Wow... Seven years?

It has been seven years since I posted last.  I think that is probably due to the presence of Facebook ,then Twitter.   I'm done with Facebook, but I love Twitter.  Why?  Well, not because I like following celebrities.  That is far from the case.  I enjoy the sharp news flow and the select people I like that are hilarious with their tweets.


If you follow the right people, you can find out about weather, traffic, and any other local news of urgency faster on Twitter than anywhere else.   Interested in a sports team?  You can follow beat writers, columnists, radio hosts, etc. and keep up with the latest information.  In a world full of people wanting immediate information (like me), there is currently nothing like Twitter.


Yes, some people use it to see what Snooki is doing today, but it is really whatever you want it to be since you pick your sources.   So if you are Twitter hold out because you think it is about Ke$ha's selfie, or some political rants; it is only that if you want it to be.


@MarionTiger

De Aunta Farrow - 12-year-old shot by Police

Not familiar with this story... see link below...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1855490/posts

As you can imagine (or maybe not if you aren't from the South), this event has polarized the community in this delta community.

2.5 months later, and there is still no conclusion from the state investigators. However, in the meantime they have renamed the street for Mr. Farrow; the black leaders of West Memphis have had several meetings with the government of West Memphis wanting some type of Police review committee; Al Sharpton has been there twice; there was "no-spending day" to display the economic power of the black community; and a petition was passed around to call for the dismissal of the mayor and the police chief.

The word "Tragic" has been certainly overused in this situation, but it fits so perfectly it is hard to avoid. Anytime a 12-year-old is killed because of a misunderstanding, confusion, or negligence, it is tragic.

However... Shouldn't we wait until the whole picture is painted? Don't get me wrong, nothing is going to bring "ta ta" back. There is no reason to vilify this child that was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But there is certainly a curiosity about what really happened. Clearly three people can be a witness to something, and see three different things. Officer Sammis and the the cousin at the scene could have seen a lot of the same thing, and yet nothing the same.

Can't we wait until the "jury is in?"

IF Sammis acted in legitimate, perceived self-defense, what else would you have him do?

IF negligence is determined, then let the law determine the outcome.

Let the process happen, take some time to think it out, then react...

John Amaechi, Tim Hardaway, Cornbread Maxwell

I don't understand why this is such a big story. John Amaechi says he's gay. Tim Hardaway says he hates gay people. So we have a gay guy and an idiot. End of story. Who cares? Okay, so I'm not that naive. I know this is a sensitive topic and important to the evolution of opinion and progressive thought. However, I'm getting a little tired of columnists and radio hosts spending hours on this topic with dripping boo hoo about Tim Hardaway's comments. He's a bigot. He's a moron. Again, end of story. But no, people that I have a lot of respect for, like Mike Greenberg on "Mike and Mike in the Morning" spent hours on this topic as if it was an international act of terrorism. All that attention makes me wonder why people of the media spend so much time on this kind of thing. I'm starting to believe that maybe, just maybe, media types *enjoy* such subjects because they have an opportunity to capitalize on drama. I certainly understand that, but also, they get an opportunity to show what kind of socially-sensitive renaissance human beings they are. I mean, going on about this for hours, or for pages, would on the surface, make a person seem really progressive in their thinking, acceptance, or whatever you want to call it. I find it annoying and change the venue.

I'm really surprised that when Cornbread Maxwell recently disapproved of a female NBA official's work, and uttered something like, "...you need to get back in the kitchen...and make me some bacon and eggs..." that Greenberg didn't really go off on that. Instead, it was somewhat laughable to my favorite sports hosts. To me, what Maxwell was more offensive. He IS part of the NBA, and represents people with interests in the NBA. To my knowledge, and I'm not that big of an NBA fan, Hardaway is simply a retired player. Who cares what Hardaway thinks?

Either way, both of these guys said some ridiculous stuff. Their opinions don't matter to me. They aren't public officials, teachers, or seriously anyone that would influence me or general public opinion. In fact, they've both raised awareness through their ignorance.

So anyway, 5 mins of radio airtime is enough on this topic. I just don't think that many people care what these two yahoos think.

As for Amaechi, I respect the difficulty he has likely had to endure while keeping his secret. However, I don't want to hear about it forever.

Suicide - Always wrong?

I was listening to the radio when some nut job in Cleveland started eating a light bulb on a dare. I don't know what happened to him ultimately, but this made me start thinking about suicide.

Society says suicide is wrong, flat out. Dr. K is criminal and suicide is a crime, right?

