. . . Miss Tempest in a Teapot!

I see where Miss New Jersey is in the news because some cad is trying to blackmail her into giving up her crown. Okay, I'm going to have to call "bullsh**t" on this one. And I'm not talking about the greatest drunken card game ever.

If I have my facts straight -- some person has contacted her saying he(and I'm using "he" in a gender neutral sort of way) is going to use images of Miss NJ, Amy Polumbo, to embarrass her into dropping out of the Miss America contest. And supposedly, these are images that Amy posted herself on Facebook. Now my understanding of Facebook is that it is an online archive of images and info that groups, workplaces, schools, etc., use as sort of a virtual yearbook-y type of thing.

Sooo, this guy is going to blackmail this girl with images that she herself posted online?! Images her spokespeople (I love that!) say are non-nude and basically innocuous?! So what are they? Is she goose-stepping down the Strasse with the Neo-Nazi party carrying a swastika flag? Burning the Pope in effigy? Campaigning for Ralph Nader? Oh wait, the rotten guy supposedly has attached snarky captions to the pics. Yeah, that'll do it. If that was the case, Mad Magazine would be the number one resorce for content of blackmailers around the world.

And we're talking about the title of Miss New Jersey here, okay. This isn't the Nobel prize or the Publisher's Clearing House $10 million check she's being asked to forfeit. Prior to this, did anyone in Jersey even know the name of Miss New Jersey? Hell, I don't know the name of Miss Florida! And maybe that's the point.

What I think is we have here a very clever young woman. She's raised her name recognition to a very high level. And come contest time, she'll be a sentimental favorite -- "Oh, and there's Miss New Jersey, she hung in there so well through all that turmoil over the summer. What a trooper . . ." as the judges dab tears from their eyes, and so on. The whole affair has a distinct "Drop Dead Gorgeous" feel to it. Have to kind of tip my hat to her. Other than taking advantage of our "blood in the water" journalistic society, she hasn't actually harmed anyone except the gullible or naive. But maybe that's bad enough.

******************************

On a completely unrelated note -- is that girl on the Right Guard RGX commercials hot or what?! Aye Carrumba! Where did they find her?! And does she have an older sister who's single and likes quirky guys who write grammatically challenged blogs?
Hey, I can hope

I suppose the public outcry over the commutation of "Scooter" Libby's sentence was predictable. Most hard-core conservatives thought the pres didn't go far enough, suggesting an outright pardon for Libby. Most liberals are screaming that Bush is impeachable for using this facet of executive privilege that's been wielded like a broadsword for two hundred years.

The short term memory of those castigating Bush surprises me. Where was all this indignation when then president Clinton issued over 400 pardons on the way out the door? Complete pardons, mind you, not commutations of sentence to drug dealers, racketeers, embezzlers, commitors of fraud, etc.

Hypocrisy perhaps? Marc Rich, who fled the country and renounced his citizenship in an effort to avoid extradition on charges of fraud and racketeering was pardoned. Coincidentally, his wife donated $250,000 to the Clinton library. Karen McDougal was also pardoned for her crime of refusing to cooperate with a special investigator into a Clinton probe. Hey, that sounds familiar. Where was the news media's righteous indignation in these cases?

I mean let's face it, even the judge in Libby's case stated that he did not believe Libby knew that Valerie Plame was an undercover CIA agent. That's the judge saying this, mind you. Anyone who followed this case knows that it was Richard Armitage that leaked the name. But Armitage wasn't Cheney's Chief of Staff, and therefore not a high value target.

You know how valuable those Chiefs of Staff are. Look at the outrage when they caught Sandy Berger stuffing classified documents down his trousers so he could sneak them out of the National Achives to destroy them. Oh wait, there was no media outrage there, he was protecting a Democratic president. It's all good then

Here's my thing -- politics and the news media have become so polarized that we are nearly immobilized for it. The president can't accomplish anything because he's blocked at every road by democrats who refuse to allow him even the smallest political victory. Republicans fight the dems on every bit of legislation for the exact same reason. And we the people are caught in the middle.

There are good ideas on both sides of the political spectrum. The whole idea of the founding fathers was to encourage debate and foster cooperation in order that all would benefit. Perhaps on today, as we celebrate the birth of the greatest nation in the world, we should take a step back and think more about working together than struggling for petty and punitive political victories

Cueing the flat monotone Marlena Deitrich voice singing . . .

