The SoapBoxers

I caught some snippets of Charlie Sheen’s made-for-TV interview over the weekend.

When it was announced that Sheen needed rehab to fight his addictions, I was disappointed, but somewhat sympathetic.  It’s an unfortunate fact of life in Hollywood that some stars find themselves addicted to drugs.  Many manage to regain their footing in life and resume their careers.

But then Sheen started to talk, and I realized that he had two problems.  The first – drug addiction – is something that can often be treated successfully.  Egomania, on the other hand, is often a lifelong affliction.

According to Sheen, he has “tiger blood”, “Adonis DNA”, and is tired of pretending he isn’t special.  In the midst of this whole debacle, Sheen is demanding a raise – he wants $3 million per episode.  The whole issue of how athletes and stars is for another day … but seriously, you’re asking for a RAISE at a time when you’re embarrassing those around you?  Perhaps not the best timing.

Is Charlie Sheen a talented actor?  Sure – I’ve enjoyed him in 2 1/2 Men and in his movies, dating back to Major League.  Is he head-and-shoulders above the crowd?  No.  There are a lot of actors in his class.  Can you see Mark Harmon (NCIS) or Rainn Wilson (The Office) ranting about how they have tiger blood coursing through their veins?

OK, maybe that’s a bad example.  I can definitely see Wilson saying that … but only in character as Dwight Schrute.

I’ve always liked 2 1/2 Men, but I’ve always contended that the real strength of the show is the writing, not the acting.  All of the characters, large and small, have great lines.  Even the pizza guy has good zingers (“We’ve had a good run, Mr. Harper.”)

It’s a shame you didn’t have your publicist handle the media this time around, Charlie.  I’m certainly tired of hearing about you, and I’m likely to flip past your show instead of tuning in.  I certainly hope other stars are taking note in order to avoid making the same mistake in the future.

Note: My fantasy baseball draft is under way, so I’m in a baseball mood.  I’m choosing to re-run an older baseball-themed story.  Release Point originally ran on March 27, 2010.  What makes it special?  It was the first ever Fiction Friday story.  Many of the regular readers may not have seen it before.  If it seems a bit rough compared to the newer stories, bear in mind that I was just picking up fiction writing after a ten year layoff when I wrote this story.

Jerome Franklin’s mind was a thousand miles away as the bus persevered over the rough roads, jolting the occupants seemingly every five seconds. Jerome was thinking about how he ended last year, giving up home runs at an alarming rate and allowing hits with such frequency that the manager was routinely sending him to the showers in the third inning. Coach Brunner had worked with him on his release point, but would he still be tipping his pitches? For a former seventh round draft pick in his fourth year in the farm system, this was a make or break year. A repeat of last year’s performance would probably mean his outright release and a job shoveling cow dung on the family farm.

Franklin sighed loudly and shifted in his seat. Max Cook pulled his headphones off, turned in his seat and gave Jerome his characteristically broad smile.

“Hey, J. No worries, man. We’ll be there soon.”

Franklin gave a faint smile to his friend and they began some small talk and the bus clattered through the city toward the ballpark. The off-season had been a long one, and he had not had much contact with many of his friends.

Jerome ate his typical pregame meal of two hot dogs, washed down with a bottle of Gatorade. Perhaps he should switch to a different pregame meal in order to change his luck. No, he decided, he wasn’t going to fall into the trap of becoming the stereotypically superstitious ballplayer. Besides, he really liked hot dogs, regardless of what they packed inside the wieners. He burped, grabbed his glove, and headed onto the field for practice.

A short while later, Jerome was honoring his country during the national anthem, watching the flag wave slightly in the breeze. Adrenaline was flowing through his body at full speed, and he was ready to take the field and assert his dominance. They were the road team tonight, however, and Jerome would have to cool his heels for a half inning.

