NRA CAN’T HELP BUT SHOW ITS TRUE INTENTIONS

Posted on August 12, 2012 by theurbanllama

Common courtesy can go a long way in times of grief. Even the simplest gesture can speak volumes. The National Rifle Association decided to show its true callous nature by soliciting contributions from people in and around Aurora, Colo., to fund its anti-gun control agenda a mere three days after 12 people were shot to death in a local movie theater.

In the wake of this highly publicized firearms massacre, the NRA wanted to thwart any potential gun control initiatives, and solidify the organizations stand that regardless of how much gun violence occurs more guns on the streets are always better.

“The future of your Second Amendment rights will be at stake,” the NRA stated in a letter dated July 23. “And nothing less than the future of our country and our freedom will be at stake.”

This is the same paranoid rhetoric George W. Bush and Dick Cheney used successfully to scare Americans into believing Iraq was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction for an imminent attack on the U.S.

Nobody is trying to restrict Americans from owning guns. It’s a Second Amendment right.

People can debate whether this amendment’s intention could be more narrowly construed to apply only to the idea of keeping a citizen militia, but regardless, home defense by itself is reason enough to allow any American to own a firearm.

Hunting, pleasure shooting or target practice are also fine pursuits.

This letter from the NRA is about making sure executives, like Wayne LaPierre, who provided the signature on this fundraising letter, keep the money pipeline open and flowing in order for the NRA to keep its inflated level of political importance.

The NRA is in a precarious position. It has worked hard to create a false veil of fear that the great unknown is lurking everywhere, and it’s armed. This right-wing advocacy group portrays anyone looking at ways to lower gun violence through reasonable gun control initiatives as being only interested in taking away firearms from law-abiding citizens.

How can average Americans protect their families from the bogeyman without a fully automatic assault weapon in every truck?!?

This is the same position Bush and Cheney found themselves in after overextending their hand. People can only hear so many lies and then they see through the fear mongering.

The NRA knows they are vulnerable. If people grow sick of the violence and recognize some sensible gun control measures would lessen danger in the streets there wouldn’t be a need to send those donations in to keep the bogeyman away.

The NRA netted $228 million of income in 2010, of which 44 percent came from membership dues.

They need to keep people scared.

Sending this letter anywhere so soon after the shootings was ill-timed. Sending it to residents around Aurora was insensitive and narcissistic.

The NRA doesn’t care about people. Victims are collateral damage to its cause. The NRA only cares about its own selfish interests and keeping gun violence a marketable commodity.

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AMERICA’S DARK KNIGHT CONTINUES IN WISCONSIN…GUN CONTROL ANYONE?

Posted on August 10, 2012 by theurbanllama

Wade Michael Page, the shooter at the temple massacre in Oak Creek last Sunday, who was shot by police and then took his own life.

I began drafting this last weekend thinking the peg for my story was Aurora, Colo., when Oak Creek, Wis. fell victim to a mass shooting Sunday.

Wade Michael Page, through his misguided hate, opened fire on a congregation at a Sikh temple in the suburbs of Milwaukee.

The results: seven dead, including the shooter.

As a result I now know way too much about hate rock bands active in the white supremacist movement, such as Page’s band, End Apathy.

Meanwhile the tally in Aurora: 12 dead; 58 injured; four guns; and 6,000 rounds of ammunition. The lingering question is should something be done to prevent this sort of massacre from happening again?

We’ve gone through all the usual phases of grief surrounding this catastrophe. There have been funerals, candlelight vigils, emotional statements from family members of the victims and puffy rhetoric from politicians, but weeks later this still hasn’t settled well.

Gun control advocates seek tighter constraints over how and what kinds of firearms are sold, while the NRA takes their usual stance that more guns are safer and any regulations will immediately lead to the outlaw of all weapons.

Interestingly the majority of these shootings involve middle class Americans.

People in the poorer socioeconomic classes certainly have their stresses with trying to get by, but this often manifests itself through crime, such as robbery, burglary and drugs, with singular murders being the end result.

But the American Dream was never marketed to the poor. Those wallowing in poverty might catch the ads from time-to-time, but it requires clawing up to the middle class before “The Dream” is even offered for purchase.

With the big job comes a house on the hill, two kids, two cars, good schools, a boat, vacations, reliable health care, and a comfortable retirement.

This dream was marketed to the blue-collar elite and middle management. The pitch was that through hard work and sacrifice will come the spoils of “The Dream.” And it worked for a while, but slowly the wheels have fallen off.

Vast numbers of women entered the workforce in the 1970s and instead of housing prices remaining stable they doubled, then tripled. Two income households meant an upwardly mobile family could afford what it needed and bosses could withhold raises. Then inflation and the cost-of-living exceeded the two incomes and gradually that financial security began to erode.

Automation, job exports, and computer and Web-based innovations have streamlined corporations, turning America into an idea factory, but no longer a manufacturer.

Ideas may start here, and the finished product certainly will be sold locally, but the dirty work is now being done for a fraction of the cost abroad.

Then you factor in the ever-increasing presence of foreign nationals who are picking up the really tough, nasty jobs that most Americans don’t want. There is cheap construction labor, the meat packing industry, agriculture, dish washers, maids – these are all joint-busting jobs that have introduced immigrants to small town America and the big cities.

Together these elements had already impacted the foundation of the middle class, then came George W. Bush, tax cuts, 9/11, Afghanistan, Iraq, Katrina, several Wall Street scandals, the mortgage crisis, followed by the recession, all resulting in people beginning to lose faith.

Nobody wants to be poor, but those who have known no other life are survivors of that system. On the other hand, the middle class is expecting “The Dream.” They are in no way prepared for the abyss below.

Politicians, Madison Avenue, movies and television have sold the middle class on achieving “The Dream.” It’s supposed to be there, but after seeing the very people who were put in charge of ensuring “The Dream” is delivered repeatedly turn around to line their own pockets, people are faltering.

It doesn’t compute.

You take away a person’s future that person may react violently.

And when they do, these guys are not just taking themselves out. Whole families are being exterminated in waves of murder/suicides, or numerous victims in workplace and school shootings.

We don’t know yet why James Eagen Holmes entered the Century movie theater and opened fire.

