Kevin Marshall's America
I’m sickened by the coverage of what’s being termed a nuclear crisis in Japan, but it’s not from worry. It’s from a media and specific journalists that are sensationalizing this story at the expense of science, logic, and the Japanese people.
If you were to read news articles like most people read news articles – a quick glance at a headline and skimming of the first couple paragraphs – you’d be under the impression that Japan was about to become an uninhabitable, permanently irradiated wasteland. However, according to all legitimate scientists in the field and various other outlets, that simply isn’t the case.
That’s not to say there isn’t cause for concern. The situation is not good. However, the mainstream media in the U.S. has contributed to a certain level of unnecessary and unfounded panic surrounding certain developments. There are facts and there are uncertainties, but the two have been lost in the confusion that has resulted from the perpetual feeding frenzy the media has been engaged in since the waves of the tsunami crested.
The latest occurred last night, when news broke that the remaining workers at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant had been evacuated because radiation levels had become too high. As it turns out, it was only while levels spiked, and the workers returned after an hour.
However, unlike the brave 50 who have remained behind to contain the damage despite the risk to their own health and lives, MSNBC (among other outlets) did little to quell the fire.
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This morning, at 7:30am, this blog (formerly known as “Kevin Marshall: In the Present Tense” as an ode to a line uttered in a Mr. Show skit) turned one year old.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BLOG, YOU THING THAT CAN’T APPRECIATE ME WISHING IT A HAPPY BIRTHDAY
UFC President Dana White is in Albany today to meet with legislators and promote the sport in an attempt to get it legalized in New York State.
White is joined by MMA and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu pioneer Renzo Gracie, UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar, and Utica resident and UFC middleweight contender Matt Hamill (who despite being deaf from birth has been a contender in two different weight classes).
At 3:00pm, all will be present at the Albany Armory to address the media and present a technique clinic for area students and others.
This marks the first time to my knowledge that the UFC has been a presence in the area. In recent years the sport has gone from niche interest to explode into the mainstream, generating millions in pay-per-view buys and becoming one of the top sports in the country.
MMA’s primary opposition in New York State is longtime New York State legislator Bob Reilly, who has used his position on the State Tourism & Gaming Committee to block MMA at all passes. His confounding statements against the sport have continued despite facts to the contrary, and who also thinks boxing itself has gotten too violent.
Unfortunately, since I work a 9 to 5 and also receive money as an occasional contributor to UFC.com, I can’t be present to provide coverage as media. I urged the Times Union yesterday to send a representative to cover the event, but have yet to hear back as to whether or not that’s going to happen. The impression I was given is that it didn’t seem likely, which is a real shame since it’s rare a sports figure as prominent as White visits the area, especially on the heels of UFC’s acquisition of Strikeforce this past weekend, which further tightened the vice clamp the UFC has on MMA in North America. Hopefully they’ve reconsidered.
The Press Release provided by the UFC is after the cut.
According to some, she deserves this agony.
Reader GenWar linked me to one of many articles I’ve seen lately that I’ve found disturbing and, as an American, a bit embarrassing. It concerns the reaction some have had to the disaster in Japan, this time coming from WNBA guard Cappie Pondexter:
“What if God was tired of the way they treated their own people in there own country! Idk guys he makes no mistakes,” the guard, now with the WNBA’s New York Liberty, tweeted on her account, cappa23.
“u just never knw!” she Tweeted later on. “They did pearl harbor so u can’t expect anything less.”
It’s not a sentiment that Pondexter is alone in. A glance on many Facebook walls and Twitter feeds will show the same sentiment being expressed ad nauseam, some of which have been collected on various websites for posterity.
There’s also Gilbert Gottfried, whose tweeted joke about the disaster resulted in his dismissal as the voice of the AFLAC duck, which was the one thing keeping him in the limelight (since it clearly wasn’t his material).
The amazement I have with this reaction is two-fold: that people whose parents weren’t even alive when Pearl Harbor happened still harbor resentment towards them for it, and also that they’d be stupid enough to share this with anyone – let alone on a public forum – while the body count continues to climb.
