Colin Kaepernick - Taking Ignorance To New Heights By Glorifying Fidel Castro, The Biggest Oppressor Of Blacks

Yesterday, my post was about Colin Kaepernick and what an unpatriotic, hypocritical idiot he is for refusing to stand during the National Anthem. Here is the link in case you'd like to read it. But when I wrote that post, I totally missed the bigger picture - not only is Kaepernick an unpatriotic, hypocritical idiot, he is also an ignorant, clueless dog turd.

You might say that I'm being a bit harsh on poor C-Kap. But what would you call a guy who claims that he's refusing to stand for our National Anthem to protest, "...a country that oppresses black people and people of color...." and then wears a T-shirt that deifies a man who has made oppression a cornerstone of his existence? I'm talking about Fidel Castro and his puppet regime in Cuba.

During a press conference with Kaepernick following his refusal to stand for the National Anthem, K-Dork showed up wearing a T-shirt with several images of Castro that implicitly sent a message of support for one of the worst abusers of human rights the world has ever known.

The shirt Kaepernick wore commemorates a 1961 meeting between Fidel Castro and Malcolm X and includes several images from the meeting.

Aside from the systemic racial oppression undertaken by Castro and his regime since it came into power in 1959, aside from the torture and murder of thousands of people who have disagreed with Castro, and aside from the racist policies that the Castro government embraces, how imbecilic is it for Kaepernick to honor someone like Castro who would never allow Kaepernick to voice his opinions about oppression (or anything else, for that matter)?

I mean, can you possibly be any stupider, Colin? Seriously, were you dropped on your head as a child, or have you taken one hit too many to the old noggin during your football career? You pay tribute to a mass murderer, an enslaver of his own people, a guy who wouldn't think twice about putting a cap in your whiny behind if you dared not stand for the Cuban National Anthem were you an athlete in Cuba?

Karma meets Che Guevara....

Colin, in your unbridled stupidity, you are paying tribute to a guy who thinks people like you are subhuman. If you doubt me, just take a gander at what Castro's BFF Ernesto "Che" Guevara once wrote about blacks:

“The black is indolent and a dreamer; spending his meager wage on frivolity or drink; the European has a tradition of work and saving, which has pursued him as far as this corner of America and drives him to advance himself, even independently of his own individual aspirations.”

After the revolution in 1959, Che was quoted as follows, "We're going to do for blacks exactly what blacks did for the revolution. By which I mean: nothing."

And these are the people you idolize, Colin? You are some piece of work, my man. You are just another in a long line of ignorant celebrity cliches' who don't know jack squat about which way is up but nevertheless feel compelled to prove their ignorance.

Let me take you to school a bit more, Kappy. The Cuban government has committed egregious, systematic human rights violations since the 1959 revolution and has never looked back. We'll never really know just how many people have been murdered, imprisoned, tortured, exiled, arrested, or suffered other human rights abuses by Castro and his government because of the secrecy that shrouds it. Human Rights Watch has estimated that by early 1961, Castro had executed some 2,000 Cubans. By 1970, the number exceeded 5,000.

Selma, Alabama? Nope. Havana, Cuba.

In a 1965 speech, Castro admitted that there were 20,000 political prisoners in Cuba. You would have made number 20,001 if you had dared show your ass like you did the other day before the start of your preseason football game.

Oh, and you want to talk about racism, you uneducated dweeb? Racism is rampant in Cuba and it's far worse than anything your little pea brain could fathom. State posts, government jobs, or positions in the tourism industry are allocated strictly on the basis of skin color. Let me put that in words you might understand. It means whites get the plum jobs.

Take a look at who surrounded Fidel when he came into power (above). Then take a look at the folks Raul Castro surrounds himself with in  positions of authority within the government (right). Do you see any black faces? I didn't think so.

Not only do blacks lack a place at the government table, they also get the short end of the stick when it comes to economic opportunity.

The tourist industry is the most profitable sector in Cuba because tourists use foreign currency (Cuban currency is worthless). When tourists shell out dough, they do it with dollars, euros, pounds, etc., not pesos. Those currencies are like gold and only whites and upper class folks have any chance of scoring some of that loot.

Why? Because the tourist industry has the greatest racial disparity when it comes to employment opportunities. Blacks hold only five percent of jobs in the tourist sector. Tourist resorts hire only whites because those in charge believe that whites are superior to blacks when it comes to dealing with foreign tourists. So, backs are systematically excluded from having access to the only money worth having.

I understand you've become a recent sympathizer with the Black Lives Matter movement. Their cause is what has prompted you to sit during the National Anthem. Black Lives Matter representatives recently traveled to Cuba, and like you, they naively thought that Castro was the big white color blind grandfather who did away with all racism and bigotry once he assumed power.

