- Up to now, I’ve been mostly ripping China when it comes to criticizing the Summer Olympics. Actually, that’s not true. I’ve only been ripping China, but with good reason. Today, that trend ends because someone else involved with the Games is deserving of ridicule. The Spanish Olympic men’s basketball team may be a gold medal contender, but when it comes to racial sensitivity and basic common sense, the Spaniards aren't quite so skilled. Before leaving for Beijing, all 15 players posed for a picture in which they used their fingers to apparently make their eyes look more Chinese by making them more narrow. The photo has been running as a full-page newspaper spread in Spain since Friday and it shows the gesture on a basketball court adorned with a Chinese dragon. The photo is part of a marketing campaign for team sponsor Seur and is being used only in Spain, but that hasn’t stopped the world from taking notice. International media ripped the photo, with London's Daily Telegraph saying Spain's “poor reputation for insensitivity toward racial issues has been further harmed.” Predictably, members of the team are going with the ever-popular “misunderstood” defense for their idiotic actions. “It was something like supposed to be funny or something but never offensive in any way,” Spain's Pau Gasol, center for the Los Angeles Lakers, said. “I'm sorry if anybody thought or took it the wrong way and thought that it was offensive.” Backing him up was point guard Jose Manuel Calderon, who wrote on his ElMundo.es blog, “"We felt it was something appropriate, and that it would be interpreted as an affectionate gesture. Without a doubt, some ... press didn't see it that way.” Yeah, people are funny that way. When you belittle another culture and their physical appearance by distorting your face in a mocking way, they get pissed. And no, you saying that you were only responding to a request from the photographer doesn’t cut it. The most hilarious comment of all came from Juan Antonio Villanueva, the communications director for Madrid's 2016 Olympic bid. “We're surprised by the remarks of racism,” he said. “Spain is not a racist country -- quite the opposite.” You’re surprised? If you’re truly surprised, then maybe racism isn't your biggest problem; being morons is. Spanish sports have a track record of problems over racist attitudes, as
Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton was subjected to abuse at a Barcelona circuit in February, and former Spain coach Luis Aragones used a racist remark about France striker Thierry Henry to motivate one of his players. Class it up, Spain. You’re better than this….or at least you need to be.
- Raymond Daniel Thurmond just doesn’t sound like my kind of dad. Thurmond, 36, is accused of locking his wife and four sons inside their Lavonia, Ga. mobile home and forcing them to live there as virtual prisoners for three years. According to police in Lavonia, Thurmond kept his wife and children confined inside a mobile home where conditions were so dirty and unsanitary that officer Missy Collins literally ran from the trailer and vomited when she tried to enter. The cops were tipped off about the situation when Thurmond’s wife and kids escaped and took refuge at a local shelter. There, they shared their harrowing tale with a staff member who then called the police. The boys, ages 14, 13, 12 and 9, were also reportedly abused by their father. Additionally, the three youngest boys have never been allowed to attend school and the 14-year-old only went until he reached second grade. As for the trailer, Collins put it thusly: “You couldn’t breathe. I’ve never in my life smelled anything like that.” Usually that sentence is uttered when getting a whiff of the pungent odor coming from a pile of the Black Eyed Peas’ latest album, but this trailer might actually have stunk worse. The only time Thurmond allowed his prisoners, er, family out of the trailer was to visit his wife’s family in North Carolina. Other than that, they spent three freaking years inside that hell hole. For his actions, Thurmond has been charged with one count of rape, four counts of cruelty to children, five counts of false imprisonment and he has been inexplicably disqualified from the Georgia state Father of the Year contest. Now I’m not a father, but I feel pretty confident in saying that the parenting techniques displayed by Mr. Thurmond are not something you dads out there want to emulate, just a thought…..
