Xbox360 Day5…

Well after much ado and excited anticipation – I still have not been able to experience the glory that surely is the Xbox360…

I marched down to the PX today ready to start some rawkus with somebody only to find myself shocked, amazed, appalled (and probably three or four other adjectives) at the site of Americans gone bat-shit crazy…apparently some alarm went out to signal to everyone that it is now time to SPEND MONEY…

The odd thing for me was that in my mind I was there strictly for one purpose and one purpose only (alright that’s a lie – I had to grab some more socks and some toothpaste) to get the pearly-white beauty of a 360-Box they call ‘X’ – so I bullied through the crowd and couldn’t help but laugh at these poor bastards…

As I neared the electronics section, the nerves had kicked all the way in – part of me trying to expect the worst - them having already sold the damn things - and thus building up the anger so that I could lash it out on some poor, undeserving, un-prepared store worker…and part of me hoping that they just hadn’t called anyone yet and the consoles would be waiting patiently behind door number two…

So I turn the corner and to my confusion the sign that had once proudly proclaimed the “Xbox360 on sale Nov. 22 – Delivery Delayed” was gone…whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?...and I can suddenly feel the fury inside of me – my thinking being that if the sign has been taken down then they must have gotten them and sold them all – REDRUM…REDRUM…REDRUM!

But, cooler heads prevailed – I took a breathe and walked to the back wall where the games are shelved (just to SEE) and sure enough Madden ’06 the 360 version along with FIFA (soccer) and Tiger Woods (how is this a video game?)…so I grabbed a copy of the Madden and walked over to the Korean lady I recognized as being some sort of manager-type from the DAY1 of this whole fiasco and flashed the game – “what gives?” to which she responded by trying to ring me up for the game(hurry up and bye!)…”no, no – what happened with the Xbox’s?” I asked more compellingly…”they no come yet…we no know,” she explained… “so you’re still gonna be calling off the list?” - “oh you on list? – yes, yes – we call you…” and there we have it…

They call me…

Honestly though, these gaming consoles are undoubtedly being sold on the black market in downtown somewhere here in lovely South Korea – but hey – that’s just one crazy opinion from a guy who realizes that these bastards could get at least a thousand bucks for one of these Xbox’s on the street – it’s like a new heroin…

I feel so dirty…

Hooray for Turkey!...

Xbox360 Day 2...

nothing NEW to report - "we will call you..." - that's all I got today...so it's lookin' like Friday may be the day 'cause I'm fairly certain that they're closed for Thanksgiving...at least I was able to find four really good cd's while hanging out waiting for the damn thing...just casually glancing over the cd’s my eye caught these four gems:

"Think Differently Music: Wu-Tang meets the Indie Culture," which is surprisingly well done...a little box set type thing with three discs(for only 12 bucks) of "MC-Funk," which is genuine old funk - very fun to listen to while trying to think at work...an old Common cd called "Can I Borrow a Dollar?," which was his first LP from way back in '92 - some REAL gems on here...then to round out the four, I found a compilation done between the DJs DangerMouse (who wears a mouse head) and MF DOOM (who always wears a metal face mask) called "Danger Doom" - Danger Mouse is the guy that took the accapella version of Jay-Z's "the Black Album" and the instrumental version of the Beatles' "White Album" and made the underground classic "the Grey Album" - anyway, awesome hip hop, awesome beats, and absolutely hilarious...they have all the folks from the Space Ghost Coast to Coast show and some of the party people from Aqua Teen Hunger Force...what's more fun than Space Ghost trying to get a group of characters to quickly read I am Sofa King retarded...quality stuff - and more proof that I AM sofa king retarded...

