When Is A Little Plastic Too Much?

The Canadian born beauty Jenna Talackova was entered into the Miss Universe Pageant after winning the right through competition in Canada, but the U.S. pageant organization disqualified her the other day because she was born a male. 

That's right, Miss Talackova is a transgendered woman.  Pageant officials will no doubt say that she was not disqualified because she is transgendered, but because she lied on her application form when asked if she is transgendered.  Okay, she shouldn't have lied about it, but let's be honest. The question itself is not a legal question.  Employers are not allowed to ask such a question on job applications.  No academy is allowed to consider such an issue on an admissions application.  The question is there solely as a way to identify and filter out (discriminate against) individuals based on there sexual identity. That is illegal in Canada, and Canadian officials had no problem submitting her entry to the organizers.  It's also illegal in many areas of the United States.

Now I'll grant that that the founders of the Pageant never envisioned a scenario whereby a transgendered person would enter the pageant, let alone actually be attractive enough to have a good shot at winning the competition on her looks alone, but it has happened and I have to ask,

"How much plastic is too much?"

Many of the contestants, if not most of them in recent years, have breast implants, nose jobs, a little botox here and there, and even hip and butt augmentation surgery, and they are not disqualified.  So why is surgery "down there" an exception?  If an individual has successfully undergone sexual reassignment surgery, what's the problem?  If she looks like a woman, sounds like a woman, acts like a woman, and presents herself as a woman in her daily life, i.e. not just on a stage, what makes her so different that she cannot compete, especially since the major purpose of the pageant is for designers and manufacturers to have an opportunity to show off their gowns and swimsuits and for the promoters to make money on television advertising deals? 

Could it be that some people are just uncomfortable in their own skins and don't want to have to face up to that question?  Or perhaps the organizers are too concerned with what other people might think if they openly supported common decency and basic human rights. 

[UPDATE:] The pageant has reversed its ruling to allow Ms. Talackova to compete.  The rules have also been changed to allow such coemption in the future when the contestant's gender is recognized by the country that she represents.

The Killing of Trayvon Martin

The media is having a field-day with the tragic death of a teen in Florida, so why shouldn't I offer my 2-cents worth?  Afterall, I know as much, or as little, about what happened as the media does.  So here is what I would speculate as to what happened:

You got a 16 year old, and as we all know, 16 year olds can be obnoxious and love to challenge authority; and we have a want-a-be cop who didn't make the grade.  Perhaps he couldn't get past the psych examiners who felt he had an attitude problem not condusive to smooth dealing with the public.  Who knows. 

So the kid wanders through the area minding his own business.  He is challenged by the neighborhood watch captain, who is being a little over zealous in performance of "watching" the neighborhood.  The want-a-be assumes a 'tough-guy' attitude and an air of authority that he really doesn't have.  (It's funny how packin' heat can help do that to a guy.) The teen reacts as we all know teens can react, by arguing and even challenging the want-a-be.  He may use abusive language; he may even get in the what-a-be's face and demand to know what the guy is gonna do about it.  The want-a-be starts to feel insecure because the kid is ignoring his challenge.  That leads to fear setting in and he loses it, finally shooting without first assessing the situation to determine if a true threat existed.   That is why he's just a want-a-be and not a real police officer.

Did it happen that way? I don't know, but I feel confident in saying that I don't think the Florida law makers had this kind of scenario in mind when they wrote the "I felt threatened" law.  There was never an intent to allow someone to respond to an unarmed threat with deadly force.  This guy, at the very least, is guilty of criminally negligent homicide and wrongful death or perhaps even manslaughter.  Whether or not it was a murder remains to be determined by the investigators.

It's Not My Fault

President Obama likes to say it's not his fault.   You know, it's all the fault of the previous administration.  He just inherited the problems, and then the Congress wouldn't do anything.  That sort of thing.  Well he's a few future cuecards he can use during the coming campaign.

* "It’s not my fault we invaded Libya."
* "It’s not my fault that we have destabilized Egypt who is possession of M1 Abrams tanks and F-16’s." 
* "It’s not my fault that tax receipts are falling."
* "It’s not my fault that good Americans can’t find work." 
* "It’s not my fault that I’ve not done what had to be done to get this economy moving." 
* "It’s not my fault that I’ve so mismanaged NASA that we can’t even launch a capsule with an American in it without paying the Russians." 
* "It’s not my fault that guns have been given to the worst of the worst because my attorney general ok’d the dumbest idea since the Edsel." 
* "It's not my fault that this war for one side of the same muslim/arab coin is lining up for a mushroom cloud." 

Oh yes, one more thing: now GM has  had to discontinue sales of the Chevy Volt and layoff 1300 people because the car won't sell.  I wonder if he's going to say it's not his fault, even though he twisted GM's arm and forced the company to build the thing to begin with, not because it was a sound business decision, but because he thought he could singlehandedly force the American public to buy into an idea whose time had not yet come. 

Would you like me to continue? Because I’m ready willing and able to do so.  Do us all Mr. Obama: drop out of the race.  Better yet, resign, and save us from anymore of your blundering.  Whoever takes your place can't possibly do the job any worse than you.

Penn State Hypocrites

Joe Paterno passed away yesterday less than 3 months after being fired by Penn State University for "not doing enough" to report an alleged case of child abuse by one of his assistant coaches.  Now Penn State wants to honor him.  Sounds good, but it's Bull Shit, and Penn State now appears to be nothing but a bunch of hypocrites.  IF Joe did what they accused him of doing, they have no business honoring him 2 1/2 months after destroying him.  On the other hand, IF Joe did not do what they accused him of and they were just trying to cover their own asses and the reputation of the school at Joe's expense, then Penn State would be better off apologizing publicly to the family and fans.

Frankly, if I were the family, I would arrange to borrow a local high shool stadium for the use of the fans who want to honor Joe Paterno, and I definitely would not invite any speakers from Penn State.  They did what they "had" to do, and now I would respond.

Poor Joe

Joe Paterno, the winningest college football coach ever, is likely going to lose his job at Penn State after the final game of the season.  Paterno has been widely criticized for failing to involve the police when he learned of an allegation that one of his assistant coaches may have assaulted a young boy in 2002.  Other allegations have now come to light involving the same assistant coach.

Apparently, Coach Paterno was told of the assault by a student, but did not see it himself.  False accusations are made all the time by students who have some kind of grudge against teachers and coaches.  So rather than calling the police with a then unsubstantiated, heresay allegation and bringing bad press upon the school without proof of wrongdoing, he instead reported it to his superiors.  An internal investigation was done, and the campus police decided that there wasn't enough evidence to proceed any further.

I think he did the right thing.  You can't bring bad press upon the school based on unsubstantiated accusations without being more certain than Paterno could have been at the time.  Bringing the situation to his superiors was the right way to handle it, yet the school is now going to push him out.  Ironically, that same school would likely have pushed him out if he had gone directly to the police without first involving them.

Too bad.  Penn State should be taking the heat, not Joe Paterno.  What's happening to him isn't right, but that's the way the system works.  From the moment he first learned of a possible problem, he was damned if he did, and damned if he didn't.

Update:  Penn State didn't wait for the end of the season.  Apparently hoping that the school will lose some of the media heat, it let Joe Paterno go now.