Poor Jim Plowman, has to go out of the county to find supporters

Invitation to Jim Plowman's fundraiser in Fairfax last night

While Jennifer Wexton was holding a well-attended fundraiser at a local Loudoun business, Jim Plowman had to leave the county to get to his fundraiser, at the law offices of Phillips, Beckwith, Hall, & Chase.

Wait a minute....Beckwith? Beckwith? Why does that name sound so familiar? Because Beckwith was the attorney for a defendant that got a sweetheart deal from Plowman's office.

Friends of Jim Plowman

Sean Mabry robbed women at knifepoint in three separate offenses in Loudoun in September, 2010. Once he was caught, he admitted that he sought out women victims because he thought they would be easier to rob.

Mabry hired an attorney whose firm was a donor to Plowman’s campaign and in March, 2011, the Commonwealth agreed that Mabry would plead guilty to two of the robberies, and would not be charged for any other robberies he committed in Loudoun.

The Commonwealth not only to the specific sentence, and that the sentences could be served concurrently with one another, they also agreed that the sentence for the Loudoun charges would be concurrent to the sentence Mabry would serve for two additional robberies he had committed in Fairfax County! (See Mabry Facts and Plea Agreement)

Mabry’s counsel’s law firm followed up with an additional campaign donation to Plowman in June, 2011.

The Commonwealth’s volume discount allowed the defendant to commit numerous armed robberies throughout Northern Virginia, targeting those he believed to be the most vulnerable victims, for NO ADDITIONAL PENALTY. (See Mabry Facts and Plea Agreement).

Beckwith's signature on Mabry's plea agreement

It's time for Loudoun to have a Commonwealth's Attorney that doesn't give sweetheart deals to the clients of donors. It's time to bring honesty and integrity back to the office of Commonwealth's Attorney.

It's time to vote for Jennifer Wexton.

The adventures of an Obama 2012 bumper magnet

I've got one, as seen in this picture:

and my husband had a matching one, up until Saturday night, when we were parked in the lot at Clyde's (excellent smoked duck, but I don't recommend the Smurf cupcake). When we returned to the car, the magnet was gone.

I'm pretty sure I know who took it, and think it was pretty petty. But no matter, we have more! BTW, person who took it, if you had asked? We would have given you one.

Random bullets of a busy weekend

• NARAL Pro-choice VA's LUNAFEST event was splendid! Valdis Ronis and his daughter Shanyn joined us, along with many others. We also got donations from many local businesses, as well as local friends. So here is a thank you to Valdis, Erika, The Reign of Cats and Dogs, and Rouge Spa. Your generosity is appreciated.
• The kick-off for Cliff Keirce was terrific. Bonefish was generous with the food and drinks. I had great conversations with lots of people. People from within and without the new Broad Run were there. Including some people I think Andrea would have expected to be fully with her. I gave a donation, and have pledged to walk with Cliff in Oakgrove and many other precincts. 
• Went to two picnics (one on Saturday with my son's after-school, one on Sunday with the UUs of Sterling).
• On Sunday at church, I was suddenly overwhelmed with gratitude for being a part of the UUs of Sterling. The members of that church are all community-oriented, politically aware, generally progressive. I realized that leaving the LCDC didn't mean I had left the only community that was involved locally in causes that are important to me. 

It's getting easier to be green

Up until last November, neither of our cars were terribly efficient. I had a 2002 Kia Sedona, he had a 1997 Jeep Wrangler. Both were bought used. The Kia was bought when our son still had a lot of equipment to haul around.

We were thinking about getting more efficient vehicles, but you know what the greenest car is? One that you already have that's in working condition. So we waited...and we dreamed of better than 20 miles to the gallon.

Then I was in a collision, and the Kia was replaced with a 1998 Toyota Camry. People, I regularly get over 30 miles to the gallon in that puppy, just tootling back and forth from work!

And then we had to replace the Jeep. This past weekend, we got a 2002 Honda Civic. It's even more efficient than the Toyota! Plus I work just a few miles from home! This is so exciting!!! Just as Big Oil is taking advantage of unrest in the Middle East to gouge consumers, we're thumbing our noses at them and benefiting local businesses at the same time!!

The Toyota was purchased at Lindsay Volkswagen. We went back to them last week, but they didn't have anything in our price range this time (though they had a sweet red Mini Cooper), so we got the Honda from Honda of Dulles. We had a great experience at each of their stores, and I've recommended them to friends. If you're in the market for a car, you really could not do better than to shop at either of their stores --- and they're even in our district!

One reason I don't have advertising on my blog

Is that it seems nigh impossible to control which ads run. Daily Kos, for example, has ads for Frank Wolf running at the top and bottom of their pages. Various body positive blogs I read have trouble with diet ads running. Infertility blog readers get upset when the blogs they read have advertising for baby stuff.

And the specialty advertisers like Advertise Liberally won't touch a site like mine that has relatively low traffic (relative to Pandagon, for example).

Other blogs I know sell their own advertising space, but that seems like a lot of overhead.

