In lieu of the Lakers winning it again this year, I have to revisit Mark "Mad dog" Madsen's victory speech from back in the day:
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Death and No Consequences
No one can ever tell me that celebs/atheletes/rich people are treated the same as me or any other Joe Public after a story like this. What would be the penalty if you murdered someone while driving drunk? The NFL should suspend Stallworth for a year or two at the very least. Life without consequences...what's that like?
Donte Stallworth Sentenced to Only Thirty Days for Killing Pedestrian--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Jim Roberts
Jun 17, 2009
NFL News makes its usual stop at Crime Beat with a new free get out of jail card for another athlete as Donte Stallworth gets a free pass for running over and killing a man with his car while driving drunk. He has been sentenced to thirty days. His crime, he ran over a 59-year-old pedestrian on March 14 in Miami Beach and killed him. Was it an innocent accident? No, Donte Stallworth was drunk, clicking in at a healthy .126 after a night of hard drinking.
And he got only thirty days! The lesson, if you are going to drive drunk and kill someone, make a trip to Miami and look for the plea bargain. It must surely help if you play in the NFL.
***
Stallworth had a blood-alcohol level of .126 after the crash, well above Florida's .08 limit. He hit the man as he was going to work. Stallworth was feeling good and buzzing along after a nice night of drinking at Miami Beach's Fountainebleau hotel
"I accept full responsibility for this horrible tragedy," said Stallworth. Or in other words, thirty days and a big cash settlement to stay out of jail. The night before the crash, Stallworth earned a $4.5 million roster bonus from the Browns. Stallworth had a blood-alcohol level of .126 after the crash, well above Florida's .08 limit.
Donte Stallworth Sentenced to Only Thirty Days for Killing Pedestrian--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Jim Roberts
Jun 17, 2009
NFL News makes its usual stop at Crime Beat with a new free get out of jail card for another athlete as Donte Stallworth gets a free pass for running over and killing a man with his car while driving drunk. He has been sentenced to thirty days. His crime, he ran over a 59-year-old pedestrian on March 14 in Miami Beach and killed him. Was it an innocent accident? No, Donte Stallworth was drunk, clicking in at a healthy .126 after a night of hard drinking.
And he got only thirty days! The lesson, if you are going to drive drunk and kill someone, make a trip to Miami and look for the plea bargain. It must surely help if you play in the NFL.
***
Stallworth had a blood-alcohol level of .126 after the crash, well above Florida's .08 limit. He hit the man as he was going to work. Stallworth was feeling good and buzzing along after a nice night of drinking at Miami Beach's Fountainebleau hotel
"I accept full responsibility for this horrible tragedy," said Stallworth. Or in other words, thirty days and a big cash settlement to stay out of jail. The night before the crash, Stallworth earned a $4.5 million roster bonus from the Browns. Stallworth had a blood-alcohol level of .126 after the crash, well above Florida's .08 limit.
Ignorance
Yet another reason I'm glad I grew up without Facebook/Myspace/Twitter--the ignorant dissemination of opinions:
Racial Tensions Boil Over at Berkeley High
Student Facebook postings using the word "nigga" create on-campus furor.
By Sam Levin
PJune 17, 2009
Berkeley High School's lingering racial tensions exploded this month in a flurry of online and verbal slurs, on-campus protests, and disciplinary actions. The Class of 2009's highly charged final days ended Friday in a celebratory graduation ceremony that only partially masked the friction recently ignited among the student body.
Eric Klein contributed reporting to this story.
Related Stories: Berkeley High School, Black Student Union, Wendell Brooks, Taylor Brown, Berkeley Unified School District, Mark Coplan, Bill Huyett, Facebook, Kad Smith, Eve Shames, Taylor Brown, Ariana Fowler, Rikki Moore, Berkeley High PTSA, Mark van Krieken Article Tools
About two weeks ago, a white male senior posted a Facebook photo album entitled "Niggas," which included images of him and his Caucasian friends in hip-hop attire with guns. The album used the word multiple times and triggered angry responses among students, especially from the Black Student Union.
Shortly thereafter, the same student posted a photo of African-American history teacher Wendell Brooks, which had been modified to outfit Brooks in stereotypical gangster paraphernalia and wardrobe. The photo was accompanied by a caption and several comments from both white and black students that also used the term "nigga."
