The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is Julious Javone Threatts. He gets the award for the following-

A Tampa man is behind bars after he allegedly posed as a 14-year-old to join a youth football league.

Julious Javone Threatts, 21, has been charged with trespassing on school grounds, obstruction by a disguised person and violation of probation. When Threatts was arrested last Tuesday a records check shows he was on probation for burglary charges.

It's unclear how long Threatts pretended to be a teenager or why he did it.

Steve Levinson, president of the football league, said Threatts played for the now defunct West Coast Youth Football Conference last year, trained again during the spring and then joined the Tampa Bay league at the beginning of this season.

Levinson said the person he knew as Chad Jordan turned in all the necessary registration paperwork, including a copy of his birth certificate, which officials now realize must have been fake.

Tampa Bay league coach Ray McCloud said he thought it was odd that "Chad" kept his helmet on even when the game was over.

*****

McCloud said when he began to look into "Chad's" story he found a person from Threatt's neighborhood who said while Threatt's father died in a car accident in St. Petersburg last year, his mother was alive.

McCloud then found Threatt's Facebook page, which lists his mother as Debra Miller and indicated that he had graduated from Leto High School.

Threatts scheme finally unraveled when he went to enroll in D. W. Webb Middle School without a parent or the necessary paperwork.

During the school's investigation, Threatts' cell phone rang. One of the officials picked it up and asked who was on the line, according to an arrest affidavit. The caller said she was Threatt's mother, and authorities were finally able to piece together his identity.

Did Threatts ever hear of the case of Guerdwich Montimere? Maybe he did, because he worried about being discovered during his time playing football.

Without further ado, I name Julious Javone Threatts today's Knucklehead of the Day.

LPGA Tour to conduct cheating inquiry

Steve Elling at CBS Sports has more on the incident at the CN Canadian Open which I wrote about yesterday.

Initially, the LPGA seemed satisfied with the player actions and sanctions.

"No one with the LPGA was privy to any discussions between the players and caddies in advance of the players’ efforts to seek out a rules official to explain the situation,” a spokesman said Saturday. “We know only that the players came forward, admitted their issue and received the appropriate result based on the rules of golf.”

However, that stance has clearly changed.

LPGA communications chief David Higdon confirmed Sunday morning to CBSSports.com that the tour intends to interview all the parties involved and then mull a possible course of action.

“We have treated this situation very seriously, and have or will speak to all principles involved,” Higdon said in an email Sunday morning. “Yes, we are looking very closely at it.”

The LPGA has had issues in the past with South Korean natives, who have been accused by other players of bending rules by conversing with friends or parents and receiving advice in their native tongue, among other perceived violations. The LPGA at one point put players on notice that such conversations and interaction would not be tolerated. One longtime LPGA caddie with his own blog site claimed this weekend that Korean players have been getting away with rules violations for years, causing some to accuse him of racism.

The LPGA has to investigate what happened, and if Ahn and Chung's actions were deliberate, they should be suspended from the tour. Ryan at Waggle Room now writes

On Saturday evening, Waggle Room learned that it was Ahn's caddie who told the story direct to Smich but may not be willing to share details publicly for fear of being shunned in the golf community.

Ahn's caddy could be in position of causing great harm to a pro golfer's career and reputation. It is very understandable why he wouldn't want to talk publicly.

One last comment about Smich. He has a long history of making derogatory comments about the South Korean players. People who have read his blog for any length of time, would have a basis to say he is a racist. I think his anger at being fired by Mi Hyun Kim 11 years ago has made him very bitter and his lack of success as a caddie of late,(He hasn't been close to a winning bag in all the time he's blogged, and if I checked, the top 20 finishes of his players in that time can be counted on one hand easily) caused his feelings to turn to hate or racism. His outspokenness has undoubtedly caused these players also not to want to hire him.

Interestingly enough I checked Smich's archives, he worked for Ahn once at the Wegmans. So he has caddied for both Ahn and Chung in the past.

Update- Golf writer and blogger Bob Weeks has more

A source told me on Sunday that the two players allegedly knew about the mix up by the time they reaced the scorer's tent and discussed it in Korean, agreeing not to bring it up. The source then alleged that Ahn's caddie also knew about the situation and threatened to turn them in.

