Sum Up News

Conor McGregor Tweets, I'm Back in UFC 200, BUT...

2016-04-25T20:59:00.003-07:00

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On Monday (April 25, 2016), Conor McGregor tweeted, "Happy to announce that I am back on UFC 200..." But when Dana White was asked by TMZ hours later, White denied this.

However, Dana White did say that McGregor may be back in the Octagon as early as UFC 201. When White was asked why McGregor posted that tweet, White responded, "I don't know... I don't know why he did. I still have not talked to him." But Dana White also said that he is not mad at Conor McGregor.

Who do you believe, Dana White or Conor McGregor?

For those of you who have not been following this entire drama for the past week or two, here's the quick summary:

Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz was originally scheduled for a rematch at UFC 200.
Conor McGregor was (and probably still is) training in Iceland with his entire team and he refused to fly to Las Vegas to attend events for promoting UFC 200.
Dana White and the UFC pulled Conor McGregor from the UFC 200 fight card.
Conor McGregor announced his retirement on Twitter.
After being reminded that he would lose the UFC Featherweight title if he is officially retired, McGregor announced that he is not retired, and that he is still ready to fight in UFC 200. But he still refuses to fly to Vegas to attend promotional events.
Dana White said, the window for McGregor to get back into UFC 200 is closed.
At a press conference, Nate Diaz surprised Dana White by announcing that he's not fighting if his opponent is not McGregor. Diaz said, "If I'm not fighting McGregor, I'm not doing sh*t. I'm going on vacation."
Dana White announces that the Diaz-McGregor fight is out of UFC 200. Two other fighters would replace them.

Conor McGregor Not Retired but Also Not Back in UFC 200

2016-04-21T15:42:00.005-07:00

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Conor McGregor, on his Facebook post, wrote “on the record” that he is not retired. This is probably because he would lose his featherweight title automatically if he is officially retired. On his Facebook post, McGregor implied that he had to promote (or “dance”) more than other fighters, including Nate Diaz.

Conor McGregor

“There comes a time when you need to stop handing out flyers and get back to the damn shop. 50 world tours, 200 press conferences, 1 million interviews, 2 million photoshoots, and at the end of it all, I’m left looking down the barrel of a lens, staring defeat in the face, thinking of nothing but my incorrect fight preparation,” wrote McGregor.

I don’t think anyone doubts Conor McGregor’s claim that he had to do more promotions than other fighters, since even his critics have said and written about this (although his critics attributes this to his success and did not see this as a distraction or disadvantage for McGregor.)

“It is time for the other monkeys to dance. I’ve danced us all the way here. Nate’s little mush head looks good up on that stage these days. Stuff him in front of the camera for it. He came in with no sh*t to do that last one. I’d already done press conferences, interviews and shot the ads before RDA pulled out. Maybe I’ll hit Cabo this time and skull some shots pre-fight with no obligation,” wrote McGregor.

Nate Diaz in an interview after his UFC 196 win over McGregor also mentioned that McGregor had more promotions to do (or was more promoted by the UFC than Diaz), but Diaz did not attribute this factor to McGregor’s loss. (Instead, Diaz was alluding to the preferential treatments that McGregor gets, as critics of McGregor have also spoken or written about.)

Dana White

It’s hard to say who’s in the right and who’s in the wrong, Conor McGregor or Dana White (President of the UFC). If the promotional events (McGregor is missing) were pre-arranged and both parties agreed to them before McGregor flew himself and his entire team to Iceland, then Dana White would be in the right. But so far, it does not seem like McGregor and his camp had agreed to this. (However, this may be generally stated in the fighters’ contracts with the UFC. In that case, I will let the legal experts analyze this.)

Although the UFC’s promotional events cost a lot of money, so does flying an entire team to Iceland for a fighter. Also, it sounds like (from his Facebook post) McGregor in the past had shown up at a promotion event without adequate notice and that event also costs the UFC $10 million.

“As a gesture of goodwill,” wrote McGregor. “I went and not only saved that $10 million dollars in promotion money. I then went and tripled it for them. And all with one tweet. Keep that 10 million to promote the other bums that need it. My shows are good.”

The million dollar question right now is: Will Dana White and the UFC allow Conor McGregor back on the fight card at UFC 200?