So what exactly for these people are the statute of limitations? What’s the statute of limitations? Will we refuse help for England because of the revolution? Do we look past a disaster in our own soil because it’s in the South, which once seceded from our Union?
It was sixty years ago. It was another time. It was a completely different world.
There can’t be an excuse for this behavior. It’s ugly, wrong-headed, and monstrous, and anyone harboring those sentiments at this time needs to do some very deep soul-searching.
Well, let me be your Catholic Priest, except instead of advising you to recite thirteen Hail Marys, I’m asking you to give $20 (or whatever you can afford) to any of the following organizations helping out with the relief:
Your conscience requires it.
And if you’re not one of those select few, why not donate anyway to show the world that Americans are better than that?
Good morning! Here’s something awful.
A few things…
1. I no longer think “God, I can’t wait until Friday.” Instead, I trudge through my work week with the constant fear that Friday is coming; that terrible day where people just say all the things that are happening and auto-tune everything to death.
2. Did Rebecca Black write these lyrics herself? If not, who did, and is that person going to come forward or do we need to find him/her?
3. Why is she waiting for the bus if her friends are picking her up? Why didn’t they offer her a ride in the first place? Did they steal that car?
4. When you can’t auto-tune somebody into hitting the right notes, then maybe they shouldn’t sing.
5. Who’s the grown-ass man rapping in the car at the 2:30 mark? She’s just a child, likely pushed into this hideous project by an overbearing parent(s). What’s your excuse? Shame on you, sir.
6. IT’S FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY
7. PARTYIN’ PARTYIN’
8. FUN FUN FUN FUN
The music video is put out by The Ark Music Factory, an independent music label that specializes in what can generously described as auditory terror. The label specializes in young (pre-)teen girls, and also has that one rapper (“Pato”) that shows up in the above video and just wraps about school buses and stuff.
Suddenly, what the SUNY Albany kids did doesn’t seem that bad.
Some updates and further info on the fallout from Saturday morning’s Kegg and Eggs riot.
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The President of SUNY Albany released a statement (see comment #167; thanks to reader fma). In it, he (of course) condemned the actions of the students involved in the rioting and expressed his displeasure that the administration’s letter “urging responsible behavior on this specific weekend” went unheeded, adding that the events “reflect unfavorably on the entire student body and diminish the hard work of all the students who contribute positively to the quality of life in their Albany neighborhoods.”
He also noted that there will be a “UAlbany in the Community” celebration on March 18th to cite those students who lend a hand to make Albany a better place.
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David Soares and Albany Police Chief Steve Krokoff held a very stern press conference letting people know that further arrests and investigations will occur. SUNY Albany and St. Rose officials were also present. Krokoff noted that the YouTube videos were of great assistance.
Also, here’s a fantastic picture of David Soares looking really, really mad, with an old internet joke thrown in because…well, I just had to:
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One of the six students arrested by the Albany Police Saturday morning, Sebastien Niec, claims he was blocks away from the incident and only showed up to make sure his girlfriend was safe. Niec, who thinks you’re an idiot, told WNYT the following:
“I just wanted to know for my safety, for my girlfriend’s safety, I want to know what’s going on down this street. Because I was two blocks from the riot…I wasn’t involved in it. I was by myself and the officers said, I’ll give you three chances to walk away. And they arrested me.”
Those darn Albany cops, always saying they’ll give you three chances to walk away and then immediately arresting you.
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As of this writing, is too early in the week for kegs and too late in the day for eggs.
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The list of those arrested so far:
- Sebastian Niec, 23: Disorderly conduct.
- Samantha Cohen, 20: Assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest, obstruction
- Carl Petrucelli, 21: Criminal possession of a weapon, rioting, resisting arrest, reckless endangerment.
- Joseph Almazon, 21: Criminal possession of a weapon, rioting, resisting arrest, reckless endangerment.