What I find disturbing about this story is that nobody is shocked by what happened.

Sure it’s sad. Everyone feels for the victims and their families, but no one is particularly surprised that this extremely intelligent kid dyed his hair red, put on tactical riot gear and proclaimed himself to be “The Joker” upon shooting up a movie theater.

There are so many of these mass shootings now.

Many are household names: Rep. Gabby Giffords, six killed; Virginia Tech, 32 killed; Columbine, 13 killed…

Here in Kentucky, home of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Tea Party heartthrob Sen. Rand Paul, there is no shortage of right-wing Republican activism. It also is where two violent rampages have taken place.

In 1989, Joseph Wesbecker, an employee of Standard Gravure in Louisville killed eight co-workers and himself with an assault rifle; and in 1998, student Michael Carneal killed three at Heath High School in Paducah.

Time magazine reported in its August 6th issue that the United States has averaged nearly 20 mass shootings per year between 1976-2010.

With this level of gun violence why can’t there be a realistic discussion about gun control?

Mostly it is because of scare tactics pushed by the NRA. This organization used to be a non-partisan hobby group aimed at bringing hunting and gun-enthusiasts together. It’s morphed into a right-wing political advocacy apparatus that pushes its conservative agenda through Republican members of Congress and spineless Democrats.

The NRA funnels a ton of cash to political candidates who are graded as “friendly” to pro-gun rights. This has successfully paralyzed Congress and state legislatures from taking any action on gun control, as no members want to risk receiving an “F” on an NRA report card.

It’s not like I believe the Second Amendment should be rescinded or that guns shouldn’t be available for purchase. I was a police officer previously and I appreciate firearms. I like to shoot guns and I get owning one for home defense.

America was founded on violence and it’s always going to be part of our DNA. We have a legitimate constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

Hunting and target shooting make perfect sense. Home defense is a bit of a catch-all.

Statistics support that if someone breaks into a home at 3:00 a.m. and the owner grabs a .40 caliber handgun from a bedside table in the dark with sleep still in his or her eyes, about that last thing this person will hit is the intruder. A shell of that caliber is going right through the walls of a house, putting spouse and children at risk of injury.

Whereas the scatter-shot from a shotgun is considerably more likely to hit its intended target. Let’s be honest, you rack that slide in the dark and it’s universally recognizable as “back the hell up.”

Regardless, home defense is a viable excuse for gun ownership.

I more question the responsibility level of some individuals, the types of weapons available to the public, and how they are purchased.

There are roughly 270 million privately owned firearms in America – that’s 88.8 guns per every 100 people in the U.S, enough to arm nearly ever man, woman and child.

As medicated as our country is with alcohol, prescription drugs and illegal drugs, should we really have this many guns around?

Admittedly violent crime is down 20 percent since gun laws have gotten looser over the last decade, yet gun homicide rates haven’t improved, and serious but non-fatal gun injuries caused during assaults are up 20 percent over the same time period.

A study in the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery found that the gun murder rate in the U.S. is 19.5 percent, which is almost 20 times higher than the next 22 riches nations combined.

Among the world’s 23 wealthiest countries, 80 percent of all gun deaths are American deaths, and 87 percent of all children killed by guns are American children.

Three relatively simple changes would help decrease the ease with which irresponsible or unstable individuals are capable of obtaining firearms.

One, re-instate the assault weapons ban passed under President Clinton that expired in 2004. There is no reason anyone outside of law enforcement or the military should own or be able to purchase an assault rifle like the AR-15 used in Aurora.

Perhaps a compromise would be to license certain gun ranges to rent assault weapons for stationary and reactive target shooting. This would allow gun enthusiasts to continue their hobby.

We also don’t need to make riot gear available to the general public. Bulletproof vests and such by design are intended for use by the police and military only. If we as a society are that scared or feel our country is that un-safe we have a much bigger problem on our hands than not being able to purchase combat gear.

Secondly, close the gun show loophole. This allows people buying guns in all but seven states to evade background checks.

It was through gun shows that all four weapons used in the Columbine massacre were obtained; that perpetrators of the Oklahoma City bombing were able to sell stolen guns; and that the Branch Davidian cult in Waco, TX was able to stockpile 200 automatic and semi-automatic assault rifles.

Thirdly, require people first take a safety class and pass a test on that class in order to purchase a firearm.

A car is a deadly machine in the hands of anyone not capable of handling one. It’s universally accepted in America that people sit for a driver’s test in order to obtain a license.

A gun is lethally dangerous, and any responsible gun owner shouldn’t have a problem taking a gun safety class when they first purchase a firearm, or putting their children through the same course once they begin shooting.

This serves two purposes. One it makes sure everyone has a modicum of sense about how to operate and store firearms. Secondly, it ensures that people looking to purchase guns sit before trained professionals who teach these safety courses, which would allow a better chance for red flags to be raised about anyone with possible personality disorders.

It’s proactive and puts America on the offense instead of waiting around for the next attack.

It seems hypocritical to me that America so unabashedly placed our soldiers into harm’s way to pursue terrorists and limit weapons reaching their hands, yet when similar attempts are made domestically to safeguard our citizens from gun violence no one wants to take responsibility.

The same politicians who so eagerly sent our military into conflict cringe at the thought of taking on the NRA.

Americans end up being their own worst enemy. We feast upon each other, committing random acts of domestic terrorism through gun violence.

I’ll leave it to you to decide whether the NRA is a terrorist organization. It’s certainly arguable.

In 2010, over 30,000 people died from firearms in the United States.

It’s not possible to stop all these violent acts. Those who are predisposed to kill will find a way, but the level of damage can be mitigated.

Everyone can still have their guns, just take a class and pass a test. If anyone can’t figure out how to pass that bad boy we probably need to talk about whether that person should be driving much less owning a firearm.

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WEEK 1 TRAINING

Posted on August 8, 2012 by theurbanllama

Since I posted the premise for my LlamaRun 2012 training program yesterday, I wanted to follow that up with the initial results from my first week of training. From here on out I will post these Sunday night or Monday morning.

