Now You Know That I Wasn't Joking When I Said That: "Usain Bolt Is A Beast!"

Usain Bolt shattered another world record on yesterday. This time Bolt eclipsed the world record in the 200 in 19.19 seconds, after shattering the world record in the 100 over the weekend. Bolt has uncanny speed for a guy that is six-feet five inches tall. Bolt is taking on all challengers, and his only competition may be himself at the 2012 Olympic Games or so it seems these days.

My Thought For The Day: When In Rome, Don't Do As The Romans

Someone once said: "[w]hen in Rome, do as the Romans." I guess that this is a cool enough adage, and cool advice; however, it doesn't apply universally to all things or situations. For example, I read a blog this morning that reported on the case of Michael Reid, and a former employee of the United States Patent & Trademark Office. The story alleges that Mr. Reid, who is also the Minister of Music for Ark Saftey Christian Church, in Maryland swiped nearly $500,000 with the help of a former USPTO employee accomplice.

Now, for his alleged lapse in judgment, and white collar transgression Mr. Reid faces a fine of $250,000, and a 20-year prison sentence.

Beyond the basic dimensions of greed, I have never understood why people engage in white-collar or any other types of crime, but in this case white collar crime in particular. What makes a respected man or woman in one community get all wide-eyed and sticky-fingered when they have access to cash? I like to think that people really aren't that dumb, but hey, it is hard to argue with those who say that people are "that dumb" when day in and day out there are constant examples of people's eyes getting too big for their wallets. I guess this is the thing that causes accomplished people to falter. The fact that the more money that one makes--the more money one spends because almost everyone wants the niceties of life: nice home, luxury and/or late model cars, vacation homes, clothes, jewelry, (ahem, I mean bling), the list goes on and on.

Now, mind you--I didn't say that any of the material things listed above were bad or anything like that. However, the manner that people choose to acquire such material items is bad when people start devising and acting out plans to steal, misappropriate or embezzle the funds of their employer or another in order to support oftentimes, a lavish lifestyle that they have created for themselves, and their families. This is to their own detriment because in today's technologically advanced world, there are cameras on you almost everywhere you go in urban centers across America.

In the corporate and not-for-profit workplace, employers have ways to track nearly everything that one does from monitoring your computer usage, to using biometric technology, or digitized employee IDs or badges to access company facililities, to introducing smart photocopiers that digitize every document that you copy including personal documents (surprise) that you are not supposed to be copying on the company's dime.

I guess my point here is one that my mother made to me as a kid. My mother used to say: "if you don't have money to buy something--you aren't meant to have it [at that time."] Admittedly, no kid wants to hear this, however, as I traversed childhood to manhood my mother's words of wisdom became words to live by.

Nevertheless, in life we all make mistakes, we all falter and fall, but contrary to popular belief . . . there are some lapses in judgment or mistakes that are pretty much impossible to overcome without a lot of help, or a miracle.

So, the next time that you are in Rome . . . think about the fact that Roman Empire has been gone for centuries (it fell and didn't come back), and do the right thing--ask for the cookie first versus just sticking your unauthorized hand in someone else's cookie jar. For an in-depth report on the Michael Reid story click here. Have a great day!

Usain Bolt Is A Beast!

Did You Hear The One About The Black Guy Who . . .

donned Ku Klux Klan garb, and posed as a white supremacist on Facebook? Sorry, no bad joke here. According to FOXNEWS, it really happened. Its seems that Dyron Hart, a former Nicholls State football player, pleaded guilty to impersonating a White Supremacist on the Internet. Apparently, he was angry that a black man was elected president. Hart faces 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Read about it here too.

Once again the truth is stranger than fiction. Go figure.

Damon Weaver: The Kid Is Nice With The Mike!

The kid is nice . . . Damon Weaver, a fifth-grader at Florida's Kathryn E. Cunningham Canal Point Elementary School he has covered the presidential election of '08 (eventually landing an interview with Joe Biden), for his school's TV station. To date, the kids's broadcasting career has been nothing short of prolific. Check out his high-powered list of powerbrokers since he joined his school's TV staff: Oprah Winfrey, Colin Powell, Paula Abdul, Norah O'Donnell, David Gregory, Caroline Kennedy, Meghan Kelly, Dwayne Wade, L.L. Cool J, Jordan Sparks and Major Garrett. His latest interview is with President Obama. Check it out the full story here.

