves, we could laugh at the Kyoto standards, and have the rest of the world knocking at our door. Will it be easy? Well yes in the case of physically implementing both scenarios. No, as far as implementation politically. Between the vested interests, and the minority extremes who dictate to the majority of us. We need the political will to demand this to happen. Could you just imagine what would happen to the price of oil if the US embarked on a path to just do these two things? Can you say $35.00 a barrel oil? The difference is this time we also need the political will to stay the course.

I grew up a baseball fan. I played baseball because of my love of watching the game, and wanting to be able to be as good as the major leaguers I watched as a kid. It really bothered me when I found out years later that Pete Rose did amphetamines during his years with the Cincinnati Reds. Medical research has shown that amphetamines do not enhance performance, they actually inhibit performance, but this began the degradation of baseball. I grew up in the era when heads were turned, to drug use, and did not like it. I have watched as baseball was the last major sport to drug test, and really try (even though half heartedly) to get rid of performance enhancing drugs. I have also grown tired of the endless excuses over the last few years. There is the argument that everyone does it, all the records lately are suspect, so leave it alone. Then there is the "the better the players are, the more exciting the game is" argument for turning heads. Then there is the "who really cares, consumers pay good money these days" argument. My favorite one is the "he wasn't indicted, so he must not have done it" argument.

I was glad today to hear that Barry Bonds was indicted. What he has gotten by with is astounding. I still hold out no hope anything will become of it. With his money, and ability to buy superior representation, goes the chance to see him get his just rewards! Bond's attorney John Burris, is excellent for working creative lawyering, if you can afford him, and has promised to get Bond's a"not guilty" verdict. This really does not reflect on Bond's guilt or innocence, as much as the multi-tiered system of justice in the US.

Let's look at the facts, that will not be allowed in court for one reason or another.
(1). Barry Bonds was a slender, fast, base stealing, great fielding outfielder when he came into the major leagues. In the late 1990'2 with San Francisco, he bulked up to 240 lbs., and found a new power surge. In 2000, Bonds had the best statistical year ever. This is the year he met Greg Anderson, his personal trainer, who later was found guilty of steroid distribution, and money laundering. Bonds career got even better, as he got older.
(2). Everyone but two people associated with BALCO, have either plead guilty, or testified on steroid use. This includes Conte, Valente, and Arnold, the Balco management and chemist. This also includes Jason Giambi, who testified he injected BALCO steroids, and Gary Sheffield, who testified Bonds introduced him to BALCO, who introduced Sheffield to steroids.
(3). Greg Anderson, the convicted steroid dealer, and Bonds personal trainer, has spent a year in jail for contempt. This for not testifying about Bonds. Why is this? Well one of them is lying. Bonds says he just rubbed "the clear" and "the cream" to help with arthritis and injuries, and he got these from Anderson. If Bonds is right, then Anderson is in real trouble. If Anderson told Bonds what the stuff really was, then Bonds immunity is over, and his childhood friend gets released as soon as he is indicted, and the suits take over. Anderson does have some leverage with Bonds, and both would love for all this to blow over.
(4). Does anyone find it fascinating that not one major league team has gone after the free agent Barry Bonds? His Giants said no for 2008, and although he has the home run record, he is still a few hits away from the coveted 3000 hit club. Only an independent minor league team has offered a minimum wage contract to him. What does baseball know that we do not?
(5). Most baseball experts have been expecting this indictment. With the Grand Jury leaks information, this is not a surprise to most. The twist is that Bonds was given immunity, and could have discussed his situation like Giambi, and Sheffield (both still playing) did.
There are many odd twists to this story, but the bottom line is this. Bonds will get off. Every true baseball fan knows that Hank Aaron is the real home run champ. Even with the steroid help, Bonds only has 7 more home runs than Aaron, and Hank still beats Bonds at RBI's and total extra base hits. Bonds cheated, it's that simple. Do we as a society allow this to happen? In spite of a younger generation that seems to think cheating is alright, I happen to think it is not. My humble suggestion is this, if Barry Bonds is found guilty, then no record or asterisk. If Barry Bonds is found innocent, then no record, and no asterisk. If he is guilty, then it is self explanatory. If he is found innocent, it is the money the steroids earned him, that helped get him off. Olympic athletes who use banned substances, have to give back the titles and medals they received, with only a positive test. Barry Bonds has tested positive, even though MLB was too stupid to have a mechanism to deal with it. If MLB has any moral authority left, it will strip Bonds of the titles and medals he received. If not, MLB is telling the kids and adults that cheered Bonds, that it is just fine to cheat, and MLB will sanction it. That makes the GAME irrelevant, and MLB, and thats a shame. While you are at it, can you take that bumbling blind commissioner/Owner Bud Selig with you as you go?

