Former Governor James Gilmore has a new website to discuss important issues of the day with citizens. It is very welcome to have public officials —especially those as superbly gifted and prescient as Gilmore— giving this opportunity to the public.

Superbly gifted and prescient? Absolutely. Some people are stuck in partisan mode and nothing ‘the other side’ does is good enough; but equal opportunity and personal freedom are not partisan issues. For defending those principles when they were being assaulted hardest we owe Jim Gilmore an immense debt of gratitude.

While governor, Gilmore chaired the Congressional Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce (ACEC) charged with advising the US government on Internet taxation. The Commission’s final report to Congress opposed taxation of the Internet; either Internet access tax, sales tax for online transactions, or international tariffs.

ACEC also predicted the urban-v-rural ‘digital divide’ that has emerged and recommended assistance from surpluses, private-public partnerships, and incentives to reduce the number of people unable to adequately access the Internet.

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Years before the terrorist attacks on New York and Arlington, Jim Gilmore was leading the nation to develop prevention, preparedness, and response capabilities to large-scale terrorism on American soil.

Called the Gilmore Commission, the group laid the foundation for much of today’s policy.  Former Secretary of the Army and Shenandoah County resident, John O. Marsh, also served on this Commission to facilitate interagency coordination and legal aspects.

It was in the post-911 panic that the Commission’s work became vital. While our Congress was ready to pass any law —Constitutional or not— it was Jim Gilmore that kept a level head:

“The world is undergoing a transformation, which is a natural reaction to the cruelty directed against us. We have to ask, “What kind of country to you want to have?” Because at the end of the day, it is everybody’s responsibility to make certain that we have a country that is worth securing in the first place.” — James S. Gilmore (emphasis added)

Few people can see into the future, but all Americans ought to appreciate Jim Gilmore’s foresight and leadership in preparing us for the future. His ability to analyze beyond slogans and see coming consequences from current events is an exceptional talent.

Dialog on spending, taxes, immigration, property rights, national and economic security at The Virginia Patriot —Jim Gilmore’s new website— is a valuable addition to Virginia’s politics.

It was a sultry day and —for a few brief moments— one Shenandoah County road offers a respite from the heat.

Click for a large desktop  or for a 9×6 print

Everyday Shenandoah County is treated to more splendor than many people see in a lifetime. Every single day.

A hint from this photo:

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In the future an advantage of VERIS is campaign access to voter rolls. The current system requires elected officeholders or party officials to prove their identity; then ships a CD to them. With citizens continually registering to vote, the data is outdated by the time it’s received. Under VERIS, campaigns or parties could have secure access to the live database.

Of course this raises the potential for theft; identity or otherwise. Though VERIS uses high-grade encryption, it only prevents interception of data being transmitted or hacked. Staff misappropriating or selling access —an exact analogy to credit cards or bank transfers— would have to be guarded against.

There are also some ‘minor issues’ in the VERIS user interface. One example is after entering a text field (perhaps a voter’s name) clicking the “Enter” button is the only way of getting it into the database. Using the keyboard ‘Enter’ gives a different result, and the number-pad ‘Enter’ gives yet another.
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The fear of avian influenza has the Shenandoah Valley in its tight grip, and even spread overseas with embargos on poultry in Japan and Russia.

“The testing detected only antibodies, which indicate possible past exposure to the virus, and showed no evidence the virus is actually present in the samples” . . . . “commonly found in birds and typically causes only minor sickness or no noticeable symptoms in birds.” —Washington Post

Let’s get this straight:

possible
past - over and done
common disease
undetectable symptoms
no live virus
no threat to humans

The turkeys might have had an imperceptible case of low fever or cough and are now healthy. So they have to be killed and their bodies destroyed.

Give thanks that these people aren’t in charge of our children’s health.
Now start to worry, because they are.

Virginia just spent a ton of money and it seems to have gone for little or nothing. Surprised? I hope not. It’s not that private ventures are always great; it’s just that publicly funded ones turn out so horribly.

The 400^th anniversary of Jamestown’s founding first headed for mediocrity when extremists on the organizing committee demanded the word ‘celebration’ be removed. That silliness has been covered by other websites —even in England— very thoroughly.