I highly doubt it. From a business’ standpoint, if the UFC allows McGregor back on the card at UFC 200, that sends a message to other fighters that the UFC does not want to send.

Furthermore, this is confirmed when White was asked if McGregor would be allowed back on the UFC 200 fight card and White responded, “...the window is pretty much closed.”

This story brought to you by SpirFit.org

84 Year Old Man Violently Beaten by NYPD and Arrested for Jay Walking

2014-08-24T21:41:00.000-07:00

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An 84 year old Chinese man, Kang Chun Wong, is suing the NYPD (New York Police Department) for $5,000,000 for roughing him up and wrongfully arresting him for jay-walking. According to the lawsuit, he is accusing the police of grabbing him, pushing him against a wall, beating him, throwing him to the ground, and causing him to briefly lose consciousness . Mr. Wong was treated at a hospital for his head injuries.

This photo was not included in the American mainstream media

The police arrested Mr. Wong for jay walking, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest, but the district attorney ‘s office in Manhattan decided not to prosecute.

This photo was not included in the American mainstream media

Op Ed

Looking at the pictures, I find it a bit ludicrous that one of the officers put the baseball cap back on Mr. Wong briefly in an attempt to cover up the old man’s look of pain and distraught. That was apparently not working for the officers, as the baseball cap was later removed.

This photo was not included in the American mainstream media

Also, I find it interesting that WSJ (the Wall Street Journal) and the New York Daily News are the only American mainstream news to report on this story. So, credit to the WSJ and Daily News for this. (There are many other incidents of assault on Asians, that I know of in New York, that were not even mentioned in American mainstream media but were reported on Chinese news media.)

However, my problem with both the WSJ and the Daily News is that they mostly showed the best looking photos of Mr. Wong after his external injuries were recovered months later. The incident occurred in January 2014, and they mostly showed the photos taken seven months later. With most of the photos of the actual incident excluded from the WSJ and Daily News (but you can see the photos of the actual incident above, in this report), I could see how some readers and commenters (on WSJ and Daily News) were led to believe that this is a frivolous lawsuit where the 84 year old is just seeking "quick money".

I am inclined to ask the question – Did WSJ and Daily News publish this story to seek justice for this Chinese old man or did they do it as an expedient way to criticize the Police Commissioner’s “broken windows” policy? The criticism of this policy (of focusing on minor crimes to prevent major crimes) was in the conclusion of both articles.

So that you can determine for yourselves, here are the articles from WSJ and the New York Daily News:

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/city-hit-5m-lawsuit-jaywalk-arrest-article-1.1911226

http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2014/08/22/man-accused-of-jaywalking-sues-nypd/

Without lawsuits like this one brought against the authorities, I assure you that they will feel more free to commit more of this type of wrong doing and abuse of power. As I predict that this story would still not be shared much or get much attention, my final question to you is:

What if this was your grandfather or father?

This report brought to you by SpirFit.org

Quick News 6:24pm

2013-09-07T15:29:00.003-07:00

Tokyo won the bid to host 2020 Summer Games (with an inspirational and emotional presentation). (USA Today)
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2013/09/07/ioc-election-host-city-2020-olympics/2780311/

Quick News (Updated 8:40am E.S.T.)

2013-09-03T05:48:00.000-07:00

U.S. Russian relationship is at its lowest since the end of the Cold War. The main causes are probably Russia granting asylum to Snowden (NSA information leaker) and Russia banking Syria's Assad regime. (New 24)
http://www.news24.com/World/News/Animosity-between-Obama-Putin-deepen-policy-clashes-20130903

Quick News (updated 12:00 pm EST)

2013-08-30T13:33:00.003-07:00

Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader (D), urges Obama Administration to take military action to punish Syrian regime in using chemical weapons on its own people.
“It is clear that the American people are weary of war. However, Assad gassing his own people is an issue of our national security, regional stability and global security,” Pelosi said. (Politico)

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/08/nancy-pelosi-barack-obama-syria-96065.html#ixzz2dUDlKIfW

Quick News (Updated 8:38 pm, EST)

2013-08-29T10:27:00.000-07:00

Google founder Sergei Brin has split from his wife reportedly due to his affair with an employee in the Google Glass project. It's more complicated than that. This employee is the ex-girlfriend of another Google executive who has left the company, To further complicate things, Sergei Brin's wife is the sister of another Google V.P. (Sydney Morning Herald, 8:38pm EST)
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/sergey-brin-love-quadrangle-blamed-for-google-executives-sudden-departure-20130829-2st1m.html

Commentary: What is going on in Google? One of their greatest strengths was how they were good with human resources, getting the right people, and keeping the right people. What are they doing in that company now? Perhaps, they should bring back the adult supervision Eric Schmidt?

