Category Archives: Culture

Hall Of Fame Indifference.

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The induction of former San Diego Chargers linebacker, Junior Seau, into the NFL Hall of Fame raises a number of questions. Not about his qualifications for the honor. He is most certainly deserving. It raises questions about NFL team ownership; about the league’s Commissioner; about concussion protocol; about the equipment; about the game’s rules; about the sport itself.

More than a dozen former NFL players committed suicide after suffering memory loss and other effects of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) which is caused by concussions. And numerous other former players have been diagnosed with CTE. Yet for many years, the NFL has seemed to ignore the problems of concussions despite individual and class action lawsuits for unsafe working conditions. Most recently, the league settled a class action lawsuit out of court for $765 million. The settlement allowed league officials to avoid testifying under oath on what the NFL knew and when it knew it.

Likely that would have been extremely embarrassing.

Over the past 3 seasons alone, there have been nearly 700 reported concussions. And that’s just the concussions that were actually reported. How many aren’t? And how many are reported too late to protect the health of the players? There were several embarrassing incidents (including one during the Super Bowl) in which players wobbled off the field following vicious hits only to re-enter the game a few plays later. Then the next day or, in some cases, a few days later, the player was diagnosed with concussion symptoms.

Obviously, it was more important for the team to win the game than to protect the health of its players.

While it is true that the number of reported concussions has dropped each of the past 2 years, the number is still far too great. Indeed, if most any other industry experienced such injuries and unsafe working conditions, the media and the public would be calling for investigations.

Almost certainly, rule changes and improved equipment could reduce the concussions and other serious injuries. But there seems to be no real appetite for change. After all, this is football – America’s beloved bloodsport. It makes the owners, and especially the media, billions of dollars each year. Unfortunately, most of those who play the game and take the chances of permanently harming their health labor for much, much less money. Moreover, unlike other sports, their contracts are not guaranteed. So even if they are lucky enough to sign a multi-million dollar contract, most of that money could disappear in an instant; the result of a single violent play. Football fans will cheer and marvel at the play. It will be replayed in an almost continuous loop on ESPN and other networks. And the player who suffered the damage will be quickly forgotten.

For most players, they will experience one violent collision after another, some of which will cause concussions. And if the concussions happen often enough or if they are severe enough, the players will be forced to retire. Some will lose their memories and some of their motor functions. And some will do what Junior Seau did. They will kill themselves.

It’s time for change…real change.

A Texas-Sized Conspiracy Theory.

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As they say, everything is bigger in Texas and apparently tinfoil-hat paranoia is no exception. For those in the North, aka sane people, you may not be aware of Obama’s latest attempt to subjugate the people of the South under sharia law. That’s right, as a secret Muslim, President Obama has ordered the US military to “invade” Texas, declare sharia law and turn the state over to the command of the Islamic State In Mexico (ISIM). As part of the plan, the guns of all true patriots will be confiscated and Texas Walmart stores will be converted into Muslim re-education centers.

Thanks to Texas Governor Greg Abbot, the only ones standing in the way of this insidious plan are the members of the Texas National Guard who have been ordered to monitor the activities of the US military as it conducts training exercises under the guise of Jade Helm 15. (That’s right. There have been 14 previous such military exercises.)

Believe it or not, I am not quoting a satirical story from The Onion. That is the actual story as presented by radio host, Alex Jones and Facebook lunatic, Pete Lanteri.

Of course, wherever you find this sort of tinfoil-hat-like hysteria, you know the Tea Party Patriots will be fully onboard with it. They add to the paranoia through their meetings and chain emails. Then, because nobody on the right is willing to debunk such nonsense, the rumors continue to persist and grow. Almost before you can say sharia, the paranoia has gone mainstream, infecting the minds of ordinary people who are convinced that where there’s smoke, there must be fire.

The story has become so widespread in Texas and other parts of the Southwest that common sense and repeated assurances by the Obama administration and the Department of Defense have been unable to put an end to the theory.

