I am in the media section with great seats in the back of the ground floor.  I have seen and been greeted by too many to mention but I will mention one or two as I listen to the Lieutenant Governor candidates.  I shout out to Del. Peace who provided the Hanover delegation with a box lunch (I am a delegate, too) and a free lunch is great.  Del. Peace is one of our finest members of the legislature in VA.  I also shout out to Loudoun County Supervisor (Sterling District) Eugene Delguardio who will let me know if the county is OUT of ICLEI!

I have not heard all the speakers but I think Pete Snyder, Bishop Jackson and yes, Corey Stewart, Chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, seems to have the best turnout so far.  But we’ll see what will happen.

1:13PM:

Del. Rob Bell just had an excellent video starting with an abused spouse who Bell as a prosecutor fought for again and again until her stalking, abusive former husband finally left her alone.  Bell also had several people, including Del. Rich Anderson (a fine delegate), Senator Tom Garrett and others talk about how the property rights constitutional amendment.  It lost until Bell persuaded a Democrat to support it.  Very effective.

Senator Obenshain did a short video honored his father and had several others to introduce him including Del. Terry Kilgore, Donna Holt and Mike Farris.  Very effective.  His demonstration is pretty broad.  I still think Obenshain will win.  But we’ll see.  Maybe Del. Bell has positioned himself for future run statewide.

Senator (My senator!) McDougle just came by to say hello!

There are 8,094 delegates eligible to vote at this convention.

2:16PM:

Still voting in first ballot.  I voted for Bishop Jackson and Del. Bell.  Awaiting the count.  My prediction is for the first ballot that Sen. Obenshain will win the AG’s race by a 54-46 margin.  No majority in the LG race. That Corey Stewart will be first, followed by Bishop Jackson or maybe Pete Snyder.  The final two who will not be on the second round ballot will be Senator Martin and Jeannemarie Davis.  If there is a surprise, it will be a Bell victory and Del. Lingamfelter finishing in the top three.

Well see….

3:10PM:

It’s unconfirmed but Congressman Goodlatte says he’ll look into overcriminalization.  GOOD!  Find some useless laws and get rid of them or amend them.

3:38PM:

Still not confirmed from deep, deep background but Bishop Jackson may be out in front with nearly 40%; the AG race sounds like Obenshain.  But that is not I repeat NOT confirmed.

3:46PM:

They just stated that the announcement is coming up very shortly.  So much for ninety minutes!

5:24PM!

First ballot!  Obenshain did win and Del. Bell made a nice concession by moving that Sen. Obenshain be nominated by acclamation.  Very classy.  I spoke with Del. Bell and encouraged him a bit that he is still a great voice in the House of Delegates.

BUT the story is the LG’s race:  Not at all what I expected.  Susan Stimpson came in second with just over 15% but was far behind the leader: Bishop Jackson at 31%!  Corey Stewart and Pete Snyder are essentially tied at just under 15% and Del. Lingamfelter has 11.5% for fifth.  The two dropping out after the first ballot were as expected Senator Steve Martin and former state senator Jeannemarie Davis.  Davis actually beat Martin 7.2% to 5.5%.

Here is the raw weighted numbers:

Jackson 3732.31 (31.3)

Stimpson 1798.43 (15.1)

Stewart 1769.14 (14.8)

Snyder 1739.17 (14.6)

Lingamfelter 1375.18 (11.5)

Davis 861.68 (7.2)

Martin 662.1 (5.5)

6:22PM:

Awaiting the results but there is a major demonstration on the floor for Bishop Jackson with a smaller counter-demonstration for Pete Snyder.  Jackson clearly has the enthusiasm of those who support him.  We’ll see…

Now the Stimpson forces are out but not in Jackson numbers.  Same for the Stewart people. Unconfirmed reports say that no one got more than 40% and third ballot will occur.  There also are many delegates have left but the weighted vote remains the same.  There was a paper airplane that went from one side of the Coliseum to the other.  Who says we couldn’t have liberated Benghazi!

6:40PM:

Excitement is building!  I just got hit with a paper airplane – it hurt a bit, too!  I met both Del. Habeeb (I told him I prayed for him once a month!) who is an attorney with the prestigious Gentry Locke firm in Roanoke.  Also met for the first time former Del. Janis.  I admire Del. Janis very much primarily due to his confession of faith in Jesus Christ at an African-American church in January 2011.

6:50PM:

Unconfirmed numbers show a substantial Jackson lead:

4562.05 weighted votes for Bishop Jackson with 38.2%.

