PoliticalSports: The Ultimate Game

March 13, 2008

Scholarships and Varsity College Sports

Bill Pennington, of the NY Times, has written a great series about the downside of College Varsity athletic scholarships. I would recommend it for anyone vaguely interested in the craziness of high school and college athletics. You can find one article here, and another here.

I have some connection to college sports. I played football at a Div. I school when I was a freshman, then quit and moved to a swimming pool, where I played varsity water polo for three years. I left the sport for many years, but returned about 7 years ago as a volunteer coach for the now club water polo team of my alma mater. To some degree I see what the impact is on many of the students and the strain it places on their lives. I have become a huge advocate of the club college sports scene. I will write more of that at another time. Please read the articles. Mr. Pennington does a great job of describing many of the conflicts with our current athletic system.

Posted by Chip Spear at 9:04 AM | Comments (0)

March 12, 2008

America's Racist Society

There is no question that we still live in a very prejudiced society. Whether it is racial, sexual, religious, physical or whatever, we seemed consumed with labeling people in categories, analyzing reactions by categories then try to deny that we are acting in a way which confirms those categories. Yesterday, comments by Geraldine Ferraro came to light which some construed as racist. She said that Barack Obama got to his position partly because of his race. (CNN)

"In her first interview with Daily Breeze, published late last week, Ferraro said "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman, he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept," Ferraro told the newspaper. She also said Hillary Clinton had been the victim of a "sexist media."

Is this racist? Is it true? It could very well be. People are certainly voting for these candidates because they are black or a woman or white, depending whether you are Barack, Hillary or John. Pollsters and media folks continually break down voting patterns by race, sex and religion almost daily. Does anyone really think that these candidates have achieved their respective positions without taking advantage of some cultural "wave"? Granted this is not the only reason, but I am sure it is a factor. People are excited about the fact that a "black" (he is half white and half black) and a woman are the two leading Democratic candidates. I would contend that many people are supporting their respective campaigns for that very reason. Now a high profile person points that out, and she is blasted by the media. What is their goal in doing so? Perhaps they are helping to stir the pot to generate more viewers. They certainly do what they can to keep race and sex a big part of the political scene. Whatever the real motives, and I am sure they are multifaceted, it sure is interesting.

Posted by Chip Spear at 8:46 PM | Comments (0)

March 11, 2008

That Uncontrollable Urge

Sex, sex, sex. Ah, old Mother Nature sure likes to throw a curve or two into our lives, now doesn't she? Or at least it does for Eliot Spitzer, Governor of New York. Of course, he is not the only one who has succumbed to urges that he or she rationally knows will derail their chosen path. Certainly Eliot knew that his actions were illegal and would lead to his downfall if caught. He knew that he was potentially destroying his marriage and family. He knew that he was putting his career in jeopardy. He knew he was being hypocritical, given his prosecutorial history as Attorney General of NY and Governor. And yet, he still hired a prostitute and had her cross state lines.

So, why would someone in his position destroy so much of his life? What is driving him? That is a silly question really, in the sense that it is so complex that one almost shouldn't even bother asking. But of course, we do. Why does anyone go to a prostitute when they are in a supposedly happy marriage? Obviously they are not getting what they sexually want from their spouse. And therein is the problem.

Is it the culture, or is it something that is inherent in the differences between men and women? Why is it that men have had a desire to continually seek sexual satisfaction outside of their marriages? Do men want to cheat? Or perhaps they are inclined to have sex, more often, in many different forms than are acceptable to their mates? I am sure this also has something to do with the quality of their relationship, but not entirely. This condition is so pervasive, and historical that I feel it extends well beyond the quality of a relationship. One can't individually blame all men or women for this. Maybe it is the Venus/Mars thing.

Posted by Chip Spear at 8:57 AM

May 16, 2007

The Huge Falwell Legacy

I listened to David Gregory interview Chris Matthews yesterday morning while driving into work. Chris described Falwell's political impact on national politics. Matthews said that Falwell was responsible for bringing a huge group of fundamentalists into the political arena by appealing to their concerns that liberal attitudes were destroying the country. Matthews said that almost 30 million of the 127 million who voted in the last election were right wing fundamentalists somehow related to the Falwell movement. Matthews suggested that most of these people would not have voted if it had not been for Falwell. Think about that, almost 25% of the last election. That is an astounding number. 25% of voters were followers of a guy who said that the reason the terrorists flew those planes into the World Trade Center was because of our liberal values. He blamed the gays, liberals and anyone who believed in a woman's right to choose. They were the ones to blame. Hmmmmm.

Posted by Chip Spear at 7:21 AM

March 18, 2007

The Mortgage Crisis - This is not a new story

I remember seeing a report on one of the news magazine shows a couple of years ago about the huge number of people around the country, but especially in the west who took out these sub-prime mortgages. The concern at the time was that a day of reckoning was going to come. The housing market would eventually change, and folks would suddenly be hit with huge payments, something their paychecks could not cover. I seem to recall that it made the news for a few days then disappeared, as most important news items do in this MTV world. No one paid much attention, until now. And suddenly it is the banks fault. (Reuters)

It is hard to blame everyone who took out these loans, but buying a home is serious business. One borrows a tremendous amount of money. I would think that you should always have a CPA or lawyer review the terms before signing. I feel extremely bad for anyone who might have to default, but this is partly their own fault.

Many people accepted complex mortgages to buy homes that were probably out of reach, but deals such as 100-percent financing and adjustable-rate mortgages that initially carried low monthly payments encouraged excess, critics contend.

"The quality of the loan has everything to do with this crisis," said Josh Nassar, vice president for federal affairs at the Center for Responsible Lending in Washington.

Among the biggest culprits were the so-called "2-28" loans that offered low interest rates and payments for the first two years, but then spiked up. Many borrowers misunderstood the terms or thought they could refinance, and found themselves stuck with mortgages that they could no longer afford.

Buying a house is serious business. One is borrowing a tremendous amount of money to purchase a home. I would think that in such a situation a potential buyer would have the agreement reviewed by a CPA or lawyer. As bad as the mortgage lenders may be, they are not the only ones to blame here. I feel very bad for anyone who might have to default on their mortgage, but they need to accept some of the responsibility.

Posted by Chip Spear at 12:14 PM

May 22, 2006

And the Problem Resides Where?

Troubling. (AP)

Prisons and jails added more than 1,000 inmates each week for a year, putting almost 2.2 million people, or one in every 136 U.S. residents, behind bars by last summer......

Men were 10 times to 11 times more likely than women to be in prison or jail, but the number of women behind bars was growing at a faster rate, said Paige M. Harrison, the report's other author.

The racial makeup of inmates changed little in recent years, Beck said. In the 25-29 age group, an estimated 11.9 percent of black men were in prison or jails, compared with 3.9 percent of Hispanic males and 1.7 percent of white males.

