Thoughts, Ramblings, & Misunderstandings

You probably recognize at least one of the guys in the picture above. You probably remember that one of them was sent to prison for dog fighting and other related charges. You probably remember that only 19 months out of the 23 sentenced were served. This man is Michael Vick.

What you probably don’t remember is that the guy you don’t recognize is also an NFL player since 1998. What you also don’t remember is that he was sentenced to 90 days in jail, not prison, for manslaughter. Yes he killed a woman while he was drunk and served 3 months in jail for it. This man is Leonard Little.

Let me preface the rest of my writing by saying that I in no way condone what Vick and his cronies did to dogs. I am not an animal lover but I am not an animal hater either.

What I wish is for people to get off his back about his return to the NFL. He is a football player. That has been his “job” since he was young. He was gifted with a talent to throw the pigskin and run all willy-nilly on teams. If you want to continue to attack him, as a person, then so be it. But do not attack his return to his job. You’re pretty much saying that all criminals should not be able to re-enter the workforce once released from prison/jail.

On top of all this, he has to sit out the first five weeks of the season, roughly 30% of his team’s games after serving 19 months in prison. During that time he was not able to work as an NFL player.

Return to Mr. Little.

He was convicted of manslaughter and served 90 days in jail. He was suspended for half of the next season’s games. For killing a human. I have not seen one article debating why Leonard Little should be able to play in the NFL. I don’t see PETH(People for the Ethical Treatment of Humans, yes I totally made that up) protesting against his career. So essentially, the majority of people are stuck with the equation – Animals > Human.

Let’s also bring into the mix, Donte Stallworth. He, too, killed a human being recently. He is also an NFL player. He will be suspended for this season and reinstated the next season. I really doubt there will be a comparable hub-bub for Stallworth’s return as there is for Vick’s.

One thing that really irks me is people driving as fast as they can or think they should be able to with total disregard for the speed limit. It seems we are all in a rush to get to that next stop light. There is no greater satisfaction while I’m on the road than to get passed by someone speeding and then meet them at the next stop light and pass them. Childish, I know. But oh so gratifying.

I’m an odd duck here in the DFW metroplex, especially on the road. I drive the speed limit of 60 mph around here. I do that for great fear of getting a speeding ticket and because it saves gas, or so they say. I’m a small-town dude that grew up in the slow life so I’m in no rush to get anywhere.

With all this information coming out about saving gas and such, I decided to run some numbers to see just how much time is saved by going x mph over the speed limit. You can pretty much see, its not even worth it.

You save just a few minutes of time as opposed to putting yourself and others at risk.

I assume most trips are approximately 25 miles here in the DFW, but if less then your time savings are even smaller.

The speed limit on most highways around here is 60 mph. Thus a 25 mile trip is going to take you 25 minutes. Most people that speed by are going at least 65 and sometimes more.  Just going 5 mph over the limit saves you an entire 1 minute and 55 seconds. Wouldn’t it be easier to leave 2 minutes early? If you drive 70 mph you don’t even save 4 minutes. Not worth it my friend, not worth it.

I came across this story just a few minutes ago and it has infuriated me.

“DISD plan to ease grading standards angers teachers”

For example, the new rules require teachers to accept late work and prevent them from penalizing students for missed deadlines. Homework grades that would drag down a student’s overall average will be thrown out.

School officials said the new guidelines are needed to ensure that all district teachers operate under the same rules and to create a “fair system” for grading students.
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It seems that the CIA are dominated by people who are mentally ill.  For example, they seem to have the attitude that they will solve the world’s problems with assassinations, weapons, LSD and war.  These are policies I would expect from an angry, 10-year old boy.
- Eric Hufschmid
  http://www.erichufschmid.net/WhatToDoWithTheUSA.html

American’s love to blame someone else for all of their problems. Many times the problem can be seen with a quick look in the mirror.
We’re quick to blame fast food for making us fat. Well, if we weren’t so lazy we wouldn’t be so fat. Next we’ll be blaming Lazy Boy for making the chair too comfortable for us to get out of it.