James Brown's Michael Vick Interview Will Air This Sunday On 60 Minutes

As a follow-up to yesterday's post, by now you know that the Phladelphia Eagles signed Michael Vick to a two-year contract. More importantly, for all of you true Michael Vick fans out there in TV land, you can catch 60 Minutes' news correpondent James Brown's interview of Michael Vick this Sunday on 60 Minutes. I am looking forward to this one.

Eagles Sign Michael Vick

The NFL's Philadelphia Eagles stepped up to the plate, and signed Michael Vick to a contract for the upcoming NFL season. Hats off to the Eagle's organization for giving Michael Vick a second chance to get it all right this time -- not just on the field, but off.

Congrats to Michael Vick -- (do your thing), the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Commissioner for doing the right thing.

Godspeed Mike Vick . . . keep it tight! This should be a very interesting season in Philly.

Do You Know Who Tony Hansberry Is?

I didn't, until earlier this morning when I received an email from my sister, Carolyn. It's amazing how these types of noteworthy and newsworthy items get little or no air play or coverage by the mainstream media. Actually, IMO, I think this story should have been on the cover of major news dailies around the country. Perhaps it was and I somehow managed to miss it. Anyway, enough of my ranting. Tony Hansberry is a 14-year-0ld kid who developed a new way to stitch wounds. I don't want to tell the story, but deem it more appropriate for you to read about him here just in case you managed to find yourself trapped underneath some kind of digital rock like me or something four months ago when the story apparently first hit the news waves.

Songstress Keri Hilson Covers Complex Magazine

Stop Snitching! What Do You Think About This Philosophy of the Street?

Superman vs.The Incredible Hulk: I Got My Money On Superman?

I read a very interesting blog article this morning on the topic of a battle royale involving Superman vs. The Hulk. To cut to the chase, the author was saying that in an one-on-one death match, the Hulk would beat Superman to a pulp or something like that. As for me, I disagree despite the fact that I know that the Hulk is a gamma radiation mutant behemoth that gets stronger the madder he becomes. Nevertheless, the article whisk me away to another time, a time when I was an eight-year old comicbook junkie. Despite my waning interest in paying over $2.00 for comicbooks as I grew older, I never stopped being a fan of my favorite comicbooks from back in the day. Me, hands down, I was a DC Comics fan; however, I did love Marvel as well. Yet, as I recollect right now, I probably was more of a Marvel guy than a DC guy because I loved the Marvel Comicbook characters more overall. However, from a collective perspective, the Avengers and the X-Men set it off for Marvel when I was a kid. By far, I was a huge fan of the Avengers because they were just off the chain as the coolest, and tightest super-hero unit. I mean, how could you hate a group of super heroes that included: Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hawkeye, Submariner, the Vision, and even the unpredictable and incredible Hulk from time to time?

Don't get me wrong--the X-Men were super tight too, but for me the Avengers tipped the scale. Anyway, after the Avengers my next favorite group of super heroes was DC Comic's Legion of Super Heroes . . . pound for pound and inch for inch, I think that the Legion crushes all challengers, period. Why do I believe this? Well, because the Legion was even more future-centered than the Uncanny X-Men. In fact, if we took the five heaviest hitters from each group: the Avengers, the X-Men, and the Legion of Super Heroes--the Legion wins hands down in my opinion. But let's examine my theory a bit further, and identify the five heaviest hitters from each group in order to rationally decide the question: who prevails in a throw down between the three families of heroes. First, lets examine the Avengers since the letter "A" comes before "L" or "X".

Round 1

The five heavyweights of the Mighty Avengers would have to be: (1) Thor; (2) Iron Man; (3) Submariner; (4) Hulk; and (5) Captain America (as a reserve for the sake of argument we'll add in the Vision).

Next, lets take an up close and personal look at the Legion of Super Heroes. Their five representatives + reserve would have to be: (1) Superboy; (2) Mon-el; (3) Ultraboy; (4) Lightning Lad; and (5) Sunboy, and as a reserve I have to go with TimberWolf.

Finally, let's take a look at the most uncanny of them all the Uncanny X-Men: (1) Wolverine; (2) Cyclops; (3) Colossus; (4) Storm; (5) Rogue (and as the reserve Iceman).