Anyway - here's the lead in to a very well written piece by ESPN Page2's Patrick Ruby who is "scared" of the NEW and "improved" gaming..."You can see the stitching on his jersey. Rivulets of sweat running down his neck. Zoom in a bit more, and it's even possible to make out the glimmering reflection in Michael Vick's digital eyes. In terms of lifelike, photo-realistic detail, the newest version of Madden football, "Madden NFL 06," -- released today along with Microsoft's uber-powerful XBox 360 console -- trounces every pigskin video game to come before it, like the Indianapolis Colts running roughshod over the hapless Houston Texans.So why does the virtual Vick seem so off?Maybe it's his stilted throwing motion. Perhaps it's the awkward way his lips move when calling audibles.Either way, I feel like an ingrate. A decade ago, football games didn't have players with faces, let alone moving lips. The first time I saw the "Madden 92" ambulance roll onto the field to pick up the fuzzy blob of pixels that was my injured quarterback -- running over a half-dozen other players en route, of course -- I nearly wet myself in quivering awe"...here's the link for the whole article...

as always - stay tuned...

Xbox 360 Day 1...

Well today was the day...it's been a long time comin'...so I woke up, did PT, showered up and was off to the Post Exchange for some pimpalicious 360 wireless, high-definition goodness...

The PX doesn't usually open 'til 10 so I figured I'd get down there, grab some grubbage and get a haircut before heading into the main store. But, to my surprise, it's opening up at 9 this week - outstanding - things appear to be going well and I'm feeling rather optimistic as I stroll through a nearly empty store on my way to the electronics section...

There's a couple guys who are obviously there for the 360 so I give 'em the head-nod to establish contact and communicate that we are there on the same mission…I ask what the good word on the Xbox is, which is answered by all five of them at the same time with all different versions of the same answer – it’s not here yet, dunno when it’s supposed to get here…so at least I’m there before THE RUSH – and am feeling pretty confident that I’m going to be setting up for some glorious 360 action later on in the evening…sweet!

Should be on the next truck – the shopkeeper guy assures us – it’s already a little after 10 and the “next truck” should be here shortly…during the wait we shoot the shit a bit, making small talk and what not – the funny thing is that I’m not really a “serious gamer” – this fact was thankfully reinforced while conversing with the other waiters of my group – their spitting out facts about the system, the latest online gossip about the 360, they’re talking about computer games and their various online conquests – a few times I found myself both laughing a bit and at the same time feeling strangely awkward and uncomfortable…

The play of the day though was yet to come - walking into the PX I was honestly feeling a little like I was wrong as hell for going to try and buy a video game system, in uniform, during duty hours, and I’m a Sgt. – a freggin’ Noncomissioned Officer – I swear when I first walked in I was waiting for someone to randomly give me shit for not being at work…when I reached the group of “gamers” though some of that went out the window – in the group we had three of the five guys in uniform – a Chief Warrant Officer, a Master Sgt, and another Sgt. like me…THEN the most Army-thing-EVER happened – a Command Sgt. Major (that’s pretty much the cream of the crop and highest ranking Soldier on the enlisted side of the house) walks through and DEMANDS that a list be started NOW – cause “I ain’t got no time to be waitin’ ‘round here.” – and the manager said OK (even though it’s against normal store policy) and brought out a binder – the BEST part though was that the Sgt. Major (who hadn’t even been waiting there with us) grabbed the binder and put his name at the TOP of the list next to #1…I just thought that pretty much summed up everything that the Army is in a nutshell – simply a priceless moment and one that I will remember always! – but I digress…

When the list appeared I hesitated briefly – thinking that I should let the gamers who had been there before me sign there names in first – then something in me woke up and followed the Sgt. Major’s lead…I, my friends, was #3…exxxxxcellent…

Many of them stayed to wait out the delivery trucks and have their emotions ebb and flow with the opening and closing of the warehouse doors – I however left three contact phone numbers and headed off to the office…I checked back during lunch and then again around three…nothin’ - more people were waiting, but no Xbox’s…finally the last truck of the day arrived and while nothing of any importance to me and my counterparts was on it, there was some good news to be had – for me anyway…

Apparently this PX is only getting 40 of these things – that’s it…and apparently they’re going to honor this list when the shipment of the 40 arrives sometime this week…the plan is for them to call the first 40 names in order - everyone then has 24 hours to come get their box or forfeit it…The beauty of it all is that one, I’m #3 on the list and two, my dwelling and my office is about a 10 minute walk from the PX while many had to take buses from different installations to get there today…

