Friday, February 28, 2014
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Losing Is Bad, But Numbers Never Lie. Denver Nuggets Need To Grow Up
Portland came to Denver without their number one scoring option, but they did have their new number one player, Damian Lillard. Lillard ended with 31 pts., and his Trailblazer team shot lights out for a couple of quarters. Does the fact that we played crappy defense those same quarters have anything to do with their shooting? The world may never know. What we do know is that shooting, covered or uncovered, is very cyclical. Sometimes they fall even when you are well covered.
This Nugget team, especially without Ty Lawson, is a front runner or bust basketball team. Even with Lawson they don't have a real closer, but do have the penetration power to get free throws and paint points for a reasonable chance at victory.
Shaw has shown the impressive ability to win a fair amount of games with a basketball team that is clearly Ty Lawson away from being hard to watch. He has also revealed an inability to get the most out of guys who don't always bring their best dance moves to the party.
Shaw, with a full complement of capable professional players and not a bunch of immature studs playing for something other than wins, will rectify his coaching failures while unveiling his true coaching ability. Whether or not he is allowed to do it in Denver is the million dollar question.
Coach Shaw reached such a level of frustration with his team that he aired out guys for not maintaining a neat locker room for one another. When you are concerned about the way a player forces their game to one side of the court too often you are coaching. If you make a national declaration about locker room maintenance you are rearing. (see: Parenting)
Those of us who are parents appreciate him for his willingness to invest more than basketball into the lives of his players. Those of us who are fans of the Nuggets and Shaw ask the same question that I started this article with. Is Brian Shaw out of his Mother Lovin' Mind?
Of course he is. And one day all of his players will talk about how he helped them to mature as a person before he made them a better player when they're telling stories to their children. Bobby Knights players certainly do that for him, and he was certifiably crazy. Shaw is just starting to show signs.
The loss to Portland is all the example you need. The Nuggets went to the losers locker room with some glaring discoveries. After being benched in favor of an always hardworking Timofey Mosgov, JJ Hickson came off of the bench to set a team record 15 offensive rebounds (the previous mark was 13 by Dikembe Mutombo) of the Nuggets 27 total offensive rebounds. Denver's dominance on the glass generated 64 shots in the paint against Portland. Only 27 of them fell.
In the 4th quarter, when the Nuggets finally played real defense, they stopped Portland without fouling. Unfortunately, they had already given the Trailblazers an enormous amount of free throws as Portland finished the game shooting 36-39 from the line.
There's more. The Nuggets got 26 free throws of their own, but they missed 9 of them in a game that they lost by 5 pts.
I can hear the parents now. "Opportunities are not endless. You must take advantage of the chances you get in life".
Previous Post:
This Nugget team, especially without Ty Lawson, is a front runner or bust basketball team. Even with Lawson they don't have a real closer, but do have the penetration power to get free throws and paint points for a reasonable chance at victory.
Shaw has shown the impressive ability to win a fair amount of games with a basketball team that is clearly Ty Lawson away from being hard to watch. He has also revealed an inability to get the most out of guys who don't always bring their best dance moves to the party.
Shaw, with a full complement of capable professional players and not a bunch of immature studs playing for something other than wins, will rectify his coaching failures while unveiling his true coaching ability. Whether or not he is allowed to do it in Denver is the million dollar question.
Coach Shaw reached such a level of frustration with his team that he aired out guys for not maintaining a neat locker room for one another. When you are concerned about the way a player forces their game to one side of the court too often you are coaching. If you make a national declaration about locker room maintenance you are rearing. (see: Parenting)
Those of us who are parents appreciate him for his willingness to invest more than basketball into the lives of his players. Those of us who are fans of the Nuggets and Shaw ask the same question that I started this article with. Is Brian Shaw out of his Mother Lovin' Mind?
Of course he is. And one day all of his players will talk about how he helped them to mature as a person before he made them a better player when they're telling stories to their children. Bobby Knights players certainly do that for him, and he was certifiably crazy. Shaw is just starting to show signs.
The loss to Portland is all the example you need. The Nuggets went to the losers locker room with some glaring discoveries. After being benched in favor of an always hardworking Timofey Mosgov, JJ Hickson came off of the bench to set a team record 15 offensive rebounds (the previous mark was 13 by Dikembe Mutombo) of the Nuggets 27 total offensive rebounds. Denver's dominance on the glass generated 64 shots in the paint against Portland. Only 27 of them fell.
In the 4th quarter, when the Nuggets finally played real defense, they stopped Portland without fouling. Unfortunately, they had already given the Trailblazers an enormous amount of free throws as Portland finished the game shooting 36-39 from the line.
There's more. The Nuggets got 26 free throws of their own, but they missed 9 of them in a game that they lost by 5 pts.
I can hear the parents now. "Opportunities are not endless. You must take advantage of the chances you get in life".
Previous Post:
Denver Nugget Coach Brian Shaw Has Stopped Coaching, Started Parenting
Denver Nugget Coach Brian Shaw Has Stopped Coaching, Started Parenting
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| Back in the day you didn't have to coach effort. (Listen to the interview) |
I fully realize that my inability to clarify my question comes across as confusion about my concern, but I am actually perfectly lucid with both my question and my concern. Coach Shaw is behaving in a way that says he actually gives a damn about the careers of his players and not just the performance.
Dare I say that he is almost behaving as a parent.
What makes Shaw's behavior most peculiar is the excessive vulnerability that he displays in how he castrates his players for a lack of effort. Shaw isn't only so revealing of his teams shortcomings, he is just as quick to place his own failures as a coach, displaying a twisted marriage of humility with intense clarity of what must be done to rectify the challenge before him. Whenever you are willing to lay down on the knife yourself, it is not hard to share this pain with your team. Those who lay it down like this realize the value.
In the old days, coaches would elude to the very things Shaw is fully exposing. Let Denver sports radio legend Sandy Clough tell it, we've never seen such a degree of honesty from a professional coach.
http://www.1043thefan.com/Channels/DrewScott/story.aspx?ID=2135986 (radio interview link)
In honor of the last days of Black History Month, I beg to differ.
The history of the black coach is full of such honest dialogue. They may have all used their own method of personal expression, but black coaches have often been introspectively revealing of themselves and their players, probably to the detriment of their careers. Shaw says that we don't know who is a championship caliber player on this roster because he hasn't provided them a championship environment yet.
Whether it was Herman Edwards, Dennis Green, Mike Singletary, Avery Johnson or Brian Shaw, we have seen something of this sort. Typically such revelation comes at the end of the road for a coach who figures they have nothing else to lose in being so honest. What we can't quite decipher in this case is whether the end of the road this time is for the coach or for the uninspired players that he has called out? Shaw has shown signs of being the right guy even if not the best guy for a depleted group of young players with no floor leadership and questionable maturity.
Aaron Brooks has certainly brought something to the table including immense talent and professionalism. Unfortunately, Brooks has also helped to bring about the return of doubt in a bunch of players who were already fighting to believe they belong in the NBA. Young players define themselves by their place in the pecking order and Brooks doesn't improve that for any of them.
Most young players think they need to score to get more minutes while most coaches are giving the minutes to the hardest workers. A team that has changed so drastically since last season will see more changes by next year as well. One might think that players are auditioning for another team if nothing else.
These Nuggets challenge your mind to make sense of their roller coaster play. The moments of brilliance are as dominant as the ineptitude is bad. Fan's have begun to criticize Shaw mostly because we've seen things that make it hard to stop watching. Mostly, the Nuggets, and its fan base, do not survive to see the fourth quarter because the wheels fall off of the wagon before the end of the game arrives.
Last night the Nuggets smelled up the place for two quarters and still had a chance to beat a really good Portland team.
(read more)
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Modern Conservatives Make Us All Miss George W. Bush
"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice?.......well you ain't gonna get to do that again"Back when he was our president we made it tough on him. Not so tough that he couldn't get re-elected, but tough. George W. Bush moved from being president Bush in to dub-ya, the much maligned leader of the free world with a tendency to speak with a less than stellar grasp of the English language. Some of the verbal gaffs that he spewed make Sarah Palin appear scholarly.
By the time we saw his presidency come to an end, we were weary of a couple of wars that we could no longer justify and staring face to face with the next great depression. The first black president might have won the election anyway, but it was not a hard sell at the time to try something different.
Bush committed himself to ending Apartheid. His dedication in the nation of Africa sparked one of the cable news shows to bring up the Jay Leno show clips of George W. Bush dancing in Africa and it prompted me to reflect on how comfortable he was in his own skin. If he ran into a curtain trying to exit a room after a press conference he would flash that sheepish, boyish grin that made you join him in laughter. He was a serious man, that never took himself too seriously
He got us into a war that we all wanted as the anger from 9-11 boiled into a fever for retribution. We needed a place to spill our anger and 'W' understood that. He shared the same sentiment. With all that we complain about from presidents when they are in office (especially as they reach the end of terms) it is a lot easier to see the truth in hindsight.
The truth about George W. Bush is that he loves America....deeply. He was party driven, but not blinded by party. If he became the disgraced face of the Republican party than his opponents owe him and all of America an apology for the new faces who've surfaced in his absence.
I would take another George Bush over Ted Cruz any day of the week. We miss ya president dub-ya.
Monday, February 24, 2014
Coach Roy Must Motivate And Inspire Olympians
The good part about making it to the Olympics is the prestige and honor of playing for your country. It also goes a long way towards helping a player to stack rack themselves against the forces of international competition. Since the final rounds of international hockey look a whole lot like the NHL playoffs, mainly the young players gain a great deal from such competition.