Marc Mauer, executive director of The Sentencing Project, which supports alternatives to prison, said the incarceration rates for blacks were troubling.

"It's not a sign of a healthy community when we've come to use incarceration at such rates," he said.

Posted by Chip Spear at 8:54 AM | Comments (1)

May 17, 2006

Catching Tom Friedman

F.A.I.R. has a rather amusing timeline on Tom Friedman and his continually slipping 6 month timelines for Iraq. (FAIR)

Friedman's appeal seems to rest on his ability to discuss complex issues in the simplest possible terms. On a recent episode of MSNBC's Hardball (5/11/06), for example, Friedman boiled down the intricacies of the Iraq situation into a make-or-break deadline: "Well, I think that we're going to find out, Chris, in the next year to six months - probably sooner - whether a decent outcome is possible there, and I think we're going to have to just let this play out."

That confident prediction would seem a lot more insightful, however, if Friedman hadn't been making essentially the same forecast almost since the beginning of the Iraq War. A review of Friedman's punditry reveals a long series of similar do-or-die dates that never seem to get any closer.

The citations are numerous and funny in context, check them out.

Posted by Chip Spear at 12:31 PM | Comments (0)

May 9, 2006

Our Great Country

Time magazine reports in their current print edition the following statistics:

63% - The portion of Americans ages 18-24 who could not locate Iraq on a world map, according to a survey.

50% - The portion of Americans ages 18-24 who could not find New York State.

And one wonders why we have the problems we do in this country.

Posted by Chip Spear at 3:14 PM | Comments (2)

May 5, 2006

Fox Cuts Back Across the Field

Earlier this week, the Mexican Congress passed a law that would have made Mexico one of the most permissive drug countries in the world. Yesterday Vincente Fox reversed direction, said he would not sign the bill and sent it back for revision. (AP)

Mexican President Vicente Fox backed off signing a drug decriminalization bill that the United States warned could result in "drug tourism" and increased availability of narcotics in American border communities.

Fox reversed course Wednesday and said he was sending the bill back to Congress for changes, just one day after his office had said he would sign it into law. The measure would have dropped criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other drugs.

I wish I could get the phone logs of White House calls over the past couple of days. I would be content to see the ones to Mexico and specifically to Fox and his administration. I am sure George put incredible pressure on the Mexicans to reverse their decisions. The administration would hate to see Mexico change its policies. I think they are terrified that another approach to solving drug problems might work. One can only speculate why.

Posted by Chip Spear at 8:26 AM | Comments (2)

May 2, 2006

Harvard Sophomore Suffers Knockout Blow

This babe is down for the count. It appears that not only did she copy from one book, but she copied from two. What a scumbag. And she goes to Harvard....how does that happen? (CNN)

A reader alerted The New York Times to at least three portions of "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life," by Kaavya Viswanathan, that are similar to passages in the novel "Can You Keep a Secret?," by Sophie Kinsella.

While the plots of the two books are distinct, the phrasing and structure of some passages is nearly identical, the Times reported Tuesday.

Posted by Chip Spear at 3:47 PM | Comments (2)

April 26, 2006

The Today Show and the Duke Lacrosse Scandal

I watched a segment on The Today Show this morning. Matt Lauer interviewed the President of Duke and the President of North Carolina Central University. He repeated tried to provoke the two gentlemen by questioning the scandal, their reactions and the process that Duke implemented to find the truth to the tragic events of the lacrosse party and alleged rape. I have followed the case fairly closely and the thing that strikes me is that there are many unanswered questions on both sides of the issue. Nothing seems too clear about either the guilt or innocence of the two guys accused of the rape. Neither does the woman have a clean bill of health. In addition, her friend gave two different versions of what transpired at the house. I have read way too much conflicting information to know what actually occurred. For anyone to accuse anyone with certainty at this point seems grossly irresponsible.

Matt tried to make much of the fact that the lacrosse team was known for problematic behavior, drinking, lewdness and general rowdy actions. I would contend that that sounds like almost any group of college athletes. All the ones I know hold rowdy parties, with lots of alcohol and as much lewd behavior as they can get away with. What is new about this? Not much. Mr. Lauer seemed more intent on fanning the flames of controversy instead of bringing new insights into this horrid affair.

I suppose we should keep in mind that the intent of his show is to get high ratings, not necessarily find the truth. He can act like he is seeking accuracy, but the end goal is drawing viewers, which mean more money. We should never lose sight of his motives.

Posted by Chip Spear at 9:12 AM | Comments (1)

April 24, 2006

Something Different

This blog doesn't have anything to do with sports, or politics, however it is a very interesting blog. Explore, especially the interactive toys. It is fun, interesting and could be a bad time waster. It is a very special place.

Posted by Chip Spear at 10:57 AM | Comments (1)

April 22, 2006

Playing With Iran

As we engage more with Iran, over Iraq, terrorism and nuclear development, we should keep in mind that they are not playing the same game, or at least they are not playing by the same rules. If you read the TNR article linked in my post yesterday, you will know that the Iranian leadership has a very different perception of human life. They were, and still are, more than willing to send tens of thousands of young children to their death, clearing minefields and acting as a first attack wave against enemy combatants. We, on the other hand, go crazy when our death toll crosses 2000 soldiers. The major media reports every casualty on the nightly news.

Sit down at the table and play poker. How far are we willing to go? Iran is willing to suffer huge death tolls, we are not. How do you bluff? What do they want that we have? Why should they give up their nuclear program? Do you think they really care about our threats? Would an attack on their nuclear facilities really stop their program? We don't even seem to know where many of their labs and factories are, since many are underground or dispersed around the country. If we did attack they would probably respond with terrorist attacks against the U.S. Are we ready for malls, busses, trains, and packed stadiums to explode? I doubt it. In a game of chicken they seem to have a better hand.

Posted by Chip Spear at 11:45 AM | Comments (0)

April 18, 2006

Duke Lacrosse

Karen Russell at Huffington Post writes about the Duke lacrosse rape scandal (HuffPo)

I'm also wondering what we should call her? Victim? Accuser? Single mom? Exotic dancer? Part-time student? Stripper? If you are Tucker Carlson, you call her a "crypto-hooker" and if you are Rush Limbaugh, she's a "ho".

Nothing like fair, balanced reporting, or that un-American concept "innocent until proven guilty." There are many unanswered questions about this case. I read reports about the woman, then more reports about the team and the party and I come out confused. I am not sure what to think, but to uncategorically blame one side in this is reprehensible. It appeals to the worst of our sensibilities. Until all the facts are known, I think it behoves anyone with half a brain to keep an open mind.

