I really think B101.5 needs to reassess what they consider appropriate.

NOTE: This post contains the uncensored use of words that appear, in context, as lyrics in various songs as part of a discussion of what is considered appropriate by a local radio station. If such content may offend you, then don’t read it. ‘Kay, thanks, bye.

On Tuesday night, I’m minding my own business, driving home from the communist haven of VCU, listening to the radio. I flip to that awful station B101.5 and happen to catch the beginning of Katy Perry’s “Hot N Cold”. I’m pretty surprised when I hear the word “bitch” in the song (full line: “Yeah you, PMS like a bitch”). Apparently, I’ve never heard the beginning of that particular song before, or at least the version that B101.5 plays. To confirm that I actually heard what I heard, I keep flipping to that awful station when I’m in the car yesterday coming home from VCU as well. And once again I hear the word “bitch” in the song.

Now, I’m not surprised at hearing the word “bitch” in media, after all, you probably can’t watch three hours of prime-time network television without hearing that particular word.

What I’m surprised at is that B101.5 didn’t have a problem with the word. After all, this is the station that dubs over the word “drugs” in a song by Nickelback (full line: “The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap”). Or the station the finds the words “God damn” unacceptable in “Makes Me Wonder” from Maroon 5 (“God damn, my spinning head”). Or the station that dubs over a reference to the use of methamphetamines in “Semi-Charmed Life” by Third Eye Blind (“Doing crystal meth/Will lift you up until you break”).

Now, is the use of the word “bitch” okay because it’s being used by a female “artist”? Has the station ever played Buckcherry’s song “Crazy Bitch”? Not likely. I guess that line of argument brings up the old discussion of why it’s okay for blacks to use a certain word but not for whites.

Is there a female bias when it comes to determining what songs are acceptable? B101.5 didn’t have a problem playing “U + Ur Hand” by Pink, after all. Three guesses what that song is about.

And for the record, I’m not accusing B101.5 of censorship. They’re a private company — not the government — and can determine for themselves what they consider appropriate for their business model.

I guess there seems to be a conflict when they find the use of the word “bitch” and a song about masturbation okay, but the use of the words “God damn” and lyrics about drug use are taboo to them.

Wife of a Board of Supervisors member calls for the tarring and feathering of a citizen if he goes to a public meeting.

Ah, good old oharascarlett (I would link to thread but it has since been deleted due to her antics):

Sorry Minx but the eye rolling is very real, Yesitsme did this all to himself with his contiuning behavior and public officials are very real human beings with feelings also.

He took asking questions way beyond what was fair and reasonable and hurt many, many people.

Hate is a strong word, no I can’t say I hate Yes in fact was on board with him in the beginning thinking perhaps he had been treated unfairly but over the months learned completely otherwise.

As is usually the case with someone like Yes, the local schoolyard bully there are distinct advantages to offering a counterpoint to his arguments on a public blog and I promise you Scarlett never writes anything she does not want read by people. In other words Yes is and continues to be very useful. You can’t hate a guy like that, hes better than a direct mailer.

I am now far more interested in seeing Yes in front of the Bowling Green town council. What say you Asst Chief? Can we get a bit of tar and feathers going in the back room, the next first Thursday of the month.

As a side question, isn’t referring to yourself in third-person a sign of schizophrenia? Not to mention that the only reason the person oharascarlett is attacking (YesItsMe) joined the forum was because of the trash she was posting; she was never “on board with him in the beginning”.

Another post:

C’mon now Yes a little gentle feather bath might do you some good, white feathers of course or at a least a white streak right down the middle.

You know, there are way too many whiners in this country and we need to stop letting more in.

The Free Lance–Star has some bleeding heart story about two families from Iraq who received refugee status and moved to Stafford County. Both families are now in the process of moving back to Syria, Jordan, or Iraq since they apparently think America is too mean and hard to live in. Here’s a quote from the story:

A construction contractor in Iraq, Jawad hoped to find similar work here.

Most Iraqi refugees struggle with the same issue: They were doctors, engineers and businessmen in Iraq, and don’t want to work in fast-food restaurants and warehouses.

But even those jobs are hard to find these days.

Jawad said he applied for a job at a nearby store. He didn’t get the job, but it wouldn’t have prevented an eviction from his $1,500-a-month townhouse.

Wow, you applied for a job and you didn’t get it. Did you try — I don’t know — applying somewhere else? How many jobs do Americans, with a college education, have to apply for before they get hired?