So that’s it for now – stay tuned for more Xbox 360 updates…

Nothing to write about…

I just don’t really have anything that’s gripping me to pontificate on to the masses…all work and no play make finch a dull skinny white dude…

So I’ll give a couple quick notes:

- took a PT (physical fitness test) today. Took it at two o’clock in the afternoon which was interesting considering that the million or so other pt tests that I’ve done have ALL been first thing in the morning. The human body is funny like that. When you do certain things (like regular PT) at certain times/intervals, your body is prepared for said activity at certain times. So, obviously the 2p.m. start time was odd to say the least…you don’t want to eat a lot ‘cause you don’t want a bunch of stuff on your stomach when you’re about to try and do as many push-ups, sit-ups that you can in two minutes and then run 2 miles…but then again my skinny ass needs to eat food to have energy…so, yes, I ate…and while I didn’t do as well as I could have – I passed – which is really all that matters in this man’s army…72 push-ups, a mere 68 sit-ups(which I WILL chalk up to the food ‘cause I did 60 in only one minute just a couple days ago) and a 14:40 2mile…I’ll take it at this point – it’s cold, the air is crazy-filthy and I don’t do a lot of PT…

- Samurai Jack (the picture at the top) is the best cartoon out there right now – he is the MAN…just thought I’d throw that out there – don’t you judge ME! – ha! It’s really one of the only new bread of cartoons that you can watch without any sound and still not only understand what the story is, but actually enjoy the imagery as well...that, and he's got the BEST theme music ever...check it out…

- After the PT test we have to weighed, and measured – I now, according to the Army, weigh 134 lbs – which, for those of you who know, is me getting’ FAT – I’ll drink to that!

- Everyone is telling me that I’m black…for many reasons that many of you are well aware (baggy clothes, hip hop music, baggy clothes, newport cigarettes, baggy clothes) – but right now because I’m so ashy…weird huh…it’s finally gotten rather chilly out here…the air is very frosty, but also VERY void of any moisture what so ever…that coupled with the heat being turned on everywhere, drying out the air in every building I’m in has turned me into a cocoa butter lathering fool…it can actually be very painful – the cracking of the skin and the constant irritating itching…so I cocoa butter up…does this make me black? Ha!

- FOOP! Is a really odd book so far, – apparently time travel has become such a regular thing that a company is taking groups of people BACK on tours of events that have occurred in the past…the problem is that certain people are not satisfied with merely being able to see historic events take place – people wanna be heroes – so on a tour back to see old Abe get shot in the head – homeboy disappears from the tour group to go and impede Mr. Booth from executing his assassination plot…so the company has to “frame” Booth for the shooting (so that the future is not changed - duh!) – the whole scenario is portrayed MUCH more effectively in the book itself – and that’s just through the first 20 pages or so…check it out…

- In other news: my buddy Josh’s latest couple posts have been nothing short of BRILLIANT…I highly recommend checking them out over in the “links” portion of the ‘ol blog, and click on “The Josh”…maybe I just think they’re good ‘cause I’ve been there (not just Iraq, but almost the EXACT situations that he’s running into) but I think it’s really quality writing...

- and the XBOX 360 goes on sale tuesday - I've been given the morning off that day in order to attempt to stand in whatever line may be at my local post exchange to try and buy the thing...a running diary may come outta that...stay tuned...

We're ALL apparently racists...