Max Cook scorched a line drive to right field, and the speedy center fielder motored around to third base to start the game. Unfortunately, Cook would remain at third. The next batter struck out swinging at a pitch over his head. Then came a lazy pop fly to the pitcher. Finally, a towering fly ball that would have served as a great sacrifice fly if it had come one batter sooner. The smile was gone from Cook’s face when he returned to the dugout, replaced by a frustrated grimace.

“Let’s get ‘em, J.,” Cook shouted. “1-2-3”

Jerome’s first pitch was a curveball. The hitter jumped on it and hammered the ball to the deepest part of centerfield for a homerun. He turned to heckle Jerome as be broke into an exaggerated trot.

“You’re still tipping the pitches, Meat!”

Jerome was steamed as he stood waiting for the jerk to finish his leisurely stroll around the bases. He considering hitting the next batter, but the last thing he needed was another base runner. He started off the next batter with a fastball, and it was also hit hard. Max Cook chased down the ball in centerfield and hurried the ball back to second base, but the runner slid in safely.

Catcher Johnny Morris jogged out to the mound.

“These guys think they have you rattled, J. Just remember everything the Brew taught you. You’re not tipping your pitches any more. Let’s get em.” Morris slapped him on the rear end and head back to the plate.”

The next pitch was a fastball and Morris was quickly out of his crouch and gunning the ball to third base, nailing a would-be base stealer trying take advantage of Franklin’s state of mind to be aggressive.

The next pitch was a changeup, and the batter was fooled badly, popping the ball foul to third base, where it was caught. Jerome began to focus on the task at hand and worried less and less about tipping his pitches. He moved the ball in, out, up, and down and complemented his high 90s fastball with a healthy dose of changeups and curveballs. He was throwing all his pitches from the same release point, making it impossible to the batters to determine which pitch was coming. Jerome was in control of the game, and pitched seven strong innings, allowing just three hits and walking two batters. The offense was never able to muster a rally, however, and Jerome found himself on the wrong end of a 1-0 score. Franklin may have lost the battle, but he was beginning to win the war. Today’s shower was going to feel really good.

Welcome to Canada! We have free healthcare for our citizens. We spare no expense to give them whatever surgery or care we deem necessary. That being said, if we don’t think the treatment is necessary we are not going to pay for it. Sounds reasonable doesn’t it? It sounds a lot like what we have been promised in the United States doesn’t?

Think back to 2010 and the US healthcare bill that was passed….the one that we had to pass to find out what was in it. There was talk of death panels; some secret panel that would be created which would decide whether or not the government would allow a procedure. There were a lot of people making fun of conservatives for thinking this was possible.

Well, over the last week, we’ve probably all heard about Baby Joseph. Baby Joseph is a 13 month old child to Moe Maraachli and Sara Nader of Windsor, Canada. Unfortunately, Baby Joseph is suffering from a serious neurological disorder. The Canadian hospital wants to take the baby off the ventilator which would lead to his death in minutes. The child’s parents want him to receive a tracheotomy which will extend his life by possibly as much as six months. They would then like to take him home where he can live out the remainder of his short life. A tracheotomy is a procedure in which a small incision is made on the front of the neck allowing a small air tube to be inserted.

Parents…none of us should have to bury our children. Unfortunately, we know it sometimes happens. This family is now faced with a struggle of unimaginable proportions. The baby has the ability to live longer if something simple like a tracheotomy is given to him. That would buy the family additional weeks if not months to spend time with their child yet the hospital is refusing the procedure.

My mom suffered a brain aneurysm 10 months ago. I was told in the emergency room that my mom was going to die. We had her life flighted to a specialty hospital in Denver and they saved her life. Today she is recovered and is doing wonderfully. The surgeon told me in the days following her surgery that these miralces won’t happen after the new healthcare system is implemented. He said that there WILL be red tape, reviews, more control over who receives what services. I really hope he’s wrong though because God, the medical staff and that hospital are the reasons that I can still hug my mom today. I hope that the future families are as blessed as we are.

