Martin Tillett
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On the article WOW: Potomac Home Features Private Beach
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On the article When Are Cicadas Hatching in Mount Vernon?
Martin Tillett
10:08 am on Monday, April 22, 2013
ReplyTitle is misleading in saying that they hatched. They actually hatched 17 years ago and are presently nymphs. Cicadas have an incomplete metamorphosis. They do not have a larval stage of development. They are emerging as stated later in the story, will mate, lay eggs in the softer new growth at the tips of branches which die and fall to the ground, a form of natural pruning. The egg laying injury causes twig dieback with little if any injury while feeding on plants with their piercing straw like mouth. The eggs will hatch with the hatchlings (nymphs) burrowing into the ground to attach themselves to tree roots for sustenance during their 17 years of growth before emerging again as full grown nymphs ready the split open their protective exoskeleton and emerge as adults capable of flying.
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On the article Virginia GOP Voter ID Law: Voter Suppression?
Martin Tillett
11:44 am on Sunday, March 31, 2013
ReplyThis ID nonsense was played out in many states last November only to backfire in the face of the Republican Party. The idea that there was an effort to go back to any form of voter suppression only energized a large segment of the electorate in those states resulting in long lines and polls having to stay open later. Voters were not discouraged, instead they were all the more determined to cast their votes and willing to endure the long lines and waiting to cast a ballot. In Virginia, the 2013 election is an off year election that usually has low voter turn out. Since this ID nonsense is fresh in the minds of voters, one can only hope that there will be high voter turnout as a backlash to voter ID as an instrument to suppress voting in VA. If that becomes the case, Republicans have once again taken aim and in their famous circular firing squad maneuver. Nothing energizes the electorate more than having the sense that a party or a political movement wants to exclude you from participation in the franchise. Who knows, this could prove to be a watershed event in VA where the state begins to look more blue than purple and on an off year election to boot. I have no doubt that Democratic strategists are focusing on using one sides effort to suppress voting as a means to energize their own voters and independents. Worked very effectively in November 2012.
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On the article Officials Say Reduced Hybrid Tax Still Unfair
Martin Tillett
12:33 pm on Friday, March 29, 2013
Again, why single out one class of gas sipping vehicles? Many smaller diesels do better mileage wise than hybrids as stated above. Many motorcycles do better mileage wise than hybrids. Even some of the newer compacts standard fuel engine cars are today doing as good as hybrids on fuel efficiency. All of these other gas sippers use the roads as well. Instead of selecting a class of vehicle "hybrid" as having to pay an annual fee why not assign the fees on a sliding scale based on mpg estimates for the vehicle regardless of class.
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On the article Gubernatorial Candidate McAuliffe Delivers Signatures to Election Board
Martin Tillett
12:15 pm on Friday, March 29, 2013
PATCH is the views of its readers and those among them that fulfill the simple registration requirements to post articles and blogs as I perceive it. I can't imagine the different PATCH editors cherry picking which people get to post articles and blogs on the basis of their political affiliation or the content of their articles or blogs. The ratios that seem troubling to you only reflect the political demographics of the PATCH communities from which they originate. This is after all NOVA and not Central or SW VA. Someone from the PATCH network may want to offer some clarification but all is seemingly fair to me. Some of the articles and blogs get a great deal of response from those reading PATCH and I don't see the PATCH editors curbing replies from posters that are so obviously conservative with their remarks. You want more articles and blogs that are conservative in nature then start writing or convince other conservatives to write and stop whining that there are more writers & bloggers on PATCH that is in your view left leaning.
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On the article Survey Says: Move the Mount Vernon Farmers Market
Martin Tillett
9:47 am on Thursday, March 28, 2013
ReplyIf the ISA is relocating to a new campus in the near future, why not consider that spot for a future farmers market. With all of the redevelopment coming to the Huntington area at the north end of the district, why not plan a space for a farmers market in this area. That empty, undeveloped parcel on the east side of Richmond Highway where Fort Hunt Road, Richmond Highway & Huntington Avenue join together would make a great spot for a farmers market. In the past there was a service station located here with a produce stand next door for many years. It would take some planning and effort to configure the layout to accommodate such a use but just about anything would be better than the present weed and trash strewn lot that exists there now. Besides, it would be only fair to have an amenity located in the north end of the district.
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On the article Handguns in Virginia: What Would You Do If This Happened to You?
Martin Tillett
9:29 am on Thursday, March 28, 2013
Did you read the entire article and get to the point where penis envy is likely not the reason for the majority of gun ownership. This was not put up as a serious rebuttal or point to anything other than to inject some humor among so many seemingly humorless people that really take themselves way too seriously in their so called defense of the 2A. Healthier to have a discussion with an occasional chuckle than to just direct anger at those with whom you disagree. Surely you can find a link to a humorous article and or video that spoofs gun control advocates.
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On the article Handguns in Virginia: What Would You Do If This Happened to You?
Martin Tillett
8:36 am on Thursday, March 28, 2013
Doesn't make the video any less funny. Seriously Don Joy, lighten up.
Oh, BTW, your statement above about LANZA leaving the AR15 in the trunk of his car does not jibe with the publicly released investigations on the news this morning. -
On the article Handguns in Virginia: What Would You Do If This Happened to You?
Martin Tillett
7:42 pm on Wednesday, March 27, 2013
ReplyCold Dead Hand with Jim Carry - Too funny to pass up in this discussion.Enjoy whatever side of the argument you are on.
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/0433b30576/cold-dead-hand-with-jim-carrey?playlist=featured_videos
Also a Truthout article - The AR-15 Assault Weapon: What Would Freud Say? The Cold Dead Hand link came from this article.
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/15364-the-ar-15-assault-weapon -
On the article Handguns in Virginia: What Would You Do If This Happened to You?
Martin Tillett
3:12 pm on Wednesday, March 27, 2013
ReplyDon Joy,
You'd make a great Gen. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) fondling a phallic cigar while launching an unauthorized nuclear strike against Russia. He has become convinced that the commies are poisoning ``the purity and essence of our natural fluids'' by adding fluoride to the water supply. Your ideas about commies are right in synch with his.
Martin Tillett
1:37 pm on Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Maryland owns the Potomac. Not just to the middle, but the whole river to mean high tide on the Virginia shore. If that is the case according to this article from St. Marys College.
http://www.smcm.edu/slackwater/onlineExhibits/JFrankRaley/jfrpotomac.html
Then at low tide, walking the beach, identified as a private beach to the property being discussed, is not private but public. If what is stated in the article is true, the beach between the low and high tide marks belongs to MD and not the property owners, therefore making it NOT a private beach. Someone else may know otherwise and wish to submit other information. I was of the impression that on tidal waters where commerce takes place that beach fronts were in the public domain thus allowing anyone on a boat or water borne craft in need of refuge or an emergency landing site could do so without fear of criminal trespass. Access to waterfront via land is different since one would have to cross property private or public to reach the beach.