The Vagabond way recommends: "Golf her Wei"

It warms my wandering heart to see someone refuse to let a dream die. Thus, with suitable fanfare, thundering cannons and streaming confetti (all virtual, of course), The Vagabond way announces it's latest addition to our "recommends" section: Wei under par.

"Wei under par," founded, operated and otherwise cared for by Stephanie Wei, is quite simply some of the most original, irreverent and innovative coverage of the world of golf you can find.  Wei brings a unique perspective and rapier wit to a genre of sports journalism that is moribund at its worst, staid and stuffy at its best.  Very few golf writers produce work that non-golf junkies would care to read and, even for golf fans, most coverage is eminently forgettable.  Not so with "Wei under par." Wei, along with contributors Kevin Merfield and Conor Nagle, consistently finds a fresh angle to combine with straight reporting and produces work that anyone could find interesting and funny.

Wei, a former competitive junior golfer and Yale grad, has a growing presence in the male dominated world of golf journalism, with her work being featured in The Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated and ESPN.com, a presence that is 100% self made.  Working  in the event planning field after graduating college where her collegiate golf career was cut short by a back injury, she had a desire to make her living doing something golf related.  Thus was born, "Wei under par."  A few short years later, the WSJ sent her around the world to cover major tournaments and the 2010 Ryder Cup.  Talk about making your own niche!

Stephanie, The Vagabond way commends and congratulates you for your vision, tenacity and skill.  Keep grabbing that brass ring!  As with all honorees in The Vagabond way's "recommends" section, you win an absolutely free cup of coffee from Vagabond himself, assuming it's not too close to payday and Mrs. Vagabond says it's ok.

For anyone reading this, take a huge step up in blog quality and check out "Wei under par."  You won't be sorry!

Those who live in glass houses . . .

The Vagabond Way loves few things more than hypocrisy exposed, hubris laid low and public rants proven wrong. Thus, it is with great glee and fanfare that we present "Those who live in glass houses . . ."

Our inaugural entry involves one Lou Dobbs, famous CNN financial reporter, immigration tough-guy and possible political candidate. Since being forced out of a long gig at CNN due to equal parts of personal asshattery and public outcry, Lou has stumped the country advocating his "get tough" brand of enforcement first immigration policy. He has waged a veritable crusade against illegal immigration, reserving a special brand of disdain for employers who hire undocumented workers. Dobbs has been quoted numerous times excoriating such employers, railing against their "exploitation of illegal aliens," and advocating felony charges for such offenses.

Well, it turns out that Dobbs isn't above hiring just such a contractor to care for two of his large estates and his daughter's million dollar show horses. An article by Isabelle MacDonald in "The Nation", outs Dobbs for engaging in the exact practices he has so publicly opposed. An example of Dobbs' rhetoric can be seen below:



The full article can be found here and is certainly worth the read, but the highlights are basically thus: Dobbs employed, through a contractor, undocumented workers who were isolated at his property, worked long hours doing menial tasks, were on call at all hours for the care of the horses involved and paid substantially less than minimum wage. They were also provided no health benefits even though the work is physically dangerous. Hmmm . . . Let me get this straight . . . for all of your moral indignation on this issue, you can't find the time in your busy life to check the veracity of your contractors efforts when it comes to employing undocumented aliens, or even talk to the poor guys who are scooping your horseapples and trimming your roses. You can afford to pay a million bucks a pop for show horses but you can't afford to kick a few greenbacks the way of your underpaid workers who live in conditions that mirror indentured servitude. Hell is in the details, Lou. Thanks for busily chucking rocks from the glass magnificence that is your estate. You have proven yourself to be even more full of it than your horse stalls.