Guess what, Colin? What they found was not the fairy tale nirvana they expected in terms of racism, bigotry, and oppression of people of color. Here's an excerpt from the blog post that followed their visit to Cuba:

"[M]ost white Cubans we met did not like to talk about or admit that racism even exists in Cuba. But you can use your eyes to see. Black Cubans do not have access to economic liberty in the same way that white Cubans do. This can especially be seen in the booming tourism industry in Cuba where economist and labor leaders told us that many Cuban businesses are owned and ran primarily by white Cubans. Much like in the U.S. for Black Americans, it is more common to see Black Cubans behind the scenes– in the kitchen as cleaners rather than servers, as performers rather than managers.

For many of us Black folx on the trip, the non Black Cubans’ approach to racial discrimination felt very similar to #AllLivesMatter, a dismissive response to the urgency and need for #BlackLivesMatter in the U.S. It felt silencing and hurtful. Especially when one Cuban government economist claimed that “institutional racism does not exist in Cuba,” only racism on the individual level, therefore making it a problem that cannot be solved by the State.

Especially when we Black Brigadistas experienced and witnessed racism in Cuba and in our own group. Our last night in Cuba, for example, Shannon was approached by two light-skinned Cuban men and aggressively implored to bleach her skin “in order to be prettier” after spending two weeks in a country where race was treated as a second-thought. This triggering incident made us think- if this happened to just one of us, how many dark-skinned Cuban girls are growing up with this type of violent messaging about their place in the world?"

Feeling really, really stupid yet, Colin? Is all that egg on your face making it hard for you to see, you intellectually devoid stooge?

I'm not done with you yet, Twiddle Dee. As if the foregoing weren't bad enough, the black population in Cuba is woefully in the minority at universities and in other spheres of economic power. By the same token, it is in the overwhelming majority in the underground economy, in the criminal sphere, and in the poorest of neighborhoods.

An arrest in the U.S.? Nope. An arrest in Havana, Cuba.

In 2005, 73 percent of Cuban scientists and technicians were white. 80 percent of professors at the University of Havana were white. These numbers hold for the rest of the country and across the board in virtually all segments of upper class occupations.

Blacks and people of color? They are unemployed at double the rate of whites. And 85% of those in Cuban jails are darker-skinned Cubans.

How's that for oppression of blacks and the people of color you are apparently so dedicated to championing, Colin?

Civil liberties in Havana? You have no civil rights including the right to be free from unlawful search or seizure.

You want to talk about police abuses? Let's talk, Colin. Cuba has a version of our stop-and-frisk police power but it's not applied even handedly. You think blacks are singled out by the police in the U.S.? In Cuba, blacks are routinely stopped on streets at far higher rates than whites. "The term that was used by the police force to refer to citizens who weren’t white was 'ciudadano con characteristicas', or 'citizen with characteristics,'"Cuban writer Alexis Romay explained in a rare, uncensored interview. "If you were walking around with a group of friends and the friends were a mixed variety of races -  white guys, mixed race guys, and black guys — when the police stopped you, only citizens with characteristics would have to hand over their IDs."

How's that for disparate police treatment, you stupid box of rocks?

You want to see what life is like for blacks in Cuba? Here you go Colin. The first image is a swimming pool built by the Castro government exclusively for tourists to use.  The other two images are the pools where black Cuban children swim.

Those kids wouldn't be allowed to get within 100 yards of the pool in the first image, Kap Man.

Below is a typical store where Cubans can shop.

Here's a shop where only tourists are allowed to enter.

Not exactly the same inventory, huh Colin?

Last but certainly not least, Colin, were you aware that Castro and his regime routinely partake in a system of slavery, even today? Workers are shipped all over the world against their will, and if they refuse to go they can't work in Cuba because the government controls all employment. Foreign countries pay Castro a hefty sum for each doctor, engineer, or worker that is shipped off to do the work that locals refuse to do in other countries because it is either in remote areas or high crime areas. These countries pay Castro directly and he in turn pays the slave workers a small percentage of what he receives. All employment contracts are signed between Castro and the countries where the slaves are going to work, guaranteeing that he and only he controls the money.

Well, C-Kap, that's your world civics lesson for the day. Next time you decide to make a fashion statement, make sure your head isn't where you normally park it. Remove it from your rear end and get a whiff of that fresh air. You might actually see the world for what it is.

I knew you were a hypocritical, unpatriotic idiot for refusing to honor a flag for which countless, brave whites, blacks, and persons of color died. Now I also know that you're nothing but a jackass for claiming to protest oppression while at the same time ignorantly glorifying it. You were trying so hard to be so avante garde, so chic, so hip by wearing a T-shirt featuring Fidel Castro all you did was show your ass.

But what could I have possibly expected from a clueless dip wad like you?

Dear Colin Kaepernick: You're A Hypocritical, Unpatriotic Idiot. And The 49ers/NFL Are Even Worse By Letting You Sit During The National Anthem

Dear Colin:

We live in a great country, don't we bro? One that allows you to worship as you please, speak out as you please, and believe as you please. Why, you can even choose to sit down if you please, even through the playing of the National Anthem. Well, so long as your employer lets you, and apparently the 49ers and the NFL are more than happy to let you. More on that in a minute.