Ok, now that we know who the players are let's take a look at my factual synopsis. First, I'll concede that the Avengers are a tough bunch of nuts to crack--hands down. I mean who do you deal with first? My momma always told me to do the hardest things first; however, I am going to focus on the weakest links on each team because taking on the Hulk first would definitely be a faulty strategy. So, here we go with my team-by-team analysis.

The Avengers

Strongest team members: Thor, Hulk, and Submariner. I picked Thor to survive the first- round because Thor is the God of Thunder, an Asgardian Viking-type, who is just a mad brawler. You remember the Thor cartoon, don't you? Thor never runs from a fight, and that hammer . . . simply smashing. As for the Hulk, do I really need to get redundant here? If you have seen the movie--you know why Hulk makes the cut. Nuff said. Finally, the Submariner AKA Namor, the King of the Sea, has to get my nod over Captain America or Iron Man because not only does the Submariner have superhuman strength, but he can fly and breathe underwater.

First to bow out in this analysis: Captain America and Iron man. I know some of you are going to hate me for this but let's be real. In an all out melee or death match, Iron Man doesn't survive the many chinks in his armour from getting pummeled by the likes of Superboy, Ultraboy or Mon-el. As a matter of fact, I think that Lightning Lad or Sunboy could take old iron sides out as soon as his suit of armor begins to lose power. As for Captain America . . . well, y'know the story: Army private gets the super soldier serum during World War I, and goes on to make life difficult for the Red Skull. Yet, this is exactly my problem--while the Cap'n maybe super strong--he gets crunched in a free for all between these three groups. Sorry, Cap'n fans. I know that I am going to hear it from you Captain America, and Iron Man fans out there, but hey, it is what it is. Yes, we all know that Captain America was a super soldier, but he was not a super-mutant like say the Hulk or another mutant. The Captain was merely a super hero on super steroids at an 1000x dosage. Yes, Captain America was strong, agile and quick, but in the final analysis he was a mere mortal, and mere mortals don't fare well in battles involving the super-powered. As for Iron Man, man what can I say--I love the guy about as much as I love Captain America. However, Iron Man buys it too. There is nothing worse than overblowing the staying power of a super hero with a heart condition. In this kind of free for all, Iron Man is one of the first to bite the dust

The Legion of Super-Heroes

Strongest Team Members: Superboy, Mon-el and Ultraboy. This is one heck of a triumvirate here: man, Superboy, Mon-el and Ultraboy--devastating in my opinion. Why? If you have to ask why then obviously--you don't know. But, it is cool because most GenXers are Marvel-heads, and that is cool too. As for me, I am one of the DC enlightened. You guys know about Superman, right? Well, before Superman was Superman--he was well, Superboy. Need I go on. Superboy had the same super strength, but most likely got stronger as he moved from boyhood to manhood. Now, for you who don't know about the Legion--you better recognize because Mon-el although not Kryptonian possessed the same kind of super powers as Superboy: super speed, super strength, invulnerability, etc. Most super villians stood in awe of one Superboy, but how about two because Mon-el was almost a carbon copy of the young Supes. Now Ultraboy, his powers were different. He had super speed, super strength and was invulnerable; however, he could only use one of his powers at a time. So, unlike Superboy and Mon-el, Ultraboy couldn't knock you into the future, and then use his super speed to meet you in the future, and then knock you back to the present.

First to bow out in this analysis: Lightning Lad and Sunboy. Ok, Lightning Lad was always one of my favorite members of the Legion, but in a melee like this his lightning blast don't protect him from the heavy hitters in the Avengers, and he will also have to deal with Storm's ability to control the weather, Cyclops energy blasts and Rogue with her Ms. Marvel-like super strength. I think ole LL takes an early "L" in this one. Now Sunboy is trickier because he can shoot flame from his hands, and heat things up--but in the end without being impervious to weapons or being being invulnerable, Sunboy takes a loss similar to Lightning Lad.

