RIP William F. Buckley Jr.

It's a sad day indeed. I don't even have the energy to go over to Huffington to see the hateful things they are most likely saying about him. No doubt the comments are closed over there, because that's how they hide what has actually been said. If you want you can look at the cached page on Google to see the comments.

RJ:

William F. Buckley Jr., the erudite Ivy Leaguer and conservative herald who showered huge and scornful words on liberalism as he observed, abetted and cheered on the right's post-World War II rise from the fringes to the White House, died Wednesday. He was 82.

His assistant Linda Bridges said Buckley was found dead by his cook at his home in Stamford, Conn. The cause of death was unknown, but he had been ill with emphysema, she said.

I wish all of his loved ones the best.

Another "Non Hate Crime" Against A White Guy

Click Picture To Watch

Yet another video to be used for recruitment by white supremacists.

There was apparently a dispute because of the small walk way in this store. We all know how that went down, but I'll leave it to your imagination. As this white guy was paying for his merchandise he was surrounded by a group of young black people. They were continuing to yell things at him while he was at the counter until he was finally sucker punched by a punk coward.

WCBSTV:

The unbelievable images show a shopper just trying to pay up at a corner deli, when out of nowhere he is laid out with a haymaker that conjures memories of a young Mike Tyson.

I don't know if it is more disturbing that the attack took place without any cries of this possibly being a hate crime, or the fact that the news seems so enamored with the way this guy was attacked. Why don't they use terms with a negative connotation like savage, cowardly, or vicious. Instead they use glorifying terms like comparing the attacker to a professional boxer, walloped, the pain, and fierce. Those are all terms we use for endearment ... not to describe a mugging. Which is exactly what this was ... a mugging.

The victim takes the brunt of the blow to the head and neck and goes sprawling to the floor. The assailant leaves, but some in his posse go over to the prone victim and take his money.

Absolutely disgusting that the media isn't portraying this for what it really is. A punk coward was too damn chicken to face this guy honorably, and decided to sneak around him to attack from behind. There wasn't any skill displayed here, and as a fighter I can say that with absolute moral authority. It was an amateur punch that was thrown sloppily. The only reason it was effective was that the victim didn't know it was coming, and it is easy to knock someone out when you attack them from behind and hit them on the side of the jawline. This attack hardly deserves to be compared with the skill of a former heavyweight champion.

Then there is this little tidbit which puts the worst of white racism on display as well. The difference is that they will call this racist, but they won't even investigate if the attack above was based on race.

NAACP Says Republicans Hate Black People

This story brings up the same warm and fuzzy feelings I got when Kanye West famously spewed butt vomit from his mouth about Katrina.

Here in Vegas we have a free "paper" called the CityLife. It's a typical free city paper ... full of liberals who don't think things through all the time, and advertisements for illegal sexual activity that the police never follow up on. I would like to point out that they have defended me in the past ... so they aren't all bad.

In their current addition there is a story titled "Why are you such a hater? NAACP ranks Nevada lawmakers' voting records. Guess who fails to make the grade?" The article deals with Republican lawmakers in Nevada, and how the NAACP rates their voting records. From the title you can easily see how this is going to play out.

This is how the article starts off:

REPUBLICANS USED TO like black people.

Emphasis NOT MINE.

It then goes on to lie about President Bush, and compare current Republicans with the Jim Crow Democrats. It's a very fun read if you like uneducated race baiting.

I decided that since the CityLife was quoting the NAACP's report, I should probably take a look at it myself. Even though I already knew what it said ... call it white man's intuition. You can find the report here.

It uses a standard grading system employed by most of our schools ... A-F. In the interest of time I will only address the Senate in this post. If you want to do further research on the members of congress you can start here.