- To be honest, I just didn’t think a movie like Tropic Thunder would be a major point of discussion at any time, ever. It’s a tongue-in-cheek, sarcastic, mocking comedy looking to belittle the distorted view that Hollywood sees the world. As I’m sure you know by now, it stars Ben Stiller as an actor in a Rambo-like, Vietnam-era action movie who is unknowingly taken hostage during filming by a drug lord and his lackeys when the film’s director attempts to save the project by turning it into a documentary-style effort. With a cast of Jack Black, Tom Cruise, Robert Downey Jr., Stiller, etc., Thunder is obviously going for a big-name bump. What it is getting is a lot of flack for advocates for mentally handicapped people, who take exception to the use of the word “retard” in the film. That term is in high rotation, especially in Simple Jack, a film within the film in which Stiller’s character Tugg Speedman plays a handicapped character and plays up every imaginable stereotype of the mentally handicapped in an attempt to win awards for the role. That isn't the only flack Tropic Thunder is receiving; there is also some heat about Downey’s character, who changes his skin color in order to play a black soldier in the fictional commando movie. The irony is that the movie itself is mediocre despite a potentially clever premise of mocking Hollywood’s view on the world. It’s funny at times and the dialogue has a few fleeting moments of quality, but for the most part you could do a lot better seeing The Dark Knight for a third or fourth time. But because of controversies over race and the perceived sleights against the mentally handicapped, it’s receiving a lot more attention than it actually deserves.
- Higher, farther, faster and hornier. Bet you didn’t know that was the Olympic motto, but based on the statistics coming out of Beijing, it should be. In preparation for the Games, the Chinese organizers prepared for the 10,000 athletes who would be descending on the athletes village. They stocked up on food, personal care items….and condoms. Lots of condoms. With 10,000 athletes scheduled to be in attendance, the Chinese Olympic organizers stocked a whopping 100,000 condoms for them. For the math-challenged out there, that’s 10 condoms per athlete. When you figure that athletes are in Beijing for two weeks or so, basically there are enough condoms for them to get down every night. On top of that, half of the athletes are female, so unless they’re going outside the Olympic village to sex it up with non-athletes, they don’t need condoms. Inside the village, their male partners would be able to pick one up for them. Maybe it’s just me, but the mental picture I have of athletes at the Olympics is of them either competing, practicing, watching other sports or sightseeing. Maybe they have a team meeting or two mixed in, but other than that, I figured their days were pretty filled. But apparently I’m wrong, because the Chinese didn’t just pick the number 100,000 out of thin air. They bought that many condoms because at the last two Summer Olympics, the condoms ran out before the end of the Games. By having 100,000 on hand, the Chinese are looking to avoid that problem. Their reasoning for it might be a little off, but that’s neither here nor there. “There are many young, strong single people in the athlete village and some will fall in love or other things,” the Chinese said in an official statement. Love? Is that what you call hitting it with some random athlete from another country you just met and will never see again after the next two weeks? Either it’s love or it’s just sex-craving athletes who will get after it with the nearest available warm body. Who knew that the drive these athletes have on the field, track or in the water paled in comparison to their sex drive? Steroids may not be the biggest thing that needs tested for at these games, sounds like VD might be a bigger issue…..
- West Palm Beach, Fla. might be a wealthy, upscale oceanside community, but that doesn’t mean West Palm Beach’s finest are above that most biting criticism of all law enforcement officials, namely that they abuse their power and assault those they are apprehending. One officer has resigned and two others have been fired after a patrol car dashboard camera caught them punching and kicking a handcuffed suspect. Pablo Gilberto Valenzuela suffered a broken jaw and bruised eyes when the trio over abusive, Neanderthal, brain-dead officers proceeded to pummel him following his arrest on May 26. And before you law enforcement apologists out there fire back with comments about how we don’t know what kind of crap cops put up with from suspects and criminals, save it. I don’t care what a guy says or does to you before or during an arrest, once you put the cuffs on him you cannot get physical with him or her. The only way you put your hands on a suspect is if you’re moving them from one location to another or if they resist and you have to forcibly hold them down. Punching and kicking a suspect in handcuffs doesn’t fall under either of those categories. It’s also comforting to know that there are real Mensas out there who are dumb enough to pummel someone when there is a camera on the dashboard of their patrol car, recording their every move so that in the event some rogue, a-hole cop crosses the line, its caught on film. Great work from all three of these officers, your community will be better off with someone else serving and protecting…..
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