This experiment kicked off three weeks ago. The first two weeks didn’t involve any exercise, they were more aimed at ridding my fridge of tempting treats. I counted some calories, got re-acquainted with eating fruit, drinking more water, and decreasing my meal portion sizes.

That got me to last week when I actually went outside and started pounding the pavement.

I use a system called “The Cubes.” It resembles a schedule grid for a music festival, with weeks running down the left side and days of the week running across the top. I track workouts, days/off, distances, times, stretching, water intake, calories, cardio-strength workouts, sleep hours, etc.

I need a system to keep a workout routine going. If I start throwing workouts in haphazardly, and taking days off from training whenever, it makes it too easy to one day say I don’t feel like exercising – and with no system in place one day off can easily stretch to weeks or months off.

A schedule allows me to mentally prepare for my next workout, apply guilt to my subconscious if I’m trying to weasel out of a workout, and use an upcoming day/off as a motivator to finish hard the day before.

A good percentage of accomplishing a successful weight loss program or getting back into shape comes from winning the “Head Games” played between your mind, body and soul. It’s easy to sit on the couch and eat wings with fries and a Coke. Throw on the Olympics and it’s virtually like working out.

I want to push through that hankering for the dopamine chemicals that junk food delivers to my brain’s pleasure centers. It’s about flipping the television back off, changing clothes, and going outside to do my run.

I even cut deals with myself. If it’s a particularly hard day and my body does not want to step out the door I’ll say, “look let’s go out and do the run, then I’ll take you to Buffalo Wild Wings for a reward.” And I’m good with that. It can’t happen all the time, but if I hit my marks it’s cool to take a sidestep and eat some things less than healthy.

I was inspired to see U.S. Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte consume two Quarter Pounders with cheese, a Big Mac, McNuggets, two medium fries and a McFlurry as a celebratory dinner upon finishing all his events. That rang up around 5,000 calories.

There will be missteps along the way for me, maybe even an injury or two, but through consistency and determination I hope to limit the damage, and move this program along one day at a time for 155 days.

The first couple weeks may be a bit hit and miss as I work the kinks out of my training program and figure out how I want to report this information on Urban Llama, but it will be streamlined shortly.

My basic intention is to run four days a week and bike one, with Mondays and Thursdays being my rest days.

WEEK 1 (July 30-Aug. 5)

Tuesday/Wednesday: 3-mile runs

Friday: 3.5-miles

Saturday: Sit-ups/push-ups; 3 rounds shadow boxing; 3 rounds heavy bag; ran 3.5-miles

Sunday: Biked 12-miles

Total Running Miles: 13

Weight: 206.6 (-3.8 lbs.)

Notes: The runs were decent enough. I’ve been putting a new mix CD together, so that was a nice distraction listening to selected tracks through my iPod along the way. By Sunday my legs were out of it. I meant to bike Saturday, in order to split those last two run days up, but time got away from me, so I did it Sunday. I have a  mountain bike with street slicks to do my cross-training on, so it drags a little on longer rides. The course Sunday has a mile-long hill about halfway through that was killer. It served its purpose.

On the food I did OK. Snuck in a couple Hostess fruit pies that were hanging around. That needs to stop. Those bad boys are 480 calories a pop.

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Seven People Killed at Sikh Temple in Wisconsin

Posted on August 5, 2012 by theurbanllama

A family member waits and prays to hear news about a family member inside the Sikh temple where a shooting occurred.

At least seven people, including a lone gunman who was shot by police, have been killed in an apparent hate crime attack on worshippers at a Sikh temple in the Milwaukee suburb of Oak Creek, Wis.

Police found four dead inside the temple, with three more, including the shooter, found outside.

The first officer on scene Sunday morning confronted the active shooter and exchanged gunfire with him, according to reports from Greenfield Police Chief Bradley Wentlandt.

The officer was hit multiple times, but managed to put the shooter down.

The gunman is presumed dead. His only description was a white male in his 30s.

The officer is reported to be a 20-year veteran and an extremely accomplished tactical officer. He was transported to Froedtert Hospital for surgery and is expected to survive.

Several other church members have been transported in critical condition for gunshot wounds.

There were reports of a second gunman and that hostages had been taken, but sweeps of the temple by police SWAT teams have found no other suspects.

As reported in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, people were in the temple as early as 6:30 a.m. Sunday, and many more were arriving for a service scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m.

The shooting is believed to have begun around 10:00 a.m.

The Oak Creek temple or gurdwara has a congregation of 250 to 400, according to its Web site.

More than 20 million people worldwide follow the Sikh religion, established about 500 years ago in the Punjab region of India. Devout male followers must wear long beards and their hair in a turban, and in America are sometimes mistaken for Muslims; the two religions are not affiliated. Sikhism is an offshoot of Hinduism, but unlike Hindus, who believe in multiple deities, Sikhs are monotheistic.

This shooting comes 16 days after the Dark Knight massacre in Aurora, Colo., where 12 people were killed and 58 others were wounded when a lone gunman opened fire on a crowded movie theater.

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On The Way To A Pool Party…

Posted on July 30, 2012 by theurbanllama

The shattered remains of an Acura on I-64.

Maia’s boys, Gabriel and Jacy, returned from Portugal this week after spending the summer in Europe with their father, where they had a great time revisiting the culture they grew up around, seeing family, and going on an archeological dig.

What better way to welcome them back to America than to throw them a pool party and barbecue.

Yesterday should have been an extremely peaceful and low-key afternoon. That is the mindset Maia and I were in when we left the house around 1:00 p.m. for the 40-minute drive west to Simpsonville where her parents live.

It was a perfect late-July Sunday. The skies were clear, temps were in the mid-80s, and all of us had slept in late after staying up to watch the Olympics.

I grabbed a cup of coffee to go and pumped up Bob Marley’s Rebel Music in the car to spread around some positive summer vibrations.

Then about 15 miles out-of-town, between the Graefenburg and Waddy/Peytona exits we came upon a single vehicle crash that just occurred.

We were going 75 mph and suddenly everyone hits their brakes as a black Acura had gone off the road, over-corrected and flipped.

The blood-strewn interior.

We parked on the shoulder and ran back to the woman’s car where there was a couple other people trying to check on her. A considerable amount of blood was visible inside the vehicle and on the air bags. She was unconscious.

