- The idea of giving people gifts for turning in their guns is nothing new. Communities around the country have been offering citizens a chance to exchange firearms for toys and other items for years. However, the idea of a governor who made a living blasting people to oblivion with guns on the big screen turning around and making that same offer is something slightly different. Yes, the Gover-nator is getting into the guns-for-rewards game. In Salinas, Calif., Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced a new program that provides gift cards for guns. The Gifts for Guns program allows people to turn in their gun while receiving a gift card -- no questions asked. It doesn’t matter if you stole the gun from a family member or neighbor, picked it up from a crime scene that the police haven’t arrived at yet, used it to rob a bank…..just turn it in and you’ll be rewarded. The Salinas Police Department will start accepting guns June 6, giving citizens who bring in a rifle will receive a $50 gift card, those who bring in a handgun will a $100 gift card and anyone who decides that they can live without their trusty assault rifle will receive a $200 gift card. “There’s no higher priority for government than ensuring public safety, and by providing Salinas with the resources they need, we are fighting gang violence with suppression and prevention efforts that will make communities throughout California safer,” Schwarzenegger said. The gift cards, which are paid for by the Salinas business community, do come with a bit of a catch. You have to use them at the Northridge Shopping Center, which I’m sure is a fine business establishment with many, many shopping choices. The money for the program itself comes from a $9.2 million state grant that went to four separate cities, including Salinas. Gift cards or not, the program is clearly needed in Salinas, which has already witnessed 14 gang-related homicides in 2009. I seriously doubt that this program is going to convince any gang members to turn in their guns, but I suppose it’s worth a try……..
- Memo to Atlanta Falcons offensive lineman Quinn Ojinnaka: Your wife is not a pass-rushing defensive end looking to sack your quarterback for a 10-yard loss. You can’t throw her around and beat the crap out of her like you can some blitzing safety coming off the corner on a zone blitz - even if she finds an objectionable female friend on your Facebook page and confronts you about it. I probably should have mentioned that to my man Q. Ojinnaka before he allegedly tossed his wife down some stairs and threw her out of their house in Suwanee, Ga. late Tuesday, but in my defense, I really felt that sort of lesson went without saying. It all started when Ojinnaka’s wife somehow found her way into his Facebook account (always sign out if you’re going to be away from your computer, a good lesson for all) and saw a female friend that she had some problem with. I don’t know if she knew the woman, if it was on of Quinn Ojinnaka’s ex-girlfriends or maybe some skanky chick who was always flirting with him, but whatever the case, Mrs. Ojinnaka wasn’t happy. She went to her husband, called him out on the issue and needless to say, he didn’t react well. Because of that poor reaction, Quinn Ojinnaka got to leave his home sporting the silver bracelets and in the back of a squad car. He is currently free on bond and has been charged with simple battery. Perhaps if Ojinnaka showed this sort of intensity and passion on the field, he wouldn’t be a career backup who has started only seven of 30 career games. Then again, dealing with some 255-pound defensive end in pads is quite different than dealing with your wife, who I’m guessing weighs significantly less than 255 pounds and doesn’t have the benefit of wearing pads when you chuck her down the stairs. Clean your act up, Quinn. Domestic abuse is never, ever cool and especially not over something as trivial and frivolous as your Facebook account……
- Oooh, ooh! War drill time! War drill time! Man, I wish I were an Israeli right now, because I have to imagine that there is nothing more fun than being a part of history as your nation kicks off the biggest emergency drill in the its history Sunday to prepare civilians, soldiers and rescue crews for the possibility of war. Not only that, this will be a five-day drill, nicknamed Turning Point 3. It comes amid the nation's rising tensions with Iran and nearly every public building in Israel - including schools, military bases and government offices - will be a part of the drill. Students, soldiers and other civilians will practice how to gather at protected places during an emergency, which will be made more real by simulated rockets, air raids and other attacks on infrastructure and essential facilities, and use of weapons on civilians. Basically, at the sound of the emergency sirens, everyone is to go to a protected place, with further instructions broadcast on a public channel. “It is of great importance that every civilian, institute and workplace will seriously practice in order to improve our preparedness and national resilience,” Maj. Gen. Yair Golan of the Home Front Command said in a statement. You don’t need to talk me into anything, Yair. You say emergency war drill, you know I’m in. It’s too bad that I’m not in Jerusalem right now or I would so be there. It’s a good move a) because a war drill will be a lot of fun and b) there’s no guarantee that President Barack Obama’s plan to establish peace with Palestine and Israel by creating two separate states will work. Couple that with Iran’s continuing push to develop nuclear weapons and its always-contentious relationship with Israel and you have a definite recipe for disaster. An Israeli poll released this month found that 74 percent believe that the U.S. policy of engagement with Iran will fail and 81 percent think Iran will develop a nuclear weapon capability. With that sort of mindset prevailing amongst the populace, lifting their spirits with the fun diversion of an emergency drill is a GREAT idea……..
