Year: 2015

Categories
Sports

Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao – “You Can’t Fight The Wind”

So I watched the Floyd Mayweather / Manny Pacquiao fight last night and when it was all over, there were lots of shouting and disbelief over the fight itself and its outcome.

You see, I was the only one in the room of 7 people who wanted Mayweather to win. Now let me explain. I am not a fan of Mayweather. If I had to choose who the better human was between Mayweather and Pacquiao, I’ll definitely pick Pacquiao. Pacquiao is all about helping the people of his country while Mayweather is all about helping… Mayweather. But last night was not about being the better human, it was about being the better and smarter fighter. So that’s why I thought Mayweather was going to take it.

Pacquiao walked out to the ring all smiles. At one point, he even stopped and took a selfie, a move the other people in the room saw as a man of confidence. I took the smiles and selfie move as a man who was concerned he was going up against a fighter who had never been defeated. The smiles and selfie I thought, were just Pacquiao’s way of masking his real concerns.

Mayweather on the other hand walked out to the ring all serious, no smiles, no selfie. To me, I took that as a man on a mission, a man who was focus on getting the job done. The other people in the room contrasted Mayweather’s demeanor with that of Pacquiao and concluded Mayweather’s seriousness was because he was concerned. “Mayweather,” they said, “had never had a fighter like Pacquiao and he was afraid of being hit, afraid of losing.”

Then the fight began and Pacquiao did what everyone expected him to do. He went at Mayweather. Pacquiao fought for the people, he tried to give the audience what they paid for. Pacquiao was aggressive and went for the knockout on multiple occasions. But Mayweather was not cooperating to the dismay of the other people in the room with me.

Mayweather did his homework. He knew that going toe-to-toe with Pacquiao would result to a loss. Pacquiao is a brawler in the ring and standing in front of him taking punches and jabs is no way to win a fight. So Mayweather allowed Pacquiao to stay in attack mode from the first round to the last. Mayweather’s only hope was to avoid getting hit while landing some timely punches, and that he did.

In the end, Mayweather was a runner. He spent a lot of time on the ropes trying to get away from the attacking Pacquiao. Needless to say, the people in the room with me were all screaming at the screen, calling Mayweather all sorts of names and totally expressing their frustrations at him for running. But these people, and millions more around the world who felt disappointed by Mayweather’s technique, clearly missed one important aspect of boxing – Defense, the art of avoiding getting hit the best way you can!

At the end of the 12 rounds, Mayweather was called the winner and the room erupted in more screams and disbelief. These people couldn’t understand what had just happened. They saw Pacquiao in attack mode for 12 rounds and they saw Mayweather playing defense the whole time, so as far as they were concerned, Pacquiao won. They couldn’t understand how Mayweather got the win. Then this statistic was shown on the screen – Mayweather landed more punches than Pacquiao.

Pacquiao threw 429 punches, landed 81 for a 19% effective rate. Mayweather threw 435 punches, landed 149 for a 34% effective rate.

Seeing this, I asked the disbelievers in the room, “why do you guys think Pacquiao won when he threw less and landed less punches than Mayweather?”

I got this angry answer in response: “You can’t fight the wind!”

Yes indeed! Yes indeed!

Categories
Politics

GoFundMe Shuts Down Fundraising Page for Baltimore Police Officers

The crowdfunding service, GoFundMe shut down a page dedicated to raising $600,000 for the six police officers charged with the death of Baltimore’s Freddie Gray yesterday.

Shortly after the charges were levied against the six officers, the Baltimore Police Union began the page with the intent of raising the cash for the officers’ “living and legal expenses.” But the page was quickly shut down about 40 minutes after the charges were announced because, according to the company, the page violated the company’s terms of use.

“GoFundMe removed the fundraising campaign created for the Baltimore police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray,” company spokeswoman Kelsea Little said Friday.
“GoFundMe cannot be used to benefit those who are charged with serious violations of the law,” she said. “The campaign clearly stated that the money raised would be used to assist the officers with their legal fees, which is in direct violation of GoFundMe’s terms.”
“Specifically, ‘campaigns in defense of formal charges or claims of heinous crimes, violent, hateful, sexual or discriminatory acts’ are not permitted on GoFundMe,” she added.
Categories
Racial profiling

Freddie Gray’s Mother – “You can rest, Freddie. You can rest. You can be in peace now”

An autopsy ruled his death a homicide and earlier today, the six officers involved in the death of Baltimore’s Freddie Gray, found out that they will all be formally charged with his death.