The rest of Olympic hockey is all bad. Players who have never done it have no way of knowing what to expect from their legs as the season progresses. They may hit two or three walls that they will have to fight through before the season is over. By the time playoffs arrive, only the veterans understand what to expect from the post Olympic playoff grind.
The Colorado Avalanche are blessed with several young players who swam in the deepest of waters by the end of this tournament. Russia is the only team with an Avalanche player that did not play in the last few days, but he (goalie Semyon Varlamov) may have lost some confidence with the peppering he took on goal. Gabriel Landiskog played Matt Duchene in the final game and Paul Stastny played, but lost the bronze medal match. Each will be challenged to maintain their legs if the Av's are to have any real chance at Sir Stanley's Cup.
If you were making a list of likely Stanley Cup champions, the Avalanche might not be in your top 3 list, but they would be #1 in the likely long shot bet. No one really expects the Av's to win it all, even if they've all noticed that we have the kind of team that could. Winning is about more than ability, it speaks to vulnerability even more. No matter how bad Roy wants to return a title to Denver, he can not motivate any team to achieve it. Inspiration must do that
When Patrick Roy started this season, he was loaded with fire for the job and plenty of experience with coaching young athletes since he recently coached in the junior hockey leagues. The word fire is often associated with the world of coaching but it can apply to any competitive endeavor. Fire is the stuff that fuels success, but at times it comes in the fashion of heat from beneath the feet of uninspired teammates.
Fire is another word for motivation when you are a coach, and it is your fire or motivation of your players that can propel them to focus on the task at hand, but motivation is much like an exposed fire, it demands a constant source of fuel. Motivation eventually burns up the people you prop up for so long or you'll burn out yourself from playing with fire day in and day out.
Furnace fire is highly effective because it is not exposed to the impact of the elements. It is well contained and focused on the mission at hand. The fire that burns inside of each of us is a similar fuel that drives our success. In order for the Avalanche to overcome the impact of the Olympic journey, it will take a huge dose of inspiration from guys who felt like they emptied it all on Olympic ice.
Now the balancing act becomes resting the Olympic Av's at the risk of losing games and a high seeding, or playing them at the risk of a lackluster playoff due to a lack of energy. Roy understand the grind that his players shall endure better than most, but some lessons must be experienced first hand.
Near death fatigue is one of them.
The rest of Olympic hockey is all bad. Players who have never done it have no way of knowing what to expect from their legs as the season progresses. They may hit two or three walls that they will have to fight through before the season is over. By the time playoffs arrive, only the veterans understand what to expect from the post Olympic playoff grind.The Colorado Avalanche are blessed with several young players who swam in the deepest of waters by the end of this tournament. Russia is the only team with an Avalanche player that did not play in the last few days, but he (goalie Semyon Varlamov) may have lost some confidence with the peppering he took on goal. Gabriel Landiskog played Matt Duchene in the final game and Paul Stastny played, but lost the bronze medal match. Each will be challenged to maintain their legs if the Av's are to have any real chance at Sir Stanley's Cup.
If you were making a list of likely Stanley Cup champions, the Avalanche might not be in your top 3 list, but they would be #1 in the likely long shot bet. No one really expects the Av's to win it all, even if they've all noticed that we have the kind of team that could. Winning is about more than ability, it speaks to vulnerability even more. No matter how bad Roy wants to return a title to Denver, he can not motivate any team to achieve it. Inspiration must do that
When Patrick Roy started this season, he was loaded with fire for the job and plenty of experience with coaching young athletes since he recently coached in the junior hockey leagues. The word fire is often associated with the world of coaching but it can apply to any competitive endeavor. Fire is the stuff that fuels success, but at times it comes in the fashion of heat from beneath the feet of uninspired teammates.
Fire is another word for motivation when you are a coach, and it is your fire or motivation of your players that can propel them to focus on the task at hand, but motivation is much like an exposed fire, it demands a constant source of fuel. Motivation eventually burns up the people you prop up for so long or you'll burn out yourself from playing with fire day in and day out.
Furnace fire is highly effective because it is not exposed to the impact of the elements. It is well contained and focused on the mission at hand. The fire that burns inside of each of us is a similar fuel that drives our success. In order for the Avalanche to overcome the impact of the Olympic journey, it will take a huge dose of inspiration from guys who felt like they emptied it all on Olympic ice.
Now the balancing act becomes resting the Olympic Av's at the risk of losing games and a high seeding, or playing them at the risk of a lackluster playoff due to a lack of energy. Roy understand the grind that his players shall endure better than most, but some lessons must be experienced first hand.
Near death fatigue is one of them.
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Black History Month Is About Courage. Courage Like Jackie Robinson, Michael Sam, Jason Collins
Jason Collins and Michael Sam and Jackie Robinson and Brooklyn are emblematic of the courage that is the story behind Black History Month. I could indulge in the morality of homosexuality as a significant aspect of this post. If so many did not consider this a moral issue, this would not be a story. Stripping away the morality divide we find an opportunity to see this story through the lens of history's example.
There was a time when black American's found themselves enraged by the notion that my skin color is an equivalent to your sexual inclinations. Now, the debate over our ability to choose our sexuality is also insignificant with the perfect clarity that we gain from hindsight.
In hindsight we know that my nature, whether chosen or not, is no match to your preconceived bigotry. When Arizona decides to legislate the right of any business in its state to refuse service to gay people, then we return to the day in which restaurants and water fountains have "straight only" signs instead of "white only" signs.
If that doesn't reinforce the importance of legislation against such laws, than I won't try any longer because this post is about the courage of being your authentic self, whatever that may be. Jackie Robinson is more than just an historic figure for integrating baseball. Robinson was the best of his era and one of the best of all time. He could have relegated his talents to the confines of the Negro leagues as other all-time greats had to do. It would have certainly meant less death threats even if less income potential as well. Yet, his risk was a two-fold investment.
The Brooklyn Dodgers and legendary Branch Rickey had to accept the business risk that Robinson represented. The Brooklyn Nets had to do the same with Collins recently as they signed him to a 10 day contract to see if he can help them through a run of injuries. Reports have surfaced that several teams were interested in bringing Collins in during preseason, but were afraid of the media impact.
What very few people knew is that Collins apparently had similar hesitation and refused to go to any team that did not have a serious interest in giving him a REAL chance. Brooklyn reprented the first chance for him to work within a clear professional basketball agreement. Collins made it clear that evern if he never got a job again, he declared, "life has been so good for me since coming out". Onlookers were watchful to see if Collins had gained a couple of extra inches in his vertical jump with the reduced weight on his shoulder.
How you feel about homosexuality should not impact your opinion of Jason Collins the basketball player. If you cheered for his efforts before you knew his truth then keep on cheering. In the end, his game is all that will keep him employed anyway. Jason Collins is not in the NBA to be a pioneer of gay rights. Michael Sam has a similar sentiment.
Like Jackie Robinson, they just need the "You're Not Allowed" signs to be removed.
There was a time when black American's found themselves enraged by the notion that my skin color is an equivalent to your sexual inclinations. Now, the debate over our ability to choose our sexuality is also insignificant with the perfect clarity that we gain from hindsight.
In hindsight we know that my nature, whether chosen or not, is no match to your preconceived bigotry. When Arizona decides to legislate the right of any business in its state to refuse service to gay people, then we return to the day in which restaurants and water fountains have "straight only" signs instead of "white only" signs.
If that doesn't reinforce the importance of legislation against such laws, than I won't try any longer because this post is about the courage of being your authentic self, whatever that may be. Jackie Robinson is more than just an historic figure for integrating baseball. Robinson was the best of his era and one of the best of all time. He could have relegated his talents to the confines of the Negro leagues as other all-time greats had to do. It would have certainly meant less death threats even if less income potential as well. Yet, his risk was a two-fold investment.
The Brooklyn Dodgers and legendary Branch Rickey had to accept the business risk that Robinson represented. The Brooklyn Nets had to do the same with Collins recently as they signed him to a 10 day contract to see if he can help them through a run of injuries. Reports have surfaced that several teams were interested in bringing Collins in during preseason, but were afraid of the media impact.
What very few people knew is that Collins apparently had similar hesitation and refused to go to any team that did not have a serious interest in giving him a REAL chance. Brooklyn reprented the first chance for him to work within a clear professional basketball agreement. Collins made it clear that evern if he never got a job again, he declared, "life has been so good for me since coming out". Onlookers were watchful to see if Collins had gained a couple of extra inches in his vertical jump with the reduced weight on his shoulder.
How you feel about homosexuality should not impact your opinion of Jason Collins the basketball player. If you cheered for his efforts before you knew his truth then keep on cheering. In the end, his game is all that will keep him employed anyway. Jason Collins is not in the NBA to be a pioneer of gay rights. Michael Sam has a similar sentiment.
Like Jackie Robinson, they just need the "You're Not Allowed" signs to be removed.
Sidney Crosby's Canadians Clean Up On Winter Olympic Ice To Complete Hockey Sweep
Don't think a black man can't love hockey. If ice wasn't so cold, we might have already taken over that sport as well. I spent quite a few nights playing some intense roller blade variety of the sport, so I relate to it very well. My oldest daughter chose roller hockey over basketball, and I am a basketball coach.
With that being said, hockey is still a marginal sport to some degree. It relies on the playoffs and the Olympics to promote the game, especially in America. Here in Denver, if the Colorado Avalanche are not really in contention, they become a bit less than background noise. Right now, they are not only in contention, my Avalanche represented the best of the NHL in the Winter Olympics.