Pete Snyder brought his campaign from near death with a second place showing – 2071.09 with Corey Stewart closely behind at 1999.51 weighted votes.  This would mean that Susan Stimpson, second place after the first vote, is out along with Del. Lingamfelter.

UPDATE:  If true, this means that Jackson has a good chance of winning unless the anti-Jackson vote picks one candidate to get behind.  Stewart is so polarizing that it is hard to see the anti-Jackson vote doing that but maybe Snyder could get that support.  I think Snyder is the only one that can beat Jackson.  It is like these Southern primaries where the leader had to win on the first primary or face being beat by the second place, buoyed by the other candidates’ supporters.  I heard from a Snyder delegate that Lingamfelter had endorsed Snyder so maybe that is the establishment trying to keep Jackson from winning.

Again, these are not confirmed numbers!

UPDATE AGAIN: Will Tom White treat Sandy to fish and chips at Penny Lane Pub for all this an analysis!

7:17PM:

The numbers are very close to what we said earlier.  Lingamfelter and Stimpson are out of the running.  I am hearing that others are trying to gang up on Jackson.  Jackson is reportedly upset about it.  Lingamfelter did endorse Snyder.

8:07PM:

Martha Bonita, the Fauquier County farmer whose issues Del. Lingamfelter came out for Corey Stewart.  The story is the anti-establishment tone of the convention – Obenshain was a degree of nostalgia but I am told that the senator had sometimes defied his party too.  (Bell was definitely anti-establishment)  I see the Jackson and Snyder, neither of whom have ever heard public office before, vote as clearly anti-establishment.

Pending!  I think either Jackson wins on this ballot or Snyder wins on the final one.

8:14PM:

A huge cheer arose just a moment ago from the Pete Snyder section.  Now they have started a brief demonstration.

8:28PM:

Is it ominous for Jackson? Cheering, I mean loud cheering from the Snyder delegation and the Jackson forces are quiet.

UPDATE: I heard someone say:  One more ballot to go!  Could be bad news for Jackson.

I think it is between Pete Snyder and Bishop Jackson.

8:48PM:

Shouts from the Pete demonstration that Corey Stewart had endorsed Pete Snyder.  If so, that means we could see a huge comeback for Snyder who positioned himself as the one that no one hated and the last one standing.  But it is not a sure thing.  Jackson could still win.  We have no numbers.

9:00PM:

Now flyers are out saying both Corey Stewart and the AG nominee Mark Obenshain have endorsed Pete Snyder.  (Official blog rubbing it in: VR endorsed Bishop Jackson and Pete Snyder for first place tie!)

9:27PM:

It’s official!  Jackson nearly had a majority with 49.7% and Snyder is a strong second with 30.6%.  Stewart is OUT!  Fourth ballot.

Sandy must go early but I think Jackson will eek it out in a victory.  I am hearing that some of the Pete endorsements are not authorized but that is an unconfirmed report.  I cannot imagine Snyder would do that.  Signing off until tomorrow.

But for first time in many months, the conservative bloc has fallen below 40 percent. This has rattled the coalition.

“The polls show that Merkel’s Christian Democrats are vulnerable,” said Niels Annen, an analyst at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, which is affiliated with the Social Democrats.

Ignore the “conservative” label; no true conservative junks a perfectly good currency like the Deutschmark without some sort of popular support or referendum.  It’s Tweedledee.  But Tweedledum is not doing much better:

Yet the scandals have not benefited the Social Democrats. The latest polls give them only 24 percent.

There are two other parties, the Free Democrats, a pro business and somewhat libertarian party, and the Greens, the environmental wacko party.  More Tweedledee and Tweedledum.  But there is a new gunslinger in town – the Alternative for Germany.  They are worrisome to Merkel and her coalition.  I cannot understand why Germans find Merkel so popular.  She has used the Germans for a piggy bank to bail out the other euro nations.  However, the AfD are coming on strong:

The AfD leadership, consisting largely of middle-aged professionals and former Christian Democrats, wants Germany to give up the euro. They are convinced that euro zone is economically and financially too diverse to hold together. They are also critical of the bailout packages in which Germany is the main guarantor.

“The AfD damages Merkel’s conservatives,” said Mr. Spreng. This euro-skeptical party could take as much as 4 percent of the votes from the conservatives but also the opposition, according to Allensbach, a polling institute.

The Jedi Knights for liberty in Europe might be outnumbered and outgunnned by the Galactic Empire but remember, it was the little Ewoks that make it possible to destroy the Death Star and thus the Empire.

