tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-217297562024-03-07T19:45:07.838-05:00Ah, But I DigressThis is just my little space on the web to post my thoughts and comments. Sometimes stuff will be topical, sometimes I'll just throw in some old stuff I wrote. Sometimes it'll just be stream of consciousness and may not make much sense at all. Hey, it's mine and I can do what I want.
Eventually there'll be some links to other blogs and maybe to some websites that I peruse for whatever reason.BKWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08870174062842231884noreply@blogger.comBlogger86125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21729756.post-71113960508134443562017-10-07T19:03:00.000-05:002017-10-07T19:03:19.117-05:00On Museums and Deaccessioning Collections<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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After reading Charles Giuliano’s piece, found here:</div>
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A few (hah! You should know me better!) thoughts I have, on reading this piece. I’d have submitted the list to the Eagle’s “Letters to the Editor” section but it’s too long to publish. Anyway, here they are:</div>
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I grew up in Pittsfield and have been following this story pretty closely for several months. As a kid, I eagerly looked forward to Friday’s and my after school art classes at the Berkshire Museum. And I still think of myself as an artist. Actually, I like to refer to myself as an illustrator, as I once heard Norman Rockwell define himself. And I am concerned about the outcome of the current controversy surrounding the Museum. I think, as you clearly do, the recent article in The New Yorker was a good piece and representative of the quality I expect to see on their pages. But, damn, man! I had to read this piece twice, I was so distracted by the errors in grammar, basic punctuation, and syntax! After graduating from Pittsfield’s now closed Sacred Heart Elementary and St Joe’s High schools, my guess is you attended public schools. (The teaching that we parochial school kids were somehow superior to public schoolers still courses through my veins.) The good Sisters Of St. Joseph would never have allowed this to see the light of day! Or go unpunished! Surely they would have required heavy editing on your part, which they would gladly not assign until ten minutes before the last bell rang. On a Friday. Before a long weekend.</div>
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Seriously, though, this is a pretty good analysis of not only what HAS happened but continues to happen in what appears to be one man’s attempt to see his own distorted vision come to fruition, consequences be damned. (Sorry, Sisters. If you hadn’t scared the Catholic out of me I would surely be atoning for that cussing.) I am left wondering if ol’ Van Shields is trying to compensate for something. A failed career as an artist? A continued inability to color between the lines? A mother’s refusal to display his “artwork” on the family fridge? Something must be driving this man to push through his agenda, again, consequences be damned. (That reiteration would likely have earned me at least another ten Hail Marys and an Our Father.)</div>
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I can only hope that enough people, both in and from Berkshire County, feel as you, </div>
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my family and friends, and I do about this attempt at an end run around everyone except, it seems, the Board Of Trustees. As you wrote, at least two of the members seem to have resigned in protest, though, at least in my opinion, it seems a stronger stance would have had them vote AGAINST the plan rather than abstain, and perhaps remain on the board to continue to represent our interests. That’s their call, though. I, we, have no idea the toll that might have taken on their personal or professional lives. Even so, I respect their decisions and am grateful they had the good conscience to make them.</div>
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I guess the deaccession IS a foregone conclusion, unless somebody is able to get some kind of last-minute reprieve, an injunction preventing the sale. I have no idea if that is even possible. At the least such an act might see the museum being sued by Sotheby’s for unrealized commissions. At worst, the injunction could be denied only to be appealed at great cost to whoever petitioned for it, and a final loss, allowing the deaccessioning to go forward. BTW, am I the only one who had never heard the word “deaccession” before? I feel I have been seeing it rather too much as I follow this story. I tend toward writing in a conversational style, though I’m mixing that with my “scholar’s voice” here, and would love to see a few “sell off”, “dumping works on the market”, and “eradicate the collection” phrases thrown in there, if just to stanch the monotony of repetition. (Again, the influence of the good Sisters at work!) Deaccessioning seems to sanitize the whole affair, and place it out of the realm of “all us regular folk” in whose hearts the museum holds a special place. I sometimes feel Like I am intruding far too much into the world of museum professionals or benefactors, as if I’m eavesdropping on conversations I am not supposed to hear, or accessing sites not intended for me, a mere museum-goer. I mean, if writers of the many articles I’ve read intended to reach people like me, who prefer to just enjoy museums rather than get involved in the goings-on behind the scenes (or full-scale diorama, as it were) of any museum, than using plain-speak would seem the better route. And I think we are an important audience. A target market as, together, we have the ability to spread the word and build an army of support. Perhaps that could influence members of the board to reconsider their position. It may be too late to stop the selling off of these important works, but that doesn’t mean we can’t band together and try. We may not succeed but our efforts could cause other museums to sit up and take note. And we could serve as a lesson to all the other museum patrons across the country to take more notice of what the people entrusted with the care and oversight of THEIR “little” </div>
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museums are doing; to be aware that some nefarious activities are afoot when their own boards fire a director or curator who has shown they have not just the museum but the community’s best interests in mind, even if their well-intentioned actions have unintended consequences. </div>
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Let me use this last paragraph to introduce two more angles from which to view this debacle - I mean, issue-</div>
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First, I honestly don’t see WHY the museum needs to be torn apart and rebuilt to make it “interactive”. After all, isn’t a museum supposed to be a testament to the history of some thing, or person, or region? Would it not be more appropriate to redesign existing exhibits, if bringing the museum into the 21st century was truly the intent? (This <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">early in the millennium makes the term 21st century museum seem like an oxymoron!) T</span>hat would leave the existing collection to do as intended, to honor its existence, its creators, and its donors (especially the world-renowned and beloved Norman Rockwell, illustrator of mid-twentieth century America, in all its faults and glory), and to share it with generations to come, so that they may enjoy and learn from it just as many of us have. Adding newer items to the collection makes sense. Showing those by way of interactive exhibits makes sense if that is what’s necessary to capture the minds and hearts of our children, and theirs. If feasible, adding on to the existing structure makes sense. Even adding a secondary site to house new acquisitions, and to exhibit items from the collection now in storage, like The Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum has done, to great success, makes sense. </div>
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Second, how would selling these valuable pieces affect future fundraising efforts? I have seen the possible effect on future donations of museum-worthy collections addressed. But what about monetary donations? Not just endowments from benefactors but federal, state, and municipal funding? Not to mention responses from the general population during fundraising drives? I don’t think PBS would raise much money during its telethons if it “deaccessioned” shows like Sesame Street, Antiques Roadshow, or Julia Child’s iconic shows. And what of people drawn to the Berkshire Museum BECAUSE OF some of the many works it seeks to dump on the open market? With the Norman Rockwell Museum so close by, one can’t help but think people who tour it would also make a stop in Pittsfield to see the very paintings the director now wants to get rid of. Not only could that be a source of many, albeit smaller: monetary donations but those people might then make a weekend of their visit, contributing to the Pittsfield and Berkshire economies. </div>
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Lastly, here’s where I come from, what forms my opinion on the matter: I’m not a museum professional. <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I’m not an accountant. I’m not even very good at math. </span>But what I AM pretty good at is problem solving by way of looking at a challenge from many angles. I don’t pretend to cover all of them. I am what you might call a jack of all trades but master of none. I have eclectic interests. I am a “Renaissance Man” wannabe. And I’m pretty logical. I approach each situation trying to understand different people’s motives, their opinions, their intent. Much like the Supreme Court considers the intent of our Founding Fathers when deciding the Constitutionality of laws and judgements, so should we consider the intent of those who donated valuable works to the good people of Berkshire County, while trusting all directors, curators, and trustees, past, present, and future, to honor those intentions. We would dishonor them by not fighting for them. </div>
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Barb Wallace</div>
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Sacred Heart Elementary School, class of 1970</div>
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St. Joseph High School, class of 1974</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321049068445357705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21729756.post-60177244401245109282017-09-04T15:49:00.000-05:002017-09-04T15:49:21.538-05:00Can't We Just All Get Along?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"> An open letter to American Nazis, White Supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan, anti-semites, racists, misogynists, and all you other losers devoid of compassion and respect for minority groups. I don't hate you, but I hate what you represent. And I hate that you are passing YOUR hate for other people to your kids or grandkids. </span></div>
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I need your help. I need you to explain to me why you are willing to hate other people. Because I don't get it. Why are you passing that hate on to your kids? I don't even understand why YOU hate people. Why you think your "white privilege" is something to be proud of. So for sure I can't understand why you're doing this to your child.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"> Children learn what they live. And if they live hate, they learn to hate. How do you explain to a child that they should HATE, not just dislike, HATE, another human being for ANY reason? How? How do you have a conversation with a 3-yr-old, or your kid who is 6, or 9, that teaches them they SHOULD hate people who are different? When everybody else they know, the kids they go to school with, their friends, their soccer or hockey or tee ball teammates, are being taught by their parents they SHOULD NOT hate anybody? 3-, 6-, and 9-yr-olds should be hating things, not people: Brussels sprouts and homework and going to bed early on school nights. That's what kids should "hate". They shouldn't be faced with the struggle of applying your ideology when deciding if they should like or hate a classmate or teammate or playground pal because of some "difference" between them that they shouldn't even recognize or have to deal with.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"> You are supposed to teach your child GOOD values. Hate is not even in the realm of good values. Hate is the opposite of good values. Yet people DO teach their young children, including, yes, toddlers, that they should hate "others". You do it at home. You do it in the car. You do it when you taker her to your meetings. You do it when she goes with you to a rally. Or a march. Not only is that abhorrent, aberrant, and appalling behavior, you are setting your child up for failure. Because those you are teaching him to hate? Those who aren't able-bodied, those who don't have white skin, those who go to a different church, those whose ancestors aren't all Europeans, those who have developmental disabilities or mental illness, those who aren't straight, or who are being raised by two moms or two dads? Those who don't hate others, who were raised and TAUGHT not to hate others? Those kids will be part of the majority of the people in this country. Those are the people your kid is going to interact with every day of his or her life. Every day. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"> From day care to pre-K to kindergarten, through elementary, middle, and high school, your child will be expected to get along with the other children. He will have to work together on a school project with a Jewish kid and a black kid and a gay kid and a kid who's on the autism spectrum. It won't go well for him or her if he was raised to hate every kid in his group. It won't help later on when he's told the other employees he'll be working with on a group presentation are all people he was taught to hate. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"> So, please explain to me, help me understand, why you think it's a GOOD thing to HATE other people? And why you choose to teach an innocent child the concept of hate. Please explain how this will help your child in any way. Please explain how that will help him succeed in life. Because, isn't that kinda your job? To teach your child good morals, ethics, citizenship? Isn't it kinda your job to help your child be prepared to navigate the world on his own once he reaches adulthood? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"> You don't have to teach your child to be best friends with every kid he knows. Just teach them to treat others the way he wants to be treated. Teach her, by example, to respect others, to not bully or otherwise discriminate. Let him learn how to make friends with kids he likes. Let him choose for himself. Then respect his choices. Unless, maybe you just want your child to go through her childhood and adolescence without friends except those she hangs out with at your rallies. Because if your kid brings that hate with him when he goes to day care and pre-K and kindergarten and elementary, middle, and high schools, he's going to be a loner since he will have alienated pretty much everyone in his sphere. This is the kind of life that ends after your kid becomes a mass shooter at school or at work and kills himself to avoid arrest, or refuses to obey police orders, forcing them to shoot him. Or her. If that's not the way you want your child's life to end, it's pretty simple. Teach him to NOT hate. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"> Teach your child to be open about others. Do it by example. Leave those white supremacists groups. Change your attitude. Learn, yourself, to stop hating and start ACCEPTING people for who or what they are, whatever makes them different than you. If you can't do it for yourself, do it for your kid. Don't teach him to hate. If you do continue on the path you have chosen, be prepared for the consequences. Be prepared to tell your kid the real reason the other kids want nothing to do with him. Explain to your five year old child why he's the only kid in the class who wasn't invited to Mohammed's birthday party. Be prepared to tell your daughter why she wasn't invited to the sleep-over at Mindy's house. And when your kid gets to high school, be prepared to explain to him WHY you chose to TEACH him to HATE all those kids. Because he WILL start questioning you. He'll be questioning himself. Adolescence is hard enough to go through, but it's made easier when you have friends going through the same thing. Imagine how much worse it would be if you're a loner and not by choice. Not really. At least not because of any conscious choice he made by himself; for himself. He'll suffer because of a choice you made even before he was born. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"> On second thought, forget explaining it to me. Explain it to your kid.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321049068445357705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21729756.post-21147740566121531222016-09-25T15:41:00.002-05:002016-09-25T15:41:49.709-05:00SHINEONMOTHER<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Finally getting back on the blog. Posting part of some thoughts I wanted to share with someone on Twitter, but you know me. 140 characters doesn't cut it.<br />
@SHINEONMYMOTHER<br />
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Even after viewing both PD vids of Scott, too many questions. Why did cops draw their weapons? Are they claiming they saw a gun in the car? Why didn't one LEO go to wife, vet her ID, and let her get close enough to talk to him? Yelling just distracts everybody, both cops AND her husband. What were effects of his TBI? Was he easily confused? Could that have been a factor? Why didn't he just roll his window down and talk to officer, show his hands? It was clear there were cops aiming guns at him. Very confusing behavior!<br />
Also, it looked to me, on the dashcam vid, that he opened the right door with his left hand, BACKED out of the vehicle with right hand kinda in front of something, like he didn't want them to see it. My assumption would be it's likely a weapon Then as he backs away, with arms down, it's even more confusing behavior. Now maybe his right arm had issues, either from his TBI or other injury. That would explain a lot of that behavior, and maybe if cops had talked to wife, she could have given them that information. That would give her more credibility than just shouting from the sidelines. Cops can't rely on that info as fact. Too dangerous to do so. Anybody in a crowd can shout that info. You must have seen other videos where the crowd is yelling at the cops. The cops have to tune them out so they can focus on what's happening, what they're saying to each other, what the suspect might be saying, what's coming over the radio. And if there is a gun, officers have to make split-second decision as soon as suspect begins to move his hand or arm. If he wants to turn his weapon over to cops, he needs to verbally make that clear, wait til the cops acknowledge they understand what he wants to do, then he needs to move v-e-r-y slowly, because any quick movement and shots will be fired.<br />
This was a tragic shooting. Even if he had a gun, there are questions about the cops procedures. Whether those issues contributed to the shooting - I dunno.<br />
But as it stands, it looks to me like there isn't enough evidence to charge any of the cops with wrongdoing. But, again, we don't have all the facts. And just because I couldn't, now, convict anybody if I was on the jury, that doesn't mean they didn't do anything wrong, or couldn't have done things differently. Because I think in this and the Tulsa shooting of Mr. Crutcher, poor procedure contributed to both shootings. The difference in the two was that Mr Crutcher had his hands up. Lots of ?s there, too. Like why was he walking toward HIS car? If cop thought situation called for gun, he shouldn't have been moving away from them. Justas he was being shot, after he turned toward car, it looked like he dropped one arm. Whether he was going to mopen the door or the Taser made him drop his arm, you can't tell. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321049068445357705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21729756.post-59301479648959660722015-05-12T15:56:00.000-05:002015-05-12T15:56:31.076-05:00Going to The Wells Once Too Often<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I began this post as a response to a report on ESPNBoston related to the release of the Wells report. I have read the report and have several issues with some of its conclusions, as well as with the League's activities in response to concerns lodged by the Indianapolis Colts prior to the January 2015 AFC Championship game. The way the League's executives handled the situation, coupled with some inexplicable behavior from the Officiating crew, taints this investigation. This is a separate issue from whether the Patriots were (are) guilty of misconduct, but it further adds to the impression that there are foxes guarding the hen houses even as roosters are allowed to run amok. I have yet to read any statements issued by anybody involved since the release of the Wells report, including those from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell or Patriots owner Robert Kraft. So, for what it's worth, here's Part 1. I will follow up with my thoughts on the main players in this comedy -can't decide if it's an episode of The Keystone Cops starring NFL and Colts executives and the Officials' Walt Anderson as the cops or if it's more like The Dukes of Hazzard. At any rate, it's a comedy of errors.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">First of all, saying "I'm not for sure (x will happen)" makes you sound "ignunt!" Just say I'm not sure. Second, if the NFL looks at the Colts game, and it's the only game in question, it's pretty obvious the balls were not a factor in the drubbing the Colts took. The Patriots scored half again as many points AFTER the ball issue was addressed. Thirdly, the NFL needs to revisit their own procedures; it's obvious that their own rules were inadequately enforced. And not just BEFORE the game but also when the balls were checked AFTER THE COMPLAINT. If the rules spell out exact PSI, that should be the standard, not "ticks" under or over. Chalk that up to the NFL and the officials. Fourth, be real. Deflating the balls may be against the rules but comparing it to BOUNTYGATE? Seriously? That's like comparing running a red light to hiring a hitman. Well, that's kind of an exaggeration but the point is valid. Certainly this taints Brady's image. (I don't think anybody's worried about Belichik's image! LOL) And it may bring into question Kraft's propensity to turn a blind eye (the man is too successful to think he's as unaware as he seems to want people to believe) to possible character flaws in his stars. (Aaron Hernandez, anyone?) </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">All that said, as a die hard Pats fan, I'm really wary of all the "it's more probable than not" and "likely generally aware" phrases littered in Wells' report. While I'm open to the possibility -okay, probability- that the balls may not have fit the strict PSI range, I'm not convinced without a doubt that they were DEflated after being approved. If Brady wanted a certain PSI it would seem to me they'd be more likely to UNDERinflate the balls BEFORE submission, knowing the officials were likely just giving them a "feel" test rather than using any scientific method to check and record each test. You know, like using a cheapo air guage from Modell's and a notebook from Staples. Cuz that would be hard. (Speaking of hard, let us not forget the other great quarterback currently active, Aaron Rodgers, who admitted he has his guys OVERinflate the balls, because harder footballs are his preference, and apparently it's common knowledge that with some officiating crews the balls wouldn't be accurately tested. Oh, and remember the former Super Bowl QB who paid thousands of dollars to guys to adjust the balls' pressure. Obviously the NFL has a problem.) </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">At first consideration one has to give Wells credit for being willing to release a report unfavorable to the Pats but also to the NFL. If anything it brings into the forefront the point that the NFL has some serious problems with how it enforces its own rules. Public relations continues to be a nightmare for the NFL, not just because of this but because this is just another black mark against its image. It seems the NFL is incapable of corporate responsibility, of enforcing its own policies, in a fair manner, and of controlling players' behavior. That doesn't excuse those committing violations, but it does prove that in the National Football League, a conglomerate worth TENS of BILLIONS of dollars (two major under-performers of 32 franchises each sold in the past couple of years for an average of $1B - do the math), nobody has complete control of the reins.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Those of us who are Patriots fans have to question how much we are willing to accept certain behaviors before withdrawing our support. For me, at least, Deflategate isn't enough. I see it as breaking the rules but, in the parlance of basketball, I see it as a violation rather than a foul. (Bountygate would be a flagrant foul, cause for ejection.) In football terms, I can't even compare it to an unintentional vs intentional facemask penalty. In my mind it just doesn't meet that level of misconduct. I don't see it as an advantage except as a a psychological advantage to the quarterback. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Those who are what Pats fans lovingly call "haters" will ignore all the "more probable than not" qualifiers in the report and just see the incident as "more proof the Patriots are cheaters." Many will claim the Pats should be stripped of the Super Bowl Championship and that it should be awarded to the Seattle Seahawks. That would be a penultimate example of "cruel and unusual punishment not befitting the crime." There are many reasons why this would be the wrong thing to do, not the least of which is the fact ball pressure was not an issue in the Super Bowl. Also, that would unjustly reward the Seahawks, who were not affected by the incident in question. So, then, would the Super Bowl be replayed, between the Seahawks and the Indianapolis Colts, the team who lost to the Patriots? That wouldn't really be appropriate. Many Colts players were quoted acknowledging that the Patriots were the better team that day and that ball inflation was not a factor in the pounding they took. So if the game was replayed and the Colts somehow beat the Seahawks, the Colts would be unjustly rewarded because even they knew they hadn't earned a trip to the Super Bowl. It's all moot, anyway, because obviously the game cannot be replayed months later. Not only are teams not ready, they aren't even the same teams, as the make-up of players and coaches has changed with trades, retirements, etc. And the lowest level of haters, those who would force the Patriots to vacate all their titles, from division to Super Bowl championships, are just downright delusional. There are those who say the first instance of cheating can be traced to the "Tuck Rule" game, that neither Belichick nor Brady would have seen the success they've had if not for that one play. I'm almost even embarrassed to address that, but there are enough people who make that claim that it bears mentioning. And ridicule. Because it IS ridiculous. Enough on that.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Those who are neither fanatics nor haters of the Patriots and can look at this issue objectively will see that there is a problem with the Patriots system, and that cannot be denied. Their MO seems to be to constantly be pushing the boundaries to see what kind of advantages they can gain, whether it's a direct advantage over an opponent or a psychological advantage for their own players, they obviously aren't afraid to walk a tightrope, even if they sometimes fall off. They aren't afraid to get caught crossing the line, but the lines they've crossed have, really, only been minor infractions. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Every "cheating" accusation leveled at the Patriots has been the result of activity practiced by most all other teams. That doesn't excuse it. Not at all. But it points to an institutionalized problem that goes along with any high stakes venture, and the big business that professional sports has become ranks right up there with any other high stakes venture that tempts and causes corporations to "cheat," to take short-cuts, to skirt or even break laws and regulations. In elite professional sports the financial rewards for teams and individual athletes are so high that it's almost natural that they would give in, at some level, to the temptation to gain whatever advantage they could, to get an edge over a competitor, or the clock, or whatever obstacle lays between them and success. The Patriots just happen to have a target on their back. There's no question they need to take responsibility for their own actions but it's obvious they have received special attention. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Why does a billion dollar company dance around the rules? The rewards seem to be worth the risk. The level of risk seems to define one's character. Why else would an elite player like Tom Brady allegedly conspire with an equipment manager to violate the NFL's regs on ball pressure? Would such a minor change make that much difference in ball handling that it would affect the outcome of a game? Of a season full of games? Does it? It seems like a very small risk, relative to the big picture. And by small I mean not really much of a risk because it's not much of a violation. Not contrasted to the use of Performance Enhancing Drugs, like the Yankees' Alexander Rodriguez was suspended for. And certainly not on the level of violating the rules that Lance Armstrong took the use of PEDs and doping to, for which he was stripped of most of his cycling victories, including an unprecedented number of Tour de France wins. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As for the Wells Report, it almost raises more questions than it gives answers. A couple stand out. Reportedly there had been talk all season amongst other teams that the Patriots were taking air out of the footballs, and the Colts filed a specific (if unofficial) complaint making the League aware of the possibility the balls used in the Championship game would be tampered with. That information was made available to Walt Anderson, the game's referee, and he assured League management he would follow his own established procedures that included taking responsibility for the balls and overseeing their delivery to the field of play at game time, directly from the Officials' locker room, where supposedly there were kept under watch after having been tested and approved for use.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">At half-time, when 23 of the 24 game balls were re-submitted for measurement to two alternate game officials, it was determined that every one of the remaining 11 balls being used by Brady and the Patriots offense registered less than the minimum PSI, as had the intercepted ball. (That ball, which triggered the official Colts complaint that ic cRemember that those balls had all been measured before the game and, after two were adjusted by Anderson, every one met or slightly exceeded the 12.5 psi minimum. Interestingly, citing a time crunch, the officials rechecked only FOUR of the twelve Colts footballs. EVERY one of those balls, originally measured at or near (under and over) 13 psi, the middle of the allowable range, had lost pressure. Of even more interest, though, is that when the two officials rechecked the pressure on the Pats balls, the first official's measurements, without exception, were LOWER by an average of 0.4 psi. This is important for two reasons. First, it shows that the balls were under-inflated at half-time. BUT while it's likely the balls were under the 12.5 psi minimum that doesn't mean the under-inflation rate was 0.4 psi at the BEGINNING of the game. Second, it shows that the measurement varies depending either on who is checking the pressure or by the gauge being used. Oh, and the variance allowed by Rule 2 is ONLY 1 psi! Yet the DIFFERENCE between the half-time measurements is 0.4 (four/tenths) of that allowance. That means there is a 40% margin of error! That's huge! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">There's another issue raised by the official re-measurement of air pressure. Remembering that the first official's measurements were forty percent lower than the second officials when measuring all the footballs used by the Patriots offense, when checking only one-third of the balls used by the Colts the difference in measurements was THE OPPOSITE! The SECOND official's measurements were lower, again by 0.4 psi. So while the difference RATE was consistent at 40% of the allowable range, it's obvious that there is a human factor at play. In most comparisons a 40% margin of error would be considered unacceptable. This is especially important when it comes to applying specifications governing equipment used in a high-stakes competition in a business governed by rules. Yet a footnote (41) in the report states that one of the gauges used CONSISTENTLY registers a pressure "0.3-0.45 higher" than the other. Interestingly, when recording the measurements during three separate testings, before the game, at half-time, and immediately following the game, it was NOT noted which official used which gauge. This seems important because, again, the allowable range is only 1 psi yet, using those gauges, one official's measurement was destined to be off by 30-45% of the allowable margin. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Lastly, the League, through the investigators, had hired a specialized scientific testing company to examine the evidence and simulate game-day conditions to determine if the balls had been tampered with. Much emphasis was placed on the temperature and humidity levels during the game. Less attention seemed to be paid to the actual USE of the balls. This factor was briefly mentioned and ruled out as having much, if any, impact on the loss of pressure. Now, I'm not a scientist and my experience with air pressure in sports equipment is limited to recreational use. And I've never inhaled the air from a football! But it seems to me that a ball that gets more use would lose pressure faster than one that "rides the bench." In this game the Patriots' time of possession, the amount of TIME their footballs were in use, was much greater than the Colts' TOP. In fact, at 37:49 - <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://4" x-apple-data-detectors-result="4" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true">22:11</a>, in a sixty-minute game, the Patriots' <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://5" x-apple-data-detectors-result="5" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true">16:38</a> greater time of possession was half again longer than Indianapolis'. This is significant because, again, of the differences in the environment the balls were kept in, how much handling they received, how long they were exposed to the weather. When the charges were initially announced the internet community responded with a meme, an image coupled with a sarcastic caption, that showed Patriots very large tight end Rob "Gronk" Gronkowski spiking a football after executing a great play. The various captions alluded to the effect of "Gronking" on the ball's air pressure. That is, when Gronk used his might to spike the ball it would impact the ground with such force that it must have released some of the air! The Wells investigation concluded that such activity would not affect the air pressure, but I'm guessing nobody volunteered to be Gronked to actually test the theory.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The NFL needs to re-visit its own pollicies and procedures and those followed by officials. Since the League put the Patriots on notice in 2004 that their game day ball protocols were poorly executed it would seem the officials would have known to take more care in checking those balls in subsequent games. The head official during the Championship game is a 19-yr veteran and it's "more probable than not" that he would know about that incident. As well, that official, Walt Anderson, had been put on notice that there was speculation throughout the league and serious concern by the Colts that the Patriots tampered with the footballs to reduce the pressure, supposedly making the ball easier to grip. Yet Anderson, who specifically assured NFL executives, who had shared those concerns with him, that he would follow his customary procedures to ensure all balls used met League regulations, failed in those duties. This is significant because the Wells report, in describing Anderson, his experience and his work ethic, states that he "is </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">widely recognized as exceedingly meticulous, diligent and careful." Except on this day he wasn't.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Indeed, according to Anderson, the Patriots balls were checked and a couple were under-inflated. Those were re-inflated and met the required 12.5-13.5 range when marked as approved for use. However, part of Anderson's routine was to have whoever was transporting the balls from the officials' locker room to the field to wait either for permission to transport the ball bag or for an official to oversee the transport. Despite the officials having been put on notice regarding the concerns of the Colts and the League about a potential tampering issue, McNally somehow removed the bag from the locker room and brought it to the field while unsupervised and without permission. Anderson was aware of that fact, yet did not question it despite admitting later that it was the first time in his career that he remembers that happening. Of course that can't be argued as contributing to the Patriots' actions. That would be akin to a burglar caught in the act blaming a security guard who altered his schedule of rounds for letting the burglary take place. The guard would have to answer to his employer, who might then alter its procedures, but the burglar must answer for his own actions. So in this case it appears that Anderson bears responsibility for not following established procedure and his own routine even after being told by League officials that a Patriots violation of League rules was "more probable than not." In this case both the official(s) and the League failed to prevent the alleged violation from taking place. One could argue that it's not their responsibility to PREVENT violations but only to act in response. If so, the officials could, should, have checked the air pressure on the first ball put into play by the Patriots. There was obviously credible suspicion that the pressure would be altered. It seems that the officials DO bear a responsibility to assure all game balls used by the Patriots were sufficiently inflated, and should not have put the onus on the Colts to lodge a complaint. The Colts were well within their rights to complain, especially given that the ball they took possession of as a result of an interception was reportedly under-inflated. That specific ball, however, was not re-tested at half-time because it has to be considered that the Colts equipment manager had ample opportunity to deflate the ball before submitting it for inspection. As well, that ball was not going to be used in the second half as the defensive player who intercepted it was going to keep it. (One of the reasons each team submits 12 balls for their offense to use is because balls used in memorable plays are often removed from play and given to players.) None of this excuses the fact the Patriots' game balls failed the half-time pressure check. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Back to the previously mentioned warning issued to the Patriots: in 2004 there was an investigation of the Patriots oversight of game balls because one or more "practice balls" had been used during the game, having been given to the officials between downs by a one or more ball boys. McNally was in charge of the ball boys and getting the game balls to the field, as he was during the Colts game. There was no disciplinary action taken after that incident, though the Patriots were warned that a future incident could be deemed "a competitive violation." The Wells report specifically states that this reprimand and warning were NOT factors in their conclusions but mentioned in the report "for background and completeness." It seems that that means they mention it just to make it clear they were aware of it, but even so, that can be compared to a witness or attorney at trial making a statement they know is objectionable and the judge will rule it be disregarded. A classic example of not being able to "unring the bell." Despite the assertion that the use of practice balls was unintentional, and that the league did not take real action against the team, in the court of public opinion this will, of course, be used by Patriots detractors as "proof positive" the Patriots are cheaters and have been for many years. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Okay, this is a decent stopping off point. Check back for Part 2 of the investigation into The Wells Report, to be followed by a response to the punishments announced by the League, Robert Kraft's answer to that, and chatter about the reactions from others.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321049068445357705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21729756.post-7246966249859307412015-02-11T20:41:00.000-05:002015-02-11T20:41:21.922-05:00Sometimes a crime is a crime is a crime<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Craig Stephen Hicks is in jail under charges of murdering three residents of the apartment complex where he lives. The victims, </span><span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, a dental student at UNC, his 21 yr. old recent graduate wife, Yusor Mohammad, and her 19 yr. old sister, N.C. State student Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha</span><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;">, </span></span>are Americans of Syrian ancestry and followers of Islam. Immediately people hearing of the killing of the defenseless young adults decried it as the act of an anti-Muslim. Then came word that Hicks is "an atheist" who hates all religion. And that is a problem because atheists don't "hate religion." They don't believe in a god. They don't hate that others do believe in gods, nor do they deny (or wish to deny) others that right. The fact is Hicks describes himself as an anti-theist. And there-in lies the difference. And a huge difference it is. Like the difference between John Smith not caring if you are a Catholic, or a Jew, or a Muslim, and John Smith HATING that about you to the point he is anti-Catholic, anti-Semitic, or anti-Muslim and lets that color how he treats (or mistreats) you, whether he patronizes your business, whether he bullies you, or worse. So taken at face value it would seem that Hicks is likely anti-Muslim. But that doesn't appear to be what triggered his rage. According to a report in the LA Times (and multiple other sources): </div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Karen Hicks said she had been married to the suspect for seven years and denied that he had acted out of hatred.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“He believes everyone is equal,” she said at a televised news conference. “ It doesn’t matter what the person looks like.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"I can say that it is my absolute belief that this incident had nothing to do with religion or the victim’s faith, but in fact was related to long-standing parking disputes my husband had with various neighbords(sic) regardless of their race, religion or creed,” she saiid."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>Oh, that should make the victims' families feel much better. It wasn't that he was anti-Muslim (or any other faith, which though still murder at least makes it somewhat easier to understand, historically speaking) or anti-Syrian-American (again, historically speaking...), it was that they PARKED in HIS SPACE. Is that not part of a man's right to stand his ground? Is that not a legitimate defense of THREE POIINT-BLANK SHOTS TO THE HEAD KILLING THREE PEOPLE</i></span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>?</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">”He was very disgruntled, very aggressive. He would scream at people,’’ said Samantha Maness, 25, (neighbor) ... </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He made everyone feel uncomfortable and unsafe, ..."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Maness said she never heard Hicks refer to anyone’s religion or race.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“He had equal opportunity anger toward all the residents," she said.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>Well, it's good to know he believes in equality. Now let's see if he believes in the death penalty.</i></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321049068445357705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21729756.post-24803559290190622832015-01-08T13:09:00.000-05:002015-01-08T13:09:49.123-05:00Je Suis Charlie<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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There are a lot of people writing critical essays denouncing the outpouring of support for the cartoonists and staff of Paris' Charlie Hebdo magazine by citizens around the world, in the wake of yesterday's terrorist massacre in their offices. These writers are saying, essentially, that the cartoonists and editors at Charlie Hebdo were a bunch of privileged, white, male, racists who hated Islam. Some are claiming they were talentless hacks whose humor was sophomoric at best; that they hid behind free speech to promote hate and discrimination, especially towards France's fairly large (>8%) population of Muslims. I think these people are entirely missing the point of the rallies of support. The magazine's content is not the issue here: free speech is. Freedom of speech is a basic human right provided for in virtually every democratic and republican country. There are exceptions in some countries where certain speech is not allowed. Those exceptions mostly address words used to incite or create violence, physical threat, or terror. As well, certain criticisms and untruths, obscenity and child pornography are not protected as free speech. But as distasteful and offensive as some of Charlie Hebdo's work seemed to be, as risky as it was for them to publish that work under the threat of a violent response from extremist Muslims, one has to respect their willingness to exercise their basic rights of free speech and freedom of the press.</div>
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I first heard of Charlie Hebdo a few years ago when their offices were firebombed. At that time they were publishing an issue that showed Muhammad on its cover. The editors of Charlie Hebdo were fully aware of one of the basic tenets of Islam, aniconism, the prohibition of presenting an image of Muhammad. A few years earlier a Danish magazine had sparked violent protests around the world when it published a series of cartoons depicting Muhammad and criticizing fundamentalist Islam. </div>
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Today, these writers are criticizing the masses for "standing with Charlie," for supporting everything ever printed in Charlie Hebdo, no matter its creativity, accuracy or intent. I think these writers are missing the point. Which is truly unfortunate because this point is the entire raison d'être of free speech. The point is to support free speech, whether you agree with what's being said, whether you agree with the speaker's ideologies, whether you agree with their attitude, their choice of words, their tone. The point is to respect EVERY speaker's (or cartoonist, or filmmaker, or artist) right to speak freely. That is a responsibility one must accept if one is to enjoy and exercise one's own right of freedom to speak openly and honestly without the fear of penalty or suppression. That is, of course, a simplistic legal definition of free speech. The official protections afforded by the state allow a good deal of leeway in the types of speech that are protected. Yet even then there are restrictions, exceptions made to protect the lives of others. Certain forms of hate speech are prohibited. In some countries it is illegal to criticize government or religious leaders. But this is not so in most democratic countries. And this is why controversy swirled around Charlie Hebdo. It seems they were on a mission to see how far they could overstep a line in the sands of the Middle East, purposely offending Muslims, especially extreme fundamentalist Muslims, by exploiting the taboo of presenting an image of the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad, in any graphic form. By frequently including editorial caricatures of Muhammad, even using those images as the magazine's covers, they pushed and pushed at the deeply held Muslim beliefs until, in 2011, Muslim terrorists pushed back, fire-bombing the Paris offices of Charlie Hedbo. The magazine's owners and staff vowed to regroup, to not be cowered by threats of violence. One of the owner/cartoonists, <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Stéphane Charbonnier, known to most as Charb, iterated his intent to continue exercising his right to criticize extremist Islamic fundamentalists through his cartooning. "</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">i'd rather die standing than live on my knees." Such is how Charb saw not only his right but his responsibility to pursue his passion (some may describe it as obsession) for free speech and to expose terrorists even as he lived under police protection because of constant threats on his life. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> And so the irony is that Charb's death came just as Charlie Hebdo was putting together its next issue. Charb and the other editors/owners, cartoonists and staff members were massacred as they were "standing" for their rights. They refused to kowtow to the attempts of terrorists to silence them. They DIED because they believed in free speech. They WILLINGLY risked their lives by exercising that right. And so millions of us around the world have shown support and respect for their sacrifice. We are not championing the cartoons. The mere thought that that is the reason for a world-wide outpouring of support is offensive. No, what is being supported is a centuries-old tradition of men and women who so strongly believe in human rights that they are willing to put their lives on the line to protect those rights.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321049068445357705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21729756.post-69453578040533468052014-12-16T13:10:00.000-05:002015-01-08T13:17:12.180-05:00Political cartoons<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's the cartoon that triggered these thoughts. And like a lot of my stuff, it's just stream of consciousness. Some is based on my upbringing, my personal observations and interactions with others. Some of my thoughts are influenced on reading, studying, researching over many years, both self-educating and academically. I have always had an eclectic interest in reading materials so some times I'm kinda all over the place. Maybe this introductory paragraph should be part of an About Me section so that's a thought. But for right now it's here. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> So I've seen this political cartoon on a couple of people's pages. I started commenting and realized how much it made me think, how many questions it was triggering, and how freaking long my comment was getting. That's been happening a lot, lately. My posts and comments being freakishly long for Facebook. To the point where another person responded "Somebody needs a blog." And I thought, well, I HAVE one. Maybe it's time to get back to it. So, yeah. Here I am.
