- Anyone who has ever competed in a road race or triathlon understands the sense of camaraderie and community that exists amongst competitors. The connection between those who put on bibs and tech shirts is hard to understand for anyone who hasn’t taken part in such an event, but the story of Tampa resident Teresa McCoy as she competed in the Meek and Mighty Triathlon in St. Petersburg Sunday may help illustrate the point. McCoy was chugging along in the bike part of the triathlon, the second leg of the event, when she saw two police two officers huddled over a man with whom she had chatted briefly before the race began. The officers were concerned that the man might be having a seizure and being a nurse herself, McCoy immediately offered her assistance. "As I rode past them I said 'I'm a nurse. Do you need any help?'" she said. "And they said 'yes.' I work in the cardiac lab, so I see this every day, but I don't normally see it out and about." Yet she jumped right into action, checking for a pulse. When she couldn’t find one, McCoy began CPR and called for a defibrillator. One shock with the paddles revived the man, whose family asked that he not be identified. Paramedics quickly arrived on the scene and loaded the man into an ambulance while McCoy, ever the competitor, hopped back on her bike and finished the race. Afterward, she credited God for putting her in the right place at the right time to help save a life. "I was supposed to be in North Carolina this weekend, but I changed it to last weekend and I felt like God put me there today and I was his angel," she said. Not that completing a triathlon is anything other than a great feat worthy of respect and admiration, but completing a triathlon and saving a life in the process would seem to be a great way to spend one’s Sunday…………
- So about those discipline issues within the Oregon football program……..umm, yeah. Maybe those issues aren’t quite as resolved as head coach Chip Kelly, the athletic department’s and school’s higher-ups would liked to have believed. Early last year, four UO players were arrested within a one-month span and linebacker Kiko Alonso was the fourth and final player to end up in the back of a squad car, sporting the silver bracelets. He was arrested for driving under the influence and that DUI arrest led to Kelly suspending him for the entire 2010 season. The program has had several players arrested over the past few years, most notably former UO quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, who was ultimately dismissed from the team following a second run-in with the law and finished his career at the University of Mississippi. Alonso’s arrest was a black eye the program didn’t need, but if he had abided by the rules and stayed out of trouble, he would have been allowed to return to the team for the coming season. That became a moot point after he was arrested Sunday in Lane County and charged with burglary, criminal mischief and criminal trespass. Now, he no longer has to worry about getting back onto the field for the Ducks because he is no longer a member of the team. There was no way to duplicate the poor timing of his first arrest, which came hours after Kelly held a news conference to address the slew of incidents involving his team and said he was implementing a tougher disciplinary policy as a result, but Alonso still managed to look like a complete bonehead. Not only did he miss out on the Ducks’ run to the BCS National Championship Game in January, but now he’s ruined his football career with another ugly incident to add to his rap sheet. Every elite college football program needs a few felons and knuckleheads, but Alonso truly went above and beyond the call of duty in that respect…………
- You fight the pope and the pope wins. That’s just how the Catholic church rolls and a controversial Australian bishop has learned that lesson in difficult fashion. Bishop William Morris of the Toowoomba diocese, west of Brisbane, has been fired by Pope Benedict XVI for calling on the church to consider ordaining women and married men. The Vatican said in a statement Monday that the pope had "removed from pastoral care" the outspoken Morris, a move that was swift and stern even by Vatican standards. Typically, the Vatican asks wayward church leaders to resign benevolently announces the pope has accepted their resignations. Kicking a leader to the curb and then announcing it to the world indicates a special level of outrage and disgust and Morris received those reactions by arguing a shortage of priests should prompt the church to consider ordaining women and married men. He reportedly published a letter recently saying he was being removed for a 2006 message to the faithful in which he outlined his argument, which stands in direct conflict with the stance of Benedict and his just-beatified predecessor, John Paul II, that only celibate men can be ordained in the Roman Catholic church, although married men in the Latin rite church loyal to the pontiff can become priests. The Vatican has also made a habit of welcoming married Anglican priests who have converted to Roman Catholicism in the past few years, but Morris’ case went well beyond that point. It was apparently his recent letter that led to his removal after numerous complaints were lobbied with the Vatican, which launched an investigation. Morris has insisted he never wrote a letter of resignation, which may explain the unusual announcement of his dismissal. He is far from the only church leader removed from his post, but the only one ousted in such public and confrontational fashion. Hopefully he is happy with the stance he has taken and believes it was worth losing his job over, because he’s now on the outside looking in and has no way to continue the fight he started………….
