The Real Gold Standard

Arizona Immigration Law: A study in Racial Profiling and Injustice

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signs controversial immigration bill into law

I have heard the chorus of protests from friends, family, celebrities, leaders and even those charged with the enforcement of this unjust law. I have seen the smug, evil smile of Arizona Governor, Jan Brewer, who is laboring under the misconception that this law is a good idea. What the heck is she thinking? Are we trying to turn the clock back and bring back the days of Jim Crow? Are we trying to make our society akin to the Soviet Union, where you had to present your papers upon demand? I know America is better than this. In fact, I have traveled to other countries and have always felt that we did it better, faster and were more just than any other nation on the face of this earth. I have always felt a sense of pride to be an American. I dare say America is the standard that other nations measure themselves against. The aforementioned statement may have been an incredibly arrogant one, but I believe it to be true. Countries around the world look to us as a shining example of what is right. However, recent events have given me a moment of pause. I know we are way better than this. For a long time this was the place that welcomed all people with open arms, no matter what skin color, religion or nationality. With the stroke of a pen, Arizona has changed that perception.

People of Latino descent that have worked so hard to advance themselves are about to be taken to task by a stupid, racist and moronic law. They are being penalized for the color of their skin. Yes, you can argue that the law is designed to prevent illegal immigration and secure the border. However the means of effectuating that process are far too sweeping. Arizona has effectively made racial profiling legal. The consequences that this law will have are too damaging to fathom. Police officers who are duty bound to enforce this law are going to be put in danger. Not only are they going to have to perform their regular duties, but they are also going to have to act as border patrol agents. The resources of law enforcement will be spread thin which is certainly a public safety concern. Officers will be placed in situations that they may not be equipped for or trained to handle.

My next question is how do police officers determine if someone is here illegally? Is there some type of test they are suppose to be administer to determine if there is a reasonable suspicion to question someone? I'm sorry, but how do you determine if somebody is in this country illegally by merely peering through the glass of your squad car? This means any person with tan or brown skin may be subject to a protracted interrogation about their immigration status. Isn't this a violation of one's Fourth Amendment rights if they are here legally? Arizona has unilaterally decided that it doesn't care whether violates the Fourth Amendment rights of American citizens of Mexican descent ? Is this what is happening here? No matter what, police have the authority to stop you based solely on the color of your skin. I used to live in Arizona, but I have some serious reservations about moving back.

This law is nothing but a slippery slope that allows anybody to be questioned for anything by the police if they so choose. There are those out there that will certainly argue that my characterization of what might happen is a gross exaggeration. However, I don't think so. Any police report can be fabricated to make it look like law enforcement is operating within the broad framework of this law.

"Yes, your honor. Mr. Jenkins looked Puerto Rican so we detained him incident to an immigration check and found contraband in his car. We thought he was here illegally, so we stopped him on the I-10."

It is high time that the states reexamine the consequences of their legislative actions.

 

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Anger and the Politically Uninformed: Tea Party

2010 Tax Day Tea Party Rallies in SC (1280x720)

Whatever happened to good old fashioned civility? It seems to have just plain disappeared from our society. On one side of the street we have bunch of loud, angry people with guns, yelling socialism and government get out of my face. On the other side, we have a group of people who think the people with guns are just plain stupid and making trouble. Where does that leave us ? It leaves us with a bunch of people with something or someone to hate. People are just plain mad about anything and everything. Yes, I know. This seems to be a reoccurring theme.

I wouldn't dare try to cross the Sea of Negativity without a scowl on my face. Is this just a case of everybody wanting nobody to be happy ? Maybe I am naive and it's always been this way. Whatever happened to a spirit of cooperation in this country ?

"Pick up a paper and read the bad news sonny."

"Uh my name is not Sonny, it's Charles.

"Son are you proud to be American ?"

 "Sure"

"Were you in the service?"

"No, but I work for the government."

"Then you are part of the problem. You are probably a socialist."

Here's what I don't understand. All these Tea Partiers, or whatever the heck they call themselves, are screaming about taxes. These same disgruntled people show up at rallies, chanting and screaming about the size of our government. They complain about how they are paying more taxes. If they actually knew who pays the least taxes, they might be screaming at someone else. I've just read a statistic that says the very rich pay 23 percent of their annual incomes in taxes and the lowest-earning half of America pays 24% of their incomes in taxes. In other words, the rank and file workers of this country pay most of the taxes. Then we have rock star Sarah Palin, who made 12 million dollars last year, delivering loud shrieking nonsensical speeches and riling these people up. The hilarious thing about the Tea Partiers is that most of these programs the government is spending money on are going to eventually help them. In other words, these people are upset about the government spending money on them.