What I don't understand is that I don't remember specific instances of being told how to behave around the police, just that I knew how. I understand the existence of systemic and institutionalized racism. But I'm always taken aback when I hear black parents saying "THIS is what we must teach our sons!" as if we all hadn't learned the same lessons at some point. I'm not trying to be disingenuous but if a lot of people (of any race) just actually behaved that way, many problem scenarios could be avoided. Maybe then the REAL problems would be glaringly exposed and more easily addressed. Because when I look at most confrontations between citizens and police, I first see SUSPECT vs COP unless there is some specific information that says it's racism, i.e. if a cop had a history of targeting blacks, or if racial slurs were used, or if reference was made to race or obvious bias, like asking what a black guy is doing in a white neighborhood. Though, nearly every time I've been stopped by police (admittedly all traffic related) I have been questioned as to where I was coming from and headed to, and had my vehicle searched from the outside. So what I'm struggling with is why I see that as normal but blacks see it as harassment. Can it be just because the numbers of incidents are skewed relative to demographics? Or because my mindset is just do what I'm supposed to do, sign the citation and be on my way rather than approaching any interaction with fear? Is it because I'm pretty secure in the knowledge that I'll just be on my way? Because I know that is likely what the end result will be? Is that white privilege? Or is that just being treated reasonably because I've shown respect? And II've been stopped by black, white, and Hispanic cops. Usually because I've deserved it. know when I see those flashing lights in my mirror and hear that pull-it-over whup whup of the siren, my palms get sweaty, my heart races, my stomach gets queasy. But I remind myself to just stay focused and not do anything stupid. I guess my mindset is that when you want a positive outcome, you try not to rock the boat. Sometimes the boat needs a good crashing wave, which it seems like it's getting now. But I don't want to see too many people focusing on small issues, bailing the boat out with Dixie cups, when what we really need to work on is the ballast.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321049068445357705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21729756.post-45107396571668162172014-11-27T13:18:00.000-05:002014-11-27T13:38:19.463-05:00Questions about Michael Brown's history<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Sorry for such a long time since I've posted. There's been a lot going on and I've been spending most of my online time in discussions with others about the recent elections, politics in general, and current events. But I'm going to try to get back here as often as possible. One of the blogs I've been following closely is by a law enforcement officer involved in the events surrounding the protests and rioting in Ferguson, MO following the shooting death of black Michael Brown by white Officer Darren Wilson. It's a very well written blog from a great perspective. You can read it here: </div>
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<a href="http://www.dissonantwinstonsmith.wordpress.com/2014/11/27/a-community-implodes">www.dissonantwinstonsmith.wordpress.com/2014/11/27/a-community-implodes</a>/</div>
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So my latest post to him was full of questions on Michael Brown's background. He's been described repeatedly as a "gentle giant" but the gentle side of him seemed to be missing the day of his death. Both during a strong-arm robbery committed just before the interaction with Wilson and during that interaction, Brown was very aggressive, using his size to his advantage (6'5" and 290-300 lbs.) It just occurred to me that, even given all the news reports and social media I have been reading, I haven' t seen anything that goes into depth about his background. That triggers a lot of questions. So I'm asking them. Following is my post on the officer's blog.<br />
<a href="http://www.dissonantwinstonsmith.wordpress.com/2014/11/27/a-community-implodes/">www.dissonantwinstonsmith.wordpress.com/2014/11/27/a-community-implodes/</a><br />
You can find it under realBKW:</div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 29.700035095214844px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 29.700035095214844px;">"This question has naught to do with this particular post, but it’s something I’m curious about. I know it’s been reported Michael Brown and Dorian Johnson were headed to the home of Michael’s grandmother, because he was living with her. Any confirmation on that? Is that truly where they were headed and did he really live there? If he did live with her, does anybody know why? Both of his parents are alive and involved in the activities following his death, so why wasn’t their son living with one of them? Being familiar with the area, do you know if there is a difference between where their homes are located and where the grandmother lives? Is one neighborhood “better” than the others? I’m wondering if, as in some cases, Brown had had some problems with his parents and been sent to the grandmother, or if he’d been sent there to be of help to her, or if his parents “abandoned him” to his grandmother. Also, if he did live with her, any idea how long he was there? How old was he when he went to her? I suppose it’s possible he’d just moved in to be closer to the tech school he was allegedly going to begin attending “that Monday.” Has anybody confirmed that he WAS going to start school? Hopefully you or someone else can shed light on this background info. I know it’s not uncommon in cases where there’s just a single mother and she has problems with addiction or finances or child neglect and the grandparent(s) raise the child(ren.) This happens in white families but I think moreso in black families. Or maybe the grandmother just lived in a better school district. Oh, that creates the question of where the parents live. Does either, or do both, live in Ferguson? Okay, that’s it. For now! Thanks to anybody who can help satisfy my curiosity!"</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321049068445357705noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21729756.post-1416963083850800292014-09-21T15:57:00.002-05:002014-09-22T21:39:13.326-05:00NFL Bad Boy in the Making<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The New York Times' Marc Tracy reported on the actions of the youngest Heisman Trophy winner, Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston, which triggered a recent one-game suspension. Allegedly Winston stood atop a table in the student union and shouted an obscene, vulgar phrase several times. It is a phrase that is especially offensive to women. Originally the school was going to sit Winston for only half the game because, well, it was an IMPORTANT game. Later somebody with a bit of a conscience decided the suspension be changed to a full game.<br />
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As Tracy writes,"Myron Rolle, a former Florida State safety who is now a member of the Knight Commission, which works to ensure that athletics programs operate within the educational mission of their universities, said he understood that Winston was held to a higher standard than the average student but added that there should be wider awareness that life can in some ways be more difficult for prominent student-athletes.<br />
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“This pressure and movement toward proper conduct and properly comporting himself has been thrust on him immediately, quickly, vigorously and with some serious voracity,” Rolle said of Winston, a friend."<br />
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Well, of course it would be more difficult for good, even great, student athletes (using the term student loosely in many cases) to lead perfect lives, as they are constantly under scrutiny. But those factors are part and parcel of the deal they make with the school. The athlete promises to play his best and to follow the rules, ALL the rules, of the school, the team, the NCAA and society in general. In return the athlete gets an (often free) education, the opportunity to play for a successful program and a path to a potentially VERY lucrative position in pro sports. Asking the athlete to be a good person shouldn't even be required, it should just be expected. Perhaps that's a big part of the problem. As we're seeing in the NFL, not for the first time but more at the forefront than before, athletes are not always good citizens. Some aren't even good people. Apparently they were not expected to be well behaved when they were younger, as Rolle points out that, at least in Winston's case, the expectation of "proper conduct and properly comporting himself has been thrust on him immediately..." When I was in elementary school we actually got grades in both conduct and comportment. Poor, fair, satisfactory or good, your parents were made aware of how you behaved at school. Very few scored a grade of poor or fair. And even then it likely only happened during one grading period because parents would take corrective action. Parents would take RESPONSIBILITY and teach their children to do so as well. Inferring that a twenty-year old college sophomore is not capable of proper behavior is an insult to young adults everywhere. Set aside the argument that there are 18-. 19-, and 20-year old young men and women with the maturity to go to war, or even to manage shifts at the local Starbucks. Consider the fact that, as a quarterback, Winston is expected to be a team leader. He's consistently shown he is not cut out for that role. He has a history of charges including vandalism, theft, and sexual assault. This is not a good kid. He's not a choirboy. And he's not learning any lessons from these experiences. After being lambasted on social media he issued an apology. Not to those he offended in person. Not to women he offended everywhere. To his teammates. Because he had the arrogance to think winning a football game was more important than his bad behavior. He then, after his suspension was extended from the first half to the entire game, had the audacity to dress for the game and participate in pre-game warm-ups. Like he couldn't believe the school would actually keep him out of the game. Especially if they were losing. He would be at the ready to jump in and save the game, suspension be damned. Because nobody puts Jameis in the corner.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321049068445357705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21729756.post-28573398548238307782014-09-17T15:20:00.004-05:002014-09-22T21:32:25.481-05:00The NFL: Are these guys for real?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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So the NFL has announced it has hired four -count 'em. FOUR!- women to help it try and salvage what little it can of its highly self-proclaimed, self-polished, and self-promoted reputation for being in the forefront of welcoming women into the previously (mostly) male bastion of professional sports spectatorship. I know, I was snickering, too, as I wrote this. </div>
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That reputation has recently been sullied by very public stories of domestic violence involving players' interaction with women and children. Well, two players, one woman and one child. Wait, make that two children. You can't even finish writing about one incident before another pops up. Now the NFL is trying to make us believe that it is going to start getting serious -no, seriously, we MEAN IT this time. Seriously serious.- about developing conduct codes and programs, and schedules of punishments and fines, to help its players and staff members be law abiding citizens when it comes to interpersonal relationships. Never mind they already have all those resources in place. This time they're going to have WOMEN make the rules. Cuz nothing makes a wife abuser more remorseful than being told how to behave by a woman. Yeah, they'll be open to that now. Because it will be oh so different with women making the decisions. (I'm not questioning these women's abilities or qualifications AT ALL. This is more about the NFL's poorly disguised attempt to make us believe they have women's and children's best interests in mind because, you know, women are women AND they are children's moms. And it's about how players will react to having women in charge.)</div>
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Is this supposed to placate women fans? Cuz, it ain't gonna work. We can see right through it. What they're really saying is that men can't figure this shit out so we had to go get a binder full of women to get us out of this cluster fuck. It's not that these women aren't qualified, it's that the NFL is using reverse discrimination, which is as bad as regular discrimination, to right a wrong involving the abuse of women. I hope they at least CONSIDERED some male candidates. There are plenty of men out there who know how to treat women and children with respect, who are civilized in dealing with issues in relationships without resorting to violence that knocks a woman's lights out with one punch or sends a four year old boy to the doctor with "lacerations" all over his thighs, and welts and bruises to his legs and hand because "that's how I was raised and look how well I turned out!" There is none so blind as s/he who will not see. </div>
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In a couple of weeks the NFL will break out their pink accessories to show support for women with breast cancer. How about they drop that charade, which probably makes more money for the NFL through licensing and sales of pink jerseys and thongs (yes, America's professional football league sells thong underwear, and they name them! Bliss, Insider, Sublime! For the more prudish you can get panties with the same names and designs) than it generates for cancer research. What they SHOULD do is declare "Stop Violence Against Women and Children" month with players wearing purple accents and shoes, and instead of selling thong underwear they should hand out educational literature from the Coaching Boys Into Men program (http://www.coachescorner.org) to every adult attending games that month. Do PSAs. Sell alternate jerseys and other gear in purple instead of pink and donate the proceeds to domestic violence programs and shelters. Breast cancer awareness gets enough attention without the "help" of the National Football League. The NFL needs to start getting real about a different kind of cancer that seems to have metastasized throughout the league, and that is the cancer of violent behavior exhibited by athletes. The current focus is on domestic violence but it's not the only violence some NFL players have been accused of. But that discussion is for another time. And this cancer starts in the lower leagues where it goes untreated because athletes are heroes and we can't punish them because if they have to sit out a game or we kick them off the team we might lose. And they're just boys. They'll grow out of it. Only they don't grow "out of it," the just grow. They grow bigger. They grow stronger. They grow bolder. They grow more entitled. They grow more violent.<br />
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By partnering with the Coaching Boys Into Men program the NFL can show it is serious about educating players. They can start earlier in players' lives. Just like the PP&K programs, the Play 60 and Take A (hopefully non-violent) Player To School programs, the NFL can start educating child players about domestic violence. They can reach kids who are possibly being abused, who statistically will grow to be adult abusers. They can help children who may be witnesses of abuse at home or on the streets. They can show them where and how to get the help they need, especially if they are victims. And they can teach them not to victimize others.</div>
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As they get older, players need to learn to leave the physical confrontations on the field where they're part of the game, and don't bring that shit into their home lives. The NFL needs to get serious about ADEQUATELY punishing players who are convicted of violence against others. These players taint the reputation of the league, they cause distractions (and people thought a gay player would be a distraction?) and they foment anger and dissension among fans of a team dealing with a player suspected, accused, or convicted of violence against women or children, or in any other situation. Oh, BTW, does anybody else find it ironic that purple is the color used by anti-violence organizations in their ribbon and other promotional/educational campaigns, and the two players currently embroiled in this NFL/domestic violence debacle both play for teams whose main uniform color is PURPLE? What the WHAT?<br />
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The NFL holds seminars and teach-ins to help rookies adjust to life as a professional athlete. They learn about league and team codes of conduct, financing and wealth management issues, adapting to sudden fame and avoidance of hangers-on and money grabbers. According to one report, "The players won't be allowed to leave the premises without permission. They cannot have guests or drink alcohol. In addition, cellphones and pagers, as well as do-rags, bandannas and sunglasses are banned from the proceedings. The League is working hard to breed the thug life out of any rookie so inclined. From 8 a.m. until 10 p.m., the players must sit through lectures about the pitfalls that await the unwary: paternity suits and domestic-abuse charges, bar fights and drug stings, crooked financial advisers and greedy hangers-on." ( http://www.milehighreport.com/2010/6/27/1537666/the-rookie-symposium-the-nfls ) The wording of this suggests the players be aware of and prepared for FALSE "domestic abuse charges" when, in fact, they should be learning about how to deal with all these new situations without COMMITTING domestic violence.</div>
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The NFL should focus more on things like anger management, mental health, dealing with the pressures of living an abnormal life schedule while trying to be a family man. These should be ongoing seminars and attendance should be required of all players, not just rookies. </div>
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In fact, all professional sports leagues would benefit from instituting these kinds of programs. Too many professional athletes have difficulties trying to live their lives well while dealing with the pressures and distractions that come the job and with new found riches and fame. The leagues use these players as tools of the trade, to be bought and sold to other teams or simply discarded when their production falters. They encourage them to be monsters in the arena. But the leagues need to become more socially responsible. They need to realize their obligations to their players don't end at the out of bounds markers or at the sound of the game-ending horn. They need to be aware of how players are coping with being part of the league and how that affects their behavior. They need to teach players to be good people off the field. Most players already know and live these truths. But enough don't that it's a problem. It's not necessarily a growing problem because there have always been bad boys in every league. Some players are even hired because they ARE bad boys, they have mean streaks and the attitude and size to punish people on the field. The problem is when that extends off the field. These incidents are now being brought into the open and society is demanding these off-field incidents be dealt with more harshly than in the past, that they be dealt with in a more serious we-will-not-tolerate-this manner rather than the old boys-will-be-boys attitude with its brief time outs where a player misses a start but jumps in on the next play, or maybe misses a full period of play and gets hit with a token fine that is not much more than his per-diem check.</div>
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On the surface, at least, the NFL does seem to now be getting it that they need to make some changes. Hiring all women to oversee these changes may turn out to be more than a publicity ploy or a bread-and-circus approach meant to appease detractors pointing out the NFL's willingness to take money from female fans while not taking seriously the safety of its own players' wives and girlfriends and children. They could help us believe in their recognition and acceptance of the gravity of the situation if they also hired a new commissioner and cleaned house of the men who still insist they had no idea how Janay Palmer was able to walk into an elevator unassisted but seconds later was dragged unceremoniously out of that same elevator car because she somehow became unconscious while in the company of her fiancé. They had no idea, until after seeing a security video showing how it only took one punch, in one second, to put her lights out, that any violent act had been perpetrated by Ray Rice. No idea. Not a clue. Pics or it didn't happen, as the kids say. Those guys are either incredibly stupid and delusional or they're arrogant and deceitful. They're either ignorant or they're outright liars. Whatever the case may be, they need to be gone. Every last one of them who had any part in reviewing this incident and deciding how it would be handled. Right up to the commissioner, who needs to do the right and honorable thing. Step aside and let a REAL man have that job. Even if that "man" is a woman, if that's what it takes, and she's qualified. </div>
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The NFL is not the only sports league dealing with these issues. It just happens to be football season, and they "just happen" to have a couple of players currently under investigation in highly publicized cases as alleged perpetrators of domestic violence against women and children. Every year NFL players are arrested on charges involving violent behavior, or drunk driving, possession and use of illegal drugs. As a group, players are their own microcosm of society, so it's understandable that there will be a segment of their society that behaves thusly. Just as there is a segment in our greater society guilty of the same behaviors. It's just that the society these players belong to has the wherewithal to control those behaviors, to cleanse their society of illegal activity, to employ citizens who represent the wholesome image the heads of that society want to project. And most players DO. The MAJORITY of the players and coaches and owners of the NFL, and of all the other leagues, DO represent that image, both on and off the playing fields, in public and in private. The very reason these incidents make the headlines is BECAUSE they are NOT the norm. People don't need to read that Peyton Manning drove home safely from practice and later that evening played tickle monster with his little kids before dressing their unscathed, innocent toddler bodies in Disney Princess and Pixar Cars pajamas, reading them bedtime stories and planting wet kisses on their foreheads as he tucked them into bed. We EXPECT him to do that. It's what most of us do. That is normal behavior. TMZ is not going to show teasers about that. There will be no film at 11 of Peyton Manning's private life. </div>
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Let's hope we can get to a point where the only highlights shown of professional athletes are of spectacular plays they've made on the field. Maybe four new NFL hires, all women, can get us here. Maybe the NFL is truly taking these problems seriously and hired capable women who have the ability to develop and oversee programs that help not only the NFL's image but help the players who need it the most. Maybe it's not a ploy, a publicity stunt, lipstick on a pig. I have a feeling these women are not the type to be complicit in that kind of self-serving activity. I think they mean to really turn things around. I think they know it's going to take more than some Campbell's Chunky Soup to get this train wreck fixed and back on track.</div>
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Disclaimer: I am a life long, die hard fan of the New England Patriots, back before the dynasty days of the 2000s, back to the colonial Pat the Patriot days of the Boston Patriots, before the young-Elvis New England Patriot was adopted. </div>
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I know people may think me a hypocrite for now criticizing the NFL for allowing players suspected or guilty of violence off the field to continue to play ON the field. I now know the Patriots had a player who has a reputation for violence. I know that player now sits in a solitary cell awaiting separate trials for three murders. I know I unwittingly cheered that player enthusiastically because he excelled on the field. He was exciting. He played hard, he hit hard. But too I know I was clueless about his past run-ins with the law, the fights in bars and locker rooms, the threats of violence. Most of us were. Because that stuff is usually kept private and dealt with quietly. Especially with a team like the Patriots that controls access to players, controls what players are allowed to talk about publicly. It's a team in a league that likes to take care of matters in house. Except when it can't. And lately the league can't. So as a former Aaron Hernandez fan I am as guilty as anyone for supporting a player capable of unimaginable violent acts towards others. The key word in that sentence is FORMER. I learned of Hernandez's alleged acts and immediately decided he was no longer one of my favorite players. I hoped the Patriots would release him so I wouldn't be put in a position to want him to be a successful player who would help my team while knowing what a jerk he is. I am on the side of "let's get these guys off the field and get them help." I argue with people who say it's not our business. That what a player does off the field should not affect his right to play. I say playing pro sports is not a right and that a team or league can decide not to employ someone who creates bad publicity and tarnishes the team/league's public image. But I also think players should be given the opportunity to redeem themselves and earn their way back onto a team, into a league DEPENDING on what their bad behavior was. A player who grew up in an abusive home and is continuing that cycle of abuse can be helped. He can learn to break that cycle. A player with a substance abuse problem can be helped. A player with anger management issues can be helped. These are the kinds of players who can earn second chances and work to regain the trust of their owners, coaches, teammates, and fans. They can earn back their spot on a team. But there are players who should only ever again be allowed in a stadium if they have a game ticket. Whether convicted of a crime in criminal court or just in the court of public opinion, some players just do not belong. The only uniform an Aaron Hernandez-like player should wear is a prison uniform, the numbers printed in small type identifying him as a prisoner, the name on the uniform identifying the prison that now owns him. His newest contract would be a judicial decree that specifies how many years the corrections department gets him. There is no signing bonus. There is not a number followed by six zeroes guaranteeing fat pay checks. He might be released after doing his time while still young and healthy enough to play again, but he should not be allowed to do so. Some acts are unforgivable. Some men do not deserve the chance to bask in the glory of a sports victory; some men have given up that right. They cannot be allowed to enjoy "The Thrill of Victory" after causing someone else "The Agony of Defeat."</div>