Reportedly, the players waited two hours after their final round before contacting the LPGA Tour to report the incident, calling from their hotel.

Weeks is a much more credible source than Larry Smich. Chung and Ahn are in for big trouble.

Hat tip- Geoff Shackelford

Florida the rules are different here Chapter CLXX

A Central Florida strip mall was evacuated the other day. Why? An elderly woman came to a police substation with a hand grenade. Even though the pin was still inside it, law enforcement considered it dangerous. Don't you just love the Sunshine State?

An Orlando police substation near a Pine Hills strip mall was evacuated Thursday morning when an elderly woman arrived with an old grenade, reports show.

The woman was cleaning out the belongings of a deceased relative when she came across the live ammunition.

She put the device in her car and drove to the substation to get rid of it, police Sgt. Barbara Jones said.

Police contacted the Orlando Fire Department and the bomb squad. All nearby businesses, including the substation and strip mall, were evacuated.

Did LPGA Golfers Shi Hyun Ahn and Il Mi Chung cheat at the CN Canadian Open?

There is another, more recent post of mine on this topic here.

LPGA Blogger and Caddie Larry Smich wrote the following-

Finally, caught in the act! All this time, I’ve been detailing cheating by the Koreans and been called a racist and more for my observations. Even been taken to the woodshed by the head honcho. Well yesterday, it all became evident that I was spot on. Did you notice that Shi Hyun Ahn and Ilmi Chung were disqualified? The reason is that they both played the wrong ball on their final hole and not correcting the infraction before signing their cards, to put it mildly.

Here is what I’ve heard of the alleged incident. Both balls were in the fairway. Ahn missed the green and Ilmi hit hers on. Ahn chipped it close and tapped in for par. This is where it all begins. Apparently, Ahn noticed that this was not her ball and conversed in Korean with Ilmi. In the mean time, at least one caddie in the group noticed it also but did not say anything. They finished the hole, went to the scoring tent, checked the scores and signed their cards. Somewhere, either before or after going to the tent, Ahn told her caddie (a Nationwide looper and only working for her this week) “You did not see anything”. As of right now, I do not know who owned up and went to the officials. The third player in the group was oblivious to the situation and was not involved. BTW, Ahn shot 72 and Chung a 76.

Before I go any further I’ll give some background on Smich and the golfers he is accusing. He has been an LPGA caddy for over 30 years. In that time, he has had three winning bags. The last of which was with Mi Hyun Kim in 1999. Shortly after that win, Kim fired Smich.

Smich has worked for other South Korean players, but the last was over two years ago. He did work for Chung at some point in the middle of the last decade.

Anyone who reads Smich’s blog knows he doesn’t like the Korean players. Ryan at Waggle Room uses the word vendetta towards how Smich writes about players from South Korea. In 2007, Smich also accused LPGA player Young Kim of cheating. Most of the time Smich doesn’t name players when he makes cheating allegations.

Ahn is a one-time winner on the LPGA Tour and was the 2004 Rookie of the Year. She is a looker, and is nicknamed Cinderella. I get lots of hits at my home blog from people looking either for Ahn photos or are looking to find out what golfer is nicknamed Cinderella.

At the 2009 LPGA Championship, a golf ball of Ahn’s struck and killed a bird.

Chung has never won on the LPGA Tour and since the retirement of Pearl Sinn, I believe she is the oldest South Korean born player on the LPGA Tour.

Ryan at Waggle Room apparently got someone to corroborate part of what Smich says(Remember he didn’t see it happen)

We have learned of a second account of the situation. The second account is all the same until the green.

When Ahn and Chung realized what had happened, Chung’s caddy approached Downey’s caddy and said, “We have a bit of a problem, but I’m not saying anything.” Downey’s caddy went into the scoring tent. Ahn and Chung signed for their scores. Downey’s caddy was prepared to turn in Ahn and Chung, which then prompted their seeking of LPGA officials for a ruling and their certain disqualification.

The LPGA’s Mike Scanlan also made the following comment to Ryan-

“The players sought out a rules official after their round to explain the situation and were subsequently disqualified.

“No one with the LPGA was privy to any discussions between the players and caddies in advance of the players’ efforts to seek out a rules official to explain the situation. We know only that the players came forward, admitted their issue and received the appropriate result based on the Rules of Golf.”