Colin Kaepernick's adoptive parents

I see that you woke up last month and decided to convert to Islam. Assalamu Alaykum, Colin. I hope you find peace while on the downhill slope of your NFL football career. You know, the one that's letting you earn $144 Million over six years as an oppressed black man raised by a white couple who adopted you after your black father and white mother put you up for adoption.

Do you not see the irony in that, Colin? A white couple adopting a mixed race baby so he would have the chance at a good life? Two white people who followed their hearts, saw a child in need, and took him in? White brothers and sisters who treated you every bit the same as they treated each other?

Colin Kaepernick's family

And you still have the stones to talk about racial bigotry? Aren't you the same guy who was fined $10,000 in 2014 for calling another player the "N" word when he teased you for throwing an interception? I could have sworn that was you with the "Kaepernick" on the back of the jersey....

Who's the bigot now, Col-Man?

But back to the point of this post. As I mentioned, I see that you've decided not to stand during the playing of our National Anthem at the beginning of your NFL games. You said, "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."

The Kaepernick $2.4 Million dwelling in San Jose

First and foremost, leave me and "people of color" out of your little tirade. You and I are as a different as the sun and the moon. We "people of color" can do our own talking and we don't need or want you to speak for us. None of us have designated you as Honorary Hispanic or Honorary Person of Color, so speak for yourself and leave us the heck out of your cause.

As for your perception that it would be selfish for you to ignore the plight of others, spare me. You are the poster child for selfishness. Selfish is you raking in the bazillions of dollars you're getting paid to sit on the 49ers' bench while at the same time not having donated one thin dime to the group that you have now adopted as your cause celebre' - Black Lives Matter.

Selfish is living la vida loca as you drive your $100,000 Jaguar convertible into the driveway of your 4,600 square foot digs in San Jose, CA without lifting a finger to help those who are less fortunate, you egocentric, spoiled whiner.

And here you are complaining about oppression after plunking down $2.4 Million in 2014 for your home?

You ass.

We've established you're both selfish and hypocritical. It must be hard to cope with all the hardships you've had to endure, what with the man keeping you down and preventing you from getting out of that $2.4 Million ghetto.

I'm curious, C. Why all this sudden concern for the plight of the black man? You're in your 6th year in the NFL. Why is it that all of a sudden you've come to the conclusion that our country is oppressing black people and people of color? You could have spoken up long ago but you didn't.

Has President Obama, a mixed race black man just like you, suddenly led us to systematic oppression of black people? What has changed from the last five seasons when you thought it was just Yankee Doodle Dandy to stand for the national anthem, but now it's not OK?

And while we're at it, what exactly is the government doing to oppress you? Please, share it with me. Specify what governmental actions have resulted in your being treated differently or in a negative fashion. I'm sure at a loss to think of any. 

We have a black man in the presidency, a black woman in charge of the Justice Department, and more blacks heading up positions of power within the government than ever. When I look around me, what I see is the exact opposite of black oppression. If anything, the exact opposite exists. It's a system of affirmative action that serves as a way to treat black people unequally, as in more favorably, solely because of their race.

I'm Exhibit "A", Colin. I'm a so-called person of color who came to the U.S. at the age of 5, with nothing but the shirt on my back, without a dime in my pocket, and unable to speak a word of English. I'm not worth $22 Million like you, but I've done pretty darn well thanks to all the opportunities I've had here in the U.S. And I've been oppressed?

That's not to say I haven't been called a few names along the way. That's not to say I've haven't seen a few dads raise an eyebrow when they saw me on their doorstep to pick up their daughters for a first date. That's not to say I haven't been pulled over a few times by cops who had nothing better to do than play games. That's not to say I haven't heard the snickers and giggles, or seen the awkward looks that caused a few stumbles along the way.

But it wasn't the government doing any of that. It was ignorant people. Ignorant people who have every right to be ignorant if they want to be ignorant. And instead of using their ignorance as an excuse for failing or giving up, I persevered. I never gave up. I got to where I am because I refused to be lazy or use that as a convenient way to justify failure.

So don't preach to me about oppression and how it affects lives. It can be overcome, if you want to to overcome it. I simply chose not to sit on my rear end like you.

Nessa Diab, Colin Kaepernick's fiance'

Nessa Diab, practicing her "authentic Islam" (right).
Must be the newest style of burka worn in Egypt.

Now, I'm guessing this new found concern you have for the plight of oppressed black people has something to do with your recent engagement to MTV personality Nessa Diab, she of Egyptian descent. It seems that she also just recently joined the Black Lives Matter bandwagon like a lot of people trying to be what they're not.