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http://www.nflrush.com/play60/kidsprograms/<br />
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http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/9/15/nfl-hires-women-advisedomesticviolencepolicy.html</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321049068445357705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21729756.post-8102333689118681462014-09-05T17:00:00.000-05:002014-09-05T17:00:32.787-05:00Good-bye, Derek Jeter. Red Sox Nation will miss youEvery once in awhile the sports world is blessed by the presence of a true sportsman. A true role model. Sometimes these players are champions. Sometimes they are journeyman who toil away at their sport, day in and day out, game after game after game. Derek Jeter, SS, number 2 in your New York Yankees' scorecard, is such a player. He's heading into the last couple of weeks of the season. He's heading into the last weeks of his career. Watching him over the years has been quite a treat, even for those of us who are not exactly Yankees fans. No, he hasn't been great. But yes, he's been that special.<br />
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He isn't the best player to ever play the game. He's not even the best player to ever play as a Yankee. But what he is, WHO he is, is one of the best MEN to play the game. With a guy like Jeter it's not just what he does on the field or in the batter's box that makes him a joy to watch. That's athletic ability: raw talent and hard work. Jeter's career relied on both. Many do. What put him over the top, though, what makes him the Yankee whom Yankees haters everywhere love, is "The Complete Package." It's that special ingredient a guy like Jeter brings to the mix; that secret ingredient that makes the biscuits rise a little fluffier, keeps the steak juicy, the fruit salad sweet. It's whatever it is that makes a game time hot dog taste like actual food!<br />
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Derek Jeter is the anti-A-Rod. He is what we fans, true fans, of sport like to call a Class Player. He's the kind of player who quietly gives everything he has to the game, and when the game is over he digs down deep and finds something more to give to the community. There can't be a baseball fan in America who doesn't know who Derek Jeter is. There may be a couple who don't particularly like him. MAY be. Those are usually pseudo-fans who take it personally when a player like Jeter quietly destroys their favorite team's playoff hopes. They are the pseudo-fans who don't care about the game, whose only concern is that night's box score. They don't care about career numbers. They don't care that the guy who loses a bit of speed, a couple of inches of field coverage, makes up for it with courage and grit and experience. They don't care about a player with heart. A player who maybe contributes more to his team in the locker room, on the practice field, in the dugout day in and day out. No, they care only about stats. True fans care about stats, too. But we also care about heart. We respect the player who quietly shows up at the park and BOOM! Let's his play do the talking. We go to watch those players, we cheer for them, we feel for them, whether they play for our team or our rivals. *Disclaimer: I am a lifelong, die-hard, Red Sox Nation card carrying member of the other side in one of the most heated rivalries in sport. Yes, I like Derek Jeter as a player. I love what he has brought to the game. I respect him as a man. BUT I AM A RED SOX FAN. I HATE THE YANKEES! But I am also a true fan of sports, and I appreciate players more than teams. I won't change team affiliations when a player is traded. But I'll still follow that player and cheer for him, even if he plays against "my" team. I think that's why I like and respect Derek Jeter so much. If the opposing team makes a great play, I will stand and cheer because their play is just as important to the outcome of the game, and I am there to see a good game. I don't live or die by wins and losses. And that's what I see in No. 2. He comes to play his best, to give the fans his best performance. And he appreciates it when opposing players do the same. On any given day they may play better but still,a Derek Jeter does his best.<br />
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Yes, Derek Jeter is this era's face of the Yankees, and ladies, he ain't been hard to look at! He's greatly respected by coaches, teammates, opponents, and fans sitting behind both dugouts. He's greatly respected by sports writers and play-by-play announcers. He's greatly respected by The Game. Because he's shown, through the years, how a real player respects The Game.<br />
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Thank you, Derek Jeter. Thank you for sharing your talent, your drive, your heart with us. May you enjoy the rest of your life in peace.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321049068445357705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21729756.post-54800334397179991402013-11-08T12:02:00.001-05:002013-11-08T12:02:33.804-05:00Everybody Have Fun Tonight! Everybody Wang Chun Tonight!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.09375); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(191, 107, 82, 0.496094); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;"> Does anybody know a good party planner? A really good one who's willing to work online. I'd look for a local party-planner but I need to plan a pity party, and a local Cleveland-area party-planner would probably allow their own yeah-I-live-in-Cleveland self-pity influence his or her choices for MY party. See, that's the thing about a pity party. You don't wanna be bothered trying to dredge up pity or empathy for SOMEBODY ELSE! This is MY pity party. The focus needs to be on me. All of the focus. Only on me. Besides, if you started telling some bullshit story, real or imagined, to try and elicit sympathy from me or to draw attention away from my plight and onto yours, I GUARANTEE I can top whatever story you come up with. Complete with x-rays to back it up. Don't even try. You'll be pitied... For all the wrong reasons.<div>
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The party planner will have to have some decent connections to make this party a success. For instance, sourcing the Coke. It has to be really good shit. None of that Coke cut with powders like aspartame. In fact, for a really good buzz you gotta get the Coke from the Mexican Coke dealers. It's not that hard to get it into the country. It has a reputation for being some of the best Coke out there. It's the real deal, made with real sugar. No high fructose corn syrup. Not in the good Coke. And none of that "gold" Coke, either; that stuff with no caffeine in it is pointless. Especially the Diet Caffeine Free Coke. WTF is that, anyway? No caffeine, no sugar? Where is the love, baby?</div>
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If you can't find good Mexican Coke, try and score some Throwback Pepsi which also has real sugar. But it's bottled in America and just not quite as good as the Mexican shit.</div>
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For food, there MUST be chocolate. And cupcakes. In fact, you really can't go wrong with chocolate cupcakes. Balanced by something salty, like Ruffles potato chips with California French Onion Dip. Yeah, that crap you make with a packet of Lipton onion soup mix and a pint of full-fat sour cream. You might be able to get by with a good low-fat sour cream. But try sneaking some of that dip made with yogurt past me and you'll be planning your own pity party. The same goes for baked potato chips. Those are not potato chips, they are potato snacks made from potato powder. Why do you think they're all the same shape and size and come in a can? Yeah, you probably think McNuggets are real parts of a chicken, with real chicken meat. Maybe you SHOULD be pitied. But not at my party. Seriously, don't try and pull that shit on me.</div>
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Following are the information essentials a good party planner will find a way to share with the guests:</div>
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Dress code - definitely needs to be casual. Not casual like Casual Friday and you work at the freakin' White House so wingtips but no tie. Casual like t-shirts with rock stars or profound sayings on them or, even better, t-shirts with profound witticisms spoken by rock stars. From a tour at least five years ago or before the lead guitarist OD'd, whichever came first. No long pants. Just shorts. Casual like gym or hiking shorts, not the Bermuda shorts with the knife-sharp crease down the legs your mom irons for you. Docker shorts are fine IF they are appropriately faded and washed out, bonus if they are frayed. No cut-off jeans. It is, after all, a respectable party for grown-ups. Women can wear a tee without profound sayings but they must not have animals on them. Exception, an alligator over the left breast is acceptable. As is a bear in the case of an authentic Boston Bruins tee. But not cutesy cat shit, or dogs in stupid outfits. Those animals would be pitied more than me and they should have their own damn party.</div>
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Footwear- the preferred footwear is sneakers with or without white socks. White ankle socks. No peds with cute little balls hanging off he back. That goes for the ladies, too. No tube socks leftover from the Jimmy Carter era. Jimmy Carter is a wonderful man who doesn't get the credit or respect he deserves for his presidency but who never should have worn tube socks. Neither should you. And no colored socks. I'm not racist. I just don't think there's a place at my party for colored socks. Colored socks are for geeks, nerds, and people who wear long pants to the beach while trolling for lost costume jewelry and Spanish doubloons with a metal detector. You can wear boat shoes or flip flops but then the socks are definitely out. Again, no drawing pity attention to yourself and away from the pitiful guest of honor. That would be me. But if you do the flip flops, make sure those nails are trimmed and free of fungi. Otherwise pretend you're Gisele Bundchen or Tom Brady and cover those bad boys up with UGG boots. </div>
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Any half-decent party planner knows how critical music is. For a good pity party there needs to be a mix of upbeat surfing ditties and not-quite-country "somebody stole my pick-up with my dog and my best friend passed out in the back" ballads. Music from the 60's to the 90's. The NINETEEN 60's. None of that classical waltz stuff from the 1860's. This is a pity party, not some bitchy princess' debutante ball. The only waltzing acceptable at this party would be by Matilda dancing with Crocodile Dundee. Or Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. I don't care, as long as there's a dancing Kangaroo.</div>
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Gifts: that "The best present is your presence" request for no gifts is bullshit. Anybody who tries to pull that lame ass stunt will immediately go on the party planner's email list to be bombarded with offers from the party planner to help you plan your own pity party. That's how sad it is for you to try and get away without springing for a gift. This is a pity party and nothing lifts the spirits of the pitied better than free crap. The more expensive, the higher the lift! Yes, there is a definite correlation between how cool and expensive your gift is and how happy you will make me for that fleeting moment between the time I open the gift and the instant reality bites and I realize how much my life sucks that I need material things to make me happy. Lots of material things. Or chocolate. </div>
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So keep your eye out for your own special e-vite. The first one will be a save-the-date request. The second will be an announcement of the time and place. The third, fourth, and fifth emails will be reminders to go online and order that honking big and/or expensive gift that will make you so happy because we all know it is better to give than receive. And if it needs batteries or a charger, don't be a tight-wad and pretend you didn't know. And don't go in on a gift, letting a buddy give the battery/charger. No. That is ONE complete gift, from one person. Unless you are a couple; it's okay for couples to give a gift together. A bigger, more expensive gift.</div>
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</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321049068445357705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21729756.post-2683265956231815922013-10-08T12:23:00.002-05:002014-09-22T21:42:54.315-05:00Just When You Thought It was Safe to Turn the Lights Out<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0898438); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(191, 107, 82, 0.496094); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0898438); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(191, 107, 82, 0.496094); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the weird dream I had last night. It was so weird I remembered it all when I woke up. Hours later I can still "see" this very clearly. If you can figure out what it means, please post a comment!</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0898438); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(191, 107, 82, 0.496094); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0898438); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(191, 107, 82, 0.496094); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I flew out to LA and rented a car. I drove to Anderson Cooper's to spend the night. I parked my green Toyota rental car on the street and went in to Anderson's. He was wearing a ridiculous brown wig. I met his girlfriend. I thought she looked familiar. She was chef Robert Irvine's wife, an Asian-American female wrestler. At some point I realized my rental car had been stolen. Anderson and what's-her-name had a wonderful Christmas Eve w/friends while I spent the night trying to figure out what to do about the car. Then right before bed Anderson told me they were leaving on <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://0" x-apple-data-detectors-result="0" x-apple-data-detectors="true">a 6am</a> flight to visit his mother in New York. It was already about <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://1" x-apple-data-detectors-result="1" x-apple-data-detectors="true">3am</a>. I was still on the phone, trying to get through to the car rental agency, trying to get cops to take a stolen car report, and trying to figure out how to get to the airport to fly home the next day. Anderson and "the girlfriend" left for the airport and stuck me with taking care of the cat and dog. I looked all over for a leash to take the dog out but couldn't find one. So I locked the dog upstairs with the cat. After not being able to get "through" to either the rental agency or the cops, I finally got a ride to the airport...and woke up.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0898438); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(191, 107, 82, 0.496094); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0898438); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(191, 107, 82, 0.496094); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So with this dream still vivid in my mind, I have all kinds of questions:</span></span></div>
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How did I get to be such good friends with Anderson Cooper? (Or do I call him Andy?) Why does he live in LA? In a crappy neighborhood? And why is the gay Anderson Cooper living with Robert Irvine's wife? Why didn't they or any of their friends offer to help me? Why did he make me sleep on the couch? How could they stay up until <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://2" x-apple-data-detectors-result="2" x-apple-data-detectors="true">3am</a>, then go to bed, and STILL get to LAX and make <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://3" x-apple-data-detectors-result="3" x-apple-data-detectors="true">a 6am</a> flight? </div>
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Some of this I can explain away. Anderson Cooper? Well, he IS cute, and who wouldn't want to be friends with him? Robert Irvine's wife? Uh, I got nothin'! I have no explanation for any of that. Is she still married to Irvine? If so, why was she living with Anderson? The stolen car? Yeah, I have had a couple of break-in/stolen car incidents, and one did happen around Christmas, but on Christmas NIGHT, not Eve, and in Atlanta, not LA. Not being able to speak to a real person at a car rental agency <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://4" x-apple-data-detectors-result="4" x-apple-data-detectors="true">at 3am</a> on Christmas morning just kinda makes sense, no explanation necessary. Anderson and his girlfriend making their flight? Simple. Hollywood magic. Not being able to let the dog out to pee? Well, right before going to sleep I'd texted Nick and asked him to let Rowdy out after he got home and before he went to bed. And the ridiculous brownish wig Anderson was wearing? I saw Andy Richter wearing it during a commercial for the Conan O'Brien show that aired during the Sox game. Come to think of it, I'll bet the Red Sox loss was the cause of this whole thing. But I'll still watch the next game!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321049068445357705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21729756.post-12882020406675025932013-10-06T12:56:00.001-05:002014-09-22T21:44:26.095-05:00Technology Circles<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">So, in the beginning, cavemen and cavewomen used to draw on walls. We call that prehistoric art. When young men and women draw on walls today, no matter how artistic or profound the message, we call it graffiti and vandalism and have it removed or painted over, and if caught, the artist is arrested. But in reality graffiti is a valid form of communication, just as cavemen's drawings were their way of communicating with each other, and of leaving their stories for the future.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">In later years families would gather around the large living room radio, listening to important news broadcasts, storytellers, or music and sometimes shows. Some of the shows were one time performances, some were early game shows in the form of quiz shows. Some were broadcast in parts with stories spread over several shows, like episodic television we now call sitcoms or dramas. Back then they were serialized stories.</span></span></span></div>
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For years, people would carry verbal or written messages from one person to another. Or they would send brief messages by carrier pigeons (precursor to air mail?) and then by telegraph. And when people would send their messages on telegrams they would necessarily be brief, using abbreviations and omitting extraneous words to save money. Brevity was cheap. One had to go to a telegraph office to send and pay for the message, which would be translated into Morse code to be sent over copper lines. The telegraph operator in another town would receive and decode the message, and a paper copy of it would be delivered to the recipient. Nowadays people encode, send, open, decode and read the messages on their own. We call it texting. Brevity is still the way to go.</div>
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People used to call on the phone when it was a party line. You would call a friend and, without you being aware, Ethel across the street could just pick up her headset and listen in. Many people like Ethel would then share whatever they heard with their friends. Important information was printed up in newspapers or announced on the radio. Now we write whatever is happening, or how we are feeling, what we're doing, what our thoughts are on any subject, by sharing on our and others' virtual walls in Facebook. </div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">People used to take precious photos of family and friends and others on special occasions. They would send away their film and wait days and sometimes weeks for their black and white film to be developed and printed. The photos, for the most part, were carefully planned because of the costs of developing and printing the images. Even the 'candid' shots were considered carefully by the photographer. Sometimes the photos would be tinted or have color applied by hand. Then came the invention of colored film. Those photos were precious and put in albums ( books of special paper) to be cherished and handed down from generation to generation. Often there was writing on the front or sometimes the back, naming the event and the people in the photos. Now we use camera/phones and take as many photos as we want of every damn thing we see, because it doesn't cost anything. And when we label the event or people, we call it 'tagging.' We use Instagram to add color and special effects to the images. We put our photos in digital albums and rarely look at them. We share a few, compared to how many shots we have taken, but most stay stored away on hard drives or memory sticks, never to be seen again, like the albums in the attic. And those we do share, we share by sending digital copies and there is no cost, no extra prints to be ordered or time to wait. We can send that photo of the whale we saw off Martha's Vineyard to a friend on a whale watch off the California coast, and they can send back THEIR whale pix in a matter of seconds. Then we can either call or, more likely, text to converse about who is seeing more whales and getting better pictures.<br />
<br />It used to be some families were fortunate and one member of an extended family would have a moving picture camera. He would be the designated family occasion documentarian, first shooting without sound and later editing the film by splicing it, and adding sound. This was extremely tedious work and a thankless job for the cameraman, whom we never saw in the films because nobody else knew how to operate the camera. Then there was a time when the wealthy or hobbyists could afford video cameras, and pretty much anybody could 'film' the most mundane events, because videotape was relatively cheap and the cameras were easy to use. If we didn't care for the images or the event was boring, we just deleted or taped over those parts. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">But we were still a little picky about taking videos everywhere because the cameras were bulky and the cameraman had to look through an eyepiece and so generally was not in the shot and missed out on activities. Unless he put the camera on a table or tripod, where it would promptly be bumped and there would be hours of footage of a wall or people's feet, or aunt Matilda dozing in a chair with a cat on her lap, which was cute for a few seconds but not forty-three minutes. But no matter, we can delete and fast forward through that part, or tape over it. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Noteworthy; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Now nearly everybody considers themselves photographers and videographers, story tellers and record keepers, because nearly everybody has a phone with apps that allow them to take photos and videos, and to send messages without ever speaking a word to anybody. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Noteworthy; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">We can download apps (applications) that will help us edit that pre-school recital video into a full-scale Broadway musical.</span></span></span> We write on virtual walls on Facebook, adding photos or drawings made with apps. We carry on entire conversations via texting or even send briefer messages via Twitter, using weird abbreviations and omitting words to reduce a message to 140 characters or less.<br />
<br />
The phones not only connect us to each other, they can connect us to our homes, controlling practically any controllable device including lights, the stove, the television, the music system. There are apps that can open your garage door and run diagnostic analysis on your car. There are apps that will start your car on a cold day. There are personal apps that will checkout your symptoms and tell you if you have a simple, brief illness or if you should hurry yourself to an ER. Or call an ambulance. And when many people use their phones in public, especial those using hands-free devices like Blue Tooth headsets, it brings us back to the old party line, where the rest of us can (have to?) listen to one or both sides in a conversation. It seems the old adage is true. The more things change, the more they stay the same!</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.09375); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(191, 107, 82, 0.496094); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Noteworthy; font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 24px;"><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321049068445357705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21729756.post-21054604063225189252013-10-06T09:57:00.002-05:002013-10-06T09:57:56.868-05:00An Open Letter to the U.S. Congress<div>
A CNN headline today reads "Cruz: GOP will win"</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I wish you politicians would stop treating governing
a country as a freaking game! It's NOT! Not to us Americans, anyway. Not to the people you have SWORN to represent to the best of your ability. Your "game" is toying with the jobs and
livelihoods of nearly a million government workers alone, nevermind all
the people who work for businesses that support the government:
suppliers of equipment, parts, materials, even office products; local
businesses, stores, restaurants, coffee shops, lunch places normally
patronized by govt. workers or the workers from ancillary businesses.
