Bottom of the Bird Cage 5/21

It’s the 141st day of the year.

On May 21, 1856 pro slavery forces burned the Free-State Hotel and looted several businesses in Lawrence, Kansas. One man was killed. On this day in 1881, the American Red Cross was established by Clara Barton.

This day is the birthday of Laurence Tureaud, who was born on May 21, 1952 in Chicago. We know him better as the actor Mr. T.

And on this day in 1927, Charles Lindbergh touched down at LeBourget Field in Paris. He became the first person to fly across the Atlanta Ocean non-stop. At the time, it was considered one of the greatest feats in human history. Flying a specially built plane he dubbed “The Spirit of St. Louis”, Lindbergh flight took 33.5 hours. He skimmed over both storm clouds at 10,000 feet and wave tops at as low at 10 ft. He fought icing and had to fly blind through fog for several hours, and navigating was done only by using the stars, when they were visible.

When he landed in Paris, a crowd of 150,000 stormed the field and carried him on their shoulders for several minutes around the air field before Lindbergh was rescued by French pilots.

Lindbergh returned to the United States on a U.S. Navy ship and was honored in Washington by President Calvin Coolidge and then a ticker tape parade down Fifth Avenue in New York.

Now more than 80 years later, Lindbergh’s feat is done hundreds of times each day. But at the time, he was viewed as a Neil Armstrong-like figure and his accomplishment helped spur the further growth and interest in air travel.

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Ben Roethlisberger does not have cancer, and neither does he have a Facebook page. “There’s no truth to it. I don’t have any of that stuff,” the Steelers quarterback proclaimed yesterday.

“That stuff” are accounts on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and any other social networking Web sites. Roethlisberger said he does not use them, including the one under his name that proclaimed he had skin cancer. “I had a bunch of people ask me about it; obviously it’s not true,” Roethlisberger said after yesterday’s spring practice. “We had to go on our Web site to let them know I don’t have an account. There’s nothing going on.”

Accounts proclaiming to belong to Roethlisberger were still listed yesterday on Facebook.com, MySpace.com and Twitter.com.

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This problem is popping up more and more in the world of these social networking sites on the web and is another reason that consumers of information should tread carefully and not jump to conclusions no matter what they read. Recently one Kansas City’s largest pundits wrote a piece saying trust the writer, not the platform. I say you don’t trust either. The platform and the writer earn your trust, it’s not just given. You answer best with your attention and readership.

From the Chicago Tribune: A cash-strapped city has informed some Chicago Bears season ticket-holders they might be forced to pay amusement taxes on licenses purchased up to seven years ago that simply allowed them to buy their tickets in the first place.

A Bears spokesman confirmed the organization received “some calls” from permanent-seat license-holders who received the letters Wednesday. One letter, provided to the Tribune by a ticket-holder, indicates the amusement tax tab for two seat licenses purchased five years ago could top $500.

“We heard about this today for the first time,” said Scott Hagel, the Bears senior director of corporate communications. “We’re starting to do our own research in terms of what precipitated this.”

A spokesman for the city’s Department of Revenue, contacted Wednesday afternoon, said he needed more time to determine how many letters were sent out and why, leaving many questions unanswered about the city’s intent. Two other season ticket-holders contacted by the Tribune said they did not receive letters.

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As teams seek more creative ways to make money, so too are government entities as they try to make up for budget shortfalls. What’s happening in Chicago may end up being much ado about nothing, but I guarantee you it’s gotten some others in government thinking about new taxes on those who buy tickets and attend sporting events.

From Washington Times columnist Dan Daly: Even before the prison door had slammed shut behind Michael Vick, the NFL had moved on. Who needed him, really? This is the league, remember, that can lose Tom Brady in Week 1 - amid the worst economy in decades - and not even feel a twinge in its wallet. The NFL is 100 stories taller than any one player, even an Xbox all-star like Mike.

And let’s face it, by the time Vick was packed off to Leavenworth, Kan., much of the thrill was gone. Though he was setting records as a running quarterback, the first to rush for 1,000 yards, he wasn’t making any progress as a passer - and his team, the Falcons, were stuck in a similar rut. Worse, he’d become one of the poster children for All That’s Wrong With Professional Sports. If he wasn’t flipping off booing fans in the Georgia Dome, he was being sued for passing along a sexually transmitted disease or getting into an embarrassing episode at an airport with his entourage.

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The NFL is bigger than any single player, but generally when an athlete has the problems like Michael Vick, that message seldom sinks in. Vick’s crimes were not of ignorance, but of arrogance. He knew what he was doing was wrong, but he wasn’t worried about the ramifications because he figured he skated through any punishment if he got caught. Turns out in this case he didn’t skip through unscathed and if that doesn’t change Vick, then nothing will.