And whose fault is it that you decided to move into a townhouse, in Stafford, that cost $1,500-a-month? Doesn’t Stafford County have one of the highest cost-of-living in Virginia? Did you try finding a place, in say, Westmoreland or Caroline Counties?

How many Englishmen, Irishmen, Italians, etc., who had previously been successful in their home countries, decided to come to the United States long ago? How many of them were immediately successful once they arrived here? Probably not a lot.

Those people came here for a number of reasons: Better opportunities for them and their children, better safety, etc. In this case, these geniuses seem to think that they’re families will be better off in Syria, Jordan, or Iraq, even after one of the families’ 16-year-old had his teeth and legs broken by a hostage taker in Iraq. The father of the other family was being tortured by terrorists and awaiting execution until he was rescued by American soldiers in Iraq also. These folks seem to think they’ll be better off there.

And better yet, how many of the English, Irish, and Italian immigrants contacted the local newspaper looking for a story to be written about how they the decided to quit and head home? Let’s see, probably not an one. And if they did, the newspaper in question wouldn’t have the gall to publish the story.

You know what? Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

UPDATE: One of the families profiled in that story had three daughters. Here’s something that’s just happened in Jordan recently according to The Jawa Report:

(Amman, Jordan) A 19-year-old Jordanian woman was killed by her father and her brothers on Saturday in a premeditated honor killing. She had stained the family honor by leaving the home wearing makeup.

Pretty sick, eh?

Some county to move your family to, eh?

Are the Virginia State Police (VSP) extremely gullible or what?

There’s a text message that has been going around that says there will be several people shoot at a Wal-Mart as part of a gang initiation. From the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

Virginia State Police are advising people to pay no attention to a text message that claims there will be a gang initiation at Wal-Mart stores sometime this week that may involve a shooting or other criminal activity.

Police say the message is a hoax.

This claim that the message is a hoax, which it probably is, seems to conflict with a general advisory that was sent to all Virginia State Police units in the Culpeper Division (which includes Spotsylvania, Stafford, Culpeper, Fauquier counties, as well as the city of Fredericksburg) the other night via their radio system. According to the dispatcher, a teen reported a text message that had been forwarded to her which contained the information to a sheriff’s office in Texas. VSP apparently thought it was legitimate enough to broadcast to all those units in the Culpeper Division (and possibly broadcasted across the whole state as well) the other night.

A simple Google search would have revealed a Snopes.com page which shows that this hoax/urban myth has been going around since 2005 in various forms.

You know, even drug dealing convicted felons have a right to self-defense.

A former resident of New Kent was arrested in Alabama for federal and state drug charges originating in Florida. He’s also faces charges in New Kent County for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, unlawful disposal of a dead body, and possession or distribution of marijuana. Here’s what the Richmond Times-Dispatch had to say:

Carter fled New Kent on Oct. 14 after a group of Williamsburg-area teenagers drove to his Lanexa home to rob him of guns and drugs, authorities say. New Kent officials believe Carter shot to death 18-year-old Christopher Greene after Greene, armed with a rifle, broke open Carter’s rear door. Greene’s body was found about 20 yards from the home, covered with a tarp.

Carter was charged with illegally disposing a body; authorities have never stated publicly whether they consider the shooting a justifiable homicide. Greene’s family has declined to comment.

Let’s imagine this scenario: You, or a family member that lives in your house, has a persistent pain problem and has a valid and legal prescription for a large amount of Vicodin (hydrocodone). A couple of hoodlums in your neighborhood find out about this. They decide to break into your home in an attempt to steal the drugs. You happen to be in your home when they decide to execute this genius plan. You see one of them break-in armed with a rifle and you grab your favorite hand-cannon and shoot one of their miscreant asses. You would not — or rather, should not — face any charges for this death, as long as you report it to the police obviously.

Is this guy, based on the news reports, guilty of drug possession and dealing? Yes. Is he guilty of illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon? Yes. Is he guilty of an illegal disposal of a body? Yes.

Murder? No.

And another part of this whole fiasco is that the Chief Deputy for the New Kent Sheriff’s Office was on the news the other day talking about how the family would finally have “closure” for the “victim’s” death. Uh…excuse me, one POS (the drug dealer) shot and killed another one (the armed burglar). Am I supposed to be upset? This wasn’t some youthful mistake: The “victim” was 18-years-old after all.

And the most annoying part? The other two perpetrators of the crime, along with another two co-conspirators, were only charged — depending on the person — with conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery, or attempted robbery. Where’s the charge for burglary with a deadly weapon, which is a class 2 felony, for crying out loud? These miscreants weren’t breaking-in to ask the guy to come over for bible study night, that’s for sure.