- Patrick Fries, 21: Assaulting an officer, rioting, resisting arrest, criminal possession of a weapon, reckless endangerment.
- Andrew Sherman, 22: Unnecessary noise (seriously).
Interesting to note that with one exception, all are of legal drinking age.
Daniel Nester has posted mugshots of The Kegs and Eggs Six over at his TU blog.
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For a SUNY Albany student perspective, “This is College?!” blogger Ethan Kaiser has given his two cents on the matter.
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A concerned citizen and advocate by the name of LeeFrances Sweet has organized a neighborhood clean-up for this Friday, March 18th, from 12:30pm until 5:00pm. You can find more details on the Facebook event page.
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After I got home tonight from my workout at NY Boxing in Cohoes, I knocked something off my desk and yelled out “kegs and eggs!” It was both exhilarating and liberating, like the moment where Ed Norton gets into his first fistfight with Brad Pitt in “Fight Club.”
I totally get it now.
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Lastly, I cannot stress enough that despite what I feel is an overwhelming lack of respect shown to the area and its residents from many out-of-towners, there are those students who try to make a positive difference in the community and won’t try to flip over your car (and fail because they have absolutely no core strength).
Some of these have graduated, stayed in the area, and blog over at Keep Albany Boring which has been a great resource. They and other students who work hard to ingratiate themselves into our community deserve our respect, support, and appreciation. I’ve talked to several of them over the course of the last couple of days, and believe me, their dismay is every bit as great and genuine as ours has been during this miniature crisis.
And I do mean miniature.
Today, half a world away, hundreds of bodies washed ashore along the coast of Japan, bringing the death toll to a staggering figure hundreds of times greater than initially thought.
We have a problem. There isn’t a word for what’s happening over there.
Students trash one of many cars damaged during the Saturday morning riots in Albany. (image capture from YouTube)
I wish the subject of this blog post was a joke, but sadly it isn’t.
Last night, local blog Keep Albany Boring (a blog maintained by college students who double as area boosters) collected videos posted on YouTube of the rioting that occurred Saturday morning in the wake of a conglomeration of Kegs & Eggs parties on Hudson Street in Albany.
When I went to college, I heard no shortage of complaints from students about “townies” and how dangerous the area was in contrast to their Long Island homes and neighborhoods. The statements carried with them a sense of superiority that conveyed what they felt was a clear class distinction between themselves, the out-of-town college students, and homegrown locals.
Yet time and again, we see the more disruptive and destructive behavior in area neighborhoods being committed by many of those very same students.
There is a very real and direct correlation between the lack of respect shown to the area in terms such as “Troylet” and “student ghetto” and the lack of respect that kids such as the ones in these videos have for the property and neighborhoods in this area. In their mind there is no emotional investment or sense of civic responsibility, because they’re only blowing through until (if) they receive a bachelor’s degree. Albany, Troy, Schenectady, and other municipalities in the area are seen as a playground for entitled youth and treated like a cheap hotel room.
Students flee after two other students emerge from their residence to stop the vandals from incurring further damage. (image capture from YouTube)
I’m not sure where exactly the answer lies, but I’m guessing it’s a combination of conscious efforts on behalf of the educational institutions in the area to instill a sense of respect for the community upon arrival and the responsibility of fellow students to speak out and not simply be bystanders recording the mayhem on their cameras and cellphones. There is also, perhaps, a responsibility on behalf of the Albany District Attorney’s office to throw the proverbial book at the offenders and not cut them a deal simply because the perpetrators are of a different societal class and designation from what’s perceived to be the norm.
Regardless, it’s a situation that’s not getting any better, and it needs to stop.
If you’re a local college student and you’re offended by reading this: good. Let me know that you don’t appreciate being lumped into this group. This way myself, and all those reading, will know that this is a problem with a very specific subsection of the student body. It’ll also tell us that there is a way to avoid this happening in the future, and that we all take this issue very seriously.
After the cut: some close-up pictures of the vandalism and the perpetrators, taken from the YouTube videos posted this weekend.
