What More Can We Do?

I heard on a radio talk show this morning that a woman had a problem with a man because he pulled out her chair for her at dinner, opened her car door for her, and other gentlemenly things. The way I look at it is why is he such a bad guy just because he was being nice. To make matters worse the woman had a friend at the police department run a background check on him after the woman's family and friends told her that he was too good to be true and that he must be hiding something. Would it have made her feel better if he would have slapped her around a little bit. Women say they want a nice guy but when they find one, they aren't satisfied. Maybe Ike Turner had the right idea.

Why Now?

I was watching the NFL network today and a reporter asked Lovie Smith that since there were now two black coaches in the Super Bowl, did he think that the head coaching ranks could now be opened to other minorities, namely the leading minority in the country Hispanics. My beef with that comment is why now is it okay to hire a Hispanic coach. Who laid out the rules and said that the only good head coaches had to be white males. Are there actually people sitting around in head offices in professional sports waiting for one minority to do something before they promote the next to the same ranks. My deal is that if I were Lovie Smith, I would have responded 'Why Now'. I'm sure this is not what the reporter meant but the way I took it is why does the Black race have to prove themselves before Hispanics, Asians, etc. could be brought to that position. I feel that if you know you stuff as a coach, you deserve the right to give it a shot and bring home the trophy. Hey, if he doesn't no matter who he is, they can always fire him.

Fulton Co. GA Racist?

Earlier this week I read in the news that northern Fulton Co. in Georgia is trying to split from the rest of the county to reform Milton Co. which was defunct during the Depression because of financial problems. The argument arises in that "Milton Co." contains the more upper class citizens and only comprises 29 percent of Fulton Co. but pay a majority of the taxes. That is one of the reasons they want to split because they want more of their tax dollars to make an impact locally instead of being spread throughout poorer southern Fulton Co. Is this a racist move? In my opinion, yes. They can sugarcoat everything all they want to but it is just a fact that they would rather use their money, influence, etc. to benefit themselves. What is the big problem with helping the poorer communities. It is done all over the country but some bookwork found a loophole and now all these "good-ol' boys" are trying to take advantage. I'm sure their are counties everywhere that merged for one reason or another but you don't see them almost a century later claiming some limp-dick excuse the leave the rest of the county. This is just proof that the spirit of the Confederacy is alive and well in the South.

Too Little, Too Late?

Lately two men have been brought to justice for the kidnapping and brutal murder of two black men more than forty years ago. The puzzling thing is, the two men were arrested shortly after the bodies were found, but were released. The way I look at the recent convictions of civil rights murderers from the fifties and sixties is that it is too little too late. Should they be punished yes but to put someone in prison for life who is on their last leg anyway and will be dead within the first year of incarceration doesn't make too much sense. Especially after they have enjoyed 40 plus years of holidays, birthdays, family occasions, laughs, smiles, tears, and etc. of which the victims never got to enjoy. The solution, since we can't turn back the hands of time to rectify the situation, I have nothing to contribute except maybe torture.

Tasers

Recently, I have seen that manufacturers plan on making tasers available to the general public. Opponents of this argue that people who purchase tasers that don't have guns will be quick to tase people, which in cases has resulted in death. My reaction to this is that I would much rather have a person have a taser than a handgun because a trigger happy person with a handgun can do a lot more damage than a person with a taser. Also, even if a person feels overly-provoked for the wrong reason, death would be highly more probable with a gun. I would also like to see tasers more in the hands of responsible citizens for the fact that even if someone has taken a concealed weapons class and has a gun license and shoots someone, sometimes the grey area of the force a person is allowed to take by law is still a tad large. This would be eliminated if a taser was used. I agree that they should only be available to responsible people for the fact that a taser is still a weapon and in the wrong hands can do a lot of damage but not for the reasons that are given by critics that people will get trigger happy with tasers.

