Peter Pan Syndrome

As I sit at my desk at work and look out of my window, I can't help but think about my younger days. Remember when sports was one of the top 3 most important things in life? LOL as a child I couldn't fathom being an adult. The reality of it simply escaped me. Yet, here I am a little over fifteen years later ENTRENCHED in the adult lifestyle. Complete with responsibilities,bills etc...(Sigh) So here's to u Peter Pan, I promised that we would always be together but alas, all good things must come to an end.

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Logitech Revue with Google TV Review: A Bridge to the Future

Logitech Revue with Google TV Review: A Bridge to the Future

"The fear, secrecy, and repression must end."

That's the theme of an open letter to Nike CEO Philip Knight signed by 43 worker rights groups and advocates from 15 countries around the world. The letter was released on September 22, the day of Nike's annual shareholder meeting held in Hilversum, the Netherlands, Nike's new European headquarters.

Seventeen months ago, in a widely reported speech at Washington's National Press Club, Knight announced a series of measures to improve conditions for the 530,000 foreign workers making Nike-brand products. "Many of us...hoped that this announcement might signal a change," the letter said. "These hopes have proved false."

The letter presents Knight with detailed evidence based recent on-site investigations of conditions in Nike factories. The field research discovered not just "unconscionably low" pay but many other violations of worker rights. Among the non-wage problems listed in the letter are:

* Physical and verbal abuse of workers in Nike factories in Vietnam and El Salvador.
* The presence of Indonesia armed forces in a Nike factory to intimidate workers during wage negotiations.
* The firing of workers of Vietnamese workers for talking to journalists, and Nike's refusal to require their reinstatement.
* Severe fire hazards in a Nike factory in China.
* The firing of workers for trying to organize unions in Nike factories in El Salvador and Indonesia.

The letter credits Nike with making some progress on health conditions "in at least one shoe factory [in Vietnam] and hopefully in others" by replacing highly poisonous glue with safer water-based products. But such "small steps are a long way from being adequate," because, among other reasons:

"Whenever we speak to workers producing for your suppliers, almost inevitably we hear the same story--of brutal management practices, manifestly inadequate wages, and repression of workers' right to organize."

What About Nike's Presence in Vietnam and China?

Moreover: "Your country continues to source products from totalitarian states where workers' human rights, including their right to form unions, are brutally suppressed. If corporations choose to source their products from such places they have a huge responsibility to work actively to promote positive change. Instead, Nike refuses even to make public statements calling for greater respect for human rights in those countries."

In the case of China, the letter urges Nike to grant unions and human rights groups access to its factories and to publicly call upon the Chinese government to permit free trade unions.
It's far far worse than MS employing cheap labour in conditions that amount to prisons. In fact billions of dollars worth of goods destined for America are actually manufactured in the vast Laogai (reform through labour) Chinese prison system.

Although some of these prisoners are what we would call criminals, many are simply political prisoners.

All this is so we can get cheap microwaves. America looks the other way because A. It does not care. and B. It's not a good idea to piss off the guy who has the mortgage on your house.

I am talking about actual slave labour. Prisoners who don't perform or who refuse to work are tortured and or killed and their organs sold to rich people in the West. Yes, this still exists in the world, turn off THE HILLS and get involved!

MLB THE SHOW MINI REVIEW

I was torn, on one hand I was hearing of all the hoop la revolving around how good MLB 2k10. On the other hand, I had remembered the heart break I had felt thirty minutes after popping in 2k9. I had never purchased an MLB The Show before and was a die hard 2k sports fan, I still believe the commentary is the only thing that's superior on 2k10, but that's where it ends.Plus after reading the review and seeing that the game rated slightly above average, I decided to give The Show a try. I must say I was impressed with the show, my only gripe being the commentary, It's AWFUL, and it truly takes away from the amazing experience I had playing the game overall. That and the fact that PSN SUCKS(couldn't play a single game without someone cheating)are my only complaints. Other than that, the Visuals, sounds and details are unparalleled. If your a TRUE baseball fan, I would recommend The Show, HANDS DOWN THE BETTER BASEBALL GAME.

Has Hip Hop Really Died?