- The loneliness of one Cartwright affects all Cartwrights, as evidenced by tonight’s episode of Greek. Having her boyfriend Max away for a month as part of a research project at Oxford finally got to Casey as she watched all of her ZBZ sisters head out to their Friday night plans. So despondent was Casey after a text from Max saying that he was too busy slaving away in the lab to call her that she actually took up an offer from ditzy ZBZ sister Betsy to tag along on Betsy’s date. That date took her to a fancy restaurant where Casey inadvertently crossed paths with her brother Rusty and his new girlfriend Jordan, out for their first big date. Rusty picked the restaurant to impress Jordan, but an overcrowded dining room results in them being seated right next to Casey, Betsy and Betsy’s boyfriend. Of course, a huge argument breaks out between Betsy and her guy over his drinking problem and they storm out of the restaurant before even ordering, leaving Casey without a ride home. Because Rusty had borrowed Casey’s car for the date, he and Jordan had to invite her in on their date and give her a ride home. After being a squeaky third wheel and ruining everything up through the goodnight kiss, Casey asks Rusty if he wants to hang out and he wants no part of that. In seeking to make up for a ruined first date, Rusty asks Jordan out again the next night to see some bands performing at the student union. However, Jordan has to pass because in seeking to alleviate her loneliness, Casey has scheduled a pledge lock-in for all of the ZBZ pledges. Jordan and her fellow pledges are subjected to a night of Pictionary, Hungry Hungry Hippos and cupcakes even after Rusty tells Casey he’s ruining yet another date for him and asks her to reschedule. Undeterred, Rusty knocks on a window when the pledges are taking a cupcake break and convinces Jordan to sneak out and go to the concert with him. Their escape from pledge lock-in night lasts only a few minutes, as Jordan quickly realizes that Rusty is more focused on getting even with Casey and using her to do so than he is on having a fun date. Rusty admits as much and returns Jordan to pledge lock-in, where he is chastised by Casey and they argue again. Arguments are also on the agenda for Cappie and Evan, who are settling into their new roles as members of Cyprus Rhodes’ requisite campus secret society, the Amphora Society. For the final test for their new recruits, the Amphoras (led by Dean Bowman, the dean of students) have each pledge get up in front of the whole group for an “emotional purge” in which they share all of their deepest, darkest life secrets. With a whole day to think about hwat they want to say to the group, Cappie and Evan both wonder if they can trust one another, seeing as they have been mortal enemies ever since their freshman year. Their doubts are heightened when they revert back to their freshman year ways by fighting over a girl, just as they did with Casey. This time around, the girl is Alice, another new Amphora inductee. Both like her and although Cappie seems to hit it off with her, Evan promises that he’s ready to fight over her. That changes once the guys hear Alice’s emotional purge, which basically consists of her telling horror stories about how she’s accidentally killed every single pet she’s had since she was a kid. Hearing one tale after another of dead hamsters, mice and cats kills Evan and Cappie’s buzz and once the ceremony ends and she wants to chat, Evan begs off to allegedly go call his parents. Rather than take a long walk by the lake to talk with Alice, Cappie uses the excuse of needing to talk to Dean Bowman about a question he has about the society. Cappie does actually want to ask Bowman a question, namely what he, the campus’ most notorious slacker, is doing amongst the high achievers and future leaders of America in the Amphora Society. Dean Bowman responds with a cryptic, mysterious proverb about how we learn the most about ourselves when we see reflections of ourselves in those we’d least expect to see them in. Cappie doesn’t understand at all, but at least he’s gotten out of having to talk to Alice. On his way home, he happens across Rusty, who is walking around mumbling in anger after leaving his argument at the ZBZ house with his sister. Cappie advises his KT little bro to be easier on