People like Sarah Palin don't need the government's help. In fact, People like Sarah Palin are getting rich off of the Pavlovian responses of these angry mobs. Yes, that's right. The Sarah Palins and the Glenn Becks of this world are getting filthy rich by sowing the seeds of discord among those who don't bother to read the truth. Apparently, we have a lot of people out there who think they are Superman. They love watching Fox News, but picking up a newspaper and actually figuring what's really going on for themselves is like picking up a piece of kryptonite. When is the angry throng going to wake up and think for themselves ? It is perfectly acceptable to be mad about things that happen in this country. In fact, free speech has paved the way for dissenting opinions. What is not acceptable is to be amongst the ranks of the misinformed and mislead. There is nothing worse than listening to a manipulative blowhard who clearly skews the truth in the interests of making a profit. Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck are political grifters. The former doesn't fully comprehend what she is saying and the latter knows the truth but doesn't wish to speak it because it would be unprofitable. You know what they say, nobody has ever starved underestimating the stupidity of the people who like Fox News.

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The Pinstripe Assassin and Your, Correction Their Money

Goldman Sachs Fraud Charge: Bonuses for Buttons

Did you ever hear of a guy in a corner office with a pinstripe suit ordering a new Mercedes while the market is tanking? Do you really want me to tell you who this guy is, because you don't want to know? That's right, it's the guy in Manhattan fifty floors above the sidewalk handling your money. Not just any guy but your financial adviser. The guy who advised you, correction convinced you, to buy that mortgage backed security. What color is his new Mercedes going to be ? It's Mako Shark blue to match his personality. You see Mako Sharks are bluish gray in color. They are also predators, just like your financial adviser. That portfolio of hard earned dollars you entrusted him to watch over is now chum. Except if your portfolio manager eats the chum, he doesn't have to worry about being captured by some mean old commercial fisherman. Isn't Wall Street wonderful ?

Goldman Sachs sold its clients securitized subprime home mortgages during the housing boom. In early 2007, Goldman did a pump fake and furiously unloaded its home mortgage-linked securities and bought as much insurance as it could. The net effect of this was to short the market in the mortgage backed securities market causing its clients to lose billions. Of course, conversely, this brilliant move helped Goldman Sachs net billions of dollars all at the expense of their clients. Now the sweethearts at Goldman Sachs swear that they always act in their client's best interests. I bet you that I can yell Gordon Gekko faster than you can yell fiduciary duty. Apparently, the word fiduciary was not invited to the party.

Now we have all these Republicans complaining about financial reform. What are these guys smoking because I want a toke ? I've always wondered why all these slick haired financial advisers, who risk very little of their own personal assets, get to handle my money. They don't seem any worse for the wear when they are pulling into midtown in their chauffeur driven limousines. These guys must be making me a lot of money because they get these large bonuses every year, right? The answer to that question would be wrong. Who are these clowns and why is it that we are all of a sudden looking into their affairs? The only thing that I can say is better late than never.

I have a proposal for a new law about this kind of chicanery. Does anybody want to hear it ? Too bad, I am going to render my proclamation. Here it is :

This provision shall cover all individuals who possess a Real Estate, Series 6 or Series 7 license.

(A) Any adviser who has a client should be precluded from taking an adverse position in any investment that client invests in. In fact, subsection (a) provides that a financial adviser who takes an adverse position in an investment against a client without first informing that client by telephone, mail and email should be jailed for a period of no less than ten years. After serving a term of no less than ten years in a federal penitentiary for the aforementioned offense, the adviser shall only be allowed to drive a Hyundai for the five years following his prison sentence.

How do you like that for financial reform? My specialty isn't even security law. The bottom line is that anybody who fails to tell their clients that their firm is betting against them is a low down pole cat. People come to financial advisers for their expertise. The other two reasons they give institutions their money is because they trust these places and they are supposed to have a fiduciary duty to their clients. If these poor unsuspecting investors wanted to be robbed, it would be much easier for these people to wander into the wrong neighborhood with a fist full of one hundred dollar bills.