Bob Weeks, who is also blogging on the incident, went looking for Larry Smich at the tournament. Interestingly enough, Smich couldn’t be found. The golfer who was caddying for, Stephanie Louden, had her husband carrying her bag for the third round.

At the moment, the golf tournament is on television, and so far as I know, no mention has been made of the Ahn and Chung incident.

Deliberate cheating in professional golf is very serious and not unheard of. A Latin American player was suspended by the PGA Tour around 40 years ago. Jane Blalock was suspended for a year by the LPGA in 1972. That was till she filed a antitrust lawsuit. The accusations against Blalock was probably the sport’s biggest cheating scandal of the last 50 years. She was one of the tour’s stars at the time. What we have today involves two fairly obscure players. I don’t know if we’ll ever learn what did happen. The golf media rather write repetitive article after repetitive article on Tiger Woods than give the LPGA even five minutes of their time.

On a side note, Michelle Wie is leading the Canadian Open. Should she hold on to win, the LPGA attention deficit might decrease at least for one week.

Note- The first photo above is Ahn and the second is Chung.

I don't blame him

Lying thief Rick Scott won the Florida GOP gubernatorial nomination last Tuesday. Are over a half million Florida registered Republicans out of their mind?

Florida's Attorney General and the person Scott beat in the primary, isn't endorsing the lawbreaker.

Bill McCollum doesn't forget easily.

Two days after he lost the Republican nomination for governor, McCollum still refuses to support winner Rick Scott, and continues to raise questions about his former rival's character.

In his first public appearance since conceding the race, McCollum said Thursday that he called Scott to ``congratulate him and wish him well.'' But he didn't bury the hatchet in one of the nastiest primary's in state history.

``I still have serious questions about issues of his character, his integrity, his honestly -- things that go back to Columbia/HCA,'' McCollum said, referring to Scott's former hospital chain, which paid a $1.7 billion fine after a federal criminal investigation. ``As other voters will do, I will judge him throughout this campaign.''

The attorney general's remarks put a serious dent in the message of party unity and reopened a vulnerability Democratic candidate Alex Sink is likely to exploit in the general election.

Before I get started, I'm not a Bill McCollum fan. He's what my wife calls an empty can. He makes noise but does little else. If Howdy Doody had won the GOP nomination on Tuesday, Alex Sink was still getting my vote. McCollum has been AG in Florida for 4 years and done next to nothing. Banks are foreclosing on people using forged documents and what has he done about it? Nothing! An investigation announced at least two years too late for thousands of homeowners.

Normally I'd declare a politician defeated at the polls a sore loser, but not in McCollum case. As I wrote earlier this week, Scott is either a thief or a total incompetent. The Hospital Corporation he was CEO of robbed Federal taxpayers, and that includes Floridians, of billions of dollars through Medicare and Medicaid Fraud.

Scott claims he didn't know what was being done. If true, then he's an incompetent manager. Do the citizens of Florida want a thief or incompetent manager in charge of this state? Apparently over 500,000 people and I shake my head in response. God help us if Scott gets elected, and don't say The Florida Masochist didn't warn anyone.

The Knuckleheads of the Day award

Today's winners are Rowan County(North Carolina) District Court Judge Beth Dixon and Salisbury Police Officer Mark Hunter. They get the award for the following-

A Salisbury woman who was arrested in November 2009 after she refused a police officer’s order to go into her house while he was making a traffic stop nearby was found guilty Friday of resisting, obstructing or delaying an officer.

She had been videotaping the traffic stop.

Rowan County District Court Judge Beth Dixon found Felicia Laverne Gibson, 29, guilty and sentenced her to six months of probation and community service work. Gibson, through her attorney Jacob Sussman, of Charlotte, gave notice of appeal.

Dixon found Gibson had interfered with the officer’s ability to do his job as he dealt with a traffic stop.

Salisbury Police Officer Mark Hunter had been in pursuit of a vehicle and was attempting to pull it over. A passenger in the vehicle jumped from the car and was caught a short time later by other officers. Police said that suspect had drugs and a handgun.

Hunter continued to follow the vehicle to West Fisher Street, where he ordered the two occupants out of the car. Both were given citations. The traffic stop was not far from Gibson’s home.

