The first quarter of 2012 is now in the books. A few observations follow concerning the state of things:
# The Trayvon Martin story gets more convoluted with each passing day. The more we learn, the more confused we get. However, two things are certain, and I believe I made this observation in my first blog on the subject. If Trayvon were white, an arrest would have been made by now, and if Trayvon's killer had been black, we wouldn't even be talking about this story because there would be no story. Oh, and what is a "white-hispanic"? I can honestly say I've never heard of such a designation before this case. I assume that because Zimmerman has a white father and an Hispanic mother, he is a "white-hispanic"? But by this logic, President Obama should be referred to as a "white-african-american", shouldn't he? The cynic in me thinks that the New York Times chose this new locution because the story wouldn't have had the same zing if the killer were "only" Hispanic. Then it would have been just another minority killing another minority which happens literally every day without comment. But, throw the "white" tag in front of Hispanic and BAMM...you've got yourself a full-throated front page screamer, complete with marches, boycotts, and bounties. One little 5 letter word. Now the most dangerous place in America to find yourself is between Al Sharpton and a TV camera.
# Tonight the University of Kentucky plays Louisville for a chance to play for the National Title. Two schools from the same state, both with rich basketball tradition, and both with seriously flawed head coaches. Just three years ago Rick Pitino was going through a sex scandal involving lots of lying, hypocrisy and extortion. Good old Rick, the devout Catholic family man caught having sex with a woman not his wife in a booth at a public restaurant. Then, there's John Calipari, he of the vacated wins at Memphis, he of multiple recruiting violations and phony SAT tests and a graduation rate of .087%. These two guys make it hard for Italian Americans to overcome Mob stereotypes. One of these two guys needs to make the other an offer he can't refuse. Don't be surprised if at halftime of tonight's game, a star player gets whacked.
#There's a huge thing at my house this afternoon. A wedding shower. The house is decorated in pastels and there's frilly stuff everywhere. It's for Meghan Kees. Her, Kaitlyn Burton, Arika Aker and my daughter were the four amigos all through high school. Now, Arika's married, and Meghan is having a wedding shower in my house. Watching these girls grow up has been a wondrous sight to behold. They are all so mature and adult-like. Hard to believe that what seems like a few months ago they were lounging around in their pajamas in my living room watching Dawson Creek marathons, trying to eat pop-corn in braces. Now look at them. Beautiful, smart, and getting serious about life. Well done.
# The new furniture is beautiful and the house looks great, but a bit like a house that should belong to someone else. I look at the new sofa, the rich dark wood, the grownup kitchen table and wonder what hotel suite we're in. Pam bought a shag rug to put under it all. Looks great. I'll feel better once I spill something and get that out of the way.
# The Trayvon Martin story gets more convoluted with each passing day. The more we learn, the more confused we get. However, two things are certain, and I believe I made this observation in my first blog on the subject. If Trayvon were white, an arrest would have been made by now, and if Trayvon's killer had been black, we wouldn't even be talking about this story because there would be no story. Oh, and what is a "white-hispanic"? I can honestly say I've never heard of such a designation before this case. I assume that because Zimmerman has a white father and an Hispanic mother, he is a "white-hispanic"? But by this logic, President Obama should be referred to as a "white-african-american", shouldn't he? The cynic in me thinks that the New York Times chose this new locution because the story wouldn't have had the same zing if the killer were "only" Hispanic. Then it would have been just another minority killing another minority which happens literally every day without comment. But, throw the "white" tag in front of Hispanic and BAMM...you've got yourself a full-throated front page screamer, complete with marches, boycotts, and bounties. One little 5 letter word. Now the most dangerous place in America to find yourself is between Al Sharpton and a TV camera.
# Tonight the University of Kentucky plays Louisville for a chance to play for the National Title. Two schools from the same state, both with rich basketball tradition, and both with seriously flawed head coaches. Just three years ago Rick Pitino was going through a sex scandal involving lots of lying, hypocrisy and extortion. Good old Rick, the devout Catholic family man caught having sex with a woman not his wife in a booth at a public restaurant. Then, there's John Calipari, he of the vacated wins at Memphis, he of multiple recruiting violations and phony SAT tests and a graduation rate of .087%. These two guys make it hard for Italian Americans to overcome Mob stereotypes. One of these two guys needs to make the other an offer he can't refuse. Don't be surprised if at halftime of tonight's game, a star player gets whacked.
#There's a huge thing at my house this afternoon. A wedding shower. The house is decorated in pastels and there's frilly stuff everywhere. It's for Meghan Kees. Her, Kaitlyn Burton, Arika Aker and my daughter were the four amigos all through high school. Now, Arika's married, and Meghan is having a wedding shower in my house. Watching these girls grow up has been a wondrous sight to behold. They are all so mature and adult-like. Hard to believe that what seems like a few months ago they were lounging around in their pajamas in my living room watching Dawson Creek marathons, trying to eat pop-corn in braces. Now look at them. Beautiful, smart, and getting serious about life. Well done.
# The new furniture is beautiful and the house looks great, but a bit like a house that should belong to someone else. I look at the new sofa, the rich dark wood, the grownup kitchen table and wonder what hotel suite we're in. Pam bought a shag rug to put under it all. Looks great. I'll feel better once I spill something and get that out of the way.
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