Already two nurses had stopped, followed by a third who brought along his first aid bag. We removed the woman from her car since it appeared to be unstable and she was awkwardly strewn across the seats.

The driver had what appeared to be minor head lacerations, facial bruising and a missing tooth or two, but nothing overtly life threatening.

Maia found the woman’s purse by the side of the road and began picking up trinkets from this person’s life that were scattered across the hillside to the right of the accident.

It was like the inside of her car had been a blender, and all this debris, including the woman, were blended together on high and then the top popped off, pouring the contents across the interstate.

The driver being attended to by off-duty nurses.

Maia found her driver’s license, wallet, and cell phone on the hillside. Her back windshield was up in the trees.

I never could locate her rear passenger-side wheel. It snapped off the axle.

It’s amazing this chick wasn’t in worse shape. A seat belt and air bags saved her life.

Now concerning the scumbag who was acting like she was helping out and then stole this helpless girl’s money off the floorboard – may there be a special rotisserie in Hell where you will slow roast for eternity.

Several of us had noticed the money, but it was in the car. We were more concerned about finding what had been thrown from the vehicle.

Maia had told this redneck-looking chick who grabbed the cash to just leave it or come put it in the victim’s purse, but the woman said she’d hold onto it and then started backing away from the car, acting like she was talking on her cell phone. Then the woman turned and ran away from the scene towards her own vehicle.

There was too much going on to really run after her, besides we had a baby and the two boys in our car to worry about. Last thing I needed was some meth-head pulling a gun.

It was just a sad display of humanity.

Within 10 minutes of calling 911 the state police were on-scene, followed a few minutes later by fire and rescue.

People don’t appreciate first responders nearly enough. Since 9/11 they have received better recognition, but they still are taken for granted. The men and women who do these jobs put up with a ton of crap, but when your life is being threatened or someone you love is hurt – it can’t be put into words what it feels like to see the police or fire and rescue arrive.

We were doing what we could for this woman but she needed paramedics.

Maia (in black dress to left) speaking with the state troopers after they arrived on-scene.

This accident could have been much worse, but the driver is never going to be the same. You don’t forget flipping a car.

She was probably in her early 20s. Looking at how the accident occurred and the driver’s brief statements, chances are she was texting while driving, and on I-64 that means she was traveling at a minimum of 70 mph.

It’s creepy how fast life can change on you.

My guess would be this woman was a waitress, bartender or stripper. She probably had cashed in her tips from a profitable Saturday evening and was texting someone about meeting up when BOOM! Her car goes ass over end.

Does she possess car or health insurance? Will she still have a job when she gets out of the hospital?

Life will bite you if you’re not careful.

Needless to say this put an unexpected spin on the pool party. It was still a good time. In fact I appreciated it more; the innocence of diving for sunken trinkets and splashing around with kids.

After swimming in the ocean all summer, Jacy, who is 7, came home able to jump in the deep end without any floaties. That was a big advancement for him.

Simple pleasures. They are nothing to be overlooked.

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DIXIE CHILI

Posted on July 28, 2012 by theurbanllama

Inside Dixie Chili’s Erlanger location.

Chili is nothing new to the folks living in Kentucky. It’s not exactly a customary dish, but with Cincinnati less than two hours north there is plenty of love to go around for this spicy meat concoction.

Two of Cincinnati’s most beloved chains have outposts here. Louisville is Skyline country and Lexington has Gold Star.

Few moments are better than to be out for a long night on the town and hitting a Skyline late for three or four chili-cheese coney dogs. Top them with Skyline’s own vinegary hot sauce and that will fix all that ails you till morning.

What I didn’t know is Kentucky has its own chain of Cincinnati-styled chili parlors.

This week I discovered Dixie Chili in Erlanger, Ky.

Nicholas Sarakatsannis founded the original location in Newport in 1929, after having worked at Empress Chili, the originator of the Cincinnati-style, which is hallmarked by the use of seasonings such as cinnamon, cloves, allspice and chocolate.

Sarakatsannis developed his own unique recipe and opened shop the same year as the Great Depression. It also happened to be 20-years before Skyline, and 36-years before the existence of Gold Star.

As a quirky aside, I find it amusing that chili is considered this uber-American dish, yet Dixie and Skyline are both owned by Greek families, and four brothers from Jordan began Gold Star. Whatever possessed this Mediterranean influence it’s much appreciated.

Dixie’s chili-cheese fries.

Dixie Chili has a retro-1950s soda shop/delicatessen look. It’s bright, clean, airy and orderly, with plenty of space between booths, and a bit funkier brand of music playing than its competition.

Dixie is set up like a cafeteria, whereby upon entering there is a big menu on the wall, then a refrigerated display case shows the Greek salads available and customers order what they want along the way.

Instead of waitstaff coming by to deliver the orders, they are picked up by patrons at the counter.

Dixie’s chili is a tad mellower in spice than others but more substantial in density. It’s less just a sauce and has more presence on the pasta or dogs, with a deep, rich flavor. There are a couple hot sauces available up front, including one of my favorites, Frank’s RedHot, in order to kick it up a notch.

The chili-cheese fries looked so good I had to get an order. They are substantial enough to share but not overwhelming. Waffle fries are used, which stand up well to the chili and are an excellent conveyance mechanism to move mad amounts of chili and cheese from plate to mouth.

Under all that cheese is a hot dog.

Kudos to Dixie’s chili-cheese coney as well. The bun is steamed just right, the hot dog is far from an afterthought and mine was swamped with cheese.

Dixie was a good find. I’ve been trying to expand my chili reference point. Empress was already on my list and I dearly want to check out the independent chili restaurants in Cincinnati like Price Hill, Blue Ash and Camp Washington.

[Check the Restaurants/Shopping page under Cincinnati for Web links]

So next time you are around Cincinnati or northern Kentucky don’t pass Dixie by because it’s unfamiliar, give it a try and dine locally.