Some readers may know who Brock Lesnar is. If you don’t he’s the former heavyweight Ultimate Fighting Champion and a fan favorite. In 2009 he became very ill and had extreme abdominal pain. He sought emergency help at a Canadian medical facility and when he felt as though he wasn’t getting any help he asked his wife to quickly drive him back to the United States for health care. He went to the Mayo Clinic and was found to have a severe case of diverticulitis. His intestine had perforated allowing feces to leak into his body. Today, Lesnar criticizes the Canadian healthcare system and has urged President Obama and the lawmakers to repeal the changes. He cites his experience as a key reason. He refers to the Canadian facility as providing 3^rd world medical care and praises his wife for saving his life by taking him back to the US for treatment.

I know everyone reading this will have other examples that they’ve heard. Brock Lesnar, while a great athlete and a fit individual, is not without controversy. However, don’t let that take away from his message.

Baby Joseph though? How could any of us put ourselves in the shoes of his parents and criticize them for wanting to spend a little more time with their child? The Canadian hospital has gone so far as to take this matter to the Canadian court where Joseph’s parents were ordered by the Canadian government to allow removal of the life support so that their child would die. Is that what we’ve signed up for with government run healthcare?

I recently found an article posted on another blog (medibid). The article was written by a Canadian physician. I urge you to take five minutes to read it. He talks a little about the rationing of healthcare and the consequences that he saw personally.

For now, we have government healthcare ramping up for its effective date. We need to make sweeping changes or we will see situations like the ones that Baby Joseph and Brock Lesnar experienced; but these will be happening right here in the US. This is not what the people of the US wanted but I’m certain it’s what we’re all going to get.

BTW, did Charlie Sheen really test clean? No drugs or booze? Maybe he is just high on Charlie. Nahhhhhhh.

A few weeks ago, I was perusing Robin Yount’s Wikipedia page and saw the note that Yount and Fergie Jenkins were tied for the fewest All Star game appearances among Hall of Famers who played their entire careers during the era of All Star Games.  I realized that when Bert Blyleven is inducted this summer, he’ll lower the bar to two appearances.  How low can this game of All Star Game limbo go?  One appearance?  Zero?

I threw this idea over the wall to my baseball think tank.  The specific question was which player had the best career, but with zero All Star Game appearances.

Barry from the 314 gave me some good food for thought.  He pointed out that new White Sox slugger Adam Dunn has just 1 All Star Game appearance on his resume.  Dunn probably is hurt by the fact that he has a reputation as a “homer or strikeout” type of player and is a poor defender.  While it’s true that he’s a Three True Outcomes sort of player (see Moneyball for some background), he’s good enough at the third outcome (walks) to boost his on base percentage to a respectable level – .381 for his career.  If Dunn ends up with 600+ homers (quite likely) and a .380+ on base pecentage, will the voters keep him out of Cooperstown?

The most interesting player with zero All Star Game appearances is Dunn Lite – Mark Reynolds of the Orioles.  Granted, Reynolds is coming off a dreadful year in which he mustered just a .198 batting average.  However, his career batting average (.242) is just 8 points less than Dunn’s (.242 and he has been increasing his walk rate – nabbing 83 free passes last season.  Then, of course, there is the power – 104 homers in the past three seasons, including 44 in 2009.  However, Reynolds has been criticized so heavily for his record breaking tendency to strike out that he might never be selected to an All Star Game, even if he gets his numbers in line with those of Dunn.  (We know how I feel about strikeouts).

Is it actually possible for someone to be elected to the Hall of Fame without ever being recognized as an All Star?  On the face, this seems unlikely, considering the increasingly bloated size of the rosters (I actually made the National League All Star team last year).  However, it may actually be possible.