I hear she also promotes "authentic Islam" and the two of you are planing a traditional Muslim wedding. Good for you. Except as the two of you embark down you path of sincere adherence to Islam, you might want to have Nessa revisit her fashion decisions. Same goes for any future plans for cosmetic surgery augmentations.

Call me quirky, C-Man but I was not aware that strict adherence to Islam is consistent with her current choices. Unless, of course, "authentic Islam" means being self obsessed with one's looks, augmentation of certain body parts, and flaunting them at every opportunity.

Nothing like a good "authentic Islam" selfie

But that's not you guys, right CK?  You two don't just talk a good game, say the right things, and pretend to be what you're not, do you?

You're just an oppressed black man with a net worth of some $22,000,000.00 and lots more cash coming down the pike from that guaranteed contract you signed with the 49ers. So even if they decide to let you go, you'll be just fine, thank you very much. I mean oppressed, but just fine.

You might be wondering who I am to question your decision to do what you do best, i.e. sit on the bench ... even during the National Anthem.

Well, I'm the guy who appreciates what has been given to me, even if it wasn't always perfectly afforded. And I can't stand it when people talk about our freedoms without having a clue about the freedoms we actually have. Take our 1st Amendment, for example.

The 49ers have issued a statement about your situation:

"The national anthem is and always will be a special part of the pre-game ceremony. It is an opportunity to honor our country and reflect on the great liberties we are afforded as its citizens. In respecting such American principles as freedom of religion and freedom of expression, we recognize the right of an individual to choose and participate, or not, in our celebration of the national anthem."

Chip Kelly told reporters that your decision not to stand during the national anthem is your "right as a citizen" and, "...it's not my right to tell him not to do something." The NFL also released a statement, to the effect that players are not required to stand during the playing of the national anthem.

Here's where the rubber meets the road. You see, Colin, you don't have the "right" to sit during the National Anthem. Your coach, the 49ers and/or the NFL could very easily require you and any other player to stand if they wanted to make it a requirement. For that mater, they could make you stand on one foot and juggle balls if they wanted to. It's their right as your employer.

Perish the thought that I should challenge a constitutional interpretation by a scholar such as 49ers football coach Chip Kelly, the 49ers or the NFL. But the 1st Amendment to the United States Constitution reads as follows:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

See the very first word in the very first sentence? It says "Congress". That means Congress can't abridge a person's freedom of speech. It doesn't say "Chip Kelly", "the 49ers", or "the NFL". They're all private entities or people, not "Congress". They can abridge a person's free speech all they want, if they want, when they want, and how they want.

Bottom line? If Kelly, the 49ers, or the NFL wanted to make you get off your well rested rear end and force you to stand for the National Anthem, Colin, they could. They just choose not to.

Which is why I've gone to the trouble of writing this. It's to let you know that you're being allowed to sit during the National Anthem by your coach, by the 49ers, and by the NFL. And the public should let all three of them know what they think of that.

Instead of heaping abuse on a half wit, spoiled, hypocritical has-been athlete like you, people should be venting their anger at the 49ers and the NFL. They're the ones who are being unpatriotic by allowing you to sit during the playing of our country's Anthem. The one we sing to celebrate the greatness of our nation. The one so many people died for.

Because it is a great country, Colin. So very great. 

The 49ers and the NFL are a bunch of politically correct cowards. They should all take a page from the NBA which would have none of this when one of its players decide to do a "Colin" and remain seated during the National Anthem.

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf of the Denver Nuggets (formerly Chris Jackson before converting to Islam) refused to stand during the National Anthem in protest, citing similar reasons as you, and saying that it conflicted with some of his Islamic beliefs. Abdul-Rauf was suspended by the NBA. A compromise was then worked out between the league and Abdul-Rauf. 

And sure as you know what, at the very next game, Abdul-Rauf was standing at attention with his teammates and coaches during the playing of the National Anthem. Honoring those who died so you could sit on your ass and profess your recent, disingenuous concern over the plight of black Americans, Colin. 

I'm hopeful your coach, team, and/or league will grow a pair and follow the NBA's lead. Then, you''ll be standing during the National Anthem.

Going forward, there will be plenty of opportunities for you to sit, Colin. Both during the playing of the National Anthem and otherwise. Just on your own time. When you're out of the league and nobody gives two dog turds about what you and your squeeze think.

Dear IOC - You're Killing The Olympics

The Rio Summer Olympics have come to an end and managed to hang on despite difficulties. One month prior to the start of the Games, a rotting corpse was found floating in Guanabara Bay where the sailing events were supposed to take place and things kept getting worse as the Games were slated to begin.

Rampant crime in the street of Rio

The Brazilian president was impeached. Brazil's economy was in the tank. The homicide rate in Rio was averaging 3-4 deaths per day and continued throughout the Games. Street gangs ruled the city and robbed visitors with impunity at knife point, or worse yet, at gunpoint. 

