imrandy's Blog

I posted a blog regarding Jimmy Malone's inability to evaluate talent last year, and here he is again on Fox 8 News giving us his unqualified evaluations of this year's crop of Idol hopefuls.

Who is Malone to criticize anyone's appearance when he shows up on Fox 8 wearing a horizontally striped sweater from the '80s that looks like something he picked up at the second-hand store?!

Fox 8, please find someone else to do this segment!

Conveniently, the media have dropped the issue surrounding Brady Quinn's alleged homophobic rants in Akron on New Year's Day simply because he denied any involvement, and the Browns accepted that denial. However, the Akron PD's records have indicated a discussion with Quinn regarding the incident. Meanwhile, Quinn denies having had any interaction with the Akron PD. Whom are we to believe, the APD or Quinn?

It seems to me as if Quinn's integrity is in question. Furthermore, he comes off appearing as a bigot. One wonders why so many NFL teams passed on Quinn before Cleveland dealt to pick him up. Could it be that other teams knew something the Browns didn't? Are there other questions to be answered about his character?

The answer seems to be 'yes.' It seems the Browns will lose a quality QB if Derek Anderson leaves, and Browns fans will be left with a QB in Quinn who seems to be of questionable football and social skills.

My friends and family planned to go watch the freestyle motocross action yesterday at the Dew Tour which, according to the schedule I found online, was supposed to take place beginning at 4 P.M. yesterday. To our surprise, but not totally unexpected of a Cleveland event, we were turned away from the gate as the event had supposedly been moved up on the schedule due to a shuffling of events caused by rain earlier in the week.

What a disappointment! We had made our plans on Friday to drive downtown and take in this really neat event. While walking around Northcoast Harbor, I felt as if I were in another city, not Cleveland. Well, reality smacked us in the face, and we were soon thinking how it never seems we can just enjoy ourselves downtown without being disappointed by some strange course of events.

At least we didn't pay $10 to park--there was plenty of on-streeet parking around Browns stadium. And at least we didn't pay for tickets being scalped by a couple guys on bicycles. The ticket booth was closed and no new events were scheduled. I think it would have been good to have a few police officers at the main entrance where these guys continued to sell "tickets" to unsuspecting guests. Perhaps an arrest for illegal ticket scalping was in order.

As a result of yesterday's disappointment, I will not waste my time attempting to attend the event in the future. I'll file it away with other bad experiences, such as the air show, where, even though we had a parking pass to park extremely close to the event, the police turned us away and threatened to arrest us for questioning why we couldn't use our parking pass. They probably parked their friends in our stead.

Just another reason for my friends and me not to visit downtown. I wonder how the out-of-town visitors felt when they couldn't even get in the gate yesterday. It would certainly be another reason why I wouldn't want to come to Cleveland.

Okay, we're at $3.19 a gallon and rising! There is still no sufficient reason for raising the prices week after week. I wish I could speculate about how busy I thought I was going to be at work next week so I could arbitrarily raise my salary. How in the world are the oil companies able to get away with this?! The media reports on the possibility of $4/gallon gas prices if the hurricane season damages oil sources in the Gulf of Mexico. Obviously, the oil industry has already planned on using that excuse. Turmoil in the Mid-East is always a convenient excuse for raising the oil prices 20 cents every other week.

Have you noticed that the price goes up about a quarter, and then falls back about 15 cents? This has been going on for months.

People think it's a waste of time to complain, but my employer hasn't increased my salary in nearly two years, and all of my other expenses have increased. It is getting more and more difficult to get by. I could not afford to miss one pay check. These subtle increases are extremely costly when you consider my daily round trip to and from work is about 55 miles. Not to mention that all the construction projects add about 30 minutes to my daily commute, which means I am spending even more on gas.

We need to do something to get our elected officials to do something about the spiraling effects of increased oil prices. It's simply not conceivable that Bush is trying to lower oil prices since his family has had an oil interest for several decades. One might believe part of our interest in going to war in the Mid-East has something to do with Bush's oil interests.

I don't know what the answer is, but I will certainly curb my driving habits!

Why do smokers believe the have the right to smoke?! They pollute the air of those around them, and drivers who smoke usually litter the roads with their cigarette butts. If you so much believe you have the right to smoke in public, then act responsibly. When I consume alcohol in public, such as in a bar, I don't violate your health. And, no, I do not drink and drive. Besides, that's not the issue here. The issue is: You are affecting not only your health, but mine. Smoking causes cancer, yet people still dispute over four decades of research proving that fact. Furthermore, emphysema suffocates you. Why in the world would anyone risk their health by smoking?! Why do you think it is okay to risk mine?!

