"Agitate, agitate, agitate!" -Frederick Douglass
On October 17, 2009, Creigh Deeds, Gov. Tim Kaine, and Lieutenant Governor candidate Jody Wagner will all be appearing in Fredericksburg at the University of Mary Washington at 4:00 p.m.
What else is happening on October 17? Why, the Bowling Green Harvest Festival. Yeah, the same Harvest Festival that attracts around 15,000 people, even if it happens to be raining.
Nice one, Creigh.
I was on my way to Richmond this morning on I-95S around 7:30 p.m. listening to the D.J. on 95.9FM (WGRQ). For those unfamiliar with the station, 95.9FM is the self-described “home for the SuperHits of The 60’s & 70’s”, which means this play the same oldies/classic rock every hour. I keep them preset on my radio since they do — on occasion — play some decent classic rock songs (remembering that I’m 21 years old here).
But to get to the point of this blog post, while the D.J. was going into weather or traffic he stated something to the effect of: “Sponsored by Germanna Community College. Inquire about our dual-enrollment program for high school students.”
Advertising a program targeted at high school students. On a oldies/classic rock station.
Do I have to explain how asinine that is? 99.9% of high school students would not voluntarily listen to that station in the first place (and I only tune to it if my other five stations come up with nothing decent). And if for some reason they are in a car with their parents who happen to listen to the station, the youths are going to be listening to music on their iPod or texting or their mobile: i.e., not listening to the ad.
In other words, no one that Germanna Community College is targeting with that advertisement is hearing it.
Advertising FAIL.
I did a little research (called a Google search in these parts), and I answered my own question from a previous post. First, we don’t have recall elections in this state, but recall trials (seriously). Consult Va. Code § 24.2-233:
Upon petition, a circuit court may remove from office any elected officer or officer who has been appointed to fill an elective office, residing within the jurisdiction of the court:
1. For neglect of duty, misuse of office, or incompetence in the performance of duties when that neglect of duty, misuse of office, or incompetence in the performance of duties has a material adverse effect upon the conduct of the office, or
2. Upon conviction of a misdemeanor pursuant to Article 1 (§ 18.2-247 et seq.) or Article 1.1 (§ 18.2-265.1 et seq.) of Chapter 7 of Title 18.2 and after all rights of appeal have terminated involving the:
a. Manufacture, sale, gift, distribution, or possession with intent to manufacture, sell, give, or distribute a controlled substance or marijuana, or
b. Sale, possession with intent to sell, or placing an advertisement for the purpose of selling drug paraphernalia, or
c. Possession of any controlled substance or marijuana, and such conviction under a, b, or c has a material adverse effect upon the conduct of such office, or
3. Upon conviction, and after all rights of appeal have terminated, of a misdemeanor involving a “hate crime” as that term is defined in § 52-8.5 when the conviction has a material adverse effect upon the conduct of such office.
The petition must be signed by a number of registered voters who reside within the jurisdiction of the officer equal to ten percent of the total number of votes cast at the last election for the office that the officer holds.
Any person removed from office under the provisions of subdivision 2 or 3 may not be subsequently subject to the provisions of this section for the same criminal offense.
Va. Code § 24.2-235 deals with procedure; § 24.2-236 allows for suspension of the official pending the hearing and any appeals; § 24.2-237 deals with who will represent the Commonwealth during the hearing; and lastly, § 24.2-238 deals with the costs associated with the petition.
A former Caroline County deputy was re-indicted this week on allegations that he feloniously abused a child.
Clyde Charles Davenport, 49, of Ashland, was indicted in Caroline County Circuit Court Wednesday on charges of child abuse, child abuse resulting in serious injury and malicious bodily injury.
According to Commonwealth’s Attorney Tony Spencer, the charges stem from incidents that allegedly occurred between January 2005 and December 2006.
Davenport had been indicted in Caroline County last summer on five counts of forcible sodomy of a child under 13. The indictment followed a state police investigation.
But those charges were recently dropped by Spencer in order to present the new charges.
“We felt that it was appropriate to nolle prosse the old charges first,” Spencer said.
So, Spencer has harassed a man for over a year (since July 2008) on charges that he sexually abused his daughter a youth and since that’s apparently bullshit and couldn’t be proved, Spencer has had to resort to this?
And which of the charges presented are more serious? I would consider the five counts of forcible sodomy to be more serious. If I’m not mistaken, they carry a sentence of up to life in prison for each count. And it took over a year for him to figure out the sexual abuse charges were bullshit and/or couldn’t be proven? If he couldn’t prove those charges, how the hell does he plan on proving these?
And how many years will it take for this case to be nolle prossed? One year, two, maybe three?
And does anyone know if you recall constitutional officers in Virginia?
How do you describe an increase in attendance of 5,722 people (2.4%) at an event? Well, that depends on what newspaper you are:
Richmond Times-Dispatch: “Attendance rises slightly at State Fair’s new home”.
