Well guys I very much hope that you were able to see the State of the Union Address. In it the President gave a solid speech about the issues that mattered, and attempted to do so in a bipartisan way. The Democrats acted in their normal unclassy way, and Cindy Sheehan certainly helped anti-war cause by being lead away in handcuffs (sarcasm).

The party at my apartment drew 32 souls, and we were packed. I hope you were able to make it over, and I hope to see you at some future CR event.

I will call him Gooby. He will live in my pool.

If you’ve read “About Me” on this blog, you’ll know that I have the SRES® designation. So what is Senior Real Estate Specialist anyway?

The Senior Advantage Real Estate Council that grants the SRES® was founded in 1997 by Tim Corliss, a past president of the California Association of REALTORS. Corliss spent 42 years in real estate and anticipated the senior niche long before the industry recognized what the baby-boomer generation would mean to the housing market. He wanted the Council to focus on the needs of buyers and sellers 50 years of age and older. 50 YEARS OR OLDER? That’s right – the AARP defines senior homebuyers as age 50 or older.

When I first heard of this designation, I was just a year or two shy of my own 50th birthday. I decided right away this was for me. After all, if I wanted to provide exemplary service to my clients in the future, I needed to recognize that I would be aging right along side of them. I, as well as some of my clients, would soon be referred to as “seniors.” Some of my clients? With the baby-boomers hitting 60+, predictions are that in another 10 years, 50% of the population will be 50 or older!

What I hoped the SRES® training would give me was the tools to better relate to and assist the growing senior marketplace. What I didn’t expect was the bonus; I gained the ability to better assist not only these new seniors but also their children, and in some case their parents!

Take a look at some of those links and graphics. Fascinating stuff. Interestingly enough a lesson learned is that you should probably not do personal stuff on your work email account. Maybe try another service for that.

Nonetheless, with the Enron trial happening now I am sure its email will come back into the spotlight.

Wired Article

Till next time, stay good.

Arleen Yobs of Keller Williams Realty, Charlottesville, Virginia was one of only 130 top real estate agents invited to attend The Allen F. Hainge CyberStar® Summit recently in San Antonio, TX. The nationally recognized CyberStar® Summit is an annual invitation-only networking and idea sharing conference open only to outstanding real estate agents from the US, Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas and Australia.

A leading member of the CyberStars®, Arleen Yobs has long been a market leader in the Charlottesville area due to her commitment to serving customers and clients and her use of technology to meet the needs of today’s consumer. Yobs’ emphasis on her web site www.UniqueHomesOfCharlottesville.com as a top consumer resource and on using technology for effective communication and service has made her a unique success. The three day event focused on using technology and personal marketing strategies to better serve clients and customers. During the session, Yobs participated in information and discussion sessions on strategies and tools for marketing property, customer service strategies, blogging and pod casting as communication tools, staging property for faster sale, strategies for a changing market, success in international real estate, implementing consumer-oriented Web sites, client appreciation strategies and more.

According to Yobs, attendance at the annual CyberStar® Summit provided many personal and professional benefits: “I am honored to have been invited to our industry’s most exclusive gathering. Sharing with these other extraordinary real estate agents for three days pays big dividends in many areas of my business. Most importantly, I learned more about using the latest in today’s technology and successful strategies so that I can better serve my clientele and help them achieve a more successful home sale or purchase. I spent three full days sharing marketing and customer service strategies that really work and that result in higher client satisfaction. My clients are continually complimenting me on the service, tools and technology I use to meet their needs, and I owe that to my association with the CyberStars® and to the fact that we share among ourselves so freely. In short, I am surrounded by the best agents in real estate for three days at every Summit. I share with them, they share with me, and we all translate our newfound knowledge into increased services for our clients.”

2005 will be remembered in the Charlottesville area for two things – the once in a lifetime Rolling Stones Concert and a real estate market that, in the words of Mick Jagger, Shattered records. For the seventh year in a row, the local real estate market set a record for closed sales of residential properties. The 2005 sales figures ended the year 9.1% higher than last year’s record setting pace and prices climbed so fast that homebuyers were often heard singing that Stones classic You Can’t Always Get What You Want.

