Dear Verizon please stop being so evil,

I forgot about 411. It’s a bit scary to me that I could not remember the pre-ubiquitous tech world in which all information ever to be captured in binary is instantly available on my phone. That being said our state has plenty of areas where technology has yet to land, and these people rely on the 411 service.

Verizon and Cox Communications filed a request with the State Corporation Commission asking that the required two free 411 calls per month be eliminated. Unfortunately for their investors (but luckily for the citizens of rural Virginia) the number was reduced to one free call a month instead.

Verizon is also pushing another anti-citizen measure this year called the “2011 Telecom Modernization Bill,” which would free them up to sell their Virginia phone utility without the approval of the State Corporation Commission, and release Verizon from its obligations to run phone lines to rural areas, if some other service is available.

In reality, passage would mean price hikes, as the bill would kill price protections–but more unjustly, Verizon could stop providing land-line service. It could then simply provide these citizens with a cell phone in Virginia’s mountains, with poor reception at best, and claim the obligation fulfilled. Additionally, the cell service is usually far more expensive, difficult for seniors, and requires long-term contracts.

The more and more we have, less and less choice do we keep.

While we are on the topic of Verizon, I’d like to point out how they do their best to block every major initiative to bring broadband-speed wireless to any public area. It seems so damn unfair that the technology with the power to reshape the world for good is so heavily influenced by your irresponsible self. Please Verizon just stop it.

EVMS Scientist gets bacteria to make the Google sign

This is one of those fun nerdy things that we all get a giggle out of, and Google gets a free advertisement.

Both chambers approve of the use of inmate labor at state rest stops

In a spectacular show of fear mongering, legislators took turns imagining worst-case scenarios at Virginia rest stops. Delegate Brink–a man whose opinion I usually hold in high esteem–demonstrated his divisive disposition, saying,”I would suggest there’s a big difference in driving at 65 miles per hour past a crew of convicts picking up trash on the shoulder of the highway and sharing your picnic lunch with them at a rest stop.”

I am pretty sure that it’s off limits for inmates to sit down with families to share a bologna sandwich, but I will check. More instructive is the public perception of incarcerated persons as the other, someone to fear, undesirables, as Brink conveys in his comments. One need not stretch their imaginations to envision a similar statement being uttered by citizens that did not want to eat next to ditch diggers in a caste system.

Sure the people who are in prison broke the law, but the only people allowed to participate in the work program are nonviolent, low-security inmates. Furthermore they are to be working on the outsides of the rest area buildings, focusing primarily on mowing and landscaping. Delegate Brink, what is the big deal?

Keeping with the ugliness, Senator Henry Marsh said, “All we need is one incident at a rest stop involving children or anyone and it goes around the country, it goes around the world maybe, depending on what the incident is.”

Again I repeat that only nonviolent, low-security would be allowed to work the rest areas, but the Honorable Senator March implies on public record that these individuals would make the leap from possession to child rape. My, that is quite a leap.

Our elected leaders use this type of rhetoric to describe our most harmless offenders, and yet we scratch our heads wondering why recidivism rates top 60 percent in the US prison system. How on earth do you expect someone to get their life back on track when in Senator Marsh’s world everyone that passes through Virginia’s Department of Corrections comes out a child rapist?

I want a leader who loves unconditionally, and governs with that as a guiding principle. Is that so much to ask for? I mean, we let people govern with any number of other, more ridiculous value systems–why not give empathy and compassion a try?

“McDonnell’s plan to privatize ABC Stores going nowhere fast”

Bad newspaper headline groan aside, Bob’s privatization plan looks to be dead. Democrats are a bit worried about tripling the number of liquor stores (I’m sure the partisan in them doesn’t mind sticking it to Governor McDonnell, as well); and as a result, the bill is getting stalled in committee on both sides of Virginia’s legislature.

I’ve made no secret of my distaste for this measure. I think at best it’s a revenue-neutral measure that increases the likelihood of alcohol abuse. At worst it will cost the state money to increase our alcohol-related issues. One thing is clear though: No matter the form the bill takes, it will do nothing to address our ailing transportation needs, which was the original justification provided for privatization in the first place.

However, the article ends with a quote by Senator Mark Obenshain, “It deserves to be heard. Let’s hear it, debate it and vote on it. That’s what we’re here to do. That’s what we’re paid to do.”

The man does seem to have a point, and while I respect his sentiment, we should be clear… Obenshain is the sponsor of the bill being stalled and not the champion of democratic rights that the above statement might imply. Every day in Richmond, potential legislation both good and bad dies alone, cold, undebated, and unknown on some subcommittee. I can say with full confidence that the honorable Senator Obenshain sheds no tears for the bulk of potential laws that unceremoniously slip quietly into the governmental ether.

However, lets for a moment sever the statement from the intentions. Does he have a point? I have always been a firm believer that more openness and more people voting on a matter results in a more accurate reflection of the populace’s desires, but perhaps I am just drinking the democratic Kool-Aid?

Defenders of our current murky legislative process point to efficiency as the the main justification for the practice. After all there is only so much time in a session and so many bills too consider. If each of these bills were given full consideration on the floor, our already plodding process might grind to a halt, right?

Maybe not. In Virginia, our House of Delegates is already limited to a self-imposed 15-bill limit each session. The hope was that it would make the work of the House more manageable. Yet their is no indication that more bills are getting full hearings on the floor. Each delegate represents about 71,000 Virginia citizens in Richmond. A lot of people with concerns to spread about only 15 bills. Imagine how crazy things would get if the public became engaged and started actually requesting legislation?

So these 15 little bills get sent out to committees, where many of them will die. In fact, since the committee assignment is controlled by partisans, many bills are purposefully sent to non-related committees where chances of termination are higher and more politically palatable. A personal favorite tactic of mine is when a bill that has nothing to do with the state budget gets hit with a “fiscal impact statement,” which automatically will land a bill in finance or appropriations where they can die because of “fiduciary considerations.” By going this route, legislators can avoid the awkwardness of explaining why they don’t support perfectly reasonable legislation.

What makes it to the floor for real debate by a house of Virginia’s representatives are usually bills whose future is already written. Given the partisanship of the committee process, those bills that make their way to the Capitol building have already been vetted by their respective parties. They know they are going to pass the measures they let get to the floor, or make a political example of. The Senate side does the same.

This is the second week in a row that I feel compelled to say we have let democracy erode from under our very feet. Our legislative process is streamlined bifurcation. The actual number of voices that weigh in on a specific issue is alarmingly low, and we as a people should be bothered by this. Again… I entreat you, please care.

Blacksburg is to host an agroterrorism conference and they have their eyes on you PETA

Seriously PETA… I am pretty sure that if there is a list somewhere, you guys are on it. Take it as a badge of honor. While not a supporter of all your actions, I am a believer that if the government and big farms really thought that our industrial dairy, meat, and produce processes were standing on firm moral footing they wouldn’t be so paranoid.

Light Rail is coming! Quick get everyone good and scared!

Jesse S brought this up on the AltDaily FB already, but in case you missed it, apparently someone took “get people talking about light rail” as an open-ended directive and had this gem of a terrible PSA produced.

While I share our editor’s disposition regarding scaring people about the light rail monster that will terrorize our personal vehicles, I think I am more bothered by the crappy production value. Watching the video I was left utterly unconvinced that these kids were actually friends having a good time. Fake high fives, crappy “hip” backbeat… the whole thing was just awful. HRT, I am just not sure how you expect me to get emotionally attached and thus appropriately scared by applying these kids’ tragedy to my own life with this shoddy acting.