I have a friend, neighbor, and coworker named Richard. Being political opposites, it's a wonder we are still friends after some of our heated debates. Last week I was excited about a new book that came out. The book "Contract with the Earth" was written by Newt Gingrich, and makes some excellent observations on the global warming debate. Newt makes a point of framing the situation in a conservation context, not a "global warming context. I was excited that this was a major step to finding common ground with most people to determine if there really was a problem, and what should we do about it.
I was shocked at Richard's response. "Who is Newt Gingrich to say". "If it takes this long to realize there is a problem we're doomed anyway". That evening I went home and did some more research on the subject. As I read, it hit me what the real problem was. Polarization is now the accepted norm! Wonder why Congress has done nothing, or passed bad bills? With both parties polarized, the small vocal abnormal extremes are being catered to, and calling the shots! That 2-5% at both ends of the spectrum, you know, the Daily Kos, and Free Republic wackos. These folks now are calling the shot, and that just perpetuates the extreme fringe dogma in the media, and daily life. Do you find yourself thinking that public policy debates are not really your views, that they are more extreme? Now you know why.
In my research I was looking for Al Gore's "consensus". The search proved my polarization point. There are 12-20% of climate change scientists that agree with Al Gore, man is causing an ARTIFICIAL global warming pattern. About the same number are totally opposite. They disagree with Al Gore completely, we are not in any global warming situation, only in a naturally occurring cycle. Then you have the majority that say we may or may not have global warming, but we need to look at the situation scientifically to determine if there is a problem, and deal with it rationally. The polarization process has enabled the fringe on both sides to dictate the issue of global warming, with no accounting for the rational majority.
My real eye opener was not any political point of view from my encounter with Richard. No, my eye opener was much larger, it was the process that enabled the wrong minority to dictate to the rest of us. Stop and just think of all the situations where this permeates your life. I did, and the impact is huge, political, family relationships, even faith issues are tainted by this abhorrent process. Richard was so blinded by his Al Gore us or nothing view, he could not see the good of an olive branch to reasonable debate. I had been so blinded by my Rush Limbaugh view that Richard assumed my joy was just another extreme reaction.
Now that we know we have been tainted by this process, Richard and I can have reasonable conversations about the subject of global warming. So whose fault is global warming anyway? The conclusion I have come to is it is our fault. We the reasonable majority who let the extreme fringe dictate issues to us by way of political correctness.

Congratulations to Mike Breiner for the race he ran against Ralph Smith for the state senate seat. I hope Willis White's Oncologist will take solace in the fact he ran a truthful, non negative campaign. The fact that Mike Breiner is really a plastic surgeon that played on a legends gratitude, and lead folks to believe he cured cancer, did not fool most folks. The fact he distorted Ralph Smith's record with council votes and other trickery did not fool most folks. The fact no one really knew what his positions really were by his ads had everything to do with losing. In reality, the Breiner camp had lots of money, and not much sense. Do you know what Mike Breiner's position was on tax increases, transportation issues, the abusive driver fee's, education? I didn't think you did. No one else did either! Never has someone wasted so much money for everything but letting folks know about the issues that most anyone can remember. Remember Mike, next time, maybe let folks know what you stand for, don't self glorify, and knock the other guy. Then you may do better. Real congratulations to Ralph Smith. You will serve the Valley well. Just as you tried to make Roanoke work better, you now have a chance to do so with a larger pallette. Of course this means years more ridicule from the Roanoke Times Pravda Board. As they rationalize the minutiae of not enough taxes, give everyone everything, enable all that is broken and whines, you can inject common sense to the legislature.

Congrats to Mac McCadden. First of all, Mac is a friend, so take that for what it is worth. Having talked to Onzlee about the abuser driver law he voted for, I know how he works. His office first admitted he did not vote for it. Then they said he voted for it, but did not support it. Then my son called and Onzlee told him that he voted for it, but those mean old Republicans made him do it to generate transportation fund revenue. Now really, does this not out do John Kerry? He actually said that "I did not like it, but I voted for it, although I was against it". What legislation did Onzlee write? The infamous Roanoke "Garbage Can" law? Thats about it. Really Onzlee, do you really expect anyone to believe any of this? They did this time, goodluck next time. Mac McCadden is a good, intelligent, and caring man. I guess creative solutions to problems, working with all citizens, and not towing any party line were traits in Mac that the money deluge countered. The reality is that we have elected a superficial party hack, and left the better candidate for all citizens in the lurch. The citizens of Roanoke deserve better, and so does Mac McCadden.

