Click here to read the Health Care bill passed by the House on Saturday night, November 7, 2009.

But be careful! It’s 1,990 pages long! I want us all to have universal health care, but I can’t imagine that anything that is 1,990 pages long can be good.

I believe it’s a shame that our nation can’t provide health care to all its citizens. Nobody should be denied the resource to save their lives, nor should we have to sell our houses to get treatment for cancer. So I don’t understand why our law can’t just say we provide it. What could be in 1,990 pages that would be anything but convoluted?

Anyway, if anybody reads this turkey, tell us what it says in the comments.

We all heard about the story yesterday of the American Muslim who went on a shooting spree and hollered Allah Akbar as he killed his fellow soldiers. That man was born in the United States. He joined the Army right out of high school. The Army paid for his college, medical school, and license to become a psychiatrist. His family, who live in Maryland, just a few miles from the hotel where I am staying right now, say they have no idea what happened, or what he was thinking. The mosque where he attended religious services is right over here a few miles away. The people in the mosque are not extremists. He studied here in Bethesda, right down the street from where I am using the wireless in this Internet café.

It seems, people can just go nuts. You wonder, is there a “why” for something like that? We look for a reason, because if we cannot find the reason, it makes us vulnerable to randomness. The forces of chaos, the undirected acts of an amoral nature, are highly uncomfortable. If there is no meaning to life, it makes life hard to bear. We take comfort in our religious faith, because it gives us a measure of safety. We think: if we just follow the rules, and obey our God, we will be protected. It’s a relief, to be protected by God.

But then we have a man whose concept of God is also strong. He believes he must follow his religious rules, to be protected, too. He believes in his faith, and it gives him comfort. He goes to Texas. His safety is tested, when he feels he is being taunted and humiliated by the people around him, who are persecuting him for his religious beliefs. He feels conflict, because he is about to be sent to war, a war which he is hearing the worst about, from his patients who are telling him their stories. He feels torn inside because he believes this war is against others who are like him, who share his belief system, his ethnic background and culture. He knows the stories of atrocity, told to him by his patients. The pressure breaks him. He cannot reconcile his concept of God with his experience of persecution, and the Army to which he has made his career and risen in rank. He feels disconnected and separated.

The man who was the psychiatrist, a Major in the United States Army, a natural born U. S. citizen, and a devout member of a religious faith deteriorates so quickly that no one knew it was happening. Everyone who knows him is shocked. No one suspected he was in emotional trouble. He becomes a killer.
Do we need to find out “why”? Will we investigate and learn that he was having a bad reaction to a prescription drug, and then give the drug companies a pass, failing to hold them accountable, like we did with the Columbine boys? Or will we be satisfied to say, “Oh, he did it because he was a Muslim” and hold all Muslims in suspicion? Will we pressure all other Muslims, too, in our attempts to convert them from their deeply held beliefs? Will we pressure others beyond their breaking points, and attribute their breaking to flaws in them, giving a free pass to pressures of social sanctioning?

Will we find the reason, so that we can prevent these things from happening in the future?

Or will we say, “it was just that person’s fault”, and refuse to fix the societal problems which contribute the pressure that causes these breaks?
We worry about health care, and yet we fail to see that we must fix the causes of health problems before we have cared for health.

Huh. This is interesting. With my morning coffee, I was just surfing, and this caught my eye. I do my college work first thing in the morning, and I multi-task — drinking coffee, reviewing college papers, and skim-surfing the Internet. Because I do this college work every day, I have my laptop with me wherever I go.

Don’t know what this is about, but it is an interesting data point when thinking about the problems of the economy of Page.

USDA Farm Subsidy Recipients in Page County, Virginia

One of the indulgences I keep from my old life: I still get the Wall Street Journal delivered daily. Yesterday, there was a story about the red deer in Germany.

In Germany there was a wall built, the Berlin Wall. The wall was both physical and symbolic. It separated Berlin, and other types of fences also separated the countries of the “Iron Curtain” from countries that were free. Part of that Iron Curtain ran through a thick forest. Its borders were fortified by an electric fence, guarded by men with machine guns. No person was allowed to cross that boundary, or they would be electrocuted by the fence, or shot by the machine guns. Now, of course, this also meant no animal was allowed to cross that fence either, and there was a large population of red deer, who lived on both sides of the fence in the forest. The deer learned not to go near that boundary line of the wall, because they didn’t want to be electrocuted.