Part of the dispute involved the difference, if any, between the words "nigger" and "nigga" — the latter of which some view as a slang nickname and not a derogatory insult. Other students, angered by any form of the word, brought this to the attention of Brooks, who said he resolved the issue with the student.
One of the seniors who appeared in the original photo album also was accused of allegedly calling a female African-American senior a "nigger bitch" on campus. According to Taylor Brown, a member of the Black Student Union who was nearby but did not witness the incident, the male senior was criticizing the black students' response to the Facebook album, and that sparked a confrontation between the girl and boy. Whether the term "nigger bitch" was used remains his word against hers. The Express is not publishing the students' names.
The culmination of these events was a walk-out on Friday, June 5, in which more than 200 students left campus during finals and staged a protest at the Berkeley Unified School District Office. At the June 10 school board meeting, Black Student Union members issued a list of demands that included the implementation of awareness training, an ethnic studies requirement for graduation, student input into the hiring of more diverse teachers, and programs designed to initiate discussions in the aftermath of racial incidents. School district spokesman Mark Coplan said Superintendent Bill Huyett would address the demands this week.
These incidents highlight the challenges officials face when attempting to respond to online actions on social media outlets such as Facebook. Online behavior officially occurs off campus, and such speech is legally protected.
School officials declined to discuss the incidents with the Express, but seem to have responded only when the behavior occured on campus or involved a teacher. There apparently was no tangible response in the case of the photo album, which had no connection to the school other than the students who posted it.
Although the fate of the two main seniors remains unclear, several students said the student who posted the photo of Mr. Brooks is facing expulsion. He was banned from walking at graduation and a student appeal panel at BHS will determine whether he will actually graduate and remain eligible for admission to UC Santa Cruz. The student who allegedly slurred a female classmate was apparently suspended for three days. He was banned from speaking at graduation, as his fellow students had selected him to do. He is expected to continue on to UC Berkeley.
Black senior Kad Smith, who is friends with the two students but also an active member of the Black Student Union, said he tried to make both sides understand the opposing perspective. "He was desensitized to the word," Smith said of his white friend who posted the photo. "He hears it every second and has friends who allow him to use it. ... I told them that they did not understand why it was insensitive and why it would make people so upset." Smith said he felt that expulsion was too harsh a punishment. Smith spoke at graduation without incident, although several members of the Black Student Union apparently considered turning their backs on him and raising the black power fist.
Student school board representative Eve Shames — a white student who protested alongside the black students — agreed that expulsion was unfair. "One guy's life is being ruined over this," she said. "He said something really stupid ... but he has been getting the message for four strong years that it is okay to say it."
Teachers, students, and parents agreed that the recent events highlighted a larger tension within the school community. "None of this would have exploded had it not been for underlying frustration and preexisting issues," said Brooks, the history teacher. Brooks said the student who posted the "disgusting" photograph of him apparently meant it as a joke with little appreciation of its offensiveness. Although he said the issue is resolved between the two of them, he added that many black students feel frustration over what they view as racism among white students, while they often feel unjustly accused of racism due to the actions of a handful of classmates.
Black Student Union member Taylor Brown said that the events stemmed from underlying community prejudices but not racism. "The walk-out was about real issues, but the events that led up to it were not really of substance," she said. "The class of '09 has done a lot of growing. I feel like this is the proudest I have ever been."
However, black sophomores Ariana Fowler and Rikki Moore said the protest was unnecessary and unmerited. "People blew it way out of proportion," Moore said. Both students agreed that many participants knew little about the controversy and simply wanted to skip class.
Berkeley High PTSA president Mark van Krieken criticized the administration for its lack of transparency, citing its failure to properly inform parents of what has been happening on and off campus. "There is a general tendency at Berkeley High to address things behind closed doors," he said.
Both of the two students involved in the Facebook actions declined to comment.
Comments???
Racial Tensions Boil Over at Berkeley High
Student Facebook postings using the word "nigga" create on-campus furor.
By Sam Levin
PJune 17, 2009
Berkeley High School's lingering racial tensions exploded this month in a flurry of online and verbal slurs, on-campus protests, and disciplinary actions. The Class of 2009's highly charged final days ended Friday in a celebratory graduation ceremony that only partially masked the friction recently ignited among the student body.
