Andy Staples, Whiner

Oh, Andy Staples, why are you so moronic? He's trying to be Mr. Sarcastic, Mr. Whitty, or whatever. In his article, regarding the suspension of the OSU players, Andy suggests that fans should sympathize with student athletes' plight of not being able to get paid for work while playing collegiate athletics:

"Just the ones who think you should take your scholarship and shut up. Those people fail to understand that you are asked to work a full-time job as a full-time student. The difference is the guy who works 40 hours a week as a waiter at Chili's can afford tuition, room and board and still take his girlfriend to a movie on the weekend. And he doesn't make millions for Chili's. You do make millions for the athletic department at The Ohio State University. Let those fans get mad. You don't need friends like them."

Are we supposed to feel sorry for Terrelle Prior for getting a full ride to Ohio State University, getting a world class education, because he doesn't get paid as an athlete or is not allowed to get a job? This is the most asinine thing I have ever heard of. First off, Mr. Chili's is only working 40-hours a week so he can get his education at Ohio State. He will end up with $30,000 or more in student loan debt despite his full time Chili's job. If athletes would rather not get the full ride to play sports, just so they can get a job while being a student, then they don't have to play the sport. He's more than welcome to take the SATs or ACTs and be like the majority of students on campus. Heck, maybe he'd get a full ride academic scholarship, which would allow him to get a job and not have the student loan debt at graduation. Andy's whining for college athletes' "unfairness" just makes him look silly and pompous.

Welcome to Royal Dutch Shell, Nigeria

The Guardian (UK) is now reporting that Shell has embedded employees in the Nigerian government. There is a wealth of oil reserves in Nigeria. This stuff is real.

Visa, Mastercard, and the Puppets

The Guardian (UK) is reporting that the Obama administration lobbied on behalf of Visa and Mastercard regarding the Russian government creating legislation that creates a national payment processing service. How ironic Visa and Mastercard would suspend payments. Also being reported, the KKK's website gladly accepts Visa payments and Visa is obliging.

Where Am I?

I've been super busy over the past two to three weeks. The week of Thanksgiving, my wife had surgery to have her gallbladder removed. Everything was successful and she is recovering to almost full speed ahead! In addition, we are preparing our house for our home study for the adoption process. The time is getting near... My wife and I have been working on the house non-stop, cleaning it up, painting the upstairs, putting beds together, and more. It's been tiring, but will be really cool when done.