Do you still think we need some type of checks and balances on these clowns ? Just because you put on a suit, does not mean you can't be a crook. Let's start helping investors and stop helping the crooks. It's good for America.

Arizona Has Gone off the Deep End: The New Immigration Law

Obama Calls Arizona Immigration Bill "Irresponsible"

Is this a critical time in the history of our nation ? It seems that states are enacting laws that are becoming more and more unreasonable. Case in point, let's look at the Arizona immigration law that allows police officers the right to question people about their immigration status if there's reason to suspect they're in the country illegally. This legislation passed by a group of misguided legislators is going to turn Arizona into a smaller version of the Soviet Union. That's right comrade, your papers are not in order. Where does this madness stop? I have to ask myself is this law and others like it just a knee jerk reaction to the bad economy, our current President or just plain mean? America is supposed to be the land of opportunity. I understand that illegal immigration is and continues to be a problem. However now, we are giving police officers the right to detain and question those who they think are here illegally. Local police officers are not trained to be immigration officials.

As an African American male, I have a big problem with any type of racial profiling. I have had the unpleasant experience of seeing someone, who happens to share my skin color, detained and then allowed to leave. I'm not just talking about a stop because of a legitimate reasonable suspicion. I'm talking about a person being yelled at, handcuffed and then being allowed to go because the police officer felt that the person finally showed them the proper deference. I call this "The Catch and Release Program."

I have only been detained once.  It happened to me in, of all places, Virginia.  I was walking out of the supermarket and, apparently, I must have fit the description of someone the police were looking for.  I was quickly surrounded by four Alexandria police cars. When this happened to me, I had a decision to make.  Should I be completely indignant about the situation or should I be cool and show these idiots I was not the perpetrator they were looking for?  I chose the latter.  The reason I chose the latter was because I didn't feel like spending the next five hours in a police station questioned by someone who made about a quarter of my salary.  Yes, you can figure that one out on your own. I calmly informed the officers that I was not the person they were looking for.  After willingly opening my trunk, I was allowed to go on my merry way. Let's just say I didn't want to be part of the "Catch and Release Program."

Racial profiling is unfair and humiliating if you are the victim of the aforesaid profiling. There are a lot of people of Mexican descent who reside legally in Arizona.  In fact, there are a lot of people of Mexican descent who are American citizens and reside in Arizona.  I'm just wondering how they are going to feel when they are stopped by the local constabulary?  I'm sure that most of these nice people will be very cooperative when they are stopped by the local authorities.  I wonder how these nice hardworking Mexican Americans will feel if they are stopped three or four times?  I would guess that they might be a tad bit testy about the whole affair.  My other question is how many of these routine stop and checks will escalate into shouting matches followed by the eventual physical altercation?  Yes, that's right. Officer may I suggest you use your nightstick?

Us people of the tanner hues love racial profiling as an effective tool of law enforcement. Not!!!

I admit that being a police officer must be a hard job. I will also stipulate to the fact that there are times police officers need to act on hunches.  After all, reasonable hunches are what allows these fine upstanding individuals the luxury of returning home safely after their long shifts.  I'm just saying this legislation is going to effectively give local law enforcement a free pass to stop any individual based solely on the color of their skin.

To paraphrase a line from the comedian Tracy Morgan, the State of Arizona is going in the wrong direction bro.

ExtenZe, Banned Substances and the Debacle of a One Lap Star

lashawn merritt

Man oh man, I shouldn't but I have to. It is very rare when I am handed a subject that is a veritable slam dunk. No, I am not talking about male enhancement. I am talking about the 400 meter dash. Back in the day, I used to be a pretty fair 400 meter runner. Sure I made a few bucks circling the track at a decent clip, but never like some of the guys who are operating today. LaShawn Merritt is arguably the best 400 meter runner in the world. Back in 1956, my father was the best 400 meter runner in the world. So what does this all mean ? It means that if you are 24 years old and the best 400 meter runner in the world, you are making a lot of money. If I had to guesstimate, I would say that the pay is anywhere between a quarter of a million and a million dollars a year. Now I don't know about you, but staying in shape, going to Europe about five times a year and getting paid all that money to run around in your underwear is nothing but grits and gravy to me. It was fun 17 years ago when I did it and I got paid practically nothing.