There has been well over $100 million of state tax money spent (plus $30 million in federal funds) on an event that at its peak attracted less than 70 thousand people. For comparison, the Statler’s annual “Happy Birthday USA” —a celebration— drew crowds of 80 to 100 thousand . . . to Staunton of all places.

The real issue is what all that money was spent on. Despite protests, condemnation, and criticism by Virginia’s native Indian activists, apparently little of our cash went toward the exhibits on Virginia’s indigenous peoples. There were forums, symposiums, and conferences; most centered around how awful the Jamestown settlement was.

Perhaps that was their goal; to push an agenda —get a few minutes of media spotlight— and disregard the purpose of the museums. But those things are mostly over now.  Only the exhibits remain, and they remain much the same as before: inaccurate.

Jamestown’s exhibits on aboriginal Americans have that sanitized, Disney-like character. Wigwams are roughly realistic, but are covered with imported cane mats instead of native rushes. There are no garbage pits, authentic activities, or the ever-present oyster shell. Their historical interpreters, though very friendly, know little beyond their scripts.

So it was a surprise — a very pleasant surprise— when I came across a living history Indian village at Natural Bridge. Thomas Jefferson bought the natural wonder from George III and it has been in private ownership since. Each successive owner has added to it; and this Virginia and National Historic Landmark it is an outstanding example of private stewardship.

Natural Bridge is a prominent feature in Monacan legend; the arch appearing in answer to their prayers when the Monacan were trapped between pursuing enemies and a gorge. It would seem, uh . . .natural . . . when Natural Bridge LLC and the Monacan Indian Nation of Virginia joined in creating a living history Monacan Village on the company’s property, just a short walk upstream from the bridge.Authentically palisaded, its shelters, living and longhouses are made of local materials with correct construction techniques. Workplaces are work places; complete with often used material stockpiles, a rubbish pit, and real food that gets cooked and eaten. It is a living, working exhibit.

There are no docents or guides at the Natural Bridge village. Instead, there are highly knowledgeable volunteers who believe in communicating our true heritage. Most are descendants of Natural Bridge’s aboriginals, and they know what they speak about. They are living history.

An added and interesting bonus —15 thousand students attended last year— is the village’s knowledge of state SOL levels. They make sure that grade-appropriate SOL material is presented as a minimum, though their knowledge and presentations go far beyond that.

The volunteers are welcoming of course, but also sharing and human; it is their own forbearers that are being portrayed. Though extremely knowledgeable, the few I met know their limits and refer you to others for what they don’t know.

So on one hand, with copious state finances available, we paid to stroke some militant’s egos but ended up giving an unrealistic portrayal to the public. In contrast, an agreement between two private groups working on a shoestring has accomplished what the state couldn’t.

Sure, there were some state or federal grants involved at Natural Bridge. But our Jamestown money —public money— would have been better used on projects that cared about the public.

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Oh, and parents: Real Indians —Native Americans if you want— ate squash; lots and lots of squash.

According to the State Board of Elections (SBE), Virginia’s voter registration software is in fine shape and getting better. In a letter replying to concerns from Virginia’s registrars, the SBE concludes the system —though “not perfect”—is working well. (click here to read it)

The SBE letter addresses the registrars’ letter about Virginia Elections and Registration Information System (VERIS) software errors point-by-point and refutes each concern. Their conclusion in each is that each error or problem —if they existed— were minor and is now fixed. The letter is an overall repudiation of problems encountered by those ‘on the ground’.

It is disappointing to hear the SBE’s denial of real problems. Their arguing a point of trivia —that registered voters didn’t disappear, just “could not be found”— makes it obvious the SBE is more interested in sweeping problems under the rug.

There are some fine points in the SBE letter: of the registration errors reported by the registrars, all were confirmed. Interestingly, the Board claims in most of the cases that no voters were adversely affected. This implies that in the other cases, voters’ registration status were affected.
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Today —the 4th of July— is celebrated to honor and remember a revolutionary manifesto. Do you still believe it? In its heart, this Declaration makes a far-reaching, radical claim: that each and every one of us has the same inherent rights.

Smart or stupid, every person is entitled to make their own decisions about how to live their life, what job to work, what education to take, where to live, and how to spend their time and wealth. Our government’s foundation is based on this.

“We hold these truths to be self evident . . .” Famous words, but in modern usage, not strictly true. Are they truths? Very few would argue about life, but not many people today believe that a Creator gives liberty.

