Friday Weisblog: A hodgepodge of random thoughts

* Though I am no longer in the auto industry, it saddens me to see the Chrysler Corporation file for bankruptcy. Here’s hoping that they can rebound.

* I refuse to blog about the swine flu. Much too soon to determine whether or not the media is blowing this out of proportion.

* Congratulations to the Orlando Magic, my former part-time employer, for slaughtering the Philadelphia 76′ers – despite losing their best player (Dwight Howard) to suspension.

* Congratulations to Special Education teacher Anthony Mullen of Greenwich, Connecticut. He’s this year’s 2009 National Teacher of the Year (and also a former detective).

* Rest in peace, Bea Arthur. I forgot to mention this earlier this week.

Have a great weekend!

Thursday Weisblog: He’s not a saint, but not a sinner, either

Jonathan Thomas is apparently not your typical, run-of-the-mill inmate in the Nebraska State Penitentiary. The 23-year-old Thomas is currently imprisoned for three violations: attempted burglary, possession of methamphetamine and theft by receiving stolen property. He also has had three child support cases brought against him.

But that’s not what makes him unique. After all, most prisons are full of burglars and drug users.

He recently went before Lancaster County Judge Steven Burns because he wanted to get his name changed. Apparently no longer happy being Jonathan Thomas, he wanted to become “Sinner Lawrence Bilskirnir.”

Why such an odd name, you ask? He says it’s because he’s a heathen and he worships Thor because of his Norse religion.

Judge Burns heard his request but turned him down flat. He did so for several reasons. (1) The judge said the child support issues supercede any name change; (2) Getting a name change would make it harder for government officials to keep track of him; (3) These words from Burns himself: “Simply because a person is a Christian, a Jew or a Muslim, they do not change their name to Moses.”

While he’s in prison, I tend to agree with Judge Burns. I think when you are incarcerated, you should lose some of the rights those of us not in a cell are blessed with. However, once he’s free in 2014, he’ll probably change his name if he feels the same way.

One word of caution to him: It might make his job search a bit more difficult with a name like Sinner Lawrence Bilskirnir. After all, who would want to hire anyone named Lawrence? LOL

Note: My apologies to anyone who reads this who happens to be named Lawrence. It’s a fine name … I just couldn’t resist the chance to insert a little humor into the blog.

Wednesday Weisblog: A “BUI” for a woman with poor judgment?

When police recently responded to a domestic disturbance call at the Grand Forks, North Dakota home of 27-year-old Stacey Anvarinia, they got quite a surprise.

They entered the home, and shortly thereafter Anvarinia began breastfeeding her six-week-old infant in their presence. That by itself would be fine. But there was one problem … she was (allegedly) three sheets to the wind.

As a result, she was arrested for child neglect. Grand Forks County Assistant State Attorney Carmell Mattison said police asked her “several times” to stop breastfeeding because she was intoxicated, but she declined.

Police made the arrest because they believe it’s neglect in more than one way. In their view, because she was intoxicated, not only shouldn’t she have been feeding the baby, she wasn’t capable to take care of it in general.

There is a problem with their case, though … they did not do a blood alcohol test on Anvarinia. Mattison says the police noted in their report that she was “extremely intoxicated,” but often if you don’t have a blood test it becomes a difficult case to prove.

Anvarinia’s court-appointed attorney is David Ogren. He says he’s never heard of another case like this one. He went on to say the following: “This doesn’t strike me as a newsworthy case.”

Really, David? Seriously? You (allegedly) get wasted, then breastfeed your child? It’s not newsworthy when health experts say that alcohol consumed by breastfeeding mothers can be absorbed into an infant’s system?

I understand that Ogren has to defend his client to the best of his ability, but come on … don’t insult us – and don’t discount the well-being of a six-week-old infant that cannot defend itself.

By the way, if she’s convicted, Anvarinia faces as much as five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Tuesday Weisblog: So long, Pontiac

I remember how freaky it was when I found out the manufacturer of the car I drove (and still drive), Oldsmobile, was going out of business.

As someone who has worked in automotive marketing, I could understand why they chose to eliminate the brand. One minute they were advertising the brand as “Not Your Father’s Oldsmobile,” then they changed course and portrayed the brand as practical and affordable luxury. So which one were they? No one knew for sure, but based on my car, I’d say the latter. It isn’t overly sporty, but it’s been very dependable and at 127,000 miles it shows no sign of quitting aside from a few quirks that all old cars have. There was also a lot of overlap in products with Chevrolet and Pontiac.

Over the next few years, I became keenly aware that Olds was not going to be the only brand to say bye-bye. Having spent most of the last decade in automotive marketing, I saw this slow, steady decline in car sales. It first started with American cars, which led to Olds’ demise and the general thought that cars made in our country simply couldn’t measure up with foreign cars.