Transactions Closed
In the first half of the year, the residential home market ran like Wild Horses, but settled down in the second half and cruised to another record mark. Results by area are mixed with Fluvanna, Greene, and Charlottesville showing modest decreases in sales and Nelson, Louisa and Albemarle showing strong increases. Albemarle’s large increase in buyers singing Gimme Shelter is thanks to a very strong condominium sales, and Louisa’s swelling market appears to be related to the search for affordable housing. Nelson’s gain, on the other hand, is linked to the booming resort market that is sweeping the country as baby-boomers buy second homes.

Median Sales Price
The median sales price is a better indicator of what the “average” home in our area sells for than is the average sales price. Our area is blessed with many estates and homes that often sell for more than a million dollars. In 2005, for instance, 93 transactions were closed for over one million dollars. Such properties distort the average sales price figures dramatically. The median sales price, on the other hand, is the number that represents the middle of the market. 50% of the homes in our area sold for more than this price and 50% sold for less than this price. The median sales price for the entire market area in 2005 was $255,000 which is $30,000 more than the previous year’s figure.

New Listings
One factor that affects the DOM statistic is inventory. If inventory is low, then there are fewer properties for buyers to consider and properties sell more quickly. CAAR tracks the number of new listings that come on the market each quarter to help us monitor the inventory of available homes. The inventory shortage that has plagued our area for the past few years saw great improvement during 2005. As of early January, 2006, our database has 1,588 homes actively listed for sale. That is an increase of over 500 more homes on the market than this time last year. We can expect around 300 homes to be purchased in January. That means that there are roughly 5.3 homes available in the entire market area for each buyer. While this higher inventory will cause a minor slow down the pace of price increases, we are still 20-30% down in inventory compared to the mid-1990’s. It will take a few more quarters of major increases before we will see a significant effect on the market.

Conclusions and Forecasts
At the beginning of the year, I predicted that 2005 would be yet another record year for home sales in the Charlottesville area. That was an easy prediction, but what I did not predict is more interesting. 2005 proved to be a market in transition. Inventory rose substantially, but the days on market dropped and prices continued to show strong increases. Normally, such a major increase in supply would cause properties to stay on the market longer and price increases to slow down. The fact that the market did not react to the increase in homes for sales tells us that we have still not reached adequate levels of inventory.

In 2006, we expect current trends to continue – perhaps at a more “normal” pace. We should set another record for sales, but only by small margin. We will continue to see prices increase, but by a more moderate rate in the 8% to 10% range. Homes will continue to sell quickly by historic standards, but probably not quite as fast as 2005. The shortage of homes for sale will ease slightly, but demand will continue to be strong. The baby-boomers will continue the frenzied pace of buying vacation homes. And finally, I’ll end with an easy prediction – The Rolling Stones will NOT return to Scott Stadium in 2006, but Dave Matthews will open the JPJ Arena.

Source: Dave Phillips, CAE RCE, Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors

YouTube - Hooked on a feeling:

Ooga chakka indeed, David.

It used to be that “Senior Moment” meant an awkward lapse. But a whole new generation of active, interested, and involved adults is turning that phrase on its head. They are choosing to retire where they find learning opportunities and activities to keep their minds sharp and their bodies healthy.

Charlottesville, Virginia has often been recognized as an ideal place to spend the best years of your life. CNNMoney.com selected the city as one of the Best Places to Retire 2005. Charlottesville has much to offer:

• Temperate climate
• Excellent health care systems
• Public transportation
• Affordable housing
• Golf, tennis, and other outdoor activities
• Museums and libraries
• The University of Virginia’s Institute of Lifelong Learning

I have lived in Charlottesville for over 20 years. In that time I’ve seen Central Virginia develop into a deeply rewarding place to be through all the phases of life. In this weblog I’ll share news and opinions about housing, trends, and opportunities for people whose lives are full of rich senior moments. Welcome to Charlottesville!

