Thoughts on todays school shooting

You know, I've spent the last hour thinking about if I was going to post a blog about the shootings in Newton today. I've thought a thousand times about what I was going to say.

I want to start off by offering my condolences to everyone in Newton today. As I write this, I feel completely sick to my stomach. This feels like something out of a TV drama, but alas, its all too real.

I want to add that I watched the coverage today, and we all know that Fox News is pure trash that tried to steer the issue away from gun control, and place 100% of the blame for what happened today at the feet of makers of "violent" video games. But then again, why would Fox News put any of the blame at the NRA, because we all know that the GOP and the NRA are spooning each other.

I would also like to add that I'm disgusted with CNN. Whereas the anchors at MSNBC actually showed emotion, Wolf Blitzer and the walking dead at CNN did not. In fact, Wolf Blitzer said the words "Children dead." with the same emotion you or I would have reading our shopping list. I switched the channel to MSNBC after growing weary of the cold, heartless reporting from CNN.

President Obama gave one of the most human speeches I've ever seen. Never before had I witnessed a president actually get choked up, and wipe away tears during a live press conference. This is not a knock on presidents of the past. They are supposed to be Stoic,  they are supposed to have an aire of confidence. That's been an unwritten rule, rule that was broken when President Obama had a human moment.

I watched one of the anchors actually break down into near tears as she interviewed a doctor about the psychological damage that events today could do to a child. Something those zombies and robots over at CNN could never do.

I've been on twitter for the past few hours, and continue to be as I pen this blog, wondering what thoughts are going to come next. I can just hear the NRA supporters crying foul over the call for greater gun control. Even though gun control is needed in this country, and some guns, like some of the semi automatics out there serve no purpose. Some of them are complaining that even mentioning gun control is to make a "Political" issue out of this.

I think back to a confrontation between Cenk Uyger of the Young Turks and member of the NRA brain trust. Whereas the NRA representative kept saying that guns make people feel safe, etc, you know the rhetoric. Cenk was on him like Charlie Sheen on an 8 ball. And Cenk put him rightfully in his place.

When its all said and done, 20 children are dead. 20 sets of parents will remember this holiday season with a heavy heart. 20 children who did nothing, nothing to warrant being shot while they sat in a classroom. It takes a special kind of monster to do this, harm little children. Also today, a man walked into a school in china, armed with a knife. No one dead, just a deranged man who got his ass kicked.

More guns don't make people safer, it never has, and never will. There was a time, in which it was common place for everyone to carry a gun. It happened here in America, and we got one of the most violent times in our history. I'm talking of course of the Old West. A time in where outlaws like Billy the Kid, and Jesse James carried guns, as did every day folks. All this did was lead to high body counts. Maybe some folks just haven't gotten over romanticizing that era of US history.

I can't understand why people would want us to remain stunted in that logic. that the only way to be safe is to carry a gun. I guess I'll never understand the logic of these people. Guns, for the most part, are used as weapons of fear. They are a modern day bogeyman, with the notion that every bad guy out there has a gun, and willingly use it on anyone. That's just not the truth.

The truth is that showing a gun to someone that already has a gun is just going to bring a causation of the other person using their weapon. They are doing it out of survival mode. There blows the "its safer if everyone has a gun" logic.

As I sit here, thinking of how to bring this blog to a close, I harken back to the thought that there are scores of children who may very well forever link school and death. There are parents who, instead of celebrating this holiday with their children, will be mourning their loss. And there will be another school that will now join the sad fraternity of schools marred by shootings. Though it feels of wishful thinking, one can only hope that finally, there will be no new members, and this school will be the last admitted.

As for the shooters motives, I really don't give a shit. They mean nothing to me. Nothing can justify walking into a school, an elementary school, and shooting young children. Shooting teachers and others who dedicated their lives to educating young lives. The motives don't out weight the loss of life. Those who don't learn from history, are doomed to repeat it. I hope we've finally learned our lesson.

Steriod era players? I'd elected them, and here's why.

Okay, I know it’s been a really long time since I last blogged, but sharing something as personal as I did takes a lot out of you. And one needs to find the proper follow up, and I have, and it just might piss a few folks off. Or it could very well educate them.

 I have, what I feel, is an irrefutable argument as to why players with confirmed ties, or alleged ties to steroids and PED’s belong in the baseball hall of fame. Now I know what you are saying. These players cheated, they took drugs to give themselves an edge. The impaired the sanctity of the game, its forever tainted. These sins, they can never be enshrined into the Hall.

Well, let’s not act like the baseball hall of fame is a place for angels, okay. In fact, there are several members who while they may have not taken drugs to give themselves an edge, they have done things much worse, including two men who committed a crime  so atorusous, that if the general public knew of their crimes, they would hold protest in Cooperstown demanding they be expunged from the hall of fame.  But before we get to them, let’s take a look at some of the other folks that are in the hall, even though they weren’t exactly upstanding citizens.

Ty Cobb, let’s take a look at him. Yes, I’ll concede that he used his wealth to help the disadvantaged, and maybe Ty was bi-polar. How else could you explain a person who later in life was so kind, you during his playing days, was a walking, talking iceberg. Cobb did beat the hell out of a black elevator operator because the man allegedly talks to Cobb in an “Uppity” manner.  And when the security guard, who was also black, tried to pull Cobb off the man, Cobb repaid him with a stab to the gut. The case was later settled out of court. And there were stories of Cobb also being abusive towards women as well. Despite being pretty much a prick off the field, Cobb was a star on the field, and his off field exploits were overlooked.

 Charles Comiskey, the man who set the standard for tightwad owner. He managed his payroll to the point that he would often order that players be sat so they wouldn’t reach certain performance bonuses, or he’d simply cheap out in other areas. And it was this that led to the revolt that would be the basis for members of the White Sox to throw the 1919 World Series.