Most recently, LaShawn Merritt tested positive for a performance enhancing drug and I don't mean ExtenZe. The drug in question was DHEA. However, Lashawn Merritt admitted taking ExtenZe and that is why he tested positive for DHEA. You see ExtenZe contains DHEA. I'm confused. LaShawn Merritt is a 24 year old man in probably the best shape of his life. Anybody who has ever run the 400 meter dash knows that it is probably one of the most grueling races you could ever participate in. Now imagine being the fastest 400 meter runner in the world. To say that you would have to be in great physical shape is an understatement. I think being in superhuman shape is a more accurate description.

My research says that the purpose of ExtenZe is two fold. The number one purpose of ExtenZe, according to the manufacturers, is to increase the size of your wee wee. The second purpose of ExtenZe is to help supercharge your sex life. I would have to guess that a 24 year old male who is in super human shape would probably be in the sexual prime of his life. Why did you need the ExtenZe LaShawn?

Yes, I admit it, sex is an important part of life. It's just that, well, God knows what they put in over the counter nutritional supplements. Why would you risk your livelihood by putting something in your body that may produce a positive drug test? A two year suspension is going to cost you easily over a million dollars. I'm sure if you made that type of money, there aren't too many women who would kick you out of bed.

I ran track for seventeen years of my life. During that time, I have traveled to many places and hung around a lot of other track runners. As a group, people who run track are among the funniest people I know. No not mildly comical but insanely hilarious. Can you imagine the ribbing you are going to have to take LaShawn once your suspension is over? I have never met you LaShawn, but I really feel for you.  Stay off the male enhancement products.

The Redskins, Fan Violence and Why Big Names Don't Make a Team

McNabb, Owens Reunion?

I have decided to take the night off from bashing political figures. No, I don't want to debate Gun Rights or the rights of angry moronic people with an imaginary ax to grind. I would like to have an open and frank discussion about your local sports team. In my case, it would be the Washington Redskins. I'm not a Redskins fan. However, I do go to every home game. Why do I go to Redskins games? Because my best friend is a Redskins fan. Suffice it to say, I don't envy the guy. Every week he gets dressed up from head to toe in those ridiculous colors. For those of you that live in a cave, the Washington Redskin's colors are burgundy and gold. I won't have anything in my house that remotely looks like burgundy. Anyway, my friend tells me before every season how the Redskins are going to go deep into the playoffs. The problem is that every season the Redskins don't. Most seasons, the Redskins are struggling to get above .500.

What I have forgotten to tell all you good folks out there is that I'm a Philadelphia Eagles fan. Yes, I know, our fans don't exactly have the best reputation in the NFL. We even have a judge installed in the bowels of our stadium just in case one of our fans decides to take a trip down to Knuckle Junction. I have often asked myself what drives the average man to the brink of soccer hooliganism? The answer to that question has to be a multi-faceted one. Certainly alcohol has to be a one of the main reasons fights break out. Personally, I can't speak from experience, since alcohol makes me either very tired or very silly. Of course, there are those out there that get a little surly when they drink too much.  Okay, maybe not a little surly but a lot surly.

There has to be a lot of theories floating around out there about why a perfectly mild mannered UPS driver gets into a scuffle with a customer service rep at an NFL game. I think once fans put on that football jersey, they develop a gang mentality. For instance, if I have on a Redskins Jersey and this guy has on a Giant's jersey, he is my enemy. How about I think you are both boneheads? Getting into a fight at a football stadium or other venue is not a rite of passage but a rite of stupidity. Professional prizefighters get paid to take a beating. A football fan, who has had one too many, does not! Why do people get so upset when their team loses? Sure everybody likes to brag about a game they didn't play in. I mean that disgruntled football fan who is now being escorted out of the stadium by the nice men in the yellow windbreakers has absolutely nothing to do with playing or coaching the team. See this is why I can't figure out why our pugilistic hero, who is now in handcuffs, got so worked up by someone wearing the opposing team's jersey.

Speaking of worked up, the Redskins have a new quarterback, Donovan McNabb. I even received a press clipping in today's mail, courtesy of my best friend. Now my friend, who hates talking on the phone, has called me every day this week to explain to me the Redskin's good fortune. Not only that, there is talk that Terrell Owens may be joining the party down here in DC. Can you say shipwreck ? Maybe it's me or maybe it's the fact that I am an historian, but the Redskins have not had too much luck with big name players. There was Deion Sanders who arrived at a press conference wearing a custom made burgundy and gold zoot suit. Why custom you ask? It was custom because Dan Snyder reached deep into his pockets to get Deion the kind of compensation one can only get when they are robbing Fort Knox. If the Redskins sign TO, they will once again be repeating history. You know what they say. Those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.

