Kilgore leads Kaine 44-40% (with a 4.2 margin of error)

JD thinks this shows Kaine’s troubles but I can’t help but think the opposite is true. Previous numbers had Kilgore leading 46-36, so somewhere in the last 10 weeks Kaine’s gained ground. And the Dems gain more if you take Potts out of the picture (which may happen before November).

What should be troubling is Kaine’s polling in the southwest which should be a Republican lock yet has the two running even at 42% each. I’m of the opinion that those numbers are misleading, just as Kilgore’s 45-41% lead in NoVa. But that Kaine’s even getting this close may be telling.

(Thanks to John for the initial link)

This one’s hosted by Virginia Conservative and gives a good highlight to some Virginia blogs. Way to go, John.

By now I’m sure everyone knows of Newsweek’s retraction of their story concerning the defacing of the Quran, a report that has led to protests and deaths in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Of course, the MSB smells MSM blood and is on the attack, particularly Instapundit Glenn Reynolds:

I want to add that I don’t think there’s anything immoral about flushing a Koran (or a Bible) down the toilet, assuming you’ve got a toilet that’s up to that rather daunting task, and I think it’s amusing to hear people who usually worry about excessive concern for religious beliefs suddenly taking a different position. Nor do I think that doing so counts as torture, and I think that it debases the meaning of “torture” to claim otherwise. If this had happened, it might have been — indeed, would have been — impolitic or unwise. But not evil.

And anyone who thinks otherwise needs to be willing to apply the same kind of criticism to things like Piss Christ, or to explain why offending the sensibilities of one kind of religious believer is “art” while doing the same in another context is “torture.” If, that is, they want to be taken at all seriously.

Starters, a lot of the same people stating “what’s the big deal?” are the same ones who ARE offended by Piss Christ or would lecture you on why the Bible is not to be shelved like any other book. The defacing of the Quran in front of Muslim prisoners is a form of psychological torture that must be recognized and avoided, especially since this war is not supposed to be about religion but about freedom and democracy. If the Quran was defaced, which has been claimed by prisoners (which doesn’t make it true), then we risk losing the support of the very people we are seeking to liberate and we risk turning this into a religious situation which is what we should be striving to avoid. And just because the US has a memo out about how to properly treat the Quran doesn’t mean it’s being followed. We also have rules about not sexually humiliating prisoners, but we see how well that worked in Abu Ghraib.

If this was false, which it is looking like it may be, Newsweek should retract, which they have done. But should they have not reported it? If the source they had was credible and reliable, if the information presented to them was backed up with facts (which Newsweek may have felt Detainee lawsuits provided), then Newsweek would have been doing the world a disservice by NOT printing the article. BUT that is if the information presented to them held up.

Glenn points at what he feels is proof that Newsweek can be tactful and should have applied the same to this story:

Newsweek ran the story knowing that it would excite the passions of the world’s muslim population.

Contrast this with the media’s refusal to show pictures of our fellow citizens jumping out the the world trade center. We were told that such pictures would unneccessarily anger the American people and lead to violence against Muslim Americans.

Ah, but we all know about how people leapt from the windows. Pictures or no, it was still reported, still widely known. Perhaps there were different reasons for not running the pictures, like the emotions of their readers. What would have those pictures added to the debate or conversation after 911 that watching the towers crumble didn’t already create? The news of the potential desecration of the Quran as a interrogation technique is a big deal and potentially shows a lack of judgment by those who do it.

If the story is wrong, Newsweek needs to retract, which it did. But given the information presented to it, I don’t feel that they violated anything by running it. Was it sensationalist? Perhaps. Was it reckless? On some level, any revalatory journalism that challenges the system is reckless. But no one could have predicted the results.

And bloggers have gone off the handle on topics with less information.

This isn’t a “gotcha!” by the MSB on the MSM, this is Newsweek trusting too much in what was a reliable source and running with what little information they could get to publish a story that unfortunately led to deaths that happened because protestors were fired upon. Newsweek did not pull the trigger, it just put someone in the sights.

I finally know how I did for the Spring 2005 semester and I must admit that I am shocked.

Statistics - B
No brainer, shoulda been an A but I wrote this class off early so this is what I get. Only needed a 61 on the final to get the B. Did it. Done.

US Constitutional Law - B
Expected this, got it. Coulda worked harder for the A, shoulda worked harder for the A, but I’ll take the B.

Global Ethics and Religions - A
This was a shocker. I went into the final exam with ten minutes of review under my belt and left the exam feeling like I’d just bombed the class. Lo’ and behold, 87 on the exam, A on the final papers, A overall. No one’s more surprised than me.

Modern Chinese History - A
Another shocker. I turned in the 28-page paper feeling it was a B at best and finished the final exam feeling the same. Were I right on both, that’d been a B overall, so either I aced one and got the expected B on the other or did well on both. I’ve got an e-mail out to the professor, but I’m not going to question this too much.

Semester GPA - 3.50
Cumulative GPA - 3.25

The Cumulative goal is 3.50. If I do well on Spanish this summer I may have it before Fall classes begin.

Jim Bacon takes a look at recent revelations in the Chapman dog incident and more:

The dog, named Nixon, was killed after escaping from Chapman’s yard last August, but he wasn’t served papers for letting his dog run at large until April, prompting speculation that the charges may have been politically motivated.

However, officers had tried to serve Chapman at his Dale City home five times before they were successful April 20, Prince William County Police Chief Charlie T. Deane wrote in a letter of clarification released Monday. Police denied any political motivation. “I don’t think anyone knew who he was,” said spokesperson 1st Sgt. Kim Chinn, according to the Journal Messenger.