It would probably be easiest for a starting pitcher.  Some managers are very protective of their pitchers, preferring that they don’t pitch in the All Star Game.  When this happens, the manager of the All Star team typically avoids picking the player rather than wasting a roster spot on someone who won’t help them win the game.  Take a guy who is a consistent 16-17 game winner with four 20 wins seasons mixed in, and I could see a possibility of him only being considered maybe five times.  Once or twice, he may have pitched the last game before the break and be unavailable.  The other times, an overprotective manager keeps him off the team.  You’d need the stars to align in order for this to happen, but it might.

Can it happen to a position player?  Sure.  I think the most likely scenario would be a situation where there was a great class of players at one position (catcher seems to be a good candidate).  Several Hall of Famers in the group, with one guy lagging a bit behind the othes in terms of quality (a guy elected in the final years of his eligibility).  Make him a guy who starts slow and heats in up in the second half, and he may get overlooked because of lackluster first half stats – especially if there’s one random guy each year who has a torrid start and nabs a spot.

Charlie Sheen

Yesterday, in the midst of the disaster that his life has become, Charlie Sheen demanded a 50% raise, to $3 million per episode, to continue starring in 2 1/2 Men.  I’ve never been one to begrudge entertainers and athletes their millions, but at some point, the producers have to decided whether it’s worth the headache at this point.    As it stands, the show is in end game, as Angus T. Jones (the kid) isn’t getting any younger – he won’t be half a man for many more years.  Perhaps it’s best to pull up stakes and reap the cash cow that is syndication.

Among the many strange comments Sheen has made during this time is his assertion that producer Chuck Lorre uses that name to hid his Jewish ancentry (his given name is Charles Michael Levine).  Apparently, nobody else in Hollywood uses screen names that mask their ancestry.  Good call, Charlie Sheen (given name Carlos Irwin Estevez).

Fact is, Chuck Lorre was a success before he began working with Charlie Sheen and he’ll continue to be a success after their partnership ends.  Can we can we say the same for Sheen?

(OK, time to catch your breath before the flood of Amazon affiliate links begin …)

The Oscars

I hear that the Academy Awards were held the other night.  I get bored to tears by award shows, so I only caught snippets of the broadcast.  I should probably make an effort to watch The King’s Speech at some point.  It seems like the type of flick I would like, in spite of the paucity of serial killers in the movie.  Another movie I wouldn’t mind seeing is Princess Ka’iulani – has anyone seen it?

Avril Lavigne

I generall y don’t get that excited about cd releases, but I am eagerly anticipating Avril Lavigne’s new disc, Goodbye Lullaby, which is due out on March 8.  Although my music tastes run very heavily toward country (Alabama, in particular), I’m also a fan of good music, regardless of genre, from Tchaikovsky to Jimmy Buffett to Bon Jovi.  Despite not being in her target demographic, I’ve been a fan of Lavigne’s since the first time I heard Sk8ter Boi, nearly a decade ago.

You might also want to check out the new country group The Band Perry.  You can find good prices on their disc everywhere (I paid $7.99 for my copy).  I’m a big fan of the song “If I Die Young.”

On the bookshelf

The time I spend writing means that I generally have limited time to read these days.  I finally finished up Jeffery Deaver’s newest Lincoln Rhyme book,  The Burning Wire.  The book features a villain who uses electricity as his weapon.  The book fell a bit short of expectations, but that’s more because of how high the previous books set the bar than a shortcoming of The Burning Wire.

I finally bit the bullet and bought the late Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, just to see what the fuss was about.  I don’t usually grab the popular books without a good reason, but when Silicon Valley Blogger over at The Digerati Life mentioned the book, I decided it was time to read it, since SVB and I have quite similar interests when it comes to literature and cinema.

I’ve also been attempting to read J.D. Salinger’s classic The Catcher in the Rye.  I really wanted to appreciate it as being a seminal American work, but it’s really not grabbing me.  If I didn’t “know” that the book was a classic, I would have long since abandoned it.