Once I opened my list of members in the 110th Senate I began the slightly tedious task of seeing who failed according to the NAACP, and what their party affiliation was. To my utter lack of surprise the NAACP rated all but one Democrat (Johnson) with a passing grade, and all but two Republicans (Snowe, Specter) with failing grades. It should be noted that Snowe and Specter are what you would call faux Republicans. In other words they are mistakes that don't stand up for Republican issues. I would also like to point out the Senator Byrd was given a B by the NAACP, and he is a former klansman who still uses racial epithets.

Given that virtually all Democrats received passing grades, and virtually all Republicans received failing grades ... we must deduce that the NAACP is saying that virtually all Democrats like black people, and virtually all Republicans hate black people. It was also astounding how there were virtually no C average grades.

The NAACP's love 'em or hate 'em report falls well short of reason, and truthfulness. this is also a clear example of intentionally creating a biased "report" in order to fuel racism and hate. The issues the NAACP says they graded the politicians on were nearly all monetary in nature ... not racial. Some have said the hate crimes legislation is racial, but that is only partly true. Quite frankly, if you support hate crimes legislation you are more apt to be racist than those who oppose it. Why are the lives of certain races more valuable than the lives of others? If fact, the hate crimes legislation is in direct conflict with the principals the NAACP was founded upon. It only serves to divide the races ... not bring them together on a level playing field. On top of that, why would you want a third party deciding what is, and is not, a hate crime. Aren't all violent crimes hate crimes?

The truly sad part of the NAACP's arguments is that they seem to say that black people can't succeed without government help. Hardly empowering, or a vote of confidence on behalf of the black community in the United States. Just take a few minutes to read their report on the issues they wanted all members of congress to support, and then research those issues via a third party website like Gov Track or Vote Smart so you don't get biased interpretation of the legislation.

You'll notice that the legislation the NAACP supports suggests that you black folks out there can't succeed unless the government has some special program the help you out. In other words the NAACP thinks you are not self-sufficient, educated, or hard working. They don't seem the think you can't be successful unless you play sports. Republican lawmakers and myself give you far more credit. We also understand that the average black person doesn't walk around believing that all Republicans hate them, and all Democrats love them. Since we understand that, and you understand that ... maybe it's time to make the NAACP understand the same truth.

Hardest Hits In NFL History!

In honor of Pro Bowl weekend I figured I would add some vids to the site to bid farewell to football until next year. While it is nearly impossible to put something together with all of the great NFL hits ... this guy did a great job.

NFL's Greatest Hits

Also, in honor of the Redskins' Sean Taylor I figured I would post the official tribute the Redskins did for him. I felt this was important since the Redskins are all honoring him today by wearing his jersey number.



However, I will honor Taylor as a football player by posting his stellar Pro Bowl hit last year.

Sean Taylor Pro Bowl Hit

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BREAKING NEWS: Three Alarm Fire Is Destroying Monte Carlo Casino In Las Vegas. (I'm Live Blogging The Story Now)

Courtesy of AP
Great slide show of images from the fire ...

It is VERY bad, and it looks like the casino may be destroyed. The fire is burning in 3 sections of the hotel/casino, and it's burning both horizontally and vertically. There is also lots of reports that the building is falling apart, and there is debris falling off of the building. The authorities aren't saying much, but the fire is reportedly out of control. You can't access any of the news sites here in Vegas because of the traffic. You can go to KXNT.COM to listen to a live broadcast of what's happening right now.


UPDATE:

Fire spread to a 4th section of the Monte Carlo.

UPDATE:

It looks like the fire department is starting to win the battle against the fire. It is much better than it was even 10 minutes ago.


UPDATE:

So far, no injuries. We can't confirm if there are workers trapped on the roof, but it seems unlikely now. There are firefighters on the roof of the Monte Carlo right now.

UPDATE:

Only the Monte Carlo is being evacuated ... no other hotels have been evacuated as has been reported nationally.

The fire in the west wing is contained, and the fire department is reporting that the south wing is nearly contained.

There were welders on the roof of the Monte Carlo before the fire broke out. We don't know if they are responsible for the fire yet.

