As usual Tony Dungy is right on the mark in his defense of Tim Tebow.
from paxalles.blogs.com
from interview with Laura Ingraham:-----------
Dungy said that he is sorry that Tim Tebow and his family are getting attacked for their pro-life Super Bowl ad and that is unbelievable. He said that people want to hear tawdry gossip about celebrities, but not a message some don't want to hear. Ingraham noted that Tebow's story gets pushed aside for the lurid headlines. Dungy agreed and said it is easy to say that the few athletes commit misdeeds cover up the fact that many athletes do good works and lead good lives.
GILBERT ARENAS APOLGIZES
This is an excellent first step. Too many times the incident is front page and fodder for the talking heads, but this type of story does not garner the same coverage.
It appears that Mr. Arenas took the Washington Post up on their challenge and thoughtfully penned a response. That is an excellent start. The cynics will say he has 100 million $ome odd reasons to do this, but WTF, he has to start somewhere. And quite frankly, even if the Wiz cut him loose, he is going to get another, albeit less lucrative, opportunity in the NBA.
This is the key, it is all he needs to do for now.
I am grateful for the opportunity to do something good in the face of the very bad situation I created.
Hopefully, he continues to follow through and be able to do some good work in the community on this issue.
Nice move, Agent Zero.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/01/AR2010020102795.html
By Gilbert Arenas-----------
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
The Post suggested on Dec. 31 that I send a message to young fans "about guns being neither glamorous nor desirable." I am grateful for the opportunity to do something good in the face of the very bad situation I created.
I have done a number of things wrong recently. I violated D.C. gun laws and the NBA's ban on firearms on league property, and I damaged the image of the NBA and its players. I reacted badly to the aftermath and made fun of inaccurate media reports, which looked as though I was making light of a serious situation. And I gave Commissioner David Stern good reason to suspend me from the game, which put my teammates in a tough position and let down our fans and Mrs. Irene Pollin, the widow of longtime Wizards owner Abe Pollin.
I understand the importance of teaching nonviolence to kids in today's world. Guns and violence are serious problems, not joking matters -- a lesson that's been brought home to me over the past few weeks. I thought about this when I pleaded guilty as charged in court and when I accepted my NBA suspension without challenge.
That message of nonviolence will be front and center as I try to rebuild my relationship with young people in the D.C. area. I know that won't happen overnight, and that it will happen only if I show through my actions that I am truly sorry and have learned from my mistakes. If I do that, then hopefully youngsters will learn from the serious mistakes I made with guns and not make any of their own.
I am trying hard to right my wrongs. The one that will be hardest to make right is the effect my actions have had on kids who see NBA players as role models. Professional athletes have a duty to act responsibly and to understand the influence we have on all those kids who look up to us. I failed to live up to that responsibility when I broke the law and set such a bad example. Washington's children, parents and fans all deserve better from me, especially after all the kindness they've shown me over the years.
While I regret a lot about this incident, letting the kids down is my biggest regret. I love the time I spend with the kids here in the District, and it means a lot to me whenever I can help lift their spirits or inspire them, especially kids who have difficult lives.
Last Tuesday, I wrote a letter to students in D.C. schools that was also about owning up to my mistakes. I said that I lost sight of the lesson I learned from Abe Pollin about how the responsibility to be a good role model comes along with the opportunity he gave me. I reiterate now the pledge I made to those students: that this is a responsibility I am not going to walk away from, that I will choose more wisely in the future and do my best to help guide children into brighter futures.
There have been few bright spots for me these past few weeks. But one came the night I played my last game this season at Verizon Center. I saw young fans were still showing up wearing my jersey. That meant more to me than I can say.
The relationship I have with young fans is very important to me. I realize now how easily I can damage it. I have to earn that respect and work to deserve it each and every day. I plan to do that work by partnering with public officials and community groups to teach kids to avoid trouble and learn from their mistakes, to strive for success by working hard and persevering, and to try to make the right choices.
Some people may not forgive me for what I've done. But if I help steer even just one young person away from violence and trouble, then I'll once again feel that I'm living up to Abe Pollin's legacy and to the responsibility I owe the kids of the District.
The writer, a guard for the Washington Wizards, was suspended last month without pay for the rest of the season.
MY LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA (I hope he reads it)
Dear Mr. President:
WOW. I guess it's clear from listening to you speak recently that you certainly do read your mail. But it also appears equally as certain that you and your ilk do not get messages. The message that "the people" from Massachusetts sent has certainly fallen on deaf ears in D.C.
President Obama unveiled his $3.8T budget proposal for the coming fiscal year. In it, he seeks to borrow $1.3T in 2011. His budget assumes that the U.S. economy will have six years of above-average growth with little or no inflation or interest rates hikes.
Not much chance of those rosy projections coming true, now is there Mr. Prez? Let's be realistic, this is a budget you are submitting, not a fairly tale.
So let me see if I have this straight, Mr. President.
