Month: January 2008

The prophet claims that he was only 14 when he was first visited by the Heavenly Father and his son, Jesus Christ, in the form of two pillars of fire. A few years later, the angel Moroni began to visit him and did so for four years straight until directing Smith to the hill Cumorah in upstate New York where he unearthed the golden plates and two divining stones that would help him to translate. Although the angel took the plates back, Smith was left with the Book of Mormon, which he originally had self-published.

In 1827, the angel Moroni directed Joseph Smith to a hill where he received a set of golden plates that contained the Book of Mormon. Plastic representations like this one can be yours for the low price of $5.95.

The story therein concerned the descendants of a family who left Jerusalem in 600 B.C., crossing the ocean in a ship that landed somewhere on the American continents. “From this family sprang two nations known as the Nephites and Lamanites,” says Truth Restored, a short history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints published by the Mormons themselves. “For the most part, the Nephites were a God-fearing people, while the Lamanites were “generally indolent, quarrelsome, and wicked.”

Most remarkably, Jesus Christ himself chose to visit the Nephites a year after his resurrection, in 34 A.D. Accordingly, Jesus gave the Nephites his gospel, word for word, Sermon on the Mount and all. He “set up his church among them,” the small book says, “giving its leadership authority identical to that which he conferred upon the Twelve Apostles in Jerusalem.”

Like all nations, America became wicked, despite the warnings of prophets, one of whom was named Mormon and was writing all this down. From these “extensive” records, he compiled an abridged version on plates of gold and gave it to his son Moroni who survived the destruction of the Nephites at the hand of the Lamanites. Prior to his death, Moroni buried the plates to which he later directed Smith.

Not surprisingly, people were taken aback by this newer testament, and like all prophets, Smith and his message were initially refused. So he sought refuge elsewhere and was persecuted everywhere he went until he came to a small town in Illinois. There Smith and his new religion flourished, continuing to receive revelation of all kinds, seeming to clarify any question lobbed at him until he devised something called polygamy. That caused all sorts of problems, and eventually Smith was shot and killed by an angry mob in Carthage, Illinois, on June 27, 1844. A younger disciple named Brigham Young then took charge and, like Moses, led the Latter-day Saints away from the destructive Gentiles and into the barren desert with its cragged mountains and salt lake of Utah.

“If a couple of people wander in two at a time over the course of about seven minutes we can get everyone inside without attracting too much attention,” said Jeff Winder of The People United to the 20 or so protesters drawn around him at the backside of the Omni Hotel.

Food Not Bombs helped organize the peaceful protest stunt against the federal border patrol agents.

On the other side of the hotel, near the entrance, two federal agents stood beside an FM 101.9 display while a nearby van blared wan pop. The agents were here to recruit federal guards in an effort to recruit 6,000 nationwide to patrol the U.S.-Mexican border. You could also sign up to win UVA basketball tickets, courtesy of the radio station. I grabbed a free pen that said “U.S. Customs” on its side.

Also there were Winder and his crew, there to disrupt the recruiting event in order to combat stereotypes about immigrants and the idea that we need more border agents. “At some point when we think we have critical mass back there, then we can have a couple other people come in—” explained Sue Frankel-Streit, another People United rep, pausing to dig through a plastic bag before pulling out a yellow hat, “—as the border patrol and start asking everyone for their ID and, upon not getting an indigenous [person]’s ID, arrest all of our own people for not being legal. Then cart them through the front and out the Omni.”

Moments later, Winder stood inside talking to a federal agent as two other protestors sidled by the radio display, pausing briefly to look around, before dipping in to take their place behind their fearless leader. Eventually, they would be subjected to an informational video about the border patrol and take part in the mock arrest. According to The Daily Progress, it sparked no actual arrests. Agents simply asked them to leave and they complied. This was a peaceful protest after all. Even a baby, astride its mother in a papoose, was spotted taking part.

