Public opinion and the NBA

Sterling Banned from the NBA over private racist comments??? Say What?

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While it’s not an excuse, he is an old man. He was probably raised steeped in racism.

When we discuss a kid who carjacks someone amid a hail of gunfire, we say “The poor kid. He’s a product of his environment.

However when a rich white man makes comments in private we refuse to see that he is as much a product of his environment as the carjacking kid. What’s the difference? The white guy is supposed to know better?

When these events become public we demand punishment, we deprive the rich man of income, we sanction him, and force him to sell his property (in this case a franchise).

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Hell I remember separate water fountains, bathrooms, and diner counters that were off limits to any person of color. I’m 30 some odd years younger than Mr Sterling. There’s that old hackneyed saying about Old dogs & new tricks. Perhaps that’s a bit true.

I’m not suggesting that what  he said was acceptable.

The violation of his privacy was, to my mind more unacceptable. The news media running with the story, ginning up anger and public outcry is flat out wrong.

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The players and the team should be thankful that Sterling isn’t a scorched earth kind of guy.

He can’t do it now, but at the outset of all this insanity he could have fired the Clippers staff, then he could have fired the players. Effectively killing the team before the NBA had a chance to step in.

I don’t follow basketball. I honestly don’t enjoy it and don’t see the point. The after game interviews are nonsensical and I’ve got better things to do with my time.

What caught my attention was the manner in which everything came crashing down on Mr. Sterling.  How many federal cases has he been involved in over racist behavior? You know, refusing to rent to non-white people because they weren’t white?

Only NOW because a private conversation was publicized has the NBA decided it was important to punish this guy?

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It wasn’t about him actually being demonstrably racist in a public venue.

It was about him being perceived as racist.

If this is becomes the norm, we’re seriously screwed because this heralds the death of free speech.

I read this article, then in disgust, I watched Idiocracy

Draining reservoir after urination incident show tenuous grasp of science.

Idiocracy made more sense, and I felt better.

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David Shaff of the Portland water bureau should be fired immediately.

This is the guy who’s decided to toss 38 million gallons of water from an open air reservoir because one teenager pissed in it.

By the way this is the second time in three years Portland has done this over urine.

Let me stress, this is an open air reservoir.

As in open to the sky, as in open to birds flying over it; we all know what our cars look like during bird migrations. Not to mention all the dust, plant debris, dirt, insects and anything else that may fly over the reservoir and fall in.  I don’t even want to think about the mess that ducks & geese leave behind, you do know that most all birds void their bowels prior to taking flight right? Mr Shaff should be a hell of a lot more concerned about that.

Lets not forget the algae, and bacteria, that inevitably live in this body of water.

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 Even if this body of water wasn’t open to the sky, let’s assume is was somehow sealed and sterile.

The concentration of urine distributed across that volume of water would be so small as to be irrelevant. In fact, Mr Shaff would get more urine in his mouth performing oral sex with his spouse.

But, and I must stress this, this reservoir is open to the sky.

Since I have no doubt that there is an ecosystem of microscopic plants & animals in the reservoir I suspect that the material from the teenager’s few ounces of piss have already been metabolized into a generation or 100, of paramecium, or caused a minor algae bloom. In other words, the urine is gone, long gone. Consumed by the natural processes occurring in any large body of water.

The Portland water bureau should be more concerned about treating the water for waterborne illnesses than whether one guy pissed in it.  

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This whole stupid mess begs another question.

How do people with this level of idiocy manage to keep their jobs?

I’m sure Mr. Shaff has all the right papers, and diplomas. Clearly he learned all the fact and figures to pass his exams, what he apparently didn’t learn was common sense.

Instead of calling for people to be fired because of their honestly held religious or political beliefs, perhaps a better use of our time would be to call for the firing of people that demonstrate repeated incompetence.

Just Sayin…

Been out of it for a couple of days… All I can say is DAMN!

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My ISP was having some difficulties with packet loss and their problems were affecting my ability to get email and upload to the blog.

Paraphrasing Poltergeist 

“I’mmmm BAAACCK!”

The question is what do I talk about first?

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The Bundy Ranch v the BLM?

I hate to even think about what could have happened if someone had squeezed off a shot during that standoff. That’s how really bad things happen really damn fast. I personally don’t think Mr Bundy has a leg to stand on legally. OF more concern to me is that we had an armed standoff at all. 

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When you start looking at issues surrounding the Bundy standoff. You can’t help but stumble over reports of other events where one could say that the US Government is overstepping its authority and behaving very much like a totalitarian entity.

There are currently issues over land between Texas & Missouri due to the ever changing nature of a river that had traditionally marked the boundary line between the states and ranchers in the area. The BLM is taking an interest and stands to usurp something like 90,000 acres without compensating either the states or the landholders.

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The EPA is attempting to assert control over many bodies of water, including watering ponds on farms and ranches. They are also making noises about assuming control of dry or seasonal creek and river beds.

Meanwhile The Border patrol has become a nuisance to Arizona ranchers whose property abuts the buffer zone between the US / Mexico boarder They’re doing things like cutting fences or leaving gates open without so much as a “by your leave.” 