The budget (the amount we spend) is $3.8 Trillion.
The amount we are borrowing (the deficit) is $1.3 Trillion
So, the amount we make (our income) is about $2.5 Trillion
Do I have the basic math right, Mr. President? You still with me?
During the campaign you and Mrs. Clinton waxed poetic about being concerned about "ordinary" folks sitting around their kitchen tables trying to figure out how to pay the bills. You did this to conjure up an image that you cared about "ordinary" people and were in touch with their hopes and dreams.
Well--pardon me for the imagery Mr. President--but if my wife "proposed" spending an amount greater than 150% of our total income in any given year and putting the deficit on a credit card that was already maxed out, I might take a Louisville Slugger to the side of her head, if you follow my imagery.
Not that I would advocate actually doing such a thing to my wife--who I love dearly--but for those of you in government, well I think most reasonable people would rule that such an action was entirely justifiable under the circumstances. Y'all just don't listen.
BTW, "ordinary" folks do not have the luxury of "increasing the debt limit" er....increasing our lines of credit with the credit card companies, even though we bailed their sorry asses out.
Since you love to harken back to the Bush era so much, I'd like to remind you that the ENTIRE BUDGET FOR THE GOVERNMENT for all of 2001 was $1.9 trillion (see figures in Wikipedia article below). And now we have almost that much in deficit (excessive) spending? AYFKM, Mr. President?
UPDATE: The President recently announced his austerity measures to deal with the budget. The "spending freeze" only applies to a small % of the budget and we are not reducing it, we're just not increasing it as much. STRIKE ONE.
To put the savings in perspective let's compare what the government is doing to an "ordinary" American family. Based on a FY2011 Budget of $3.8T and a FY2011 Deficit of $1.3T, the Obama administration trumpeted $20B in cost savings or budgetary "belt-tightening". These numbers are so mind-numbing that if you say them fast enough or smoothly enough it seems like a major accomplishment.
But $20B is 0.5% of the overall budget.
For an "ordinary" household that:
makes a combined $60K per year (revenue)
and spends approx. $4,000 per month (budget)
the same 0.5% "belt-tightening" would = approx. $20 per month
THEY AREN'T EVEN CANCELING THE CABLE, FOLKS!!!!
I realize, Mr. President that this will not be one of those folksy "letters" you refer to, and claim to have actually read, when you go out on one of your perpetual campaign-mode speeches. But trust me when I say, we will be heard.
BTW, isn't it fairly obvious to all that this "I read letters from the common folk" schtick of yours is a blatant rip-off of the Hillary Clinton campaign references to "a woman (it was always a woman) who grabbed my hand in line and expressed concern about blah-blah-blah-blah-blah" whatever suited her agenda? GET YOUR OWN MATERIAL, MAN.
The people will have to KEEP ON speaking until the message is heard loud and clear.
My opinion is that ALL incumbents should be defeated in 2010. ALL OF THEM.
My message in summary to you Mr. President, and to your fellow bed-wetter in D.C. Mr. Timmy Geithner, is this:
GROW UP AND STOP WHINING
TAKE SOME RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS (OR LACK THEREOF)
GET TO WORK PUTTING PEOPLE BACK TO WORK
STOP BLAMING OTHERS FOR YOUR MISTAKES
These are all childish actions coming from a President who claimed he had put aside childish things when he entered office. You wanted the job. You knew the situation going in, right? It's the reason you are in office and not John McCain or some other Republican. If Bush had done well, you're still canvassing neighborhoods down here on the South Side of Chicago.
Because, I have to tell you Mr. President, the people don't like pouting petulance and misplaced arrogance in our Presidents. We used to have guys who acted a lot like you back when I went to school and all I can tell you is they got their asses kicked a lot. Did you get your butt whipped a lot when you were a kid, Mr. Prez? I'll bet Geithner did.
Speaking of which, remind me again why there wasn't anybody else more qualified to be Secretary of the Treasury than Timmy. Should we remind Geithner of the futility of the PPIP program? PPIP, you will recall, was one of Timmy's few initiatives to help stem this economic crisis. It was rejected, folded up, put back in the box and returned to sender faster than a Valentines Day gift from the Dollar Store.
Did Little Timmy pull the idea of PPIP out of the same box he pulled his tax return out of?
I mean come on, man!! I don't think the markets or the foreign nations we grovel to in order to finance our debt and profligate spending can possibly feel confident when our nations finances are being managed by someone whose voice still cracks like a virginal, pre-pubescent teen when he is under pressure. No wonder that group of Chinese students laughed at him when he tried to convince them that their investment in America was sound. (they were probably pre-pub girls in the audience, right?)
And you know what that means for our future and that economic future of the children and grand-children that you continually state you are concerned about.