Posted by Chip Spear at 1:30 PM | Comments (2)

Subject 2 Discusion

Join me this evening at 10:30 Eastern Time on Subject 2 Discussion, an Internet Radio program hosted by the always interesting and amusing Shaun Daily. You can listen by going to LVRocks, then click on "Listen". It is always a fun time for me.

Posted by Chip Spear at 12:39 PM | Comments (1)

April 6, 2006

America is Fat

Yesterday the government reported that approximately 2/3 of Americans are fat and almost 1/3 qualify as obese. IT IS TIME TO GET OFF THE COUCH AND STOP EATING JUNK FOOD!!!!

It is time to start a mission for America to get in shape. Men's Journal has a great Health and Fitness section (MJ) with fabulous workouts plus some good eating tips. Let me know if you are aware of good sites for women. I will look around for some good sites for women too. I will post more info and links as I find it.

Remember to take a walk today. Climb the stairs instead of taking the elevator.

Posted by Chip Spear at 1:17 PM | Comments (1)

April 2, 2006

A Few Good Men

I was channel surfing last night and stumbled onto the last 15 minutes of "A Few Good Men". Tom Cruise's scene with Jack Nicholson brought up some interesting parallels to our present situation. Check out the video.

Posted by Chip Spear at 9:18 PM | Comments (1)

April 1, 2006

April Fools

It is late on Saturday night, April 1st, April Fools Day. So yesterday, in my video I said to stop by and I would let you know my April Fools joke for this year. Do you know? Well, we have been fooled, most all of us. The joke, unfortunately is on us. And who pulled off one of the biggest jokes on the world? Our Illustrious Leader (OIL), G. W. Bush. Oh, how partisan you say, so left wing. Perhaps, but consider; a war based on lies costing at least a trillion dollars, thousands of deaths, tens of thousands of injuries that are not properly cared for because of budget cuts, absolutely huge budget deficits, increasing income disparaties between the rich and poor, mismanagement throughout the government, a joke of a Department of Homeland Security, the New Orleans disaster, a mounting energy crisis that the administration refuses to adequately address, serious education issues related to "No child left behind", a medicare prescription drug program that helps only the drug companies and no one understands, global warming that "needs more study" as the ice caps melt, Osama bin Laden still running around Afghanistan, Islamic fundamentalism growing throughout the Middle East, Iran and North Korea developing nuclear weapons and supporting terrorists, the country becoming increasingly politically and culturally polarized, lobbyists controlling our government, a President ignoring laws on whim, illegal wiretaps, leaking the name of CIA agents.....I could go on, but you get the idea. America voted him into office. The joke is on his supporters and unfortunately the rest of us, who failed to defeat him....twice.

Posted by Chip Spear at 10:29 PM | Comments (2)

March 30, 2006

Immigration Game Update

We are still early in the first quarter of this game, but the play is hot, fun-filled and furious. Check out the video.

Posted by Chip Spear at 12:20 PM | Comments (1)

The Bible as a Text Book

ABC News reported this morning that the Georgia legislature passed a law stating that the Bible would be classified as a text book and used in the Georgia public schools. I wonder if they made the same accommodation for the Koran and Torah? Nothing like separation of church and state or imposing religion is there?

Posted by Chip Spear at 8:44 AM | Comments (3)

March 22, 2006

This is Great Story

A score for American Technology and western thought in our war against the folks from the 10th Century. NASA launched three microsatellites into space today to study the Earth's magnetic fields. (AP).

Posted by Chip Spear at 3:21 PM | Comments (1)

Paranoia Hits the Church

The Catholic Church is obviously feeling a little more paranoid than usual recently. Dan Brown's novel, "The Da Vinci Code," is about to be released as a movie and the church is worried about its influence. The Church feels threatened by this piece of fiction, using history as a starting point for a fast-paced conspiracy theory thriller. Web sites, articles, books and spokesmen are all on the offensive to counteract the books claims. (CSM) The Church must be concerned that people will be influenced by the book's claims and come to believe it more than the Church. (Amazon) You might also find this 40 minute interview on NPR's Fresh Air extremely interesting.

Posted by Chip Spear at 10:46 AM | Comments (0)

March 21, 2006

Sharia Keeps On The Offensive

We should never forget who and what we are dealing with. (ABC)

Despite the overthrow of the fundamentalist Taliban government and the presence of 22,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, a man who converted to Christianity is being prosecuted in Kabul, and a judge said Sunday that if convicted, he faces the death penalty.

Abdul Rahman, who is in his 40s, says he converted to Christianity 16 years ago while working as an aid worker helping Afghan refugees in Pakistan.

Relatives denounced him as a convert during a custody battle over his children, and he was arrested last month. The prosecutor says Rahman was found with a Bible.

Posted by Chip Spear at 2:23 PM | Comments (0)

March 20, 2006

Who Are We?

I get up everyday and read the NY Times. Occasionally I finish reading the front page, editorials and op-eds and feel sick. I think how horrible the country is or how disgusted I am with the government. I get discouraged by the thought that we have to endure almost three more years of this administration.

Congressional Republicans support a President who allows torture and misled the country into a war costing hundreds of billions, if not trillions, of dollars. Thousands of American soldiers are killed and injured while VA funding, especially medical services, is cut. Rendition, torture, deception, wiretaps, secret prisons, prisoners dying from torture, wars based on lies, threatening the courts, interpreting laws to suit personal needs, appointing friends and supporters to high positions of power, acting outside the law, suspending habeas corpus, tax cuts for the wealthy and the largest budget deficits in history all occur and yet there are millions of supporters who think this is more than fine. I read today that Bush's Budget proposal cuts cancer prevention programs. The upper 2% in our country get richer while the lower 98% get comparatively poorer.

Internationally, our war inflames anti-American passions around the world. We systematically break international agreements. Global warming might as well be a Disney fantasy film. We accuse three countries of being the "Axis of Evil", invade one of them and then are outraged when the other two refuse to give up their nuclear ambitions. One wonders if they might want to protect themselves. For the most part we have completely ignored Darfur, where thousands die at the hand of government backed genocidal militias.

Last week on a TV show called Boston Legal James Spader's character ran down a litany of occurences, some of which I mentioned above, the lying about war, the torture, the threat to civil rights, etc. and asked, "Where was the outrage? Where were the protests?" Yes, there are a few small ones, and some of us care; we read blogs, post comments (many of which are rather inflammatory) and support organizations like MoveOn.org, which is a good start and certainly better than nothing. Some of us work for candidates or participate in our communities. But for the most part the country does little. Bush’s poll numbers drop, but folks generally go to work and spend their nights watching television or playing with the latest tech toys.