Speaking of abandoned tomes … I have been reading The Fountainhead since 1992 (very slowly).  After a recent restructuring of my library, the book has turned up missing.  If I can’t find it, maybe I’ll buy a new copy in another decade or so …

There is a lot of news from the Middle East about people overthrowing dictatorships to have personal freedom. I applaud this effort and support them at least in emotion and praise. I have heard complaints from commentators that President Obama is not doing more to support these efforts. I disagree with that criticism. We (Americans) had to fight for and earn our freedoms. If the French had come in with superior weapons and force and beat up the British, we would have had a lot of problems. First, we would have had an obligation to support everything French for eternity. Secondly, we would have had a fifth column within the country ready to overthrow our government as a puppet of the French. Third, there would have been a certain segment of our society that would have hated everything French just because they interfered with our sovereignty.

The President should always support, verbally and emotionally, any efforts to advance freedom around the world. That is what this country stands for. Our willingness to help, including the sacrifice of our own blood and treasure, without hope of territorial gain, is what truly sets us apart from the rest of the governments that have ever existed in the world. But getting actively involved is another question. We have tried and failed several times to create new nations in our image. Iraq and Afghanistan are the two most recent examples. Both will eventually emerge as some sort of hybrid of what we think is a free and democratic nation and what the Afghans and Iraqis choose to implement.

Should we be bombing Colonel Gadaffi and his forces? Sure he is a bad man, but who will step in if we knock him down? The people toppling him will be better off without us so that they can choose their own leadership. We may not like what they come up with, but that is part of what freedom is all about, the freedom to make mistakes.

No I am not equating Iraq and Afghanistan to Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Iran, Syria, and Morocco. In the current round of uprisings, it is the people fighting their tyrannical governments. When the people of Iraq and Afghanistan rose up in the 1980’s we did not interfere directly. When Iraq invaded two neighbors, we responded. When they broke every condition of the cease fire, we conquered them and attempted to establish a new, democratic government. When Afghanistan harbored a group that had publicly claimed responsibility for a deadly attack against us, we conquered them and attempted the same nation building.

In the cases of what is going on now, it is internal to each country and should be handled by each country without some bully forcing what decisions are made. Just as I supported President Bush in his decisions with regard to Iraq and Afghanistan, I support President Obama in his current actions with regard to the freedom uprisings. I find the verbal cannonade by professional talkers obscene. One group claims that these uprisings are a direct response to a speech President Obama gave in Egypt last year. The other group claims the credit should go to President Bush for establishing democracies in the region. Both accretions are ridiculous. The uprisings are the result a people fed up with governments that have failed the people they are responsible for. They have risen up against the bullies. There was a fabulous headline in the papers this weekend that I feel captures the whole story, “The Walls of Fear have Fallen.”

Tiffany Butler took a moment to consider how lucky she was to be in this situation. At mid-season, her record had stood at a mere 5-10. She had wrestled better in the second half of the season, but had also been the recipient of some good luck. An upset had knocked the top wrestler out during the regional tournament, and she picked up another win when her opponent was forced to forfeit due to injury.

Tiffany’s record for the season was unspectacular 15-16, but she found herself on the mat, getting ready for a state tournament match. She was blazing a new trail for girls everywhere. As the lowest seeded wrestler in the tournament, she had drawn the state’s top 112 pound wrestler as her first round opponent.

Garrett McCormick relished the opportunity to defeat Tiffany. Some guys were reluctant to wrestle a girl. All Garrett saw was an easy victory that would put him one step closer to his third consecutive state championship.

Thirty seconds into the match, Garrett had affirmed his initial thought – he would have no problems controlling Tiffany. He saw opportunities to pin her, but decided to draw things out in order to make the loss more humiliating for her. Garrett toyed with Tiffany for the entire first period before scoring a takedown at the end up the period.