Hey Guys,

As you may know, the President will give his annual State of the Union Address this Tuesday evening at 9:00pm. My Apartment Mates and I have decided to have a viewing party at my apartment! So come on out and watch the President projected on our 153″ screen with fellow conservatives from the UVA Law Republicans and the Federalist Society while enjoying delicious home-made popcorn and beverages.

I live at 2112 Jefferson Park Ave, Apt 4 (right across the street from Durty Nelly’s Pub). Feel free to start arriving at 8:30pm. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me by email. Thanks and I hope very much to see you there.

If you’ve ever driven Interstate 81, you might want to read the thorough article the Hook wrote on the topic. I don’t think I got all the way through it, but being one to prefer the alternative to the norm, it seems that with a broad government push towards rail, the Blue Ridge would maintain its scenery longer than it would if I-81 were to be expanded to 12 lanes (in some places). Plus, we need to be more like Europe in every way possible! Especially if we want South Americans to like us. Pretty much every country down there dislikes the United States’ economic imperialism, which by the way is destroying jobs in the U.S. as much as it creates international hatred. Good stuff all around.

And to those who were going to see Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World, they apparently didn’t find any before they made the movie. Instead, see Grizzly Man, which I missed seeing by 15 minutes with my friends, resulting in watching the first movie. But before all that, I guess I would suggest looking at the following photo of the same boardwalk near Ocean City as yesterday.

I am guilty of having kept something a secret for quite some time, over a month in fact. I found a hilarious little site and didn’t tell anyone about it. It’s the same comic strip reused for over two years with different text added in every day. Hooray for laziness. HERE it is.

And in the funny-how-we-ignore-this-when-we-vote-for-president category, Bush spied on Americans before 9/11 according to a source which I’ve never heard of before. Its lack of spelling errors and the strong opinion which matches mine do, however, win me over, as does this site for impeaching president Bush sponsored by Pennsylvania Senator Jim Ferlo.

To end, here’s a picture I took of a pier which apparently was separated from Ocean City by Assawoman Bay. Don’t look at me, I don’t name these things.

http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_daily_show/videos/most_recent/index.jhtml

Click on the “Level of Taint” video, it’s fantastic.

“Jesus-God, would you look at the size of that taint?”

also, the picture of Sean Hannity and Chris Wallace was awesome.

I actually cleaned something this week, for the first time in a good six months. Too bad it wasn’t my room. Nay, only my architecture school desk, and only because I had to move my mess out of the way so someone else could use it (the desk, not the mess).

Since we’re on the topic of messes, our legal system will be declared as such by the power vested in me should Google be forced to release millions upon millions of searches to the Devil in Chief who claims this will somehow end child pornography. And Alberto Gonzales has proved himself to be Devil-in Chief’s little helper once again, issuing the subpoena which basically places Google, the freedom-fighting machine which runs this blog, at the groping hands of our malicious executive branch. Unless Arlen Specter puts some punch behind his words, nothing’s going to get done about this or the fact that Bush has performed illegal domestic spying. Don’t go to China if you want to escape extreme executive branches; their leaders are now bypassing human rights altogether and KILLING PROTESTERS who believe that rural China is at the hands of corrupt local governments sponsored by the national party. Whole towns are under a nightly police state. And guess what, our government which is largely stuffed with corporate pawns has avoided legislation curtailing our companies’ billionaire CEOs to move their production to China over the years, pushing native companies out of the way and replacing them with government-sponsored sweatshops which soon become the only job in town. So basically, until two years ago when I started voting, everyone older than me has been passively allowing the richest Americans to destroy the lives of millions so they can receive cheap products Made in China and Sold in Wal-Mart. AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But okay, now is time for nice Zoloft and pretty picture. I’m kidding about the Zoloft for those who were actually offended. Many apologies.

I have just stuffed myself absolutely silly with Beef Lo Mein… miserably full is a good description of me right now. As much as I would love to, I don’t think I’m going to ponder too much on the mystery of chinese food. You all know what I’m talking about… you eat hardly anything, you’re full to the brim, and then an hour later you’re hungry again. It’s just plain weird is what it is.