The Russian's may have won the most medals in the winter Olympics, but men's hockey wasn't one, as Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov and the Russian team fell outside of medal contention. The Americans and Av's forward Paul Stastny, made a strong push for a medal but couldn't overcome a bitter semifinal loss to win the bronze medal match either.
When the gold medal match arrived, my heart was rooting for Avalanche Gabriel Landiskog and the Swedish team, but my head knew that they had a juggernaut to overcome in the eventual gold medal team from Canada. Matt Duchene may not be the best Avalanche player even though he is getting a lot of votes in the (non-black) barbershop as such. After his team dominated the gold medal rush, he will certainly have best of the world bragging rights for the next four years.
The story line if any other Olympic Av had won the gold in hockey would have been so much less predictable than another Canadian victory. To their credit, they certainly faced the kind of competition that challenged their hockey dominance. The Canadian team played the game the right way and got better with each shift. No, really.
By the end of this tournament, the Swedish team that Canada faced played well enough to win the gold themselves, but it was like all of those teams that lost to Jordan and the Chicago Bulls; Sweden was simply outmatched in speed, desire and chemistry.
Most important to this gold medal run was the power of agreement at work for this team. They simply agreed to trust in the immense level of talent and grind harder than any other team. When you know that every player on your left or right is just as talented and driven as you are, there is a dynamic stronger than chemistry; there is a synergy that occurs. Both the American and the Swedish goalie played amazing hockey. Truly amazing, because the Canadian onslaught demanded it. No, really.
In hindsight, I am not sure how the Canadians did not win both the semifinal and the final game by a larger margin than they did. They simply continued to get better when every other team squeezed their potential to its maximum.
I am totally glad that at least one of my Av's players will get to show off a gold medal around the locker room, I just wish that Justin Beiber wasn't an additional reminder of our defeat.
With that being said, hockey is still a marginal sport to some degree. It relies on the playoffs and the Olympics to promote the game, especially in America. Here in Denver, if the Colorado Avalanche are not really in contention, they become a bit less than background noise. Right now, they are not only in contention, my Avalanche represented the best of the NHL in the Winter Olympics.
The Russian's may have won the most medals in the winter Olympics, but men's hockey wasn't one, as Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov and the Russian team fell outside of medal contention. The Americans and Av's forward Paul Stastny, made a strong push for a medal but couldn't overcome a bitter semifinal loss to win the bronze medal match either.
When the gold medal match arrived, my heart was rooting for Avalanche Gabriel Landiskog and the Swedish team, but my head knew that they had a juggernaut to overcome in the eventual gold medal team from Canada. Matt Duchene may not be the best Avalanche player even though he is getting a lot of votes in the (non-black) barbershop as such. After his team dominated the gold medal rush, he will certainly have best of the world bragging rights for the next four years.
The story line if any other Olympic Av had won the gold in hockey would have been so much less predictable than another Canadian victory. To their credit, they certainly faced the kind of competition that challenged their hockey dominance. The Canadian team played the game the right way and got better with each shift. No, really.
By the end of this tournament, the Swedish team that Canada faced played well enough to win the gold themselves, but it was like all of those teams that lost to Jordan and the Chicago Bulls; Sweden was simply outmatched in speed, desire and chemistry.
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| After a crushing defeat to the women's Canadian hockey team, the men had to win a "loser takes Justin Beiber" bet. |
In hindsight, I am not sure how the Canadians did not win both the semifinal and the final game by a larger margin than they did. They simply continued to get better when every other team squeezed their potential to its maximum.
I am totally glad that at least one of my Av's players will get to show off a gold medal around the locker room, I just wish that Justin Beiber wasn't an additional reminder of our defeat.
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Será cierto? (Could it be true?) Guzman, Mexico's Largest Employer, Is Arrested In Mazatlan
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| Guzman was reported to have been non-violently arrested in Mazatlan. (This link says otherwise) |
Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman happened.
Today he was captured in a hotel in Mazatlan and instantly his arrest became world news of the moment. Some people hardly know about El Chapo, but few of them are Mexican. Shorty Guzman, as he is often called, is a ruthless leader of industry.
I often refer to him in this light because there is something to be said for the head of an organization. A lot of people bemoan the huge wages that business executives get for what they do. Personally I believe that the market sets the demand. Failure has its rewards in business just like success does and no unsuccessful CEO remains in position.
Sometimes success can be a function of market climate, but drugs have been around for too long for drug dealers to be concerned with market climate. Those who seize power through drugs must be leaders of another level. It is likely that they would be successful in any industry, but life has found them in an illegal one. Rising in the world of crime demands murderous intent, but the plight of Mexico has become somewhat life or death anyway.
Losing the Mexican farming industry to the US was devastating. Losing it's population to the job magnets in the US has transformed Mexico's key industries, and drugs and guns have taken a stronghold. Guzman is the head of the largest crime industry in Mexico (maybe the world), but he is only a piece of a greater problem. What do you do when you have no options left?
Young men who grow up in Mexico have to protect themselves from the forces of crime that make everyone choose a side. Being on the outside of Mexican criminality is as dangerous as being inside of it all. Even if you insist on staying away, you may struggle to find work that pays anywhere close to what can be earned in the Mexican drug trade. Growing up within such an environment is becoming a world with two options. Sell drugs or move to America illegally. The legal alternatives are much more bleak.
The arrest of Guzman doesn't change the job prospect in Mexico. It is likely that he has an organization that essentially runs itself. Eventually the impact will be felt because leaders have a value that can't be minimized. Whether or not his leadership team can hold things together without a defined head is what everyone interested will wait and see.
What we do know is for every Pablo Escobar you take down there is a Joaquin El Chapo Guzman ready to take his place. Especially in the absence of a really good job in Mexico.
Denver Nuggets Get Blown Out By Bulls. Aaron Brooks Makes A Statement
What I knew about Aaron Brooks excited me to the point that the Andre Miller trade became a one paragraph footnote at the end of my last article. What I discovered since he became a Nugget has me more intrigued about the future of this team than ever.Aaron Brooks has played at a very high level in this league. In fact, he played so well in 2010, he as voted the most improved player. Scoring 19.6 pts. 5.3 assist per game and 2.6 rebound got Aaron Brooks paid and traded to the Phoenix Suns for Goran Drajic, who had also launched himself on the scene as a rising star point guard. After a few years of exile, Houston moved to reacquire Brooks fast.
Unfortunately for Brooks, Rockets James Harden and Jeremy Lin are higher on the pecking order and Brooks had languished, through the bulk of two season, on the bench. Don't get it twisted though. Brooks was a bench player with a no-trade clause. In order for Denver to acquire his talents, he had to approve of the deal.
Brooks is not only in Denver because there was an interest from the Nuggets or because he no longer had a home in Houston. Brooks is in Denver because he needs a team of his own. I was being a bit tongue in cheek when I first said Ty Lawson is hurrying back into the lineup as we speak, but I am not when I say it now.
Ty Lawson had better hurry back, because he might soon appear expendable.
What coach Brian Shaw attempted to accomplish with the highly capable but often maligned Nate Robinson, was inserting a backup point guard with the courage to take over scoring, indirectly pushing Lawson to do the same. Ty Lawson seems not to have that in his natural makeup. He can be coerced into attack and he can be aggravated into it, but his nature is to distribute the ball. Whether this was his nature before or after North Carolina is the million dollar question. Presently, the school is developing an image for producing system guards who lack the creativity and killer instinct to take over games.
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| Tony Snell of the Bulls can play ball. |
After the video tapes replayed the tapes also uncovered that our newly acquired point guard who doesn't weigh 180 pounds, knocked the 7ft. center Noah backwards with a similar shove to the chest.
Both Noah and Brooks were assessed technical's for their actions, but no one made a stronger statement in that moment than our new guy. By the end of this embarrassing blowout, the view of the future had begun to clarify. Coach Shaw, fed up with the lack of professional effort from his starters, benched them all and ended the game with Brooks, Quincy Miller, Evan Fournier, Timofey Mosgov and newly acquired Jan Veseley. Brooks dominated his moments in the game and Veseley acquitted himself well by the end, showing some real athleticism for a big guy and an uncanny ability to rebound in a crowd (quick hops is what we call that).
Shaw is concerned that so many of his young players have so obsessed themselves with dictating their games by offense that they are not committing to stopping their man on the other end. The problem with youth is that they don't often do the math; and even when they do, 2 + 2 may not equal 4 when you are young.
The Nuggets did have trouble scoring early. The lack of familiarity among the players was obvious for a while, until Brooks was set free to be Brooks. Once the others realized who they had acquired, some got inspired and the rest got scared and tried to prove their offensive prowess instead of playing to win. Conversely, Chicago shot the ball with the inspiration of a team who realized that Denver could be dangerous, especially with the new acquisition. Denver had beat Chicago several times in the past few games simply because of one reality.
Chicago can't score well. At least not for long stretches.
They average 92 points per game because they place so much attention on defense. For a short blink of an eye, Denver focused on defense in this game too and closed the gap on Chicago who, as I mentioned, can't score. The Bulls added new shooters recently, but not all world shooters, just capable shooters who can knock down open shots if you play defense like Denver tends to do in stretches.
If Denver would have done the math, they would have realized that a team who scored 65 points in the first half would probably not end with 130, so long as you didn't let them. Chicago proceeded to shoot Bull in the second half and came back down to earth, but Denver did not rise to the occasion.
The math should be telling some of these players that they had better push to win games because Denver, unlike some teams out of the playoffs, does not need to tank the season for a good draft. We have the New York Knicks doing it for us. The further we fall behind the playoff race, the more likely we are to opt towards seeing what we've got. Any player that doesn't offer his best effort will be supplanted for question and answer basketball.