However, those men are small potatoes compared to two men who should be expunged from the hall, should major league baseball really care about the sacredness of the hall. And if sports writers really cared, they’d pitch a fit that these men are even in the hall to begin with.

Let’s look first at Kennesaw Mountain Landis. The man who threw out the dirty Black Sox players who threw the 1919 World Series, who was going to remove the gambling element out of the game. See, when Landis was a sitting Chicago judge, he had a slight (cue sarcasm) reputation for giving white criminals  softer sentences, while imposing extremely harsh ones on those who weren’t Anglo-Saxon. And he didn’t really care if a person had a disease and wouldn’t see the end of their sentence, Landis once told an elderly man who posed his concern that “You sure can go ahead and try.”  The only reason he was appointed as commissioner of major league baseball was payback. Years before, he ruled in favor of the American and National League in their case against the Federal League, an outlaw circuit that raided the rosters of both leagues, in an attempt to become the third “Major Baseball League”

But Landis was also the man who fought tooth and nail to keep baseball a “White’s Only” game, following his belief with such thoughts are “They have their league, and we have ours” and “The best Negro boy can’t compete on the same level as the worst white ball player.”  It’s no coincidence that Jackie Robinson didn’t make his debut until after Landis was dead and buried. And for keeping the game segregated, Landis was rewarded with a special election to the baseball hall of fame. Yeah, you read that right, Landis was rewarded for keeping blacks out of the major leagues by election to the hall of fame. And I’m sure his ruling on the Black Sox scandal, and in the Federal League case played a role, but hey, we can’t forget, this fought to keep baseball a white’s only game. As I write this, I am reminded of a famous story in which Brooklyn had been scouting Josh Gibson, a power hitting catcher often called “The Black Babe Ruth”. Brooklyn was threatened with expulsion from the major leagues if Negro league scouting continued.

Now we come to the mastermind behind keeping baseball a “White’s” only game. Elected in 1939, we have the worst offender in the major league baseball hall of fame. A man that has now, and had then, clear ties to the KKK. Former Chicago Cubs First  baseman Cap Anson. Now to tell the story, we travel back to the 1880’s, when the Anson’s team was set to play Toledo of the American Association. The AA was the second major league at the time, and it actually allowed integration of the rosters. When Anson learned that Toledo had a catcher named Moses Fleetwood Walker, who was black, Anson took his team off the field, and refused to play. He had been successful doing a stunt like this, years before, and the Toledo manager wasn’t going to have it. Whereas Anson stated under “No circumstances” he’d share a ball field with an n-word, he would relent, mainly because he was threatened with no payment. The game went on, and both Anson and Walker played, even though Anson would call Walker names like “Monkey” other insults, many that are way too vulgar to print here.

In 1894, Anson, tired of seeing white ball players lose jobs to black ball players, started his own revolution, called the “White Players revolt”. It was a general strike, in which Anson and some of the era’s top stars (and gate draws) would refuse to play ball as long as blacks were allowed to play alongside whites. The owners, not wanting to lose many, caved, and thus, major league baseball was no longer integrated, and would remain as such until after World War II.

Now I get the argument that some of you might want to make, that these folks, their transgression occurred off the field, and not on. They didn’t take drugs, etc. Well, that’s a nice argument, for about five minutes. Then you introduce logic, and you see the flaws of the argument. If you are going to argue that taking drugs to have an edge is a lower crime than that of racism, then I pity you. I don’t want to hear any discussion about protecting the legacy of the hall. The undisputable fact remains that while players who took drugs to get an edge, but ones who out and out engaged in racist acts are allowed in is flat out disgusting. So, unless you can sit there, and come up with a valid argument that taking drugs is worse than racism, I will not back off my view point.  

 If I could vote, I’d vote Roger Clemmons, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire all into the hall of fame. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t agree with cheating to get an advantage, but in the grand scheme of things, what they did really wasn’t wrong. Mike Schimdt is one of the very few hall of famers who has no issue with these players getting in. He even admitted that players in the 70’s and 80’s often would take uppers for a game. As Schimdt has so wisely stated, Uppers enhanced the player’s game, so shouldn’t uppers be considered a PED? And if so, that would exclude a whole slew of players.

As I wind this up, I’m just going to restate my main point. I don’t want to hear about that sanctity of the major league baseball hall of fame. I don’t want to hear how electing players with ties to steroids and PED’s is going to taint it. Especially as long as the hall continues to house a certain two men who fought to keep baseball a game for whites only.

Looking back, it wasn't too bad

You know, I have to admit, that I’ve never done a blog like this. I’ve never really been the “Share with the Web world” kind of person. Granted, if there was a question that someone had about me, I’d gladly answer it. I figure, if they are going to ask, I can be kind and answer in return. Besides, I’ve lived a life worth of a bestselling novel.

36 years ago I burst about this world. I was pretty much a normal baby, crying for attention, wanting to be burped, etc. However, I was born, with a broken leg. I was born with a bone disease known as Neurofibromatosis. It caused an abnormality in the development of some of my bones. Some examples, I no bone structure behind my right eye, which makes it appear smaller and swollen. I was also born with a left leg that was shorter than the right one.

And there is where my life story lays. My left leg, an appendage that has seen its share of surgeries. The first coming when I was a mere 18 days old. I would be in a cast from that time, until I turned four years old. During that time, I had a surgery that involved my left leg being hooked up to an electrical machine that was supposed to stimulate growth. It pretty much only stimulated the growth of the electric bill. There was also the time I had a bone taken from my right leg, and inserted into my left leg. They hoped that this would in turn spur growth in my leg. Alas, it did not. It didn’t though.

Now, it was during this time that I was in a double cast. From the waist on down, I was in the cast, with a bar going across my leg to keep them straight. Now, I managed to do something that the doctors found perplexing. I managed to wear out the double cast. I used to crawl around, using my hands and arms as feet and legs. This included crawling up a flight of stairs. I developed a pretty solid upper body, save for the flabby stomach. Other than that, my arms were pretty toned and strong.