Of course, when Operation Jade Helm (the training exercise) has ended and the conspiracy theory has not materialized, the perpetuators of the theory will take credit for stopping the takeover. “Were it not for their shining the light of publicity on the operation, our worst fears would have been realized. Without us, Alex Jones and Pete Lanteri, we would all be unarmed and praying to Allah for our freedom.” Of course, they’ll say you can reward them by listening to Jones’ radio show, reading Lanteri’s Facebook rants and patronizing their patriotic sponsors.

As H.L. Mencken once said, “Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.” That goes double for Texas.

What If We Applied The NRA Philosophy Internationally?

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Since the latest mass shooting in the United States comes at a time when Teapublicans are denouncing the Iran Nuclear Agreement, it makes me wonder: “What if we treated all armaments the same way as the National Rifle Association and its Teapublican supporters want us to treat guns?” If their answer to mass shootings is to place guns in the hands of more and more people, why not treat nuclear arms the same way?

According to NRA and Teapublican logic, that should make us all feel safer.

There are nine countries confirmed to have nuclear weapons and delivery systems. If we follow the NRA’s logic, shouldn’t we encourage all nations to obtain them? Do you feel safer knowing that Pakistan has nuclear weapons? North Korea? I suspect not. Then why should Americans feel safer knowing that crazy Uncle Larry has an AR-15 assault rifle? Why should the recently divorced woman feel safer knowing that her ex is armed with a semi-automatic handgun? Why should we feel safer in the knowledge that, without universal background checks, virtually any sociopath can obtain such firepower? Why should we feel safer knowing that domestic terrorists, such as the racist young man in Charleston, the young man in Chattanooga and the angry anti-government “patriot” in Lafayette have easy access to guns?

Of course, we shouldn’t feel safe. Because, thanks to the NRA and our insane gun laws, any American can choose from a wide array of weaponry of ever-increasing lethality.

Teapublicans say that Iran should be denied nuclear weapons at all costs. They say the Obama administration shouldn’t have negotiated any deal with Iran; that we should have increased economic sanctions until Iran buckled; or, following Netanyahu’s advice, we should just attack Iran’s nuclear installations. Yet that stance is completely counter to the Teapublicans’ stance on the ever-increasing proliferation of semi-automatic handguns and assault weapons in the US.

Why the difference?

If we want to make this a safer world, we should not allow Iran and other far less stable nations to obtain nuclear weapons. The new international agreement is the best possible way to ensure that. Likewise, we should not allow the continued proliferation of increasingly lethal guns in the US. A law requiring universal background checks and a ban on the sale of all semi-automatic weapons to civilians will reduce the number of mass shootings.

There Is No Freedom Without Responsibility.

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The Fourth of July has long been declared a national holiday so Americans can take time to celebrate our freedom. To many Americans, that makes us unique. But, in reality, the US is not the only country with freedom. Indeed, based on a study by the Economist Intelligence Unit, which looks at 60 indicators in five separate categories measuring pluralism, civil liberties, and political culture, the US ranks only 19.

That means 18 nations in the world offer greater freedom than the US. Further, 75 of the world’s nations are democracies. Another 41 are governed by a hybrid system. In fact, of the 167 nations measured, only 52 are listed as authoritarian regimes, including several friends of the US, such as Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Obviously freedom is something to celebrate. But have some Americans taken the concept of freedom too far? And are all of the citizens of the US truly free? The answer to those questions may well depend on who you ask. Certainly, the thousands of people incarcerated or on probation for drug use might not consider themselves free. Likewise, those who have been convicted of felonies and can no longer vote or find a suitable job despite having served their time may not consider themselves free.

In addition, the African-Americans who have been segregated into the poorest areas of our largest cities with under-funded schools, disproportionately high unemployment and few opportunities might not consider themselves truly free. American Muslims who are discriminated against for the way they choose to dress and worship might not consider themselves entirely free. The so-called “Dreamers” who were brought to the US by their parents at a very young age, and now live in fear of deportation, are unlikely to celebrate their freedoms. And the Native Americans who live in some of the nation’s worst conditions, and who continue to watch their traditional lands stolen by large corporations without fair compensation, may not think themselves free.