Too many of us blindly follow our teams; Republicans, Democrats, Green Party, Christians, Jews, Muslims, environmentalists, oil industry, whatever. We suspend our analytical thinking and refuse to question our own decisions. We see too much of the "my team, right or wrong" attitude. How else to explain the thinking of 50,000 people turning out to mourn someone like Slobodan Milosevic, a known torturer and political, murderous thug? The same thing happens here. We are not who we say we are. We do not respect other points of view. We act arrogantly. We do not respect civil or human rights. We are not honest with ourselves, let alone others.

We have allowed Bush to become a leader who does not embody long standing American values. And the fault is ours, as individuals. We must do more, even those who have always opposed the administration. To those who write here, or act in other ways, get more friends involved. Today, do a little more than yesterday. It is our job to continue to seek better means of communication in the hope that somehow we will find a way to get people to listen. We cannot stop trying to find the key, for as James Spader says at the end of Boston Legal , "We have become a very mean country."

Posted by Chip Spear at 2:23 PM | Comments (1)

March 17, 2006

A Few More Swimsuits

I realize in the world of sports magazines that the end of January until mid-February is the season for swimsuit issues. SI has their issue two weeks after the Super Bowl. They publish their "right after the Super Bowl" issue then release their babe photos. Well, it got cold again here in the NE of the old U.S. and I started thinking about the beach again. Plus I received a link to this fun-filled and rather racy site from our fans down under, so I am providing a link for your late winter and just about spring pleasure.

Posted by Chip Spear at 4:49 PM | Comments (0)

March 16, 2006

Muslims Keep Hammering at Western Civil Rights

The NY Times reported today that the Dutch developed a film meant to inform immigrants about what life is like in the Netherlands, a very liberal society, with nude beaches, gay rights and permissive drug laws. (NYT)

"People do not make a fuss about nudity," the narrator explains.

That lesson, about the Netherlands' nude beaches, is followed by another: homosexuals have the same rights here as heterosexuals do, including the chance to marry.

Just to make sure everyone gets the message, two men are shown kissing in a meadow.

The scenes are brief parts of a two-hour-long film that the Dutch government has compiled to help potential immigrants, many of them from Islamic countries, meet the demands of a new entrance examination that went into effect on Wednesday. In the exam, candidates must prove they can speak some Dutch and are at least aware of the Netherlands' liberal values, even if they do not agree with all of them.

Opponents of the tightening immigration policies have pointed to the film - a DVD contained in a package of study materials for the new exam - as an attempt by the government to discourage applicants from Islamic countries who may be offended by its content.

Critics are slugging away at the government, saying they are trying to stop Muslim immigration. This is clearly another attempt on the part of Muslims to look in the long term, immigrate into European countries, then get those countries to implement laws more in keeping with Sharia. The Netherlands has already had substantial problems with new immigrants in this regard.

Policy makers say they are concerned about an estimated 600,000 immigrants already here who do not speak proper Dutch. Poor housing and high unemployment among minority groups is contributing to ethnic tensions in some of the largest cities, where incidents of violence against Jews and homosexuals have raised new concerns.

We should all be aware that this is a major problem which will not soon disappear.

Posted by Chip Spear at 1:11 PM | Comments (1)

U.S. On the Defensive

Are we really that afraid to stand up for our rights of free speech? The editor of the University of Illinois paper was fired for publishing the controversial Muslim cartoons. (CNN)

The Illini Media Co. board of directors, which comprises students and faculty, voted unanimously to fire the editor after a review "found that Gorton violated Daily Illini policies about thoughtful discussion of and preparation for the publication of inflammatory material," according to a statement.

Gorton has said he sought out advice from The Daily Illini's former editor-in-chief and others before deciding to run the cartoons. He has said that accusations he tried to hide his decision were wrong.

Controversial? Yes. Insulting? It depends on one's perspective. The newspaper should report news, even if it is controversial. In fact it is more important when it is controversial. And that means actually publishing the cartoons in question. This sort of act only gives power to those who want to control what others say, write or do.

Posted by Chip Spear at 10:29 AM | Comments (1)

March 14, 2006

Read the Muslim Game Plan

There are too many examples of the Muslims plan for violence against Western society. You can read another here.

..."The whole approach towards Muslim militants was based on appeasement. 7/7 proved that that approach does not work - yet it is still being followed. For example, there is a book, The Noble Koran: a New Rendering of its Meaning in English, which is openly available in Muslim bookshops.

"It calls for the killing of Jews and Christians, and it sets out a strategy for killing the infidels and for warfare against them. The Government has done nothing whatever to interfere with the sale of that book.

"Why not? Government ministers have promised to punish religious hatred, to criminalise the glorification of terrorism, yet they do nothing about this book, which blatantly does both."

Perhaps the explanation is just that they do not take it seriously. "I fear that is exactly the problem," says Dr Sookhdeo. "The trouble is that Tony Blair and other ministers see Islam through the prism of their own secular outlook.

They simply do not realise how seriously Muslims take their religion. Islamic clerics regard themselves as locked in mortal combat with secularism...

One of these days the governments in the West will begin to tell people the truth about the threat within their own communities. Let's hope it is soon, because the fundamentalists are on the march.

Posted by Chip Spear at 4:08 PM | Comments (1)

March 6, 2006

Oscar Makes Me Sick

I am sick of Oscar, and I don't mean the Grouch, coverage. Thank goodness this doesn't last more than a day or two after the event. I turned on the TV this morning to one of the trash shows, I usually try to listen to the "news" segments, all 45 seconds of them, to learn if anything really significant happened during the night. I was overwhelmed with dresses, makeup and smiling faces of people who surviver by pretending they are someone else most of the time. Let's see, Darfur, the Iraq War, Plamegate, wiretaps, conspiracies, DeLay, Abramoff, Islamists trying to kill cartoonists, more Katrina videos, torture, Congress stonewalling investigations, Katherine Harris on the run, the President breaking the Non-Proliferation Treaty, South Dakota banning abortions, just to name a few rather important issues and we have Oscar, all day, all the time.

Posted by Chip Spear at 4:25 PM | Comments (1)

March 3, 2006

Cartoonists are Still in Hiding

The Cartoonists in Denmark who participated in the Mohammed uproar are still afraid for their lives, five months after publication. Please refer to my post below, where I urge that the War on Terror be renamed. We are at war and this is serious stuff. These people clearly threaten our culture for the worse. You can read more here.

Four months after the cartoons were published, the Police Intelligence Service still doesn’t think it’s safe for the cartoonists to live in the open in Denmark.

They are therefore still under police protection at secret addresses. From sources near to the cartoonists, Dagbladet.no is informed that some of them are receiving help from a psychologist to them deal with the situation.

"None of them had thought that their cartoons would create such a worldwide ruckus," the source says.

Posted by Chip Spear at 2:46 PM | Comments (0)

A Few Good Lessons for All of Us

Tom McMahon writes about some lessons he has learned in the 15 years since his 8 year old son suffered a severe brain injury which left him unable to walk, feed himself or talk. It is well worth the read here.