Guns and the Second Amendment: Don't Tread on Me

Obama gun protesters are "fools," says Secret Service vet

There is nothing more sobering than attending a rally full of people toting loaded weapons. That's right, there you have it, hundreds of like minded individuals assembled in a national park somewhere in

Virginia at a "Restore the Constitution" rally. I wasn't aware that the Constitution of this great nation was repealed, but apparently these people think it was. That's a scary thought considering they are all carrying loaded armaments. One of the speakers at the rally was former Alabama Minuteman leader, Mike Vanderboegh, who called for citizens to throw bricks through the windows of local Democratic party headquarters across the country. I'm all for free speech and everything, but this man's cries were heard and carried out. Now I am told that this Mike Vanderboegh was one of the featured speakers at a rally full of people armed to the teeth. Am I the only one who thinks something is wrong with this picture? Is anybody else worried here ? I certainly am.

Mr. Vanderboegh has declared that "We are done backing up. Not one more inch." Does this sound like the language of a rational man? His second assertion was that armed resistance is justified only "when they send people to our doors and kill us." Who is the "they" he is talking about, the federal government ? I'm not going to accuse this man of snorting cocaine, but they do say drugs can make you paranoid. Mr. Vanderboegh claims that he would only use guns when they were coming to kill him in his home. Somehow, after the brick throwing suggestion, I'm not sure I believe this guy. If I was a betting man, I would bet you "dollars to donuts" this nut can't wait to use his firearm.

Let's look at the facts, shall we? We have an angry unruly crowd open to the suggestions of a man who's not wrapped too tight. They are at a rally on a Monday when most sane people are hard at work trying to hang on to their jobs in a jacked up economy. Too further exacerbate things, the protesters all have loaded lethal weapons. Did I mention that they were angry? Am I the only one in America that sees a troubling pattern here?

I don't own a gun. Part of the reason is that I don't believe I need one for self defense. However, I am beginning to change my mind. It's not the burglars, drug dealers, criminals, cops or other government officials that scare me. Quite frankly it's the guys wearing the camouflage jumpsuits, running around in the woods, who claim the government is coming to get them that scares me. Who the heck are these people ? I don't remember really hearing about these jokers when George Bush was in office. That's not to say I want good ol' Malaprop George back in the Oval Office, because I don't.

I wonder what would happen if I rounded up some of the guys from my neighborhood in DC and we drove out to the same national park in Virginia with loaded guns protesting the government's imaginary tyranny. I'm sure the same people who attended the "Restore the Constitution" rally would suddenly feel that gun rallies weren't a good idea. Not only that, I'm sure we wouldn't set one foot in that park without the local constabulary descending down upon us.

By the way, I'm not rounding up anybody. Shouting at the top of my lungs with a bunch of angry people isn't my thing. I hate crowds and especially unruly crowds with rifles. It kind of cramps my style.

The bottom line is that a lot of restrictions on guns were made to promote safety. In addition, these laws were enacted in the spirit of common sense. Yes, common sense seems to be a concept the Tea Baggers( Tea Party Movement), Palanites and other right wing factions have lost track of.

First of all, a group pf people assembled together with guns is a public safety concern. People who carry a gun in one hand and then claim they own a gun because the federal government is out of control are mentally challenged. Anybody who thinks they are going to justifiably shoot a police officer or a federal agent is out of their mind. Yes, the Second Amendment allows the citizenry to bear arms. I submit that this Amendment didn't anticipate the foolishness that took place yesterday in that park in Virginia. There is no doubt in my mind that these peoples' justification for carrying guns is misguided and borderline pathological. Whoever is listening, please do not issue any more permits to protesters carrying guns.

The Knucklehead Factor: Athletes Behaving Badly

Ben Roethlisberger's Sexual Assault Case

What the heck is going on here? The economy is bad. Sarah Palin is running her fat trap and, yes, athletes are losing it.  We have a whole subset of Americans whose wallets have not been affected by this economic downturn. Yet, these particular individuals have chosen to skid across the periphery of good judgment.  Tiger has already won the "Booty Broker of the Year" award.  Tiger congratulations. You are in a league of your own bro. Your choice to feed all your lovers a steady diet of Subway sandwiches has caused them to reciprocate with tawdry tales of your sexual misadventures. Next time, please don't skimp on the meals or the plane tickets.