Seriously, what is wrong with me? God how I love big weather! Big, bad weather. We are currently in a cycle of much needed heavy rains in my part of Florida. And with them the inevitable thunderstorms. And I couldn't be happier. Especially when they occur at night. I go into work the next day after a ferocious thunderstorm hit in the middle of the night and my co-workers are all groaning and complaining about lack of sleep and so on. They look at me and I'm like, "I slept like a baby," with a big ear to ear grin. The louder and harder it storms, the deeper my sleep.

And I absolutely love hurricanes. The damage and death toll obviously is distressing. And I'm not some misanthrope or sociopath that cares not for the after effects of these acts of nature. But just the storm itself -- the wind and rain and squall lines, woof! I try and sit outside whenever possible, just so I can watch and feel and smell the entirety of the storm. The calm when the eye passes over, then watching the storm build from the other direction, wow. Pity I can't find some empty island where I could live and experience these things without worrying about anyone else getting hurt.

Where does this come from? I've no idea. I don't recall ever being afraid of big storms, even as a child. And it seems I've always felt this way. So some event in this life or another . . . who knows. But I've got a jones for storms and that's a fact.

*********************************

My girl Morgan Pressel is currently at -3 in the US Women's Open amid a sea of girls named Park. Seriously, check out the standings, it's kind of humorous. I think the announcers said there were 36 golfers from Korea, most of any nation, competing in the Open this year. That's kind of fun. There don't seem to be that many male golfers from Korea on the tour. But it's good to see the girls finding something to break out with. Anyway, go get 'em tiger

Honestly! Why do people continue to listen to this guy? I suppose it is based more on political ideology rather than critical analysis of his movies, because other than abject hatred of Bush, conservatives or Republicans, how can anyone take this guy's movies seriously?

Here's my thing -- Michael Moore is not a documentarian, he's a propagandist! That's kind of a big difference. I don't think you should get an Oscar for turning out propaganda. You want a documentary? Go see "March of the Penguins." Want propaganda? Then anything by Moore should do. Look I don't have a problem if the guy wants to crank out funny movies that slam the president or the political party of choice, but at least be up front about it. Pretending what you are doing is "documenting" a situation to make your point is disengenuous.

And his recent health care "expose" is outrageous in its claims. Everyone here who really thinks Cuba is the place to go for cutting edge medicine raise your hands. If Cuba is such a glowing beacon of socialism in the world, why do thousands of people cling to cardboard boxes and brave 90 miles of shark infested waters to get to the US each year? Point is, most hospitals in Cuba look like locations for "Saw 5" or "Hostel 3" that were rejected for being too creepy. And I'm sure that the hospital Moore chose to take those 9/11 survivors to welcomed him with open arms. You don't suppose he contacted them first to let them know he was coming and making a movie slamming the US and Bush do you? And I'm sure it was a complete coincidence that he chose for the movie the one hospital Castro keeps fully funded so he can maintain his Fu Manchu-like emperor for life thing going.

And when he gushes about Canada's health care superiority, I notice he doesn't mention all the Canadians waiting 6 months to a year for routine medical tests you can get in a week here. Or the folks in the Great White North waiting up to four years for various surgical treatments, that again, Americans can get right away. Nor the numerous Canadians driving over the border to get treated here or the organizations that actually send Canadians here to be treated because they can't wait to get treatment up there.

And I won't even get into the deceptive figures about uninsured Americans he uses that includes people making over $75,000 per year that "choose" not to be insured. Young people under 25 that "choose" not to be insured. The elderly, who are eligible for Medicare, that "choose" not to be insured. And so on. One certainly wouldn't want facts to intrude in a "documentary."

My favorite thing about those who blindly cleave to anything Moore does is their rationale, "I know it's not all accurate, but he brings up important questions." Really? I'm always reminded of an episode of "That 70s show" when I hear that. The episode introduced Eric's sister Laurie(sp?), played by the unappreciatedly hot Lisa Robin Kelly. She's in the basement doing her laundry when uber-horn dog Kelso meets her. He hits on her and she cuts him to ribbons. But when he tells his friends about it, his story is the exact opposite. To illustrate, the producers cut and paste, with deliberate sloppiness, Laurie's dialog to make it sound like she's hot for Kelso. The effect is hilarious. And I can just imagine these Moore apologists clapping their hand to their forehead going, "Wow! She's totally into Kelso! How could I have missed that the first time?! It's a good thing they showed that again!" I mean really!