I don’t wanna write this…I really don’t…and it will probably all come out as some incoherent gibberish – but hey, it won’t be the first time – and most likely – not the last…

It’s been brewing in my head all night and as I flipped onto ESPN.com – “Jesse Jackson calls T.O. suspension ‘much to severe’ – was the straw that broke the camel’s back…that is, if I were a camel and there was well, hay involved…

Look I actually like T.O…not so much what he says or does off the field…but credit where credit is due people…this dude is money on the football field…

The fact of the matter though, is that while the Eagles hired him for what he can do ON the field, they (as an organization/ team/ COMPANY) have decided that what he does OFF the field far out ways his God-given ability…that’s their right…it’s a business…this dude is getting paid millions of dollars to be a member of the Philadelphia Eagles football organization…and while he’s more than competent on Sunday’s – he’s a tumor the other six days of the week…

Granted, the Eagles could have dealt with this in any number of other ways…give him his own locker room…staple his mouth shut Monday through Saturday…murder Drew Rosenhuas (his agent)…but in all honesty none of these things SHOULD be necessary when you’re paying a guy MILLIONS to play a game that nine out of ten human males would play for free every Sunday…But, I am merely regurgitating things that have been talked about all week by countless REAL sportswriters ie:

As the Terrell Owens Era wound down in Philly over the past week, one thing stood out over everything else: Every single media member agreed that Owens deserved 100 percent of the blame. Some went further than others, but the message was always the same.
T.O. is a selfish jerk. T.O. is an idiot. T.O. needs help. T.O. is the worst teammate who ever lived. You can't win with a guy like T.O. He's not just a cancer, he's like a flesh-eating Ebola virus. We might need to institute the death penalty for sports and give him the electric chair live on ESPNEWS.

…one interesting angle though, was taken by ESPN’s Sports Guy, Bill Simmons here…

Now, all that being said, next up on the NFL Today show is an ‘in depth’ look in to where T.O. came from – a poverty sticken, southern boy named Terrell Owens…blah blah blah…this coupled with people screaming about how UNFAIR this suspension is and the outcry from Jesse “freggin” Jackson is – is, in a word– retarded…the man is under contract to perform the duties stipulated in said contract…and yet all year it’s been non-stop whining from the T.O. camp and constant distractions to the Eagles run at any sort of chance at a championship…

Let’s look at this in terms of real world scenarios…if I signed a contract to say, serve in the Army (crazy as that sounds) – I couldn’t very well go up to my senior supervisor (my coach if you will – we’ll call him Andy Reid) and tell him to Shut up and to speak to me only when he’s spoken to…that shit wouldn’t fly…and consequences would surely follow…

Now say, I’m getting paid at some office somewhere to do some sort of menial task – now for weeks I’ve been constantly antagonizing my coworkers and then one day I walk in and start fighting with some dude – I’d probably get fired right? No?

OK…say I do all these things and STILL haven’t been fired…say, my bosses tell me, if you do this or that and apologize and what not we’ll forgive and forget and let’s all move on…and then I basically say Fuck That!...well that would be that…right?

Now say I’m a black athlete, with tons of talent, but no respect for anything or anyone, who has a history of telling everyone around him to go to hell, getting paid millions to do nothing more than play a game…

It’s suddenly racist…and we've got shysters like Jesse Jackson screaming from the rooftops how unfair any type of punishment is…for God’s sakes people…how can you feel sorry for this guy…

I’d rather hear less about how “unfair” we’ve all been on T.O. and hear more about how a guy like Steve Smith can go from crawling off the field in agony with a completely shattered leg and ankle to the NUMBER 1 receiver in the league after the doctors all told him he would NEVER play again…playing simply for the LOVE of the game…and EARNING respect…

all that being said - word on the street is that the Dallas Cowboys may be the only real player in the T.O. sweepstakes...and i would almost, definetly, without hesitation, possibly think about getting a T.O. jersey the day they signed him...yet another shining example that I am an insane...

Some random thoughts:
as much as i'd like to keep the picture of me and my South Korean homies at the top of the page ...