The wall burning on the roof is a protective wall that prevents people from jumping off the building. Several of the suites below that wall have been destroyed.


UPDATE:

There is an iconic image on the TV right now. A firefighter is standing on a balcony breaking the door in from the outside while he is completely surrounded by flames on both sides and above him. Part of the frame of the suite collapsed around him, but he is ok. I'll try to find the image to post it.

UPDATE:

The fire is under control right now. The local CBS station (lasvegasnow.com) is ripping our local Fox affiliate (fox5vegas.com) for spreading doomsday rumors about mass evacuations at other casinos that was picked up nationally.

This was a bad fire that spread quickly in less than an hour, but Vegas has the nation's toughest fire codes. Fire walls are built in between floors to prevent fires from spreading, and our fire department deserves great praise for their reaction to the fire. It is a real testament to their professionalism, courage, and ability.

UPDATE:

Local CBS is citing an AP report that the rumors of the trapped employees was false.

The fire department will hold a press conference in a few minutes.

UPDATE:

Reports are coming in that the firefighters were focussed on battling the blaze on the 29th floor.

UPDATE:

Earlier I told you that local CBS ripped local Fox affiliate for false reporting. Local CBS then read an AP article that their were NO WORKERS trapped on the roof. However, the local Fox channel is saying they were rescued. We'll find out which is true when the fire department gives its press conference.

UPDATE:

Reporters are able to interview witnesses now on the ground, and they are stunned that the fire department was able to put the fire out. The pictures you see above and that you'll see in the next couple of days will not do the fire justice. Everything that is black in the pictures was at one point completely engulfed in flames. This fire burned very hot.

UPDATE:

Experts are saying that the fire looks worse than it actually ended up being, and that most of the damage is on the exterior of the building. I'm not so sure of that. I saw several suites burning on the inside of the building.

UPDATE:

One man hid inside a freezer for a couple of hours until the fire was under control.

UPDATE:

Fire Chief Steve Smith has given his press conference and he went over how many fire fighters responded (25 apparatuses), the evacuation, fire on upper floors, it was an exterior fire ... the fire did not penetrate far into the building, no rooms were completely destroyed (guess I was wrong), fire not completely out ... in a state of "knockdown", no injuries or casualties at all, was not an easy fire to deal with (they just made it look that way), stay off the strip, still investigating cause.

No word yet on whether workers were rescued or if it was false report.

UPDATE:

We have 4 local news channels here - 3, 5, 8, and 13. All are still reporting on the fire except for channel 3 who has gone back to running Days of Our Lives ... too funny.

UPDATE:

Oh great, the reporters are starting in with the 9/11 comparisons. They are saying that the firefighters "no doubt" thought about 9/11 as they were rushing up the stairs of the Monte Carlo. Give me a break.

UPDATE:

When the flames first started the patrons were not told to evacuate even though everyone heard fire alarms. The saw their resort on fire on the TVs and decided to evacuate on their own. The casino workers said they were investigating why the alarms were going off, but that everyone was safe. As the fire spread an official evacuation was ordered for the whole resort, and there was a problem with getting some gamblers away from their machines.

Everything is in mop up right now, and appears to be over. I'll continue to look for that image I told you about earlier, and confirmation on if anyone was ever trapped.

UPDATE: Heath Ledger Funeral To Be Protested, NOT A Suicide

As I suspected yesterday, Heath did not commit suicide. At least according to the police and his family. I'm surprised everyone jumped all over that theory anyway. Whenever I hear of an overdose or suicide in which the pills were strewn all around the body I'm skeptical.

We were hoping to get more with the autopsy. As a side note, did you notice how quick we had an autopsy on Ledger as compared to Anna Nicole? Too bad the autopsy came back inconclusive, and more tests need to be done.

The most disturbing of the developments today is that the Westboro Baptist Church (known for protesting the funerals of US troops) will protest Ledger's funeral because of his role in Brokeback Mountain. Below is the flier from the "church."