Usually, what happens in these “Europe” referenda, we have the business community (especially the banks), rock stars, community leaders, supermodels probably too, and of course the Tweedledee and Tweedledum political parties all united to support whatever the EU needs to pass.  But in Ireland for example, the first time, the people actually won the referendum.  Of course the EU elites never respect any vote that goes against them.  So they voted again and unfortunately the EU got the vote it wanted.

But here in the UK, admittedly somewhat anecdotal, according to Clive Crook, there seems to be a true constituency for the UK to leave the EU.  (This might be the impetus for Scotland to leave the UK and rejoin its place among the nations of the world, albeit a liberal socialist one)

In an article in the Times last week, Nigel Lawson, a former Tory chancellor of the exchequer (and no knee-jerk Little Englander), said he expected nothing from the renegotiation and would be voting for exit. Several other former ministers have said the same.

Here’s the surprise: These interventions weren’t greeted as reckless or sensational, as they once would have been. Suddenly, exit is on the political agenda. Much of the City has turned Euro-skeptic as a reaction to what many see as a vindictive regulatory assault from Brussels. U.K. businesses used to be strongly pro-EU, but that’s no longer so. What once might have seemed an idle or even absurd threat has become a real possibility.

There will be perhaps (there is time to rally the pro-EU forces) be chinks in the armo(u)r and thus not a united front for the EU.  And the EU’s intentions to form a superempire might not sit well for Britons.  And if the fears of no more free trade can be disproven, than there is not much to say for Britain joining the illegitimate EU super state.

As free trade becomes the global norm, the benefits of open access to Europe’s markets are less and less confined to EU members. Cameron, visiting President Barack Obama in Washington this week, discussed the proposed U.S.-EU trade pact, among other things. The U.S. has signed free-trade agreements that span the globe. The U.K. could do the same.

And I would add, even though I hate it, is that the WTO can prevent punitive tariffs put forth by the EU in retaliation for a British exit.  So there’s no reason for the UK to be once again a sovereign nation.  Again, we need a slick and happy ad campaign to show people what life will be like when Britain controls its own destiny.

For months, the CDU and the FDP have sought to ignore the Alternative for Germany in the hopes that it would simply disappear as so many anti-euro movements have in the past. Instead, though, the party has quickly grown. Earlier this month, it surpassed the 10,000 member mark — just seven weeks after its official founding — and it has attracted widespread interest among the German electorate.

OOPS!  It’s worse – members and even a state parliamentarian have defected to the new party!

While no parliamentarians have yet abandoned the CDU, the Alternative for Germany has proven adept at attracting lower-ranking CDU and FDP members. Just last week, a state lawmaker with the FDP in Hesse named Jochen Paulus switched parties.

And AfD will be on the ballot in every German Lander (state) for the September General Election!

“Alternative for Germany” (AfD), which wants the country to quit the euro and reintroduce the deutsche mark, said it would found its 16th and final regional association on Sunday – a requirement to be able to contest national votes.

AfD is the alternative for Germany – the liberty alternative.  To paraphrase Emile Zola, Liberty is on the March and nothing can stop it!

The price tag for the Washington Redskins training camp and attached park area has pushed about $800,000 past the original $10 million appropriation from Richmond, prompting questions from City Council members over whether the Richmond Economic Development Authority, which is building the facility, has the authority to approve the extra spending.

I knew it was going to happen.  I blogged on this; so I must say:  I told you so.  Now if I ever run for supervisor, check me for a fever but one thing for sure:  NO sweetheart deals for private entities on my watch absent ironclad assurances (such as special taxes or collateral or special fees or mortgages) that the taxpayer will not be screwed.  No calls from governors or mayors or civic leaders will change my mind.

Apparently County Commissioner Susan Baird is a friendly voice (wonder if she was audited?):

Dearest Friends of the County and the world,

My greatest wish (among so many others…) is for the U.S. to get out of the  U.N.  Or should we say that the U.N. get out of the U.S.

The good news is that we have taken one small step by discontinuing our  membership to ICLEI, the United Nations initiative to establish Agenda 21 in United States’ cities and counties (Local Governments for Sustainability).

I have asked Mr. Chris Bird (head of the county Environmental Protection Department) to also send them a letter requesting that they  remove Alachua County from their list of members on their website.  I  should get that next.

Our next important step  is to get John Martin, Jean Calderwood  and Dean Cheshire elected to the county commission.  Imagine what the  four of us will accomplish!  If we do not get this done, I will guarantee you, member of ICLEI or not, the commission  will align with Agenda 21  philosophy  more than ever before.

Fifty days to a better four years or a worse four years.  Our actions will  determine that outcome.

Susan Baird

Click here to view the embedded video.