It simply bewildered the doctors that I could actually crawl up the stairs. I was a kid, and I didn’t know what it was like to face something I couldn’t overcome. Deep down, I think that all kids have this strength.

I actually cried the first time I had to go without a cast. Hey, I had always had one, I couldn’t remember a time that I didn’t have one. Now, something really cool was going on that I really should touch on here. My surgeries were making me a little famous. At the age of four, I had already appeared in the National Enquirer, and the local newspapers, the Democrat and Chronicle, and Times-Union.  This does not include being interviewed on local television. All of this attention, because many of the surgeries I was having were first of their kind. If I’m not mistaken, the bone graph surgery was video-taped and currently sits in the library of Johns Hopkins Medical School.  During this time, I got to talk to Erik Estrada, Ron Carey, and Washington Redskins placekicker Mark Mosley. During the NFL season, Mark would call my house the Saturday before every game. Though deep down I was secretly a Tampa Bay Bucs fan, I rooted for the Redskins because of Mark, and harbored a hatred of them when they released him from the roster. I cheered the Browns when they signed him, and became a Broncos hater for life when his last chance at going to the Super Bowl was stopped by Denver. Although, I did cheer the Redskins when they played Denver, and the Redskins had long time Bucs QB Doug Williams at the helm.

Ron Carey kept sending us holiday cards for years. He also sent us an autographed mini poster of the entire Barney Miller Cast. He even sent us sweat shirts of his last TV show, 1989’s Have Faith. Ron passed  away a few years ago.

In October of 1988, I had surgery where they closed the growth plate in my Right leg, in hopes that the legs would even themselves out. Alas, that never happened. However, in December of 1992, I had the surgery that would change my life forever.

It was perhaps the most risky surgery choice. The idea that my left leg would be broken, placed in a lizeroth cage, and I would have to turn four screws four times a day to stretch out the bone.  What made it such a great risk was that I had no guarantee that my left leg would heal if broken, and I stood a chance of losing the leg. It was a risk I had to take, because I’d grown tired of having to buy shoes, and then having a lift placed on it. I wanted normal shoes for once.

December 6^th, 1992, I had the surgery. I was out of school for almost a year and a half. I missed out on the majority of my sophomore and Junior years. It was a struggle getting used to the cage being on my leg, and trying to get around could be a pain. It was a few weeks before I could even manage climbing the stairs. I manager to do my homework, work the trading card store my parents owned, and live a somewhat normal life. I still wonder to this day how I managed to get around with the bulky thing on my leg. As for turning the screws, I didn’t feel the pain. I’m sure the notion of  “Stretching bone” sounds painful, but it didn’t bother me at all. December 8^th, 1993, I had the cage removed. I managed to act in a play (Life with Father, I played Clarence) continue to write for the school paper, and get myself back into the routine of academics.  I did suffer a set break, breaking my leg in March of 1994. That didn’t stop me from going to the Senior prom, and even getting some dancing in, along with an impersonation of Beavis.

Now, were going to flash forward about 6 years. Life finds me as a commentator for NMW, a wrestling promotion based in Rochester, New York. I even managed to debut as a heel manager. For the record, the first ten years of my career, I was a heel. I’ve always felt comfortable playing a villain.  After NMW ceased operation, I was a part of the local TV show Wrestlevision. The show highlighted independent feds from across the US, Canada, and even Japan.  It was fun for the first year, until a producer who used the show to lampoon professional wrestling took over, and after that, doing the show became as enjoyable as walking across a bridge made entirely of cactuses. Thankfully, I went from that quickly sinking ship to joining up with Paul McClemmons and POD productions. Finally, I was working with someone who shared my vision of keeping true to old school values, yet still presenting professional wrestling in a modern way.  Over these many years, I’ve gotten to call matches of legends like Jimmy “Super Fly” Snuka, Jeff Jarrett, Raven, Marty Jannetty, and many others.  I also am a part of a locally produced internet radio station on Veetle. I host my own show, called the Metal Mountain, and I co-host Rock N’ Roll Sports, a show that I had done during my college days at MCC. I keep pretty busy these days. I also have a hobby of writing short stories. I hope the finally try and get them published.

Now I’m sure some of you are asking the question. Have I ever thought of what would it be like to not have had Neurofibromatosis? You know what, I can honestly answer that by saying, not really. Granted, there have been those fleeting moments in which I have asked that question of myself. Then I think about those who followed after me.

A few years before I was born, a young boy in Oregon was born with the same illness. His parents opted for choice B, which involved cutting off the leg. My parents chose their option, A, for me to keep my leg. All of those surgeries I mentioned before, all were one of a kind. They had never been done before, I was the first. Before I went through all of that, doctors would actually push the idea of amputation. Now, there are kids today having the surgeries that I’ve endured. They don’t have to worry about amputation being the only option. Yeah, I think that’s a great trade-off for not being able to play little league, or being the pee wee league quarterback (though growing up, I’d realize that I’d love to have been a bruising linebacker).

Looking back, I’d endure the same life, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. And I look at it as simple as this. Because of the fact that no one else is going to have to endure the notion of the losing a limb, which is what made it all worth it.  Did I get to grow up to be the baseball player, football player, or professional wrestler that I wanted to be as a kid? Nope, I grew up something much greater than that. I grew up to blaze a medical trail. I can’t put it any better.

Now, I do want to clear up a little final bit of business. As I stated to start off this blog, I’m really not one to open myself on the net like this. I have to admit that I felt a little inspired. And for that I would like to thank April Hunter, who wrote a blog this past week, and shared an amazing story from her childhood. And as I sit here, writing these words, I realize and appreciate the emotional strength it takes to write this.  And I hope that everyone enjoyed this little walk in my world.

Thank you.