He took the down position in the second period and quickly escaped, running the score to 3-0. They danced around the mat before he scored another takedown. Garrett allowed her to escape a moment later. He could have easily pinned her again, but played catch and release with Tiffany, taking her down four times and allowing her to escape each time.

A quick escape from her down position at the beginning of the third period allowed Tiffany to close the gap to 11-5. Garrett decided to put on a show for the folks in the crowd. He scored seven takedowns in rapid succession, each time allowing his prey to escape – running the score to 25-12. He had to give the girl credit – she had a lot of fight in her. The match would be over in a moment – he needed just one more takedown to force a technical fall.

Garrett glanced up at the crowd and saw his girlfriend in the midst of the mass of humanity. Alycia was zooming her camera in for a shot. Garrett smiled broadly and struck a pose that he knew would look great in the school newspaper.

As he saw the camera flash, he felt himself lose control of his opponent. Before he could fully focus his attention back on the match, Tiffany had complete control of him and he felt his shoulders touching the mat. He struggled in vain to free himself. His dreams of another state title were over – he had been pinned by a girl.

No one thing is grabbing my interest today, so I’ll talk about a lot of stuff.

First of all, the shin is not broken.  The x-rays confirmed it.  Good news, although a deep bone bruise isn’t much fun, either.

A revised version of the Kindle edition of Mountains, Meadows, and Chasms has been released.  I fixed a few small issues that had crept into the book during the Amazon conversion process, and also added the cover art and a clickable table of contents.  I will likely be revising the cover art in the next few days, at which point I’m not going to make any more changes (unless someone finds a serious problem).  If you want to give it a test drive, try the absolutely free “send a sample” functionality.  You’ll get about 10% of the book, at no cost to you.  If you like it, you can buy later.  Buyers can also lend the book to their friends for 14 days, free of charge to the friend.

Don’t have a Kindle?  You can buy one on Amazon for as little as $139 (or as much as $379) or download the Kindle viewer for your Mac, PC, Droid, iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, or Windows 7 phone (download a viewer here).  Personally, I still prefer paper and ink to e-readers … but it’s pretty cool that you can download free Kindle version of classics.  I paid about $50 for my copy of the Riverside Shakespeare when I took English 370 back in the mid 90s (it will set you back almost $90 these days) – you can nab a Kindle version of the complete works of the bard for $2.99 (there are also free versions, but the $2.99 version has good reviews).  For fans of works that are in the public domain, e-readers could be great.  I’ll be covering the whole Kindle authoring experience in another place and time (on another site, in other words).  More details later.

Sadly, there won’t be a print edition at this point.  If I were to use Amazon’s print-on-demand service (CreateSpace), I’d have to set the price in the $15-$20 range (for a paperback) in order th make the same profit I make on the Kindle edition.  That seems too high for a new author.  if you want the non-Kindle format, you can buy it from my store in PDF format (also just $3.49).  You can probably print a copy for less than I’d have to charge for a print edition, if you really want the book on paper.

In the world of sports:

Bryce Harper says that he’s trying to make the Nationals team in Spring Training.  That’s a nice thought, but it’s not going to happen.  Even if the Nats thought the 18 year old was ready, they’re not going to start his free agent clock ticking yet – delaying a call-up until June would keep him under their control for another year.  I really doubt that he gets more than a token call-up this year, though. As good as Harper is, I’m sure there is a lot he needs to learn about the game, especially as he moves to a new defensive position (outfielder).

Fans of the St. Louis Cardinals are holding their breath for news about co-ace Adam Wainwright, who injured his elbow.  While nobody is yet saying that Wainwright is done for the year, GM John Mozeliak said “things do not look encouraging.”  Most often, you’re going to see a GM make a neutral statement when there is a degree of uncertainty about an injury – seeing a negative comments makes me very concerned.