Posted by Chip Spear at 2:39 PM | Comments (1)

March 1, 2006

The Islamic Threat

The Islamic threat is real, and moderates, wherever they are, do not appear to be up to the challenge of stopping the fundamentalists. I would highly recommend reading this article. The sooner we are aware of the real threat, the better off we will all be. The Koran does not believe in religious diversity or individual religious freedom without serious consequences. It is a religion of domination; religious, political, cultural and philisophical.

Posted by Chip Spear at 5:05 PM | Comments (0)

February 28, 2006

Loch Ness Monster in Lake Champlain?

I sure hope this is true. (ABC)

This site sure has some fun nonsense.

Posted by Chip Spear at 4:40 PM | Comments (1)

This is a Little Scary

Fast food ice is dirtier than toilet water.(ABC) No more ice for me, that is for sure.

Posted by Chip Spear at 4:37 PM | Comments (2)

Apple Scores

I read the news and had a smile on my face. Apple continues to open doors, expand beyond what we expect. It is innovative and clever. It is not perfect, but it always seems to create products that stand out in a market known for invention. One is hard pressed to think of another "computer" company who is as creative and well known for design and innovation. After reading the article here, go to Apple's website.

Apple Computer Inc. (Nasdaq:AAPL - news) on Tuesday introduced a new iPod "Hi-Fi" home stereo system and a new Mac mini powered by an Intel (Nasdaq:INTC - news) chip the company said was nearly five times faster than the previous version.....

Apple also introduced on Tuesday a new Mac mini with a single core Intel chip as much as three times faster than the previous version. He also said the Mac mini with an even more powerful dual core Intel chip was nearly five times as fast as the previous version.

The Mac mini is Apple's entry level machine aimed at people who already have a computer or are thinking about replacing one because it is sold without a monitor, keyboard or mouse.

Posted by Chip Spear at 3:04 PM | Comments (0)

February 20, 2006

The West Clearly on the Defensive in Cartoon Controversy

The Muslim world is on the attack, and from all accounts is doing exceedingly well. With election victories in Palestine and Iran, growing influence in Egypt and riots and demonstrations all over the world to list, the West finds itself questioning its actions, motives and policies seeking to mollify any and all policies inciting Muslim anger. The response of many westerners is to call for calm, to reach out to Islamic moderates, engage in dialogue, to ask westerners to be more considerate when they joke or criticize the Muslim religion or mores. Basically they are asking that people in the west practice self-censorship.

Self censorship is not necessarily bad, we do it all the time. We don't insult people at work, we don't tell wives or girlfriends they are overweight. We don't tell our best friends that something they did or are planning to do is not a good idea. We don't tell people that many of their opinions are stupid, whites don't use the word nigger, when many blacks do and we usually practice a certain amount of restraint rather than make some dumb sexist, cultural remark or joke. I am sure you do this all the time. I know that many times when I workout at my pool I see many ways that other swimmers can improve their strokes. Do I criticize them, or even make a suggestion that they something? Almost never, I keep my mouth shut.

So one might ask how this is different, which I think it clearly is. We are engaged in a war, both physically in Iraq and Afghanistan and culturally against Islam. You might think that this is harsh and extreme, but events would suggest otherwise. The publisher of the cartoons states yesterday in the Washington Post. (WaPo)

I commissioned the cartoons in response to several incidents of self-censorship in Europe caused by widening fears and feelings of intimidation in dealing with issues related to Islam....

Our goal was simply to push back self-imposed limits on expression that seemed to be closing in tighter.

At the end of September, a Danish standup comedian said in an interview with Jyllands-Posten that he had no problem urinating on the Bible in front of a camera, but he dared not do the same thing with the Koran....

So, over two weeks we witnessed a half-dozen cases of self-censorship, pitting freedom of speech against the fear of confronting issues about Islam. This was a legitimate news story to cover, and Jyllands-Posten decided to do it by adopting the well-known journalistic principle: Show, don't tell....

We have a tradition of satire when dealing with the royal family and other public figures, and that was reflected in the cartoons. The cartoonists treated Islam the same way they treat Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and other religions. And by treating Muslims in Denmark as equals they made a point: We are integrating you into the Danish tradition of satire because you are part of our society, not strangers. The cartoons are including, rather than excluding, Muslims.

The cartoons do not in any way demonize or stereotype Muslims. In fact, they differ from one another both in the way they depict the prophet and in whom they target. One cartoon makes fun of Jyllands-Posten, portraying its cultural editors as a bunch of reactionary provocateurs. Another suggests that the children's writer who could not find an illustrator for his book went public just to get cheap publicity. A third puts the head of the anti-immigration Danish People's Party in a lineup, as if she is a suspected criminal....

On occasion, Jyllands-Posten has refused to print satirical cartoons of Jesus, but not because it applies a double standard. In fact, the same cartoonist who drew the image of Muhammed with a bomb in his turban drew a cartoon with Jesus on the cross having dollar notes in his eyes and another with the star of David attached to a bomb fuse. There were, however, no embassy burnings or death threats when we published those.

One must remember that Mohammed was a warrior, leading armies, conquering and killing other tribes and cultures. He demanded subservience. Many times his opponents were killed. His religion was a means of control. Jesus did not lead armies, rule an empire or advocate killing, neither did Buddha. We are dealing with a different beast here. If you want to read some interesting analysis of Islam you might try "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam" by Robert Spencer. Islam is not a religion of tolerance as we see by the reactions to the cartoons and the pressure more and more European communities feel. Modern Islam must condemn the calls for violence of any sort when anyone writes, speaks or acts in a way which "insults" the Muslim faith. That type of intolerance is completely unacceptable in a democratic society.

Unless truly moderate, modern Muslims accept secular societies where each individual is able to practice his own religion, we are in for a very bad time, we will truly have a clash of cultures. If you think this is overblown, think again. The Telegraph reports that 40% of British Muslims want sharia law introduced into parts of Britain. (Telegraph) Any religion that advocates killing someone for what they say, draw, paint, or write needs to disappear. Any religion that does not respect an individual's basic human rights needs to disappear. Any religion that does not treat other races, or sexes as equals needs to disappear. Any religion which desires to subjugate or eliminate other religions needs to disappear. Any religion which forbids people from practicing any other religion needs to disappear. We do not need hate, anger, arrogance or power to be the controlling "drug" of any religious institution, whether it is Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, Hindi, or whatever.

From a strategic perspective the West is on the defensive. If it is to survive this religious onslaught it will have to stand up and say no. No to intolerance, no to all the things that begin to restrict the things that make the West what it is, the dirty, messy, insulting, empowering, silly, wonderful acts of freedom. It should never, ever apologize, considering the nature of the opposition, where religion is a tool of domination and war.