Post election thoughts

Guess everyone, you survived it. That’s right, you survived not a Zombie apocalypse, you survived that the 2012 election campaign. Are you feeling a little better right now? Besides, it’s it good to know that those political vote for me ads are now replaced by countless advertisements for shit you don’t need, and pretty much, shit you don’t want in the first place. Yes, everything is back in order!

It’s funny to see the Donald Trumps and Ted Nugents of the world lose their collective minds. Ted Nugent sent out tweets to his followers that contained as many grammatical errors of that of a teenage girl texting, and Donnie “Small Potatoes” Trump, well, he’s just gone stark raving mad. It got to the point that his handlers actually had to get Donnie to retract some of his tweets. I tweeted Donnie boy back, and asked him such hard hitting questions like “Don’t you have another business to run into the ground?” I didn’t get any tweets back, nor did I expect any, mainly because Donnie doesn’t have any balls. He lost those to Ivana as part of the divorce settlement years ago. And Ted Nugent, what about him? I think he’s gotten a hold of some tainted meat that has driven him insane. Either that or he’s been lying all these years about being drug free and secretly does whatever drugs Keith Richards drops out of his jacket.

Donald Trump complained about the Electoral College in which Obama won. Trump cried that “Romney won the popular vote, and we need to get rid of the Electoral College vote.” Yeah, you didn’t hear Trump say that when Bush lost the popular vote, but got in on the Electoral College. Remember folks, to conservatives like Trump, rules are only good when they work out in their favor. Once the rules don’t favor them, they cry that the rule needs to go. Remember when they actually tried to get rid of filibusters? In 2009, they all over a sudden wanted them back.

But it’s not just a washed up has been like Ted Nugent (face it Ted, you haven’t been an important part of music since Tommy Shaw and Jack Blades carried your ass as a member of the Damn Yankees), or egomaniacs like Donnie boy Trump that utterly lost it, and melted down for the whole world to see. Some big names in the GOP are going insane as well.

Did anyone else see Karl Rove’s meltdown on Fox News? It was too the point he kept refuting everything that showed the election was going Obama’s way, to the point that Rove took over as director, and pretty much pushed a Fox News anchor to ask one of their analyst if he still felt Obama was going to win (see Rove demands he changes his mind) Rove was defiant to the very end, even after the AP, Reuters, CNN, Current, Fox News, and even Mitt Romney called the election for President Obama.  It was funny to watch Mr. Crossroads crumble under the knowledge that Americans were rejecting the far right Tea Party members the GOP hitched their wagon too. It was an idea that proved near fatal for the party.  For all the money that the GOP superpacs spent, they got very little for it. Kind of how the Oakland Raiders felt after drafted JaMarcus Russell, and giving him all that money to be the worst quarterback in NFL history.

We had Colorado legalize marijuana! Yes, about freaking time. Now the state will spent less on prisons because they will no longer clog it up with people enjoying a harmless herb. By the way, I’m fully in favor of marijuana being legalized for medical purposes. I have written two papers, and even given a speech on the benefits of the drug.

And major congrats to Tammy Baldwin, the first openly lesbian woman to be elected to the senate from the state of Wisconsin. That’s progress. And it’s about damn time. She easily defeated Tommy Thompson, and showed that maybe we’re actually going to be turning the page. Now if only someone could be “openly gay” without the title attached to them.

Now a poplar trend was of the “tea Party” republicans getting voted off the island, mainly because the people that elected them saw what the rest of the country warned them about…these folks were freaking crazy. I mean some of these wanted to turn the clock back to the 1910’s. Todd Akin, Dick Murdock, whose views on rape were so extreme that anyone with common decency knew that in no shape or form could these smucks be allowed in any seat of power. Take New York’s Ann Marie Buerkle, whose goal was to keep the country from extending the debt ceiling. An elected leader actually said that her goal was to destroy the credit rating of the US. Really quick for my loyal readers, the debt ceiling allows the country to sell off bonds in order to pay certain debts. It was put into place in 1918. We don’t raise the debt ceiling, we don’t pay off debts, and our credit rating goes to pot. Think of it this way. You sell your Harry Potter books on eBay in order to raise a little cash to pay your credit card bill.

John Boehner, who sanely seems to have realized that voters aren’t stupid, they see that the GOP is trying to handicap President Obama every steps of the way, fighting any and all improvements, said that the GOP “Needs to challenge themselves to find the common ground” As opposed to Lipless Mitch McConnell, who seems to think accepting any idea of President Obama’s to paramount to treason. Mitch has much lip as he does smarts.

So, we’ve made it past another election, and time will tell how everything shapes up.  I can only hope that the GOP puts aside their petty childishness, and decides to work with the president. In all seriousness, the people have spoken, and the message is clear. Cut the crap GOP. The party needs to stop hating on women and Hispanics. That will happen once the Cubs win the World Series.

Okay, that is going to close out this blog. I welcome everyone to leave a comment on this page.

Election day is upon us

Here we are, just hours away from deciding what is going to happen for the next four years. Well, I guess more or less we could be voting for who big business is going to try and buy for the next four years.

Listen, let’s be honest, we haven’t had much luck with presidential candidates that had a business background. George Bush JR couldn’t even run an oil company in Texas. That’s like being a failed drug dealer who lives next door to Lindsay Lohan. Another one would be a failed steroid dealer who lives next to Lance Armstrong. Then again, it is widely speculated that Bush used insider information when it came to selling Harken’s stock (the company that was once Bush’s failed Arbusto Oil).

Hey, we also had Herbert Hoover, who graduated from Stanford with a degree in engineering, and he built an international mining empire. Not bad. However, as a president, Hoover was perhaps the biggest failure of all-time. He cut taxes for those who were doing well, in hopes that it would spur job growth. All it did was create the great depression’s growth. Remember when Candidate Mitt Romney said middle class was $250,000? Herbert Hoover and family kept on like an aristocracy. Every meal had to have formal attire, and had to be a seven course dinner. All of this whilst his citizens stood in soup kitchens, and begging for work.