Eric Klein contributed reporting to this story.
Related Stories: Berkeley High School, Black Student Union, Wendell Brooks, Taylor Brown, Berkeley Unified School District, Mark Coplan, Bill Huyett, Facebook, Kad Smith, Eve Shames, Taylor Brown, Ariana Fowler, Rikki Moore, Berkeley High PTSA, Mark van Krieken Article Tools
About two weeks ago, a white male senior posted a Facebook photo album entitled "Niggas," which included images of him and his Caucasian friends in hip-hop attire with guns. The album used the word multiple times and triggered angry responses among students, especially from the Black Student Union.
Shortly thereafter, the same student posted a photo of African-American history teacher Wendell Brooks, which had been modified to outfit Brooks in stereotypical gangster paraphernalia and wardrobe. The photo was accompanied by a caption and several comments from both white and black students that also used the term "nigga."
Part of the dispute involved the difference, if any, between the words "nigger" and "nigga" — the latter of which some view as a slang nickname and not a derogatory insult. Other students, angered by any form of the word, brought this to the attention of Brooks, who said he resolved the issue with the student.
One of the seniors who appeared in the original photo album also was accused of allegedly calling a female African-American senior a "nigger bitch" on campus. According to Taylor Brown, a member of the Black Student Union who was nearby but did not witness the incident, the male senior was criticizing the black students' response to the Facebook album, and that sparked a confrontation between the girl and boy. Whether the term "nigger bitch" was used remains his word against hers. The Express is not publishing the students' names.
The culmination of these events was a walk-out on Friday, June 5, in which more than 200 students left campus during finals and staged a protest at the Berkeley Unified School District Office. At the June 10 school board meeting, Black Student Union members issued a list of demands that included the implementation of awareness training, an ethnic studies requirement for graduation, student input into the hiring of more diverse teachers, and programs designed to initiate discussions in the aftermath of racial incidents. School district spokesman Mark Coplan said Superintendent Bill Huyett would address the demands this week.
These incidents highlight the challenges officials face when attempting to respond to online actions on social media outlets such as Facebook. Online behavior officially occurs off campus, and such speech is legally protected.
School officials declined to discuss the incidents with the Express, but seem to have responded only when the behavior occured on campus or involved a teacher. There apparently was no tangible response in the case of the photo album, which had no connection to the school other than the students who posted it.
Although the fate of the two main seniors remains unclear, several students said the student who posted the photo of Mr. Brooks is facing expulsion. He was banned from walking at graduation and a student appeal panel at BHS will determine whether he will actually graduate and remain eligible for admission to UC Santa Cruz. The student who allegedly slurred a female classmate was apparently suspended for three days. He was banned from speaking at graduation, as his fellow students had selected him to do. He is expected to continue on to UC Berkeley.
Black senior Kad Smith, who is friends with the two students but also an active member of the Black Student Union, said he tried to make both sides understand the opposing perspective. "He was desensitized to the word," Smith said of his white friend who posted the photo. "He hears it every second and has friends who allow him to use it. ... I told them that they did not understand why it was insensitive and why it would make people so upset." Smith said he felt that expulsion was too harsh a punishment. Smith spoke at graduation without incident, although several members of the Black Student Union apparently considered turning their backs on him and raising the black power fist.
Student school board representative Eve Shames — a white student who protested alongside the black students — agreed that expulsion was unfair. "One guy's life is being ruined over this," she said. "He said something really stupid ... but he has been getting the message for four strong years that it is okay to say it."
Teachers, students, and parents agreed that the recent events highlighted a larger tension within the school community. "None of this would have exploded had it not been for underlying frustration and preexisting issues," said Brooks, the history teacher. Brooks said the student who posted the "disgusting" photograph of him apparently meant it as a joke with little appreciation of its offensiveness. Although he said the issue is resolved between the two of them, he added that many black students feel frustration over what they view as racism among white students, while they often feel unjustly accused of racism due to the actions of a handful of classmates.
Black Student Union member Taylor Brown said that the events stemmed from underlying community prejudices but not racism. "The walk-out was about real issues, but the events that led up to it were not really of substance," she said. "The class of '09 has done a lot of growing. I feel like this is the proudest I have ever been."
