If You Had Read the Paper | Tues, Feb 16
Words Hannah Serrano
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 at 8:36 am
N.C. teacher suspended for Facebook comments on religious conflict
The article doesn’t reveal much about the incident except that a few dumb kids decided to mess with this teacher by leaving a Bible on her desk once and another time a postcard of Jesus. Not cool.
But even dumber perhaps was her reaction, which was to post about it on her Facebook page, saying that she was going to punish the kids for this “hate crime.” Ok, you’re the teacher, lady. Facebook should not be your haven to air out the things that happened to you in school today. Those are kids, and you’re an adult. Grow up.
Fish plant works to clean up its act, eliminate smell with $20M
The first clause in the first sentence of this Pilot article reads: “Virginia has never been known to beat up companies that violate environmental laws…,” which might be the understatement of the year. As beautiful as our great state is, with its mountains and hills, lush marshes and forests, and beautiful shorelines, we do very little to keep it that way. Our rivers, specifically, are disgustingly filthy.
The fish plant in question–Omega Protein Corp. in Reedfield, which grinds up tens of millions of the little fish called menhaden into fish oil, pet food and health supplements–has been found once again to be dumping toxic ammonia into a creek just near the Chesapeake Bay.
Props to Omega for finally instilling a culture change at this plant, firing all its top managers and identifying the most environmentally sound methods to move forward (upgrades have actually led to greater profit). And props to state officials for finally laying down the law to cause that culture change.
But it’s worth saying: About goddamn time, guys.
House to lift time limit on handgun purchases
Great. Let’s just let people horde them, why don’t we? You can guess which party dominates the House and put through this insane piece of legislation.
“Making it harder for the law-abiding citizen to acquire a handgun legally will not stop felons from acquiring a handgun illegally,” said Del. Scott Lingamfelter, R-Prince William County, the bill’s sponsor.
You know, if that’s the argument they want to make, I want to put it out there that making it harder for the law-abiding citizen to acquire medicinal marijuana legally will not stop users and dealers from bringing weed in to the States illegally. So why don’t we start lifting limitations on that?
Va. bill for more bicycle clearance is defeated
What, are you surprised? I’ve never heard of a place where people love their cars more than they do here in Virginia.
People are going to continue to ride bikes. Even after you clip them while you’re driving with your knees, drinking a coffee and talking on your phone. So just learn how to share the road already before you hit a biker and have to live with the fact that you’re a negligent killer.
Oh, and bikers, don’t antagonize drivers. It makes them want to hit you.
Hampton Roads in ‘dire straits’ because of global warming predictions, says expert
A poll on dailypress.com prompted by this headline asks readers: Are you worried about global warming and potential flooding in Hampton Roads? Out of 100 people who responded, about half said, No way. Does this winter weather feel like global warming to you?
First of all, that’s not how global warming works, dummies. Second of all, if you don’t think you might be flooded out of the Peninsula when another major hurricane hits, you’re in some serious denial.
Westminster dog show features at least one local competitor
We’re rooting for you Antsy Prance!
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"Even though Serranos can be a good deal hotter than the average, their flesh is much thinner so you get a friendly fire rather than a mouthful of afterburn." — Alton Brown
Other posts by Hannah Serrano.
Other posts by Hannah Serrano.
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uh, weren’t we (or you) just flooded Thanksgiving weekend 09? I distinctly recall wading through waist-high water in Norfolk. Nearly every scientist in the freegin world has explained, rather carefully I thought, that global warming would make us all more vulnerable to flooding. Who in their right mind wouldn’t see HR as especially so? See this is the reason you can understand why people don’t read the new: people are dumb and it’s irritating.
And isn’t most of this area supposed to be a swamp(part of the great dismal swamp) anyway? I may be wrong, please correct me if I am, but this area has always been soggy. I assumed it was because modern development figured out ways to temporarily dry us out, but it sure does look like that’s not going to last and that it never worked that well in the first place.
Re: Teacher’s facebook.
Its not part of the school, its the teacher’s personal space, its perfectly fine for the teacher to vent on her facebook. Infact, that’s what makes Facebook or twitter so popular, people vent and their friends come to their emotional support almost immediately. “Hate crime” is certainly an exaggeration, but venting on her own facebook is a perfectly human thing to do, and hardly grounds for suspension.
Re: Repealed Gun Law.
The wait is 1 month between purchases, but the law already exempts all law enforcement personel, security professionals, and people with CCW permits. Not many people are still covered under the law when you’ve exempted those segments.
Noah, you’re right, it’s not part of the school. And yes, that’s what Facebook is for. However, you HAVE to be careful about what you’re saying in a public arena. It’s the Internet, where everyone has access. And when you’re talking about the actions of 12- and 13-year-olds at your school, I think you should be extra careful.
The menhaden story is great, but buried in it is a key fact: On the East Coast, only Virginia and North Carolina still allow industrial harvests of menhaden. In the Gulf of Mexico, where Omega catches the majority of its fish, Texas last year imposed catch restrictions on menhaden boats.
There are a lot of credible scientists who say we’re fishing menhaden to collapse and that will lead to the collapse of ocean fisheries.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/opinion/16greenberg.html
Hannah, Thanks for highlighting the Menhaden article. Worth noting that Omega still has Nitrogen & Phosphorus permit violations, even after new management came in. Those are the two primary nutrient pollutants that contribute to poor water quality in the Bay and our rivers and streams. If you’re interested in this fishery (and if you live here, you should be), check out Ginna Kelly’s article in last month’s Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ginna-kelly/menhaden-mess_b_441763.html
i’m apparently registered for a Pilot account and can’t remember my username or password… and their system for e-mailing a reminder is either broken or really slow. if somebody wants to put in that bikes passing on the right/riding up to the stop-line at a stoplight is legal in VA (and usually encouraged by bike safety folks), though, i’ve got your link! http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+46.2-907
(i try to be really conscientious about following the traffic rules, and repeated comments about it made me look it up to be sure.)