There was another president who boldly claimed that it was wrong to tax millionaires, and gave them a giant tax cut, perhaps one of the biggest in US history.  He bragged about small government, and spouted outdated maxims on a frugal government. What it did do was spur the great depression, and bring an end to the Calvin Coolidge reign in the White House. H.L. Mencken summed the Coolidge presidency like so “Nero fiddled while Rome Burned, Coolidge only snored.” That was a play on the fact that Coolidge like to sleep, to the point when informed the danger that the KKK was presenting, Coolidge slept on his options.

Hey, that beats the man who Coolidge took the place of. Good old’ Warren G. Harding, a man who famously once bet the entire White House china in a card game. Oh, and then was that nasty Teapot Dome scandal that came to light after Harding’s death, and saw Albert Fall become the first cabinet officer in US history to go to prison.

And I could go on about Ronald Reagan, who saw nothing with selling weapons to the highest bidder (and getting those under him to take the fall, not bad for a man who was nearly a member of the communist party), but hey, why strike out against the man the Republicans who in Christ like regard.

And I’m not going to knock George Bush sr. He had his flaws (like giving birth to junior, and vomiting on Japanese diplomats) like any man. However, once he was away from the office, he became almost Jimmy Carter like. He worked with Democrats on social issues, and became buddy-buddy with Bill Clinton. We also had Chester A. Arthur, a man who used the spoils system, and turned his back on same when he got into office, signing into law the Pendleton Act. Although there was that nasty run in with the Chinese, whom he tried to limit on their immigration, that was an awkward moment.

However, when you look at cold hard facts, the declines this nation has suffered through more times than not, occurred when a Republican was in office. And I’m sorry if facts offend certain people that planned on voting for Mitt Romney. Listen, I know that our say is limited, even more so to the Citizens United case, which allowed corporations to donate unlimited funds into the coffers of politicians.  But let’s look at one simple undeniable fact.

Mitt Romney made his fortune, for the most part off of Bain Capital. Bain Capital made its mark buying under performing companies, shredding the workforce, and showing higher profits, even though many times, they simply shut down companies, and took the tax write off when they listed it as a loss on their tax returns.

And we won’t even go into how dangerous the idea of attempting to overturn  Roe V Wade. This is something they might be able to accomplish because a few justices are going to be retiring during the next four years. A reversal of that historic landmark decision would bring us back to the days of when women would routinely die in back ally abortion clinics.  Hey, let’s not forget that many of these deaths would be the result of poorly trained doctors with limited education.

So, there it is. Either vote President Obama back in office, let him continue his FDR attempt to fix the mess he was left by President George Bush jr. Obama wants to fund Pell grants, wean this nation off its gas and oil addiction, and bring home troops from countries they don’t have to be in anymore. Or, you can go the other route. You can give a vote to limit women’s rights, to give the rich tax breaks they don’t need, all the while bringing on another depression.  And let us not forget, cut everything , give billions (yes billions with a B) to the pentagon, and expand American occupation of other nations. By the way, that means more young men and women dying in war.

It’s your decision. It’s that simple.

Bloomberg puts marathon over hurricane victims

One of the greatest regrets of the late Pete Rozelle, long time Commissioner of the NFL, was that he did not cancel the scheduled games the weekend after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He felt at the time, that the games would be a source of healing for the nation. As Redskins Linebacker Sam Huff, a hall of fame player put it years later "As I listened to the Anthem,  my only thought was, what the hell are we doing out here." Flash forward 29 years, to the events after 9/11. They were all canceled.

Which brings me to the New York Marathon. As I write this, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is dead set on having the Marathon go off. It seems rather insulting that a few miles away, people are sifting their their tattered belongings, wondering when their insurance companies are going to be able to help them get back on their feet. There are others who sit in dark houses, no power.

Thee are plenty of others, sitting in nice warm hotel room who are hours away from getting evicted. You see, these rooms are reserved,for the competitors in the New York Marathon. Doesn't matter if these victims of the hurricane have anyplace to go right now, they just have to get out.  All because Mayor Bloomberg is putting others over the ones that are in the greatest of need.

One could wonder what type of philosophy Mayor Bloomberg has employed here. From a human stand point, it doesn't make any sense. Why, after these people just suffered a great loss, would he tell them to get out, that these runners are more important then they are.

I know one thing that you are thinking. The marathon is going to bring in millions of dollars that could go to relief efforts. There is just one flaw with that logic. They city will already have to pay for the scores of police and medical personnel that are going to have to be on stand by. Keep in mind that current relief crews are already stretched to the max,and more are going to come in to help. However, to take away assistance from people whom have just survived a hurricane just boggles. the mind.

I mean, just conjure up the image of any elected official telling storm victims to get the hell out of the hotel room they are needed for others, out of towners, runners. How would you re act. Would you like to see said elected leaders apologize, and let the victims stay? How about telling the runners, the race is canceled? Wouldn't that make sense?

Facts are you have nearly 100 people dead, hundreds of thousands without power as I write this blog at 11am, the Jersey Shore is nearly wiped off the face of the Earth, Rockaway beach is gone. Families are going to struggle to  rebuild. I read a story in the USA Today this morning about a man who lost all of his possession, including those from his now deceased parents, which can never be replaced. And Mayor Bloomberg is going to go ahead with the goddamn Marathon! Mayor Bloomberg, who already has tried to usurp the power of the constitution by trying to say who can get married, what sized soda they can drink, and use the NYPD to illegally track Muslim-Americans, is putting a marathon over the needs of the citizens he was elected to lead.  Maybe Mayor Bloomberg should follow the lead of new Jersey governor Chris Christie, and actually give a damn about the people of his state. Mayor Bloomberg don't give a damn about the people of New York city. The only time he notices them is when he looks to see what he is stepping on.