The Snidely Whiplash Award for Gridiron Misconduct has got to go to "Big Ben I'd like to Turn the Clock Back Roethlisberger." Ben's fondness for drunken coeds is bordering on pathological.  Dare I say Penis Gate?  Ben, in the name of all that is holy, please put it back in your pants.  None of us needs to see the goods. Before you could say indecent exposure, Ben's bodyguard/security detail got involved and blocked the bathroom where the alleged sexual assault was taking place. I don't think I understand. Ben Roethlisberger has gone to the trouble of hiring all this security for his weekly outings. Now my area of expertise doesn't involve hiring people to watch my back, but it would seem to me that the people I hire are there to actually perform a service.  Private security is a profession like any other. It seems to me that security is hired to keep you out of trouble, not get you into it.  I don't know, I might subtly mention to Ben that dragging a 20 year old college student to the bathroom trousers akimbo may not be the smartest thing to do. Now that's just me. His security actually blocked the door. What is this Fast Times at Ridgemont High?

Call me dense, but I am still trying to understand the whole private security concept. Bringing your own cops to a nightclub is like bringing your own referees to a football game.  Guess who's going to get called for a penalty, not you?

"Naw sir, Mr. Roethlisberger didn't fondle that young girl's breasts. I think it was the guy carrying the golf clubs.  Yeah, he drove out of here in a Buick."

The Mayor of Milledgeville, Georgia certainly has an interest in bringing tourists to his sleepy town.  Well it hasn't remained sleepy ever since Big Ben rolled through the town like a Viagra powered eighteen wheeler. What was Ben Roethlisberger doing in Milledgeville, Georgia, population 20,000? I guess Ben figured dropping his line in a place like Milledgeville was pretty much like shooting fish in a barrel. Maybe, but it sounds like Ben ended up shooting his own foot off in the process. Now Ben is facing a imminent suspension from the NFL. I don't even want to think about the amount of money he is going to lose.

Ben what are you doing hanging out in a small town snatching booty? Damn Ben, you give a whole new meaning to the word Steeler. Except down in Georgia you were spelling it stealer, not Steeler.  A multimillionaire football player doesn't have to chase women.  Ben, newsflash, it's the other way around.  Based on your fame and fortune, there are women who would line up around the corner to take a crack at you.  Tiger stay off the cell phone. You don't need to entice women to sleep with you by sending x-rated text messages. You just send them a Subway gift card and you are in there like swimwear.

Tiger Woods: A Continuing Burden

Joslyn James discusses her two pregnancies by Tiger Woods, miscarried & aborted

Maybe I am beating a dead horse, but some stories are too juicy to go quietly into the night.  Josyln James is the latest in the cavalcade of porn stars that Tiger Woods has had sexual congress with. Now I was never one to make light of another man's sexual skulduggery, but damn Tiger. When is enough, enough?

Eeenie meenie miney moe, well you know the rest. I have got to think Tiger's wife, for the sake of her own self respect, has to walk away from this one. A simple marital indiscretion or two could probably be forgiven, but this thing is like an onion. You keep peeling and there are more layers than you had originally anticipated.

To further complicate things, Miss James wants to have a little Chat with Elin Nordegren, Tiger's wife. So the porn star want to have a talk with Tiger's wife, about what? What could a tattoo clad, pole swinging stripper possibly have to say to Elin? Thanks for the loan or maybe "can Tiger come out and play?"  Let's look at this thing. You slept with my husband, who you knew was married. Yet now, you want to talk about his behavior?

Normally, I would be past talking about Tiger's activities. It's just that the endless examples of Tiger's prolific tawdry activities are only rivaled by his seemingly insatiable sexual appetites. I don't know whether to be amazed or taken aback. In the interests of making myself look good, I will say that it shocks my delicate sensibilities.

Anyway in two weeks, Tiger will be swinging his club at the Quail Hollow Championship in Charlotte, N.C. Yes, I did mean the actual club he uses on the golf course. Ironically or maybe not so ironically, Joslyn James will be unrobing at The Uptown Cabaret, a Charlotte strip club at about the same time Tiger will be playing golf.   Now I'm no expert on human behavior, but this seems awfully convenient for the aforementioned Principals.