Well, Mr. Gorbachev tore down that wall, many years ago. He was that Russian guy that Ronald Reagan said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall” to. So when Gorbachev tore down the wall, everybody said Ronald Reagan got the job done. (But, really, it was the Pope who did it; that’s a story for another day.) Anyhow, Gorbachev tore down the wall, and that’s what united East Berlin and West Berlin, and allowed freedom to ring. And all the people started crossing the boundary. They moved back and forth and started making Berlin one city.

But nobody told the red deer. Even though generations of deer have passed, and there is no deer alive who was living when the electric fence separated the forest, the red deer of the German forest do not cross that boundary into the part of the forest that is in Czechoslovakia. The forest rangers know this because they put tracking devices on them. Somehow, the society of red deer has passed on the information, from generation to generation, that this boundary, which is now just a footpath in the woods, cannot be crossed. It has become generally accepted knowledge, something “everybody knows”, in the red deer community, that the world ends at that footpath, and the society of red deer do not cross it, from either side.

One wonders how the red deer communicate this, from generation to generation, particularly considering that no deer alive today ever saw that electric fence. It’s become an element in the Belief System of the Red Deer. Like a Red Deer Boogeyman. Whispered in Red Deer Language, from doe to fawn: “Don’t go near that footpath. Your great grandfather dropped dead from the invisible energy force.”

Societies teach their children these dangers. It’s part of the nature of societies, to teach children what is to be feared. And even long after the danger is past, the society reinforces the belief, and teaches its children.

One has to wonder, what did our parents teach us that is no longer true? What fears are we teaching our children, that are currently baseless? And does fear matter?

Click here for the State Board of Election Results

For those 546 people who came to the polls and voted for me, thank you. For those 47 people who contributed nearly $6,500 to my campaign, I did the best work I could do.

The voters of District 1 made a clear choice. The vote was not close.

Those who support me may wonder, is this it? Are we giving up the fight? I know I had many supporters, and I am deeply shocked to learn that it was only 546. I firmly believe that democracy has to be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. Yet many people, in their fear over being on the menu, grab onto the idea that the way to avoid being dinner is to join the wolf pack. The clique does run Page County. And the sheep slather butter on themselves and set the oven temperature before they crawl inside. They buy the concept they are sold that to become a wolf, you have to show your willingness for servitude.

Click here, Page News and Daily News Record and WHSV. This is my only comment for publication. The only cure for Stockholm Syndrome is self-empowerment.

Your vote WAS your power. To those of you whose vote was overridden by those who chose captivity . . . you will have to step up now.

It’s not my turn.

Alice

Please join Alice and the Democratic Party on Election Night. We will be watching the results together and celebrating Victory for our candidates at Jordan Hollow Farm Inn. Join us by the fireplace in the Great Room. We will have a big screen TV, Internet access to follow the results as they come in, cash bar, and party food. $5 donation. If you’d like to bring your laptop, there will be WiFi.

And for those supporters of Alice who would like to gather together in District 1, there will also be an Election Night party at Rainbow Hill.

All supporters welcome to join us to watch the results and celebrate Victory!

This Time Your Vote Really Matters

My Family Knows The Future of All Our Families is at stake.
Too Much Government Spending Means Money Out of All Our Family’s Pockets

But THIS Time: You have the power to
1. Get those free cars back from county employees
2. Turn off those free cell phones which aren’t needed
3. Shut down those consultants who prey on us
4. Stop those free lunches we pay for
5. Cut those high salaries at the top

END THE LAND PURCHASE SPENDING SPREE AT OUR EXPENSE!

I have fought our county government’s excesses and foolishness since 2006, when I founded Page County Watch. The “clique that runs Page County” will go to any lengths to keep you from electing me. Why? Because when I am in office . . . The Game is Over for Closed Sessions, quiet deals behind our backs, and ignoring the petitions of the citizens. I have been your voice in public forums for two years. Elect me, and the government of Page County will finally be back in YOUR hands. This is what the current regime fears, and why they work so hard to tell you I’m dangerous.

The Truth is:
This is not the time for Mr. Nice Guy
Our problems are big. Our problems are hard.
I know how to fix them.

Vote Alice Richmond
For District 1 Supervisor

Your Vote is Your Power:
Use Your Power to Return to Common Sense

Please tell everyone you know. Vote November 3 for Alice Richmond, District 1 Supervisor.

If you don’t live in District 1, go find somebody who does and tell them. YOUR tax dollars are at stake.

Did Page County fix the problem with real estate tax assessments?

There was a big, big problem with the real estate tax assessments in Page County last time. Not only did citizens think the assessments were too high overall, compared to the market, but also that they were unfairly distributed. Neighbors found inequities from lot to lot, and many believed they were treated badly. As a result, our Commissioner of Revenue took a positive action. He got together with adjoining counties, and together, they found an assessor for next time, which all counties would use. The idea was that, if four counties used the same assessor, there would be a cost break. RFPs were sent out and an assessor was chosen.

