Sports and other things of the like

I've never been much of an athlete. Yeah, I played tennis and I fenced and I was above average in both. With fencing, a good deal above average. But I have never played baseball or football or any of the other sports that the average American male played growing up. But I do love some sports, and I highly admire the idea of sports representing more than just the mere athletic contest.

The Winter Olympics were a couple of weeks ago and I enjoyed watching them more than I probably should have. It is however, majorly disappointing to see the role that professional athletes have come to embody in what used to be an amateur undertaking. It used to be amazing to watch people who dedicated their lives to perfecting a sport where the monetary gain was negligible for the simple love of the game. Pro hockey, baseball, and basketball players don't belong in the Olympics. They have an arena to shine in that is beyond the hopes of the average competitor. I can understand the draw but it detracts from the purity of the symbol of the Olympics, at least to me.

On the other side of the coin, the Winter Parlympic games have been going on over the past couple of weeks. I haven't watched much, but it is amazing to see. The Paralympics are games run parallel to the Olympic games for physically handicapped athletes. Completely different from the Special Olympics, these are competitors that train as hard as any other athlete and the sports are as cutthroat and hard fought as any in the world. I watched clips of cross country skiing where paraplegics competed with people with amputated arms. It was amazing to think about the effort that it would take to ski 20k like that. The most impressive was visually impaired biathlon. Yup. Blind shooting and skiing. It was amazing to watch without knowing how it was done, but finding out made it that much more mind boggling. Look it up. If that doesn't make you whistle, then there's something wrong with you.

Now on to other sports. I've wanted to write something about Tiger Woods for a while now, but haven't really gotten it to meld in my mind. People, get over your racism. If it was a basketball or football star who cheated on his wife multiple times, the story would be 2 minutes and then forgotten. The fact that he is the greatest golfer in the history of the game, black, and liked white women has blown the thing completely out of proportion. No one is willing to say it, but it is simple racism that has made this "story" stick around as much as it has. It isn't a shocking story of an athlete behaving like a jerk; it's a story of an athlete behaving the way athletes are encouraged to act from a young age. If anything, it should be more evidence that the classic sense of marriage is antiquated and should be abandoned.

And on to one more kinda sporty topic. NASCAR. A couple of weeks ago one driver intentionally wrecked another, and admitted to it. People were shocked that such things went on and called for massive penalties for those drivers who did such things. What people forget is that that is part of the 'sport'. Take a bunch of hyped up rednecks, put them in cars that fly, and then expect them to behave like anything other than rednecks is an idiots hope. Wrecks are the most interesting thing about driving in circles anyway. It satisfies the place that chariot racing had in ancient Rome. Can it get out of hand? Yes. Is it dangerous? Definitely. The danger is why people watch and why people do it anyway. Reasonable restrictions are already in place and there is no need for more.

Kinda along the same thread, baseball season is just around the corner. The most disturbing trend in baseball recently, even more so than the overuse of steroids, is the death of the brush back pitch. Pitchers are warned and ejecting for coming inside on batters, giving the batter the distinct advantage. Sorry people, baseball is more than just the home run. The inside pitch has been a staple since the first days of the game. It is a way of giving the pitcher some way to control what the batter does. Can it get out of hand? Yes. But there should be a use of common sense in situations where it is used.

Alright, that takes care of a rambling blog that has been building for a while. Gotta admit, it feels good to write. Hate doing it on this dying computer, but hey, that's the price right? Look back soon for another political rant. Those are always fun.

Mistakes

"Everyone makes mistakes. Nobody's perfect." Those are two of my least favorite phrases in the English language. Yes, people make mistakes, that's just a given. But people who use it as an excuse for not attempting perfection really piss me off. However, that isn't the point of this entry. Smart people, wise people, those who try hardest for a goal make mistakes that dwarf those of normal people. It is part of what makes them great and one of their biggest weaknesses. That's why they must try even harder to think things through, especially those with influence. And now we're getting to the main point that I am trying to make with this entry. I've been mulling the ideas for several days now, thinking of parallels with the past and how we can avoid mistakes in the present and future.

Throughout history, the smartest, the most influential have been the ones to make mistakes that set progress back for years. Look at the founding of the United States. This country was founded by one of the most exclusive brain trusts to ever attempt to found a country. Unlike the monarchies, oligarchies, and tyrannies of the past, they had the foresight to frame a republic with a document that is still relevant over 200 years later. They set forth rights, duties, and a balanced government that was only imagined beforehand. It was a beautiful thing and the Constitution is still one of the most perfect documents in the history of the world. But even the true geniuses who founded this country were unable to imagine an economy without slavery. They accepted a great injustice for the sake of stability and economics. They sacrificed what was right, what a majority of the framers saw as a wrong, for the sake of holding onto the power and economy that slavery fueled. In less than 100 years the country was fractured over the issue, half the country unable to foresee an economy without clinging to the past, the other pushing the economy and future forward. The right and wrong of the issue was secondary justification.

