February 22, 2005

Howdee

    It's usually around this time of year where I finally feel like I'm snapping out of my post Holiday
doldrums. January is pretty much a letdown month, as is the beginning of February. But around
President's Day, you can start to see some signs of spring. Pitchers and Catchers report to Spring
Training. Spring itself is less than a month away. And its no longer pitch black by 5 PM either.
    Of course this weekend we were hit with some snow, which suggests that my theory is baseless, but
still. The snow will melt away in a day or two. And things are looking up.
    I went out after work Saturday night with Hasani Gittens, Jen Fermino and John Vasquez to a place on
50th and 1st. It was a weird little bar, but the owner caught wind that I worked for the Post and asked me
to write up a good review. And I'll be sure to do it too    as soon as I remember what the name of
the place was. :O)


    The news that Prince Charles was finally going to marry Camilla Parker Bowels brought about a ton of
scorn upon Ms.Bowels, mostly about how hideously unattractive she is, especially in comparison to
Princess Diana.
    While I'll be the first to admit that Camilla probably wouldn't win any beauty pagents, I don't think she
nearly as gross as the press is making her out to be. Prince Charles is one of the geekiest looking public
figures in the world, and the only reason any woman in the world would talk to him is because he's the
Prince of Wales.
    And lets face it. If Charles had had his way and married Camilla 35 years ago like he wanted to, it's a
good bet that Diana would still be alive today, having not had to depend on a drunken skell to drive her
away from the paparazzi.
    So I say leave the two love ducklings alone. And thank God that they're both too old to procreate.
Now that's a thought that prevents me from enjoying my lunch!

    Over the weekend, rumors began flying that the NHL and the Players Association were thisclose to
making a deal. This was partly based on the fact that both Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemeiux, quite
arguably the two best players in hockey history, now part owners, getting involved. Instead, neither side
made any conessions. Now I just want them both to go away. No more teases. Call me when you have a
deal.
  Gary Bettman, who became the first commisioner of a pro sport in North America,(if not the world) to
cancel an entire season over a labor dispute, is now being praisedfor his courage by some owners and
some owner friendly media types. He single handedly gyped fans out of an entire season and that's
supposed to be courageous?
Sounds more criminal to me.

    President Bush signed a law this week that requires all class-action lawsuits to be heard in Federal
Court, which many believe is his first step in his plans for tort reform.
    During the 2004 campaign, and in several speeches, (including when he accepted the Republican
nomination) Bush vowed to change tort law to limit lawsuits, which of course was designed to please the
"kill all the lawyers" crowd.
      I always suspected that Bush was so hot to limit lawsuit rewards because both John Kerry and John
Edwards were lawyers, the latter being a PI lawyer, while Bush was a big business owner. My opinion
hasn't changed.
     Lets face it, there are tons of frivolous lawsuits out there. The idea of getting rid of these and
preventing greedy lawyers from collecting huge fees sounds like a plan.
     But there's also such thing as throwing the baby out with the bathwater. There are plenty of people
who have legitimate lawsuits who may get screwed because of this new law and others that Bush is
looking to pass. And having worked for a PI firm for 7 years, I can tell you that insurance companies are
bigger scumbags than lawyers will ever be.
   And of course it would be alot easier to believe Bush was serious about protecting the world from
lawsuits, if he himself didn't have ties to such sucessful companies such as Enron.
Happy 1st birthday on Saturday to Mr. Liam P. McGarvey.
Everyone Else Have a Great Week
Wild Bill