WWJD

What would Jefferson do?

Virginia Governor Tim Kaine’s administration forced the resignation of five Virginia State Police Chaplains because they prayed publicly “in Jesus’ name.” The State Police Superintendent created, then enforced, a strict “non-sectarian” prayer policy at all public gatherings, which excluding Christian prayers.  Five chaplains refused to deny Jesus or violate their conscience by watering down their prayers, and had to resign.

My question is:  if the state police has chaplains, what else are they supposed to do but pray in Jesus’ name?  If they are not allowed to do so, why have them at all?

Jefferson argued in favor of religious freedom.  I doubt he would have approved of these firings, but perhaps he would have advocated not having the chaplains at all.

Ugly as Sin

Could this be the ugliest church in America?

It is the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland.  It cost $190-million to build.  Could not that $ have been better used to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, etc?

Monocacy Battlefield threatened

The PATH of least resistance
Originally published September 09, 2008

Recently, Allegheny Power unveiled details of the Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline, a large project to reinforce the electrical infrastructure to the eastern U.S.

The project intends to link a substation in Bedington, W.Va., to another in Kemptown using two sets of high-power lines running independently through Frederick County. The project’s filing date by late 2008 makes it no less than a “run-away train.” Decisions on where to locate these two giant-scale lines scarring the county’s landscape and history are being made as you read this piece and will be completed before we have a chance to offer much input.

Understanding this project’s scale and the unavoidable fact that the lines eventually will go into someone’s property, it becomes imperative that the routing process be transparent and in the best interest of future generations. Among the many riches of Frederick County, its proud American Civil War history and its beautiful farming landscapes are unique. In this context, we take this opportunity to voice concerns about a potential segment of the PATH Project in Southern Frederick County.

This segment overbuilds smaller lines traveling over the northern part of Historic Buckeystown before crossing the Monocacy River. In the Urbana district, it traverses Baker Valley and the Hope Hill neighborhood; it follows Park Mills Road until crossing I-270, where it heads south along I-270 to and through the township of Urbana.

Should this segment be used by the PATH Project, an irreparable injury of the region would occur with a price to be paid by this and future generations as we all will stare at a desecrated historic and agricultural landscape dominated by high-power electrical towers.

Amongst the most important historical landmarks impacted by this line segment is the Monocacy Battlefield. The National Park Service, at significant cost to taxpayers (all of us), has purchased land, restored property and created networks of trails over Brooks Hill east of the Worthington Farm.

Brooks Hill is a small range separating the Monocracy River from Baker Valley. Wave after wave of Confederate troops advanced on the side of this hill about 150 years ago after crossing the Monocacy River to attack Union troops positioned between the Worthington and Thomas farms. This same range could now be the site for intrusive high-power towers placed on the adjacent Snow Hill Farm, degrading the view shed and historic value of the park and limiting any potential for future improvement or expansion.

The Snow Hill Farm itself has its own historic value, serving as encampment grounds to Gen. Ricketts’ retreating Union troops. The property is under easement by the Maryland Historic Trust by a grant from the Civil War Preservation Trust calling for the restoration of the property to conditions circa the Battle of the Monocacy (1864) and to protect the rural character of Baker Valley. To allow deployment of such power lines will set a dangerous precedent, diminishing future assurances for protection of any property entrusted to a state or federal agency.

Several properties listed in the Maryland Historic Trust will also be impacted by the project, including the David O. Thomas Farmstead, the Hope Hill Methodist Church, and the two-classroom African-American School, the Hampton School and Hope Hill Cemetery. The cemetery remains a testimony to the segregated nature of the original Hope Hill church by the concentration of African-American family names in the northeast corner of the lot.

AP claims their mission is to keep the electricity flowing. We are troubled to say that in AP’s corporate environment, where decisions are made at levels far removed from the ground, outsourced to out-of-state contractors or guided by time and budget constraints, what we value as our history might register to AP executives as noise.

We urge readers to visit the park and see the wonders of this unique piece of American history and visit the PATH website (www.pathtransmission.com) and voice opposition to attempts to degrade its quality and future. To state and federal officials, custodians of our natural resources and history, we urge them to execute their duties by protecting this unique piece of land and history on behalf of future generations.

 

Donalda & Camilo Toro write from Frederick.