Trevor Bayne won the Daytona 500 last weekend, while Tony Stewart won the Nationwide Series race.  Interesting, neither racer is the points leader.  A new NASCAR rule this year allows drivers to pick up points in just one series.  You can still win races (and money) in any series, but only contend for the title in one series.  The main reason for this was drivers from the top level Sprint Cup dropping down the Nationwide and winning titles.  Even with the change, you’re going to see the stars run Nationwide races – because it gives them more experience with live competition and allows them to gain familiarity with the track.  Cedar Rapids native Landon Cassill pushed Stewart to victory in the Nationwide race.  He finished 3rd in the race and is atop the points race.

In the world of food:

I’m in search of the best canned chili.  I love chili, but it has to be in a relatively thin band of the broad chili spectrum.  Surprisingly, Campbell’s Roadhouse Chili is pretty good (and, oddly, you can buy it on Amazon).  I’m planning to try about a dozen differnt types of chili in my quest to crown a king.

ON WISCONSIN!

In most elections it seems to use South Park as a reference, you have a choice of a giant douche or a shit sandwich. Unfortunately for the people of Wisconsin, Governor Scott Walker seems to be both of them all rolled into one. Unless you have been hiding in a cave the past week or so you know that there have been daily mass protesting State Capitol building in Madison. This in reaction to Walker and his partners in crime bringing forth legislation to start the destruction of organized labor. That is what the legislation is plain and simple. Now it is being done under the guise of cutting spending and balancing the budget, but now that is a complete lie.

The legislation calls for most state employees to see cuts in pay and benefits, as well as seeing a large increase in the amount they pay into their pensions and health insurance. The other part of the legislation calls for unions to lose almost all their rights, by only allowing them to “negotiate” for pay increases that are fixed to the rate of inflation. There would be no other collective bargaining as it is referred to for work conditions, benefits, performance or longevity based pay increases and so on. Basically making unions be that in name only as they would no longer have any real function anymore. The legislation also denies members from having their union dues directly taken out of their paychecks as a way to try to prevent unions from receiving funding as well as requiring a closed vote to be taken place to whether the unions are to continue to exist on an annual basis. Now the latter two do not seem highly important to me, but the first causes them to become that way down the line. If the union becomes a union in name only, why would anyone voluntarily pay the membership fees or vote for the union to be in.

I guess Walker and his political advisers from Koch Industries and other of the like did not see this backlash coming. They figured there would be a little fuss and that would be it. Instead they got a mass outrage to deal with that has now spread to other states with Republican led legislative and executive branches wanting to adopt measures of the like.

As I mentioned this is all being done under the guise of budget cuts. For 2011-2013 the state is projecting about a $3.6 billion dollar shortfall. What is not discussed as much is that around $2 billion dollars of that is from the effect of unpaid for tax break for businesses. A new normal? Really!? Sounds like more of the same old same old to me. The same old same old mentality is also evidenced that Walker left police, firefighters, state troopers and inspectors and their unions out of the legislation. It is easy to deduce that this is because these are the unions that to varying degrees of extent supported his candidacy for Governor. However all these unions have come out on the side of the protesters basically stating why should us and our families be any better than the rest of these unions.

Also because of this legislation, the 14 Democrat members of the Wisconsin senate have gone on the lam to undisclosed locations to deny quorum to be able to vote on the legislation. In reaction to this Walker has sent out state troopers to find the “missing” Democrats and drag them back to the statehouse for the Republicans to be allowed to shove this legislation down the throats of Wisconsinites. Also Walker stated he would not be bullied into things based on these actions. But who is the real bully Governor Walker? I would say it is undeniably you. The unions without any ask to sit down to negotiate terms have given into your monetary demands to solve your budget crisis. However that is not enough for Walker. He says there will be no compromise on this unions need to be broken. In this Walker stating that things need to be taken from the haves as the have-nots businesses have been paying the bill for too long. No besides being a completely ludicrous statement in whole, when was the last time anyone considered a teacher a have or well off person.