Posted by Chip Spear at 10:02 AM | Comments (1)

February 14, 2006

Listen tonight on Subject 2 Discussion

I will be a guest on Shaun Daily's Internet radio show Subject 2 Discussion tonight at 10:30 Eastern time.

To listen LIVE go to http://www.LVROCKS.com and click on LISTEN and click on CAM/CHAT.
To post questions to the program go to the blog at SUBJECT2DISCUSSION.com
For those who miss the LIVE program can catch up with the podcast.
If you have an IPOD and wish to subscribe to the feed here is the RSS url:
http://podcasts.lvrocks.com/rss.aspx?channelid=5

Stop by.

Posted by Chip Spear at 5:05 PM | Comments (0)

January 31, 2006

A Great PoliticalSports Type Site

I just stumbled onto this site. I will put in a link over on the left. It looks very interesting, fun and potentially profitable.

http://www.tradesports.com/aav2/menu.jsp

Posted by Chip Spear at 3:40 PM | Comments (0)

Tonight on Subject 2 Discussion - Come listen in at 10:30 EST

Come listen to me tonight, 10:30 Eastern Time, 7:30 on the West Coast, on Subject 2 Discussion, a live Internet radio program. I will be discussing Bush's State of the Union speech.

To listen LIVE go to http://www.LVROCKS.com and click on LISTEN and click on CAM/CHAT.

To post questions to the program go to the blog at SUBJECT2DISCUSSION.com

For those who miss the LIVE program can catch up with the podcast.

If you have an IPOD and wish to subscribe to the feed here is the RSS url:

http://podcasts.lvrocks.com/rss.aspx?channelid=5

If you do not have an IPOD you can still listen to the podcast version by going to this address and choosing the previous editions of the program:

http://podcasts.lvrocks.com/details.aspx?castid=5

Posted by Chip Spear at 8:25 AM | Comments (2)

January 29, 2006

Politics and Money

U.S. Internet companies are relucant to participate in Congressional briefings about their business dealings with the Chinese government. The issue is restriction of Internet searches and the tracking of data.

The firms were asked to attend the February 1 briefing by the Congressional Human Rights Caucus following uproar caused by search giant Google's decision last week to censor websites and content banned by China's propaganda chiefs.

"We have heard from Microsoft that no representative from the company will attend the briefing. So, with Cisco Systems, this makes two companies that have confirmed they're opting out," Lynne Weil, spokeswoman for caucus co-chairman Democratic Representative Tom Lantos (news, bio, voting record), told AFP.

As the briefing date gets closer, "others are still unfortunately keeping us in suspense," she said. "It is mystifying why these companies would not want to take part after all this is an opportunity to clear their names," Weil said.

Google agreed to censor websites and content in its search service launched Wednesday in China.

The move followed similar actions by rivals Microsoft and Yahoo in cooperating with Chinese censorship.

From a business strategy, this is a losing proposition for the Internet companies. Why is it in their financial interests to comply? I am sure that they might get some negative feedback from various human rights groups and maybe some politicians, but the longer term impact by backing out of China is far more consequencial. It is a huge market, which they could easily lose if they leave. In addition, there is the hypocritical position of many critics in that they currently support hundreds of companies who are doing business in China. Thousands if not millions of Americans buy products made in China, a place that does not pay proper wages or necessarily comply with acceptable safety and environmental standards. Where is the protest about this? I am sure the same Internet companies see this hypocrisy and think it better to keep their mouths shut. The strategy is financial not necessarily ethical. The way they score is by making money. They all seem to view the current strategy as being more benefial to their own game than that played by the politicians. In addition, I have never seen a business plan that indicated Google is required to provide every single person in the world access to every piece of information they desire.

Posted by Chip Spear at 8:15 PM | Comments (1)

January 24, 2006

Tonight on Subject 2 Discussion

Come listen to me tonight, 10:30 Eastern Time, 7:30 on the West Coast, on Subject 2 Discussion, a live Internet radio program. I will be discussing the latest topics in today's political arena.

To listen LIVE go to http://www.LVROCKS.com and click on LISTEN and click on CAM/CHAT.

To post questions to the program go to the blog at SUBJECT2DISCUSSION.com

For those who miss the LIVE program can catch up with the podcast.

If you have an IPOD and wish to subscribe to the feed here is the RSS url:

http://podcasts.lvrocks.com/rss.aspx?channelid=5

If you do not have an IPOD you can still listen to the podcast version by going to this address and choosing the previous editions of the program:

http://podcasts.lvrocks.com/details.aspx?castid=5

Posted by Chip Spear at 10:09 PM | Comments (2)

January 11, 2006

In Addition to the Posting on Polling

I just read this article, which I pass along in case you have any question as to why the wiretapping issues matter.

The great English-speaking democracies are almost inevitably remaking themselves as police states. Changing or ignoring the laws of liberty and instituting more and more invasive technological monitoring of citizens are the new passions of the interventionary state -- all in the name of spreading freedom.

While the U.S. government, supported by majorities in national polls, is ignoring laws on oversight of homeland spying, the British are developing systems to literally follow, photographically, every citizen on his or her daily rounds. Big Brother, the fictional invention of a British writer, George Orwell, will be real and functional within a year. The first step, scheduled to be operational next March, will use thousands of cameras linked to government databases to photograph every vehicle entering or leaving London, driving on major highways or stopping for gasoline -- and checking those movements against driver's licenses and other government information over two- and five-year periods.

Posted by Chip Spear at 3:49 PM | Comments (1)

January 10, 2006

Internet Radio Interview

Come visit me tonight at 10:30. I shall be a guest on Subject 2 Discussion, with Shaun Daily. We will be discussing all the latest stuff in the Political Sports world. Shawn will also be hosting Katee Sackhoff, who plays Starbuck on the SciFi Channel's Battlestar Galactica.

You can reach the show here:
To listen to the program LIVE go to LVROCKS.COM and click on LISTEN and click on CAM/CHAT to be with us in the chatroom.

Posted by Chip Spear at 2:43 PM | Comments (1)

December 30, 2005

It's Back, It's Back, Hooray It's Back

Hip, Hip Hooray, Roller Derby is back, actually Rollergirls, which is way better. Oh, and how I missed it, such sleeze, such tackiness, such trash, the lowest of the low, except for Professional Wrestling of course. Monday night, 10PM, A&E, read the article here. How does that quote go, "Never underestimate the intelligence of the public...."?

Posted by Chip Spear at 12:15 PM | Comments (1)

December 15, 2005

Morgan Freeman Attacks Our Concept of Racism

Morgan Freeman criticized Black History Month saying the whole idea is ridiculous.

"You're going to relegate my history to a month?" the 68-year-old actor says in an interview on CBS' "60 Minutes" to air Sunday (7 p.m. EST). "I don't want a black history month. Black history is American history."....