As a high school senior from Woodbury, Long Island, some 30 miles east of New York City, Daniel Machover’s top choice for a college might strike some as curious: the University of Alabama.

A big college football fan, Machover paid a visit to Tuscaloosa, where he had already applied and been accepted, and found the “rah rah” atmosphere of Crimson Tide country everything he expected. But while it was football that had initially piqued his interest, he found much more to ultimately sway him: Beautiful campus, warm weather and friendly people.

“There was no culture shock at all, everyone was just real nice,” he says.

Why?  It’s football!

Head football coach Nick Saban has done the near-impossible at the University of Alabama:  orchestrated a seismic shift in the meaning of “Roll Tide.” The longtime motto used by the locals to exhort its college football team to victory has spread across the school’s campus to the registrar’s office, to new buildings for science, engineering and nursing students, and on to the wallets of increasingly generous alumni.

Time for a disclaimer:  This blogger is JD ’83 from Alabama.  I agree with much of Machover’s observations:  Nice people, pretty girls, great school, and other than a bit too much football spirit, it was a good experience to go to Alabama.  The law school had high caliber faculty and a new (in 1983!) physical plant.  But if you aspire to go the the Capstone, better find an aunt in the state first.  The other out-of-staters are filling the spots fast!

For the admissions office, more applications mean more selectivity. Six years ago, 64% of students applying to the University of Alabama were accepted. By 2012, the acceptance rate had dropped to 53%. About one in four students from the 2012 freshman class carried a 4.0 high school GPA. The class also includes 241 National Merit Scholars, more than any other public university in the U.S.

As for Daniel Machover?  Well, he isn’t going – even though he was accepted!  Money was an object and distance, too!

Alas, Machover won’t get to live the southern dream. At least not this year. As decision time neared, his dad Geoff decided that for his college visits and his son’s treks back home, road trips beat flights. He nixed Tuscaloosa in favor of the University of Delaware. “I’d pick Alabama,” says Daniel. “But he’s paying the bill.”

I doubt the leaders at UA read my blog but maybe they can find some bling to get Daniel to Tuscaloosa!

I get these articles from time to time (along with 30 million other people!) from Tom DeWeese.  I am legitimately concerned about smart meters and this article is disturbing.  Some aspects of this I have heard elsewhere.  The VA law to allow conscientious objection to smart meters failed in committee.

The Growing Threat of Smart Meters

Sustainable Development is code for a policy designed to transform human society, essentially eliminating individual life decisions and replacing them with top – down, one-size-fits-all government control. In steady fashion, the agenda for this new policy, designed at the international level, is put into place piece by piece with a new government council here, and new regulation there, each designed to appear as a “local” development program. Like the proverbial frog in the slowly boiling pot, many Americans fail to notice the rise in government heat.

The main course of action to impose the new agenda is through the pretense of environmental protection; “Sorry about your rights, but if we don’t save the planet, then we will all perish!” And so with the devastation of a thousand pin pricks, America and its form or government is being changed through the creation of non-elected boards, councils and regional governments, designed to enforce the new regulations and “assure that we protect the environment.”

The pin pricks come disguised as such issues as controls on community development; controls on use of private property; controls on use of open space; creation of development areas, many times under the excuse of historic preservation; communities designed on the blue print of pack and stack housing; making it harder to drive as roads are narrowed, even forcing cars to share the road with bicycles; the enforcement of expensive mass transit boondoggle projects; and the never ending spending spree on inefficient, unworkable alternative energy, such as wind and solar power.

In fact, control of energy and water are the two most effective tools in the enforcement of the Sustainable Development agenda. Without energy and water, human society stops. Using strict controls on how, or even if, energy and water can be used provides government with the power to dictate every aspect of society.

So how is that control carried out? There are obviously several ways, including regulations and taxes on production of gasoline; EPA restrictions on energy production; and government subsidies to create and enforce the use of alternative energy, specifically wind and solar.

However, controlling energy use in individual homes provided a more difficult obstacle than mere taxes or regulations. Government needed to be able to monitor energy use and individual habits in every single home. And so, the Smart Meter was born.

The Smart Meters are being installed on homes across the country, replacing the old style analog meters. The power companies are telling their customers that the Smart Meters will help them save money on electric bills by helping control usage. They also claim that the Smart Meters will help the power companies operate more efficiently by eliminating the need for meter readers to physically read the meters as they do with analog meters. However, these sales pitches from the power companies hide the real facts behind the push to replace every analog meter in the nation with the Smart Meters.

