- Attaboy, Hank Clinton. Don’t you dare let a small issue like human rights interfere with the bigger picture. Forget that was U.S. Secretary of State you should probably be concerned with other nations blatantly trampling human rights and focus on the world economic and other crises that you deem to be more pressing and immediate priorities. For his part, Hank did allegedly broach the issue of human rights with Chinese leaders Saturday, but in the end it was Hank and not the Chinese who short-circuited those talks. Hank emphasized that, "Human rights cannot interfere with the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis and the security crises.” Sure, and why would they? The suppression and annihilation of the most basic human rights of hundreds of millions of people is nothing when compared to making sure that the world’s top economic powers are doing well. Look, I realize that China was the last stop in Hank’s Asia trip, but if you’re going to mail it in and not even make a real effort on the biggest issue regarding China, why even bother? Whatever the new China policy is that the Obama administration is looking to craft, confronting the Chinese on their abysmal, atrocious human rights record is a must. It’s the sort of issue you want to raise more than in passing when meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao, I’ think. "It is essential that the United States and China have a positive, cooperative relationship," Clinton said afterward. Not at the expense of continued, unfettered abuses of human rights, it’s not. You can address the world economic crisis, regional security and the environment for sure and those are important issues, but human rights must be on the table as well. Claiming that both nations will “continue to hold frank discussions on crucial human rights issues” just doesn’t cut it, not when the people of Tibet are still being so brutally oppressed. What happened to all your past criticism of China's human rights stance, Hank? Not that I want to forge how utterly and completely thankful I am that you didn’t become our 44th president, but now I’m finding that I may end up regretting you as Secretary of State almost as much…….
- Just an awesome display by various groups and individuals around the world of tennis in response to the indefensible decision by the United Arab Emirates to deny a visa to Shahar Peer, the 45th-ranked women's player in the world, so she could compete in this week's Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships. Andy Roddick, one of the top men’s players in the world, pulled out of the event and said publicly that it was because of the way Peer was treated. Also, the Tennis Channel has canceled it plans to broadcast the tournament in Dubai because Peer was banned. The network had planned to air parts of the tournament, but now will air none of it and made a point of saying why. “Tennis Channel recognizes that this exclusion has been made by state authorities and neither the tour nor tournament directors themselves," said a statement posted on the channel's Web site Wednesday. "However we also honor the role and proud tradition that tennis has always played as a driving force for inclusion both on and off the courts. Preventing an otherwise qualified athlete from competing on the basis of anything other than merit has no place in tennis or any other sport, and has the unfortunate result of undermining the credibility of the very nature of competition itself.” Well said. Sponsors for the event don’t seem thrilled with the decision by the UAE either, as The Wall Street Journal Europe announced it is dropping its sponsorship of the tournament. “The Wall Street Journal's editorial philosophy is free markets and free people, and this action runs counter to the Journal's editorial direction," the Journal said in a written statement. The one hilarious thing in all of this is the event's organizers said Peer was barred from the tournament for her own protection. They claim that because of Israel's recent military offensive in Gaza, she just wouldn’t be safe. As evidence for this bogus claim, the organizers cited anti-Israel protests before one of Peer's matches at a recent tournament in New Zealand. Peer seems genuinely touched by the shows of support, issuing a statement to the Tennis Channel saying in part, “I was very moved and excited to hear about your decision not to broadcast the Dubai tournament following their denial to allow me to participate in the event. You at Tennis Channel were the first ones to add action to the words and this is leading the way to other organizations as well. All I want is to play tennis and do well. I believe you are helping me to do exactly this.” I second those sentiments and hopefully this message will be heard loud and clear by the UAE and all other small-minded nations……..
- Owning a boat can be a burdensome experience, what with dock and stoage fees, fuel costs, maintenance, etc. However, most people elect to sell their boat before they go the route of sinking it and engaging in insurance fraud to get out of a tough spot. Brian Lewis of Seattle chose to go the latter route, allegedly sinking his own yacht because of "financial pressure and frustration with the maintenance" of the vessel and finding himself charged with insurance fraud because of that choice. On March 22, 2008,Lewis scuttled the Jubilee in the Puget Sound Bay, then rowed a borrowed dinghy back to shore. Prosecutors in King County, Wash. allege that later that day, Lewis boarded a flight to take him to his job in Kodiak, Alaska, as a petty officer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He waited three days, then filed an insurance claim with USAA Insurance reporting the Jubilee sank accidentally "due to unknown causes." At that point, Lewis had to figure that he was in the clear, as his boat was sunk, hundreds of miles from home no less, and who’s going to spend a lot of time digging into it? As it turns out, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources was that who, salvaging the vessel due to environmental concerns and doing so at a cost to the state of $2,866. When inspectors looked at the boat, they found a hole had been drilled into the bottom of the Jubilee, and that two main engine sea strainers appeared to have been broken with a hammer.