For those not familiar with my position, as a father of 3 kids, I have NEVER been happy with Roanoke City Schools. As I dealt with my kids in RCPS's, I learned much about how bad the schools were. Learning from some other driven parents, I tried to get involved. This first was done by educating neighbors and others about how bad the schools were, and this was five years ago. This despite the fact that The Roanoke Times, School Board, City Council, and City government, all were telling us how WELL our schools were doing. In the last year, suddenly all the governmental units and The Times woke up and smelled the coffee, and discovered what many of us had said for five years. With all this bad news in mind, I read an interesting study a few days ago from Johns Hopkins University. You can read it here: Johns Hopkins Education Study
Only two larger schools in Virginia were on the list due to population constraints, and they fare much better than Roanoke does. We in Roanoke would love to have a 60% graduation rate! That is the break point for "drop-out factories". If you would like to see the whole study: Full Study
This is in PDF format, so you need Adobe Acrobat reader to look at it.

On the green front, Newt Gingrich has written a book "A Contract with the Earth". Some may find an environmentally themed book by a Republican curious. Us conservatives do not find this curious at all. To read National Public Radio's interview and take read here: NPR interview

Polarization is ruining this country. Locally, power brokers run the show. They use polarization (not co-operation), to divide and conquer (33% majorities last election) us. Although this puts the desired people in office, it also causes drawn out debates, divided neighborhoods, and pitting groups against each other. This only results in bad will, excess money expenditures, higher taxes, and lower quality of life. As long as the School Board is a minor league training ground for City Council, it will be polarized, and impotent. The status quo cheerleaders say that elected boards will "politicize" the process. With the system presently used, political patronage is the rule. How can the process be any more politicized? Elected School Boards will make them accountable to the citizens, now City Council washes their hands, and takes no accountability for the board they appoint!

Polarization ruins nationally too. If you read the NPR article above you would see one fact stands out. Love or hate Newt Gingrich, he is right on the point on left vs. right on the environment. The far right screams junk science. The far left screams "the sky is falling", and the extreme of both sides force the majority of us to take the party or ideological line. Newt tries to balance common thought, to get us all on a common page to work on the problem. Will it work? We'll see.

I really did not think I would be writing this blog again. Roanoke Journal took a lot of time. With 3 kids, two jobs, church and other work, there was not any time left. I also had my faith heightened, and thought God wanted me to be silent because this was all just transitory anyway. Well God had his way! I had a daughter move out and start college, my job situation improved, my battle with the City got better and less time consuming, and God let me know that it does matter. He gave me talents to use to help others, and not using them is the real sin. Those who know me personally have known of my "faith factor", and that nothing will really change. I am glad that circumstances have changed to allow me write my blog again. As far as the website, it will be coming up over the next few days. There are many important local issues coming up with state elections soon, and City elections later. As always, there is a constant stream of issues nationally. And now, Roanoke Journal will be be back to give the other side of things, as always. And thanks to those of you who have called and emailed over the last few months, to "push"me back.

Bill McClure

Well, well, it seems Mr. Warner Dahlhouse has a conundrum. First he pushes historic preservation at all costs in a commentary in the Roanoke Times. I quote the commentary"Roanoke doesn't have buildings as old as those, but we do have Old Southwest and the City Market area, both unique to Western Virginia". He then states, and again I quote "Old Southwest is a wonderful neighborhood and a significant part of our heritage and character. It makes eminently good economic sense to guard and enhance that value for everyone by sensible and consistent application of the guidelines of the historic neighborhood overlay district". What Warner forgets to mention is he was at the forefront of not preserving a historical building in the more important H-1 district! Even worse, this historic district building was demolished by an organization he is associated with. When did this happen you say? Well the historic building in H-1 was demolished to put up the Art Museum! So much for sensible and consistent application of guidlines for a historic district Warner! Where was the "if we do it for one we have to do it for all" ARB on this one? Did you protect Aubrey Hicks exception like Warner Dahlhouse's? No you did not! Why Warner and not Aubrey? Was it Money? Power? Influence? Tell us, we would like to know.
I want to take you back to his quote on Old Southwest, and the City Market. If Warner Dahlhouse had any consistency, he would surely have to oppose the Center in the Square remake that will change the "Historic Farmers Market. Anyone would have to oppose changing the Farmers Market, even using the "common sense" model many of us propose in Old SouthWest. The Farmers Market is historic, Center in the Square is not. The changes in Centers building would only lessen the buildings historic nature, especially if not done by GUIDELINES Warner. It was you who defined it sir, now lay trapped in your own words, and we at Roanoke Journal will hold your feet to the fire on this one! With the Art Museum space open with moving the museum, and Centers financial problems apparent, why would they want to waste capital enlarging something that already has trouble supporting itself, and will lose a large draw marketing wise soon? This does not add up.
On thing is for certain, with most folks dead set against any changes for The Historic Farmers Market and The Times and major media against it, it will be political suicide for Council to go along with it. But it does seem Mayor Harris is going along, or walking the fence again. If the Mayor supports it can you spell L-A-M-E-D-U-C-K? We can see 2008 Mayor.

