Stupidity abounds

Here's a quick rant:

NFL quarterback Michael Vick got himself in trouble again during this past week for apparently having marijuana in his system. Well, you can't fault the dude since he no longer has to conform to NFL rules and regs because he's not playing right now, but what kind of idiot is he though? The guy is already in so much trouble for his dogfighting charges and now he's in a different kind of legal trouble because of the drugs. He's really showing to us all that he wants to make a positive change in his life.

And on a similar vein of thought, what about these immigrants getting deported from a Dallas suburb? It's the same kind of stupidity. Here's why: to begin with, these folks were in jail for breaking the law in some way and the City of Irving is running checks with the U.S. Immigration department to make sure these public offenders are here in the country legally. Sounds like a good plan, right? I don't have a problem with sending law breaking, illegal immigrants back to their country of origin. Nor do I understand all the hubbub concerning this policy. There's all sorts of upheaval and protests going on because of the City of Irving's proactive stance. People feel that they are being singled out because of their ethnicity; most of the deportees are of Hispanic origin. Unless the offenders are jailed illegally and their human rights were violated, there should be no hesitation in making sure any of these folks are legal residents of this country.

You would think that if you're here illegally that you would try to stay as clean as possible so that way you won't have any chance of being kicked out. Keep your nose clean, so to speak, and maybe, years down the line, you can get some sort of amnesty to stay in this country rightfully and legally. In Vick's case, you'd think that he would steer clear of any sort of illegal activity since he's also being indicted by the State of Virginia. And there's still that issue of reinstatement back into the NFL that he has to contend with when he's completed his jail time.

Nature and Man versus Man

I just read an article about a guy on Galveston Island who got into some legal trouble for shooting a cat. The thing is that the guy, Jim Stevenson, is a naturalist and bird expert. Stevenson, who was charged with animal cruelty by a Galveston County grand jury, is the founding member of the Galveston Ornithological Society and insists that the cat he shot belongs to a feral cat colony that threatens the Island's bird population. And what makes matters worse is that Galveston Island is a natural stopover on an active bird migration route that crosses the United States. Some of Stevenson's neighbors and friends see him as a "respecter of nature," but others think otherwise, especially the "owner" of the cat involved in this case, John Newland. Right now there's a lot of legal wrangling going on regarding whether or not Stevenson broke any state laws.

I consider myself a animal lover and have owned several pets at various times in my life, so I feel for both sides of this case, but are these feral cats a natural part of the local environs? Probably not. Do these cats pose a threat to the birds in this area? Stevenson's actions deem it so. Unfortunately, people who "care" for these animals only exascerbate the problems associated with feral animals. And if one person decides to "care" for these animals, he or she should think about keeping these "pets" indoors, capture them in order to have them spayed or neutered, or have them moved to another location for de-feralizing, so as not to endanger the naturally occurring animals and their habitats of a given locale.

Perhaps it's not Mr. Stevenson's responsibility to take on this polemic endeavor to make the ferals cats go away, but those who care for these feral cats in some way, should bear some of the responsibility that goes with helping them survive in the wild.

Sore Loser

I just read that Kanye West said that MTV "exploited" Britney Spears for ratings. Duh! Doesn't he do the same thing? Doesn't he exploit MTV for his own personal gain? Not only did he say this about Britney, but he also complained about not winning any awards and said that MTV disrespected him. Wow, tough words from someone who was MTV's darling just a few short years ago. Yo, sorry dude, you can't win 'em all!

Dropped shot(s) and Winner

Over the Labor Day weekend, I spoke to my dad and youngest brother about the US Open and about tennis in general, and spoke at length about how I felt about the Williams sisters, Serena and Venus. I said that they should win every tennis tournament they enter because of their tremendous talent, BUT because of their occasional mental lapses, they usually don't play up to said talent. I consider myself a fan of theirs and cheer for them at every chance, but they sometimes do not play up to their potential. So it did not surprise me to hear Serena say what she did after losing to Justine Henin. It's really sad that she had to stoop to that level than to admit that Henin flat out beat her. And by the way, has anyone noticed that Henin has won 7 major titles in her career?! She's quietly moving up the majors list...

And speaking of winning, how 'bout Roger Federer? That guy is the best player I've ever seen. Through the years my favorites have been John McEnroe, Jim Courier, Goran Ivanisevic, Andre Agassi and Roger Federer. I like to call him the Tim Duncan of the tennis world, because all he does is win. He wins without too much flair. He wins without too much fanfare. He just wins. Sure, he hasn't won the French Open, but neither did Pete Sampras and he really never made it past the opening rounds. Federer on the other hand has usually met and lost to Mr. ClayCourt, Rafael Nadal in the laters rounds. Pete never had to compete with such a clay court specialist. Roger is on the verge of being the all-time leader in majors.