The X-Men

Strongest Team Members: Wolverine, Colossus, Rogue. Now, in the movies Rogue has been relegated to pretty much an after thought, but in the original X-Men cartoon where I was first introduced to Rogue (I stopped reading the X-Men comics years before Rogue came on the scene), she is an absolute beast imbued with the super strength of Ms. Marvel, and the ability to fly. It's too bad that the movie studio didn't focus on this aspect of the X-Men instead of engaging in the revisionist history that makes Wolverine the end all to be all of X-Men lore to all those non-X-Men purists. Anyway, Rogue definitely survives the first-round, as well as armored-hide Colossus, and everyone's favorite mutant, Wolverine.

First to bow out in this analysis: Cyclops, Storm. As a kid, Cyclops was my favorite member of the X-Men hands down. But, the Hollywood movie studio for whatever reason decided to make Wolverine the groups figurehead when X-Men the movie was released. As a matter of fact, the fan following took to the newest X-Man, Wolverine, so much that it made Cyclops expendable in the third X-Men movie. I think it is pointless to say that I was disappointed by the decision to kill off Scott Summers AKA Cyclops in that movie. I think you are beginning to see where I am going with this, yes? As much as I love Cyclops he takes a beat down in the battle of heavy hitters. Similarly, my girl Storm's star burns out fast too. Never mind that the Weather-Witch as she is sometimes called in comicbook land can control the weather, and send lightning bolts to pummel, and sizzle her adversaries--Storm is too sexy, and fine to last too long in this one. Wait a minute--was that a sexist statement? Ok, sorry. Put another way, Storm is a lightweight in this heavyweight bout ergo Storm takes the "L" in this one.

Round 2

The Avengers: Thor, the Hulk and Submariner.

The Legion of Super-Heroes: Superboy, Mon-el and Ultraboy.

The X-Men: Wolverine, Colossus and Rogue.

In Round 2, I say goodbye to the Submariner, Ultraboy and Wolverine. In a real comicbook match-up of opposing forces, Wolverine's mutant powers can't prevent him from getting knocked out by the likes of Thor, Hulk, Superboy or Mon-el (sorry Wolverine aficionados, LOL). Anyway, moving right along, Submariner also takes a bow in this Round. Namor is super strong, but once he begins to get dehydrated it's over, and both Superboy and Mon-el have heat vision, and the ability to freeze their opponent with their super breath. Finally, I bid Ultraboy adieu because in a game of the heaviest hitters only the truly strong survive and Ultraboy's inability to absorb and/or avoid a powerful Hulk punch, or Rogue blow might very well be his undoing because once again he can only use one super power at a time; and in a land where most of the players can take more than a punch or two, and still comeback with an even more powerful parry on a split-second reaction time, Ultraboy's deficit here becomes his ultimate undoing.

Round 3

And so it comes down to Superboy and Mon-el vs. Thor and The Hulk vs. Rogue and Colossus. Man, I must admit that as I was typing out Round 2 all kinds of thoughts began to run through my mind. Man, does any team of brute force get any more formidable than Thor and The Hulk, a virtual behemoth teamed-up with the quintessential behemoth slayer? This one is a tough call . . . but not that tough. In Round 3, we say goodbye to the X-Men team of Rogue and Colossus. No disrespect here, but Colossus is a mere mutant who can cover his body with a titanium shell. In the end, Colossus probably isn't physically hurt, but I don't see him being able to withstand the blow of the Hulk's fist or Thor's hammer. Ditto for Rogue, one of the super twins is going to knock her out because the super powers that she absorbed from Ms. Marvel won't be enough to save her from the brute force (m X a = force) of either Superboy or Mon-el.

So, in the aftermath of this battle royale, I think that I am not far off when I predict that Thor and Hulk, and Superboy and Mon-el are the last men standing . . . wait a minute . . . was that a sexist statement again? Sorry, didn't mean to say that but in the world of reformed, and closet-comicbook nerds--these are the last men standing. At this point, it would be very easy for me to pack it in, and call it a draw, as we're looking at a God and a supermutant in the title bout with two supercharged aliens that possess super speed, super strength, and everything else, well, super. Sorry again, Avenger fans, but Thor falls first here, and in the aftermath the Hulk is left to battle Superboy, and Mon-el. Granted if this was a head to head it might end in a tie; however, its not--its two against one, and because of this disadavantage the brute beastial nature of Hulk is not enough to withstand the super speed, and strength of two of the greatest Legionnaires of all time. Nuff said.

So, what do you think of the outcome of my analysis? Who wins in a battle of the titans in your opinion?