So the chemical weapons from Syria are going to be destroyed. And guess where? Oh just 20 miles away from me, in Port Arthur, Texas. Yes, I know all about the NIMBY stuff, but still. Can’t they find a better place to destroy them? Like on Mars or somewhere. Or maybe North Korea?
The environmentalists won’t be happy. And frankly, I can’t blame ’em.
It is funny how some exciting sporting is taking place in Sochi, Russia, and the big sports story over the weekend concerned a top NBA prospect and Oklahoma State star pushing a rabid Texas Tech fan.
The player wasn’t just any player. He is Marcus Smart, a young man destined for the NBA draft, or was until this weekend.
Smart went out of bounds and into the crowd after a fast break. He was then pushed by Tech fanatic, Jeff Orr, after the latter spouted some disputed trash talk. Orr, an air traffic controller and Tech “No. 1 fan” from Waco, contends he called Smart “a piece of crap.” Smart said he was called a racial slur.
In the end, Smart was suspended three games. Orr was banned from Tech games for the remainder of the season. No aspersions cast here on Raiders Coach Tubby Smith, but one wishes Bobby Knight was still coaching for tech.
What Smart was called is no longer relevant. The damage was done, to an already iffy reputation for the player. And the fan who reportedly drives hundreds of miles to see his team will have to spend his off days trying to catch the Red Raiders on TV.
Smart showed poor judgement. Orr showed just as poor judgement. Still, it doesn’t seem like a tie. Read a “leftist” perspective here.
This isn’t the first time I’ve heard of such a show. I’ve seen it myself in high school. I was team equipment manager. We were at a very hostile venue. Our biggest and best player was clearly called “a n*****.” This player responded by handling the ball with his left hand showing a middle finger while passing in bounds. The redneck who yelled at this player responded by pulling out a rather large pocket knife. Luckily the Texas Highway Patrol was on hand and the fan was removed. The game was soon over and the same troopers escorted us back to the bus and told us we should split. We did.
Our player overreacted, but less so than Smart. The fan’s reaction toward our high school player was way above what it should have been. I don’t know what happened to the fan. This was the early 1970s. He may have gotten a medal from his mouth-breathing cohorts. Our player got “soul shakes” and pats on the butt (?) all around. I chose the soul shake.
I don’t know what is the answer to these problems. These flare-ups been around for ages and at all levels. A video released by Texas Tech of the incident shows Orr hiking up his britches and smirking after Smart is restrained and headed back toward his bench. He reminded me of Rush Limbaugh.
Both men apologized. So no harm, I suppose. Smart did get a technical foul and OSU lost the game.
This was the first State of the Union address I have missed in several years. I did not miss watching it because of something the President did or didn’t do. I missed it because I knew every good deed that was proposed in the past year was usually grounded because of our pitiful excuse of a Congress.
Here is a full transcript of the 2014 SOTU. Beginning with:
What would the President say? “Man, this whole stinkin’ union sucks!”
During this past year, the minority within the House majority, along with the minority of the Senate minority, caused the federal government to shut down for half a month. We, the workers (part-time ones like me too) were all paid but we worried about whether that would happen because our senior U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R, Texas, held up the legislation allowing us our pay to the end of that sorry saga. I wish someone viable would appear to defeat Cornyn, the piece of dusty furniture that occupies our vaunted Senate succession from the great Sen. Sam Houston, who was for those from another planet was also President of the Republic of Texas and Governor of Texas. That is, until Big Sam was overthrown by Texas citizens of the United States who wanted to undo all the state had fought for by succeeding from this nation over slaves they couldn’t even afford.
No viable candidate brings me to the end of the SOTU. Read it yourself. I will. I have read the excerpts and the pundits, some of them. I rest my case, whatever it was on the SOTU because the scourge of idiocy showed itself outside the great congressional chamber where first, one of Cornyn’s opponents “showed his ass,” as we say down in Texas.