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These supposed events are concerning because they’re in general, never picked up by the main stream media but are reported in local area papers. On an individual basis these seem like minor local issues but when you view them from the “orbit” of the internet it does start to look like a quiet conquest.

With government oversight, come government control. With government control, come fees, fines, and increased taxation (whether it’s called a tax or not.) This seems to be the source of the underlying embers that almost burst into flames at the Bundy ranch.

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The FDA is being reported as sticking their noses into a long standing arrangement (100+ years) between Beer Brewers and farmers regarding grain. The Beer uses the grain to make beer, then the waste material is usually given to farmers / ranchers to mix with feed stock. This arrangement takes care of the waste without requiring anything other than a farmer / ranchers willingness to haul the used grain away.

Now, the FDA is wanting to regulate this equitable arrangement in the name of public health even though there has never been an instance where the public or the animals have been harmed. Some old traditions bacme old traditions due to the test of TIME. It’s not in the best interests of Farmers or Ranchers to engage in an activity that is detrimental to their livelyhoods. So does the FDA really need to be involved? Probably not, but you can expect for their fees and inspections and whatever the hell else they’ll do to drive up the cost of a beer, and possible the cost of food too.

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The newest revelations about the IRS internal memos?

Just WHO is Lois Learner afraid of? She claims she’s in fear for her life and that’s why she doesn’t want to testify. REALLY? Can’t her employer The United States Government protect her & her family? Or is it the US Government that she’s afraid of?

The Ukraine?

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Does anyone really believe that Vladimir Putin is concerned in the least about what President Stompy Foot thinks? Don’t get me wrong Putin is not a nice guy but he’s doing what he things is best for his country ( Or Himself) and he’s not in the habit of asking permission. 

Potential for World War III?

There have been some writers comparing the flashpoint issues for WWI and WWII to what’s happening in the Ukraine.

I’m not sure that I completely agree with their assesment that WWIII could be in the offing but the correlations are interesting to read. I doubt Putin would move it to an all out war against NATO but hey no-one thought a strange little houspainter would end up Chancellor of Germany either.

President Obama’s trustworthy polls?

This one cracked me up. Approximately 60% of Americans believe that Obama is actively lying to them one way or another. Now that’s really gotta piss President Finger waver off.

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The President was on TV again today defending Obamacare and as usual took the opportunity to reiterate that Republicans are BAD and that their continued desire to revisit Obamacare isn’t in the public interest. Whoo Hoo 8 million people signed up. Lets see, there are approximately 313.9 Million people in the US. Does that mean a whopping 3% of the population signed up. Whoooo impressive!

I’d have been more impressed if this 8 million had ALL been previously uninsured people instead of poor schmucks that lost their insurance and had to find something on the exchanges.

I’d have been more impressed if there wasn’t a recent editorial by a lady that had called something like 92 doctors in New Jersey only to find out that her shiny new obamacare card wasn’t being accepted because the doctors didn’t want to deal with the smaller payments obamacare would provide for their services, and the increased overhead and oversight from the government.

I’d be more impressed if, instead of Pres. Stompy shaking his finger at Republicans he’d actually listen to what the vast majority of Americans are bitching about regarding having their health insurance screwed with.

I’d really be impressed if ALL of Congress, including that idiot Harry Reid had to sign up with Obamacare through the exchanges. (Hey Harry, let see if you’re smart enough to use the damn internet shall we?)

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I have no idea what the hell is going on anymore. I feel like I’ve walked through the looking glass into bizzaro world.

In short, HOLY CRAP BATMAN!

Don’t know what to think…

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The BLM sending guys to a ranch with guns?

Tasering a guy? Tossing a woman to the ground? Establishing a “Free Speech zone?” REALLY? Are you fucking kidding me?

Supposedly all this over a tortoise?

Additional information being reported that the BLM has shot & killed more of the tortoises than cattle ever trampled?

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The ranchers family has been in the same place, grazing the same land for over a hundred years?

Other stories being reported about the BLM tossing two Shoshone women off their land for having a few horses, goats, and cows. The women in question were supposed to be subsistence level farmers and had nothing other than their home and animals.

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His death followed his wife’s mysterious death in a single car accident on a desert road near their home.

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These are the kinds of stories we’d expect to hear coming out of The old Soviet Union, but these are stories from America.

We have examples like Ruby Ridge, and Waco where all may not be as was reported and our Government may have over stepped constitutional boundaries.

Oh let’s not forget Wounded Knee 

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Native Americans look at the government with considerable suspicion and they’re justified in doing so. How many treaties were broken?

How many times did our Government take back land because the powers in that government wanted what was under the land?

Based on history, I find myself asking what is it the BLM really wants and why do they want it? 

Reports have surfaced implying Senator Harry Reid is somehow involved. I dismissed those reports until Senator Reid made the statement “It’s not over” regarding the Bundy ranch.

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If he’s not involved why make the comment? Surely a Senate Majority Leader has better things to do with his time, unless he had a personal interest in the outcome the the range war between the Bundy’s and the BLM.