Even local mass transit systems are suffering. Millions of people are being hurt, financially and emotionally, by your
pettiness. </div>
<div>
<span><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span>If you can't find it in your
hearts, assuming you have them, to do your jobs for the people you
represent, do it to protect the reputation of this great country. We are
losing all kinds of respect from members of the international
community. And not just respect, but faith. And money/business. This
loss of business is creating a domino effect in some other countries as
foreign suppliers of goods and raw materials to the U.S. government see
their companies suffering losses, forcing them to layoff or fire their
own employees. </span></div>
<div>
<span><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span>Yes, in case you haven't
forgotten, we are part of a GLOBAL economy. We are, or at least we have
been, a large part of that economy. And we are still, for now, anyways,
the most powerful country in the world. We are the world leader in the
eyes of many. But you politicians are chipping away at our power, our
standing, our very reputation all in the name of gamesmanship.</span></div>
<div>
<span><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span>It is about time for you to put
aside your petty differences, to stop trying to fool us, your
constituents, into thinking that somehow the government shutdown has
been caused by the implementation of the ACA. We are not as stupid as
you seem to think we are. We KNOW the budget and debt ceiling and a
Continual Resolution are all tied to your inability to pass a budget and
to agree on funding the government. The ACA, "Obamacare," is a program
that is already taking effect. IT IS LAW. It has been upheld by the
Supreme Court. It is NOT a bargaining chip to be used by politicians. The budget is not, in any way, tied to the ACA. This is pork-barrel politics at its worst.
The time for you to express opposition to "Obamacare" has passed. If
you feel the need to make changes to the program, there are procedures
in place to do so. Holding the government hostage is not one of them. It
is not a reasonable or valid means to solving any situation. It is
merely a childish, expensive, and dangerous ploy. </span></div>
<div>
<span><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span>Congress MUST stop holding our
government, nay our COUNTRY!, and us, the people, hostage to their petty
political games. Congress MUST recognize the need to keep our
government processes running smoothly, without disruption. Congress MUST
recognize, accept, and act on its duty to work together to find an
agreeable and equitable solution to the budget crisis, to compromise
where need be, to set aside partisanship and instead embrace their
(YOUR!) duty to represent ALL Americans and to enact legislation that
keeps our government functioning. </span></div>
<div>
<span><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span>Congress needs to act, and ACT
NOW to return our government to a fully functioning entity. Congress
needs to ACT NOW to restore our faith that our governing bodies have our
and our country's best interests in mind. Congress needs to ACT NOW to
get our government employees back to work, to get our government
programs fully up and running properly again. Congress must ACT NOW to help
America's businesses, some large, many small, who have been hurt by a
loss of business due to the government shutdown. </span></div>
<div>
<span><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span>Congress must ACT NOW to do the
job they were elected to do. Congress must ACT NOW to keep America at the forefront in world leadership, and to restore
faith in the U.S. from the international community, faith that we will not self-destruct and
in so doing cause the collapse of the world economy, resulting in
unrest, civil disobedience, violent uprisings and complete and utter
chaos at home and abroad. That sounds like an exaggeration, but that IS
where we are headed if Congress continues to play its games unchecked.
It is fast becoming a dangerous game with serious, deadly consequences.
Especially in these days of unprecedented use of social media to quickly
gather groups intent on making their wishes known in supporting a
cause, and the equal ability of opposition groups to form as quickly in
the same place at the same time. Eventually there will be violent
clashes between these groups and law enforcement will be brought in to
try and regain control. This is how rioting starts. And it will spread
to other communities, metropolitan, suburban, even rural. And seeing
such violent unrest in our country will cause concern and, in reaction,
unrest in other countries. Again, yes, it will be dangerous, and yes it will be
deadly. In the US and elsewhere it may even lead to martial law. But
inside the hallowed halls of our Capitol Building, our Representatives and
Senators will watch the violent destruction on television screens, under
the protective eyes of the few security officers still working during
the government shutdown. And they will continue to roll the dice and
play their games, refusing to call to an end this ridiculous charade of
running a government when what they are doing is throwing sand at others
in the sandbox, bullying each other, and destroying people's lives in
the process.</span></div>
<div>
<span><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span>It all comes down to this- to paraphrase a recently popularized satire of a children's bedtime storybook: "Go the FUCK to Work!"</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321049068445357705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21729756.post-18578453416861559472013-09-17T21:29:00.001-05:002013-10-06T12:33:01.523-05:00Why They Call It Practicing Medicine Instead of Doing Medicine<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0898438); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(191, 107, 82, 0.496094); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sometimes the internet is a scary place to be. I got the radiologist's report on the x-rays and ultrasounds I had done last week. At first I thought "AWESOME! My knee is taking me on vacation to Mexico!" Cuz, you know, what else do you think of when you see the word 'baja?' Mexico, right? Sun, surf, tequila! But not when it's preceded by the word patella. Who knew baja was a medical term? And a not so good one at that. And that's where the internet comes in. You know how as soon as you start getting some weird symptom and you go on the internet to self-diagnose? Yes, you do. You KNOW you do it! And whatever you think you have, the cure is ALWAYS worse than the 'disease.' Well, I haven't been to see the specialist yet. I see him on Thursday. The one who specializes in "complex knee reconstruction." But if everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, I've seen on the internet is true, then I can only believe that what the 'regular' orthopedic surgeon told me the other day is true. More surgery. That's the bad news. The good news is, Finally, an answer to the excruciating pain I've been having!</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span">
</span></span></span></span>
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span">My previous surgeon kept telling me to "give it time. It could take a year or more for it to heal." A year later, "just give it some more time and keep working at it." Yeah, easy for HIM to say.</span></span></span></span><br />
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span">
</span></span></span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span">
</span></span></span></span>
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"> Nearly two years now, and it's been getting worse, not better. To the point even I can't take it any more. And I think I've proven over the years that I can take boatloads of pain. So I finally went to see a different surgeon. My old surgeon and the physical therapists kept telling me my quadriceps had healed and was working fine. "It's 'firing' when you flex it, so it's healed." I just needed to rehab more. (The surgeon had needed to cut through the quad to replace the knee joint [for the third time, after two infections].) All I knew was that I'd been working on it every day and still it hurt like hell. Even worse, sometimes. And I figured I had given it enough time to heal, and rehab was NOT getting me anywhere. No matter how hard I tried, I could not straighten my leg. I had NO extension ability. You know that exercise where you're sitting with your legs bent and you lift them up straight? Yeah, I can't do that with my left leg. According to the doctor who did the surgeries, it should have been happening. After each visit I'd leave even more dejected and depressed. And frustrated. Actually, frustrated doesn't even begin to cover it. Plus, sometimes I could barely walk.</span></span></span></span><br />
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span">
</span></span></span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span">
</span></span></span></span>
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span">The pain management doctor didn't want me taking pain meds. He thought I should go through the Chronic Pain Rehab Program again. I quit going to the psychologist because each week was just a repeat of the week before, and she agreed I should try Pain Rehab again. Personally, not only could I not see the point in it since I knew it doesn't get rid of the pain, just teaches you how to deal better while you lived with it, I knew how painful the program itself would be, the way the treatment areas were set up and all the walking and constant sitting involved. So that was not an option worth considering, as far as I was concerned. Thus when I went in for my physical last week and the doctor asked why I was in such a funk, and I told her, she gave me a referral to a different surgeon, and her scheduler was able to get me an appointment that week! After looking at my X-rays he ordered an ultrasound, which they were able to do same day. And that's how I got an answer to my prayers. Not the answer I'd hoped for, really. Not the optimal answer. But one I could live with, if it meant ending the pain and allowing me to walk around again like a real person! And one that didn't make me feel like a failure or that it was my own lack of effort that was causing the problem! I'm NOT a whiner! Or a weenie! There really IS a reason why my thigh was (is) killing me! Apparently your quadriceps and patella tendons need to be intact in order for the leg to work right, and without what feels like a knife attack with every step. Or at least what I imagine a knife attack would feel like, never having actually been stabbed before. But since stabbing is one of the descriptors they use on the pain chart, yeah, that's what it feels like. And speaking of those pain charts, sometimes a ten does n't cut it ( no pun intended.) And the chart with the faces? They need a face that looks like the shower scene in Psycho. That would perfectly describe the stabbing pain. Eeeee! Eeeee! Eeeee!</span></span></span></span><br />
</div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0898438); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(191, 107, 82, 0.496094); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0898438); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(191, 107, 82, 0.496094); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So, hey, back to the doctor's office. That lack of range of motion? NOT my fault! It's NOT a lack of effort! It is, literally, physically impossible for me to do leg extensions! Or to walk without pain! All this time I've been walking around on torn muscles. One of which is supposed to be one of the strongest muscles in your body. And not only that, apparently the knee replacement joint, the rod part that fits inside the femur, has loosened. Which adds to the pain. So, yeah. That's why I've missed so much and why I've been kinda cranky sometimes.</span></span></span><br />
</div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0898438); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(191, 107, 82, 0.496094); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div>
<span style="font-size: small;">The surgeon I saw the other day has recommended that I go see the specialist surgeon. And once again, by having his office make the appointment, I was able to get in to be seen within a week. I LOVE the Cleveland Clinic! Well, as much as one can love a health care system. And okay, It may sound weird for somebody to be looking forward to surgery. But if surgery is what it takes to fix this, and according to what the surgeon told me and everything I've read about it, it's the ONLY way to fix it, bring it on! I'm just sorry I waited this long to switch surgeons. If I could do it without falling over, I'd be kicking myself! I could have saved myself a lot of aggravation and pain. And I could have been out living my life and enjoying myself instead of having daily pity parties. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span style="font-size: small;">
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</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0898438); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(191, 107, 82, 0.496094); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div>
<span style="font-size: small;">Unfortunately, my timing sucks, if my research is right. Of course I won't know for sure until everything is fixed, and I'll have a better idea after seeing the specialist, but it looks like surgical repair and 4-6 weeks of immobilization followed by 6-8 weeks of partial weight bearing, which means crutches. So figure a minimum of eight weeks on crutches. That pretty much rules out traveling to Maine in early November. Which means missing ANOTHER family get-together. Well, half the family, anyway, since it's women's weekend. But I was really, REALLY looking forward to the weekend, which is always a blast! So, once again I have to console myself with "There's always next year!" I think I can live with that.</span><br />
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><div>
<span style="font-size: small;">UPDATE:
Went to see the newest surgeon. So the spaces around the knee replacement implant (hardware) are too large for repair; there's not enough bone left. And those spaces are filled with infection. This specialist feels the problem is outside the scope of what he normally deals with and so has referred me to his partner, who is even more specialized. Still trying to get that appointment but have a follow-up this week to discuss plans for course of antibiotics after surgeon consults with infectious disease specialist. Here we go again!</span></div>
</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321049068445357705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21729756.post-52323251275013105122013-09-06T17:38:00.000-05:002013-10-06T12:37:53.632-05:00What's In a Name? A Footballer's Name?<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">Cleveland has a large Slavik community, so there are a lot of people out here with names that some of us find hard to pronounce and even harder to spell (and this from a lifelong fan of a guy named Yastrzemski!). And there are Ohioans with names that are easy to say, easy to spell, but still cause a giggle. Have you seen the commercials that say "With a name like Smucker's, it HAS to be good!"? Yup, The Smuckers are Ohioans. From Orrville. Not to be confused with that other Orville. Redenbacher, that is. I don't know if he's from Ohio but he makes pretty decent popcorn. And HE is not to be confused with Dayton's Orville, Wilbur's brother. Not Mr. Ed's Wilbur. The flying Wilbur. As in Orville and Wilbur Wright. The Wright Bros. But those names really aren't "in favor" anymore. And neither is Norval, which kinda rhymes with Orville but isn't spelled anything like it. But that's the name of one of the Browns' assistant coaches. He's been around the NFL a time or two, and most of us know him as Norv. Norv Turner, football coach. He's an assistant to a guy whose name may or may not be Slavik but is, at least, likely Eastern European. So Head Coach Rod Chudzinski should fit right in around these parts. Though I'm not sure how well that name fit when he was a kid. Kids can be cruel about things like that, things you can't control. Like your name. Chudzinski. Is it worse than Dick Butkus? Well, I suppose given his size not too many kids made fun of Dick Butkus. At least not within his hearing range. But the 2013 Cleveland Browns have added a challenge. They have a rookie player who hails from Louisiana. And even THAT cannot explain his name. This kid has a pretty good reputation as a tough ballplayer. He's won a lot of awards. AND he was drafted in the first round. But it's likely a lot of people will hear more about him because of his name than his play. It's not a modern name that harkens back to guys named Knute. It's not a name which can conveniently be changed to rhyme with a trophy, like Theisman. It's not even a football-great-sounding name like the Patriots players Gronkowski, Gostkowski, or Ninkovich. Even Hoomanawanui doesn't faze people, given the number of guys of American Samoan heritage who have played in the NFL recently. Polamalu, anyone? But back to the Browns. Ironically, the Cleveland faithful are sometimes called The Dawgs, as in The Dawg Pound, the fan seating area in the endzone. And why is that ironic? Because the new kid's name is...wait for it....</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">Barkevious.</span></span></span><br />
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"> No. No typo here, folks. Not even as I type this on the typo-infamous iPad. Barkevious. I kid you not. It's right there on the Interwebs. It's on the Browns' game program, right next to the number 51. It's on the marketing materials, his contract. Above the 51 on his jersey is the name Mingo. That's his last name. Fortunately for the play-play guys and the color commentators. Because, I know it's childish, and I don't mean to be cruel, but he ain't nuthin' but a hound dawg. A Cleveland Pound Dawg. Barkevious. AKA Ke-Ke. Or whatever he wants to be called. Because he's a big, strong ball player, out to make a name for himself. Though who could forgive him if he changed it to something a little less, shall we say, unusual? He could always change it to Cinco Uno.</span></span></span></div>
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</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321049068445357705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21729756.post-55486253671756324522013-09-06T14:06:00.001-05:002013-09-06T14:06:20.076-05:00The Fine Art of Digression (or How One Can Turn Any Conversation Into an Anti-Yankees Dig)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">Almost had to use the comforter last night but put on flannel jammies instead. I guess fall is upon us. That in-between time when you don't know what to wear. Which is why God and our friendly purveyor Leon Leonwood invented layers. You are a true Yankee if you know who Leon Leonwood was. An even truer Yankee if you hate THE Yankees! Who probably won't even be in the playoffs this year. Too bad. So sad. Screw 'em. But we should savor these last coupla weekends of the regular season because it's the last time we'll have to hit against Mariano and possibly Pettite. And who knows if Jeter will be celebrating his 40th next summer in pinstripes? And (please god make it happen) the last time Alex Rodriguez will find himself anywhere near a ballfield again, unless he buys a ticket. But there I go, digressing again. Anyway, I hope everybody else is experiencing the same beautiful but too chilly for shorts but actually good for sleeping at least in your jammies weather that we are here in Cleveland. Where I don't even have to look at the standings to know the Indians won't make the playoffs. Which is sad because I was hoping, with Terry Francona managing... Oh, well. At least the Browns haven't lost yet. But give 'em a chance. There's always the first game this weekend.<br /><br /><span>BTW, Leon Leonwood was that, I'm assuming friendly-as-a-guy-from-norther</span><wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span><span>n-Maine-in-the-late-1800s-coul</span><wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span><span>d-be-without-things-getting-we</span><wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>ird(er?), ol' coot LLBean. But you knew that, didn't you? <i class="_4-k1 img sp_g9a1u4 sx_4e27da" style="background-image: url(https://fbstatic-a.akamaihd.net/rsrc.php/v2/yu/r/ARuuQNOJWj-.png); background-position: 0px -1180px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: auto; display: inline-block; height: 16px; vertical-align: -3px; width: 16px;"></i></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321049068445357705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21729756.post-67765296702006982752013-09-04T21:25:00.002-05:002014-09-22T21:51:53.798-05:00It Really is Okay to Be Takaei! Or a Supporter.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We'll.have to work on a name for that. Right now it's the Takei Straight Alliance. And, in fact, that's how this post started out. As a response to questions people had and comments they made about some T-shirts George Takei sells and is promoting. But, again I digressed off topic. Well, not really so much off topic but deeper than I needed to go, addressing social issues instead of just merchandising. So I brought my comments over here to share. This started as a Facebook post and is straight off the cuff. I will probably go over it tomorrow, make some minor changes, maybe add some major thoughts. But here it is for now, in all its naked glory. Don't worry. I used that term figuratively, not literally. There will be no naked pictures accompanying this article. None.<br />
