Floods in the Midwest do not compare to Katrina

I’d been waiting for it. I knew it was coming, so I waited. I kept waiting, and I finally heard those words uttered. Those words were uttered in a CNN article.

“This is our version of Katrina,” Johnson County Emergency Management spokesman Mike Sullivan said in Iowa City.

Excuse me. I’m sorry. What? Two words: SHUT UP!

Don’t get me wrong. I’m saddened by the floods in the Midwest. It’s going to take them YEARS to rebuild everything. Iowa never bothered anybody. It looks like a nice place to go, and I shall eventually vacation there. Hopefully, the levees can be repaired to the point where it can be inhabitable again.

But how dare you compare these floods to Katrina. Before I get attacked, let’s remember this ONE fact that stands out: Hurricane Katrina caused THOUSANDS of deaths. I’ve yet to hear 100 deaths reported from these floods. How does that compare to Katrina?

When Hurricane Katrina eventually passed through South Louisiana, everyone thought it was over. Everyone thought it was safe. People were returning home and prepared to live life as normal. However, the levees broke and it killed THOUSANDS of unsuspecting people.

In the Midwest, the floods were EXPECTED. CNN began reporting that officials were worried the levees would topple the day that the storm passed. That’s a very different situation than Hurricane Katrina. Yes, these floods may essentially be worse; but when comparing these incidents side by side, the Midwest floods cannot even touch Hurricane Katrina.

I do sympathize with Iowa and the other areas affected. This is a very sad situation. However, it was not as shocking and catastrophic as Hurricane Katrina. Please keep those words out of your mouth, because no recent event involving floods in the U.S. has yet to compare to that devastating time period.

Also, the U.S. STILL has not finished rebuilding New Orleans, as President George W. Bush promised. FEMA has screwed the city more than customers screw a Las Vegas prostitute in a year. People have been forced out of their homes and will never be allowed to return. I’m still trying to figure out what happened to 90% of the aid money that was raised by celebrities, such as Kanye West, and the many citizens of the United States.

The Midwest floods are insane, yes, but they do not compare to the effect Katrina left on the nation. But, I’m glad the government actually did the smart thing and evacuated the citizens of that city. Hopefully, some homes can indeed be salvaged. That remains to be seen. My prayers are with the Iowans, especially those from Cedar Rapids and near the Cedar River.

But after the flood subsides, it’s not over yet. The water still has to flow down the Mississippi River. The South has been pounded with a lot of rain recently, so the chance for disaster is pretty big. Hopefully, nothing happens and the nation can continue to figure out how to help the Midwest.

The Most Idiotic Prosecutors of All-Time

The verdict is finally in. R. Kelly was found not guilty of all charges of child pornography despite the MOUNTING evidence against him. To be honest, I can’t blame the jury. While many people will be pissed for years to come, the jury is NOT at fault, as they were with the O.J. Simpson trial.

No, the blame falls solely on the prosecution who put together the weakest case I have ever seen to go against a child molester. Law & Order: SVU marathons should be ordered for these idiotic prosecutors. I wonder if they just got their law degrees. No, I wonder if they even had a degree, because I can single-handedly put together a better case.

While I’m no expert at law, here’s what I would have done differently.

1. Ask the judge to be recused.
Seriously. How can you have a six year delay for a trial and expect someone to be convicted? Yeah, R. Kelly had emergency surgery, so that was an understandable delay. Yes, the judge hurt himself and that’s understandable too. However, that should have taken a year at the most. What accounts for the other five years that were added? Did R. Kelly not have enough music for the judge to listen to or something?

2. Called these witnesses:

a. A sexual abuse counselor for kids or a sex expert
WHY DID THEY NOT DO THIS?! I understand the trial is very sensitive, but dang. This would’ve been the nail in the coffin for the defense, and the prosecution would be out celebrating with beers right now. Instead, they are the laughingstock of the new millennium and will be forever remembered as the “idiots who let him get away.”

b. The parents of the girl
This was an absolute no brainer. The most CREDIBLE people to say it was her were never called. If you really believe the girl was the one on the tape, why weren’t the parents called? Did they not believe she was on the tape or something? An idiotic move that more than likely irked the jury.

c. Grandparents
OK…you have the parents admitting it’s her, so why not get the grandparents to come forward as well. They can easily appeal to the sympathetic side of the jury, as what normal person doesn’t like older people? This could’ve made the defense look bad if they attacked them as well.

d. Sparkle
Sparkle is the main one that pointed her out in the first place, so why wasn’t she called to the stand? That was the single best witness out of all the others they had. Sparkle said it was her niece, so why not get her on the stand and testify as to why she said so?

e. R. Kelly
Now, granted he’d pull the “Fifth Amendment” crap. That’s fine. However, grill him on the relationship with the victim. Find out how close they were, what did he do for them, etc. There’s so many ways to get a lot out of R. Kelly without delving into the sex tape, which he wouldn’t speak on.

f. Best friend at the time
While they may not be best friends now, this would allow for an unbiased testimony. Even if the girl is an enemy, it can still add more to your case. Find out what caused them to stop being best friends, and you may find out R. Kellz was in the middle of it. You never know. But the prosecution failed to even think.

g. Principal at the time
A principal doesn’t remember every kid, but after continuous news coverage, I’m sure the principal saw her and was like…”Oh yeah…” Why not call him?