Aaron Brooks and Jan Veseley answered a couple of initial questions already. Now we have more.
Friday, February 21, 2014
The wealth of a nation is healthy and educated citizens
Money is power and happiness and health and the door by which all of these things can be accessed. Yet, we all know miserable rich folk. In this world of recession and depression created by inflation and stagnant wages, intervention becomes vital.
Welfare has become America's great equalizer designed to pull the head of America's poor out of the water so they will not drown, and to prop up and dependent industries that lose out when poor people can't catch a breath. Sure we can increase wages, but prices will continue to do what prices continue to do. Will it takes a couple of decades to change the minimum wage again? We simply have to accept that saving more and spending less is the only way to force inflation to slow down a bit.
Since that is hardly the American way, we intervene with welfare of many varieties. Poor people welfare is America's methodology for forcibly balancing our economy as needed. It is inspired by the Native Americans who had the wisdom to realize that the earth belongs to all of us. When we allow some of us to take it hostage for gain, we are forced to redistribute its bounty for the greater good of both humanity and industry.
Every human being is individually responsible for their lives and destiny. Collectively we come together for things that no person can do alone (firefighting, public schools, military, etc.). For some reason, reasonable collectivism (aka socialism) gets lost into a confused war between individual responsibility and the power of unity and agreement. No man cares to be the provider for another capable human being.
Or do we?
Do we make sure our kids are healthy and educated or do we create remediation programs and systems to constantly provide for people who keep falling through the cracks? If our fingers were locked more tightly around a unified belief, there would be less cracks. Our current unified message is called the American Dream and it is an indirect message of self reliance. As a result we are much better at caring for ourselves than at realizing that the chain of humanity is only as strong as its weakest link.
No person should ever have to worry about the failures of another lazy man, but we do become responsible for the impact to society when his section of the chain breaks. Government is costly in America because it spends most of its energy cleaning the messes caused by growing individualism. The only thing cheaper than doing something about poverty (outside of doing nothing) is doing something better.
The true wealth of a nation is healthy and educated citizens. Much like the guilt of slavery, America realizes that it has failed so many, so we collectively spend to remedy our failures. When our unified belief moves us to create a comprehensive program for true health, than we can finally send our costly guilt there as well.
The wealth of a nation is healthy and educated citizens.
#NoMoreWelfare
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Denver Acquires Aaron Brooks, Trades Andre Miller To Wizards
The Nuggets just got a dose of penicillin.
With the type of ailments besieging our basketball community, sometimes you can't keep icing and patching up problems. At times you need a cure and the Nuggets may have just traded for one.
Sending Jordan Hamilton to the Houston Rockets to give them some added size and shooting, the Nuggets will in turn acquire Aaron Brooks. When the Jeremy Lin craze that began in New York ended up with a big time contract in Houston, Brooks was unexpectedly placed on the sideline. Money talks, and despite the fact that Lin is hardly any better than Brooks, he was an unknown commodity that Houston took a financial risk on. That risk forced Lin to the floor and Brooks to the bench.
The later acquisition of James Harden snatched the ball out of the hands of Lin as well who struggles to be the point guard on a team in which Harden dominates the ball. Brooks ha shown glimpses of All-star potential over his career (19.6 pts per game in 2010), and is an above average, pick and roll, short shot jump shooter, which has been my biggest beef against every player on this team (and of the current generation of players). Brooks has the potential to make us question Ty Lawson who is much more skilled than Brooks, but much less confident than Brooks is as a player.
Brooks will be able to play both a fast paced style, as well as a half court approach which is quickly showing itself as part of the hybrid identity of this team and its coach. The only real question is whether or not Brooks can help Denver make a run at the playoffs. Their schedule says yes as the worst is mostly over for this season. The quality of western conference competition will have something to say in the end, but a Nugget team running proper sets and defending as they can, has shown signs of something intriguing.
In a side note, Andre Miller will be making a final attempt to resurrect his soiled image in Washington with the Wizards. In the three-team trade, the Nuggets got 6-foot-11 forward Jan Vesely and Philadelphia received guard Eric Maynor and draft picks.
With the type of ailments besieging our basketball community, sometimes you can't keep icing and patching up problems. At times you need a cure and the Nuggets may have just traded for one.
 |
| Aaron Brooks gives Nuggets fan new hope. |
The later acquisition of James Harden snatched the ball out of the hands of Lin as well who struggles to be the point guard on a team in which Harden dominates the ball. Brooks ha shown glimpses of All-star potential over his career (19.6 pts per game in 2010), and is an above average, pick and roll, short shot jump shooter, which has been my biggest beef against every player on this team (and of the current generation of players). Brooks has the potential to make us question Ty Lawson who is much more skilled than Brooks, but much less confident than Brooks is as a player.
Brooks will be able to play both a fast paced style, as well as a half court approach which is quickly showing itself as part of the hybrid identity of this team and its coach. The only real question is whether or not Brooks can help Denver make a run at the playoffs. Their schedule says yes as the worst is mostly over for this season. The quality of western conference competition will have something to say in the end, but a Nugget team running proper sets and defending as they can, has shown signs of something intriguing.
In a side note, Andre Miller will be making a final attempt to resurrect his soiled image in Washington with the Wizards. In the three-team trade, the Nuggets got 6-foot-11 forward Jan Vesely and Philadelphia received guard Eric Maynor and draft picks.
Winter Is Oh So Cold For US Women's Hockey. Canada's Poulin stuns all of North America
With the game on the line and the gold medal firmly in the grasp of the US women's hockey team, Canada needed to respond.
This rivalry is past the stage of healthy. This is one of those rivalries that the word bitter is the only appropriate descriptor. Canada had won the gold medal three times previous to this game and the US was fed up. As the game neared its close of regulation play, the Canadian team found itself down 2-0 and time was not equal to hope. Somewhere in the deepest recess of the Canadian psyche lived the credo that every TRUE competitor knows. Stranger things have happened.
Just when you think you've seen it all you see something else. In some ways these scenes are just a repeat of a familiar story, but with sports it always feels brand new. The Americans have dominated international play since the last Olympics. They achieved a stretch in which they beat the Canadian team 4 in a row only to see the Canadian team take 3 of the last 5 meetings prior to today's finale.
The US seemed clear about the monster they had to overcome today and they forced that monster into a scoreless corner with minutes to play. Ironically, my alternative viewing option (all men have an additional sport to watch during the commercials) was a flashback replay of Ali's Rumble In The Jungle. In many ways, this is exactly what occurred in today's Olympic gold medal match. Canada got the best punch that America had to offer.
Being down 3-0 is a death nail late in a game, but 2-0 is different. 2-0 keeps you within one intense effort and one lucky bounce from further hope. Time is not in our control, but hope that produces effort is. 4 years ago, an amazing legend of international hockey play found the net late to capture the gold for the Canadian women's hockey team. Today, 4 years later, that same lady found the net with seconds left on the clock and did it again in a sudden death overtime.
A timely bit of luck gave Canada a player advantage, but luck is what you make it. The US had that same advantage earlier in the overtime period but did not capitalize. In fact, they quickly committed a penalty of their own to lose the player advantage that they enjoyed for about 20 seconds. Much like my Broncos from last years playoff loss to Baltimore, or George Foreman who had a victory in hand, but did not have the heart of a closer, closing is everything. Champions close the deal.
The crowd that follows women's hockey prior to the Olympics is small and does not include me. You don't have to watch women's hockey to know that Poulin has failed much more than she has succeeded at these moments. This is easy to discern because the winner rushes into that opportunity for failure in a way that makes everyone else watch and marvel.
Down 2-0 with less than 2 minutes had to be a sickening feeling for Canada. Within a short spell they flushed all of that sour emotion right from their bowels and directly south for all of America to feel. Losing in the winter can be oh so cold.
This rivalry is past the stage of healthy. This is one of those rivalries that the word bitter is the only appropriate descriptor. Canada had won the gold medal three times previous to this game and the US was fed up. As the game neared its close of regulation play, the Canadian team found itself down 2-0 and time was not equal to hope. Somewhere in the deepest recess of the Canadian psyche lived the credo that every TRUE competitor knows. Stranger things have happened.
Just when you think you've seen it all you see something else. In some ways these scenes are just a repeat of a familiar story, but with sports it always feels brand new. The Americans have dominated international play since the last Olympics. They achieved a stretch in which they beat the Canadian team 4 in a row only to see the Canadian team take 3 of the last 5 meetings prior to today's finale.
The US seemed clear about the monster they had to overcome today and they forced that monster into a scoreless corner with minutes to play. Ironically, my alternative viewing option (all men have an additional sport to watch during the commercials) was a flashback replay of Ali's Rumble In The Jungle. In many ways, this is exactly what occurred in today's Olympic gold medal match. Canada got the best punch that America had to offer.
 |
| Poulin repeats her gold medal feat. |
A timely bit of luck gave Canada a player advantage, but luck is what you make it. The US had that same advantage earlier in the overtime period but did not capitalize. In fact, they quickly committed a penalty of their own to lose the player advantage that they enjoyed for about 20 seconds. Much like my Broncos from last years playoff loss to Baltimore, or George Foreman who had a victory in hand, but did not have the heart of a closer, closing is everything. Champions close the deal.
The crowd that follows women's hockey prior to the Olympics is small and does not include me. You don't have to watch women's hockey to know that Poulin has failed much more than she has succeeded at these moments. This is easy to discern because the winner rushes into that opportunity for failure in a way that makes everyone else watch and marvel.