Should we continually bring up the futility of the stimulus to "create" jobs? I notice we've dropped the silly "jobs saved" mantra. Know why? Because anyone with an IQ above room temperature can see, from the hours worked data, that jobs are not being "saved" and in fact there is a shadow or hidden under employment figure demonstrated there.
The average hours worked continues to drop, almost 1 hour recently (from 34 to 33). That's almost 3%. So the 10% unemployment could actually be a "feels like" 12-13% number. Don't even get me started on the fraudulent reporting of "frustrated" workers.
SO, ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVES, TIGHTEN YOUR BELTS AND GET BACK TO WORK FELLAS!!!
Like most Americans are either doing or trying their best to do--in spite of the comic-tragic efforts of their elected officials.
Maybe you will get the message when we give your old seat, er...."the people's seat" to a Republican or a Tea Party-er. See, we understand that it is the Democrats are the party of the tea-baggers, as well.
Or when we throw your RINO buddies like Crist into Tanpa Bay in favor of Rubio. Maybe, you'll get the message then, right?
Or, maybe like the old lawyer joke (hey, you were a lawyer once weren't you Mr. president?) this will all just be a "good start".
So I guess we will have to tolerate your Comedian in Chief tour for a few more years. You act more like you are auditioning to be some sort of pathetic third wheel in the Jay Leno-Conan O'Brien Tonight Show debacle than a President at times.
I heard you say recently that you will not compromise your ideological stances (but you're not an ideologue?) with the line -- "I'd rather be a really good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president," he told ABC News." -- when talking about tackling the big issues,as you see them.
My only question is "Who took the 'being a really crappy one-term President' off the table?" Because that certainly seems like where this is going.
WE ARE THE PEOPLE....AND WE SHALL BE HEARD!!!
Sincerely,
TheSlav
A Concerned Citizen
P.S. - And if you are really an agent for "CHANGE", try helping out all Americans, not just the ones who supported you to get elected. That's the same sort of behavior that you and your merry band of fellow henchmen have continually accused the Republicans of doing. You weren't elected to be "more of the same" with a different, hare-brained ideological bent that has never worked in the history of mankind. Your Robin Hood economic and political philosophy is not going to work. You get it? Got it? Good.
-------
MORE ON THE 2009 BUDGET FROM WIKIPEDIA:
NOT A PRETTY PICTURE!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_budget
In January 2008, then GAO Director David Walker presented a strategy for addressing what he called the federal budget "burning platform" and "unsustainable fiscal policy." This included improved financial reporting to better capture the obligations of the government; public education; improved budgetary and legislative processes, such as "pay as you go" rules; the restructure of entitlement programs and tax policy; and creation of a bi-partisan fiscal reform commission. He pointed to four types of "deficits" that comprise the problem: budget, trade, savings and leadership.[79]
Harvard historian Niall Ferguson stated in a November 2009 interview: "The United States is on an unsustainable fiscal path. And we know that path ends in one of two ways; you either default on that debt, or you depreciate it away. You inflate it away with your currency effectively." He said the most likely case is that the U.S. would default on its entitlement obligations for Social Security and Medicare first, by reducing the obligations through entitlement reform. He also warned about the risk that foreign investors would demand a higher interest rate to purchase U.S. debt, damaging U.S. growth prospects.[80]
[edit]Total outlays in recent budget submissions
Annual U.S. spending 1934-2006 with adjustment for inflation.
2011 United States federal budget - $3.83 trillion (submitted 2010 by President Obama)
2010 United States federal budget - $3.55 trillion (submitted 2009 by President Obama)
2009 United States federal budget - $3.10 trillion (submitted 2008 by President Bush)
2008 United States federal budget - $2.90 trillion (submitted 2007 by President Bush)
2007 United States federal budget - $2.77 trillion (submitted 2006 by President Bush)
2006 United States federal budget - $2.7 trillion (submitted 2005 by President Bush)
2005 United States federal budget - $2.4 trillion (submitted 2004 by President Bush)
2004 United States federal budget - $2.3 trillion (submitted 2003 by President Bush)
2003 United States federal budget - $2.2 trillion (submitted 2002 by President Bush)
2002 United States federal budget - $2.0 trillion (submitted 2001 by President Bush)
2001 United States federal budget - $1.9 trillion (submitted 2000 by President Clinton)
2000 United States federal budget - $1.8 trillion (submitted 1999 by President Clinton)
1999 United States federal budget - $1.7 trillion (submitted 1998 by President Clinton)
1998 United States federal budget - $1.7 trillion (submitted 1997 by President Clinton)
1997 United States federal budget - $1.63 trillion (submitted 1996 by President Clinton)
1996 United States federal budget - $1.6 trillion (submitted 1995 by President Clinton)
The President's budget also contains revenue and spending projections for the current fiscal year, the coming fiscal years, as well as several future fiscal years. In recent years, the President's budget contained projections five years into the future. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issues a "Budget and Economic Outlook" each January and an analysis of the President's budget each March. CBO also issues an updated budget and economic outlook in August.
