Completely Useless By September

The wonderful, historical, yet terrible Chicago Cubs. Did you really just sign a guy who batted .196 last season for 10 million dollars, yes its only for one year but it doesnt matter the guy is more streaky then Conners underwear. Lets think about this he hit .247 in 2008, .227 in 2009, and like i stated earlier .196 last season, dont you think he is minor league material, just saying. A member of the Cubs organization said stated "We like the shortness of [the deal], and at the same time it was a position we really needed, and he fits the requirements that were important". You love the shortness of the deal wow get real, the guy hit below the Mendoza line for Gods sake. Let me not get to made about this, im just going to let the Cubs continue to be sorry for another hundred years.

As a so called critic i am not taking in account that Pena did miss alot of baseball due to a plantar fascia in his right foot, including a short time on the 15-day disabled list in August. lets not make the foot be an excuse for the guy hitting under the Mendoza line. As a baseball fan and a first basemen i always like to see the pros do well, but when i see and hear about deals like this its just ricdiculous, just saying again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1B4j881GpA Here's a link to one of Pena's 166 strikeouts in 2008.

Dregoose out (Ryan Seacrest voice)

Dre's Down Home Cook'n

What a crazy off season its been so far and were only roughly a month and a half in people. I am talking about the crazy off season deals that are flying around Major League Baseball. First, lets talk about the wonderful but starving Boston Red Sox who signed 3-time All-Star first baseman Adrian Gonzalez on day one of MLB Winter Meetings. Gonzalez hit .298 with 33 doubles, 31 homers and 101 RBIs in 160 games last season, and most importantly he's only 28 years old. He is set to make 6.2 million in 2011.

A second big deal that has heads turning around the league is the big pick up for the Washington Nationals, when they went balls out and picked Jayson Werth off the free agent list and signed him to a 7 years 126 million dollars. Now if your sitting back at home reading this I want you to think about this, if Werth is not in it for the money I don't know what else he is playing for. The guy is going to the worst team in baseball for one and what has he done so spectacular that's "WERTH" 126 million. I mean he was on the best NL team for roughly five years and one 1 ring, not a big playoff guy just saying. He did show up against the Yankees In 2009 World Series.

Finally for the many players who have not yet signed a contract for the 2011 season. Why has Carl Crawford one of the fastest guys in the game not have a job? Is this a joke the guy is going to steal roughly 50 bags, hit 20 home runs and his average will be in the high 200's or low 300's. The biggest surprise to me which i heard this morning on ESPN was that the Oakland A's were having conversations with Hideki "Godzilla" Matsui, if I am Matsui I am going nowhere near Oakland. One its way to ghetto for the Japanese guy, two the team just absolutely sucks plus its the worst/dirtiest ballpark in baseball.

Not trying to be a dick or anything I'm just stating facts Werth is not "Werth" that much, Matsui needs to talk to another team, and the Red Sox just got the best first basemen in baseball besides Aubrey Huff.

Cliff (Lee) Hanger."Should he stay or Should he go?

Cliff Lee is one of the baseball's best pitchers. With his 12-9 record and 3.18 ERA he led the Texas Rangers to their first World Series appearance in team history. Now the two big questions are. Will the Rangers going to resign him, and does he want to remain a Texas Ranger? If you ask me there is no way in hell you get rid of him, this guy throws complete game shutouts constantly and he is said to be very hard to hit, but if you watched my San Francisco Giants in the World Series you would think differently that's beside the point though. This guy has been on 4 teams in the last 3 years. Indians, Phillies, Mariners, and the Rangers. The GM of the Texas Rangers Nolan Ryan was asked in an interview during ALCS what it would take to keep Lee in Texas for many years to come and his response was "ask the Yankees". Nolan is basically saying the Yankees have the money if they want Cliff Lee that bad they can buy him like they do everyone else.

With the Yankees being my second favorite team i take that kind of offensive, simply because yes the Yankees have money and if you want to win you have to be willing to spend the big dollar that's life. For him to say that is just a knock against the Yankees. Yes that's his opinion and i know opinions are like butt holes everybody has one, so I guess I'm just going to take it with a grain of salt. So how do you feel about the whole ordeal? What move do you thing Cliff Lee is going to make, is he in it for the money like a lot of athletes today or is he old school and in it for the love of them game?

Is he really playing for the money?

He is known as one of the best shortstops in the game today. No I am not talking about Omar Vizquel, I'm talking about Mr. November himself Derek Sanderson Jeter. This guy has proved day in and day out. on and off the field that he is clearly the best at what he does. Now is this guy in it for the money? My personal opinion is no he knows how he plays and knows how much he is worth. Yes, I might add that he is getting a little older but the guy can still play with the best of them. It has been said if Jeter leaves he one be on of the greatest Yankees to depart the organization over money.