She sat on her front porch and recorded the arrest on video. That video, which Gibson shot with a digital camera, was shown in court Friday.

Citizens are getting arrested more frequently for taping law enforcement as they go about their work. This is abuse by out of control cops and our judges more often than not rubber stamp their actions. It is just outrageous, the citizens are a check on police and judges who overstep their boundaries.

The conviction of Felicia Laverne Gibson is an outrage. Rowan County(North Carolina) District Court Judge Beth Dixon and Salisbury Police Officer Mark Hunter aren't just scoundrels for this travesty of justice, but also today's Knuckleheads of the Day.

Hat tip- The Agitator

Stuffed

Do you have something to declare, Madam?

Authorities at Bangkok’s international airport found a baby tiger cub that had been drugged and hidden among stuffed toy tigers in the suitcase of a woman flying from Thailand to Iran, an official and a wildlife protection group said Friday.

The woman, a Thai national, had checked in for her flight and her oversized bag was sent for an X-ray which showed what appeared to be a live animal inside, according to TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade monitoring group.

The woman was arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport before boarding her Sunday flight. The cub, estimated to be about 3 months old, was sent to a wildlife conservation center in Bangkok.

“The cub arrived at our unit Monday,” said Chaiyaporn Chareesaeng, head of the Wildlife Health Unit at the Department of National Parks’ Wildlife and Plant Conservation Center, where the animal was put under close supervision.

“He appeared exhausted, dehydrated and couldn’t walk, so we had to give him oxygen, water and lactation,” said Chaiyaporn. “We have monitored him closely. As of today, he looks better and can walk a little now.”- Associated Press

The smuggler faces up to a 40,000 baht fine and four years in prison. Since 911 smuggling stuff on your body or in baggage has become incredibly difficult. Some people apparently haven’t gotten the memo.

In other Tiger news, a golfer by the last name of Woods shot 65 yesterday in a PGA Tour golf tournament. IMHO I think we need more than one excellent round before saying Tiger Woods has gotten his golf game back together again.

Treading water- LPGA to play in Taiwan in 2011

This news isn’t very surprisingly in light of these facts

1- Yani Tseng is at present holder of two of the tour’s major championships and ranked as one of the top five rated players in the world. Tseng is from Taiwan.
and
2- The increasing popularity of golf in Asia.

Of course people continue to grumble about the lack of United States based tour stops on the LPGA Tour. These people are being short sighted.

1- Any tournaments for the tour is good news

2- The LPGA could be close to bankruptcy at the moment. When a tournament is played, the tour takes a cut of the purse for operating expenses. I heard from a reliable source that the LPGA needs 30 tournaments a year to stay solvent. At the moment the LPGA schedule for next year looks like it will be under 30 events like it has been since 2009.

The LPGA is losing at least one United States LPGA event for 2011, the Jamie Farr, as it goes on hiatus for a year. Also CVS will no longer sponsor a California tour stop. That leaves 12 LPGA events in the United States, plus the foreign events. As it stands, the tour will visit Singapore, Thailand, Mexico(at least 3 times), Canada, England, France, Taiwan, Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea next year with possible additions of Brazil and China.

The LPGA is in trouble right now. Nationalistic based pride and paranoia about Asia and Asians need to be shelved.

Hat tip- Ryan at Waggle Room who apparently hasn’t gotten the memo about CVS not renewing its sponsorship.

I have been disowned

Wednesday is the day the food advertisements arrive with the newspaper. I subscribe to the Palm Beach Post.

I didn't get a copy of Winn Dixie's weekly advertisement today. It could be just coincidence, but the company I think is writing off all their customers in my part of Palm Beach County(Unincorporated Lantana, NW and Western Boynton Beach, SW and Western Lake Worth). Winn Dixie is closing thirty stores and five are right in that area.

Except one, the store at Hypolouxo Road and Dixie Highway. It's an older store and not a particular favorite of mine but it is about two miles from my wife's work. The Winn Dixie(Hypoluxo and Congress Avenue) one mile from my home, where I and my family have been getting prescriptions filled for 15 years, is being closed.

