8 p.m.

• For those that care, the mail issue has been resolved. When I called the post office on Friday, I actually spoke to the chick that delivered mail on my street. Basically, she said that she couldn’t find my mailbox and though that rusted out piece of shit was indeed my mailbox. When I mentioned my neighbor who needs to get his mail at his doorstep, she said, “Oh I knew about that,” to which my response was, “then why was his mail with mine in the wrong mailbox. Silence. Oh, and that rusted mailbox is now hanging by a thread from its post.

• Here’s an update on the sterile Mexican family. Despite having the income of a part-time janitor, and the expenses of two test-tube kids, this household purchased a house, a new car and luxury items like a projection television. Did I mention they claimed bankruptcy a few years back due to maxed out credit cards? Well last night we discovered that – surprise – they are at least three months back on their mortgage payments with a house they bought less than 15 months ago. Whenever I hear welfare-reform opponents whine about how cruel we are to our nation’s poor, I get the urge to laugh until I cry.

• I hope there aren’t any great expectations for this place. LOL2007~!

A new theme park inspired by the work of Charles Dickens aims to transform a 70,000-square-foot warehouse near London into a teeming—and family-friendly—corner of Victorian England.

If you dont' get the joke, go read a book. Then again, I don't read any of this hippie shit either.

1 p.m.

• So as I was driving to work this morning I heard on the radio some story about this local college athlete getting arrested due to a domestic dispute. I can’t tell you who the athlete was or what sport he played. All I can tell you is that the fight started over a set of car keys. Oh, and the chick saying that the “violence started after she hit him in the chest.” Uh, no, bitch – the violence started WHEN you hit that guy in the chest. I don’t advocate violence on females (unless, of course, they are really deserving of it, like when they don't have your dinner ready when you home from work), but when you bitches strike us first it should be on like Donkey Kong.

Ah, here's the story.

Pitt basketball player Keith Benjamin was arrested and charged with simple assault after an altercation with a former girlfriend late last week. Benjamin and Ashley Olczak were involved in a domestic dispute in the early morning hours Friday over a set of car keys.

 

According to a criminal complaint, officers were called to 111 Hyman Place and witnessed Benjamin and Olczak arguing. The officers observed Olczak was bleeding from the knee and had several scratches on her face and neck. Olczak said the situation became violent after she hit him in the chest.

 

After she hit him, Olczak said Benjamin punched her on the left side of her face. Olczak said she hit Benjamin in the chest again and that Benjamin punched her again, this time knocking her to the ground. Officers observed swelling and a bruise on Olczak's right cheek. She said she did not know how the other injuries occurred, but said they were a result of the fight.

 

Benjamin contended in the criminal complaint that Olczak threw several punches at him that he was able to block with his hands. Benjamin, who was uninjured, said he never hit Olczak and did not know how she received her injuries. Both refused medical treatment. Olczak was arrested as well.

 

Benjamin, of Mount Vernon, N.Y., was arraigned in night court and is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing tomorrow in Pittsburgh Municipal Court. Reached by phone yesterday, Benjamin declined comment. Pitt coach Jamie Dixon declined an interview request through the Pitt sports information department.

 

Benajmin, a 6-foot-2 junior, averaged 3.3 points and 1.5 rebounds per game last season. He was expected to challenge for a starting position next season.

If all this is true, I wouldn't punish Benjamin outside of the normal criminal conduct code for two people fighting in public. A college basketball player for a Division 1A program and all she got was a bleeding knee along with a few scratches and bruises. I think she got off rather lucky. The only thing I'd fault Benjamin for is poor choice in women, but then again the article says "former girlfriend."