Tension increases in the Mediterranean over Syria as Russia is about to send in naval ships (Sydney Morning Herald, 8:30pm EST)
http://www.smh.com.au/world/russia-sends-warships-to-mediterranean-as-syria-tension-rises-20130830-2su45.html
Ex-girlfriend of North Korean dictator was reportedly executed last week. (Chosun Media, 1:08pm EST)
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2013/08/29/2013082901412.html

Quick News (updated 3:14pm)

2013-08-28T12:17:00.001-07:00

Fort Hood shooter (military psychiatrist and Major) Nidal Hasan has received the death sentence for the 2009 shooting rampage. (ABC News, 3:05pm)
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/life-line-fort-hood-gunman-blocks-lawyers-20089887
New York Times website got hacked yesterday and today. Syrian Electronic Army takes credit. (CBS News, 3:14pm)
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57600431/new-york-times-still-down-syrian-electronic-army-website-follows/
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/york-times-website-suspects-malicious-hack/story?id=20087043

Quick News (updated 2:52 pm)

2013-08-27T09:19:00.005-07:00

Marissa Mayer and Yahoo are doing much better since she became CEO. (from Stuff)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/women-of-influence/9091180/The-Truth-About-Marissa-Mayer
Facebook produces a report on requests from multiple governments on facebook user data for the first 6 months of 2013. (from BBC 12:34pm)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23852230
https://www.facebook.com/about/government_requests
U.S., Britain, Western Nations, and the Arab League have pretty much concluded that Assad's Syrian forces were responsible for mass killing of civilians by chemical weapons. U.S. and Britain are getting ready for possible strike on Assad's military targets. (from New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/28/world/middleeast/britain-preparing-contingency-plan-for-intervention-in-syria-officials-say.html 12:12pm

Quick News 5:00pm

2012-09-18T14:20:00.000-07:00

• Tornado watch for NY and NJ. Heavy thunderstorms.

• President Obama in New York City tonight to appear on David Letterman. (Stay clear of traffic in Manhattan.)

• A car thief stole car near where the President will be appearing. (Talk about wrong place and wrong time for this guy.) He was caught by cops in less than 2 seconds.

Quick News 8:00pm

2012-08-06T17:20:00.004-07:00

Thousands of fish are dying in the Midwest as the hot, dry summer dries up rivers and causes water temperatures to climb in some spots to nearly 100 degrees. (Yahoo News)

21 Firewalkers at Robbins' Seminar Treated for Burns; What Really Happened

2012-07-22T11:52:00.002-07:00

I want even out the uneven reporting out there about Tony Robbins firewalk event with 21 people treated for burns. 21 out 6000 people who walked got treated for 2nd and 3rd degree burns. (Keep in mind that this guy has been doing this for more than 20 years. With 6000 participants in just one event, you don't need to be a mathematician to have an idea of the huge number of people who've done this firewalk (of mind over matter) without getting burned.

I am including what some of the participants said or wrote. These were people who were there to witness the whole thing, people who the reporters didn't seem to bother talking to (or maybe just didn't want to talk to because they already had a pre-formed opinion about what happened.