The Zika virus was on everyone's mind, and even the Olympic flame took a hit when it was extinguished by rioters.

Garbage and sewage in Guanabara Bay

When the Games began, athletes slated to compete in the rowing events were forced to deal with the polluted waters of the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon. In an effort to protect themselves from illness, they applied bleach to their oars and rinsed their mouths with anti-bacterial mouthwash. Water bottles were religiously kept in plastics bags to minimize any possibility of contracting bacterial infections from the rancid water. For one athlete, none of those precautions did any good.

Evi Van Acker

While training for the Olympics in July, Belgium's Evi Van Acker contracted a dysentery, a severe intestinal virus, while sailing in the polluted waters of another water venue - Guanabara Bay. The Bay was plagued by high levels of raw sewage, garbage, and the occasional decomposing body part, all of which made the Bay the perfect breeding ground for viruses.

The illness had a devastating effect on Van Acker as it kept her from her usual training It also affected her performance at the Games as the virus' effect stayed with her and depleted her physical stamina during her event. In short, the pre-Olympic podium favorite had her hopes for a medal stolen though no fault of her own.

"Evi caught a bacteria in early July that causes dysentery," said her coach. "Doctors say this can seriously disrupt energy levels for three months. It became clear yesterday that she lacked energy during tough conditions. She could not use full force for a top condition."

Jenn Suhr

A virus also dashed another athlete's medal hopes. American pole vaulter Jenn Suhr came down with an incapacitating viral respiratory infection shortly before the pole vault event began. A heavy favorite to repeat her gold medal performance from the London Games, Suhr was clearly not at her best during the preliminaries and only got worse as the the pole vault Finals were set to begin. She too ended up off the podium.

The Suhrs took every conceivable precaution. They brought their own food from the States and drank only bottled water.

In a Facebook post, her husband Rick wrote, “Jenn has fallen ill, quite ill in the last two days. This morning it has really kicked in, she has lost her voice almost completely. Seems she picked up a nasty virus here and has caused respiratory complications. We came here in the greatest shape of our life. Four years of total dedication eaten up in one nasty virus that is only getting worse. Hoping that the antibiotics and other meds given by our doctors help but this does not look good." The Finals were Friday. On Saturday, Suhr was coughing up blood and headed home to seek further medical treatment.

Rio Athletes had to cope with third world conditions in the Olympic Village. Intermittent electricity, no hot water, no shower curtains, blocked toilets, leaking pipes and exposed wiring greeted the athletes upon arriving at the Village. There was horrible lighting in many stairwells and the floors were in dire need of cleaning. Using bathroom faucets caused water to leak and come through the ceilings, resulting in large puddles on the floor around cables and electrical wiring. Electrical short circuits were common.

Conditions in the Rio Olympic Village

Algae bloom in the Rio Olympic diving pool (L)

The icing on the cake was when the Olympic competition diving pool turned green from an algae bloom midway through the events. That provided a great optic for the TV cameras. Divers were told not to worry - the pool was safe for use ... I guess in the grand scheme of things, it was probably the safer than most  of the other water sources in town.

So how is it that we ended up sending athletes to a place where they couldn't safely walk the streets at night, where they were housed in substandard conditions, where they ran the risk of contracting a virus simply by coming onto contact with the very water in which they had to compete, and where they couldn't even take a shower in their rooms?

Three reasons.

1. The IOC Is A Pompous, Corrupt, Governing Body. 

Thomas Bach, President of the IOC since 2013

The IOC is soccer's FIFA on steroids when it comes to graft and corruption. And its example is followed by the local organizing committees.

The Rio Games? Olympic infrastructure development was awarded to contractors after kickbacks and payoffs were agreed upon. Politicians who were at the root of Brazil's wider corruption scandal that had destabilized the government were at the forefront of the suspects implicated in the payoffs. Although nothing has been proven, it would strain the imagination to believe that some of these funds did not end up in the IOC's dirty hands.

Papa Massata Diack, former disgraced associate of the IAAF

This is nothing new. Corruption and the Olympic Games have gone hand in hand for quite some time and is the rule rather than the exception. French prosecutors are currently investigating allegations that the IOC’s decision to award the Summer Gamers to Tokyo in 2020 was greased by payoffs.

It is no secret that Tokyo’s bid for the 2020 Games involved payments of some $1.5 Million to secret accounts held by none other than Papa Massata Diack, a former International Association of Athletics Federation marketing fixer who has been banned from athletics for life.

This wasn't Japan's first rodeo when it came to bidding on Games and the Japanese learned their lessons very well from their experience in bidding on the 1998 Nagano Games. Nagano was selected to host the Games after wining and dining IOC members, providing them with trips to luxury hot spring resorts, first-class air tickets, and geisha companionship. IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch was housed in the most expensive suite at the Hotel Kokusai 21, bought and paid for by the Nagano Olympic Committee at a total price tag of $71,000.