I think: That every boy grows up dreaming of two things – EVERY BOY…one is of course playing a professional sport…usually beginning with baseball as that is the sport of choice for young adolescents, but can often morph as a youngin’ finds a particular niche in say, football, basketball or in some rare cases even hockey(travis!)…in any case the dream is there – a game-winning hit, last second touchdown, buzzer-beater basket, shoot out goal – whatever…it’s in the genes…the other dream - I think - is to fall in love with a beautiful girl… and while I never had much success with the former – I have been lucky enough to fully experience the latter…
Yes – as many of you are aware I’ve been in love for quite some time now with whom I hope to one day marry – a one miss Angela…a beautiful lady that I happened to meet in the middle of a desert surrounded by bombs and the ever-present fear of death…kinda surreal huh!?...
The thing about these dreams that WE have is that they always seem to manifest at the most odd times and ultimately require some of the most strength and determination to bring to full potential…life is such a strange (and many times) beautiful journey…

I want: the t-shirt that reads “Gay-Rod” which of course plays on the Yankees’ “slugger” Alex Rodriguez…that one and the one that on the front reads – “Yankees Suck” and on the back says (of course) “and Jeter Swallows”…I would wear these at every opportunity…hook me up!

I’m fairly certain: that no one really cares that France is burning itself down…

I’m positive: there are way too many games played in the NBA - we're talking more than eight months of basketball...that's a bit rediculous...much like major league baseball, they really should think about shortening the season or at least cutting back on the number of games played...it's just hard to get excited at a 5-o start for a team when you know they've still got 300 more games to play...anway...

I’m very close to: deciding that I am done with the Army…I’ve been thinking about writing a piece on the bloggage for a couple weeks now, but simply haven’t felt the push(if that makes sense)…I’m really not sure what to do at this point and that in itself is rather scary at this point…24 years old…a Sgt. in the U.S. Army…been overseas and away from family for the majority of my adult years…done a year and change in Iraq and have been to Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia on separate occasions…and even ventured around Europe as a Soldier…six years and some decent experience as a military journalist…NO SCHOOL though(which I will accept some of the blame)…quite the quandary…
If you’re keeping score at home – we’re NEVER leaving IRAQ…we may move in to other countries, but I really don’t think we’re ever going to leave – which means they’re gonna keep blowin’ shit up and killin’ young American boys and girls sent to fight for something that they never asked for in the first place…hell – I’ll defend freedom all day – but you start askin’ me to give up my life for SOMEONE's desire to send countless troops on a wild-goose chase – and because now that we’ve dug ourselves into such a deep hole we literally can’t dig ourselves out...sorry homie – not really my cup ‘o tea…

As it stands: I’m in Korea until at least August of next year…at that point I’m currently scheduled to depart from here and head to “lovely” Fort Bragg N.C….home of 82nd Airborne or “America’s Army”…now if you’ve owned a TV over the passed two years or so you may recognize the name of that unit/place – yes they go EVERYWHERE & ANYWHERE…upon my arrival there I would have a little less than 7 months left on my enlistment – which, according to my math, would be just enough time for them to stop-loss me (not allow me to ever leave) and deploy me wherever in the hell they want to…again – not really soundin’ like my cup ‘o tea…

So I may: just extend to stay here for the last few months and then call it a day…I’ve been looking in to some schools (including UT Arlington because I just love Arlington!) and, along with the aforementioned Angela, have been looking in to using my VA Loan benefits for purchasing a little casa down there in lovely Tejas!...

BUT: No decisions have been made, and only time will tell of course…things will transform in to whatever they need to be over time…it’s all part of the BIGGER plan right?…I just thought I’d spit out some random thoughts for everyone to ponder…

Me and my Posse!...

Dirka, Dirka Bitches!

What a waste...

Well it's Sunday already and after getting off at nine this morning my skinny ass was definitely feeling all 24 hours of no sleep...I actually think that I drifted into oblivion at some point because the phone rang and scared the hell outta me…oh well – nothing was going on anyway…

The weekend wasn’t a total wash though…word on the street (in the office) is that they (the bosses) are planning on making me (me) the new full-time head of the magazine…which would be wonderful because it would give me something productive to do rather than checking up on my fantasy team and fending off the forces of the command in their never-ending quest to break the spirit of my troops with crazy missions, invented requirements, and 5-mile runs at 5:30 in the morning…but I digress…

As much as I enjoy my job in the military as a writer/photographer-guy, I really enjoy doing layout and design…that’s been the case since I started this whole thing back at ‘ol Fort Bliss where I stayed there while everyone went on leave for Christmas and worked with our civilian printer to come up with a revamped new design for the post paper The Monitor…good times…