Do you? Do you believe that we are endowed —inherent in our Creation— that these rights are innate and inseparable? As I see more people urge collective health-care, mandated vaccinations, and national registrations, I wonder how many really believe in the foundations under this nation.

The point is not about knowing and rejecting it. It’s over the term self evident: plain, blatant, obvious, clear, undoubted, and undisputed.

Do you believe? Do you believe the sky is blue? That the sun rises every morning? Do you believe your neighbors have rights —to life, liberty, to their autonomy, and to follow whatever they call happiness— just as the sky is blue or the sun rises?

Truth is not always obvious or plain to see. The Virginia Republican Creed states, “That the free enterprise system is the most productive supplier of human needs and economic justice.” I’d add . . .“ that the world has ever seen.” (Whether many Republicans believe this creed is another matter)

No form of government, no economic model —nothing— has every come close to the productivity of our capitalistic system. Nothing matches it for agility, error correction, or for adaptive speed.  Most of all, no system has ever matched it for equality for everyone.

The collective versus the individual is the conundrum of civilizations —every government intended to collectively benefit its population ends up oppressing it. The concept of communistic and socialistic governments is to achieve equal outcomes, and fascism is centered on efficiency; both end up poor and oppressive.

It is the miracle of our nation that by concentrating on individuals, the greatest good is done to the collective population.

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“We hold these truths to be self evident . . .”

. . . Do you?

Let freedom ring . . . . .

Let freedom ring, let the white dove sing
Let the whole world know that today is a day of reckoning
Let the weak be strong, let the right be wrong
Roll the stone away, let the guilty pay
On Independence Day

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The taste of freedom is sweet. Enjoy it —but just once today— reflect on the fact that this liberty is radically different from the long history of human government.

There’s another side to the story on Virginia’s voter registration software, and it deserves to be heard. But before writing about that, you can check your registration status online. While there, you can see for yourself how well the software is progressing.

The new election software, Virginia Elections and Registration Information System (VERIS) is now live and online. For registered voters, clicking this link will take you to the State Board of Elections’ (SBE) website for checking your registration.

After filling in last and first name, address, date of birth, and identity (voter registration or last four digits of social security) number, it confirmed my registration as current. The screen also gives the precinct, whether ID is required, and local registrar’s contact information.

A nice addition is the ‘Districts’ feature. By clicking on the teeny plus-sign next to the word ‘Districts’, it will display your Congressional, State Senate, House of Delegates, and Electoral District.

So the system works . . . . sort of. To find out where to vote, where the precinct is, you have to use the ‘Polling Place’ page found on the left menu. If you’re registered at your current address, it gives the address of the poll.

Most experienced computer users —who are also registered to vote—can manage without difficulty. But there are bugs in the system, and you get the impression of being a guinea pig or lab rat.

Voter Registration

• On the registration page, date of birth is supposed to be “01/01/1900” format; MM/DD/YYYY or ‘01/15/1900’ would be more helpful
• The java calendar is a nice touch, but . . . .
• The calendar doesn’t work in the Firefox browser.
• The calendar displays weird stuff in Opera browser, though once a date is selected the display usually normalizes.
• The calendar inserts —and the query accepts— MM/DD/YY format
• The calendar gives options of 1700 or 3007 as birth years. If given outrageous dates, it warns, “Date must fall between 1/1/1753 and 12/31/9999.” That’s outrageous too, so why not a reasonable range?

Polling Place

• On the polling place page, driving directions are given by a java-driven popup, guaranteed to trigger popup blockers.
• If you’re NOT registered, the message is A polling place was not found with the address provided. Please contact your Election Board and then, Locality Electoral Board contact information is not available at this time. Ouch!

Absentee Ballot

• The absentee ballot page is full of errors; the 2008 November General election is followed by the 2208 Town Election
• There’s a ‘Shereiff’ election
• Database tests are still in the system; 2007 Test June Republican Primary, 2007 Test June Democratic Primary, TEST - Northumberland Pollbook, and TEST OF 1530306. It’s not reassuring that the June 2007 primaries were ‘tests’.

This software has no Quality Control; spelling alone shows it’s raw from the programmers. It’s really not ready for beta testing— and is sure isn’t ready for primetime.

VERIS is getting improved every day, but there’s serious concerns —very realistic concerns— whether the next four months is enough time.