h. Teachers at the time
Teachers vaguely forget their good students, as she was often described during the trial. So why not call a few teachers to point her out and say, “Yes…that was her.” It’d help out tremendously and put your case on the acceleration course.

i. Elderly neighbors who knew the girl
Why not? Go for it! It’s a long shot and the defense will argue their memory isn’t strong, but that works in your favor! Get more people to identify the girl in the tape as the one that testified and you’re in!

j. Aaliyah’s parents
For the life of me, I cannot see why this was not even an issue. Aaliyah was the first mainstream underage girl that Kellz was identified with. However, not at one time was this brought up. What? Did the prosecution not do a Google search of this man? Maybe even a WikiSearch? What were they thinking?!

k. Jay-Z
They are enemies, so Hov would hold nothing back if he saw Kellz with a girl. Get him on the stand and make his character an issue. Find out how Kellz was behind the scenes. This will only help your case and build it. Defense can’t even argue that Hov wants to sabotage Kellz because Hov is bigger and badder than him.

3. Change of venue
With Chicago being R. Kelly’s hometown, it was pretty clear the odds were stacked against the prosecution. They could’ve successfully argued for a change of venue. This would move the trial to some small “hick” town and make it even easier to get a conviction. But I guess that wasn’t a thought.

4. A better gag order
Gag the trial. It’s bad enough that the sex tape got leaked out to the public, so do some damage control. Gag the media so you can successfully put together a strong case and go after Kellz. It was already harder with the trial being delayed six years, meaning the girl was 17 when the tape was out there. So you lost precious time, and possibly an immediate conviction.

5. Bring up other cases of child abuse that shows the victim should’ve spoken
These idiots did not even mention other cases where sexual abuse victims did not talk and then later said they wish they had. There are plenty of cases like that and this would’ve helped them more than hurt them.

I could keep going on, but this is enough. Too many things could’ve been done better. Instead, R. Kelly is a free man, and there’s nothing that can be done due to the double jeopardy law. Great job! Now that makes it harder for other females to come forward after being raped or sexually assaulted.

Also, I’m glad the man was found not guilty. Not because he didn’t do it, but because if he had been found guilty, every freaking defense could use this case and get plenty of guilty men off. Luckily, the jury was smart enough to notice the prosecution are idiots and did not deserve a victory for a shoddy job at putting this case together. I’m still shocked that these idiots did this. They should be tried. Their charge: Aiding and Abetting a Sexual Predator to be found Innocent.

The Greatest Baseball Player of The Steroid Era

The greatest baseball of the “Steroid Era” gets little attention. As a matter of fact, you may not even know him as well as you used to. I still remember who he is.

When I was a kid, I got my first baseball card. Guess who it was? Ken Griffey Jr. While I don’t have that card anymore (it’s somewhere…somewhere), I still remember how great Ken Griff was. Then, injury after injury after injury diminished his spotlight. People soon forgot what a great player he was, catching some impossible balls to catch. However, Griffey is the only player that has an untainted history.

Barry Bonds is the home run leader. Yet, he’s with no team and he has ye to retire. He’s facing a series of court trials for allegedly lying under oath. His own fans question his greatness. Asterisk.

Mark McGwire was a great player. He did set the record for most home runs in one season. Then, of course, we found out steroids had a great part in that. His legacy has a big asterisk by it.

Sammy Sosa may be the best international player the game has seen. However, toward the end of his career, he couldn’t keep up. Steroids became a factor of his life. Asterisk.

Roger Clemons, arguably one of the best pitchers of all time, was even found to have taken a banned substance (allegedly). His own trainer and “best friend” turned on him. Asterisk.

Ken Griffey is the only one left from that era that has done good consistently (when he’s healthy). While he’s not the leader of anything in the league, few will doubt his ability to shake up a game. You saw him hit home run 600 when people least expected it.

Some will be quick to argue that A-Rod, Big Papi, Derek Jeter, and a few others should be considered. However, I will say that they are not from the “Steroid Era,” where juicing up was the norm. Now, they are “legit” and do not juice up…allegedly. Therefore, they are members of the post-”Steroid Era” that has not yet been named.

I won’t forget Ken Griffey Jr., a player I wanted to be like if I played baseball (minus the injuries). He’s one of the greatest of our era. Now if only I could find that card.

Cell Phones Keep It Popping

Interesting video I found on Youtube. Peep it…

Naughty Bible?

I don’t really feel like getting into a religious debate, but I definitely wanted to share this. Apparently there’s a book that shows all of the “dirt” behind the scriptures of the Bible. The article brought out some good points, and I thought it was interesting.

An excerpt:

For instance, in the KJV but not in the New International Version, King David, angry at a farmer, threatens to kill anyone who “pisseth.”

Every theory discussed was initially proposed by a serious scholar, often in some arcane journal. “The Uncensored Bible”’s aim is to make the theories accessible and entertaining, Kaltner says.

Was Adam’s “rib” or his side the source for Eve? Maybe not.

The original Hebrew word is “tsela,” used elsewhere in the Bible to refer to a branch or tangent extending out from a body – like a certain genital bone that all male mammals have except spider monkeys and humans. So why don’t men have a bone there now?

Pretty interesting. Read the whole article here.