Also Walker has threatened to starting next week start to fire public employees if his legislation is not passed as he wants it to be by then. Saying it will be the Democrats fault if he does not get his way. Like the legislation, I think Walker is miscalculating where the public will lie the blame if people start to lose their jobs over his dictatorial style of rule.

As for the protestors at the statehouse it is amusing how they are being portrayed by the right. The are almost all in state people fighting for their rights, while those on the opposition side of the demonstration are being bused in from around the county by political “subsidiaries” of Koch Industries and the like. The former are being referred to as bottom feeders and worthless people by the right while the later are the true patriots. It is quite sad, but amusing to see. Also sad is the commentary coming from the right on what should be done. Most notably a former Deputy Attorney General in Indiana, another state facing the same political backlash, now saying that live ammunition should be used to take out the demonstrators (the official was fired after making the comment). After all, he says they are their political enemies and deadly force should be used to take care of them in his opinion, Now he isn’t the only one on the right who has been thinking this way, numerous jokes have been made of the sort on taking them out, it’s just he is an official that actually is on the record stating that this is what should be done.

An interesting new note that has come up is that Walker will actually continue to experience shortfall in the budget if he continues his desire to bust unions. The state would be set to lose $46.6 million in federal transportation money this year and other federal money allocated in other areas as well. This is because of a provision in federal labor law that states risk losing federal funding should they eliminate collective bargaining rights that existed at the time the funding was granted. Then again it really isn’t about the budget is it Governor Walker?

Nothing big in the world of sports for me to devote an entire article to this week, so I will touch on a number of topics as we “span the globe”

Nascar
I am not a racing fan. Never have been, never will be. But when a rookie driver wins in just his 2nd Cup start and it is not just any win but a Daytona 500 win, that is pretty special. Almost as speical as his reaction to his crew on the radio as he crossed the finish line. “Are you serious?” Yes, we are serious and now you have seriously altered your career and future in the sport. Congratulations Trevor Bayne.

Basketball
Carmelo Anthony gets marquee billing as he is traded to the Knicks. Horrible trade for the Knicks. While Melo is a go to guy, he is playing with Amare Stoudamaire who requires a point guard to get him the ball, (well I guess they did also get Chauncey Billups in the deal). Carmelo is a full time shooter, mid range jumper take it to the rack occasionally type of guy … sounds a lot like Amare. I guess the Nuggets are the real winner here as they would have lost him to Free Agency and now they at least get something to show for it.

Golf
Yani Tseng wins her third straight tournament on the LPGA tour and has firmly grabbed the #1 spot in the LPGA world golf rankings. She is young, playing well and appears to be poised to dominate in 2011 on the women’s tour.

The Accenture match play starts this week for the guys on the PGA tour. With no one playing dominant and the ever crafty guise of match play it is a wide open – anyone can win event. I filled out a GolfWeek entry pool, and my pick was Paul Casey, which coincidentally appears to be the pick of the golf writers for the USA Today.

Who is #1?
What a crazy week in College Basketball, Kansas, Texas, Ohio State and Pittsburgh all have a shot at being ranked #1 and all promptly go out and lose. Duke claims the top spot with exactly 2 wins over teams ranked in the top 25 on the year. This is called a paper tiger folks … Duke is over-rated and hopefully will see an early exit from the Tourney this year, but the lofty ranking will likely get them a #1 seed and the easiest road much as last year.

NBA All Star Game Weekend
This all star event has officially jumped the shark, or in this case a Kia Optima. The slam dunk competition needs to go “old school” and get rid of all the props and added features. How about just dunking…what a novel concept.

The game itself is almost as big of a joke as the NFL All Pro game. When is the last time a home town player did NOT win the MVP award? Seems like it happens every year. I bet Vegas had the Black Mamba at 2/5 to win the MVP before the game was played.

Until next week, stay classy Austin Texas … and pass that bill that is going to allow anyone on a college campus to carry a concealed handgun. Remember folks, it is not a state … it is a Republic!