See Hear Speak No Evil

As a nice and quite funny start to what will surely be a rant… read this hand written law suit filed against Michael Vick (who inspired this rant)

Now to the real reason for writing.

I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, at least since the Kobe Bryant rape scandal, when someone posed the question “Should celebrities be held to a higher moral standard than the rest of the public?” or something along those lines.

At the time of the Bryant scandal, i adamantly thought ‘NO!’

My reasoning: just because someone in the public eye does something extremely stupid and likely illegal (although Bryant was cleared of all charges) doesn’t mean that the media should come down on them any harder than a regular Joe doing the same thing.

I have since changed my mind. As unfortunate as it is, the general US public (whom I guess I know the most about) looks up to sports and Hollywood celebrities. We consider them role models and our children aspire to ‘be like Mike (Jordan),’ etc. Because this has become the case, these celebrities, like anyone in the public eye, especially ones who run sports camps for kids, should attempt to live moral and honest lives like those of us who pay ass loads of money to watch them do their job.

Until recently, I was a fan of Michael Vick. I REALLY wanted to see him play live and even had discussions about how explosive he was and what a great player he was, etc. I still believe that he’s an explosive and great player but I will be OUTRAGED if the NFL doesn’t kick his ass to the curb for engaging in illegal acts that amount to federal felonies.

I am APPALLED at his involvement in not only fighting dogs but running a dog fighting ring from one of his homes. I would feel this way if it were any animal (coming from a state that only recently banned cock fighting). Using helpless and mistreated animals to play out violent and gory acts is extremely disrespectful and, I think, says a lot about a person. It says that they have little respect for all living things. And they have violent tendencies that may find their way out of the fighting ring and into their daily involvement with other people.

I also think raising, and eventually killing dogs who didn’t win, dogs to fight shows a lack of emotion. I realize that not everyone gets as emotionally attached to animals as I do (as we’ve seen with the size of my gato) but I also KNOW that dogs are extremely intelligent and are not called ‘Humans best friend” lightly. They did not evolve to fight to the death for the mere pleasure of their ‘owner.’ Look at wolves, they don’t fight to the death over nothing. The fight to the death over survival.

One might claim that throwing 2 dogs in a ring is a survival fight, and I’d agree. Dog doesn’t fight or win, dog dies. But the chances of those same 2 dogs fighting to near death at the dog park are slim to none. We have bred most of the fight out of dogs and so must abuse the hell out of them and train them to fight. Unless of course, they’re fighting to save their human.

Maybe I digress. But think of all the serial killers (e.g., Dahmer) who started out on their crazy, disrespectful road by abusing and then killing animals.

Not only that, but what does this say to all of the admirers of Vick? All of the unsuspecting kids who look up to him and aspire to ‘be like Mike?’ Does it tell them that it’s ok to mistreat animals and other people (because that’s where animal abuse eventually leads)? Does it tell them that if Mike Vick can do it, so can they?

There are reasons that animal fighting is against the law in 49 states (LA still allows cock fighting), because it’s cruel, it’s inhumane and it may teach our posterity that not all life deserves respect. I think Mike Vick deserves respect for his athletic abilities but should be tossed out of the NFL, not only because he’s broken the law but because it will teach kids that even when they do something wrong, they don’t have to face the consequences. So yes, celebs should be held to higher moral standard. At least on some things. Maybe not on getting adulterous blow jobs but when the act is violent (as w/ OJ) then yes, yes and YES!

So, NFL, if you’re reading this…
oust Vick. He no longer upholds the NFL principles and I, for one, will be sure to boycott all Falcons games until he’s gone.

You made it here! I am so excited!!! Pardon my exclamation points, but I am just really glad that this change is taking place today! !!! Sorry, I couldn’t help it. /wink

Here comes the Oscar speach…

I would like to thank a few people that helped me make this change:

Al and Jess, for believing in me, and giving me the opportunity to make this happen!

Loralee, for doing this ahead of me. Giving me the inspiration to follow my dreams!

Kerflop, for having an awsome tutorial on her own blog on how to do this. I couldn’t have done it without you! Want to host your blog on it’s own URL? You need Kerflop!!!

Karen, for creating artwork for us to post on our blog soon. She draws things in such a cute way that I am having her draw us the Monkey of the Month. You will love it… I know! She has already drawn one picture for me that I can’t wait to post.

My husband for putting up with me and helping me make some suggestions, but mainly for putting up with me.

Finally… our readers, who will hopefully follow us. /crosses fingers I hope you enjoy this new site as much as you enjoyed the last one. Hopefully more.

Go ahead and look around. If you see any errors let me know. I’ll try to fix it. Try! If you currently have our other site blogrolled go ahead and change it to this site. I would greatly appreciate it. Also, I am starting to add names onto this blogroll and want to put you on it too. If your not on it let me know. I will put you on immediately!

Thank you everyone. Glad to see your here!

P.S. Comment if you have a second. I want to make sure it works. /smile

if you’re a human, you can probably relate to the title of this post. lately, it feels like everything i do is for naught. i am not getting ahead, but i am certainly not getting behind, either.

i told you i always see a rainbow.

i haven’t written for a while…and here’s why: there seems to be a clog in the torso chute. i want to write, but the words won’t come. perhaps the problem is that i am not willing to share. whatever the case may be, i am attempting to FORCE myself to write just to get the juices running again… in the hopes the words will return. i know i’ve blogged about this in the past, and i’d apologize for the repeat, however i strongly suspect i’ll run into this issue again in the future. then, you, my dear reader will be subject to yet another empty apology.

who needs that?

the good news: i’ll have a road trip post to make in the very near future. my latest travel takes me to beautful portland, oregon. while i am there, i may have an opportunity to meet a very famous journalist and i am just hoping i can swing it! if i do, i’ll share. you all know i am just in love with journalists…they are REAL celebrities!!

at any rate, things are less than decent in the house of jess. but i’ll be fine. don’t send me sympathy, send me a beer. and a cigarette.

and comments aren’t necessary. if you’ve made it this far, i congratulate you. i think i hear the wahhhhmbulance in the distance…it’s coming to pick me up.