I don't understand this viewpoint. Why is suicide taboo? Sure, I don't doubt for a minute that some people are too hasty to consider suicide, but is that their decision, or ours? Why do we feel we have to intervene on a stranger's attempt to get out of pain. Of course I encourage anyone with these feelings to get help, but that isn't going to always eliminate the feelings dread, doom, and terminal agony.

There are at least two situations where I think it is ridiculous that society does not "allow" suicide. First of all, the terminally ill. Why can't someone decide that they would rather go now rather than suffer for 6 months, then die? Why can't they make that decision? Is it religious beliefs? If that's the case, then we should not impose those beliefs on other people. Follow the golden rule, and allow someone to escape torture as you would want to do also. And assisted suicide, sheesh. Someone is so bad off that they don't have the physical means to do it themself, yet we won't let a physician help them. That makes zero sense to me. Secondly, prisoners. If someone is senteced to death, life, or even a long term, why in the world do we not allow them to commit suicide? I say give them the means to do so when they walk in the door. I don't want to pay for this person's upkeep for 40 years. Food, legal fees, corrections operational costs, etc. If they want to die, let them. Think about the bare facts of this sentence. -We won't let a death row inmate kill himself.-

Interesting Blog on this topic - http://self-deliverance.blogspot.com/

James Frey - Fudgemaster

Man, Frey is really pissing me off now. I saw him on Larry King last night, and the guy did not really answer a single question. We can only hope this turd doesn't run for office. How can we figure out what percentage of what he said in his book "A Million Little Pieces" is truth? He says only the parts outside the facility are disputed. Well guess what, that's because it's the only part that can be disputed. The internal records are off limits. This makes me wonder that if he's willing to take some hefty liberties with "facts" that can be easily disputed, how much B.S. is this phony throwing at us in the sections we can't confirm or deny.

Some people make the argument that even though the author is discredited, the book stands as a great read and a great source of motivation for those that feel they have no hope. Really? If this book motivated you to think you could rise above your problems, only to find that it is lies so someone could make some money, wouldn't you feel burned? Wouldn't make you even more distrusting of those trying to motivate and lift you up? A great read? Hardly, the choppy prose and blue-collar writing style leads you to believe the author doesn't care about style or flow, and is just too raw to worry about it. Come to find out, he's a soft-spoken author by profession.

I think there is going to be so much come out against this guy proving he's full of it, that the publisher will eventually set a precedent and offer refunds or some kind of credit.

James Frey - A Million Little Lies?

There seems to be mounting evidence that James Frey, uh, embellished more than a bit on his experiences as addict all-star in A Million Little Pieces. Maybe I'm naive, but if you can't decide whether a book is going to be fiction or non-fiction until AFTER it is complete, then guess what, it IS fiction.

I have to give the guy credit, he spoofed us all, including getting the crown jewel of book blessings, Oprah. The problem now, is that even if the guy is being 95% truthful, he's still full of crap. I was really engrossed in this book until I saw some of the reports in the New York Times, and Thesmokinggun.com. Now, it may as well stay where it is as a coaster.

So, it is time to move on to another book. I had started a book written from the perspective of a autistic person by a guy who had worked with austistic people for many years. It is interesting how he speaks from what he suspects is the viewpoint of such a person. Please note, that unlike James Frey, this author is not claiming to be a prolific autistic person, but rather writing from that perspective, thus being Fiction. Fiction James, Fiction.

Animal Magnetism?

Check this out: http://quizilla.com/users/EmrysWolf/quizzes/What%20Is%20Your%20Animal%20Personality%3F/

I'm a crow, which I suspect by personal characteristic summary is probably fairly accurate. However, the image of a crow isn't very appealing is it? Couldn't I have had the same results and been a, let's say, eagle?

Blah-lidays

The Christmas break was actually pretty cool this year. I took several days off, and I really needed it. Of course, the down side of that is like not doing laundry for weeks, stuff piles up. Yeah, I'm talking about work. It seems most people come back at the beginning of the year with this new vigor, this rejuvinated spirit. It really irks me. I want to ease back into things, not to mention just getting caught up being out, and the type A's are all gung-ho and fired up. They've got their own resolutions about work, and guess what?...you get to execute it for them. Yipee.

Can we move Christmas and New Years to early October so we could enjoy the weather?

Christmas usually bums me out because I'm pretty weak with managing my money, and post-Christmas is ugly. However, this year wasn't too bad.