Anywho… today is the 19th and I would like to review how my 2006 resolutions are going:

1. Stop Procrastinating: Well, there are other things I should be doing right now so I’m going to say we aren’t doing great on that. But better, I am more aware now.

2. Stick to my Social Budget: Ummmm… well…. that isn’t going so well. But it has improved. :)

3. Find a nice, handsome, successful man: Pssshhhh… I’ll have better luck finding a Leprechaun!

4. Be in bed by 11pm on weeknights: Here I have to say that I’ve been more successful. However there have been a couple nights where I missed my bedtime by a landslide. Here is where I will insert all blame that is to be laid at Tracy’s feet.

5. Go to the gym at least 3 times a week: Doing good with this one. Meeting Ginny at the gym at 7:00pm tonight.

6. No more social/alcohol induced cigarettes: HA! That never even lasted a day. Paleeeeze!

7. More Personal Enrichment: Well, I have to say yes. Tracy and I just went to see the play Macbeth at Live Arts last night. Wonderful performance. Bravo!!!!

8. Limit number of currently reading books to 4: Still working on finishing the 7 or 8 that are on my night stand.

9. Spend more quality time with the fuzzies: Of course I have done this!!! That’s a fun resolution. I have also spent more time yelling at them. I believe the two go hand in hand.

10. Drink more water: I believe I have done this. If I’m not drinking coffee (which is what I drink from 9am to 5pm) then I will probably be drinking water. Or Iced Tea.

So, things are going mildly successful… and it is only the 19th. Okay… it’s time to get back to work… #1: Stop Procrastinating.

Chris Peace is campaigning to take over Ryan McDougle’s 97th district seat, and he needs volunteers this weekend! Election day is Tuesday and we need to get the word out in order to make sure we retain this seat. And because of the the UVA CRs will be heading down to Hanover (just a little east of Richmond) this SATURDAY, to knock on doors and make phone calls. I know its early in the new semester, but CRs will be there from across the Commonwealth, so lets go show them what UVA is made of!

We will be meeting behind Tuttle at 9:00am on Saturday morning and come back late Saturday.

Chris Peace’s Headquarters is located at 8319 Bell Creek Road in Mechanicsville (the Bell Creek Shopping Center.)

If you have any questions please email me.

Brian

You know the new semester has begun when…

1) Dumpsters around the dorms can no longer contain the overflow of boxes and used goods as students return to Grounds forgetting that the crap they didn’t need in the Fall is the same crap they won’t need taking up valuable space in the Spring.

2) By going to the bookstore you truly put your lives in your own hands as students desperately scramble for that one last “USED” $120 textbook, before they are stuck paying full price.

3) The Gyms, which during the breaks are nice quiet places to workout, once again become the place you go to see & be seen by those members of the opposite sex.

4) Your Chairman beings to start flooding your inbox in a desperate attempt to draw members out of their post-November haze in order to help with special election and in organizing the great events which make being a conservative great!

Stay tuned, those emails are coming.

Wow, That Sucks.

You can see where this one is going, but it’s still worth a viewing.

“Jeez Brian, I um… I really don’t know what to say.”

How’d that guy avoid a punch in the face?

happy new years everyone!

my new years eve celebration was full of drunken debauchery and blurred (non)-memories. For those that enjoyed it quietly, well kudos to you too.

speaking of new years, i hope everyone has made some new years resolutions. if anything, its an excuse to better yourself by not doing shit you want to be doing. i know, it sucks, but i suppose its good for you.

as for mine, well its only a few weeks in, but some aren’t going so well, but damn, i got like 50 weeks to turn it around.

as for the rest of my life, yay hockey, yay cars, boo having to work on cars, boo spending money on cars, yay for the gym, boo for eating too much and getting fat.

hrm, i’ll elaborate at some point in the near future.

Here’s what happens when you use your friend’s new camera:

You get your picture all over the Internet : )

But anyway, while drawing elevations and floorplans and sections for seven hours a day while simultaneously listening to a guy whistle to his favorite Classic Rock and Smooth Jazz tunes playing nonstop on the radio, I was granted the bliss of listening to occasional commercial breaks. Oh, radio bliss.