The Free Lance–Star: “Virginia State Fair attendance jumps in Caroline”.
Debate amongst yourselves.
Clyde Davenport was charged with five counts of forcible sodomy back in July 2008. All charges were dropped on September 30th.
I asked regarding a different case and I’ll ask again: “Which office does he go to to get his reputation back?”
…the Richmond Times-Dispatch for their coverage of the murders of four people in Farmville, Virginia.
On September 20, 2009, the Richmond Times-Dispatch ran a story with the headline “Police: Lyrics may have played role in Farmville slayings”:
Investigators are trying to determine whether a suspect’s fascination with violent rap lyrics fueled the killings of four people found dead Friday in a Longwood University professor’s home.
Farmville police said the victims, which include a church pastor, might have been killed on different days, although they still were awaiting completion of autopsies.
Police on Saturday captured the suspect, Richard Samuel Alden McCroskey III, at Richmond International Airport as he was waiting for a flight to California. That was one day after police found the bodies in the Farmville home of professor Debra S. Kelley, and her daughter, Emma Niederbrock.
The only victim police are identifying is Kelley’s husband, Mark Niederbrock, the pastor at Walker’s Presbyterian Church in Appomattox County. Authorities have identified the three others only as females, and they are not discussing how the victims were killed. Friends and associates identified the females as Kelley, Emma Niederbrock and Melanie Wells, a friend of Emma’s visiting from West Virginia.
[…]
People who know McCroskey described him as him as a fan and promoter of the horrorcore, which is hip-hop music adapted to violent lyrics, but they said they did not believe he was violent.
One song attributed to McCroskey on one of his MySpace pages discusses committing murder in a rage, trying to get rid of the remains and driving a stolen vehicle.
That’s right folks, music lyrics were responsible for the murders of four people.
It’s nice to see that the astute geniuses at the RT-D didn’t take a single college class that involved logic. See, you’re supposed to find the “independent variable” when talking about causes of crime and other problems. The independent variable in this situation is not “horrorcore” rap, it’s the fact that the guy (allegedly) responsible for the murders is frelling insane.
Is that so hard to figure out?
And the funny thing was yesterday, while on my way to Richmond in the morning, I turned to 96.9FM and was listening to the goofball they have on in the mornings and he was talking about the “weirdest songs” and whatnot. One song he mentioned was “Butcher Pete” by Roy Brown which was released in 1950. Check out the lyrics for the song:
(Part I)
Hey everybody, did the news get around
About a guy named Butcher Pete
Oh, Pete just flew into this town
And he’s choppin’ up all the women’s meat[Chorus]
He’s hackin’ and wackin’ and smackin’
He’s hackin’ and wackin’ and smackin’
He’s hackin’ and wackin’ and smackin’
He just hacks, wacks, choppin’ that meatButcher Pete’s got a long sharp knife
He starts choppin’ and don’t know when to stop
All you fellows gotta watch your wifes
‘Cause Pete don’t care who’s meat he chopsEver since Peter flew into town
He’s been havin’ a ball
Just cuttin’ and choppin’ for miles around
Single women, married women, old maids and allWakes up in the morning, half past five
Chops from sunrise to sunset
I don’t see how he stays alive
Meat’s gonna be the death of ole Pete, yeahThe police put Pete in jail
Yes, he finally met his faith
But when they came to pay his bail
They found him choppin’ up his cell mateThat Butcher Pete is a crazy man
Tries to chop down the wind and the rain
Just hacks on anything he can get
Say, turn this record over, you ain’t heard nothing yet(Part II)
Well, they let ole Pete out of the jail
He went back to his store
All the women who payed his bail
Were waitin’ on Pete to chop some moreThere’s an old woman, who’s ninety-two
Lives down the street
She said, one thing more I wanna do
Is find ole Pete and let him chop my meatPete went to church one Sunday night
He gave the preacher a fit
That crazy Pete started a fight
When he went hackin’ on the pulpitWell, they put him in jail again
They tried to give him life
Pete beat the case, he pleaded insane
They gave him back his same ole knifeWell, he got out of jail on Sunday night
Monday he tightened his grip
He started to China to see the sites
Went nuts again and chopped up the shipBrought ole Pete back to town
To electrocute him there
But Pete was crazy like a clown
He chopped down that electric chairHe’s a maniac!
He don’t do nothin’ but hackin’
So, my question to the Richmond Times-Dispatch is how many murders is “Butcher Pete” responsible for? 4, 8, maybe 12? Come on, give me a number.
As you may notice, I have a contact form on this blog that allows people to send information to me if they are so inclined. I often get inane stuff through it and yesterday was no exception.