Chris Rock was right!

10 or 15 years ago, Chris Rock had this joke that the government, instead of focusing on gun control, should tax the hell of ammunition. Not only would this cut down on gun crime in general, but instead of a criminal praying and spraying rounds at someone that pissed them off, they would adopt a one shot, one kill mindset (if someone can find video of that joke, post it as a comment, thanks never mind, posted below). Now, from The Jawa Report:

Obama Requires Miltary to Shred Spent Casings Before Sale

Interesting, if they can’t outlaw guns they can always try and make ammunition unaffordable. The real kicker is this is shipments to even police departments to be canceled.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdJGcrUk2eE

Caroline County Board of Supervisors finally makes users of the county water/sewer system pay their fair share.

The Caroline County Board of Supervisors voted 3–2 Tuesday night to increase the rates for water and sewer service on the county’s utility system.

For years, this system has failed to be self-sufficient, requiring last year approximately a $300,000 subsidy from the general fund. The general fund is, of course, from taxes that all citizens pay. So, the folks in Bowling Green, Port Royal, Damn, etc. have been getting taxed at a higher rate than necessary — the equivalent of a whole cent on the tax rate last year — so the poor little folks in Ladysmith and Ruther Glen didn’t have to pay more on their water bill.

I’m curious, has the county ever subsidized any citizen’s cost for maintaining a septic tank? Hell, they want you guys to have your septic tank pumped every two years or whatever at your cost.

Has the county even paid for someone’s electric bill which is used to power your water pump to get water from your well? Let’s see…uh, hell no.

And last year, those lovable geniuses on the Board decided that it would be a good idea to increase the cost of one-time connection fees — which is supposed to go to pay off the system’s debt — so the money could be diverted into the operating fund for the system. “Wow, let’s use one-time money to pay for continuing expenditures on a system!” Sounds like something the federal government would do, no?

The two supervisors that voted against the increase, Wayne Acors and Floyd Thomas (note that the majority of the system’s users are in their districts), voted against the increase saying, according to The Free Lance–Star, “they would prefer to see the rates change at a slower pace instead of hitting residents all at once.” ((Portsia Smith. “Caroline changes water, sewer rates”. The Free Lance–Star 12 Mar 2009. The Free Lance-Star Publishing Co. 12 Mar 2009 <http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/032009/03122009/451713>.)) Wow, so the county should continue to subsidize citizens’ water bills when public safety positions are getting unpaid furloughs and the Planning Department just got six positions axed.

Absolutely brilliant…

Stephen A. Smith of ESPN is an idiot.

Stephen A. Smith was on ESPN a few minutes whining that sports organizations don’t seem to be feeling the effects of the recession. For one thing, he cited the cost of the New Yankee Stadium at $1.6 billion. Well, first, New Yankee Stadium began construction in 2006, a long time before the beginning of this recession. Second, how many jobs did that construction create or maintain?

Smith went on to complain about the salaries being paid to various professional sports players. Uh, out of curiosity, how much does Stephen A. Smith get paid per year and what does he contribute to society? Bombastic whining?

According to one website, ESPN Inc.’s revenue in 2004 was $3.2 billion. That’s double the cost of New Yankee Stadium in case you were curious.

Not to mention that those professional players that make however much money a year with salaries and bonuses; how much do they pay in taxes? How much of that money that they are paid is used to create other jobs? When a player gets a signing bonus and moves to a new city, he has to find a place to live, furnish the new place, and more than likely purchases a new vehicle to drive around the city.

And the funniest part of his segment was after he concluded his whining, he walked down into a subway station supposedly to get on a train. Even the announcers on ESPN had to laugh at this, stating something around the lines of: “the recession must be really bad if he’s taking the subway now.”

And yet there’s still only one choice for Lee Hill District Supervisor in Spotsylvania County…

Welcome to my first foray into local Spotsylvania County politics; why do I have a feeling that this is going to end bad?

As my readers (all three two of you) may know, fellow blogger D.J. McGuire has announced his run for the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors for the Lee Hill District. I hadn’t gotten a chance to write up a post about his announcement, but I did add him (with a link to his website) to the “2009 candidates I support” box on the right.

