nerditry

Very good reporting by Erika Hobbs of the Orlando Sentinel whose investigative desk has been combing through the vast amount of Central Florida muck this year.

Her article looks into why the State Attorney’s office has decided not to look further into allegations of public corruption by a former official from Orange County Public Schools. As a basketball fan, I was taken to a less than happy place by School District Attorney Frank Kruppenbacher’s statement which eerily mirrors that of NBA Capo di Tutti Capi and Don of All Dons, Commissioner David Stern.

School District Attorney Frank Kruppenbacher said he thinks the allegations against Gaston are “an isolated incident,” but he wants to ensure there were not systemic problems with the school district’s contract and bidding process.

“We did a massive look when this first came out,” he said. “We combed a ton of documents and records and could find no evidence that this was anything other than rogue conduct by one individual.”

Let’s compare that to:

David Stern blamed a “rogue, isolated criminal” Tuesday for a betting scandal that has devastated the league and threatened the credibility of every referee.

A subdued Stern said he felt betrayed by former referee Tim Donaghy, the target of an FBI investigation for allegedly betting on games, including some he officiated, over the last two seasons.

Stern said he believed no other officials or players would be implicated in the betting scandal.

Fun, eh?

I can’t imagine it’s an isolated incident that every one of our public/private groups has problems with people that just can’t seem to separate themselves from the PUBLIC monies they’re asked to manage. As if management of that money entitles them to personal access.

It’s the sense of entitlement regarding money that “comes from nowhere,” so no one will miss it and it doesn’t really “belong” to anyone. There seems to be a great deal of resentment amongst Orlando’s public officials who are reticent to admit that we are a one-horse town and that they have no real control over Disney. No one truly cares about the tech corridor in Lake Mary, or the defense research by UCF because none of those would be there, had the mouse not established our town.

And let’s be frank, Disney is NOT IN ORLANDO. Disney has so much swag, pull, clout, stroke that they operate a tiny, but immensely powerful government known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District. Good for them because I wouldn’t let anyone in our local government help them decide the ply of EPCOT’s toilet paper.

It’s a two-bit town that is mismanaged from the top, and takes its cues from My Two Dads. Yes, the seminal 80s sitcom with Greg Evigan and Paul Reiser. The one where they both banged some slut of a woman who didn’t know which was the father of the girl the two “roommates” eventually adopted.

The City of Orlando has a mayor, and his name is BUDDY! Orange County has a mayor, and his name is RICH CROTTY! Rich manages to spend a lot of his time on poorly run commissions and authorities, figuring out how he can elevate himself to higher and even more disappointing election to a higher office. Buddy likes to make stupid bets with LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa that make our town look even dumber.

These two manage to get less than nothing done in the best interests of Orlando. People that promise us lots of financial benefits from their involvement like Rich DeVos, Cameron Kuhn and Lou Perlman got insanely rich, or even more insanely rich (dead broke as far as Kuhn and Perlman ended up) have their best interests taken care of.

To quote Owen Hart…”Enough is enough, AND IT’S TIME FOR A CHANGE!”

He was also a wrestler that died after falling from the rafters into the ring.

Politics is dirty. Rasheed Wallace has insights.

When a person does not want to answer a question as it is asked, we know that it’s easy to deflect or even try to change subjects. But, sometimes you just have to let the questioner know that the facts are out there, they just aren’t looking for them.

I present to you one Cullen Sheehan, a fine Irish name if I’ve ever heard one and likely the scourge of Scandinavian fortress Minnesota. The land of lutefisk. The whitest place you can think of.

Mr. Sheehan is the Campaign Manager for likely outgoing Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) and was enlisted to defend a query as to whether or not Sen. Coleman is being patronized by local businessman Nasser Kazeminy. This isn’t even as good as Jack Abramoff taking local wanker Tom Feeney (R-FL) on a Scottish vacation [||].

Sen. Coleman is accused of having his wardrobe funded by Mr. Kazeminy which sounds like a sweet fucking deal till you consider another man is paying for your drawers. Secondarily, that means another motherfucker could stroll up on Sen. Coleman and demand that he give him his clothes back right then. Not even in prison, a man could just walk up on you and demand those drawers?

Not to say this man isn’t a political gold digger, but he’s also having some other dude help out on the rent for his apartment. Those are ho-ish tendencies if I’ve ever heard them. Got a man paying for his clothes, another putting a little something toward rent and no one thinks this is getting them some Senatorial blow downs? Fuck you.

Enjoy as Mr. Cullen defends these allegations and channels your favorite player, Rasheed Wallace.

!nerd up

HOT. GOD. DAMN!

Speaker of the House and general disappointment for the rest of the Democratic Party Nancy Pelosi grew the most Bocce of Balls when still no one else is able to. She straight up called POTUS retarded.