As I’ve read the material becoming available online ( and I admit readily that digital data is not reliable ) I’ve come to see that the BLM may in fact have prior claim.

The land in question was aquired via the Treaty of the Guadalupe Hildalgo. However the Bundy family has been grazing on the land in question since the 1880s. 

Who has rights to what is something that the courts have decided or will decide.

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I’m a lot more concerned about the force shown by the government and their apparent willingness to use that force without hesitation.

I’m concerned about the slow response of the media to the escalating confrontation. 

NO! HELL NO!

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I got a call from Express Scripts yesterday.

God, I thought I was done with those fuckers!

It turns out that my new Obamacare sanctioned, lemon scented medical policy apparently has some kind of alliance or affiliation with Express Scripts.

I told the machine “NO! FUCK NO! I Hate you People” and hung up.

I do hope they were recording the user responses. I’d love to be in the room when someone hears that response. I’m equally sure that they hear it all the time, given the number of hits my other Express Scripts posts get on this blog.

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Express Scripts is not to be used, In fact, if my new Obamacare approved insurance policy forces me to deal with Express Scripts, I’ll change insurance carriers.

That is how strongly I feel about Express Scripts.

These people are scum and their service is best thought of as a really, really, bad Indian call center for drugs.

You might get the right information or drug… But odds are better that you’re going to get the wrong shit.

These are the people that sent me a cholesterol drug, which as it turned out I was allergic to and, oh by the way, was recalled because it was contaminated with ground glass.

Would they swap it? NOPE! The bitch on the phone actually said I’d have to put up with hives until I ran out of my 90 day supply.

I didn’t know it at the time but hives can be very dangerous.

However since I’m also not a masochist I simply didn’t take the drug. Then when the recall got announced on TV I called Express Scripts AGAIN and asked why the hell they hadn’t contacted me about the contamination of the drug.

Their answer… oh that’s the patients responsibility.

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No, I will not deal with them, not now and unless I have no other choice, NOT EVER!

I’m contacting my Doc, to find out what it would take for me to get off the few medications I take.

Yes, I know I could simply stop taking them, but I’d like to do this safely and am willing to change my habits enough so that I could stay healthy and off meds hopefully for a decade or so.

Of course, this could mean Obamacare is working…

As I’ve said elsewhere, there wont be any death panels. There will simply be people that don’t get the right meds, or effective treatments.

It will be totally random and take years for the Government to investigate why so many people are dying of “Illneses for which they were taking the correct meds.

The answer will ultimately be; players like Express Scripts and their crappy record keeping, horrible shipping policies, and sloppy fulfillment of prescriptions caused the death of thousands.

Then there’ll be another decade of discussion and voting to improve laws governing big pharmaceutical distributors like Express Scripts during which thousands more will die.

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All the while players like Express Scripts will be driving real pharmacies and real pharmacists out of local neighborhoods and making a fortune doing it.

The inner city poor will be decimated first, when their neighborhood pharmacies close. Then it will spread to the suburbs.


Fight Companies like Express Scripts!

Refuse to cooperate, don’t comply. Raise hell if your HR department even mentions Express Scripts. Tell your insurer that you don’t want to have to deal with Express Scripts

If you’re already stuck with these bastards, check every single prescription. Question everything about them, make them earn their money, tie up phone lines and don’t use their website

Don’t take their word for anything about generics, or drugs they substitute without talking to you.

Make sure they have cleared every substitution with your physician. In my case Express Scripts lied repeatedly!

They’d never contacted my Doctor about any substitutions. I’m not talking just generics, I’m saying Express Scripts changed the drug they sent me entirely.

RESIST!

Save your neighborhood pharmacy. Save your life.

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Yeah, I’m passionate about it.

There’s something to be said for walking into your local pharmacy and actually talking to a real pharmacist who has records of what you’re taking and knows if you’re looking at a drug interaction.

Express Scripts couldn’t keep it straight, and I was using their automated reorder system.

That system was ALWAYS wrong! To make matters worse, the phone people aren’t pharmacists and they have no better access to information about what they’ve sent you than their web site, which as I’ve said was always wrong.

Medications are serious business. Get the wrong combination and you wake up in the hospital. If you wake up at all.

Yet no-one you speak to at Express Scripts has any accountability or training to answer questions other than accounting related stuff.

Worse yet, if you have a problem with a medication, when you call your doctor you’ll  have to read him or her the name of whatever it is you were taking because of the substitution some “Medical Board” made without actually examining or seeing you. Odds are they didn’t bother to send him or her any information about what you’re actually taking instead of what your doctor prescribed.

That of course presumes you can reach your doctor. What if you can’t? What if the drug interaction is severe? Do you wait it out, or do you go to an Emergency Room?

I like being able to talk to my local pharmacist. I like being able to ask questions and appreciate being warned of potential problems to watch out for. I like being forewarned and being told what to do If X, Y, or Z happen.

There are some things that big nameless, faceless, corporations simply shouldn’t be involved in.

Dispensing drugs is one of them.