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From Facebook, George Takei's page:<br />
Uncle George, it seems the shirts are being printed as ordered. That means there's no pre-printed stock. It shouldn't be difficult, using this business strategy, to allow larger sizes at an extra $1-2 and to have them change the type color on the white shirts to a readable color, like pink or purple. Just add a comments section where people can make those requests. Of course there would be an upcharge for larger sizes because of the extra material and specialty small runs. But changing the type color on the white shirt should be free. I am assuming, since they don't print in bulk but as orders are received, this is a company similar to Cafe Press, which can be very versatile in providing the exact product you want by making necessary changes. You could also offer a lesser quality t-shirt to help reduce the price. Some of the shirts I have received in exchange for donations were made in African countries with thin cotton and smaller sizing. I don't mind. I just order a larger size and, if necessary, wear a plain t-shirt underneath for warmth. The point isn't really to "dress well" but to vocally, financially, and proudly show support for what you believe in, and to spark discussion with others about the issue. I have spoken to tens of people about one.org and a couple have joined up. Hopefully, when I get your shirt in a couple of weeks the same will happen.<br />
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Thank you for your efforts and for providing this space that breaks the ice, often with humor, to allow people to participate in open discourse in an honest and non-threatening way. It helps us straights know about the hidden issues LGBTs experience, it allows LGBTs to constructively criticize how we act, what we should or shouldn't do, what might make things worse instead of better, what makes things even better than good. We can ask questions with little fear of embarrassment -though there's always that one asshole...<br />
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Uncle George, who knows the importance of a safe haven, providing a virtual cyber haven for hundreds of thousands of people. I especially like to see folks, gay and straight, coming here from other countries and sharing their experiences. Here in the US the issue of marriage equality is currently at the forefront. But as was so brutally brought back to the front in NYC is that there is still homophobia bubbling under the surface. While we have made strides towards acceptance, even though some is passive or just apathy, there is still prejudice and still machismo that turns that prejudice to brutal violence.<br />
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But now we've reached a point where we have made enough progress in the US that we can look and "work" elsewhere and share our experiences with LGBT and straight alliances about how to deal with every level of harassment, how to provide safe havens and let those in need know how to reach them, show people how to act in public based on what is culturally acceptable even while trying to change the culture. It will be more difficult in many other countries with mono-cultural control rather than in a multi-cultured country like the US or Canada.<br />
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It will be especially difficult in places like Russia where homophobia is legalized, and where violence against is becoming commonplace; the LGBT and Straight Alliance can and will be violently attacked by vigilantes who know they can use brutality with impunity. And they do. And on the one hand we want to just get all the LGBT peoples out of Russia, give them asylum, 'help' them. But that creates at least as much pain and problems as it would solve. Many of these people love their country, are proud Russians, except for how they are being perceived and treated because of their orientation/gender issues or their support of thse in that microcosm of society being singled out. But many would rather stay and fight. The way blacks and whites fought our US Civil War and 100 years later for Civil Rights. It IS. A worthy cause, and people ARE willing to fight and be imprisoned and, yes, die for what they believe in.<br />
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Hoo, boy. I digressed quite a bit here! I'm going to copy this and put it on my blog so people can read it and comment on it. I may add to it, or even just write another, related post.<br />
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George, I apologize for hijacking so much space. Sometimes I can't control a surge and I either overflow the dam or force the floodgates open!<br />
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Thank you for the opportunity! You are the kind of man one can love without never having met him.<br />
XO, Uncle George Takei. XO</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321049068445357705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21729756.post-42124854342644097732013-08-14T22:18:00.001-05:002013-08-15T23:01:26.055-05:00Ah, But I Digress: Dear John, and by John I mean Amazonbot<a href="http://ahbutidigress.blogspot.com/2013/08/dear-john-and-by-john-i-mean-amazonbot.html?spref=bl">Ah, But I Digress: Dear John, and by John I mean Amazonbot</a>: Dear Amazonbot, Thank you for your recent email recommending books I might enjoy, based on my previous selections. That's quite a progra...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321049068445357705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21729756.post-5489539394699525702013-08-14T20:00:00.000-05:002013-08-14T20:00:06.552-05:00Dear John, and by John I mean Amazonbot<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">Dear Amazonbot,<br />Thank you for your recent email recommending books I might enjoy, based on my previous selections. That's quite a program you have there, because those books are similar to what I've read. In fact, I HAVE read them. You should know that because I bought the Kindle versions FROM AMAZON! Don't you remember? You delivered them "wirelessly via Amazon's Whispernet." Am I now just a number to you? I've entrusted you with my wish list of books. You give me reminders when the books I've pre-ordered are released! Oh, oh! We've been together so long and yet you barely remember me. I have reviewed books for you; I've filled out surveys for customer service; I'M A PRIME MEMBER!<br /><br />Amazonbot, I'm just not feelin' the love. I'm beginning to suspect you have outgrown our relationship. I suppose I was just a number all along, just another line in your database. But I couldn't see it for all the correspondence we've shared, your lovely thank you notes after I've visited your site and made purchases. So many visits. You allow me to browse through books before I purchase them! Well, at least those the publisher allows. You let me explore your site, to take a tour with no pressure to purchase. Except for those rows and rows of "people who bought this also bought these" sales tactics. Yes, sales tactics. I now see them for what they are. You try and make me feel like you're helping me, offering suggestions. I thought you were concerned I might miss a good read. I thought you were doing it for me. ME, Amazonbot. But no, you do the same for all your "customers." you probably tell people they should buy a book because I've purchased it. Oh, you don't name me. Nothing as personal as that. You just lump me in as an "other" who purchased this book or that.<br /><br />Amazonbot, I'm not sure we can mend this, this, RIFT in our relationship. Hopefully we can continue our business relationship, at least. But I must warn you, there are others out there, just waiting for the chance to replace you in my life. In fact, I'm going to be honest with you. I, well, I have strayed a time or two. I've snuck into Barnes & Noble's NOOK. I had to! I had to satisfy my curiosity. With all the rumors of price fixing, I had to be sure you weren't taking advantage of me. And yes, I have purchased books from iTunes? I'm not proud of it, but I HAD A GIFT CERTIFICATE, It wasn't my fault! It wasn't my choice. I KNOW your Kindle version is the best available.<br /><br />Oh, Amazonbot. Please don't forget me. Please don't lose me in your vast database. I can't bear to have to switch. Amazonbot, I can't quit you!<br /><br />With thanks for all we've shared, and all I hope we can share in the future, like the third book in Ken Follett's trilogy which I wish was coming out soon but won't be here 'til 2014.<br /><br />Yours,<br />Barb Wallace<br />Customer number 123456789<br /><br />PS just so you know, you're not fooling me with that "delivered wirelessly via Amazon Whispernet" shit. I know what you're doing. You're trying to make me feel like I've gotten some kind of special fracking delivery! First of all, I'm not that stupid. I KNOW it's wireless. There's no wire that connects me to your store. I'm not a moran. And what's with the Whispernet bullshit? You use the interwebs, just like everybody else. You don't have your own internet. You can't just rename it. Cheesus, I don't know what I ever saw in you. I don't know how or why I was so taken. It must have been those customer service calls. I remember Phillip, whose real name was probably Muralimanohar, who casually discussed basketball with me as he searched for the answer to my problem, or Ahladita, who told me her name was Amber, who asked me to verify my address and then checked the weather channel so she could talk about what great weather we were having. Yes, it must have been those calls, those online chats with the help center with extended wait periods while you were helping other customers. Crap. I should have known then. Damn you. DAMN YOU Amazonbot! You've taken me for a fool! Well, as our formerly beloved president (yes, I know that should say beloved former president but believe me, he's not so beloved anymore. As a president, that is. Apparently when he doesn't have anybody pulling his strings he's a pretty nice guy!) anyway, as W once said "There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again." So don't even try, Amazonbot. I'ma got my eyes on you, ya bastid.<br /><br />Yours,<br />Barb Wallace</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321049068445357705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21729756.post-598012219181625732013-08-02T12:29:00.000-05:002013-08-02T12:29:44.558-05:00How Can We End Racism If Nobody Wants To?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0898438); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(191, 107, 82, 0.496094); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Steve, continuing convo started on Facebook:</span></span><br />
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uncomfortable as it is to admit it, I had the feeling that the speeches and denands for justice for Trayvon were faux outrage. I think someone, someone without a full grasp on the circumstances, the neighborhood's background, and Florida statutes, made the decision that here was an "obvious case of a white man profiling a young black boy and shooting him without justification." (Quotes mine for emphasis.)<br />
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I think Black "leaders" picked the wrong case to get behind. Trayvon Martin was not profiled simply because he was black. There were extenuating circumstances. Looking at the case without emotion, they were understandable and acceptable extenuating circumstances.</div>
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No, Trayvon was not profiled simply as a black teenager. He was profiled because there had been a series of burglaries and break-ins in the neighborhood and nearly all the suspects were young black males. Had there not been a rash of break-ins in a "gated community" that was suffering many vacancies and homes where the owners moved out and turned them into rentals, there would have been no history of Zimmerman calling 911 so many times and he likely would have taken little notice of Trayvon. Again, Trayvon was "profiled" because he fit the descriptions of suspects from other criminal activity. That profile included young black males wandering around the complex looking for targets. One can honestly believe that, after calling 911 hundreds of times and having multiple times been given the description of the alleged burglars by victims and witnesses, Zimmerman felt Trayvon fit that description. Had the alleged burglars been white, it's not too hard to believe that Zimmerman would barely have given Martin a second thought. But the many suspects WERE black. And Martin WAS black. Martin WAS young. And Martin DID NOT live in the complex and Zimmerman didn't recognize him as a neighbor so, in Zimmerman's mind, this young man, who fit the description of other troublemakers, did not belong where he was. Remember, yes, it is a gated community so normally members would have a passing acquaintance with one another. Yet it was a community in flux, an almost transient community that had been developed for middle class owners who would occupy and maintain their units. Umtil the housing market tanked. Some units went into foreclosure. Others, owners moved out and rented out the units for whatever money they could get. Some owners just up and left. Some were short saled to people who otherwise would not have been able to live there.<br />
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I often got a sense Sharpton and the media were using the Martins as fodder. Like I said, it almost felt like faux outrage. The case black leaders should be more concerned with is the up coming trial of Michael Dunn, accused of shooting an unarmed black teenager, Jordan Davis, who was sitting in an SUV at a gas station/convenience store Dunn pulled into. the SUV had arrived at the station first, the driver out of the car pumping gas. Dunn came in after, and his girlfriend left the vehicle to enter the store.<br />
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Dunn, who theoretically would only be sitting there for a few minutes, felt the music coming from the SUV was too loud and asked the teenagers to turn it down. Most reasonable people would have just ignored the temporary situation, maybe closing their windows, maybe turning up their own music to block the other. But Dunn asked them to turn it down. The kid in the front complied, but Davis, sitting in the backseat closest to Dunn, complained. He and Dunn began arguing and swearing at each other, until Dunn, still in his car, grabbed his gun from the glove box and started shooting. The driver of the SUV, who had just finished pumping gas, hopped in the vehicle and tried to get away from the shooting. Dunn got out of his car and kept shooting. The SUV stopped in the next parking lot over, out of range. Dunn's girlfriend, who had been buying wine in the store, got in the car. Dunn drove away. The SUV came right back to the scene and waited for the cops and ambulance. </div>
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Dunn and his gf, in town for his kid's wedding, where they'd been drinking, went back to their motel and drank the wine they had just bought. Dunn had told her what happened. They made no calls to the police or sheriff. They heard Davis had died. The man had shot and killed an unarmed teenager and did nothing. Nothing! According to the girlfriend's later statement, they drove home the next morning ostensibly "to take care of their new dog." Dunn never reported the incident to the cops, who traced him through his plates and subsequently arrested him. He claimed Davis had a shotgun or a stick so he's claiming Stand Your Ground self-defense. There was no stick or shotgun. Dunn is a 45 yr old white guy. Davis was a 17 yr old black kid (young man). IMO a much better case if somebody's looking for a cause, but I haven't seen anything about it in MSM. The trial is in September. Maybe they'll get interested then. </div>
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But again, it's white on black. If they do use this case as a cause, while in neighborhoods in large cities, every weekend in some, monthly in others, tens of people are shot, many killed, a good number innocent bystanders, including children, how will they justify ignoring those crimes while focusing on one case that seems, on its face, to be a clear case of racism. Or, it could just be a case of a somewhat inebriated guy being an asshole, and when he felt the kid was being a punk, disrespecting him, it turned into a case akin to road rage. </div>
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Except...except Dunn claimed the four black teens were gang members and if he didn't skedaddle after firing eight rounds into their car, he might be in for a world of hurt. A reasonable man might have called the police. If he was afraid to stay at the scene, he would have driven away to a safe place. Perhaps use his GPS to find a police station or even a fire house. A reasonable man would have immediately called the police. Not gone back to enjoy a night in his hotel room with his girlfriend and a bottle of wine. </div>
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But we'll leave that case to a Florida jury. On the face of it, one would expect a conviction on serious multiple charges, possibly including murder of some degree. How the black community will respond, before, during, and after the trial, is an unknown. Much depends on whether there is a grassroots gathering of support, as in the Trayvon case. And whether leaders like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, black music artist and actors and athletes lend their support, both emotional and political, to the Davis family. And, of course, much depends on the Davis family.</div>
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But, meanwhile, we still have that pesky problem of crime in predominantly black neighborhoods in bigger cities like Detroit and, especially Chicago. DC crime is spreading out to Maryland and Northern Virginia suburbs. There does not seem to be a national response to these crimes. Because they are mostly black on black? Unfortunately it appears so. While the Obama administration (disclaimer: I am an Obama supporter) focuses its, and thus our collective, attention on mass shootings, it seems the administration is doing little to nothing to curb crime in places like the Obamas' hometown Chicago, or now bankrupt Detroit. </div>
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It seems they have chosen an issue that they can squeeze the most emotion out of, gain the most yardage. Mass shootings of innocent victims. Hell, the Sandy Hook shootings in Newtown, CT seemed to have been tailor made as a distraction for the down and dirty issues of guns on the street. At the risk of sounding callous, could one have scripted a more touching and emotional scene than twenty little, angelic six and seven year olds being, literally, massacred just before Christmas? Could one have scripted a conga lone of kindergartners and first graders being led past fallen friends, told to close their eyes as they passed devastation no person should ever have to witness? There's no question this was a haunting, unbelievably horrific tragic event. But it was perpetrated by one man. A young man with known mental health issues that went uncontrolled. In one unforgivable act he killed twenty-six people, including twenty children. Since that time, over forty people have been shot, many killed, in neighborhood shootings in Chicago alone. We don't hear about that. Unless it runs as filler on the news or on a website.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0898438); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"> Most of the mass shootings have been perpetrated by angry or frustrated, mentally ill young white men, with the exception of the VA Tech shooting, who was Asian. Most of the victims have been white. In the past few years there have been several of these shootings. Still, the total dead do not approach the numbers of those killed by the ones and twos, in the streets or crowded apartment buildings of poor, urban, black neighborhoods. Sadly, many of these victims are children as well, caught in a crossfire, accidentally shot in a quick drive-by, struck down by a stray bullet.</span></div>
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Where is the black "leadership" of The Rev. Jesse Jackson, The Rev. Al Sharpton. Even Rev. Joe Simmons, from Run DMC, who has quite a following in the young black community who may find they don't relate to Jackson or Sharpton. Where are the actors, the musicians from rap, hip hop, crossover music? Where are the athletes? Where are the black political leaders?</div>
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Yes, I think the Trayvon Martin case was used and abused as a false representation of continuing racism in America. Yes, as I said, I believe the outrage was false. I believe the intent was to form a dichotomy between racists and non-racists, between blacks and whites, with some exceptions where overlap occurred. Black leaders seem to be presenting a Venn diagram with very little overlap between the black sphere and the white sphere, indicating little change in the decades since the 1960s Civil Rights movement, whereas non-racist whites, and some blacks, see a huge central overlap of blacks and whites living, working, playing, CO-EXISTING together with small factions of extremists on either side.</div>