I cannot believe how irresponsible the reporting on this event is. I participated and thought it was amazing. I would be happy to speak to anyone in the press so you can actually report some of the reality of this event. The firewalk was one part of it. If any of the news media actually interviewed the attendees they would have fund out that the screams and moans they reported as people in agony were people getting into the zone. Because of that zone I found the firewalk to be like walking on grass. The feeling of conquering my fears like that was amazing... let me say it again, it was amazing!!! How about reporting that. The comments on here are why the media swings the view on things and just doesn't get it right. Several people I spoke with at the event today said, yeah I got a coal stuck on my foot and have a blister. Wow that must be 19 of the 20 people that you reported on. Why don't you actually speak to the people instead of reporting off a guy that wasn't even participating. You should have heard the screaming tonight. Wow!!! Tony, all I can say is you freakin rock! email me and I will tell you the truth flahooley200@yahoo.com

Terry (from a reader's comment on the CBS News Website)

Another participant in that event posted what happened there at:
http://businessinfoguide.com/what-really-happened-at-the-tony-robbins-firewalk-event-in-san-jose/

Quick News 12:32pm

2012-07-17T09:36:00.001-07:00

• Proctor and Gamble aims to sell some of its brands to boast their valuation by 30%.

• The jobs where women can earn the most are in healthcare, science, technology, and business. According to Forbes, the best paying jobs for women are: (1) Pharmacist, (2) Lawyer, (3) Computer Information Systems Manager, and (4) Doctor.

• Due to the downturn in the economy, Daffy shuts down 19 stores in tri-state area (8 of which are in Manhattan).

• Yahoo tapped Marissa Mayer from Google to become its CEO. The looming question: Can anyone turn around Google? Marc Andreessen seems to believe Mayer can, if anyone can.

Quick News 10:38 am

2012-07-13T07:45:00.001-07:00

- Blake Griffin is officially out of the Olympics because of knee injury. - There is a nationwide phone call scam going on where scammers claim to be part of an Obama created federal program to pay your utility bills. It's a scam to get your social security number, credit card numbers, and/or bank account numbers. Initially, it may seem like the payment from their account has gone through. But by the time the payment is rejected, you have given them your account information already.

Quick News 2:00 pm

2012-06-24T13:03:00.000-07:00

• Blackberry 10 device without a physical keyboard about to be released. (RIM is the company that makes Blackberries.)

[Comment: Should we say RIP to RIM? Physical keyboards are the main reason (and often the sole reason) why Blackberry users stay loyal. Getting rid of your keyboard, RIM, is like closing the lid on your own coffin. You have effectively delivered your last remaining customers to your competitors.]

• Morsi (of the Islamist Brotherhood) wins Egyptian election

[Comment and background: This is a relief. The other candidate was of the previous regime and there were signs that the military in control was going to rig the election to get the other candidate to win. It was clear that Morsi was the more popular candidate among the people. If they had rigged the election, it would’ve been obvious and civil war (like that in Syria) would have been probable. So, it is a relief to that region and the world that they didn’t rig that election and Morsi won.]

Quick News 4:00pm

2012-06-17T13:49:00.003-07:00

• Rodney King was found dead at the bottom of his swimming pool this morning. No foul play is suspected. [CBS News]

• Phil Jackson said that he wouldn’t be interested incoaching the NY Knicks or the Orlando Magic even if he was asked. He mentioned that Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony do not fit well together, and that “Carmelo has to be a better passer. And the ball can't stop every time it hits his hands.” [Bleacher Report]

Quick News 3:00pm

2012-06-15T17:39:00.005-07:00

• FDA urges discarding “all fresh, frozen, canned, andprocessed oysters, clams, mussels, and whole and roe-on scallops (molluscanshellfish) from Korea”. These products may have been exposed to fecal waste and contaminated with norovirus. [FDA News Release]

• Obama Administration said to tweak U.S. immigration policy to provide work permits to 800,000 illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as kids “through no fault of their own.” To qualify, they must meet requirements such as having no criminal records, have been living in the U.S. for at least five years, and have at least a high school diploma.

• Last night, two individuals spray painted on synagogues, schools, and supermarkets in Borough Park section of Brooklyn, NY. The act was caught on security videos. [FM News 101.9]

• A 21 year old woman stole a Toyota Camry and ran from cops. Two cops caught up with her on Church Ave and East 38^th Street in Brooklyn and shot her after a struggle. She died later in the hospital. The two officers are on desk duty while they investigate. [FM News 101.9]

• An American may face murder charges in Japan for the murder of a 21 year old Swiss woman, Nicola Furlong. [HLN News]

• In NBA Finals, Miami Heat wins over Oklahoma Thunder 100 – 96 (where Lebron James scored 32 points.) They’re tied at 1-1. Next game will be on Sunday at Miami. [FM News 101.9]