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Mike Nifong Is a Disgusting Human Being

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Earlier today Mike Nifong was found in breach of nearly every professional, ethical code of conduct that was charged against him. For those of you that don’t know, Nifong is the former District Attorney who waged a jihad (the word is appropriate here) against the three Duke lacrosse players who were falsely accused of raping a stripper who came to their off-campus house to perform at a party.

Nifong embodies the worst of our judicial system. This is a man who had obvious evidence in front of him that proved these boys were innocent and that their accuser whored herself around with many men other than these boys. What did he do with that evidence? He declined to make it public and instead he took up the cause that was the “popular” cause in the community.

Many college students out there know what I’m talking about. While you are in school, you live in a college setting and there are non-college people who live there, too. In most situations, these non-college citizens are always at war against the college students and the university for “quality of life” issues. This results in students losing their civil rights when dealing with the local justice system.

In other words, local citizens expect their local government to be the whip that is constantly bearing down on the college student community. And 99% of the time, that is exactly what happens.

Well, Mike Nifong played his role in this disgusting true-life setup and he got what was coming to him. He’s a disgusting human being. What he did to those boys’ lives was wrong. It was dishonest. It was abhorrent. He is a gross human being and he does not deserve to ever practice law in these United States again.

Many of you know that I am very “into” the Founding Fathers of this country and what they wanted when they made the United States of America. They did NOT want Nifong. They did NOT want communities that treat people differently because of age, sex, or color. Sure, some idiots point to the fact that the Constitution doesn’t include women in equality, but they neglect the reality that the Founding Fathers wrote their documents in very broad terms that were appropriate to the day.

Nifong is NOT what they wanted in our justice system. The North Carolina State Bar has done themselves a great credit by putting this man up on charges and then publicly defaming him. I feel no remorse for him or for what he did. This is a man who saw his position in the legal system to be that of a puppet for what the public wanted.

That is NOT what our legal system was meant to be! Our legal system was meant to be a place where the accused are innocent until proven guilty. The burden of justice is on the accuser; the burden of proof of innocence is NOT on the accused.

Thank God this filthy creature was reprimanded and found in breach of standard ethics. I’m not going to watch the rest of these proceedings, but I’m hoping that they throw the book at him now that he’s been found in breach.

Movie Review: Knocked Up

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One thing you learn from this movie is that Seth Rogen is absolutely hilarious. This movie is brilliant! I found myself laughing nonstop throughout the entire movie and not just because of Seth Rogen, but the entire cast is masterful at comedy.

This is a movie about a go-nowhere guy who literally “knocks up” a correspondent for E! Television after a drunken night at some club. Now sure, getting drunk and having sex that leads to unplanned pregnancies isn’t a funny topic, but th way it plays out on screen is perfect. If you’re trying to think what type of humor you’ll be in for if you check out Knocked Up, think the 40 Year Old Virgin. Lots of innuendo and lots of very creative comments that are spoken underneath the regular dialogue in the scenes.

What I like about Seth Rogen is that he is the everyday funny guy. If you’re a guy, he’s the friend that – when everyone is hanging out together – he makes all of the funny comments that some people hear and some people don’t. And he uses intelligent humor, too. At the movie theater, I was sitting in front of three completely unruly, nasty, poorly behaved teenage girls (more on this in an upcoming post) and Rogen is on screen making some joke about Star Wars and cracking jokes about a lot of 80’s sub-pop culture things and these idiots are sitting behind me saying, “Huh? What? What does that mean?”

He’s a witty guy and this is a witty movie.

I would suggest paying particular attention to the Cirque du Soleil which is absolutely hilarious. In fact, the entire part of the movie that takes place in Las Vegas is pure comedic gold.

While Rogen is good, he has a great cast working with him. Katherine Heigl (the woman that Rogen knocks up), Leslie Mann (her aging sister), and Paul Rudd (the sister’s husband) are all perfect for their roles. Their timing is on point in every scene and the interaction between Rogen and Rudd is very reminiscent of the 40 Year Old Virgin. In fact, I kept thinking of the deleted Virgin scene where these two have their, “You know how I know you’re gay?” dialogue.

Something also needs to be said for Kristen Wiig who has a small part in this movie. Wiig plays one of the folks at E! Television who is always in on Mann’s meetings when she is talking to her boss. If Wiig made you laugh on Saturday Night Live, then she’ll make you laugh so hard that you cry in Knocked Up – she is awesome at this part! Her role is that unbelieving female co-worker who is very upfront about her negative feelings, but in a “matter of fact” kind of a way.

One line that I thought was funny was when Mann’s boss was telling her to lose weight without actually saying it. Wiig is sitting next to Mann and says in a very subdued, under her breath, Valley Girl type of way, “Just imagine if you went home and weighed yourself, and then subtracted like 20 pounds from that – you should come back weighing that.”