According to the Huffington Post, It isn't the first time James has removed her clothes with Ol' Tiger golfing nearby. James was peddling her wares at about the same time Tiger returned to the Masters in Augusta, Ga. Maybe Tiger will return to the scene of crime like Joe Friday used to do when he was conducting a criminal investigation. Whatever the case is, a lot of things have changed.

Tiger has gone from being detached and aloof to his adoring public to being engaging and accommodating. Obviously this transformation comes from commercial necessity. The real question becomes whether his Wilt Chamberlainesque behavior is going to continue now that his marriage is on the precipice of collapse.

The once iconic figure, who is Tiger Woods, can no longer exist in a vacuum. In order for Tiger to get back what he lost, he has to lay off the endless parade of porn stars and strippers and get back to eviscerating his opponents on the golf course. If not, this could be the one of saddest examples in sports of a shooting star crashing back to earth.

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Racism: Evading the Obvious Part II

Micheal Moore on NYPD Racism & Police Brutality

Yes, I am well aware that the sequel is never as good as the original. In light of the overwhelming response to our first article, we at The Real Gold Standard decided we would address some issues that may be on the minds of our more angry readers. Chris and I have been accused of being racists. First let's look up the definition of a racist, shall we?

A racist is one who has "a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2010.

Believe it or not, before I actually sat down and studied Webster's definition of this term, I don't think I could have given the definition of this word any justice. Now that's not to say I can't recognize a racist when I see one. Not only that, I also have the ability to know, sense and smell racist behavior when it is occurring. Most recently, I have been called a racist by some of the readers of our blog. We have a reader named Ken who calls me a "black racist." First of all, I didn't know you had to be a particular color to be a racist. According to the definition, race is unimportant. It seems to me that Ken would have gotten his point across if he had simply called me a racist. Now I shouldn't give Ken's comments much credence because it is painfully obvious to me that Ken has not sat down and done his research on whites or blacks. In other words, each race has had its share of achievements. Making factual or historically inaccurate assertions about the accomplishments of either race, in my mind, is malicious. In plain English, there are some dumb blacks and some dumb whites. Just as there are some athletically gifted whites and some athletically gifted blacks. I would never begin to make any assumptions about anybody's abilities based on their skin color, because to do so would be racist. Aren't we all a part of the human race ?

I have another reader who is near and dear to my heart named, of all things, Whitehood. Let's take a look at his moniker, Whitehood. Any reasonably minded individual who saw his many comments below my Newsvine articles would come to the conclusion that his screen name was not a random choice. In all fairness to my disturbed little friend, the Urban Slang Dictionary defines "white hood" as "a neighborhood without black people or with only one black person." http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=white%20hood. However my confused little friend spells it "Whitehood," one word. To me, this conjures up images of white hooded men carrying torches and terrorizing the countryside. Back in the day, people wearing "white hoods" practiced domestic terrorism. My point is that anybody calling themselves "Whitehood" uses this moniker for a reason. Maybe I should be scared but surprisingly I'm not.

The question now becomes am I a racist? The answer to that question is emphatically no. However I do believe that there is a double standard in this country. Before you go hanging the racist label on my broad shoulders, let's examine President Obama. I believe that President Obama won the last Presidential election because he was the best candidate. People in this country were embarrassed sitting around the television and watching George Bush explain in fifth grade language the answer to an AP Calculus problem. It absolutely gored me how this man could not even generate a rudimentary answer to reporter's questions regarding critical problems affecting this country. My problem wasn't with George W. Bush's political ideology. My problem was with George bush's ability to intelligently steer the ship called America.

Now then, back to President Obama. Nobody likes to hear this, but I will beat this dead horse until it rises up and levitates away from me. President Obama promised change. I believe he wants to do that. In order to have that change, he had to first win the election. In order to win the election, he had to not only know the issues but be a palatable candidate. Let's go back to the dictionary. The word "palatable" is defined as "agreeable or acceptable to the mind." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2010.  So in other words, all groups of people Black, White, Asian and Hispanic had to elect this man. In order to get elected, Mr Obama could not show himself to be a racist. Personally, I don't believe he is a racist. His mother is white and his father is Kenyan.

Am I glad President Obama got elected ? Sure. Does that make me a racist? No. The President is trying to help this country for the better. We have an intelligent man as our President. So far, nobody else has come up with a recognizable plan to fix the mess this country is in except our President. So when any of you readers who use the words "big government" and "socialism" come up with a better plan, then maybe I won't take such offense to being called a "black racist."