After hearing of the impending charges against all the officers, Freddie Gray’s mother, Gloria Darden, expressed joy in hearing the news.

“I feel good because we got all six of them,” Darden told BuzzFeed shortly after the Baltimore state’s attorney announced charges against the six police officers on Friday.

“You can rest, Freddie. You can rest. You can be in peace now,” Darden added.

Gray suffered a severed spine while on police custody. His death triggered protests and riots on the streets of Baltimore.

Categories
Politics

Chris Christie Official Admits – Closing the Bridge Was a Revenge Move Against Fort Lee Mayor

David Wildstein, the former Port Authority Executive appointed by New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie, finally admitted what the rest of the country already knew, that lanes on the world-famous George Washington Bridge was intentionally closed to spite the mayor of Fort Lee for not endorsing Chris Christie’s 2013 bid for governor.

According to reporting by The New York Times, other Christie administration officials are also expected to be indicted in the Bridge-Gate Plot that brought the bridge and other areas in Fort Lee to a stand still. These officials include Christie’s former Chief of Staff Bridget Kelly and a Christie appointee at the Port Authority, Bill Baroni.

Meanwhile, Chris Christie, the governor who claimed he had no clue what was happening right under his nose in his own administration, is seriously considering a run for president… seriously!

Categories
Racial profiling

Police Officers Charged in The Murder of Freddie Gray

Marilyn Mosby, Baltimore state's attorney, speaks during a media availability, Friday, May 1, 2015 in Baltimore. Mosby announced criminal charges against all six officers suspended after Freddie Gray suffered a fatal spinal injury while in police custody. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Marilyn Mosby, Baltimore state’s attorney, speaks during a media availability, Friday, May 1, 2015 in Baltimore. Mosby announced criminal charges against all six officers suspended after Freddie Gray suffered a fatal spinal injury while in police custody. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

This is not a win for anybody. This is just a starting point in holding those who use the badge to kill others accountable for their actions. In other words, this is justice. You kill someone, let a judge and jury decide the outcome, not the police union.

Baltimore’s State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced Friday morning that several officers involved in the death of Freddie Gray will face homicide charges.

“To the people of Baltimore and the demonstrators across America, I heard your call for ‘no justice, no peace.’ Your peace is sincerely needed as I work to deliver justice on behalf of this young man,” she said.

Six Baltimore police officers have been criminally charged: Officer Caesar Goodson, Officer William Porter, Lt. Brian Rice, Officer Edward Nero, Officer Garrett Miller and Sgt. Alicia White.

The charges, which vary for each person, include second-degree murder, manslaughter, misconduct in office and false imprisonment.

Goodson faces second-degree depraved heart murder, which indicates a “callous disregard for the value of human life.”

“I hope that as we move forward with this case, everyone will respect due process and refrain from doing anything that will jeopardize our ability to seek justice,” Mosby said.

Categories
Sports

Mike Tyson on Floyd Mayweather – “He’s a Scared Little Man” – Video

Shut up! Mike Tyson has something to say about Floyd Mayweather!

“He’s a scared man,” Mike said when asked about Mayweather’s comments about Muhammad Ali. “He’s very delusional.”

Tyson cintinued dissecting Mayweather.

Listen, if he was anywhere near that realm of greatness with Ali he’d be able to take his kids to school by himself. He can’t take his kids to school by himself, and he’s talking about he’s great? Greatness is not guarding yourself from the people, greatness is being accepted by the people. He can’t take his kids alone to school by himself.

Video

Categories
Celebrities Entertainment murder

Suge Knight Pleads Not Guilty to Murder

Former Death Row Records chief Marion “Suge” Knight has pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges in connection to an incident where he ran over two men in January, killing one. He also faces charges of attempted murder and hit-and-run.

CNN reports that Los Angeles County Judge Ronald Coen placed his bail at $10 million. Knight faces a life sentence if convicted.

Categories
Politics

Laughable – Report that Freddie Gray was “intentionally trying to injure himself,”

Now how in the world is this even possible? That Freddie Gray, the man handcuffed by Baltimore police and had to be taken to a police vehicle screaming in pain because he was physically unable to use his legs… how is it even possible that he was inside the vehicle, he was “intentionally trying to injure himself?”

This one does not pass the smell test.

A prisoner sharing a police van with Freddie Gray the night he died of spinal injuries while in police custody in Baltimore purportedly told investigators that Gray was “banging against walls” inside the vehicle and was “intentionally trying to injure himself,” The Washington Post reported Thursday.