I have a friend who made my day today. I just want to say thank you!

This friend of mine brought me a “beverage.” If you know me, you know what I mean. /wink Anyways, I was having an alright day, but he was having a crappy day. This is when Tom comes in… aka Tom Collins that is.

Yum.

I hope you have a better week. Thank you for walking me over a drink. I think we need to designate a Tom Collins day. At least once a month.

Here is the email I just received from Nick today. I personally want to tell everyone THANK YOU myself. Many of you helped Isis out for me. I really appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Now if you blogged about this for me you might want to update your blog so that everyone knows that Isis and Phoenix got their machine.

Hello Everyone,

WE DID IT, THANKS TO YOU!
This last week Jasmine and I both got Influenza A and were hit hard. Of course Isis got the virus too and was admitted to hospital. Because of Isis getting sick with a virus that has killed 4 children here in Perth in the last three weeks, it was more crucial than ever that he get the Cough Assist Machine.
Now for the good news. Take this time to pat everyone of yourselves on the back!Thanks to your donations (Friends, Family, Strangers, etc) and the Steve Waugh Foundation here in WA, we walked out of Isis’ hospital stay with an Emerson Cough Assist Machine!
Because of your UNBELIEVABLE support, we also have plans (and funds enough) to buy a power generator so that Isis and Phoenix’s machinery (Cough Assist, Bi-Pap, Humidifier and Kangaroo pumps) will work in the case of a power failure. Isis uses each of these devices on a daily basis, and now Phoenix too uses a Kangaroo pump to aid in keeping her nourished.
We have plans to donate any left over funds we might have to The Muscular Dystrophy Association of Western Australia. They have done so much for us. The MDAWA is running their own fundraiser to acquire 25 Cough Assist Machines for children with Muscular Dystrophy here in Western Australia. It is a huge undertaking and we want you all to know that any residual funds will be going to support this worthy cause. We are so grateful and humbled by the generosity of every one of you. We are so touched and appreciate your support, beyond measure.
As promised, you will still receive one more special gift from Isis, along with some photos of him using the machine (he is such a good boy already!) We hope to let you visually see some of the results of your gift to us.
Once again, we are forever thankful to you. We love you. If you know of anyone who should get this letter, for helping in any way, please pass it on!
-Nick, Jasmine, Isis and Phoenix

we are moving our blog from blogger to this URL. it’s not done yet.

however, we invite you to check out our blogger blog until further notice. go ahead, you know you want to click the link.

click it now. click it!!

i am a talk radio junkie. it’s the first thing i turn on in the morning. i listen to it on the way to work. sometimes i listen to it at work. on the way home…it’s talk radio. and when the insomnia kicks in and nothing is on tv and my eyes are too tired to read…it’s talk radio!

one of my favorite programs is coast to coast am with george noory. i first started listening to coast to coast when i worked swing shift. it made the long ride home seem much shorter. back then it was hosted by art bell (who i understand has retired yet again…bah) and guest hosted regularly by noory. topics cover a wide range and can probably be best described as paranormal. peculiar news, conspiracy theories and listener’s calls are the highlights of the show. they talk about numerology, psychic stuff, NASA and planets. perfect late night fodder!

now that i have a real job…i don’t listen to coast to coast as often, but talk radio has me hooked, line and sinker. i am hopelessly addicted to media…i love reading news both in the paper and online. i am upset when i miss abc news at the top of the hour. my addiction to the media stems from college, where i majored in journalism. college is where i learned to write and i think they taught me well. my favorite professor was dr. sweeney, the ap style guru. his copy editing and design class was probably my favorite journalism class. he’d probably cringe at my lack of proper title case, but whatever.

why did i choose journalism? honestly, i was inspired by ari fleischer, former press secretary for george w. bush. i saw him on television…and i thought, “hey! i could do that!” i did a bit of quick research and decided i should major in public relations so i could be a future press secretary. not that i thought ari was anything particularly worth writing home about, but i liked his speaking style and i thought he was a very smart dude. ari, if you ever read this, you inspired me to return to college and actually settle on a major. thanks, pal.

i am sorely off topic. back to talk radio…paul harvey…should probably retire. he was old when i was a kid, and let’s face it…i ain’t a kid any more! i used to enjoy rush limbaugh, but rarely catch his show now. my relationship with dr. laura is love/hate. sometimes she is soooo right…and sometimes she is such a crazy wrong bitch.

for the drive home…i tune in (written as if i have to change the station or something) to for the people. you’ve heard me talk about it before…they let me guest blog there sometimes. i love tom and ryan’s show! it’s local, it’s pertinent and sometimes really stupid people call in. those are the best calls! just to be fair, they get some real smart homies on the phone, too.

paul absolutely hates talk radio. he knows when he drives my car that he’ll be changing the station or putting in a cd right after he turns the key. the kids aren’t fans either. they often (ok, always) complain “mom! you always have to listen to the news!! we HATE the news!” maybe i just can’t stand to listen to “i like to move it, move it” (from madagascar) one more time.

funny. i remember bitching about my dad always watching or listening to news when i was a kid. i just wanted some tunes or to watch something else entirely.

it’s 12:21 a.m. coast to coast is on. i am tired as hell, yet wide awake. please, please, please let this insomnia pass sooooon.

OH…and acuna won! they’ll be on the live and local stage at the big ass show on october 6! i’ll post more details later… thanks for all your votes!