The economy pushed by the Northern states had its own problems. The slavery was by circumstance and less formalized, but it was a step in the right direction. It was far from perfect, and is the direct ancestor of the problems we face today. The coal and oil powered industries that pushed the economy of the future are now 100 years out of date. The current powers that be cling to the past because it is simpler and they can't imagine an economy not driven by gas powered cars and coal burning power. They hide behind fear of instability that pushing forward will bring. Cost and difficulty are the excuses people hide behind, refusing to acknowledge the rightness of change. It isn't that the people in power are stupid, they are smart, but they are making the same mistakes that the founding fathers made with slavery. Yes, the attitudes are changing, but still people, smart people, cling to the past.

There are other examples that can be made, but that is the parallel that stuck in my head as most appropriate. Smart, intelligent people, refuse heath care reform because they don't see the necessity. Financial geniuses don't see the problems with the banks because they are blinded by their own attempts to cling to power and wealth. They aren't idiots, they are just fools. Progress needs to be made and what is right must be done for the sake of everyone. Those who hold back progress and who use their influence to scare people into voting against their self interest are as close to evil as really exist in the world.

Too long without writing

It's been too long since I've written anything here. A full month without a blog post and the new year is well under way. I decided to forgo the long and rambling one that no one would give a damn about because seriously, I know no one enjoys reading the reminiscing of a loon. But finally things have come to a head and more needs to be said than has been. This will probably ramble, and might not be coherent, but here it goes.

Last week the Supreme court overturned over a hundred years of precedent and ruled that corporations could donate without limits to political campaigns. They justified this by arguing that it was an unjust limit on free speech to force limits on donations. This is possibly the worst decision the high court has handed down since Bowers-v-Hardwick. I am against limits on the first amendment more than anyone I know, however this is a foolish argument to make. It places political office up to the highest bidder and means that politicians will jockey even more for big corporate donations. We might as well just give up democracy right now. The argument however is incomplete. If corporations have that much of a right to free speech, then how are the limits on language and nudity on network television justified? Can corporations now make false claims about their products because of their freedom of speech? A lie is a lie and corruption is corruption.

The court has always ruled that certain limits on free speech must be placed for the order of a well run society. Making terroristic threats, shouting fire in a crowded building, inciting a riot...all of these have been deemed reasonable limits on freedom of speech. Allowing unlimited corporate donations is more dangerous to the stability of the country than any of those other 'reasonable' limits.

In other news, the man who sold dowsing rods to the army and Iraqi government as bomb detectors has an arrest warrant out for him. Yup, it isn't a story that has gotten that much publicity here, but it is one that needs to be told. A guy sold 84 million dollars worth of bomb detecting wires to the army and was going to get away with it. He still has the backing of the Iraqi government, even though there is no proof that the dowsing rods work. And there is evidence of bombs going off in areas that have been 'swept' by the detectors. If you believe in dowsing, you're an idiot. The fact that the government has spent that much money and lost so many lives on a load of horseshit should piss people off more than anything. But instead the news would rather cover Sarah Palin's keynote speech at the tea party convention, or American Idol. Way to go news people. You know what's important.

Also recently, a lot has been made about Ted Kennedy's former senate seat going to a Republican. Many were surprised at this and others have been making a big deal about the backlash of the people against the raving liberal policies of the Obama administration and the Democrat controlled congress. Once again these people are making a mountain out of a molehill. The fact is simple: the woman that was the Democratic candidate in the special election was a bitch. She rubbed people the wrong way, pissed people off, and came off as generally a snob in a part of the country known for snobbery. Her track record was one filled with foolish mistakes and idiotic tendencies. I mean, the woman wouldn't even shake hands at her own rally and gave off the air that it was foolish for her to think about standing out in the cold to shake hands with the little people. It was simply a case of the wrong person being nominated and no one willing to stand up and say that. She was a fool and people are stupid for not seeing that.

Alright, not sure how much of that actually held together, but there it is. Feels good to put something out there again. Can feel my mind atrophy when I go so long without. Perhaps the bug will hit again soon. My fingers are crossed for such at least.