LOCATIONS:

733 Monmouth Street, Newport, Ky. 859-291-5337; open till 1 a.m., Fri/Sat till 3 a.m.

3716 Dixie Highway, Erlanger, Ky. 859-727-2828; open till 11 p.m., Fri/Sat till midnight

2421 Madison Avenue, Covington, Ky. 859-431-7444; open till 10 p.m., Fri/Sat till 11 p.m.

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PENN STATE DOESN’T DESERVE TO HEAL YET

Posted on July 23, 2012 by theurbanllama

The scene outside Beaver Stadium where Joe Paterno’s iconic statue formerly stood, prior to its removal Sunday upon orders from Penn State President Rodney Erickson.

The continued string of disturbing information coming out of State College surrounding the Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal shows that Penn State’s administration, student body, alumni and supporters have refused to take full ownership of their responsibility for this disaster, and in no way should the school’s football team play this season.

New assault victims continue to come forward.

Questions about what the administration knew remain damning, and while these officials deserve a legal defense, they also need to accept responsibility for their wrongdoing and face the consequences.

They are teachers and administrators.  They have preached this same message of “individual responsibility” for their entire careers to young people. Now they must throw themselves upon the sword of justice. Otherwise what message do we as a society send to our young people?

In the days leading up to the Sandusky investigation going public, Joe Paterno re-negotiated his contract to arrange for a golden parachute. The perks included a $3 million bonus to retire at the end of the 2011 season, interest free loans from the university in the amount of $350,000 were forgiven, and he specifically secured luxury box seats at Beaver Stadium and the use of Penn State’s private plane for his family – for 25-years.

Let’s just get this out in the open. Joe Paterno was a self-centered, egotistical, narcissistic, parasite.

He is a criminal and he needs to burn.

That the board of trustees approved this 11th-hour contract re-negotiation further demonstrates their need for removal. Only the ex-chairman has thus far shown the common decency to resign.

Without question Graham Spanier, Gary Shultz and Tim Curley need to burn. It has yet to be determined if Thomas Harmon, the chief of Penn State’s university police, the governor, or the state police commissioner deserve a good roasting as well.

And what’s this crap that the tent-city where students gather to secure home football tickets has changed its name from “Paternoville” to “Nittanyville?”

That is the best you got? You want to walk in and face these child victims and tell them you changed the name of your stupid tent-city to “Nittanyville?”

There are consequences for the empowerment students and fans of Penn State football gave to Jerry Sandusky and Joe Paterno.

A member of this football team raped little boys in the school’s showers and the head coach allowed it.

Penn State doesn’t deserve to heal yet. They haven’t suffered nearly enough.

This whole cover-up was done in the interest of protecting the reputation of a football team.

How’s that working out for you Penn State?

“Joe-Pa did not care less that Jerry Sandusky was a pedophile or alleged pedophile,” said Buzz Bissinger, Daily Beast columnist and author of Friday Night Lights. “Joe-Pa all his life and the Penn State brass cared about one thing, that GOD DAMN FOOTBALL TEAM!”

Former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno.

Paterno’s best years passed him by long ago. He was somewhat of a laughing-stock outside State College.

Here was this crotchety old man wandering the sidelines. He doesn’t call plays. He doesn’t know his players names. He gets injured in practices because he can’t get out of the way of the players being tackled.

After the scandal broke there was this sweet but disturbing depiction of him not knowing anywhere else to go on Saturdays accept to the stadium, so Penn State let him come wander the sidelines like some dementia patient on weekend furlough.

The administration tried to retire Paterno several times, but his bullheadedness and the Nittany Lion sycophants gave Joe-Pa the authority to remain in power and ostensibly allowed Sandusky to continue raping children.

If women had held any of these positions of power, Sandusky would have been in jail long ago and Paterno would have been up in the stands watching Penn State games.

It doesn’t matter what kind of difficulties it presents with other teams’ schedules, forcibly remove Penn State from the field of play, or at the very least sanction its program to the depths of hell.

If we as a society are serious about not letting this kind of predatory behavior stand, then we will put children before big-time sports.

This is an opportunity for Penn State to show they value substance and education over sports.

This is a chance to lead. Don’t pass the buck.

The mug shot of Jerry Sandusky, taken after being found guilty.

Sandusky will get his just punishment. Now the men responsible for the cover-up of his crimes must be held accountable, along with the university and the fans who supported this “win at all costs” mentality.

Sports and our society’s value system are culpable here as well. We’re enablers for this kind to thing to go on.

How many times have fans, administrators, club owners, law enforcement and politicians looked the other way to allow wrong-doing by athletes and coaches?

Shut down Penn State and clean house.

Send a message to every college fan-base out there that creating a safe environment on campus comes before winning.

It’s going to hurt, but leading takes sacrifice.

“Our most saddening and sobering finding is the total disregard for the safety and welfare of Sandusky’s child victims by the most senior leaders at Penn State,” the Freeh Group reported. “The most powerful men at Penn State failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who Sandusky victimized.”

The thing Penn State needs to be mindful of here is the university’s long-term reputation is on the line right here, right now.

Doing things the “Penn State Way” has destroyed this school’s reputation.

The people in State College live in an insular culture, which is part of why this tragedy was able to occur. All this outside attention scares them.

The prying. The embarrassment. The judgment.

But if the university tries to move too quickly in order to get things back to normal and fails to change the culture that allowed this scandal, then the stain on Penn State’s reputation will remain.

I’ve gone out and asked several people what is the first thing that comes to mind when I say Penn State — and the answer is they envision little boys in the shower, hands against the wall, and the rhythmic slap, slap, slap, of flesh on flesh.

“WE ARE PENN STATE!”

If this university wants to again be recognized as an upstanding academic institution it best forget about athletics for a minute and clean house.

This goes way beyond taking down Joe-Pa’s statue out in front of Beaver Stadium.

Go after all those who were enablers. Find the wealthy boosters who exerted the power to suppress this investigation within the university community and through the attorney general’s office.

Sports hold an artificially high plateau in American society, and they need to be brought down a notch.

This is about personal accountability, poor choices and consequences.

The men at Penn State owe, and we as a society need to show some respect, and the dignity to turn off ESPN more often so we can get back to focusing on our children and our communities.