Now if I'm one of George Steinbrenner's sons I am making sure that I bring this future Hall of Famer back into my organization or should I say back into The House That Jeter Built. I'm only saying that because The House That Ruth Built was torn down. The guy is 72 hits away from the magic milestone of 3,000, and is, as of today, a certain first-ballot, A-list Hall of Famer. Some of the latest news is that Derek Jeters agent Casey Close has compared Jeter to Babe Ruth because of how much he means to the New York Yankees franchise. On ESPN.com they say that Jeter finds himself caught in the middle of a perfect storm comprised of three components: 1) the balance between paying a player for what he has done versus for what he will do; 2) the death of George Steinbrenner; and 3) an increased reliance on statistical analysis by the Yankees' front office.

I'm going to leave you with this question. What has Derek Jeter done for the New York Yankees organization?

To see more of the article I read visit http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/commentary/news/story?page=bryant/101201

California boy stuck in Missouri

I am stuck in Canton, Mo and it is 32 degress outside. I have a major headache with sinus and throat pains. What is wrong with me you might ask? I am a California boy stuck in the middle of nowhere in a small town. This guy is use to 75 degree weather with beautiful blue skies and an amazing sunshining down upon him, but no I get snow flakes falling on my face and wind breaking through my nike sweat pants. Some might say its beginning to look alot like Christmas, I say its beginning to feel alot like FLU season.

To be legal or not to be legal

CNBC article written by Dr. Robert L. DuPont says that marijuana is the most commonly abused drug in the US and the world today. Dr. DuPont states that “Those who support its legalization, for medical or for general use, fail to recognize that the greatest costs of marijuana are not related to its prohibition; they are the costs resulting from marijuana use itself”. If you really sit here and think about this major situation, there are just as many opposed to legalizing then there are rooting to make it legal.

On a survey Caulkins & Sevigny composed(2005), found that the percentage of people in prison for marijuana use is less than one half of one percent (0.1-0.2 percent). Dr. DuPont makes a great quote when he brings gambling and marijuana together “A useful analogy can be made to gambling. Legalized gambling has not reduced illegal gambling in the United States; rather, it has increased it." This is more clear-cut in sports gambling.

Another survey classified that Marijuana is currently the leading cause of substance dependence other than alcohol in the U.S. In 2008, marijuana use accounted for 4.2 million of the 7 million people aged 12 or older classified with dependence on or abuse of an illicit drug. Now ask yourself this questions, do we really want to legalize this drug when we know that it has a great affect on someone’s mind? I personally really don’t care cause I don’t use the drug so it will have no bother with me. To end with another quote from Dr. DuPont “Reducing marijuana use is essential to improving the nation’s health, education, and productivity."

The second article I took a look at was Why Marijuana Should Not Be Legalized by James Vaughn. In history marijuana has been characterized to have its positive and negative overtone. Its been said that marijuana can be a relaxant, and a well known mood elevator. In an article published by the Los Angeles Times, Norm Stamper, a retired chief of police Seattle Washington, said due to the billions of dollars wasted on the war against drugs, and the thousands of people put in jail for drug offenses in our prison system, these drugs should be legalized. This is coming from a police chief so he clearly sees what’s going on everyday at work, he sees how many people use drugs and how many go to jail. So for James Vaughn to interview him is great to get a man of higher power opinion.

Vaughn states that “I am in agreement that smoking marijuana can, and does cause an increased likelihood that young adults might try harder drugs”. This is absolutely true and I know first hand with a lot of my friends, they figure since they’ve tried marijuana and they were fine that they can try other drugs and see if they will feel the same, which is not true at all. These two styles of writing are great I love the quotes that they incorporate in their writings.

Are they really in favor of making marijuana legal?

In an LA Times article released April 20 by Shelby Grad titled ‘Majority oppose marijuana legalization, new poll finds”. With California being the state, which has the most people making a break to make marijuana legal, a new poll has shown that a lot of Americans are very opposed to it.

The Associated Press CNBC poll, 33% of respondents favored legalization while 55% opposes it. They came to a conclusion that most of respondents who favored this notion were the younger citizens and the older citizens strongly oppose the notion. California voters in November will consider the issue of pot legalization, which is likely to be a highly watched campaign. The 10-page California initiative allows someone 21 or older to possess, share and transport up to an ounce for personal use and to grow up to 25 square feet per residence.

Now ask yourself this question is the local government going to have any control of this? The answer is yes this initiative states that “local governments, but not the state, to authorize the cultivation, transportation and sale of marijuana and to impose taxes to raise revenues”. I personally feel that not only should the local government have control but also the federal government, because who knows maybe people will get out of hand with how much they will share and transport, and maybe even find ways to go around the legal rules. Here is a link that will allow you to learn more about Medical Marijuana, and other stories that fit into the legalizing of marijuana.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/medical-marijuana/

http://www.cannabisnews.org/united-states-cannabis-news/d-a-r-e-generation-wants-marijuana-legalized/

The Marijuana Debate

The two articles I read were the LA Times “Schwarzenegger Urges a Study on Legalizing Marijuana Use” and the second was Esquire Magazine “Why Obama Really Might Decriminalize Marijuana” by John H. Richardson. I’m going to go over the statistics of how many people really felt hat marijuana should be legalized and who opposes to it.