Once everyone else had moved inside, two stayed back beside the People United display on the other side of the Omni. “We’re watching the stuff,” a bundled-up girl explained, pointing to the table that bore handouts and the detritus of an earlier veggie feast. They would not be going in, the other added, pouring some tea into his cup. I showed him my free pen as three teenage girls walked by with yellow 101.9 T-shirts. He stared and then spoke, “I don’t even understand what this thing is.”

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When defense attorney Michael Morchower brought up that Orange County Commonwealth’s Attorney Diana Wheeler made a plea bargain with a witness and withheld it from defense, Circuit Judge Daniel Bouton had no choice but to throw out a guilty verdict against James H. Long, Jr.—convicted of first-degree murder in September, 2006—and start over. When asked who ought to replace her as prosecutor, Wheeler opted for someone who knows a little something about starting fresh: Jim Camblos, defeated in his bid for the Albemarle Commonwealth’s Attorney seat by Denise Lunsford. Camblos’ first case as assistant prosecutor for the city of Waynesboro begins on February 18.

Jim Camblos will take on his first case as Waynesboro assistant prosecutor on February 18.

Previous "This Just In" articles from this week:

Free the sangria [January 25]
Restaurant owner hopes to make the Spanish drink legal

Shot down [January 24]
Gun control in the wake of Virginia Tech massacre defeated in Senate

Jones named new assistant city manager [January 23]
Will return to work for Charlottesville after beating out over 150 applicants

UVA ties for first-place in black student enrollment [January 23]
Dean of admissions expects numbers to grow

Baseball bat bill strikes out [January 22]
Proposed aluminum ban will step to the plate again next year after more research

Hey you! Stop stirring that bowl of sangria! Why? Because the authentic version of the Spanish drink—that’s a mix of red wine, liquor and sliced fruit—is illegal in Virginia restaurants. Nearly a quarter of a century ago the state outlawed the serving of any concoction that includes both liquor and either wine or beer, the Associated Press reports. Frances McDonald, the vice president La Tasca Spanish Tapas Bar and Restaurants, discovered this fact when his Alexandria restaurant was fined $2000 for breaking the law in 2006. McDonald has filed an appeal to the Alcohol Beverage Control Board and will go to Richmond to urge state legislators to pass a bill that would lift the sangria ban. Until that happens, restaurants like local tapas bar Mas will have to substitute a non-alcoholic ingredient in place of liquor, leading to a less dreadful hangover, but also a less authentic sangria experience.

Mixing fruit is OK, but mixing liquor and wine is a no-no according state law.

Previous "This Just In" articles from this week:

Shot down [January 24]
Gun control in the wake of Virginia Tech massacre defeated in Senate

Jones named new assistant city manager [January 23]
Will return to work for Charlottesville after beating out over 150 applicants

UVA ties for first-place in black student enrollment [January 23]
Dean of admissions expects numbers to grow

Baseball bat bill strikes out [January 22]
Proposed aluminum ban will step to the plate again next year after more research

Survivors of last year’s shooting tragedy at Virginia Tech have been dealt a blow in their effort to close the gun show loophole. The Washington Post reports this morning that a Virginia Senate bill, which would have required background checks for buyers at gun shows in the state, and that was championed by some survivors and other gun control advocates, was defeated yesterday in committee. The Post quotes Gordon Hickey, a spokesman for Governor Tim Kaine, who had made the bill a priority, as saying, “This vote indicates that some believe a felon should be able to buy a gun at a gun show.” 

Senator Creigh Deeds, who generally opposes gun restrictions, voted for the bill as a response to the Virginia Tech tragedy, but too many other senators like Deeds stuck to their guns.

Previous "This Just In" articles from this week:

Jones named new assistant city manager [January 23]
Will return to work for Charlottesville after beating out over 150 applicants

UVA ties for first-place in black student enrollment [January 23]
Dean of admissions expects numbers to grow

Baseball bat bill strikes out [January 22]
Proposed aluminum ban will step to the plate again next year after more research