The entire theater cracked up at that point!

All in all, this is a movie that I highly suggest seeing in the movie theater. I also want to say that about a year and a half ago I stopped buying DVDs because they’re just too damn expensive. Sure, I’ve purchased one or two since then, but that’s no where near as many as I was purchasing at one point (a few each week). Now this movie – THIS is a movie that I will definitely buy on DVD when it is released! I’ll even spend the extra few dollars and get the super duper version.

If you’re looking for a great, modern comedy – this movie is for you!

Sensational Sherri Martel Passes Away

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With all of the hoopla surrounding the world of professional wrestling these days, sometimes it takes the cold snap of truth to bring us all back to reality. Earlier today women’s wrestling legend and 2006 WWE Hall of Famer “Sensational” Sherri Martel passed away. Sherri went by many names including “Queen” Sherri, “Sister” Sherri, “Sensuous” Sherri, and even “Scary” Sherri! A true professional in every sense of the word, there are few negative comments (if any) to be shared about this wrestling legend.

A former WWE’s Women’s Champion, Sherri holds victories over all of the major female wrestlers of her era including the Fabulous Moolah (who really isn’t of her era, but you know), Candi Devine, and Velvet McIntyre. Many of today’s fans will either remember Sherri as Ric Flair’s valet when Hulk Hogan entered World Championship Wrestling or as Ted DiBiase, Shawn Michaels, or Harlem Heat’s valet. Sherri was also part of the “madness” as then “Macho King” Randy Savage’s “Queen.”

Women’s wrestling owes a great debt of gratitude to the contributions that Sherri gave in the last two decades. She will be greatly missed.

Does Gandolfini Know What Happened to Tony Soprano?

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Unless you live under a rock, by now you know the completely unexpected ending to The Sopranos during their series finale. Some people think Tony Soprano was shot in the diner, others think that he simply had a family dinner and went home. A few people think that the abrupt cut to black scene was symbolic of the viewers getting whacked (this is the theory I believe in).

Perhaps the best person to ask is James Gandolfini, the brilliant actor who played Tony Soprano for all of these years. In a recent interview, Gandolfini said the following:

“You have to ask (“The Sopranos” creator) David Chase that. Smarter minds than mine know the answer to that,” Gandolfini told the newspaper Thursday in Manhattan, where he and other cast members were attending a benefit cruise for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “I thought it was a great ending. You decide.”

Folks, even the guy who played Tony Soprano doesn’t know what happened at the end!

I fall into one of these groups where the more you think about the series finale, the more you like it. Many of the loose ends are tied up from Uncle Junior to Janice’s next step to Phil getting whacked. But you have to admit, it is sort of funny that the guy who played this character so well over the last decade or so is also left in the dark as to what happened at the end of the series.

I don’t know if I could take that! Imagine not knowing – for sure – your character’s final outcome. Well, it would drive me batty, at least.

Book Review: The Rumsfeld Way

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Before you political extremists go bonkers and immediately write off this book review as either the ramblings of a neo-conservative or a pantywaist liberal, understand that I read this book from neither of these viewpoints! And before you poo-poo this book, you should know when and from what viewpoint it was written.

This is a book that looks at management style through the scope of the Gerald Ford Administration, Rumsfeld’s time at Searle, and his immediate reaction after September 11th. In these views (the book was published in 2002, so it’s not anywhere near current), Rumsfeld was a master manager and a brilliant human strategist.

And the truth is that when it comes to being a Chief Executive Officer, Rumsfeld is truly a master. The work he did in the Ford White House alone is the stuff of political maneuvering legend – when you add his amazing job as the CEO of Searle pharmaceuticals, this man and his style really becomes required reading for any MBA course. Much of this book talks about his time at Searle – and he did some amazing things there.

For those of you that don’t know, this is the company that created NutraSweet – the saccharin replacement for sugar. It was a mega hit in the 1980’s when it finally hit the market, but it might have never gotten there if it wasn’t for Rumsfeld’s restructuring of the company internally. This was a company that was moping along under the tri-management of two Searle brothers and a brother-in-law and was at odds with the FDA over approving NutraSweet.

So what did Rumsfeld do? He walked in there and reorganized the company so that there was a central command and so that they took the offensive against the FDA. And they won. Also, he hired experts in their fields and ignited the company’s research and development arm as well as their financial arm.

And when things didn’t work? He cut losses and sold off nonperforming assets. Wow! Where was this guy a few years ago with Iraq? But I digress…

For those of you who are interested in looking at a management style (and getting a book out of the $3 rack at Barnes and Noble), I suggest grabbing a copy of The Rumsfeld Way. It’s an interesting look at a guy who should be remembered in a much better light in American history, but sadly will not be after the mistakes of the last few years.

Good book – good read.