The LA Times reports that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger strongly supports the legalization of marijuana. On his defense he states that he is trying to accumulate money for the state revenue. This article is written in a calm tone giving lots of information and factual statistics; “A Field Poll from April showed that 56 percent of the state’s registered voters in support of legalizing and taxing marijuana for recreational use to fill some of the budget deficit”. Gov. Schwarzenegger says just because he is talking about legalizing marijuana doesn’t mean it’s going to happen, he simply is letting the state know that he feels a study on this drug should be put to use. The article uses experts, Ethan Nadelmann the Executive Director of the Drug Policy Alliance said “There has been enormous fear at a political level about saying out loud and on the record that we should think about this”. Meaning that they are unsure if they want to actually legalized marijuana because of all the up roar and attention this matter is bringing.

The second article I took a look at was in Esquire Magazine titled “Why Obama Really Might Decriminalize Marijuana” writing by John H. Richardson. The article starts off with some humor the stoner community saying “Yes We Cannabis!” Now on a more serious note we are comparing and contrasting two Presidents in two different eras on two very important subjects. President Barack Obama (Marijuana) and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Prohibition). First let’s talk about FDR a man who saved the banking system in his first seven days as president, Congress had already repealed Prohibition. The people of the US needed beer to be legalized, and legalizing beer would open up millions of jobs for US Citizens. Two days after the bill pass Milwaukee Brewers hired 600 words and then paid their taxes, before long the auto megacorp had been expediting their first $12 million virtue in delivery trucks, and the brewers were pouring tens of millions into new sprouts.

Obama told Rolling Stone Magazine that he believed in “shifting the paradigm”, meaning he wants to shake things up. He says “I would start with nonviolent, first-time drug offenders, with the notion that we are imposing felonies on them or sending them to prison, where they can receive advanced degrees in criminality”. On the flip side he is not in favor of the legalization of marijuana.

Now ask yourself is there consistency between the title and the text? Why Obama Really might Decriminalize Marijuana. This is the title and it seems as if President Obama is going to be for the legalization, but in the text her clearly states that “he is against the legalization”. In my opinion there isn’t, they give you a title and my first assumption was that this is going to be a serious article that will state how President Obama is going to make marijuana legal. Is the title misleading? I would say it is more catchy title to pull readers in and have them take a look at it, so it’s not misleading just writing.

Secondly, you read the next line and it gives you a more humorous approach with the “Yes We Cannabis” taking from President Obama’s saying “Yes We Can”. Take sometime and think about this I’m reading the heading and its serious and then I read that line, what am I going to be reading about. My opinion on “Yes We Cannabis” it’s clever it fits the situation but no the article, if I’m a politician I don’t want to read any jokes in an article on a serious world wide matter.

The first article was based more on a serious stat giving article and the writer was calm when he was explaining his reasons, while in the second article the writer came across on the more humorous side and basically telling how FDR and President Obama were dealing with similar problems that deeply involve the country. I like both techniques in the writing schemes I can definitely see myself using both in future writings.

So Natural it should be Legal

Why is Marijuana not legal, is it unethical? 56% of the Californians support legalization, and 42% oppose it, according to a poll, conducted by CBS 5 by Survey USA, and about 3% of the people were uncertain. While reading an article titled California- Hub of “Green Rush" to Legalize Marijuana, I found that most of California would love the state to legalize weed. Not just for their own purposes, but also simply because it would make the government money if they decide to tax it. Reading this article made me ask a couple of my close friends how they feel. The first question I ask me friend Charles was, why should it be legalized? He stated "my friend will always talk about how you've never heard someone going home and beating their wife because they are high, but you have heard of people beating their wife because they were under the influence of alcohol, so why should that be legal and not marijuana". Now after listening to his comments I had to find another article that was also on the defense of this and I came across an article that listed 10 reasons why marijuana should be legal and one main point that stuck out to me was "Marijuana provides relief from pain, nausea, spasticity, and other symptoms for many individuals who have not been treated successfully with conventional medications". Talking to my friend Charles again he said that this is completely true after smoking some marijuana you literally feel nothing everything is moving at a nice pace that you can function with and your always happy. The one thing I learned about these two readings is that the writers are not afraid to say what they want to say which could be a good thing and a bad thing, but they are taking risk which is what I love to do.

Andre

yo

this is your boy Dregoose just letting yall folks know that i am officially a blogger