- Duuuuuuuuuddddde. Not cool, Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire, not cool. What’s up with vetoing most provisions of a bill to establish state licensing for cultivation and distribution of medical marijuana because she “did not want to put state employees at risk of federal prosecution.” Gregoire admitted she was swayed by a legal opinion issued earlier this month by federal prosecutors threatening to crack down not only on dispensary owners and growers, but also on state regulators enforcing the proposed law. It was a weak stance taken by a governor unwilling to back the state’s Democratic-controlled legislature, which passed the bill in response to a recent increase in the number of storefront dispensaries that are neither explicitly permitted nor banned under the 1998 voter-approved state law legalizing the hippie lettuce for medical purposes. Had the governor grown a pair and done the right thing, the bill would have directed the state Health Department to devise a system for regulating and licensing medical marijuana dispensaries and directed the state Agriculture Department to do the same for growers. Instead, Gregoire’s spineless actions left just a few minor provisions of the bill intact, including one allowing collective gardens for medical marijuana patients of up to 45 plants total but no more than 15 per person. Previously, the law authorized a 60-day individual patient supply of up to 24 ounces and 15 plants. Washington had a golden chance to vault itself near the front of the pack amongst the 15 states and the District of Columbia with statutes decriminalizing marijuana for medical reasons. Only a few of those states - Colorado, New Mexico, Maine and Rhode Island among them - also have licensing and regulatory controls over medical marijuana suppliers. Colorado remains one of the stoner, er, medicinal marijuana champions with some 800 state-licensed dispensaries and growers. The number of growers and dispensaries has spiked since the U.S. Justice Department said in October 2009 that it would no longer prosecute patients who use medical marijuana, or shops that dispense it, in states that have legalized it. However, the Justice Department has been bumping its gums of late about cracking down on what it considers illegal drug activities conducted under the guise of state medical marijuana laws. That approach was highlighted early on by a March raid of marijuana greenhouses and dispensaries in 13 cities across Montana in a purported strike against large-scale drug trafficking. Some blame in Washington’s fumbling of the pot ball has to rest with the state’s two U.S. attorneys, Jenny Durkan of Seattle and Michael Ormsby of Spokane, who said in a legal opinion that new state controls on medical marijuana cultivation and distribution would not render growers, dispensary operators or even their landlords and financiers immunity from federal prosecution and civil actions. In fact, these two legal lotharios wrote that "state employees who conducted activities mandated by the Washington legislative proposals would not be immune from liability" from prosecution. Gregorio cited similar stances taken recently by federal prosecutors in Colorado and Rhode Island and summarily took the easy way out of the dilemma. "I will not subject my state employees to prosecution. That would be irresponsible on my part," Gregoire stated. "That's the clear reason for what I'm doing." Whatever helps you sleep at night, governor. Just know that when federal agents raid dispensaries in your state and those working at the dispensaries are fed to the proverbial wolves, they will do so without the support of one powerful person who could have given them some backing - you……………
- At least one person exists who believes that “The Hangover: Part II” should not happen - at least not until a certain legal issue is resolved. S. Victor Whitmill, an award-winning tattoo artist whose best-known work is the monstrosity adorning the left side of former heavyweight boxing champion (and “Hangover” guest star) Mike Tyson, has sued Warner Bros. over the similar-looking facial art on Ed Helms' character in "The Hangover: Part II." Whitmill, whose lawsuit calls the Tyson design "one of the most distinctive tattoos in the nation," is asking for an injunction to stop the release of the film, set to open in the United States over Memorial Day weekend. "When Mr. Whitmill created the Original Tattoo, Mr Tyson agreed that Mr. Whitmill would own the artwork and thus, the copyright in the Original Tattoo," the complaint states. "Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. — without attempting to contact Mr. Whitmill, obtain his permission, or credit his creation — has copied Mr. Whitmill's Original Tattoo and placed it on the face of another actor ... This unauthorized exploitation of the Original Tattoo constitutes copyright infringement." The suit was filed Thursday in federal court in Missouri and should generate even more publicity for an already overhyped film regardless of the verdict. Warner Bros. declined to comment on the suit and will allow its litany of overpriced attorneys to fight the battle in court. All humor aside, the case does offer up some unique legal precedents. Copyrighted works are protected no matter where they are displayed and outside of the full-upper-body tattoo Wentworth Miller’s “Prison Break” character Michael Scofield sported for the first three seasons of Fox’s now-defunct drama, Tyson’s ink has received as much camera time as any body art in the entertainment world. Whitmill does have his copyright registration for the "Original Tattoo" and a copy of that registration was attached to the lawsuit, along with Tyson's signed release granting rights in the work. He also submitted photos of himself applying the tattoo to Tyson in 2003 in Las Vegas. Further boosting his case, Helms’ character receives the tattoo in the movie as a direct comedic reference to Tyson, who played a key role in the first installment of the film. The two designs are extremely similar, making it difficult for Warner Bros. to argue that any resemblance is a mere coincidence. One option would be arguing that the copyright is invalid, which could be difficult. The studio could also argue that it altered the tattoo’s design just enough to avoid copyright infringement, or that its use in the film is "transformative," meaning it is depicted in a larger context and thus a fair use, or as a parody. Along with seeking damages for the use of the tattoo design in the film, Whitmall is seeking additional compensation for its use in advertising materials and trailers. The lawsuit also asks for an injunction to stop the movie's release and that could lead to a repeat of an incident from several years ago in which Warner Bros. was forced to pay a large settlement to the author of the source material for its "Dukes of Hazzard" film when a judge issued an injunction weeks before the film's release………….
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