The statement from the unidentified prisoner was contained in an application for a search warrant, the newspaper said. The warrant has been sealed by the court, but the Post said it had obtained the documents under the condition that the prisoner not be named.

The newspaper noted that the prisoner, al though sharing the police van, was separated from Gray by a metal partition and could not see him.

Police had weeks since Gray’s death to come up with a better story, you’d think they’ll have something better than this.

Categories
Politics Unemployment

Jobless Claims Fall to Lowest Levels in Last 15 Years

Your Thursday morning dose of good news.

First-time filings for unemployment insurance fell by 34,000 to 262,000 in the week ended April 25, the lowest since April 15, 2000, a Labor Department report showed Thursday in Washington. The figure was smaller than the lowest projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

With job openings at a 14-year high and prospects for stronger growth after the first-quarter setback, companies are intent on maintaining headcounts. The level of firings is consistent the Federal Reserve’s view of sustained progress in the job market.

“Claims have been quite steady, remaining below this key level of 300,000,” Thomas Costerg, an economist at Standard Chartered Bank in New York, said before the report. “The U.S. labor market is in good shape and has been quite resilient.”

The median forecast of 50 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for 290,000, with estimates ranging from 275,000 to 300,000. Claims in the prior week were revised to 296,000 from an initially reported 295,000.

Categories
Politics

Police: No Public Announcement on Freddie Gray’s Death on Friday

Freddie Gray died on April 19th after being in police custody where it was eventually determined that his spine somehow became 80% severed. After his death, the word from police indicated that on Friday, May 1st, there will be answers on what exactly happened to Freddie Gray. But now, just two days before that information is supposed to be released, Baltimore City police Capt. Eric Kowalczyk said that report will not be made public.

“What we are going to do, which is unique, is turn over all of our findings, all of our investigative efforts to the State’s Attorney’s Office,” Kowalczyk said. “We have an obligation to be accountable to the people of Baltimore in this investigation. We know that there are a lot of people who want answers who have concerns they want addressed and we have an obligation to do our best to be accountable.”

However, Kowalczyk said because the integrity of the investigation has to be protected, “We cannot release all the information from the investigation to the public.” He said in being held accountable with the state’s attorney, the Police Department would be accountable to the public.”

Categories
Politics

Republican Lawmaker – Riot in Baltimore is Because of Gay Marriage – Audio

While discussing the decay of society because of gay people getting married, a Texas House Republican lawmaker dropped this little nugget on Wednesday while talking to Tony Perkins of the very conservative Family Research Council…

But before I expose the nugget, a little background. The fight going on at the Supreme Court these days is whether gays or LGBT people should have the right to marry each other. No question where Perkins stand on this issue as he flatly chalks up much of the problems in today’s society to the breakdown of traditional marriage and families.

“A lot of these problems are created by the breakdown of the family, which the redefinition of would only accelerate,” Perkins said.

That’s when the Texas Republican lawmaker, Bill Flores, offered his two cents.

“You’re exactly right, Tony,” Flores said. “Let’s talk about poverty for instance… The single best indicator of whether or not a child is going to be in poverty or not is whether or not they were raised by a two-parent household or a single-parent household. And so the breakdown of the family has contributed to poverty.”

He continued;

“You look at what’s going on in Baltimore today, you know, you see issues that are raised there. And healthy marriages are the ones between a man and a woman because they can have a healthy family and they can raise children in the way that’s best for their future, not only socially but psychologically, economically, from a health perspective.”

“There’s just nothing like traditional marriage that does that.”

Audio

Categories
Politics pope francis

Pope Francis Calls for Equal Pay for Women

Once again,  those in the Republican party are on the wrong side of the issue. Especially those who call themselves “Christian Conservatives.” It is no news to anyone that today’s Republicans strongly reject equal pay for women. They have actually gone on record crying foul at the president for his support of equal pay. And now,  even the Pope is siding with the President, and calling for equal pay for equal work for women.

Pope Francis on Wednesday made an impassioned plea for an end to the salary gap between men and women, calling it “a scandal” that Christians should decisively reject.

“Why is it taken for granted that women must earn less than men? No! They have the same rights. The discrepancy is a pure scandal,” he told tens of thousands of people at his general audience in St. Peter’s Square.

Raising his voice for emphasis as he made some of his most forceful remarks on the subject to date, he said Christians should “decisively support the right to equal pay for equal work.”

Women in the European Union were paid 16.4 percent less than men on average in 2013, according to statistics agency Eurostat. United States Census Bureau data indicate women earn 77 cents for every dollar a man earns, based on annual median salaries.

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