Furthermore, you knew the taxes on cigarettes and alcohol would go toward funding our professional sports complexes. If you did not want that to happen, you shouldn't have purchased those items. Stop whining and be prepared to pay the penalty for violating the law if you choose to smoke in places designated as smoke free. You will be breaking the law, and you should be punished accordingly. I, for one, cannot wait until I can enjoy going to my local bar and not having to worry about how the smoke will affect me. Yes, I don't have to go there, but why shouldn't I be able to go without becoming coated in cigarette smoke?!

Sorry, but Jimmy Malone is a poor judge of talent when he believes Phil Stacey should be gone from Idol. Phil Stacey has one of the best voices in the competition, but I don't think he'll win because he just doesn't have the stage presence. There are a few others who need to go before Phil. Sanjaya was a good enough singer prior to this week, but he was just bad the other night. I'm not too surprised by last nights results.

As for Jimmy Malone, I wonder how many people rejected him from a radio job because of his lisp? (I know, it's cruel to say, but it's true!)

The price at Ridge & Brookpark was up over $2.80/gal this morning. Why?! I thought the increase last week was because Iran detained those Britons, who were released yesterday. Shouldn't the price have gone down?! They raised the price because the warm weather was prompting more people to drive around town. With this cold weather, shouldn't the price have gone down again?!

What's the deal?! When will our politicians do something about these increases that take place for every and any excuse the oil industry can come up with?! We're getting gouged for absolutely no reason, and it's time to get MAD!!!

If Newt Gingrich was still considering a run for the White House after his hypocrisy was exposed regarding his extramarital affair during his investigation of Bill Clinton's extramarital affair, he can forget about it now. He referred to the Spanish language (and other languages) as "ghetto" during a discussion over whether ballots should be provided on a bilingual basis. Spanish-speaking citizenry  is on the verge of making up the largest minority group in this country, and it won't be long before they are the majority. Gingrich's hypocrisy and hateful attitudes should disqualify him from even considering a run for the White House. Since he won't have to shut his mouth, maybe he'll just fade away.

How is it the media was able to demolish Howard Dean's presidential campaign because he raised his voice to fire up his troops, yet Karl Rove is made out to be a jovial, fun-loving individual? He looked like such a freakin' moron, dancing to some stupid rap song--like the republicans are really into hip-hop! Give me a break!

Rove should stick to causing controversy in Bush's administration. At least he's good at that!

I understand that LeBron James' King James Corporation has acquired an ownership stake in the Cannondale Bicycle Corporation. Along with his other fund-raiser, where he raises money and gives bicycles to innercity youth, he should be approached about holding a fund-raiser to finance the completion of the bicycle path running into downtown Cleveland. It could be named after LeBron James or Cannondale, whichever would get it completed. LeBron indicated he is very interested in cycling, and he seems to want to help children realize fitness through cycling, so I think this would be a perfect opportunity. I'm sure financing has already been sought for completion of this project, but the project could be enhanced through such a venture between the City, the Metroparks and LeBron and company. It's exactly what this city needs!

The argument that gays in the military will cause division within the ranks because gays will gravitate toward each other doesn't hold! The prejudicial attitude exemplified by the responses to this issue make it clear our society has some growing up to do. Naturally, people who have things in common will gravitate toward each other. It's not always the case, but African-Americans will tend to congregate, as will caucasians and latinos within their respective groups. Does such congregating cause division within the ranks? Should we have separate branches of each military branch to accommodate various racial groups? Why should we discriminate against gays?! Gay people exist in every segment of society, and those joining the military probably don't exhibit stereotypical mannerisms, so most troops wouldn't even realize they're serving with a gay person.

It's easy to attack a group of people, and then not let them comment on your posts. Talk about free speech! There's a certain 39-year-old grandmother out there, who shouldn't have the right to blog on this Web site anymore because she pulled mine and others' comments off her blog, as well as blocked me from commenting on her hateful blog against gays. Grow a spine, lady. What's in the water where you live?!

And this woman will likely influence her grandchild to be hateful toward others. Tim Hardaway's statements against gays is simply hateful, and it will only perpetuate more hate. I can't believe how many homophobic people have written in to these blogs, using any and all kinds of excuses against gay people. I'm ashamed to be a part of the human race when it comes to the hate some people have in them. The animal kingdom seems more able to coexist.