At the same time these people are denied their freedom, others – namely some greedy and mean-spirited Americans – abuse theirs.

For example, many corporate leaders, bankers and hedge fund managers use their freedom and wealth to buy favor with politicians. They then use a variety of legal tricks to “legally” steal money from ordinary Americans. They ship American jobs offshore. At the same time, they use their wealth to convince politicians to cut taxes. And for good measure, they often stash their money in offshore tax havens in order to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. Faced with less revenue, our federal and state governments cut the funding of public schools and universities. The inevitable result is that our nation lags behind many others in terms of upward mobility.

Corporate-owned news media have used their freedom to boost ratings with propaganda. Instead of reporting on things that really matter, such as bringing transparency to our government, they focus on sensational trials and violent crimes – especially those involving people of color. The result is to create more fear leading to more segregation.

Following gains by the civil rights movement, some racists in the South resurrected the Confederate battle flag under the guise of celebrating history. To the descendants of slaves, this was an obvious show of power intended to keep them in “their place.” At the same time, a small portion of our citizens have stockpiled weaponry with the express purpose of intimidating their neighbors and threatening the government to which they pledge allegiance. (Does the name Cliven Bundy ring a bell?)

Freedom, then – at least in the US – is relative. For some in the US, there is too little. For others, there is too much.

Some excuse such things by claiming that freedom is, by its very nature, noisy and messy. However, Germany is free. As a matter of fact, it currently ranks 6 places ahead of the US. Yet in Germany, it is illegal to display the Nazi flag. That may restrict the freedom of some, but it shows a clear sense of responsibility and a compassion for those harmed by Hitler’s regime.

Maybe it’s time the US embraced such values. Even after 239 years, we can still learn and improve our nation. We should understand that with great freedom comes great responsibility – that in a nation of more than 330 million, you cannot do everything you want without infringing on someone else’s freedom. That’s where responsibilities and regulations come into play. As well-educated men of means who celebrated enlightenment, I believe the Founding Fathers assumed our citizens would understand that concept.

Unfortunately, too many don’t.

The Prosperity Gospel Phenomenon.

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There have always been con men; carnival barkers imploring you to take a chance on a game you cannot win; snake oil salesmen asking you to purchase products that don’t work; and, in the modern day, hedge fund managers and bankers selling worthless stocks.

Maybe the most despicable of all are the mega-church charlatans demanding large donations to save your soul. These are people who prey on the poor, the weak, the feeble and the gullible…who promise to guarantee you a place in heaven if only you contribute a little more money to their cause. All the while, they encourage you to pray for prosperity. You think you’re praying for your own riches. But, you need only look at the net worth of these “men of God” to see who’s really prospering.

For example, John Hagee’s net worth is estimated at $5 million, Joel Osteen’s net worth is estimated at $40 million as is Chris Oyakhilome’s. Benny Hinn is estimated to be worth $42 million; E.A. Adeboye $50 million; T.D. Jackes and David Oyedepo are estimated to be worth $150 million each; and Edir Macedo’s net worth is estimated at a whopping $1 billion. But these numbers aren’t as revealing as the appeals of Creflo Dollar for his “flock” to donate $6 million so that he can have a new private jet.

It’s clear that these evangelists aren’t praying for their followers. They are preying on their followers.

None of this is really new. People like Jimmy Bakker, Ted Haggard, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell have been living lavish lives off the backs of others for generations. What is new is the unbridled greed unabashedly displayed by people like Osteen. And, if they’re ever confronted by the public for their lifestyles, they simply say that God gave it to them and, if you’ll only pray hard enough, you can live this way, too.

Riiiiight! Just pray. Better yet, become another slimy pastor and you, too, can become a multi-millionaire.

It is true that you have a better chance of becoming wealthy if you identify as a Christian. After all, Christians hold 55 percent of the world’s wealth, despite representing just 30 percent of the world’s population. But then you have that little issue of Christ’s views of the wealthy. Does not the Bible quote him as saying, “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven?”