Freeman notes there is no "white history month," and says the only way to get rid of racism is to "stop talking about it."

The actor says he believes the labels "black" and "white" are an obstacle to beating racism.

The whole idea is very strange. Halle Barry has one parent who is white and another who is black, so does Alicia Keys, yet we consider both of them black. Many people in our country are one-quarter black, yet we still consider them black. Why is that? Why aren't Halle Barry and Alicia Keys white? Why does it matter? There are many more examples, I bring them up because they are the first two that came to my mind. We need to reconsider our classifications.

Posted by Chip Spear at 10:21 PM | Comments (1)

December 13, 2005

And The Point Is?

The execution of Tookie Williams made me think about our fixation in this country with the death penalty. I specifically ask myself, "What is the point?" I can recognize the desire to eliminate evil people from the face of the earth. There is a part of me that thinks it is fine to get rid of people who are destructive to civilized society. Kill a person and be killed in return, an eye for an eye type of thing. However there is the other side of me that thinks about forgiveness and compassion. Some people do evil and do learn. There are numerous examples of a person who learns from their mistakes and really changes who they are. On the flip side there are certainly people who don't too. I don't want to pretend otherwise.

Then there is the massive gray area of life. Evidence is not always conclusive. People are often convicted of crimes they did not commit. Once dead, those individuals have no options. Can we be absolutely sure that someone is guilty? Forget the courts and juries. Are we always absolutely sure? We, as a society, make these mistakes all too often. What is guilt in one culture is not necessarily guilt in another. We apply certain standards which are not always universal to determine guilt. Political situations like war come to mind. We certainly do not execute people to save money. Numerous studies indicate it costs more to try, incarcerate and execute an individual than it does to keep them in prison for life.

Did you know that the U.S., China, Iran and Vietnam account for over 97% of the executions in the world? From Amnesty International here:

During 2004, at least 3,797 people were executed in 25 countries and at least 7,395 people were sentenced to death in 64 countries. These were only minimum figures; the true figures were certainly higher.

In 2004, 97 per cent of all known executions took place in China, Iran, Viet Nam and the USA.

Based on public reports available, Amnesty International estimated that at least 3,400 people were executed in China during the year, although the true figures were believed to be much higher. In March 2004 a delegate at the National People's Congress said that "nearly 10,000" people are executed per year in China.

Iran executed at least 159 people, and Viet Nam at least 64. There were 59 executions in the USA, down from 65 in 2003.

Eight countries since 1990 are known to have executed prisoners who were under 18 years old at the time of the crime – China, Congo (Democratic Republic), Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, USA and Yemen. China, Pakistan and Yemen have raised the minimum age to 18 in law, and Iran is reportedly in the process of doing so. The USA executed more child offenders than any other country (19 between 1990 and 2003).

In the U.S.
* 59 prisoners were executed in the USA in 2004, bringing the year-end total to 944 executed since the use of the death penalty was resumed in 1977.
* Over 3,400 prisoners were under sentence of death as of 1 January 2005.
* 38 of the 50 US states provide for the death penalty in law. The death penalty is also provided under US federal military and civilian law.

I think it is important to ask, "What are we doing? What is the point of all this?" I don't really know.

Posted by Chip Spear at 11:07 AM | Comments (0)

November 28, 2005

We Always Need to Remember

"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth."
~ Albert Einstein

"Be loyal to your country always, and to the government only when it deserves it."
~ Mark Twain

Found in Maureen Farrell's piece at BuzzFlash

Posted by Chip Spear at 11:31 AM | Comments (0)

October 17, 2005

Wilma

The 21st named storm this year, Wilma, ties the most on record. I found this map of the storm and thought it was so terrific that I had to post it. The map itself has nothing to do with either politics or sports, but it is a beautiful image.

Posted by Chip Spear at 9:28 AM | Comments (0)

September 29, 2005

Media Thrown for Another Loss

It is not hard to get exasperated by the media. My latest rant is for yesterday's display with Tom Delay. I am not sure what the right thing to do is, other than maintain some degree of scepticism, but noone could have been the least bit surprised that Delay would stand before anyone who would listen and proclaim his innocence in no uncertain terms and attack the Democrats for a witch hunt. Okay, so it would be hard for the media to not give him a forum, but he seemed to get more press than those presenting the indictment, then the media did nothing to question the grandstanding. I want to know, who has EVER stood up in such a situation and admitted, "Yes, I did it. I am guilty." Proclaiming innocence is expected, how is it possibly news? I get very tired of every accused "star" getting almost unlimited media attention to declare "I am a good person, I am definitely not guilty and someone is out to get me. Blah, blah, blah. It is rather pathetic really.

Posted by Chip Spear at 10:40 AM | Comments (0)

September 28, 2005

America's Secret War

I just finished George Friedman's book, America's Secret War. George is the founder of Stratfor, a web site and company focusing on "breaking intelligence and analysis on political, economic, military, and security events around the world." I can't recommend his book highly enough, not because everything he says is necessarily true, but it definitely put the Iraq war in a much different context than what I thought when I began to read it.

A couple major points that he makes is that one of the major reasons for invading Iraq was to deal with the growing problems inside of Saudi Arabia. The U.S. felt that it could not invade Saudi Arabia, and actually did not want to get rid of the House of Saud. What they did want was for the rulers to start pressuring extremist elements within the country, which they had not been doing. The Bushies thought that they would do so if the U.S. was sitting on its border with a large contingent of troops. In addition, the U.S. needed to appear strong to Arab world, and especially radical elements, by being willing to act alone instead of relying on alliances. The U.S. was also working regularly with Iranian intelligence. The U.S. left Fallujah to the Sunnis the first time as part of a poker game with the Shiites and Ali al-Sistani. He was, and still is, using the U.S. to do his dirty work and solidify his power in the country. In order to establish a stronger bargaining position with the Shiites the U.S. had to have stronger ties with the Sunnis. Leaving the city to the Sunnis signaled that the U.S. was willing to accommodate some Sunni concerns. The Americans were able to leverage their relationship with the Sunnis to mitigate Al-Sistani's control.

I feel that this was has been exceedingly badly managed, but I do think there is a great deal at stake that gives me pause before advocating a quick pull-out. Pick up the book and give it a read. It will definitely make you think.

Posted by Chip Spear at 12:05 PM | Comments (0)

September 19, 2005

Hats! Political Hats?

Check out the hats! Watch it here.