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My biggest fear is that blacks don't really want racism to end. It has become a sort of crutch. Definitely a comedic tool, arguably a songwriter's toll, quite often used in story framing, in books and on television and the movies. Should blacks be allowed to play roles written for whites, or vice versa? Should white directors be allowed to direct "black" movies? Can white writers capture, accurately, the black perspective? We are hearing stories of the warnings black mothers are imparting on their black sons. Warnings similar to the ones my white siblings have shared with their equally white, mostly anglo-saxon children. Of course we can't ignore the vestiges of racism. Blacks speak of being followed closely, near to the point of harassment, as they shop; they imitate the clicks they hear as they cross the street or walk too near a vehicle occupied by whites who are reminded to lock their doors at the site of black people perceived as potential criminals. </div>
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But for all the hue and cry about racism in America, one has to wonder who is responsible. Are blacks really making an effort to assimilate even as they co-opt words like nigger and use the derivative nigga to refer to each other? While at the same time ridiculing white hip hop artists who use the word? When people like Whoopi Goldberg and Sherri Shepherd change their speech, both patterns and vocabulary, when discussing black issues on' The View? When a respected director like Spike Lee claims that a multi-award winning director such as Steven Spielberg has no business directing movies like Amistad because he is white and reduced the black characters in the movie to just above extras? Is that not racism? </div>
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I see what I feel is faux outrage because at the same time as I see blacks calling for Justice for someone like Trayvon Martin, I see black and white leaders ignoring justice for all the young black men killed in "the hood" because, as few will admit, maybe they deserved it. Or maybe they can't get the publicity, the political mileage out of supporting those young men because likely they were thugs or drug dealers. But aren't assumptions like that racism?</div>
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Are black leaders responsible for perpetuating the idea of racism, if not the behaviors? As they pick and choose which victims to champion, whether they be young black men killed by whites or young black women who claim they were assaulted, physically and sexually, by groups of young white men (Duke University Lacrosse team), (the infamous Tawana Brawley), are they not doing so while ignoring black on black crime? Or the rates of acts of racism perpetrated by blacks on members of other races, especially Hispanics but also Asians, Indians and those from the Middle East? </div>
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It sometimes seems that blacks, for whatever reason, don't really want to see the end of racism. It may be a fear of adjusting to a new way of life. It may be a suspicion that only racism on the surface is disappearing but that it still roils just below, waiting to release a rogue wave or even unleash a tsunami of hatred and persecution. Sometimes I just want to say "Get over it. Most people aren't behaving like racist and those that do are assholes. Just treat them like the assholes they are, like we do." sometimes, by looking at everybody as potential racists, blacks create problems where they don't exist. Or they perceive slights when what they may be experiencing is just ignorance, or someone trying too hard not to offend. </div>
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So if we're ever going to solve this racism issue, we need to stop labeling conflicts as racist simply because they involve two or more people of different races. And a speaker isn't a racist because he points out bad qualities in someone of a different race. Maybe they disagree on the issue: race has naught to do with it.</div>
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What we need to do is change the discourse, to re-order the dialogue, to drop race from the top of the list to wherever it appropriately belongs in a list of factors affecting a situation. Yes, at times it will come first, but most times it will fall farther down the list, farther than expected. But that may be where it belongs as a consideration. And yes, sometimes it should even be left off the list. Perhaps even most times. I think we have reached that point. I don't know if black leaders agree but are afraid to come out and admit it, or if they really see a benefit in perpetuating what most of us are trying to put to rest; if they just have a need to fan and fuel the flames of the fires we are trying to extinguish.</div>
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</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321049068445357705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21729756.post-54191218550919143452013-07-31T23:18:00.000-05:002014-09-22T21:54:53.055-05:00NFL, now the National Fantasy League?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<![endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So the NFL
has apparently decided to revamp the Pro Bowl format. Without asking us! I
started reading the accompanying article when I suddenly thought, "Damn! I
must have somehow clicked on The Onion. Because surely this is a parody.
Amiright?" But no, it was the NFL site. What a clusterbomb! </span>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When you vote for the players, you can vote for any player, no matter what conference he plays in. What happens if, by popular vote, the roster ends up being weighted towards one conference? Is that really the way to go? Because a lot of times these all-star votes ARE popularity contests, not necessarily based on a player's skills. And, seriously,
ALUMNI captains? Jerry Rice? Okay, I guess. But Deion SANDERS? And they're going to draft the players so guys
from both conferences will be on the same team? Oh, yeah, nothing can go wrong
there. And they're also going to allow two fantasy football players to help the
"captains" decide who to draft. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Oh, and by
the by, "The Draft" will be televised. Yeah, right, the changes to Pro Bowl Weekend were supposed to make the game more fan friendly. NOT! It's just another moneymaking scheme
for some of the richest sports owners in the world. Everybody tune in to watch
the fake draft for the fake Pro Bowl game where it doesn't matter who wins. How
can a conference get bragging rights if half the guys they beat were from the
same conference? Oh, wait, it won't be conferences. What, are they going to come
up with clever names like The Home Team vs The Other Team? Or The Blue Team vs
The Red Team? Hey, ya know what they should do? They should throw in some
history and divide the teams into the players from the North and the players
from the South and they can be The Blue vs The Gray! Get it? A Civil War
Re-enactment slash football game! Without the guns and bayonets of cou...oh,
wait. This is the NFL. There might be a few guns and bayonets involved. Okay,
scratch that idea. Let's just stick with the traditional all-star blue and red.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But
really, if they wanted to make the game fan friendly, why not let some of the
fantasy football playing fans play REAL football? Now THAT would be entertaining. I mean,
Hawaii's a state, right? And they'll have Obamacare, right? So, it's not like
the fantasy fan players would actually DIE or anything! Plus, free jerseys!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So, more
on the changes: No kickoffs? That's not so great for the kickers who would have
been voted in! No free trips to Hawaii and all-you-can-eat luaus for them!
Which sucks for the restaurants because that's where they make their money, on
the skinny kickers and punters who don't eat a whole lot but pay the same.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Two minute
warnings at the end of EVERY quarter? Because two-minute drills are more
exciting? More exciting than what? AND when the first and third quarter changes
come, guess what? You get to give the other team the ball! No more continuing
play. That's where that exciting two-minute drill comes in. So, if you don't
score, you lose the ball. If you score and the other team gets the ball with,
say, five seconds left guess what? They get one play and the bell rings! The
buzzer goes off! The horn sounds, the referee whistles and the quarter is over.
And they have to give you back the ball! WTF? How is that fair? Whose stupid
idea was THAT? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Oh, and since
there aren't going to be any kickoffs, there's no need for a kick return
specialist, who will be replaced by a defensive back. So the best kick return
specialists in the league, who have been bustin' their asses all season chasing
down the kick receivers, now get to hang out on the mainland with the kickers.
And supposedly the kick returners. Though most of them double as receivers or
punt returners, so they still get to play on the Big Island.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Cheesus.
The only way they could make this any worse would be to cover the field with a
vibrating metal plate and attach the players feet to plastic plates in a life
sized version of electric football. Hey, actually that'd be kinda cool! For,
like, five minutes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Seriously,
whose idea was this? According to the article it was Dominique Foxworth, the
head of the NFL Players' Association. All I can say is, Gene Upshaw wouldn't
have come up with these namby-pamby changes. When I watch a pro football game I
want to see AMERICAN football. I want to cheer for one TEAM against another. I
think Dan Issa should instig... I mean FORM, a Congressional investigation
complete with useless Congressional hearings and a Congressional NFL-NFLPA
Oversight Committee. Of course, there would be no need to allow women to be
represented or to testify. Because, as everybody knows, women don't watch
football or buy tickets or wear NFL Gear even if it's pink and women don't cook
the pulled pork and make the seven-layer-bean-dip for the Super Bowl parties.
No Grrlz Aloud!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000224059/article/nfl-nflpa-announce-significant-changes-to-pro-bowl" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000224059/article/nfl-nflpa-announce-significant-changes-to-pro-bowl</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321049068445357705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21729756.post-35930237452510238452013-07-26T15:44:00.002-05:002013-07-26T16:00:20.156-05:00Cleveland Man Who Held Three in Captivity Gets 1000 year SentenceAriel Castro, the creepy 52 yr old guy who held three abducted girls in captivity for 9-12 years, just got sentenced to 1K years in prison. Yes, that's a thousand years. Without parole which, duh, is kind of a given since he wouldn't be eligible for, like, three hundred years.<br />
<br />
After abducting each of the three girls by offering them rides home, he kept them captive until just recently. The girls are now women. The first to be taken was 20 year old Michelle Knight. During her years in captivity Castro raped and impregnated her several times, beat and starved her during each pregnancy, estimated to be five times throughout the years, until she miscarried evey time. Knight, whom police had determined to have disappeared on her own due to her age and her lifestyle, is now 32 years old.<br />
<br />
Amanda Berry was the second young woman to be taken, at age 16. She was also raped and impregnated and gave birth to a now-six-year-old little girl. Ariel Castro, the monster responsible, actually had the audacity to ask for visitation as part of his sentencing agreement. On the one hand, he IS the girl's father and she's lived with him her whole life, but on the other, nobody really knows what their relationship was like except the mother, who is trying to deal with being a free woman, and life in 2013, along with everything that's happened in the outside world in the more than ten years since she disappeared. Not to mention learning how to deal with the eveyday life of a mother who will now have to learn about things like registering her child for school, helping her learn how to make friends and socialize with other children, etc. Remember, this is a mother who, now 27, was abducted in her mid-teens and had not seen the light of day since then. The judge wisely denied Castro's request.<br />
<br />
The third young woman, Gina DeJesus, was a quiet, young teenager when she disappeared nine years ago. Now 23, she is the one who has most shunned publicity since the women were released. She's been reluctant to talk to the media about her ordeal, but we know through court records that she, too, was sexually abused, though she claims to have never gotten pregnant.<br />
<br />
The women were able to escape from Castro one day when had left the house (I hesitate to call it a home because, to the women, it was more like a prison and he an abusive warden.) He failed to secure a heavy front door which he normally kept locked (many of the doors in the house wre found by police to have strong locks on them). Amanda Berry was able to open the front door and then force the storm door open a couple of inches, enough to scream for help, getting the attention of neighbor Charles Ramsey. Ramsey and another man broke the lower half of the door so Berry and her daughter could get out. She immediately asked Ramsey, who at first thought he was rescuing Berry from a simple domestic dispute, to call 911. After police arrived Berry told them about the other two womentrapped in the house. They were immediately rescued by police.<br />
<br />
Ramsey, whose news interviews went viral, making him an overnight internet sensation, continually tried to refocus attention on the women and their families. But first he commented on how he got involved. He and Castro had been neighbors for a year or so, doing neighborly things. In Ramsey's eyes, Castro was just a regular guy who would spend time in his yard, playing eith his dogs, or on the driveway tinkering with his cars and motorcycles. Ramsey said they had shared ribs at barbecues and listened to salsa music together. On the day of the rescue, Ramsey was sitting out on his front porch, as he often did, eating a McDonald's lunch, when he heard a young woman yelling for help. He and a neighbor went to investigate, Ramsey, still holding his half-eaten burger. Ramsey's demeanor and his mention of his Big Mac sandwich both to the 911 operator and local media garnered him a year's worth of free food at McDonald's. But, when other parties spoke of donations and fundraising, he asked that any money raised or gifts awarde be given to the freed women and their families.<br />
<br />
So now the women are trying to adjust to their new lives, trying to fit in with their famy members. Everything's changed. Every ONE has changed. Berry's mother never gave up hope that her daughter would come home. In 2004 she appeared on a talk show with a psychic who told her Amanda was dead. She refused to accept that and continued hoping until she passed away two years later. Berry, who as a teen was working at a neighborhood Burger King, had been abducted after a accepting what she thought would be a ride home from Castro, who claimed his son worked at Burger King.<br />
<br />
Michele Knight was the mother of a young son when she was taken. Ironically she had a court date that day, a hearing to regain custody of her little boy who had been removed from her care by child services. There's little information available about the child, now barely a teen, or why Knight had accepted a ride from Castro.<br />
<br />
The youngest of the three women, Gina DeJesus, was actually a friend of the divorced Castro's daughter. The two girls had planned a sleepover at the friends house. After calling her mother for permission and being denied, Castro's daughter headed home to her mother's house. At some point Castro picked up DeJesus, offering to drop her at home but instead taking her to his house of horrors.<br />
<br />
After much investigation by police and several court hearings, during which Castro was charged with over 500 counts for the kidnappings and more than 400 counts of rape and sexual crimes, he pled guilty yesterday to 937 of the nearly 1000 charges. His thousand year sentence combined with a sentence of life without the possibility of parole guarantees that the 52 year old Castro will die in prison. And yet, despite that, he wants to maintain contact with his daughter, asking for visitation as part of his parental rights. Fortunately for the child and her mother, a victim of kidnapping and multiple rapes, the judge denied his request. Neither mother nor child will ever have to see Castro again. As part of his plea agreement, Castro has forfeited all of his property and material goods and is prohibited from profitting from his crimes. The city of Cleveland has announced plans to demolish Castro's house lest it become a macabre tourist attraction and neighborhood nuisance, not to mention a constant reminder of the horror that took place on the property over the last decade or so. The city took the same position when it demolished the house lived in by Anthony Sowell. Sowell was convicted of multiple killings of women over several years and is now in prison. Just last week a man was charged with in the deaths of three women. He claims to be a "fan" of Sowell and so tried to continue what he saw as Sowell's work.<br />
<br />
One good thing may come out of Castro's actions. Because of his ridiculous claim that he, as a non-custodial parent, had a right to visitation with his little girl, several legislators have begun working on a bill that would take away all parental rights from any man convicted of rape who, as a result of that rape fathered a child. Because they are just beginning discussions on the bill it has not been said whether that would also absolve the rapist/biological father from financial responsibilities like child support. I'll address that later when the bill is further along in its development.<br />
<br />
But for now there has been cause for celebration as these young women re-enter normal lives. Families and friends who have held out hope over the years, who regularly posted flyers and held vigils, are quietly and respectfully helping the women adjust. The Cleveland Courage Fund, established to accept donations for the victims, will help them establish their own homes and get the treatment and help they need to start living again.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321049068445357705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21729756.post-30116447474763809172013-07-25T20:58:00.005-05:002013-07-25T20:58:43.863-05:00Rolling Stone vs Boston Magazine; Sgt. Sean Murphy vs Dzhokhar Tsarnaev<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">First, WOW! I can't believe it's
been over two months since my last post! Time has gone by so quickly that it's
hard to conceive that it's been so long. I've actually written a couple of
things but just didn't get around to fine tuning and posting. That'll happen in
the next couple of days. Meanwhile, here are my thoughts on a recent
controversy surrounding the issuance of the latest edition of Rolling Stone
magazine. This issue has an innocent-looking image of then 19 year old
(Dzhokar) Jahar Tsarnaev, one of two brothers suspected of perpetrating the
Boston Marathon bombings, gracing the cover. The infamous "Cover of the
Rolling Stone" coveted by musicians and other celebrities and persons of
some import. Inside is an article that discusses, among other things, how no
one in Jahar's circle, people who had known him for years, would have predicted
that he was capable of such an act, capable of harboring inside himself
whatever it was that drove him to allegedly join with his brother and commit
acts of terrorism against his adopted country. Many folks in the greater Boston
area were outraged after learning of the cover image. There were vehement calls
for boycotts, demands that Rolling Stone not release the issue or, failing
that, that area stores and newsstands pull it off the shelves. A couple of
stores did make that decision. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";"><br />
One person in particular was incensed by the innocent, almost angelic image the
magazine put on the cover. That person is a Massachusetts State Police officer,
Sgt. Sean Murphy, whose official responsibility is a photographer who documents
crime scenes and evidence. Sgt. Murphy had photographed much of the hunt for
Jahar Tsarnaev and his older brother, Tamerlan. One of the scenes he documented
was the eventual capture of a weak, wounded and bloodied Jahar, who was
discovered hiding in a covered boat in a backyard. At work Murphy had access to
the photos he'd shot at that scene and he decided that those photos, depicting
what is being called the monster Jahar, the nearly dead terrorist covered in
dirt and blood, should be the images the people of Boston should see. That
those images could somehow help heal the suffering from the bombing by
imprinting in people's minds images of someone on whom they could feel
comfortable focusing their anger and, for some, their hate. And that they would
serve to warn off anybody considering committing copycat crimes or even
potential terrorists thinking about more attacks. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">So Sgt. Murphy took it upon
himself to release several photos taken at that last scene, as well as others
taken at official planning sessions and during field strategizing during the
actual manhunt. Knowing he had no authorization to do so, and admitting such to
editors of Boston Magazine, he released to them a number of images, which they
then posted on their website, where, of course, they were immediately picked up
by hundreds of media outlets and bloggers. The actual Boston Magazine issue
containing the images will not be released until next month as the images were
received after the current issue had gone to press. Many people applaud Sgt.