How then do you pray for money? If you succeed in becoming rich, does that not condemn you to eternal damnation?

And though Christ implored his followers to “… go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret,” how can you justify large churches and cathedrals? Yet somewhere around a quarter of the property in the US is owned by churches…much of it tax-exempt.

Moreover, if your goal is eternal salvation, is there really any need to belong to a religion at all? Studies have shown that there is no real correlation between religion and morality. In fact, there may be an inverse relationship. Using the notion that the ends justify the means, Christians, Muslims, Jews and others are willing to kill non-believers and those from competing religions in the name of God.

Seriously? Your loving God wants you to kill those who do not believe as you do…even though the first of the 10 Commandments that define your religion is “Thou shall not kill?” It’s no wonder that a recent poll by the Pew Research Center found that the number of Americans who describe themselves as a member of a religion is declining.

Symbols Matter.

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Following the shooting of 9 people at a Bible study group in Charleston, South Carolina, some wonder why so many have called for the removal of the Confederate battle flag from the statehouse grounds. They claim that the flag is flown to commemorate the state’s history and those who died in service of the Confederacy. It’s a matter of honoring their ancestors, they say.

Really?

Since the nation’s largest ethnic group is German, should we then permit states to fly the Nazi flag on their capitol grounds as a way to honor those who died for the fatherland?

After all, there’s little difference. Both flags were used by enemies of the United States to help them identify their comrades on the battlefield. Both represented racist ideologies – the misguided belief in Caucasian superiority over all other races. Both flags are offensive to those who were victims of those ideologies. And both flags would be better erased from our collective memories.

Relegating these symbols to a museum as President Obama suggests is a fate better than they deserve. As the comedian John Oliver suggests, they “…should really only be seen on T-shirts, belt buckles and bumper stickers to help the rest of us identify the worst people in the world.“

Politicization Of Religion.

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Let me begin by stating that, although I’m not a church person, I am a religious person. My spirituality and my belief in compassion for others is an essential part of my being. Religion can play an important role in keeping order and preventing some from infringing on the rights of others. I wish everyone would follow the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” or, if you prefer, the Native American version: “Help me never to judge another until I have walked in his moccasins.”

I also believe that we would all be better off if we followed the serenity prayer: “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Almost every other aspect of religion is relative. Take the 10 Commandments. Though the most important commandment is to not kill, devout followers of many faiths – particularly those on the far right – routinely justify killing as a part of war or as a necessary part of policing. Though another commandment is to not steal, many of the pious ignore the commandment in the interests of greedy corporations and by gaming the system. Many of the so-called pious also ignore commandments pertaining to adultery (think Newt Gingrich, Bob Livingston, et al), bearing false witness (I’m referring to you Fox News Channel), honoring the Sabbath (that would get in the way of business), and coveting the possessions of others (How else are we to motivate the masses to purchase things they don’t need?).

And, even though many on the far right continue to claim the religious high ground, they continue to ignore the portions of the Bible that are inconsistent with their beliefs while demanding strict adherence to other portions of the Bible that suit their needs. They denounce abortion as murder yet call for our nation to engage in wars. They demand that monuments to the 10 commandments be placed on public property even though they refuse to follow them. They quote Biblical passages condemning homosexuality while ignoring the passages condemning divorce, the consumption of shellfish, and the wearing of more than two fabrics at a time.

Yet, every time they are confronted with their hypocrisy, they either deny the obvious, change the subject or simply state that all humans are sinners and they will be “saved” if they only ask for forgiveness.

How convenient!

One can only conclude that political right wingers are the ultimate relativists. They have no faith…no moral compass. They worship free markets and corporate profits over human kindness and compassion.

For far too many, religion is only a political tool with which to flog their opponents in the name of God. In that regard, they are no different than ISIS.

Guns For Everyone, Everywhere!