What is strange is how quickly forget the days of the civil rights struggles of the 60s, when African-Americans weren't allowed to use the same water fountains as whites or even go to school in the same schools as whites. If you think back to the days of the Salem witch hunts, when people were drowned or burned at the stake because they were suspected of being witches, it amazes me how people nowadays do not want to adapt to the fact that gay people exist in society, and they pay taxes for government services and protections like anyone else.

To make the argument that a gay person in the locker room or shower might be wrong is ludicrous. Shall all heterosexuals not be allowed to walk the streets for fear they might stare or engage in sexual activity with other hetersexuals?! It's called impulse control, idiots! Gay people don't just like everyone of the same sex, you know. It's an attraction, just like something looks pretty or tastes good, so, too, is the attraction to the same sex. Just as heterosexuals are attracted to certain people, so are homosexuals. What's so hard to understand.

Tim Hardaway and others clearly exhibit sings of sexual insecurity when they violently and irrationally react to homosexuals or people they suspect might be homosexual. Such people clearly have something hidden in their closets about which they don't want others to know. They  are homophobic and in need of psychological couseling in order to heal. Homophobia is a disease. Homosexuals are people. Don't confuse the two.

I'm so glad Bill Shiel and Fox 8 picked up the story about our Most Reverend Bishop Richard Lennon's unacceptable behavior when confronting Joe Cultrera for shooting footage outside a Boston-area church building where his brother was molested as a 12 year old. We need to run the bishop out of town. Cleveland is second in the nation (to Boston) in the number of sexual abuse allegations against the Catholic church, and I know this bully, Bishop Lennon, was assigned here, in part, to deal with these allegations. The other reason he is here is to close parishes that aren't pulling in the cash!

Lennon's inability to show any compassion with regard to abuse shows how hypocritical the Catholic church can be in their teachings. Catholics have poured money into the Cleveland Catholic Diocese only to discover many of their churches will be closing or diminished in the amount of services they provide. Furthermore, many Catholics are finding priests and pastors to be extremely nasty when confronted by concerns over abuses of power.

This organization is very powerful, but it should not be above the law. There doesn't seem to be any recourse for the shameful actions of priests. Bishop Lennon was simply behaving like a bully in the Frontline documentary, as were other priests, etc. What a contrast to the diminuitive Bishop Pilla, who fostered an environment of moving pedophile priests from parish to parish rather than confronting the situation and dealing with it from a legal aspect. It's likely he was under orders from the Vatican, and under the legal counsel of auxiliary Bishop Quinn, who advised that abuse-allegation files should be sent to the Consulate, where they cannot be subpoenaed by prosecutors. How convenient! If the church has nothing to hide, why move files around like they moved pedophile priests?! You can hide files, but you can't hide pedophiles, as the Catholic church is discovering!

It has become apparent that Richard Lennon is not the man to lead the Cleveland Catholic Diocese or any diocese. In fact, his behavior is not that of a man of God--it's more like that of the big, fat bully kids most of us couldn't stand in grade school. Hopefully, Cleveland Catholics will take up the cause of fighting for a better diocese. The Church owes it to them!

Well, yet again, another preacher, who has been nothing but hateful in his rhetoric against gays, has been OUTED!!! It's awesome! Why can't people just accept themselves (and others)for who they are instead of getting up on their soapbox and spewing hatred, especially from the pulpit! That's not godlike, and that's not what Jesus would do!

I'm just so glad the corrupt and deceitful are finally being discovered for who they really are. How dare these holier-than-thou types tell others how to live their lives while they hide in their hypocrisy! Poetic, and real, justice will finally be served.

It's unfortunate that the evangelicals got all caught up in the politics of things because they are quickly beginning to notice how much they've been used by the GOP. The two groups go hand in hand--they deserve each other--because they talk to much about the faults of others without looking in the mirror! I must reiterate what I've said in past postings, it's all about money & power, and these two groups don't know how to handle either.

I can't tell you the elation I feel over the polls showing the democrats' increased popularity with the voting public. I know it's still early, but let's hope this translates into votes in November.

The corruption and hypocrisy of the republicans is unbelievable! How in the world did we votes for these people?! The gung-ho attitudes toward war seem to finally be dwindling. The gigantic deficit accumulating under this administration should be a clear indicator of the horrible businessman that 'W' is--he has driven every business he has run into the ground. Why did it take the voting public so long to figure this out?!

Anyway, I hope to be singing like Babs Streisand the morning after the polls close--Happy Days Are Hear Again!!!