# # #

[Part 2 of 2 part series; see 07-15-12, Shut Down Penn State Football]

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Mass Shooting at Movie Theater in Colorado – 12 Dead

Posted on July 20, 2012 by theurbanllama

The face of death, Aurora, Colo. shooting suspect James Holmes.

Colorado was once again the scene of a shooting tragedy today.

A lone gunman entered the Century 16 movie theater and opened fire in Aurora, Colo., during a sold-out midnight screening of the new Batman film The Dark Knight Rises.

At least 12 people were killed and 59 others have been injured.

My condolences go out to the victims, their families and to all of Colorado. No one deserves to lose their life going to see a stupid movie.

I offer condolences to all of us as well, because once again something innocent has been lost. Now I need to watch my ass at the movie theater.

This was one of the few places left where we as a society are allowed to get away from life for a couple hours.

No cell phones, laptops or iPads; just unplug and decompress in climate controlled comfort.

Until somebody decided to roll in fully armed and light up the room.

What’s that all about?

The suspect is James Holmes, 24, of Aurora. The University of Colorado confirmed Holmes is a doctoral candidate in its neuroscience program.

Reports are the suspect burst into the theater through the emergency exit doors to the right of the movie screen.

He was wearing all-black military or police-style tactical gear, including a helmet, bullet-proof vest, throat protector, groin protector and gas mask.

You have to remember this is the first showing of the third installment of the current Batman franchise. This is a movie that has a devoted following from comic book readers, super-hero enthusiasts, gamers, devotees of science fiction and the goth crowd.

There have been news stories about critics receiving death threats for giving The Dark Knight Rises mediocre or poor reviews. Pretty crazy stuff!

With a frenetic crowd like that at a midnight screening on a Thursday, it is to be expected lots of people would show up in costume.

This helped the suspect in two ways.

One it allowed for concealment of weapons, and second, many people thought he was part of the show upon first entering the theater.

This gave Holmes a few valuable seconds to perhaps adjust his eyes to the darkness and steady himself.

Then the guy tossed a couple smoke bombs or tear gas canisters, and opened fire on a packed theater with an assault rifle, shotgun and two semi-automatic pistols.

In one of the more cringe-worthy messages I’ve seen thus far, an unwitting and obviously callous staffer at the National Rifle Association posted a message on Twitter saying, “Good morning, shooters. Happy Friday! Weekend plans?”

The NRA certainly is a compassionate organization and continues to show it really cares about keeping America safe.

What is going on out in America?

As a previous law enforcement officer these kinds of stories always get my attention.

What if this was just one in a series of coordinated attacks?

If five, or 10, or 20 theaters were hit at once in different states what would we do? How would we react?

There is virtually no security at theaters, and like with most of the super-hero or sci-fi movies, everyone comes in costume, especially to the openings, making it easy to conceal a shooter’s face and weapons.

Even more devastating would be if 10 or 20 Wal-Mart stores were hit across the country. Those are underneath soft-targets that would strike at the fabric of America.

Everyone shops there, it’s full of kids, and no one would be prepared.

Another thing this Colorado shooting brings up is why?

Interestingly, the shooter didn’t kill himself. Usually they do in this type of situation.

It will be interesting to see what authorities and medical professionals learn from Holmes about why he felt compelled to shoot innocent people at a movie theater on a Thursday night.

Aurora is a suburb of the Denver, which has a metro area population of over 2.5 million people.

Aurora also happens to be located about 13 miles from Littleton, site of the April 1999 Columbine High School massacre.

There is pressure on everyone in America these days. The cumulative impact that events like the Oklahoma City bombing, 9/11, the government failure surrounding Hurricane Katrina, Iraq, Afghanistan, the housing collapse, lack of jobs and the ongoing economic downturn are having are unknown.

These huge catastrophes keep happening, and we have no choice but to get on with life.

Keep earning. Keep providing. If we stop for a minute the wheels fall off.

But that doesn’t mean people have truly dealt with these catastrophes.

It would be one thing if they were isolated events with some time in between, but they back up on each other, overlapping, one on top of another. Building up.

Not that long ago it was unimaginable that Americans might be capable of carrying out suicide attacks against targets domestically. The thought was Americans weren’t wired for that kind of fundamentalism, such as the types of attacks seen routinely in the Middle East.

But after several decades of repeated suicide attacks involving postal workers, school shootings, other workplace rampages, and the abhorrent plague of domestic-related murder/suicides – it no longer would even seem that shocking if a coordinated suicide bombing occurred in the United States.

In fact it is more “when” not “if” such an attack will take place.

There is a national atmosphere of bullying in America these days. Everyone is trying to blame someone for the troubles facing our society. Much of it is the right-wing against left-leaning Democrats.

Issues like tax cuts, immigration, global warming, terrorism, anti-government sentiment, health care, pro-guns, pro-life, all these warrant healthy debate, but Republicans, like Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), John Boehner (R-OH), Eric Cantor (R-VA), Paul Ryan (R-WI), former-Alaska governor Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and Fox News are all about disinformation and hate.

There is no constructive, sensible discussion with these folks, only venom.

They need an unstable America in order to gain political power.

That hate is bleeding out into our society, permeating our culture.

Unless this divisive rhetoric is stopped it will rise up to bite us.

Hate breeds violence.

We’ve always been a reactionary people.

It’s about time we stopped looking for short-term gains and sought out preventative, long-term solutions, before something comes along that can’t be bought, borrowed or stolen.

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SHUT DOWN PENN STATE FOOTBALL

Posted on July 15, 2012 by theurbanllama

Former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky being led away to jail after being found guilty.

“WE ARE PENN STATE!”

That sure has lost some of its luster.

I feel for the good people of State College. I have family from that region of Pennsylvania and know the pride everyone there has in Penn State as an academic institution and as a football champion.

It must hurt each time a picture of Jerry Sandusky goes up on the news. There alongside this child predator is the Penn State Nittany Lion emblem.

Let’s play a little game of word association. If I say Penn State — you say: child rapist; perjury; child endangerment; and prison.

WE ARE PENN STATE!

I’d retire that chant for a while.

In fact I’d retire the Penn State football program until it can get itself cleaned up and all the administrators can go through the shame of being prosecuted and sued.

The members of the university’s board of trustees need to resign, along with anyone directly associated with the Joe Paterno reign of football at Penn State.