Congrats, Bloomberg, you've just become the worst mayor in New York history.

Putin fears Pussy...Riot

Hey everyone, how the hell are we doing right now?

I'm sitting back, relaxing, enjoying a day off, some free time. So I'm engaging in one of my favorite exercises, blogging!

First, I've got to talk about Russian leader Vladimir Putin. You know, we all gave Bush  grief for being one of the least intelligent leaders of a country. Putin could actually be worse. Yeah, of course Russia has unemployment issues, and they are in a fast free fall from power than the New England Patriots. He's got plenty of issues to address. Instead, he focuses on the band Pussy Riot.

First off, Putin looks like the kind of guy that has to pay for pussy, no wonder why he has an issue with a band called "Pussy Riot" He's angry that the band filmed a performance of a song in a church. And yeah, by the way, the song was anti-Putin. So Putin has a hissy fit, and sentences the young women to live in a work labor camp. By the way, only two members are still there, he let another member out. He's usually he cloak of morality to hide the fact that he's anti-free speech. He feels the young women got what they deserved.

What, Putin, can't take a little criticism. Oh yeah, you see, If Pussy Riot had done that in the states, people would have been offended for all of five minutes. Then the band would have sold millions of album, embarked on sold out tour, and MTV maybe even would have given them their own reality show.

But nope, they had the misfortune to film the video in a church in suppressive Russia. The one country that hasn't flipped the calender since the 14th century. Putin, who has overseen a improvement in Russian economy, says he isn't worried about how history views him. Well, that's a good thing because history is going to view him like it views Nixon. Remember, Nixon once considered John Lennon the greatest treat to the United States.

Well, since I have no plans on going to Russia, let me say, Fuck Putin! No one should go to jail over words, no matter what you think of what was said. Fred Phelps has the protected right to say he's happy when American soldiers die. I don't agree with his words,and I think he's the biggest asshole in human history since Hitler, but he has the right to say what he says. And I have the right to say that Vladimir Putin is a doucebag. Hey Putin, why don't you worry more about the planes in Russian you friggin moron. Maybe if Russian had better oversight on their airplanes, an entire pro hockey wouldn't have been killed. By the way, Russia has the lowest standards in the free world when it comes to inspecting airplanes. The plane that crashed killing an entire KHL hockey team (which did feature a few Americans on its coaching staff) was deemed too poor for service by the standards of America, Japan, Canada, Africa, China, Italy, Qatar, Iraq, and even Mexico. But hey, who has time for making sure air flight is safe when you have to deal with a rock band that thinks you're a repressive leader. A band that feels religion enslaves an not enlightens.

Putin is a paragon of a world leader who doesn't have a clue. Putin is a slight bit temperamental when it comes to those of  differing opinion, isn't he?

You know, I didn't intend to dedicate this entire blog to Putin, and the free speech issue. I think Russia needs to understand that the last century is over. If Russia doesn't want to be a punchline to the rest of the free world, they need to modernize their belief structure. The band Pussy Riot wasn't doing anything different then what we've been doing in America for years. We spent the first eight years of this century with Howdy Doody in the oval office. People mocked him, and they never went to jail. And that's a good think. We've poked fun at religion for years, and for the most part, no one has gone to jail. I'll be honest, I'm agnostic, and I became so by reading the bible. Dos being agnostic mean that if I lived in Russia and expressed my religious belief structure, that I would be subject to serving time in  a prison camp?

Fact is that Russia is dangerously behind the times, and I think Pussy Riot will be the first crack in the foundation. I would love to see the people of Russia band together behind these young women. Putin can't jail you all. After a while the movement will grow to a pressure point that the power structure crumbles under its weight. It will change Russia for the better, and maybe they will elect a leader that isn't has thin skinned. After all, if your elected leader  is fearful of a rock band, then what would happen if an evil dictator got in his face? Maybe that's a question the people of Russia need to ask themselves.

Maye this blog could get forwarded to Pussy Riot's management, or even a few folks in Russia. And on that note, I'm off. And if Vlady gets this blog, and gets offended...well, he can go fuck himself.

Our wacky Constitution

Hey everyone, how are we doing this evening? I'm doing pretty well. And hey, since its dark and gloomy outside, and the rain is falling, I've opted to take this time and share with you, the US Constitution. What a back drop.

I'm sure you keep hearing about certain laws, and you'll see some professor, suit and tie and all, going on TV talking about "How this law is a form of government invasion, yack yack yack."

Well, I'm going to bust a few myths tonight (or morning, or day, depending on which time you read this) as far as our US Constitution goes. So get the pen and paper handy, because US Constitution class is in session.

Yes, Rhode Island. you know, I think there is a reason why its the smallest state. Perhaps, our fore fathers acted in revenge in order to keep it small. Here's the deal, on March 24th, 1788 a popular election was head in the state in order to determine the ratification of the brand new US Constitution. To say it lost, was a slight understatement. Since I'm willing to bet the majority of you weren't around when the Chicago Bears defeated the Washington Redskins 73-0 to win the NFL championship. Instead, I'll use the more recent example of when the 49ers beat the Broncos 55-10 in the Super Bowl, a game when the Broncos did not register one penalty. While 237 people in Rhode Island voted to ratify the Constitution, 2,945 opposed it! I haven't seen a beating like that since the Yankees ruined the 100th anniversary of Fenway park.

So the US Constitution gave us democracy, did it? Yeah, I'm sure it did, even though the word democracy does not appear once in the document. By the way, for the record, there are 4,440 words in the Constitution..and democracy isn't one of them.

You know, they left out a few things in that grand document, and guess what, voting was one of them. You see, when it was originally penned, voting requirements were not included. As a result, only land holding white men could vote. Women, nope they couldn't vote. In fact, if they were to become a widow, the land would automatically revert to a surviving brother of the husband. Black people could not vote, because they were considered chattel, and chattel can not vote. And Native Americans...the ones were kind of stole this land from, they couldn't vote either. In fact, it wouldn't be until 1924 they were granted that right.