his sister because she, unlike him, has never had to deal with being alone and not having friends to hang out with. Rusty takes the advice to heart and goes to the ZBZ house the next day to apologize to Casey and offer her something to help her get through her alone time, something that has helped him often in the past: a box DVD set of Joan of Arcadia. Casey and Rusty both apologize for how they’ve been acting and manage to arrive at an understanding. Jordan and Rusty also manage to overcome their two ruined dates and are still into each other, so that’s a good sign. Rusty’s pal Calvin is also in need of a good sign, as his roommate problems at the Omega Chi house continue. With a roomie who has a nonstop parade of trampy Tri-Pi sisters sleeping over night after night, Calvin has resorted to sleeping on the couch at Rusty and Dale’s apartment just to get some rest. Evan finally comes to the rescue by reshuffling some of the room assignments at the Omega Chi house. He moves Calvin into a room with Grant, which is ironic because the day before, Grant admitted to Calvin that like Calvin, he too is gay. With his pal and ZBZ prez Ashleigh urging him to hook up with Grant as the only two gay guys in the house, Calvin tries to explain that being the only two gay guys doesn’t mean he and Grant have to hook up. Yet once they move into the same room, there is obviously tension between the two and at some point it’s sure to boil over. AWOL in this episode were Dale, Rebecca Logan and all of the KT brothers outside of Rusty and Cappie. Also, I do hate the clichéd episodes of characters going on a date that you just know is going to go bad and having a third character somehow show up to ruin the date, that’s always blah. Not my favorite episode of the season, but still fun and at times pretty funny (thanks to Cappie usually). Only one episode left before the season finale, but there will be another season coming up in a few months, so tune in for the fun ride so you don’t miss out……..
- Up ‘til now, I haven’t been that concerned with all of the conservative Republican honks who were crying socialism any time they talked about the Obama administration and its policies in regards to the U.S. economy. I’m still not nearly as concerned as those right-wing hacks, but hearing that General Motors is filing for bankruptcy and that the U.S. government will put up some $30 billion to buy a 60 percent stake in GM did strike me as a tad socialist. The auto industry is a huge part of this country’s economy and having it controlled by the government is more than a little disconcerting. After all, General Motors is the nation's largest automaker and has been a stalwart on the American economic landscape for decades. In case you missed it, President Obama addressed the nation shortly before noon today to explain the rationale for the filing and his hopes that this is the best route for a turnaround. "Today will rank as another historic day for the company -- the end of an old General Motors and the beginning of a new one," the administration stated in documents released Sunday. As part of the bankruptcy process, GM will be streamlining its operations and casting off some 2,000 dealerships, as well as dumping less-profitable brands like Saturn, Pontiac and Hummer. What’s even more jarring about the government takeover is that it’s actually being led by a coalition of the U.S. and Canadian governments and the company's employees and creditors. The $30 billion infusion comes on the heels of the $19.4 billion the Obama administration has already given GM to cover its losses and fund its operations. But don’t think this is a bad buy for the government, because not only does it get a faltering automobile manufacturer, it also gets $8.8 billion in debt and preferred stock as part of the deal. Not receiving such a stellar deal will be bondholders who lent GM $27 billion. They will forgo much of what they are owed and instead get a 10 percent share of the new company plus the right to secure another 15 percent. However, all of that pales in comparison to the realization that this is by far the most socialist-esque move yet for this administration and it’s enough to make even the most pro-Obama Americans wonder just what kind of road we’re headed down………
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