Make no mistake. When you want to discuss someone’s abilities and capacity to perform and preface with “God bless him, bless his heart…“, it’s a declaration that this person is one of “God’s Children.” A man that everyone says good job! to, because darn it he tried. Someone that you can keep on the leash with the promise of of ice cream and pizza parties.

I’m sending out a special dedication here on the Quiet Storm to Barry and Miche-Miche, please undo the top button and let shit fly. You can’t let the Speaker (who spoke out of turn for a great number of her own constituents on impeachment) get out in front of anything when it’s your show to run. It’s your summer and people don’t care about The Party, they’re waiting to see some backbone and fire. Don’t try to outsmart the guy since that’s what got Kerry into trouble…just prove that the office needs to return to the highest standards and John McCain is in no way qualified. The brainy part should be concentrated on progress, not rhetoric.

Just fiddling while Kobe is letting Rome burn down. I’ll try to watch an entire WNBA game this summer afterward and am already happily looking forward to the Draft. Brandon Jennings is like high school Marbury but way over the top.



The Music : A svelte Ronald Jenkees, freshly posted.





Baron Davis aka B-Diddy aka Boom Dizzle aka Donovan McNabb practices what he preaches. The Magic would be nice with him at PG and even Battie at F/C.






Brandon Jennings highlights from the Jordan Classic.






Chris Bosh reporting for the Tonight Show






You can count on Dave Letterman. Obama/Old Man 2008.

I know prices are skyrocketing, that people are making the toughest decisions of their lives and that our government continues to take its constituents for fools, caring less about us each day. We aren’t even part of that machine that drove America from it’s center, both in wealth and ideals. Like all machines, it’s being replaced by one that’s smaller, faster, more specialized. It is going to consist of two parties, the rich and everyone else.

The middle class is being readjusted to include those formerly successful in the last decade, those who dreamed atop houses with ever-climbing values, with credit cards maxed in anticipation of higher pay and cars that now display the status of someone working for their possessions.

I guess I’m somewhat fortunate in being bereft of the grand responsibilities that many of my friends have on their shoulders. There’s no son or daughter to feed or clothe, there’s no house to pay a mortgage on, I’m relatively healthy and have no ongoing medical needs and my parents are entirely self-sufficient. And it’s them that I truly worry about. I don’t know how you hide the tears and emotion to tell your kids that there isn’t $50 around for summer camp or even an extra $5 a week so a glass of milk is there each morning. How you wake up and wonder where it all went in such a short period of time and if there’s a possibility of getting it back. When the prices at Wal-Mart still don’t make ends of the belt meet up and you force yourself into situations where impulse purchase options are at their minimum.

I’m begging you to read the responses to this ABC News article about thrift and how people are doing their best to make their lives tolerable in a shit economy. I’ll be cutting back for me and evaluating how my purchases can be most efficient and for everyone that’s struggling and still doing their best. These are our neighbors, our parents, relatives, best friends.

Boycott ethanol, plant a garden for OUR eventual victory and let’s work together. If you want to grow your own food, hit me up and I’ll send some packets. It’s time to take our republic back.

ABC News : Food prices skyrocket; How can you save?

Comments and personal accounts

just so you yokels remember the definition before i get a strongly-worded internets threat.

prop·a·gan·da (pr?p’?-g?n’d?) Pronunciation Key
n.
1. The systematic propagation of a doctrine or cause or of information reflecting the views and interests of those advocating such a doctrine or cause.
2. Material disseminated by the advocates or opponents of a doctrine or cause: wartime propaganda.
3. Propaganda Roman Catholic Church A division of the Roman Curia that has authority in the matter of preaching the gospel, of establishing the Church in non-Christian countries, and of administering Church missions in territories where there is no properly organized hierarchy.

I can’t even put the words together to accurately describe the way that Israel tears me in two directions. The vile manner in which many of its politicians conduct themselves similar to our worst takes out the beauty and progession of the greatest social experiment in modern history.

JERUSALEM (CNN) — Israel on Sunday rejected 50 Africans — most of them reportedly from Sudan’s Darfur region — who had illegally entered the country from Egypt, a government official said.

The move angered many Israeli lawmakers and human rights advocates because of reports that some Sudanese refugees are being killed or mistreated by authorities in Egypt.

Israel has been struggling with how to cope with an increasing number of Africans, including some from Darfur, who enter the country through Israel’s southern border with Egypt.

According to Israel’s Haaretz newspaper, the refugees were arrested Friday evening as they tried to cross from Egypt into Israel. They were held at a military base in southern Israel before being driven back to Egypt on Sunday, the newspaper reported.