You could use Moore's tactics to cut and paste a Papal blessing to make the Pope look like the Grand Wizard of the KKK. Would you sit there and go, "Wow! Who knew the Pope thought things like that?" Of course not. So why blindly agree with anything this hypocrite puts on celluloid?

Political speech is political speech. Satire is satire. I've got no problem with that. But propaganda masquerading as truth, that bothers me. And people that allow themselves to be swayed by such propaganda scare me.

I'm not even sure where I want to go with this, I just feel like I should say something. The way the facts are coming out, or at least what are being referred to as facts, they paint a very depressing picture in Benoit's life. It could be understood why he felt like there was an enormous weight on top of him. His son's condition, friction with his wife, and the general roller coaster life of a professional wrestler, could overwhelm even the most even tempered of people. Add in a combination of drugs, whether legitimately prescribed or not, and I suppose it was only a matter of time before something bad happened.

While many, including myself, initially dismissed steroid rage as a primary reason for this tragedy, it can be reasoned that long term use or perhaps abuse of steroids could have altered Benoit's mental state to one of deep depression. This, rather than the handy claim of 'roid rage, is a more likely contributor here as it would have heightened his dispair over the conditions in his life.

And I don't think enough thought is being put into just how difficult or tenuous the life of a professional wresler is today. Most people outside the business are not aware that these guys (and gals) work as many as 300+ days per year! And those are not days sitting at a desk, those are nights being pounded with metal chairs, punched, kicked and thrown around with abandon. Many people poo-poo wrestling as fake, and of course it is not legitimate competition, but there is nothing fake about jumping off a twenty foot ladder and falling on a table. Even if it is a breakaway table. It still hurts like hell! Don't believe me? Go out in your front yard and fall on your back and let me know how it feels. Then imagine you did that from on top of your roof! And these guys do this four or five nights a week! It is no wonder they get hooked on pain killers.

And they can't afford not to compete. Especially now that Vince owns everything. He is a ruthless boss and if you are not performing to his satisfaction or putting butts in the seats, you're out and there's a line of guys looking to take your place. And Vince won't hesitate to pull the trigger, just ask Brett Hart.

Plus you know, in a lot of cases, these guy's characters are inexorably intertwined with their own personalities. In some ways like an actor, and in other ways not, but seeing the slow demotion of his character in the business, he may not have been able to seperate that from a personal failure or humiliation.

So, possibly, here's Chris Benoit, who has worked his way up through the business to at one point, the WWE Champion, and is now reduced to a minor character again. He has a son, whom by all accounts he adores, that has a rare medical condition. His wife is bugging him about child care or the business or money or something. And all that on top of the depression that could be brought on by steroid abuse combined with painkillers and such.

Who knows what the ultimate stressor was. My guess, Nancy and Chris had an argument over something and he hit her. There is some evidence of prior domestic abuse. She threatens to leave and he stops her, which might explain the pool of blood and her being bound. In a state of panic, he chokes her to death and hides the body. I believe they said she was rolled up in a blanket. He spends a day agonizing over what he did, probably realizing he won't get away with it and decides to kill himself and not leave his son to live with what has happened.

Was it avoidable? Probably. I'm sure the combination of drugs altered his mental state, not for the better. But with the ridiculous number of deaths by suicide or overdose in the industry over the last twenty years or so, it may have been expected. And that does not make it any less sad. The industry is fairly tight knit and I doubt that any of Benoit's friends would have just stood around if they had seen this coming.

I was never a big fan of Chris Benoit, just didn't like his character. But I'm still saddened by what has happened. I've heard talk about government intervention in the industry, but that's not going to happen. Pro Wrestling is not a competitive sport, it's a soap opera and just like gov't doesn't poke its nose into TV shows beyond FCC regulations, they can't force their way into this. The WWE does regular independent drug testing, or so they say, so their liability is lessened. I don't know.

Like I said, I really didn't know where I wanted to go with this. I just had to say something.