Only then can the healing begin.

The latest chapter in this saga came Thursday, as former FBI director Louis Freeh released the results from his eight-month internal investigation into the Sandusky sexual molestation scandal.

Gary Shultz, former senior vice president for finance and business at Penn State.

Considering the outcome of the trial and the leaked e-mails between then university president Graham Spanier, vice president Gary Schultz, and athletic director Tim Curley regarding the handling of the Sandusky situation, we all knew this was going to be ugly, but GOD DAMN!

I expect this kind of conduct from criminals, not from university administrators placed in charge of nurturing young people.

I worked as a university police officer, and saw the deceptive practices employed by administrators to massage incident statistics, in order to prevent them from being accurately detailed in promotional materials that would be shown to the parents of prospective students.

All kids are special, but administrators see them as commodities as well. Students seeking a four-year degree at the private institution where I was employed were worth an estimated $169,700 each in tuition alone.

This under-reporting of crimes on our college campuses is a horrible problem throughout the entire higher education system in America. It’s a dirty little secret, and one of the chief reasons it persists is because of a magazine.

The U.S. News and World Report issue that ranks all the colleges and universities across the United States has created a mania among administrators because of the stress they are under to achieve a high-ranking.

Now this isn’t the magazine’s fault, but when you put a number next to a school it changes everything, because it quantifies not just that institution, but in many cases an entire state.

For decades now there has been a massive building boom on college campuses. It’s near impossible to visit any school that doesn’t look like an open construction site.

Climbing up in those rankings takes money. Big money. And big-time college sports are one way to trigger a tsunami of cash.

Former Penn State University President Graham Spanier, left, speaking with Joe Paterno.

As Thomas L. Day mentioned in his editorial on Joe Paterno University, “Spanier signed off one construction project after another, remaking Penn State’s University Park campus block by block, to the point that few of the Class of 2003 (my class) could recognize the school they attended a decade ago. In part because of the construction bonanza, tuition more than doubled during Spanier’s tenure. Penn State is now the most expensive state school in the country.”

Penn State is not alone.

It is happening all over.

This drive for money influences normally sane individuals into making curious decisions to protect the reputations of their learning institutions.

These schools are sacred cows — cash cows, and with the high costs associated with maintaining them administrators worry they will not be able to keep enrollments up or ask wealthy alumni for donations if there are headlines of rape and sex abuse occurring on their campuses.

While Jerry Sandusky is a predatory monster, he finally has been caught and will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Anybody want to put an over/under on how long that guy is going to be alive?

Meanwhile justice still waits for the men at Penn State who covered-up his crimes. Their lack of compassion and consideration for Sandusky’s child-victims was callous, reprehensible and criminal.

They knew in 1995. They knew in 1998. They knew in 2001.

“In short, nothing was done and Sandusky was allowed to continue with impunity,” the Freeh Group concluded.

What is wrong with these people?!?

This far exceeds just being a sports scandal. It’s now arguably the greatest college scandal in American history.

There are published reports that Penn State could be facing upwards of $100 million in civil damages and the school might lose its public funding.

Tim Curley, former Penn State athletic director.

The vice president and the athletic director are already under indictment.

Any minute now charges will be filed against Spanier, the former-president.

There also is speculation that current Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett, who was the attorney general in 2009 when the Sandusky investigation began, and the State Police Commissioner’s office are both implicated.

Additionally, chatter out of State College is now mentioning the two previous governors, Democrat Ed Rendell and Republican Tom Ridge as possibly having some involvement in this case.

Sandusky and Paterno before the fall.

And if Joe Paterno was alive today he would soon feel the cold steel of bracelets snapping across his wrists, for he too has turned out to be a villain in this tragedy.

“The facts are the facts,” said former FBI director Louis Freeh, “Joe Paterno was an integral part of the act to conceal.”

No doubt Paterno did well by many a young man on his football teams, but it pales in comparison to the shadow cast by his persistent poor decision-making where Sandusky is concerned.

Paterno made multiple conscious decisions to suppress evidence and selfishly protect his reputation, the football team’s and Penn State’s, instead of protecting those amongst the university’s community who were most vulnerable.

“Based on the evidence, the only known, intervening factor between the decision made on February 25, 2001 by Messrs. Spanier, Curley and Schulz to report the incident to the Department of Public Welfare, and then agreeing not to do so on February 27th, was Mr. Paterno’s February 26th conversation with Mr. Curley,” the report states.

Sandusky being removed from the chair to the left, JoePa is seated to the far right.

After the Sandusky scandal deepened, the likeness of this influential assistant coach was removed from a mural on campus that depicts “Inspirational” figures in Penn State history.

It seemed unimaginable a short time ago, but the time has arrived for Joe Paterno to be taken off that wall as well, and his imprint diminished.

It’s a sad time in Happy Valley, and it will get worse before it gets better.

# # #

[This is part 1 of a 2 part series.]

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House Republicans Vote to Deny Health Care Benefits to 30-million Americans

Posted on July 13, 2012 by theurbanllama

U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor joins a Republican news conference Tuesday to discuss repeal of the health care law.

In a purely symbolic gesture, Congressional Republicans failed for the 33rd time to repeal President Obama’s health care reform legislation on Wednesday.

The vote, which passed the House 244 to 185, was designed to signify a Republican resolve to do away with the president’s plan, but was meaningless since it can’t advance past the Senate or White House, which are under Democratic control.

While it’s no secret that Republicans have a healthy disdain for President Obama’s health care reform law, most GOP critics tend to throw rocks at this complicated, but viable solution from behind the veiled promise of providing an alternative plan, one purported to cover a similar number of Americans, but in a more “responsible” manner.

Repeal and replace. That is the cry that went up from the right-wing after the Supreme Court upheld President Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

This sounds great in an interview or coming from Mitt Romney out on the campaign trail, until Republicans have to put something concrete down in writing.

I understand the blather about repealing the law, but the question remains what specifically do Republicans plan to replace this law with that will provide similar access and cover the same number of people?

What I think has become all too clear is Republicans have no alternative plan, and worse than that, they have no intention of putting a similar plan into place.