By the way, those tea party spam emails floating around about  secret 28th amendment that Obama forced through..it doesn't exist. The 27th amendment, which dealt with congressional salaries, was proposed in 1789, and wasn't ratified until 1992!

Voter ID fraud is rare, pretty rare in fact. However, voter ID fraud has been used as an excuse to force people show ID when they vote, which just may be unconstitutional. After all, once you've tried to force an entire race to pay a tax for the right to vote....you have to seek out another extreme. I could go on about how no one was calling for ID laws after voter fraud was found in 2000 and 2004 (when Bush was elected"), but I'll save that rant.

About amendments, there have been some pretty wacky amendments proposed. Like in 1876, when they tried to abolish the US congress. You know that was the same year of a proposal  that religious leaders not be allowed to hold office or get federal funds. Two years later, it was proposed that the President be abolished, and replaced with the Council of Three! Man, they have of been smoking George Washington's left over stash.

Yeah, they also tried to abolish the Navy and Army in 1893, and the next year, tried to usurp the power of the Constitution by forcing that the US recognize God and Jesus Christ the supreme authority in all matters.

And then there were those nasty ideas about making divorce illegal as well as banning interracial marriage. Which occurred in 1916 and 1914 respectively. And let's not forget that in 1947 they tried to amend the constitution in 1947 to keep the amount of taxes that anyone in the US pays below 25%.

Yeah, the most important document in US history has been tweaked and toyed with, and nearly ruined with some really terrible ideas. I hope this has been educational for everyone.

UFL on Life Support and other thoughts

I've been a South Park fan since the show began in the late 1990's. I went the see the movie when it opened, first weekend. I've watched it on DVD countless times, as I have the Imaginationland special on DVD even more. I have several South Park related t-shirts and other collectables.

Okay, I'm sure you are wondering, what does South Park have to do with the UFL? Well, the UFL aired games live on CBSSPORTS every Wednesday night. Which means that instead of watching the new season of South Park, I watched the UFL.

There was plenty of NFL caliber talent in the UFL. I say was because the league has suspended the remainder of the 2012 season, putting players, cheerleaders, food vendors all out of work, and with it, revenue for the cities that housed teams.

I also enjoyed the UFL because I haven't drank from the NFL's big bottle of kool-aid. Fact is the NFL is not a truly good league anymore. I think that a UFL or CFL team could compete with a team from the USFL. These so called other leagues are stocked with talented players, but they are viewed as being inferior because they don't play in the NFL.

Which brings me to the USFL. The USFL existed in the 1980's, and produced plenty of NFL talent, not to mention hall of fame players. From heralded players like Steve Young, Jim Kelly, and Reggie White, to players like Gary Zimmerman, and future hall of famers like Kent Hull. The USFL was undone by the greed of Donald Trump.

There has been talk of a USFL re-launch since the mid 1990's. In 2007, it looked like it was going to actually happen. On November 29th, 2010, I contacted Michael Dwyer, who was the power behind the new USFL. I had emailed him because I was going to work with city officials in regards to getting a "test" game, an exhibition if you will, played in Rochester, NewYork. I excited, because I really wanted to get this done. However, it seemed that Mr. Dwyer was more talk than action. Here is the final email that I received from Mr. Dwyer:

What is the name of the stadium in Rochester?
 

Michael D. Dwyer
New USFL Founder / Chairman

newusfl@yahoo.com
http://www.newusfl.com/

 

 

 

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE:  The information contained in this e-mail may be confidential and is
intended solely for the use of the named addressee.  If you are not the intended recipient,
please do not read, copy, or use this e-mail, and do not disclose it to others.  Please notify
the sender of the delivery error by replying to this message, and then delete it from your
system.

---

From: chris murray <metalrox_2000@yahoo.com>
To: usfloffice@newusfl.com
Sent: Mon, November 29, 2010 12:41:01 PM
Subject: Exhibition game in Rochester
Your Name: chris murray

Your Email: metalrox_2000@yahoo.com

Your City & State: rochester, New York

Subject: Exhibition game in Rochester

Your Question: I was curious if the new USFL when it gets off the ground, would be interested in staging an exhibition or test game here in Rochester. The city has a rapid football fan base. The Bills training camp is located at St. John Fisher and attracts well over a million people a year. College and high school football games are always well attended and in many cases, televised live. Rochester has also support two indoor football league teams. I think Rochester is an untapped market for the outdoor game.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yep, I emailed him back a few times, but never heard anything ever again. Emails went unreplied to.

Now, you might be asking why I am sharing this. Well because I would love to see another pro football league, and I'm pretty annoyed with the talk of a "New USFL" that this has to be shared. Now, I'm not sure if this Michael Dwyer is still on board for the re-launch, or if it was nothing more than talk.

However, people, especially folks like me who loved the original USFL, shouldn't be teased like this. I have spoken to people who run USFL groups, as well as former USFL players. They are upset because these people touting a new USFL are exploiting team names like the Los Angeles Express and Birmingham Stallions, and San Antonio Gunslingers. They are exploiting the connection that fans like myself had to the original USFL.

So, as thousands of professional football players, cheerleaders, executives, scouts, and support staff are out of work, small cities ignored by the NFL once again are without football. And the folks behind the alleged new USFL are touting the leagues launch in 2013 btw, pushed back from 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012. And I'm sure some of these now unemployed players might think the new USFL is actually going to take the field. The New USFL is a carrot on a stick, and nothing more. And I hope that those exploiting the USFL brand get exposed for being scam artist.

And let me conclude by saying that I hope the UFL does return, strong with a good backing. Maybe the NFL can take some of the 75 billion dollars it rakes in t get the UFL off life support, and on its own two leagues as a NFL developmental league. Until then, I now again will be waching South Park every Wednesday night.