During the Nagano bidding process, Japan also secured corporate contributions to build an Olympic museum in Switzerland .

All of these shenanigans were documented in several cardboard boxes that contained the Nagano bid. When rumors circulating about the payoffs began to swirl and the many irregularities began to generate scrutiny, the files were mysteriously destroyed in a fire.

Nagano simply took a page from the Salt Lake City playbook. In 1998, it was revealed that the 2002 Salt Lake City Games involved bribes, offers of scholarships, medical care, dubious real estate deals and even sexual favours during the bidding process. Bribes of up to $1 Million for IOC members and payoffs to agents of between $3 Million to $5 Million for committee member votes were uncovered. The corruption was so endemic that 10 members of the IOC were ultimately expelled or resigned.

With the IOC, corruption is only equaled by its pompousness. Oslo sought to host the Winter Games in 2022 ... until the IOC came up with a list of demands that were non negotiable. Demanding to be treated like the let-them-eat-cake aristocrats they believe themselves to be, the IOC demands included:

• Meeting Norway's King prior to the opening ceremony.
  
• A cocktail reception to follow the meeting with Norway's King with all drinks paid for by the Royal Palace or the local organizing committee.
• Separate traffic lanes created on all roads where IOC members would travel, reserved exclusively for IOC members. and not to be used at any time by the public or by public transportation.
• A welcome greeting from the head of the local Olympic delegation.
• Hotel manager to be present in IOC members' rooms along which are to have "seasonal fruit and cakes".
• The hotel bar at the IOC hotel to extend its hours “extra late”.
• Hotel room minibars must be stocked with Coca Cola products.
  
• The IOC president shall be welcomed "ceremoniously" at the airport when he arrives.
• The IOC members should have separate entrances and exits to and from the airport.
• During the opening and closing ceremonies, a fully stocked bar to be available. During competition days, wine and beer deemed acceptable at the stadium lounge.
• IOC members shall be greeted with a smile when arriving at their hotel.
• IOC hotel meeting rooms shall be kept at exactly 20 degrees Celsius at all times.
• The hot food offered in the lounges at venues should be replaced at regular intervals, as IOC members might “risk” having to eat several meals at the same lounge during the Olympics
• Street lights synchronized to prioritize IOC traffic
• Samsung phones for all IOC members
• All furniture must have "Olympic appearance."

To the great credit of Oslo, it told the IOC where to stick their Games and withdrew its bid. That left Beijing and Almaty (Kazakhstan). Beijing doesn't have a usable ski mountain within 120 miles. Kazakhstan is the poster child for corruption.

But that's what we're left with. Because of the IOC's graft, corruption, diva-like attitude, and...

2. The Ridiculous Costs Associated With Hosting The Games

Opening ceremonies in Sochi

Hand in hand with the IOC's corruption, greed, and a diva attitude, fewer cities are willing to host the Olympic Games because of the ridiculous costs that have become part of hosting the Games. Cities that would be ideal Olympic hosts and could afford to host the Games will not bid for the Olympics any more. Local governments and the public they represent have become increasingly unwilling to shoulder the massive costs associated with hosting the Games.

Three of the last four Olympic Games cost more than $10 billion. Beijing 2008 and Sochi 2014 cost a staggering $43 billion and $51 billion, respectively.

The Polish city of Krakow withdrew its bid for the games a day after a citywide referendum where 70 percent of voters came out against hosting the Olympics. "Krakow is closing its efforts to be the host of the 2022 Winter Games due to the low support for the idea among the residents," said mayor Jacek Majchrowski.

The ski jump remnants from the Sarajevo Winter Games

The dominoes have not stopped falling. Voters in Munich rejected their proposed Olympic bid. "The vote is not a signal against the sport," said a lawmaker, "but against the non-transparency and the greed for profit of the IOC."

The bid from Davos/St. Moritz, Switzerland also fell apart after being rejected by a public referendum.

The aquatics center from the Athens Olympics today

Stockholm pulled its bid when Sweden's ruling party declined to fund the games. They cited the pointlessness of paying hundreds of millions for facilities that would be used for the Games and then would sit unused thereafter. "Arranging a Winter Olympics would mean a big investment in new sports facilities, for example for the bobsleigh and luge. There isn't any need for that type of facility after an Olympics."

Can you blame them? A Google search of Olympic facilities from past Olympic games provides page after page of images depicting once-state-of-the-art athletic infrastructure in ruins.

So Where Do We Go?

Unless there is a movement to reverse course, clean up the IOC, and inject some sanity into how the Games are hosted, the Olympics may soon be a thing of the past. Or, the only sites where the Games will take place will be in countries that want the world to believe that they're doing just fine, thank you very much. Like Russia. And China. And Kazakhstan.