Warner Dahlhouse commentary from Roanoke Times

Last night my phone rang around 7:00 p.m. The canned voice said it was Congressman Goodlatte, and if I wanted to participate to stay on the line, and if I wanted to interact to press the pound key. I did both, and was pleasantly suprised with the next hour and 15 minutes. I never did get to talk to Bob, as there were technical glitches in the middle that cleared the calls, but many did get through. The whole time I am listening, I was telling my wife how great this was. Goodlatte gave his opinion on a broad range of issues, then took phone calls. He recieved some from folks that differed in opinion from him. He handled all pretty well, and then had some poll questions that you could answer yes and no to in real time. Although the immagration (1) and Iraq war (2) dominated, there were many other topics covered by Goodlatte, and callers, like the fair tax and IRS in general, and agricultural issues. This needs to be done more often! Many congressmen do not get feedback from most constituents. Only the loud cry-babies, and the lobbyists get the most facetime. This tele-conference allowed most regular constituents on the call to voice a real majority opinion for once, whether Democrat, or Repulican. Isn't that what it is really all about?

You gotta love someone who stands up to the Clintons. First the "smartest woman in the world" calls for no politics of personal destruction in the ongoing campaign. Well who perfected this and used it liberally (pun fully intended) when they were in office. Bill and Hillary of course. Then as Hillary is asking this, her camp is starting rumors about Sen. Obama's financial dealings, that have now quieted because they cannot be proven in any way. So much for a politics of personal destruction truce Hillary! Now Sen. Obama's supporters have put out the #1 viral ad on the internet, that reworks Hillary in the 1984 Apple superbowl ad. Even if you don't like Obama, this is really excellent stuff, and lets Hillary know they are not going down without a fight. Here is the link:
1984 Hillary ad

Gotta love good clean competition!

Read the Bill Gates Congressional Speech here: Gates Speech. Gates notes that 30% of of U.S. ninth-graders fail to graduate on time. This is leading to economic distress in the country. Think of the impact this would have on Roanoke, with a 47% or higher rate! No wonder we cannot get companies that offer good jobs in Roanoke. " Gates said the nation's economy depends on keeping the country's borders open to highly skilled workers, especially those with a science or engineering background. Federal law provides 65,000 H1-B visas for scientists, engineers, computer programmers and other professionals every budget year. High-tech and other employers say that's not enough".
"Even though it may not be realistic, I don't think there should be any limit," Gates said, adding that Microsoft hasn't been able to fill approximately 3,000 technical jobs in the United States because of a shortage of skilled workers.
With a worse than national average for Roanoke, this impacts us tremendously. As I have said before, the state of education determines Roanoke's path, not "coolness", or anything else. Without the companies to create the "cool" jos, you will not get the employees we seem to want in Roanoke. Get this Roanoke City government, jobs bring people, having cool people will NOT bring jobs!
When the rumored Toyota plant was for this area, I had a three way conversation with two local journalists on the set of a local TV show. One ask about why Toyota would not come here. The other replied that the Japanese owners would not come because of the squabbles between groups in Roanoke. My reply was they would love free interchange of opinion and thought. There were two related reasons they would never come to Roanoke. Being used to Japanese class schools, they would never put their children in schools so low in the state rankings as Roanoke. The second reason was the schools were so abysmal, a trained workforce would be impossible, and they would know that. With the testimony of Gates and others, we now see this is true as a nation. With Roanoke being under the standards Gates and others put out, the future looks bad for keeping the few bright kids we have in Roanoke. this must explain the reason Roanoke schools hade to recruit from the Phillipines to get basic teachers. Gates says we have to open up more visas to highly skilled foreigners to make up for the lack of American skilled workers. This is a sorry state of affairs nationally, and a worse reflection locally. Quit cheating our children Roanoke city government! Build good teachers and education, not stadiums.