Tag Archives: Fraud

‘Just say no’ in Purcellville

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Well. This changes the equation a bit, don’t you think?

July 11, 2011

Mayor Lazaro, Purcellville Town Council Members:

I am writing to inform you of our alliance with Sam and Uta Brown, owners of Crooked Run Orchard, in their efforts to preserve their farm.

For some time now, we have followed with mounting disappointment and ire the news reports of their ongoing battle with the Town of Purcellville. Perhaps, like many others in the community, we held high hopes the issue would somehow “sort itself out” and that the Browns would prevail in their campaign. And perhaps, like many others in the community, we also held high hopes that their rights as citizens, rural business owners, and landowners would be preserved.

We reacted with shock as we learned of the Town’s aggressive tactics in removing the injunction preventing the seizure of the Brown’s property, and your subsequent acquisition of their land. In our opinion, you have violated a sacred American right, and we find it unconscionable that the Town of Purcellville has engaged in such actions.

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LEC 9011

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Promoted by Epluribusunum – This post is especially insightful in light of yesterday’s developments, in which Supervisor Burton withdrew his support from the CBPO in part because of too much uncertainty regarding which parcels would be affected and how. I note in particular the chorus on the LTM forum decrying Burton as an “opportunist” for taking exactly the position the LEC are demanding. It suggests that nothing could possibly make them happy, and lends yet more support to the theory that LEC is nothing but a Republican campaign organization. A fraud.

Roy Jacobsen, President of the Loudoun Environmental Council marched up to the BoS podium and presented a list of 9011 properties affected by the proposed Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance.   He was quoted in the Leesburg Today.

“Staff was asked for a list of impacted parcels caused by the implementation of the CBPO. They said it would take two to three weeks…Then they said four to six months. Here’s a list,” Jacobsen said. “We had our engineers using the county’s GIS system compile this. This calls to question whether the county is trying to provide this list or not… is it just incompetence or is it a cover up?”

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How to be an online tea party activist

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That was easy.

This is the way I just saw a young activist instruct other tea party activists on how to “give our ideas a fighting chance” in the marketplace of ideas:

Go to any website that allows ratings of books, movies, etc., search for “liberal” products and give them all one star, then search for “conservative” products and give them all five stars. You can do this relatively quickly for “hundreds” of products. Isn’t that easy? It doesn’t require the ability to make a cogent argument that convinces other people, to listen to and understand other peoples’ stories, or all the time-consuming reading and thinking that would take. “The vast majority of the books I rate, I’ve never read,” the young man assures his audience.

This was filmed at an actual workshop at some tea party event at which new activists were being trained. I didn’t catch where or when this was, but it appeared to be in a large meeting room in some sort of conference facility. I give that detail because it shows this idea to be mainstream within the tea party universe, not just something some crank said to 12 people in his basement.

The irony is that tea party patriots are fond of quoting Mr. Jefferson’s famous assertion that the cornerstone of democracy rests on the foundation of an educated electorate; “whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government.”

All my criticisms of LEC were just confirmed.

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Update: I just learned of a small detail I got wrong in my account. Although we had discussed the need to make a donation, we actually didn’t write a check; we brought cash. It doesn’t help with the insinuation that there was some plot involving the cancelled check. Sorry about that, carry on. -Epl

I honestly did not think I would have to write this post.

True story: I was thrown out of the “Loudoun Environmental Council” Family Event Pig Roast Fundraiser.

This is what the invitation says:

Family Event Pig Roast
Saturday, April 09, 2011 2PM til ???
Hosted by Loudoun Environmental Council

703 xxx xxxx
xxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxx
Hamilton, VA 20158

Please join us for a Pig Roast on Saturday, April 9, 2011 from 2:00PM to 7:00PM
Kids welcome, there will be activities, food, and a sundae bar.
Rain or Shine
Donation not required but appreciated
We are raising funds for the continued fight against the CBPO and for rational environmental goals.
This will be a fun day to thank you for your support in the past and your support in the future.
No speeches, just fun
Barbecue Whole Pig, Beans, Potato Salad, Coleslaw
Hot Dogs and a Sundae bar for little kids and big kids.
Adult and kids beverages provided
Country casual

Look, obviously I’ve been very critical of LEC, because they don’t appear to be what they say they are: non-partisan and concerned about clean water. I have explained why that’s what I think, as clearly and as transparently as I can. I’ve also explained that I have a lot of questions about the CBPO and whether it’s the best solution for protecting our streams. I don’t know what LEC means by the phrase “rational environmental goals,” but I’m trying to find out. For all of these reasons, on Saturday it really seemed like it would be a good idea to see if LEC was more complicated than I thought. Continue reading →

The LCRC/LEC/CPR/RGI/WTP/???