Rep. Steve Stockman, R, Texas is leaving Congress to run against Cornyn. That’s the good news, that he’s leaving Congress. Stockman, unseated congressional legend Rep. Jack Brooks who served 42 years in office. I wasn’t living in that district then. I am living in that district now but because of redistricting we have a brand new piece of Republican Tea Party furniture. Thankfully, I was ably represented back then, in 1995, by Rep. Charlie “Good Time Charlie” Wilson, D, Texas of “Charlie Wilson’s War” fame. Not that I could have done anything to stop the looney tunes Stockman from taking office. During Stockman’s tenure he was reviled for a bizarre incident in which he received a fax from Michigan militia types just after the Oklahoma City Bombing. While Stockman was accused of having received the message before the bombing and not reporting it to the FBI (he did report it), his sanity and ethics were questioned for sending the fax to the NRA. Plus his ties to a Michigan militia seemed also shady.
But Stockman, these days, seems shady-er, shadier. Cornyn’s high-powered Republican operatives have dug deep and found all kinds of dirt about financial shenanigans from Stockman and his missing in action from the House.
Then there was that whole Stockman, figuratively thank you, showing his ass last night by walking out on the SOTU. The Senate candidate said he did so to protest the President abusing his power yadda, yadda. What a moron you are Steve Stockman.
Finally, the Republicans also made news for the party’s former Marine and FBI agent member of the House who last night threatened to throw a reporter off the balcony of the Capitol and to break the reporter into. That was because the reporter had the gall to ask Rep. Michael Grimm, R, N.Y., a question that was about some campaign finance irregularities rather that something from the SOTU on which the congressman probably had ready for a quote.
It turns out Grimm has a long history of bad behavior toward the press and others as well as many ethical and financial questions trailing his time in Congress.
Both congressional Republican morons think they can speak to reporters on their own volition. But that isn’t the way our democracy works. As it turned out, I made the better decision to just keep a copy of the SOTU handy to read at my own pace. Besides, all the action, if you want to call it that, was outside the chamber. Unfortunately.
Stupidity be thy name, Mr. GRIMM and Mr. STOCKMAN.
The temperature has stayed at 28-29 degrees F all day. It looks as if the intermittent sleet that has fallen on and off most of the day is leaving to be followed, perhaps, by a small snowfall. This is all according to my favorite radar, that of Houston’s KHOU 11 site.
Even the Texas folks have laughed, good naturedly for the most part, as to how we shut whole cities and towns down when we even have a threat of a so-called “Icemageddon.” Last week’s similar winter storm was responsible for more than 100 car accidents in our county and at least one fatality from a slick overpass. If it took the police shutting down overpasses and the two massive bridges spanning the Sabine-Neches ship channel — the Rainbow and Veterans Memorial bridges — to save life and limb, so be it.
I have seen much worse winter storms in Texas, specifically East and Southeast Texas, from where I hail as does actor Jim Parsons’ character Dr. Sheldon Cooper on “The Big Bang Theory.” The reference is made due to Houston-native Parsons does a great job in calling out his TV detractors who confuse his geographical heritage with that of other parts of the Lone Star State.
If nothing else I took a nice nap this afternoon and dreamed of a long time ago when I was younger and did not feel as if I should shriek in agony from the weather-induced arthritic pain. My knee has been hurting like hell the last two days. I say it’s arthritis. I can’t be sure. Perhaps it is arthritic pain along with a muscle injury from a fall I took several weeks ago. Who the hell knows/No matter though. i understand the weather calls for a high of near 70 degrees on Saturday. That sounds crazy, I know. It’s crazy freaking fine.
The Winter Storm Warning that was finally issued for our area of Southeast Texas came but did so with little accompaniments of such a
warning. Still it did get icy enough to sufficiently slicken streets and highways. I woke up and went outside briefly, noticing the police were on the freeway with red lights and warning flares. Whether this was for a wreck or for dangerous driving, I couldn’t say.
Many friends and relatives who live north of me in East Texas had unusual, if not scenic, photos on Facebook this morning showing a carpet of snow laid down in their yards. To the South, here in Beaumont, most of the ice was barely visible such as the photo I have posted showing the sleet, snow and freezing rain that congregated at the base of the trees. Also, the windshields got a very good coating, enough so a light scraping wouldn’t get it.
One constant though was the cold. The “Weather Bug” temperature on my laptop — set to record temperatures at a nearby school — stayed below freezing most of the day. Walk out side into a little wind at 28 F and 100 percent humidity, and you got yourself a freezing-ass day.
I understand another bone-chiller will be on the way early next week when I return to work after a week of doing nothing. Ahhhh. It’s one of the best vacations ever.
