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10/19/2005
Stephen Jackson & the NBA Dress Code
In case you hadn't heard, NBA Commish David Stern is implementing a dress code for NBA players that requires collared shirts and the hiding of all 'bling,' among other things.
Stephen Jackson of the Indiana Pacers isn't the only player to have spoken out against the proposal, but his statement struck me as interesting.
"I think it's a racist statement because a lot of the guys who are wearing chains are my age and are black," said Jackson, 27. "I wore all my jewelry today to let it be known that I'm upset with it.
"I'll wear a suit every day. I think we do need to look more professional because it is a business. A lot of guys have gotten sloppy with the way they dress. But it's one thing to [enforce a] dress code and it's another thing if you're attacking cultures, and that's what I think they're doing."
That's what he said.
If black males being told NOT to wear chains is racist, then what is it if young black males are FORCED to wear chains?
17:55 Posted in Sports | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
10/16/2005
Lexington and the '06 elections
Here in Lexington, KY, factions of the local government have been trying to use eminent domain statutes to condemn and purchase Kentucky American Water Company simply because the Company is part of an international conglomerate.
Ever since proponents of condemnation lost their influence in last year's city council elections, they have undertaken efforts to get the issue placed on the ballot as a referendum issue. The correct number of signatures was collected, and these proponents (in lock-step with the mayor) tried to force a city-wide vote on November 8, 2005.
Kentucky law says that referendum votes can only be held in years where general elections take place. The Kentucky election board clearly states that there is no general election for 2005.
Read that last paragraph again. Got it? If no genereal elections, then no referendums.
The referendum proponents tried to go to court to fight that rule. Well, not fight, exactly. They tried to get the Kentucky Supreme Court to overlook the applicable laws and make a ruling in their favor.
I wonder how much money the lawyers made off of these condemnation proponents fighting a 'fight' that had no chance of success. Who convinced these proponents that spending money on lawyers could get a state supreme court to make a ruling without reading the applicable laws?
So the referendum will wait until 2006 when there are general elections in Kentucky.
Our local newspaper, the leftist Herald-Leader has run stories claiming that the local mayoral and city council elections will be heavily influenced by the water fight.
I most strongly disagree.
If a referendum will dictate what the mayor and council must do in regards to condemnation, then who cares what opinion the candidates for office hold? The outcome of the referendum directly affects the behavior of the elected officials, not the other way around.
If voters are stupid enough to believe the newspaper, then why is this referendum going to be on the '06 ballot?
08:53 Posted in Politics, etc. | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this
10/10/2005
Remembering my Grandma
My aunt griped that this was both inept and insensitive, so I've deleted it.
I hope this makes her happy.
17:55 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this
10/08/2005
Life at Work
I learned on vacation this week that the corporate world is not for me.
I always knew my Dad had tales of woe that caused him such anguish that when I handed him a Dogbert book he read a few pages before retreating to his bedroom to cry -- his pain was too real to see this as comedy.
So my oldest friend was at the house for dinner when I was visiting my parents, and he works in a very similar location in the corporate/manufacturing world. They communicated about their woes like they had worked side by side for decades though they barely know each other. The additional details my friend provided after dinner only cemented my dread of their world.
Whatever I do in life, I'm not going to be trapped in a building where meetings and bureaucracy and induhviduals sap your ability to not only be productive but also to leave work without bringing the stresses of it home with you afterwards.
18:54 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
My Fantasy NBA League
It's getting time to start the annual ritual of drafting your fantasy NBA teams. Me, I've been playing for years, dating back to the days when Sandbox.com was totally FREE. Well, they started charging $$, and our league left for Yahoo! where we've been ever since, playing football, baseball and basketball.
A few years back, we decided to make our basketball league a keeper league, since we had so little turnover and so we could reap the long-term benefits of wise drafting and trading.
Suddenly, this year we lost three owners instead of the annual one or less. And we have only replaced one of them so far.....
Anybody interested?
18:44 Posted in Sports | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this