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"I am a corrupt politician," says the pig.

As the travesty in Purcellville grinds on, we turn back to the curious case of the Loudoun Environmental Council. This new nominally “environmental” group still seems to have nothing to do with protecting the environment, and everything to do with protecting certain corrupt politicians at the expense of the adult conversation our county needs to have about safeguarding our water quality.

There was already much discussion here and here regarding the nature of this group. As before, my concern is not the merits of the proposed Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance but rather the dishonest exploitation of the issue for political gain.

Responding to my criticism of LEC as an astroturf group set up to influence the 2011 election, commenters – of the sort frequent visitor Barbara Munsey refers to as “sockpuppets” – were dispatched to do damage control. A very enthusiastic one told us this:

..and the LCRC was at a meeting, so it was almost all non LCRC folks! Ha, that is the best of all… the rally conflicted with an LCRC meeting on redistricting and candidates presentations! The LCRC was not even there!

And did you hear Eugene, he was shocked as he looked at the crowd.. he said “Who are you all? I don’t know any of you?”..

Meh. Take a look at the pictures and see if you think that could possibly be true. Continue reading →

Patrickhenryville

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Photo by Blue Ridge Leader

What a delightful time for some bipartisan solidarity. I have to applaud the crew at Too Conservative for shining a light on the obscenity now going on in Purcellville.

Last week, the Town started tearing out 250-300 year old oak trees to make more parking spaces for their new Town Hall (currently under renovation).

The building being renovated is expected to cost the town over $7 million (compared to an estimated $4.5 million for a new building). This structure was purchased from the Purcellville Baptist Church, which has constructed their own new building. According to many Purcellville folks (including deposed LCRC district chair Ben Belrose) it’s not only structurally in bad condition, but architecturally inappropriate for use as the Town Hall, hence the exorbitant price tag.

Then, on Monday morning the publisher of the Blue Ridge Leader got a call that the historic barn on the Cole Farm was being demolished. Continue reading →

Well done

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I am taking a page from Supervisor Miller’s blog, and finding something nice to say about Mr. Delgaudio: He is good at what he does, which is orchestrating political stunts and getting people to act contrary to their own interests.

Published in the Blue Ridge Leader on March 10, 2011.

Dear Editor,

Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio and the so-called Loudoun “Environmental” Council really turned out the troops on March 1. Let’s see who they were, and what they have in common:

Residents of Raspberry Falls were there. Their homes were built over porous limestone, and their wells are contaminated. Their signs read “Halt building permits until we have a water solution.” Mr. Delgaudio aggressively opposed the limestone overlay district that would have prevented this catastrophic development over limestone.
Continue reading →

Astroturf

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Suppose that you wanted certain policies enacted in Loudoun, policies that would enrich you at the expense of other residents and the long-term health of the county. Further, suppose that if you were honest about this goal, those who would do your bidding would never stand a chance of being elected. The quickest, easiest route to what you want would be to find an issue that you can use to generate fear and anger. Fear and anger will motivate otherwise busy or uninterested people to go vote for your candidate, whereas the ordinary business of actual governance – analyzing evidence and debating different solutions to problems – usually will not. It may be lazy, and it may be disingenuous, but it does work – and if serving your own interests is the goal, that’s all that matters.

The issue could be almost anything; it’s what you do to exploit it that counts. In this particular case, the issue is an attempt by local government to address the problem of deteriorating stream quality, and therefore the quality and cost of our domestic water. Continue reading →

“Be the Difference!”

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Found in my inbox this morning:

A politics fairy left a flyer under our pillow last night. No way to tell if it’s authentic, but it purports to be the remarks of this person:

Of this organization:

Who may or may not be this person:

Of this organization:

A group whose commitment to Loudoun County goes back all of eight months, according to the State Corporation Commission:

(Bets now being taken on how long they exist after November.)

The flyer says her remarks at a meeting on February 4, 2011, included these immortal words:

Action Teams of incorrigible virtues? Wonder if their team-mates will look like this:

Hard to see it, but the sign on this incorrigible Republican virtue says, “I am a corrupt politician,” and was worn in a display of (what the flyer calls) “fact-based discourse” opposing the passage of a clean-water ordinance for Loudoun County that marched through the board of supervisors’ meeting room in the middle of Tuesday’s business session.

Nothing informs a fact-based discourse like a pig-suit, eh?

The flyer closes with a few words of an unknown philosopher:

And this call to join their army:

A little “difference” from this crowd would be a welcome thing. They can start with some of their own advice and admit to some obvious facts. Here’s a start, with grammar to match their standards:

But that would be taking an easy shot, and after all the material they’ve supplied already, let’s not be hogs…