Author Maureen Johnson has set up a fund online HERE to help out with aid for victims of the Japanese tsunami. Please give your support.
This week – to meat or not to meat, dog pee, and the end times. This…is Blogorama.
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WE’RE YOUR SOURCE: This Week on the Times Union Blogs
Venturing into the Meat-Less World (Animal Rights)
No more Cap’n Crunch? (Chuck Miller)
Do you have a dog pee stain on your lawn in the shape of Elvis? (Dog Owned Life)
A (bout) day in the life (Roller Derby / Flexi Wheeler)
Great news for amateur boxing: new scoring system (Boxing in the Capital Region)
How to BS an essay (This is College?! / Samantha Brierley)
ARA: is the end of the world near? (Rev. Alan Rudnick)
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IN OUR AREA CODE
- Be nice, please. (All Over Albany)
- From the Department of Terrible Acronyms (Keyboard Krumbs)
- Once snow, now melt: video of the Cohoes Falls (All Over Albany)
- Hellions of Troy traveling to Montreal (Hellions of Troy blog)
- Boston Reunion (Alan Ilagan)
MEANWHILE, IN THE REST OF THE WORLD…
- “Red Riding Hood” and the gripping jaws of sexless teens (The Awl)
- Propagating waves (Discover Blogs)
- The Situation booed off stage at Donald Trump Roast (The Superficial)
- Love, sex and death: “Eyes Wide Shut” (Sunset Gun)
- Blocked Off (The New Republic)
- 2 years later, we finally (maybe) have Klitschko/Haye (DKY: Sports)
MMA
- Japanese fighters OK after massive quake (MMAFighting.com)
- Wanderlei Silva is back! Training comp/retrospective video (YouTube)
- Cases of good judgement & bad judgement in MMA (Fight Opinion)
- Performance enhancement surgery (!) comes to MMA (MMAfighting.com)
Got links? Share ‘em.
Image via Wikipedia
Zuffa – the parent company of Ultimate Fighting Championships – has purchased its primary rival in North America, the San Jose based fighting promotion Strikeforce.
According to a twenty-minute interview with MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani, the deal happened very quickly and was finalized just this morning. Rather than immediate absorption, White says that Strikeforce is going to run “business as usual” and that head honcho Scott Coker has also been acquired to maintain his dealings with the promotion.
White is scheduled to be in Albany, NY next week to meet with lawmakers to try to get MMA legalized in New York State, one of only a few left in the nation with an Athletic Commission that prohibits the sport.
White acknowledged that Strikeforce was providing a product that has an enthusiastic fanbase, but cites the primary reason of the purchase as the UFC’s forthcoming international expansion.
“We need more fights,” he told Helwani.
Continue reading »
Get excited, Peter King has a new novel coming out!
As mentioned in yesterday’s blog post, Peter King is not only a Congressman, but also a published writer of fiction. His 2004 novel Vale of Secrets is a political thriller about a Congressman named Sean Cross, who unveils a web of lies and deceit that exposes a terrorist organization and its ties to the IRA.
The novel is somewhat autobiographical. The protagonist is unashamedly based on Cross, even at one point admitting to his former association with the IRA and clumsily explaining away the discrepancy by claiming he never knew the extent of their actions, then further distancing himself from them by establishing an alliance (in the novel) with al Qaeda.
America begged for a sequel, and it looks like it’s going to get it.
Like the “Law and Order” franchise, King’s prose is lifted from the headlines and his latest is no different. I’m pleased to announce that I not only have a full manuscript of his upcoming book The Cross Examination, but I’m going to unveil the exciting and thrilling final pages of the book right here in this blog!
So without further adieu, the thrilling conclusion of The Cross Examination, where we find our hero Sean Cross heading up a Congressional hearing and coming face to face with one of his main political adversaries…Sheriff Bill Bocca of Los Angeles County, a terrorist sympathizer who may not be who he says he is!
Read on…
STALK ME