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For years, I thought the National Rifle Association could stoop no lower than its role as shill for the gun manufacturers. The US has never restricted gun ownership, but the NRA has routinely pushed for increased accessibility and ever more lethal weapons. As a result, Americans may now purchase a 50-caliber semi-automatic sniper rifle powerful enough to blow a hole in a car’s engine block at a distance of 1,000 yards. You may now own a semi-automatic assault rifle with high capacity magazines that will permit you to shoot dozens of people without the inconvenience of having to stop to reload. And, if the NRA has its way, you will soon be able to legally purchase a silencer for your weapons that will allow you to shoot people while avoiding detection.

Who wouldn’t need that?

What began as an organization dedicated to helping young men improve their marksmanship for hunting and for possible military service, has morphed into a lobbying group with a mission of eliminating all laws and restrictions with regard to the purchase and carry of handguns. Now the NRA is working on open carry laws that will allow any paranoid dimwit to openly carry a loaded weapon anywhere at any time. By contrast, in many cities and towns, martial artists are still unable to purchase or carry nunchuku, shurikens (Asian throwing stars) or certain kinds of knives. After all, without such restrictions, the national nunchuku murder rate might soar to…ummm…one. And convenience stores would be under constant threat of being robbed at shuriken point.

Sarcasm aside, those restrictions came from a day when the American public actually cared about preventing violence. From a time when the lack of a conspicuous presence of guns was a sign of advanced civilization. A time when the primary reason for owning a gun was for home protection and for hunting. A time before the gun manufacturers and the NRA convinced the most paranoid amongst us that carrying a gun was the only thing that stood between them and tyranny.

In order to keep the majority of Americans from understanding the true dangers of our obsession with guns, the NRA has successfully lobbied to prevent the government from tracking gun deaths, to prevent the registration of firearms and ammunition, to prevent universal background checks of gun purchases, to prevent so-called straw buyers from purchasing guns for felons, even to prevent pediatricians from talking to parents about gun safety in the home.

All of that is bad enough. But now the NRA is fighting proposed gun restrictions for those who have been convicted of domestic abuse and those who are mentally ill, stating, “Not only is this unjust and stigmatizing, it creates disincentives for those who need mental health treatment to seek it, increasing whatever risks are associated with untreated mental illness.”

In other words, the NRA wants everyone to own guns and to carry them everywhere. Anything less is, in the NRA’s words, “an assault on the Second Amendment.” The problem is that the NRA conveniently ignores the first part of that amendment. Yes, the amendment does say, “the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” But only after it states, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State…”

Reading the many papers written by the Founding Fathers, the intent of the Second Amendment becomes clear…since the new nation had no standing army, the Founders saw a need for a citizen militia to protect the nation. They had no concern of tyranny from within – the democratic process was considered protection from that. The real threat was from the British Army and the armies of other foreign governments. But now that the US has the most powerful military force on Earth, there is no longer a need for an armed militia. As a result, the Second Amendment has lost its meaning and its true purpose. All of those guns that are owned and carried by Americans are being used to shoot other Americans at a rate of more than 33,600 per year…roughly the equivalent of twelve 9/11 attacks each and every year!

The Founders could have never foreseen the lethality of the weapons available today. Just as they could not have imagined that a lobbying group representing a tiny fraction of the population would be so effective at convincing Congress to suspend common sense and reason.

Phoenix Demonstrations Expose Hearts And Minds Of Participants.

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Last weekend’s so-called First Amendment demonstration really wasn’t about standing up for the Constitution. In addition to sending a message that, under the First Amendment, repulsive hate-mongers have a constitutional right to say whatever they want, it sent a message of religious intolerance. It was intended to deny Muslims their First Amendment guarantee of freedom of religion. Of course, the right-wing idiots who congregated in the street outside a Phoenix mosque at prayer time to display their cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, also threatened to exercise their “Second Amendment” rights.

Hey, idiots, the Second Amendment guarantees you the right to own and bear arms as part of a well-organized militia in order to defend the United States. It doesn’t give you the right to threaten to shoot other Americans.

