Archives for March 2005

I just read a story at Jewlicious that makes me shake my head in anger and disbelief. The basic tale is that they are going to give air time to a discredited liar. Here is the synopsis as provided there:

“Deborah Lipstadt is professor of Holocaust Studies who was sued by David Irving for libel because she called him a Holocaust denier. He lost big time. The British High Court of Justice declared that Irving, who up until then was widely respected as a prominent and superb historian of World War II, was in fact an anti-semite and whose racism and hatred of Jews colored his publications. You can read the trial at this site and go to Section XIII to read the verdict where Irving is crushed by the judge for his antisemitism, racism, and the ruin of his work as a historian as a result.

Lipstadt has recently come out with a new book about the trial, “History on Trial: My Day in Court with David Irving.” She was going to discuss the book at the Harvard Hillel and C-Span asked to film the event. Lipstadt was inclined to agree, until she learned…

…yup, the masterminds idiots of impartiality at C-Span were going to also have a David Irving lecture broadcast together with her talk.”

The lack of common sense here is just so disturbing. Would you provide airtime to someone who said that World War II was a minor problem and that it was overblown.

This is not a First Amendment issue. It is not a matter of having to provide him with this time. What are they thinking. Some people just don’t get it, the lack of common sense is just frightening.

There is a new installment in the Fragments of Fiction Series. It is called A Plan Develops and can be found like the rest of the story here.

Earlier I wrote about Mark McGwire and the current steroid scandal. I said that I am a fan of Big Mac, that he seemed to be genuine and that he always struck me as a good guy and that in an age in which pro athletes are known for acts of stupidity he didn’t have any. There were no stories of DUIs, beating his wife or any of the other sordid tales we hear about.

And thus far I still think that he is one of the good guys, but he screwed up yesterday when he testified in front of Congress. I have had some time to think about it and consider my position. I have had time to read some others opinions and have come to a few conclusions that I want to share with you.

I think that
Jayson Stark was correct when he wrote:

“There’s a simple way to solve this,” Rep. Mark Souder lectured him Thursday, “(by saying), ‘I am clean.’ … The American people can figure out who’s willing to say that and who isn’t.

“If the Enron people came in and said, ‘I don’t want to talk about the past,’ ” Souder went on, looking McGwire straight in the eyeballs, “you think we’d let them say that?”

Well, Mark McGwire didn’t steal all the savings in anybody’s 401K. Let’s get that straight. He has such a special compassion for children that he practically broke down talking about those parents who say they lost their sons to steroid-induced suicide. And he’s a good enough human being that we’re even willing to take him at his word when he says he wants to “do everything I can to turn this from a negative thing into a positive thing.”

So to lump him in there with Ken Lay is a little much. Sorry, Congressman.”

This is not the same thing as Enron, that is an apples and oranges comparison. It is unreasonable and unfair to try and make this into a hearing of that magnitude. It is wrong and I question why Congress is getting involved in this issue. To me it seems like an easy opportunity to engage in grandstanding for votes and it ignores so many other more pressing issues.

I am not the only one who felt that way Skip Bayless said

“Some of the representatives obviously hadn’t read Canseco’s book and hadn’t done any homework on the subject of steroids and baseball. Too often they ate up their allotted time with what amounted to grandstanding speeches about sportsmanship and role models.”

That is just terrible, absolutely terrible. They work for us. The officials we elect are our employees and I’d like to see them focus their energy on affecting real and positive change. The hearings on steroids are important. I think that Jose Canseco is a slimeball and that he sold out colleagues and friends to make money without considering the ramifications of his actions. I don’t think it ever occurred to him what would happen if he hadn’t opened Pandora’s Box. But he did; and the reality is that the hearings were conducted, the questions were asked.

The opportunity to answer the question was presented and the lack of an answer was the answer. Big Mac, I think that you were juiced up. I think that you did do steroids and I am sorry that you had to get dragged into this, but you should have come clean.

