Category: Virginia

"The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers."

From 630 WMAL in Washington, D.C.: How Much Is Enough?:

Thomas Fadoul wants Virginia to form a money pool modeled after the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund, which would be used to pay the families of the 32 people killed by gunman Seung Hui Cho on the Virginia Tech campus last April.

Fadoul told 630 WMAL’s Chris Core that the seven-million dollar Hokie Spirit Fund already collected by the school is woefully inadequate to meet the expenses of the victims’ families, and he is hoping to see compensation that is more in line with the amounts received by the families of those who died at the Pentagon and the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

The amounts by those families averaged around two million dollars. Fadoul is meeting with his clients this week to decide whether to move forward with a formal proposal to create a compensation fund.

Fadoul say such a fund could come from taxpayer contributions, and that fundraising efforts could include personal appeals from the victims’ families. Kenneth Feinberg, who oversaw the distribution of the September 11th funds, is now the administrator of the existing Hokie Spirit Fund.

He is recommending compensation ranging from $8,000 for those who were in Norris Hall on the day of the shooting to $150,000 for the families of those killed in the tragedy.

You people have some nerve, when are you going to start selling your homes and cars for these people? How convenient is it that the lawyer himself, Thomas Fadoul, would receive money not just from legal fees from the relatives but also due to the fact that his cousin was murdered during the massacre? How convenient is it that those who lost someone will receive over eighteen (18) times more than those that were in the building. How are those that were injured supposed to pay for their hospital bills and counseling?

In no way an attempt to minimize the lost to the families, but how many of the students were supporting a family like the police, firefighters, and other victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks?

And here’s the link for those wishing to donate. The fund will be closed for donations on August 1st.

Doing the kidnapping and selling into prostitution that Americans won’t do…

From NBC 4 in Washington, D.C.:

Police said the people who allegedly kidnapped two teenage girls earlier this week planned to take the girls to Florida and sell them into prostitution.

[…]

Investigators said the girls had apparently been involuntarily taken or lured from the home.

The FBI and the U.S. Marshal’s Service assisted in the investigation, and investigators located both girls at a home in Mableton, Ga., just after 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday, police said.

Javier Ronal, 21, of Dumfries, Va., Erick Estrada, 23, of no fixed address, and a 17-year-old Dumfries girl were arrested in connection with the case. Police said each is charged with two counts of abduction with the intent to defile. Police said at least one of the suspects is linked to the MS-13 gang.

Authorities said the three charged are being held in Cobb County, Ga., pending extradition.

No word yet if they are illegal entrants but I’m betting they are. For those who didn’t know, illegal “immigrants” with gang affiliation would have become legal if the (hopefully) now dead immigration bill had passed (scroll down to point 7).

Replacing one idiot with another?

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

Sen. John W. Warner’s campaign apparatus raised only $71,000 in the second quarter of this year, hardly looking like that of a candidate girding for re-election.

The 80-year-old Virginia Republican remained coy, however, about his re-election plans and insisted he doesn’t seek political donations until his campaign starts in earnest.

He repeated that he plans to announce a decision in September about seeking re-election in 2008 to a sixth term.

Warner raised $71,005 in the second three months of this year, according to a report his campaign submitted to the Federal Election Commission, which was made public on the agency’s Web site yesterday. That brought his cash on hand to $734,495.

[…]

Meanwhile, Rep. Thomas M. Davis III, R-11th, who is interested in running for the Senate if Warner steps down, reported he raised $402,000 during the second quarter and has a campaign war chest of $1.05 million.

Davis and Warner are more moderate than many in their party, and they are personally close. They also have a campaign treasurer in common. The same person, Mary Jane Sargent, put her name on the quarterly campaign reports for both politicians’ campaigns.

Please, please, someone give us another choice than one between these two idiots: Senator John “I voted for it before I voted against it” Warner and Representative Tom “It’s my job to regulate baseball” Davis.

Hell, Webb has more conviction than you Warner, at least he didn’t wait until cloture had already failed to vote “nay” on the immigration bill.

“I’m shocked, shocked to find that there is dog fighting going on here!”

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch: Vick indicted in dogfighting case:

NFL quarterback Michael Vick and three others were indicted this afternoon by a federal grand jury in Richmond on charges of interstate conspiracy to sponsor a dogfighting venture, authorities said.

The others named in the indictment are Purnell A. Peace, Quanis L. Phillips and Tony Taylor.

The indictment comes as part of a federal investigation into alleged dogfighting activities at a property owned by Vick in Surry County.

The investigation began more than two months ago when a cousin of Vick’s was arrested on a drug charge in Hampton. The cousin gave as his address a house owned by Vick in rural Surry.

Well, obviously it is just because he’s black as Vick’s attorney has previously pointed out. Or maybe because you can get a grand jury to “indict a ham sandwich”?

I’m guessing the phrase “equal protection” doesn’t mean anything to you…

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch: Kaine: fees only for Va. motorists:

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s office was behind the exclusion of out-of-state motorists from new hefty driving fees that have generated considerable outrage around the state.

Republican members of the General Assembly have taken most of the heat, but their original transportation bill in this year’s General Assembly session included out-of-state motorists.

[…]

“We feel Virginians’ concerns,” said Hall, who added that Kaine would work with the assembly next year in trying to find a way to include out-of-state motorists.

[…]

The fees cover not only serious driving offenses but many misdemeanors. For instance, a reckless-driving conviction mandates $1,050 in fees over a three-year period — as does a misdemeanor conviction for failure to give a proper signal.

Any felony conviction results in $3,000 in fees, in three annual payments, on top of court-imposed penalties. Most misdemeanors, including driving with “below-standard tires,” amount to $900.

The fees have stirred outrage and an online petition drive that has garnered close to 100,000 signatures. Petitioners appear most upset that the fees apply only to in-state motorists.

[…]

Albo and others have been promoting bad-driver fees for three years. Kaine endorsed them last year and again this year in his State of the Commonwealth address.

What a bunch of geniuses. I hope, Governor, that you have set aside some money for the (hopefully) soon to be filed federal lawsuit. Not to mention, that the fines that would normally go to the local jurisdiction will probably be suspended by the judge now. Nothing like a Northern Virginia/Hampton Roads money grab.

For those who didn’t know, Delegate David B. Albo (R-Fairfax), is a lawyer, and co-founder of a law firm that specializes in the defense of traffic offenses. No conflict of interest there, eh?