Posted by Chip Spear at 1:39 PM | Comments (0)

August 23, 2005

Travels in the Sports World

I find it hard to return from wonderful vacations. I usually go through a period of wondering why the world is the way it is. I continue to live in the vacation fantasy world of doing what I want, when I want, in gorgeous places with terrific friends and family. My mind and body don't want to readjust to the work day world and the routines of house, commutes, kid duties and shopping. But here I am, infected with a sense that many of us live in ruts, caught in mindsets that are too often closed. Though many of us read papers, magazines and books, and listen to the news I feel that much of the intent is more to reaffirm what we already know than learn new ways of thinking.

I was a member of a debate team in high school. We had one subject we debated over the course of each year. As members of the team we researched our topic, gathering information to support either a pro or con position. We scoured newspapers, magazines, and books looking for anything to bolster our arguments. Senators and Congressmen were our favorite sources. During debates we would rifle through our card catalogues looking for some piece of information to counter our opponent's attack. Nothing that was said ever changed our minds, the information we had was a support tool, meant to reinforce a position we already had. Our listening skills focused on the game not the meaning of the discussion. The next debate we might switch positions where we would take the other side and do the same thing.

I found during my hiatus that too many of my friends and family seemed caught in the same type of thinking. Their positions on political or cultural subjects were already established. I did not feel they were really interested in listening. Articles or books they read were ammunition to further already established thinking. I could have been the foremost expert in my field and it would not have made a difference. That was disturbing.

So I come back wondering if I can somehow find a magic wand, a means to get people to stop for a time, to reassess their beliefs, to think outside the box, to put themselves in another's shoes for a time, to open their eyes in the hope that we get a better understanding of each other. It is a big hope, but I am determined to continue to try. That is what Political Sports is all about, trying to find a way to look and think about the amazingly wonderful, crazy, confusing, complex, irritating world we live in. So vacation is over, time to put the car in gear and get moving. There is much to do.

Posted by Chip Spear at 9:03 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

August 3, 2005

I Hope They Include an "Earth is Flat" Section

President Bush said that he thought schools should include teachings about "intelligent design" in their curriculums. You can read the full article here.

President Bush said Monday he believes schools should discuss "intelligent design" alongside evolution when teaching students about the creation of life.

It certainly makes me wonder what is fact and what is conjecture. If science is the study of natural phenomena based on systems, measurement and analysis, how does this compare to the thinking and analysis of intelligent design? Or is that a contradiction, because we cannot analyze intelligent design? Some guy, or guys, no women please, wrote a few thousand years ago that such and such happened. So that is it, end of discussion, an established act that can't be refuted, and is as valid as anything determined by science? Are we now suggesting that the foundation for the scientific method is potentially faulty? Wow, maybe we should stop and think about the implications of that for the rest of the afternoon. If people don't believe in the scientific method and science, will they give up those things developed by that method, like their cars, TV, computers, and cellphones?

Posted by Chip Spear at 1:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 2, 2005

A Bit of Disbelief

How could anyone in the U.S. read Nicholas Kristof's piece in the NY Times today and not get sick to their stomachs? Reading about events like this make me feel that I have much more to do with my life. I want to not only find ways to live a good, comfortable life, provide for my family, but also do something that prevents this sort of thing from occurring anywhere in the world. Kristof
described

how local authorities reacted after Dr. Shazia was raped early this year: they drugged her and confined her to a psychiatric hospital to hush her up.

It didn't work, and the incident provoked unrest in the wild area of Baluchistan, where the rape occurred, because of rumors that the rapist was not only an outsider, but also an army captain. President Pervez Musharraf became determined to make the embarrassment disappear.

So the authorities locked up Dr. Shazia and her husband, Khalid Aman, keeping them under house arrest for two months. Then officials began to hint that Dr. Shazia was a loose woman, perhaps even a prostitute - presumably as a way to pressure her and her husband to keep quiet.

This happened in Pakistan, one of "our" allies in the fight against terrorism. Isn't this terrorism? This act and others like it are sponsered and supported by the government that we support. I realize that the world is a very messy place, and the much too often we are forced to interact with "unsavory" characters. But our actions indicate that our principles are somewhat wanting.

And what are we to make of the constitution emerging in Iraq. We spend hundreds of billions of dollars, have thousands of our citizens killed deposing a horrible dictator, while hundreds of thousands of Iraqis die. We watch a new government form that will treat women like garbage, with fewer rights than they had under Saddam. By all indications we will be responsible for building a prejudicial, discriminatory, anti-western religious government. The biggest winner in the region stands to be Iran, who will have more influence in Iraq than we will.

What do we do? Do we ignore horrid acts against women and minorities, in order to further foreign policy or make money? How long do we let this continue? Do we let others do our dirty work for us? If you know a friend is beating his wife, is he still a friend? Do you still call them, ask them over for dinner, play tennis or golf with him? Do you say anything when his wife ends up in the hospital? Do you call the police, a minister, someone? What is the right thing to do? Or is it not our business?

Posted by Chip Spear at 3:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 22, 2005

A Little Religious Rant

I am a bit sick of star athletes and people in general thanking Jesus or God or Mohammed or whomever for giving them victory or scoring the touchdown, or making the sale, or winning the race, or even finding the child in the woods. Let's get a little context here. The earth is a small planet revolving around a small star, one of approximately 300 billion stars in a relatively small galaxy, which in turn is one of 80-120 billion galaxies that we estimate exist. This number is probably quite low. Add another metaphor to the mix. If you stretch your arms out to your sides, that represents the history of the earth. Take a small nail file and run it across one nail, once. You have just eliminated all of human history (From Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything).

How arrogant we are to think that God would care about one of us winning the conference championship, or Super Bowl one year, or even finding one child lost in the woods given the way that millions have died.

Posted by Chip Spear at 7:51 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

June 7, 2005

Sometimes we cannot see

Posted by Chip Spear at 9:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 6, 2005

Medical Marijuana

The Supreme Court ruled today that state laws do not protect citizens from federal regulations banning the use of marijuana for medical purposes. I cannot criticize the ruling on any legal grounds. A law is a law, like a 30 MPH speed zone. It might be stupid, but it is the law. The thing to do is change it if it does not make sense. Congress and the administration seem unwilling to change laws that so clearly help them with the "law and order" wing of the American electorate. It doesn't matter if the law doesn't work, or that it is hypocritical. Large drug companies develop many drugs more addictive and/or dangerous to the human body, yet these drugs are fine for the American consumer. Marijuana exists in the alternative universe of hippiedom, that danger zone, the threat to society held over from the sixties. Politicians continue to use the fear of marijuana as a gatekeeper to heroin to solidify their position with constituents when they want to appear tough on crime. It is unfortunate that real people continue to suffer from such pandering.

Posted by Chip Spear at 10:31 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

May 13, 2005

Friday the 13th

So what does Friday the 13th have to do with PoliticalSports? Nothing until I stumbled on this article

Posted by Chip Spear at 7:24 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

April 29, 2005

White Is......

Posted by Chip Spear at 9:31 PM | Comments (0)