If I were president

hey everyone, were just a few hours away from the presidential debate, and I thinking to myself, what if I, your humble blogger, were to sit in the oval office. I wonder, what might I try and get passed into law....hmmm.

For one, Gay marriage would be legal. Listen kiddies, I'm going to let you in on a secret. Republicans aren't trying to keep gay people from getting married for any moral reason, or because that hocus pocus bible tells them to. Nope, it's all about taxes!. Yes you heard that correctly, its all about taxes. You see, if you get married to your significant other, there are tax breaks you get upon their death. By not recognizing gay marriage, gays who marry don't get this benefit, and they actually have to pay money that straights don't have to.

Here is how it works. A couple gets married, and are married for say, 25 years. then one of the people dies. If they are a straight couple, the property transfers tax free. However, if they are a gay couple, the surviving spouse doesn't get that tax break! That's why DOMA exist, it's a tax grab folks. I'll end that tax grab by legalizing gay marriage!

Pot will be legal. Hell since we already of the tax supported compassionate IND program, that allows the patients that were enrolled (enrollment stopped in 1992) government grown pot. The marijuana is grown on the campus of the university of Mississippi, and the cultivated, and prescribed out to those still alive in the program. Medical marijuana eases wasting, something that AIDS and chemo patients generally suffer from. I've written two papers on medical marijuana, as well as given a speech on the subject. And once I get a PDF program, I'll email anyone who wants a copy of my work, so you can see all of the research that I've put into the subject.

States must make Education funding a predesignated part of state spending. There's a reason we are falling behind every other industrialized country...because they have fully funded education, unlike us! If these folks trying to pass state budgets need to cut something, they can cut their paychecks.

Another change is coming..we're switching to the metric system! That's right kiddies, time to learn new math.

Hey, I never did well in math, it was my least favorite subject, but here's a little bit of news for everyone. There is a reason we don't export as much. Because our measuring system clashes with....everyone of our trading partners! Here's an amazing idea. Switch to the math system the rest of the free world uses, and guess what, we might actually be able to export more!

Jobs....a high on my list. Listen, we have to understand that some jobs have gone away, and they aren't coming back...unless you live in Oregon, were things like self serve gas stations, and self check out lines are illegal because the state has a jobs first mentality. we strengthen education, create whole new fields of industry, spur job growth, which boost the economy, which deducts the deficit, gives a surplus, and balances the friggin budget.

And that's just my first term. Hey, if I could those items off in term one, you know I'd get a second term. The other party might be reduced to drastic nonsense to say about me. Maybe they might lie and say I wasn't born in this country or  something.

Society can be confusing

I should start this by sharing what is a well known secret. I am agnostic. That doesn't mean I don't believe in God, I just feel that it can not be proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that God existed. Ever since I was a child, I always have doubts and ququestions.

I guess what confuses me the most is how a political party that greatly associates Jesus into their rhetoric, actually flat out refuses to embrace the views Jesus had. Jesus, according to the gospels that were allowed into Scripture, was a peaceful hippie who embraced the idea of healing the sick without charging. No, they more or less remind me of the one in the scriptures left out, like when he blinded a man in spite simply because the man did not like the work Jesus' father did. Spiteful, cruel hearted children, like the gospels dealing with Jesus as a youth seem to make Christ out as.

Republicans seem to be against everything   that would help the poor. Medicare, nope, they want to gut that. Food stamps, nope, they would to eliminate programs like that. Mitt Romney even admitted that he will engaged in cutting funding to PBS and Planned Parenthood.

We'll gloss over that fact that only 11% of Planned Parenthood's services are abortions. We'll gloss over the fact right now that the funding that goes to PBS would take 117 years to equal what defense gets in one year. The Conservatives are such skinflints that they want to cut funding for almost everything, except for defense. Defense is the calling card for them, because deep down, they like war. Maybe they view them as modern day crusades?

But listen, I don't want to get bogged down in the numbers, because the point is missed. Instead the goals need to be examined. I listen to the rhetoric that the GOP offers, and I hear vague power words, and no solutions.

To me, programs like medicare and food stamps are needed. People who are on food stamps are not the type of folks that they are made out to be. The contribute to the economy. If they weren't on food stamps, then the food products that they purchase would remain on the shelves, and the stores wouldn't make the money off of said product. Which means that the company that produced the product wouldn't make money either. You don't make money off of things that don't leave the shelves.

Now the GOP makes these bombastic claims that people on food stamps are moochers of society. As you can clearly see, this is not the truth. Instead of trying to help these people, the Conservatives want to use them as leverage in order to frighten the middle class. This  is why many Conservative middle class folk view those who collect food stamps as being lazy, They are brainwashed into doing so by the GOP. Instead, we should focus on helping these people. They aren't a bogeyman, they are mothers with children, people who are under employed and can barely scrape together the money to survive. They simply are people, who are not as lucky as you or I. Remember that next time you crack a joke about someone on Welfare, or scoff at them when you see them in your local supermarket. And remember you are one twist of fate away from being there yourself.

As for the abortion issue. I find it ironic that people who claim that life is sacred and are against abortion are so in favor of always being at war. As Carlin said, they want live babies so they can grow up to be dead soldiers. Why else would some of them be so dead set against allowing a woman the right to choose? Some, like Todd Akin, feel that even if the woman is a victim of a rape, or if  her life is in danger, should be forced to carry the baby full term. That is wrong headed thinking, and anyone who feels that why doesn't not belong in any public office! Besides, who the hell are they to decide what another person should/can do with their body? Planned Parenthood mainly deals in contraceptives, and other issues. Abortions are a tiny sliver of what they do. But the GOP doesn't like the idea of Planned Parenthood, so they use the abortion bogeyman to make people think that Planned Parenthood is a forest of abortions.

I could go on, but I don't wish to come off as rambling. I think the next time, I'll focus on why gay marriage should be legal.