However, black sophomores Ariana Fowler and Rikki Moore said the protest was unnecessary and unmerited. "People blew it way out of proportion," Moore said. Both students agreed that many participants knew little about the controversy and simply wanted to skip class.
Berkeley High PTSA president Mark van Krieken criticized the administration for its lack of transparency, citing its failure to properly inform parents of what has been happening on and off campus. "There is a general tendency at Berkeley High to address things behind closed doors," he said.
Both of the two students involved in the Facebook actions declined to comment.
Comments???
Friday, June 12, 2009
Essential Reading: "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
I'm not even done with this book yet and it's already Essential Reading. I know I'm late on this one, but you should grab it immediately if you haven't already.
It's a post-apocalyptic road journey about hope, filial love and resilliance. I can't put this one down and I don't want it to end.
The movie based on the book is set to debut in the Fall and the cast includes Viggo, Charlize Theron, Robert Duvall and Michael K. Williams (better known as Omar from "The Wire").
Here's the trailer:
Soapbox
I woke up a bit jaded today. Maybe its the fact that this is my 12th straight day of work. Maybe its the fact that I'm unmotivated and lacking passion in my day to day at the moment. Whatever it is I need to set aside some time to provide an outlet. I have some story ideas--just need to do the damn thing. How people find time to work 40+hrs. a week and still produce books/screenplays is amazing to me. Just need to do it.
I'm finding it difficult to relate to people around me these days. Living in one of the most expensive places in the country creates a huge gap between the haves and have nots. The haves don't realize this. How can I relate to a Marin County housewife who's always had it good or a Berkeley Hills workaholic that eats $100 dinners on the reg? Answer: I can't and I don't. This city is too fucking expensive.
I have some friends here, but only a handful I'm close with. Occasionally that gets me a bit twisted inside. Having to reach across the country for someone who knows you gets old. But, within that melancholy is something sweet. Something poetic. Something I enjoy. Pained victory. In a world where everyone is so connected I like dropping off the map at times. I wonder how I can enjoy people and simultaneously want to be a recluse.
I find myself holding back alot for one reason or another. Sometimes i get paralyzed by the fear of going broke--i have my dad to thank for that one. Sometimes its the reluctance to trust new people. Funny how the little things that get instilled in you are so difficult to eschew in adulthood.
I have to remind myself that I've come this far and even though i'm almost 30 i never had a linear plan. I look at other people's corporate success with slight jealousy yet realize that I have more freedoms than most.
Have you ever thought about our society's quest to jam in as many superfluous things as possible? We're always told that we must be doing something prosperous in order to have valuation.
The meritocracy aspect of our country is hypocritical. I'm not one for desperate competition--stepping on heads along the way. Social climbing. I just see our society getting more selfish by the day. It disturbs me and I feel distant. People don't even speak to each other on the street anymore. How many times do you make eye to eye contact with someone on the daily?
I'm finding it difficult to relate to people around me these days. Living in one of the most expensive places in the country creates a huge gap between the haves and have nots. The haves don't realize this. How can I relate to a Marin County housewife who's always had it good or a Berkeley Hills workaholic that eats $100 dinners on the reg? Answer: I can't and I don't. This city is too fucking expensive.
I have some friends here, but only a handful I'm close with. Occasionally that gets me a bit twisted inside. Having to reach across the country for someone who knows you gets old. But, within that melancholy is something sweet. Something poetic. Something I enjoy. Pained victory. In a world where everyone is so connected I like dropping off the map at times. I wonder how I can enjoy people and simultaneously want to be a recluse.
I find myself holding back alot for one reason or another. Sometimes i get paralyzed by the fear of going broke--i have my dad to thank for that one. Sometimes its the reluctance to trust new people. Funny how the little things that get instilled in you are so difficult to eschew in adulthood.
I have to remind myself that I've come this far and even though i'm almost 30 i never had a linear plan. I look at other people's corporate success with slight jealousy yet realize that I have more freedoms than most.
Have you ever thought about our society's quest to jam in as many superfluous things as possible? We're always told that we must be doing something prosperous in order to have valuation.
The meritocracy aspect of our country is hypocritical. I'm not one for desperate competition--stepping on heads along the way. Social climbing. I just see our society getting more selfish by the day. It disturbs me and I feel distant. People don't even speak to each other on the street anymore. How many times do you make eye to eye contact with someone on the daily?
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