Down 2-0 with less than 2 minutes had to be a sickening feeling for Canada. Within a short spell they flushed all of that sour emotion right from their bowels and directly south for all of America to feel. Losing in the winter can be oh so cold.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Suns Turn Out The Lights In Overtime. Nuggets Fans Looking For New Light
Will the Nuggets do something?
Hopefully they will continue to do more of what we saw last night against the Phoenix Suns, minus the losing in overtime part. Losing to a team that is 10 games over .500 and solidly in the playoff race is no shame. The shame came from those 4 games we watched prior to the All-Star break.
The Nuggets are in a really precarious position as they approach the trade deadline. They basically have the makings of a trade package sitting in the training room. Danilo Galinari, Javale McGhee, Nate Robinson, Ty Lawson create 4 of a solid starting 5. What all of the Nuggets create is questions of their capacity for growth versus their capacity for trade value.
What is the full upside for this entire team and will we have the patience to be the team that helps it happen or trades and watches from afar? In case we didn't already know, recent evidence has declared that Ty Lawson is an extremely important player for this Nuggets team. With that being said, I believe the children are the future. Choose them well and let them lead the way.
We have a couple of them in house already in Evan Fournier and Quincy Miller, but the prospects for attaining more has created a special dynamic in this years NBA trade market. There will be plenty of kids coming out of college next year, which has the entire league seeking to get their hands on what might very well become an historical draft class.
This new Nuggets coaching staff has to analyze this new Nuggets roster in order to separate the old Nuggets that we already know from the new Nuggets that we are not so sure about. This process is not one that involves keeping a strong grip on victories throughout the season, so you have to determine if losing is worth the cost of growth. Losing is costly, but Nugget's fans are smart enough to recognize losing teams from losing players. We can watch losing, but won't stand for losers.
Brian Shaw may be green, but he is a winner even if the George Karl fans would rather see more W's from this years team. What fans are not so sure of is whether or not our new front office team has uncovered enough winners to jump on this journey of change. Plenty of fans will join the ride when this journey gets airborne, but only the true fans will endure a long and slow train ride to the airport.
By the end of business tomorrow (10 p.m. Mountain time) we will know one way or another if the Nuggets will do something. I haven't yet figured out if doing nothing will mean more than doing something, but at least the real analysis can begin when the deadline has passed.
Hopefully they will continue to do more of what we saw last night against the Phoenix Suns, minus the losing in overtime part. Losing to a team that is 10 games over .500 and solidly in the playoff race is no shame. The shame came from those 4 games we watched prior to the All-Star break.The Nuggets are in a really precarious position as they approach the trade deadline. They basically have the makings of a trade package sitting in the training room. Danilo Galinari, Javale McGhee, Nate Robinson, Ty Lawson create 4 of a solid starting 5. What all of the Nuggets create is questions of their capacity for growth versus their capacity for trade value.
What is the full upside for this entire team and will we have the patience to be the team that helps it happen or trades and watches from afar? In case we didn't already know, recent evidence has declared that Ty Lawson is an extremely important player for this Nuggets team. With that being said, I believe the children are the future. Choose them well and let them lead the way.
We have a couple of them in house already in Evan Fournier and Quincy Miller, but the prospects for attaining more has created a special dynamic in this years NBA trade market. There will be plenty of kids coming out of college next year, which has the entire league seeking to get their hands on what might very well become an historical draft class.
This new Nuggets coaching staff has to analyze this new Nuggets roster in order to separate the old Nuggets that we already know from the new Nuggets that we are not so sure about. This process is not one that involves keeping a strong grip on victories throughout the season, so you have to determine if losing is worth the cost of growth. Losing is costly, but Nugget's fans are smart enough to recognize losing teams from losing players. We can watch losing, but won't stand for losers.
Brian Shaw may be green, but he is a winner even if the George Karl fans would rather see more W's from this years team. What fans are not so sure of is whether or not our new front office team has uncovered enough winners to jump on this journey of change. Plenty of fans will join the ride when this journey gets airborne, but only the true fans will endure a long and slow train ride to the airport.
By the end of business tomorrow (10 p.m. Mountain time) we will know one way or another if the Nuggets will do something. I haven't yet figured out if doing nothing will mean more than doing something, but at least the real analysis can begin when the deadline has passed.
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Michael Dunn is not a murderer even if he made his best attempt.
Michael Dunn was charged with attempted murder regarding the lives of the three young men who survived his shooting rampage. Dunn received a mistrial on the more heinous crime of first degree murder for the killing of Jordan Davis who Dunn claims had a shotgun pointed at him.For there to be a mistrial on the most important point of murder says a lot about the nature of the deliberation of that jury room. It says a lot more about the reality of Stand Your Ground Laws (SYG) and how they are impacting some of our perceptions of justice in America.
What is not congruent in this decision is the impression of the shooting scene that eased the jury into a fairly quick decision regarding attempted murder but an uncertain conclusion regarding murder. Their inability to convict on every count means that they believed some aspect of the Dunn defense. Not only did they believe his story to be plausible, they arbitrarily decided to ignore the crime scene and focus on the testimony of the accused.
You see, to assume that he is clearly guilty of attempted murder and not murder means that he is shooting bullets with artificial intelligence. If the bullets shot in self defense had killed more people than he would have had less sentencing because all of the dead would have been covered by the SYG explanation that created a mistrial on murder. The bullets that he shot at the rear of the car as it drove away from the scene are likely the bullets that produced this conviction. Essentially, these bullets and only these bullets were seen as murderous bullets, while all of the others had the potential to be justified bullets.
This jury has essentially said that the guy who shot at the side of the car could have been defending himself but the guy who shot at the back of the car was attempting a murder. To believe this you have to think that Dunn had a personality transformation that shifted him from a free American with the right to feel safe from outside attack into one who was looking to rid this land of a few of its rap loving scum.
Take a moment and imagine the first gun shot and how many seconds it would take to get the hell out of there. Maybe I am simply not clear enough about life and death gun battles. I just can't relate to the evolution from fear to self preservation to attack and destroy within a 15 second gun battle, especially one where every bullet was fired in one direction.
Anyone who understands the use of deadly force understands that it comes with a shoot to kill expectation. You do not wound your enemy and allow him to kill you in response. There are really only two options in this story. Either Dunn saw this car load as a threat to his life or a threat to his freedom.
In 15 seconds of gun fire and escape by the teens in the car, Dunn did not go from a self defender (who never receive return fire) into a world avenger (who never received return fire). He was the same shooter during the side panel shots as he was at the rear of the car. He had the same disregard for who lived or died in that car with every shot he fired. His purpose and intent did not switch itself in the 10 seconds of heavy gun fire at side of the car versus the 5 seconds at the back of it.
Either Dunn was attempting to murder them all, or was responding in self defense and nothing more. If even one juror agreed to convict Dunn of attempt but not murder, than that person is not responding to the crime scene but is stretching the definition of justice to fit the parameters of this SYG law.
Any SYG killing can be justified by intent so long as the killer is not around to speak for themselves. That is what Dunn was attempting to accomplish with his final shots at the back of that car, but he failed. Since he did not fail at killing Jordan Davis and was NOT convicted of it, I think I get the message.
Michael Dunn is not a capable murderer, he is just capable of attempting it.
.
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Falling In Love With Conflict Leaves Conservatives Lonely For Love
This is my Valentine's Day political report. I know, the marriage of politics and love is a stretch, but flex with me anyway.
Donny Hathaway and Roberta Flack once sang an amazing song called "Where Is The Love". Because they sang it with such beautiful harmony, it is a song that few recount as a death of a relationship song. Conservatives have come to the "End of the Road" (Boyz II Men, another death of love song) and must separate themselves from those they call RINO's or accept that politician formerly known as Republican is just like the Democrat, the names we currently use to win elections. Over time those names and their meanings have changed to harm the innocent and protect the guilty.
Republicans have to recognize that the country's heart is breaking in two over this war that is destroying our understanding of conservatism. Modern political party's are more challenged than ever to define a clear direction for an internet electorate that is too smart to keep falling for the old tax and spend shell game, or the reducing of taxes only for the people who fund elections.
Rogue republicans have gone out on their own with the notion that only democrats are poor and that only republicans are interested in ending the need for welfare. The act of "going rogue" has been transformed by republicans into their business as usual. In fact, without an agreement about message, there technically is no stream to swim against.
The mythical character Captain Kirk always made the final call about what the Star Trek Enterprise would do in the midst of their travails, but it was rarely without disagreement and discourse. On occasion, the episode involved failed decisions that had drastic ramifications, but decision makers in this futuristic example were more likely to beat themselves up than to have it done by subordinates.
John Boehner should be so lucky.
Boehner is now being painted (or photoshop'd) with a sombrero for his unwillingness to continue to obstruct an immigration bill that is ready for signature. He got a similar line of attack when he allowed a vote on a clean debt bill.. Boehner believes that there are many republican voters, including Hispanic voters, who insist we bring the immigration bill before congress. Boehner does not hear America screaming for him to swim against this tide; to accept that we are forever married to the Mexican immigrant
The only real value of long term recession is that it squeezes the masses into action. Needs of the common man that were once ignored become significant electoral issue's that suddenly steer elections. Income equality, a living wage and healthcare changes have all conspired to make the economy the direct and indirect issue of this campaign season. Obamacare threatens to cause economic loss for some, but should be an economic benefit to most. Will those impacted be a significant enough number to turn the fate of an election?