Anyway, this is a good opportunity which should give me some much needed experience with some of the newest desktop publishing software…long story short – I’m looking forward to the chance to breathe life in to what will now be a regular 50-plus page magazine…

With that in mind, I spent the majority of my 24 hours on duty toying around with some new ideas for the magazine on my laptop…and now my brain hurts…

In other news: Texas destroyed Baylor 62-0 and the icing on the cake was Miami finally showing up for an entire game this season and whooping up on an-overrated Virginia Tech team 27-7…young Vick threw for a couple interceptions and couldn’t stop dropping the ball all over the field…much like when Texas Tech arrived in Austin a couple weeks ago – it’s amazing what happens when you actually play against a top-tier TEAM…hell at this point I’ve got five bucks that says VaTech loses to UVA in a couple weeks…now everyone can shut up about who the top teams in the NCAA are, and baring any unforeseen collapses by either Texas or USC we will have a genuine championship game at the Rose Bowl in January…

Moving right along...

Well the weekend is finally here again...and I've got CQ duty from 9a.m. Saturday morning until 9a.m. Sunday morning - CQ for those of you not directly involved in military nonsense is basically a detail(job) where you sit and wait for something to happen...hopefully nothing bad goes on during your shift and you're good to go...throughout the day and night my responsibilities as the dude in charge is to walk around every so often to ensure that none of the junior Soldiers are killing/raping/stealing from/ or doing anything else that would be horrible thus causing me more freggin work/stress/paperwork/ and otherwise challenge the balance and stability that IS the U.S. Army...basically I'm babysitting and personally - I'm Excited! not really though...

Anyway might try and pull a running diary about it - maybe not though 'cause that's 24hours of nonsense...either way though - yippie for me!

In other news...the NBA season has started up again - and in a mere 18 long months it will finally crown another champion...

One question that has dominated the media (actually I’m making that part up – I honestly have no idea of what is “dominating the media”) is the ongoing saga and racist implications of the new NBA dress code imposed by the league’s commissioner (yet another example of why baseball’s commissioner is an idiot and should be strung up – he brings nothing to the table to help the game). David Stern – in his infinite brilliance – decreed that all NBA players will dress professionally when coming to and departing from games and while sitting on the bench when not playing…holly sense making batman! – yup it’s true…no mo' Bling-Bling...I only wish that this new rule didn't apply to Allen Iverson, because part of his being as an NBA force somehow lies in his off-court appearance and the fact that he IS just HIM - on AND off the court...while others are obviously just trying to be "gangsta" and "down"...

The method behind Stern's madness is this simple, according to the Sports Guy -

Why did the NBA institute a dress code? Because David Stern is a genius, that's why. During the busiest sports month of the year (October), the NBA managed to steal mainstream media attention away from the baseball playoffs, the NFL season, college football, the NHL, "Survivor," "Amazing Race," the debut of the "Adam Carolla Project" on TLC, Franz Ferdinand's new album, Kate and Tom's immaculate conception, the first photos of the Federline-Spears baby, Jimmy Snuka's triumphant return to the WWE ... you name it, the NBA dress code overshadowed it. You couldn't ask for better publicity heading into a season.

Which brings me to my point: They could have announced this decision in July, August or September. Instead, they waited until October ... as if they didn't know it would turn into a racial issue (what isn't a racial issue at this point?), or that some players would react poorly, or that millionaire dopes like Marcus Camby would demand a stipend for new clothes, or that Cuban would dress like a homeless man in retaliation. Come on. It was brilliant, it worked, it got people talking and it's just another reason why David Stern should be running the country some day.

(Imagine Stern as president after the New Orleans debacle? You know he would have come up with some convoluted way to knock FEMA off the front pages, something like "President Stern announced today that members of Congress would have to wear white wigs when they were in session like everyone did back in the late-1700s, explaining, 'It's time this country went back to its roots. ... what, you have a problem with America celebrating its roots?'")

