One day I'm going to stop packing for things so last-minute. Until then, doing it all at 1 am is the way to go. Oh, uh, speaking of which, I'll see you guys in a month or so, I guess.
I agree with you, but it's not the same as if the government came in a seized his assets, that would be way more concerning. It's more tantamount to partners voting you out of a company or stockholders absorbing the shares of a shit-head CEO. If he bought into it knowing it could be a possibility, then it's his own fault.
This. I have a major problem with a private organization divesting (or attempting to divest) someone of their property for something they said in private, while recorded without their knowledge and in violation of the law. Think about that for a second. You make a joke, in private, to your significant other. Unbeknownst to you, she/he is recording it, plasters it all over the internet. Some private organization decides it doesn't like that private comment, tells you to pay a lot of money and get rid of your property. People are seriously ok with this scenario? I'm not defending what the guy said. But to come down on him for this, when no one came down on him for racist things that are a part of the public record? I really hope we have not reached a point in this society (solely due to the ease of technology) where everything you ever say, even in the privacy of your own home, becomes material for someone to use against you to take property that is legally yours away from you. He was not talking about a crime he committed or was going to commit. He was talking about personal views in a forum where he thought he had privacy - privacy that didn't exist because of the illegal activities of someone else. Look, I don't like the guy from what I'm hearing about him, but if privacy matters to you because - let's say for instance you make comments about your employer in the privacy of your own home (but I know, you're all perfect all the time and would never do that) - only to have them splashed all over the internet through no fault of your own - and then lose your job, your car, your family, etc. You're all ok with that? I sure as hell am not. While it's sad, sometimes in advancing an important principle, you have to champion a shitbag - not because you like the shitbag or what he says/does, but because you are offended at what the mob thinks it can do to you because they don't agree with what you said (in private). Tread lightly, lest you find yourself misquoted or quoted out of context based on comments you make in private. Because that wouldn't Orwellian or thought-policeish (yes I made that word up) at all. Nope, not a bit.
There is no law against being an asshole. Despite I hate Sterling, this is clealrly a gross violation of free speech. Even worse that THIS is what tips the canoe and not the countless other atrocious things he's skated from.
Did he know that it was a possibility that something he said privately would be held against him? I'm all for the "don't be an ass in public and embarrass us" clause. But he wasn't in public. He was being recorded during private conversation. That's my issue.
It isn't a violation of his free speech. Free speech protects you from government interference with what you want to say. There isn't any government involvement here, so no free speech violation. He's free to say anything he wants. He is also free to take the repercussions for being an asshole.
I think it's ridiculous that some many NBA owners/officials are on their high horse about this. It seems they knew what type of person Sterling was, and they let it slide for a long time. However, freedom of speech protects you from governmental persecution, not from all consequences of your actions. The Clippers are a franchise, making his ownership not completely autonomous. He has to answer to the other owners, and their legal contract with each other says that they can do this. It's like firing a board member with a severance package. In this case the severance package is the estimated 1.1 billion dollars he'll make from the sale of the team.
So I'm on the train yesterday heading into work. As I'm reading the news, I hear a woman a couple seats over say, "Oh, Dammit!" and I look over to see her wildly picking up her things off the floor. So I look down at the floor under me and there's a sudden flood of coffee. Some fucking shitbag spilled their entire coffee and didn't bother to tell anyone. Thanks, asshole. Naturally, my backback was on the floor and was one of several, then soggy, victims. The guy next to me had a leather briefcase, which I can only assume meant more to him than a human baby ever could, and was flipping out. The following conversation then took place: Him: AH! Is that from your coffee?! Me: Nope (tipping spill-proof coffee mug still containing coffee upside down and shaking it as proof) Let me also point out that my coffee mug was sitting between my legs and if it was leaking such aggressive volumes, my crotch would've been thoroughly (and visibly) caffeinated. Him: Well...do you have another one?! Me: (Already pissed that my stuff is dripping with coffee) Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that other coffee that I buy all the time just for spilling all over MY OWN SHIT! You fucking moron. This lightened the mood of the other frustrated commuters who, despite their own anger, began laughing at my comments to the asshole sitting next to me. Amidst their laughter, he gathered up his own drippy belongings and left the car. And thus ends the story of one of the dumbest questions ever uttered.