The Hatfield and the McCoys fought for so long, that they probably found themselves a bit empty when the fighting came to an end. Similarly, the democrats are now looking over the fence as the republican family gets a weekly sheriff visit from all of the domestic violence going on in their house. No matter how bad you disagree with your neighbor, you never celebrate such demise. Unfortunately, its hard to find love when your mind is immersed in hate.
Obama bashing is starting to feel like a harmless prank. When you listen to internal republican strife, it makes Obama hate feel like getting TP'd by your neighbors compared to the domestic war that they are waging against one another over who shall determine the conservative agenda. Every egg that democrats throw on republican windows in response is simply adding to the mess of egg that they've created for themselves in becoming the anti-everything (except war and oil) party.
During this Valentine season of love, we need to remind the republicans to promote more love and not more war and oil production. If it were not for the Keystone pipeline or fracking, I would not know how to explain the current republican agenda. What the world needs now is love, sweet love. Its the only thing that there's just too little of. War and oil have their place, but they are hardly the instruments of unity.
Donny Hathaway and Roberta Flack once sang an amazing song called "Where Is The Love". Because they sang it with such beautiful harmony, it is a song that few recount as a death of a relationship song. Conservatives have come to the "End of the Road" (Boyz II Men, another death of love song) and must separate themselves from those they call RINO's or accept that politician formerly known as Republican is just like the Democrat, the names we currently use to win elections. Over time those names and their meanings have changed to harm the innocent and protect the guilty.
Republicans have to recognize that the country's heart is breaking in two over this war that is destroying our understanding of conservatism. Modern political party's are more challenged than ever to define a clear direction for an internet electorate that is too smart to keep falling for the old tax and spend shell game, or the reducing of taxes only for the people who fund elections.
Rogue republicans have gone out on their own with the notion that only democrats are poor and that only republicans are interested in ending the need for welfare. The act of "going rogue" has been transformed by republicans into their business as usual. In fact, without an agreement about message, there technically is no stream to swim against.
The mythical character Captain Kirk always made the final call about what the Star Trek Enterprise would do in the midst of their travails, but it was rarely without disagreement and discourse. On occasion, the episode involved failed decisions that had drastic ramifications, but decision makers in this futuristic example were more likely to beat themselves up than to have it done by subordinates.
John Boehner should be so lucky.
Boehner is now being painted (or photoshop'd) with a sombrero for his unwillingness to continue to obstruct an immigration bill that is ready for signature. He got a similar line of attack when he allowed a vote on a clean debt bill.. Boehner believes that there are many republican voters, including Hispanic voters, who insist we bring the immigration bill before congress. Boehner does not hear America screaming for him to swim against this tide; to accept that we are forever married to the Mexican immigrant
The only real value of long term recession is that it squeezes the masses into action. Needs of the common man that were once ignored become significant electoral issue's that suddenly steer elections. Income equality, a living wage and healthcare changes have all conspired to make the economy the direct and indirect issue of this campaign season. Obamacare threatens to cause economic loss for some, but should be an economic benefit to most. Will those impacted be a significant enough number to turn the fate of an election?
The Hatfield and the McCoys fought for so long, that they probably found themselves a bit empty when the fighting came to an end. Similarly, the democrats are now looking over the fence as the republican family gets a weekly sheriff visit from all of the domestic violence going on in their house. No matter how bad you disagree with your neighbor, you never celebrate such demise. Unfortunately, its hard to find love when your mind is immersed in hate.
Obama bashing is starting to feel like a harmless prank. When you listen to internal republican strife, it makes Obama hate feel like getting TP'd by your neighbors compared to the domestic war that they are waging against one another over who shall determine the conservative agenda. Every egg that democrats throw on republican windows in response is simply adding to the mess of egg that they've created for themselves in becoming the anti-everything (except war and oil) party.
During this Valentine season of love, we need to remind the republicans to promote more love and not more war and oil production. If it were not for the Keystone pipeline or fracking, I would not know how to explain the current republican agenda. What the world needs now is love, sweet love. Its the only thing that there's just too little of. War and oil have their place, but they are hardly the instruments of unity.
NFL Has The Rooney Rule Already. Is The Michael Sam Rule Next?
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| If acquired in the spring draft, Michael Sam will be the first NFL player to be openly gay. |
Society has established anti-discrimination laws in so many areas of our world because we need them. Legislative equality doesn't really work as well as we would hope, but it does acknowledge the truth that no person declares while brushing their teeth in the morning. We are all racist.
We are all racist, or sexist, or homeless-ist, or handicapped people with disabillities-ist, and age-ist as well. Many of us are a combination of them all and can hardly stand to be in the presence of anyone that doesn't conform to our world view. We are all well conditioned by-products of the world that created us, even those of us who fight the right to stereotype.
My white friends who were raised in the mostly black and hispanic neighborhoods of my youth had to notice, as we all took the same history class, that history mostly depicted white man as Abraham Lincoln or George Washington and mostly depicted blacks as slaves or entertainers. Asians and Hispanics and every other race also get characterized by stereotypes that play out (often negatively) in how we deal (or don't deal) with one another. If our hearts were inclined towards seeing the best in humanity, our stereotypes would be just that. Unfortunately, our victimizer or victim way of life can easily uncover evidence of man's inhumanity towards man, especially our ism's.
Title 9, which seeks to insure equality in college athletics for women, is our acceptance that we have mistreated women. This law will be a token of our shame for as long as we need it. Affirmative action, in its many forms and fashions is a similar admission of shame. In the NFL, this shame is called the Rooney rule.
According to the Rooney rule, black candidates have to get an interview for open head coaching positions before they are filled. Undoubtedly, this has given one black coach or another an opportunity to secure a position that they may not have secured otherwise. Undoubtedly, the Rooney rule has also made each black coaching candidate think twice about the real opportunity of a token interview.
Michael Sam should get a job without a difficult challenge. He is a natural leader, a naturally hard working athlete who's reputation for making plays is a significant part of his value to NFL teams. Michael Sam had to realize that he was taking a chance when he decided not to go back into a closet just for the sake of more money. In fact, if he is given a fair shake, he could be the Ellen of the NFL; that gay guy who is the best of the outed world that gains a mega-following as a result. Sam could, and just might spearhead a revolution in sports that allows for others to follow as he gets branded as the poster child for social change. Michael Sam might have already changed the gay pro sports world as we know it because of his daring move.
As long as he gets a REAL chance to make an NFL opening day roster.
After the Tim Tebow media circus, will Sam become the gay equivalent? Will the potential for a media circus either scare teams from taking a chance or scare them from keeping it alive when the circus comes to their town? Michael Sam could easily be the unfortunate victim of gayism, or homophobia since gayism is not yet a word, but it is one of our other ism's.
Before the NBA came up with a reasonable option for women's basketball, they continued to linger on the edge of that first discrimination suit from that one woman who played way too good to be denied a chance at the league. Ann Meyers got a look and so did Brittany Griner. Cheryl Miller probably could have tested the limits with the mad game that she possessed, but she probably knew the reality of a legitimate chance. Who is to determine what is a legitimate chance, and how do we force a team to take that chance with their franchise at stake? Michael Sam is facing a similar hurdle in the long run, and only his excellence on the field will make this a moot point.
There is something about Michael Sam that tells me he expects such excellence from himself, or he would have never gone down the road that only pioneers (insert excellence) travel.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Comcast Talks Of Time Warner Takeover. America Talks Fear Of Monopoly
Comcast is on the verge of purchasing Time Warner Cable and I have yet to hear from any person that believes this benefits anyone except Comcast and its stockholders.
I swim across the conservative blogosphere and can only find Libertarians who have the courage to type and "post comment" on the danger of this corporate inevitability. This is the history of corporations and in many ways it is the mission of corporations. At some point, when an industry reaches market saturation, the only hope for market share expansion is the hostile taking of it from your competitor. It works well for the consumer in the short run because of the vicious price war that we get to enjoy the fruits of.
Sometimes low price is a function of aggressive competition, but sometimes it is the function of a violent attack. Much like the really fun game that we spent hours enjoying as kids, a Monopoly is all about economic domination. Good players will risk cash flow for the chance to expand income potential, but it is certainly a risk that you take for one purpose and one purpose only. Crush the competition.
The most dangerous thing you can do in the board game, and the real one, is miss out on a chance to squeeze your opponents into submission. Playing to simply stay in the game is a ready made formula for losing. Only aggression is rewarded in the end, even if caution and timing insist on being heard from. This is the American Free Market Economy at its finest. This is also the part that many pretend doesn't exist until the 20 or 40 years that these moments come around.
It seems terribly difficult for some to applaud the beauty of capitalism while also accepting the limitations of it as well. The limitations have generally manifested themselves by the casualties created when capitalism disregards the human lives it functions to provide for. Like when the trickle down doesn't arrive because the robber baron does what the law allows. Government is the only option when time arrives to destroy a monopoly or stop one from coming to be. This is the most necessary socialism that capitalist' ever encouraged.
However; what is the real alternative? Most of us seem more inclined towards the kind of cable television that is not impacted by the weather as much as satellite cable is, but should the consumer decide on this one or do we need Uncle Sam to step in and save us from price hikes? Isn't satellite enough of a competitive alternative for the Free Market to be free to market?
Personally, I am excited either way. Comcast cable is about to make us television addicts pick a side in this war over the role and scope of government in the Free Market arena. With the abundance of really really bad socialized functions of government, it is good to remind ourselves that we all agree on the necessity of government do destroy monopolies, even if we will now decide if this is the right time to use it.