The nationalities of the 50 sent back Sunday were not released, but the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, citing figures from the Israeli military, said nearly all of them had escaped the genocide in Darfur.

Speaking to CNN, Israeli government spokesman David Baker described them as “economic refugees from Africa.”

Baker told The Associated Press that Darfurians would not be immune from Israel’s ban on unauthorized immigrants.

Israeli law denies asylum to anyone from an enemy state, AP reports. Sudan’s Muslim government is hostile to Israel and has no diplomatic ties with the Jewish state.

Read more @ CNN.com

This begins a series.

The Library of Congress online has a nifty link at the top right called “Yesterday in Congress.” Well, I wanted to check out the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Bill that just passed the Senate and clicked away I did. Figuring I would find actual legislation available for perusal I actually saw some of the fluffiest, time wasting measures listed in hypertext.

Presented for your review and response, accompanied by the mugshot.

Representative Luis Gutierrez of the Illinois 4th District

Lone sponsor (not surprising unless Don King or Emanuel Steward get elected) of House Resolution 577:
Congratulating Mr. Kermit Cintron on the successful defense of his IBF welterweight title on Saturday, 14, 2007, and for his continued success in and out of the ring.

If this guy is passing out thanks to a fighter in Congress, can we get the FBI Tim Donaghy team to just check things out and make sure Rep. Gutierrez’s Bodog account ain’t flush all the sudden? In any other job, I’d figure that was one you were just trying to sneak past the goalie on a Friday.

Kudos. I hope it goes on Kermit’s fridge.

2007 Seniors League Murderball Championship Celebration

As the adage goes, it’s not what you say, but how you say it. What happens when your words have been written for you by another party when they convey severely unintended subtlety and nuance?

From slate.com

“Setting a deadline for withdrawal is setting a date for failure, and that would be irresponsible,” Bush said after issuing the second veto of his presidency.

Let’s pick this apart for a second.

What the President intended to say: Setting a specific time for withdrawal from Iraq will say that we are not committed to winning the war, which is our responsibility no matter its term.

What the President actually said: We have already failed. By setting a specific date for withdrawal, it will be a notice to the world that I have officially failed. Anything that can be done before that pre-set date will constitute the failure.

I like to think that the President has two views on the war’s end. One is that we win, though it has not yet been determined what a win actually is. Its nebulous state is purposeful as it can be reshaped to give credit on tangible events such as elections and whisked away in light of attacks in supposedly secure areas. It can be applied post-presidency, the salve that the RNC and Bush II library folks are counting on.

If we leave, we haven’t lost, we’ve failed. A failure is saying that you tried and didn’t come out victorious. It’s the losers way of padding their fall. The p.c. little league idea of everyone is great and the fact that you tried is the most important thing in the world.

Well, you can’t head out to the diamond with 6 players and 4 four gloves for them and call it a responsible effort at winning the game. We’re not too many innings deep, but I think calling the game and sorting it out from the front office is the smartest move we can make.

i loved the x-files. used to watch it with my dad until 1. folks split 2. the show went to hell, changed major characters twice and in teh end, it took a series finale commercial to inform me as to the fact it was still on.

since it’s typing, i can’t really pull of the zack morris, “ok, freeze” stoppage of time. so I ask: who in the hell was still watching 90210 when it ended in 2000? did anyone know it was on this long, that it was on past seinfeld? everyone was damn near 30 from go in 1990, was ian ziering still rocking the steve sanders permmullet.

my favorite part of x-file was the conspiracy side of the game. not the toilet monster or freak of the week episodes, but the ones that were the show’s mythology. conspiracies are fun, like most boogie men there is truth in every distortion.

checking abcnews.com, there’s a story about anti-mormon dvds being distributed internationally that smells as rotten as spring herring in copenhagen.

this is not the work of religious groups in the traditional sense. it is produced and distributed by an evangelic (i haaaate that word) christian group in utah, but they don’t seem the type to butt heads in public, locally without a directive. these days, evangelicals may very well still equate to the power brokers in republican and socially conservative circles though the current idea is that the actual members of said evangelical movement are unhappy with the bush administration.

my thought is that this video is being funded by a political group or funneled through to a particular person for cover as broad and indirect attack on mitt romney. his mormonism in light of a presidential nomination campaign has been compared to that of jfk’s catholicism in 1960. he could be swift-boated during the primaries pending the competition of a viable sam brownback or fooliani as most americans are not familiar with mormons beside the osmonds and polygamy.

he’ll make an easy target if he isn’t proactive before, but he’s already caught in a quandary. if he tries to head this off at the pass, it may be awkward or damaging to initiate the conversation on his religion. if he waits for the salvos to hit, then he’s playing damage control and working to get back to even.