The people who resort to such threats have no concept of compassion, decency or responsibility. They hide behind the Constitution and the Bible, selecting only those few passages that support their narrow-minded views and ignoring the rest. They have no concept of what it truly means to be an American or a Christian. They merely want to provoke a violent reaction in order to have the satisfaction of saying “I told you so.”

That is the bad news.

The good news is that, despite the provocation and repugnant actions of the wing nuts, the Phoenix Muslim community showed great patience in the face of religious discrimination. There was no violence. And the really great news is that, this week, a group of Phoenix citizens came out to support the Muslim community. They assembled at the mosque to show that, even in Arizona, the hate-mongers are a tiny minority of the population…people who only care about their own rights while denying the same rights to others.

We would all be well-served to follow their example.

Whatever Happened To Sportsmanship?

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Tom Brady’s involvement in Deflategate is further evidence of the decline of sports. At their best, sports teach the benefits of teamwork, hard work, determination, fairness and sportsmanship. But over the years, those attributes have been replaced by the effects of money and swollen egos. Witness the seeming indifference by the New England Patriots when caught spying on practices of opposing teams and Tom Brady’s ridicule of those who have suggested that manipulating the air pressure in footballs gave him an unfair advantage.

Unfortunately, Brady and the Patriots are not alone. When it was discovered that an Auburn University booster paid Cam Newton’s father at least $100,000 to influence his son to attend the school, no punishment was meted out to either the quarterback or the university. When it was determined that a Big 10 basketball program had broken NCAA recruiting rules, the fans howled with righteous indignation that “everybody does the same thing.” When Heisman Trophy winner, Reggie Bush, was found to have received thousands in cash to attend USC, he faced no greater penalty than volunteering to return his Heisman Trophy but the school was banned from post-season play for two years. And when Heisman Trophy winner, Jameis Winston was accused of raping a Florida State student, he not only continued to play for the university. He was rewarded by becoming the NFL’s number one draft choice.

In the NBA, it was well-known that the league had two sets of rules: those for Michael Jordan and those for everybody else. An NBA official was found to have influenced the outcome of a playoff game. He was fired and paid a price. But the entire affair was quickly swept under the rug.

Cheating in sports has become so commonplace that fans of the self-proclaimed nation’s best collegiate football league, the SEC, brag “If you’re not cheating, you’re not really trying.”

It hasn’t always been this way.

When “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and the Chicago White Sox were believed to have thrown the World Series, he and several of his teammates were banned from baseball even though there was little evidence of their transgressions. Pete Rose was banned from baseball and the Hall of Fame when it was found that he had bet on other Major League games, even though there was no evidence that he bet on his own games. But, today, it seems the only sports figures held accountable for breaking the rules are children. This past year, Chicago’s Jackie Robinson West team was stripped of its Little League title when it was determined that it had fielded players from outside its designated area.

Shouldn’t today’s collegiate and pro sports figures be held to the same standard?

If it’s serious about protecting the integrity of the league (or, more accurately, establishing some semblance of integrity), the NFL should ban Tom Brady from participation for at least a year. And given the fact that the New England Patriots have been involved in multiple cheating scandals, the NFL should ban the franchise from the playoffs for at least a year. It doesn’t matter that the Patriots almost certainly would have defeated the Colts with properly inflated footballs anyway. How many times have Brady and the Patriots used under-inflated footballs in the past? How many close games have the Patriots won as the result of their cheating? Isn’t that the point? No one knows but Brady and his staff of “deflaters.”

The misguided belief that all teams cheat is no excuse for Brady’s behavior. Not all teams or players cheat. And allowing behavior such as Brady’s only cheapens sports. Severe penalties are the only way to ensure the fairness of sports that are awash in billions of dollars. But I don’t expect the NFL to impose such penalties. It is far more likely that the NFL will suspend Brady for a game or two and fine him a relatively insignificant amount of money if, indeed, it penalizes him at all.

That would be a shame. Without rules, sports are little more than entertainment…and not very good entertainment at that.