One in particular stood out though. It started out with a serious-sounding lawyer-like man saying, “Jobs,” followed by a serious, thirtysomething woman saying, “Good jobs,” then switching back to the man, “We need more of them here on the Eastern Shore.” They kept switching sentences like they were having a dialogue with each other through the whole commercial. After their jobs statement, they went on to alert me that a current bill in the Maryland Senate could prevent these jobs from making it out to the Eastern Shore, and promptly labeled this as an “anti-jobs” bill. It would target a specific company; “Wal-Mart,” who, with a change in speaker, would “provide 800 new jobs,” in Somerset County by building a distribution center. They said that Wal-Mart would be Maryland’s second-largest employer if the distribution center was built, employing 17,000 people. So, in an effort to prevent my state Senator from “towing the party line” I was ordered to call him to end the influence of “party bosses and special interest groups.” The entire commercial was backed by quasi-patriotic multi-measure brass notes, and ended with a quick “funding from Wal-Mart Stores Incorporated.”

Clearly, this bill would prevent Wal-Mart from gainfully employing the entire state of Maryland while simultaneously permitting partisan politics to skyrocket. Something had to be done. So I went to work the next day and brought in my sketchpad so I could write down the important parts of the infomercial to laugh at later when I found out what this was all about. About a week after I first heard of this impending calamity there it was all over the news; Maryland sets a nationwide standard for health care benefits. The legislature overrode a veto (boy, I wish Congress did that once in a while) by Governor Robert L. Ehrlich (jerk) that now forces companies employing over 10,000 Maryland employees to place 8% or more of their payrolls on health insurance, or if not the state would take that 8% and use it on Medicaid. The purpose of this bill, as State Senator Gloria G. Lawlah states frankly, is so large companies, “Don’t dump the employees that [they] refuse to insure into [Maryland's] Medicaid systems.” So, after hearing that commercial once again even after the bill passed, I feel like I should end this post with a big, fat, SCREW YOU WAL-MART!!!!!! This company is pure evil. Don’t buy relatives gift cards from there anymore. It’s like placing a severed non-union Wal-Mart employee’s head over your mantle for Christmas. Wal-Mart is deceitful, harmful to the U.S. trade deficit, a gargantuan lobbyist, and probably out to kill me now. With big happy yellow smiles.

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (Reuters) -- The African Union (AU) said on Thursday it may hand over its mission in Darfur to the United Nations, saying it was running out of money for the peacekeeping operation in Sudan's troubled western region.

A report by the AU Peace and Security Council said funding for the mission -- which costs $17 million a month to maintain -- depended exclusively on the voluntary contributions by foreign partners of the 53-member body.

"At present, no commitment has been made by our partners for funding of the Mission beyond March 2006," the report obtained by Reuters said.

"The time has come to make a pronouncement on the future of the AU Mission in Darfur and the ways and means to adapt it to the present challenges, including the hand-over to the United Nations at the appropriate time," it added.

Last month Darfur rebels welcomed the prospect of the world body taking over from the AU, saying the pan-African body was doing a good job but needed more troops, help with equipment and logistics, and a wider mandate.

About 6,000 AU soldiers are trying to stop escalating violence in Darfur, a desert region the size of France, with a mandate to monitor cease-fire violations but limited powers to intervene.

Taye-Brook Zerihoun, deputy special representative for Sudan of the U.N. Secretary-General, praised the AU's work in Darfur.

"It is for the African Summit to decide and recommend to the U.N. Security Council to take over the operation in Darfur," he said, referring to an AU meeting in Khartoum on January 23-24.

"If this is done, the Security Council will consider the issue and will ask the Secretary-General to submit a report on how to proceed," he told the AU's Peace and Security Council, whose headquarters are in the Ethiopian capital.

U.N. mission

The United Nations established its Sudan mission of more than 10,000 peacekeepers and police in March last year to support a deal between Khartoum and southern rebels that ended more than two decades of civil war.

Zerihoun said the United Nations was concerned about deteriorating security in Darfur, which has seen a rise in banditry, inter-tribal clashes and armed attacks on villages and camps sheltering those fleeing the violence.