A “john smith” sent this comment via the contact form last night:
Contact the EEOC: Floundering Newport News Candidate desperate for help, skirts Americans with Disabilities Act
I have been hearing rumors for some time that Democrat trial lawyer Robin Abbott has been disappointed in her ability to gain any traction in her race against Newport News Delegate Phil Hamilton. Prominent local Democrats like former Del. Alan Diamonstein and Mayor Joe Frank have been lining up in support of Hamilton. So, it is no surprise that the word on the street has been that Abbott is highly frustrated by her inability to recruit volunteers and raise money.
The most recent proof of Abbott’s trouble is a part time job posting at Christopher Newport University that lists a contact in Tennessee to call or e-mail about receiving hourly compensation to go door-to-door for Abbott.
But, Abbott may be running into some trouble with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The job posting seems to imply that it discriminates against individuals with physically disabilities. The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits qualified individuals with disabilities from being discriminated against by potential employers.
According to the EEOC’s website, “An employer is required to make a reasonable accommodation to the known disability of a qualified applicant or employee if it would not impose an ‘undue hardship’”. It would seem that Abbott should really give individuals the opportunity to compete without prejudging them based on a disability.
Abbott’s campaign appears to believe that money will buy them anything in elections. This isn’t the first time that the Abbott campaign has had to resort to money to try and make the campaign a success. Several bloggers noted in September that Abbott’s law firm appeared to have used contributions of up to $50,000 to statewide Democratic candidates in order to attract their scrutiny of Hamilton.
Abbott’s law firm, Consumer Litigation Associates (CLA), has been serving as her life-line to keep the doors open on her campaign. According to vpap.org, CLA and its lawyers have donated over $100,000 to Abbott as of August 31st. CLA has also donated $70,000 to Minority Leader Ward Armstong’s PAC who turns around and makes sure that her staff gets paid.
CLA must be looking to get something back from Abbott in Richmond to be throwing money around so indiscriminately. But, this race is starting to look bleak for Abbott. There are less than 5 weeks till Election Day. Hamilton has been on television for over six weeks. Abbott has been throwing mud like crazy. So far people don’t seem to know who she is, what she stands for, or even what district she is running in.
Now, I have no idea what this guy is talking about (seriously, dude, I live in Caroline County, you might want to try one of the Hampton Roads blogs) but the first thing I do when I get these type of e-mails is to check the sender’s IP address.
Care to guess who the IP address is registered to? Well, the IP address 128.82.43.237 is registered to Old Dominion University according to the American Registry of Internet Numbers.
Wasn’t it ODU that hired Delegate Phil Hamilton after they received money through a budget amendment that Hamilton sponsored?
Just sayin’.
Ouch, just ouch.
These people really need to lay off the Glenn Beck and the internet. At the very least, they need to do a little research before they repeat everything they see on television or on the internet. Just because someone writes it on a blog or somewhere else doesn’t make it true.
Heck, just take a look at this blog for example.
This is from a story in today’s edition of The Free Lance–Star:
Commonwealth’s Attorney Tony Spencer talked about how decisions have consequences and discussed cases he has prosecuted in the county.
The sheriff and prosecutor say they don’t think the county has any real gangs, but they have seen “gang-like” activity in Caroline.
This is absolutely amazing. A couple weeks ago, Spencer wanted to put someone in a real prison for a real amount of time because Spencer alleged that a 16-year-old was a real gang member:
Ricky Alan Heinbaugh Jr. will stay locked up in a juvenile facility until he is at least 18 years old.
[…]
Judge Horace A. Revercomb III sentenced him yesterday to an active sentence of 2 years. But because he is 16, he is allowed to serve the time in a juvenile facility. After two years, Revercomb said, his behavior will be reviewed.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Tony Spencer argued that Heinbaugh’s criminal history and destructive behavior make him a danger to Caroline County. He had a gang expert critique Heinbaugh’s MySpace page, which the expert said had signs of possible gang affiliation to the Bloods street gang, such as tattoos and mannerisms.
And when Spencer was accused of intimidating witnesses who were subpoenaed to testify against Lashawn Monroe, Spencer said that they were really lying and all members of a real gang:
Spencer argued that the seven witnesses called at the hearing had a motive for wanting to speak out against him: They were all in some way friends or relatives of Monroe and had been reluctant to testify from the start.
He added that many of them are members of the same gang.
“This is an effort by a criminal street gang to throw a monkey wrench into the proceedings here,” he said.
Christ, I heard less BS when Latney was the Commonwealth’s Attorney.
And while I disagree with Supervisor Floyd Thomas quite often, he had some great pearls of wisdom at the community meeting:
Supervisor Floyd Thomas pulled $50 out of his pocket to add to the prizes being given away that night. He challenged all of the students to appreciate life.
He talked about how precious life is to him after overcoming cancer two years ago. “To see kids fight over something that doesn’t matter, it just hurts me,” he said.