Archive for September, 2009
18
Over the weekend, two of sports greatest athletes were taken to task for their behavior. One, Serena Williams, was penalized twice at the end of a match for yelling at a lines woman for calling a foot fault. The other, Michael Jordan, used his forum at the Hall of Fame ceremony to “get back” at everyone who ever slighted him. While both of them may have acted badly, depending on how you look at it, it only Serena Williams that sports columnist Mike Whitlock chose to chastise. And usually I agree with things that “Whit” has to say. But on this one, you got it wrong Whit!
I’m going to start by saying this. I’m really not a Jordan fan, PERIOD! And while I give him much props for his accomplishments, how can you not, I never “pulled his jock.” I was a Magic Johnson fan. So his first three championships I didn’t really care about. I was pulling for the Lakers and the Suns for two of those rings. I didn’t even watch the final against the Blazers. The second three championships, I DID pull for the Bulls. But that wasn’t because of Mike. It was because of my man, DENNIS RODMAN!!! Yeah, me and “D-Rod” are riding for life. All except when he married Carmen Electra. What The Hell was that about D??? But I digress. The persona that he allowed to be scripted about himself wasn’t real. And I could tell it wasn’t real. He just seemed like a fake and a phony to me. And when the chips began to come out, sexual relations with groupies, gambling issues, and allegedly getting coaches fired – Doug Collins, and teammates cut, Craig Hodges, it just confirmed what I had always felt. That the whole “Air Jordan thing” was a farce. I only came to “like Mike” when he played with the Bullets. Yeah I called them the Bullets and not the Wizards because they are. The Bullets!!! And here’s why I began to “like Mike.”
The BULLETS were playing against the Chicago Bulls in D.C. and the “young guns” were talking mad trash to Mike including Ron Mercer. They went at him the WHOLE GAME. And it was back and forth. And the one play that I think epitomizes Jordan was this. As Mercer took the ball to the hoop, Mike pinned it against the glass, caught it, and turned around to Ron and told him “don’t talk trash.” That was the competitive fire that made Mike the COMPETITOR that he is! But his Hall of Fame speech, let the “REAL JORDAN” come back out!
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17
For any parent who has had a child abducted and have never found out what happened to them, where they are, or if they are still alive, the return of Jaycee Dugard might have given them some hope. Hope that someday their loved one will come back home safe and sound. And the story has made those people who know or knew the Dugard family happy for her return and those who know or knew her abductors, Phillip Garrido and his wife, Nancy, shocked thinking about what has happened. But for one IDIOT, this tragedy is fodder for him to joke about in his SPORTS COLUMN!
The IDIOT, sports columnist mark whicker, lower caps on purpose to show my CONTEMPT, of the Orange County Register, decided to write an article recounting all of the “sports moments” that Jaycee missed while being held captive, repeatedly raped, giving birth to two children, and being abused. And what were some of those things whicker decided Jaycee just “had to know?” Let’s start with “Beach Towel Night!” Or how about not having “high fived” anyone for a long time! Or “spiked a volleyball!” He even joked that “at least penitentiary prisoners get an hour of TV a day!” The column, the writer, and the paper were IMMEDIATELY taken to task for what they had allowed to be printed in their paper. At the bottom of this post the “sports moments” whicker felt Jaycee missed and CERTAINLY NEEDED TO KNOW! And to top all of this off, he ended the column by saying “Congratulations, Jaycee. You ‘left the yard.’ ”
Initially, whicker, dismissed the complaints and added that “bloggers were making a bigger deal out of this than was needed.” It was those words that sent this story into the mainstream where it was published and republishes, and aired and re-aired on the news ad nauseum. It was at that point, the the writer and the newspaper apologized for their poor decision to allow the article to go to print. And that apology was piss poor to say the least. He seemed more concerned about having “offended readers and advertisers.” Very little was said about why it was done, and WITHOUT a DIRECT APOLOGY to Jaycee and her family. But is whicker the only one at fault?
At any newspaper, whether high school, college, local, or national, there are editors who make the final decision as to whether an article should be printed. And it seems like at the Register, EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM must have fallen asleep at the wheel because NO ONE saw anything wrong with this article. What the hell could they have been thinking?
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14
One of the consequences of Global Warming has been the inconsistent weather in different parts of the country. Some places are getting enough rain to cause major floods and other parts of the country aren’t getting little if any rain at all. This has caused local and state to begin asking residents to conserve water. With the economy and the threat of huge fines, people are cutting back on their water use. And if you can believe this, not only are water company officials complaining about their “diminishing profits” but they also want to raise the rates AGAIN!
The county of San Diego initiated MANDATORY water rationing back in June. This water rationing included only being able to water your lawn on certain days of the week, for no more than 10 minutes, and being asked to keep showers at 5 minutes. They also raised the water rates by 40%. That means that some families water bills went from $150.00 a month to to over $210.00 a month. And remember, you are using LESS water and PAYING MORE for it! Those factors, along with the shrinking budgets of many families, led to people cut their water usage. In some water districts, the water usage went down more than 20%. Which is exactly what is supposed to happen right? Apparently not!
As a recent water meeting, water officials lamented the lost revenue that has come with the water rationing. They are saying that their costs are still the same but their profits have dropped. That they may need to “dip into their reserves“, or shrink operating expenses to carry out mandatory state and federal laws. And they are also talking about “relaxing” water restriction rules.”Or, and this is what is pissing me off, they want to raise water rates again. They are supposed to include a letter in this month’s bill “asking residents” if they want their water rates raised. And we are supposed to send the “vote” back to disagree with it. Oh, and to show you just how ass backwards this whole thing is, they will spend $140,000.00 to send out the notices. And that is not a small amount of money is it?
I hope the residents of San Diego County don’t just sit back and allow their water rates to be raised with saying or doing anything about it. This whole think is making me believe that there really isn’t a water shortage. This is just another excuse the pockets of the citizens of San Diego, California!