Murphy for his actions, even while knowing full well that he acted on his own,
outside the scope of his duties and without proper authorization. Some have heralded
him as a hero, even recommending him for "a medal" for doing what
they consider the right thing. He stands by what he did and Boston Magazine
stands behind him and what they did with the photos he gave them Sgt. Murphy
knew he was igniting another controversy. But it appears that he saw it as a
controlled burn intended to force whatever wildfires of emotion were ignited by
the Rolling Stone cover to turn back on themselves till they burned out.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";"><br />
So, anyway, here's my take on it. I am a firm believer in our rights as
American citizens, but I understand there are limitations to those rights. I am
also a believer in the concept that one is innocent until proven guilty. And
that the acquittal of a defendant does not necessarily (though it certainly can
be the case) mean that said defendant is innocent of the charges, only that
either there were extenuating circumstances or for whatever reason the
prosecution could not meet its burden of proof. Many people will find my
essay polarizing. Fine. This is a sensitive subject and many feelings are still
raw. Please bear in mind that I write this openly and honestly, with no ill
will intended. All I ask is that you set aside your emotions and judge the
issues at hand on their merits. And please, feel free to comment on it, agree
or disagree, but respectfully. And if it behooves you, do read the Rolling
Stone article. A writer at Slate also wrote an essay that you might be
interested in. I will attempt to link to both at the end of this
essay. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";"><br />
Here's what I wrote. I apologize for the length, and I apologize for repeating
some of it in the above intro, which I just wrote today. The essay itself was
written a couple of days ago:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">There's been some controversy
lately, especially in the Boston area, regarding photographs of Dzhokar (Jahar)
Tsarnaev, the surviving suspect of the April 15th bombings in Boston
near the Marathon finish line. Tsarnaev's older brother Tamerlan, thought at
this point to have conceived of and orchestrated the bombings, was killed as a
result of an attempt to capture the two suspects.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Rolling Stone magazine published
its August 3rd issue, released this week in print but parts of which
were made available online last week, depicting an image of the 19 year old
suspect on its cover. The photo is one that was used by law enforcement and the
media to help identify Jahar Tsarnaev as the search for the suspects began. It
is an image that looks like a lot of images seen on RS covers in the past,
mostly of musicians and other celebrities or people in the news. And it could
also have been the image of a pop star found on the covers of teen magazines or
the walls of teenage girls. In reality it is a photo of an alleged domestic
terrorist accused of helping to build and plant bombs that killed three people
and maimed and injured nearly two hundred others, all spectators at a world
class athletic event. He's also accused of being involved in the killing of an
MIT police officer and the wounding of an MBTA police officer during the
manhunt and subsequent police chase of the two brothers.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Reaction to both the fact Rolling
Stone had put an image of Jahar on its cover and the "pop star" image
it used was predictably mixed. Many people, literally thousands, were outraged,
claiming RS was glorifying Tsarnaev and terrorism, and that such glorification
would trigger copycat behavior in others who would seek the same celebrity
status. Though their outrage was often not expressed so eloquently, the point
was repeatedly made. It was obvious, and even sort of understandable, that the
people who found the cover so offensive were responding emotionally. Many
expressed concern for the victims and their families, concern that the seeing
or even just knowing about the cover would rip the scabs off still healing
wounds. Others considered it to be an homage to a terrorist who had not only
targeted Boston but struck at its very core, the traditional running of the
Boston Marathon on Patriots' Day, the day when the people of Massachusetts
celebrate the birth of the American Revolution at the Battles of Lexington and
Concord. And a large number showed their true colors, whether because of
ignorance, fear, or basal prejudices, by claiming that Rolling Stone was
promoting fundamentalist followers of Islam and the terrorist acts they commit.
As far as they were concerned, there is no place in the American sphere where
even any mention of Islam belongs. Despite the fact that, according to
the evidence we, the public, have seen, through the media and from accounts
related by some who experienced the tragedy first-hand, IT APPEARS that Jahar
Tsarnaev WAS involved in the execution of the attack, we don't yet know if, or
how much, he was involved in the planning. We also don't know if there were any
extenuating circumstances that drove him to participate. And that brings up the
question of the article inside RS; the article, the story, that speaks of the
Jahar Tsarnaev shown "on the cover of the Rolling Stone" as Dr. Hook
says.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">I'll leave it up to you to read
the accompanying article so you can come to your own conclusions. To discover
WHY the editors chose that one specific image to emblazon on its cover. To see
and understand who Jahar Tsarnaev was, what his life was like, who his many
friends were. I'll give you the basics but the RS article gives so much more.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Jahar had become a typical
American kid since his ethnic Chechen family moved to the United States.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was eight years old and had spent his life in Kyrgyzstan
until the family moved to Dagestan for one year. Then, at the age of nine he
traveled with his parents to the U.S., leaving his older brother and two
sisters behind. Soon to be known by his Americanized name Jahar, the young boy
assimilated well, adopting the English language, making quick friends, doing
well at school. The Tsarnaev patriarch, Anzor, was a traditionalist Muslim.
There was no room in his heart for extreme fundamentalists, the kinds of
followers who were radicalized, many joining terrorist cells and advocating
warlike actions against those it saw as either outright enemies or threats to
fundamental Islamic life. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">This is the father who raised the
Tsarnaev brothers. But there was another threat the Tsarnaevs feared. In their
first year in America, Anzor Tsarnaev applied for political asylum for his
family. As ethnic Chechens they could expect persecution, and worse, if they
returned to Dagestan. Asylum was granted and he was able to bring his two
daughters and his then sixteen year old son Tamerlan to Cambridge, MA. As
recent immigrants granted political asylum, the Tsarnaevs were eligible for
certain public assistance to help them establish a home and livelihoods. The
kids were enrolled in public schools. Tamerlan attended the challenging
Cambridge Rindge and Latin School before graduating and moving on to Community
College after being refused admission to the University of Massachusetts -
Boston. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">After grade school Jahar followed
Tamerlan to Rindge and Latin, where he excelled as a wrestler. He got along
well with teammates, seemed to make friends easily. Unlike his brother, who
often complained about not having friends, Jahar seemed to fit in easily in any
situation. He graduated high school and was accepted to UMass- Dartmouth where
he made more good friends. By all accounts he was a well-liked kid, he was
comfortable as an American. Or so people thought. In fact, ironically the date
was September 11, 2012 when Jahar was sworn in as a US citizen. A young, male
follower of Islam became an American citizen, with all the rights that
citizenship carried, on 9/11. Tamerlan Tsarnaev was in the US on a
green card, having been refused citizenship for violating the requirements
necessary. </span><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">So that's part of the story behind
the Rolling Stone cover. And it's part of Dzhokhar Jahar Tsarnaev's story.
</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">The point of all the background and the more in-depth article in the
magazine, was to show people how difficult it is to determine who may or may
not pose a threat to us and our American way of life. The point was to show
that the next terrorist threat can come from the kid who sat behind yours in
English Lit., the kid who partnered up with your neighbor's son at wrestling
practice, the kid who bummed a ride home from you that one time the gang went
to the movies. But sadly that story would be lost on many. The opportunity to
learn valuable information, to rethink how we look at people and assess them,
to perhaps develop a sixth sense that might warn us that a person may be
changing, may be having trouble living in the world he seemed to love while
being pulled by an idolized brother into a different world, one that hated the
world he loved, would remain lessons unlearned.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";"> </span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Yes, many people were so focused
on, so incensed by, the Rolling Stone cover that they refused to even consider
reading the accompanying article. They did not want to discuss it. Some were
enraged, incensed. Some succumbed to their emotions. One of those people is
Sergeant Sean Murphy, a tactical photographer with the Massachusetts State
Police Troopers. As an official State Police photographer, Murphy was
intimately involved with the bombing case and the hunt for the Tsarnaev
brothers. And he had knowledge of the existence of photos he and others took,
at the bombing scene, at tactical meetings and, ultimately during the manhunt
for the brothers. So it's not surprising that Sgt. Murphy was there during the
police chase that took place from Thursday evening, April 18th, when the
Tsarnaevs allegedly shot and killed MIT police officer Sean Collier, carjacked
another man, confessing to him that they were the Boston Bombers before letting
him go, and led the police on an extended chase through the streets of Cambridge into the
suburb of Watertown. During the chase, an MBTA police officer was badly
wounded, as was Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who later died either from gunshot wounds or
from being run over by a vehicle being driven by his brother, or from a
combination of injuries from both events. Regardless, Jahar eluded the police.
He abandoned the stolen vehicle he was driving and fled on foot. He continued
to elude police even as a Watertown neighborhood was locked down so police
could search every house, every outbuilding, every hiding place in the yards.
Eventually, just as police determined Tsarnaev wasn't in the area they had
searched, a citizen noticed red stains on the white plastic covering his boat.
He looked under the cover and saw a wounded Jahar laying on the floor of the
boat, not moving. He alerted police. The police fired multiple shots at the
boat, lobbed in a couple of flash grenades, and used a robot to try and remove
the plastic sheeting that encased the boat. Eventually, after getting help from
Tsarnaev's high school wrestling coach, Tsarnaev surrendered and weakly eased
his way out of the boat. Sgt. Murphy was there to document everything that
happened in that back yard right up until the moment the ambulance carried
Tsarnaev's weakened, bullet ridden and bloodied body off to the hospital.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">So Sgt. Murphy had seen first
hand, and documented photographically, a Jahar Tsarnaev who looked very
different than the soft faced, curly haired pop star staring out from the cover
of Rolling Stone with what some described as big, dreamy brown eyes. Sgt.
Murphy saw Jahar the terrorist, Jahar the child killer, the maimer, the cop
killer. He saw an American enemy, someone who had escaped political persecution
in his homeland and come to enjoy all that freedom in America had to offer only
to hatefully and violently turn against it. Along with everybody else, Murphy
was trying to process what had happened; why; how. And then Rolling Stone
decided to include an article about the before Jahar. The good Jahar. The cool
kid everybody liked. The kid who maybe turned down a meal or skipped an outing
because he was Islamic and followed its religious restrictions much the way an
Irish Catholic kid from Boston might skip a trip to McDonald's on a Friday
during Lent. But then, the magazine decided this story deserved the cover. The
Rolling Stone cover. Man, it doesn't get any cooler than that, right? And Sgt.
Murphy saw the image on the cover, the nearly angelic look, the one of the
all-American kid. And boy, was he pissed. Because some of the last images
he had shot of Tsarnaev showed him barely able to hold himself up. Barely able
to drag his battered body out of his hiding place, unable to move his left arm.
And, most importantly, with a bright red laser dot on his head, moving as he
did, staying centered on the frontal area of Tsarnaev's hat, just above his
blood-streaked face. Right where the police sniper was aiming, sniper rifle
"locked and loaded" and waiting for the go ahead to fire. Those were
the images Sgt. Murphy carried in his mind. Nevermind the images Jahar's
friends saw when they thought of him. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">So Murphy decided that we needed
to see his images. He decided that the Rolling Stone cover (again, no
consideration for the story inside that so justified the cover) was so
offensive, so insulting to the people of the greater Boston community, so
hurtful to the victims and their families, to the heroic first responders, that
he was going to release the photos he took. He admits he made that decision
knowing there would be repercussions, from his job, from the state. He knew
those repercussions could be serious enough to cost him his rank, maybe his
job. Maybe even, temporarily, his freedom if he was charged and convicted of
stealing government property. Because the images Murphy took were not his own
personal photos. They were official police photos that documented the
commission of multiple crimes and they are evidence in an ongoing criminal
investigation. But Murphy decided that we needed to see those images, that he
had no choice, that his conscience could not allow the people of greater Boston
to see and think of Jahar Tsarnaev as anything but a monster, a bruised and
bloodied monster. He wanted anybody who might be considering doing us more
harm, whether a psychopathic copycat or another Islamic terrorist, to see what
would happen to them. Though Sgt. Murphy knew he had no authorization to do so,
he contacted Boston Magazine and offered to give them copies of the images for
publication in their magazine. They, of course, accepted.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">It makes me uncomfortable when a
magazine publishes photos knowing the photographer was not authorized to
release them (as both Sgt. Murphy and Boston Magazine admitted at the outset.)
Knowing the photos are work product and belong to the state, it was
irresponsible for Murphy to attempt to get them published. He knew it. He
admitted it. Those photos should never have left the control of the State
Police. In essence, Sgt. Murphy stole the photos from his job to satisfy his
own concerns over the controversial Rolling Stone issue with Tsarnaev's image
on the cover. Interestingly, it could as easily be said that the images
released by Murphy could be viewed by potential copycats as they show that Tsarnaev
was able to (allegedly) commit the bombing and then survive a police chase and
a manhunt and live to bask in his new celebrity status. Or that they might
generate sympathy for Tsarnaev, some going so far as to say they make him into
a martyr for his cause.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">So on the one hand we have
thousands of people, most of whom did not bother to read the Rolling Stone
article and therefore totally missed the point of their running the cover
image, demanding that Rolling Stone not release the issue and, if/when that
didn't work, demanding that, at least in local stores, the issue be pulled from
inventory. On the other hand we now have a police officer who violated
procedure and very possibly broke several laws, and a local magazine that, in a
manner, aided and abetted his efforts. Once Sgt. Murphy broke the rules and
supplied the photos to Boston Magazine, the magazine made the decision to
release the photos, publishing them on its website before its next issue went
to print. It is the proverbial bell that cannot be unrung. As well, the photos
have appeared on hundreds, if not thousands, of other websites, newsfeeds, and
social networking sites.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";"> But how does the magazine
justify ITS actions? They were made aware by Murphy that he was acting on his
own without permission of his supervisors. The magazine's editors had to know,
as any reasonable person would, that Murphy had literally stolen the photos,
even if he gave them the files rather than physical prints. They were not his
to give. So Boston Magazine could be subject to receiving stolen property. Not
to mention violating copyright laws. Again they, and Murphy, cannot claim
ignorance of copyright law. Boston Magazine has published a statement that they
received the photos lawfully. Bull. They know what work product is and who owns
it, and they know the photos were from Murphy's job. When a photographer
works for an employer the employer, not the photographer, owns the copyrights.
And Boston Magazine cannot claim Freedom of the Press in such a situation, as
they have. Freedom of the Press does not apply when the press knowingly
publishes illegally gotten information, and those photos were illegally
obtained by Murphy. There are legal avenues for either Murphy or the magazine
to pursue if they wanted the photos released. That decision would have been
made by the prosecution or the court. At any rate, the prosecution could have
asked that the photos be kept under seal. But why would they consider that at
this stage? I'm sure they felt reasonably sure that the photos would not be
released without at least their knowledge, if not their consent. They likely
never conceived a State Trooper, a seasoned Sergeant, would act as
irresponsibly, and dare I say reprehensibly, as Murphy did?</span>
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">As well as the legalities
of the release of the photos, one has to question the potential damage to
Tsarnaev's trial. Has the jury pool been tainted? After all, the stated intent
for releasing/publishing the photos was to show Tsarnaev as a monster. Can the
defense claim that the release of the photos was prejudicial to their client?
Has the prosecution's case been damaged by this? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Many are lauding Murphy as
a hero. But we cannot let our emotions overcome the rule of law. Isn't that
exactly what terrorists do? Doesn't the release of the capture photos just fall
on the opposite end of the spectrum from the RS cover? When, in light of an
upcoming trial there needs to be a place of neutrality?</span><br />
<br />
P<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">ersonally, like others and
based on what I watched as it unfolded, I think that, given the evidence
publicized before this battle of the photos began, Tsarnaev is guilty of
planting one of the bombs. Whether he helped build them is speculation. Whether
he actually fired a gun at police officers is speculation. I believe he's
guilty of stealing a vehicle and fleeing police. But I also believe in his
basic right to be considered innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable
doubt. We haven't been made privvy to the possibility of extenuating
circumstances. Those could weigh heavily in his favor. There has been
speculation that Jahar Tsarnaev idolized his older brother, Tamerlan, and was
following Tamerlan's wishes. That it was Tamerlan who was the radicalized Islam
fundamentalist; Tamerlan who had trained with possible Al Quaida forces. There
have also been suggestions made that Jahar had been brainwashed and radicalized
by his older brother. Or just blinded enough by love for him that he couldn't
say no, couldn't walk away, couldn't live with the loss of his brother had
Tamerlan failed and been captured or killed. Who knows, maybe Tamerlan
threatened to step into the crowd with a suicide bomb vest and kill himself if
his brother didn't help. Any of these scenarios could help Jahar's
defense.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Given the history of the
unpredictability of American juries, especially in the past few decades in high
profile cases, this trial is not a slam dunk. The prosecution will need every
advantage it can gain. And having a rogue cop releasing evidence to the public
to make himself feel better is NOT a prosecutorial advantage. We need to stop
acting on emotions when there are legalities involved. We were all traumatized
by the events on April 15 th and the following days. We are all
sympathetic to the victims and their families. But we cannot let those emotions
cloud our judgement when it comes to applying the rule of law and using common
sense. To do so gives the terrorists the power we are claiming we don't want
them to have.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";"><a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/jahars-world-20130717" target="_blank">http://www.rollingstone.com/<wbr></wbr>culture/news/jahars-world-<wbr></wbr>20130717</a></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/07/17/boston_bomber_rolling_stone_cover_with_dzokhar_tsarnaev_is_good_journalism.html" target="_blank">http://www.slate.com/blogs/<wbr></wbr>browbeat/2013/07/17/boston_<wbr></wbr>bomber_rolling_stone_cover_<wbr></wbr>with_dzokhar_tsarnaev_is_good_<wbr></wbr>journalism.html</a><br />
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