And that’s all I’ve got for now…if you’re lucky I’ll be bringing you 24 hours of CQ bliss in the coming day’s post! Here’s hoping…

Defining Irony?…

Over the course of the last week or so, much of the Nation has taken time out to pay tribute to and remember the late Rosa Parks. The former seamstress became the first woman to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda – an honor that has traditionally been reserved for the nation’s highest leaders.

Outside, thousands waited to pay their respects to the civil rights pioneer who helped spark the modern civil rights movement simply by refusing obey a ridiculous law and give up her seat to a white man in 1955. This started what would end up being a 381-day boycott led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and helped change the face of America forever…

Or at least that was the plan anyway…

Walking through my office today I stopped for a minute to see what the talking heads on the news channels had to tell me. To my surprise there was Ray Nagin, the mayor of the city formerly known as New Orleans. How he was still able to be “mayor” and pontificate his outlooks on anyone was beyond me – so naturally I was mesmerized and wanted to hear what he had to say NOW…

At a town hall meeting with small business owners, Mayor Ray Nagin said on camera: “How do I make sure that New Orleans is not overrun by Mexican workers?” Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!?

No shit, true story…Now my initial reaction was to look at one of the officers and the sergeant major (both of whom are African American) that I work with and say “Are you serious – thank God he’s not some WHITE GUY sayin’ that!” I continued to watch simply out of sheer curiosity to see WHERE they were going with this story…of course the story HAD to be asking how can a “prominent” black politician spout off such demeaning statements against another race…

Nope…they were headed in a whole DIFFERENT direction with this…

Here’s part of the transcript and link of the report filed by CBS’s Byron Pitts:
Byron Pitts: New Orleans' distinct American culture, threatened first by floodwaters,
is now threatened again, say locals, by a flood of a different sort. Sunrise to
sunset, both legal and illegal immigrants arrive here by the busload, brought in
by big corporate contractors like Halliburton. While tens of thousands of New
Orleans residents are still scattered across the country, the crescent city's
newest occupants are fed, clothed, and housed in makeshift living quarters
around the city.
"Nuevo New Orleans," they call it, where construction work
and day labor is plentiful, unless you were born and raised in New Orleans.

In disbelief that a report like this was not followed up with outrage over the obvious racial bigotry being demonstrated by Mr. Nagin (and the report itself for that matter), I quickly recalled that last week or so, the headlines out of the very same city were that there was PLENTY of work, but no one willing to do it…not that people there COULDN’T do it – it was that the people there WOULDN’T do the menial labor necessary to clean out a city that was completely ravaged by water.

The pay is low, the work is hard and the people of New Orleans were basically sayin’ “FUCK THAT…I’ll be back when everything’s done – HOLLA!”

So companies were bringing in cheap labor and people willing to do the dirty work…and yes Mayor Nagin…these PEOPLE happen to be “Mexican”…Two months after the hurricane, Hispanics – both legal and illegal – have shown up to clean up and restore YOUR city. So shouldn’t you just be grateful? The fact of the matter is the people of New Orleans weren’t doing it and the rest of the country, for the most part, didn’t agree that it was OUR responsibility to foot the bill. Rather than showing your thankfulness though, you, and some of the citizens of your city, chose to lash out and shed light on what appear to be some rather substantial racist tendencies.

For more than a century, people in this country – black and white – have worked to erase hate and prejudice. And 50 years after the start of the modern civil rights movement a black mayor stands on camera and assertively attacks another race for working to rebuild HIS hometown.

While so many people are afforded the opportunity to do so many things because of so much work over the years, I’m actually very curious to know if THIS is really how far we’ve come.

And more so – where’s the social unrest over THESE comments…like I said at work – can you imagine if some white dude had said this? Kanye’d be back on TV in a flash…

One does have to wonder why there is no outrage over these remarks.

So while we lay a woman to rest who represented SO much of what this country has been able to become socially and morally and "gave every ounce of her devotion" to fighting racial inequality, Nagin and his ilk have apparently missed the point.

I’m eagerly waiting though, for Kanye’s latest proclamation:
“Ray Nagin Hates Mexicans!”