"Insecurity has also led to more instances of human rights abuse against civilians throughout Darfur," he said.

"Field missions and investigations conducted by U.N. human rights officers have continued to document violations , including forced displacements, arbitrary arrest, prolonged detention, torture and the indiscriminate use of force during military operations."

The Darfur conflict began in February 2003 when rebels launched an uprising against Khartoum, accusing the government of marginalizing the impoverished area.

The government in turn dispatched Arab militias to put down the rebellion, but they have been accused of a campaign of rape, looting and murder.

For about a year and a half now I’ve been trying to preach the gospel to friends and the online geek world that as we run out of movies to remake (and remake again) and TV shows, books, plays and graphic novels/comics to adapt for the big screen, that the new territory to be charted is going to be web comics... and now that I have a blog of my own, to hell with them! Uh, the webnews sites that is… not my firends… I still like those people. :)

Well, I believe the first steps towards Andy Serkis’ Oscar-winning (and physically crippling) performance as Choo Choo Bare were made when Elsie Hooper creator Robert D. Krzykowski began work on adapting his comic into a major motion picture. He has been working on it for a few years now and is still in the early pre-production stages. Last I checked he is still working through drafts of the script to get it right. I’ll try and report more on this as it progresses.

Another big step for web comics in general got quite a bit of online press when R.K. Milholland was able to raise enough money to quite his job and work on comics exclusively for a year.

He also scored the first official live action film adaptation thanks to some of his fans.

More near the end of last year, he also discovered that his fan base for his main comic Something Positive was a tad larger than he thought:

“This site gets an average of 124,000 unique visitors a week apparently - and 318,000 unique visitors a month.”

So all that’s nothing new… but two days ago this broke just barely under my radar.

Least I Could Do (the funniest sexist thing since Leisure Suit Larry 2… other than perhaps the great Glen Quagmire) has announced a pilot episode in the works. It will be professionally done and used to try and snag a station for a full on animated series. Also the pilot will be avaleble for free at leasticoulddo.com!

Though this has Spike TV written all over it… may they drift into the loving arms of Adult Swim where they belong. Seriously, I strive a lot towards the ideals of feminism, and even I find it hilarious. It’s just got that twinkle in its eye that will make fans of the great Al Lowe smile.

So things are happening in web comic land. I think this is great since it really opens the doors for independent artists out there to find their readers without the constraints of geography or… The Man! So I’ve got to ask… what next? Will some bastard spawn of David Lynch and Darren Aronofsky come along and make Paper Eleven into this next generation’s Eraserhead or Tetsuo: The Iron Man? I sure hope so!

Peace.

Vote at Photo Friday

(click to enlarge)

Before I get to the URGENT PRESSING ISSUE ALL OVER THE NEWS, I guess I should tell why I changed the title back to what it was. Saving Baby Seals sounds lame. Only wimpy environmentalists do that. I don’t want to associate myself with “those” people. Yikes. I mean, they probably wear hemp underwear and drive garbage cans with wheels. I would never do that, don’t worry.

Okay, so the URGENT PRESSING ISSUE ALL OVER THE NEWS is ALITO, whose son currently lives in Brown College a few hundred feet away from me. Cool beans. Anyway…

Why do people care about what Alito did over 20 years ago when he was either drunk or high like everystereotypicalone else in the 70s? All I care about is what he’s been up to recently, and if I can remember back through all the ill-begotten information scrounged from the depths of an irrelevant history, I think he’s better than Harriet Miers at least due to the fact that he wasn’t on Bush’s payroll. Surely a more worthy candidate could be handed to Congress by Bush, but who really believes he’s going to let that happen? Certain members of the Senate (who will remain nameless because to acknowledge their existence gives them more publicity than they’re probably worth) need their constituents to wake up from La-la Land and boot them out on their corporate behinds to make way for better Senators and more important issues like, I don’t know, the fact that several ancient cultures determined separately that a planet-ending cataclysm would destroy the Earth, thus making Supreme Court nominees rather irrelevant. Maybe funding comet destruction would be a good way to spend one’s time; at least it’s more productive than asking someone if they think they’re as good a nominee as someone of the opposite sex who is a living legend (O’Connor). Please, someone, wake up and realize that your current senators probably SUCK!!!

pecticulant
pec·tic·u·lant
pĕk-tĭk’-yə-lənt

adj: pickily and peculiarly anal.