Future gas prices

Everyone seems to be so excited about the upcoming hybrid vehicles. It is thought of by most that gas prices will be insignificant if you have a car that gets 40-50 miles plus per gallon. It is my prediction that as soon as 60 percent of the vehicles on the road become hybrid, then gas companies or gas stations will hike prices to contend with the fact less gas is being purchased. Just because you don't buy as much gas, when you come back to the station and have to pay $6.00 per gallon you will feel the crunch. As well as the fact that hybrids are so much more expensive that gas powered vehicles. Some of the vehicles that have outstanding gas mileage are a quarter of a million dollars. A car like that will have to be driven for 40 years to get your money's worth. I guess only time will tell.

Black Coaches Reach Benchmark in NFL

Another barrier for African American coaches went down Jan 21, 2007 with two prominent coaches going to the Super Bowl and by chance both are black. This should break the steriotype that a black man can't take a team to the big one. Regardless of who wins Feb. 4 an African American will be holding the Vince Lomardi trophy over his head triumphantly. For all of those naysayers who said it couldn't be done, it has been done with two franchises that haven't seen victory in over twenty years, all of those years being coached by caucasian counterparts I might add. Not to sound racially motivated, but as a black man and a Bears fan, this was a long time coming. The Bears haven't seen victory since '85 and have been a laughing stock in recent memory while Smith came in and had an instantanious impact in only two years I might add. Tony Dungy has taken a franchise that hasn't seen a Super Bowl victory since the seventies and haven't done much since they left Baltimore. He took an over-mediated quarterback and made him into the real deal. This also is his second team that he has built to play at that caliber with the first being the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Sad thing is he left before the hardware was handed out not to take anything away from John Gruden who has really struggled after his ring was given to him. So this black history month will see a nice turning point for pro-coaches. I think Martin and Malcolm and Huey (P. Newton for those of you who don't know) alike would be proud.

Sorry Mr. Vick

In a day and age where pro athletes are more famous and in the eye of the public more than ever, does it ever make you think why so many athletes are doing more stupid things to bring bad attention to themselves. We have drunk drivers, steroid users, wife beaters, and now one of the premier quarterbacks in the country trying to sneak weed onto a commercial airplane. Mr. Vick, do you not have enough money to buy drugs in the city where you are headed. Also have you not heard of a thing called 9/11. This means that airport security is heighted Mr. Vick. So in Michael Vick's defense that maybe stupidity doesn't run in the bloodline as he and his brother would make you think, maybe Virginia Tech University does some crazy things to a person's mind. Hokies beware.

Game Changing Politicians

In the upcoming 2008 presidential election, it will be very interesting to see who will have the honor of trying to break down a barrier from the democratic party. The two front-runners to be run for the domocrats are a woman and a black man. As a black male democrat it would be nice to see Obama in the White House but as an educated person it's all about who has the best to offer. Personally, I don't see how Hillary will win when so many people in the country, particularly redneck traditionalists, hate her husband and hate all the authority he gave her during his two terms. Will this next president be a change maker. To all traditionalists, please wake up and look at where the country is right now. Damn, we could be any worse of with a woman or a black man in office than we are right now with Bush.

Bush at it again

Lately, President Bush has stated that he wants to mobilize 20,000 more troops for the Iraqi war effort. Some of his backers have added that they would like to see as many as 90,000 more troops sent overseas. All major government forums have stated that they oppose any more troops being mobilized but the President has stated that he will have his way with the war even if his only supporters are his wife and his dog. My statement is that how can we trust a man and his backers to free a country and a people that have stated that they are able to handle their own business at this point but he still has to have his way. The same man who couldn't even get a single bottle of water to the grief stricken Gulf coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina for three days on his home soil and is reluctant in the funds set aside for their rebuilding but at the drop of a hat is willing to spend billions upon billions of dollars on a country were we have had strained relations for over twenty years while we have some of the same grief at home. I guess Bush will be spending quite a bit of time with his wife and dog, huh.