So, instead, I'm donating space to restaurants that are supportive of Democracy in general and who support causes I believe in. All the logos I have up are of businesses I support with my purchasing dollars. I am receiving absolutely no compensation for having their logos on my site.

Joe's Pizza and Joe's Cafe; American Flatbread; and Jimmy's Old Town Tavern. They are restaurants worth eating at owned by civic-minded and warm-hearted people. Go eat at their restaurants, and tell them I sent you.

Farmers Market Round Up

It was a fun time, but short. The Ashburn Farmers market is open from 8 to noon Saturdays. Produce, eggs, meat, DELICIOUS cupcakes (also available at a kiosk in Dulles Town Center), beautiful breads and pies.

I saw a woman who was toting a Chico bag, and complimented her on it.

Had several great conversations - with vendors, with shoppers, and with Catherine.

There wasn't much of a crowd there, so from a leafleting POV, Leesburg's market is a better bet, but the people were great.

Walking through Wegmans

One of the things I love about Loudoun County is that you can't go shopping at Wegmans without seeing at least one person you know.

This last time, it was two members of teh Spouse's campaign for delegate, who now work for Jeff Barnett; and a recently retired member of the CSB.

Everytime we go, we see colleagues and neighbors and folks we know from our son's school or daycare. Most of the people we see, we'd know even if we weren't quite so involved in community affairs, but it's one of those things that makes me feel that this is a community worth being involved in.

Because you just can't go to Wegmans without seeing people you know.

From my Inbox

Announcements from American Flatbread:

ANNOUNCEMENTS
May 20th

Live Music Thursdays

Bike to Work May 21st - Walk, or Bike to Ashburn location and receive a free 9" dancing heart flatbread by mentioning special offer.

New every week introducing different flavors of Lisa Atkins "Kind Kupcakes" - Peanut Butter Bliss while they last
Look for our 3 year celebration details coming soon.
MENU SPECIALS

Basil Pesto and Artichoke Flatbread

Organic basil pesto, all natural mozzarella, oven roasted red peppers, and fresh artichoke hearts
Wine pairing - Man Vintners "Chenin Blanc"

Buffalo Chicken Flatbread
Fields of Athenry's free range chicken tossed in house made buffalo sauce with organic celery, blue cheese, and all natural mozzarella
Beer pairing - Starr Hill "Jomo Larger

Laurie Edeline's Apple Pie
Local Moorenko's Ice Cream, Strawberry Cheesecake, Cinnamon, Mango MEGAJOLT is back.

Matt Turk from New York will be playing Saturday night May 29th with his band. More Details to follow.

HOURS

Mon - Thur 4:30-9:00pm
Fri 4:30-9:00pm
Sat 12:00-9:00pm
Sun 12:00-9:00pm


Ph: (703) 723-7003

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Did you know I've got four parents?

Mom and David came in to town last weekend, Dad and Roz are coming this weekend.

Dad and Roz are on strict medical diets, so I won't be taking them to Jimmy's or Joe's, but I will bring them to Hama Sushi and possibly Jackson's (or Sweetwater) or maybe American Flatbread.

Do you have any suggestions of places you like to take your out-of-town relatives?





As always, these links are here because I love these restaurants. I'm not being compensated for putting these links on my page. I hope you support these wonderful local businesses.

Talking Local Business

My mom and step-dad were in town over Mother's Day weekend, and we took them around to several local restaurants, all of which got big thumbs-up from my sophisticated New Yawkah parental units (who, btw, treated. THANKS MOM AND DAVID!)

• Jimmy's Old Town Tavern: My mom had the rib-eye, my step-dad had the ribs. They both loved the food and the atmosphere. And Jimmy was an amazingly gracious host.
• Jackson's: They both had the grilled chicken and beet salad, which were pronounced excellent. They were impressed by the freshness and variety of ingredients in the salad, and also by the deliciousness of the french fries that came with my son's macaroni-and-cheese-with-ham.
• Hama Sushi: They had the spicy calamari salad, the avocado salad, and a variety of sushi, and were blown away by how good everything was.

On past trips, I've brought them to American Flatbread and my step-dad still raves over the pizza he ate there.

So, to sum up: Reston and points west can satisfy the palates of New York City sophisticates. Eat locally! Support our terrific restaurant resources!

You may notice that there are some advertisement-looking pictures in my side bar. These are NOT paid advertisements. I am supporting local businesses I frequent by donating space on my blog to promote them. I am not getting any in-kind consideration from these folks, nor do I expect any.

Dispatches from a busy weekend

Saturday:

• I helped move the LCDC into new offices! Look for us now in the old Leesburg Today building on the corner of S. King and E. Market! It's an accessible space, with an elevator and a by-god accessible bathroom. I don't know when the Grand Opening will be, but the executive meeting a week from today will be held there (I am the only member of the Loudoun or VA CSBs on LCDC's Exec. committee).

Sunday:

• Had a lovely b'fast at Joe's Cafe on West Church. They serve terrific (and plentiful!) food at reasonable prices. Open for b'fast and lunch 7 days. Go give them a look-see. This is not a paid endorsement, I am simply a very happy customer.


