The Roanoke Times is reporting that yes, indeed, Ward’s been chosen to lead the Democrats (tell it to the Times) on the last day of the GA session:

In a move that signals a change in direction and tactics, Democrats in the House of Delegates ousted Del. Frank Hall of Richmond as the minority leader this morning and installed Del. Ward Armstrong of Henry County as his replacement.

“The parties are kind of like flying buttresses on a building,” Armstrong said. “The building falls down unless we press hard against one another, and that’s what I’m to do on the floor, to press very hard and provide an alternative to their [Republican] proposals.”

Armstrong said his new duties will require personal and professional sacrifices that, among other things, will affect his Henry County law practice.

“It is going to be a sacrifice from a professional standpoint, but I don’t go into this with my eyes closed,” he said. “That was certainly something we discussed but I pledged to do what is necessary to put this caucus first.”

Sacrifice? Oh, stop it Ward. You had me at “flying buttresses.”

The censorship police are live and well and at it again:

“The Higher Power of Lucky” by Susan Patron, winner of this year’s prestigious Newbery Medal for children’s literature, has been removed from several libraries and schools because some parents and librarians were alarmed to find that its text includes the word “scrotum.”

The “Lucky” book has hit the shelves in Gloucester, where so far, there have been no complaints

“At least they’re using the biologically correct word,” said Mary Rainier, librarian at T.C. Walker Elementary School in Gloucester, where the book was just catalogued last week. “I don’t take a book out because it has a word. I would take it out if it has objectionable or age-inappropriate content.”

“Seldom is a book challenged on content,” she said. “It’s almost always challenged on a single word.”

Once again I pause to pose the question: Why do we give certain words so much power?  I hope our good neighbors to the East will keep their heads and let their children read this book.  I might buy it for my kids as I find the plot intriguing: seems a dog (NOT lucky) gets bitten by a rattlesnake . . . on the scrotum.

Without Barnie Day, the Martinsville Blog Conference last August wouldn’t have happened. Well, maybe it would’ve but it certainly would not have received the glowing reviews it did thanks to his contributions. While the generous donation he procured from Smith River Community Bank was helpful, what really made the difference was that we “name dropped” him at every turn. “Barnie Day” is the “open sesame” to doors of those on both sides of the aisle.

Barnie has written an inspiring piece, published in today’s Martinsville Bulletin. Only Barnie could write about his battle with Parkinson’s disease and how fortunate he is. It reminds me of a story by Robert Fulghum (All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten) about a young hotel clerk who was miserable about his life. His work hours were long and boring, he had no social life, etc. He was further made miserable by the cheerfulness of an older clerk with whom he worked. How could this older gentleman be so happy all the time when life had dealt them almost identical miserable hands? The young clerk later learned that the older clerk was a survivor of a Nazi concentration camp. This experience had made him realize the difference between real problems and simple inconveniences. Most of us, while we’re quick to complain about our problems (when WILL Blognet be fixed?) truly only have inconveniences.

Go read Barnie’s story and come back a better person for having done so. I love Barnie’s writing and hope to see more of it . . .

Not when there’s a carnival in town! Go on over to Ward’s place and get in the Mardi Gras spirit.

Great job herding the cats this week, Ward!

Thank you for being the voice for me today in Washington.  Thank you for doing what is right instead of doing what is popular.  Thank you for realizing that there is a threat TODAY that is far greater to my children and to me than the possibility of the earth’s temperature rising one degree sometime in the next 100 years. (or is it 300 years?)

While I pride myself on being self-reliant and not depending on government to provide a better life for me and my family, I have no choice but to defer to you to voice my concerns and vote to safeguard us when it comes to the threat posed by RADICAL Muslim factions.

I see it like this: It is estimated that there are roughly one billion Muslims in the world.  If only 1% of those are radical or extremist, that’s ten million people that want to see us convert or die.  I don’t like those odds and I don’t like those options.

I’ve yet to see a country or a community benefit from an influx of radical Muslims.  I’ve seen the opposite.  Until the 99% of peaceful Muslims step up and temper the behavior of the radical 1%, I’m counting on you, Virgil.

Don’t let me down.

I go to Wikipedia to GET information, certainly not because I think I have some knowledge to impart. This is why I’ve never hit the edit link under an entry. According to General G. Dog, others in the Virginia Blogosphere are hitting that edit key.

Go on over and learn how to do it. I don’t know if I’ll ever need this information . . . especially now that I know that if I try to pull a sneaky edit that my ISP might show up as proof that I was the dirty dog . . . but it’s still interesting . . . unless, of course, the photos on GGD’s site are the products of his Photoshopping skills . . .

Better hurry before it disappears . . .

Eat one . . . staple one. Eat two . . . staple one. Eat one . . . staple one . . . eat two or three while I staple one, etc., etc.

Happy Valentine’s Day tonight because tomorrow I’ll be in a diabetic coma!

. . . does not constitute an emergency on my part. I believe I read that on my eighth-grade math teacher’s coffee mug. That sentiment permeates my skull as I wade through the various news items and articles on blogs and newspapers regarding the transportation debates and debacles. A lack of planning on the parts of other areas of the Commonwealth *cough* Tidewater, NOVA *cough* does not constitute an emergency or “crisis” on my part.

I’ve often lived in areas where I had to commute more than thirty or forty minutes to get to school or to work. It wasn’t a crisis, it was a choice. If the choice is made to continue funding new roads, new development is sure to follow and then we’re back where we started.

For the rest of us to have to pay, whether it be in the form of higher fees, an added tax or through the reduction of our general fund is unjust. It makes the rest of us enablers and further leads to the “New Jerseyfication” of our state. Let’s stop feeding the beast and I bet the beast will stop growing.

Another coffee mug philosophy I read was, “Bad sex is better than no sex!” Does the same hold true for bad bills? Will the Republicans rather be responsible for a bad bill than no bill? Stay tuned as the General Assembly turns . . .