Now, we will need to find out if this action fixed the problem. Or how it fixed it.

Look what just happened in Shenandoah County.
http://www.nvdaily.com/news/2009/10/protesters-shut-down-meeting.php

Shenandoah County just got the results of their new assessments and they are not happy. A couple hundred of them showed up at a Board meeting, but the meeting room was too small so it had to be rescheduled.

I will find out if we are using the same assessor as Shenandoah County. If we are, after I am elected, I will personally have discussions with the assessor and disclose the methods being used to the public. Additionally, I will ensure that county staff researches whether those methods are appropriate and valid for Page County. The assessments should all have documented work product, which should be turned over to the county and available for citizens to review. Additionally, the appeal process on individual assessments must be publicly advertised in a way that citizens know their rights to challenge their assessment, and how to do it.

Fair assessments are critical to a community that believes its government is working.

UPDATE! I have learned that the assessors used in Shenandoah County are NOT, repeat NOT, the assessors which will be used by Page County in the next round.

Here is an update on what happened in Shenandoah.

http://www.nvdaily.com/news/2009/10/hundreds-attend-hearing.php

Many people in Page County make skilled crafts as a hobby. Beautiful hand-crafted items, from artisan -crafted knife handles, to silk scarves, pottery, jewelry, and even furniture, abound in people’s homes. Throughout American history, handmade products have been valued for their quality and artisanship, and have been turned into small businesses. In these days of WalMart, however, we often think that no one will value our handiwork. Stores on Main Street don’t have enough traffic to support a family from an artisan craft business of one product. So, people keep their handmade products as a hobby, and go look for a job. The job may turn out to be a long commute out of the county, and then the artisan is too tired to create art after the commute from work. The dreams are lost.

In some counties, small startup businesses find a friendly environment. No rules and regulations should prevent operation of a business out of our homes, when it is in the startup stage. Broadband Internet would provide the distribution channel for our products. Resources and contacts are available, through agents of the local county government. Provision of a small business “incubator”, which offers marketing, finance, business advisors, and coordination of grants and loans for small businesses are a valid function of local government. It is something we could do in Page County. It is an act which would allow the people to help themselves and empower themselves.

When these small businesses are nurtured, they grow. As they grow, they hire locally. This is what I believe would help our unemployment problem in Page County.

Alice

This is a story being sent out by the campaign for John Lesinski. I probably wouldn’t have posted it, but I am still waiting for a response from Gilbert about the Project Clover stuff, and it’s annoying me that the email to the Governor didn’t have a followup. So I’m passing along this story from Camron Gourguinpour.
__________________________________________
From the Lesinski campaign:

I hope you’re all doing well. There is an incredible story from the campaign trail that you should be aware of. Please forward this email to anyone you think may be interested.

At 1:38am on Friday, Delegate Todd Gilbert posted stolen information from the Lesinski Campaign on his Facebook Page and proceeded to gloat about it. If you find this hard to believe, so did I. But it’s true, and you can find the information on Gilbert’s Facebook Page. [Note: If the posting is removed from Gilbert's Facebook page, digital copies have been made and are available.]

The illicit information released by Gilbert was a photograph of one of Lesinski’s direct mail advertisements that had not yet been released to the public, along with specific information about when the item was to be delivered by the United States Postal Service. It is unclear whether Gilbert has obtained any other illicit materials regarding the Lesinski Campaign.

“No need to worry about how we got a picture of it in advance, we’re just good like that,” wrote Gilbert, referring to the direct mail advertisement.

Regardless of the information’s source, Gilbert’s deliberate use of ill-gotten campaign information is blatantly unethical and potentially illegal. Moreover, Gilbert’s posting of illicit campaign materials on Facebook and his subsequent pride in engaging in political espionage represents a grave lack of judgement and character.

The campaign materials in question were in my sole possession from the time I picked them up at a Pennsylvania printer until I delivered them to a mail house in Harrisonburg. Other than John and me, only the mail house and United States Postal Service have had access to the advertisement and knowledge of its delivery date. Somehow, the information left either or both of those locations and was received by Gilbert.

In response to his actions, we are seeking the following:
1. A public apology; and
2. A public disclosure of the source of the illicit information and the circumstances by which he received the information.
If you feel like our requests are reasonable, please let Delegate Gilbert know. Here is his contact information:

Phone: (540) 459-7550
Email: deltgilbert@house.virginia.gov

Thanks!

-Camron-