Sunday, March 7, 2010

Wedding, Olympics and Charlie Rangel

THOUGHTS OF THE WEEK
Well my dear and faithful readers since last we talked, I have gotten married in Ireland, had a wedding reception, completely moved into our new house, and seen my boss of over fifteen years resign and leave office on the day I get back from Ireland. Needless to say things have been a little crazy. That is an awful lot to digest in one month’s time. I am hoping that the next month will be slightly less busy. That being said, getting married in Ireland was unbelievable. At some point there will be pictures on here or FB. It was one of the few times that reality turned out to be much better than anything I could have imagined. My wife did such an incredible job in planning and making everything perfect. It has truly been magical.

RANT OF THE WEEK
I wanted to take note today that Iraq conducted parliament elections today. I do not know how they turned out, and frankly am not all that concerned about who wins or anything like that. What does concern me is this. At last count 38 Iraqis have died and over 80 have been wounded just so they could participate. And yet vote is exactly what Iraqi citizens have done. What will it take for Americans to take the right to vote that seriously? Democrats, Republicans, liberals, conservatives, big government, little government, EVERY person has a vested interest in what their elected officials are doing. Voting has never been easier or more convenient for the average citizen than it is now. What will it take for Americans to be engaged? Does anyone care?

SPORTS NEWS OF THE WEEK
This shouldn’t surprise anyone. Wednesday night Sherron Collins played his last home game in Allen Fieldhouse for the Kansas University Jayhawks. Collins has been one of my favorite players since his arrival. To me, he is the perfect Bill Self player. He is tough. He doesn’t back down. And he WINS. He hasn’t been the prettiest, the easiest, or the most eloquent player. But he leaves Kansas as the winningest player EVER to have played. Wilt Chamberlain, Clyde Lovellette, Danny Manning, Raef LaFrentz, Kirk Hinrich, and a thousand others have not won as many games in a Kansas uniform as Sherron Collins has. Think about that. And he isn’t done yet.

COOL PERSON OF THE WEEK
This is a tad late, but my cool person of the week is every Olympian who participated in the 2010 Winter Olympics. I think the Olympics are one of my favorite things to watch. It is moving to me watching people from different countries reach for their dreams. Whether it be Lindsey Vonn, Apolo Ono, Joannie Rochette, Shaun White, Evan Lysaceck, Nodar Kumaritashvili, Shen Xue / Zhao Hongbo, Sven Kramer, Bill Demong, Ryan Miller or any member of a curling team (Why do I love curling so much?). The Olympians represent what you can do with perserverance, hard work, determination, and a little luck.

DOUCHE OF THE WEEK
Charlie Rangel (Democrat) New York – former chair of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee. Now it is somewhat unfair to pick on a member of Congress from either party. I mean, come on. They don’t play by the same rules the rest of us play by. God forbid they actually follow the same rules, ethics, and personal responsibility the rest of us do. But Charlie Rangel has particularly irritated me this week. He FINALLY ‘temporarily’ stepped down as Chairman of the most powerful committee in the house The Ways and Means Committee. Rangel thinks this move is only temporary and that he is ‘innocent’. What is he ‘innocent’ of? Well he has been investigated for taking two trips to the Caribbean that violated House rules because they were corporately funded, failure to report rental income from a Dominican beach house, leasing three rent controlled apartments in New York in his district, his use of House parking facilities for long term personal storage, personal assets he failed to report on financial disclosure forms, and fundraising efforts for a City College of New York facility that bears his name. Now Charlie Rangel has been in Congress for a long time and has a long and distinguished career as a legislator. But are you really telling me you haven’t done ANYTHING wrong and you deserve to be the chair of the most powerful committee. I don’t believe you! Douche!

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