No matter how much of a red-blooded American you are, you couldn’t deny the facts, either. All the automotive research companies found that, year after year, Toyota, Lexus, Porsche and Honda were always atop the dependability standings, with the occasional appearance of an American car here and there.

Toyota and Honda, especially, trumpeted these facts to the public every chance they got, and basically pooh-poohed any American offering that hit the streets. Guess you couldn’t blame them.

Recently, the American automakers went to work, seeking to level out the playing field. They’ve successfully done so to some degree, but is it too late? It took them so long to right this wrong, American cars are still suffering from the stigma that might not even be true anymore.

And now, due to the sharp decline in sales, no matter what brand you sell, you’re suffering. Dealerships are closing everywhere.

With today’s announcement that General Motors is phasing out the Pontiac brand, another piece of automotive history will go by the wayside. Think back … the Trans Am, the Firebird, the GTO … muscle cars. The cars that every young male wanted.

Soon, there will be one less automotive brand from which to choose. One wonders how many more will follow. The Chrysler Corporation is not doing any better than GM financially, and GM has several other brands (Hummer, Saturn, Saab, Buick … did I forget any?) that are slumping and could easily find their way onto the chopping block. The Ford Motor Company still has weak sisters Lincoln and Mercury.

How far down does the auto industry have to go, and how many more brands will be lost before things return to some semblance of normalcy? No one knows for sure, but my guess is that it will be a very long time. Too many brands for too few buyers equals a survival-of-the-fittest market, and not everyone will be left standing when it’s all said and done.

So take a look at your car. See what brand it is. Then ask yourself what the odds are that you may soon be like me – behind the wheel of a dinosaur.

Monday Weisblog: Say it ain’t so, Mrs. Laster

The March 25 Weisblog was about Delores Laster, a Central Florida teacher who was recently arrested for killing her husband some 20 years ago (and she taught at the very first school I ever went to – at the time I was there).

If you recall, police re-interviewed several people they originally talked to, and it appears they’ve uncovered some potentially incriminating evidence, if it’s true.

They say Mrs. Laster discovered her husband, Clarence, was cheating on her, so she decided to get even. (This apparently was a regular occurrence, because records show Clarence had fathered “at least nine” children with three other women – something she did not find out until AFTER she married him).

She allegedly took a towel, wrapped around a gun and shot Clarence in the back of the head.

Once the deed was done, she (again, allegedly) set out to make it look even more like an accident. She then got two of her stepchildren to move the body from her bedroom to the garage. There was stepdaughter Kristy Dandridge and the stepson, Clyde, who was 10 at the time. They saw their father, drunk and nearly lifeless, lying on the floor of the bedroom.

Delores told the kids their father had fallen. “We tried to get him in … in the garage or whatever,” Clyde told police.

Delores ordered her kids to grab his legs while she lifted the top of his body. Clarence, still barely alive, kept telling the children to “leave me alone.”

Clarence then became physically ill and spent his final breaths on the garage floor. Delores and the kids changed clothes and soon were on their way to Gainesville to spend time with family. According to the more than 900 pages of police records, the clothes were discarded in an Ocala dumpster on the way to Gainesville.

When they returned, Delores went to a friend’s house and called police, telling them she found her husband dead. This is the story she’s been sticking with all these years – and still does.

Routinely for shock value, TV and radio stations use words like “grisly” and “chilling” to describe events that happen. But if true, this definitely qualifies as such. Imagine what those two kids had to live with all those years.

I understand that she was angry. From the sound of things, she had every right to be upset. It’s the wrong thing to do to try and be judge and jury yourself … that’s bad enough. But how can anyone in their right mind involve their kids? It’s unconscionable.

Once this goes to court, the truth will come out.

Note: I am having problems placing photos recently. I will look into this, and hopefully have this feature repaired soon.

Friday Weisblog: Giving new meaning to the term “Miracle Bra”

A 57-year-old Detroit woman, whose name is currently being withheld, witnessed thieves breaking into her neighbor’s home by watching them through her window.

As this was going on, one of the burglars noticed the woman staring at them. He aimed and fired his gun at her, and the bullet smashed her window pane.

Amazingly, the bullet deflected off the wiring of her bra and she escaped with only minor injuries. The would-be robbers drove away after the bullet was fired.

“We need to get some bullet-proof vests made from that. That is some strong wire,” quipped Detroit Police Sergeant Eren Stephens Bell.

I, for one, am not an expert on bras, but I can’t see how it could deflect a bullet. But I’m happy it did, though probably not as happy as the garment’s owner.

Are they making women’s undergarments out of Kevlar these days?