There are several major problems for homeowners as the Smart Meters are installed. Here are just a few:

• The cost of heating and cooling homes with Smart Meters is going up because of the inefficient alternative energy that is more expensive than coal and nuclear power.

• Homeowners with Smart Meters in place are discovering that they can’t heat or cool their homes during peak power usage as the electric companies control the thermostats and automatically cut back on usage.
• Property rights are being violated by Smart Meter installers who come onto property against the will of the owners.

• A 2012 Congressional Report now reveals that power companies are able to read data from the meters that reveals residents’ daily schedules and their personal behavior, the types of appliances they use, even if there are certain types of medical equipment in use in the home. This information can then be sold to private concerns or placed in government files. It can lead to identity theft and unwarranted government surveillance.

• Evidence is now emerging that the Smart Meters, which operate by emitting electromagnetic signals, has become a health hazard, as thousands of Smart Meters in neighborhoods blast a non-stop signal, creating what is called Electromagnetic Smog. The electromagnetic radiation is dangerous for the elderly, children, pets, and those subject to such disorders as epilepsy, heart disease and more. It can lead to disruptive sleep patterns, chronic fatigue, depression, headaches and much more.

As Americans become aware of these threats they have begun to oppose the installation of Smart Meters on their property. Some local and state government’s, when faced with the health complaints, have offered opt out provisions. Others have responded using force, resulting in arrests, as in Naperville, Illinois. In other places, power companies have shut off electricity to homes of those protesting the Smart Meters.

As the battle against the Smart Meters grows across the nation, Americans need to understand the issue, the dangers, the real reasons behind the government’s drive to force them on angry and protesting homeowners, violating their property rights and endangering their health in the process.

Smart Meters are designed to provide government with detailed information of your energy use, your movements in your home, the way you use your personal private time, and even how many people are in your home at any given time. It is an unconstitutional invasion of your home by government, as set down in the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

My organization, the American Policy Center (APC), has produced a comprehensive special report entitled “Sustainable Development and the Control of Energy (The growing battle over Smart Meters).” This report details the real reasons behind the government’s enforcement of the Smart Meters, the health and privacy violations, and the political agenda behind it all. This special report is available free at http://americanpolicy.org/smart-meters-report/ I urge every concerned American to get a copy.

Every American has a duty to preserve freedom by protesting and stopping the forced installation of these devises.

I found this analysis to be useful as to what happens in the vote.  Here’s part of the conclusion:

Electoral Calculus said that Ukip would win enough MPs to form a Government if it won around 34 per cent of the vote.

It added: “The figures suggest UKIP would get a majority in the House of Commons when its share of the vote is around 34 per cent. At lower Ukip support levels, the Conservatives are slightly hurt by their rise, but Labour is relatively unaffected.”

Now, UKIP got about 25% in the last municipal elections.  In municipal elections, the percentage is of course lower than in a General Election.  Here is the BBC’s projection of the turnout in the next General Election:

The BBC’s projected national share of the vote put Labour in the lead with 29% of the vote and the Conservatives in second place with 25%, UKIP in third place with 23% of votes and the Lib Dems fourth with 14%.

The calculator analysis says 23% is not enough for even one seat in Parliament.  But ten more points and UKIP forms a majority government.  No more Cameron.  No more Clegg.  No more Labour.  Yes to more than a referendum.  It would be revolutionary.  I want to sign up to help the new PM Farage implement secession from the superempire.

How to get the ten percent?  The theme should be just like the NO movie.  Yes I am still serious.  Happiness will come to Britain when she is free from the EU.  Can again sell a pound of meat.  Can again deport a terrorist or other criminal immigrant without pesky eurocrats and judges saying no.  Can again drive a lorry or a taxicab or sell stock or run a small business without the silly UK regulations.  Happy people again in the UK!  It can be done.  Young people can be attracted to the message of liberty – the Ron Paul campaign showed that.  Women can be attracted.  No more anti-gay stuff; but protect the rights of churches to proclaim their message.  Show happy believers with a cross, a star of David, other symbols.  It ought to be easy to show all sorts of EU horror stories.  One is right here:  One EU leader is frank about his intentions:  The United States of Europe:

The president of the European Commission [Jose Manuel Barroso] has fanned the flames of British debate over EU membership by insisting that fiscal union in the eurozone will lead to “intensified political union” for all 27 member states.

***

“We want to put all the elements on the table, in a clear and consistent way, even if some of them may sound like political science fiction today. They will be reality in a few years’ time.”

All UKIP needs is ten more percent.  TEN PERCENT.  To win the Parliament.  Time for strategic planning to get the ten percent.  For UKIP’s fight is our fight.  The time is short.