While Winn Dixie won't be as convenient anymore, I won't totally stop shopping with them. I will buy sales products from them. There are also two or three products I could only buy at their store. Winn Dixie sent me a message they don't want my business anymore, but I won't totally go away but how many others who are being stiffed will never again visit their stores and just how wise is this financial model?

Leave your Eukalali and Tamborine at home

The Pope is going to visit the United Kingdom and security is going to be very tight.

The Catholic Church of England and Wales has published a guide for those attending events with the Pope during his visit to the UK next month.

There will be strict controls over what can and cannot be brought into the three large public gatherings in London, Glasgow and Birmingham.

Alcohol, barbecues, gazebos and musical instruments will all be banned as they "could pose a threat to others".

How are musical instruments a threat? Well I guess a argument could break out and a person hit someone with their saxophone.

Other banned items include bicycles, whistles, candles and animals.

The gathering won't be environment friendly either. A spokesman for the Birmingham archdiocese calls some of these measures draconian and I agree.

Below average

Did BBC’s Jennifer Pak ever study statistics?

Malaysian authorities are grappling with a growing problem of abandoned babies.

Sixty-five infants have been found so far this year, and many were dead by the time they were discovered.

The government fears that number will surpass previous totals – an average of 100 babies are found each year.-BBC

Now read the three parts in bold carefully. A growing problem, 65 infants and an average of 100 babies a year.

2010 is almost eight months old 8 divided into the total amount of babies abandoned- 8.125 a month

8.125 times 12 months equals 97 babies for a year.

The article claims an average of 100 abandoned babies are found each year. Average is the key word, not record high. So it seems to me based on what Jennifer Pak wrote, the number of abandoned babies is on about a normal level. 97 is less than 100, but its within the margin of error. The amount of abandoned babies is not increasing at all.

Does anyone at BBC understand basic statistics or do they prefer writing scary misleading articles and headlines?

Is the Florida GOP insane?

While I am a registered Democrat, I have always admitted my politics are more in line with the Republicans. Honestly I'm an independent and have major disagreements with both sides but Independents most of the time can't vote in primaries..

Next Tuesday is primary day here in Florida. The Governorship and the Senate seat formerly held by Mel Martinez are up for grabs. Marco Rubio is a cinch to be the Republican candidate for the latter and Alex Sink the Democratic candidate for the former.

The race I don't understand is for the GOP nomination for Governor. In a state that has both legislative houses thoroughly controlled by the Repuublicans, how could they just offer voters a choice between Howdy Doody and a crook?

Rick Scott is a crook. While he was CEO of Columbia/HCA, the company defrauded US taxpayers of billions of dollars. Thats billions with a B. Scott blames others but he was the person in charge of the company.

Which means

He's either a crook because he knew of the fraud and did nothing

or

He's a total incompetent as a manager. There were crooks working for him and he didn't know about it.

Honestly I believe the first of my two scenarios. Scott is facing other allegations, ones he's being about by the press but refuses to answer saying it is a private matter.

In either case you wouldn't want this person being CEO of the state of Florida. I don't understand why McCollum isn't hammering Scott on his past.

Then McCollum isn't much of a prize either. His 4 years as Attorney General have produced little and his recent concern for consumers, immigration matters etc all smell of election year politics. The fraud being perpetuated on Florida courts and homeowners by Mortgage companies and their attorneys has been going on for years. Law firm employees are signing Assignments stating they are Vice Presidents of the Mortgage Lender or MERS. And this is suddenly news?

The choice of McCollum or Scott should be an easy one. McCollum so far as I know, isn't a crook who stole billions. When November comes around, Florida voters who vote for Alex Sink to be the next Governor. Then I've always said you have to be a masochist to live here. I wouldn't be surprised if Howdy Doody or the crook are our next Governor.

The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is AT&T. They get the award for continuing to bill me for phone service I discontinued over 2 months ago. In late May I bundled my land line, internet service, and internet. In the process I discontinued a second land line I had. That phone hasn't worked since but this dumb company keeps billing me and I've been on the phone with them before about this.

Another gem about AT&T too. When they quoted me a bill for Uverse service, they didn't mention anything about a few for the extra receivers. That is $7 a month times four. Do the math. AT&T wants to rip me off and fails to realize I can go elsewhere. That is why I name AT&T today's Knucklehead of the Day.