Rob Schilling ... welcome to the ODBA!

Rob Schilling is a multi-faceted man ... conservative radio talk show host, former Charlottesville City Councilman, blogger, husband, dad, teacher, Christian rock musician, business owner, real estate investor, and all-around conservative defender of freedom.

I posted about Rob in October of 2007:

A native of southern California, Rob relocated to Charlottesville in 1998 to enjoy what he describes as the idyllic lifestyle of our area. In addition to being an accomplished musican and singer-songwriter, Rob is also a savvy businessman.

In 2002, Rob was elected to the City Council as its lone Republican. A staunch defender of freedom, property rights and responsible, accountable government, Rob tirelessly fought for intelligent financial management and transparency in all City affairs.

In 2006, Rob fought for a controversial elected school board referendum, against seemingly overwhelming opposition, from entrenched political interests. In the end, with Rob's leadership, the measure passed by a significant margin, and local parents have been grateful.

Along with his wife Joan, and their son, Gabriel, Rob has made a distinctive and positive contribution to life in Charlottesville and Albemarle County.

We're honored to welcome Rob to the Old Dominion Blog Alliance as another of the growing number of right-of-center bloggers.

We are the ODBA!

Photo Credit WINA Radio

Condolences to Ron (Isophorone)

Today in Israel a gentleman passed away at the age of 105 ... and his connection to the blogosphere was through his grandson and my ODBA friend, Ron, who blogs at Isophorone.

Ron wrote a beautiful tribute to Ovadiah ben Avraham v'Simha who lived a long and full life ... My grandfather died today:

I got some sad news that my last living grandparent died today. He was 105 and lived in Jerusalem. My grandfather was born in Salonika, Greece, in 1903 and immigrated to what is now Israel in 1913. (At that time the area was still ruled by the Ottoman Empire.) He was a tailor by trade and mended clothes well into his old age. He was deeply religious and prayed daily, even as a centenarian.

Ron continues his tribute over at Isophorone. He ends by asking that a prayer be said for his grandfather.

Here's a prayer for Ovadiah ben Avraham v'Simha ... and for Ron and his family as they now prepare to live life without him. May God bless.

Newest ODBA member ... Concrete Bob!

Today we welcome the newest member of the Old Dominion Blog Alliance ... Concrete Bob over at The Talon ... a fellow warrior in Supporting Our Troops. Bob is one of the United Conservatives of Virginia crew and now has a talented group of writers at The Talon who present viewpoints from varied segments of America.

Those writers, in addition to Bob, include Dave Jeffers, father of Sgt. Eddie Jeffers ("Hope Rides Alone"); Rurik who has traveled extensively and dealt closely with Eastern bloc countries and Russia; Aux Pax Bellum is the non de guerre of Ronald Winter, former Marine, Viet Nam veteran, author of "Masters of the Art: A Fighting Marines Memoir of Viet Nam;" Jonn Lilyea is a retired Army SFC who blogs on military and civilian inter-actions; CAO is a Blue Star mom; Rosemary is a "normal American lady," as Bob puts it. Pop on over and check out The Talon and leave a comment or two.

Welcome to the ODBA, Concrete Bob!

A fresh balloon bouquet for Kilo....

OK, Kilo, so I don't have any Jim Beam. Guess you're stuck with these darned old balloons! Here's a fresh bouquet to keep your spirits up and let you know we're all out here praying for you. Take care, Friend.

Wise Girl is keeping us updated at Spark It Up!!

For Kilo ... here's to a speedy recovery

Here's sending wishes for a speedy recovery to Carl Kilo as he recuperates from surgery....

This is for fellow ODBA blogger Carl Kilo ... you've got friends

Hearts and prayers to Spark It Up's Carl Kilo as he deals with potentially serious surgery on Tuesday. Our prayers and thoughts will be with him and we wish him a speedy recovery.

Come back to the blog soon, Carl, because we will miss you ... you've got friends.

You've Got a Friend
James Taylor

When you're down and troubled
And you need a helping hand
And nothing, oh, nothing is going right.
Close your eyes and think of me
And soon I will be there
To brighten up even your darkest nights.