I remember buying "IT WAS WRITTEN" Nas's second album. I purchased it at a cd store on Junction Blvd in Queens, called "Numbers", At the time I can't say I was a DIE HARD hip hop fan. Up until that point I had mildly been into all different types of music. Hip Hop, Salsa, Merengue, Rock, Etc..Etc.. I bought the album because of a popular song at the time called "If I Ruled The World". I wasn't interested nor aware of the CLASSIC tracks I was about to become addicted to for the next DECADE. Which brings me to my point, and I'm not just saying this because I'm older and don't listen to "Rap" as much. The quality of the music we call hip hop has declined to the point where I feel like my mother, when I hear it and want to "TURN DOWN THAT NOISE" There are quotes from my era of hip hop( 93-2002 ) that'll twist your brain into a pretzel. Artists like Wu-Tang, Snoop, Dr Dre, Nas, Biggie, Big Pun, Big L, and Jay Z, though later on, just to name a few, are a dying breed. The feeling I had as I walked down Junction towards my house was indescribable. First "The Message" Jesus! The beat with it's soothing violins and wicked wordplay all the while telling an intricate story made me see the world in a whole new light, and mind you this was just the first track. You had "I gave you power" A track that forever changed how I looked at music in general " Always I'm in some shit, my abdomen is the clip the barrels my dick" I mean, I was BLOWN AWAY. Alas, our younger brother and sisters generation would consider artists like LiL Wayne, Young Jeezy, and Soulja Boy, the new creme de la creme. I just wanted to share how much this saddens me, I came to this sad reality, when I was driving home from work the other day. It hit me that I had switched over to A.M. Radio and NEVER switched back. This might be in part to the fact that I'm much more into sports than in recent years, but I attribute it to the fact that there's never anything worth me listening to on ANY STATION. I mean seriously, I can only hear a Jay Z song (Empire State of Mind) So many times! So now I listen to sports talk radio. All the time, It feels like a family member had passed away, one I had grown up with, who I shared so many memories with, memories of a better time lyrically, when word play mattered. When beats were part of a song, and not THE WHOLE SONG. Which is the case with most wack artists, who fool the listener by having a HYPNOTIC BEAT, and then have it played on the radio 34 million times in a row. Forcing you to accept it as POPULAR music..... I know it might not be such a big deal, but it is to me. A part of my life is nomore, nomore will I wait in anticipation for an Artist to release an album, Artists like Busta Rhymes, The Beatnuts, The Roots, I mean, these guys are LEGENDS-Mostly in part because of how low the bar has dropped since then. Sigh... Lemme know how you feel...

Tiger's Crucifixion

So, I'm sure you've all heard. YES TIGER WOODS WAS UNFAITHFUL. I want to just take a quick second and ask all men out there, if they thought for ONE second that Mr. Woods was anything less? Look, I get it. The man cheated on his wife, Bla Bla Bla.... But it's TIGER! Why do we mythologize sports figures and Celebrities to the point where when of them commits a mortal act we feel as if though we've been let down? Right, he's a "Role Model" right? So let me get this straight, he's supposed to show kids how to be monogamous through his own fidelity? Don't get me wrong.... I don't condone his actions................LOL But I'm just saying, cut the guy some slack. It's bad enough you've got the ENTIRE incident all over the media right now. The only reason I'm defending tiger is because prior to this everyone's Base Jumping off his nuts, and the next their holding him to some sort of high standards that none of us, ESPECIALLY THE CRITICS could live up to. Men, try to think for one second.....this man IS A BILLIONAIRE! How much Vagina do you think is thrown at him on a daily basis? lol Granted it was Showtime At the Apollo when he left the Voicemail on the chicks phone...But it's TIGER! lol He probably had no idea the SHITSTORM that would befall him based on those actions.... All I'm sayin is I've seen MEN cheat on their WIVES with ordinary women over the most Miniscule things...LMAO...Cut Tiger Some Slack

To Protect And Serve?

Is it just me? Or do you feel nervous and uneasy when you spot a police car? Seriously, when I'm in my car and I spot a police car I scroll down a mental checklist of possible reasons for me to be pulled over. Some of you might read this and think I'm blowing it out of proportion or being extreme. That might be the case if I felt that the officers main priority was to PROTECT AND SERVE. Sadly this is no longer the case. Don't get me wrong there are cops who hold true to what the perception of a Police Officer should be, but the reality is that the cops you see nowadays are "Working". What does this mean? It means that these Officers need to meet their QUOTA. By that I mean there's a specific number of tickets they must give out to us, EVERYDAY HARDWORKING TAX PAYING CITIZENS! in order for whatever their numerical goal for that particular month to be met. It's like being a gazelle, roaming around an open field with tall grass.... When all of a sudden a BAM! A leopard pounces on you, wraps its fangs around your neck, and waits for your life to slowly come to an end. After your last gasp of breath leaves your body, the leopard writes you a ticket for not wearing a seat belt.........FML!!