You should have come out and said that you took substances that were legal, that were not banned. That you did it consciously and intentionally with full knowledge of the consequences. You could have said that you are against steroid use in children and repeated again that you knew the risks in taking them, but that as an adult you were willing to assume the risk.

It would have been honorable. Your reputation has already been smeared and it will take time for the court of public opinion to make a decision. Based upon what I know about steroids I don’t think that they made you more capable of hitting a homerun. I think that you were strong enough to hit the ball out of the park without the assistance and that just made it go that much farther.

I think that if there had been an outright ban on steroids and you violated it when others did not have access that I would be quite upset, but that was not the case. To me the issue is not that some people took them and others did not. If access was available to whomever wanted to try, well that is just how it is.

It would be nicer if people didn’t use any performance enhancing drugs, but that is not the case.

You still have to hit the ball. You still have to hit a 90 MPH fastball and if you cannot it doesn’t matter how strong you are, what bat speed you bring to the table, assisted or not.

But you chose not to answer and to me and others that places you under and umbrella of guilt and shame. And that is too bad.

I have been following the Terri Schiavo case off and on. You may recall that she is the woman who has been kept on life support for about 15 years now. She is in what they term a “persistent vegetative state” and there is much controversy surrounding her ability or inability to communicate with the world around her.

The primary participants in this battle have been between her husband and her parents who are engaged in an ongoing battle to determine whether she should be allowed to die or kept alive indefinitely on life support. Part of the problem is that the courts do not have a will that they can use to assess what her wishes would have been.

Among the many tragic and sad aspects about this is that this has turned into a national debate in which she is nothing more than a pawn that is being used by some for political gain.

Today I read some very disturbing news about an attempt to cirumcvent the law.

“It is a contempt of Congress to prevent or discourage someone from following the subpoena that’s been issued,” David Gibbs, the attorney for her parents, said. “What the U.S. Congress is saying is, `We want to see Terri Schiavo.'”

“The family is prayerfully excited about their daughter going before the United States Congress for the whole world to see how alive she is.”

He said that despite her brain damage, she would be able to travel. A statement from the office of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., on Friday said the purpose of the hearing was to review health care policies and practices relevant to the care of non-ambulatory people.

Frist’s statement noted that it is a federal crime to harm or obstruct a person called to testify before Congress.”

This is an issue for the courts to decide, not for congresspeople. And they are clearly abusing the law here.

Today I received a solicitation for a new credit card. I probably receive somewhere around 25 a week and almost never stop to read the offer, but this one got my attention as it offered a free Dell laptop.

I was skeptical, but intrigued. Even though I didn’t need the new credit card I thought that I would check it out just to see what is what.

The offer was simple and only a simple person would sign up for a program like this. Here is how it works.

I was preapproved so all I needed to do was transfer a minimum balance of $5,000.00 to the new card which has what they term a low rate of 9.99%. I guess that they think I should ignore the 0% offers I receive weekly.

After I transferred the balance I would receive a credit which I could exchange for a new laptop that is worth $800.00. But wait, there is more.

As part of the terms of the agreement you are required to maintain a balance of $3,500.00 for 18 months. If you do not the card is subject to a one time penalty fee of $600.00. Yes, that is hundred, as in Six hundred dollars.

Free laptop my ass.

“JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Tighter gun ownership laws are pushing South Africans to buy crossbows, spears, swords, knives and pepper sprays to protect themselves from violent crime.

“We’ve had to build an entirely new shop because the demand from people is so great,” Justin Willmers, owner of Durban Guns and Ammo, told Reuters. “It can be anything from a Zulu fighting spear, battle axes, swords, crossbows.” I don’t know about you, but I think that I might prefer to be shot with a gun than attacked with a sword or crossbow. Ouch.”

I have to admit that I find the idea of confronting a mugger with a broadsword to be somewhat appealing. You can take my wallet as long as I take your arm. Not a bad deterrent.