Fear and Panic in the 21st century

As the new year approaches and the unwitting start of a new decade rolls around on the calender, it seems appropriate that the major event in the week before the end is an attempted and failed terrorist attack. An incompetent flunkie failed to blow himself up on Christmas day and once again the panic is raised. New regulations are thrown about without thought and the idea that safety is more important than liberty is flying around conversations much more lightly than it should. This panic is the defining characteristic of the past decade, and it frightens me much more than terrorism ever has.

On one of the national news shows last night they did a piece on the full body scans that have been proposed as mandatory and are in use at several major airports throughout the US. These scans show what amounts to a nude image of the person being scanned to the monitor. The person being interviewed said that this tech would have been able to spot the bomb that the most recent bomber used when other methods failed. And then claimed that acceptance of an invasion of privacy like this was the way to handle it. While it might be true that it could have spotted the bomb, acceptance of a violation of personal privacy is never the proper way for a modern society to cope. Freedom and liberty must be the first considerations. And to have a life size nude picture broadcast against your will is a violation that shouldn't be accepted. Yeah, the choice to show yourself like that should be allowed and not condemned at all, but to be forced to against your will is akin to rape. Why not make everyone just fly naked? It would be much more fun.

The other argument that has been voiced loudly recently is to adopt the more direct profiling system that Israel uses. The argument is pure effectiveness. Israel openly profiles, openly bans and searches people without cause except the profile, and they have not had a successful hijacking in nearly 30 years. I cannot argue against the effectiveness of the policy. But liberty and justice for all was not what Israel was founded on. It is what the United States is all about. Israel has let the terrorist win by sacrificing the freedoms of a modern society in order to maintain safety. It makes the country paranoid and leads to a list of human rights violations and half the population of the area being completely disenfranchised and a cycle of violence that continues on and on. We are supposed to be better than this. We are supposed to be the shining example of freedom and hope and liberty and justice for the world to aspire to. A country founded on reason and thought, not panic and fear. When we sacrifice these ideals then it is the same as letting the terrorists win.

The thing is, the bombing attempt could have been prevented by people just doing their jobs now. He was on terror watch lists, which should have flagged him. He was known to have attended terror training camps which should have had him under surveillance. His own father called the US embassy and said that his son should not be allowed to fly. Good police work, people doing their jobs, and following up leads that weren't obtained by any violations of privacy rights should have stopped this man. The question should be why didn't it? Is it a sign that we need more people working for security? Is it a sign that the people who are working security need to do their jobs better? Is it part of a plot to make Obama look like a weak liberal pussy? Ok, yeah the last is a bit facetious but still, the point stands. We as a society, as citizens, must ask these questions and not get caught up in the panic that is so easy to be swept up in. We must find solutions that fit with our laws, our national constitution, and the idea that perfection is obtainable.

Alright, those are my ramblings. Leave some love or leave some hate. The next one might be a last 10 years in review type blog that is extremely emo and laughable for most of you. But hey, it's my blog and I can write what I want to.

Meeting Neil Gaiman

Would have written this sooner, but the experience took a couple of days to settle in. It was amazing.

Have to start by setting the ambiance. Going to Atlanta, a fog set in, the kind that we never see around here. Middle of the afternoon, the clouds seemed to touch the ground, a gray blanket that wrapped goosebumps around your arms. A picturesque fog that belonged across the pond, not in Georgia. It never rained until much later, but the fog stuck around. Waiting out in it for the couple of hours before the doors opened just heightened the anticipation. We waited behind a girl who was knitting a Doctor Who scarf, and another girl who I swear I lived in the same dorm as in college.

The doors finally opened and the crowd filed in and filled a large auditorium in no time at all. They even opened up an overflow room with a live feed of Gaiman talking. The place was packed and the anticipation heavy.

Then finally, the introduction was made, with the amazement at the audience for a 'children's author's audience' and Gaiman came out. He made jokes about the weather, then took a book from a kid in the audience, and did a reading from "Odd and the Frost Giants." First off, wow. I'd seen films of him reading, but it doesn't prepare you. He reads so wonderfully well. Made me want to go out and buy audiobooks just becuase he reads most of his own. Hypnotic, colourful, and had this 30 year old hanging on the edge of his seat like he was 3. Secondly, he takes Norse mythology and turns it into children's books. If that isn't beautiful, I don't know what is.