It also turns out that the loose-dog incident was not an isolated one. Chapman was charged twice before with the same offense: Once in March 2000 and again in June 2004, the Journal Messenger stated. Chapman’s police record also includes four speeding tickets and four seatbelt violations since 1996. “When you drive 30,000 miles a year,” said Chapman, who runs a power wash business, “occasionally you’ll get stopped.” But that’s not all. In 1999, Chapman’s driver’s license was suspended because he failed to pay fines and court costs of $80. Later that year, he was charged with driving without an operator’s license.

Ouch. Now, granted, part of this can be chalked up to age. When you’re in your 20s you’re more likely to drive like an idiot and sometimes certain violations you commit while in your mid-20s can be excused. When you’re 40. Chapman’s got quite the fight ahead of him, it’ll be interesting to see if he rides it out.

It was a joke at Virginia’s expense:

Is this real?
Yes, it’s almost real. For the past 5 months, I’ve been receiving emails from a right-wing lunatic named Henry John Divorski. I’ve posted many of those emails on this blog, with little more than small modifications (to make it work as a blog). As far as I know, the guy who is emailing me doesn’t know I’ve been posting his emails.

Who are you?
I’m a gay man from Southern California who loves politics and took an interest in Virginia elections since there isn’t much else going on right now. I’m an independent and don’t really vote for either party regularly.

…

Well Virginia, take care, and enjoy repressing homosexuals! We don’t mind it, actually. Most of us get a kick out of it.

Parts of it were funny, others were asinine, overall it was a smear against Republicans and really was just parody. Anyone who bought this site was insane anyway. Good bye, Pastor John, we hardly knew ya.

Jaded JD has been keeping up with the Miller v. Brown challenge to Virginia’s Open Primary system. And while the link is an April 22nd entry, the comments are recent as Senator Cuccinelli (counsel of the record for Miller) has come around to discuss the issue with JD. Interesting stuff and plenty of direction to help get you caught up on the topic.

Dave Rogers ruminates on last weeks Long Tail conversation and about how none of the Technorati folks have responded to his questions. He also takes on the Clutrain Manifesto. Read the whole thing, its actually a good post if you’ve been following the topic (and links to previous posts to get you up to speed if you haven’t). One part in particular stood out to me, though:

Technorati, again, as near as I can tell, is held in positive regard, at least by the members of the “A-List.” I’ll leave it to the reader to decide if this was an act of inspired genius to create a list that simultaneously flatters the egos of the people most in a position to criticize the company, draws attention to itself, and exploits the attention-directing “authority” of high attention-earning webloggers (the A-List) to draw even more attention to itself. I’d say probably not, since it’s been done before; but it’s still a pretty effective way to garner attention and achieve a measure of insulation from criticism.

Which is a good (and very correct) observation.

“Oops I Did It Again” was a Louie Armstrong song! Really!

(Okay, not really)

In Cary Town today I saw the coolest person in the world, sitting in his tricked out, yellow with multicolor flame designs mini-van, rockin’ the hydrolics while pumping “Ice Ice Baby” loud and clear. I will never be that cool.

To be announced today by the Defense Department:

Army bases currently proposed for closure in 2005 include:

Fort Belvoir, Virginia
Fort Monroe, Virginia

Naval base closures and realignments include:

Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division, Virginia

Also of note:

The Air Force will lose 2,260 military and 2,839 civilian manpower positions, and 1,055 reserve drill authorizations next year, according to the 2004 force-structure announcement released July 23. Many bases, both active duty and reserve component, are affected by the realignment. In many cases, units will gain aircraft and missions, while others will pare down.

Rumsfeld’s to announce the closings later today.

Honestly, Belvoir’s not really a shocker. It’s been a virtual ghost town for years compared to some bases. Dahlgren, though, that’s a big one. Especially to King George County.

UPDATE: Fredericksburg.com has a PDF of the DoD’s report. The only outright close is Fort Monroe, Dahlgren is a 351 loss and Belvior is a GAIN of 11,858 people. My original info was incorrect.

The Wachovia on Cary Street (the one by the 7-11, not the one by Ukrops) was robbed this morning so that end of Cary Street will probably be a mess for a wee bit with police happenings and all. Just incase a Richmonder hits this before going out today.

Light blogging today, busy at work and have stuff to do this evening. But exams are finally done so I’ve got ten days to gather myself for the summer session.

Anyways, random thought, is it just me or are the Star Wars characters less spectacular when they’re life sized cardboard cutouts promoting Pepsi? Darth Vader just doesn’t look nearly as imposing with his plastic suit and skinny neck and Chewie looks more and more like a dog.

Yahoo! Music Unlimited looks like the best deal for music downloads on the web. Though we’ll see how long that lasts. I smell a price war and that can only be good for us consumers.

As some of you know, I do a little DJing at the student radio station here at VCU, WVCW. I used to have a Tuesday mid-day timeslot (as you can see on the right there) but that’s changing. I’ve been approved to do a “specialty show” which means I get to pick the format and what I play. But they want it to be themed, so themed it will be.

Ladies and gentlemen, coming Sunday, May 22nd, from 8-9pm will be the premiere of Under The Covers With J, a whole hour of cover songs. That’s right, cover songs. Nothin’ but.

So, anyone got any recomendations for good cover songs I can find and play? I’ve got a slew but I need more if I’m going to do this every week and I know there are PLENTY out there (I think you’re required to have one cover within your first three albums or something like that). So shoot me some recomendations, all I need is the Song Title, Artist’s Name, Album, and Original Artist’s Name. And I’ll keep you all posted as to how the show’s progressing.