D.J., who’s a Republican, is running against incumbent supervisor Gary Skinner (Independent), who was elected in 2007. (For those that are curious, Spotsylvania has adopted staggered election terms for supervisors which is why Skinner’s term was only for two years. This election will be for a four-year term starting in the beginning of 2010 and finishing at the end of 2013.) Vince Onorato, who previously served on the board from 2004 through 2007, running as an Independent in 2003, and as a Republican in 2007 where he lost to Skinner, is trying to get back on the Board by running as an Independent this year according to The Free Lance–Star’s Dan Telvock. ((Telvock, Dan. “”Vince Onorato is back…sort of”.” [Weblog Spotsy govt.-the odds & ends] 3 Mar 2009. The Free Lance-Star Publishing Co.. 6 Mar 2009 <http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/view?blogger_id=21&p=1236103465>.))

In a county that has suffered (yes, that’s the right word) through nine tax increases in the past thirteen years, D.J. is pledging when he’s elected to not vote for an increase in taxes.

What is Gary Skinner’s philosophy on tax increases?

After Spotsylvania County finished doing reassessments last year, the proposed equalization rate — the rate at which citizens, on average, would see no increase on their taxes — was $0.56 per $100 of assessed value. In the proposed budget by the County Administrator, the proposed tax rate was $0.62/$100. When it came time to advertise a tax rate, Gary Skinner proposed to advertise a $0.65/$100 tax rate, a rate two cents even higher than the County Administrator’s proposed rate. Five of the other supervisors barked at this idea, and instead the county advertised a $0.62 rate. ((Telvock, Dan. “Spotsy faces budget pain,” The Free Lance–Star 30 Mar 2008. The Free Lance-Star Publishing Co.. 6 Mar 2009 <http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2008/032008/03302008/367039>.))

When it came time to vote on the tax rate, one supervisor made a motion to set the tax rate at the equalization rate of $0.56, Gary Skinner voted against this motion repeatedly. Skinner then made a motion to set the tax rate at $0.62 — the maximum rate that the county had advertised — and this motion passed 4 to 3. ((“Board of Supervisors Meeting, April 10, 2008, Minutes.” Spotsylvania County Home Page. Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors. 6 Mar 2009 <http://www.spotsylvania.va.us/DownloadFiles/Minutes/bos/041008.pdf>.))

After Gary Skinner voted for over a 10% tax increase for Spotsylvania County citizens in a single year, and the county was still running a deficit due to the economy and the county’s spending, Skinner was the lone supervisor to vote against proposed spending reductions in September. Skinner, based on the report in The Free Lance–Star, openly proposed raising taxes in the middle of the year to make up for the deficit that had developed. ((Telvock. Dan. “Spotsy cutting budget again,” The Free Lance–Star 24 Sep 2008. The Free Lance-Star Publishing Co. 6 Mar 2009 <http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2008/092008/09242008/413140>.))

With Gary Skinner’s tax-and-spend policies documented, let’s turn to Independent-turned-Republican-turned-Independent (I think that’s the right order) Vince Onorato:

Back when Vince Onorato was on the Board in 2004, Onorato seconded and voted for a motion to set the tax rate at $0.87/$100, an one cent increase in taxes compared to the proposed $0.86 equalization rate. Luckily, this motion was defeated by the Board 5 to 2. ((“Board of Supervisors Meeting, April 27, 2004, Minutes.” Spotsylvania County Home Page. Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors. 6 Mar 2009 <http://www.spotsylvania.va.us/DownloadFiles/Minutes/bos/04272004.pdf>.))

In 2005, Onorato voted to raises taxes again, this time from $0.86/$100 to $0.89/$100 . ((“Board of Supervisors Meeting, April 12, 2005 Minutes.” Spotsylvania County Home Page. Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors. 6 Mar 2009 <http://www.spotsylvania.va.us/DownloadFiles/Minutes/bos/04122005.pdf>.)) That was a 3.5% increase in taxes for county residents.

So, in two years, Onorato voted to raise county residents taxes by 4.7%. Unfortunately, only in one of those cases was a tax increase averted.

If Spotsylvania County residents don’t want to see their taxes go up once again, vote for D.J. McGuire in November.

I need video of this: Bobby Orrock got booed down by the House of Delegates.

Follow-up to my previous post. From The Washington Post:

This year, there were echoes — distant perhaps — of Webster vs. Clay as delegates debated clotheslines. The energy-saving bill, sponsored by Sen. Linda T. “Toddy” Puller (D-Fairfax), would have prevented rule-happy homeowner associations from banning clotheslines.

Taking aim at the bill as if wielding a rug-beater, Del. Robert D. “Bobby” Orrock Sr. (R-Caroline) said Northern Virginians might regret seeing clotheslines strung from “tree to tree to tree.”

“Go ahead and pass this, and then when your folks come screaming that this looks like a West Virginia subdivision,” Orrock began, but boos cut him off.

Christ, what an elitist.