You just call out my name,
And you know where ever I am
I'll come running to see you again.
Winter, spring, summer, or fall,
All you have to do is call
And Ill be there ...
You've got a friend.

If the sky above you
Should turn dark and full of clouds
And that old north wind should begin to blow
Keep your head together and call my name out loud
And soon I will be knocking upon your door.

You just call out my name
And you know where ever I am
I'll come running to see you again.
Winter, spring, summer or fall
All you got to do is call
And I'll be there ...

Hey, ain't it good to know that you've got a friend?
When people can be so cold.
They'll hurt you and desert you.
Well they'll take your soul if you let them.
Oh yeah, but don't you let them.

You just call out my name
And you know wherever I am
I'll come running to see you again.
Winter, spring, summer, or fall,
All you've got to do is call.
And I'll be there, yes I will.

You've got a friend ...
You've got a friend ...
Ain't it good to know you've got a friend ...
Ain't it good to know you've got a friend ...
You've got a friend.

Yankee Phil, newest member of ODBA ... welcome!

The ODBA grows by one more as Yankee Philip joins us. Blogging in the central Shenandoah Valley area of Staunton, Waynesboro, and Augusta County, Phil contributes posts concerning local, state, and national news. We first met almost three years ago when he and his family stopped by the Augusta County Republican Committee booth at the county fair. He signed up right then to get involved ... and he's been at it ever since.

Phil's the "friendly" one of the SWAC bloggers. He's also a former NYC cop who has been adopted as "Philbilly" in this area (compliments of Carl Kilo) and one heck of a nice guy.

Welcome to the ODBA, Phil. It's great to have you on board!

Kilo: "ODBA blogger in Army now"

Carl Kilo at Spark It Up!!! reminds us that ODBA blogger Roci is fighting for freedom. Roci blogs about his Army training preparing for deployment.

Roci writes:

"Wednesday, April 16, 2008 Ok. Everything so far has been preliminary. I have been in the Army for 45 days and I am just now starting my training for my mission. That training will take 60 days before I deploy. Then I will get another 30 days of training in theater (Kuwait and Iraq) before I start DOING my mission."

It is interesting to read the entries in his blog journal ... a reminder of how far the military has come.

Thanks, Roci, for what you're doing....

ODBA member Snapped Shot, shut down by AP, receives national attention

Media giant Associated Press was intimidted by ODBA member Snapped Shot because he called attention to inaccuracies in their work? Where's freedom of speech? Where's freedom of the press? "Old media" crushes down on "new media."

I like the way Jules Crittenden at the Boston Herald put it: "Plucky little Snapped Shot must have really touched a nerve."

Touch a nerve, he did. So the AP set their corporate lawyers on him and shut him down. Let's hope the blogosphere continues to amplify this, that the mainstream media sees it for what it is -- censorship -- and that Brian Ledbetter will be back with his Snapped Shot blog soon.

Hang in there, Brian. We're pulling for you.

The Virginia blogosphere following this story:

- From On High: ODBA Member Makes Waves
- Spark It Up!!! Snapped Shot gets snuffed out
- Isophorone: Islamic Rage Boy Interns at Associated Press (satire)
- Spank That Donkey: Don Beyer To Arise From Political Dead
- Black Velvet Bruce Li: Another Blogger Gets Legal Threats
- Scott's Morning Brew: Snapped Shot blog closed indefinitely ... threatened with legal action

The national blogosphere and MSM following this story ... from Snapped Shot's site ... with Brian's commentary. Check back often as he is updating it regularly:

- Jawa Report
- LGF (link updated)
- Elder of Ziyon
- doubleplusundead
- Ace of Spades
- The National Review (And yes, it does.)
- This Goes To 11 (For the record, I neither endorse nor condone in any way the escalation - described here. For obvious reasons, I hope.)
- Confederate Yankee
- Riehl World View
- Pirate's Cove
- TNOYF (Nice! A famed "TNOYF Top 9 List!" It's definitely #4, btw. ;) )
- Newsbusters, Stop the ACLU, Grizzly Groundswell, Blogger News, Publius Forum (With my deepest gratitude to WTH!)
- Winds of Jihad
- P.C. Perspective
- /.
- A Second Hand Conjecture
- Protein Wisdom
- Al Salibiyyah
- Lamplighter News
- Note To Self
- Bydio
- BVBL
- Support Your Local Gunfighter
- This Ain't Hell, but you can see it from here
- FreeRepublic
- AP Check (sounds like a blog I should associate more closely with!)
= Scott's Morning Brew
- Bob's Bites
- Atlas Shrugs
- Another funny one from TNOYF. Thanks for the laugh, Buckley!
- Jules Crittenden - The Newspaperman speaketh! Thanks, Jules! :)
- Anorak
- The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler
- RightNation
- Daily Pundit
- Media Backspin
- Small Dead Animals
- The guys at TNOYF have come across a transcript of the behind-the-scenes AP meeting that resulted in this little SNAFU. I should've known Mahmoud Abbas was involved in this somehow!
- Instapundit links to Jules. Guess that means he missed the couple of e-mails I sent him?
- Mark's Soapbox
- Infidel Blogger's Alliance
- Freedom Folks
- Spank That Donkey
- Wolking's World
- Moonbattery
- This Goes To 11 has identified some "creative" ways to get around copyright issues. I'm not sure that the alteration is dramatic enough for the AP lawyers to notice the difference from the original, though. ;)
- Bill Hobbs
- Blonde Sagacity
- Mister Snitch
- Fellow ODBA member SWAC Girl
- Likelihood of Confusion
- And a funny explanation from fellow ODBA member Isophorone

"SWAC bloggers edit and purge ODBA" ... my response

After first trying two weeks ago to get the ODBA bloggers to boycott Bill Bolling's Bloggers Day (which they did not go for), Shaun Kenney chose to go public earlier this week with a dust-up that started with two Alpha males squabbling in the ODBA -- he and Spank That Donkey. I was surprised, to say the least, at what Shaun wrote:

And so it begins, as the SWAC bloggers edit and purge the ODBA.

That statement is a lie, and I talked with Shaun on the telephone Monday night for an hour about it, at which time he admitted it was wrong and said it "needed to be fixed." It is now Friday afternoon and it has not been "fixed." Is this Shaun's way of letting the lie fester and spread?

I read the follow-up stories in the blogosphere and watched to see who would jump on the blame bandwagon ... and who would stop to consider there are two sides to every story.

There were plenty of those who willingly believed without asking about our side of the issue. Hysterics have been played out publicly....

The SWAC bloggers had nothing to do with what occurred in the ODBA this week. The whole episode began with Shaun Kenney, DJ McGuire, and Chris. For reasons he felt were justified, the list administrator (who is not a SWAC blogger) removed Shaun from the ODBA message board, not from the ODBA. Kat removed herself from the board.

SWAC bloggers number eight if you include the now-dormant General Grievous' Dog ... with the others being In-Politically Correct, Journal of the Civilized Man, RightsideVA, SixtyFour81.com, Spank That Donkey, SWAC Girl, and Yankee Philip.

Of those eight, only three are ODBA members: Spank That Donkey, In-Politically Correct, and SWAC Girl. Of those three, only one was involved in the dust-up with Shaun.

How did this become the fault of the others, the majority of whom are not even members of the ODBA?

Shaun's statement that the SWAC bloggers (plural) were "editing" and "purging" the ODBA is ludicrous ... and he knows it. His accusation occurred just two weeks after he was the guest speaker at the SWAC-GOP Breakfast in Staunton.

My reason to be involved in politics is not for silly shenanigans like this. Defending this type of frivilousness is a waste of time and, yet, if I do not respond many will perceive that Shaun was correct in his statement.

It is time to move forward and not be sidetracked from working for our conservative candidates and the principles we believe in. I invite Shaun to do the same.

Welcome Spank That Donkey -- newest ODBA member!

Newest ODBA Member!

Here's a great big WELCOME to Chris at Spank That Donkey ... the newest member of the Old Dominion Blog Alliance!