Montpelier redone

I am very excited about the renovation done to Montpelier, James and Dolley Madison’s home in Orange Co., Va.  I saw it twice back in the early 1990s, and look forward to going again to see the changes.  There’s a USA Today story about it here, and I post a photo below.  “Restorers have lopped off two wings, obliterated 14 bathrooms, re-created two staircases and, overall, reduced by more than half the size of Montpelier, President James Madison’s lifelong home here in the lush foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.”

 

 

Prior to renovations:

Meltdown of the feminists

Well, it looks like feminism is either eating its young, or choking on it, but either way it is a meltdown.  Hard to think they will ever be taken with a straight face again. 

The issue of course is Sarah Palin.  I love this Foxnews story (and many others like it) about how the femmes don’t know what to do with her.  A woman for VP–yeah!  Oh, but SP isn’t the right kind of chic.  So we get this:

The feminist debate has come full circle. As Sarah Palin barnstorms throughout the country emphasizing her personal story of being Alaska’s governor and the mother of five children, many liberal commentators are asking whether she can balance the rigor of the vice presidency with the demands of parenting.

But I thought women can have it both ways?!?!!?  Or get this:

Sally Quinn, a columnist with The Washington Post, wrote in a recent online column that Palin’s need to care for her special needs son, Trig, and her daughter, Bristol, not to mention her three other children, would “inevitably be an enormous distraction for a new vice president (or president) in a time of global turmoil.”

As if Sally Quinn knows what is best–does she have a pregnant daughter and a Downs baby?

Its bullshit, and all but the femmes know it.  It is called hypocrisy, a disease particularly rampant on the left.

See this also, from the National Review:  “Whether or not Sarah Palin helps John McCain win the election, her greatest work may already be behind her. She’s exposed the feminist con job.  Don’t take my word for it. Feminists have been screaming like stuck pigs 24/7 since Palin was announced as McCain’s running mate.”

2 Bucks a Day

Could you live on $2 a day for one year?  A British woman did.

The Telegraph reports that “Kath Kelly was in the middle of bemoaning her money worries on a night out with a group of friends when she came up with the idea of living a more frugal existence to ease her financial troubles. She successfully completed the challenge she set herself, spending 12 months eating at free buffets, shopping at church jumble sales, and visiting supermarkets an hour before closing time to pick up bargains.”

Choice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sarah Palin:  “Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support. Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family.”

Barry Obama: “I’ve got two daughters. 9 years old and 6 years old. I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”

An easy choice to make for me…

How come nobody goes to National Parks now?

Why aren’t more people visiting National Parks in the USA?

The Economist claims to have answers about why “Americans plainly think it is a good idea to live near national parks, but they are not so keen on visiting them.”  The author does not blame “television, video games and the internet.”  The culprit: they are not entertaining.

I think one needs to be careful here.  The article says that people aren’t coming anymore but that the folks at Yosemite may limit the number of folks that they let in every day because of the crowds.  Huh?  Also, if the NPS site is near a city–watch out!  I know from experirnce that places like Great Falls, Manassas NBP, etc. are often quite crowded on weekends.

 

Money, but not their time

I find this Yahoo News article interesting, and it confirms my experience with many people and family members I know, myself excluded.  “

“When asked to volunteer their time to charity, Americans are likely to give more money,” the column reports. In one major student that asked folks to donate their time, it turns out guilt may be a factor also: “Participants in an online survey read a statement about lung cancer and a cancer research foundation’s mission. The participants who were asked to donate time eventually pledged more than those who weren’t asked.”  A second trial also found this result: In the second test, “the same researchers introduced undergraduate college students to HopeLab, a nonprofit organization that serves children with chronic illnesses. The average donation level was nearly five times higher for participants who were first asked about donating their time to the organization.”

Now to be sure, lots of organizations need time from people and their money.  Groups that need to lobby need cash to pay their lobbyists, buy advertisements, create publicity, etc.  Some causes are by their very nature set up to take money for their causes rather than time: what can I do to find the cure for cancer, for example, other than donating money to fund current research? 

On the flip side, I have more than a few times offered to donate my time when I did not have any money, but have been rebuffed repeatedly.  The example here is my undergrad alma mater, W&L, which really just wants a check, and could care less about my willingness to actually do something for them. 