After reading a couple of chapters, he answered audience questions. Mostly regarding "Coraline," "The Graveyard Book," and "Odd". Though the meaning of life did come up, and he answered in a way that was possibly better than the standard 42. The question that stands out though was about "Coraline." He was asked where he got the idea for the button eyes. His honest answer was that he couldn't remember, but that whenever he finally got his rectangular, box shaped time machine, before flitting off through time and space having all sorts of adventures, he would go back to around 1991 and ask himself if he had thought of the button eyes yet. Then would tell himself to remember when he did because that would be the most popular question in the future. Yeah, it's much funnier listening to him tell it. The other question that stands out was also about "Coraline" and the answer involved asking at his local bookstore about "gothic horror for 5 year olds," the looks that brought about, and the decision to write his own.

Following the Q&A session, he read a chapter from "The Graveyard Book." It was the chapter where Bod goes and asks the poet for advice. If you've got a copy, go look it up and imagine the enthusiasm that Gaiman read it with. It was wonderful to listen to. The fact that it was one of my favorite scenes in the book was just icing on the cake.

After the second reading, the signing began. They let the families with children go first, and then did the rest by rows. It went smoothly, or at least the first part did. We were sitting in the second and third rows, respectively and were in the first group of rows called. The line was moving quite quickly, but there were enough people there that he was probably signing all night. Talking to him was amazing, even though I almost stumbled over my tongue and sounded like an even bigger fool than normal. My brother gave him an engraving he had done for a project of Morpheus and Daniel, which got sincere praise and left him still walking on clouds. Hell, when we left, all three of us were giddy as schoolgirls.

It was a wonderful experience. Neil Gaiman has no right to be as amazing a person as he is. That much talent wrapped up in a nice guy. If you're not reading his stuff, go find some now. If you are, then yes, he is as awesome as he seems.

It was 20 years ago today...

Monday marked the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall. It's one of those events that I can remember watching unfold and being amazed at. Even more than Tienanmen square. The wall was such a symbol of oppression, of the opposition of what America stood for. It had a feeling like the pyramids, of permanence and menace that was unmatched. A place where taking one step over a line would get you shot.

Now it is barely a memory for those who live in Berlin. A nightmare for the older generations, most of whom have already passed. What lessons have we learned? Not many it seems. Just a reminder of how old some of us are.

Thoughts on off year elections and Fort Hood

Trying to get back into the habit of writing while a topic is relevant. Might take some time and some getting used to, but here it goes. This past Tuesday, in a "shocking" reversal from last year, several important elections went to Republican candidates. The media and the Left seemed to be surprised at this turn out, and the Right has seen it as furthering their agenda. Both sides are going to the wrong conclusions. The situation would be humorous if it wasn't such serious business. Heads must remain level, and the conclusions must be drawn in small steps.

Let's start with the Left's reaction. They have tried to play it off as nothing, but the way they say things reveals their true feelings. They are scared that after finally regaining control of congress and the white house that they will lose it even quicker. They will move to abandon principles that seem to raise the public ire, and what little spine they had left will vanish. The Left suffers from a major disbelief that the center of the country is more to the right than it actually is. They were elected on a platform of ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and on health care reform. And they have fallen through, seen as dragging their feet, and as a complete failure. Instead of focusing on their principles, standing for something, they sell out the principles that they were elected on. Democrats in congress fight among themselves like rats over the last scrap of cheese in amaze. And then they try to compromise in the best traditions of republican government, but compromise is impossible when one side is unwilling to move. The Right simply opposes anything the Left puts forth and the Left refuses to take the initiative and push something through in line with what the people actually want. The half assed health care reform that is being put forth is worse than not doing anything. Make radical changes, that is what you were elected for. Don't be scared of it because someone like Glen Beck is against it. Contrary to what he wants to believe, he is not representative of the majority of America. There is not a "silent majority" that opposes everything you are doing. You just have to have the backbone to do something.

The Right on the other hand is claiming a victory for their principles. There is no evidence of that what so ever. But there has been a backlash against the Democrats which they have been able to capitalize on in a very very small way. The petty infighting and ineffectiveness of the Left in congress and across the country has done more to harm the Left than anything the Right has ever done. Just they understand enough of how to capitalize on their opponents mistakes. The Right is much better at seeming effective, which is what swayed votes their way this time. If the Left could make something happen, something that is felt on the streets, something that is for the good of the country and the world, then that would squelch the backlash.

Now for the much touchier subject, the shootings at Fort Hood. It is a tragedy of grave proportions. But it should not be used as a lynch pin for more racism. The fact is the man who did the shooting was an doctor and a major, educated and a career army officer. An American citizen who had served his country for years. No evidence that I have heard is anywhere near proof that he was a Muslim extremist, sleeper agent, or anything of the like. He was an army man who lost it. That is what the focus should be on. The lives that were lost are heartbreaking. But the backlash that will follow in public perception and extremist media is a disgrace to everything that those in the military supposedly fight for.