We’ll just let Minnesota’s Simoni Lawrence speak for himself. Yes, this is a contender for the football quote of the year.
Give Lawrence credit. He went right back out there for more.
Tip of the hat to Deadspin for this one.
Year: 2009
16-year-old Derrion Albert Beaten to Death in a Mob of Children
According to police, 16-year-old Derrion Albert was an innocent victim who was dragged into a mob of teens fighting on Chicago’s South Side.
The news comes from WLS-TV, ABC 7 in Chicago:
Authorities say 16-year-old Derrion Albert was walking from school in broad daylight when he was beaten to death.
It happened on Thursday in Chicago’s Roseland community on the far South Side in the 300-block of West 111th Street.
According to authorities, Derrion Albert was kicked, punched and beaten to death by several teens near the Agape Community Center.
Police say about a dozen teens were in a massive fight with sticks around 2:30 p.m. Albert got dragged into the mob.
Albert was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn and pronounced dead around 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
Witnesses say the fight that Albert appeared to have walked into was between mostly students from his school, Fenger High, identified by the uniforms they wore.
"These were kids beating kids," said Milton Massie, director, Agape Community Center.
Police are studying video from outside the Agape Community Center. One witness said she saw kids go in after Albert with two-by-fours:
"It looked like 100 kids. We’re talking about kids all over the place, in every direction…On the video, there were kids hopping over cars. The kids had huge sticks. They were going after each other. It seemed as if it was not so much a targeted, but it was random," said Massie.
"Everyone was just letting him get beat…it was basically like he was really by himself," said Tynesha Jackson, witness.
"He was down and they started kicking him. Then I saw they had, like two-by-fours, that’s when we realized that someone need to do something," said Linda Cotton, Agape Community Center.
The center employees pulled Albert’s beaten body to safety.
"He would gasp for a breath a few times but he was unconscious and lying there," said Cotton.
But it was too late.
According to his grandfather who raised him, Albert attended Bible class on Tuesday evenings and church on Sunday.
Our children did this.
I’m simply stunned at this point. I need to reflect and pray about this, how this could have possibly happened. We need to reflect and pray about this one, and for Derrion Albert and his family.
Our children did this.
Seal the New Deal, President Obama: Invite Paul Krugman to an Economic Summit, and Listen to Him
Top left: The Tennessee Valley Authority, part of the New Deal, being signed into law in 1933. Top right: FDR (President Franklin Delano Roosevelt) was responsible for the New Deal.Bottom left: A public mural from one of the artists employed by the New Deal’s WPA program. Bottom right: President Barack Obama. Is he ready? (Photo montage: Wikipedia, and ENEWSPF.)
Mr. President, it’s time to Seal the New Deal. It’s time for true health care reform: Health Care for All.
Take up the cause, and believe in it. Do what you do well. Inspire. Inspire the American people, Inspire Congress.
I’ve been reading economics recently, and I’ve learned a lot. Most of all, I’ve learned I need to keep reading, and learn more.
If you’ve never read anything on economics (I suspect you have), the so-called “dismal science,” you should get started. Don’t read to reaffirm your own beliefs or preconceptions on how an economy should work. Instead, read to learn, realizing that the science of economics can be about anything and everything. And we need to understand it better.
Allow me to suggest some reading material for you. Please consider the following economics cuisine.
To begin, I suggest Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything (P.S.)
Next, please consider Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science
For the main course, I suggest Paul Krugman’s The Conscience of a Liberal
Krugman is fantastic. The Conscience of a Liberal
If you read nothing else on ecomics, read The Conscience of a Liberal
For dessert, I recommend The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008
Mr. President, I know we have readers from Washington, D.C. on Turning Left. If you’re one of them, you can do better.
Besides reading Krugman, invite Paul to Camp David for an Economic Summit. And listen to him. Learn from him. Pick his brain.
And strongly consider his advice.
Seal the New Deal, Mr. President. Find the courage to protect the middle class, to inspire congress — yes, this congress. This is your time, your moment in history.We need you to make it spectacular. Convince us that you haven’t grown too comfortable in the White House. Find the courage to protect the middle class, to inspire Congress — yes, this Congress. This is your time, your moment in history. We need you to make this moment spectacular.
Seal the New Deal. Call Paul Krugman, chat with him, listen to him, and do what he says.
For the rest of us, read up on economics. And then read more. And then call your honorable representative in congress, and call the White House.