Nevertheless, having been involved with charities (esp. through church) I also would have to state that people don’t want to be bothered with others, despite Christ’s frequent call for us to do acts of charity or “good works,” and strive to assuage their guilt by forking over cash instead.

Wal-Mart Supercenter on the Wilderness battlefield planned

CWPT Leads Effort To Stop Wal-Mart At The Wilderness
By Deborah Fitts

 

THE WILDERNESS, Va. — Plans for a Wal-Mart Supercenter on the Wilderness battlefield have prompted a coalition of preservation groups to deliver a shot across the mega-store’s bow.

The 145,000-square-foot facility would be sited on a 55-acre tract in Orange County, north of the intersection of routes 3 and 20. The site lies immediately across Route 3 from Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park.

 In hopes of warning off Wal-Mart, the Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT)has rallied a coalition of groups to send a joint letter citing their opposition to the plan. Trust spokesman Jim Campi said the letter was mailed on the July 4 weekend.

“It’s the opening round,” said Campi of the letter. “It’s to put Wal-Mart and county officials on notice that we’re going to oppose this.”

Campi said of the Supercenter, “This is just going to be a magnet for sprawl.” Besides the Wal-Mart itself, he said there are plans for a large parking area and “two baby box stores” on the site.

The letter, sent to Wal-Mart CEO H. Lee Scott Jr. in Bentonville, Ark., asserts that the store “would pave the way for desecration of the Wilderness with unnecessary commercial growth. Such a large-scale development is inappropriate next to a national park.”

The letter also warned that such major development “would impair the rural nature of the area and would increase traffic dramatically.” In fact, the store would boost pressure to expand Route 20 to four lanes through the Wilderness battlefield, the letter states. “That expansion is unacceptable to this coalition.”

Leading the charge against the Wal-Mart plan are CWPT and the Warrenton-based Piedmont Environmental Council. Their “Wilderness Battlefield Coalition” also includes the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the National Parks Conservation Association, Friends of the Wilderness, and Friends of the Fredericksburg Area Battlefields. Representatives of all six organizations signed the letter.

Campi cited “significant” local opposition as well. Orange County has long indicated a desire to block major development in this area, he said. Although the land was zoned for commercial development back in the 1970s, “quite a few elected officials think that was a mistake.”

Spotsylvania County, meanwhile, right next door, “is trying to keep commercial development east of Chancellorsville.” (And in Appomattox County Wal-Mart is on track for a 26-acre project near the national park.)

The letter states that the battle of the Wilderness, fought May 5-6, 1864, “marked the first clash between legendary Civil War generals Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant.” More than 160,000 troops were engaged and nearly 29,000 were casualties.

The battle initiated Grant’s Overland Campaign, “that exhausted both armies and took the Union forces to the gates of Richmond.”

The letter also notes that the park protects 2,773 acres of the Wilderness battlefield. Although the park boundary does not encompass the Wal-Mart site, the land “is within the historic limits of the battlefield.”

Campi said Wal-Mart will need a special use permit in order to go ahead, and that will entail public comment. As of mid-July no dates had been set for a hearing.

Campi said CWPT members will be kept apprised of the Wal-Mart project on the Trust’s Web site, civilwar.org.

Please also see this excellent article, which has a map of the proposed desecration.

To be discontinued….

Due to time constraints at work and personal life, I have decided not to actively post on this blog any longer.  Folks can still comment, of course, and I will try to respond when they do, but I just can’t keep up with placing anything new here. 

Best regards,

JM

 

Tarleton 1781 Charlottesville Raid Event: Sept. 27th

The program will consist of lectures and a bus tour on Tarleton’s Charlottesville Raid of 1781, part of the British campaign in Virginia in June 1781 from Hanover County to surprise and capture the Virginia legislature then meeting at Charlottesville. The guided tour will visit several sites associated with Tarleton’s Raid, including Boswell’s Tavern in Louisa Co; Castle Hill, in Albemarle Co.; The Farm in Charlottesville; and the city’s court square. All sites were visited by Tarleton and his command as they rode west to capture the state’s assembly. The cost of the bus tour will be $30 for ACHS members and $40 for non-members. Lunch available for purchase.

Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society
Attn: Keri
McIntire Building
200 Second St., NE
Charlottesville, VA 22902-5245
434-296-1492
Visit the website at http://www.albemarlehistory.org/