• Went to the Earth Day celebration at Clyde's Willowcreek Farm. Saw Erica Garman, Tammi Marcoulier, Oya Simpson, and many, many other friends. It was a fabulous festival and I already can't wait for next year!


• Finally, went to a fund-raiser for Marty Martinez in Leesburg. Lots of excitement! And had fun playing with one of the world's sweetest two-year-olds. Turns out, I've got the same phone as her papa. Our son had fun playing with the other kids who were there.

In between and after, our family had a blast together. We admired our garden. Our son kicked our butts at Uno. We read books, told jokes, paid bills, and just enjoyed spending time as a family both at home and at events.

Had lunch with the World's Best Finance Director, Bar None*

She was in town for various reasons and we hadn't seen her since just after the election.

Had a lovely time schmoozing and sitting in the sunshine at Anita's in Ashburn. I highly recommend the #10 on the Burrito menu.

She's looking well and happy. Looking to move up in the world. I love when that happens.

Ashburn/Broadlands readers:

If you're going to the Giant/Chipotle shopping center, use the entrance by Chipotle or the one by the gas station. The one by Home Depot is a mess. Only one lane is plowed, and it's causing gridlock.

Accessibility

"Accessibility doesn't just mean I get easily into a building. Accessibility means anonymity. It reduces the need for compassion, understanding, special consideration, to Nil. It allows me to slip in unnoticed and set up quietly. This doesn't mean it masks my disability, it just makes it mean something very different." -Dave Hinsburger

"...Just the other day, Don and I went to the mall to take advantage of Boxing Day Sales. And, like every other time we go to the mall, it became apparent that the mall’s “accessibility plan” didn’t really include making the actual shops accessible. Lots of junk in aisles, aisles too narrow for a wheelchair, ect. (You’d think we’d stop going to the mall, but we only go about once every six months. The other mall we shop at is better, and I keep forgetting why we don’t trek out to this one very often.)

Don, kindly, pointed out that the shops I was going into didn’t have space for him. At first I thought about making complaints at each individual shop, but I wasn’t sure if the mall actually had a policy...Ultimately, I wrote a letter to the mall to bring this to their attention, but I have no idea if that will actually mean anything in the long run.

This anecdote isn’t unique by any stretch, and many people with disabilities I’ve talked to don’t even go so far as to write a letter (or an angry blog post) because this takes energy and time that could be spent doing countless other things."- Anna

"Since Sunday I've been carrying some sadness, frustration, and generally icky feelings about our church building. You see, we're not fully accessible. A wheelchair can get into the sanctuary, but not to the basement where the kitchen, church hall and washrooms are. I know. It's sad. Not to mention shameful.

Our mandate as a congregation is to be inclusive, and yet I had to apologize to FOUR people on Sunday morning who wanted to join us downstairs for lunch but could not because they cannot manage the stairs. I could mention that Pillar hasn't been in the building for years, but that sort of goes without saying. It's not about him. It's about everyone who finds walls instead of doors - at CHURCHES." - Sue

These quotations have been banging around my head the last couple of days. They've been drowning out other voices, voices that say that it's all about location...that we haven't had any complaints. Happily, I seem to be in a good company of people who agree with me that inclusiveness trumps location. And there may be ways of getting both inclusion and location.

So I'm being aggressive about finding out what options we may have and I'm keeping this as my motto:

"When given a choice, I would like us to always choose the more inclusive option."

In the parking lot at Wegman's* last night

I had a conversation with one of my favorite LCDC members. She asked if I thought the health care bill would pass and I said, "I really hope not"

Whereupon, she, aghast, said, "But if it fails, we won't get health care legislation passed for decades! Look what happened when Clinton tried it!" and I said, "I'd rather have it not pass than get this piece of crap. It's WORSE than what we have now. No public option to keep costs down. No guarantee of affordable coverage for people with pre-existing conditions (and yet, a mandate that they must buy coverage), less coverage for women (who, btw, make up more than half the nation's population), and on, and on. AND IT DOESN'T COVER EVERYBODY. It stinks. It should fail."

She said, "But if it fails, we'll lose all those seats in congress and Obama won't get re-elected."

I said, "If it fails and then the Democrats pull up their socks and pass Medicare For Everybody with 50% + 1 vote, they'll look strong and mighty and they'll get reelected. They need to stop negotiating with people who won't vote for the bill no matter what. They need to act like a majority, or they deserve to lose. It makes no sense to work to put Dems in a majority if they cave on every little thing."

And then we smiled at each other, and I went to my car to work my way out of the Wegman's parking lot. Which is a whole other story.



*An error in judgment. I should have gone to Giant instead - but I wanted a pain de campagne.

I'll be at Joe's Pizza tonight for the Sterling Volunteers Appreciation Dinner

With my son. The husband will, unfortunately, not attend as he will be at a budget input session thingy. Go easy on him, will you? He's doing his best and he's just one of nine.

Edited to add:
Joe's Italian Restaurant
22360 Sterling Blvd., Sterling Park (next to Safeway in the Sterling Plaza Shopping Center)
www.joespizzaria.com