If I was King of the World, here's what I would do. I'd start by cleaning house at the IOC and getting rid of everyone. A new IOC would emerge made up of the heads of each country's Olympic Committee. That group would elect a new President and he/she would run the IOC for a specified term. At the end of the term, that individual would be replaced and would not be eligible to serve as President again. Eight years seems like a reasonable time frame encompassing two sets of Olympic Games.

Next, to eliminate all the corruption inherent to awarding the Olympics to cities, the most logical thing to do is have a permanent site for both the Summer and Winter Games. It only makes sense to locate the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece since that is where the Olympics began.

Given how flush the IOC is in terms of cash, it could easily front all, if not most, of the costs associated with building the necessary facilities. Those funds could be supplemented by the massive television revenues and through corporate sponsorships. If necessary, the right to name the various stadiums could be auctioned off to corporate sponsors to generate additional cash. Each corporate sponsor would be responsible for the maintenance associated with the facility that bears its name.

A suitable, neutral site would be selected for the Winter Games where snow is plentiful and the mountains are not 120 miles away. Switzerland has always been neutral so that would be my pick.  Just as with the Summer Games, construction costs for the necessary facilities would come from the IOC, TV revenues, and corporate sponsorships.

The venues would be available year round for athletes to train. Each country's Olympic Committee would be allowed to send a specified number of athletes to live there and train for free. Additional athletes would also be welcome but subsidized by the country that sends them. Being able to train at the very venue(s) where athletes would compete every four years would acclimate them equally to the facilities and eliminate the advantage that host countries have today. Arguably, Greece and Switzerland would have a potential advantage but nowhere near to the degree enjoyed under today's system

Easy peezy, lemon squeezie. No more polluted sailing venues. No more athletes dodging bullets on their way to their events. No more payoffs, pompousness, or corruption. Making the Games all about the athletes instead of about having the right stuff stocked  in a minibar.

Just my two cents, if I was King of the World.

Barrack Obama - The New Worst President Ever. And Hillary Will Only Be Worse.

I have always thought that Jimmy Carter was the worst president we have ever had. I never dreamt that anyone could possibly ever top him. The four Carter years were horrible. Unemployment skyrocketed. Inflation was at 13%. Interest rates rose to 20%. Gasoline was rationed. And that was just on the home front.

Outdoing his disastrous domestic record, Carter failed even more miserably in the foreign policy arena. Carter naively trusted the Soviet Union and within a month of having negotiated an arms control treaty with Leonid Brezhnev, Soviet troops marched into Afghanistan.

The icing on Carter's foreign policy blunders cake was the Iran Embassy takeover in Tehran after the fall of the Shah. A crisis ensued with twenty U.S. diplomats captured and held hostage for more than a year by the revolutionary government.

Matters only got worse with Carter's week kneed response to the situation while cowering in the White House. It was deemed a Presidency under siege with TV news stations reminding us every day of the debacle with a graphic that told us how many days had elapsed since our diplomats had been captured.

And then Carter put the final exclamation point on his ineptness with a failed military rescue attempt that resulted in our helicopters crashing into the desert, killing 30 soldiers.

Iran immediately released the hostages after Ronald Reagan was sworn into office.

But now we have a new contender for worst President ever. On the domestic front, unemployment (the real figures, not the ones thrown about that don't include people who have stopped looking for work) is currently at over 9%, the economy is barely growing in terms of GDP, Obamacare is causing health insurance premiums to become ridiculously expensive, and the U.S. is so deeply in debt that the interest alone is going to be devastating once rates rise to normal levels.

The only difference between the Carter years and Obama's eight years are interest rates, inflation, and cheap oil that has kept gasoline plentiful. Obama was unable to screw those things up as much as he tried.

On the foreign policy front, incredible as it may seem, Obama has surpassed Carter by a long shot in terms of blunders, misguided policies, and much more dangerous ramifications for the future.

Obama’s defense policies were a muddled mess from the start. He singlehandedly took a victory in Iraq and turned it into a devastating loss that left a power vacuum, instability, and the creation of a national security nightmare worse than Al Quaeda - ISIS.

He turned his back on Polish and Czech allies by pulling the plug on missile defense systems we promised them, appeasing the Russkies.

He has been reducing our military's capability to pre-World War II levels (and in the cae of the Navy, to World War I levels) while Russia and China have systematically expanded theirs. His threatened "red line" in Syria evaporated when his bluff was called and he created yet another breeding ground for ISIS. He backed the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood in the Egyptian revolution. And, he has abandoned Israel.

Oops. Almost forgot. The highlight of Hillary Clinton's tenure as Secretary of State - the reset with Russia. Putin laughed in Obama's face immediately thereafter and invaded Crimea, knowing that Obama wouldn't lift a finger to stop him. Deja vu Jimmy Carter.

After all of the foregoing, is it any wonder that neither enemies nor allies take Obama seriously? You know it's bad when even Jimmy Carter had this to say about Obama's foreign policy legacy:

"On the world stage, I think [Obama’s accomplishments] have been minimal. I think he has done some good things domestically, like health reform and so forth. But on the world stage, just to be objective about it, I can’t think of many nations in the world where we have a better relationship now than when he took over.”