I swim across the conservative blogosphere and can only find Libertarians who have the courage to type and "post comment" on the danger of this corporate inevitability. This is the history of corporations and in many ways it is the mission of corporations. At some point, when an industry reaches market saturation, the only hope for market share expansion is the hostile taking of it from your competitor. It works well for the consumer in the short run because of the vicious price war that we get to enjoy the fruits of.
Sometimes low price is a function of aggressive competition, but sometimes it is the function of a violent attack. Much like the really fun game that we spent hours enjoying as kids, a Monopoly is all about economic domination. Good players will risk cash flow for the chance to expand income potential, but it is certainly a risk that you take for one purpose and one purpose only. Crush the competition.
The most dangerous thing you can do in the board game, and the real one, is miss out on a chance to squeeze your opponents into submission. Playing to simply stay in the game is a ready made formula for losing. Only aggression is rewarded in the end, even if caution and timing insist on being heard from. This is the American Free Market Economy at its finest. This is also the part that many pretend doesn't exist until the 20 or 40 years that these moments come around.
It seems terribly difficult for some to applaud the beauty of capitalism while also accepting the limitations of it as well. The limitations have generally manifested themselves by the casualties created when capitalism disregards the human lives it functions to provide for. Like when the trickle down doesn't arrive because the robber baron does what the law allows. Government is the only option when time arrives to destroy a monopoly or stop one from coming to be. This is the most necessary socialism that capitalist' ever encouraged.
However; what is the real alternative? Most of us seem more inclined towards the kind of cable television that is not impacted by the weather as much as satellite cable is, but should the consumer decide on this one or do we need Uncle Sam to step in and save us from price hikes? Isn't satellite enough of a competitive alternative for the Free Market to be free to market?
Personally, I am excited either way. Comcast cable is about to make us television addicts pick a side in this war over the role and scope of government in the Free Market arena. With the abundance of really really bad socialized functions of government, it is good to remind ourselves that we all agree on the necessity of government do destroy monopolies, even if we will now decide if this is the right time to use it.
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Holy Cow! Republicans Pass A Clean Debt Ceiling Bill. No....really!
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| When republican didn't add on, this is how I felt. |
I wrote this first sentence a few weeks ago because I knew that the deadline had arrived for something to happen. When Paul Ryan and Patty Murray got together months ago and drafted a sequestor relief bill, the obstructionist could be heard across America. How dare Ryan and Murray remove the opportunity to conduct a sit down strike in congress?
Their bill was functionally a whole lot of nothing designed to save congress from themselves. Plummeting approval ratings were at the risk of sinking lower if another shutdown of government occurred, but too many of these revolutionary representatives did not come to improve their approval ratings. In fact, the district they came from is so perfectly gerrymandered that these dogs only respond to one master.
Have you ever entered a room with lots of people all engaging in separate conversations, and none of them with a hope in hell of seeing eye to eye? When republicans got together to determine how they would use the debt ceiling vote to force the hand of the democrats and president Obama, that is what the room became. Obama has made it clear that he would not play this game and made republicans blink first the last time they tried this approach.
This time, the fight never even came to a death defying game of chicken. No one ever got around to taking that deep breath just before you would collide if someone didn't give in at chicken. Republicans have waved the white flag to avoid the damage of "so called" friendly fire. From the various reports, they got tired of arguing with each other and just decided to test the vote to see if the debate was even worthwhile. When the test vote found the debate to be futile, the party leaders chose to simply move on.
If you listen to the news, you might get a feel for how that room of angry republicans sounded, because the debate is raging on, only this time the media is delivering the message. John Boehner delivered his own message when he made it clear that if you don't have a majority vote, "you don't have nothing".
And so nothing it is. Both branches of congress have voted to pass a clean (nothing attached to the bill) debt ceiling bill. In some ways I understand what is going on with this party, but I can only decipher things that happen with intention. You know, like Boehner growing sick of arguing and forcing the bill to a vote on the floor. Everything else is a haphazard result of a kite with one damaged wing. They will hit the ground soon, but no telling what the journey to the bottom will look like.
Square Biz Feedback (Michael Dunn Trial): This Was Murder.....and the trial will bear that out
I disagree. (with my original post)
This is clearly an example of
murder and I believe the trial will bear that
out. One thing that is clearly missing from
the discussion is that statistically speaking, a
person who legally owns a gun or a conceal
carry permit, is far less likely to commit a
criminal act than any demographic.
I am not saying crimes are not committed,
but as a whole, they are the most law abiding
of all citizens. I don't know many "Stand
your ground" supporters that are holding this
guy up as a poster boy. He, at least from the
coverage, shot an un-armed person, who was
not a threat to him.
Zimmerman case is a bit different in that eye
witness testimony, along with other evidence
showed Zimmerman was at least taking a
beating.
This is clearly an example of
murder and I believe the trial will bear that
out. One thing that is clearly missing from
the discussion is that statistically speaking, a
person who legally owns a gun or a conceal
carry permit, is far less likely to commit a
criminal act than any demographic.
but as a whole, they are the most law abiding
of all citizens. I don't know many "Stand
your ground" supporters that are holding this
guy up as a poster boy. He, at least from the
coverage, shot an un-armed person, who was
not a threat to him.
Zimmerman case is a bit different in that eye
witness testimony, along with other evidence
showed Zimmerman was at least taking a
beating.
Florida Must Protect Michael Dunn In Order To Preserve It's Law
If you go to Colorado and you are an adult, you can now legally smoke marijuana. If you travel to Washington, the same is true. Head out to Vegas and there is legal gambling a plenty. The prostitution is not technically legal in Vegas like it is in neighboring Reno, Nevada, but no one seems to care that prostitutes advertise openly in the phone book.
There are states you move to when you wish to have lower taxes on your income and states that have plentiful wild game, along with the freedom to bag a few. If for some reason you are a gun advocate and are sick of crime taking over our streets, you could live in a few states that might cater to your qualms, but none better than Florida. Sunny skies, plush beaches, beautiful people and the kind of stand your ground laws that make you excited to be carrying a weapon.
Did you ever get the feeling that the Keystone pipeline is an inevitable that is getting jammed up for as long as environmentalist can? Guns make me feel the same way. The more people scream about banning guns, the higher sales rise in response. Guns are more than a protected constitutional right, they are a big time business and the line of shoppers seems to never disappear. Anything that inspires big money can only be defeated by bigger money.
Moreover, the voice of those who use guns has made it perfectly clear that we need more guns in the hands of the good guys just to keep pace with the bad guys. We have to stop relying on law enforcement and make everyone a potential enforcer of the law. We must encourage criminals to stop and think about the risk of encountering a person who is prepared to shoot first and ask questions later.
What that means in the end is that we must put our laws where our mouth is by creating an environment that tests the theories. If Florida is going to create a state that starts teaching these thugs to be afraid, Florida must preserve the rights of the vigilante, rights that Florida forged into law. Many rats die in the science lab, but not because no one tried to keep them alive. Florida has to keep this lab rat alive for the sake of the experiment and for the sake of the argument.
Michael Dunn has the weight of a social ideology behind him on this killing. Zimmerman did too, but Zimmerman silenced the only voice that could send him to jail. Dunn has voices to the contrary of his recollection, but they are not fighting for the right to bear arms or the right to use them like Florida lawmakers intended in the making of state gun use laws.
If I had only been so clever as a young man, I would have told mom that I shot my brother with the BB gun because he was walking near me with that same look on his face that he had the last time he beat me up. What does she want me to do? Take the first strike, or protect myself and explain my motives later?
Since the choice involved a gun, mom probably charges Dunn with manslaughter (in accordance with Florida law) and I lose my gun for the summer, or until she forgets she is punishing me. Both punishments will hardly fit the crime....(sorry mom).
Previous Post:
There are states you move to when you wish to have lower taxes on your income and states that have plentiful wild game, along with the freedom to bag a few. If for some reason you are a gun advocate and are sick of crime taking over our streets, you could live in a few states that might cater to your qualms, but none better than Florida. Sunny skies, plush beaches, beautiful people and the kind of stand your ground laws that make you excited to be carrying a weapon.
Did you ever get the feeling that the Keystone pipeline is an inevitable that is getting jammed up for as long as environmentalist can? Guns make me feel the same way. The more people scream about banning guns, the higher sales rise in response. Guns are more than a protected constitutional right, they are a big time business and the line of shoppers seems to never disappear. Anything that inspires big money can only be defeated by bigger money.
Moreover, the voice of those who use guns has made it perfectly clear that we need more guns in the hands of the good guys just to keep pace with the bad guys. We have to stop relying on law enforcement and make everyone a potential enforcer of the law. We must encourage criminals to stop and think about the risk of encountering a person who is prepared to shoot first and ask questions later.
What that means in the end is that we must put our laws where our mouth is by creating an environment that tests the theories. If Florida is going to create a state that starts teaching these thugs to be afraid, Florida must preserve the rights of the vigilante, rights that Florida forged into law. Many rats die in the science lab, but not because no one tried to keep them alive. Florida has to keep this lab rat alive for the sake of the experiment and for the sake of the argument.
Michael Dunn has the weight of a social ideology behind him on this killing. Zimmerman did too, but Zimmerman silenced the only voice that could send him to jail. Dunn has voices to the contrary of his recollection, but they are not fighting for the right to bear arms or the right to use them like Florida lawmakers intended in the making of state gun use laws.
If I had only been so clever as a young man, I would have told mom that I shot my brother with the BB gun because he was walking near me with that same look on his face that he had the last time he beat me up. What does she want me to do? Take the first strike, or protect myself and explain my motives later?
Since the choice involved a gun, mom probably charges Dunn with manslaughter (in accordance with Florida law) and I lose my gun for the summer, or until she forgets she is punishing me. Both punishments will hardly fit the crime....(sorry mom).