Chris was my mentor while wading through the blogging world, is a fellow officer in the local Republican Party, a Marine veteran, and someone who can be trusted to watch your back. When he and Alton and Carl get together ... there will be some hell raising going on!

Welcome to the ODBA, my friend.

Welcome, Smyth County Conservative!

The ODBA has a new member. Adam at the Smyth County Conservative has joined our ranks. Welcome, Adam ... we look forward to blogging with you!

Roscoe Reynolds ... remember this?

Before NAMBLA-gate and Joey's attacks on the ODBA ... there was this:

Ward's Roscoe Reynolds Is the Talk of the Town: Exhibit 1.

Ward's Roscoe Reynolds is the Talk of the Town: Exhibit 2.

Ward's Roscoe Reynolds is the Talk of the Town: Exhibit 3.

Ward wraps it up with Roscoe Reynolds and his Unholy Alliance.

Badrose hits the nail on the head with Roscoe Reynolds: Hyprocrit, Hypocritic, or Homo Hypocriticalis.

Riley, Not O'Reilly provides the link to this Google video and posts Roscoe Reynolds and Eric Ferguson Exposed on Talk of the Town.

Yellow Dog Roundup ... what the blogs are saying about NAMBLA-gate - Updated

The latest posts concerning Joe Stanley's controversial linking of the ODBA domain name to NAMBLA. The story continues to grow....

* Jim Riley at Virginia Virtucon: How Would You View This?

* Ward at The Ward View: Are Ben and Joey Trying to Intimidate Reporters?

* F22 Strike at United Conservatives of Virginia: We Are the ODBA.

* Kilo at Spark It Up!!! The Franklin News Post covers the Joey Stanley, Roscoe Reynolds, Eric Ferguson NAMBLA linking Fiasco.

* Jim Riley at Virginia Virtucon: How Would You View This?

* Scott's Morning Brew: Ben and Joey is “scary”…

Update:

* Grumpy's Gripes writes Boring and says, "Well it’s been a boring couple of weeks in the news and the Blogosphere… well… save for the Joey Stanley/Pedophile/Been Tribbett debacle. Every time I turn around those two are sticking their feet in their mouths. Of course it has picked up steam and has now hit the main stream media. I hope it crucifies them both. Sorry pukes."

* James Atticus Bowden at Deo Vindice posts The Silence of the Lame where he notes that Joe Stanley wrote that the ODBA "was out of control and needed to be stopped." Jim wrote, "Need to be stopped? From blogging? How odd and telling about Liberals/Democrats/Human Secularists/Socialists, our totalitarians in training."

* Chris at Mason Conservative finally waded into the controversy with Interested Reading in which he notes Ben Tribbett's comment to The New Dominion's Chris Graham: “Finally, I am planning to seek comments from statewide Democratic candidates on whether they would ever feel comfortable talking to you again." Chris observes, "I get the feeling that there is some sort of coverup going on here, why else would Ben make such an outrageous threat? And a larger question, what does it say about Democrats in Virginia if they let a blogger and a consultant tell them who is good enough to talk to."

We Are the ODBA

Thanks to Badrose for compiling the photos and message...

We are:

... a teacher, a coal miner, a professor, mothers, fathers; attorneys, two admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court Bar; veterans, at least one West Point graduate, at least two cancer survivors ... engineers, published authors, business owners, a police officer, grandfathers, a grandmother, a nationally recognized commentator, a missionary, managers and executives, local government officials and CONSERVATIVE.

One of our founding members is currently a general district court judge.

We are the ODBA.

Silence from dems continues ... do they approve of Joe Stanley's ODBA/NAMBLA linking?

Jim Patrick's post today begins:

Just over a year ago I listened in amazement as a party extremist berated Virginia’s Lt. Governor for using the term ‘Democrat Party’ instead of ‘Democratic Party’ in a speech. Though I later verified this is technically correct, I couldn’t understand his fanaticism over a minor grammar error. Back then, I didn’t understand. Now I do.