Despite a through and well-run campaign by Lynchburg businessman Mike Harrington, his opponent, Shannon Valentine, walked away with the election for the 23rd district House of Delegates seat. I think it just goes to show that Lynchburg is no longer the bastion of conservative thought which it has a reputation for being. Mike would have been an excellent delegate, but going back to running a multi-million dollar business is not a terrible fallback plan.

Ryan McDougle on the other hand was successful in his campaign to take over Bill Bollings former senate seat, and this of course creates the need for another special election to replace him as the delegate for the 97th House District. While down in Lynchburg, I already heard talk of that race and its need for volunteers. CRs… lets be ready to head down and help out the Republican candidate who emerges! I will email and blog more details as they come to me.

SUDAN: SEEDS AND TOOLS PROGRAM YIELDS BUMPER CROP

Good rainfall, new agriculture techniques such as planting several crops together in the same plot, and adequate food to eat during the growing season have yielded a bountiful harvest in the Al Daein region of South Darfur, Sudan. With a grant from Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church, Tipp City, Ohio, UMCOR distributed seeds to some 5,200 families displaced by the Sudan war and purchased tools from local blacksmiths to strengthen the economy in the region. Peanuts, millet, sorghum, watermelon and okra were among the crops harvested during November.

Further building the economy were the activities of threshing, provided by non-farm households; packaging seed for selling at local markets; and peanut seed storage in anticipation of the next growing season. UMCOR workers led training sessions in farming techniques, market prices and seed storage. This sustainable ministry continueswith your generous donations. Please give to Sudan Emergency, UMCOR

Advance #184385. For more details, visit www.umcor.org.

It has been brought to my attention that the precious picture of Blizz yawning was considered more along the lines of a scary, evil “Vampire Ferret” with big fangs. Not so good. So here to salvage my babies reputation is a very cute picture of her:

Now that you can’t say isn’t cute!!!!

Okay… so I decided that I would meet Tracy for a late cocktail tonight… Sunday night. This was considered okay because of the special occasion being Tom’s birthday. However, according to my resolutions, I’m supposed to be in bed on weeknights by 11pm. Not doing so well on that. Didn’t even leave the house until almost 10:30pm. So here it is almost 2am… sigh. Not only that but I smoked 2 and 1/2 cigarettes tonight!!! That’s two resolutions forgotten about this evening… “Self, I’m very dissapointed in you!.” Oh well… what’s a girl to do? Anywho… so I sported the pig tails tonight and as usual got mixed reviews. Psshh.. I like my pig tails.

PIG TAILS RULE!!!

We all have high hopes that our newly acquired men’s basketball coach, Dave Leitao, will bring our boys back to national prominence. But there is trouble brewing at DePaul University, where he formerly coached men’s basketball.

It seems that when the DePaul GOP decided to show their disapproval over Ward Churchill, the man who made headlines in 2005 by denying the innocence of the victims in the WTC attack and calling them “little Eichmanns”, university officials slapped sanctions on them and infringed on their right to free speech. A copy of the letter from the University can be viewed here:

http://www.thefire.org/index.php/article/6617.html

According to TruthCaucus the incident seems to have been resolved, but not without a lot of effort by our fellow conservative students. While the UVA hasn’t pulled anything of this magnitude in a while let us not forget the “mandatory diversity training program” initiative 2 years back and keep on our guard.

Recognizing the fact that politically-active college students often don’t have the funding it requires to attend the various events/balls/dinners hosted in celebration of our overall success in the 2005 election cycle, LG elect Bill Bolling has generously offered CRs statewide a discount on attending his Ball in Richmond this Friday(Jan 13) at the science museum. Its now only $25 dollars to attend.