Hmm, curious. What to make of these odd details? “The vessel appeared to have been deliberately sunk," authorities said in their probable cause affidavit. Armed with their analysis and facts, investigators confronted Lewis, who then admitted he intentionally sunk his vessel, saying the financial strain "caused him extreme anxiety and frustration.” When pressed to give further details, Lewis told investigators "the engine trouble he experienced caused him to lose his temper. In his rage, he smashed the sea strainers with a hammer and drilled the hole to sink the vessel," according to the affidavit. In other words, dude is arguing that he was pissed off about a malfunctioning boat and not looking to commit insurance fraud. Uh huh, sure. Because the fact that Lewis was trying to sell his boat through Mahina Yachts for $28,500 prior to its sinking and was unsuccessful had nothing to do with sinking it. No way a quality, high-character guy like that gets frustrated with not being able to unload his pricy, 1967 Chris Craft Cavalier when he’s struggling financially and decides that sinking it intentionally and filing a bogus insurance claim is the way to go. The King County Prosecutor's Office doesn’t seem to buy what he’s selling and has charged Lewis with making a fraudulent insurance claim. How and why a guy who filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2004 is still rocking a vintage yacht five years later is also weird, so I’ll be interested to see where this thing goes…….
- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! This edition takes us to beautiful Dublin, Ireland, where hundreds of thousands of workers filled the streets of Dublin on Saturday to protest the government response to Ireland's economic downturn. Estimates place the number of people getting in on the social dissidence fun at 120,000 people. And even though it was a peaceful demonstration (my least-favorite type of protest), there was a march from Parnell Square to Merrion Square, which is cool. The fact that not a single arrest was made is disheartening for a riot lover like me, but I’ll take any protest I can get. Organizing this wonderful act of protest-dom was
the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU). Leading the way for this massive march were workers from Waterford Crystal and SR Technic, two companies facing economic problems amid the recession, led the march. As a quick aside, what are rich people going to buy to jam into their expensive, mahogany formal dining room display cases to impress their fellow millionaire dinner guests if Waterford Crystal vases aren’t being churned out….but I digress. The Irish economy is no different than the struggling economies of other nations around the world, although unlike the U.S. economy, the Irish economy was booming until last year
when the current downturn hit with a vengeance. Addressing the reasons for an hopes of the protest, David Begg, general secretary of ICTU said he hopes "the government is looking at what's happening here today and will conclude indeed that it does have a strong measure of public support and will engage with us and try to deal with what is an unprecedented problem with our country." Also, Bern posted a message on ICTU's Web site, Begg saying this was the first action in the union group's campaign "and other action will follow around the country, as required." Just a word of advice, Dave, but mix in a little violence, some burning of cars, storefronts, throwing of rocks, Molotov cocktails, clashes with police, etc. It’ll help you get your point across more forcefully, but more importantly it will make me happy and give me some great riots to talk about. Besides, the government is maintaining that the steps it is taking, the ones you are so vehemently against, are fair and necessary. In other words, they’re antagonizing you and belittling your efforts. Don’t stand for that, ICTU, keep up the social dissidence and make yourselves heard….
- Never have I been more ashamed of you, American movie-going public. Sure, you’ve shown up in big numbers to watch atrociously bad flicks before, but making an absolute bomb like Tyler Perry's "Madea Goes to Jail” the weekend’s top film with a take of $41.1 million is embarrassing. The rest of the world can rap us for being FAT, self-absorbed, warmongers and arrogant, but this might be our most embarrassing faux pas yet. What you’re doing is encouraging Tyler Perry to make more of these “Madea” films, as this is the biggest opening yet for one of these steaming, stinking piles of monkey poo. It bested the $30 million debut of 2006's "Madea's Family Reunion,” which indicates that we as a nation are not doing a good job of dealing with the plague that is “Madea” movies. Let’s just move on to the rest of the top few movies for the weekend and pretend everything I just talked about never happened. Coming in second was a far, far superior movie, Liam Neeson’s kidnapping thriller “Taken,” which brought in $11.4 million to bring its four-week tally to $95.2 million. In third place was kiddie movie "Coraline" with $11 million, followed by the quintessential chick flick, "He's Just Not That Into You," dropping off a sharp 56 percent to earn a meager $8.5 million on its third weekend. On its final weekend before the inevitable onrush of idiots who will see it just because it won the Oscar for Best Picture, “Slumdog Millionaire" rounded out the top five with $8.1 million, raising its domestic total to $98 million. It was a pretty crappy weekend for the reigning box office champ, slasher movie “Friday the 13th,” which rightfully saw its takes drop a stunning 81 percent once people knew how bad it actually was. The movie finished in sixth place with $7.8 million. Newcomer cheerleader comedy "Fired Up!" ninth with $6 million on its opening weekend, so expect it to be on DVD in about a month or so. The overall weekend take was up nearly 30 percent over the same frame a year ago, which keeps up a trend that has held strong since the start of the new year……….
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