Sunday, July 31, 2011

Cyberstalking and cyberbullying ... spreading false information

I am doing research for a post about cyberstalking and cyberbullying, a growing problem with today's internet access that provides a platform for cowardly anonymous trolls. A particularly troubling form of cyberstalking is false accusations:
"False accusations. Many cyberstalkers try to damage the reputation of their victim and turn other people against them. They post false information about them on websites."
This is an interesting subject and there is much information out there as the problem grows and more cases are documented. It includes the coward who sends emails slandering someone who has no possibility of responding. Bullying is wrong whether it's on a school playground or in email or on the internet. Little bullies grow into big bullies.

Stay tuned....

Back roads of Augusta: Wildflowers and mountain ranges

Brown-eyed Susans
Appalachian Mountain Range

Sheep graze in Western Augusta County.

The corn is as high as an elephant's eye....

Temps in the upper 80s pushed the cattle to cool down in a farm pond.




The streams were inviting in the mid-summer heat.

This mighty tree stood at the top of a hill, silhouetted against the afternoon sky.




A nearby farm....

Queen Anne's Lace is in full bloom along the back roads and fence lines.






Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
31 July 2011

Back roads of Augusta: Mountain vistas, sheep, streams, cattle, fields

Wildflowers flourish in summer ... Queen Anne's Lace and flowering thistle is thick along fence lines. As July prepares to turn into August, the beautiful Appalachian Mountain Range is shrouded in a summer haze.

The back roads meander through shaded forests and along country streams, providing cooler temperatures away from the sun.


Sheep graze in western Augusta County.


That's one way to cool down ... thanks for the photo, ladies!


Cool, meandering streams and rivers throughout the Valley provide a respite from the heat ... people were seen swimming, fishing, and canoeing.

Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
31 July 2011

Back roads of Augusta: Barns, mills, and hay sheds

Traveling the back roads of Augusta County on a mid-summer day....






Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
31 July 2011

Darth Boehner?

Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), in remarks on the U.S. House floor Saturday during the debt ceiling debate, drew boos from fellow House members when she accused Speaker John Boeher of "going to the Dark Side."

Irritated at her successor and conjuring up images of Star Wars, she complained:
“The Speaker chose, when he didn’t have the votes, instead of to reach out in a bipartisan way to see how we could work together, he chose to go to the dark side."
It was an interesting choice of words that seemed to imply that she was comparing Boehner to the evil force from Star Wars known as Darth Vader.

Cross-posted at Bearing Drift

A good man's birthday

 "My beloved is mine, and I am his." ~Song of Solomon 2:16

Happy Birthday to my husband!

Photo by Lynn R. Mitchell
July 2011

While driving around Staunton ...

... I took notice of a few things.

Notices of upcoming events posted in the window of a downtown business.
Interesting bumper sticker seen on a car parked near Kroger.
Staunton Train and Hobby.

Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
July 2011

Apple thief

Late night snack? The apple tree is loaded this year but wondering if there will be anything left for us....

Photo by Lynn R. Mitchell
July 2011

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Summer sunflowers

 Sunflowers in our garden....




Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
30 July 2011

Washington Examiner breaking Saturday news

Examiner Politics Saturday EXTRA: Weekend breaking news & comment from The Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential bloggers

Byron York - For Reid, Durbin, and Obama, a (very) partisan record on debt ceiling
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has frequently accused Republicans of playing partisan politics in the debt ceiling crisis. Read More

Mark Tapscott - Note to GOP prez contenders: All five Iowa representatives opposed Boehner plan
Political junkies should take note: All five of Iowa's representatives in Congress voted against House Speaker John Boehner's final compromise plan to resolve the debt-ceiling impasse. Iowapolitics.com has details: "All five of Iowa's congressmen -- three Democrats and two Republicans -- this evening voted against legislation authorizing a limited increase in the $14.3 trillion debt limit in exchange for more than $900 billion in spending cuts. Read More

Conn Carroll - The two big differences between Cut, Cap, and Balance and the Boehner bill
Everyone in my twitter feed seems to be saying that there is no difference between the new debt hike bill Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, unveiled today and the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act that was passed earlier this month. This is wrong.  Read More

Mark Tapscott - Why aren't liberal papers reporting Pelosi's other-worldly criticism of Boehner plan?
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has made some incredibly naive, ill-informed and downright goofy statements before but her comment yesterday about why House Democrats oppose House Speaker John Boehner's debt-ceiling crisis bill surely must take the cake for absurdity: "What we're trying to do is save the world from the Republican budget. We're trying to save life on this planet as we know it today," Pelosi said. Read More

Brian Hughes - Obama dismisses Boehner bill, says "almost out of time" to raise debt ceiling
President Obama urged lawmakers Friday to compromise on a solution to raise the debt ceiling by the Aug. 2 deadline, seeking to ratchet up pressure on Republicans reeling from their failure to unite behind a debt deal. “There are plenty of ways out of this mess, but we are almost out of time,” Obama said at the White House in a brief statement to the press. Read More

Examiner Senior Political Writer Philip Klein has been been blogging with updates throughout the debt ceiling House vote drama:

Is it now fair to say the Boehner plan was a waste of time?
At a press conference yesterday, I asked House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to respond to the criticism among conservatives that if Republicans were to hold out past Aug. 2, they'd be in a better position to negotiate a deal. Read More

House rejects Reid plan; 246 - 173
On Saturday, the House of Representatives rejected Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's proposal to hike the debt limit, 246 to 173, with 11 Democrats voting against it. The vote was expected, and was held to demonstrate that Reid's plan can't pass the House, just as last night the Democratic-controlled Senate rejected House Speaker John Boehner's plan to hike the debt limit last night to show it can't pass the Senate. Read More

43 GOP Senators sign letter opposing Reid debt limit plan
Forty-three Republican Senators have signed a letter opposing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's plan to hike the debt limit. Read More

Senate rejects Boehner plan, Reid won't allow vote tonight on his own plan
As expected, the U.S. Senate voted 59 to 41 to table House Speaker John Boehner's plan to increase the debt limit that had been passed by the House just hours earlier. Then Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., declined a GOP offer to hold a cloture vote on his own plan tonight.
Read More

House Speaker John Boehner's plan to raise the debt limit squeaked through the House of Representatives by a 218 to 210 margin, with 22 Republicans joining every Democrat in opposing the measure. The fact that the vote was so close, even after Boehner added a Balanced Budget Amendment component, suggests he was many votes short last night, when he attempted to pass an earlier version, but instead spent hours arm-twisting holdouts. Read More
In a few hours (we're told somewhere around 5:45 to 6:15), the House is expected to vote on Speaker John Boehner's plan to raise the debt ceiling. Updated with a Balanced Budget Amendment component, his bill is all but assured of passage. At that point, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., promises that he will immediately vote to table the bill, and introduce his own measure. Unless all 100 Senators agree to allow him to hold a vote on it immediately, he'll have to vote on cloture, which will set up a vote for 1 am Sunday morning. Read More

Summer day in the garden

Tomatoes are ripening faster than we can eat them.

Tools of the trade ... Farmer Bill's hoe.

Yukon Gold potatoes freshly harvest.

Caribbean Red peppers ... hot pepper habaneros.

Lots of cukes are ready to pick.

Cherry tomatoes are clustered on the vine as they ripen.
The next crop of potatoes are drying in the sun ready to be planted.

Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
30 July 2011