This was made abundantly clear by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, (R-KY), when he was interviewed by Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday two weeks ago.

I tuned in looking to get a Republican perspective on the passage of President Obama’s sweeping health care law, expecting a united front against all aspects of the law.

Instead Wallace fired fastball after fastball down McConnell’s throat, insisting he provide substantive answers as to whether Mitt Romney had a credibility problem attacking the president’s health care reform law since he passed Romneycare, and how specifically the Republicans intended to cover the 30-million uninsured people who would receive benefits under President Obama’s plan.

I’ve never seen McConnell get this flustered, and that it was happening on Fox News made it all the more compelling.

Wallace was extremely deferential and polite, but refused to let McConnell off the hook with the typical Potomac two-step double talk.

After Wallace called him out for a third time to answer how Republicans planned to cover 30-million uninsured Americans, McConnell snapped and answered that they were not an issue.

WOW! Thirty-million people. That’s like all of Canada. Or Peru. It’s way more than the 23-million inhabitants of Australia.

None of them are an issue for Republicans…?!?

How can that many people not having access to health care, in a country as wealthy as America not be an issue?

In a 2009 study, Harvard researchers found that an estimated 45,000 Americans die annually because they don’t have health insurance, and that working-age Americans have a 40 percent higher risk of death than their privately insured counterparts.

That McConnell is responsible for delivering this statement is particularly damning. He’s the Senate Minority Leader, arguably the most powerful Republican in the land, and the guy who sets the Republican agenda.

Wallace went on to ask McConnell that since people in Massachusetts paid more than $20 million last year in tax-related penalties associated with Governor Romney’s plan, isn’t that a Romney tax on the middle class?

McConnell attempted to spin an answer out of this being a Massachusetts decision, and that every Democratic Senator voted for Obamacare; basically a bunch of nonsense.

Wallace cut him off saying, “but if I may sir, I mean you didn’t answer my direct question, if the Obama mandate is a tax on the middle class, isn’t the Romney mandate a tax on the middle class?”

Sen. McConnell feeling the heat on Fox News Sunday.

You could see McConnell back away from the plate as that fastball came in high and tight, and he meekly implied that Gov. Romney should answer any questions about what was done in Massachusetts.

Wallace pressed forward – “if voters elect a Republican president and a Republican Senate, your top priority will be you say to repeal and replace Obamacare. I want to drill down into that with you. One of the keys to Obamacare is that it will extend insurance access to 30-million who are now uninsured. In your replacement how would you provide universal coverage?”

McConnell: “Well first let me say the single best thing we can do for the American health care system is to get rid of Obamacare…”

Wallace interrupts saying, “but if I may sir, you talk about repeal and replace, how would you provide universal coverage?”

McConnell shifts in his seat and laughs uncomfortably, replying, “I’ll get to it in a minute.”

He never does get to it.

“The first step we need to take is get rid of what’s there, this job killing proposal, that has all of these cuts to existing health care providers. Secondly we need to go step-by-step to replace it with more modest reforms. There will not be a 2,700 page Republican alternative. We will not take a meat ax to the American health care system. We will pull out a scalpel and go step-by-step and make the kind of more modest changes that would deal with the principal issue which is costs,” McConnell said.

Wallace dutifully redirected McConnell asking, “respectfully sir, we’re going to run out of time and I just want to ask what specifically are you going to do to provide universal coverage to the 30-million people who are uninsured?”

A flustered McConnell replies, “that is not the issue. The question is how can u go step-by-step to improve the American health care system. It already is the finest health care system in the world.”

Actually that isn’t true. The U.S. health care system placed 37th out of 191 countries ranked by the World Health Organization, coming in behind Costa Rica and in front of Slovenia.

[See WHO Health Care Rankings]

Wallace redirects McConnell for a third time asking, “but you don’t think that 30-million people who are uninsured is an issue?”

“Let me tell you what we are not going to do. We’re not going to turn the American health care system into a Western European system,” McConnell replied.

Well of course we don’t want to model ourselves after a health care system that works considerably better than the American version – that would make too much sense.

Wallace then gets into how Obama’s plan guarantees coverage of those with pre-existing conditions, and asks how Republicans anticipate protecting those same high-risk people?

McConnell can only come back with some gibberish about high-risk pools established at the state level intended to address these people.

But we already know the insurance companies have rejected this idea. They refuse to take those people with pre-existing conditions unless they get the millions of people who would come under the individual mandate provision of President Obama’s plan as well.

According to a 2011 analysis by the Department of Health and Human Services, without Obama’s Affordable Care Act, up to 129-million non-elderly Americans will be at risk of losing health insurance or being denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis or cancer.

McConnell then went on to reject the idea that anyone thinks the federal government could provide health care to 300-million Americans.

This is the problem with McConnell and his Republican colleagues, instead of embracing the challenge of insuring 300-million people, they take a glass half-empty approach and refuse to consider the possibility.

The only thing making this impossible is not trying.

[View McConnell Interview]

The Republicans did introduce their own health care reform proposal, The Patients’ Choice Act of 2009, but this was seen as a colossal failure after being vetted by the Congressional Budget Office.

It ends tax breaks for employers who provide health coverage to workers, instead offering tax breaks to individuals. This would end up costing consumers and employers more money.

In total it’s estimated this plan might ensure an additional 3-million people by 2019, as opposed to the 30-million under Obama’s plan, and does nothing to enforce that insurers take the most at-risk individuals with pre-existing conditions.

This is the essence of the difference between voting for Obama or Romney.

Democrats may not have all the answers, but they are planning for the future and trying to do what is best for most Americans. They are not afraid to take a chance on making tomorrow better.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney supporting his stance to repeal universal health care coverage for America.

Whereas Romney has no defined political agenda other than to return things to the way they were under George W. Bush.

He would prefer to sell our tomorrow to make today better for the top one percent of Americans.

In the end, regardless of how the elections turn out, McConnell and his Republican cronies know they have their work cut out for them. There is no easy path to extricating the 2,700-page health care law.

“If you thought it was a good idea for the federal government to go in this direction, I’d say the odds are still on your side,” McConnell said. “Because it’s a lot harder to undo something than it is to stop it in the first place.”

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