All true but I am thinking since the tape was made illegally from a private conversation he'll have a decent case to make in court if he really wanted. At this point taking a hardline stand to keep the team would ratchet this shit storm up to 11. Im sure he'll slink out of the public eye with his billions. Doing it gracefully will really tell you if he's a total slime ball or not. God if instagram photos he probably was shown from some gossip rag website upset him about publicity, dude is probably going through some crazy shit now being front page breaking news. Which is well deserved for cheating on your wife with a rap video gold digger and being a racist loon.
I was on the phone with Comcast one time troubleshooting a problem. In trying to figure out what was going on she asked me, "are you on your phone right now?" I started to answer, stopped, and then asked her if she just asked me if I was on my phone. She just responded "oh yeah". Stupidity, it's everywhere.
Sterling Silver If I had a nickel for every time I have sung "Flash! Ah ahh, savior of the universe!" over the years . . . well, I would have a lot of nickels. Any time somebody says "I'll be back in a flash." or "have you seen my flash drive" or "my aunt Matilda drowned in a flash flood" that sort of thing. Re: that dumbass Sterling. All the fallout, lawsuits and what not over the next couple years should be some fun drama. His girlfiriend (doesn't he have a wife?) will be dead in a year. Also, one of the lawsuits will probably be filed against the Commish. So, will that case be referred to as Sterling Silver?
If you want to be introduced to morons, simply lock your keys in your car. They're the ones who will walk up and say "How did that happen?" Nothing beats the girl who angrily declared to me that the nervous system was a gland in the brain the triggered fear. She called me a "moron" for saying the nervous system is a collection of hair-thin receptors mapped into the spinal cord and brain. I can't make this shit up.
The reason why its a back-handed compliment is because its generally said when the opposite is expected. Its really old-school racist. As if having to say that someone is articulate or well-spoken is something to even mention because of the stereotype of how black people talk. Its code for not talking in a ghetto fashion.
Re: Sterling Silver I like that Sterling's wife is suing the girlfriend because Sterling has given her something like $4 million worth of cars and living expenses. That's a seriously expensive whore, excuse me, girlfriend.
I have this irrational fear of locking my keys in my car. I don't know why. I currently have a car that doesn't use a key, so I have a tendency to just throw them on the seat. So I'll grab them and put them in my pocket when I get out and I'll think, "okay, no need to check, your keys are in your pocket, they're right there, you're touching them right now." And then I'll get out, hit the lock button, but before closing the door, I need to check that my keys are in my pocket. I KNOW THEY ARE. But I have to check. It drives me crazy because a lot of times my hands are full and it'll take me a bit to find them, but I won't close the door until I touch them. I can't help it. Every damn time. I don't do this with anything else. In the words of the nearly unrecognizable Lil Kim, "The independent women, some mistake us for whores, I say why spend mine, when I can spend yours." Get with it Noland.
Hide a key on your car. My dad used to keep his on a wire tucked back behind the front grill. It's nice peace of mind in case you do accidentally slam the door shut with the car still running. Not that I've ever done that. Twice. I'd rather be a whore than a mooch any day of the fucking week. I defer to the wisdom of Pink: "'Cuz shorty got a job, shorty got a car and shorty can pay her own rent".
Re: Sterling Silver And I think that's the bit that ultimately bothers me. We, as a society, (Kareem's finger waggers) are seemingly rewarding this woman's horrible behavior. I agree with you that it's not first amendment (no governmental action) - though I say this with a caveat as the NBA is heavily regulated and we get into murky grounds with monopolies and whether or not they are quasi governmental agencies, but that's not really my bitch about this. I think we as Americans get waaaaay too focused on 'what we can do' as opposed to 'what we should do.' I live in a glass house. I've done things I'm not proud of. I've made mistakes, and thankfully they have been truly in private. But when privacy goes away - and we cheer and celebrate it because we like the result in this instance - are any of us truly free anywhere? I don't like the government curtailing freedom. I'm even less enthusiastic about private parties regulating private behavior and punishing those that they don't feel are worthy. Very fucking dangerous.
My car doesn't take a key now. It's just a fob (that's what they're called!). And I don't think I have an extra one. As an added bonus, if you lose it it's only about $400 to replace. So you're saying I should ignore the utterings in song of Lil Kim?