Ouch!

And with a year left in office, Obama has managed to take his ineffectiveness, ineptness, and naivete' to new heights in his recent dealings with Iran. He and his botox-polluted Secretary of State have managed to outdo Jimmy Carter in appeasement, coddling, pampering, and placation of the Mullahs in Iran while they openly give us the middle finger.

The latest nuclear arms deal ensures that Tehran will have nuclear capability in the immediate future. We have also loaded up the regime with cash, having delivered $400 Million a few days ago and  wire transferring an additional $1.3 Million this week. Add to that the bazillions in frozen funds that have been released after we lifted the sanctions on Iran.

Meanwhile, Tehran test launches missiles that have far reaching nuclear ramifications. It continues to take American citizens hostage. It captures our sailors at sea, and most recently it has had its pint sized motorboats threaten our navy ships.

Why does our current administration allow the world's greatest superpower to be repeatedly embarrassed, humbled, and humiliated by Iran without blinking an eye? At what point do we finally say enough is enough and stop letting this banana republic give us that middle finger while daring us to do something about it? 

Apparently, not until at least January of 2017 when President Obama is finally gone from office.

In case you hadn't heard, earlier this week four Iranian motorboats (no larger than what I used to have to go fishing) came within 300 yards of the USS Nitze and harassed the guided missile destroyer by, "...conducting a high speed intercept and closing within a short distance of Nitze despite repeated warnings" according to the U.S. Navy. How did we respond? By protesting and calling it "unsafe and unprofessional." 

Are you freaking kidding me? We allow a guided missile destroyer  to be "harassed" by four fishing boats?

Navy officials said that the Nitze tried to communicate with the Iranian vessels 12 times but received no response. It also fired 10 flares in the direction of two of the Iranian vessels. "The Iranian high rate of closure... created a dangerous, harassing situation that could have led to further escalation, including additional defensive measures by Nitze," the Navy official said.

Hey, here's a thought. Instead of protesting, instead of sitting with our thumbs up our rear ends, instead of getting all frazzled because they created a "harassing" situation, and instead of firing flares and worrying about defensive measures while our ships are in international waters where they have every right to be, how about you blow them the heck out of the water? 

How about that for sending a message. How about that for letting Tehran know that we're not going to take any more crap from them. How about that for letting the rest of the world know that we're done lying down, and we're done being the whipping boy for banana republics.

This latest incident is nothing new. Iran recently took a number of our sailors hostage when their vessels strayed into Iranian territorial waters and one of the vessels suffered engine problems. As repairs were underway, Iranian rapid attack crafts approached, seized the vessels, took our sailors hostage, and then paraded them in custody for the world to see what a toothless paper tiger we have become.

Last December, Iranian ships fired rockets near U.S. warship and other vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, and a month later flew an unarmed drone over the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf. And these incidents are nothing new. American Navy ships have reported some 300 incidents with Iranian vessels during 2015. Most of those “interactions” (as the Navy calls them) are considered safe or don’t rise to the level of harassment.

I'm just wondering here. Talking out loud, if you will. How do you think Russian warships would have responded to those 300-odd incidents? What do you think Vladimir Putin would have done if his Navy had been "harassed" by four puny fishing boats? Do you seriously believe that the Russian Navy would have fired flares, protested, and considered defensive measures? 

I think not. First of all, there would never have been a first incident. Have you ever seen any news reports of anything like this happening to a Russian Navy ship? I didn't think so. And if by chance, had anyone dared do to Russian ships what Iran has done to us it would have taken just one such incident. There would have been nothing left of whatever threat was in play. And there sure as you-know-what wouldn't have been the other 299 incidents because no one would have dared screw with Russia again.

Obama has turned the U.S. into a neutered, de-clawed cat that sits on the window sill while the other cats laugh at him. The American public knows it. A majority of Americans say the United States plays a less important and powerful role as a world leader than it did a decade ago according to the latest Pew poll.  An even larger majority of Americans believe that the U.S. is losing respect internationally. A whopping 70 percent believe that the United States is less respected than in the past.

These numbers have gone through the roof on Obama's watch. The number of folks saying that the U.S. is less powerful has more than doubled since 2004. The public’s sense that the United States has lost respect is up 15 percentage points since early 2012.

There's a light at the end of the tunnel. Obama will ride off into the sunset in a few months. The question becomes do we want four more years of his policies after he leaves. That's what Hillary Clinton stands for. She's not only been responsible for a good bit of the foreign policy disasters we've had since Obama took office, she's all aboard when it comes to Obama's domestic policies. 

We can't afford four more years of what we've had. Most of you out there believe that the United States is headed in the wrong direction. For Pete's sake let's change course before we completely destroy the greatest t country on earth. Hillary is not an option.