Not only the dems' obsession with "democrat/ic" but also their dirty tricks are addressed by Mr. Patrick including the recent Joe Stanley/ODBA/NAMBLA controversy ... and the amazing silence from the democrats concerning Stanley's linking the conservative Old Dominion Blog Alliance name, unbeknownst to those clicking on it, to the North American Man-Boy Love Association:

The act was hateful, and should be condemned by reasonable people on both the right and the left. Those on the right of Virginia’s political spectrum have already condemned it. We’re still waiting for the first peep from his employers, political partners, or Party officials.

Read all of Jim Patrick's post More Party(D) Woes.

Jerry Fuhrman at From On High has posted On That Franklin County Demcoratic Chairman in which he gives background on Franklin County Democrat Chairman Joe Stanley's past dirty tricks of redirecting links from one domain name to another ... and links to a Roanoke Times article that gives more background on how Stanley has used this type of trick for a while.

Scott's Morning Brew writes Joe Stanley, Yellow Dog Strategy, Roscoe Reynolds, Eric Ferguson and the pedophilia site…

Roanoke Times checks out Roscoegate....

Today's Roanoke Times looks into the Joe Stanley/Roscoe Reynolds/ODBA connection:

Involved in the war of words is Franklin County Democratic Chairman Joe Stanley and bloggers from the conservative Old Dominion Blog Alliance.

Tensions rose on Aug. 17 when Stanley created OldDominionBlogAlliance.com and redirected it to the Web site for the North American Man/Boy Love Association.

NAMBLA is an organization that seeks to lower the age of consent for sex between men and boys.

Related stories:

* Charlie at Good Sense pens Few Regrets.
* Chris Graham at The New Dominion has Prank -- or dirty trick?
* Jerry at From On High wrote Franklin County Democratic Chairman Losing It

NLS eavesdropped on ODBA

Where are the "ethical" bloggers to protest Ben Tribbett's eavesdropping on the ODBA?

There are conservative bloggers who feel we should be more genteel and civil in our discourse ... embrace the libs, if you will ... and it has been a sticking point with me since I began blogging.

What I discovered when I jumped into the Virginia blogosphere was most libs were viciously attacking George Allen, gleefully jumping all over "macaca," trying to take Virgil Goode down because he was aware of the Muslim danger in this country, and going after every other Republican candidate/official they could write about.

I was shocked at the vitriol and profanity that was written and, yet, there were conservatives who insisted we must take a "nicer" tone ... and even distanced themselves from those who tried to fight fire with fire. We all remember the Waldo/Shaun/Dog episode.

The Old Dominion Blog Alliance features "right-of-center" bloggers from all over Virginia, and we have a message board for communicating with other members of the group. It was revealed by Ben Tribbett yesterday that he had been reading our correspondence for a while.

Today Jim Riley at Virginia Virtucon takes him to task:

Now, it is no secret that we here at Virtucon and several other conservative blogs in Virginia are part of what is called the “Old Dominion Blog Alliance.” Heck, we proudly display our seal on our blogs, list blogrolls and even put up RSS feeds from it. We also have a private Yahoo! group that is accessible and only viewable to members of the ODBA. We use this and its email distribution list to discuss topics, share news and yes — even strategize and coordinate. (Shocking, I know!)

Well, what will surprise you is this comment from Ben:

A lot of the conservative blogs are members of a group called the “Old Dominion Blog Alliance“. I usually just sit back and read the emails from that list with amusement…

Whether these emails are being forwarded to Ben via a mole in the group or one of the little noticed members of the group is actually him, this is perhaps the most unethical thing to have been perpetrated upon the Virginia blogosphere since its inception (and that includes the “Too Conservative” incident that we uncovered.)

Call it what you will, but the bottom line is Democrats have adopted Watergate-style tactics and ethics here in Virginia, secretly spying on their political enemies. We shouldn’t be surprised, though – after all, it is the party of Clinton.

Those who are so quick to sling "ethics" around are being awfully quiet....

Related posts at Spark It Up!!! and Leslie Carbone and Cathouse Chat and Good Sense and Black Velvet Bruce Li and J's Notes and Ward View and Deo Vindice and Virginia Oddsmaker.

Updated roundup from Leslie Carbone.