Let’s demand that they Seal the New Deal, once and for all. It’s the only way to preserve and protect the middle class, and lift up those now living in poverty.
Our moment is now.
Obama on Letterman: “I was actually black before the election.”
President Obama, in response to a question by David Letterman as to whether the vitriol at health care forums was motivated by racism, said, “I was actually black before the election.”
Letterman responded, “Really? How long have you been a black man?”
I just think it’s incredible that we can witness a conversation on race in this context.
Letterman and President Obama spoke about the economy, health care, the kids.
And, on the economy, I just heard the President say, “We lost $5 trillion of wealth” because of this economy.
I hope the President is reading Paul Krugman.
Top Ten Reasons President Obama Agreed to Appear on Letterman
Enjoy this video from tonight’s Late Show with David Letterman: the top 10 reasons President Obama agreed to appear on the show.
Cross-Dressers Must Show ID at Elk Grove Gay Bar
Now here’s something you don’t see every day – a gay bar that might be facing a discrimination complaint from the ACLU.
An Elk Grove Village gay bar popular with cross-dressers now requires them to show a valid photo ID that matches their “gender presentation.” Put another way, they now need a photo ID that shows them in drag.
Hunters Nightclub reluctantly imposed its new ID requirement because cross-dressing prostitutes were advertising on Craigslist and mentioning the establishment, said manager Peter Landorf.
“They’re implying they’re coming here,” said Landorf, whose new rule could cut down on his cross-dressing clientele. “If it is prostitution in any form, that could cost me my liquor license.”
So cross-dressers must show a government-issued photo ID that shows them in drag. Ed Yohnka, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, said this could be discriminatory.
“The fact is, if they are only requiring this of cross-dressers, that would be problematic because it would single out cross-dressers or transsexuals for a special burden,” Yohnka told the Chicago Tribune. “Under the Illinois Human Rights Act, they can’t do that.”
Yet another legal prostitution calamity brought to you by Craigslist.
Remember this?
Craigslist Prostitution Sting by Sheriff’s Police Nets 76 Arrests
Ernie Anastos: “Keep f—ing that chicken”
This is Ernie Anastos of FOX News, WNYW, New York.
Yes, he said, “Keep f—ing that chicken.”
FOX news at its best.
Enjoy.
The Terrible Tragedy of Chris Kelly’s Death
I absolutely feel nothing but profound regret learning of the death of Chris Kelly, one of the ex-governor’s closest friends and advisers. I fear that this terrible tragedy is only harbinger of things to come in the weird mess that is Rod Blagojevich’s soap opera.
I can’t even comment on Blago’s response in the aftermath of Kelly’s death, today ruled a suicide by Country Club Hills police.
Country Club Hills police confirmed today that Chris Kelly — a one-time top aide to former Gov. Blagojevich — committed suicide Saturday.
No one else is believed to have been involved in his death.
The political insider, who sources said ingested an “extraordinarily large dose of aspirin,’’ did so in a construction trailer in a lot where he kept construction equipment, police said.
A sleeping bag, photos of his three children, an empty bottle of Aleve, and an unopened box of rat poison were found at the scene near 173rd and Cicero, police said.
How tragic. What a terrible way to go.
And it’s not over. The legacy of Rod Blagojevich is shrouded in the blood of his friends.
[Country Club Hills Police Chief Regina] Evans said the suburb’s investigation has concluded the death “was an apparent suicide” and no one else was involved. “There is no evidence whatsoever of involvement by other persons.”
The chief said a friend of Kelly’s gave police a note that may have been written by Kelly. She stopped short of calling it a suicide note, and declined to describe its contents in deference to Kelly’s family.
Evans described the note as rambling and “personal in nature,” but not addressed to anyone in particular.
She said it hasn’t even been confirmed it was written by Kelly, but the “implication was it may have been.” The note has been sent to the state crime lab for analysis, she said.
What a mess. Thanks, Rod. Continue to argue for your innocence.
But, remember, Rod, the death of Chris Kelly is now your legacy.
Kanye West Interrupts President Obama’s Speech
Yes, this is a remix. Yes, this is humor. Yes, you will have to click through to Turning Left to see this video.
Remember When the President Couldn’t Speak English?
Some great sound-bytes from President George W. Bush, who, in spite of his apparent lack of command of the English language, sent our troops to a war that he refused to fund.
Enjoy the video.