Previous Post:
Michael Dunn, George Zimmerman and Florida Proving More Gun Theory Before Our Eyes
Michael Dunn, George Zimmerman and Florida Proving "More Gun" Theory Before Our Eyes
Whenever you create laws that protect your use of guns, you run the risk of indisputable vigilantism.
The real surprise is not that we have yet another teen killing in Florida, the surprise is that we don't have more. 'When Michael Dunn gets off for the murder of 17 year old Jordan Davis, we all will get to argue over some peculiar facts. Dunn will get acquitted for rolling down his window and asking the car load of black youth, "are you talking to me?". It appears that they were guilty of playing that "rap crap" a bit too loudly for Dunn's liking. But it was the shot gun that they just so happened to be riding down the street with, which they proceeded to aim at Dunn, causing him to shoot back in self defense. No shotgun was found so Dunn surmises that they got rid of it before they tried to save the life of their friend.
Did Dunn just so happen to have his gun cocked and ready when he saw the shotgun, or did he swiftly respond to the sight of a shotgun by reaching to get his own gun and opening fire before getting one bullet in return fire; especially from a shooter who already had their hand on the trigger of the gun Dunn claims to have stared down the barrel at.
Much like George Zimmerman, he only has sensibility working against him, none of which resides in Florida. Well, to be fair, there might be a lot of sensible people living in Florida. Some might even be on the jury in this trial, but the law that they allowed through intention or neglect has offered an easy way to ease an itchy trigger finger.
You don't have to own guns as an adult to remember your journey with guns. For boys and girls all over the land, our love affair with guns began long long ago, after fulfilling some birthday or Christmas wish.
Your first piece was one of those noise making kind that look pretty fake, but made you feel like a cowboy. These guns are wrought with positives and negatives. The positive is that a kid with a pretty good imagination could spend hours with that noisy crap and never make you worry about damage to anything but your nerves.
The down side is that kids grow up pointing safe guns at the face of one another, which is not a habit that works well when the trigger finally releases more than a noise. Our safe guns became like candy cigarettes; probably okay to have, but an odd behavior to promote.
When I first got a BB gun, I couldn't wait to go outside each morning and try to take out a squirrel or a bird in my area. I tried to be a safe user of the toy, as did my friends, but most of us remember hitting someone in the face with a pellet, or taking one ourselves.
Firing ranges are probably fun, but don't you ever drive around with your legal gun, or walk in an ugly side of town with your permit to carry and think; "I really hope some idiot gives me a reason today"?
No?
Never?
Well, if you never get the urge to wake up early and clean your new assault rifle and stand with it in your front room and imagine that burglar you bought it for, you are better than me. I had to get rid of all thoughts of video games because I get obsessive over new toys. An actual gun would have me dreaming of making one of those internet videos, 'murder of a watermelon'. My first watermelon was a poor squirrel that got the unfortunate luck of my sling shot and a strong wind when it fell from the power line to the ground. (Head trauma.....didn't end well).
I am certain that this has something to do with my aversion to weapons of all kind, yet the depravity did not end there.
That dead squirrel that I accidentally killed on purpose did not cure me. Someone, probably not me, had to finish that squirrel with a shovel and dump it in the dumpster because I made excuses when confronted with what had happened, and I ran from the responsibility in the end. I wasn't quite 7 yet, but I knew better even though killing that squirrel was the reason for making the sling shot. If I got caught hitting a person I would not get to use them anymore, so I practiced on bottles until I thought I could hit an animal.
I missed every animal, until I didn't.
Guns are so dangerous that most states put harsh penalties around the misuse of them. Florida has made it easier to consider the option more readily. Florida has said what all gun rights activist seem to believe, that our problem is not too many guns, its not enough guns in the hands of good people. What that statement declares is that good people, whoever and wherever you are, must start packing a piece and LOOK for an opportunity to do good for your country. If you do not feel safe to act, the very concept of citizens with guns loses its value and purpose.
You see, the theory is that criminals need to start getting shocked when they discover that people will defend themselves and pop a cap in your ass. Once again, this demands the willingness and freedom to shoot first and ask questions later....and not go to prison. You can't claim the power of a gun in the hands of normal people and not make it easier for normal people to use them without hesitation. The people who write these laws are the normal people with guns imagining what they might need from the law when they are forced to pop a cap in your ass.
They are absolutely right in regards to the demands of a law that says shooting people is the way to get bad folks to worry about who has a gun. If you make a mistake in the process, you need only the defense of motive to gain the protection of the law. Even if their theory happens to one day coincide with reduced crime in Florida, the connection to the killing of Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis, and others before them, and more to come will be coincidental at best.
If Michael Dunn gets convicted to anything, it won't be hard time like some are hoping for. Such a conviction and sentence would shoot a bullet into the intent of this Florida law. A soft sentence like probation and anger management training will preserve the sanctity of this stand your ground law.......and will piss off those looking for justice to high heaven.
Next Post: The Future of Stand Your Ground Laws
The real surprise is not that we have yet another teen killing in Florida, the surprise is that we don't have more. 'When Michael Dunn gets off for the murder of 17 year old Jordan Davis, we all will get to argue over some peculiar facts. Dunn will get acquitted for rolling down his window and asking the car load of black youth, "are you talking to me?". It appears that they were guilty of playing that "rap crap" a bit too loudly for Dunn's liking. But it was the shot gun that they just so happened to be riding down the street with, which they proceeded to aim at Dunn, causing him to shoot back in self defense. No shotgun was found so Dunn surmises that they got rid of it before they tried to save the life of their friend.
Did Dunn just so happen to have his gun cocked and ready when he saw the shotgun, or did he swiftly respond to the sight of a shotgun by reaching to get his own gun and opening fire before getting one bullet in return fire; especially from a shooter who already had their hand on the trigger of the gun Dunn claims to have stared down the barrel at.
Much like George Zimmerman, he only has sensibility working against him, none of which resides in Florida. Well, to be fair, there might be a lot of sensible people living in Florida. Some might even be on the jury in this trial, but the law that they allowed through intention or neglect has offered an easy way to ease an itchy trigger finger.
You don't have to own guns as an adult to remember your journey with guns. For boys and girls all over the land, our love affair with guns began long long ago, after fulfilling some birthday or Christmas wish.
Your first piece was one of those noise making kind that look pretty fake, but made you feel like a cowboy. These guns are wrought with positives and negatives. The positive is that a kid with a pretty good imagination could spend hours with that noisy crap and never make you worry about damage to anything but your nerves.
The down side is that kids grow up pointing safe guns at the face of one another, which is not a habit that works well when the trigger finally releases more than a noise. Our safe guns became like candy cigarettes; probably okay to have, but an odd behavior to promote.
When I first got a BB gun, I couldn't wait to go outside each morning and try to take out a squirrel or a bird in my area. I tried to be a safe user of the toy, as did my friends, but most of us remember hitting someone in the face with a pellet, or taking one ourselves.
Firing ranges are probably fun, but don't you ever drive around with your legal gun, or walk in an ugly side of town with your permit to carry and think; "I really hope some idiot gives me a reason today"?
No?
Never?
Well, if you never get the urge to wake up early and clean your new assault rifle and stand with it in your front room and imagine that burglar you bought it for, you are better than me. I had to get rid of all thoughts of video games because I get obsessive over new toys. An actual gun would have me dreaming of making one of those internet videos, 'murder of a watermelon'. My first watermelon was a poor squirrel that got the unfortunate luck of my sling shot and a strong wind when it fell from the power line to the ground. (Head trauma.....didn't end well).
I am certain that this has something to do with my aversion to weapons of all kind, yet the depravity did not end there.
That dead squirrel that I accidentally killed on purpose did not cure me. Someone, probably not me, had to finish that squirrel with a shovel and dump it in the dumpster because I made excuses when confronted with what had happened, and I ran from the responsibility in the end. I wasn't quite 7 yet, but I knew better even though killing that squirrel was the reason for making the sling shot. If I got caught hitting a person I would not get to use them anymore, so I practiced on bottles until I thought I could hit an animal.
I missed every animal, until I didn't.
Guns are so dangerous that most states put harsh penalties around the misuse of them. Florida has made it easier to consider the option more readily. Florida has said what all gun rights activist seem to believe, that our problem is not too many guns, its not enough guns in the hands of good people. What that statement declares is that good people, whoever and wherever you are, must start packing a piece and LOOK for an opportunity to do good for your country. If you do not feel safe to act, the very concept of citizens with guns loses its value and purpose.
You see, the theory is that criminals need to start getting shocked when they discover that people will defend themselves and pop a cap in your ass. Once again, this demands the willingness and freedom to shoot first and ask questions later....and not go to prison. You can't claim the power of a gun in the hands of normal people and not make it easier for normal people to use them without hesitation. The people who write these laws are the normal people with guns imagining what they might need from the law when they are forced to pop a cap in your ass.
They are absolutely right in regards to the demands of a law that says shooting people is the way to get bad folks to worry about who has a gun. If you make a mistake in the process, you need only the defense of motive to gain the protection of the law. Even if their theory happens to one day coincide with reduced crime in Florida, the connection to the killing of Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis, and others before them, and more to come will be coincidental at best.
If Michael Dunn gets convicted to anything, it won't be hard time like some are hoping for. Such a conviction and sentence would shoot a bullet into the intent of this Florida law. A soft sentence like probation and anger management training will preserve the sanctity of this stand your ground law.......and will piss off those looking for justice to high heaven.
Next Post: The Future of Stand Your Ground Laws
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